Chapter 24: Family Day

The next October, I stood in the gym doorway holding my daughter's hand.

Three hundred parents sat on folding chairs under the same banner that said Family Day.

June wore a paper crown.

I had paid for it again, and this time she had picked the glitter.

"Seven-year-olds don't wear crowns," she had told me in the car, "but it's a tradition."

"Whose tradition?"

"Mine."

Jill stood at the side door with her phone, and she gave me one hard nod.

This time, a lot of other parents were holding up their phones as well.

The principal stepped to the podium and tapped the microphone.

"Welcome to Family Day," she said. "Before we start, I'd like to ask a favor."

She looked straight at us.

"One of our families has asked to open this year. Mrs. Kane, June, would you come up?"

"Mommy," June whispered, and tugged my hand. "It's my surprise."

"What surprise?"

"The one I told you about," June said. "A real one. I asked Principal and she said yes."

I looked down at her.

She grinned, with the new front teeth coming in crooked.

"It's your birthday," she said. "Come on."

We walked up the aisle together.

Heads turned as we passed, but they were kind this time, and some of them smiled.

I climbed the three steps in the black boots I had bought with my own money.

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