"Hi Pauline, I hope you and Madison are doing all right," said a feminine voice from over the phone.
"As all right as can be expected, Ms. Lowell," said Pauline, immediately recognizing the voice of the Assistant Principal who had helped her stay in school the last year while being a teenage mother. She hadn't come on the trip herself, but she had helped organize and promote it to the Senior Class.
"Great. I was wondering if Mr. Cameron was finished... uh, settling in? I've been trying to call him for the last hour." said Ms. Lowell.
"Who?" asked Pauline, confused, though the name did somehow sound vaguely familiar.
"Mr. Cameron, the teacher who was assigned to stay with you and Madison in your suite," said Ms. Lowell.
"Could you describe him?" asked Pauline, still confused.
"This is a poor joke, Pauline. You know who he is. He taught you Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry last year," said Ms. Lowell.
Pauline vaguely recalled some older guy doing so, but every time she tried to picture him, she couldn't quite remember his face. "No joke, Ms. Lowell, I'm still drawing a blank on who Mr. Cameron is."
"Nathaniel Cameron, 52, six feet tall, short grey hair, glasses, and a high opinion of himself" described an exasperated Ms. Lowell.
"Nathaniel? Ms. Lowell, the only Nathaniel I know is my son."
"y--Your son?!"
"I wish you luck in finding Mr. Cameron, but I've got to go talk to my son's father."
"Now, wait a minute Pauline, don't--" started Ms. Lowell but Pauline had hung up before Ms. Lowell could finish.
"What was that all about?" asked Daniel.
"Oh, Ms. Lowell's looking for a missing math teacher is all. Apparently he was supposed to be staying with Madison and I. Must have gotten sick or he's at the bar or something. Now, you two promise to look after Nate while I'm talking with Seth?"
"Oh, don't worry, you won't have anything to complain about while we're minding him. Go have your talk with Seth," encouraged Sumire.
Pauline nodded, she bent down and gave Nate a kiss on his forehead, the baby gleefully cooing in response to the affection showed to him before Pauline stood and departed for her room and her conversation with Seth.
As Pauline walked off Daniel watched as Sumire whipped out her phone and dialed a number.
"Hi, Lori? This is Sumire Yamamamoto. I know you're looking for Nate, well, you can stop panicking, I've got him safe and sound, at least for tonight," assured Sumire to a voice that sounded an awful lot like Ms. Lowell to Daniel's ears.
"You remember how he was boasting about how the Terrible Two weren't going to pull a fast one over him? Well, it seems that they not only pulled one on him, but they got caught up in it themselves--Ms. Chan now thinks she's Nate's mother with Seth Collins as his father--can you imagine those two being Nate's parents?" laughed Sumire.
"Don't worry, we won't have a repeat of last year's Wainwright situation. Just relax, okay? Bye." finished Sumire.
"You just called Ms. Lowell, right?" asked Daniel.
"Sure I did. Last thing I need is her ruining the trip calling me in the middle of our night tonight," said Sumire suggestively, though Daniel wasn't buying her suggestion.
"Our night, babysitting tonight," added Daniel with look to the baby and the toddler Henry.
"Well, consider this an extension of your Family & Consumer Science classwork, Daniel. Take a night playing out the role of a father and husband for a bit, see how you like it, and see how young families make time for themselves," suggested Sumire, as she pulled Daniel closer and snuck her fingers beneath his shirt, which sent a thrilling chill down Daniel's spine.
"Tempting," admitted Daniel, before pulling himself away. "But even without Nate being there, if Seth's meeting Pauline, something is going to go sideways--it always does with him. I should know..." said Daniel, still feeling the guilt of having been one of Seth's friends, team mates, and helpers until he crossed that line with Pauline. That had been the one time Daniel had stood up to Seth, and gotten a taste of the dude's bad side, and it was a nasty piece of work. He'd been out of school for at least two weeks after that fight they'd had.
The funny thing was the old reality and new reality were mixing together in a confusing mess that Daniel couldn't keep the two completely straight anymore--though in both he'd had a falling out with Seth, just for different reasons. In the old one it was over Lola, a girl that Daniel had had a crush on, that Seth had purposely targeted and then pumped and dumped to "teach Danny a lesson", which had led to the two having a fight where Seth had beat Daniel unconscious and gotten a suspension that had resulted in him being held back. In the new reality it was for Daniel standing up to Seth over the whole Pauline incident leading to that same fight.
"Well, if your chivalrous side is so inclined, and you're aiming for a rematch, no offense but I think you know we're going to need backup," suggested Sumire with a glance to Henry and Nate.