Callie

Mel steps out of the bus just as they walk over, carrying a clipboard. Her hair is in its usual braid, and like Frank and the yawning choir kids making their way to the bus, she's wearing black pants and a blue polo shirt with a yellow university logo. "Good morning, Dr. Langdon!" she says, far more excitedly than anyone should be at this hour of the morning. "Hello, Penny. And Tanner."

Tanner says hello, but Penny, suddenly bashful, presses her face against Frank's leg. "She's not really awake yet," Frank says. This is a lie. Penny has been wide awake since at least four am. "Abby is meeting us here to pick them up, since I didn't have time to take them to school before we have to leave."

"I want to see the bus," Tanner reminds him.

"Yeah, buddy, we will. Come on. We'll just be a minute," he adds to Mel, before letting Tanner and Penny get on the bus and look around. Penny tries to climb into the driver's seat, but Frank gathers her up just in time and deposits her into one of the empty front seats while a couple of tenors high-five Tanner (this makes him puff up a little bit, very importantly).

One of Frank's piano students, a freshman named Emma, is sitting a couple rows back from where he'd deposited Penny, and she smiles at Penny and waves. Penny waves back and tries to climb over the back of the seat to get to her. Frank catches her just before she topples over the back of the seat. "Oh, no you don't," he says, and she grunts in annoyance.

"Your kids are really cute, Dr. Langdon," Emma says. She makes a silly face at Penny, who laughs and squirms in his arms. "Are they going with us?"

"Oh, definitely not," Frank replies. "Their mom is coming in a few minutes to pick them up."

"How old are they?"

"I'm four," Penny says. She has somehow turned herself upside down in Frank's arms, and the yellow hair bow he clipped in her hair as they were headed out the door falls out onto the floor of the bus. Emma picks it up and hands it to Frank. Penny points her fingers at Emma and counts. "One… two… three…four. I'm this many."

"Tanner will be seven next month," he says, stuffing the hair bow in his pocket. Penny had her fourth birthday while Frank was in rehab the third time. It was the first time he missed a birthday—and hopefully, the last. "He's in first grade."

"Oh! I love first grade," Emma says. "For my music ed class this semester, my field experience is at an elementary school, and there's a first grade class while I'm there. They are so cute. I think I want to teach the little ones. It seems like so much fun."

"Well, luckily you have lots of time to decide," Frank says.

"Hey, Mama's here!" Tanner says, tapping on the window and pointing. Frank looks out the window to see Abby talking to Mel on the sidewalk, presumably asking where the kids are, since Mel's pointing to the bus. "Okay, monkeys, time to go," he says, turning Penny right-side-up and reaching for Tanner's hand. Tanner wants to jump off the bus steps, but Frank keeps hold of his hand. "Careful, buddy," he says. "Lots of cars pulling into the parking lot, don't want you to get hit. Hold my hand till we get to your mom, okay?"

Abby meets them at the bus. She's already dressed for work, her hair slicked back into a bun. She's wearing the gold hoops Frank gave her for her birthday after they were married. "Hey, Frank."

"Thanks for getting the kids," he says, although he said it to her like fifty times on the phone last night. "This is a huge favor, I owe you."

"Yeah, you do. I'm sure I'll find a time you can pay me back." She takes Tanner's hand. "Are their things in your car?"

"Yeah—it's right over here." He walks them over to his car, Penny babbling in his ear the whole time. "She's gonna crash hard later," he warns Abby. "She's been up since at least four."

"Great." Penny being up before the crack of dawn is not a new thing. "Okay, Tanner, can you get your backpack? Thanks, honey. I'll get Penny's."