Lawrence entered the coffee shop with his work laptop, a notepad, and the kind of look only a teacher got when anticipating students trying to be... "Clever". Physics research papers had come in and Lawrence ordered the strongest coffee in the largest size possible before sighing, looking for a space to sit.
Honestly he's rather be helping his boys do homework, but he had bills to pay and a generation to teach... And chatGBT nonsense to filter... So, so much chatGBT. He already saw rows of failing grades and complaints as he fumbled for a seat in the shop. It seemed a bit busy, and finally he paused spying someone with far too many papers and a red pen to be anything but a fellow suffering educator, and he walked over, smiling wearily.
"Ah, yes - going through the annual barrage of papers as well?" He greeted warmly, a tired smile on his face. He'd already had a lecture earlier, and now, grading.
Tress looked up, surprised, when she thought she heard someone speaking to her and smiled when she realized they likely must have been a teacher to recognize what she was doing. "Yes, es ee madder af fect, Ee em. Are you abaout to ga drew yar oawn?" the British woman with the strong Sussex accent asked, turning toward the stranger. "Ahm Ee carract en thenkeng yar ee tihcher, too?"
Lawrence was not phased. He had international students all the time, and even brightened a bit, chuckling.
"I'm afraid so." He admitted, offering a handshake with a smile.
"Lawrence Dunn, Destiny City University, Physics Department. And you?" He greeted with a bright, warm smile. It wasn't often he got to meet other teachers, at least, away from DCU, especially outside his department. The requirements to maintain his position meant keeping on top of his research - he was knee-deep usually in summer, really, so this was nice, especially with his stress lately.
"How about you?"
"Mee cahndawlinsas. Tress Gervene," the woman answered as she shook the other teacher's hand with a serious smile of her own. "Romano's Constitutional Haven. Inglesh Dipahrtmint. Hee school." She sighed. "Hev you ihver taht ahnih other eege group? Des es mee first yihr ar so ectuollih tihcheng. Ee just wondered ef et was des deffecult far ihverihwun ar just mih. Ar ef et gihts ahnih ihseher os teem goes ahn."
"Ah! I have heard positive things about Romano's!" Lawrence lit up. Of course he was. Eric was ten, and soon he'd enough he'd need secondary school and Lawrence was picky to say the least. Tress' follow-up actually made him smile.
"Oh, not as a paid teacher., But my younger three sons are eight and ten. The twins are eight. Unfortunately for their teachers, all are a bit on the clever side. I try supplementing their education when I can for assignments." Lawrence paused, recalling Eos' latest assignment paired to his brother. "And then there's when my twins swap lessons... And I get called during office hours or need to call back after lecturing." He frowned.
"Children can be... Mischief."
"Yes, I'm very fortunate to be able to work there," Tress agreed. "And I'm sure only the very best are hired to work at Destiny City University. Especially in the Physics Department. That must not be an easy subject to teach." She picked up her cup of coffee to sip.
Listening to Lawrence, she winced. Three sons to support? And so young, too. "Why is that unfortunate?" Tress asked, chuckling. "Shouldn't cleverness be encouraged and nurtured?" She tilted her head, a little confused. "Sorry, what do you mean by 'supplementing their education for assignments? Do you mean you give them additional assignments outside of the ones they're given at school?"
Frowning a little, the ginger-haired woman asked, "What do you mean by 'swapping lessons'? Do they not have the same lessons? And what about your spouse? Surely they must help you with your children."
"Cleverness should be rewarded. Weaponizing it to try outsmarting their teachers." Lawrence sighed. "I'm pretty sure they're not being challenged enough in most subjects... Except they can't grasp their multiplication quite yet." And how on Earth his sons did not excel in math was beyond him. Perhaps dyscalculia. Perhaps it was presented wrong. He didn't know. At the ask of how he supplemented their education, Lawrence smiled.
"Well, Eric and the twins enjoy when I take them places, like museums. And when homework allows I enjoy helping them make their assignments as well as possible, so it lets me teach concepts like basic engineering. Their... Older sister helps with it. And I like buying educational kits if they ask or show interest. Eos is obsessed with space, so right now he's been asking for rocket kits. And he wants a plane kit. Cyrus has been trying to learn about plants. I try nurturing their curiosity." He smiled at that. Cyrus was beginning to bring rocks home, but it seemed more like Eos was keeping the rocks just because he liked them and Eric kept proposing they make a model house with them... Really, Lawrence was glad for how different the boys were, they got along. But then... Elektra was mentioned. He stiffened, taking a slow, deep breath.
"My wife is... No longer with us. She... Died. In a break-in. Someone tried taking the boys. But I have twins from..." Lawrence turned a very, very humiliated red. "A poorly thought-=out teenage _experience_ when I was sixteen, and my daughter got in touch five years ago. She actually helps and takes her brothers. She's an Engineer at one of the local Aviation businesses working on an SST engine and a normal engine for her company right now. Cherish's..." Lawrence wrinkled his nose. "Partner's brothers made friends with them as well and apparently he's willing to watch. I... wonder about that boy." Lawrence didn't want his little girl hurt and he was absolutely [judging Lex a bit still.
"Ah, I see," Tress murmured at the explanation that the boys weaponized their intelligence to try outsmarting their teachers. She wasn't sure what that had to do with the idea that cleverness should have been rewarded, though.
"Oh, do you mean you do things like take them places and help them with their assignments in order to further support their education in addition to the lessons and assignments they have," the woman commented, trying to voice her understanding of things, at least. "That's a good idea. It would be nice if more parents did that." Maybe it was because he was both a parent and a teacher that Lawrence had thought of it in the first place. "Oh, they have an older sister?"
The space between her brows pinched when it seemed she had asked about a difficult subject. "I'm so sorry to hear about your wife," Tress said apologetically. "I'm glad your boys seemed to have come out of it okay, though if you still have them and they weren't taken." That must have been a horrible way to lose a spouse, though. It was times like those she was glad she didn't have one. "So you have...three boys and one girl, but not all from the same mother?"
She wasn't quite sure she understood everything. If Lawrence's twins were the youngest, but they had come from a teenage experience when he was sixteen, how old had he had been when he had had his older children? Perhaps she was misunderstanding something. "You had your eight-year-old twins when you were...16?"
Lawrence chuckled, smiling a thin smile, not in ire but amusement.
"Essentially. Though Eos is very angry at his teacher right now at Knightside and got in trouble for correcting her in class over something he learned outside of class. He enjoys reading, and I fear his teacher oversimplified a topic he enjoys." Lawrence paused, burying his face in his hand. "Bless that boy, he means well but not all of his classmates want to know the intricate history of space travel before they see a broadcast of the recent Artemis II launch. He decided just seeing it launch as a lesson on the moon wasn't enough, he needed to explain this was going out beyond where Apollo 13 had.. And... Well.... He's still asking why he's not allowed to explain why this fascinates him for a presentation on space travel. I have a terrible feeling when his history unit covers the Space Race he'll do a presentation he shouldn't... Again. And I know he'll have help and there will be a call about it."
Because he would try to outfox his teacher and present something horrifying to explain something and not mean to do ill, but... He was eight, and not as immature as most peers. He acted too old for his age. Then Lawrence smiled, lighting up.
"I have four sons and a daughter. Cherish is a fraternal twin to her brother Reynard, but... She stopped... Speaking to him. He doesn't speak to me. Nor will I force him. I can't fault him either."
Lawrence sighed, rubbing his face.
"I'm 44, you see. My daughter graduated with a masters ion Engineering, focusing on aviation, but she can build and maintain more. As for sixteen, ah... I was... Seeing a girl in high school - secondary school - when I was sixteen and we were... A little careless. Unfortunately I didn't meet my first two children or know of them until they were adults. Cherish sought me out wanting to know why I wasn't there. She's a delight, honestly."
Tress winced. Having a family sounded...complicated. Honestly, even watching over and teaching a classroom full of teenagers was exhausting for her, so she was glad to be single and childless, especially at the end of the day. Even just romance seemed like a headache and a half. She felt very sorry for Lawrence and the misfortunes it sounded like he'd had, but at least he seemed happy enough with his life. Her, on the other hand...she would stick to the company of her plants and her neighbor, thank you very much.
"I'm glad you seem able to have a good relationship with her, then, at least," Tress answered sympathetically with a small smile. "Thank you for telling me about your family. Unfortunately, it's getting a little late and I have to be off, but I'm sure we'll see each other around, Mr. Dunn." She gathered her things, put them in her bag, finished her coffee, and tossed the empty paper cup in the nearest garbage bin. "Have a pleasant evening and best of luck with your grading and other work."
"Oh, it's no trouble. I appreciate someone listening. I apologize if I rambled a bit. I'm afraid I don't get to socialize much." He beamed, reaching into his pocket and fished out a business card for his office at the University, offering it cheerily. "Here, if you like we can meet again. My card at the Physics Department. Next time you can absolutely share some stories of your students' antics. I can try offering some advice, if you need. Or just venting is fine. Carrying it can't be easy."
Lawrence was sincere, smiling. It was, to him, important for teachers to look after one another.
"Not at all. It's nice that you're so passionate about your family. And it's clear that you care for them very much," Tress answered with another smile.
Accepting his business card, she brought out her own to trade him with. "Oh, thank you. Here's mine. And I'll make sure to keep that in mind for next time," she chuckled when he mentioned stories of her students antics. "Any advice you could offer would be much appreciated as well. Especially from someone as experienced as yourself."
Adjusting her bag's straps on her shoulder, she said, "Have a good rest of your day and take care, Mr. Dunn." Then she turned and left the shop.
Eos Galvus
((The End))
