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“Mr. Gordon!”
Jim looked over at Jonathan as he ran into the classroom a second after the bell rang. “Yes, Jonathan?”
“Where do babies come from?” He asked, slightly out of breath and his eyes wide with anticipation.
There was a hush in the classroom and Jim suddenly felt all eyes on him. He shifted nervously in his chair, “Why do you ask?”
“Cause Mrs. Sawyer said that the baby was coming!”
Jim blinked, glancing toward the classroom door to the second kindergarten class. “Just now?”
“Yeah,” Jonathan nodded his head. “And she wet her pants too... there was a big puddle!”
Jim shot out of his seat at the news, his heart skipping a beat. “Bruce, you’re in charge.” He stated crisply as he rushed out the door and he nearly collided with the Principal. “Is Maggie okay?”
Lucius nodded, bracing his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “She’s a trooper,” He chuckled. “Her husband is on his way.” He paused, “Which means her maternity leave effectively starts now instead of the end of the month.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“I was just about to ask if you would mind taking a few of her students for the day. The substitute teacher I had arranged isn’t available. It’s a bit ahead of schedule.” He rubbed his neck. “I’ll ask Nick to take the other half.”
“That’ll be fine.” Jim nodded. “Just send them in. I’m sure they’ll be full of questions.”
Lucius chuckled. “Indeed.”
Jim headed back into his classroom, all his students looking at him expectantly. “Did you keep everyone in line?”
Bruce nodded, glancing over at Bane who huffed in response. “Almost everyone.”
He looked between the two boys, knowing that Bane probably challenged him and he should have put Talia in charge for that reason. “I see.”
“Mr. Gordon?” Robin began, “Where do babies come from?”
Jim’s eyes widened, “Oh, right.” He pressed his lips together, but before he could explain the door opened and a few of Mrs. Sawyer’s students came in. “Class, we’ll have a few visitors for the day.”
They stood awkwardly and he watched as one of the little girls waved to Bruce and he waved back. Jim raised a brow intrigued, and it seemed that Robin noticed the exchange as well. “Who’s that?” He asked, looking to Bruce.
“That’s Rachel, she’s my friend.” He smiled and Robin frowned, shifting closer to Bruce as he watched her closely.
“Mr. Gordon,” Selina raised her hand. “You never answered the boys’ questions. That’s not very teacherly of you.”
He paused, wanting to correct her grammar but he felt a little put on the spot with all eyes on him. He swallowed, feeling sweat break out on his brow. “Where do babies come from?” He asked the class instead, deflecting his reply as long as possible.
Rachel raised her hand, “Mrs. Sawyer is going to have a baby!” Rachel smiled, “And she told us the baby is in her tummy!” She patted her stomach in demonstration. “She even let us feel the baby kick! It tickles.”
Jonathan immediately raised his hand. “How did the baby get in her tummy?” He scrunched up his nose in thought. “How does the baby come out?!”
“Duh,” Selina rolled her eyes. “The daddy puts the baby in there.”
“How?” He asked, challenging her. But it was apparent that she didn’t know that part and neither did the rest of the class who all turned to Jim for answers that he wasn’t ready to give.
“All good questions,” Jim began, trying to delay the inevitable. He gestured for the small group of students still milling around at the door to come in further. “Please sit down where you’d like and we’ll begin.”
Rachel crossed over and sat down beside Bruce and the other students mingled a little before they all took a seat. Jonathan scooted closer to Selina as a boy sat near her, almost protectively. But he seemed more interested in Rachel, than Selina.
“Would someone like to make introductions?” Jim began as he leaned back against his desk.
Rachel raised her hand and she stood up. “I’m Rachel Dawes.” She smiled, twirling slightly as she pointed to the boy closest to her and the one that sat down beside Selina. “Harvey Dent.” Harvey returned a bright smile, looking mainly at Rachel as he waved to the rest of the class.
Jim noticed how Bruce frowned at the introduction and scowled slightly. Robin bumped his shoulder against his and whispered something into his ear. Bruce nodded his face neutralizing as he glanced over as another little girl stood up. She had curly red hair and was wearing nothing but green. “I’m Pamela Isley and that’s Eddie Nygma.”
“Edward,” he corrected, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.
Jim nodded, glancing to the last little girl that had joined them. She smiled, waving at the class, very prime and proper. “I’m Katie Kane.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Jim smiled as he glanced around the room. “Now who wants to introduce our class to our guests?”
Talia immediately stood up. “I’m Talia and this is Bane and Barsad.” She smiled, looking at the boys that flanked her as they always did. “Selina, Jonathan, Bruce, and Robin.” She rattled off, not letting the rest of them to get a word in.
“Should we continue on with today’s lesson?” Jim asked the class, but it seemed his planned lesson may not hold the appeal of the students as they were still a buzz over the current topic.
Jonathan’s hand shot up, “But where do babies come from?”
“Haven’t we covered this?” Barsad grumbled. “Mom, dad, baby. The end.”
“But,” Jonathan began, pursing his lips together as Selina smacked his arm. “Don’t you wanna know?”
She tried to pretend that she didn’t want to know, but Jim knew that the whole class wanted to know. “It’s a rather long biology lesson,” he began. “Which I can talk to you about, but today’s lesson was about dinosaurs.”
“What kind of dinosaurs?” Robin questioned, the class suddenly intrigued.
“I thought we’d start with the T-Rex.”
“The Tyrannosaurus rex is one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs,” Bane piped up, grinning and Jim nodded.
“That is correct,” Jim nodded, sighing with relief. The students started talking and getting excited over the world of dinosaurs. And Jim slowly began to relax as they fully immersed themselves in the topic and dropped the previous subject. He smiled as he sat back, letting them share their knowledge of dinosaurs, which almost rivaled his own.
“Mr. Gordon!”
Almost.