It's a Miracle
Author's Note: I originally titled this story Running Late, but after it took an unexpected turn, this title seemed to jump out at me. I hope you enjoy it.
*****
"There's my handsome son! How was your first day on the job?"
"Good. Real good, in fact. And I thank can't thank you enough for picking Emma up after school. I feel terrible not being there for her first day."
"Of course. But it's not like this was Kindergarten or anything. She's in fourth grade now, so while I understand wanting to be there, it really wasn't a big deal."
"True. But even so, thanks, Mom."
"So did you arrest any criminals or thwart a bank robbery?" his mom asked, a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face.
Her son laughed then told her neither of those things had happened on his first day as a police officer in the town of Bloomington, Illinois.
"But I did pull someone over for speeding."
"Let me guess. Was it the mayor?"
Her son laughed again and assured her it wasn't.
"No. But I let her off with a warning even though she was doing 48 in a 35."
"Thirteen over the limit and no ticket? Oh, my. Someone's getting soft in his old age," his mother teased.
"She was very apologetic and admitted she was speeding as soon as I approached her vehicle. She told me she was always running late for something then immediately said she knew that wasn't an excuse."
"You know how I feel about the law," his mother replied. "I don't think it's always ironclad, and my sense is that that's one reason police officers have discretion in situations like that."
"I agree. I know we have to apply the law fairly across the board, but laws should be deterrents rather than rigid, ironclad rules. It was clear, sunny, and there was no traffic, so I didn't see her speeding as any kind of menace to society, although I'm sure some who see it differently would remind me that next time she might run over a child. But this was my call, and that's how I saw it."
Now his mom laughed and told him she agreed with him. Even though it was her heartfelt belief that 'the rules were the rules', something she'd instilled in her son his entire life, she also believed there were times when such discretion was more valuable than just enforcing the rules. Right or wrong, those values had served him well in high school where he lettered in football and track, then in the US Marine Corps where he'd been a military police officer.
Since returning to his hometown of Bloomington, Officer Rick Gates had gone through the police academy while living at home, and was now wearing the uniform of the city's police force and had his own place.
"And...it didn't hurt that she was also one of the prettiest women I've even seen," Rick added.
"Oh, okay. Now I understand!" his mom teased. "So did you by any chance ask her out?"
Rick laughed then said, "No. For starters that would be very unprofessional. But I did check her driver's license and to my huge surprise, she was 41 years old. I was shocked because she looked a whole lot closer to my age, but the ID doesn't lie."
"Well, you can't blame me for wanting you to find someone, can you?" his mom replied with a sweet smile.
Her son really did understand. He and his former girlfriend, Ellen Thompson, had gotten married right after graduation, and Emma came long just six months later, a sure sign that Ellen was pregnant while still in school. She happily followed Rick to Camp Pendleton, California, where he served four years after finishing boot camp and MP school.
Rick then reenlisted and was sent to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Two years into his second enlistment, Ellen told him one evening out of the blue that she'd had enough of being 'nothing but a wife and mother'. A long, emotional talk ensued, but after several days of trying to convince her stay, Ellen walked out of their lives and hadn't been heard from since. Rick finished out the last two years of his enlistment and headed back home to Illinois.
Emma was just getting over the devastation of losing her mother without having actually lost her, and it was her grandmother's greatest joy to be there for the little nine-year old girl she so dearly loved—and her son who was now 27 years old—and a city police officer.
Rick laughed at his mom's reply just as his daughter came into the kitchen and saw her father.
"Daddy!" she said as she ran over to him and hugged him once he knelt down a little.
"Hey, sweetie. How was your first day?"
"It was so much fun! I made two friends, and I really like my teacher."
"That's wonderful, Em!" her dad said as he kissed her cheek before standing up. "So are you ready to go home?"
"Can't I help Grandma finish making dinner?" she asked, her sad eyes tearing her father apart the way they always did.
"Why don't the two of you stay and eat with me?" Bonnie Gates asked both of them.
"We've done enough freeloading, Mom. We don't need to keep being a burden to you."
"A burden. Listen to you! Like I don't love having both of you here with me," she said with a kind 'pfft' attitude.
"It does smell good," her son said, his stomach grumbling with pangs of hunger.
"So can we stay?" Emma asked hopefully.
"Well, I suppose so," the brand new police officer said as he caught his mother's eye who smiled and winked.
"But we have to leave in time to let me get home, shower, change, and get to your open house, okay?" he warned his daughter.
"Okay!" she replied, a happy smile on pretty face.
She then turned around and asked, "Grandma? What can I do to help?"
By 6 o'clock they were back home leaving Rick with one hour to get ready and get to Oakland Elementary School, located on, what else—Oakland Avenue.
They arrived with five minutes to spare and walked into the auditorium just as the principle was getting ready to welcome everyone for the start of the new school year.
She was mercifully brief then excused everyone to find their child's homerooms and teachers. Rick loved that Emma still wasn't too old to be embarrassed holding her father's hand as they walked down the hallway toward her classroom.
"It's right here, Dad!" she said as they got close to room #17.
Rick let Emma go in first and heard her teacher say hello and call her by name. He stepped in right behind her, looked up, saw the teacher's face and froze.
"Hi! You must be Emma's father. I'm Ms. Peterson. Or...Karn...to you."
She was smiling at him, and Rick noticed her hand sticking out. He shook it, smiled back, then said, "I uh, I believe we've met."
She gave him a puzzled look then the expression on her face changed dramatically.
"Oh, my goodness! You're the police officer who pulled me over this morning!" the embarrassed fourth-grade teacher said.
"Yes. That would be me," Rick replied with a smile.
"Dad? You gave my teacher a ticket?" a horrified Emma asked, her eyes wide and her jaw agape.
"No! Your very nice father let me off with a warning," Ms. Peterson explained. "Which was very much appreciated."
She was looking at Emma then looked at her father before saying, "Ms. Peterson is always late for everything and sometimes she drives too fast. And she most definitely does not need another ticket on her record, so she's going to work very hard on changing her bad habit."
Emma smiled, satisfied with the explanation, then said to her dad, "Come on. Let me show you were my desk is!"
On their way over, another very cute little girl saw her and said, "Hi, Emma!"
"Hi, Sophie!"
"Is that your dad?" the girl asked as she stared her friend's father.
"Uh-huh," Emma replied before introducing them just like an adult would do.
Rick told Sophie 'hi' and that it was a pleasure to meet her, and just as he turned away he heard her say to Sophie, "Your dad is very handsome!"
"I know," Emma said matter of factly before showing her dad her desk and the supplies inside it.
Not surprisingly, Rick felt pretty sure he was the youngest parent there, but he'd never cared about such things. In fact, the only thing he cared about was being the best dad he could be to his little girl, and with that he sat down and waited for Ms. Peterson to get things started.
She took about ten minutes going over her her goals and procedures then asked if there were any questions. Rick found himself mesmerized as he tried to listen, but it wasn't due to her words. It was her beauty that that had him spellbound, and as she spoke he was taking inventory. Inventory of her hair, her eyes, her smile, and everything else about her.
She was dressed very modestly for the open house, but Rick could tell she was what his late father called 'a bombshell' underneath the pale pink blouse and knee-length blue floral skirt. In spite of that his brain was telling him she was much too old to even think of as someone he might ask out, and yet he found himself also looking at her left hand for a wedding ring. There wasn't one, and as the battle raged in his mind he suddenly became conscious—and then self-conscious—of what her beauty was doing to his body.
Rick casually crossed his legs and forced himself to think of something awful in order to reduce the embarrassing growth he was now trying to conceal.
"So if there aren't any other questions from the group, please feel free to see me individually," he heard Emma's teacher say.
"Do you want to talk to Ms. Peterson?" he heard his daughter ask as other parents stood up and moved her way.
"Um...yes. But why don't we give the other moms and dads a chance first, okay?" he replied as nonchalantly as he could.
"Can I go talk to Sophie?"
"Oh. Sure. Go ahead, honey."
Emma got up, walked over to her friend, who was clearly bored as her parents asked her new teacher a few questions, and Rick smiled when the girls went to the back of the room to talk. Another girl joined them a minute or so later, and by then, the um...swelling...had subsided.
