Alyssa's PoV

I brushed my son's hair into a side parting, smoothing down the part at the back that always stuck up from how he slept. He fidgeted under my grip, irritated that I was pruning him like a dog ready for Crufts. It felt like that though, as today was Cody's first day of school. My beautiful baby had grown up, four years had flown by and now, as I straightened his tie, I looked at him with adoration. He was my absolute world and I wouldn't be anywhere without him. After his father left suddenly, realising the night wake ups and lack of time to yourself weren't 'his thing', we moved to somewhere smaller for the two of us and got on with it, knowing if I looked like I was struggling it would bring Cody down. I couldn't do that to him. So I held my head high, told him that daddy had gone for a while and that we needed to be there for each other. He agreed innocently. That was three and a half years ago and still, to this day, his Dad hasn't bothered. Not a penny comes from him to help pay for anything, not a weekend set aside to see him. Rumour had it that he now had a new girlfriend who he was showing off but I didn't care. I had Cody, the only decent thing that man gave me. Time had passed at crazy speed and every now and again I found myself wondering if I was absent too much, if trying to work and balance a child had been a good idea. I'd done it for us, to pay the bills and put food on the table. It had been so hard to find someone who would employ a single mum who had childcare help from her sister. It was the only thing I could do. Every Friday, when I picked Cody up from Daria's house I gave her some money, as much or as little as I could spare from that week after calculating the bills. She always refused it, out of courtesy, but I forced it into her hand. We'd never been that close growing up, but as soon as Harry had left me and Cody in the lurch, she stepped up and for that I was eternally grateful. I always wanted to repay her greatly but without the funds to do, I always fell short. She lived in a rented maisonette, she lived alone other than her dog - a fluffy cockapoo called Lion. Don't even ask. I had always wanted to find the three of us a place we could live together but we just couldn't afford it. I sighed inwardly once again as I finally got Cody to look prim and proper. This kid always wanted to play; in Sand, puddles or mud, he was always inventing some random story that kept him entertained for hours. Sometimes he was a superhero, other times the floor was lava. Whichever it was, the grin on his face had always warmed me inside. That was when I felt like I must have been doing a good job.

"But muuuuuum." Cody whined, stepping back from me. "I don't like this tie." He tugged at it, only causing it to tighten. After another fidget I loosened it again, straightening it out once more.

"Sweetheart, everyone is going to be wearing one. They're all new to the school just like you and everyone has to look super smart. You know why?" I was kneeling down to be at his height, my hands on his shoulders. He shrugged and shook his head.

"No."

"Because If you do well at school and dress smart, you can be anything you want to be!" His face lit up as he began listing off every job he wanted.

"I can be a police man?" I nodded in response. "A fireman? A builder who can drive an excavator?" I nodded again at every job he said. "A singer? A superhero?" My neck began to ache from nodding too much.

"All of those and more. Now let's both put our smart shoes on and head to school, okay?" Without another word Cody shot down the stairs, calling behind him at me.

"I'm gonna win!" I let out a soft laugh as I slowly headed down the stairs to find him stood at the door with a proud grin on his face, his shoes on his feet. I faked being shocked.

"No way! How is it possible? You must be a ninja or something, you put your shoes on too quickly!" He grinned at me as he did some ninja moves, jumping around the front room whilst I put my shoes on. I checked to make sure I had everything for work in my bag, his book bag and made sure my makeup wasn't smudging. It was so hard not to get emotional on a day like this. "Come on then Cody, time to go!" I said as excitedly as I could despite my throat tightening as I came to realise we were really doing it. His first day of school. And who was there to support him? Just me. My sister had sent me a message this morning but she had other kids to look after so she couldn't come along. It was just the two of us heading into the unknown. I grabbed his hand and rubbed my thumb over his knuckles as we left, heading down to the school which was about twenty minutes walk away from our house.

There was a queue of parents and their children, all with the mix of anxiety and excitement on their faces. I joined the back of the queue and sighed. This was going to take a while. I hope work won't mind me being late. Surely they can understand?
Cody observed the other children around him, taking interest in the girl ahead of us in the queue who had a lunchbox with PJ Masks on.

"Mummy!" He said urgently, pointing openly to her lunchbox. "Her lunchbox has PJ Masks on. That's so cool! Can you get me one like that?" He looked down disappointedly at his plain blue one that my sister had bought him. I let out a laugh as I looked over at the girl and her dad who had turned to see who was so excited about a lunchbox. The girl grinned at Cody as she held the box out to him, the two of them getting into a discussion about the characters as if they were already friends. The dad and I shared a quiet laugh as we looked down to the kids, finally looking up at each other.
My chest tightened as I saw him, his blond curly hair tied up in a bun and his piercing blue eyes taking me in.

"H-hi. I'm Alyssa. This is Cody." I smiled, trying to hide the blush on my cheeks.

"Luke." He smiled back. "And this little beauty is Kira."