Leo and Mouse were walking to school. He was holding her hand with one of his hands, and Happy's leash with the other, feeling so full of joy he was bouncing instead of walking. Happy, picking up on her boy's mood, was prancing along on her leash, tail held high, enjoying the smell of everything that came to her on the autumn morning air.

"Have you noticed that it's getting colder in the mornings?" he asked his mother.

"I have," she answered, giving his little hand a squeeze. "That's why we got you that new coat, big guy." Leo was wearing a blue jacket with green piping, a size six, with a detachable lining and hood for really cold weather.

"My new coat that's not a 'T-size,'" Leo said smugly. "That's what daddy said."

Henry had been surprised when Leo's coat had been a child's size, and no longer a number with the letter "T" after it, indicating that it was intended for toddlers.

"That's right," Mouse replied, looking down at Leo as they waited for the light to change on Laight Street. "You're such a big boy, Leo. You've grown so much, just in the time that I've known you."

"I'm going to be a big brother, hunh?" he asked. "I'm going to be a big brother to the little bean in your tummy, right?"

"That's right," Mouse laughed, squeezing his hand again.

Leo had the ultrasound picture in his backpack for sharing time, so he could tell the class about Mouse's pregnancy. He was touchingly pleased about the whole thing, which Mouse thought was so dear.

"When's the bean going to be born again?" Leo asked.

"Right around when you finish school," Mouse answered.

"Wow, that's still a long time away," Leo said, watching Happy chase a leaf for a few steps before she remembered she was on the leash.

"Yeah, growing a baby takes a long time," Mouse said. "But the baby needs time in my uterus to grow into a whole baby, you know? It would be really really bad if it accidentally came out too soon."

"Like what would happen?" Leo asked. He sounded worried. "Would it not have toes or something? Or maybe ears?"

"Almost," Mouse answered with a laugh. They were close to his school now, being joined by more children walking. "There could be lots of things wrong, like on the inside. The lungs might not be fully developed and ready to breathe, or its brain might not have grown all the way, stuff like that. So the safest place for the bean to be is in my tummy, for the whole forty weeks."

They had arrived at his school, and Mouse bent to kiss Leo goodbye, and to take Happy's leash. Leo leaned forward and kissed his mother enthusiastically, throwing his arms around her and squeezing as hard as he could.

"Bye, mommy, I love you!" he said as he released her. He patted Happy on the head and told her he loved her, too, and joined the stream of children going through the gate to the Kindergarten playground.

He joined his friend Dominick on the monkey bars, and as they climbed, Dominick remarked, "You know she's not your real mommy, right?"

"I know," Leo answered, continuing to climb. He wished their other friend, Noah, would come and join them, or Augustus. They were nice, and didn't say stuff like Dominick. "But she's married to my daddy now, and that makes her my mommy."

"But not really," Dominick said again, climbing up to join Leo, red plaid shirt bright in the morning sun.

Dominick knew all about this stuff because his parents had gotten a divorce, and both his mother and father had gotten remarried, so he had a new mother and a new father.

"And you're not supposed to call her 'mommy,' you know," he told Leo darkly.

"Unh hunh," Leo retorted before he could help himself. "She wants me to, she told me so!" He looked at the steel bar he was grasping and swallowed. He didn't like talking to Dominick, and wanted him to go away. "She told me she loves it, and it's one of her most favoritest things!"

Dominick shook his head, black curls waving. "She was just saying that so your daddy would like her," he said with assurance. "I called Leah mommy after she married my daddy, and she told me not to, unless my daddy was around, because it made her feel old, and because I still had a mommy, anyway."

"Well, I don't have another mommy," Leo said. "My other mommy died, so Mouse is my only one, and she told me to, so I'm gonna. I'm gonna," he repeated stoutly.

"You're gonna what?" Kenny asked, joining them on the monkey bars. Kenny was another of Leo's friends, from his class.

Dominick told him about how Leo called Mouse mommy, even though she wasn't his real mother.

Kenny nodded. "I call Jason 'daddy,'" he said helpfully. "My mommy's new husband? He's really nice, and he wanted me to. He coached my pee-wee baseball."

Dominick shook his head at Kenny. "You're not supposed to."

"My mommy's--" Leo stopped talking at Dominick's look, but took a deep breath and kept going. "My mommy's gonna have a baby," he announced, eyes glowing. "I have a picture of it in her tummy. I brought it to share at sharing time. It's in my backpack."

"Wow!" Kenny said. "Mine, too!" He let go of the bars to pat Leo on the back. "When's yours going to be borned? Ours is in February."

"Ours won't be until school's out," Leo told him.

"That just means they won't have as much time to be with you," Dominick predicted. "That's what happened at my mommy's house when my baby brother was born."

Leo looked at Dominick in surprise. This had never occurred to him. How could his mommy and daddy not have time to spend with him? He was the most important person in their life. Leo knew this. They waited for him to wake up so they could be with him and talk to him. They loved to come and pick him up at school, he could see it in their faces when he came out of his classroom.

Before he could say anything, they were joined on the monkey bars by Kerry. Kerry had blonde hair that was paler than Leo's, and dark brown eyes that reminded Leo of his mommy's.

"Hi guys!" she sang out. "What are you talking about? The bell's going to ring in four minutes." She liked to tell everyone the time, all the time, since she'd gotten her new watch.

"Leo's stepmom is having a baby," Dominick told her.

"Neat!" Kerry said, giving him a gap-toothed smile. "So's Kenny's. Is yours a boy or a girl?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know yet. It still looks like a bean. I have a picture that I brought for sharing. Wanna see?"

Kerry nodded, so they all climbed down and went to where Leo's backpack was sitting. He pulled out the picture and they passed it around.

Kenny said that it looked like one of the sonogram pictures that they had at home.

"It's ugly," Dominick announced. "It doesn't look like a baby at all."

"I told you, it still looks like a bean," Leo said. "It's still growing arms and legs and lungs and stuff."

"It's rude to say it looks ugly, Nicky," Kerry said, taking the picture from Dominick's hands. "Leo's right, it looks like a cute little bean." She smiled at Leo, crinkling her nose.

Just then, the bell rang, and Leo quickly put the picture away for sharing time.

He ran to line up, getting behind Noah.

"What were you guys looking at?" Noah asked. Noah was one of Leo's favorite friends, who had curly red hair and freckles.

Leo told him about the baby, and the picture.

Noah's face lit up. "A baby, wow!" he said. "My mommy was going to have a baby, but something happened to it. I think we're going to try to have another one, maybe next year," he added.

Leo nodded sympathetically. "That happened to us, last year," he told Noah. "It was sad, and scary, but I bet you'll have another one, like us."

Noah nodded, smiling. He slung an arm around Leo's shoulder as they entered the classroom to begin another day with Ms. Abby, their teacher, whom they loved.

At sharing time, he brought out his picture, and his class made satisfying sounds as they sat up on their knees and craned their necks to see.

"I'll pass it around," Leo said, handing it to the child closest to him.

"How wonderful, Leo," Ms. Abby said with a smile. "Your parents must be very excited."

Leo nodded from his place at the front of the class.

"Oh, no, look," Dominick said, holding the picture up. "Someone smushed the picture before I got it." He held up the sonogram photo, which was, indeed, scrunched up.

Noah, who had the photo before Dominick, shook his head vigorously. "I didn't do that," he protested.

Ms. Abby rose from her seat to take the picture from Dominick's hand. She looked at Leo, whose features were twisted with dismay as he surveyed the photograph.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I think I can fix it, okay?" She addressed the rest of the class, though her eyes rested on Dominick the longest. "If we can't be respectful of other people's things, sharing time is over for today," she said seriously. "You're excused to go to your centers. Please move quietly, boys and girls."

She took the picture to the crafts corner, where an ironing board was set up, and with an anxious Leo watching, she carefully put it face down between two towels and ironed the creases out. She handed it back to Leo, saying, "It doesn't look as good as it did, but it looks better, I think, don't you?"

Leo nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Abby," he said, smiling at her again.

"Leo, just remember, you don't have to hang around with everyone who wants to hang around with you, okay?" she said, ruffling his hair. "Just because someone calls themselves your friend, that doesn't automatically mean they are, you know? Look at how people act, not just the words they say."

Leo nodded again, and leaned in to hug his teacher. "I love you, Ms. Abby," he announced.

"Oh, I love you too, Leo," she replied.