At the end of the day

 Kyle would give anything to stay in bed all day but that wasn't happening. Not now. There was a lot going on in his life. Feeding baby Jewel in the middle of the night. Making sure there was always something to warm up from the fridge and of course, dealing with wise-butt third graders. Oh,  he was a one-man show, or so Hope kept telling him. He was dragging and yet glad he'd made it this far. 

And there was Maria, a new teacher just across the hall. They were indigenous except from different tribes. He supposed this made her want to know him more. It was a little annoying. Honestly, he didn't know exactly how to deal with it. He'd told her early on he had an infant, but that hadn't really phased her.

"Maybe, I got her all wrong." Honestly, he wasn't the type to believe everyone was out to flirt with him. Naturally, Hope got a good laugh. 

"You need more sleep, babe." was her only solution.

"She is nice," Kyle said about Maria. "I guess she's down here all by her lonesome from North Dakota. You know, it's like if she works awhile in an urban area she might get a better job back home." He shrugged. "I guess she just needs friends."

They were discussing this over meaty nachos at the coffee table while watching the local news. Of course, he couldn't eat much these days. Too much spicy food never helped matters for him while in the classroom. Maybe it was just nerves, but he wouldn't bring it up.

"I have an idea," Hope looked back at him as she was sitting on the floor with Jewel nearby. He was resting on the couch.

"Like what?"

"Let's invite her to dinner," she sounded as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Kyle closed his eyes wondering what she would want him to cook. "We'll, make it a dinner for four."

"Four of us?" Kyle winced hard.

"I'll call Frankie."

Kyle sighed. He hoped she knew what she was doing.