Chapter Nine: I Can See Clearly Now; I Got My Glasses On.

Bob was neither blind nor stupid.  He knew Eliza's eyes, with possibly body and heart, had been straying.  When Gunther stopped coming around and Eliza's mood changed yet again; Bob knew things had been settled in favour of the status quo.  His family was safe, at least for now.  Bob's ego had been injured, so he began to workout.  He went jogging and even tried lifting weights at the community gym.  The jogging wasn't so bad, at least while the weather was fine, but he was hopeless in the gym environment and his laid-back, even lazy nature reasserted itself.

Eliza's sense of self had also been stung by recent events.  She took to the pavement again which had the double benefits of starting to shift the baby weight put on by Ainsley's birth and helping relieve pent up negative emotions.

Nearly a year passed.  Ainsley turned five years old and prepared to enter formal schooling.  Bob, at least, was proud that they had never needed to put Ainsley into day care.  Both he and Eliza had worked, but because he did predominantly nights and her work was daytime and flexible, they had managed with only the occasional babysitter for special circumstances.

Ainsley had been of an independent mind as a toddler, preferring to do for herself and not mixing much with strangers.  Eliza had avoided the mummy's coffee groups and still mixed with her old crowd.  Bob was still as socially awkward with new folks as ever.

This meant that the guests for Ainsley's birthday looked much the same as for Eliza's party.
Gunther and Eliza had even started socialising again as just friends.  Gunther sat at the head of the table at one point and amused Ainsley with an improvised sock puppet made out of his sleeve.  Bob made sure to sit between Gunther and Eliza when they sat down to eat.  Clara wanted to know all the latest gossip and quizzed Eliza about the school where they had gotten Ainsley enrolled.
Eliza was left to clear the dishes at the end of the night.

Ainsley didn't immediately take to school.  She was found crying in the Pancakes ensuite bathroom early one evening.  It seemed she had chosen this quiet corner of the house to avoid discovery.
When Bob asked what was wrong, Ainsley had vehemently and conclusively proclaimed "I hate school."
Further gentle, but inexperienced probing on Bob's part yielded no additional information.  Bob was forced to tuck Ainsley into bed with no resolution.  Just empty, meant to be comforting, words along the lines of "It's alright kiddo.  You'll be alright."

He spoke to Eliza about it over breakfast.
"I didn't know what to do."
Eliza replied in reasonable tones "It's all new to her.  She needs time to adjust.  That's all."


Several weeks later, Bob was picking Ainsley up from school when the teacher beckoned him over.
"Mr Pancakes, can I talk to you a moment?"  Her expression was sombre.
"Sure" Bob replied gravely, coming over to a table further into the room to ensure a little privacy and taking a seat at Ms Reed's gesture.
"Ainsley seems to be struggling to settle into school.  She's progressing nicely with her phonics sounds, but I've noticed she holds her book close to her face, she's reluctant to write or draw.  And may I ask, was she still napping in the afternoon? Because she seems to get fatigued and irritable at the end of the day."
Bob considered before replying "I figured cranky was to be expected, since she's just started, but the naps were pretty rare."  He paused before adding " I did find her crying pretty hard the other night, didn't know what to do."
"What did she say?"
"That she hated school."
"I'm sorry to hear that.  I've been wondering if Ainsley is seeing clearly.  I think she might be struggling with her vision."
"Really" Bob asked, stunned.  And then "I suppose her mother has glasses."
"Would you look at getting Ainsley checked?  If it's not vision at least we've ruled it out and if it is, the earlier any intervention the better."
"I'll look into it." Bob promised and then smiled ever so slightly at his unintended pun.

Bob spoke to Eliza and made an appointment.  The Pancakes decided not to tell Ainsley early, so as not to worry her, but the evening before they were to go to the optometrist Bob explained.
"You're going to miss school in the morning kiddo."
Ainsley looked politely puzzled while the corners of her mouth also turned up in a pleased grin.
"We're going to a doctor"
"No jabs" Ainsley exclaimed, the smile disappearing to be replaced with a look of deep concern and fear. "Or yucky medicine.  I'm not sick." she added hurriedly.
"No, you're not sick" Bob reassured her "And it's not that kind of doctor.  This one is going to look at your eyes."
"What's wrong with my eyes?"
"Maybe nothing.  But Ms Reed thinks you might be having some trouble and we wonder if maybe you need glasses like Mamma."
"Glasses... for me?" Ainsley's whole body stilled "To fix my eyes?" and then
"Does glasses hurt?"
"No kiddo" Bob laughed softly "It won't hurt at all and I'll be right with you the whole time."
"Okay Daddy." Ainsley nodded bravely.
"Come here and give me a hug."
So Ainsley did.
"Now.  It's bedtime, so get on your jammies, pick out a story and we'll brush your teeth."

And that was how Ainsley came to have her first set of corrective glasses.  She was terrible about misplacing them at first.  She also came home to report that her classmates were asking her about them.  Some were rather rude about her altered appearance, others merely curious about the novelty of spectacles on one of their peers.
Once Ainsley grew accustomed to the feeling of the glasses and her altered vision, she began to revel in the improvement.  Her mood took a dramatic turn upward and she began to enjoy and excel in school.