Alina crossed her arms. "Raise your hand if you’re vegan, sweethearts."
Boo floated gently upward, his big eyes round with curiosity. "Teacher... was I vegan?" he asked sincerely, spinning upside-down in the air like a sleepy cloud. "I only eat meat when they give it to me. Last time I think it was... um... very long ago. I don’t remember. But it had bones!"
Alina sighed. "No, sweetheart, you’re not vegan."
Boo nodded sagely. "Then who is?"
"You’re the only one who raised your head."
"Oh." He floated down and lay flat on a desk, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I wanted to be vegan and just didn’t know..."
Drake raised his hand again, his little brows scrunched into the most serious baby frown. "Teacher... what’s vegan?" he asked, clearly puzzled. He thought it meant people who only eat vegetables but then he remembered eating carrots and chicken nuggets last night, and now his tiny brain hurt. "I eat vegetables too, so I’m vegan," he mumbled to himself, eyes narrowing in deep thought. "But I also eat meat... ugh, this is so confusing!"
"No, sweetheart," Alina said patiently, "vegan means someone who doesn’t eat any meat or animal products. They eat only vegetables, fruits, nuts—things like that."
Drake looked scandalized. "Only leaves?!"
"It’s not just leaves!" Alina laughed. "And there’s something called vegan meat too—made from plants, but tastes like meat."
The class stared at her like she had just said the moon was made of tofu.
Felix blinked slowly. "Fake meat?"
Vlad Jr. looked offended. "That sounds illegal."
Alina held back a sigh. "It’s actually very healthy. And there are three types of eaters. Some eat only vegetables—those are vegans. Some eat only meat—those are carnivores. And most eat both—that’s called omnivores."
Sable whispered, "Ommy...vore," softly under his breath, like learning a secret spell.
Drake frowned, poking at his desk. "But Teacher... do dragons count as omnivores or supervores?"
"Supervores aren’t real, honey."
"But I eat everything. Even my blanket."
Alina stared at him for a second, then sighed and rubbed her temples. "You’re still an omnivore, Drake. Blankets don’t count. Please stop eating them."
And just like that, before the story even began, she had somehow given an entire lecture on dietary balance.
"Alright," she muttered, pulling her phone out again. "Now can we please read the story... before someone decides to eat the storybook itself."
"I won’t," Drake said. "Unless it’s made of meat paper."
"Let’s hop back to our topic. Storytime, right?" Alina laughed as she glanced around the classroom.
Every baby nodded—some eagerly, some suspiciously.
Drake bounced in place like his tail had springs. Boo gave an approving twirl mid-air and landed on top of a bookshelf like a story goblin. Even Luna rested her chin on her hand, giving a small yawn but not protesting. That was the most approval she could give.
"Alright," Alina said, clearing her throat and adjusting the phone in her hand, "today’s story is called ’The Three Little Princes.’"
"Ooooh," Drake whispered dramatically, eyes wide. "Are they cursed?"
"Did someone explode?" Boo added hopefully.
"Shush, let teacher read," Vlad Jr. said coldly, crossing his arms like a proper critic.
Alina smiled and began.
"Once upon a time... there was a wise old king who ruled over a beautiful, floating kingdom made of clouds. He had three sons. The first prince’s name was Raymond. He was very smart and spent most of his time reading books—"
"Boring," Drake muttered.
"—but he also knew many spells and always helped the villagers when there was trouble."
"Still boring," Drake said, louder.
Alina raised a brow but continued, "The second prince was named Cedric. He loved music. He played the harp and sang to the stars every night."
"That one’s weirder," Luna muttered, wrinkling her nose.
"Wait, wait, is there a third one?" Boo asked, floating closer, already giggling like he knew where this was going.
"There is," Alina said with a smile. "The third prince’s name... was Fluffernox."
Drake gasped. "FLUFFYNOCKS?!"
"Fluffernox," Alina corrected, holding back a laugh. "And he was the youngest. He didn’t like books or music. He liked... socks."
"He collected them. He sniffed them. He once built a castle out of nothing but left socks."
Rocky slowly raised his hand. "Did... did it smell bad?"
"Extremely," Alina nodded seriously. "But Prince Fluffernox didn’t care. He said socks were misunderstood."
"I respect that," Boo whispered.
"Anyway," Alina continued, walking slowly between the desks as she read, "one day, the kingdom was attacked by a terrible jelly monster from the underworld—"
"Was it strawberry or grape?" Drake interrupted.
"Lime," Alina said without pausing. "Very gooey."
Lucien finally looked up, resting his chin on one hand, mildly intrigued.
"The jelly monster threatened to cover the entire kingdom in stickiness. The king asked his three sons to stop it. Prince Raymond tried casting a freezing spell, but the jelly absorbed it and jiggled harder."
Drake howled with laughter. "It jiggled!!"
"Prince Cedric tried to sing it to sleep... but the jelly monster hated lullabies. It got even angrier."
Vlad Jr. gave a small smirk. "Pathetic."
"But then... Prince Fluffernox arrived," Alina said dramatically, lowering her voice. "Wearing his sacred Sock Cape made of 99 different royal socks. He charged at the jelly monster and shouted—"
"’TAKE THIS, STINKY BEAST!’" Boo shouted.
Alina grinned. "Exactly! And with one mighty leap, he wrapped the jelly in the Sock Cape and trapped it in a magical laundry basket, forever."
Then everyone burst into claps, laughs, and little gasps of amazement.
"He’s my favorite prince now!" Drake declared. "Even if his name is Fluffy-socks!"
Luna rolled her eyes. "He’s weird. But... strong."
Rocky whispered, "I liked the jelly."
Vlad Jr. gave a single nod of approval. "Not bad."
Boo raised his hand. "Can we trap people in socks too?"
"No," Alina said firmly.
She laughed, tucking her phone away. "And that, my dears, is the end of today’s story."
And the room filled with chatter and bouncing energy again, she took a moment to sit back at her desk, watching the little babies argue about who would be the best prince.