A Helping Hand( Jane/Casual)

[ATTICUS FINCH]

"Now don't you worry Sir, we'll get this problem with your landlord all sorted out. And don't you think about repaying me right now, you and your wife have enough problems to deal with. Just let me handle it all for you." Atticus patted the elderly man's hand with an affectionate smile. He liked helping his clients when they needed it. This particular client was a 70 year old man who's land lord refused to fix the problems in the apartment building. The poor man's wife had half a roof fall on top of her. Thank heaven that she was alright, Atticus couldn't stand to think about something bad happening to such a sweet lady. The problem was that both husband and wife were retired and not bringing in money to support bringing a lawyer in. They had tried ever lawyer the could find and all charged them too much for a small matter such as a landlord. But Atticus was different, he took care of people no matter if they could pay or not.

He had a smile on his face as the man left the table where they had been sitting in the community center. It was a nice place, Atticus had read about it in the newspaper. It was a place he could see his kids in, which was important to him. His children needed a place that they could find something to get rid of all the access energy that they had in them.

Standing up and stretching Atticus took a look around and decided he'd take a gander at the classes they had. Maybe he could find some that would interest Jem or even Scout. He walked down on of the hallways in the community center looking at the different windows and doors that held classes inside them. There were some basic ones that held students building things or playing games, while others had the students on computers creating something. Atticus found it interesting, but nothing his children would like.

Then he came upon an art room. He looked into the window and felt a smile come across his face as he saw children with paint on their fingers and faces. It reminded him of his early days with Jem, when they used to paint the walls in bright colors to please his wife. Without even realizing it he had slipped into the class and sat at the back of the class watching the children with a small grin. Their happy giggles and laughs filled his heart with joy. Maybe he had found the class for his Children after all.

[JANE EYRE]

Even though Jane wasn't teaching full time at a high school anymore, she always made time to go to the community center on the weekends and run an art class for children of the area. She loved coming in, setting up the tarps and the finger paints, welcoming every student and getting them a name tag, and then supervising them. It really was her greatest joy to watch children having fun like that. It gave Jane a feeling of accomplishment and even serenity.

It also reinforced her desire to someday be a mother.

Today was a particularly good day as far as the children went. They were behaving, no one was eating paint, no one was throwing paint. They were all wrapped up in their masterpieces. Jane buzzed about them with a container of baby wipes and would have to stop every so often to wash a face. None of the kids minded her buzzing about like that or her wiping their face clean every ten minutes or so. They were all too busy laughing and painting.

In a moment of rest, Jane stood off to the side, watching with a smile. This was nice. She missed doing this with the Lowood girls when she had taught there.

Jane was used to parents coming in and sitting in on the class so she wasn't bothered when a man walked in. However, when no child went screaming up to him, shouting "Daddy!" at the top of his or her lungs, Jane was alerted to something that could be bad.

Strange men sitting in on her classes was never a good thing. Just as she was ready to go over to him and ask him to leave, a little girl ran up to Jane, telling her that she had finished.

"That's great Mandie, do you want to do me a really big favor?"

"Sure, Miss Eyre!"

Jane passed her the baby wipes. "Make sure everyone's face is clean for me, please." Mandie took the wipes and ran back into the fray, leaving Jane to confront the strange man in the back of the room.

"Excuse me," She said walking up to him. "Are you a parent of one of the children here?"

[ATTICUS FINCH]

Atticus felt his smile grow as he saw the young girl take control of the class. She took the kids around and made sure that everyone was clean and tidy. It made him think about his own little girl. Scout was always the bossy one, even at a young age. He couldn't count how many nights he heard her yells for him to read to her. It was always one of his favorite activities, before ending his day.

He was so caught up in his memories that he didn't notice the teacher coming up to him. He was slightly startled when he finally did notice her and stood up quickly.

"I am so sorry Ma'am, I did not mean to come in here and interrupt your class. I'm not one of the parents, but I am thinking about signing up my children in a class like this one."

He took a step back from her, rubbing the back of his head in a subconscious gesture of embarrassment. It must of been strange for this teacher to see a grown man enter her classroom and not recognize him as a parent.

He gave her a sheepish smile and smoothed down the invisible wrinkles in his suit jacket.

"I really am sorry about barging in like that, but it looked like so much fun, and I couldn't help myself." He held out his right hand "Let me introduce myself, my name is Atticus. Atticus Finch"

[JANE EYRE]

"I am so sorry Ma'am, I did not mean to come in here and interrupt your class. I'm not one of the parents, but I am thinking about signing up my children in a class like this one."

Jane nodded but was still suspicious. Unlike the English countryside, there were many men, and women, in the city who wanted to harm children or kidnap them. Jane had never had that risk back at Lowood, it was never a concern to anyone in that area really. But here, in the middle of the city, it was a big fear. Jane had the right to be wary of a grown man standing in a room filled with children, especially when that man had no real reason to be there.

Jane had her arms crossed, informing him calmly that there was a protocol to wanting to look in on a class for children. "It involves an appointment." She told him.

"I really am sorry about barging in like that, but it looked like so much fun, and I couldn't help myself. Let me introduce myself, my name is Atticus. Atticus Finch"

Jane took his hand lightly, shaking it politely. "I'm Jane Eyre, the teacher here." She dropped her hand a moment later. "Forgive me if this seems rude, but I need to see proof of your children or something of the sort. Otherwise I'd have to ask you to leave or I would be forced to call security and I would rather not do either."

[ATTICUS FINCH]

"Forgive me if this seems rude, but I need to see proof of your children or something of the sort. Otherwise I'd have to ask you to leave or I would be forced to call security and I would rather not do either."

Atticus chuckled softly "Oh No Ma'am , I don't find it rude at all. If It was my children or if I was teaching the class I would ask the same thing."

He reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a pocket watch attached to a chain. It used to be his Father's watch, and he kept it on him always. Call him old fashioned but he believed in keeping treasures close to the heart. He rubbed his thumb over the front design, a beautiful array of branches tied together in loose knots. He smiled as he pressed the button and the watch flipped open to show a family picture.

"You see that's me there in the back. The boy on my shoulders that's my eldest Jem, I think he'd like your class the most. He's always been the more artistic of the two." He pointed to a laughing boy in the picture then moved his finger down to a baby girl in the arms of a woman, " Thats Scout, she's the wild one of two and my baby girl. She'd like the class but more for the mess then the art." He chuckled again,"And that's my wife, no sorry, that was my wife"

He looked down at the smiling face of his late wife and a look of sadness came across his eyes. He missed his wife greatly, even if it had been 5 years since she died. It still hit him hard every time he forgot the say was while talking about her. And it always hurt the most when he did say was when talking to another woman. It made him feel like his wife was forgotten. Atticus knew that it was never true, but his heart couldn't seem to remember that.

[JANE EYRE]

As the man pulled out a picture, Jane stepped closer and looked over his shoulder at the small family portrait. She smiled at the haphazard arrangement of the family members, nodding as he pointed them out. "You have a lovely family." She said after he finished. It was sad that his wife had died but Jane taught too many kids with only one parent to really feel bad for them. It was a sad reality, but it was something she had to deal with already. "And I'm sorry for your loss." Jane added after a moment, patting his arm sympathetically.

"Of course your family is welcome here. Your kids would fit right in. As you can see, I teach all age groups. I even have a class for entire families, nuclear families that is." Jane felt that creativity was such an important thing to families everywhere that she loved teaching whole classes of them. It usually involved really simple projects that included every family member. One of her favorites involved using hand prints but that was a seasonal activity and Christmas had long since passed.

Jane glanced at the clock and excused herself for a moment, clapping her hands and telling everyone it was time to clean up. She moved to help them, storing away the paints while kids got themselves washed up and dried. Their pictures were hung on clothes lines that lined the room, each told that they could take it home next week.

[ATTICUS FINCH]

Atticus felt the smile return to his face as he watched the small children run around getting cleaned up. Some Children were to small to even reach the sink they were so small. It reminded him of when scout was a short little girl , and used to climb on the sink to wash her hands before suppertime. She had fractured her wrist once after falling off the sink and landing on top of it.

Not to be the one who would let that happen again Atticus rolled up his sleeves and set out to helping some of the children. He knelled down next to the sink and took a little girl's hands into his own. He rolled up the sleeves of her dress and then lifted her by the waist so she could turn on the sink.

While she washed her small hands he listen to her tell him about the pretty flowers that she had painted for her mother. Atticus would nod and at the right times tell the girl that her mother would surly love the flowers.

After the girl was done he put her down and then let her hug him. He chuckled and continued on with the little boy next in line