Jesse filled the doorway for a second as he walked in with his big smile and his bucket. He scanned until he found me, and waved. He wore his green sweater, and he looked really nice. We all watched the play, which was called Getting Ready for Another Day in Colonial America. After that, everyone stood around and ate beef jerky and butter-bread for a while, and then Mr. Home played some really old songs on a violin, which he called a fiddle. I didn’t even know he could do that. It was a surprise.

After we ate, Mr. Home announced that we had a special treat. The kids all sat on the rug, and the parents stood around the edges of the room. Jesse sat on a chair in front of the whiteboard with his bucket next to him and an oyster knife in one hand.

I had the job of introducing Jesse to the class, so when everyone was in their spots, I said, “The colonists ate oysters, too. New York Harbor used to be full of them. This is Jesse—he’s my dad’s fiancé, and he’s also an oyster expert.”

Then I sat down.

Carolyn Shattuck raised her hand and asked, “What’s a fiancé?” and Missy told her it’s like a secretary, so I stood up again and said, “A fiancé is the person you’re going to marry.”

Carolyn didn’t wait to be called on again. “So your dad’s marrying a man,” she said.

“Yes,” I said. “He’s marrying Jesse.” I pointed at Jesse.

Mr. Home said that people needed to wait to be called on before speaking.

Jesse was smiling, just waiting in the chair that Mr. Home had dragged over for him. He had his oyster-opening mitt on. “Great, let’s get started,” he said, and then he started talking, telling everyone about the history of oysters and New York Harbor and how the Billion Oyster Project is trying to put a billion oyster shells into the water so that, someday, oysters might decide to live in New York City again. If we’re lucky.

Carolyn was whispering at her neighbors the whole time Jesse talked. Mr. Home kept glaring at her, and so did I. Then Mr. Home asked Carolyn to sit on the beanbag chair to one side of the rug. When you’re sitting in the beanbag chair, you have to be silent.

Jesse ignored all of it. He opened up an oyster, washed it in the bucket of cold water, and asked the kids who wanted to try it. No one did. Suddenly I wasn’t sure if no one wanted to try an oyster because it was an oyster, or because Jesse was marrying my dad.

Jesse waved the oyster around. Carolyn giggled, and I hated her.

Mr. Home said, “Carolyn.” She stopped giggling.