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The Legal Stuff: Dollar Runaways  © 2014 By Tiffany Shar
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright  © 2014 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Preface

Like the first four books I posted here on BigCloset, I will be posting a full copy here on BigCloset. I am planning to post it in 26 installments, but that may change if I feel like a posting needs more. The book has a total of 26 chapters and a short epilogue. The full version should be completely posted by early March. For those that cannot wait however, I have an e-book version of the full book available from Lulu.com as of today. You may find it at My Store. My assumption is that the majority of my readers would be more interested in this edition of the book rather than a hardback or paperback. There are two types of eBooks available depending on how you wish to read it. One is the ePub format that you should be able to load on any e-reader (you may need an additional app, but I believe all will read it), and the other is a standard PDF formatted file. I believe the PDF is the best way to read it on a computer screen personally. If you enjoy this work perhaps you will consider supporting me by purchasing it ($5.95 for the eBook formatted files).

One caution before continuing through this book; it is darker than my past novels have been. If it were a movie it would probably be rated R for Language and Violence. Much of this novel is just as light as you are used to seeing from me though!

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading Dollar Runaways!!

Chapter 4: Immersion

MEGAN PAID THE cab fare with the driver but also gave him an extra fifty to stay put for a while, just in case the car was a bust. She looked over at the car sitting in the driveway with a ‘For Sale’ sign on it. It looked like it was in decent shape on the blue exterior. She didn’t see any signs of hail damage and the windshield still looked pretty good too.

The door to the house opened and a Hispanic man who was about forty or so came out.

“Hi, are you Amber?” He asked politely.

“Yes sir, this is the car?”

“Si, it was my mother-in-laws car, she took real good care of it until she passed away last month.”

“Sorry to hear that,” she said.

“Well, it is what it is. She’s in a better place now. You want to look inside?” He asked.

Megan nodded and began looking through the car. It seemed clean, and to her amusement there was a very worn and faded pink booster seat in the back. Everything seemed to be in good condition and this guy seemed trustworthy.

“When was the oil changed last?”

“Today,” he answered with a smile. “When you called I did that and washed her up. You can never know for certain of course, but everything looks good under the hood. I think she’ll be a good car for you.”

It was a risk, she was terrible with cars, but there weren’t a lot of other options and the man seemed trustworthy. “You said you want thirteen?”

Megan had that much, but she wanted to pay less.

“That’s what the Blue Book asks for...” He looked at her for a moment. “I have a feeling I should sell it to you for less though. Something seems wrong with that amount. How about ten?”

“Deal,” she said and they shook hands. Ashley had watched quietly and the man asked, “Is this your daughter?”

Megan shook her head, “No, she’s my baby sister. Our parents are on vacation and I took her for the week to spend time with her.”

“That’s mighty sweet of you to do for them.”

“She’s a sweet kid, I love her to death, I don’t mind.” Megan said and gave Ashley a sideways hug.

The three of them went inside and Megan gave the man the cash. “That’s dangerous to be walking around with that much money,” he told her.

“It’s dangerous to go anywhere,” Megan told him back. “This isn’t normal though, I’ve been saving up for a new car from all of my part-time jobs the last few years.” It was a plausible lie.

“Well, I hope it does as well for you as it should. Tires are pretty new too, so you should have a couple years to go on them. When you get the new plates would you please turn in the old ones to the DMV?” He asked.

“Absolutely, no problem there!”

Megan walked outside and told the cab driver he could leave, and then helped Ashley into the back seat and the well-worn booster seat. It took her a few more minutes to get her pedals attached, and then they were off. “How is that booster seat?” She asked. It was a bit more age appropriate in appearance for her.

To her surprise Ashley said, “I like mine better... It’s a lot more comfortable.”

“Even though it’s more babyish?” Megan smiled at her and was rewarded with the tongue she knew to expect. “Better watch out or a birdie might just come and peck that tongue right off!”

Ashley giggled with that, and Megan realized she wasn’t thinking of her as Tony. She kept thinking of herself by her real name, but Ashley wasn’t the same thing. ‘This got out of hand on every level so quickly,’ she thought. ‘I know Ashley complains about the age thing every ten minutes, but she hasn’t complained about the girl thing nearly enough...” Megan sighed and noticed that Ashley was now watching the road pass by her window. ‘If it wasn’t for the fact I think this may be our only real hope for staying off of the family’s radar I would let her go back to being Tony in a heartbeat. I’m not sure when or if that’s going to ever be possible though,’ that broke her heart in a big way.

The only thing Megan could think of was, ‘Well I might as well make it special for her…’

MOM AND I headed to the nearby mall where we finally ate lunch. The extended break before we actually got to the shopping was really nice, and I was a little bit more relaxed as we shopped through some of the chain stores there. Mom seemed intent on getting anything I would need, now, rather than when we arrived wherever we did. Close to five we finally left the mall with bags hanging off of both of our arms.

“Where are we going now?” I asked.

“The American Girl store,” she told me.

I wanted to whine, but the more I thought about it I wouldn’t mind some more dolls. If I were going to be stuck playing with them for the foreseeable future at least I would have options. Mom had to dodge a nightmare of traffic, but finally pulled into the parking lot and I could see a huge red sign and building there.

“Whoa,” I said. Really I think I’d been expecting a toy store like Toys’R’Us or something.

Mom took my hand and gave it a squeeze before leading me in. “Let’s go find you a doll or two,” she told me with a smile.

The inside of the store was really neat! I found myself going down the aisles looking at all of the dolls, clothes, and accessories with a lot of interest. When we had finished looking through the store Mom asked, “So which ones?”

“How many can I get?” I asked, actually kind of excited by the dolls.

“Well, why don’t you pick two, and then I’ll pick one.”

My eyes opened a bit because I had seen the prices, but I said enthusiastically, “Okay!”

The girl of the year doll was named Saige and the signs said she was from New Mexico, so it seemed fitting I would get her. She even had red hair like me too... “How about this one?” I asked Mom excitedly.

Mom smiled at me, “She’s cute!”

I looked around and thought about some of the ones in the pretty old fashioned dresses, but I noticed the My American Girl Dolls had one that looked really close to me too, even more than Saige. Her hair was a bit lighter of a red than mine, but I picked out one of those and Mom gave me a sideways hug. She helped me pick out a few more outfits for both dolls, and grabbed a few accessories that would go with Saige. We both loved the hot air balloon, but it was just too big to keep anywhere.

Mom found a doll tote that was designed to carry two dolls and added it to our growing mountain of purchases. “Can I help you with that?” An employee asked.

“Please,” she answered.

“Are you ready to check out yet...?”

“No, we’re still looking for some things, could you hold it at the counter until we come up?”

“Sure thing!” The girl smiled at us and carried the pile over there for us. Mom and I somehow ended up over at the girls clothing part of the store and I ended up with a shirt that said American Girl on it, along with three outfits that matched the dolls.

“So which doll are you picking?” I asked Mom as we continued through the store.

She picked up one of the Bitty Baby sets, complete with starter accessory kit and said, “I think this will be more than enough for you to play with for a while.”

When we made our way up to the counter Mom said, “Those are ours too,” pointing at the stack.

“Wow, we must have a really lucky girl today,” the lady said to me. “Birthday?”

“Next week,” Mom said.

“How old are you going to be?” the lady asked.

Embarrassed for another time today I said, “Eight.”

“Well I hope you have a really great birthday!” She told me. “Would you like to have their ears pierced?” She pointed to the doll that looked like me and the Bitty Baby doll, “Saige’s are already pierced.”

Mom looked at me, and I asked, “Hers?” while pointing to the My American Girl doll.

Mom nodded, “Please just that one. I guess baby dolls don’t get their ears pierced?” Mom teased me. All of our purchases were soon rung up and she said, “Do you want to take her out of the box and you may walk over to the doll salon to get her ears pierced?”

I smiled and nodded, “Yes please!” All the while I wondered when someone was going to scream that I was a boy and shouldn’t be enjoying this!

The lady helped pull the doll out of her box and unwrapped a few spots they’d put protective wrap on. “Here you go sweetie,” she told me with a smile.

“Thank you,” I said.

Mom and I followed the signs to the hair salon and waited in line. “And what may I do for you today?” The lady behind the counter asked.

“We need to get her ears pierced,” Mom said pointing towards my doll that I was clutching.

“Alright then, did you pay up front already?” She asked and Mom showed her the receipt.

“Pass her over, and then I’ll be right back with her,” she told me with a smile. She disappeared out of sight for a moment and then handed her back to me. I smiled at the new addition of the star earrings.

“Thanks!” I said.

“You’re very welcome, and here are the other earrings that come with the package,” She said and handed Mom a small box that she added to the bag.

“Thank you so much,” Mom said and I added another thank you of my own. Finally with two huge bags apiece we headed to the car.

“Shall we go eat in the mall?” Mom suggested since it was well past dinnertime at this point.

“Sure...” I said, and added, “Can I take Kaitlyn with me?”

She smiled at me and asked, “Which one is Kaitlyn?”

“The one that looks like me!” I smiled at her as if she should have known this. “Obviously the other one is Saige, and the baby is...” I hesitated, I hadn’t come up with one for her.

“Kristin?” Mom suggested.

“Ooh, that works. Then I’ll have Kaelye, Kaitlyn, and Kristin! They’re all ‘K’ names.” I said proudly and then I giggled.

Mom helped me get her out of the box and handed her to me. “Don’t mess with her hair yet, okay?” She told me.

“Okay,” I told her. The two of us walked through the mall and I enjoyed the envious looks some of the girls showered on me. I could tell the dolls were popular because I wasn’t the only one carrying one. Mom found a restaurant inside and we settled down for a dinner that wasn’t fast food.

“Split something?” She asked me.

We hadn’t split something in a couple years... But I wasted half the food on an adult dish, and I didn’t really want anything on the kid’s menu. “Okay,” I said. We ended up with a seafood pasta dish that wasn’t too bad.

“I wish their pasta was as good as Grandma’s,” I complained quietly.

“No one makes pasta like your Grandma used to, no one,” Mom answered.

I think that whole thing made us both sadder. Grandma’s death was when I noticed Dad getting meaner and meaner. I guess losing your mom could do that to you. I silently hoped I wouldn’t lose my mom for a very long time.

It was a good thing we split the meal, because neither of us could eat another bite even with splitting it! Mom led me back into the mall and seemed to have one of her many inspirations.

“What now?” I asked, trying not to sound like I was whining.

“We need to both get our hair done better. Yours isn’t bad, but the back of it could use some work. Mine is too long... I need it to be shorter to help with everything. Can you trust me?” She asked this with a really deep hope in her eyes.

I sighed, “Of course I trust you Sis.”

The lady at the front asked, “May I help you?”

“Would you happen to be able to take my sister and I as walk-ins?”

She looked down at me and smiled. “We definitely can, you came at a good time!”

“Great!” My mom said.

“What do you want done?”

“Umm,” she looked at me and I held up Kaitlyn to her. “My sister wants her hair to match her doll if you can do it,” she said with a smile. The lady smiled too, “We get that a lot here, I think we can definitely get pretty close!”

I smiled back at her and said, “Cool!” I was a little embarrassed that it came out with a bit of a squeal.

“And I would like to cut mine to my shoulders... And both our nails done too.”

“Okay, we should be able to do all of that, follow me,” the lady led us back to an area and gave us two chairs side-by-side. Mine was decidedly smaller and definitely designed with little girls in mind.

“When did you dye your hair?” the stylist asked Mom.

“We did it yesterday...” She answered and I could tell a bit of concern there.

“You did a decent job, no roots visible really or anything, but I don’t want to do too much to burn your hair out more then.”

“No, pretty much just cut and curl it under here,” Mom said, “basically a longer bob.”

My stylist in the meantime said, “Your sister said you wanted to look like your doll?”

I nodded, “I want hair just like Kaitlyn if you can...”

“That’s her name?” She asked and I nodded, “Well I’ll do the best I can!”

“Yay!” I said.

“Would you be willing to let me put her up here on the counter so I can see her while I work?”

I nodded, “I guess.”

Once she’d been taken from me I was covered with the typical smock and she began pulling out the pigtails Mom had put in my hair that morning. She then began cutting at the ends of my hair. I knew it would be cute to have us both have the same haircut. Cute was the opposite of what Dad thought I was.

The stylist kept up a running conversation with me about my favorite dollies and I made up a lot of things. I hoped she wouldn’t think I had the wrong answers or anything. “What would you like on your nails sweetie?” The lady asked as she finished up with a curling iron on my hair.

“Umm... I don’t know?”

“Well we could do a few colors, I could paint some flowers, and I could put some little jewels on...?”

Flowers sounded kind of cool, “You can really paint flowers on my nails?” I asked.

“Watch me work!” She said with a smile and brought over a cart. I picked out a cotton candy pink as a base when she gave me a choice of that or purple and then watched her work some serious magic. How anyone could paint that tiny I didn’t understand! They were cute when she was done and had me dry them in a nail dryer. My feet were then done to match and I was done shortly before Mom. I was really glad I had switched to my sandals at the hotel so everyone could see my pretty toes!

“Here, you can hop down here and sit over there while you wait for your sister,” the lady said when she was done.

“Thank you,” I said sweetly, enjoying the fact that I seemed to be able to wrap people around my finger at least.

She smiled at me and I sat down with Kaitlyn and softly played with her while Mom was finishing up. It wasn’t too long before she was done and had some pretty nails too, but I didn’t notice right away. “Come on Princess, time to go,” she told me.

“What?” I said, startled, “Oh, okay.”

Mom paid at the front and we began the trek back to the car. “I don’t think there’s anything else we need for now...”

“Did you get makeup to replace yours?” I asked.

She stopped short, “I bought some cheap stuff... But I bet they have a Sephora here...” In another quick rush of shopping Mom was in and out of the store with some new makeup. I looked at all of the colorful displays and wondered if I was going to be pretending to be a girl long enough to need this stuff. “Mom won’t let you wear any of this until you’re thirteen.” She said with a smile as she caught me looking at eyeshadows.

I stuck my tongue out at her and we walked with her holding my hand out to the car. Mom helped me back into the seat again and she headed off to the hotel. I must have been tired, because I don’t remember the drive.

“HEY POPS, YEAH I have a tracking location for her on the luggage.”

“What did you find?” His father asked back.

“She’s in Dallas.”

“Hmm… That’s odd, her card says she’s in South Carolina.”

“What the hell?!?!”

“She’s probably not in both places son… give me the address and I’ll have someone check out Dallas. I already have someone going to check the gas station where her card was last used. Damn, she did make tracks to get out of here, huh?”

“Yeah, luckily we have the business in both places.”

“Go ahead and give me the info, I’m ready to write it down...”

Raimondo gave his dad the tracking information. He’d been lucky he was able to pay for another year of tracking and get access again. He’d let the initial year expire without renewing and he couldn’t track it for several hours.

“Kay, I’ll give you a call when I know something. Make sure that you are back up there by noon tomorrow, I don’t like what I’m hearing about stuff up there...”

“I’ll be there Pops, just find Megan.”

He hung up the phone and said softly, “Where the fuck are you bitch!?!” Ray couldn’t help but put his money on Dallas…

MOM WOKE ME up at the hotel and we took the elevator up to our room and took our bags up. It took us four trips with both of us fully loaded down to make it, so I guessed that we had bought enough stuff for now. Mom began taking tags off clothes and throwing hangers into the trash.

“Ashley, how about you take your other dolls out of the boxes?” Mom asked me, “Normally I would say we should keep those since they could be good for collectors value, but it would be weird at this point while we’re traveling... And they take up a lot of space!”

“Okay,” I said with a smile. I was kind of excited actually!

“Just be careful as you take them out. If you were really only eight I would be doing it for you.”

“Just get your story straight sis, earlier I wasn’t even eight!” I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed.

“Well it was kind of a crazy amount of money to spend on a non-birthday girl.”

I didn’t say anything but began working through the wraps and ties in the box on my Saige doll. It took me probably an hour to make it all the way through the boxes and get the accessories put into the bags Mom bought for them. I had a lot of fun though, and strangely I was really looking forward to playing with my dolls. The Bitty Baby that I had named Kristin was cute too, but I liked her older sisters a lot more! I sat a book that came with Saige off to the side so I could read it in the car the next day.

“How about you wear these pajamas tonight?” Mom suggested, holding up a set from the store. “And you can put Kaitlyn in the matching set!”

“Okay!” I said.

“How about a bath first though? There’s a huge bath here, and I bought bubble bath!”

“Cool,” I said and helped her get the bath started. She was right - the tub was gigantic! I could tell it was going to take a few minutes to fill up, so I decided to go dress my dolls for bed while I was waiting. I had sets of pajamas for all of them and quickly dressed them all and left them on my bed.

I walked back into the bathroom and Mom said, “That should be full enough,” to me.

My eyes meanwhile felt like they were going to pop out of my head with the amount of bubbles that were in the tub. “Okay,” I said.

“Since they washed your hair and did all that work earlier let’s put your hair in this,” Mom held out a shower cap.

“Can you help me?” I asked. I’d never used one and didn’t really know how to get my hair all in there.

“Take off your top first then...”

Mom slid the cap on then and left the room, leaving the door open while I undressed the rest of the way and climbed into the water. I felt like I was in a swimming pool practically and it felt really really nice. Dad had told me I couldn’t have any more bubble baths when I was really eight, telling me, “Men in our family are strong, and they do not take bubble baths. You are not going to grow up and be some sissy on me!!!”

I giggled. I wanted to never ever see Dad again, he was a monster, and now that I knew about the family meaning more than just family... Well I wondered what dad was capable of. Had he killed people?

I shuddered at that, but I thought I knew the answer. The way he beat Mom and me told me he probably had. There was no doubt in my mind that he was an evil man. I would love to have him see me just to blow his mind though. He would be soooo mad to see his son dressed up and playing the part of a girl loving her dollies in a pretty dress.

I giggled hysterically at that.

Mom came in and asked, “Are you okay?”

I managed to stop giggling for a second, “I was just thinking of the expression on Dad’s face if he saw me in a dress playing with my dollies.” I smiled broadly.

“I hope that never happens...”

“Me too, but it would almost be worth blowing his small mind.”

Mom seemed to somewhat get the humor, but she wasn’t smiling.

I decided it was time to get out of the tub and grabbed the towel to wrap it around my waist like I usually did. Mom stopped me though and wrapped it higher up. “I’m sorry Mommy,” I told her. “I know this sucks, but I know you’re going to keep us safe,” I held onto her and she held onto me.

“Come on Princess, let’s get you into your pajamas,” she insisted a few moments later. She helped me with the shower cap, and then I pulled on another set of panties with Snow White and the pajamas. Mom handed me a new toothbrush and toothpaste set and I began brushing my teeth before heading back out to the room. I picked up Kaitlyn and hugged her, asking Mom, “So are we twins?”

Mom laughed and I stood up to give her a big hug. “Thank you for the dolls, and for getting us out of there, Mom.”

“You’re welcome... I just couldn’t chance you getting hurt anymore sweetie.”

“I love you,” I told her.

“I love you too.”

I climbed into bed not long after having left Saige and Kaitlyn on the dresser next to the TV to watch over me. Mom handed me Kristin though saying, “She’s one you can sleep with if you want.”

I took her from Mom and held her tight as I lay on my side and listened to her get ready for bed. I wasn’t sure why, but I had more fun when we went to the American Girl shop than I’d had in a long time. Oh, back home I thought I was having fun, but I remembered that I always had to be careful to be ‘manly’ around Dad. I even had different games on my iPad that I played around him versus when I played by myself or around Mom. I loved puzzles and other games that he would term, ‘sissy,’ and avoided those, always finding something with action and blowing up things when he was around.

‘Dad is an asshole.’ I thought as I squeezed Kristin a little tighter.

‘I wish I could stay like this though, this is so much better than being his manly boy.’

I felt myself shudder and jolt at that thought. ‘This is just until we get away from him. I’ll go back to being a boy at the ranch...’ I smacked myself in the head with the first thought. ‘Can I though? It’s not like Dad will stop looking next week... He’s probably going to stop looking when he dies — and not a moment before then. Well, unless he goes to prison... Though that may not stop him either since the family is still out there.’

‘Would it be so bad to be a girl?’ I asked myself.

As I fell asleep my last thought was, ‘I can’t believe I never pulled out the iPad…’

RAIMONDO HAD JUST climbed into his car to start driving the rest of the way after a few hours of sleep when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Is this Ray?”

“Yes it is,” he thought he recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it, “who’s this?”

“This is Marco, down at the Dallas management office.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Well I just wanted to let you know we tracked that missing shipment you called about. Unfortunately somehow it ended up in the dump outside of town.”

“The dump?” He asked incredulously, “Away from the other packages?!?”

“Yes sir, we’ll try and find out what we can, but there’s no way we’re going to recover the items there, they’ve been buried in a pile who knows where. Just wanted to let you know. We’ll try and figure out an insurance plan in the meantime.”

“Thanks Marco.”

He punched the steering wheel as soon as he hung up, “I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT FUCKING BITCH!!!!”

It was too late to call his Dad tonight. Other people worked for him at these hours, so he decided to try and figure out another plan. ‘I can’t imagine her having managed to get the luggage to a separate place from them. I bet she either ‘lost the card’ or gave it to someone else… If I find that person…’ Megan must have had some idea that he would be doing everything he could to find her. “How in the hell did she figure out that tracker?!?” He couldn’t believe it, if she hadn’t he’d have been able to find her — even with the credit card trail.

‘Well, at least we can be pretty sure she was in Dallas... Maybe she is heading to her parents after all. I don’t know of any place she would go to in New Mexico or Arizona. But, she hasn’t been exactly following any of my guesses so far.’

He dialed his phone. “Hey...”

SOMEWHERE IN A room filled with computers, an FBI Technician noted the time of the conversation and typed up a report to send to his superiors. Something about this felt weird, and like it wasn’t just the case they were working on. They’d received a tip a year ago that a dollar store in Vermont seemed to be trafficking drugs and other illegal goods across the border. Just before they raided the operation though people figured out who owned the stores nationally. The Franchino Family had managed to keep their noses clean officially for fifty years, despite numerous investigations.

‘Maybe this call will help us start to unravel the rest of it...’

MEGAN WATCHED HER baby sleeping. Her child might have really been an almost eleven-year-old boy, but right now she would have guessed a six-year old little girl. She looked adorable laying there clutching her new doll. ‘‘He’ looked adorable clutching ‘his’ new doll,’ she corrected herself.

’He’s going to have to stay this way a while though,’ she admitted to herself. ‘I swear he seems happier though... What if he turns out to be one of those trans ladies all because of this...?’ Megan was worried about so many things, but she just couldn’t cry right then. There was just no energy left in her to cry. ‘We have to get out of Dallas now and to Gloria’s before they start looking around here too much. I just hope Ray doesn’t think to look there.’

Megan was about to climb into bed when she noticed one box that she’d bought for her son that he hadn’t even looked at. ‘He was more excited about the dolls than a new iPad!?!’ She was in total shock over that. Careful not to disturb him she took the iPad into the bathroom along with the gift cards she’d bought to load some games and stuff on. It took her a few minutes to set it up under her fake name and she used the Wal-Mart card again as a backup card to charge for billing. Once done with that she loaded the gift cards on it and decided to buy some apps via the hotel wi-fi before they left.

‘I don’t even know if Gloria will have internet out there...’ she thought to herself. ‘I don’t think I can afford to load the shooter games that he always plays when his dad is around though... Just in case someone gets hold of it.’

Megan spent the next hour picking out games that an eight-year old girl would love to play. Things like dress-up games, Disney games, and she even discovered a couple American Girl apps too. From there she found some e-books that would be good for that age too, even though she knew Ashley would fly through them. Tony might have an abusive father, but he was brilliant in school according to all of the teachers. The latest reading test he’d been given last year had indicated he was at about the twelfth grade level in comprehension. Megan also downloaded some Disney Princess movies that she knew her son would like. It was as she was waiting for these to download she realized how much trouble she had to keep it straight that she had a son, not a daughter.

‘Well, I hope he can survive this, one way or another,’ she admitted. ‘I know I’m dead if they find us, Ray will probably spare Tony’s life though... But I’m sure if he finds Tony like this there’ll be hell to pay too.’ She walked back out and left the iPad downloading, just now realizing how late it was. ‘Damn, and we have a long drive tomorrow!’

As she looked at her baby sleeping there she couldn’t help but think, ‘I wouldn’t mind if she wanted to stay like this. Maybe if I suggest she pretend to be closer to her age when we get there…’

What did you think? Comments and/or Kudos are always appreciated! If it pertains to later chapters, and contains a possible spoiler, please give people a "Spoiler Alert" warning. Thanks for reading!