The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3024 by Angharad Copyright© 2016 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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252 dozen for the dodecaphiles or 12 two hundred and fifty twos.

We returned from our mountaineering and found Stephanie cuddled up with Emily and she'd obviously been asleep. She yawned and looked at us for a couple of minutes before registering where she was and who we were.

“Feel better?” I asked Stephanie.

“I think so, though just after you left I had to resist the urge to pack everything and go home.”

It didn’t surprise me. “So why didn’t you?”

“Because I thought it was over the top.”

“Emily nearly drowned.”

“But she didn’t, did she?”

“Okay, so why else did you stay?”

“Because I’m otherwise having a lovely time and it’s the first holiday I’ve had since I got pregnant.”

“Sounds fair to me.”

“I also thought if I had run away, I’d never be able to face a swimming pool again and that could stop her learning to swim which might save her life in the future.”

“That sounds even better. So are you going to avoid the pool the whole of the rest of your stay?”

“We actually went in the pool before we had our nap.”

“And?”

“It was okay, Emily enjoyed it, didn’t you, sweetie pie?”

Emily nodded with a very exaggerated movement like only toddlers can.

“It’s absolutely roasting out there, so I’m going to have a dip, if you’ll excuse me.” I went off and changed emerging about ten minutes later wearing a one-piece swimsuit and flip flops. The paving by the pool can get very warm. I went out to the pool where Trish and Livvie were racing Hannah and Meems and Danielle was showing Cate and Lizzie how to swim. It never fails to amaze me how well Danielle has matured into the role of older sister. Compared to Julie, she has so much more patience with the little ones than her older sister.

In TG stories the boy who’s forced to wear his sister’s clothes for a misdemeanour suddenly discovers that it’s so much better being a girl, though has shown no such proclivities before, yeah, right. Then almost exactly that happens to Danni, except she had shown some enjoyment in playing the female role including the clothing and makeup and if I recall correctly, making out with a young man while in such mode. So perhaps the proclivity was there all along and I didn’t wish to see it. I’m not going to think too hard about it because how she copes with her life is her business, my job is to help her when she gets stuck and currently, she is absolutely flying along. She is playing football as a woman international, has a boyfriend apparently, is doing very well in school and seems happy at home, so I’m not going to interfere and fix something that isn’t broken. That’s the job of governments.

I dived into the water and felt the coolness whoosh all around me. Rising to the surface, I did a slow breaststroke down to the shallow end where Danielle was still trying to show Lizzie how to kick her feet and legs. I stood alongside them and Danni asked me to watch the two little uns while she went for a wee. Watching her svelte body clamber up the ladder showed me that she so resembled a biological female now, only the fact that she can’t give birth or menstruate is missing. I’m aware she may need further surgery on her vagina if she grows much because the scar tissue there doesn’t grow. That might put her off somewhat and act as an inhibitor in relationships but she’ll have to deal with that if and when the time arises.

Danielle came back to the pool and took over from me with her two younger siblings. I swam a couple more lengths and decided it was enough for me, told Danielle she’d done enough with the youngsters and they climbed out with me. We showered off the chlorinated water together under what is primarily a cold water shower, except it wasn’t very cold. Presumably, the pipes are close to the surface and the water was warmed by the sun.

I took the little ones with me when I went to change and dried their hair and dressed them. I told them to sit and play while I did the same to myself. It didn’t take long and they were happily playing with dolls while I did my hair and slipped into some white shorts and a vest top with a built-in bra. I kept on the flip flops and painted my toenails purple. I wondered how long it would take the others to notice, so my reason may be seen as provocation.

The two little ones were so busy they didn’t even notice the smell of the lacquer as I did my nails so when I went out to make the dinner, they carried on with their dollies. I simply told them not to go out near the pool which they seemed to understand having seen Emily fall in.

Dinner was chicken strips which I cooked as a stir fry with bean sprouts, mushrooms and spring onions. I also cooked some fried rice and with soy sauce and some ginger dished up the dinner which appeared to go down well. It’s just so nice to be able to eat outside in the evenings without being pestered by mosquitoes and other biting insects, though we had a couple of the special candles burning just in case.

“Can I employ you as my chef, Cathy?” asked Stephanie.

“I’d probably come too expensive, you’d be better off with a professional cook and they’d be cheaper.”

“So how would you be dearer then?”

“I get a professorial salary.”

“Ooops, perhaps I’ll try a professional, as long as they’re not the professor of cooking.”

“I’m not even sure if there is one.”

“You could be the first then.”

“I don’t think so. The only person who is impressed with my culinary talents is someone with even fewer of them herself. Someone with more, would not be impressed one iota.”

“David likes your cooking, Mummy,” offered Danielle as she went off to send emails to her romantic interest.

“I suspect he’s only being polite and it’s a well know fact that professional cooks enjoy having someone cook for them.”

“Only if it’s edible,” she threw back disappearing through the doorway.

“No sexy emails,” I called after her.

“You’re no fun anymore,” was yelled back.

“I mean it.”

“So do I.”

Cheeky madam.

“I’m really enjoying being part of a family again,” said Stephanie.

“You sound like Tom,” I teased back.

“Is that what he says?”

“Frequently, or that I saved his life as he was happy to try and work himself to death. Now he interacts as a grandfather with the girls and they love him to bits.”

“He is a lovely old man, like Santa Claus with an IQ of a hundred and sixty.”

“He is pretty bright, the only one who can beat Trish at chess.”

“So has she beaten you?”

“No, I played her once and caught her with fool’s mate, I refused ever since.”

“That’s mean, not giving her a chance to draw level.”

“No, it isn’t mean, it’s survival. I have one thing she hasn’t beaten me at yet.”

“But you’re a professor, she’s only a child.”

“Yeah, a child with a huge IQ and a similar-sized ego. I need to be better at something so she respects me a little.”

“She loves you to bits, Cathy.”

“That won’t necessarily stop her destroying me just because she can. When she gets competitive, nothing much stands in her way.”

“Cathy, that is quite frightening.”

“I’d have said very not quite.”