My name is Madonna Charlotte Adams. I was born Donald Charles Adams on July 12, 2105.

I'm the third child of six, the twins John Michael, Jr. and Jennifer are two years older than I am, and Bobby is two years younger, and the "baby" twins, Céleste and William, are three years younger. Our Daddy was John Michael Adams, Sr., Momma is Patricia Danielle, maiden name Emberly.

You'll notice that I mentioned our Daddy in the past tense. Well, the simple truth is that our father was killed in a work related accident at his factory just before Bobby's first birthday in October of 2108. This left Momma in an awkward position because Daddy left only a small pension in his will, barely enough to pay for his funeral and various legal costs. Momma was forced to find a job or go on assistance from the government to keep us all fed and housed. At that time, jobs were extremely scarce, and thus, Momma ended up on assistance.

In early November of 2108, Momma realized that she couldn't support us without another source of income, trying to feed four growing children on the pittance from the government was becoming an impossible task, even using every coupon or discount that she could find. This was necessary because she discovered that she was two months pregnant. The hardest part for Momma was when she found out that she would be having twins again.

So she went back out into the city looking for work, leaving us in the capable hands of an 18 year old girl named Thérèse. After spending almost a month looking for work with no prospects in sight, Momma decided to become a prostitute, and on the night of November 27th, she began to walk the streets in one of the seedier areas of the city.

What city, you ask? Well, that would be New Charleston, in what used to be the old state of South Carolina before the Second Civil War in 2073. That war ended with the former United States being split into a dozen or more small territories, each with their own military and government. The southeastern portion of the old United States was reborn as the Dixie Confederacy, consisting of the former states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The biggest change resulting from that war was the need to protect the cities from the fallout generated by the nuclear bombs that were launched during the war and the long term effects of greenhouse gases. Scientists had found a way to build giant bubbles that could be used to enclose the cities, and these were put into place, with the bubbles extending far enough from the old city borders to ensure that there was arable land for food crops.

The old rail systems were upgraded, then new lines were built deep underground, connecting the various cities within the Confederacy, as well as a few lines leading to major cities in the other territories across the continent and Canada to the north.

Momma went out every night, usually returning home around 4 AM. Some nights were good, some weren't, but Momma's earnings ensured that we would be able to eat well on a daily basis; what we didn't know was that she was putting about half of her earnings into a small lockbox in her closet, money that she intended to use for sending each of us to college.

Momma continued to go out and work the streets until the beginning of April of 2109, then stayed home until her water broke just after breakfast on June 1st. On June 2nd, just before 10 PM, after more than 36 hours of labour, the new twins, Céleste Marie and William Edward, were born. They weighed 7 lbs., 5 oz. And 7 lbs., 2 oz. Respectively. Cèleste was the elder by seven minutes.

Momma stayed home taking care of all of us, until the babies were fifteen months old.

On September 5th, 2110, Momma started walking the streets again. The babysitter, Thérèse, returned to take care of us. She would come over for supper, then babysit until the wee hours. Once I turned ten years old, I asked Momma if I could take over the babysitting, as Johnny and Jen weren't interested, being too busy with school and the never-ending circle of boyfriends or girlfriends; Momma agreed, with the understanding that Thérèse would always be on call for emergencies.

On May 5th, 2117, Momma was beaten and robbed by a john; she lost all her earnings for that night, about 500 credits. This caused Bobby to become extremely upset, actually, he was downright furious that anyone would harm Mommy. He vowed to replace the money.

On May 11th, after extensively checking out a wealthy neighbourhood, he stalked a woman as she was returning from a jeweler's. She was carrying a small, locked box under one arm, with an elegant purse hanging from her right shoulder.

She had no idea he was even there until he stabbed her the first time. She fell to the floor of the walkway, gasping in agony. For several minutes, in a mindless haze of rage, Bobby continued to stab her; when he regained his senses, he saw that she was dead.

Horrified, he screamed several times from the shock before he began to calm down; it was at this point that he felt a strange attraction to the blood and gore overlaying the still body of the formerly beautiful woman. While standing there looking at her, he dropped the knife, not even noticing that he had done so.

He knelt by the dead woman, picked up the box, and flipped the small latch, revealing several pieces of jewelry. He then checked her purse, finding a small wallet with several pieces of identification and some business cards, a bank card and three hundred credits in cash. Pocketing the money, the jewelry and the bank card, he looked down at the dead woman one last time, then proceeded to a pawnshop, where he sold the jewelry for over one thousand credits.

Bobby used the walkways, wandering around the city, trying not to show how nervous he was as a result of the killing, checking his timepiece every few minutes. When midnight finally arrived, he made his way to a bank machine, where he used the woman's card to withdraw the maximum amount, 5,000 credits, from her account.

Bobby returned home just before 1 AM to find Momma and I waiting up for him. We were very worried, Bobby was only nine years old and he was still awake long after his normal bedtime. He handed Momma the money and followed me to our room. Five minutes later, he was sound asleep.

I walked over to Momma's room, where I found her picking up a loose tile inside her closet. She found a crack in the floor and placed the money there. She replaced the tile, then placed a box filled with old and broken toys on top of the tile so that the money was now hidden from sight. Momma and I returned to the family rooms, where we talked about Bobby for almost an hour before going to our own beds.

At lunchtime the next day, two police officers came to our apartment; they charged Bobby with armed robbery and second degree murder. After they had finished reading him his rights, while he stood there sullenly listening, they handcuffed him and led him away.

The younger twins cried for more than three hours after Bobby was arrested. Momma took all of us to a snack bar, where she treated us to ice cream, hoping to calm us down and distract us from the arrest; due to our financial situation, this was a rare occurrence in our home, so it was something we usually enjoyed immensely, but even the ice cream couldn't fill the sudden hole in our lives. Momma and I didn't sleep at all that night.

Bobby was tried, convicted and sentenced on June 2nd. On July 6th, he was transferred to the juvenile Detention Facility on the edge of the city. The facility had its own private bubble, connected to the city's by an enclosed path with an airlock at each end. Little did I realize that I, too, would soon be there.

This is a revision of a post that I had here, originally comprising the next two chapters of the story.

When I posted it, there were comments that the whole of what was chapter 5 at that point was gratuitous, unnecessary violence. I responded, saying that I had felt it was needed, but afterward, I pretty much gave up on continuing the story.

That was how it stood until a few days ago, when i decided to revise it, in effect removing all of the fifth chapter, and providing an alternate set of actions that led to the same result, the capture/arrest of the main character.

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On September 14th of that same year, Momma was beaten and robbed again, right there in our apartment, by another john. While he was beating her, I went into my room, opened my closet, moved a few items around and pulled out the box containing the antique Glock 19 pistol that belonged to my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who served in the US Army in the last quarter of the 20th century, then as a state trooper in South Carolina.

In the same box that held the gun, there was a small bag filled with fifteen shot magazines for the Glock and a pamphlet describing how to clean and care for the gun; I had spent many hours reading that little pamphlet, until I knew it inside and out, and had tried my best to make sure the gun was in good operating condition.

Once I had everything that I wanted, I waited, lying on my bed as quietly as possible, listening to the shouting and the thumps and thuds as he knocked her around her room; after a few minutes, Momma apparently calmed him down, and they returned to the bed, the creaks and squeaks coming from the bed making it very clear what they were doing.

Finally, I heard him talking quietly to Momma, then moving toward the outer door of the apartment. I waited a moment, listening to Momma as she returned to her room. As the door closed behind him, I slipped into the family room and activated a hidden monitor by whispering the word “infinite”. A few seconds later, I could see him walking away from our apartment in the direction of our level's business area. I was determined to keep him in my direct line of sight until he returned to his home.

After checking to make sure that Momma wasn't coming out of her room, I opened the outer door and left the apartment, holding the door to ensure that it closed as quietly as possible, then began to follow the man. As he walked toward and then through the business area, I watched him constantly, noticing that he never looked back. Several minutes later, he stepped on a walkway and pulled out an elevator remote call button, letting the walkway carry him for about a hundred meters before he stepped off and walked toward the elevator located in the corridor's inner wall. As he approached the elevator, I moved quickly, following close behind him as he entered it. He didn't recognize me at all, so I felt confident as we were lifted skyward.

When he exited the elevator and stepped onto another walkway, I was directly behind him. I remained within several feet of him until he left the walkway at an intersection close to his home. Eventually, he stopped by a door and used his access key to open it, dropping it back into his pocket as he stepped in through the doorway.

I moved in fast, brought the gun up with both my hands wrapped firmly around the butt, and shot him at least a dozen times in the back, the trembling in my hands causing the gun to waver back and forth, up and down as I kept pulling the trigger, making entry holes all over his back as he slowly toppled to the carpeted floor of his foyer. Then, still trembling, I reached down with my left hand, rolled him over onto his back, checked the pistol, noticed a bullet still in the chamber, lowered the gun until it was touching his forehead and pulled the trigger again.

I looked around briefly, my fear of being discovered growing by leaps and bounds, then quickly searched him; I found his wallet in one pocket, his access key and elevator remote call button in a second, and some small change in a third.

With the gun still in my hand, I turned and ran toward the elevator, using his remote call to bring it up to his floor. Once by the elevator, I was forced to wait, and my emotions began to overtake me, mostly the worry of being found so close to the scene, but also the fear that I might be caught, and what might happen as a result.

Finally, the elevator arrived, and with a quick sigh of relief, I stepped into it, only to find myself walking right into the hands of several security people and two police officers. I was so shocked that I squeaked in alarm, tried to turn around so I could run away, but the officers grabbed me by the arms just as I started to turn.

Realizing that I was truly caught, I started to shake like a leaf, trembling harder and harder, my head whipping from side to side, looking for a way out. No escape was possible, as they were holding on to me quite firmly, and the fright and worry overloaded my mind, turning everything into blackness.

This is the first of what I hope will be many little scenes of angelic interventions.

There are no TG/TS characters in this one. Some episodes will have TG/TS character(s), some won't. Those with them will be marked.

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School had just finished for the day, little Billy Ryder walked out to his bike, unlocked it, dropped his bag of books in the carrier and turned the bike around to face the street. He climbed on, not an easy thing to do as he wasn't very big, but eventually he was on it and pedalling away.

He made sure to stop at the inner edge of the sidewalk and look both ways before he turned onto the street to head toward his home.

He travelled several blocks, then began to hear what sounded like popping noises some distance ahead of him. He continued riding.

Seventeen boys from the North Wind Dragons MC club had crossed paths with a dozen or so guys from the Wild Mustangs MC club. The two gangs went at each other, using everything from baseball bats to lead pipes to handguns and sawed off shotguns in the fight.

The noise around the impromptu street battle was appalling, people ducked into shops or homes and locked the doors. The actual fight was taking place in front of Jimmy's Southwest Steakhouse, Grill & Bar, a location sometimes used by the Mustangs for club meetings.

Little Billy Ryder's route would pass right by the bar. He kept pedalling along, wondering what was making all the noise.

The noise kept getting louder as he rode closer. Those big bangs he was hearing had to be either guns or cars backfiring, most likely guns.

Billy had stopped for a moment and was just about to turn and head down a side street when a hand touched his shoulder.

He looked up and saw a tall, rugged looking man standing beside him, wearing a button down dress shirt and crisply pressed pants. That man looked down at him, smiling, then gestured for Billy to continue on his way home while he asked Billy about his day in school.

Billy chattered away about the kids in his classes, especially Tommy Baron and Sam James, two boys in his grade. Billy also mentioned three girls, Jeanie Blake, Patty Savannah-Valens and Ellie Trent, mostly about how they seemed to like doing things that were not very girlish.

The tall, rugged man walked beside Billy, his right hand holding onto Billy's left one as Billy slowly pedalled the bike down the street.

The two walked right by the big fight outside the bar, guys were being punched, hit, shot from one end of the place to the other. Several bullets went past the big man and the little boy, a few of them passing very close to the two. Billy held on to the man's hand very tightly.

The big guy to Billy's left glanced across the street, nodding, it seemed quite obvious that several of those guys wouldn't survive the fight.

The two continued onward, eventually reaching a point only a few blocks from Billy's home.

"Time for me to go, son. You take care of your mama and little sister, okay?" The big man smiled as he watched Billy pedal on his way.

Billy was soon home, dropping his bike in the back yard, then headed into the house, placing his book bag on the dining room table.

His mother smiled at him, she had been reading a book while rocking Billy's baby sister Bess in a cradle built by her father many years ago. Billy grinned over at his mother, he had vague memories of having been rocked in that very same cradle back when he was a baby.

He shuffled off toward the front door, where he took off his shoes and light jacket, then carefully hang the jacket in the hall closet.

Once that was done, he returned to the dining room, opened the bag, pulled out his homework and laid it on the table top. He spent a brief moment telling his mom about the big fight by the bar as he went by, including that a man had walked with him at that point. There wasn't a lot of homework to be done, the hard part for him was the math questions, but he took his time answering them, thinking each one through.

The next hour or two went by as it often did, with his mother eventually heading into the kitchen to start making dinner. While mom was doing that, Billy checked on his little sister occasionally, and when his homework was finished, he sat beside Bess, rocking her back and forth.

His mother kept a small colour TV in the kitchen so she could watch the early news at 5:30 each evening.

The anchor started talking about the big fight in front of the bar and Billy's mother looked over to see what the woman was talking about. There, walking right past the fight, just across the street, was her little boy Billy, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.

Someone passing by had had a video camera and had caught what she could now see. Next to Billy, between him and the godawful battle, was a tall shape slowly walking down the street. That shape was quite clearly holding onto Billy's left hand as they passed the fight.

It wasn't so much the fact that there was a shape beside Billy, it was that that shape could just barely be seen, as if some kind of weird electromagnetic effect or something was making it impossible to clearly see it. Billy's hand was reaching up and holding the hand of the tall shape, a shape that, if she squinted for a moment, appeared to have what looked like nearly invisible huge wings spreading out from his back.

Billy's mom ran out to the dining room table, where she examined her little guy quite closely, but she couldn't see a single scratch, nothing.

She looked up while hugging Billy tight, then whispered as the tears started to flow, "Bless you for keeping my little boy safe from harm."

Shauntelle Brannon lay on her shabby bed in the small, dingy room she shared with another girl, Valerie Evans.

Valerie was out working the street at the moment, not that any of them had much choice about it, as each of the seven that lived in this old three bedroom house on the edge of town had all been hooked on a variety of legal and illegal drugs over the last two years or so.

Shauntelle was still in bed because she had come down with a case of the flu and their pimp, Sebastio, had given her strict orders to stay inside until she was well again. Alicia Kelmar, a girl like Shauntelle, entered the room carrying a large mug filled with hot chicken noodle soup. Alicia handed the mug of soup to Shauntelle, standing there for a moment to ensure that Shauntelle actually started to eat, then left the room.

Shauntelle had pushed herself up in the bed until she was relaxing against the wall behind her when Alicia passed the mug to her. While she slowly but methodically worked her way through the delicious contents of the mug, she thought about how she had ended up here.

Shauntelle, you see, had been born male, and was known as Shaun until shortly before his fifteenth birthday. He had known for some time that he should have been born female, but had suppressed it until it could no longer be contained and he finally told his parents.

To say that that had not gone well would be a vast understatement. Shaun's father had backhanded him hard, sending Shaun crashing into a nearby wall and creating a fair sized hole in the process, then laid a nasty beating on Shaun before literally throwing him out of the house.

Shaun's father, Brian, stood on the porch yelling at him, "You are no son of mine! If I ever see you again, I'll kill you! Now bugger off!"

Shaun had slowly hauled himself to his feet, one hand holding his ribs on the left side, then staggered away from the house. Shaun was not watching where he went at that point, it was all he could do to stay on his feet and keep moving, eventually collapsing against a wall.

The wall in question was a property marker between one of the three library locations in the city Shaun lived in and a large house next door.

Shaun lost all knowledge of the world around him at that point, descending into oblivion while leaning against that wall.

The owner of the house, Mrs. Eileen Brady, came out on her porch late that evening to have a look around before heading off to her bed. To her surprise, there was a person slumped against that wall at the edge of the property, so she wandered over to take a look.

It didn't take long to see what had been done to the boy, Eileen was seriously upset. She yelled for her husband, Colm, to come out and help her; between the two of them, they carefully lifted Shaun up and carried him into their living room, placing him on their old sofa to rest.

Shaun woke up a few hours later to find himself lying on the old sofa. The ribs hurt a fair bit, but he thought they might just be bruised. He knew that there would be an obvious mark on his face from that first slap, and likely several other bruises, but he could handle a little pain.

Shaun used the downstairs bathroom, then carefully laid down on the sofa again, and eventually slept.

Eileen and Colm woke him up early the next day, fed him, listened to what had happened to him, then respectfully agreed not to do anything regarding it largely due to Shaun's saying he wasn't seriously injured. They exchanged phone numbers, then Shaun went on his way.

For the next three weeks, Shaun managed to keep himself fed, although his clothes were becoming rather dirty and quite stinky.

Then he ran into Sebastio in a cafe/bar for teens that didn't card anyone; so long as you didn't cause problems, you were welcome in there.

Sebastio talked with him for a fair while, plying Shaun with drinks; Shaun, being only seventeen, wasn't paying attention to how much he was drinking. Eventually, it reached the point where Shaun was drunk enough that he wasn't very steady on his feet; when Sebastio offered to drive him home, Shaun just nodded, staggering over to Sebastio's car with Sebastio making sure he didn't fall down during that brief walk.

Shaun barely managed to put the seat belt on before Sebastio started driving, then passed out a few minutes later.

Shaun was still out of it when Sebastio arrived at the shabby old house, Sebastio carried him up to a bedroom on the second floor. Sebastio laid Shaun on a bed, stripped him, then grinned a wolfish smile as he headed down to his small office, pulled something from a locked cabinet in the office and carried it upstairs. Sebastio laughed as he filled a syringe with heroin and injected it into the young man's arm near the elbow.

It didn't take too long before the heroin became the controlling force in the youngster's life, then crack and speed were added to the mix. By the time Shaun's eighteenth birthday arrived, he was seriously underweight, being 5'9" tall and maybe 125 pounds.

Somewhere along the line, Shaun had told Sebastio about being transgender, and Sebastio obtained hormones that slowly worked their changes on Shauntelle's very slender body. Sebastio also forced her to eat more as the hormones would need the fuel to boost her transition.

Time passed, Shauntelle's body became more and more feminine, eventually reaching a B cup with slight padding around her hips. The drug use continued, with Shauntelle eventually being forced to do her own injections, shifting from one location on her body to another as needed.

Shauntelle was finally alone in the house that day, the other girls that lived there had all headed out to their usual "work" locations.

She dozed off and on as her body recovered from the flu; what she didn't realize was she was also clearing her system of the drugs. On a few occasions that evening and night, Shauntelle went into brief convulsions as her body reacted to the lack of drugs. With no one else in the house, she was very lucky that none of the convulsions had any other effects; they ended and she slept for an hour or so each time.

At one point that night, shortly after 1:30 AM according to the small clock on the nightstand the girls shared, Shauntelle noticed an odd light in her room and looked up to see what could only be described as a glowing winged female standing about five feet away from her.

"Come, child, it is time for you to leave this place, I will take you to people who will love you and care for you as if you were their own child."

Shauntelle giggled, she had to be hallucinating, there was no way an angel would be here to rescue her.

"Have you forgotten Eileen and Colm so soon, child? They have worried for the last two years because you stopped calling them."

Shauntelle had to sit back and think for a few minutes before she remembered meeting the older couple after the beating from her father.

"Yes, child, they wanted to report him for what he did to you then, but you persuaded them to let it go, so they did for your sake."

Shauntelle whispered, "I'm not the same person as I was then. I'm transgender, I'm an addict, I'm a fucking whore, dammit!"

"You have the chance to put all the bad things of the last two years or so behind you child, if you give them the chance to love you."

The shining angel held out her hand, waiting to see what Shauntelle would do.

"They will help me?" Shauntelle asked, "Even with all that has happened to me?"

"I believe so, child, now come, your time to leave here without being seen is limited."

Shauntelle smiled, whispering, "Okay," as she climbed out of the bed, wearing only a long sheer nightgown and grasped the angel's hand.

The two walked down the stairs, out the front door and down the street, Shauntelle was surprised that the angel's glow disappeared.

The angel laughed, remarking to Shauntelle as they continued walking, "I don't want to advertise my presence, you know."

It was a slow journey, with many stops, as Shauntelle would suddenly slump, convulsing briefly within the angel's outstretched wings. Yet it wasn't long after each of these stops before Shauntelle would be on her feet again and walking onward across the city to the Brady home.

Eileen was relaxing on her front porch when Shauntelle staggered up her walk, then collapsed just a few feet from the steps. Eileen never noticed the angel that had been with Shauntelle; the angel smiled when Eileen came down to check on Shauntelle, then vanished.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for Eileen to recognize the young person lying there. Just like the first time they had met, she yelled for her husband Colm and the two carried Shauntelle into the house, once again laying her on that old, comfortable sofa to rest.

Over the next six months, Eileen and Colm got Shauntelle all the medical help she needed, eventually allowing Shauntelle to overcome the addictions she had been dealing with, plus they found her a good psych doctor to oversee her transition and hormone regimen.

The biggest gift they could give her, though, was when they showed her the adoption forms they had filled out in her name.

Shauntelle wept, hugging the two hard for a moment, then signed the forms. Now she could start anew.

The caution is not for an actual rape, but an attempted one. There is no caution for attempted rape, so I used that one.

Samuel Thomas Kerrigan sat in his recliner in the living room of his tiny bachelor apartment, staring into a nearly empty long neck bottle. There were dozens of identical bottles scattered across the floor around his chair, and eleven more left in the case he had bought earlier today.

His life had been good before everything changed seven years ago, a beautiful and loving wife, a rambunctious five year old boy, Daniel, a beautiful little three year old angel of a girl named Alison and a 15 month old golden retriever that loved the kids as if they were litter mates.

Then his wife reported him to the police, insinuating that he intended to sexually assault his precious little girl.

Never mind that it had taken him over six months to have the stigma of the charges removed, he had watched his family be ripped apart by her and had come very close to losing his freedom. He had barely managed to hold onto his job at the radio station as the sound tech; if his boss, Felix, hadn't known him for almost eight years after hiring him just days after his high school graduation... well, better to leave that alone.

He was still staring into the depths of that long neck, on the point of raising it to drink the last of the beer, when the impossible happened. There was no way it could be real, but he stared at his apartment door as someone, no, some THING, walked through it as if it were vapour.

The hallucination threw him for a loop when it stared at him and whispered, "Do ye plan to drink yerself into the grave, Sammy?"

"What business is it of yours, whatever the hell you are?" Sam snarled at the brightly shining creature. Damn, now he would have a migraine!

"I be an angel, Sammy. Have ye not drowned yer sorrows enow yet? It has been nigh on seven years, me bucko!"

Sam couldn't believe his eyes, this supposed angel was standing on at least three bottles, yet none of them were broken? How could that be?

"I am nae a ghost, Sammy, I be an angel, I tell ye. I can appear to ye without being fully physical. Do ye intend to let her win? Do ye?"

Let her win? Her who? Did this creature mean his wife or someone else? He shook his head, sighed and drank the last of the beer, then reached down to the case beside the chair, picked up another bottle and used the bottle opener sitting on the end table to open it.

Opening the bottle wasn't as easy as it normally would be, thanks to how many beers he had already consumed tonight, but he managed it eventually. Once it was open, he carefully set the bottle opener back onto the end table, then tipped the bottle up and chugged half of it.

"She already has won," he muttered at the bottle in his hand, "She has the house, a new car, the children, a boyfriend and a divorce decree."

The purported angel sighed, then stepped closer and took the bottle from Samuel's suddenly shaking hand.

"She has nae won yet, Sammy boy, e'en though it may seem to be that way to ye. Would ye let her harm the children?"

That brought an expression of anger to Samuel's face. "Let her harm them? Hell, no! What in the seven hells is she doing to them?" he snarled.

"Ahhh, that looks more like the Sammy that ye used to be! Why, she be setting up your little angel to be hurt as she accused ye of doing."

The meaning of that statement changed the anger that Samuel was feeling to utter horror. "She'll let some bastard rape my little angel?" The actual angel standing in front of his chair nodded her head, then extended her hand as Samuel grabbed the chair and attempted to stand.

"That be what she intends to do, aye," the angel replied. "Do ye care enow to protect yer little ones, nae matter what it may cost ye?"

"I'd wade through the fires of hell itself to protect my children, dammit!" Samuel hissed as he swayed unsteadily in front of his recliner.

"Then get yourself to yer bed, me boy, get some sleep, and when ye wake up, call yer friend the lawyer, have her contact a judge for ye."

"Are you saying that I can save my kids from whatever she is planning?" Samuel asked the creature as he nearly fell down.

"Aye, Sammy, ye can, but ye canna drown herself in the bottles nae more, do ye hear me? Ye must be strong for yer little ones!"

Samuel swayed again, barely managing to stay upright, turned and muttered as he stumbled to his bed, "I swear it, on my honour!"

The angel nodded, her job was done. So long as Samuel did not break his oath, the children would be safe. She smiled and vanished.

Samuel collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to undress or to cover himself and slept as he had not done for almost seven years. He woke up a few minutes before 8 AM the next morning, used the toilet, then showered and shaved before he pulled his one suit from the hall closet.

He was about to put the suit on when he remembered the creature from last night saying he needed to call his lawyer friend right away. He stalked over to the kitchen table, spotted his cell phone on the floor, picked it up and dialled the number from memory, then listened as it rang.

The phone was picked up on the second ring, a pleasant female voice stated, "Hello, Samuel, it's been a long time since you last called me."

Samuel sighed, then answered her, "Yes, Bonita, it has. Can you get a restraining order against my ex-wife and her boyfriend?"

Bonita frowned, why would Sam Kerrigan be wanting a restraining order now? The poor guy's ex-wife had divorced him six years ago.

"Sam, you need to talk to me and explain why you need one. I can't just go in and ask Judge Browning without a damn good reason."

"Bonita, a friend of mine came by last night and said something to me that leads me to believe my ex-wife's new boyfriend is a pedophile."

"That's a very serious allegation to make, Sam. How did this woman discover this and why did she only tell you now?" Bonita asked him.

"She said that the guy has done this before, he gets close to women with young kids, then does... I can't even say it, it makes me feel sick."

"That's still only hearsay, Sam. Do you know his name? Anything about him?"

Samuel sighed into the phone, "No, Bonita, I've never actually met the guy, I've only seen him once or twice with my ex and the kids." Samuel turned and looked out the window at the rain falling hard enough that it seemed as if the very heavens were crying in wretched sorrow.

Bonita growled through the phone, "You were close enough to see him and did nothing?"

"I did nothing back then, Bonita, because I try to stay away from the ex, I lost almost everything years ago thanks to her," Samuel snarled. "Also, I didn't have any idea the guy might be like my friend last night implied. I try not to run around accusing people of things, but this time, if there is even the slightest chance that my friend was correct, I have to do something! I can't let my little girl be harmed by doing nothing!"

Samuel shuddered as he saw the image in his mind's eye of what could happen if he ignored what the strange creature had told him the night before. "I will do everything I can to protect my children, Bonita, even if it means that I put my life on the line in the process."

"Sam, slow down, you can't go running around acting like a vigilante!" Bonita declared.

"Bonita, you've known me since Danny was a year old. You know that I value my word as my bond, my honour, yes?"

Bonita listened to Sam, who seemed to be more exasperated by the minute. "Yes, Sam. Just what does that have to do with it."

"I swore an oath last night, on my honour, Bonita, that I would not drink any more because I need to be fully aware to help protect my kids."

"People break oaths all the time, Sam. That doesn't change anything in the situation you've told me here."

"Oh, but it does, Bonita," Samuel chuckled, "When have you ever known me to break an oath I had made? My word is my honour, remember?"

Bonita was quiet for a few minutes, then muttered into the phone, "You've never broken an oath that I heard you make."

"Bonita, I can't be sure, but it's possible that my wife hooked up with the guy to actually have him do what she accused me of intending to do."

"Why would your ex do that?" Bonita enquired. "That would make her an accomplice at the very least if it did happen and she was involved. If it was proven that she intended it to happen, that would raise it to the level of either conspiracy or actual accessory to rape."

"Because she conned me for years, Bonita, led me to believe we had a life with each other, then almost destroyed my life for the heck of it. Can you give me any other plausible reason for her alleging that I intended to sexually assault my own daughter seven years ago?"

"You know I can't, Sam. You know darn well that I know that you would never harm a child, not if there were any way to avoid it."

"And yet you sit there in your lovely house and tell me that I cannot protect my own daughter from something that would definitely harm her? Bonita, if you do nothing, I WILL put my life on the line to prevent my little angel from being harmed by this bastard. I swear it."

"Oh, dear God, Sam, are you insane? You could be throwing your life away!"

"No, not at all, Bonita," Samuel replied, "My wife is the one that threw my life away seven years ago, I drowned my anger in beer since then. Now I have a chance to turn my life around, from the hell it has been since she made that blasted accusation, and to keep my little angel safe."

"All right, Sam, I'm not promising anything, let me see if I can find something to take to Judge Browning. I'll get back to you later."

Sam listened as Bonita hung up the phone, then he dropped his phone on the kitchen table and put on one of his at work outfits.

He left the tiny apartment a few minutes later, heading in to the radio station, where he made sure the audio equipment was working properly. He would examine the equipment at least two or three times each day, then watch the control systems for anything out of the ordinary.

He rarely had to do much more than sit around for most of the day, but that was okay, he was paid to be there even if nothing happened.

He had just finished another check of the equipment while the DJ took a brief break when his cell phone rang. He answered it right away.

"Sam, it seems you were right," Bonita stated. "A detective I know on the force here found your ex's boyfriend on an old warrant list, his name is John James Barber, he was accused of raping two little girls in a city on the other side of the state five years ago and was acquitted on a technicality. Judge Browning issued the restraining order thirty minutes ago, the police are on the way to your ex's home to hand over the restraining orders and to pick up the children. You are not, I repeat, you are not to be anywhere near your ex's house, is that understood?"

Samuel shook his head, he wanted to be there for his daughter, but Bonita was right. "I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."

Samuel sat in his booth watching the audio systems, praying that his children would be safe. He was worried to the point of being nauseous. It was not an easy thing for him to let other people do what was needed, but this way, if his ex was involved, he would not be implicated.

Samuel's shift ended, the evening guy, Parker, walked past him into the audio room and Samuel shuffled out of the building. He had just entered his fifteen year old rust bucket of a car when his phone rang again. He answered it on the second ring, Bonita was calling again.

"Sam, I need you to go to the courthouse. Police officers are bringing Danny and Allie there, your ex and the boyfriend were just arrested. Your wife refused to obey the court order, ran back into the house without closing the door, and the police followed her up the stairs, where they discovered the boyfriend stripping your little girl. It gets worse, though, your ex was screaming for him to "fuck the little cunt good!"

"Oh, my God!" Sam yelled, "So they got there in time, he hadn't done anything beyond stripping my little angel?"

"That's right, Sam," Bonita whispered. "Just be glad they weren't any slower. Both are facing charges including attempted sexual assault."

"Thank you for listening to me earlier today, Bonita," Samuel responded. "I'm on my way."

Sam listened to the angel and by not interfering in what took place, was about to be reunited with his children after seven lonely years. He wasn't happy it had come to this, but he would do everything he could to give Daniel and Alison a stable, loving home from this day forward.

Alaric Stephens was riding his Harley Davidson 2009 model year Fatboy, having just entered the town of Silverhill, Texas and decided to pull into a restaurant and bar that reminded him somewhat of an old English pub with its heavy wooden beams and part wood, part stone walls.

He was a big, sturdy, muscular man, standing 6'2" in stocking feet, weighing about 205 pounds, with a medium brown crewcut. He was clad in a pair of heavy leather pants, a 3XL t-shirt with a picture of a Harley Davidson Fatboy on it, a zipped up worn leather jacket and combat boots.

The only part of the building that didn't match that iconic pub image was the 30 foot wide, six foot high plexiglass window across the front.

He found a seat next to the big window and glanced out for a moment at his bike sitting a short distance from the front entrance. He hadn't been in there for more than two minutes when a pleasant looking woman about 40 or so stepped up, asking "What would you like today, sir?"

He thought for a moment, then replied, saying, "A 12 oz. New York style steak, rare, a large baked potato and a King Cobra beer, please."

She smiled as she wrote down his order, then turned and walked back to a door in the back wall, poked her head through it and passed on the order to the cook and a young male who was busy sweeping the floor. The young man stopped for a moment and brought her the beer.

She took the bottle, walked back to the table and set the bottle on the table, pulled a bottle opener from a pocket and removed the cap. She then walked over to the bar area, picked up a tall glass, filled it with water and brought it to the table, placing the glass in the middle of the table.

Alaric thanked her, picked up the bottle, raised it to his nose briefly to sniff the contents, then grinned and took a nice, long drink.

He was actually surprised to find this specific beer here, there were plenty of places that stuck to the more common American beers. That didn't stop him from enjoying the beer as he looked up at the 50" flat screen TV hanging at the far end of the bar counter near the kitchen.

He didn't watch the TV for long, it seemed to be showing a recap of a recent college football game that didn't appeal to him at all.

Alaric shook his head, he'd seen things in his four years of service in Iraq that made football games seem completely juvenile to him. He'd never gotten past private first class in those four years, largely because he cared more about keeping his buddies safe than following silly rules. Hell, there were several times during those four years that most of his company would have been wiped out if he or others obeyed those rules.

He had finished about 2/3 of the bottle by the time the waitress brought him his steak and potato, and he thanked her again.

He cut a small piece of the steak, caught it on his fork, then brought it up, taking that first bite. Would it be done right or not?

He chewed on it for a moment, then grinned and turned, giving a thumbs up to the waitress next to the bar, the steak was perfect!

He turned back to his meal, settling down to enjoy it, it had been a long time, over four years, since he had last tasted a good steak. He was smiling as he continued to eat the steak and the potato, which had also been done to perfection, properly cooked without being dried out.

Some people liked to have a pat of butter or margarine on their potato. He didn't, he preferred to have his au naturel. Mmmm...

He finished eating about fifteen minutes later, having finished the beer as he ate. He relaxed in the bench seat, quite contented.

The waitress noticed that he was no longer eating a few minutes later, came over and asked him if he wanted anything else.

Alaric replied that he was fine, waited to receive the bill, then paid it and left a nice tip for the waitress before he exited the restaurant.

Katerina Paulsen was exiting a large supermarket on the other side of Silverhill when someone ran up behind her and hit her with what looked to be a homemade spiked blackjack; the first hit struck her on the right side of the head, the ball on the tip of the weapon wrapping around and striking her in the eye. The attacker struck several more times, first on the head, then between the legs, before running away from her.

Kate was known to many of the folks in Silverhill as "that freak", "the damn tranny" and by many similar epithets. She had come out three years ago, started her transition and tried to cope with the harassment that came her way from coworkers and many others in the small town.

It was at this point that a stranger stood over the fallen girl, he appeared to be a tall, weatherworn individual of indeterminate age. What was truly odd is that Bob Andrews, one of the town's two unofficial firefighters, was exiting the market and walked away without seeing the person.

The odd individual continued to stand over the badly hurt girl, he seemed to be waiting for someone or something, perhaps guarding her?

Alaric spent a few minutes checking the items in his hard case saddlebags on the back end of the Fatboy. There was a medical kit he had bought three days after his army service had ended, he had been trained as an auxiliary medic while in his second two year tour in Iraq.

During his last year, he had spent as much time patching members of his company up as he had out in the field fighting in various battles.

Everything seemed to be where it belonged, one last quick glance caused him to decide to pick up some bottled water for the trip.

Perhaps fate was intervening, who would know? He pulled out, then drove for a few minutes before he reached the supermarket.

He parked the bike near the entrance and was about to enter when the coppery scent of fresh blood drifted to him on the late fall breeze.

"Blood?" he muttered, "Why would I be smelling blood here?" He quickly scanned the lot, then noticed the fallen girl and the strange man over her. "Oh, shit!" he swore as he opened the saddlebag with his medical kit, pulled it out and raced across the parking lot to the fallen girl.

He dropped to the ground beside her, opened the kit, then spent a moment doing a quick examination of the girl. Some jerk had used a weapon to hurt her, the eye was smashed, hanging from the inner corner of the socket, the skin over it half-shredded. Gods, it was a nasty mess.

That was only part of it, though, his examination soon found the other area that had been injured. Whoever had done this deserved to have his balls and johnson cut off and stuffed down his throat! This young person was just trying to live her own life, intending no harm to others.

While he was checking her for any other injuries, he found a gorgeous tattoo above her left breast, an intertwining bunch of bright red roses.

He started pulling items from the kit and swiftly tended to her wounds, then reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a cell phone. He quickly dialled 911, then reported that he had just provided initial medical attention to a person who needed further hospital care immediately.

The operator assured him that an ambulance was on its way, although it would take some time as it would be coming from Waco.

He thanked the operator, assuring her that he would continue to monitor the girl until the ambulance arrived.

He ended the call, then looked up at the strange one now standing by the girl's feet. "And what brings an angel to this place, pray tell?"

The angel turned his head and looked down at Alaric, saying, "She needed me to guard her from further harm until you could get here."

"You're an angel, could you not have stopped whoever did this to her? Why let it happen, dammit?" Alaric screamed at the angel.

"Because what she needed even more than me was a man like you, Alaric, a man that respects one and all and tries to treat everyone as fairly as you can. She needs a man who can be a protector and a friend, one that will keep her safe from those who would do her further harm. As for the person that did this, he wasn't too bright. He jumped on a cheap motorcycle and raced onto the highway right into the path of a semi."

Alaric sighed, shaking his head. "I'll bet that truck's driver is wishing that he stayed home today. I assume he is okay, if a bit shocked?"

"That is a rather accurate description of the truck driver's current emotional state, yes. He wasn't physically harmed at all."

"She'll get her wish, I suppose," Alaric opined, "There isn't any way to save the eye or her genitals, the bastard made sure of that."

"True," the angel agreed, "But now she will have you to stand with her, she'll recover and she'll thrive under your capable care, Alaric."

"Huh," Alaric grunted, "I've made sure that she'll make it to the hospital in Waco, we'll see what happens once she is being treated."

"Guard her well, Alaric, and help her to heal. You were always happier when your mates were up and going again, thanks to your help."

With that, the angel vanished as the sound of a rapidly approaching ambulance, siren blaring, lights flashing, approached the supermarket. The tires of the ambulance squealed as it spun into the supermarket's parking lot, then screeched to a halt beside the kneeling Alaric.

He stood aside as the paramedics checked Kate, then passed on what he had found injury wise to the two men.

One of the paramedics pulled a stretcher from the ambulance. They carefully lifted Kate onto it, strapped her down before covering her with a blanket and loaded her into the Ambulance. The paramedics informed Alaric as to where they would be taking Kate, then they were gone.

Alaric quickly placed the remainder of the items he had needed back into his medical kit and walked over to his Fatboy. He leaned down, carefully dropped the medical kit into its customary place in the saddlebag, then closed it, climbed on and drove away.

It wasn't until he was halfway to Waco that he realized he had not bought the bottled water he had intended to get at the supermarket.

The afternoon had slowly faded into evening as Alaric sat near Kate in a recovery room at Central Texas Urgent Care in Waco, Texas.

The operations had resulted in the removal of the eye and the sewing of the tattered skin over the empty socket, as well as the removal of Kate's penis and testicles, which had been crushed by the blackjack; there had been enough intact skin to perform an emergency SRS.

Kate finally woke up, the time was 11:40 PM. She knew immediately that she was in a hospital, the scent was unmistakeable.

What surprised her, no, shocked her, was that a big, very muscular man was sitting in a chair not far from the bed.

"Hello," she whispered, then repeated it in a stronger voice, "Hello. Why are you here?"

Alaric slowly raised his head and looked at her, then sighed. "I found you a few minutes after you were attacked. I had training in the army as an auxiliary medic, so I checked you and gave you what treatment I could until the paramedics arrived to bring you here."

Kate smiled briefly, noticing that the pain was only a dull ache. She supposed that they had given her morphine or something similar to have her feel so little of the pain that she had felt when the attack happened. "So where am I and what has been going on since the attack?"

"Well, the idiot who attacked you wasn't paying attention when he ran off, he drove his 350cc motorcycle into the front end of a semi. As for you, the bastard did a number on you. You lost your right eye, and the damage to your genitals required that you undergo emergency SRS."

"You mean...?" Kate whispered, the shock quite apparent. She was far too poor to be able to afford SRS on her modest income.

Alaric nodded. "I imagine that, once the packing comes out in a few days, you're going to have to adjust to your new status."

"I know what I will have to do at that point, yes," Kate agreed. "But that still doesn't tell me while you are here."

"Do you believe in angels at all?"Alaric asked.

Kate nodded, and Alaric continued speaking, "When I found you, there was an angel standing over you, keeping you safe from anyone and everyone else until I could provide basic immediate medical attention to you that would allow you to reach here while still alive.

"That angel told me that I was to stay by you from now on, to protect you and to be your friend if you wish," Alaric muttered.

"You would do that for someone you don't know? What makes me so special, worthy of such attention from you?" Kate enquired of him.

"You're a person, deserving of love, kindness and respect like any other. I have no ties to anywhere, so I'm free to do what I want."

"Even if that means being with me, someone who will be visibly scarred for the rest of my life because of that bastard?" Kate asked him.

"Even then, from now until the day I die, I'll be there for you, that is if you want me to be with you?"

"A man who will love me, be kind to me, respect me and protect me from assholes like the one who did this to me? Mister, I don't even know your name yet, but in just this short talk, you've treated me better than the folks of that damn town ever have. Hell, yes, I'll have you!"

Alaric was a Good Samaritan, there in Kate's time of need, someone who looked beyond the surface and saw the true person within.

Kate was a person who had been sorely wronged by others for no better reason than that she didn't fit in with their bigoted ways.

Now Alaric and Kate would have each other to lean on, each of them giving love, respect and kindness to the other one when needed.

Lucinda Rebecca Adams was out riding her old gelding Comanche King, she had needed to do a tour of the back of the ranch for some time now. The ranch was pretty big, just over 105,000 acres total, located in northern Texas not too far from the Texas - Oklahoma state line.

The ranch was home to over nine thousand longhorn cattle, most of them roaming where they willed across the ranch's broad expanse. There were over a dozen small to medium sized creeks on the ranch's land, so the cattle had plenty of places to go if they needed water.

Lucy was approaching the one place on the land she disliked more than any other, some folks said The Fickle Fall was a cursed slope. How else could the accidents that occurred there be explained, like a horse slipping, breaking both front legs and throwing its rider, who broke his leg?

Lucy sighed, then shrugged and dismounted from Comanche King, lightly grasping his reins as she walked toward the top of the slope. It wasn't a particularly high hill, perhaps 30 feet above the land at its base, but the whole slope was shattered shale rock, mixed scree and talus.

She began to lead the gelding down the slope, slowly picking her way in somewhat of a zigzag pattern.

Everything was fine until she reached the halfway point, then fate turned on her and a large piece of loose shale slipped under her left foot.

As soon as her foot began to slide out from underneath her, Lucy dropped the horse's reins, she didn't want to have the gelding be hurt as well.

It only took a second or two for her back to slam against the slope, then a whole bunch of pieces, large and small, started to shift under her. From that point on, she had no control over the slide down the slope, which ended in her right foot slamming into the trunk of the lone pine tree at the base of the slope, a pine tree that had been growing there since before her family claimed the land and built the initial ranch house.

How long had they lived here? Well, the earliest record for the ranch, an old diary, stated her ancestors had arrived in the late summer of 1831.

She clearly heard one or more of the bones in her foot shatter when she hit the tree, she screamed long and loud, but no one heard her. It wasn't the only injury from the fall and slide down the slope, she had broken at least one of the bones in her left forearm and scraped it badly.

Comanche King, her sturdy old roan gelding, stood a few feet away from her. The lucky git had escaped unscathed, just her luck!

With a broken foot plus a broken arm, she knew she wouldn't be able to reach the saddlebags which contained two large water bottles and other odds and ends that she might need while wandering around the ranch. She growled under her breath, then snarled several curse words in at least three different languages, English, Spanish and Polish. The Polish ones she had learned from two of the ranch hands many years ago.

She laid there, near that hoary old pine, staring up at the cloudless blue sky of high summer afternoon. It was already as hot as hell here, or it felt like it to her, especially with the thought that she wouldn't be able to stay hydrated even with Comanche King standing right there.

Then her world flipped over again, a large shadow fell across her, one that was on the side opposite to where Comanche King was standing.

A quick glance to her right, and she shook her head in shock, she had to be hallucinating, she had to be! That was an ANGEL standing there!

Well, it sure looked like angels were described to be in the Bible, tall, sturdy, strong but fierce. This one stood protectively over her!

Then the angel surprised her, walking around her and over to the horse, where he pulled a full water bottle from the nearest saddlebag. The angel brought the water to her, bending down so she could take it from his hand, then watched as she took a short drink from the bottle.

She stared up at him, bottle in hand, completely stunned. This angel was helping her, she knew no one else was close enough to assist her.

The angel smiled at her, then in a voice that seemed soft yet vibrant, spoke to her, "The ranch needs you, Lucy. Another comes to help."

Lucy shook her head, what in the world did he mean by another comes to help? She was several miles away from the ranch house, alone!

That was when she was shocked yet again, for out from behind that hoary old pine loped a coyote, old and grey, but still spry.

The coyote sat near her feet, looked into her eyes for a moment, then nodded in a rather human way and yipped at Comanche King. The gelding was startled when the coyote appeared, but settled down a bit when it was clear it wouldn't harm Lucy.

Then the coyote yipped, and even though he was a horse, he understood what the coyote said, "Run to the ranch, bring back help for her!"

Comanche King nickered, nodded to the old coyote, then trotted up the slope and broke into a gallop in the direction of the ranch house.

Lucy was reminded of the six impossible things before breakfast from Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. How could any of this be happening? An angel appearing from nowhere, a coyote that also appears from nowhere and talks with her horse, sending him home?

Lucy looked up at the angel again, the angel had straightened up and had moved back to her right side, where he stood and spread his wings wide to protect her as much as possible from the sun. The wings were white, but she could see glints of other colours in various parts of the wing, a bit of pale blue here, some blue-green like running water there, gold like the bright sun in that spot, pink and rose and gold in another.

The wings were beautiful, no, beautiful wasn't sufficient to describe them; they were utterly gorgeous, yet they suited the angel perfectly.

From time to time, Lucy would sip from the bottle, then look at the angel, then at the coyote lying near her feet. It was a strange world today.

The angel's wings kept drawing her attention, she had never seen anything like them, not even the wings of eagles were that beautiful!

She supposed that she must have been lying there for about an hour when she heard the rumbling of an engine in the distance. Moments later, an old pickup truck came around the far end of the slope, then approached the pine tree, stopping about fifteen feet away.

Old George Carter and his son Peter were in the truck. They jumped out, Peter reaching into the back, then the two walked over to her. It was soon quite obvious as to why Peter had reached into the bed of the truck, he had grabbed the makings of splints and two ace bandages.

The next few minutes passed as Peter and George carefully splinted and wrapped her foot and her forearm, then the two men picked her up and carried her over to the back of the pickup truck. George held her off the hard, dusty ground as Peter opened the tailgate; the two men gently placed her in the bed of the truck, where she could lie on a pile of blankets, using one as a pillow for her head.

While the two men were binding her injuries, the angel that had been keeping her safe from the harsh sun vanished, as did the coyote.

The trip back to the ranch house took perhaps fifteen minutes, Peter was on a cell phone reporting the injuries to the nearest hospital. After a brief stop at the ranch house to let some of the hands know that Lucy would be all right, they continued driving, headed for the hospital.

The hospital was quiet, not much happening in there at the time, so it didn't take long for the injuries to be assessed and properly treated.

Lucy would recover, she would be using a wheelchair for the next six weeks, but she was still alive, thanks to an angel and an old coyote.

"Why the heck are you interrupting me, you silly twit? You what?" Klarion shouted at the older male on the other side of the secret lab room.

"Don't you want your story to be told, Klarion? Everyone thinks you're a total jerk right about now, you know?" Charles yelled back at him.

"Hmmm..." Klarion thought for a moment. Maybe it would be good to tell his story, perhaps he could stop hiding once the truth was known. He stood there, looking down at a machine without noticing it was even there, then chuckled and said, "All right, then, Chuck, this is my story."

I was born Klara Louisa Schellmann in Munich, Germany, daughter of Franck and Johanna, sister to Emil and Sofia, on May 17, 2004.

We lived in Munich for about six years before daddy was transferred to somewhere in Canada, and we left Germany behind forever.

Daddy went over there first, to find us a decent house to live in and start the process of transferring to the new office.

We eventually joined him in mid-June of 2010, arriving at our new five bedroom home in the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.

Why a five bedroom? Well, daddy decided each of us kids should have our own room, and he got the house at a very nice price from what I heard him say to mom a few hours later on the night that we arrived. The house had belonged to a drug boss who was raided and jailed.

It seems the raid turned up the names of several other drug lords and seven more places in the twin cities were raided as a result. The house had been on the market for a few months and dad was the first to express interest, then he got it by paying back taxes and a small fee.

I had no idea that I had magical abilities until they first manifested when I was a few months short of ten years old.

See, I was playing with our big tom cat, Siegel, and everything was fine until I felt an odd shiver pass through me as I touched him to roll him onto his other side. You know, kind of play fighting with a full grown cat? Well, that touch caused that poor cat to yowl at full volume.

He kept yowling for a good five minutes. The weird part is the tone of the yowls went higher and higher before he finally passed out from shock. It wasn't until a few minutes after that that I discovered that Siegel was no longer a tom in any way, shape or form. Oh, dear.

It was only then that I realized that I had been thinking that having a female cat would be cool. Uh oh, when daddy finds out...

Daddy did find out, that very evening, in fact. I guess I can be considered lucky that I was only grounded for a week. That wasn't the worst of it, though. Daddy made a few calls to people he knew, and before I knew what was happening, I was apprenticed to Herr Thom Klausen.

Herr Klausen is a wizard, one of the three types of magic users known to the world at large.

I spent the next two years studying most evenings and for at least six to eight hours every Saturday under Herr Klausen. It wasn't fun. I'd never been much for sticking my nose into books and Herr Klausen had me reading all kinds of magic study books whenever I was with him.

Then the event happened that would change my life forever. To this day, I wish I hadn't done that specific spell. But I did, and so...

I'd just finished reading yet another guide on how to use one's powers and was sitting at my little desk, bored out of my mind.

I'd turned twelve two weeks before, June was just beginning. It was a nice, sunny day out there and I was stuck indoor reading? Hmmph!

Then I had a rather interesting thought cross my mind. There was an old staff in the back room of Herr Klausen's basement, which is where he had put his rooms for various magical activities. There was also a nicely inscribed pentagram on the floor of the third room.

Ooooh, that strangely glowing purple gem in the third drawer of the warded cabinet in his office sure looks nice. Maybe I can use it?

So I grabbed the staff and that glowing gem and stalked into the third room, the one with the pentagram on the floor.

I noticed that there was a point on the pentagram that hadn't been filled in, so I went looking for the special chalk to finish the pentagram.

It didn't take me long to do that, then I spent about fifteen minutes making a pattern of markings on the floor within the pentagram itself. Once that was done, I stood up with the staff in my right hand and that oddly glowing blue gem in my left hand (wasn't it purple before?)

I recited several words in old Latin, then waved the staff three times and tapped the staff's head on the glowing gem.

That was when everything went batshit crazy, a huge flash of blue light tinged with purple knocked me out of the pentagram on the backlash of the explosion that occurred when the normal gem on the top of the staff touched the gem that had been in my hand.

I have no idea how long I was unconscious, but I think it was only a few minutes. Then I roused enough to discover that I was no longer me.

Before then, I had been a young woman who was slowly blooming. I'd had small B cup breasts and a female shape, no surprise there.

I looked down and my chest was flat, no breasts. No breasts? Oh, crap! I looked further down and discovered that the explosion had turned my clothing into tatters at best, there was no way that I would be reasonably covered with what remained. I was just short of being naked.

Yep, almost naked, which meant that I could see all the way down to my belly and what was now there. A penis? My vagina was gone!

I was thinking there was no way it could get any worse when Herr Klausen stomped into the room and glared down at me. "You fool!"

He sent me home an hour later after tanning my backside with a birch switch. If it weren't for the robe he had me wear... You get the idea.

Daddy gave me a piece of his mind, but otherwise left it alone. It was bad enough that Herr Klausen said he would no longer teach me.

It wasn't until another five months had passed that I discovered why the spell I had done that day had turned out the way it had. See, what I hadn't known was that the blue gem (purple?) had a crack in it, and the other gem touching it had shattered the flawed gem.

The shattering of the gem when the two touched triggered the explosion and the huge light effect, and I became a boy.

What made it really hard was that I had been content to be a girl and now being stuck as a male was driving me crazy.

I guess you could say that my being so unhappy about what had happened was one reason I started being a brat at home and at school.

When September rolled around again, I was back in school, but at a different one, one where I likely wouldn't be known.

Honestly, it was boring. I had no trouble doing the course work, I was smart enough to be doing college prep courses, but daddy said I should be around other kids my age. Yeah, right. One thing that made it not so boring was that I found an old grimoire in one of the classrooms.

I spent the next few weeks poring over the information and spells in that grimoire. Many of them seemed to be mentally based? I guess the best way to describe them is that the spells were designed to nudge or influence others without them knowing it was happening.

I quite enjoyed learning those spells and decided to try them out at school one day. Oh, boy, was that ever fun!

I decided to do it on the Friday just before Hallowe'en. The school cafeteria was almost always full of kids at lunch time.

I started it off by nudging a few specific students, all three of them were rather anti-gay/les, etc.

So I first nudged Todd Cavell, getting him to pick up Bobby Farr's chocolate cream pie and turned it into a small but perfect chocolate golem. The creature jumped right into Melissa Samm's face, splattering all over her and two girls beside her, then slightly smaller, moved onward.

The next nudge was directed at Lisa Smink, a preppy looking girl who grabbed Jo-Beth Thomas' large homemade lemon meringue pie and went to throw it at Doreen Nickelson. Well, in mid-flight, that pie became another food golem, this one yellow and white in colour.

The third nudge was to Bellamy Vincent, who grabbed a chocolate mousse belonging to Serena Belmont and threw it at Paul Overton, one of the few known gay boys in the school and one who had seriously outstanding handsome looks. Yep, you guessed it, the mousse became another food creature like the other two and made a serious mess of Paul's nice white long sleeve shirt and pale blue blazer.

That was all it took, honestly. Within seconds, the food critters were causing havoc and actual food was flying everywhere in the cafeteria. I can't be absolutely sure, but I think I spawned two other food golems that day. I know there were at least five of them present in the fight.

I ducked under my table and stayed there, waiting for the whole thing to die down.

At one point, I noticed that I was being watched, so I looked around to find out who it was and spotted Sabrina Portland giving me the eye.

Hmmm... Perhaps I can use her, she seems to know about magic in one way or another.

Once I was home that afternoon, I sat down in my room and thought about what had happened that day in the cafeteria. According to several of the guides and other books of magic that I had read, nudging more than two or three people at once should totally drain a wizard's energy.

Then add in that I seemed to have spawned two of the creatures myself. Those books all said that should not have been possible.

I continued to think about it while waiting for supper to be ready. Eventually, I came to only one conclusion that made any sense at all.

Magic, or more specifically the essence of magic, had to be growing, not declining. The amounts of raw magical energy available to be used were far higher than they had been since not long after the founding of the Christian church in the first century or so after Christ's birth.

If that were correct, then the more I learned, the more I would be able to do. That caused me to smile, then chuckle quietly.

After I figured out that magic was on the rise, I did several experiments to test the hypothesis and discovered it to be true.

I had a bit more fun pulling stunts on people. Not in school, though, I didn't want to draw attention to myself there.

Then one afternoon I found about about the three were-cat kids, triplets actually, and thought about maybe having one as a familiar.

The only problem is my skills all seem to be either in nudging people to do things or in casting illusions to confuse or disorient people.

That was when I thought of Sabrina, the girl in the cafeteria that day that had been watching me while the food fight happened there.

It took me nearly two weeks to get her somewhere alone, then I gave her a slight nudge to get her to agree to meet me somewhere else. That ended up being at an A&W restaurant, where I further nudged her, suggesting that she find a way to grab one or more of the were-kitties.

It was made even easier when I realized that she had a bit of a crush on me. Huh, I'll use any advantage I have, yeppers!

Silly git, thinking she could somehow get me to go out with her or something along that line. I decided to teach her a lesson.

It was all quite the bit of fun, I had a good laugh over it afterward.

See, I decided that getting her in trouble would be far better in the long run for me than actually getting one of the were-kitties. That potion that I gave her, which would "open" her abilities even more, was nothing more than an unusual flavour of Kool-Aid mixed with a bit of cola.

I waited until she was on her way to do it, then called the were-cat home, and disguising my voice, warned them to be on the lookout.

Apparently, that was all it took. They sent the kids off to be safe, waited there and her parents found Sabrina in the woods behind her own house. The best part is that she was acting totally silly, another one of my little nudges, cooing about having were-kitties as familiars/friends?

I didn't know whether she would tattle on me or not, and I didn't care much for life at home with Dad being a macho jerk a lot of the time, so I packed a bunch of stuff into a duffel and a backpack, then left the house and headed for my hideout a few hours ride out from the city.

I managed to find a woman going the direction I needed to go, and soon reached the town closest to the hideout, waving goodbye to her.

The hideout? It's an old worn-down house on the edge of this town, with a huge basement where Charles and I have our lab rooms.

Georgian Bay is just a few steps outside the back door of the house, I sometimes find myself staring out over the water there.

I met Charles about a year ago, online actually, and found out we shared quite a few interests in the studies of magic. He was a fair bit older, not quite thirty and had bought the old house, leaving the outside looking rather shabby, but fixed the inside as needed to meet specifications.

I've been sharing the house with Charles for a while now. No, I'm not going to tell you how long I've been here or where it is.

Charles always takes care of the payments for the house and the procurement of groceries and other necessities. That meant that I could pretty much stay out of sight and those avoid notice of the people in the town. I'm sure there are notices out there about me being missing.

Hmmm... what's this? An email from someone named Lissa-Lee Danifel? A teacher at some new school called M.Y.T.H.? Wait, how the heck do they know about me? And even stranger, how the heck did they know to contact me using this email, which is rather private in nature?

I read the email. Oh, my, it seems they know about some of what I've done; Sabrina did tattle, painting me as the bad guy, of course.

What had me thinking was one paragraph in the email, which I'll quote here:

"Klarion, we know about your abilities. You haven't truly harmed anyone yet, which is the only thing preventing you from being taken to jail for your actions, especially regarding Sabrina. You need training to use your abilities in a more responsible way, training you can get here."

I'm going to think about it. The orientation day she mentioned will take place in a few weeks. Maybe I'll check it out...

I spent the next week or two thinking over the offer in that letter while doing various bits of work in the interconnecting warren of lab rooms.

Many of the experiments were fairly standard, just using known information to test a multitude of hypotheses through experimentation.

Well, I guess I wasn't paying attention one afternoon just over a week before that silly school's orientation day. I accidentally added the wrong ingredient to an already simmering beaker filled with several fluids, and the resulting explosion rocked the building.

I ended up being slammed against the outer wall of the room, let me just say that hurt like hell as that wall is dressed fieldstone.

I took several minutes to closely examine myself, discovering that the only fairly serious injury was the broken thumb on my left hand. As best as I can remember, I threw my hand out in front of me when I realized what was happening, and that poor thumb hit the wall first.

I'm still not sure as to how I avoided breaking any other bones in that hand, or the wrist, honestly. Maybe it was pure dumb luck?

I spent the next little while taking care of my poor thumb, including splinting it and wrapping it in a snug bandage to keep it nice and straight.

I finally decided that I would at least check out this orientation day and perhaps make a decision then on going to the school. I used one of the computers in another of the basement lab rooms to send off an email to Lissa-Lee, saying I would be there for the orientation day.

I'll tell you, it isn't fun trying to type an email when you have a splinted broken thumb that keeps poking at the keyboard while you type.

I talked with Charles several days before the orientation day, and he made arrangements with a friend to take me down there.

Other than that, a lot of my time was used in doing other experiments in one or more of the lab rooms. I'm learning quite a bit, honestly.

The only exception to my working in the labs was the time I set aside each day to work on boosting my skills with magic. That proved to be easier than I had expected, as I found I could draw more and more magical energy to focus and use for casting a variety of spells.

Some of the spells that I was doing were from the grimoire I found at school about a year ago. I had lucked out when visiting a used bookstore in the town here a few weeks after I arrived. The store owner was getting rid of odds and ends that weren't selling, and in amongst the trash in the boxes there, I found two other grimoires, one of the two dating back to the late seventeenth century, 1685 to be more specific.

It seems the original creator of the grimoire had lived in Salem, Massachusetts at that time and had very narrowly escaped being put to death as a witch during the horrendous fiasco that took place there. She fled up to this area, living in a small shack by the shore for fifty years.

What was more interesting was that the grimoire had been in use by her descendants until about twenty years ago. There were inscriptions and notations from those olden days down through the generations to several scribblings that were included in September of 1995.

Then the various writings in the grimoire ended. I have to say I was rather curious as to what had happened to cause whoever had written the inscriptions to stop entering them. A visit to the library and just over three hours spent looking through old news gave me the answer.

The latest writings in it had been done by a mature woman and her teenage daughter. As I said, I was looking at old newspapers when I saw the headline "Mother and only daughter die in fiery crash". Reading it led me to find their names, which matched the ones in the grimoire.

That orientation day is happening in three days. I am waiting for Perry to get here so we can get on the road.

Oh, Perry is the friend that Charles called to help me get to the orientation day, and if necessary, return here afterward. Perry is a big black guy, about 6'2" or 6'3" tall; he looks rather muscular, so I'd say he's about 215 pounds. When I say black, think black as coal.

I had been waiting for about twenty minutes when Perry finally showed up driving a ratty old RV that looked like it was ready to fall apart. The darn thing looks like it had been built somewhere around 1960 or so. It definitely needs a new paint job, some body work, too.

I shrugged and lugged my two duffel bags over to the door leading into the RV, opened it, then up the steps, dropping them on one of the seats in the small kitchen area near the front of the vehicle. Perry waved at me, said hello, then invited me to take the passenger seat.

A bit over ten minutes later, we were rolling along the Trans Canada highway, heading south towards Barrie, then on to Windsor, Ontario. Perry and I had discussed various routes with Charles and had decided to go through the northern states as we made our way to Montana.

I vaguely remember a trip out west not long after we arrived in Canada, I think I was about seven years old at the time?

We reached Barrie about ninety minutes or so after we reached the Trans Canada highway. We took some time for a quick pit stop.

It took about an hour for us to go from Barrie to the northern edges of Toronto, but the big city driving slowed us down a bit. While we made our way through Toronto, we pulled off the highway for a bit, stopping at a Tim Horton's for coffees and refreshments, then we were off again.

We connected with the 401 highway, otherwise known as the McDonald Cartier Freeway, and the westward portion of the journey began.

We made another pit stop on the eastern side of London, then continued onward to the border crossings at Windsor.

The border crossing was a bit of a PITA, we had to wait in a long line-up of vehicles before we finally reached the crossing point. The guard took a few minutes to look over our info, noting that I had only received citizenship along with the rest of the family two years before.

There didn't seem to be anything odd about it all, I guess, as he handed our stuff back and waved us through the crossing.

We were now officially on US soil. This was a definite first for me, I'd been in Canada for seven years and we had never visited the US.

Perry looked at his watch and said it was almost 5 PM. We could stop somewhere for something to eat, then decide what to do.

We found a small family restaurant serving up a variety of home styled foods and both of us ended up stuffing ourselves. The place offered lots of food options, from poutine (loved by many Canadians) to their big favourite, a lovely roast of pork with apple in mouth, to fried cabbages that were a specialty of one of the restaurant owners, to a wide variety of freshly baked pies, including blackberry, pecan and rhubarb.

That led to Perry deciding we would find a motel on the edges of Detroit and relax for the night before resuming our journey.

We spent the next two days working our way west and north toward the town closest to the new school in Montana.

Just after 7 PM on the night before the orientation day, Perry pulled us into the lot of a motel and went in to get us a room.

There was a small diner about half a mile away from the motel, we stopped in there for another home style delicious meal. Like the one in Detroit, they offered a fair variety of options. Perry and I decided on more standard fare, what turned out to be a large serving of roast beef. It came with a huge baked potato and a small amount of green beans on the side. We finished the meal with plates of fresh apple pie.

Once we were back at the motel, we simply relaxed, watching a bit of TV for a while, then I worked on refining my magic skills.

We wound down around 11:30 that evening; both of us were asleep by the time midnight arrived.

Oops! We didn't have an alarm set to wake us up, and we both slept like logs. I finally roused from sleep around 10:30 AM. I was astonished to find that it was already that late, so I shook Perry on the shoulder gently to wake him up, then grabbed a quick shower.

Once I was done in there, Perry had his turn while I rummaged through the clothing I had brought, trying to decide what to wear.

As much as I may be used to looking like a male now, I still don't truly feel male inside. I'll always be a girl in my heart, I guess. That being the case, I suppose people might not be surprised to see that I picked out my best pair of slacks and a nice dress shirt and a tie.

Oh, gods, that has to be one of the worst things about being male. It took me hours and hours to learn how to tie a tie correctly. What makes it worse is that I didn't really figure it out until my older sister Johanna stepped in and showed me, outlining it step by nasty step.

After a fairly quick but nice breakfast of three eggs, ham and home fries at the diner, we were on our way to the school.

We pulled into the main lot at the school just after 12:15 PM, then followed several signs into the gymnasium, where all the orientation info had been set up at some point. I wandered around for about ten minutes or so before I heard my name being called.

While I had been in there, I had seen two girls, both pretty in their own way, being called by one of the teachers or staff.

Anyway, my name was eventually called, and I broke into a weak smile as the teacher led me out of the gym.

It turned out that she was the one that had contacted me about the school, yeah, Lissa-Lee Danifel. She was tall and slim for the most part, well, except for her rather large bosom; if I were still female, I might wish to have been so lucky as to be graced with a bust like hers!

She led me down this hallway, then along another one, turned another corner and continued toward the door at the end of the hall.

We were still about 20 feet or so away from the door when those two pretty girls I saw earlier exited that room, the door closing behind them.

Ms. Danifel nodded to the two girls as they passed us. Me, I just stared at them like a silly git as Ms. Danifel knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, an older woman's voice called out for us to enter, so we did.

It wasn't until I had fully entered the room that I realized my life had just changed quite seriously. I had moved past a rather large male of the naga species when I stopped dead in my tracks near the center of the room. What in the nine hells was Sabrina Portland doing here?

Oh, shit! I'm in deep, deep trouble now. If she's here, they likely know what I did a few months ago.

I turned around to try to leave, only to find myself quite thoroughly blocked by the rather large and suddenly intimidating naga.

You know the old saying, there's a sucker born every minute? Well, I discovered the truth of that one all too well recently.

You see, I used to go out in my van and fix problems in the telephone lines, just like in the song Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell. Most of the time, it wasn't difficult work, although it could be time consuming after a big storm went through the area, but that's life, ya know?

This seemed to be a day like any other, I was headed out to check a few sites, one of which had a malfunctioning transformer.

Yeah, I know it's odd, but I work from a base office in Wichita, Kansas, what can I say? That darn song again, geez Louise!

Anyway, I made sure that all of the equipment and tools were in the van, then I headed out to my first stop.

That one wasn't too hard, a line had tangled on a high tree limb, I used a small chainsaw to cut the limb, then untangled the line.

The next one was fairly easy, too. It required a bit of tightening on a line that had been separating from a transformer.

It was the third one that changed my life in ways that I had never even thought of, let alone wished for or desired.

Yep, the third one was that malfunctioning transformer. If I had only known, I likely would have hightailed it out of there.

I didn't, though, and so I went to the place where Fate would take her own hand in my life, turning it completely upside down.

I made sure, when I checked the transformer after I arrived there, that it had been shut down. Nothing should have happened, but...

I guess I had been working on the transformer for several minutes when my hair literally stood up on end all over my body. The transformer had somehow turned on, there was a direct power source going into it, and an open electrical line in my hand. Oh, sweet holy shit!

In the next second or two, the world turned white, then blue, then pink, then white again as the electricity raged through my body. At the same time, my ears rang as a massive explosion occurred, then I heard nothing more. I have no idea if it lasted much longer than that, as I passed out while still being fried by the electrical charges from the open line and didn't wake up until much, much later in the hospital.

A truck driver passing by managed to haul me away from the now fried and destroyed transformer, then called 911.

I'm told the paramedics showed up about ten minutes after that, loaded me on a stretcher and raced to the nearest hospital.

"Patient is James Richard Stevens, 31 years old, brown hair, blue eyes, 5'10", 170 lbs. according to driver's licence. He was brought in just now with what appears to be third degree electrical burns on nearly 90% of his body, including parts of the head. No hair on patient's head.

"Truck driver that called 911 said that patient was flopping around as if electricity was arcing in and out of the body when he found him.

"Paramedics had to use the defibrillator three times on the trip to the hospital, once more as they arrived here, as patient's heart kept stopping.

"Patient arrived at hospital completely naked. According to truck driver, the man's clothes had been turned to ash by whatever happened."

"Strange, no clothes as I said already, but the rubber and plastic extra large fanny pack with his tools and wallet was only partially destroyed, nurse is removing it from patient. I've just been informed by a paramedic that he is just as they first saw him, they were only able to identify him due to the wallet being inside the fanny pack, rather than in his back pocket where most men put theirs on a daily basis.

"Patient is breathing on his own, although it sounds rather ragged. I'm ordering an oxygen mask as a precautionary measure.

"Nurse is putting the oxygen mask on the patient. Oh, my, get that off him now, or do you want to blow up the whole hospital?

"Whew, that was close, oxygen mask is a major NO GO, patient began throwing large arcs of electricity when the mask was applied. Oh, dear, it looks like that mask is done for, talk about melting something until it looks completely alien. Wow, we really need to be careful here.

"Interestingly, patient is not reacting to machines being used to monitor him, even though all of them use electricity to function.

"Wait, there's something different about him... Holy shit, his hair is growing in again and extremely fast, too!"

"Hair is still growing, just past the chin now, showing no sign of stopping. Patient's eyes are changing colour, now a bright glowing silver. Damn, that looks odd, hair is now down to chest area on the patient... Oh, my, that just can't be happening! Hoowhee! He's growing breasts!

"This is beyond weird, if you ask me. If I didn't know that supers existed, I'd think I was hallucinating. Perhaps this is a new one?"

"Changes are progressing, patient's body is reshaping itself, conforming to a more female shape, and a rather nice one, too.

"Hair is now changing colour. Ooookay, this is hard to believe, but I'm seeing it with my own eyes. Patient's hair is now waist length and finally appears to be slowing down growth wise. Colour of the hair is very interesting, silver, gold, and flame red, all in lightning patterns.

"Other changes are continuing, patient appears to be entirely female now, patient's height doesn't seem to have changed at all.

"Patient is now fully female and seems to be stabilizing rather nicely, breathing is much better than it was earlier, almost normal again.

"As patient appears quite healthy, with all machines showing optimal measurements, patient is being moved to a room."

When I woke up, the uncovered window in the room showed that night had fallen at some point while I was unconscious or perhaps dead.

I was honestly surprised to be alive after that, it's not every day that one survives being fried by an open line connected to a live transformer.

It only took a few seconds, when I first tried to move, then I noticed that things had changed quite a lot while I was out of it.

I mean, what would you think? Get fried as a nice, tall, hunky guy, then wake up that night as a sex bomb girl wearing only a hospital gown?

Yep, sex bomb was all too accurate, 36DD weapons on line, about a 25 inch waist, and maybe 35 inch hips. That was only the start of it, though, I could feel the hair behind me. I pulled a bunch of it in front to take a look. Oh, wow, that's definitely an unusual set of colours. Long, too.

They were obviously monitoring me on cameras somewhere, as I wasn't hooked up to any hospital equipment as far as I could see. A nurse came running into the room, followed by a female doctor who was yelling at me to get back into the bed. I laughed at her.

"Why should I? I feel pretty good, although I wasn't expecting the breasts and long hair. Hell, I wasn't expecting to be alive, darn it!"

"You know what happened to you, I gather. You're a living, walking, breathing miracle, lady."

"Yep, I know. A transformer that I had shut down somehow came back online while I was holding an open electrical line, Doc."

"What the hell?" came the gasp from a male walking down the hallway. "This is Jim Stevens' room, right?" the guy asked.

"Hiya, Lorne," I replied. "If the name on the outside of the door says James Stevens, then yeah, it's my room. Come on in."

Lorne walked in, spluttering, "But... but... you're a girl! Hot damn, you're a hell of a good looking one, too. Too bad I'm married," he whined.

"I just found out that I'm a girl a few minutes ago, then the nurses and doctors came charging in here. Don't need them now," I growled.

Oh, dear, I'm going to have to tone it down a lot. If a little growl like that can make a man drool like Lorne is right now, I'm in deep trouble.

"Hey, doc, can I get something decent to eat, please? I'm ravenous. Heck, bring me two trays, I'm gonna need them!"

"You aren't going to cause any trouble while I call down for the food, are you?" she asked as she turned toward the open doorway.

"Not a chance, doc, all that I want right now is plenty of good food and something decent to wear, this thing is useless!" I whined.

The doctor nodded, taking me at my word, I suppose and left the room. The nurse shrugged her shoulders and followed the doctor.

Perhaps nine minutes later, a young man wheeled one of those moveable tray stands that slide over hospital beds into the room. He pulled it up right to the edge of the bed, then stated in a rather nice sounding baritone voice, "Double order roast beef, potato, green beans, jello."

I politely thanked him and he left the room. Lorne hadn't said anything since the women had left, he was ogling me rather obviously.

"Hey, Lorne, my face is up here, hmmm? I know I have nice breasts, but I would prefer it if you looked at me, not them, thanks!" I hissed.

Oops, I freaked him out again! That was just a hint of displeasure and he's looking like he's been backed into a corner.

I sighed, which seemed to cause him to stop trying to hide in the corner by the door. "Sorry, Lorne, but that bothers me a lot."

He nodded and decided to sit down in the lone chair in the room. I took a bite of the roast beef. Ugh! This was cooked?

I have no idea how it happened, but my hand grew warm and several small flashes of bright light were visible for a moment.

It stopped almost as soon as it started. I shrugged and tasted the meat again. It was much better now, just slightly charred, perfect!

I managed to produce that effect again when I finished the roast beef on the first tray and picked the beef up from the second one.

Lorne looked up at me, he seemed rather startled as he asked, "Did you... ummmm... did you... just... fry that meat a bit?"

I giggled as I put the meat down, then answered him, "Something like that. I seem to be able to generate electricity when I want it."

"Oookay. If you can do that, that would make you one of those supers that started appearing fairly recently. Far out, man!" The last bit of that came out in a hoarse shout that I'm sure could have been heard three or four rooms down the hall, if not further.

A nurse popped her head in the door, took a quick look, then asked us to keep the noise down as people were still sleeping.

She left just as fast, leaving Lorne and I alone again. That didn't last long, I had barely started eating when a big guy walked in the room.

I knew right away who he was, he's been in the news dozens of times for things he's done. Who was it? Commander Ares, who else?

"Hiya, kid. So you're the new super. Quite the dish, too. Why does it smell like something electrical went funky in here?" Ares enquired.

"That was likely me. It seems my traumatic incident yesterday enabled some form of electrical based powers in me. I find it interesting. As to why it smells like that, well, I used a wee bit of electricity I generated through my hands to cook the roast beef a bit, it started out half raw."

"Half raw? You do realize that they cook all meat to a specific temperature as required to ensure it is cooked all the way through?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know that," I responded, "But it still tasted half raw to me. Well, it did until I cooked it a bit more," I giggled.

I took another bite of my now properly cooked roast beef, then asked Lorne when I had swallowed it, "You replace the transformer, Lorne?"

Lorne nodded, "Yeah, it took us about four hours to get the new one hooked up properly. Ten blocks were without power for nearly five hours."

"That's not too bad, I suppose. Just be thankful that transformer didn't blow other ones when it exploded. It sure wasn't fun on my end."

"At least you're alive, even if you are a whole hell of a lot different than the guy I knew and worked with just a couple of days ago," Lorne said.

Ares had listened to Lorne and I, now he asked, "Is it too soon for you to have picked a name for yourself?"

"Hmmm," I thought on it for a moment, then giggled like a madwoman for a minute or three before I could stand up straight again and draw enough breath to ask him, "Have you ever heard the song by Glen Campbell called Wichita Lineman?"

Ares nodded, "Nice song, more of my mom or dad's style, though. Why? Oh, wait... We're in Wichita, I assume that's part of your nick?"

"Yeah. It's especially appropriate as I was a lineman here, but now I'm more of a linegirl, ya know? So... Wichita Linegirl."

"You willing to pay royalties to Glen's estate for using that name? If not, you're going to have problems all over the place."

"As long as the royalty amounts aren't insane, Ares, I think I can handle it. Well, once I can get access to my bank accounts, that is."

"You're doing that well on a lineman's pay?" Lorne squawked, his eyes bugging out in surprise.

"Nope, but I did put a little bit from every check over the last twelve years into a bunch of stocks that have done very, very well," I grinned.

"Just how well are we talking about?" Ares questioned me.

"Hmmm... Last time I checked my accounts, the total was slightly over $127.46 million US, Ares," I replied and then broke into giggles again.

Uh oh, big oops. That must have been quite the surprise, as both men just fainted. "Nurse," I yelled, "I need a nurse in here RIGHT NOW!"

It didn't take long, maybe thirty seconds, before two nurses came into the room at a dead run, the first tripping over Ares on the floor. She managed to grab the side of the bed and prevent herself from falling. The two nurses soon brought the men around, then left the room.

Lorne sat in the chair, still shaking, I guess he was rather shocked. Ares recovered much more quickly, soon looking like his normal self.

"Sorry about that, guys. Hey, Ares, I'm going to need a costume, and it has to have at least one lightning bolt on it, got it, buster?"

Oh, dear, I really need to watch my temper. It seems, when I get upset or angry, I throw off electrical charges. Damn, I really need to stop scaring the heck out of folks, and I'll bet it isn't helping things when I leave smoking holes in the ceiling and walls.

Maybe tomorrow will be better? I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

That darn hospital forced me to stay there for nearly three more days, even though I was obviously in completely perfect health!

Ahhh, well, I had a bed to sleep on, food to eat, a TV with silly shows on it to watch all day. Oh, and visits from Commander Ares. It seems he really wants me to go to this Compound on the edge of the city to find out just what I can do beyond leaving scorch marks on walls.

What has me annoyed right now is that most of the time I spent in this darn hospital was due to having to wait to see the psychologist. I know I'm all right, heck, you folks out there probably can tell that I'm fine, but no, they say I have to see this crazy doctor before I can leave.

Yeah, so it's been nearly three days of sitting in this bed, getting bored out of my mind.

The one good thing, I guess, is that my lawyer Bart Sims showed up yesterday morning, had me sign a few forms and informed me that all of my accounts will be transferred to my new identity within three business days, and that ID won't be a problem as my change was witnessed.

Heck, it couldn't have been much more public than what I saw afterward, although how that reporter got in there is a darn good question!

So I've been talking with Commander Ares when he has time to wander by, and he says I seem to be a new Super.

I asked him about these Supers. His response was they are people who've gained special abilities, some use them for good, some don't. He used examples like E-Girl, who is quite well known by now, and the Fluke, who twists luck into new pretzel shapes all the time.

Oh, my, there's someone by the entrance to the room, she's wearing a white doctor's coat, maybe she's the psych I have to see?

I could seriously do without having to jump through silly hoops like this. I mean, damn, there's another scorch mark on the walls? Oh, dear!

It turned out that the woman in the white coat was indeed the psychologist, an older woman named Dr. Morrow.

She gave me a quick once over before asking me not to make the obvious joke about her name. I just shrugged and waited.

We ended up talking for a while, especially about how I felt about being alive, as a girl, after being pretty much turned to a crisp.

I gave her the facts, including that the damn transformer shouldn't have done what it had obviously done just before it went bang in my face.

She countered that with the remark that, from what various technical people had learned, it was a rather odd trigger event. When she said trigger, I giggled, that was just sooo lame, but in effect, whatever caused that transformer to turn on at that point was still unknown.

We ended our little chat with her informing me that I would be free to go fairly soon, likely within a couple of hours. She shrugged when I asked why it couldn't be sooner, replying that the doctor who would need to sign the forms to release me was busy doing hospital rounds.

I admit that that irritated me a fair bit, enough that I sparked rather significantly, the spark just missing Dr. Morrow as she stood up to leave.

She sighed, then flashed me a brief smile, "I'm sorry that you feel upset about having to wait even longer, but he's in charge of your case."

With that, she waved back at me as she walked out of the room, leaving me fretting on that goldarned hospital bed.

It ended up being almost three hours later before I was finally free to leave. My lawyer, Bart, was waiting near the hospital entrance. When I walked out through the door, he smiled, stepped close and handed me a small folder, saying, "There's temporary IDs in there. The other lawyers who work on your behalf suggested keeping the name fairly similar to your old one, so you are now Jamie Raquel Stevens, okay?"

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded as I replied, "I assume keeping it similar will help simplify the transition process?"

It was his turn to nod, "That's right, it's extremely hard to deny live video footage of something like your transformation, kid."

I shook my head, twisted slightly to one side, then slapped Bart on the shoulder, knocking him several feet away in the process. He picked himself up a moment later, looking at me as if to ask what he had done, and I said quite simply, "Don't me call me kid again, Bart."

That was when he sniffed the air, then twisted his head to look at the shoulder of his suit jacket, which now had a large scorched area on it.

I looked at Bart again, then repeated it just to make it clear, "I may be a lot younger looking now, Bart, but I am in no way a kid."

He sighed, then nodded, picked up the larger folder from which he had pulled my ID items, then he turned and gestured, "After, you, Jamie."

I still had the items from my fanny pack, which included the keys to my four bedroom house in one of the better areas of the city.

Bart led me to a fairly new SUV, then pulled the gentleman act of opening the passenger door for me. I just laughed and climbed into the car.

The trip to my house from the hospital didn't take very long, less than fifteen minutes, then Bart was parking on the street.

He looked at me for a good minute or two after the vehicle had stopped, then smiled briefly and said, "Take care of yourself, Jamie."

I nodded, opened my door, stepped down from the vehicle, shut the door and watched him drive away. He's a good guy, if a bit silly at times.

I wasn't in the house for long, I just wanted to make sure everything was as I had left it before my life had changed so completely.

Commander Ares had given me the number for the Compound. I called there and said that I was on my way, then walked to the den near the back of the house where I kept my safe. I opened it, looked at the items in it, then grabbed the keys to the Jaguar F-type convertible.

I left the house via the door into the garage, then unlocked the car, hopped in, started it, and a moment later, was off and running.

I must have been a sight to see, an absolutely gorgeous girl with tri-colour hair in a gleaming red new Jaguar purring down the city streets.

When I arrived at the Compound, it only took a very brief moment before I was through their gates and rolling into the underground garage.

I looked around in surprise, the space was quite big, easily two hundred feet or more on each of five sides. No problems with parking here!

There was an elevator near the center of the garage area, I walked over to it and pressed the up button.

It arrived perhaps thirty seconds later, completely soundless, then before I could figure out which button to hit, it started moving again.

I was slightly startled as it rose toward one of the levels of the building, even more startled when I heard Commander Ares' voice.

"Don't be worried, Jamie, you're hearing me through a speaker in the elevator car. I know about your name, as I'm also a client of Bart's."

"Ooookay, that's nice to know, but you're darn lucky I wasn't startled much. I don't think the elevator would handle an electrical bolt well."

Well, now I know that Commander Ares has a sense of humour; he actually laughed, a good, solid belly laugh, after I said that.

I guess the elevator didn't go very far, it hadn't been moving fast. The doors opened and I exited into a large open concept room. I noticed that the elevator was enclosed within an internal wall near a corner of the room itself, with a rather large bar extending along the wall beside it.

Commander Ares was sitting on a bar stool in front of the bar itself, a bottle of a rather fine Scotch whiskey in front of him.

I made my way over to the bar, taking the stool next to Ares as he upended two shot glasses, then poured the whiskey.

We sat there, making idle conversation for a little while before Ares decided to get down to business.

It didn't take long for him to outline the tests they wanted me to do. My only worry was the damage I might do with my electrical charges.

He shrugged as he led me back to the elevator, then inserted a key and pressed a button for the third level basement.

The trip down to that level took a moment, the two of us saying nothing as the car descended.

Before we started the testing, I informed Commander Ares about how I seemed to be significantly stronger than I was before I changed. A quick session on a weight machine specifically for stronger Supers showed I can dead lift about 800 pounds. Heck, yeah, I'm way stronger now.

Well, the testing was a whole bunch of fun. It's a darn good thing that I found out i can actually pull in electrical energy, I needed it, honestly!

He had me discharging electrical bolts at a rather interesting wall, or more correctly, a force field of some kind.

He grinned when I asked if the electrical energy I was using would harm it, shaking his head as if to say no. I nodded and upped the intensity.

It seems I can launch the electrical energy much like a lightning bolt, sometimes single ones, sometimes multiple, as many as six at once.

I can also hold the electrical energy close to myself, allowing it to build and form a rather large bright ball that I eventually have to release.

Yeah, it was after letting go of one of those that I found out I could actually pull in raw electrical energy, I did it by draining a very big battery? Well, when I think of a battery, about the biggest I might consider is a car battery, but the one I drained was much, much larger than that!

I know I startled someone at the monitoring area, as Commander Ares was quickly asked to get me to stop what I was doing.

Once they explained about that battery being the electrical energy storage they used for keeping the Compound off the city grid, I giggled.

Perhaps ten minutes later, one of the techs informed us that I had drained from it, in just a few brief moments, more than 50 million kilojoules.

I have to tell ya that I felt pretty darn good at that point. If flight had been one of the gifts I had received, I would have been flying right then!

It turns out that I can also transfer the electrical energy from one location to another by pulling it through my center, I think?

I'm not really sure how to describe it, except that I'm not visibly showing any of the energy through the process. It's really weird!

There was some other testing, most of it to determine how far I could throw my various electrical bolts or bursts.

The one other facet of my electrical energy that surprised me was that I can apparently use some of that energy to form a shield/bubble of sorts. Obviously, I was safe inside it, but they asked me to test it out using Commander Ares as a guinea pig and he came out of it unharmed.

Someone also suggested I see just how much free electrical energy I could pull in, the result was an astounding 1.27 trillion kilojoules.

I have no idea why I wasn't glowing like a sun at that point.

I actually glared at Commander Ares and grumbled for a moment when I was told I had to return the energy to its original locations.

Once the testing was finished, Commander Ares and I returned to the bar for a drink or three, then I drove home.

Hmmm... it seems the electrical energy that I hold negates the effect of alcohol. I didn't even have the beginning of a buzz from the drinks.

I'm not sure just what I want to do at this point. I'm rich enough that I don't need to work, maybe I can just enjoy life for a while.

It might be interesting to work with other supers, people like E-Girl and Commander Ares, but I need to get used to being the new me first. I just realized, I spoke to him before about getting an outfit made in case I join them, and I still don't know if anything is being done about that!

I'm young again, well, younger than I was a few days ago by a good dozen years. There is a whole world waiting for me out there!

It's been interesting, I've spent the last few days wandering around the city with Commander Ares or E-Girl or someone else from the Compound. I'm still a raw newb there as far as they are all concerned, but they admit my electrical skills have come in handy now and then.

Like the time that Dr. Destructo was trying to rob one of our big banks, bringing along a bunch of minor villains in pretty shoddy clothing and gear, then had those idiots start firing submachine guns at us right out in the darn street, with people wandering here, there and everywhere!

As soon as we could see that they were just firing anywhere to create a disturbance, we split up and started removing the idiots.

I didn't notice until after I had dropped one guy that the helmet he'd been wearing was steel. Let's just say that a direct hit on a steel item like that from an electrical bolt of about 10,000 kilojoules has a rather nasty effect on what is UNDER the helmet. I puked right there on the street.

There was a Compound Super nearby who kept an eye on me for a moment as I shook off what I had just done while defending the city.

We couldn't stand by for long, there were easily another dozen guys like that scattered around the bank still firing into the crowds.

It wasn't fun after that, but I couldn't just let people be hurt by some dastardly mastermind like Dr. Destructo and his minions, could I?

I ended up frying two more guys like that first one because both idiots ducked just as I sent out my bolts. Not my fault, those times.

Once we were all back at the Compound after finally forcing Dr. Destructo to leave without any money, I hit the washrooms pretty fast. I'd been in there for a few minutes, I think, when someone opened the stall door, then carefully pulled my hair back as I threw up yet again.

I didn't know her at all. Once I'd finished with the heaves, I wiped my face with some toilet paper, then stood and thanked her for her help. I was still feeling a bit unsteady, so I swayed a bit as I tried to walk over to the counter, where I wanted to rinse my face properly.

I got another surprise as a second woman who had also followed me in handed me a package of wet wipes. I was busy for the next few minutes with cleaning my face and using a wet wipe to clean up the bits of my hair that hadn't evaded my earlier bit of not fun in the toilet.

After thanking both women, I managed to leave the bathroom without stumbling or falling, for which I was thankful.

Well, things became just a bit odd that same night after I was involved in the incident I described here a short time ago.

I had gone home after talking with Commander Ares, the Doctor and some of the other Supers, many of whom lived at the Compound.

After a light meal, all that my stomach could tolerate at the time, I was in bed and off to dreamland. That's when it became odd.

It took me a little bit longer to get to sleep than usual, but I don't think that had anything to do with what happened.

Well, the simple fact is that I had a dream. Yes, a dream, specifically one going back to the point when I changed and became female.

The dream started as I looked down and saw myself on that gurney, with the doctor just starting his examination of me.

A shape appeared next to me, then took form as a semi-wise looking older man holding something that looked like a lightning bolt in one hand. I was standing there, gaping at him, when he introduced himself as Zeus, and looking down at my body, asked if I wished to live again.

I thought that I had misheard him and asked him about it, he replied, saying that I had died on the table and time was in stasis briefly. At that point, he asked again if I wanted to live, I replied that I did, and he said that he would gift me once I was awake and aware again.

He vanished around that time, I was still looking down at the gurney, the doctor seemingly stopped in mid-word.

I have no honest idea how I might have known, but I turned just as another being appeared next to me, this one a female.

She looked at me, looked at my body, looked at me again, grinned mischievously and said, "Time for you to return there, enjoy your new life!"

That was when I woke up briefly. New life? It sure couldn't get much newer than this, I mused as I looked down at myself.

Interestingly, I wasn't upset at what she had done, or how she might have done it. Being as I am now just felt right, deep down in my soul.

When I woke up the next morning, I checked sites showing the Olympian gods and that is how I learned the woman in the dream was Tyche.

I shook my head and took my time in making a big breakfast, I have to replace the energy I use somehow, right?

I heard the bell at my front door go off as I finished eating. I looked at the video screens and noticed an older male delivering a box.

I went and opened the front door, at which point I had to sign for the box, acknowledging there was no damage to it or its contents.

I took the box inside, closing the door behind me, and placed it on the kitchen table.

I keep all kinds of useful things either in the kitchen, the office or my small workroom, which is where I found a simple utility knife.

The box was soon open, and ofter pulling up some of the wrapping, I noticed what looked to be a medium blue coloured girl's jumpsuit.

I grinned, I'd been waiting for this since I was in the hospital, it seems Commander Ares has some very helpful friends or staff over there.

I shook the clothing out, letting it slither downward as I held it by the shoulders. Damn, it looked like it would be quite snug.

But it was the three crossed lightning bolts and the name Bzzzzappp scrolling across them that made my grin even wider.

I just had to try it on, to see how it looked, yeah? Like I said, it turned out to be very snug, revealing every single one of my body's curves.

A quick look in the box made me laugh, there were a total of three more outfits just like this one in there. The boys will drool for sure.

I ended up in the Compound again this morning, Commander Ares wanted me to spend some time in the command center of the building.

I actually was able to spend some time with E-Girl, who helped me to deal with the deaths of those idiots at the bank robbery yesterday.

At some point, an alarm went off, then a video screen flickered on, showing some aliens delivering their strange message to our world.

Within minutes of the message ending, reports from various cities across the world were showing huge numbers of new "supers" and the havoc they were wreaking as their abilities often were triggered without conscious control. Pandemonium ensued and insanity reigned.

Commander Ares and a fair number of other "Supers" in the Compound raced out to help wherever they could.

I called out to one who was about to teleport, saying, "Take me with you, I may be able to keep you safe in whatever happens."

He grabbed my arm, and in a flicker of my eye, we were looking down on hordes of people ravaging New York City.

Then my work in helping to save the world on that fateful day began.

Just as we landed on a quiet street corner away from all of the current ruckus, we were confronted by a rather elegantly dressed male, wearing clothing that seemed to hark back to the Victorian age. He named himself as the Red Baron, and I unwittingly gasped in surprise.

Then he had the gall to try to convince me, in the presence of another Compound Super, to change sides and fight for evil!

As an answer, I allowed some free electrical energy to form around me, fashioning it into a ball in my hand, then pointed at him.

"Leave now, or I might be forced to take you in as an aide or accomplice to whatever harm is caused here today!"

That was when he surprised me. He nodded and bowed to me, saying, "As you wish, my lady," then vanished.

I kept that ball of electrical energy ready. I figured it would be needed soon enough, then the first wave of the ravening hordes reached us.

I can't recall who suggested that I should take things further between Charlie, Betty and Shawna. This is where that 'going further' starts.

If you aren't sure what I'm referring to here, read this story: https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/72209/charlies-wish-f...

Chat session initially between Charlie and Betty, December 27, 2017, starting around 9:30 PM Central Time:

cheerfulcharlie03: Hi, Betty, I thought I'd give you a shout. I hope your cousin gave you my email info at some point?

bettybelle2001: Hi, Charlie, it's good to be able to talk with you. How was your Christmas? Yes, Shawna gave me that info as soon as she came
home from the fair that night, I added you to my friends list right away. She said that you helped her to have a good time there.

cheerfulcharlie03: Christmas was pretty good, we returned home just in time for an awesome Christmas meal. There were two really big turkeys, at least thirty pounds each, a huge ham that was about the same weight, lots of veggies, many of them done with Christmas extras like a bit of sugaring, four big pumpkin pies, four apple pies just as big, and lots of ice cream! I ended up with plenty of presents from family members and several of my friends. It was a great Christmas! Tell Shawna she's welcome.

bettybelle2001: It sounds like it was a very good one for you! That's excellent. We had a fairly quiet one here, there isn't a lot of family. My father is over in the Middle East dealing with some crisis or other. He was a single kid, and my mom only has one sister. You met my cousin Shawna at the fair a few days ago, I'm really glad, she came back home in a happy mood which was great!

At this point, at 9:44 PM, a little pop-up appears, asking if Charlie will allow someone else to enter the chat. He sees the name and agrees.

sweetshawnagirl: Hi, Betty. Hi, Charlie. Hey, Charlie, thanks for doing stuff with me at the fair last weekend!

cheerfulcharlie03: Hi, Shawna, I'm glad that I was able to help you to have a good time there. How was your Christmas.

sweetshawnagirl: I was over at Betty's place for Christmas. Mom, dad and I decided to spend the day with Betty and her mom.

bettybelle2001: Yep, I'm glad Shawna was here, it would have been a lot more boring if she hadn't been. We're both only kids.

cheerfulcharlie03: Only as in neither you nor Shawna have siblings?

sweetshawnagirl: That's correct, Charlie. Except for Betty's dad who couldn't be with us, that's all the family that we have.

cheerfulcharlie03: I'm truly sorry to hear that, girls. We have a really big family, with dozens of cousins and other relatives. Hmmm... that gives me an idea, I'm going to talk to my mom and dad about inviting all of you down here for spring break if our schedules match. If they don't, we can arrange to have you visit here once school finishes for the year. How does that sound?

sweetshawnagirl: Dozens of cousins? How the heck do you get them all into the house at once?

cheerfulcharlie03: It's a really big house, over a dozen bedrooms and plenty of extra spaces where people can put sleeping bags. We also have
heated barns if extra space is needed. After big events like Thanksgiving and Christmas, most folks stay overnight.

bettybelle2001: Just how many cousins are you talking about, Charlie?

cheerfulcharlie03: Well, just counting just the first cousins, the count at the last get together here at Christmas was 92, but my Aunt Amber is
pregnant again, with twins this time; both are girls according to the latest ultrasound. The babies are due in mid-March.

sweetshawnagirl: Holy... that is a LOT! Are you sure that your family will be happy to have other people show up on a visit?

cheerfulcharlie03: We're easygoing people for the most part, Shawna. Just be polite and respectful, and everything will be fine.

bettybelle2001: Shawna is right, that is a heck of a lot of people. That must make family events rather interesting.

cheerfulcharlie03: I have to go, girls. Mom is telling me it's time for me to get ready for bed. I'll chat with you again soon. Bye!

sweetshawnagirl: See ya, Charlie: Have a good night!

bettybelle2001: Night, Charlie.

Charlie signs out, then heads to the bathroom where his mom has drawn a bath for him. He bathes, dries himself and goes to bed.

Chat between Charlie and Dr. Penny Farthing, a psychiatrist seeing Charlie bi-weekly, at about 4:20 PM Central time, December 29, 2017:

PrettyPenny91: Hello, Charlie, how are you doing today?

cheerfulcharlie03: I'm all right, Dr. Farthing. Thanks for agreeing to do this visit online, I'm not sure what happened, but dad took the truck to the back fields today and my sister's car wouldn't start when we wanted to leave earlier! It's being checked over by a family friend.

PrettyPenny91: That's fine, Charlie, we try to make sure that we can help our clients in any way that we can. This is one of those ways. So how
was your Christmas? I hear from Becky that you've made a new friend recently, perhaps more than one.

cheerfulcharlie03: Christmas was really good, Doctor. We had most of the family here, which means the crowd were almost 130 strong.

PrettyPenny91: Wow! That's a big family, for sure. I'm glad to hear you had a good time. Anything else happening with you?

cheerfulcharlie03: Not a lot. I did chat on Wednesday with the girl I met at the fair on the weekend. I also got to chat with her cousin, Betty. Betty has MD also, specifically Emery-Dreifuss like me, so it gives us a bit of common ground, I guess.

PrettyPenny91: How did that go, Charlie?

cheerfulcharlie03: It was actually nice to talk with them, we didn't get to chat for long, mom called me for my bath and I went to bed after that.

PrettyPenny91: How did you feel while talking with them? Anything interesting happen while you were chatting?

cheerfulcharlie03: Actually, yeah. See, both Shawna and Betty, her cousin with MD like me, are single kids. They don't have anyone else in their generation in their family. I thought that sucked, so I said I would look into having them come here at some point. I still need to ask mom and dad about it. If I can get their approval, the girls will come here either for spring break or when school finishes.

PrettyPenny91: Wow! That's rather generous of you, Charlie, especially as you have only met these girls. Hold on a sec, I have a call.

Penny answers phone in her office, talks for a few minutes, then ends the call and returns to the chat.

PrettyPenny91: Sorry about that, Charlie, but that was an emergency call, I'm going to have to go. I'll talk to you again in two weeks.

cheerfulcharlie03: Thanks for talking to me, Doctor. Have a Happy New Year.

PrettyPenny91: You, too, Charlie. Bye.

Dr. Farthing logs off at 4:43 PM. Charlie stays on his computer playing games for an hour or two until he is called to supper by his mom.

Chat between Charlie, Betty and Shawna, starting around 8:30 PM Central time, December 31, 2017:

cheerfulcharlie03: Hi, Betty, Shawna, how are you two doing? Are you girls looking forward to the new year?

bettybelle2001: *sigh* Charlie, with each day that passes, I get more and more frustrated. I think I remember Shawna telling me a few days ago
that she told you that, according to the doctors, I'll be in a wheelchair within six, maybe seven months.

cheerfulcharlie03: I do understand, Betty. Doctors here are giving me at most a year before I end up in a wheelchair. I hate it! HATE IT! I wish this had never happened! Like you, every day it gets harder and harder to do things for myself, I have to rely on others a lot now. I was able to talk with my psych on Friday; my sister's car wouldn't start at all so I had to chat with Dr. Farthing online this time.

sweetshawnagirl: Well, at least you have a support system in place between the psych, your other doctors and your family, Charlie. I wish the
doctors here weren't such idiots! Betty has to travel for over an hour each way for her medical and psych appointments.

cheerfulcharlie03: We don't have to go very far for appointments, it's only a fifteen or twenty minute drive to the clinic in Red Oak. If my sister's car hadn't picked that time to suddenly stop running, I would have been in Dr. Farthing's office, not chatting with her online.

bettybelle2001: I hate it, too, Charlie, oh, gods, how do I hate it! I can't remember how many times I've wished for the MD to just disappear!

cheerfulcharlie03: Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe it. So many times recently, I just want to sit here and scream until I'm hoarse.

sweetshawnagirl: I'm not sure what I can do for you guys, I can't even begin to understand what you are going through.

bettybelle2001: Just be here to talk to us, Shawna. Sometimes just having someone to talk to can make a difference to us.

cheerfulcharlie03: I agree with Betty, that's excellent advice.

bettybelle2001: Cheerful? Are you able to be cheerful with the MD looming over you nowadays, Charlie?

cheerfulcharlie03: Mmmm, this was the nick I decided to use when I set up my email account seven years ago, Betty.

bettybelle2001: Ahhh, so it was your account long before the MD came along and you decided to keep using it after the MD hit?

cheerfulcharlie03: Yeah, I'd been using it for so long by then, it didn't make sense to just throw it away at that point.

sweetshawnagirl: Well, maybe it can encourage you to try to look at things in a more positive and cheerful manner, Charlie.

cheerfulcharlie03: I suppose I could do that. I have to go, mom wants me to have my bath before we settle down to ring in the New Year.

bettybelle2001: Have a good night, Charlie. And Happy New Year!

sweetshawnagirl: Night, Charlie. Happy New Year!

cheerfulcharlie03: Happy New Year to both of you. Bye!

Charlie signs out, goes for his bath and has an enjoyable time bringing in the New Year, eventually falling asleep across his sister's lap.

Theo, short for Theophilus, Brendovin, stood on the edge of a gorgeous valley in the Appalachian range, soaking in the view. It was a beautiful, if slightly nippy, mid-spring afternoon, mostly clear blue skies with a cloud floating by now and then.

Theo was 5'11, 165 lbs., 19 years old, with strawberry blond hair just touching the tops of his shoulders. He had been born on Midsummer's Eve almost twenty years before, and lived with his mother; Daddy went MIA on his second army tour in Iraq three years ago.

Nine days before, he had felt the need to get away from things for a while. The recent death of his mother's mother, Theodora Bretowitz, had affected him more than he had expected; it wasn't her death that was the issue, but what she had said to him just hours before she died.

You see, Theodora had a bit of the gift, now and then, she could see strong glimpses of what might be the future. She had said three things:

1) Theo had a VERY significant amount of the gift, as the seventh child of a seventh child... if he had only been a girl was her first comment;

2) Somehow, Theo was about to start a whole new adventure. She could not see where, exactly, but it WOULD happen, and soon; and

3) She had quoted a verse of an old prophecy from the family's beginnings in the twelfth century, it went something like this:

Seventh daughter of a seventh daughter,
She shall hold all the worlds in her hands.
She will wield power such as none have seen,
And the justice of the lands is hers to give.

Theo shook his head, there was no way that verse could be about him, his mother Avenita was a seventh daughter, but he was a boy; even though he was a child of a seventh child, it clearly stated the person would be female.

He looked out over the beautiful valley again, then turned and continued walking up the mountain trail.

After another four or five hours of hiking, and a small meal of trail rations and water from a nearby stream, he looked further up the trail. It appeared to be much steeper ahead than what he had already climbed to this point. He knew he would be smart to go slowly now.

Just as he was about to start up the trail again, he had a very strong hunch; he'd grown to trust his hunches over the years, and this one was telling him that he would need the helmet his great-grandfather Alexandrov had worn in the Second World War.

He pulled out the helmet, looked at it for a moment, then put it on and made sure the strap was snug beneath his chin.

He resumed his walk up the mountain; a little over an hour later, the mountain trembled, a minor earthquake, or a warning of one?

He wasn't sure, and nothing happened for several minutes, so he kept going until he was about to pass by a huge boulder on his right.

That was when the world, or his view of it at least, went completely upside down; the mountain HEAVED, his feet literally were a foot or more off the ground as the big quake hit, then he was falling, and his head, in the helmet, struck the huge boulder quite hard on the way down.

**********

Some time had passed, he thought; he winced as he tried to sit up, feeling the helmet, he gasped as his fingers discovered the deep split in it. He appeared to have been quite lucky; thanks to the helmet, he was still alive, and he couldn't feel any blood on his head.

Things, though, were not quite the same, colours were different somewhat, such as the grass having a faint purplish hue, the rock nearby being a darker grey-blue than it had been before that godawful quake had struck from nowhere, and he himself felt a bit odd.

He decided to just sit and relax, maybe he would feel a bit better in a little while.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he could see that the sky was darkening toward evening when he heard sounds coming from farther up the mountain. Strange, it sounded like a wagon, he didn't think the paths here were big enough for wagons.

He decided that it would cost him nothing to wait, so wait he did. A short while later, the sounds became clearer, and looking up, he saw a large wagon coming down a path on the other flank of the mountain that he could have sworn was not there earlier. The wagon was being pulled by six large horses, well, they looked like horses, but they were huge, easily bigger than the biggest Clydesdale he'd seen at the county fairs as a child years ago. Not only that, but they were a purplish blue in colour, with two rather long straight horns on their heads.

Now he knew that he must be hallucinating, bicorns just didn't exist. Nosirree, Bob!

**********

The man driving the wagon looked ahead as he steered the heavy wagon around the corner near the huge rock. Just as the wagon started to go by the rock, he looked down and saw a girl sitting there beside it. On her head was a strange head cover, split nearly in half.

He had looked away, ready to continue down the trail towards the towns below, when his head snapped back around to the girl.

Could she be the one foretold, he wondered? The prophecy said she would have odd things on or with her, that head cover sure was one. That same prophecy said that the girl in question would come from another world, a completely unknown world to his people.

He pulled back on the heavy reins. "Hai!, Hold, you scurvy krants, HOLD!" He looked down at the girl again as the wagon stopped.

"Lass, are you well? Your head cover looks to have taken horrible grief. Lass? Lass?"

**********

What had this man just called him? Lass? Why? Theo lifted his hands to his chest, and discovered WHY he had felt so odd.

Theo stood shakily, reached between his legs, discovered THAT particular new fact of life, and his tenuous grip on reality shattered.

He screamed, again and again and again, his/her voice rising higher and higher, the screams turning to earsplitting shrieks. At one point, the extremely high pitch of the screams brought a new reaction: the huge rock shattered, sending thousands of tiny knives through the air.

Many of the sharp bits of the rock hit Theo, who was still shrieking at the top of his/her lungs. The wagon driver cowered, covering his ears; he himself was lucky, the wagon was between him and the now shattered rock, he'd find some shredded items in the wagon later.

Several minutes later, Theo stopped screaming; she looked around briefly (seeking something?), then crumpled bonelessly to the ground.

Theona slowly returned to the world, waiting a short time before she attempted to sit up.

She noticed the man was leaning toward her, almost as if to help her to rise. She looked at him more closely, and soon realized that he was positively huge compared to her. At a guess, she thought he might be 8 feet tall, weighing somewhere between 350 and 400 pounds.

Then she realized that he was speaking to her again. "Lass, are ye well? Ye swooned for a bit!"

This caused her to look closely at herself again, the fact that she was female disturbed her greatly. She looked around her, then up at the darkening sky. Already, a moon was climbing up the sky, to her eyes, it shone pale gold in the night air.

She could still see the grass in the deepening gloom of the evening, and it still looked purplish to her, even more so than before.

Once again, his voice broke through and she raised her head to look at him. "Lass, are ye well?"

"I believe I will survive," she replied, "but as to being well, how can I be? I was born a man, and now, now I am a woman!"

He chuckled as he slowly knelt in the grass before her. "Aye, and a rather pretty woman, for all that ye are so small! I am Tanris."

"Hello, Tanris, or perhaps I should say good evening, as it seems the sun will set fairly soon."

"Aye, that it will, lass, in about half a cycle of the great clock which I saw in the capital three years past."

"Half a cycle? I'm sorry, but I don't understand you!"

He thought for a moment. "Lass, do ye know what a clock is?" She nodded, and he continued, "Well, we have very few of those here, but the one that most everyone remembers is the Great Clock in the main feast hall of the High Lord's Palace."

She stared at him, then shook her head, she definitely was not at home now. "I assume you measure your days using that clock?"

"Ahhhh, so you do understand. Yes, our day is split into 20 cycles of the clock, and we have about half a cycle before the sun sets."

"So it will be full night in a little while. Thank you for explaining it to me."

Tanris looked at her oddly, then laughed. "Lass, you are quite a pleasure, I think you may know far more than old Tanris here, and I've had the pleasure to celebrate 230 year-days. I am no young pup, and I have learned much in my travels."

Theona's head snapped up in shock as she heard him say that he had lived for over 230 years. "Did I hear you right? You said 230?"

"Aye, girl, I was born a bit more than five tendays before High Summer 230 years ago."

She shook her head again, that just didn't seem possible. "It is very rare for people on my world to live to see 100 years."

"Well, your size alone says you are not of this world, lass, you look like a girl of maybe twelve summers here, except for the obvious fact that you seem to be fully grown," nodding in the direction of her breasts, his face turning pinkish with embarrassment.

"Ahhhh, I cannot keep calling you lass, do ye have a name, girl?"

A name? Ummmm... yes, my name is Theo... na," she spluttered, her own face colouring in the dimness.

"Theona, you say? Well, may the Lady bless you, then, Theona, and keep you well."

"Thank you, but who is the Lady?" Theona asked, her curiosity rising.

"Well, lass, we have few gods in these lands, but the one most folk follow is the Lady De'mitra, she who tends the crops and animals. When she blesses us, the harvests are so plentiful there is often grain left outside the granaries because there isn't enough room in them. And any animals that we might breed somehow manage to produce more healthy offspring in those years, creating a surfeit."

"De'mitra is how you name her? Interesting, in my world, there are some who worship Demeter, an ancient goddess of harvest and agriculture. She is said to hold sway over the grains and the fields of the earth, I suppose that could extend to the animals in the fields."

Theona realized that the talk about food, harvests, etc., had made her hungry and she turned to look around for her pack. She was a bit irritated because the deepening night made it difficult to see anything more than a few feet away clearly, even with the moon.

It was at this time that Theona discovered that she could feel things, things like the fact that there was a large tree on the cliff's edge just around the turn up the slope, that there were several large mushrooms growing amongst the tree's roots, and those were edible. She could also sense the nearly dried blood from a carcass hanging on a hook at the front right corner of the wagon.

Yet, even more than these, she could feel something else, a sense of earthly power, she could point to the places on or under the ground nearby where that strange sense of power could be found flowing in lines and streams. She also felt as if she could pull the power to her.

That caused her blood to turn to ice. That damnable prophecy, turning her life upside down, willy nilly, and nothing she could do!

She wasn't really paying attention, but eventually, the change in the level of light caused her to look down at her hands. Her left one was glowing brightly enough that she could now see much farther around her than she could a few minutes before. She spotted her pack lying about fifteen feet away on the ground, next to where the great rock had been before she shattered it.

She stood slowly, so as to give her body a chance to adapt to being upright, and walked over to the pack. The heavy cloth of the pack was torn in many places, she could actually see some of the things inside, such as pieces of her male clothing. She picked up the pack, pulled the main zipper back to open it, and started pulling things out, paying no mind to the fact that there was a man standing nearby.

She had brought a few plaid flannel shirts,a s they were comfortable and helped to stay warm in the cool mornings and evenings. She also had put two pairs of faded jeans in there, and as she pulled each item out, she could see that all of them showed many rips and tears.

The few things she had brought for food, mostly MREs and easy to carry items like cereal bars, were not in any better shape. Most of the MRE containers had gaping cuts in them, bits of the food falling out, and the cereal bars were beyond any redemption.

Damn it all, here she was in a place where she had no food of her own, she'd either need to find some or depend on Tanris. Then she realized that she could find food, she knew there were edible mushrooms nearby, Tanris had meat available, maybe he had vegetables too?

Well, there was only one way to find out. She turned to him and asked, "Tanris, what were you planning to eat tonight?"

He shrugged, pointed to the carcass she knew was there, "I was going to cut strips from the meat, and cook some with a vis'nif."

"That's all? Did you even know that there are perfectly edible ri'gezna mushrooms by that tree you passed on the way here earlier? Do you carry any vegetables with you at all, ones that might last a few days while travelling, to eat with any meat you might acquire?"

Tanris turned to face her, his face very pale in the light of the one moon. "How... Wait a moment. You say you are not from this world?"

"That is correct."

"Then how... how did you know the mushrooms were there, or that I had meat here, and some vegetables that travel well?"

"Tanris, I can feel things that are linked to the ground, like the mushrooms, the vis'nif, and the body of the animal you killed early today. Not only that, but I can sense other things, like energy streams? That is how."

"You are truly odd, lass, ye do things that I have never seen anyone do, and I have seen many a witch in my travels. Perhaps... no... it must be, it is the only thing that makes any sense, perhaps you are the one foretold in the prophecy."

As he said the word prophecy, Theona's head snapped up like a shot. "Prophecy? What prophecy are you talking about?"

"Hmmmm... I'm not sure if I have a copy of it in the wagon, I'll look." He turned and walked back to his wagon, shaking his head at all the tears in the heavy covering, it would cost a pretty coin to fix it all, for sure. Some time passed before he returned to her, holding something.

He then passed it to her, she could see it was a heavy piece of thick paper, folded three times, slightly different to how she had folded letters when writing or sending them was still a normal part of life. She opened it, read the first few lines and blanched, it was the family prophecy. She staggered, wobbling badly enough that Tanris grabbed her to keep her standing, she grabbed his arm, shaking with terror.

"How!?", she cried out, "how is it that this prophecy is the same as the one Simon Longlock wrote almost eight hundred years ago in my world? Where did you get this? How long has this prophecy been known to your people? I must know!"

"Girl, what has you so distressed? The prophecy came from the hands of a man much like you, small and slender, I believe the historians said his name was Simon; we called him Farwalker, as he wandered across many of the lands. Six hundred of our years or so, I think?"

Theona, still shaking, recalled that Simon was said to have vanished not long after he wrote the prophecy found lying on his desk.

"Tanris, oh Tanris, I cannot bear this! I am the girl in that prophecy, Tanris, I AM!"

"What makes you so sure, lass?"

"Tanris, I am here, in your world, and I... I am the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. I told you before that I was born male, but when I woke up here after hitting my head on that rock, I was already female. My mother had nine children, six girls and three boys, I was the middle boy. When I became female, the prophecy had already started, as I was now the seventh daughter of my mother, a seventh daughter."

"A little while ago, when I could not see well enough to find my pack, my hand began to glow, becoming bright enough to see around me. I said I can sense the energy streams, the power lines, if you will, one lies about ten par'k'neks over there, another six par'k'neks that way."

"I know not what you mean by power lines or energy streams, lass, I have no ability that way at all."

"Tanris, if I were to get some of those mushrooms while you cut the meat and wash the vis'nifs, I think I can prove what I say."

He shook his head and wandered over to the wagon to prepare the food for her.

Theona wandered up the second path, the one Tanris and his wagon had used to get here, and after a brief walk, turned a corner in the path, being sure to stay far away from the edge as much as possible, then spied the tree about fifty feet or so ahead.

Watching carefully as she stepped around the old tree to the side near the cliff's edge, she spotted the mushrooms and picked three. They were quite large, the hood being a good six inches across, the stem about eight inches along. She knew the whole plant was edible, She wasn't entirely sure she understood how she knew these things, but as long as they were safe, she wouldn't worry about it.

She worked her way onto the path, then followed it back down to the wagon to see Tanris laying several small to medium sized stones in a rough circle a short distance from the wagon. She nodded, a fire pit made sense. Tanris wandered up the other path and returned soon after with several chunks of dead wood. He grabbed a small hatchet from the wagon, chopped the wood and arranged it to burn effectively.

Once he had set several pieces in the middle of the stone circle, Theona told him to step back unless he wished to be burned. She stood there quietly for a moment, then her hands began to glow a bright red-orange; when it was big enough, she cast it at the pile of wood.

The effect was quite startling, to say the least. The ball of flame in her hand struck the wood, and a brief CRACK! split the air as the ends of the stacked pieces in the middle of the fire pit seemed to explode, then the flames began to eat hungrily at the wood.

Tanris stood several feet behind her but off to one side, watching. His jaw dropped when he saw the wood light so very fast.

Theona turned to face him, her back to the slowly growing warmth of the fire in the pit. "Do you believe me now, Tanris?"

Theona sighed as Tanris backed away a few steps, then stopped, shaking his head. "I've never seen the likes of that, girl, and I've met three powerful witches and at least two actual mages at the High Lord's Palace in Nur`li'sa at times over the years."

Theona sighed again, then slowly approached him. "Tanris, I vow before your Lady De'mitra and any other gods here that I will do no harm to anyone unless they harm or attempt to harm myself or anyone who travels with me, on my honour and my life."

A flash of lightning coming from the nearly clear sky startled Theona badly, she saw Tanris flinch in surprise. What startled both even more was the strong yet very female voice coming from somewhere near them, "Accepted, Theona of Earth, on your honour and your life."

Theona gasped in shock, her legs wobbling violently, then she fell to the ground, landing on her butt on the grass near the fire pit. "Fear not, Theona of Earth," the voice continued, "so long as you are honest and true, I and my brothers and sisters will have no cause to harm you. The fact that you could make such a vow so soon after we brought you here stands high in your favour at the moment. Be well, Theona of Earth."

Theona hadn't been watching Tanris, but when she looked up again, she figured he must have been just as shocked, as he was leaning against the side of his large wagon, shaking his head and moaning, she thought she could hear him say, "Lady De'mitra" once or twice.

The sense of an unseen presence faded, and Theona and Tanris were eventually composed enough to stand unsupported once more. Theona looked over at him, a weak smile on her face as she asked, "Did you mention Lady De'mitra just now?"

"That I did, lass, for it was She who spoke to ye just now, ye have been very highly honoured."

"Honoured? What do you mean?"

"Ye made a vow, lass, and She accepted it. Not only that, but She gave her word that ye will not be harmed by them without just cause. To top it off, She and the other gods think well of ye because ye made that vow, ye stand in their favour. She then wished ye well."

"So, as long as I act honourably and uphold that vow, you think she and the other gods will continue to favour me to some extent?"

"Something like that, they'll cause no direct harm to ye. I think ye have been blessed by her, Theona, it's been said many times over the centuries that Her wish for someone to be well brings nearly perfect health for the remainder of that person's life. Of the few I've heard about, the one exception was because the person was present during a major plague, they survived with much less harm than most others there."

**********

Theona glanced at the fire in the pit, it was still burning brightly, the heat of the flames felt good in the slightly chilly evening air. "The fire is burning well, do you have a pot about this wide and this deep?" She spread her hands sideways, then up and down to show the size needed.

Tanris thought for a moment, then nodded, "I have one slightly bigger than that, I'll get it from the wagon."

"Thank you, Tanris, might I use that small hatchet for a moment, I want to cut several branches and make a spit for the fire."

Tanris returned in a moment with the pot and the hatchet, then pointed to the smaller path along the side of the mountain. "There's plenty of deadfall, branches still on the pieces, about ais'senv'k'nek along that path, ye should find what you need there."

She thanked him and walked slowly along this second path, following it around the gentle curve of the mountain. A few minutes walk brought her to the place where she could see various pieces of dead wood, from hand's width to full trees, scattered all over the very slight slope. She wandered from piece to piece looking, chopping off a suitable branch now and then, until she had all she needed to make a spit. She then turned around, the light of the moon showed the path off to her left; she returned to the path and soon after, to their campsite.

She returned the hatchet, asked for some rope to bind the sticks together and quickly built the two base parts for the spit, placing one on each side of the fire. She then took the longest stick, slightly over a par'k'nek in length, then picked up the pot, sliding the stick between the pot's narrow metal handle and the pot itself, before lowering the stick onto the two base pieces, which she had stuck into the ground.

Theona walked to the wagon, asking Tanris for two large vis'nifs and water for the pot, then with the items in hand, returned to the area near the fire; she poured some water into the pot, then poured a bit of the water into a small wooden bowl she pulled from her pack. She used her hands to give the two vis'nifs a quick scrub, then using the top of a low, flat stone nearby, she quickly cut them into small chunks using a knife she had also retrieved from her pack, and dropped them into the pot to cook. She then picked up the mushrooms she had unknowingly dropped at some point earlier, most likely in her surprise at the voice coming from nowhere, rinsed them in the water as she had done with the vis'nifs, then set them on the flat rock, using one last stick she had cut and stripped of bark to give the pot a brief stir.

"Tanris," she yelled, "cut some meat off that carcass, enough for both of us, please!"

Tanris appeared a few minutes later, carrying what looked to be half a flank from the small carcass, and handed it to her. He watched as she rinsed it like she had done with the vegetables, then used her knife to cut it into chunks, tossing them into the pot with the chopped vis'nifs. She noticed him watching, smiled and said, "I'm making a simple stew, I'll let this cook for a while before I add the mushrooms to it."

Tanris returned the smile. "I've never seen a knife like that, may I look at it, please?"

Theona laughed and handed it to him. "Where I came from, a knife like this is illegal, carrying one is a crime. I use it for camping."

The knife Tanris was looking at so keenly was a blade, split in two parts, each about three mik'k'neks long, that fit into the handle of the knife itself when closed. The button triggered the release of the two part blade, a quick wrist snap would bring the second part into line, forming the complete knife. Theona had found the knife at a flea market across town from where she had lived, and had bought it for $25, knowing it was worth much more. Theona giggled at the rapt fascination Tanris was showing for the knife, she guessed he had never seen anything like it.

"Quite a nice knife you have here. Things like this are common on your world?"

"Single blade ones are much more common there, knives like that one you're holding are hard to find, but available if you look hard enough."

Tanris handed the knife back to her, Theona set it beside the mushrooms on the flat rock.

There was silence between them for a while. Tanris eventually sat on the ground near the fire, basking in the warmth of the flames. As the vis'nifs and the meat cooked in the pot, Theona used the stick to stir it now and then, until Tanris offered to get a large wooden spoon. He strode over to the wagon, spent a minute or two looking through some containers before finding one, then brought it to Theona by the fire.

Theona laughed to herself, then said, "I completely forgot to ask you if you had a spoon for the pot. Thank you."

He chuckled, saying, "I didn't even notice until a moment ago, a spoon is just one of many items I carry and use regularly."

Theona stirred the pot once again, prompting Tanris to say that it was already starting to smell good. Theona laughed, telling him it would be a while before the food was ready, then she used the knife to chop the mushrooms, throwing them into the pot with the vis'nifs and meat.

**********

While they were waiting for the food to be cooked, they relaxed, enjoying the warmth of the fire until Tanris stretched for a moment, then turned to face her and asked, "Lass, what language have we been speaking since we met earlier?"

She turned to him, surprised by the question. "Why, English, I know no other languages."

"What is this English ye mention? I have heard of no such language in all my years. Speak it for a moment."

Theona quickly said, in English, "I appreciate that you have been nice to me, thank you."

Tanris looked confused. "I understood not one word of that, lass, so what am I speaking now?"

Now it was Theona's turn to be confused. "If it isn't English, then I have no idea. Please enlighten me."

"Lass, Theona, you have been speaking the common or trade tongue as if ye had been born here and had spoken it all your life."

Theona was very surprised and showed it, then turned away after a moment and stirred the pot again.

Tanris shrugged, then spoke, "Perhaps it is a gift from the gods so that ye can understand people here."

Theona lost herself in her thoughts, occasionally stirring the pot as a second moon began to show over the eastern horizon.

**********

Eventually, the food was ready, Theona asked Tanris to get two bowls bigger than the one she had so she could serve the food. Tanris didn't want to go anywhere, he'd been itching to get at what was in the pot for some time, but he nodded and headed to the wagon. He returned a few minutes later with two bowls that might have passed as small tureens on Earth and handed them to her, along with a metal spoon.

He had also brought what looked like a ladle, which she then used to transfer the food from the pot to the bowls. When one was full, she handed it to him, then took the second bowl and filled it about halfway, setting it on the ground before she carefully removed the pot from the fire. She set the pot on the top of the flat rock, pulled the stick out and dropped it on the ground, then picked up her bowl and began eating.

Both Theona and Tanris were intent on the food, a small smile could be seen on Tanris' face, he obviously liked it, he hadn't tasted something this good that hadn't been cooked on a stove for a long time. Camp food, for him, was usually just enough to keep one going.

He cleared his bowl in what felt like about fifteen minutes to Theona, then looked in the pot to see if there was any left. When he saw that there was, he used the ladle to fill his bowl about halfway, leaving the rest for Theona in case she wanted another helping.

She finished hers just after he refilled his bowl, it was a bit odd because the spoon was made for people his size, not hers, and barely fit into her mouth. She realized she was still slightly hungry, checking the pot, she noticed there was a bit left and poured it into her bowl.

When they had finished eating, Tanris picked up the pot, collected the bowls, spoons, knife and ladle, and walked down the mountain; after several minutes of walking, he found a stream that spawned from a small pool and used the stream to wash everything.

Theona relaxed for a bit, seeing he had decided to do the dishes and spent the time in the fire's warmth looking up at the night sky. She couldn't see a single constellation that she recognized, this sky was not the one she knew. She saw that one group of stars looked vaguely like an olden day plow, another like a trident, a third like a large spoon, a fourth like a box with a handle sticking out of one side, a fifth looked sort of like the Big Dipper from home but five sided so the angles were different, those were the ones that had a recognizable shape.

She was still looking up at the stars when he returned, placing the pot, bowls, spoons and ladle in the wagon before returning to the fire. He handed the knife to her, surprised that she chose to place it fully opened on the flat rock beside her, then shrugged and forgot about it.

The two of them relaxed for a while, watching the night as more stars became visible, then the third moon showed on the horizon.

He noticed her looking at the moon just showing to the east, then the others. "You seem fascinated by the moons. These three are in orbits that are fairly close to each other, but not close enough that they would collide, and they usually show up on a daily or nightly basis. The other two moons are farther out, just within the gravitational well, and their orbits are longer, they can be seen here about every two nights.

Theona was startled when he mentioned the gravitational well. "You know about gravity? I'm surprised, we didn't discover gravity initially until about 350 years ago, and modern theories that expanded our knowledge of it within the last hundred years."

"Ahhhh, well, we have known about gravity here for close on to a thousand of our years, perhaps slightly longer than that."

"Hmmm, we'll need to talk about scientific discoveries at some other time, I'm ready to sleep."

"Give me a moment, it's a warm night, we can sleep by the fire." He then wandered off to the back of the wagon, opening the heavy tarp, then grabbed some items before letting the tarp fall again and striding back to the campfire.

"Here is a heavy ground sheet, put it on the ground, then ye can cover yerself with this," as he tossed her a light blanket.

She spread the heavy sheet out on the ground, then used her pack as a pillow, covered herself with the blanket and was asleep in minutes.

**********

She slept deeply for some time, occasionally shifting position to become more comfortable.

She had no idea what time it was, but she was awakened by what sounded like an animal walking not far from their fire. She threw the blanket off, rolled toward the flat rock, picked up the knife and stood up to face what looked like a very large six legged cat.

She sensed Tanris waking on the other side of the fire, then picking up the stick that had been used to hold the pot over the fire while the food was cooking, waiting to see what would happen.

She faced the cat, prepared to defend herself, but wasn't prepared when it spoke, "Star Lady, I am Shar'Nel Mak'ris, I come to walk with you."

Tanris rolled out of his bed, dropping the branch, then bowed to the great cat. "Welcome, Shar'Nel Mak'Ris, you honour us with your presence." He turned to Theona, explaining, "Mak'Ris is his clan name, it is an honoured clan, they've fought beside us many times. Shar'Nel is his personal name, or one of them, that he gave it at all means that he feels he can trust us with his life and honour."

Theona nodded and bowed to the great cat. "Welcome, Shar'Nel Mak'Ris, to our humble camp. You give us great honour."

The cat nodded before he replied, "How can I not, Star Lady, you who will save our world in the times ahead?"

The meeting with the strange cat had been odd, but Theona felt no fear of the cat and soon returned to her briefly disturbed sleep.

As she knelt by her blanket just before lying down again, she noticed that Tanris had unhitched the six krants from the wagon at some point and had set them on long leads running from heavy ringbolts in the wagon's frame so they could wander around and graze through the night.

She was woken not long after dawn, well, that of the first sun actually. She shielded her eyes with a hand and looked at the fairly large red sun lurking over the lands to the east. She rolled out from under her blanket, stood and walked over to the edge of the trail where the ground steepened considerably before turning into an actual cliff and looked across the lands in the early morning light.

She noticed that they did not seem to be a great deal higher than the lands below, perhaps a couple of hundred k'neks at most. The trail continued northward for a while before it turned and began winding its way down the slopes to the lands below.

She hadn't been listening to the things around her, so she was a bit startled when Mak'Ris approached and nudged her hand. The strange cat looked at her and nodded before he spoke, "We shall go into these lands this day, Star Lady. I shall walk beside you, yes."

She chuckled as she looked at the cat beside her, his shoulder being about the same level as her upper abdomen. He was definitely not a small cat, fairly close in size to some of the larger tigers back on Earth, but the six legs made it all too clear that this was not Earth.

That became even clearer as she noticed a yellowish glow on the eastern horizon and a second sun began to rise into the eastern sky.

She stared in wonder for a moment before she looked at the cat. "How many suns does this world have, Mak'Ris?" she asked.

"Three," he replied. "The red one is called Kal'Ti in the low tongue, Son of Ti in the common, the yellow is called Kal'Zin, Son of Zin in the common. They are thought by many to be the sons of two of the older gods of this world who fought each other over a young woman, and after nearly slaying each other for nothing more than simple lust, were doomed to wander the skies in their new forms which we see here.

"The third star is a blue one, Sul'Kar, which translates from the low tongue to Daughter of Kar in the common. That one is much farther out from our world than these two, and is only loosely connected to them by their stronger gravitational pulls keeping it in its place in the heavens. Those same old tales say that the Daughter of Kar is the young woman the two young gods fought over so long ago. Those tales also say that she wanders so far from them so that she will not incite them to further troubles by her mere presence among them."

"There are also five moons that orbit our world, three were visible in the skies last night before you returned to your sleep. Those three are known as Sul'Var, Sul'Mez and Sul'Nig, Daughters of Var, Mez and Nig; the two more distant moons are Sul'Shen and Sul'Bev, Daughter of Shen and Daughter of Bev, the five named are minor goddesses from long ago whose daughters wandered from home and were lost."

As Mak'Ris finished speaking, Theona heard someone approaching them from behind and turned to greet Tanris.

He spoke first, though, "Blessed morn to ye, lass, I see ye have seen two of the suns rise, aye?"

"Almost, Tanris, and a blessed morn to you as well. The red one was just over the horizon when I awoke. I came over here to take a look around and Mak'Ris followed me. He has been telling me of the names for the three suns and the five moons. To actually be able to see two of the three suns rising as I am doing now is a great wonder for me, my old world only had one sun and one moon."

Theona turned back to face the two rising suns and executed a cautious bow in their direction. "I greet you, Kal'Ti and Kal'Zin. May you both shed your light on our travels this day and guide us as we head to the lands below." She stood tall, turned and walked back to the wagon.

**********

The fire had gone out while they slept, so Tanris added a few pieces of wood and lit it again, then hung a pot on the spit over the fire.

He quickly produced a simple but nourishing porridge with slices of two different fruits in it, one of them when Tanris showed her a whole one reminded her of a strawberry except this one was a purplish blue in colour, the other looked like a banana but was dark orange, not yellow.

The pieces of fruit in the porridge added a different but fairly pleasant taste to the simple food, a bit of what could only be described as a type of milk poured over the porridge gave it a slightly bitter flavour that offset the two fruit types, yet added to the overall enjoyable taste.

The porridge was consumed fairly fast, then Tanris cut a chunk off the carcass and tossed it to Mak'Ris who devoured the semi-fresh meat.

Tanris took the mid-sized pot he had used to cook the porridge, the ladle and the spoons to the stream downhill and washed them.

While Tanris was gone, Theona grabbed her bowl and used it to carry dirt which she dropped on the fire until it was fully smothered.

When he returned, several minutes were spent in releasing the long leads from the ringbolts and hitching the six krants to the wagon again, then he helped Theona to get up on the wagon seat with her backpack, sat down beside her and clucked to the animals to get them moving.

**********

It took them perhaps an hour by Theona's reckoning before they reached the path that led down to the lower lands, and another four, nearly five before they managed to reach the bottom. There was one rough spot, where one of the wheels went over a fair-sized rock lying in the trail, and the impact as it touched the ground again had Tanris get down to make sure the wheel hadn't been damaged.

They stopped as they finally reached the edge of the very extensive plains at the base of the path from the mountain. Theona looked to the east and thought she could see what might be a village or small community of some sort in the distance.

She mentioned it and was told that it was the first hold in this area; the place, Calmar's Vale, was named for a long dead king. Tanris then told her that it was quite a bit farther than it appeared to be; appearances here could be quite deceptive, it seemed.

Mak'Ris had had no trouble at all in keeping up with the wagon, but had to stay away from the krants, he made them quite nervous. That was despite the fact that the cat wasn't even half their size, the big animals would jerk in the harness any time he approached them.

Tanris reached into a small barrel and pulled out four loaves of what looked like homemade bread and handed one to Theona. He then picked up a small box and used a short knife to cut, then apparently butter his loaves; the knife was handed to Theona and she did the same.

The bread had a rather nutty taste, the butter was quite nice if a bit sweet and Theona made short work of her loaf.

She looked up after she finished eating to see that Tanris was already finishing his second and picking up the third loaf. It didn't take much longer before he polished off his three and clucked at the krants to get them moving toward the distant hold.

**********

They finally entered the tended lands around the hold a few hours after mid-day. Tanris stopped by the one stone building, then jumped down and banged on the doorway. A moment passed before the door opened, revealing what appeared to be a rather stout middle-aged male.

"Ho, Tanris, finally back from the southern lands, are ye?" the man bellowed when he saw Tanris standing by his door.

"That I am, Kerick, it was like any other trip until I was almost out of the mountains on this side, then I found her." Tanris pointed to me sitting on the wagon seat. The other male, Kerick, looked at me and chuckled, then showed a wide grin as he faced Tanris again.

"So ye've finally found a young lass to bed, aye, Tanris?" he laughed, his belly shaking up and down, side to side.

"Not at all, Kerick, take a closer look at her, she is nae lass, she's a full grown woman."

"Ye say she's full grown? But she's tiny, nae bigger than a ten or twelve year old girl?"

"I tell ye true, Kerick, she be full grown. Do ye know of Simon Farwalker's prophecy?"

"The other world male that was here several centuries ago? His prophecy? Aye."

"Aye, Kerick, she comes from that same world, she be one of his descendants, and the lady of the prophecy, I believe," Tanris stated.

"She be the one in the prophecy? A slip of a girl like that be the one to save us all?"

"I believe so, Kerick, I've seen her do magic with my own eyes. She also told me she is the one in the prophecy after I showed her the cleanest copy I had in my wagon yester even. Her clothes are rather odd, not at all like ours, and her native tongue is not ours. Even stranger than that, she eats like I do with no concern for manners and she walks like a man, striding everywhere."

Kerick took another look at me, this one lasting for a moment, and nodded, "Her clothes are rather odd. Magic, ye said?"

"Aye, Kerick, she cast a ball of flame about this size (he spread his hands a bit) at a pile of wood and it burst into flame."

Kerick paled when Tanris showed the size of the ball of flame, then muttered, "That be more than was needed, for sure."

"Perhaps, Kerick," Tanris responded, "But she seems to be new to the magic, learning it as she goes, I think; I know it scared her. I also know that she has no knowledge of our world, the cat there was telling her about the names of the stars and moons in our skies earlier."

"Cat, ye say? What cat?" Kerick asked just as Mak'Ris wandered around the front of the wagon, startling the krants.

"That would be me, good sir. My name is Mak'Ris and I travel with the Star Lady, I go where she goes."

Kerick shook his head, if he had needed any more proof, here was a cat as mentioned in the prophecy, travelling with the odd woman. "Young lady," Kerick spoke, "Be ye welcome in my humble abode, I have food left from our mid-day meal if ye wish to have a bite."

"My name, sir, is Theona. If you do not believe that I am the one in the prophecy, I can prove it quite easily."

"The cat be proof enough for me, Theona, they do not willingly travel with people without dire need, yet he travels with ye. It be enough."

Theona nodded, replying, "I accept your offer of some food, the bread we had earlier was enough then, but I am hungry once again."

Tanris stood there for a moment, thinking, then said, "As small as ye are, girl, ye eat a fair bit, perhaps it is due to the magic in you." He nodded to Kerick, then added, "She ate one of my cousin Al'gard's loaves I brought back, they're almost a k'nek long and nice and thick."

Kerick chuckled, "At least she has a healthy appetite, despite her small size. Come, in, folks, come in."

Tanris, Theona and Mak'Ris entered the stone house, following Kerick to a common space with a large wooden table. Kerick waved to them to sit down, then said that he would return in a few minutes with some food for them, including some fresh meat for Mak'Ris.

Kerick returned a short while later, carrying a large tray with three platters on it, setting the biggest one by Tanris, one with raw meat chopped into fist-sized chunks for Mak'Ris and the third platter was a smaller one for Theona with the same items that were on Tanris' platter.

"The meat be fresh krez'gral, caught just after first dawn this morn by my middle son, there be also vis'nifs and fresh small loaves."

Kerick headed back to the kitchen. carrying the empty tray. He returned a moment later with a large jug of some sort of fruit juice and cups.

The three of them each tucked into the food, eating quietly, various sounds could be heard in and around the house. Someone was chopping wood out back, some else was singing softly while lovely smells wafted from what must be the kitchen, and a third person, apparently Kerick's daughter, could be heard muttering about having to sweep the floors and stairs again, she'd done it just the day before, wasn't that enough?

Kerick stuck his head through a nearby door, yelling, "Bett'rya, ye know better. We can nae have a dirty house, girl!", then closed it again.

The three finished their meals and were about to get up when Kerick rejoined them. "The food was good, I trust?" he asked.

We all responded in the affirmative, then Tanris said that we should be going, we still had a long way to go yet.

After a brief stop to use the simple in-house facilities, we were rolling along on the road to the east from Calmar's Vale.

That had been a good meal, I was content with a full belly. Tanris and I hoped to return soon if we could do so without some kind of hassle.

He spent some of the time while we traveled informing me about the court. It was only then that he said he was taking me to see the High Lord. I turned a bit in the seat and asked him why? His reply was quite simple, "If you are the one in the prophecy, he needs to know."

There wasn't really anything that I could say to that, so I just relaxed in the seat as much as I could and looked out across the open grasslands. It's not the first time I've seen grasslands like this, I grew up on the western edge of the region that we call "America's breadbasket".

Yeah, I know the grasslands well enough, I spent my early years on the east side of the town of Kirwin, Wyoming in the Shoshone National Forest. Kirwin used to be a mining town long ago, but it's a historic site now. There used to be a post office, but it closed down long ago.

Kirwin itself isn't very far from the edge of the Shoshone Forest, and there's plenty of open land once you leave the forest behind.

We ended up moving to Casper, Wyoming, when I was ten or eleven. My mom's mom had lived there for most of her life.

So, yeah, I know about grasslands and how extensive they can be. Even standing on the seat, I can't see an end to the grass ahead of us.

There's a bit of rise and fall to the ground here, but not much, it's pretty much perfect for farming or raising herd animals like cows or sheep.

We continue to travel along the road heading east for several hours, then as the sun is almost ready to set, we pull into a small camp site. Someone at some point in time created a decent fire pit here and there's a small building behind the pit as well, likely a sleeping area.

While we're unhitching the krants so they can graze through the night, I learn that the mountains we descended from earlier are called the Sky Claws and that they are the second highest range on this specific continent. I can smell a large body of water somewhere behind the cabin.

I looked over at Tanris briefly, then asked, "Is there a lake or something near here? I can smell water not far away."

Tanris grinned as he set the last krant on its lead and nodded, "Aye, a small lake behind the building, about ais'lond'ler k'neks, I think."

I laughed, then headed over to my bag, where I pulled out a small spool of very fine fishing line I had brought along. After a quick glance through the other items in my backpack, which was a fair bit lighter since all the food had been destroyed or spoiled, I closed it up again.

I had barely made it past the small building when I found the perfect branch for a simple fishing rod. I picked it up and continued walking.

It took me several minutes to reach the small lake, relying on my sense of smell, as I had to wind my way through the tall grasses growing here. This was not as easy as it might sound, as the grasses in question were all about eight feet tall, so it made it hard to see very far ahead.

Once I was near the lake's edge, I found a nice, large flat rock just above the shore and sat on the edge hanging over the water as I slowly tied some of the fishing line tightly to the end of my simple pole. I used my knife to cut the line at a nice length, then knotted that end of it.

I had known that there might be a chance for me to do some fishing on my vacation, so I'd packed the line and some basic hooks. I suppose I could have brought an actual modern fishing pole with me, but I had chosen to do things as naturally as possible if the opportunity arose.

I slid one of the hooks through a tiny gap in the knot I had made, then tightened it again so the hook wouldn't slide out.

Once my pole was ready, I cast the line out into the lake and waited to see what would happen.

People must not fish here often, I guess, as I got the first bite on my line less than five minutes later. That turned into a heck of a battle, as I caught flashes of a green and gold monster of a fish, easily three feet long, possibly a bit more, trying to get away from the hook in its jaw.

After what was likely perhaps ten minutes of straining on my part and escape attempts on his part, I finally landed the darn thing.

I'm not sure just how long I sat and stood there fishing from that big flat rock, but I was having all kinds of fun.

By the time I decided to stop, it was truly night, although the first moon could be seen rising in the east. That gave me enough light to be able to see around me somewhat, and even from this distance, I could smell the krants, or more specifically, their droppings, in the distance.

I looked at the top of the rock next to where I had been standing. Nine fish were laid out there, all but two bigger than the first one.

I shook my head, then used several hooks to string the fish onto the line and temporarily tied off the other end.

Carrying my homemade creel holding the nine fish, I slowly walked back toward the small camp site with a big smile on my face. I haven't been able to catch that many fish of that size in one place since I was about seven or eight, I think, and that was with dad's help, actually.

I could smell the fire that Tanris had started a fair bit before I strolled into the camp itself, then dropped the fish on the wagon seat.

"Hey, Tanris, how about cooking some nice big fish for our meal?" I giggled as I spoke, then again as he stalked over to the wagon to look.

Tanris continued to teach me bits and pieces about the lands of this world, especially the ones on this specific continent, "Great Roams". It seems that most of this continent is covered in grasslands like this. According to Tanris, roughly 85% of the total land area? Wow!

What made it even more stunning is that that total includes the few actual cities on the continent, the biggest being Nur`li'sa, "Small Home".

Tanris then went on to tell me that it would take us most of a ten-day to reach Nur`li'sa, maybe longer depending on how fast we travel.

We had a great meal that evening of baked fish and vis'nif. I learned the fish were a type known as kraf'nelg, common in many lakes.

After setting down simple ground covers and grabbing a couple of blankets, Tanris and I talked under the stars until sleep overcame us.

I have no idea where Mak'Ris had wandered off to, but he returned in time to have two of the fish as his dinner while we relaxed.

To this day, I'm not sure just what woke me up at that point. All I know is that I came rolling out from under my blanket, knife in hand and flipped out to its full and deadly length, to see Mak'Ris standing a short distance away growling at something or someone beyond the firelight.

I heard Tanris as he rolled out of his blanket, grumbling about being woken up again, then I saw him pick up a heavy branch. Now, I'm a fairly tall person by Earth standards, but there is not even a snowball's chance in hell that I could have picked up the branch he did one handed.

All three of us stood ready, facing toward the road passing by to the east and west, then waited to see what would happen.

What did happen was a woman appeared, riding a mount similar to the krants, but a bit smaller in size and a pale blue in colour.

"I come in peace, hoping to find the Lady of the Stars that was foretold. Our seers said she had arrived and would be near this place."

Oh, shit, just what I don't need right now, someone looking for me to help nail the prophecy into place. I sighed and lowered the knife.

"I am she. If you come in peace, you may be welcome here by our fire," I replied to her. "We have fish caught from the lake nearby."

The woman stated, "I am Ven'las, seventh rider of the eleventh tribe of the Ingis. Thank you for allowing me to share your camp."

Tanris laughed at that, dropping the big branch on the ground as he moved forward to get a better look at the woman on her mount.

"Ahhh," he said, " a rider of the Ingis. You can tie your kur'ras to a tree over there, it's best that it stay away from the krants."

I looked at Tanris and asked, "A rider of the Ingis? What do you mean?"

Tanris chuckled and explained, "The tribes of the Ingis are scattered across a great distance, both north to south and east to west. Each tribe has roughly eight to ten riders, all of them being women as the women seem to get along with the mounts better than the men. With thirteen tribes at the last count, which was taken seven of our years ago, that means there are roughly 100 riders among the tribes, perhaps 150."

He said this using the terms from the common tongue, "ais'lond" and "ais'lond'ler" for the numbers. I had to think a bit to translate them.

"Okay, so they have riders. What makes these riders so special, Tanris?" I enquired.

"It is simple, Theona; each of their riders, by the time they are adults, can kill a target by firing a bow, while mounted, from a great distance."

I giggled, then said, "That kind of reminds me of some folks in various stories I read as a child. One of the better stories was a fairly long one, describing the adventures of a group of people as they journeyed across various lands. One of those lands, Rohan, had excellent riders."

Tanris' head snapped around, "Ro'han, you say? That is strange, we have a land on the other side of the mountains back there by that name." When he said back there, he was pointing back the direction from which we had come, the mountains were still visible in the distance.

"Really?" I giggled. "That is odd, as the Rohan I mentioned is only a place within a story, not a true place. I learn much from you, Tanris."

The woman had laid a ground sheet of sorts and a blanket down by the end of the wagon closest to the road and was soon asleep.

It wasn't until I was back under my blanket, slowly drifting toward sleep again, that I realized he had pronounced Rohan differently.

Once we had had something to eat in the morning, Tanris' porridge again, we set off eastward with the woman riding with us. She had tied her mount to the side of the wagon opposite where the remainder of the meat was still hanging, then relaxed as we started moving.

I was quite surprised at how easily she handled the bumps and jolts of the road, I guess it's all that experience from riding.

There were only four fish left, I'd had one, Tanris had had two and so had Mak'Ris. The woman had gone straight to sleep after joining us. The four remaining fish were in a long, narrow box, just big enough to fit them lengthwise, but quite deep, deep enough for a dozen of the fish.

We'd been travelling for a few hours when there was a shout of "Ho! The wagon!" from somewhere behind us and to the north.

Tanris stopped the wagon and we waited for a short while before we spotted someone riding a large cat, not quite the size of Mak'Ris.

Mak'Ris shook his head, sighing, "One of my people's lesser cousins, some of them let the Warl'kel use them as mounts."

"So this person is from the Warl'kel, Mak'Ris?" I asked.

"That's one way to look at it, I suppose," he replied. "More correctly, the people are the Warl'kel, the Thorns of War."

"Interesting name. Is there a meaning to it?" I asked again.

"Yes," he answered me, "They are one of very few armies to have lost so few battles in the last thousand years."

"Hmmm... so strong and fierce, tough as nails and very, very hard to beat, huh?" Mak'Ris didn't bother to respond.

By this time, I could more clearly see the person approaching us. Even on the mount, he looked to be about my size or close to it.

He stopped near the front of the wagon and carefully dismounted, then looked up at us. He seemed to be looking at me rather closely.

"I am Kron'gar the Bold, I have come seeking the Lady of the Stars. I was informed by a seer she would be in this general area."

Not another one! Is this crapola ever going to end? Or am I doomed to fulfill that damned prophecy or die in the attempt?

Numbers first, as that may help people understand some things in the story a bit better:

Ais = one, ta = two, tor = three, kras = four, par = five, kif = six, nal = seven, gri = eight, nef = nine

Tark = ten, ais'tark = eleven, ta'tark = twelve, etc.

Bett = twenty, ais'bett = 21, etc.

Frin = thirty, mip = forty, ler = fifty, ves = sixty, zil = seventy, goj = eighty, wid = ninety

Lond = hundred, senv = thousand, so ais'lond would be one hundred, kif'senv would be six thousand, etc.

Numbering in the Low Tongue is somewhat similar to German, where one to ten is added to numbers like twenty, thirty, etc.

mik = one/tenth, in the story this is given as parts of a measurement, such as mik*k'nek, one tenth of a k'nek, the base distance measure.
------> k'nek is itself the bastardized or slang usage of karnek, k'nek is used so often the actual term has fallen into disuse.

Other numbers will be added as I work them out.

**********

Okay, a quick guide to some common distance measurements:

K'nek is the base measurement, equivalent to fourteen inches, so a mik*k'nek would be about 1.4 inches.

The double stride is equivalent to par'k'nek, five k'neks or 70 inches.

The next major distance measurement is the par'senv'k'nek, five thousand k'neks, 70000 inches or 5,833 ft, 4 inches. This is their "mile".
----->N'vit is the next measurement, being their mile; n'vit is the bastardized or slang form of nurvit.

One n'vit = 1.10479798 standard miles. Equatorial circumference of their world is 36,400 n'vit.

K'nek is also used for height. People here are very tall, average height is 7 k'neks or 8'2" for males and about 6.5 k'neks or 7'7" for females.
Elfin people are a bit shorter, males averaging around 6.3 k'neks or 7'4" and females about 5.8 k'neks or 6'9".

In this new world, our heroine at 5'11", or 5.07 k'neks high, is very, very short, which will make her a curiosity wherever she goes.

I'll add other measurements if I discover any that don't use this base form.

**********

I'm working out names for their time measurements at the moment, their minute (zekan) is about 75 seconds long, 90 minutes to an "hour" (filek), 20 hours to a day, ten days to their week (referred to in common as a ten-day), four ten-days per month.

I'm thinking ten months in a year, that would make their year equivalent to roughly 1.71 Earth years.

At the time the story begins, they are about twenty days away from a major festival, "High Summer" in the Common. So it seems that there is some kind of temporal relationship in common with Earth, as Theo vanished about three weeks before the Summer Solstice.

**********

"Low Tongue" versus "High Tongue" spoken across the Four Great Lands and the Five Isles, plus Common (Trade Tongue):

I've already given some of the numbers in usage in the Low Tongue, k'nek and its prefixes are also from the Low Tongue.

The specific "Great Land" (think continent) they are on is called Ferk'nish, or "Great Roams". It is the second largest of the four continents, with over 85% of the land there being wide open plains, with towns and cities scattered all over the place. There are a few mountain ranges on that continent, but for the most part, they are very old mountains, more like very large, often rounded hills.

They have named their world Fe`li'sa, in the Low Tongue, which translates roughly to "All Home" or "Home of All".

Theona's first major destination in this new world will be the capital of the land she is in, the city named Nur`li'sa or "Small Home".

Ai:el'si is used when a person of this world is telling someone where they come from, so they would say ai:el'si "town/city/country name". Ai:el'si translates to "a person of", so someone from the realm's capital would say they were "ai:el'si Nur`li'sa".

Mak'Ris means Long Claws in the Low Tongue, technically this would be the cat's surname. Shar'Nel translates to "Walks Far", thus his name as we know it so far would be Walks Far Long Claws. He may have one or more other personal names, two or three are common.

Farl'ris: Sharp Claws, a specific type of fairly large cat distantly related to Mak'Ris' people, that serve as mounts for some of the Warl'kel.

Krant: A six-legged creature similar to a horse but about 20 to 25% larger than a Clydesdale, with two long straight horns above their eyes.

Kur'ras: Smaller version of a krant, about the same size as a Clydesdale; like the krant, they have two horns located over their eyes.

Vis'nif: potato-like vegetable, skin is yellow, flesh of the vis'nif is a pale pink in colour. It can be cooked in a variety of ways like potatoes.

Ri'gezna: A type of mushroom commonly found growing next to trees all over the major plains of the world.

Kraf'nelg: A type of fish, green and gold in colour, commonly found in medium to large lakes, averaging 3.5 feet in length (three k'neks).

Warl'kel: A large town in the northwest part of the realm, also a small duchy based around that town. They're known for their warriors. The name of the town and duchy comes from two words, Warl which means thorn and Kel which means war, so "Thorns of War".

In'gis: One of two large plains areas, separated from each other by a roughly five n'vit wide strip of forest known as the Sai`In'gis, or as we might say it, the In'gis Wild. In'gis is the name for a grass similar to our rye that grows all over the world. The northern plain is the Ferk`In'gis, or Great In'gis, as it is at least half again the size of Nur`In'gis or Small In'gis which lies to the south of the Sai. A large part of the realm that Theona finds herself in lies within the Ferk`In'gis, so riders from the villages of the plains may not be common, but are not unusual.

Shal'Ris: "Sky Claws", the name given to the mountain range where Theona is found by Tanris.

Kal'Ti: "Son of Ti", this is the red star that is tied in orbit with two other stars, one close, one rather distant.

Kal'Zin: "Son of Zin", this is the yellow star, which is in a fairly close orbit with Kal'Ti.

Sul'Kar: "Daughter of Kar", the blue star that is barely held in its place by the red and the yellow.

Ti, Zin, Kar: The first two are olden gods that have been worshiped for many millennia, Kar is a goddess from the same time period. The three and several others have been worshipped since the days of pre-history here, altars to them are scattered across the lands.

Var, Mez, Nig, Shen, Bev: Minor goddesses from the same time period whose daughters wandered off from their home and became lost. One story speculates that the young girls wandered into a spell field that changed them into moons and set them orbiting around the world.

De'mitra: Fairly modern Goddess known as the Lady of the fields and forests, perhaps Demeter from ancient Earth or a goddess like her. When she bestows her grace on people, their fields and their animals will be abundant for a while, as long as her grace holds. Tanris states that Lady De'mitra's wish for someone to be well brings nearly perfect health for the rest of that person's life, which may be very long.

As I add to the story, I'll add words I use in the story, from either of these languages to this page.

For purposes of simplicity, Common in the story can be interchanged with English. Any differences in Common within the story will be similar to English being spoken by people from different parts of the world (like the UK, Australia, etc.)

Seventh daughter of a seventh daughter,
She, Theona, shall hold the worlds in her hands.
She wields power such as none have seen,
And the justice of the lands is hers to give.

A Lord of the Mar'vath walks beside her,
She wields balls of fire and swords of ice
In battle against her many foes.

Three ettins storm 'cross the Four Great Lands,
Sow hate, despair and terror as they go.
Theona, Mak'Ris the cat and an elfin lady
Stand strong as day turns to darkest night.

Elfin lady from one of the Five Isles,
Bringing light to the Under Realms.
She hails from the far off Isle of Stars,
Sent to be a guide on Fate's twisted path.

Six men, brothers all, or so it seems,
Guard the Lady with their lives;
Bright swords of steel and axes sharp
Work hard to hold the battle line,
The sons of Warl'kel stand strong.

Six riders of the In'gis come,
Seeking the Lady long foretold.
They bow, then kneel to her,
Six tall lasses so swift and bold.

Nine great flames shall light the night
Ere the Lady reach the Isle of Stars;
Six Lords and six Lasses come behind,
Mak'Ris stalking 'round them all.

Brave Tanris follows with wagon full,
Leading a swarm of country folk
Who have followed at the Lady's call
To save the world from darkest horde.

**********

Can't think of anything else for this at the moment, I'll add to it as more comes up in my addled brain.

What is given here is the bits and pieces I have now; where parts will fit into the prophecy may change as new parts are added.

They say that home is where the heart is. Well, this is the beginning of a story of a heart finding its true home.

The violence portrayed here is key to the story, it forms the basis for the two main characters meeting at this stage in their lives.

**********

The man watched from across the narrow street as Sue, a petite 30ish woman of about 5'5" and 120 lbs. with long chestnut hair falling to the middle of her back, walked toward her home, returning from shopping for the evening meal. He had been watching her for several days, keeping track of her movements, waiting for the time when he could fulfill his plans for her.

He was a big man with a military style crewcut, about 6'4" tall, roughly 250 lbs. of mostly solid muscle beginning to turn soft as he entered his middle years. He watched her for a few more seconds, smiling to himself, then strode across the street and up the walk to her house just as she put the key in the door. Grabbing her by the arm, he turned the key with his other hand and shoved the door open, then dragged her into the house, closing the door behind them.

He turned to face her, then spoke quietly, his voice reminiscent of the growl of a large predator, "Keep quiet, girl, just go up to your room as usual, and you'll be just fine. If you scream or fight me, there will be hell to pay, you can be sure!"

Sue, shaking like a leaf at the abrupt attack at her own door, nodded to him and slowly moved to the stairs leading to the two upper apartments. He followed right behind her as they went up the stairs, then grabbed her left arm as she unlocked one of the doors. As she opened the door, he pushed her into the room, noticing that she tripped over the edge of a low coffee table before falling on the floor next to it.

As Sue stumbled, she voiced a sharp squeak of surprise, then knelt on the floor for a moment, rubbing the front of her right leg. She was pretty sure that there would be a lovely bruise there in a few hours, then she remembered the man behind her and shivered with fright.

**********

Meanwhile, unknown to the male, there was a witness in the apartment, Sue's four year old daughter, Leilani. She had heard her mother enter the apartment, heard her stumble, and peeking around a bedroom door, she saw a very large male standing over her mother. When she realized that the male apparently hadn't seen her, she ducked back into the bedroom, staying quiet and out of sight.

**********

The man reached down, snatched Sue by her long hair and yanked her up onto her feet. "I told you to be quiet, and I meant what I said. Just so you remember..." He turned her to one side and viciously slapped her across the face, once, twice, three times in rapid succession.

As Sue's head snapped back from the third slap, she glared up at him and spat out, "Fuck you, mister, I guess it makes you feel really big to beat on a woman my size! You're not a man, you're just a common street thug!", then started screaming at full volume.

Shocked, outraged, and with his anger growing in leaps and bounds, he snarled at her, "Then you want it rough? Well, I can give you rough, girl, let's see how you like it now!" He lifted her completely off the floor, grabbed her with his other hand and threw her as hard as he could at the wall between the kitchen/dining area and the small living room, then strode across the room and punched her several times.

**********

Little Leilani knew that something had gone terribly wrong, she also knew that her momma didn't normally bring men upstairs. When she heard her mother begin screaming, then his response to that and the sound of her mother's body hitting the wall, she ran deeper into the bedroom, heading for the phone on the night table beside her mother's bed, and dialed 911.

"Hello, 911, what service do you want?"

Leilani replied in a quiet voice, hoping she would not be heard over the violence in the main area of the apartment, "Police, am- am- am-ambulance, my momma is being beaten by a nasty big man in our apartment!" all came out in a rush.

"What's your address, hon?"

Leilani thought for a moment, then recited the address to the 911 operator, who assured her that the police and ambulance were on the way.

**********

Meanwhile, the man's assault on Sue continued, his anger had taken complete control as he landed punch after punch, kick after kick, wherever he could find a place to hit. He picked her up twice, and slammed her into the dividing wall each time, barely noticing when the last impact on the wall almost put her through it, then returned to kicking and punching her.

Sue had been holding on to consciousness by a very narrow margin as the attack continued; eventually, though, after the last impact with the wall, the pain became overwhelming, and consciousness fled for the last time.

**********

The 911 operator spoke again, "Hon, police and ambulance should be there in a minute or two, stay where you are."

**********

The man kept beating on the unresponsive body lying on front of him, then snapped to attention as he heard what could only be sirens, and they weren't more than a few blocks away. He jumped up, ran to the door, yanked it open and nearly fell down the stairs in his rush to leave the house. The beating had left bits of skin, bone, and blood all over him and the front of his clothing, yet he didn't seem to see it at all, and continued to run out of the building.

**********

Leilani also heard the sirens approaching, then the man leaving the apartment and crashing down the stairs before exiting the building. She looked out a window and saw the man looking up and down the street.

**********

He noticed that the sirens seemed to be coming from the north, so he turned to the south and ran down the street, turning at the next corner; he stumbled over some trash that had been dropped on the sidewalk, when he straightened up again, he was looking right into the lights of a police cruiser. The officers noticed the condition of his clothing and promptly told him to freeze, he was under arrest. He ignored the officers' warnings, tried to shove one aside and continue onward, but the second officer's gun against his back put an end to that.

They handcuffed him and shoved him into the back of the car before sending in a verbal report of the arrest. He had no idea that the officers had only just stopped there to get some coffee and snacks, or that he would have been safe if had gone the other way at the corner.

**********

Little Leilani, knowing that the man was gone, looked out into the main area of the apartment, spotted her mother's body lying against the dividing wall, bloody and battered almost beyond recognition, and promptly started screaming.

Several police officers and paramedics rushed into the apartment, some heading toward Sue, some toward the screaming child.

**********

Several hours later that night, a woman, very similar in appearance to Sue, maybe a few years older, walked into a room in the intensive care unit of the hospital and looked down at the person lying in the bed, her younger sister Sue. Machines were beeping and booping all around her, there was an IV hooked up to cover Sue's minimal dietary needs, a catheter was in place, bandages on and around her face could be seen, casts on both arms and a leg, even some bandages making a bit of a lump under the thin cover; seeing it all made Roselyn feel rather queasy, her shoulder length hair swaying as she shook her head.

Roselyn grabbed a chair, pulled it closer to the bed, and sat down, clasping Sue's right hand in her own, praying she would recover.

**********

At about the same time as Roselyn entered Sue's hospital room, the five women who lived in the three other apartments in the house where Sue and Leilani lived had finally managed to calm Leilani down enough that she fell asleep. None of them knew Sue much at all, only having seen her enter or leave, mostly alone, but sometimes with Leilani, yet none could leave a child in such distress. JJ, the oldest, the owner of the house, decided that she and her girlfriend Pat would stay with the child through the night.

Nightmares about what had happened woke Leilani several times that evening; each time, JJ and Pat would calm her down and tuck her back in, watching until she fell asleep before wandering out to the shattered living room where they could chat without waking her.

**********

Around 3 AM, Roselyn left Sue's room in the intensive care unit and wandered outside to get some fresh air. While there, she placed a call to her two children Tamara and Seanna, to let them know where she was and that there was no change in Sue's condition. About twenty minutes later, she reentered the hospital and resumed her watch over her sister.

**********

As soon as Seanna knew what had been going on, and that the child had been left alone or nearly so, she quickly changed into a sky blue sweatsuit and grabbed her purse before charging out the door to her car, an old rebuilt forest green '70 Chevy Nova. Once in the car, she started the engine and let the car warm up for a minute or two before backing carefully into the street and driving toward Sue's apartment.

Half an hour later, she arrived in the area near Sue's apartment, then checked a map to find the exact location of the house. After taking a wrong turn, and retracing her path, she finally ended up on the correct street and approached the house. Noticing a driveway that led back behind the house itself, she decided it would be better to park her car there than on the street, and carefully drove down the narrow lane, turning behind the house, and parking next to two small sedans. She stepped out of the car, locked it and walked around to the front of the building, then rang the bell for Sue's apartment.

JJ answered, and upon learning who was calling at that hour of the night, let Seanna in. Seanna ran up the steps two at a time, tapped lightly on the door, and was allowed to enter. When she saw JJ, Seanna's first response was "Is Leilani okay? Was she hurt at all?"

JJ shook her head, replying that Leilani was physically fine, but had been having nightmares about the attack on her mother. Just as JJ finished speaking, a series of screams coming from one of the bedrooms broke the quiet of the night.

Seanna, hearing the screams, dropped her purse on the floor and ran over to the bedroom doors, checking first; when she saw Leilani sitting up in bed in the mother's room, she swiftly entered, sat on the bed beside the distraught child and hugged her close. As she held the child, she could feel the quivering of the child's body and began talking in a calm, quiet voice, anything to help settle the child down.

Slowly but surely, the constant comfort of the hug and the soft words broke through, and Leilani recovered herself sufficiently to notice who was holding her. She had never met Seanna before, but she could have sworn she was looking at her mother; Seanna's appearance was nearly identical to Sue's, with the main difference being that Seanna was a bit taller and her hair was dark auburn rather than chestnut.

Leilani sat there, staring at the woman beside her, the woman who was still holding her close. She shook her head, then looked up at the woman again. "You look like my momma, but I know you aren't, so who am I speaking to, please?"

Seanna smiled down at the child in her arms. "Your momma and my momma are sisters, so I'm one of your cousins, so is Tamara, you have a male cousin, too, Tony Jr. I've been told before that I look like your momma, but I didn't realize the resemblance was that close, child."

Seanna shifted until she was fully on the bed, then up toward the headboard, before patting her lap, suggesting that Leilani could sit there if she wished. Leilani did so, pulling the lightweight duvet up until she was mostly covered by it. Seanna continued to talk quietly to Leilani, watching as Leilani slowly wandered into the land of sleep.

When she noticed that Leilani was asleep, she gently turned the child so that she was lying down with her head resting on the pillow. Just as she was about to leave the bed and tuck Leilani in, the child spoke to her, "Stay with me, please? Please?"

How could she refuse such a request? Nodding her reply, she slipped out of her sweatsuit and settled down in the bed next to the child, holding Leilani close to her as she fell asleep once again, listening to the child's quiet breathing before sleep overtook her as well.

**********

Around 5:30 AM, Roselyn woke to the monitors making lots of noises, followed maybe fifteen seconds later by the sound of several people running down the hall toward the room. A doctor and two nurses entered, immediately scanning the monitors, then yelled out for someone to get the defibrillators, as Sue had gone into cardiac arrest. One of the nurses calmly led Roselyn out of the room, telling her that she would need to go to the intensive care waiting area while they did everything they could for Sue.

As she made her way to the waiting room, she noticed a young man running down the hall toward Sue's room, defibrillator in hand.

**********

Roselyn was exhausted, she had been awake for almost 24 hours. She sat in the chair, waiting as patiently as she could, for what might have been fifteen or twenty minutes, before she nodded off to sleep in the not so comfortable waiting room chair.

She awoke when someone touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep, how is she?" She looked at the clock over the nursing station desk, it showed 6:45 AM, how she had managed to sleep for almost an hour was an enigma to her.

"Well, Mrs. Ramsay, we managed to save her, although it was a bit touch and go for a while. She seems to have stabilized for now, you can go in and visit with her again if you like. Or you could go to the cafeteria, it opens in a few minutes, then visit with her afterward."

**********

Meanwhile, in Sue's apartment, JJ and Pat were quietly chatting, and were startled to see the sun showing on the horizon. After taking a quick peek into the bedroom where Seanna and Leilani were sleeping, JJ left a note saying they were returning to their own apartment.

*********

Roselyn decided she needed some coffee, maybe it would help her to wake up a bit, so she wandered down to the cafeteria. When it opened, she went in, grabbed some coffee and a maddeningly tempting Danish, then sat down to enjoy her little snack.

After she had eaten, she wandered back up to intensive care and watched her sister for a while. Eventually, the lack of sleep had her nodding off, so she pulled the chair back to the wall, then leaned back and slowly drifted into dreamland.

**********

Just as the clock struck 8 AM in the old mansion in the suburbs of the city, five women and two men walked into a meeting room in the back of the second floor and took seats around the table. The eldest, one of the women, looked at the others and rapped on the table.

"We're here to decide who should be hired to run Daddy's businesses, since Sue is at the moment incapable of doing so, and from what I've heard from a doctor or two I know at that hospital, she may never recover, the damage was that severe. We only appointed Sue because none of us here wanted the position, and Roselyn and Tony, the witch's other children, refused to have anything to do with it. Any suggestions?"

Most of the next two hours was spent bickering over several possibilities without any actual decision being made.

**********

At about the same time as that meeting commenced, first Leilani, then Seanna woke up to the sun's rays shining through the window. They remained close together for a few more minutes, then arose from the bed. Seanna, having brought no other clothes, put her sweatsuit back on and sat on the edge of the bed brushing her hair while waiting for Leilani.

Leilani wandered into the bathroom between the two bedrooms, grabbing a thick white towel on the way. She carefully reached into the bath and turned on the taps, testing the water until it was warm enough without being too hot for her.

Seanna had just finished brushing her hair when she heard the bath filling and wandered into the bathroom to see Leilani leaning over the side of the tub, her fingers under the tap for a moment, apparently checking the water temperature. "Hey, girl, you need to be careful, we don't want you to slip and hurt yourself, huh?" She gently pulled the girl back, grinning down at her, "I'll help you, okay?"

The next few minutes were spent making sure the water was just right and watching the tub fill. Seanna looked around for a moment, then noticed a bottle of bubble bath, opened it, poured a little into the tub and watched the water froth as the bubbles formed.

Smiling as she looked down at the child beside the nearly full tub, she asked her, "Do you want me in the bath with you? Or by yourself? I'm good either way, and I can help you whether I'm in the bath or not." She then turned off the taps.

Leilani turned to face her and giggled. "Both of us! Bath is more fun with more people!" before rapidly stripping off her clothes.

"Okay, then, let me put you in here, then I'll get undressed and join you. A nice bath sounds lovely right now." She grinned as she picked up Leilani, doing a brief airplane with Leilani in her arms before turning and placing her carefully in the tub.

Once she was fully undressed, she stepped into the bath and sat down behind Leilani, giving her a brief hug before grabbing some of the bubbles and splashing them on Leilani. The next half hour was pleasantly spent playing in the water before they settled down to getting clean; eventually, Seanna helped Leilani to stand, then stood herself, before turning on the shower head and rinsing them and the bath.

Once the rinsing was done, Seanna turned off the shower and lifted Leilani out of the bath, then pointed at her towel and grinned. "Time to get yourself dry, little lady, while I go hunting up a towel for myself." Just outside the bathroom, in a small closet, she found several towels.

She entered the bathroom again, giggling as she watched Leilani trying to dry herself with a towel as big as she was. Setting her own towel on the counter, she gently grabbed Leilani's and took a few minutes to dry her off before doing the same with her own towel.

"Stay here for a moment, Leilani." Seanna put her sweatsuit back on, then dropped both towels in a hamper, before picking up Leilani and heading through the other door into Leilani's bedroom. "Now what do you want to wear, little missy?"

She watched as Leilani grabbed panties and socks, slipped them on, then rooted around in her closet looking for something to wear, eventually settling on a forest green jumper and a white top with a matching sweater. Seanna helped her to finish dressing, picking out a pair of children's running shoes as the day looked to be a bright and sunny one, if a bit nippy.

Then they headed to the kitchen for some toast and cereal before grabbing jackets and other necessities on the way out the door.

Seanna knocked on the other upstairs apartment door and waited a moment before knocking again. The door was opened by an older woman, who asked what she needed; Seanna replied that she needed someone to watch Leilani, as JJ and Pat had been up all night. The older woman nodded, held her hand out to Leilani, smiled and said, "Come in, child, if you relax for a bit, I'll take you out to play later."

Leilani looked up at Seanna, hoping against hope that she could go with her, only to be met by a sad smile from Seanna. "I have to go deal with some family business, sweetie, I'll be back as soon as I can, hopefully in time to go out and play with you, okay?"

Leilani held her arms up for a hug, Seanna gladly complied, then set her down and watched as Leilani entered the apartment.

**********

At 9:23 AM, the quiet in the intensive care unit was shattered by a series of alarms from Sue's room. Doctors and nurses came into the room on the run, a quick check showed another cardiac arrest occurring. Roselyn once again was asked to go to the waiting room.

Just after 10 AM, a doctor approached Roselyn, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we lost her, we tried again and again to revive her, but nothing worked. We kept trying until a few minutes ago, hoping that she might recover, but she didn't. She's gone."

The news of her sister's death hit Roselyn like a massive hammer blow; she swooned, then collapsed, the doctor barely able to grab her before she hit the floor. He arranged for her to be placed on a bed and watched for a while, until she was ready to leave on her own.

**********

In the old mansion in the suburbs, the bickering at the meeting continued, looking to have no end.

Seanna looked up at the old mansion as she parked her car near the front doors, locked it, then walked to the doors and rang the bell. Once the door had been opened, she stalked toward the staircase, then up the stairs and followed the noise to the meeting room.

As soon as she stepped inside the door of the meeting room, the noise ceased as they all stared at her in shock. Finally, the eldest stood, glared at her across the room and yelled, "You filth! What in hell brought you here! Get out this instant!"

Several of the others spoke up, muttering comments and imprecations along the same line, demanding that she leave.

Seanna stood her ground, returning the glare with just as much anger as she was given. "You call me filth, yet you all sit here and do NOTHING while your half-sister may be dying in a hospital bed all alone, except for my momma. You call me filth because I had the guts to know what I needed in my life more than anything else; I've known since I was six that I was a girl inside, it took years before I was able to tell momma about it, but when I did, she stood by me and helped as much as she could, just like her sister Sue and brother Tony, while the rest of you disowned me for needing to be female when I was born with the wrong genitalia.

"You also disowned my mother simply because she supported me, is it any wonder that she wants nothing to do with the rest of you? When Sue lost her husband in the same accident that took my father, you treated her and my momma like shit, as if they were to blame for the accident. When Sue announced a year later that she was bisexual, the lot of you blew your stacks and told her where to go, yet a year after that, you were begging her to take over the company because none of you could be bothered to demean yourself with common work. I also remember that you cut off Uncle Tony after he announced he was going into hairdressing. Too gay for you? Bah! Now Sue may be dying, and you sit here blathering about finding a replacement, rather than doing anything to help her?

"None of you are worth the ground she walks on, or perhaps walked on, as her life is hanging in the balance. You seven are disgusting, so focused on your appearance and being seen in expensive and well-crafted clothing, you've never lifted a finger, you've always had someone else to do the work for you, whether housework, running the company or all the social events you attend and host.

When was the last time any of you did anything out of love for anyone else? The only things that seem to matter to you are your vanity, and access to the company money. Oh, by the way..." She reached into an attache case at her side, pulled out a stack of papers, and tossed a stapled sheaf to each of the people seated at the table. "Ahhh, yes, here we go. As of now, your access to any of the company funds is cut off. Sue had private detectives investigating all of you, and what they found was quite enlightening, embezzlement, fraud, other misuses of company funds just to name a few, so it looks like you no longer need to worry about the company or who ends up running it.

It will be nice to see you all rotting in jail cells, as your family accounts have also been cut off. No money, folks, all gone. I guess you'll all be relying on public defenders, I'm betting you'll all be pleading guilty soon enough since you won't be able to buy your way out.

You seven had the gall to call me filth, yet I have been honest to a fault, working steadily for over four years now. Meanwhile, you have all been stealing from the company and the family for many years, without ever doing an honest day's work yourselves. You're the filth."

Seanna stared briefly at the seven shocked people before her, then turned to leave the room.

At that moment, the sound of clapping could be heard just outside the meeting room's doors. "Brava, Seanna, very well said. And very well done as well, I'm assuming that would be the police arriving out front now with all the necessary warrants?"

"Uncle Tony, what are you doing here? This is the last place I would expect you to be!"

"Well, Seanna, I saw you earlier driving by my house, headed out of the city, so I followed you to see what you were doing."

Seanna stepped outside the room and looked down the hallway just in time to see the first police officers heading their way from the top of the stairs. She waited until the officers were only a few feet away before pointing into the room. "The people you want are in there."

As the officers entered the meeting room, Seanna calmly walked toward the stairs, Tony joining her a few seconds later.

**********

Seanna and Tony left the old mansion, each heading toward their own car. "Uncle Tony, I'm heading back to Sue's place, her little girl is in the apartment next door, I need to get back to her. I'll catch you sometime soon, okay? Take care of yourself and your wife."

Tony nodded as he opened his driver's side door. Take care of yourself as well, Seanna. Say hit to Leilani for me."

**********

Seanna spent the drive back into the city quietly thinking about the recent events in her life. She was very worried for her aunt, and worried also about the child, especially if her aunt died because of the horrendous assault. She narrowly avoided becoming a statistic when she saw a driver swerving back and forth across the road; she slowed down a bit, then had to stomp on the brakes as he went right across the road only a few feet ahead of her, then over the embankment. She pulled over, took out her cell and called in the accident.

Several minutes later, a cacophony of sirens could be heard, she stepped out of her car and waved them down, pointing to the skid marks at the edge of the embankment. She gave her statement as to what she had seen and was allowed to leave.

Back behind the wheel, she resumed her drive into the city with no further mishaps, arriving at Sue's building just after 11:45 AM. She locked up her car, placing the attache case in the trunk, then rang the buzzer for the other upstairs apartment and waited.

When asked who was there, she gave her name, and was let into the building. She ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

Once the door was open, she smiled at the woman and started looking around for Leilani. When she asked where the child was, she was told she was having a nap and seemed to be okay. The woman then said that she was about to make lunch, and they could stay and eat.

The next hour was spent with the two women working together on the meal; when Judy pulled it off the stove, Seanna went in to wake Leilani up, and inform her that lunch was ready, then waited as Leilani washed her hands before they headed to the kitchen.

They ate their lunch with little conversation, then Seanna told Leilani they would be going to the park for the afternoon. Seanna and Leilani thanked Judy for the meal, Seanna also thanked her for watching Leilani, then they left the building for the walk to the park.

**********

At 1:35 PM, Roselyn woke to find herself lying on a bed in a darkened room in the hospital. She lay there for a few minutes before she remembered that Sue was dead, then she burst into tears knowing she would never see Sue alive again.

Once she had stopped crying, she got out of the bed; finding herself still dressed, she looked around, found her jacket and purse, then left the room and several minutes later, the hospital. She pulled her cell phone from her purse, tried to call Seanna, but couldn't get anything other than "this person is not available right now", so she called Tamara instead and informed her about Sue's death.

Both of them ended up crying this time; Tamara promised to call Tony and Seanna later and let them know.

**********

Seanna and Leilani walked into the park heading for the swings, Leilani's favourite equipment there. Leilani hopped onto a swing, then giggled as Seanna began pushing her, slowly going higher and higher, the giggles turning into full-blown laughter as she went back and forth, back and forth on the swing. Eventually, Seanna pushed her high enough that she seemed to be as high as the top of the swing set, then slowly reversed the strength needed for each swing until she could grab it and bring it to a complete stop. Leilani had been laughing the whole time, she just loved the swings that much, she'd stay on them all day if she could.

As she stepped down from the swing, she spotted some people with a young puppy, looked up at Seanna and pointed to the puppy. "Can I please go over there and play with the puppy, please, pretty please?" She jumped up and down, waiting for an answer.

Seanna smiled at her. "Why don't we go over there and ask if you can play with the puppy? It's definitely a cute puppy."

They wandered over toward the couple with the child and the puppy, walking around some small pools of water in low spots. The couple saw them approaching and waited; the puppy looked up, saw a new lovely young child to play with and strained at the leash.

The children met near the puppy, the puppy trying to climb on them and give them doggy kisses. "Hi, I'm Leilani, but you can call me Lei."

"I'm Sally", the other girl replied. "I see that Toby likes you, he's a six month old golden lab-ra -ra-dor re- re- retriefer, we have some rubber balls we can throw for him. Mommy, Daddy, can we please take Toby over there and play for a while?"

The man laughed, "Toby does need some exercise, maybe you girls can wear him out," as he tossed each girl a rubber ball.

Sally grabbed Toby's leash, then started moving towards an open area where they could toss the balls around, but still be clearly seen by her parents and by Seanna. Toby wanted to start playing right away, but Sally kept a tight hold on him for the moment.

Sally's parents and Seanna found a bench about fifty feet from where the kids were playing, then sat down and watched. Within several minutes, five more children about the same age as Sally and Leilani joined them, and balls, kids and dog were bouncing everywhere.

Seanna and Sally's parents, Mark and Kate, were soon laughing as Toby tried to keep up with seven children at once. One of the children would toss a ball, Toby would run that way, then another would toss the other ball, and Toby would chase it. Children picked up a ball whenever it landed near them, then tossed it again, keeping Toby constantly moving between them.

Eventually, the constant moving around began to wear them all down, and one by one, they sat down to rest, Toby in the middle. Sally's parents picked that moment to walk over, picked up Toby's leash and collected Sally. "You kids should go and find your parents, but thanks for helping to wear down this crazy bundle of energy here," Mark said as he rubbed Toby behind the ears while Toby licked his face.

The rest of the children wandered off toward their parents; Seanna leaned down and picked up Leilani, then carried her to the bench. "Thank you very much for allowing her to play with the puppy, it looks like they all enjoyed it immensely."

You're welcome, Mark said, "it looks like Toby and Sally enjoyed it just as much, so thank you."

Exchanging phone numbers with the thought that Leilani would enjoy being able to play with Toby now and then, they parted ways, Seanna picking Leilani up and carrying her to the outer edges of the park where she flagged a cab to take them to Sue's place.

**********

Seanna and Leilani arrived at the house just before 5 PM; after buzzing JJ, they were allowed in and up to Sue's apartment. Seanna carried Leilani into the main bedroom, pulled the duvet back, laid the child down and tucked her in, then left the room.

JJ, Pat and Seanna were chatting when Seanna's cell phone rang, it was her sister Tamara calling. She answered and they talked for a few minutes, then Tamara changed everything when she said, "Momma called earlier, Sue died a few hours ago."

Seanna's world turned thick as fog, then utterly black as the shock hit her and she fainted right in front of JJ and Pat.

Here is part 1 of the story. Seanna's life is turning in a whole new direction, one that leads to many wonderful possibilities.

**********

Seanna moaned, then blinked twice to clear her vision before looking around to see where she was. Within seconds, it became very clear that she was lying on the couch in what had been Sue's apartment. Suddenly, she remembered what she had heard Tamara say a short while before while they were chatting on the phone, and wanting confirmation, she looked around her for her cell phone. While looking for the phone, she noticed that she felt a bit woozy; running her hand along the right side of her head, she found a nasty bump just over her ear.

After a brief moment of looking around, she saw the cell phone lying on the coffee table. She picked it up, hit her numbered autodial for Tamara, and listened to the phone as it rang once, twice, three times, before being picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hi, sis," Tamara shouted down the phone line, "are you okay? When I told you earlier about Sue, you stopped talking, then a moment later I heard a big crash and the phone cut off not long after that."

"Hiya, Tam, I think I'm okay, I might have a bad headache later; I seem to have a bump from hitting whatever I ran into when I fell, I'm assuming it was the coffee table although it doesn't look like anything landed on it. Maybe JJ and Pat had time to clean it up after putting me on the couch, I have no idea; anyway, that doesn't really matter, what I want is for you to tell me again what you told me earlier."

"Oh, boy, Seanna, are you sure you're ready for this? I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again."

"Tam, I should be fine, I'm half-lying on the couch right now, so if I fall back, I'll just land on it, not anything hard."

"Okay, then," Tamara took a deep breath before continuing, "oh, boy, this'll be a shock, I bet. Mom was at the hospital earlier today when Sue had the second cardiac arrest. Like the first time, she was asked to leave so they could help Sue as efficiently as possible. Anyway, just after 10 AM, one of the docs that had been working on Sue came to Mom and told her Sue had died, all recovery efforts had failed. Mom had a reaction a lot like yours earlier from what she told me, except she didn't end up with a goose egg on her head. She woke up on a hospital bed a few hours later, let them know she was fine, then left the hospital and called me, after trying to get you."

"Oh, crap, sis, that must have been hard on Mom, she and Sue have always been close, not like the old fossils from her father's first marriage just after the Second World War ended. Just a sec, let me check my phone for any missed calls, okay?"

After getting a positive reply from Tamara, Seanna quickly skimmed through her phone's systems, eventually finding that she had missed two calls from her mother and one from a friend, all of which had occurred while she and Leilani were having fun at the park.

"Back, sis, yeah, Mom apparently tried to call me twice, it seems my phone missed it, I took Leilani to the park a few blocks from Sue's apartment so she could have some fun and not think about her momma; it worked out pretty well, by the time we were coming home, she was snoozing on my shoulder, I put her down for a nap once we were home, as far as I know, she's still sleeping."

""I'm glad to hear that Leilani had some fun today, I hope she's okay. Anyway, now you know the facts, Sue died thanks to what that jerk did to her. I called the station the cops that arrested him were from and let them know Sue had died from her injuries. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to add a charge of at least second degree murder, or if they can't reasonably get that, manslaughter."

"I hope they nail him good and hard, sis, Sue didn't deserve to be attacked like that, or to die because of it. Damn, now I need to think about what to say to little Leilani, gods, she's going to take this hard, her momma will never be coming home again."

At that moment, the pattering of little feet could be heard entering the living room, then they stopped. Seanna, turning and looking over the back of the couch, saw Leilani standing there, a look of horror on her face, then Leilani was on the floor, crying and screaming unintelligibly. Seanna yelled to her sis that she needed to deal with Leilani, then ended the call, pushed herself up from the couch and ran to the child.

**********

Little Leilani continued to cry and scream wordlessly for several minutes while Seanna held her, trying to soothe her. "I'm really sorry you had to hear me say that, sweetie, I had no idea you were awake at that point." Seanna began crying herself, knowing she had caused Leilani to become upset. JJ and Pat, hearing the commotion, rushed into the living room, noticed Seanna and Leilani sprawled on the floor, one crying, the other crying and screaming, and shook their heads, knowing quite well what had caused them to be there in that state.

JJ walked over to where Seanna was holding little Leilani tight, knelt down beside Seanna and told her, "Just keep holding her and talking to her, you're doing the best thing you can for her right now," then stood again and went back into the kitchen with Pat.

Slowly, bit by bit, the onslaught of tears wound down to sobs, then trickles as Leilani lay on Seanna's lap. With a few tears still sliding down her cheeks, Leilani looked up at Seanna and asked her if what she had heard her say on the phone was true.

When Seanna nodded that it was, Leilani's tears erupted again, Seanna's hadn't stopped. Both held on tight to each other for a few more minutes, then Seanna told Leilani what she had just been told by Tamara, using terms a young child could understand.

After about another ten minutes or so had passed, Seanna gently picked Leilani up and held her close in her arms, then walked slowly into the kitchen area. "JJ, Pat, could one of you make some hot drinks for us, I need a coffee, maybe Leilani could have a hot chocolate?" When JJ nodded agreement and said she would prepare the drinks, Seanna responded that they would be in Sue's bedroom.

**********

JJ eventually brought the hot drinks into the bedroom, and found Seanna sitting at the top of the bed, holding Leilani on her lap, Seanna quietly singing something soft and soothing to Leilani. JJ placed the drinks on coasters on the night table, then turned and left the room.

A few minutes later, they both caught the scents of the hot drinks on the night table, Leilani slid down from Seanna's lap to sit beside her on the bed; Seanna handed the cup containing hot chocolate to Leilani, asking that she be careful because it was hot, then picked up the cup with coffee in it and took a sip, sighing softly to herself as the hot liquid slid down her throat.

Seanna and Leilani continued to relax as much as possible on the comfortable bed, yet thoughts about Sue kept intruding, Leilani knowing that her mother was gone forever, a few new tears sliding down her cheeks, Seanna wondering how Sue's death would affect Leilani. Seanna understood intellectually, if not emotionally, the impact a parent's loss can have on a very young child, and she wanted to do everything she could to help Leilani through the process of coping with it and eventually moving on from the loss.

Seanna and Leilani spent the next little while enjoying their hot drinks and talking about inconsequential things.

**********

JJ and Pat, meanwhile, had been in the kitchen of Sue's apartment, checking what was available to make a meal; finding some frozen chicken cutlets, fresh veggies and half a 5 lb. bag of potatoes, they went to work on preparing the meal. Just as Seanna and Leilani were finishing their hot drinks, JJ tapped on the bedroom door to let them know supper would be ready in thirty minutes.

**********

After JJ had informed them that the meal would be ready eventually, Seanna and Leilani continued to relax on the bed, both having put their empty cups on the coasters on the night table before Leilani crawled back onto Seanna's lap and snuggled with her. They relaxed enough that they were both startled at another knock on the door and an announcement that the food was waiting on the table. Leilani slid off of Seanna's lap, then carefully let herself down to the floor before stretching herself up onto her toes, arms out as far as they could go. Seanna also stretched a bit once she had left the bed, then they used the washroom to quickly wash up before heading into the dining room/kitchen.

The four of them consumed the meal, there wasn't much chatter between them, as they all were thinking about the day's events. After the meal had ended, Seanna asked JJ and Pat if they could watch Leilani for a few hours, as she wanted to meet with her mom and sister.

When they agreed, Seanna called her mom and arranged to meet her mother and sister at her mother's house in an hour.

**********

Seanna had called a taxi as she didn't want to drive by herself after acquiring the goose egg on her head earlier. On the way out the door, she asked JJ and Pat to keep an eye on Leilani, and let them know that she would likely be back by about 11:30 PM or so.

A horn honked, Seanna looked out, saw a taxi waiting, waved to JJ and walked out of the house to the taxi.

**********

About fifteen minutes after Seanna left, JJ and Pat had Leilani get ready for bed, then tucked her in and read her a bed time story. They stayed in the room with her until it was clear that she was sleeping, then they quietly left, returning to the kitchen/dining area.

**********

A few minutes before 8:30 PM, the taxi pulled up in front of Seanna's mom's house, she paid the fare, exited the car and walked up onto the porch. Just as she went to reach for the doorbell, the front door opened, her sister let her in, hugging her briefly, then both headed to the living room where their mother was waiting, cups of coffee or tea already sitting on the coffee table with sugar and cream on the side.

"Hi, momma, I'm glad to hear that you didn't end up with a goose egg after hearing about Sue dying," Seanna remarked as she approached her mother and hugged her closely, "I know how strongly you and Sue loved each other, you must miss her terribly."

"That I do, my dear, that I do," replied her mother, "Sue wasn't my twin, we were born almost four years apart, but for all of that, she might as well have been my twin, we were that close to each other for all these years. I do miss her very much."

Tamara joined in, "I know you do, momma, but do we have any news on the jerk that hurt her so badly and caused her to die?"

"Grrrrr!!! It seems he was being paid to beat her, he hadn't named any names as far as I know, but it wouldn't surprise me if the coldblooded pseudopersons that claim to be my Daddy's first wife's children had something to do with it, all they care about is money. When Daddy's first wife died, he was so lonely for a while, then he met my momma and he was happy again, they didn't like that at all!"

Seanna shook her head and replied, "Your daddy marrying your momma must have put a bee in their bonnets, I suppose. I seem to vaguely recall you telling us at some point that his first wife was from a Southern society family, old money or something like that."

"Yes, Seanna, that was it, their family owned a bunch of plantations down in the South, then the Depression hit and they lost about half of what they had before things settled down. Daddy met her a few years after World War II ended, they married a couple of years later, and the children, five girls and two boys, were born pretty much a year apart except for when he served two years in Korea. Their mother was reputed to be very frigid to just about everyone, so I have no idea how Daddy managed to convince her to marry him. From what I've seen and what I've been told, the children from that marriage are very much like their mother toward the people around them."

"That still doesn't explain what has been going on with the family company, money, or the attack on Sue," Seanna commented.

"Well," mom continued, "those seven children grew up to be very much like their mother as I said, with one difference, between the seven of them, only one has never married, the youngest; four of the other six have been married at least three times, one five times, every single marriage ending in a divorce within two or three years, if not much sooner, no children at all. Not one has managed to make a marriage last as long as their own mother had, or my momma had before she and Daddy were killed in that plane crash nearly six years ago.

"Anyway, they grew up with money being given to them for whatever they wanted, and they took that into their adult years. Every single divorce those people went through ended up with the other partner being left penniless or nearly so, while they cleaned up on them and added to their own personal family funds. That part of their life was changed significantly when Daddy and my momma died. None of them wanted to run Daddy's company at all, they all loved the life of the idle rich, so eventually they hired Sue to do that job for them.

"Well, this is where it starts to get interesting, I suppose. About two years after Sue took over the company, one of the accountants came to her, saying he was seeing things in the books that didn't match the actual accounts. After discussing it with someone the accountant knew, they were told they should hire a good private investigator, and were given the names of a few reputable people in the area.

"Sue and the accountant checked them all out, settled on the one they wanted to hire, then talked to him. He in turn suggested that they let him talk to a friend or two of his on the police force; he had, he said, been a police officer for a few years, but had decided he wanted to work for himself, so he had gone back to college, taken several courses and acquired a license as a private investigator. He would see if his friends on the force would be able to help at all, and he would do his utmost to discover if anything illegal was being done.

"So the private investigator and his police friends started digging. They spent about four years doing that, building up a large amount of evidence, keeping Sue and the company accountant informed as new information became available. The amount of information became significant enough that they decided it was time to plan the actual arrests, so the legal wheels started rolling at high speed.

"I don't know for sure, but I think one of Daddy's first wife's children may have caught on that something was happening, as it seems there were more 'business' meetings between the seven over the last year or so than there had been for the four or five years before that.

"What I do know is that, about a week ago, Sue was told that they had everything they needed to get the arrest warrants, they just needed a time and place to make the actual arrests. Sue told them she would arrange a meeting, the one Seanna went to today."

"Ahhhh, yes, thanks for reminding me, momma, Sue had been telling me bits and pieces about what was happening, but I didn't know everything until I skimmed over the documents she had left behind in the bedroom just before I walked into that meeting. The jerk either wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, or maybe he just didn't care, but the information on their activities was just a few feet away when he was attacking her. Sue had been planning on telling them herself, but the attack on her made that impossible. She did, however, leave some notes in the attache case outlining what had been happening and her plan of attack, so I just went with what she had in mind."

"Holy tamale, you mean to say that Sue had people checking them out over the last few years?" Tamara yelled.

Both Seanna and their mother assured Tamara that that had been the case, the investigations had been over a period of about four years, not only were they embezzling from the company and misusing other company funds, and committing fraud in several ways, but they were apparently also wrongfully terminating some employees on false and spurious grounds, including outright discrimination.

Seanna shook her head at the thought that Sue would no longer be there to guide the company and stated, "All I did was take Sue's place for the announcement that they no longer had access to company or family funds, and their impending arrests. What happened was entirely due to their own actions with the company and with family funds, they made their beds, I hope they like lying in them."

Hmmmm," Tamara mused, "I wonder what will happen with the company now that they've all been arrested. Weren't the seven of them the official company board of directors? If so, that would mean a new board would be needed, as well as a new company leader."

Their mother responded, "I'm sure that will all get sorted out eventually. We have other things to worry about, namely Leilani."

Seanna twisted around in her chair, briefly startled at hearing Leilani's name. "Oh, my, that poor girl, she's only four and her mother is gone. I know we never met before I went there last night, but momma, I feel my heart breaking whenever I see that little girl cry!" Just talking about Leilani brought the memories back, of Leilani just after the attack and again after she found out her mother had died. Seanna curled up in the armchair, initially sobbing quietly, the sobs growing louder as the feelings overwhelmed her.

The next fifteen or twenty minutes passed as Tamara and Momma both helped to calm Seanna down. Eventually, as the sobs weakened to trickles of tears, Seanna turned to her mom and stated quite clearly, "I just don't want her to suffer, Momma, she's such a sweet little girl. She needs a mother who will be there for her, not to be put into a system that just pushes children from one place to another!"

Her momma held Seanna close, "You're quite right, dear, are you suggesting that you want to be responsible for her?"

Seanna's head shot up so fast the crack of her neck could be heard clear across the room. "Do you mean that, momma? Is it really possible for me to be her mother? You know I'm not a biological female, the courts almost always prevent adoptions when transgender or transsexual people are involved. How would we be able to stop them from doing that? She needs a loving home, and she needs it NOW!"

Momma sat there thinking for several minutes, then smiled at her daughter, "I think we might just have a way around that, Seanna. The family has several lawyers for various reasons, we could get one of them to help us on this, saying it is a family issue, and that we would prefer to deal with it within the family rather than having Leilani go through the court system and fostering programs, which aren't necessary."

Seanna smiled back at her momma through her tears. "I truly hope that works out, Momma, I just want to be there for her!"

Tamara bluntly interrupted the two of them, "I've been thinking, Daddy's first wife's kids will likely be looking at prison sentences anyway, but if there is any information that points to any or all of them being involved in arranging the attack on Sue, they could be facing twenty years plus. I know it seems wrong to wish ill on supposed family members, but those people have never treated us like family at all. Momma, could you call up one of the company lawyers and find out about replacing the board and finding a new boss for the company. The company has been in the family since your Daddy started it in 1954, there's no reason it shouldn't remain a family business, is there?"

Momma turned toward Tamara and asked, "Just what do you mean by it shouldn't remain a family business?"

Tamara looked up at her, "Well, Momma, you know I work for the publishing company as an editor, my pay is quite decent, but little sis here is stuck working long shifts in that shoddy supermarket on the other side of town for little more than a pittance. Why don't we talk to the company lawyers about having her take over the job of running the company? When she stepped in for Sue today, she did quite well. It seems Uncle Tony saw her driving past his house this morning, followed her there and heard everything she said to them in the meeting. We all know that he's doing quite well with his business building top end cars for several car companies around here. Tony's son, Tony, Jr., works with him. You aren't working, Momma, but you help with several different community organizations that keep you busy helping the people in our city. Since Uncle Tony, Tony, Jr., and I already have good jobs, and you're busy with your community organizations, that just leaves Seanna."

Seanna sat there, stunned, no flabbergasted, that her sister was suggesting that she run the family company. Momma stood up and began to pace back and forth across the room, obviously working her way through the suggestion Tamara had just made.

Eventually, Momma came to a decision, the pacing stopped. She turned to face us and smiled at me, "You know, Tamara, I think you're right. The job Seanna has now will never help her beyond having the barest necessities of life, whereas running the company, she would have a solid income and a long term job that would help her much, much more, especially if, no when, she adopts Leilani."

Listening to them discussing her future, running the company, adopting Leilani, was just too much, Seanna passed out in the chair. When she came to a moment later, both Tamara and Momma were standing over her, looking at her with worry in their eyes. She shook her head to hopefully clear it, wincing briefly when the goose egg made itself evident, and looked back up at them with a small smile.

"Tamara, you're saying that I should step in as the head of the company? And Momma, you mentioned me adopting Leilani? The way I'm hearing things, you two are in the process of planning the rest of my life, right down to the nitty gritty!" Seanna started to shake her head again, then stopped, remember what happened a minute or two before when she did that. "Are you two being serious? Do you really think, Tamara, that I have what it takes to run the company? And yes, Momma, if there's any way I can adopt Leilani, by the gods, yes, I will!"

The discussion about the company and other family matters continued for another hour, then Seanna announced that she needed to be returning to Sue's apartment and Leilani. "Momma, sis, you've given me a lot to think about, let me know what happens."

Seanna's mother and sister waited with her for the taxi to arrive, then walked her to the door before saying their goodbyes.

**********

While sitting in the taxi on the way back to Sue's apartment, Seanna thought about the conversation that had just finished. She wondered briefly if she had what was needed to run the company, then decided there were ways to learn those things if it became necessary. She was far more concerned with how Leilani was coping with the loss of her mother, and was happy to finally see the taxi stop at the building. She checked the amount on the meter, then pulled out enough cash to pay that and a tip, wishing the driver a good night.

She exited the taxi, walked to the buzzers at the front entry, and pushed the one for Sue's apartment. When Pat responded, she said she had just returned from her mother's, Pat hit the buzzer, the door opened and Seanna took the steps two at a time to the upper floor.

Once in the apartment, JJ surprised her, tossing a set of keys toward her, saying, "These were Sue's, since you seem to be spending most of your free time here and wanting to be with Leilani as much as possible, I figured it would be easier on you to have easy access."

JJ and Pat started walking toward the door, intending to leave, then JJ turned back and said, "Just take care of that little girl, okay? Nothing else matters as much in this world as being sure that a child has a loving home to grow up in, I'm sure you know what I mean."

Seanna smiled back, "Yes, I do, Tamara and I had a wonderful home throughout our childhood, the only thing that was hard for any of us to deal with was Momma's and Sue's husbands being killed by a drunk driver while we were in our teens. Momma, Sue, their brother Tony and his wife and son are all as close as only good family can be, I'm glad to have been raised in that kind of family."

JJ nodded, "I'm glad to hear that, you just help that little girl all you can, get your family involved. We'll talk to you soon."

**********

Seanna watched as JJ and Pat exited the apartment, then paced across the living room for several minutes before wandering into Sue's bedroom to check on Leilani. It was obvious that Leilani was used to going into her mother's bedroom to sleep with her, but it must have been at least a bit distressing on this night, as Leilani was visibly tossing and turning under the light duvet.

Seanna stripped down to her underwear, then gave herself a quick wipe with a washcloth and towel before donning one of Sue's nightgowns and sliding in next to Leilani. Once she had snuggled up close to Leilani, the change in Leilani's emotional state was obvious, she immediately settled down and entered a deeper level of sleep. Seanna smiled and stayed close to Leilani as she herself fell asleep.

**********

The new day came soon enough, Seanna woke as the first light entered the room through the partially closed curtains, then as she shifted in the bed, Leilani woke up, turned over and hugged her, whispering a quick thank you.

Seanna understood right away that Leilani was thanking her for having slept with her, in essence, helping her to sleep as peacefully as possible considering Leilani had just lost her mother; it still surprised her, though, as so many kids nowadays acted as if they were owed anything and everything they could get their paws on, with no consideration at all for others, just for their own benefit.

Seanna smiled and returned the hug, they stayed snuggled together for a few more minutes before a stray ray of sunshine poked through the curtains, shining right into Seanna's eyes. "Come on, Leilani, time to get up, we can talk about what to do for the day."

Seanna padded into the bathroom, used the toilet, washed up, then exited to find Leilani waiting by the door for her turn. Seanna wandered out of the bedroom, heading for the kitchen to see what might be available for breakfast. She opened the cupboards, poking around here and there, checking the contents, then the fridge, before deciding to start with cold cereal for Leilani while she made some omelettes. Seanna filled a bowl with Shreddies, then handed it to Leilani, who added sugar and milk to taste before sitting down at the table.

Seanna eventually found some bacon, some green onions, a tomato, a few mushrooms and some eggs, and spent the next several minutes whipping up an omelette for Leilani before serving it to her and starting on one for herself, finishing it a few minutes later.

She sat down beside Leilani at the table, watching the child devour the omelette, before digging into her own, savouring the taste.

Once the meal was finished, she rinsed the plates off and put them in the dishwasher before cleaning the frying pan and returning it to it's hook on the wall beside the cupboards. She washed her hands under the tap, dried them, then sent Leilani to brush her teeth.

When Leilani returned, they talked for a few minutes, discussing what to do for the day, before deciding on a popular children's museum. Seanna sent Leilani off to the bathroom, following a minute or two later to watch as the tub filled, adding a small amount of a scented bath oil, then helped Leilani to take off her nightgown before lifting her into the bath.

Seanna grinned as she began to wash Leilani, remembering when she was young and her momma had enjoyed washing her in the tub. Seanna was quite thoroughly enjoying herself, and soon Leilani was as well, splashing Seanna from inside the tub. Seanna giggled, and decided that since she was already getting wet, being in the bath made more sense, so she took off her nightgown and hopped in.

They spent the next twenty or so minutes playing and washing themselves thoroughly, then got out as the water turned cold.

Seanna sent Leilani into her room to find something to wear, while laughing at her own predicament, she was stuck with the same set of clothes for what would be the second full day in a row, as well as part of a night. Seanna decided that she was going to have to hit one of the stores downtown for some clothes first, the company could pay for them, then they could go and have fun at the museum.

Seanna quickly dressed in the sweat suit, then padded into the living room, picked up her phone and called her Momma. They spent a few minutes discussing the situation before Momma assured her she would be able to use a company credit card, then Momma informed her that she had contacted one of the company's lawyers already that morning. He had told her that there shouldn't be a problem with Seanna taking over the responsibility of raising Leilani, especially as the family was quite well off and Seanna would soon be working for a reputable company with a very decent yearly income and most likely access to the income from the rest of the family's many residential properties.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Seanna said goodbye to her mother, ended the call and wandered into Leilani's bedroom, just in time to get caught by a flying tartan patterned skirt landing over her head. Seanna broke out in a giggle, which alerted Leilani. Leilani turned her head, looked up, saw the skirt draped over Seanna's head and she started giggling as well.

Eventually, the two of them settled on a dress suitable for early winter weather, a pair of white tights and a pair of Mary Jane shoes. Leilani tried to dress herself, but needed some help with the tights, doing up buttons and buckling the shoes before she was ready.

Seanna made sure she had her purse and wallet, and the keys for the apartment, before locking it and leading Leilani down the stairs.

Here is the next part of the story, I hope you all enjoy it.

**********

Seanna led Leilani over to her car, using the remote to unlock it just before they reached it. She opened the back door, helped Leilani to hop into the seat, then buckled her in. Seanna shook her head, she realized one of the first things she would need to do today would be to get a car seat for Leilani and have it set up in the back seat of the car. She smiled down at Leilani, brushed a stray hair away from Leilani's face, then eased out of the car and closed the back door before moving around to the driver's door. She got in, buckled up and started the engine.

After letting the car warm up for a minute or two, she carefully backed up several feet before turning the car toward the drive leading to the street, edging past the two cars still parked there in the back yard.

Making her way cautiously along the narrow lane beside the house, she approached the street itself, stopping for a moment to look both directions to ensure there was no traffic, then turned into the street and began driving toward the downtown area of the city.

Watching the traffic around her as she drove always made her feel slightly nervous, now she was even more nervous due to Leilani being in the car with her. She was lucky, the colder weather over the last several days was making people be more cautious that usual, and they had no major difficulty in reaching the downtown area, although they did have to detour a bit at one point because of a minor accident.

While they were stopped at a light, she briefly looked back and saw that Leilani had fallen asleep. She smiled and continued on toward the specific mall she wanted, as it had a store that offered items like car seats and other child care necessities.

**********

After several more minutes of driving, she spotted the big store's signs across a parking lot and carefully moved into the curb lane, then into the parking lot and around a bit before finding a space about fifty meters from the store's outer doors. She parked the car, turned off the engine, grabbed her purse and closed the driver door before opening the driver's side rear door; once that door was open, she reached in, touched Leilani gently, then spoke quietly to her, "Leilani, time to wake up, we're at the store so I can get a car seat for you."

When Leilani failed to respond immediately, Seanna shifted gears, giggled and softly started tickling the child, who woke up and began squirming and squealing, trying to avoid Seanna's nimble fingers. Both of the them were giggling now, so Seanna let Leilani know that she was about to unbuckle her, then released the seatbelt and carefully grabbed her, slowly backing out of the car. Seanna lowered Leilani to the asphalt out of the way of the door, then closed the car door, using the remote to fully lock the car before leading Leilani into the store.

Once they were in the store, Seanna pulled a cart out of the bunch close to the doors, then lifted Leilani up and placed her in the cart so she could ride around and see things while Seanna steered the cart. Seanna asked a store worker where to find the child car seats, was given directions and worked her way through the store eventually spotting them across an aisle.

Seanna spent a few minutes looking at the seats available, then noticed a store worker walking past and asked if she could get some help regarding choosing a seat, as she wanted one that passed or exceeded the necessary safety standards. The worker led her over to a nearby desk, picked up the phone there, and asked for someone to come to child car seats to help a customer.

**********

Seanna went back to the car seats after the worker assured her someone should be along fairly soon, and was looking at them when she heard a deep, yet smooth as velvet voice behind her, "Hello, are you the customer that wanted help with car seats, Miss?"

Seanna turned around and looked up, waaay up, to see a smiling face looking down at her, the face being a rather pleasant light chocolate in colour, that gorgeous smile showing many gleaming teeth. That voice just turned her to jelly for a moment, she shook her head, smiled back at him and replied, "Yes, that's right. I want a seat that satisfies or exceeds all the safety standards, this little girl needs to be safe."

The male looked down, noticed Leilani sitting in the cart and grinned at her. "Ahhhh, yes, I can understand that quite well, she's a pretty one! Soooo... something that satisfies or exceeds the safety standards, hmmmm?" He spent the next several minutes roaming around the assortment of child car seats; eventually, he returned to Seanna and Leilani, carrying a car seat in each hand.

"These two are the best of the lot, no real difference between them, except for price, this one (slightly lifting the one in his right hand) is $50 more than this one (lifting the other one for a moment). They both exceed the standards by a fair margin, both are good quality."

Seanna took a moment to have a closer look at the two seats and noticed some papers under the wrapping on one. Looking closely at the papers for the seat, she could see that it gave a list of safety specifications for it, so she quickly checked the other one and saw a list there that appeared to be identical to the one on the first chair. "Hmmmm, the two safety specs lists look the same."

He nodded, smiling and showing those teeth again, "So which one takes your fancy, Miss?"

Seanna thought for a moment before looking at him again and asking, "What colour options are available for these?"

Looking at the one in his right hand, he replied, "Black, red, sky blue, navy blue, mint green, forest green, and brown." Turning to look at the other one, "Black, brown, green and red. We used to carry a blue one in this line, but it's not in stock at the moment."

"Thanks. My car is forest green, but the seats are black, so those would likely match best. Could you get me a forest green one, please?"

"Yes, miss, I'll just put these back, then I'll go into the stock area and find one for you. It will likely take five or ten minutes, okay?"

She smiled at him and nodded, then looked around to see if there was anything interesting nearby as he replaced the seats he had shown them and then headed off to the stock room. She noticed other items for cars and pushed the cart over to take a look.

**********

It seemed it was mostly car decorations, several sizes and colours of fuzzy dice, mini silver and gold trophies, air fresheners for cars; she looked through the items for a few minutes but kept being drawn to a pair of three inch dark green fuzzy dice. Leilani noticed her looking at that particular set of dice and reaching over the side of the cart, giggled and batted at them a couple of times.

Seanna laughed, she liked seeing Leilani have fun. She smiled and pulled the set of fuzzy dice off the hook and handed them to Leilani, saying "Keep an eye on these until we get to the cashier, okay?" Leilani grinned and nodded, Seanna looked around and took two fresheners.

**********

That smooth as velvet voice sounded behind Seanna again, sending a shiver up her spine. "Here's the seat, Miss, I'll put it in the cart for you;" he suited his actions to his words and placed the box with the car seat in the cart. "Have a good day, Miss, thanks for shopping here."

Thank you," Seanna replied, "have a good day yourself." Then she turned the cart and headed for the cashiers near the outer doors.

**********

There were a few people in the line ahead of her, so it was a few minutes before Seanna could pay for everything. The cashier for that lane leaned over and put a sticker on the wrapping to show the item had been processed, then Seanna paid the bill and left the store. Seanna breathed in relief when she saw that the cart could leave the store, she knew many stores that set the carts to lock at the doors.

She carefully worked her way over to where the car was parked, again her luck was good, there was an open space on one side of the car. She pushed the cart toward the back of the car, lining it up beside the rear wheel, then pulled out the keys and unlocked the doors. She opened the rear door, carefully lifted the car seat out of the cart, looked at the wrapping for a moment before noticing some tape strips which she then pulled off, thereby opening the wrapping. Shoving the plastic down around the seat, she carefully picked it up, turned it and leaned into the car to place it in the middle of the seat. After taking a quick look at the directions, she fastened the seat in place and turned to Leilani, grinning as she said, "Well, now there's a car seat for you, I'll be able to see you a lot easier from now on while I'm driving."

Leilani returned the grin, lifting her arms up; Seanna laughed, picked up Leilani and carefully put her in the seat, then buckled her in, following the directions once again to endure it was done properly. Seanna closed the door and walked around the car to the driver's door, opened it, settled into the seat, buckled herself in and started the car, again letting it warm up for a minute or two first, then suddenly remembered the cart standing beside the car. "I'm locking the car and taking that cart back, I'll be right back." She exited the car, locked it as she had said she would, grabbed the wrapping from the ground beside the car, then pushed the cart over to the store entrance and dropped the wrapping in a garbage can before running back to the car.

It had only taken a minute or two, but a minute or two can often be all that is needed for trouble to appear. She breathed a quick sigh of relief, unlocked the driver's door, buckled up again and smiled at Leilani. "I should have taken that back first, hmmm?"

**********

Once they were back on the streets again, Seanna asked, "How about we stop somewhere near the museum for a little snack first?"

Leilani responded that that sounded good to her, so Seanna pulled into a Dunkin Donuts about a block away from the museum. After getting Leilani out and locking up the car, they went inside, Seanna bought a small coffee for herself, a juice for Leilani and a jelly donut to share. The two sat there for the next ten minutes or so enjoying their snack, then went to the washroom, cleaned up and returned to the car. The drive over to the museum's parking lot only took a moment, then they locked up the car again and headed into the museum.

They entered the museum just after 10:45 AM and wandered around looking at the various exhibits until nearly 1:30 PM, when Leilani's stomach decided to announce its need for food by making a clearly audible rumbling sound. Seanna grinned and Leilani giggled as they turned and headed for the back entrance by the parking lot, then out to the car. Once they were buckled in and the car was warming up, Seanna turned to Leilani and asked her where she wanted to go for lunch, Leilani's prompt reply was "Long John Silver's!"

Seanna giggled and shook her head, "I don't know if there is one here, Leilani, I'm guessing you want fish and chips, huh?" Let me call my Momma, see if she knows a place like that." Leilani nodded and Seanna pulled out the cell phone, hitting the auto dial for her Momma; it rang twice, then her Momma answered, "Hello, Ramsay residence, Roselyn speaking."

"Hiya, Momma, how are you? I have Leilani here and she wants to know a good place for fish and chips downtown?"

Seanna and her Momma chatted for a few minutes, Momma giving directions for a good restaurant, then they said their goodbyes.

"Okay, Leilani, Momma recommended a place not too too far from here, she says they have the best fish and chips in the city. Does that sound good to you?" When Leilani replied with enthusiasm, Seanna smiled and started driving toward the restaurant.

**********

At one point, Seanna took a wrong turn and ended up on a one way street going the wrong direction; it took a moment to find her way back to the correct street, then they continued onward, eventually reaching the restaurant and parking a short distance from the doors.

After releasing Leilani from the car seat and locking the car, they entered the restaurant, and ended up waiting in line for a table. It took a few minutes, then a hostess led them into the restaurant to a booth along one wall, asking if she wanted a booster seat for Leilani.

When Leilani shook her head and told the hostess she was a big girl, the hostess grinned and agreed, then headed back to the entrance. A few minutes later, a waitress appeared, asking what they wanted for drinks. Leilani asked for juice, Seanna ordered a coffee, and then the two spent the next several minutes looking at the options on the menu. After chatting for a few minutes, they decided to share a platter that they both liked, with a side order of fries; when the waitress returned, they let her know and she headed back to the kitchen.

Seanna and Leilani discussed the visit to the museum, what they had liked the most, things they thought were icky or nice; before they even realized it, the waitress was returning with a large platter and a smaller plate, and a refill for their drinks.

They tucked into the food, enjoying the sampling of various items on the platter, shrimp, scallops, crab meat, some mussels, several slices of salmon, also some slices of fresh trout, a small portion of lobster, some fresh oysters, and a tablespoon or so of caviar, with various garnishes and sauces arranged around the platter, along with half a dozen dinner rolls. It was obvious they would be taking some home afterward, but that made no difference to them, they tasted this and that, going through the various items on the platter, eating a fry now and then.

They both decided they weren't too enthused about the caviar, the oysters were okay, but the rest was pretty good to awesome. By the time the two had stopped eating, only a few fries were left on the plate and more than half of the food on the platter was gone. When the waitress returned, Seanna asked to have the food put into doggy bags, except for the caviar, and then asked for the bill.

The waitress asked why they didn't want the caviar as well, and Seanna informed her that they just didn't like it very much. Ten minutes later the waitress returned with a large paper bag containing several smaller bags, Seanna paid and they left the restaurant.

**********

Once they were in the car, Seanna groaned softly and rubbed her stomach, grumbling that she had eaten too much. She looked into the back seat, where Leilani was strapped into the car seat, and saw that Leilani had nodded off again. "Stuffed full and worn out, I suppose."

She smiled, turned on the engine, waited a moment, then headed back into the traffic, having decided that she needed to stop by her Momma's house to ask her about that credit card she had mentioned and whether a decision had been made about her and the company.

She spent the drive to her Momma's house thinking about Leilani and just how strongly that Leilani had grabbed her heart. She hadn't expected it at all, in fact, until she had heard about the attack on Sue, she had never met Leilani, so she wondered just how it was that that sweet little girl could tie her up in knots in such a short time. She found herself wishing that Leilani had been her true daughter, but that just started the tears flowing down her cheeks, she knew darn well she would never be able to conceive or give birth. All she knew was that she couldn't get Leilani out of her mind at all, she thought about her every moment she was awake and she didn't want it to ever stop.

When she pulled into the short drive by her Momma's house, she was still crying a bit, she had pulled over at one point because she couldn't see through the tears. She sat in the car for a few minutes, waiting for the tears to stop again, then opened the glove compartment and pulled out some kleenex to dab at her eyes. Looking in the mirror, she smiled briefly at the smudged mascara, then shook her head, undid the seat belt, grabbed the bag of leftovers, opened the door and stepped out of the car. Closing the door, she opened the rear one and looked in, just in time to see Leilani wake up from her nap. She released Leilani from the car seat, locked the car and they walked up onto the porch.

Seanna was about to push the door bell when the front door opened and her Momma looked out at them. Her Momma immediately noticed that Seanna had been crying and quietly asked if she was okay, Seanna replied that she would explain in a few minutes.

They entered the house and Leilani ran off toward the play room near the back of the house. They followed her, looked into the room and found Leilani snuggled up with a big golden brown stuffed bear, she seemed to be talking to it.

**********

Seanna and her Momma turned up the hall to the kitchen to drop off the leftovers from the restaurant, then headed back down the hall to the back parlour, settled down into chairs and relaxed for a few minutes.

"Okay, Seanna, what's happening now, why were you crying just before you came into the house?"

"Oh, Momma, it's Leilani, I want her so much to be mine, but that's only part of it, I keep wishing that she really was mine. While driving here a few minutes go, I found myself wishing I could conceive and give birth; Momma, knowing I can't just hurts so much it's hard to cope.

"I had to get a car seat for her this morning. We had a bit of fun in the store, then we had a lot more fun running around the museum. Going to that restaurant for the seafood was lovely, too, we had a great meal, although we didn't like the caviar much at all.

"The thing is, Momma, being with Leilani is filling a hole in my heart that I didn't even know was there. I'll do anything and everything I can to help that child to grow up happy and to keep her safe, that was why the first thing we did today was to get that car seat."

Seanna turned herself into the chair as the tears started flowing once again. Through them, Seanna continued, "I don't care what else happens to me, Momma, the only thing I want right now is to be able to be there for her from now on."

Her mother pointed over to the couch, then quietly told Seanna to go sit there. Seanna stood up, a bit wobbly, then stumbled over toward the couch through the tears streaming down her cheeks; she bumped into the edge of a coffee table, tripped and fell onto the couch, just barely managing to twist herself around so that she landed on it sitting down. Her Momma sat down beside her, hugging her tight.

"Even though you may have been born as my son, I've known for a long time that you are my daughter, I've known about your yearnings and desires that you could be a biological woman, but some things just can't be changed, love. I made sure that you could get decent treatment as young as possible to be able to grow up as a young woman, and you had the sex reassignment surgery when you were eighteen. You have been very lucky in many ways, especially so because we had the money to be able to do things without many years of waiting.

Seanna's tears slowly turned to trickles as she sat next to her mother, being hugged by her, listening to her as she spoke.

"So you may not be able to conceive, or give birth to a child. Well, there are many biological women who can't do those things, either. Does that make them any less a woman than one who can do them? I don't think so, so why do you keep putting yourself down, child?"

"Momma, I've shown you the chats on a few sites, some of the people there have been treated so badly! Disowned by their families, marriages broken, children they can no longer visit, all too many 'friends' deserting them like rats off a sinking ship. Yes, I've been lucky. I've had opportunities that many never get, but what hurts even more is being told by many people that we aren't real because we weren't born women. It's hard enough to fight for ourselves when we're being shot down from people on all sides for any reason at all.

"That's the sort of thing that too many of us put up with whenever we try to take a step forward in our lives. The system is full of shit!

As I said before, when we try to do something like adopt a child, we have people deliberately obstructing us, making it impossible. It's a very rare occasion when a transgender or transsexual person is able to adopt, and those usually have loads of money backing them, that or someone very influential on their side. Take that Cathy woman in that Easy As Falling Off A Bike story, for instance, she herself has a fair bit of money, plus income from four or five houses, yet that pales to what her husband has, or to his influence, directly or through his father. If they didn't have the money they do, or that level of influence, they would be like so many others, being told the system can't help them.

Their influence helped her to get her SRS way earlier than is usual, then that influence helped them each time they found themselves with another child practically falling into their lives, she ends up climbing business and academic ladders like a rocket on fire. That woman has more luck in the tip of one pinky finger than most people have in their entire body or lives. It's crazy, but she sure does have luck on her side."

As Seanna's tears finally stopped, largely due to the anger coming through in her voice as she replied to her Momma, she heard a faint sound coming from across the hall, a sound that had her off the couch and running into the playroom. Seanna spotted Leilani still curled up with the big bear, but now she could clearly hear the soft crying coming from the child. She sat beside Leilani and pulled her and the bear into a hug.

Several minutes went by with Seanna just holding Leilani and the bear close, before Leilani managed to speak through the sobs. "I was sitting here talk... talking to Goldy here about today when I hear... heard you crying over there, you were talking loud enough that I could hear it all. Auntie, what is trans- trans-genner or da other one?" Leilani continued sobbing quietly as she waited for an answer.

"Oh, boy, this isn't going to be easy," Seanna muttered to herself. "Leilani, a transgender person is someone who presents themselves as the opposite gender to their birth one, might take hormones to help change their appearance and some other physical attributes, but may not want to fully change themselves to be fully male or female. A transsexual also presents as the opposite gender to their birth one, often takes hormones to help change their appearance and some other physical attributes, but when possible, will undergo complicated surgery to become as close to male or female as they can. It's not always clear, it often depends on how a person chooses to define themselves."

Leilani, still crying, sat there cuddled up to Seanna, listening intently, then thinking for a few minutes before she looked up at Seanna again. "Auntie, I heard you say 'we' sometimes... Auntie, are you transgenner or transsexshul?"

Seanna, startled by the question, jerked back for a moment, accidentally banging her head off the wall in the process. She let go of Leilani briefly, rubbed the back of her head, then looked down at Leilani and hugged her close once again. "Yes, I am a transsexual, Leilani. As I said to my Momma, I was lucky, we had money enough to get the things I needed, and I'm as close to female as it is possible for me to be."

Leilani hugged her back, smiling through the last of her tears. "You said somfing else, too, about 'dopshun, that people like you 'most always can't 'dopt kids, because people 'struc you by doing things to slow down the 'dopshun or stop it 'pletely. Is that true, too?"

Seanna worked her way through what Leilani had said, then nodded to her. "Yes, Leilani, all too often, that is true, unless a person like me has a lot of money to use, or has someone willing to use their power, influence, to help them."

"Auntie, I know my mommy is gone, I miss her lots! I wish she was still here, but I know she can't be. Will... will you be my new mommy?"

Seanna didn't know it, but her Momma had followed her, and had listened to the conversation between the woman and the child. It was all too obvious that Leilani was extremely intelligent, and even more obvious that Leilani was forming a very strong bond with Seanna.

Seanna sat there for a few seconds, totally stunned by the question, then kissed Leilani on the forehead and told her yes.

Momma finally spoke from the doorway, "I think you two have had a long day already, why don't you both go and have a nap?"

Seanna's head snapped up, almost hitting the wall again. "I didn't even know you were there, Momma."

"I followed behind you when you took off from the parlour. When I got here, you two were talking, so I let you talk to each other."

Seanna smiled and looked down at Leilani, who was curled up against her side, eyes closed. "Well, she's obviously ready for another nap, and with all the emotional stuff I've gone through recently, I guess I can use one as well. I need to talk to you again later, Momma."

**********

Seanna carefully picked up the semi-dozing child and headed for the stairs to the second floor and the guest bedrooms. Padding down the upper hallway, she finally opened a door, looking in at the room that had been hers for so much of her young life. She carried the child to the bed, pulled back the covers and placed her in the middle, then stripped and grabbed a nightshirt before sliding in beside Leilani.

Pulling the covers back over herself and the snoozing child, she lay there holding Leilani close until she herself drifted off to sleep.

**********

Seanna's need to use the washroom woke her up a few hours later. When she returned to the bed, Leilani was awake, looking up at her. Leilani seemed to be thinking for a moment before she asked, "Did you really meant what you said 'bout being my new mommy?"

The look on Leilani's face as she asked that almost broke Seanna's heart, this child needed her love desperately. She smiled as she looked down, opened up her arms so that Leilani could get a hug if she wanted it, and replied, "Gods, yes, Leilani, I do want that!"

Leilani stood up on the bed, then launched herself into Seanna's arms, the love being returned in both directions.

"Okay, love, I need to let you down so I can find something to wear, I'm sure Momma has been cooking up a storm!" Seanna kissed Leilani on the forehead, then leaned over and carefully set her down, before turning to the large dresser against the wall. She pulled out bundles of t-shirts, looking through them to find one that fit her mood, before picking out one with a big, bright sun shining over a wood. Digging through another drawer, she grabbed a pair of stretchy faded jeans; dressing in the jeans and t-shirt, she turned back to the child.

"Ready to go down and see what my Momma has been doing while we were sleeping?"

Leilani nodded, reached up to grab Seanna's hand and the two of them walked down the hall and then down to the first floor. On reaching the lower floor, the smells of a lovely meal came floating out from the kitchen, pulling the two in that direction.

"Hi, Momma, how much longer will it be before the food is ready?"

"Maybe five or ten minutes, why don't you get out the plates and stuff and set the table? Put out bowls, too, part of it is a soup."

"Okay, Momma." She looked down at Leilani, smiling. "Want to learn how to set a table? It's not too hard."

Leilani returned the smile, holding tight to Seanna's hand. "Okay, what I have to do?"

Well," Seanna grinned, "we go over here, open this cupboard, and pull out three plates and three soup bowls. When there's only a few of us like now, Momma likes us all to sit at one end of the table, so the plates go here, here and here, and the bowls just above each plate, a bit to the left of the plate itself, here, here, and here. Then we go to the silverware drawer, pull out forks, knives and spoons for the three of us, and set them around each plate like this, fork on the left side, knife and spoon on the right. Oh, Momma, will we be needing the steak knives at all?"

"I doubt it, Seanna, I put fish on, it should be tender enough to flake off with just a fork. You know what my fish is like."

"Yes, Momma, I surely do. Leilani, love, my Momma makes the best fish dinners I've ever tasted, even better than what we had today."

"Really? The fish today was good, it was sammon and tr-trout, right? And your Momma's is better? Woowhee!"

Momma wandered back into the kitchen, checked the small family table, nodded at the layout and walked over to the stove. She slipped on an oven mitt, lifted the lid of one of the pots on the stove, sniffed deeply, smiled and replaced the lid. She then checked the second pot, the vegetables in it were looking good, that just left the fish in the oven to be checked. Using the oven mitt, she pulled the pan out far enough that she could stick a fork into the cooking fish, seeing that the fork came off clean, she smiled and turned the oven and burners off.

"It looks like everything is ready. Seanna, can you put out three boards so I can put the pots and fish pan on them, please? I'd rather not burn the table if I can help it." Momma then reached into a drawer near the stove, pulled out two large spoons, one with slots in it, one without. When Seanna had placed the boards on the table, Momma put the second oven mitt on, then lifted each of the pots from the stove and placed it on a board on the table. Opening the oven, she lifted out the pan containing the fish and set it on the third board. Last but not least, she put some bread on the table in case any of them wanted it, and a small plate with butter on it for the bread.

"Okay, Seanna, can you get the tall chair for Leilani? It will be easier for her to reach the table that way."

Seanna nodded, walked over to one of the corners at the back of the kitchen and pulled out a chair, the chair looked like a normal kitchen chair except that the seat was quite a bit higher, perfect for a small child to sit on and be able to eat with the rest of the family. Once the chair was by the table, Seanna walked over to Leilani, picked her up and carefully set her on the chair.

Momma grinned at Seanna and Leilani, then picked up Leilani's bowl, used the unslotted spoon to fill it with soup and placed it in front of her plate again, then did the same for Seanna and herself. She used the other spoon to scoop vegetables from the second pot for each person, then switched to normal forks to put some of the fish on each plate. "If you want bread, feel free to take a piece, okay?"

She sat down at the head of the table, motioned for Seanna and Leilani to be quiet and recited a grace before the meal.

Once grace was finished, they all dug into the food. As Seanna had said, the fish was fantastic, almost melting on her tongue. The soup was a clam chowder, so they had fish from two parts of the meal; that tasted almost as good as the fish from the oven, Leilani was actually moaning softly as the food tasted better than just about anything she could remember eating, the vegetables were perfect, she was in heaven!

Seanna and her Momma smiled back and forth, enjoying Leilani's enjoyment of the meal as they ate.

Seanna took a slice of bread, as did her Momma, but Leilani didn't need or want it, the meal itself was enough for her.

Eventually, the meal ended, Seanna and her Momma cleared the table, setting the remainder of the food aside to cool down a bit before they would transfer it to containers, then the fridge. The plates, bowls and silverware were rinsed, then put in the dishwasher.

"Leilani, I need to talk to Momma for a bit, why don't you go to the playroom, okay?"

Leilani smiled, thanked Momma for the awesome meal, then scampered off in the direction of the playroom.

"She was right, Momma, that was an awesome meal, thanks. As for what I wanted to talk to you about, it's the company credit card for one thing. I had to use personal funds today for the car seat and what we ate while we were out, so I'm running out of cash.

The second thing I wanted to ask about was the company, has there been any word at all as to what is happening?"

"Ahhhh, the company credit card is in my office near the front of the house, on my desk. I haven't heard anything about the company."

"I guess they haven't gotten around to making any decisions yet, then. As it's already heading toward 8:45 PM, I guess I won't be going shopping for business suits until tomorrow at the earliest. I wonder what else I might need if I do end up working for the company."

"Well, Seanna, if you do need something else, I'm sure you'll be able to get it at that point in time."

"You're right, Momma. I'm going to have a coffee and relax here for a while, what about you, Momma?"

"Sounds good to me, we can check if anything is on the TV, never know, we might find something decent to watch."

Seanna and her Momma each grabbed some coffee, making it to their individual preferences, then headed to the living room. Turning the TV on, Seanna skimmed through the available channels, it was all repeats of old shows she'd seen before or totally boring ones, with the exception of a nature show that reminded her vaguely of repeats she had seen of David Suzuki's The Nature of Things, a show she had enjoyed years before. The nature show wasn't anything special or spectacular, but it was interesting enough, and the hour passed fairly quickly.

When the show finished, she took the coffee cups into the kitchen, rinsing them and placing them in the dishwasher, before she wandered down the hall to the playroom. Standing at the door, she looked in to see Leilani snuggled up with the big bear, out like a light.

Seanna smiled, walked over to the closet near the front door, grabbed their coats, then headed to the kitchen to collect the leftovers from the restaurant before returning to the playroom. Once in the playroom, she gently shook Leilani, but Leilani stayed asleep, so Seanna slowly put Leilani's jacket on her and zipped it up, then her own; she put her purse on one shoulder, picked up Leilani with that arm, grabbed the leftovers with the other hand, and walked toward the front door. On the way to the front door, she looked into the living room for a moment in order to say goodbye to her Momma, who it seemed had nodded off in her chair during the TV show.

Seanna suddenly remembered the credit card. She entered the office, found it on the desk and stuffed it in her purse.

Seanna set the leftovers down, opened the front door, shifted the leftovers onto the top step, then made sure the front door was locked before she closed it. Picking up the leftovers again, she carried the bag and Leilani over to the car. She set the leftovers on the roof of the car for a moment, unlocked the rear door, put Leilani in her seat, buckled her in, then closed the door and opened the front one; grabbing the bag of leftovers, she placed it and her purse on the passenger seat, then stepped into the car, turned on the engine and let it warm up as usual.

After buckling her own seat belt, she looked behind her, then carefully backed the car into the street and headed for home.

It had definitely been a long day for Leilani, she hadn't stirred at all while being dressed in the jacket, or carried to the car. Seanna kept glancing back for a second or two every now and then as she drove to Sue's building, she was a bit tired herself, but not enough that she would need to sleep right away after they entered the apartment.

The drive to Sue's was quiet, there didn't seem to be many people out on the streets. Seanna had seen a few patches of ice as she reached the car earlier, so she was going a bit slower than usual and watching the roads for signs of ice.

**********

Just before 10:30 PM, Seanna drove down the street where Sue's apartment was located. Still there was very little traffic, so there was no problem with her turning into the driveway and following it behind the house. As she parked the car near the two sedans, she noticed that there seemed to be three house keys on the ring for Sue's apartment; thinking for a moment, she assumed the extra key was for the back entrance.

She turned the engine off, opened the door, grabbed the bag from the passenger seat and set it on the roof; she closed the driver's door and opened the rear one on that side, reached in and released Leilani from the seat, then picked her up, leaning back out of the car before shoving the door closed with one hip. Shifting Leilani to one arm and holding her on the hip, she picked up the bag and her purse and started walking toward the back door. Just as she went past the front end of the car, she slipped on a patch of ice and almost fell. It scared her quite a bit.

She reached the back door, dropped the food and purse for a moment, pulled the keys out and tried the other house key on the door. She smiled as the door unlocked, then she pushed it open and stepped into the house. She reached down, grabbed the bag and her purse and dropped them on the washer before closing and locking the door. Deciding to leave the bag and her purse there for a few minutes, she held Leilani in both arms and padded up the stairs, unlocked the apartment and carried Leilani back to the main bedroom.

She unzipped Leilani's jacket and slowly pulled her arms out of the sleeves, then pulled the jacket off before tossing it on a chair. She looked around, didn't see a nightgown in the room, so she wandered into Leilani's room and checked the dresser drawers. Finding one that she figured Leilani would like, as it seemed a bit worn already, she took it into the other room, stripped Leilani, then put it on her and tucked her in.

Seanna stood there for a few minutes, just looking down at the sleeping child that had stolen her heart so thoroughly. She smiled, leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead, then headed back down to the first floor to get the bag with the leftovers. She brought the bag and her purse upstairs, placed the food in the fridge, then took off her jacket and hung it in the hall closet before she headed into the living room.

She spent the next hour listening to music playing softly on the stereo before she heard what sounded like crying over the music. Turning it off, and deciding that she should call it a night, she entered the bedroom to see Leilani tossing and turning on the bed.

Seanna quickly stripped, put on her own nightgown and slipped into the bed beside Leilani. When she snuggled close to Leilani, Leilani seemed to settle down a bit; when Seanna held her even closer, Leilani drifted into a deeper sleep within a minute or two.

Seanna lay beside the child, holding her close, remembering the love the child had shown her earlier, then she too was asleep.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story. I hope you all enjoy it.

I originally intended to write this yesterday, but after dealing with a migraine for the five days up to that point, my body decided it had had enough. I went to bed yesterday at 3:15 PM EST Thursday and didn't get up until 10:20 AM EST Friday. Nineteen hours in bed! Ouch!

The good thing is that the migraine seems to have eased off quite a bit, so I'm getting down to business. LOL

**********

The early morning sun peeped through the windows, looking down on the bed where Seanna and Leilani lay sleeping. Some birds began to sing to herald the sun's rising on this early winter day, but the two in the bed heard none of it.

Another fifteen minutes passed before one of the two on the bed shifted and then sat up. Leilani grumbled to herself, "I really need to pee," as she shoved her feet into a pair of slippers and wandered over to the bathroom between the two bedrooms.

While Leilani was in there, Seanna woke up and noticed that Leilani was not in the bed. "Leilani, where are you?" she called out.

Leilani replied, "In the bathroom, I'll be out soon, darn bladder."

Seanna giggled as she walked toward the bathroom. "I think I'll need it when you're done in there, missy."

When Leilani opened the bathroom door, Seanna walked around her and into the bathroom. "Go to the kitchen, we'll have breakfast."

Leilani nodded, opened the closet and pulled out an old, worn robe she had left there while her mom was still alive. She wrapped herself in the robe's warm comfort, tied the belt, then padded off toward the kitchen to see what they could have for their breakfast.

Seanna joined her a few minutes later, dressed in a similar robe that had belonged to Leilani's mother. "Find anything yet?"

Leilani looked up from the door of the tiny pantry and shook her head. "I'm not sure, really. I think this needs to be cleaned out soon."

Seanna poked her head in, took a quick look around, and agreed. "It's messy in there, some of it looks like it's been there for months."

They closed the pantry door and Seanna looked in the fridge, eventually finding very little food in there, there were a few potatoes in the veggie bin, four eggs in their box, a bit of old cheddar and a 1/4 lb. of bacon. "Bacon and eggs for breakfast! If we get bread, I can make grilled cheese sandwiches later. That reminds me, it looks like we really need to get some food, the fridge is almost empty and that pantry is a mess."

She pulled out a frying pan; she dropped half a dozen slices of bacon in the pan, watched it as it cooked, flipped it when needed, and placed three slices each on a pair of plates she pulled from one of the cupboards. The eggs only took a minute or two, thanks to having done the bacon first, and she quickly transferred two eggs to each plate. She grabbed some bread and dropped four slices into the toaster.

Once the toaster was going, she turned off the stove, put the plates on the table, then poked Leilani to let her know the food was ready and sat down. Leilani giggled and joined her at the table. Both dug into the simple breakfast; Seanna jumped up a few minutes later to grab the toast, slipped the four slices onto a side plate, then brought the side plate and a plate with butter to the table.

Leilani took a slice of the toast, buttered it and set it on her plate, then continued eating; Seanna sat down again, grabbed a slice for herself, buttered it and returned to eating her own meal. They ate quietly, each taking a second slice of toast as they finished the bacon and eggs.

A few minutes later, the food was all gone; Seanna took the plates to the counter, rinsed them under the tap, then dropped them into the dishwasher. She took a quick look in the fridge, then closed it again. "I was hoping we had some orange juice, but we don't."

Seanna shook her head, then turned to Leilani before pointing to the bedrooms, "We need to get dressed, I have to get several business style outfits today, and we definitely need food, so we could be out for most of the day."

They wandered into the bedrooms, Seanna to retrieve her jeans and T-shirt from the chair across from the bed, Leilani to her own room to dig through her clothes to find an outfit. It only took Seanna a couple of minutes to dress, she grabbed a chocolate coloured lightweight sweater from the large dresser, then wandered into Leilani's room to see what she had found.

Seanna approached, then had to duck to avoid a bright yellow sweater Leilani had thrown; the sweater landed on the bed.

"Hey, watch where you're throwing things, kid!" As Leilani turned to face her, Seanna giggled, "Still looking, I suppose?"

"I'm in a mood for bright stuff today. Somewhere in here is a pair of yellow jeans that almost match that sweater I threw. If you want to help, you can take a look through my dresser and pick out a t-shirt for me, and some socks and undies."

"Gotcha!" Seanna replied as she moved to the dresser. Finding socks and underwear was easy, it was picking out a t-shirt that was hard. Leilani had lots of them, there must have been three or four dozen in all. Finally, a pale blue one with a bright sun and a mongrel dog caught her eye. She pulled it out and tossed it onto the bed, the t-shirt falling partially over the sweater.

Leilani yelled, then she popped out of the closet right next to Seanna. "I found them, so what did you pick out?" She skipped over to the bed, nodded at the undies and socks, then looked at the t-shirt. "Hmmmm, dog on t-shirt, teddy bear on sweater, is it I love animals day?"

Seanna laughed and replied, "Maybe it is, get your clothes on and we can get ready to go."

Seanna wandered back into the bedroom they had slept in, found her purse and dug through it for a minute or two before finding the notebook she wanted, then she went back in there looking for a pen or pencil. Finding a pen, she made a list of food items to buy.

She was just finishing her little list when Leilani yelled that she needed help with the sweater. Grinning, Seanna wandered in Leilani's room to see Leilani standing there with the sweater half on, most of the arms dangling down by her sides.

The grin changed to soft laughter as Seanna reached Leilani and helped to pull the sweater down and the sleeves up. It took a few minutes, as Leilani seemed to be pulling in different directions, but it was eventually sorted out, and the sweater was on, just as it should be.

Seanna returned to the main bedroom to grab her purse, then the two of them headed out into the main area of the apartment.

As they were about to put on their coats to leave, Seanna stopped, pulled out her phone and called her mother.

"Hello, Ramsay residence, Roselyn speaking."

"Hiya, Momma, I was just about to head out the door to go shopping for some business suits, then do some food shopping later. Would you like to join Leilani and I as we wander around a mall or five in the hunt for nice looking business suits? Maybe have lunch later?"

"Hmmmm... sit home and do nothing until the one church event I go to starts tonight, or spend the day with you? I'll go with you!"

"Okay, Momma, we're heading out the door now, we'll pick you up at your place in about half an hour. Love ya!"

Momma replied in the affirmative, the phone call ended a moment later; Seanna dropped the phone into her purse, then looked around for Leilani. Leilani was standing near the apartment's main door, her jacket already on, waiting for Seanna.

Seanna walked to the hall closet, grabbed her jacket, put it on, opened the door, pulled Leilani out of the apartment and locked the door; she turned and lead Leilani down the stairs, then around to the back door of the house, locking it after they had exited the house.

Seanna unlocked the car, set Leilani in her seat and buckled her in, closing the rear door before getting in and putting on her own seat belt. She turned on the engine, let the car warm up a bit, then backed up enough to turn and drive down the narrow lane beside the house.

When she reached the street, she checked both directions for traffic; she was just about to start moving when a low rumble could be heard and a high end sports car roared past. She shook her head, the driver was going at least eighty in a thirty zone, like it just didn't matter.

She checked again, seeing no traffic, she turned into the street and headed toward her mother's house.

**********

The drive into the heart of the city was a slow one today, it seems Seanna was catching the tail end of the morning rush hour. It took them almost 45 minutes before they managed to clear the stalled traffic and pull up in front of her Momma's house.

Seanna honked the horn. A few seconds later, her Momma came out, locked the front door, ran to the car, buckled in and shut the door.

"Sorry about how long it took to get here, Momma, traffic was pretty slow today. I hate rush hour, the hour when no one actually rushes."

Her Momma laughed as the car started moving along the street. They chatted for a few minutes, deciding which store they should go to first, eventually picking a mall that had three large stores with decent women's clothing, H&M, Macy's and The Gap.

Seanna was keeping an eye on traffic around them; it was a good thing, too, as someone in a big pickup decided to jump the light at one corner and smashed into the driver's side of a small sedan that was turning onto their street. She sighed and tried to figure out a good alternate route, as the other side of the intersection was almost completely blocked now by the two vehicles.

She was just about to turn onto the street the car had been coming from when she heard a scream, looked out the window and saw a big male, who appeared to have just stepped out of the pickup, waving his arms in a menacing way at the woman in the car. Seanna rolled her window down a bit, and could clearly hear him yelling, "You bitch, you should have kept this piece of trash out of my damn way!" as he growled and kicked at the driver's side door of the car with what appeared to be a steel toed boot.

**********

Seanna turned to her Momma, "Momma, get my phone out, call 911, report the accident and tell them one driver is acting very hostile." Seanna then carefully turned onto the other street, going a short way down the street before she pulled over and stopped the car.

Momma was on the phone, "Yeah, an accident at X and Z Streets, the one driver, a big male, 6' or so, likely 200 lbs, dark hair, heavy beard, just started screaming at the female driver of the car he hit, then kicked her door pretty hard, still screaming at her."

"X and Z Streets, you say? Thanks, we've got police on the way, fire department too, just in case. Five calls on that one so far."

"We're on Z Street pointed south at the moment, about 1/4 of the way down the block from the accident. Should we stay here?"

"Police should be there in a minute or two. You can talk to them once they arrive, as long as you weren't involved, you should be fine."

"Thanks, we'll stay then. Have a good day," Momma responded just before she ended the call, dropping the phone in Seanna's purse.

**********

Sirens could be heard approaching the area, Seanna looked back just in time to see two police cars reach the intersection. One car blocked access to the lanes of X Street beyond the accident, the second pulled to the curb just around the corner on Z Street.

Two officers jumped out of the first car, one a fairly big male, the other a tall, slender female, then approached the accident scene. The guy from the truck was still screaming and kicking at the side of the car, the woman in the front seat pulling as far back as she could. The male officer came to within several feet of the guy, then yelled at him to stop, his response was to turn and swing a big fist at the officer. He missed, as the officer stepped back, but the second officer closed in and tapped the guy lovingly on the head with the butt of her gun, dropping him.

She turned to the other officer and shrugged. "Hey, Sarge, he took a swing at you, I had no idea if he had a weapon on him."

The Sarge took a closer look at the male lying on the ground. "He was armed, Jan, a gun on the left hip and a big knife sheath, too." He then pulled the set of cuffs off his belt, cuffed the male, grabbed the weapons, and with the female officer's help, loaded him in the back of their car.

**********

Meanwhile, the officer in the second car stepped out and took a moment to look around the scene.

Seanna saw him in the rear view mirror, opened her window, stuck her head out, waved and yelled to him, "Officer, we saw what happened!"

He heard a woman yelling nearby, he looked down the street and saw a woman waving from a parked car. Not too sure what was going on, as he hadn't quite heard what she had said, he walked down the street, eventually standing beside the driver's door of Seanna's car.

"Okay, Miss, what's up? I didn't quite hear what you yelled a minute ago."

"Hi, officer. Well, we saw the whole thing, we were in the curb lane a couple of cars back from the intersection. The guy in the pickup jumped the light without paying attention to traffic around him, rammed into the back half of that sedan and turned it into so much scrap metal. Then he jumped out of his truck, ran to the driver's side of the car he had just hit and started screaming at her and kicking the driver's door."

"Did you see anything else?"

"No, sir, once the cars in front of me were gone, I turned onto this street, had my mom call 911 and we decided to wait here."

When she realized that the officer was about to go up to the corner, Seanna closed the window, deciding to stay there a bit longer.

**********

The officer stepped away from their car, walked up to the corner, took a quick look at the back of the car, shook his head and went around the truck to have a chat with the female driver of the car. He passed the first cruiser and noticed someone stuffed into the back seat just as the female officer opened her window. "Hiya, Jan, just got a quick report from another driver who witnessed the crash. I'm assuming the other adult in that car also saw the accident and what followed. I'll go back and talk to her in a bit."

The two officers exchanged info for a moment or two, then he walked past the cruiser to the driver's door of the sedan. He tapped on the window and waited while the woman grabbed a kleenex, blew her nose, then wiped her face with another tissue before lowering the window.

"Ma'am? Are you physically okay? I can tell you're pretty shook up right now, I just need to know if you need to see a paramedic."

"I'm... I'm okay, that, that jerk could have killed me, all... all to get through a stop light a few... seconds early!" She turned around as much as she could in the seat and looked at what had been the back of her car, now it was a crushed pile of metal and seat. She turned back to the front, her face becoming rather pale. "If... If I had been just a little slower, I'd be dead right now," she stated just before she fainted.

**********

The paramedics arrived on the scene, they had been delayed by another accident which had forced them to take a detour.

He waited for the paramedics to exit their vehicle, then pointed to the front of the car. "The woman in there just fainted." As the paramedics ran to the car and yanked open the driver's side door, he commented, "She was damn right, she came damn close to dying here."

One of the paramedics ran back to the ambulance, opened the back, pulled the stretcher down, then wheeled it over to the car. The second paramedic reached into the car, unbuckled the woman, then lifted her out of the car and laid her on the stretcher. The next few minutes were spent thoroughly checking the woman, who awoke midway through the examination.

"Hello, ma'am, you fainted in your car, so we pulled you out and have been checking you to make sure you're okay."

The woman smiled at him, "I'll be okay, I'm just a bit shook up, that's all." She sat up on the stretcher.

The one paramedic said she could go, but if she had any problems, to head to an emergency room immediately. She nodded, went back to her car, reached in, grabbed her purse, pulled out a cell phone and made a call. After talking for a few minutes she hung up.

She wandered back to the paramedics. "I've got a friend coming to pick me up, I'll just sit in my remodelled car until they get here."

The paramedic chuckled and waved her off. "Just take care of yourself, okay?" He then turned and lifted the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and closed the back doors before wandering over to the cruiser blocking the intersection.

**********

The officer that had spoken to Seanna had watched while the paramedics dealt with the woman. Just as she sat up on the stretcher, he remembered that he needed to talk to the other woman in the car down the street, so he headed down there.

Seanna saw him approaching when she looked in the rear view mirror, she warned her Momma that the officer was returning.

Seanna opened the window again as the officer leaned in toward the car. "Thanks, ma'am." He pointed to Seanna's mom and asked her to tell him what she had seen. She did so for the next few minutes, her account being fairly similar to Seanna's.

The officer finally noticed Leilani in the back. "Beautiful little girl you have there, Miss. I doubt she saw anything, being that small."

Leilani piped up from her car seat, "I didn't see it, nope, but I sure heard it! That guy was saying nasty words after the acci-acci...dent."

"Thank you, little one. Well, you folks are clear to go, I hope you have a good day now. Bye." He waved and walked back to the corner.

**********

Seanna chuckled as she rolled up the window and started down the street. At the second cross street, she turned left. She grinned as she looked in the back while at a stop light a few minutes later. Leilani was a sweet little girl, it figured she'd want to be a little helper.

They eventually reached the mall they wanted, Seanna turned into the lot and found a parking spot a short distance from an entrance. After checking to make sure they both had their purses and that Leilani was with them, Seanna locked the car and they headed into the mall.

Checking a store directory just inside the entrance, they saw that H&M was at the end of the mall closest to where they were, and the Macy's and Gap stores were located just inside the main entrance of the mall a few hundred feet away. They decided to check H&M first.

They spent the next hour wandering around the H&M store, checking who knows how many styles of business clothes, but nothing caught Seanna's attention, she wanted suits that would look lovely for work, but could also be used for other occasions.

She gave up finally, signalled to her Momma that she wanted to leave, and holding Leilani's hand, they headed for the internal exit.

After they left the store, they wandered up the mall, looking in at stores on either side then they saw the entrance to Macy's. The store was a lot bigger than the rest, even bigger than H&M, and Seanna was drawn in, pulling Leilani along behind her.

As they had done at H&M, they wandered around the store for a while.

Seanna was glad to see actual skirt suits, and found a style that she liked; there seemed to be a variety of fabrics and colours in that style, so she picked out a dozen suits, but each suit that she dropped into the cart was a different colour or fabric. She then wandered into the area with blouses; a couple of styles appealed to her, she picked out whatever colours she could find in those styles, then checked that Leilani was still with her. She headed toward the cashiers, figuring she could hit a Vicky's Secret store later for some lingerie.

After waiting for about ten minutes in the line she had picked, she finally reached the cashier. She watched as the cashier ran everything through, shook her head at the total cost, then pulled out the company credit card, sliding it into the card reader there. She waited a moment, then entered the pin number she had been told was for the card, and waited again, a bit nervous this time.

When the cash register accepted the card and finished processing the transaction, she breathed a rather audible sigh of relief. She had been worried that the card would not work, and that she would be required to pay in cash, she knew she only had a bit of cash on hand.

She flashed a weak smile at the girl working the cash register, then grabbed the bags of clothing, handed some to her Momma, and taking Leilani's hand in hers, she led the way out of the store toward the food court. Maybe some food would help her to destress.

**********

Seanna, her Momma and Leilani entered the food court area. After looking around for a minute or two, Seanna spotted an empty table; pointing it out to her mother, they walked over to the table and Seanna and her mother dropped the bags on the floor beside the table.

Seanna picked up Leilani for a moment. "Lei, look around at the food places, do you see something that interests you?" She waited while Leilani looked around, then Leilani grinned and pointed at the Manchu Wok shop. "I like their food! Mmmmm!"

Seanna laughed, then turned to her Momma. "I'll take her over there, get her food and find something for myself at the same time. When we return, you can get what you want while we eat and watch all the new clothes." Momma nodded and sat down to wait for them.

Seanna carried Leilani over to the Manchu Wok store. "What do you want, Leilani?"

Leilani pointed to the three items plus rice or noodles option, then picked honey garlic chicken and orange chicken, with mixed vegetables and rice. Seanna smiled, she realized that whatever Leilani didn't finish here could be saved for later and decided she would order here as well. Seanna picked beef and broccoli, then pepper steak, mixed vegetables and rice.

Seanna smiled at Leilani, "I'm going to take you over to my Momma so I can bring the trays over when they're ready, okay?" Leilani nodded and Seanna carried her back to the table, where she explained what she was doing, then went back to the store to wait.

A few minutes later, Seanna watched as the two orders were placed in front of her. She paid for the meals, then grabbed some utensils and some napkins before she picked up the trays and walked slowly over to the table. She dropped one tray by Leilani, then sat across from her.

Seanna's Momma got up, looked around, shrugged and went over to the Wok. She picked pineapple chicken and chicken with mushrooms, mixed vegetables and rice, then had to wait several minutes. Taking some utensils and a few napkins until her order was placed on the counter, she paid for it, picked up the tray and walked over to the table, sitting down beside Leilani.

The three of them enjoyed the meal, each of them leaving some food behind. Momma grinned and said they could have her leftovers.

Seanna went up to the Wok counter and asked for containers for the remaining food; once she had some containers, she returned to the table and packed the leftovers into the containers. Just as she finished, her phone rang, she pulled it from her purse and answered.

**********

"Hello, Seanna Ramsay speaking, who may I ask is calling?"

The voice that came through the phone in reply to her question made her shiver, and it was definitely not a good shiver. "Ahhhh, yes, the veeery interesting Seanna Ramsay, hmmmm, I'm going to enjoy taking that pretty little child away from you."

Seanna exploded, something her Momma wasn't expecting, "Who the hell are you, and why do you think I would let you take the child?"

The nasty voice replied, "I'm Sanjit Singh, I work at Child Protective Services, and I'm going to prove you aren't fit to be a mother. I doubt that will be very difficult at all, considering that you are a transsexual piece of trash, the child will be much better off away from you."

This was just too much, Seanna growled, low and menacing, "No one, but no one, takes that child from me, I'll bet my life on it!"

"We'll see about that, you tranny bitch. Court is at 9:30 on Tuesday morning, Family Court's Children's Division, see you there!"

Seanna was about to reply, but the jerk had ended the call. She was absolutely furious now, and she had no idea what to do. She slumped in her seat, the fury shifting to intense worry, and she burst into tears, growling, "I won't let them take her! I won't let them take her!"

**********

The commotion had brought the attention of some of the mall staff. A female approached and asked if everything was okay.

Seanna shook her head, still growling that phrase, although much quieter now. It took a few minutes, but the female staff person was willing to wait, as she could see that something was very wrong here. Seanna briefly looked up, mumbled, "Help me, Lord," then faced the woman.

"Some jerk from Child Protective Services just called me and told me I have to be in court on Tuesday, they intend to take Leilani here."

The woman blanched, "Oh, dear, I hope you can manage to sort it out, she's a beautiful child."

Momma spoke up, "Calm down Seanna, I'm going to call the company lawyers and have them get someone on this right away."

The staff person smiled at them. "It looks like you will be okay. I'll let you be, do what you can to keep the child safe and with you."

Seanna nodded, "Thank you, ma'am. I apologize for the little show I put on here a few minutes ago." The woman nodded and moved away.

**********

Momma had pulled out her own cell phone, hit a speed dial number, and was talking to someone at the company office.

"Hi, Petra, can you please put me through to Sandy in Legal? Thanks." She waited as the call was connected.

"Sandy, do we have anyone who can handle family law, especially relating to the taking of children?"

Sandy pondered for a moment before replying, "I'm not absolutely sure, but I think Jackie Stormhouse has done family law before."

Momma responded, "Can you please have Jackie call me back at this number?" then relayed the number to Sandy on the other end.

"Give me a minute, I'll check if Jackie is still in the building." Momma was put on hold for a few minutes, then Sandy returned. "I can do even better than that, Mrs. Ramsay, Jackie is here, I'll transfer your call to her line, just a moment."

This wait wasn't much more than a minute, then a low but sexy female voice spoke to her, "Hi, I'm Jackie, what's happening, Mrs. Ramsay?"

Momma explained the situation, and Jackie asked if they could come into the company offices that afternoon.

"Seanna, the company does have someone that deals with family law, she wants to see us this afternoon. You want to fight this, right?"

Even Jackie could hear the low growl in Seanna's voice as she replied, "Darn right I want to fight it! I won't let anyone take her!"

Seanna stalked over to the Wok, asked for a plastic bag for the food, received one, returned to the table and put the food in the bag. She picked up a couple of bags, along with the bag of food, and turned around, ready to leave.

Momma assured Jackie they would be coming there as soon as they had dropped off the things they had just bought. When she ended the call, she picked up the remainder of the bags, watched as Seanna took Leilani's hand, then they headed out to the car.

**********

Seanna was still very upset, so once they had put everything in the trunk and they were about to get into the car after putting Leilani in her car seat, Seanna called to her Momma, and when she looked over, Seanna tossed her the keys. "You drive, please, I'm way too upset."

Seanna and Momma sat in the car, buckled themselves in and Momma started the engine, letting it warm up for a moment.

"I assume we're going first to Sue's apartment so you can drop things off, then over to the company offices to talk with Jackie?"

Seanna nodded, still trembling from the mix of emotions she was feeling as Momma put the car in gear and headed toward the street exit.

Momma turned into the street and started driving toward Sue's apartment. The traffic was light, as it was only early afternoon.

Barely twenty quiet minutes after they had left the mall, they were turning into Sue's driveway. Seanna directed her Momma to take the laneway to the back of the house, as she felt it was safer to leave the car there, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Momma shut the engine off, handed her the keys, then Seanna grabbed as many bags as she could carry and headed to the back door. Dropping a few for a moment, she unlocked the door, picked up the bags and kicked the door shut behind her before heading up the stairs. Unlocking the apartment door, she checked the bags, no food, so she carried the bags into the main bedroom and dropped them on the bed.

She turned around, left the apartment, went down the stairs fairly fast, through the back door and out to the car. She grabbed the last three bags plus the leftovers, then headed back inside, carrying everything up to the apartment. She put the food in the fridge, then carried the last of the clothing bags into the bedroom, dropped them beside the rest, and exited the apartment, locked it and headed back down to the car.

She locked the back door, then trotted over to the car, opened the passenger side door, and entered the car, tossing the keys back to Momma.

Momma turned the engine on again, then after it had warmed up, she backed up a bit, then turned and followed the lane to the street. She checked both directions, seeing no traffic, she pulled into the street and headed back downtown, to the company offices this time.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story. Seanna's life is beginning to change for the better. I hope you all enjoy the story.

**********

Seanna sat in the front passenger seat of her car, fuming at the thought that anyone would dare to take Leilani from her. What made this even odder was the fact that they had no need to involve Child Services, as they could provide for Leilani quite well thanks to the fact that the various divisions that were part of Ramsay Enterprises all brought in at least modest profits, even the rental housing unit division.

So Seanna was slightly surprised to hear her cell phone ring; she pulled it from her purse and saw that the incoming call was from another line in the Ramsay Enterprises main office. She shrugged, wondering what was going on, and answered the call.

"Hello, Seanna Ramsay speaking, who may I ask is calling?"

"Hello, Miss Ramsay, I'm Thaddeus Savmo, the VP of Finances for Ramsay Enterprises' toys division. I'm calling to let you know that the rest of the VPs of Finances for the various divisions within the corporation wish to meet with you on Monday morning at 10:30 AM. As far as I can see, the meeting will be to welcome you as the new CEO for Ramsay Enterprises and bring you up to date on the various divisions."

"Thank you, Thaddeus, I will definitely be there. Could you please hold for a moment?"

"Yes, I can, Miss Ramsay."

Seanna put the phone down on her lap with the back facing up, turned to her mother and informed her of the upcoming meeting with the people from the various divisions that were part of the corporation, then asked if it would be wise to bring a report on the corporation's current standing with them to the meeting with Jackie, or to have the info passed on to Jackie within the company offices immediately. Seanna's Momma thought it would be very useful for Jackie to have that info available for Tuesday's meeting.

At this point, Thaddeus' voice came through, and Seanna picked up the phone again. "What meeting on Tuesday morning, Miss Ramsay?"

"I'm sorry, Thaddeus, but some bastard at Child Services intends to take Leilani from me simply because I am a transsexual. I have no idea how he found that out, but I intend to use every option we have to put this bastard where he belongs, out on the street."

Thaddeus pondered for a moment, then asked, "Miss Ramsay, by any chance is the person doing this named Sanjit Singh?"

"Why, yes, it is, Thaddeus. You know of this creep, or have heard of him somehow?"

"I have, Miss Ramsay. He destroyed a relationship between two of our female workers last year, the one woman lost her little girl in the process, that girl has been in the system for the last seventeen months, five foster homes so far. The other woman committed suicide."

"So this Singh deliberately seeks out people who are LGBT, etc., and ruins their lives in any way possible, Thaddeus?"

"That is my understanding, Miss Ramsay."

"What happened to the mother of the little girl, Thaddeus?"

"She had a massive emotional breakdown after her girlfriend committed suicide, she's been in a home for about a year now."

"Thaddeus, is there any chance at all that we could help this mother and child to be reunited? I'm meeting Jackie in the office shortly."

"Miss Ramsay, I'll be more than happy to meet you at Jackie's office when you arrive there."

"Thaddeus, before you leave, please do me one last favour, I want up-to-date info on Ramsay Enterprises' full financial status immediately."

"I have the info for the Toys division here in my office, I can have the other VPs for Finances fax theirs to Jackie's office."

"Please do that, I want to see that info at some point while I am with Jackie."

"Yes, Miss Ramsay, I'll call the others now, and I'll meet you in Jackie's office once that's done. One of us needs to be present, so we know what is going on and so we can help if there is any way to do so in whatever happens after this meeting."

"You have my thanks, Thaddeus, I'll see you soon."

**********

Seanna had been righteously upset at what was happening, now she was ready to fight for what was hers, personal and business wise. The thought that the jerk Singh had no idea what he was stepping into made her giggle, and the giggles soon turned to full-blown laughter.

Her Momma spared her a quick glance while stopped at a red light, then turned her attention back to the road, asking "What happened?"

Seanna spent the next few minutes explaining what she had just been told by Mr. Savmo. Momma almost lost control of the car, she was so angry. "You mean to tell me this slime ball goes out of his way to deliberately destroy people's lives because they're different?"

"Yes, Momma, one woman committed suicide, another is in severe emotional trauma because of him, and now he's coming after me."

"This guy really needs to be taught a lesson about respecting everyone. Oh, we'll be at the company offices in a few minutes."

**********

Seanna tried to keep calm, knowing that she had people on her side, but she was still worried, this jerk destroyed people's lives on a regular basis. She watched as her mother turned into the entryway leading to the underground parking for the company offices.

Seanna looked through the windshield, catching a brief glimpse of the fifteen story company headquarters building as the car entered the dimness of the first level of the parking area, then spotted a sign on a wall near the elevators which said "Ramsay Enterprises CEO".

She tapped her mother on the shoulder and pointed to the sign, Momma had to back up a bit to turn into the space. Seanna grinned and looked at her Momma, saying, "Well, at least I won't need to go three or four levels underground to get to my parking space."

Her Momma laughed, opened her door and stepped out of the car, Seanna stepped out on her side a moment later. After closing her door, Seanna opened the back one, released Leilani from her seat, picked Leilani up and turned away from the car, kicking the door closed.

Momma giggled as she used the remote to lock the car doors, then they walked over to the elevators, Momma pressing the up button.

The elevator pinged a couple of minutes later as it reached the first parking level. "What floor, Momma?"

"I believe Jackie's offices are on the seventh floor, Seanna," her Momma replied as she tapped the button for the seventh floor.

**********

They stood quietly in the elevator as it ascended, it didn't take very long before they reached the seventh floor and the door opened.

The two women stepped out into the hallway, Seanna carrying Leilani. Momma spotted the reception desk and walked over to it.

"Hello, I'm Roselyn Ramsay, this is my daughter Seanna, we're here to see Jackie Stormhouse, please?"

The receptionist looked up, smiling, "Ahhhh, yes, Jackie's emergency appointment, will you please follow me?" She stepped out from behind the desk, then walked along the hallway past several office doors before stopping at one and knocking.

A few seconds later, a woman's voice called out, "Please come in, I'll be with you in a moment!" Seanna recognized Jackie's voice.

The receptionist smiled again, said that she would leave them here, and turned to head back to her desk.

Seanna, Leilani and Seanna's Momma entered the office, taking seats on a fake leather sofa in the waiting area.

**********

Jackie walked out into the waiting area about ten minutes later. Jackie was a short, slightly plump woman, about thirty years of age, wearing a nice looking medium grey women's business suit with a cream blouse showing through the vest, off-black hose and low heeled shoes.

She nodded to Momma, addressing her as Mrs. Ramsay, then turned to Seanna, who was still holding Leilani tight on her lap. Leilani was beginning to squirm, she wasn't used to being held like that, even though it did feel nice.

Jackie smiled at Seanna, "You must be Seanna, and this sweet little one must be Leilani, Suzanne Kealoha's daughter?"

"You are correct on both counts. You must be Jackie, then."

"I am, would you please come into the office? Bring Leilani, there are some toys in the office, as my niece comes here now and then."

Seanna stood, leaned down to help Leilani slide down off the sofa, then held her hand as the followed Jackie into the office.

**********

Once they were in the office, Leilani spotted the toys in one corner, next to a small doll house. She squealed and ran to the toys, dropping to the floor beside the doll house; she spent a few minutes looking at the doll house, then picked up a doll and began to play.

Jackie sat behind her desk, Seanna and Roselyn in comfortable chairs in front of the desk.

Just as they were about to start talking, the office line buzzed, Jackie hit a button, said hello, then asked what was happening.

"Miss Stormhouse, the financial info from the various divisions of the corporation are here, should I bring them in to you?"

"Please do, Patti, by the way, is Thaddeus Savmo from Toys there with you?"

"Yes, he is, Miss Stormhouse."

"Then please have him bring the info in, that way, you can stay at the desk in case someone comes in, Patti."

"Yes, Miss, I'll tell him now," she could be heard speaking to someone just before she hung up the phone.

About two minutes later, there was a knock on the outer office door, Jackie got up and went to let Thaddeus into the office.

"Thaddeus Savmo, this is Mrs. Roselyn Ramsay, the original bosses' daughter from his second wife, and her daughter Seanna."

Thaddeus nodded hello to the two women, then pulled up a chair, sitting a bit off to one side, as he would mostly be listening here.

**********

Jackie walked around the desk and took her seat again. "Thaddeus, I believe you have some info that was requested by Seanna?"

"Yes, Jackie, I do," Thaddeus reached into his briefcase, pulled out a bunch of papers and passed them over to Jackie.

Jackie took a minute or two to skim over the information in each document, her smile growing broader moment by moment. "Well, I'm pleased to tell you, Seanna, that financially, each division is doing well, even the rental units one after that fiasco last June."

Seanna smiled, "That's good to know, I guess, but how will that help us in the courtroom on Tuesday morning?"

"Well, Seanna, from what I can see here," Jackie added numbers in her head, "Ramsay Enterprises shows a net profit of $11.3 million US for the last 2.5 months, that's a bit over two million better than this time last year. The businesses are doing well, which will be in your favour, as it will show that there is unlikely to be any financial difficulty that would prevent you from being able to raise Leilani and provide for her."

"Okay, that's good, but what about the fact that this slime is going to try to use my being transsexual to take Leilani away?"

"That won't be so easy for him this time, as you don't have the financial issues that many people do, Singh targets people he feels he can intimidate somehow. If he brings up your being transsexual, we'll have that excluded on grounds of discrimination."

Seanna looked across the desk at Jackie, her confusion being very evident.

"Seanna, the state changed the laws a few years back to prevent discrimination against people who are transgendered or transsexual."

"Ahhhh, so if he tries to use that as the sole basis for denying my right to raise Leilani, he'll be smacked down by the court."

"That's essentially correct. If he makes a big enough fuss about it, he could face contempt of court or even arrest."

"So basically, we go in, prove that there is nothing preventing me from caring for Leilani, and let him cause his own ruin?" Seanna asked.

"Correct. From what I've heard of him, he always wins, and he positively gloats about it after each case. If he loses..."

"Hoo, boy! That would be a serious loss of ego, he might just go over the edge at that point." Seanna grinned at the thought.

Jackie chuckled. "It's possible, so let's play this by the rules, and if he digs his own grave, so to speak, we'll let him do it."

Seanna laughed. "Thank you for your help, Jackie, I'm going to look forward to you straightening him out in court."

**********

As everyone got up to leave, Seanna thanked Thaddeus as well, then went over to check on Leilani, still playing by the doll house. Seanna smiled down at the girl playing with the dolls, wishing she had had a doll house at that age. "Leilani, we're done, it's time to go, honey."

Leilani heard Seanna speak, looked up at Seanna briefly, then said something to the doll, placed it in the house and stood up.

Seanna held out her hand, Leilani smiled and grabbed it, then the two walked back around Jackie's desk and joined Seanna's Momma. The three of them left the office, walked over to the elevators, and Momma hit the down button.

Just as the elevator arrived, Seanna's Momma remembered something she had been thinking about for a while and turned to Seanna. "Love, now that you'll have a good job and a decent income, there's a nice house several blocks away from mine that you could get."

"That's nice, Momma, but a house is a big thing to get right now, besides, I don't have the personal finances to pay for a house."

"I seriously doubt that would be a problem, Seanna, if you wanted it bad enough, I'd bet the company would buy it in your name."

"Momma, again, that's lovely, but what would I do with a house?"

"Why, you could turn it into a beautiful home to raise Leilani in. Besides, it's in the gated community I live in, there's good security."

Seanna thought about that for a moment. "So, Momma, if I did that, it could prevent the possibility of what happened to Sue?"

"Yes, dear, I raised the issue with Sue while she was pregnant, but she was adamant she would raise her daughter on her own. I thought for a while that her second husband would stick around, but he jumped ship so to speak three months after Leilani was born."

"So what happened to him, momma? Why hasn't he been there for her?"

"About six months after he left Sue, he got involved in a big bar fight down in Louisiana and was killed in the fight, stabbed to death."

"Shit, so he not only left her, but he never made any effort to provide for Leilani at all? She was his child, for crying out loud!"

"All he cared about at that point, love, was the booze and the speed, people meant nothing to him."

"So she's never really had a father, and she's lost her mother at four years old. Damn, money or not, she's had it rough."

"Just think about the house in my area, Seanna, it would be far better to have you both nearby and safe, that's all I ask."

"All right, momma, I'll think about it, just don't expect a decision any time soon, there's too much happening right now."

The sound of soft sobbing brought both women to attention; they looked down, Leilani was holding Seanna's leg, crying her little heart out.

Seanna reached down, picked Leilani up and held her close; she noticed a sofa nearby, walked over and sat down, Leilani in her lap. Leilani continued to cry for some time, burying her face in Seanna's upper abdomen, Seanna whispering to her to help her calm down.

Eventually, Leilani's tears came to a stop, she looked up at Seanna, still sniffling. "You won't leave me, please? Don't leave me!"

Her words tore at Seanna's heart, now it was her turn to cry, and it seemed Leilani was crying with her. "No, love, I won't leave you."

The two sat there for several more minutes, the tears eventually ending; Seanna found some kleenex in her purse and spent the next minute or two wiping away any signs of tears around Leilani's eyes, then her own, using her make-up compact to see her own face.

"Leilani, love, you may have to go to day care or school while I work, but I will ALWAYS come home to you, I promise."

Leilani grabbed Seanna in a fierce hug, then they stood up and walked over to Seanna's Momma still standing by the elevators. Momma looked down at Leilani, slowly lowered herself to look Leilani in the eye and apologized for having upset her.

Leilani gave Seanna's Momma a hug, too, then the three turned and Momma pressed the down button for the elevators again.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story. She finds herself in a bit of a predicament, yet stands strong. I hope that you all enjoy it.

The cautions for this part are mostly not due to events occurring at this time in the story, but events that had already happened. The one exception is the caution for violence, as there is a bit of that in this part of the story.

**********

The elevator doors opened, Seanna was just about to step into it after her mother, then thought of something and turned around, looking for Thaddeus. Spotting him by the reception desk, she called his name; when he came over to her, she gave him her cell number.

"Thaddeus, I want to get all the info you can about the woman in the mental health home and her child in the foster care system. Once you have everything, send a fax here at the company offices care of Jackie, then we can plan how to help that woman and her child."

"I'll get right on that, Miss Ramsay. I can see it will be a pleasure to work with you, Miss. Have a good day."

**********

Seanna smiled as she stepped into the elevator, standing next to her Momma on one side and Leilani on the other. On the way down, Seanna's Momma informed her that she would get a cab home, as she wanted to rest a bit before her Women's League meeting that evening.

Seanna waved to her Momma as she exited the elevator on the ground floor, then the elevator continued down to the first parking level.

When the doors opened again, Seanna and Leilani walked over to the car, Seanna having retrieved the keys while in the elevator. She unlocked the car, placed Leilani in her seat, strapped her in, closing that door, then opened her own, sat down and buckled up.

She started the engine, waiting for a moment, then looked behind her before she backed out, circling around the level to return to the exit from the underground parking beneath the company offices. She checked traffic, then entered, heading for a nice cafe in the downtown core.

She felt the need for a bit of coffee to lift her up. Little did she know just how much that simple decision would change her life.

**********

She'd known of Di Panetti's Cafe for a year or more, and had dropped in now and then for a wonderfully brewed coffee. She noticed a few spaces were available in the small lot by the cafe, so she pulled in and parked the car, turning the engine off. She released herself, stepped out of the car, grabbed her purse, opened the back door, then released Leilani, closing the doors and locking the car before they headed inside.

The second that Seanna opened the cafe's door, she knew something was very, very wrong. She could almost smell the fear coming from a small child, black as coal, sitting on a stool by the counter, her back to the counter itself, looking up at a very large man standing over her.

Seanna was shocked and horrified when the man pulled his arm back, then punched the little girl in the face, sending her tumbling backward over the counter. Seanna screamed and launched herself at the counter, grabbing the child just as she was going over the countertop. She then turned, saw an older woman sitting a few stools away, and passed the young girl to her, before turning back to face the man.

Seanna was so focused on the male that she failed to see the big camera of a news crew as they entered the cafe. Within seconds, the main camera was trained on the action by the counter, and several mikes and at least one camcorder were recording sound bites.

Seanna was livid, she yelled up at him, "How in hell could you do that to a little child? You... you pathetic slime!"

Speaking quietly, the woman holding a mike and standing in front of the rest of the news crew, passed on what was happening to the city around them. "This is Trish Patterson and Eye On The City, in Di Panetti's Cafe, we've just witnessed a child being assaulted, a brave young woman snatching the child as the little one tumbled over the countertop, then the woman turning to face the man who attacked the child."

The man just laughed, pulled his arm back and hit Seanna this time. Seanna saw the blow coming and managed to turn her head, catching the blow toward the side of her face rather than full on. She winced, shook her head, knowing she'd have a shiner later, but stood her ground.

"You're such a big man that you feel justified in hitting little girls and women, is that it?"

"He has just punched the young woman in the face, we have it all here on camera and sound, I also see people taking pictures."

The big black man, close to a foot taller than Seanna and likely double her weight, just laughed. "You think you're going to stop me?"

Seanna snarled back at him, "I may not be able to stop you myself, but I sure as hell will NOT let you harm a little child."

Seanna got a rather nice surprise when comments were made all around the cafe, each one along the lines of "Nor will I."

"This brave young woman is standing her ground against a man much, much larger than she is, and the people here look ready to help her."

The big man growled, pulled his arm back again to hit Seanna, and received a rather sharp surprise of his own. "Not this time, mate." Two people were standing close behind him, the one being a tall, slightly feminine looking male, the other a big man in his own right. The slightly feminine looking one announced to one and all, "I'm an off-duty police officer, folks. Sir, I'm placing you under citizen's arrest, I'm fairly sure one or more people here have put in calls to 911 about this." He then went on to Mirandize the male, then told him to sit down and shut up.

"Again, this is Trish Patterson and Eye On The City in Di Panetti's Cafe at Fifteenth and Main, the thug was about to strike her again when two people intervened. One announced that he was an off-duty police officer, placed him under citizen's arrest and Mirandized him. I have no idea at this time who the other gentleman is, but you can be sure that they've saved this brave young lady from any further harm."

He quickly looked around the cafe, several people then informed him that they had either called the police or filmed it all on their phones.

"Okay, folks, officers will be here to deal with him soon, stay calm and this will all be sorted out in a few minutes." Just as the slightly feminine male turned back toward the counter, the big black guy stood up and tried to take a swing at him.

The off-duty officer ducked, then grabbed the big man's other arm and twisted it hard, just then he felt the impact of someone hitting the big man from the other side. In seconds, the big guy was sprawled on the floor of the cafe, being pinned down by the two men.

"Trish Patterson here again in Di Panetti's Cafe, this guy just doesn't seem to learn, he just tried to attack the off-duty officer, the officer and another gentleman took him down in a classic one-two maneuver. I don't think he'll be causing any more trouble here today."

Seanna gaped, all she had done was defend a child from someone bigger and this newsperson was calling her a very brave young woman? She winced, reached up and felt around her eye for a moment; yep, she could definitely feel a beauty of a bruise coming up there.

Trish and her main camera man walked across the cafe to the young woman leaning against the counter. "Hello, Miss... I'm sure you've heard me say it already a few times, but you did a very brave thing saving that child and then defending her from any further possible harm."

"I guess I did. Oh, sorry, I'm Seanna Ramsay, I was bringing my niece in here so I could get a coffee, saw what was happening, and..." Seanna looked around for a moment, then noticed the older woman she had seen earlier, she was holding the little black girl on her lap. "Excuse me."

Seanna slowly walked along the counter, then around the curve of the counter, to stand beside the older woman. "Hello, Judge Thomas-Black, I definitely did not expect to see you here today. How have things been lately? And how is your husband?"

"Hello, Seanna, girl, I'm doing well enough, my cases are finished for the day. As for hubby, he's standing by the bathrooms behind me."

"Judge, I need to take a quick look at this girl, I suspect there may be ongoing abuse. If there is, she'll need a full medical exam ASAP."

"You always were a smart one, Seanna. All right, little one, I'm going to let you down for a moment, this woman will take a look at you." She slowly lowered the child to the floor; the young girl, perhaps four years old, stood there shaking in fear, tears sliding down her face.

Trish Patterson and the camera followed Seanna around the counter's corner, watching and recording.

Seanna knelt in front of the child, then gently reached up and wiped some of the tears away. "I'm not going to hurt you, little one, I just want to look at you for a moment, to see if there are any injuries that need medical care. If there are, I'll make sure you get that care, okay?"

The little girl nodded, then stood there utterly quiet as Seanna pulled back the collar of her dress. Almost instantly, the edge of a large bruise could be seen on the girl's right shoulder, Trish's camera man caught it on film, growling under his breath at the sight.

But that was only the beginning, brief lifts or pulls on other parts of the girl's dress revealed more varicoloured bruises, one on her left hip that looked like it might be very close to her kidney, several on the thighs below the knee length winter dress, smaller bruises across her back.

Trish Patterson sucked in her breath, appalled, as the cameraman caught every last little bit on film. "Trish Patterson and Eye On The City here again in Di Panetti's Cafe, what started as a fairly open and shut assault has turned into a case of physical abuse. I'm sure many of you out there have seen the bruises all over this little girl's body, despite the fact that the young lady is doing her best to keep her properly covered."

Seanna shuddered as she saw each injury, but she wasn't done quite yet. "Child, has he done anything else to you?"

None of them were prepared for the little girl's whispered reply, "He... he hurt me... me.... down there..." pointing between her legs. For all that she had whispered it, the camera and the various mikes caught it clearly, stunning live listeners all around the city.

Seanna looked up at the Judge sitting on her stool, something was missing. "Okay, Judge, what is it that I need to know?"

The Judge sighed, looked at Seanna and shrugged. "I don't see that I have any choice now. The little girl here is Asemba Louisa Charleston, the brute on the floor there is her father, Patrick Ambrose Charleston. There are two restraining orders out on him, he was supposed to have no contact with either his late wife or the child here since Annalise first filed for divorce almost four months ago."

Seanna's eyes bulged open wide, "Late wife? What happened to her?"

"The girl's mother was a hooker, Annalise Marie Charleston, she sometimes ran with one or two of the gangs on the bad side of town. Last Sunday night, she was in a motel room with a male from one of the gangs, a drug deal went bad big time, and she and the man died."

Sirens could be heard in the distance, but everyone ignored them, they were a common enough occurrence in the city.

"Around 9 PM that Sunday evening, he," she pointed at the man on the floor," broke into the building where Annalise lived with Asemba, threw some of the girl's clothes into a small case, then dragged the case and the girl out the door. They hadn't been seen since then."

"Judge, does she have any family at all, beyond that man there?"

The Judge shook her head, "He and Annalise were both single children, the grandparents on both sides have all passed away over the last ten years or so. To the best of my knowledge, she has no other living relatives. I guess the Amber Alert for Asemba here can be dropped now."

"Judge, this may be highly unusual, I wouldn't know, but I wouldn't ask it if I thought there was anyone else that could care for her. Would you authorize me to act in loco parentis for her, so she can get prompt and decent medical care at a hospital I feel is safe?"

"I believe I can do that, Seanna, give me a moment, please." She reached into her attache case lying on the counter, searching for a few minutes, then finding what she wanted, she wrote out the authorization, had Seanna sign it in the 'in loco parentis' role, then turned to her husband, asking him to sign as a witness. An elderly man nearby spoke up, saying he was a retired Criminal Court judge, he'd witness it also.

The note was as follows:

To all who may be concerned:

The woman holding this note, Miss Seanna Elisabeth Ramsay, is hereby authorized by myself, as a member of the Children's and Divorce Courts here, to act in loco parentis for the child known as Asemba Louisa Charleston. This child has suffered severe physical abuse, has likely been sexually assaulted by her one living parent, and Miss Ramsay is authorized to provide whatever care Asemba needs in the duration."

Signed and witnessed on this date: December 15, 2016 (Various names in their appropriate places on the document.)

Seanna gently grasped the document, then knelt down and hugged the dark-skinned child for a moment. "Let's go make sure you'll be okay." Seanna then smiled weakly, looking around the cafe. "Thanks to all of you for whatever help you gave, I need to get this girl to a hospital."

Three, no four police cruisers roared into the lot beside the cafe; a minute or so later, six officers entered, four heading to the man still pinned to the floor. After being informed of what had happened, and receiving corroboration from the news crew, an officer re-Mirandized him just in case, then two of the officers hauled him up onto his feet, locked him into a set of cuffs and began walking toward the entrance. "We'll take him in to the lock-up while the rest of you take witness statements." Then they were out the door, heading to one of the cruisers.

"And there you have it, folks, you saw it all happen here in Di Panetti's Cafe, this is Trish Patterson and Eye On The City, for Channel 4 News."

One of the officers stopped Seanna by the door. "We need your statement, Miss, you can't leave yet."

Seanna frowned, looking at the officer. "Do you need my statement so badly that you would violate a judge's order?" She handed it to him. "Besides, sir," she went on in a softer voice, "the news people have it all on film with full sound, I'm sure I could give my statement tomorrow?"

The officer quickly scanned the document, looked around the cafe, spotted the judge, raised the document and received her acknowledgment. "All right, Miss, I've met her a time or two myself in here, she's given her word that you'll take care of this child. Now go and do it."

Seanna smiled at him, saying while she took the document from him, "You have my thanks, sir," then she, Leilani and Asemba exited the Cafe.

**********

Seanna, Leilani and Asemba were soon in the car, Leilani in her seat, Asemba beside her wearing a seat belt, strapped in rather loosely as the slightest contact against her abdomen caused the child to wince from the pain. As soon as Seanna was buckled in, she started the car.

A moment later, she turned the car around, and once on the streets, headed for the Children's Hospital about a mile away. The hospital they were going to had the best reputation for treatment of children in the entire state, let alone their city.

It took them several minutes to reach the hospital, then Seanna had to drive around the site looking for the visitor's parking. They finally found it, Seanna picked a space as close to the hospital entrance as possible, then released the children, helping them from the car.

**********

Seanna and the two little girls entered through the main doors of the hospital, then walked to the information desk, Asemba walking with one hand resting on her tummy. Seanna looked at the young woman working the desk, then asked, "Could you please tell me where I can get the help I need for this child?" pointing to Asemba. She then handed the document over to the young woman and watched as she read it.

"Ahhhh, I believe Dr. Patricks is in charge of cases like this, I can page her now, could you wait over there please?"

Seanna didn't seem to have any choice at the moment, she took the two little girls over to a fake leather bench and they all sat down. The one thing that was bothering Seanna, though, was that the young woman hadn't returned the document to her after telling her to wait. She listened as she heard the doctor being paged over the public address system and watched to see who approached the information desk.

It was a good fifteen or twenty minutes before she saw an older woman in a lab coat approach the desk and talk to the young woman there. It was quite clear they were arguing about something, eventually the doctor made her wishes clear before turning and walking over to Seanna.

"Hello, Miss Ramsay, at least, I assume you are the Miss Ramsay specified in the document? I'm Dr. Eloise Patricks, by the way."

"Yes, Dr., I am that Miss Ramsay. As that document says, Asemba here is in rough shape. She needs to have a full physical and any tests that you may feel are necessary to provide physical evidence. She also needs a rape kit done, as well as an anal kit."

"I see that this gives you the authorization to provide any and all care for the girl. How do you intend to cover the costs of tests, etc.?"

"Doctor, do you know the corporation known as Ramsay Enterprises? Send the bills to them, I'll make sure they're paid in full."

"Ramsay Enterprises, eh? You do run with some mighty big fish, girl."

"I suppose so, Dr., just one thing you need to know; as of next Monday, I will be the big fish, as I am to be the new CEO for Ramsay."

"Oh, my, please do accept my apology, I assumed you were a secretary or receptionist there."

"That's fine, you know better now. Can you do all the tests Asemba here will need, giving her the best care possible throughout?"

"Yes, we can, although it might take a good half of the night or even longer before the tests are done."

"Hmmmm... I'll need to arrange a baby-sitter for Leilani here, I'm sure Asemba won't do many of the tests unless I'm present." Asemba was, at that moment, curled up as close to Seanna as she could get, even though doing so put her in a fair level of physical distress. Fresh trails of tears could be seen sliding down the dark cheeks, the almost silent sobs coming from the child were visible to all.

"Hmmmm... the document here notes suspected rape, it would be best if we did those tests first, you can be there with her."

"All right, give me a few minutes to take care of Leilani here, then we can start the wheels rolling with Asemba's treatment."

**********

The doctor walked off a bit, giving Seanna some privacy; Seanna called JJ and Pat, JJ said she could come by in a bit to pick up Leilani.

Once the call was finished, Seanna turned to Leilani, "I need you to go with JJ tonight, I need to be here for Asemba, she's terrified."

Leilani nodded, then turned and very gently hugged Asemba, whispering, "You lucked out, my new momma here is da awesomest!"

Asemba turned her tear-streaked eyes to Leilani, "She keeps me safe? She stays with me while all da tests are done?"

Leilani nodded again, "Yeppers, once she gives a promise, she keeps it! She promised to make sure you gets good medical cares here."

Asemba blinked through the tears. "Ifs she stays wifs me, den I'll do all da tests dey needs."

Seanna sat listening to the two little girls talking, tears sliding down her own cheeks. She laid her hands very gently on Asemba's shoulders, looking down at the crying girl, and spoke to her. "I'll be there for you, little one, as long as you want me to be there. You have my word."

Leilani giggled, a wide grin spreading across her face. "She promised, she promised!"

**********

A little over thirty minutes later, JJ and Pat entered the hospital's foyer, looked around and noticed Seanna sitting on a bench with the girls. The two older women walked over, said hello to Seanna and Leilani, and waited while Seanna informed them of what was happening. JJ and Pat became quite angry as they heard what the dark-skinned little girl had gone through, they had no problem with watching Leilani tonight. All that they asked before they left with Leilani was that Seanna give the same love and care to Asemba as she did to Leilani.

**********

Seanna pulled out her cell phone to check the time, it was 6:15 PM, the time always seemed to slow down in hospitals, she thought. Holding on to Asemba's hand, she walked over to the information desk and asked that Dr. Eloise Patricks be paged again.

They walked back to the bench to wait for the doctor.

About fifteen minutes later, Dr. Patricks appeared, beckoning to Seanna to join her by one of the wide hallways leading deeper into the hospital itself. "So we're going first to the bio labs, where they will do some scrapings and other tests for the rape kits, then we'll head to the physical labs for a full set of physical exams and several different scans to check for internal injuries, etc."

It took them several minutes to reach the bio labs, they entered to find several female techs waiting for them. Poor little Asemba was forced to strip completely; the women were horrified at the bruising all over the little girl's body, even more so that she might have been raped.

Seanna held Asemba close the entire time they were examining her, they took cheek swabs, vaginal swabs, anal swabs, blood tests. Little Asemba stood there shaking as they checked her, crying silently, Seanna holding her as close as she could without interfering with the tests.

The night passed slowly, Seanna taking Asemba from one area to another in the hospital. Almost ninety minutes was spent doing an exhaustive physical examination and several other tests, some blood, some other, like urine and stools.

Various physical tests continued until after midnight. By then, Asemba was drooping visibly and Seanna wasn't all that awake herself. Dr. Patricks came by from time to time, and informed them just before 1 AM that they wouldn't be able to do the CT scan or MRI for a few hours. However, in a short while, Asemba would be taken down to the EEG and EKG labs, then to radiology. Even though it might have seemed like overkill, Dr. Patricks was determined to check Asemba in every possible way that she had available.

By just after 5 AM, Asemba had been processed through EEG, EKG and radiology, only to be told the MRI would be ready in 30 minutes. So now they waited for that, Asemba actually snoozing while leaning against Seanna, until Dr. Patricks woke them up saying it was time for the MRI. Dr. Patricks then told them that Asemba was scheduled for a CT scan at 7:00 AM and a PET scan at 8:30 AM.

Finally, it seemed like there was an end in sight. After verifying that the PET scan would be the last test, Seanna groaned, just wishing that it had all been done already. At least little Asemba was grabbing any opportunity she could find to get some sleep.

The morning seemed to drag on interminably, Seanna watching nearby when she was not allowed to be in physical contact with Asemba.

Seanna was just about ready to start climbing the proverbial walls when the tech in the PET scan room told her they would be done soon. Seanna sighed, then laughed weakly. "We've been in this hospital since 4:00 PM yesterday, I'd think almost 19 hours here is enough!"

**********

Seanna waited for everything to be finished, then headed off to call JJ. "Hi, JJ, I'm way too tired to drive, can Pat bring my car home?"

"Sure, Seanna, should we head over there now?"

"If you two can be here in about thirty minutes or so, that would be fantastic, I've been daydreaming about beds since 2:30 AM."

"Okay, Seanna, we'll meet you where we picked up Leilani last night. Just so you know, she's been great, she had a nightmare, but she's okay."

Just as Seanna was turning to go in and get Asemba, Dr. Patricks appeared again. "Okay, now that the tests are done, we can send these last ones down to be checked and examined. We'll have all the test results for you in about six to eight hours, having our own labs helps."

Seanna nodded, too tired to do anything more than thank the doctor. She went in, found Asemba's clothes in a pile and helped her to dress.

It took over ten minutes before she finally found the bench by the information desk in the foyer, she and Asemba collapsed onto it.

The two dozed off for a bit, as they'd been doing for most of the night, only to be abruptly awakened by JJ, Pat and Leilani.

Seanna barely managed to fall into the front passenger seat of JJ's small sedan, JJ had to put the girls in herself. Pat had been given the keys to Seanna's car, and had already left the lot. Once everyone was in and buckled up, JJ started the car and headed back toward the house.

The drive home took about 40 minutes, Seanna spending most of it snoozing in the front passenger seat of the car.

Seanna woke up just as JJ parked not far from the back door of the house. She was a wee bit more awake than earlier, so she helped JJ to get the two little girls from the back, and carried Asemba into the house. Once they were in the house, Seanna asked Leilani to stay with JJ for a bit longer, as she wouldn't be able to stay awake and care for her at this point in time. Leilani nodded and followed JJ into her apartment.

Seanna half stepped, half staggered her way up the stairs, only the bannister kept from falling while she held on to Asemba's hand. The little girl made no sound, even though she had to be in some pain. Seanna and Asemba wandered into what had been Sue's bedroom.

Seanna detoured into Leilani's room to get a nightgown for Asemba, then put on her own nightgown and climbed in next to Asemba.

It seemed like only a few seconds, but was more than likely several minutes, before Asemba and then Seanna fell asleep, snuggled together.

Here is the next part of Seanna's adventures as she slowly watches her life change in ways she had never dreamed possible.

Most of the cautions given here refer to events that happened to Asemba before Seanna rescued her. The violence one also indirectly refers to Leilani, who witnessed the brutal beating of her mother a few days earlier, followed by her mother's death the next day.

**********

The sound of crying very close to her woke Seanna from a sound sleep, she realized it was Asemba crying; turning herself slightly in the bed, she put both her arms around the little girl and very gently pulled her into a hug. Seanna had some idea as to what was causing Asemba to cry, but that didn't matter to her at all, all that mattered was that Asemba be given love and compassion, and that Seanna could and would do.

As far as Seanna could tell, Asemba was still asleep, but the crying continued as Seanna held her close.

It was about ten minutes later that Asemba's crying tailed off into brief sobs and then stopped; Asemba awoke, still being held close by Seanna, and slowly turned herself so that she was facing Seanna, then produced a weak smile and whispered, "Thank you."

Seanna just kept on hugging her, and replied, "If you ever want to talk to me or someone else about things, just let me know, okay?"

The little girl shuddered in Seanna's soft but firm grasp, as if she were recalling events that she would prefer not to remember, yet something told her that she would be safe with this woman. Asemba shuddered briefly again, then whispered, "He did lots of aw-awful things to me..."

It sounded like Asemba wanted to say more, but couldn't just yet, so Seanna quietly asked, "I assume you mean your father?"

Asemba nodded, whispering, "Yes, he hit me with his hands shut lots of times, you... you saw the bru... bruises yester... day. It started when he... he took me from... momma's apartment, he pulled me... me so hard it left... bruises on my arm. He took me to a... a motel, it was yucky, not clean, bugs... ewwwwwww... that's when he... he started hitting me, then... then he stuck his... his thing in me, and it HURT, ohh, it hurt!"

Asemba broke into tears again, occasional hiccups rising through the crying, and Seanna continued to hold her, wondering how the hell someone could do things like that man had done to his own daughter. Eventually, the crying slowed down and stopped.

A few minutes later, Asemba continued, "He kept me in... in that yucky room for... for over three days, he... he hit me when he... he felt like it, and he... he stuck his thing in... in me three, four times... times a day, until... yesterday, he decided to go... to where you found me."

Seanna tensed, her anger rising, swiftly turning to pure fury, while still trying to gently hold the girl as she relived her recent horrors. "I told you yesterday, when we were in the hospital before they started examining you, that I would be there for you, I meant it with all my heart."

Asemba nodded, then turned over and gently snugged herself in against Seanna. It took a while, but eventually both were once again asleep.

**********

Seanna woke up again when her bladder made it quite clear that she needed a washroom rather soon. After taking a quick look at the lovely dark-skinned child lying on the bed, Seanna got up and semi-ran to the washroom, took care of her needs and washed her hands.

She wandered back out into the bedroom, looking at the small digital alarm clock/radio sitting on the night table, it showed 3:35 PM.

She sat on the edge of the bed, content to just watch Asemba sleep, then remembered that she didn't have the judge's order about Asemba. She went to her purse, pulled out her cell phone and called the information desk at the hospital she had taken Asemba to yesterday.

"Hello, this is the information desk at Children's Hospital, may I ask what you need, please?"

"Hello, my name is Seanna Ramsay, I brought a young girl in there yesterday to have extensive testing done under a judge's order. It seems that Dr. Patricks didn't return the order to me when the tests were done, and I need that order so I can provide care for Asemba."

"Ahhhh... just a moment, let me check if Dr. Patricks is in the building." The line switched to muzak commonly heard while on hold; Seanna waited, slightly impatiently, until the woman returned to the line a few minutes later, "Yes, she's here, and she says you can pick it up here."

Seanna replied, "By here, I assume you mean the information desk near the front entrance?"

"That is correct, she will leave it here for you sometime in the next half hour or so."

"Thank you, that will give me some time to have something to eat, I haven't had anything since early yesterday afternoon."

"Oh, my, it sounds like you had best get something to eat soon. You must be starving!"

"Something like that. I'll be by to pick up the judge's order in about an hour. Bye." She then ended the call.

She turned to the bed, smiling briefly when she saw Asemba looking up at her, and asked, "How about we go out and get some food?"

For a moment, Asemba looked worried or upset at the thought of going out, but she soon smiled up at Seanna and nodded.

Seanna grinned at the little girl, "All right, then let's get ready, would you mind wearing something of Leilani's, you're about the same size?"

Asemba thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, saying, "Anyfing is fine, I's not picky."

"Okay, one more question, do you want to have a bath by yourself, or do you want me in the bath with you? I'll help you get clean either way."

Again, Asemba took a moment to think it over, then she smiled weakly up at Seanna and told her, "I want you wifs me, den I feels safe."

Seanna rushed to the bed's edge, leaned down, picked up the girl and hugged her close for several minutes.

**********

Half an hour later, Seanna and Asemba were both clean after having a bit of fun in the bathtub, both of them were giggling. They wandered into Leilani's room, where Seanna found some pale pink panties and handed them to Asemba, followed by a pair of white tights. Seanna then opened the closet, and spent several minutes digging through the clothing there, before she pulled out a pink knee-length jersey dress.

Seanna spent the next few minutes helping Asemba to get dressed, then had Asemba try on a pair of black Mary Janes, which fit fairly well. She then walked into the main bedroom and quickly dressed herself in the jeans she'd been wearing for the last day or so, then looked in Sue's dresser for a t-shirt, eventually picking out a green one with a fuzzy looking bear on it, and a pale green sweater. She would have worn a pair of Sue's jeans, but her legs were a few inches longer than Sue's had been, so they wouldn't fit properly.

Once they were both dressed, Seanna called JJ to have her send Leilani up so she could pick out something nice to wear.

**********

Leilani came scampering up the stairs, and ran into the apartment once the door had been opened, then into her bedroom. Asemba was still in Leilani's bedroom, having just finished getting dressed, and was startled for a moment when Leilani entered the room.

Leilani noticed Asemba looking at her, and grinned, saying, "That dress looks better on you than on me, you can have it."

Asemba nodded shyly, not sure just what to say. She continued to stand there watching Leilani, then got tired of standing, sat down on the bed and watched as Leilani dove into the closet, eventually coming out a few minutes later with a pale green dress. Leilani tossed the dress on the bed beside Asemba, then opened her dresser and pulled out a pair of light green panties and white tights.

Leilani dropped those on the bed, then started undressing herself, at which point Asemba covered her own eyes, being a bit embarrassed. Leilani turned around and continued undressing, only turning back to grab the panties and tights, putting them on before reaching for the dress. Here, she had a bit of difficulty and called Seanna in to help, and Seanna smiled as she quickly helped Leilani to finish dressing.

Seanna then stepped back for a moment, looking at the two girls, so different in one way, but similar in others. "You both look lovely."

**********

Seanna went into the main bedroom again, pulled out her phone and checked to see if there were any messages. There were two, one from her Momma, hoping that she was okay, the other one was from that slime Singh and it turned her blood cold for a moment.

"Hello, Miss Seeeeeanna Ramsay, I see you're not available at the moment. I heard through some friends of mine in the court systems that you have managed to acquire another little girl, and I'm quite happy to say I'll take her away from you, too, you filthy tranny bitch."

Seanna stood there, shaking as her anger took over, this creep was really beginning to get on her nerves. She took one deep breath after another for a few minutes, then called the company offices and left a message for Jackie about the message she had just heard. Just after she hung up, having left the message for Jackie, the two little girls scampered into the room, coming to a stop when they saw Seanna.

It was immediately obvious to both of them that Seanna was quite upset, and the girls walked over to her, hugging her from both sides. Seanna broke down then, falling to her knees, and spent several minutes crying while the two girls held on to her.

When the tears finally stopped, Seanna smiled at the two little girls, whispering her thanks to them, then slowly stood up. "Let me go in the bathroom and clean myself up, then we'll head out. I need to make a couple of stops before we go to have some food, okay?"

The two girls nodded and Seanna walked into the bathroom, emerging a few minutes later looking a fair bit better. Seanna went and got the girls' coats, then picked up her own, and after locking the door, they all trooped down the steps and out back to the car.

Seanna made sure the door to the house was locked, then unlocked the car and put Leilani in her car seat and Asemba beside her. Seanna chuckled for a moment, then said, "It looks like I need to get a car seat for Asemba, too, I guess we can stop in there at some point today."

Asemba looked over at Leilani and asked, "Car seat? Likes hers?" as she pointed at Leilani's.

Seanna laughed, "Yes, like Leilani's, but we'll do that after I take care of some other things and after we have something to eat." She started the car, and was just about to back out to go down the lane beside the house when her phone rang. She pulled the phone out, saw it was Jackie returning her call and answered it, "Hi, Jackie, thanks for calling back so fast. That filth Singh at Child Services called me today."

Jackie responded, "What did he say?" at which point Seanna gave a quick but complete rundown of the message. Jackie listened, then asked if Seanna could come in so that she could record the message, in case it might be needed in the court on Tuesday.

Seanna thought for a moment, the company offices were only a half mile or so from the hospital, so that wouldn't add much time.

"All right, Jackie, I'll meet you in about an hour, might be a bit less, it depends on how bad the traffic is."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye," as Jackie ended the call.

**********

"Okay, we're going to the hospital so I can get that judge's order back, then to the company offices so Jackie can copy the message. Once we finish doing that, we'll decide where to eat, after that, we'll go to the mall where I got Leilani's car seat and get one for you, Asemba."

The two little girls quickly answered yes as Seanna backed up, then turned down the lane to the street; she checked carefully for any traffic, had to wait a moment as a large pick-up rumbled by, then turned into the street and started driving toward the hospital.

**********

The drive to the hospital took about 35 minutes, traffic was not too bad, many people had left the offices a bit earlier to enjoy the weekend.

Seanna pulled into the visitors lot, parked the car as close to the main entrance as possible, then got out, opened the back door, taking a few minutes to release the two girls and help them out, before locking the car and holding both girls' hands, walked into the hospital.

They went to the information desk, but had to wait for a few minutes, as there was no one there, so they sat down on the bench nearby. They had been sitting there for maybe five minutes when Seanna noticed someone was at the desk, so she and the girls walked over to it.

"Hello, I called earlier about a judge's order that I am supposed to carry regarding Asemba here, my name is Seanna Ramsay."

The young woman behind the desk looked up, "I'll need to see some identification, please, before I give you that order."

Seanna shook her head, but pulled out her wallet, then a few pieces of ID, including two photo ones, setting them on the counter. The young woman spent a few minutes closely examining them, then placed a call to Dr. Patricks to come down to the information desk.

"If you're wondering why I called Dr. Patricks, it's because she can verify who you are, as she was with you all last night."

Seanna wasn't entirely pleased at having to have someone verify who she was, but if it helped, she could stay calm until it was all sorted.

Several minutes later, Dr. Patricks walked up to the desk, looked at Seanna, and asked why she had been called down. When she was told that it was to verify that Seanna was who she said she was, she wasn't very pleased, either, but she did provide the verification.

Once that was done, Seanna's ID was returned to her, along with the judge's order, and she and the girls turned to leave the hospital. Seanna turned back for a moment and thanked Dr. Patricks for all of her help with the examinations.

Dr. Patricks responded by saying that she had the results, if Seanna would come with her, she could get them now. Seanna quickly agreed and she and the two girls followed the doctor to her office, where Dr. Patricks rummaged through a pile of papers, then handed some to Seanna.

Dr. Patricks spoke quietly, "That should be everything. This little one is lucky, she's way too young to be able to get pregnant, thank God, but she has obviously been raped several times, all within the last four or five days, both front and back, and yes, we found semen."

Seanna closed her eyes for a moment, the fury at what Asemba had gone through was rising again, she swore she would get justice for her. "I'm sorry, I'm rather upset right now, can we just sit here for a few minutes, while I explain to Asemba what was found?"

Dr. Patricks nodded. "I'll stay right here, so I can help if it's needed."

Seanna turned to Asemba, still very upset, "Asemba, love, the tests that were done found evidence of what your daddy did to you, that evidence will be used to put him behind bars for a very long time. I don't think he'll be happy there, child molesters don't often last long in jail."

Asemba looked up at Seanna, a few tears sliding down each cheek, "He cant's... can'ts hurts me again? I stays... stays wifs you?"

"He'll never hurt you again, little one. If you want to stay with me, we can ask the court to allow that, but we have to follow procedure, okay?"

"What's that means, dat proced-ced-ure?"

"Asemba, it means we have to do things step by step, I can't just say you're mine, as much as I might want to say that. So in a few days, when I have to be in family court anyway, I'll ask the judge for a recommendation that you stay in my care so I can take care of your needs. That might turn out to be a bit easier than for most because my family has a fair bit of money behind us, finances will not be an issue."

Dr. Patricks interrupted, "You're going into family court? Why?"

"You likely didn't know this, Dr., but I'm transsexual, and this guy Singh at Child Services is intending to use that to take the children."

Dr. Patricks blanched when Seanna mentioned Singh, then said some things that shouldn't be said in front of young children. She then apologized, then added, "If it's who I think it is, that jerk caused my cousin to commit suicide about a year ago."

Seanna's head snapped up when she heard suicide. "Dr., was your cousin a woman named Eileen Patterson?"

This time, it was Dr. Patrick in shock. "Yes, but how do you know about it?"

"Well, Dr., your cousin and another woman both worked in my company. It seems Singh found out they were lesbians, and went after them to the point where the one woman's child was taken from her and put into foster care. A few months after that, your cousin committed suicide, and maybe a month or so after that, the mother had a major nervous breakdown and has been in a mental health home since then."

Dr. Patricks said a few more things that young children really shouldn't hear, but the two girls ignored her, both of them hugging Seanna.

"Dr. Patricks, if things go as I hope they will on Tuesday, this Singh may well find himself out of a job and facing a lawsuit or two."

"Why do you think they'll go that way? What makes you different from others he's destroyed?"

"The simple fact that, as the new CEO of Ramsay Enterprises as of this coming Monday, I'll be in control of several businesses worth a total of about $780 million US. The people that Singh has picked on in the past often had minimal financial resources, which hurt their chances. Singh was able to put them through enough legal wranglings that many of them ended up flat broke, losing everything."

"Holy Mother! So he won't be able to hurt you much financially, and that's what he usually used to win cases in the past?"

"Correct. I can just see what he'll say once he finds out he can't win in his usual manner. It should prove quite interesting. The other thing that will be interesting will be putting this judge's order before the court, I'd be willing to bet he'll go bananas once we show that."

Dr. Patricks whistled, then said, "What I would give to be there to see that jerk get his comeuppance! When are you in court?"

"At 9:30 AM on Tuesday, Family Court's Children's Division. I'm not sure which courtroom that is, but I'll likely find out after I leave here."

"Give me a call once you know what courtroom it is, if I can manage to swing a shift change, I'll be there to support you."

Seanna looked at the Doctor. "Why would you do that, you don't know me at all?"

"Seanna, I may not know you personally, but I sure as hell don't know many people who would do what you've done for Asemba here. That alone makes me want to help you, I know very well that this child is going to need a lot of medical and psychiatric care."

"You're right about the psych care, speaking of which, I need to find a decent child psychiatrist or psychologist for her, maybe for Leilani, too."

"I might be able to help you with that, I'll need to look through my contacts in those fields. Give me your number, I'll get you the info."

Seanna nodded, tore a small piece of paper off an envelope in her purse and wrote her name and cell number on it, then passed it to her.

Dr. Patricks took the bit of paper, stuffed it into a pocket, then knelt on the floor and looked at Asemba. "I know you've been through a lot, little one, but I think you can be strong, also know that this lady here will help you in any way she can, okay?" She pointed to Seanna.

Asemba nodded, still holding onto Seanna, "She heps me lots since yesserday, she's been wifs me through all those tests, and when I wokes up earlier upsets about that stuffs," she pointed at the papers Seanna was holding, "she helds me and listeneds to me, I likes her!"

"That's lovely, Asemba. I'm sorry, but I need to return to my work, I wish you all the best." She marched out the door, leaving Seanna and the girls sitting there. Seanna skimmed through the papers, then folded them, stuffed them in her purse, and led the girls out of the hospital.

**********

It didn't take them more than ten minutes to go from the hospital to the company offices. Seanna parked the car in the slot available for the CEO of the company, then helped the two girls out of the car before she locked it and they headed over to the elevator.

A few minutes later, they reached the seventh floor and walked over to the reception desk, where Seanna asked if Jackie was available. Patti rang through to Jackie's office, talked for a moment, then waved Seanna and the girls down the hall to Jackie's office.

Seanna knocked on the door, a yell from inside told her to come in, so she opened the door and led the children into the office. They were just about to sit down when Jackie herself appeared, said hello to them, then waved them all into the inner office, following them in.

Once they were in the room, Leilani whispered to Asemba that there was a gorgeous doll house here if she wanted to play. Asemba thought that was cool, and the two girls scampered behind the desk to the corner with the doll house, took off their jackets and began to play.

Jackie was surprised to see a second little girl, and immediately asked Seanna how she came to be responsible for this one.

"Well, after we left here yesterday, I wanted a coffee, I went to Di Panetti's Cafe, and walked in to see her getting slapped by her father," Seanna replied as she took off her jacket and hung it over the back of the chair she would be using, then sat down.

Jackie's eyes boggled. "Seanna, do you know that you've been on the news almost constantly since that happened? Damn, it's been on all the major news channels for the last 24 hours, and a bunch of the radio stations around here have been discussing it, too."

Seanna turned white as she heard what Jackie was saying. "You can't be serious, all I did was stop that jerk from hurting her again."

"Yep, that may have been all that you did, but it grabbed a heck of a lot of people's attention, let me tell you. Heck, I've even heard from a lawyer friend who works in the Mayor's office that they're recommending you for a bravery citation. Same at state level."

Seanna blanched even more than she had before, her face almost looking like paper, then fainted, sliding out of the chair onto the floor.

"Oh, damn!" Jackie sighed as she picked up the phone, dialled an extension and asked if they could send someone up to check Seanna out. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, then a man and a woman entered, both wearing standard nurses outfits. The man shoved the chair away from Seanna, then they both began to examine her, one checking pulse, the other that Seanna was breathing properly.

The girls had heard Jackie's remark, stopped playing and peeked around the end of the desk to see Seanna lying on the floor.

Seanna woke up as they were examining her, and complied when she was asked to just stay there for a bit longer. They continued to check her out for a few more minutes, eventually decided that she was fine and packed up their gear, then left the office.

The girls had watched as the two nurses checked Seanna; once they were assured that Seanna was okay, they returned to their play.

Seanna slowly pulled herself up and sat down in the chair, bringing it closer to the desk, then just sat there for a bit.

Eventually, Seanna shook her head, winced briefly, then turned to Jackie asking, "City and state? Why?"

"Why, she asks? Lady, you stood up to a man a heck of a lot bigger than you and stood your ground against him to protect a child. I'll bet you didn't even think of what could happen to you when you did that, only that she needed protecting and you stuck your neck out."

"What do you mean that I stuck my neck out?" Seanna asked.

Jackie shook her head, then answered her, "Seanna, with how big he is, he could have killed you as easily as hurt you. You're damn lucky."

"Oh, my. You may well be right, all I know is that she was being hurt, and seeing a child being hurt infuriates me like nothing else can."

"In a way, that little show helps us, in another, it hurts us, as it shows you can be provoked into actions that could go very wrong on you. Anyway, you came in here to let me copy the message that guy Singh from Child Services left on your phone, so where's the phone?"

Seanna reached for her bag on the edge of the desk, pulled the phone out, entered her voicemail code, then handed it to Jackie. Jackie followed the directions and listened to the message several times, then hooked the phone up to her computer and copied the message. She then took some time to make a few extra copies of the message, stored them in various locations, then handed the phone back to Seanna.

Seanna laughed and informed her that she might want to disconnect the phone from the computer first. Jackie did so, also laughing.

Seanna put the phone in her purse, then asked, "Do you think this message will need to be used on Tuesday?"

Jackie replied, "It's hard to say, it will depend on just what he does and whether he tries to use the transsexual angle at all. In any case, whether he uses that angle or not, if we bring it to the attention of the court, it could still cause him a lot of trouble."

"But more if he is the one to bring that out in the courtroom? Especially when he finds out I have so much money behind me?"

"Well, once he finds that out, he won't be happy. If he uses the transsexual angle at any point, the judge will not go easy on him."

"So we just go with the same plan as before, then?"

"That's right. Is there anything else you need to discuss with me?"

"I don't think so, I just brought the message in because you asked me to, to provide extra evidence, if needed."

"All right, then, Seanna, I guess I will meet you in the courthouse a little while before the court opens."

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, what courtroom will it be in? I know nothing about the court system here."

Jackie skimmed through the file, then looked at Seanna and replied, "Children's Division is usually held in County Court, Room 215. Hmmm... perhaps it would be better if you came here about an hour before Court started and I could show you where it is."

"Okay, and what about the two girls? Should I arrange for a babysitter for them, or can they come to the courthouse, if not in the court?"

"The courthouse has a daycare area, but I think I can arrange for someone to be with them, and they could relax in the cafeteria."

"Okay, then I guess I will be coming here Tuesday morning. I'll see you then. Leilani, Asemba, it's time to go." She picked up her purse.

The girls ran out in front of the desk, each of them grabbing one of Seanna's hands as she prepared to leave the office. Seanna looked at the girls, then giggled and asked them where their jackets were, the two girls said "Oops!" together and ran to grab their jackets.

Jackie said goodbye to the girls as Seanna helped them into their jackets, then put on her own jacket; once they were all ready, the girls grabbed Seanna's hands and they went out into the hall, back to the elevators where Seanna hit the down button.

**********

They had to wait a few minutes before the elevator reached their floor, only to find out it was going up, not down, so they ended up waiting for about five more minutes before it returned to their floor. They stepped in and Seanna pressed the button for the first parking level.

The elevator made a few stops before reaching the ground floor, where everyone else got off, then they continued to the parking floor below.

As they exited the elevator and walked toward the car, Seanna asked where the girls wanted to go for food. Asemba shrugged her shoulders, deciding to leave it up to Leilani, who then grinned and asked if they could go to the fish place and give Asemba a real treat.

Seanna turned to Asemba, asking her if she had any food allergies, Asemba replied that she didn't think so, or at least didn't know of any.

Seanna smiled, the place Leilani had suggested was the one Seanna's mother had told her about and they had eaten at a few days before. "Okay, then, let's get you both in the car and we'll go there," as she unlocked the car doors and opened the back one. She spent the next few minutes making sure the two girls were secure, Asemba appeared to be having less trouble with the seat belt, which was good.

Seanna then closed the back door and walked around the car, then opened the driver's door, sat down and started the engine. She waited for a bit so the car could warm up, then backed out and followed the paths around to the exit, then out to the street. She had to think for a minute or two before she remembered the restaurant's location, when she saw the street was clear, she turned and headed for the restaurant.

Like the previous time, she managed to find a space not far from the doors, then let the children out from the back seat and locked the car before taking each child by the hand. They entered the restaurant, Seanna briefly letting Asemba go, then took her hand again and waited.

It didn't take very long before a hostess saw them and came to the front of the restaurant. "Table for three? Do you want chairs for them?"

Seanna already knew that Leilani didn't like using the chairs, but asked Asemba if she wanted one. Asemba looked over at Leilani and asked her if she wanted one; when Leilani said no, Asemba turned to the woman and said she didn't want one, either.

The woman smiled at the two little girls acting like big girls, then led them to a booth and let them settle in before asking about drinks. They all took off their coats, Seanna asked for coffee, and the girls both asked for juice. The drinks arrived a few minutes later.

Seanna and Leilani spent the next several minutes telling Asemba how much they had enjoyed the food here before, except for the caviar. When the waitress returned asking what they wanted to eat, they asked for the same platter as last time, without the caviar, and some fries.

While they were waiting for the food, Seanna asked Asemba what she liked to do, the little girl looked up at her, completely confused. Seanna then went on to ask her if she liked going to museums, or parks, or shopping at some of the malls around the city. Again, Asemba seemed confused, eventually Seanna found out that the little girl had rarely, if ever, gone anywhere, generally staying home all day, every day. The last few days had been a totally new experience for her, and they had been more terrifying than anything else, until Seanna rescued her.

The food arrived, and Seanna and Leilani showed Asemba how good seafood could be, she sampled everything on the platter while nibbling on the occasional fry. By the time the three were all full, the platter was almost completely empty and the fries had been demolished.

When the waitress returned, Seanna asked for what was left to be put into a container so they could take it home, then asked her to bring the bill as well. When the bill and leftovers arrived, Seanna paid and added a nice tip, then they put on their coats and left the restaurant.

**********

When they reached the car, Seanna unlocked it, then put Leilani in her seat with Asemba beside her as usual, made sure both of the girls were secured, then closed that door and opened the driver's door, sat down and started the car, letting the engine warm up first.

Seanna backed the car out of the space, then turned toward the exit and checked traffic both ways before turning onto the street. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the mall where she had bought Leilani's car seat, the girls were chattering away in the back seat.

Seanna was paying attention to the traffic around her, the chattering in the back seat was just a pleasant background noise. When she saw the signs for the store, she waited in the traffic for a chance to turn left safely, then did so and entered the store's parking lot.

It took a few minutes before she found a space not too far from the store's main entrance and parked the car, then turned off the engine. She got out, grabbing her purse, then let the two girls out, locked up the car and holding their hands, walked into the store.

She grabbed a cart, then had the two girls hold on to it as she wandered down the aisles to where the car seats were located. Her luck was good, the gorgeous man that had helped her the last time was not far away, she got his attention and he came over to them.

"Hello, miss, and what do you need today? Why, I do see that you have another lovely little girl here!" as he flashed his amazing smile.

Seanna giggled, she just loved his voice, that deep yet smooth tone made her shiver in ways that were all too pleasurable. "Actually, that's the problem, you see. I need another car seat for this little one," as she pointed at Asemba, "forest green again, please."

"You're in luck, we still have some of the forest green ones in stock, let me get one, I'll be back within ten minutes, miss."

Seanna smiled, assured him she wouldn't be too far from this spot, and looked around, noticing the toy department nearby. She grinned, looked down at the girls, then asked if they wanted to look at toys while they waited for him to return with the car seat.

Seanna let them look around, content to watch them while waiting. The girls wandered just out of her sight, then she heard an excited "Ooooo!!!" from Leilani, pushed the cart around a corner and saw Leilani and Asemba staring at a beautiful large doll house.

"I see that you found something you like," Seanna laughed. "Just where would we put that, I wonder?"

Leilani thought for a moment, then said, "My bedroom is too small, the only rooms big enough are your bedroom and the living room."

Seanna nodded, replying, "If you want it that much, I suppose we could rearrange the living room a bit. But that might not be for very long, Momma wants me to take a house in the community she lives in, it would give us a lot more space and be much safer, too. Moving there might also be a good idea considering what has happened in the apartment recently, it would give you a fresh start, Leilani."

Asemba listened to the two as they discussed the doll house, then asked, "Whats you means about da apartsment? Whats happened?"

Seanna let go of the cart, knelt down next to Asemba, held her and said, "Leilani's mother was badly beaten there, she died the next day."

Asemba turned to Leilani, grabbed her in a tight hug and held on as if she had no intention of letting go. "You losts your momma?"

Leilani, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks, nodded and clung to Asemba. "She was hurt real bads, and I couldn'ts do anyfing!"

Seanna shook her head, she knew that Leilani had called 911, and in doing so, had helped to get immediate medical attention for her badly injured mother. It wasn't her fault that the hospital hadn't been able to save her momma, they had done everything they could for her there.

In a way, the call to 911 had also led to the man who had attacked her momma being arrested, all because he turned the wrong way at the corner after hearing sirens coming down the street behind him, sirens that were directly due to that 911 call.

Seanna leaned forward, hugging both girls, then whispered to Leilani, "Love, you did everything you could, her dying wasn't your fault."

Asemba loved being hugged by this woman, she turned again to Leilani, saying, "You gots to 'splain everyting to me laters."

Leilani nodded and held on tight to Asemba and Seanna as she cried, releasing her sorrow over the loss of her mother.

**********

Leilani was still crying when Seanna heard that velvety voice behind her, "I have the seat here, miss, I'll put it in the cart." As he placed the box in the cart, he noticed Leilani crying while holding Seanna and Asemba and asked if they would be okay.

"I think she'll be okay in a moment, well, enough that we can go home. Would you mind coming back in a few minutes, I might need help."

"Help with what, miss?" he asked.

"With that lovely doll house there, Leilani here saw it and decided that she wanted it, that she would have it or else, so I'll buy it for her."

"That is a lovely doll house indeed, in fact, it is the last one of that model in the store. I'm sure they'll both love it."

Leilani heard him talking and looked up, waaaay up; when he smiled at her, she hiccuped twice and returned a weak smile of her own. She ran over to the doll house and hugged it, or at least tried to, as the doll house was nearly as wide as her outstretched arms, and a fair bit longer. He laughed as he saw her trying to hug it, then walked over and held his hand out to her. "Will you be okay now, little one?"

She grabbed his hand and he walked her back over to Seanna. "I'll grab that doll house and follow you to the check-out lines." Seanna nodded and once the girls were holding on to the cart, she made her way to the cashiers, followed by the man carrying the doll house.

The wait wasn't long, when her turn came, the cashier put a sticker on the car seat and the doll house; Seanna used the credit card to pay for the two items, then with the man following her carrying the doll house, she steered the cart over to the car. Seanna turned to him and asked, "Once the doll house is in the trunk, would you do me a favour and help me to install this seat, please?"

He nodded, waited for her to open the trunk, then looked at it for a moment before nodding again. "It's close, but it should fit." He then spent the next few minutes carefully lowering the doll house into the trunk, then gently brought the trunk lid down; he ended up taking another quick look to make sure it would close without harming the doll house, then pushed the lid down until it clicked. He then turned to the car seat, pulled a small knife from a belt on his pants, cut the wrapper from the seat, and waited for Seanna to open the car door.

Once the door was open, he lifted the seat into the car, positioned it next to the first one, and made sure it was properly secured.

"All ready for you, miss. Thank you for shopping here today, and I hope you and these beautiful little girls have a very good evening."

"Thank you for your help, and I hope you also have a good evening. Okay, girls, time to get in your seats, let's go." She smiled and waved at the man as he picked up the wrapping, then grabbed the cart and walked back to the store. Seanna turned and strapped the girls into their seats before stepping forward to the driver's door, opening it, and almost dropping into the driver's seat, she was running on fumes.

She started the car, then sat there relaxing for a few minutes before she started moving toward the exit to the street. As she reached the exit, while checking traffic, she asked the girls if they would be okay with just relaxing in the apartment tonight, maybe watching a movie. Leilani was still fairly awake, but Asemba was as tired as Seanna, they'd only had a few hours of actual sleep recently. A quiet night sounded good.

Seanna drove toward their current home, being a bit more careful than usual due to her being tired. When they were almost to the house, she spotted a Blockbusters and asked the girls if they wanted to go in and pick a movie or two, they enthusiastically told her yes.

She parked near the store entrance, turned off the engine, let the two girls out, locked the car, then led them into the store. They soon found the area displaying Disney movies and spent several minutes checking them out, deciding on Monsters University and Monsters, Inc.

Seanna giggled, took the two movies to the counter, paid the rental cost and with movies in hand, led the girls back out to the car. She unlocked the car, strapped the two girls in, closed the back door, opened the driver door, sat down, buckled up and started the engine. She waited a few minutes for the car to warm up again, then resumed the drive home, arriving there just over five minutes later.

Once again, after turning off the engine and getting out, purse on her shoulder, she released the two girls, then closed the door and locked the car. Holding Asemba's hand, she walked to the back door, where she briefly let Asemba go to unlock and open the door; she let the children enter ahead of her, then pushed the door closed and locked it before following them up the stairs to the apartment door, which she unlocked.

She opened the door and the two girls scampered in, taking their jackets off and throwing them on the floor near Leilani's bedroom. Seanna shook her head, walked over to the discarded coats, picked them up, walked over to the hall closet by the door and hung them up. She dropped her purse on the dining room table, then took off her own coat and hung it up in the hall closet next to the girls' coats.

She was tired enough that she had forgotten about snacks, yet her luck seemed to be good for once. In one of the cupboards, she found a couple of bags of fairly fresh potato chips, put some of each into separate bowls, then carried them out to the coffee table in the living room. She hadn't noticed any pop or juice in the fridge, but she figured they could make do with a jug of water for one evening.

She called the girls out to the living room, then popped Monsters University into the DVD player, turned the TV on and started the movie. As soon as they heard the sound come on, the girls ran out to the living room, jumping on the big sofa in front of the TV.

The next few hours passed in companionable enjoyment of the two films, the girls were full enough from their recent supper that they didn't even notice the chips on the coffee table until the first movie was almost finished. When it ended, and Seanna took that disc out, replacing it with Monsters, Inc, the girls were ecstatic at being allowed to stay up to watch it, and with chips in hand, were soon watching avidly.

Seanna had to stop the second movie briefly when the girls announced they needed the washroom; after a short break, the movie resumed.

Seanna was having a hard time staying awake, but she had been watching the girls and their enjoyment was infectious. By the time Monsters, Inc. finished, there were only scraps remaining of the chips in the two bowls, and the jug of water was less than a quarter full. She made sure that both girls used the washroom before they climbed into Sue's bed, they were wearing matching nightgowns, one in blue, one in silver.

Just as she was about to undress to go to bed, she remembered that the doll house was still in the trunk of the car. She left the bedroom, laughing quietly at having forgotten it, then went down to the car, opened the trunk, carefully pulled the doll house out and set it on the ground next to her. After closing the trunk, she picked up the doll house, walked to the door, entered the house, locked the door and returned to the apartment. She spent a few minutes shifting furniture in the living room a bit, then placed the doll house in one corner of the room.

A few minutes later, Seanna wandered into the bedroom, undressed and put on her nightgown, then joined the girls in the bed. Both of the girls were already asleep, so Seanna snuggled up fairly close to Asemba, eventually drifting off into the land of Nod herself.

**********

When Seanna woke up the next morning, the sky was still dark, although it was slowly fading into day. She looked at the girls, still sleeping and decided that she would spend the weekend showing Asemba ways that they could have fun around the city.

That day, Saturday, they went to a museum in the morning, then to a popular children's park with rides and other fun stuff near the city. They didn't return home until close to the girls' bedtime, everyone was wiped out, and a good sleep was had by all.

On the Sunday, she took the girls to see a community Nativity play, then they spent the rest of the afternoon in a mall, picking up a variety of clothes for Asemba before stopping in at a supermarket and stocking up on some food so they wouldn't need to eat out as often.

After preparing and eating a simple casserole, she let the girls watch TV for an hour before sending them off to bed. Once they were tucked in, she found one of Leilani's story books and read a bit from it until the girls were asleep, then relaxed for an hour before going to bed herself.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story, I hope you all enjoy it.

**********

Seanna woke to the sound of the radio playing songs she liked, finding herself alone in her bed, then remembered that she had tucked the two girls in together in Leilani's room the night before. It felt odd to not have a child snuggled up to her while she was sleeping.

She stayed in bed for several minutes, thinking about the next few days. She had the meeting with the financial officers of the various divisions of the corporation this morning, then the court meeting tomorrow with that nasty irritant Singh, she would be glad once he was sorted out.

She hadn't actually been paying attention, but she could now hear the girls talking in Leilani's bedroom. "Time to get up," she muttered, "ugh!" She padded into the washroom, grabbing a towel from the linen closet on the way, then used the washroom before jumping into the shower. She ran it cold for a minute to wake herself up, then set it to hot and washed herself thoroughly, including her hair, using conditioner as well.

She stepped out of the shower, knowing it would take some time to dry her mid-back length hair. She didn't particularly like having to spend so much time taking care of her hair, but like her aunt Sue, it was her crowning glory, and she had no intention of cutting it.

She grabbed the hair dryer, plugged it in and started the long process of blow drying her hair so she could continue to get ready for the meeting. She was standing in the bathroom using it when the two girls scampered in, took turns using the toilet, then washed their hands before bouncing back into Leilani's bedroom. Seanna thought she could hear the bed creaking over the noise of the hair dryer, she hoped they weren't jumping on it, although they weren't likely to do much damage to it at their age. If they did, well, it could be replaced.

Seanna finally finished drying her hair about fifteen minutes after the girls had left the bathroom. She wandered into the main bedroom, looked through her clothes that had been placed in Sue's closet, picked out a charcoal coloured three piece business suit, a silver coloured blouse, black pantyhose and a set of three inch black heels, set the clothes on the bed and the shoes on the floor beside the bed.

Seanna called out, "Leilani, Asemba, let's see what we can find for breakfast!"

Seconds later, the two girls ran out of Leilani's room, Leilani jumped up into Seanna's arms, stealing a quick hug, before letting go of her. Asemba looked on while Leilani hugged Seanna, the look on her face had Seanna holding her arms out, and Asemba got her own hug. Seanna held on to Asemba for a minute or three, realizing that the child needed the comfort as much if not more than Leilani.

**********

A man was taken from his cell in the city lock-up about half a mile from the courthouse, placed in the back of one of the vehicles the city and the county shared for transporting prisoners, and sat there for about twenty minutes before the vehicle started moving.

The trip itself didn't take long. just a few minutes, but he was left in the back for nearly fifteen minutes before being taken into the underground level of the courthouse and placed in a cell. The two guards closed the cell and walked away, quietly talking to each other.

He dropped onto a hard wooden bench and thought about the last week. He'd been brought to the courthouse the morning after he was arrested; when he ended up in the court several hours later, still wearing the clothes he had been arrested in the night before, the lawyer who was sitting in to offer any help to the defendant if needed pulled back, shuddering at the sight, and stayed as far from him as possible.

The rest of the people in the courtroom were no better off, the stenographer actually threw up her lunch at the sight of him. Once the judge had been assured she would be okay, he got down to business, he wanted this man out of his courtroom as fast as possible.

"Robert James Johnson, you are facing a charge of first degree murder. It has come to our attention, through people in that neighbourhood, that you had been watching the woman you killed as she came and went to and from her home for nearly two weeks before you attacked her. You had time to plan what you wanted to do, and it is clear that you intended to do her harm. You may not have intended to kill her, but the fact that she died because of your attack, which you had been planning for some time, is what led to the murder one charge.

"I am in no wise sure as to your mental state, so you will be placed in the county lock-up's medical wing for a 72 hour psychiatric assessment. Once I have the record of that assessment, I will determine how this matter will proceed. That is all, please remove him."

Robert shrugged, the assessment had been fun, he'd played every trick he knew on the psychiatrists that were assessing him. The 72 hour assessment had ended at 4:30 PM on the Friday afternoon, and he'd been transferred to a solitary cell for the weekend.

He'd been moved to the city lock-up last night, and now he was in the courthouse again, waiting to be taken up to the court. The only difference between the first time and this one was that he was now dressed in the jumpsuit worn by prisoners in the city and county system.

**********

Seanna led the two girls into the kitchen and asked what they wanted, Leilani said bacon and eggs, Asemba wanted omelettes. Seanna laughed, then suggested that she could make some omelettes and cook some bacon and home fries on the side.

Leilani had helped Seanna before, so she showed Asemba where things were kept, pulling three medium potatoes from a bag in the pantry, then opened the fridge and grabbed six eggs, green onions, mushrooms, cheese and cherry tomatoes, setting them on the counter. Leilani then turned to Seanna, asking if she could cut a bit of the ham for the omelette, Seanna nodded, took out the ham and then reached into a nearby drawer for the carving knife; she quickly sliced off a 1/2" thick chunk, cutting it into smaller pieces, then put a bit of butter in a frying pan.

Taking a second frying pan down from a hook on the side of one of the cupboards, she added a bit of butter to it as well, turned the burners on, then washed the potatoes, cut them into slices crosswise before dropping them in the second pan. She watched the potatoes as she quickly chopped up the other ingredients, breaking the eggs into the first pan, adding the various ingredients as needed.

She flipped the sliced potatoes now and then, and watched the omelette as it cooked before flipping it to briefly warm the other side. She watched both pans carefully, and using an oven mitt, pulled the pan with the large omelette from the burner, then transferred the omelette to a plate, placing it on the upper rack in the oven. She then dropped six slices of bacon in that frying pan, setting it back on the burner.

She flipped the potatoes again just after starting the bacon; a few minutes later, both were done, she turned off the burners, walked to one of the cupboards, pulled three plates down, handing them to Leilani, who then set them on the table. While Leilani grabbed the silverware they would need from the drawer, she quickly transferred two slices of bacon and about a third of the potatoes to each plate before setting the frying pans on the back burners of the stove, which had not been used. She took the omelette from the oven, cut it into thirds and served it.

Seanna grabbed half a dozen glasses from another cupboard, setting two by each plate; Leilani filled the glasses with orange juice and milk. The three sat down at the table, and the next twenty minutes or so went by as they enjoyed a good, solid home cooked breakfast.

**********

Once they had finished eating, rinsed the plates and cutlery and placed them in the dishwasher, Seanna took a few minutes to wash the frying pans, leaving them to dry in the dish drainer next to the sink. She then used a clean cloth to wipe the table and the counters.

"Okay, girls, I have a meeting in a bit over an hour, do you want a quick bath now or wait and have one later today?"

Both girls yelled that they wanted a bath now, Seanna laughed and led the way into the bathroom; once in there, she plugged the drain in the bathtub and started running the water, testing it now and then to be sure it wouldn't be too hot for the girls. She added some lavender scented bubble bath, grinning as the girls giggled at the foam it created in the bath as it continued to fill.

When it was nearly full, she turned off the taps, helped both girls out of their nighties and underwear, then lifted them one at a time into the tub. "I'm sorry, I'm not getting in the tub with you today, I already had a shower, but I'll help you both get clean, okay?"

The girls nodded as Seanna took a cloth from the side of the tub, wet it, then rubbed the soap, smelling faintly of lilac, into the cloth; she then washed first Leilani, then Asemba, both girls squirming slightly as she washed them quite thoroughly, taking some time to wash their hair and use leave-in conditioner to help get the tangles out of both children's shoulder length hair.

Seanna smiled at Asemba as she washed the child; Asemba was an interesting child, half white, half black, she had her daddy's deep coal black skin colour with honey brown eyes, yet her hair was like her mother's, jet black and falling straight to her shoulders.

Once the two children had been bathed, she gently lifted them out, dried them off and sent them into Leilani's room to pick out clothes as the bath emptied. She wandered into the main bedroom, dressing in the blouse, pantyhose and suit before checking on the girls.

Leilani had picked out a pale blue jumper, a white blouse, white tights and white Mary Janes for her outfit. Asemba had chosen a similar outfit, but in a dark purple colour with a light purple blouse, white tights and black Mary Janes.

Seanna helped both girls to get dressed, then used a vanity she hadn't noticed before in Sue's room to put on her make-up. She giggled, she'd been living in this apartment for close to a week now, and she still was finding things she had apparently overlooked.

Once she was done, she called the girls and headed for the main entry of the apartment. She helped them to put on their coats, then pulled out a jacket for herself, slipped it on, opened the door, and led the girls out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.

**********

It was just turning 9 AM when Thaddeus Savmo walked into his office on the thirteenth floor of the Ramsay Enterprises headquarters building. He wanted to be there early to go over everything and have a moment to chat with the other Finance VPs. He was surprised to see Tony Ramsay, Sr. standing in the reception area that many of the various VPs in Ramsay Enterprises used for their offices.

Thaddeus walked over to Tony and offered his hand, the two shook hands and Tony followed Thaddeus into his office.

Once they were both seated, Tony smiled, saying, "I know I'm one of the main VPs for the corporation, but I'm not here very often. I spent most of my time at my business, making sure everything is done as it should be, I'm only here because of the meeting later."

Thaddeus laughed, "I forgot to mention that there are only four actual finance VPs, your division is pretty small compared to Toys, Tool & Die, Construction or Construction Equipment, the only one as small as your own is the housing rentals division. Hmmm... we might have a problem there, I'm not sure yet, but Bertrand Lundt, the VP running that division, has not been in the offices here for nearly three months now."

"That is rather odd, Thaddeus; has anyone looked into what he has been doing there?"

"I don't think so, but I'll make sure to mention it to Seanna at or after the meeting. If necessary, she can have him investigated."

"He has no excuse to avoid coming here, his work would mostly be done in this building, same with his subordinates."

"Correct. It's Seanna's decision as to what happens with him, whether or not he is at the meeting."

**********

Seanna and the two girls left the house through the back door, Seanna checking it to make sure it had locked behind her. It took a few minutes to get both girls secured in their seats, Seanna closed the back door, opened the driver's door, sat down and buckled herself in before starting the engine. There were quite a few clouds in the sky, with the sun breaking through now and then, road conditions would be fairly good.

After waiting for a few minutes, she backed up, then turned down the laneway beside the house, stopping near the street and checking both ways before she turned the car into the street and set off for the company headquarters building downtown.

**********

Thaddeus and Tony had been talking for twenty minutes or so when three more men knocked on the outer door of Thaddeus' office. He let Tony know he would be right back, walked over to the door and opened it to find the rest of the actual finance VPs standing there.

The first, Jameson Blackleigh, was the Finance VP for the Tool & Die division. Jameson had worked for Ramsay Tool & Die for almost fourteen years. Thaddeus remembered he had lost his wife about three years ago in a horrific accident caused by a drunken semi driver. Jameson had married again about eighteen months later, his new wife had three young girls, Jameson had just the one boy from his first marriage.

The second man, Robert Thomas, was the Finance VP for the Construction Equipment division, he had been in management in that division of the corporation for the last fifteen years, being named as the finance VP there about five years ago. He was still a bachelor.

The third man, Adrian Porterhouse, was the Finance VP for the Construction division, he'd started working for Ramsay Construction seventeen years ago; he'd worked hard, eventually becoming a foreman before joining management three years ago as their new Finance VP. His wife was pregnant with their sixth child, due in about two months, they already had three girls and two boys ranging from fifteen down to three.

They followed Thaddeus into the office, pulling up chairs so they could all chat together; all three said hello to Tony as they sat down.

The next half hour or so was spent discussing recent events in various divisions of the corporation while they waited for Seanna to arrive.

**********

The small analog clock on the dash of the car informed Seanna that it was almost 10:30 AM as she parked in the CEO space at the company headquarters. She had been told by Thaddeus that the Finance VPs had their offices on the thirteenth floor, and usually used one of the boardrooms on that floor for meetings. After releasing the girls from their seats, she locked the car and led them to the elevator.

Seanna and the two girls had to wait a few minutes for the elevator to get down to their level; once it did, they stepped in, Seanna pressed the button for the thirteenth floor and the elevator began to move, swiftly climbing through the building to the thirteenth floor.

When the elevator opened again, they exited it, finding themselves in a reception area similar to the one on the seventh floor, only bigger and fancier. A young woman was sitting at a desk, she stood and walked over to Seanna and the two little girls.

"Hello, I'm assuming you are Miss Ramsay, and you're here to meet with the Finance VPs?"

"Yes, I'm Seanna Ramsay, these two scamps are Leilani and Asemba," she said as she pointed at each of the girls.

Leilani giggled, saying she was a good girl, always had been, Asemba replied saying the same.

"Miss Ramsay, I'll let the Finance VPs know you're here, you'll use the board room at the end of that hall," she said as she pointed to her left. "If you'll leave the two young ones here, we'll have someone watch them while you are in your meeting."

Seanna turned to the two girls. "I'm not sure how long I'll be, I want you two to be good, okay?" Both girls replied that they would.

The young woman led the two girls over to her desk as Seanna started down the hall to the board room. As Seanna passed by an office about halfway down the hall, the door opened and five men came out; one of the men was Thaddeus, all five joined her.

**********

Thaddeus opened the door to the board room, waving Seanna through first, then the men followed her, taking seats around the table. Seanna moved to the head of the table, pulled the chair back, then swept her hand under her skirt as she sat down facing the five men.

Thaddeus opened the meeting, introducing the men by name and which division they worked in, before informing Seanna that one of the people who should have been there wasn't, specifically Bertrand Lundt, the VP for the housing rentals division. "Seanna, he knew well in advance that this meeting would take place, he promised to be here, yet he is not, and none of us have heard from him since Thursday. What is even odder is that, from what I have heard and checked through security here, he hasn't been in this building for almost three months."

"Thaddeus, is that unusual? I mean, his not being in the building for that long?"

"Yes, Miss Ramsay, it's quite unusual. Before that, he was usually in the office at least three days each week, sometimes four."

Seanna sat there for a moment, thinking before she replied, "Do you have reason to believe he may be doing something illegal?"

Thaddeus shrugged his shoulders, "I can't be sure, but it may be a possibility. What do you wish to do about it?"

Seanna opened her purse, searched through it for a few minutes, then passed a business card over to Thaddeus. The card showed the folllowing information: Jac Petroski, Private Investigator, with a local telephone number and an email address.

"That's the investigator that Sue used to dig into the activities of my mother's half brothers and sisters. He's honest to a fault, his prices are reasonable and he has connections to city police and the county sheriff's department which may prove useful."

"Thank you for that, Miss Ramsay, I'll call him once the meeting is finished and have him start checking out Mr. Lundt."

Seann nodded, replying "If he does start investigating Mr. Lundt, let him know to send his bills to the corporation's Finance Department."

The meeting then turned to a discussion of each of the various divisions of the corporation, lasting a bit over an hour. As they were winding down, Seanna stood in front of her seat, thanked the men for their time, then told them that she was implementing three new policies:

1) As of now, any division of the corporation that has more than five adults working within that division MUST provide day care on site or here in the headquarters building for any employee in that division that needs such help;

2) Some of our workers in the past have been targeted by one or more people at Child Protective Services due to being LGBTQI, etc., to the point where their lives have been utterly destroyed. From now on, the corporation MUST have at least two members of our legal team focus on assisting our employees, providing any and all legal support possible to the people involved in cases of this sort;

Our employees also need to know that people who are LGBTQI, etc., will be safe working here, and that they and their families WILL be protected by us. Any employee that fails to at least respect people who are LGBTQI, etc., will get only one warning, then they will be fired. Depending on the level of disrespect shown, charges of discrimination and/or harassment may also be placed against that person.

3) Any drivers we have that operate commercial vehicles who are found to have been drinking or using drugs on the job will be given just one warning. If it happens again, they will be fired immediately and hopefully face legal consequences including arrest and possible jail time.

The only exceptions to this will be medical prescriptions, unless the prescription(s) prohibit(s) the use of such vehicles. In that case, the driver would be required to take time off equal to the length of the prescription or switch to work not involving such vehicles.

Seanna then informed the men that she was currently being targeted because of her transsexual status. All five men shook their heads in disgust, then Jameson Blackleigh, the Finance VP for Tool & Die, quietly offered his support, saying his son was currently being assessed regarding the possibility that he might be transgender or possibly even transsexual, and had been living as a girl for the last six months.

As the meeting ended, Seanna smiled and said that she looked forward to working with them and any other VPs in the company.

**********

Seanna walked back to the reception area, the men headed off to their various offices to deal with business matters in their divisions.

The receptionist smiled when she saw Seanna, then used her phone to contact someone. Seanna was kept waiting for several minutes before a young girl in her late teens brought Leilani and Asemba into the reception area and handed them over to Seanna.

Both of the girls, once they saw Seanna, jumped on her, almost knocking her over, then hugged her for a moment before letting go.

Seanna decided to take the girls over to her Momma's house, they could relax there for the day just as easily as at Sue's apartment.

With a girl on either side, Seanna pressed the down button, waiting for the elevator to take them down to the car.

**********

On the way over to her Momma's, the two girls were chattering about having played games while waiting for her meeting to end.

Seanna smiled, only semi-listening, she was far more concerned with keeping an eye on the traffic around her, something which saved the three of them as a car ahead of them in the right hand lane hit some sort of wet patch on the street and lost control, spinning across the lanes maybe fifty or so feet in front of her car, before slamming into a large tree in the median strip between the two sides of the street.

Seanna slowed down, then pulled off the side of the street and stopped. She looked across the street, then noticed three people getting out of the car, a man, a woman and a teenage boy; there didn't seem to be any obvious injuries to any of them, so she started driving again.

A few minutes later, they arrived at her Momma's house; the visit was unexpected, but her Momma welcomed them all anyway. Seanna's Momma prepared a quick lunch of sandwiches and salad, which they all ate, then the children ran off to the playroom.

Seanna and her Momma ended up in the back parlour, settling into the comfy chairs, each with a fresh coffee in hand.

The two talked for a while, bringing each other up to date on recent happenings, then her Momma changed the subject.

"Seanna, love, are you going to check out that house in the community here I told you about the other day?"

"I've been thinking about it, Momma, but this is the first time that I haven't been running all over the place for several days."

"Well, Seanna, it's a big house, I think six or seven bedrooms, but at just under $5 million in this area, it's a steal."

Seanna choked for a moment, she had just swallowed some coffee, some of it sprayed across the room before she managed to regain her breath. "Almost five million dollars for a home? What the heck makes it worth that much, Momma?"

"The fact that it sits on 3/4 of an acre of land, is a corner lot, and has an Olympic size pool in the back yard, plus an antique gazebo. Remember, dear, that lots in this part of the city are quite expensive, and that one is bigger than many others here."

"Hmmmm... lots of bedrooms, a big pool, somewhere to relax outside, sounds nice, but that's darned expensive, Momma."

"Well, Seanna, after the last appraisal on this house, with just 1/4 acre of land and no pool, this property is worth $2.35 million."

"Holy... wow! So you think it would be a good idea to buy this house for myself and the two girls?"

Seanna's Momma nodded, "I'm pretty sure the corporation would buy it and have it signed over to you. You could think of it as a status symbol, showing your value as the new CEO for one of the bigger companies in this area. You will be in the public eye, you know."

Seanna shook her head, not knowing what to say to that. Her Momma shrugged and let her think for a bit, then turned on the TV.

**********

Just before 1:30 PM, two guards opened the cell and called Robert Johnson out, then escorted him up to the courtroom.

A few minutes after he took his place next to the court appointed defence counsel, the Judge entered the room, everyone was ordered to rise, then once the Judge had seated himself, they were allowed to sit again.

"I'm Judge Theo Carter, ahhhh, I see you have returned to my court, Mr. Johnson. I am not impressed with your actions, or the tricks that you played while being assessed last week. That assessment shows you are capable of standing trial on the charge of murder one."

Robert snorted, muttering something about lame ass psychs before being told to shut up by the defence counsel.

"Mr. Johnson, making remarks such as that one will not help you. I'm setting your trial for Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 at 9 AM. I expect that the assistant district attorney here will make available all the relevant info of your case within the next three weeks. Court is adjourned."

Once the judge had left the courtroom, the two guards escorted Robert back down to the cells below the courthouse.

**********

Seanna and her mother watched TV for about two hours before Seanna turned to face her Momma.

"I guess I should look at this house, should I take the children with me or go by myself, Momma?"

"Take them with you, love, if we buy that house, they will be living in it with you."

"Okay, Momma, what's the address of this house?"

Her Momma told her the address, it wasn't far away, a bit over three blocks from Momma's house, maybe a ten minute walk.

Seanna walked to the playroom on the other side of the hall, looked in and saw two little girls sleeping snuggled up to two large stuffed bears, Leilani had curled up with the one she had called Goldy on her last visit, and Asemba was lying against a white one just as big as Goldy.

Seanna hated to wake them up, but like her mother, she felt the children should have the chance to see this new house. She stepped into the room, gently shaking Leilani until she turned and woke up, then moved over to Asemba and repeated the process.

Once the girls were fully awake, she explained that they were going to look at a house, if they liked the house, they would live there soon. That got their attention, and both girls were soon up, pulling at Seanna's arms, saying they wanted to go look at it NOW.

Seanna laughed, taking the girls by the hand, she led them to the front door, had them put on their jackets, put on her own, grabbed her purse and was opening the door when she noticed that her Momma had also put on her coat, having decided to see it with them.

As they left the house, Momma used her own cell phone to make a call; when Seanna asked, she said she had called the realtor.

They reached the location of the house for sale not quite fifteen minutes later due to the smaller steps the children were taking. At first, the house didn't seem all that big, but when they went around to look at the side, it was at least half again as big as her Momma's house.

While they were looking at the side of the house, the realtor pulled up in a three year old silver and black Lexus, parking it in the driveway.

The realtor unlocked the house and led them all around, showing off the seven bedrooms, study, two parlours, billiard room, library, kitchen, dining room, full laundry facilities, mudroom next to the laundry room, a covered porch extending across the back of the house, then told Seanna that there were two rooms in the attic that could be converted and used for various purposes, if needed.

The four bedrooms at the back of the house all had access to the outdoors; the top of the covered porch had been turned into a long balcony, also covering the entire back of the house, with heavy railings along the edge so people couldn't fall from the balcony.

The realtor then led them out through the back door, showing them the large yard, the pool and the gazebo.

The house itself, other than its size, looked like most other houses, brick in a variety of shades and colours, but the item that entranced Seanna the most was the gazebo; the sides were delicately sculpted wrought iron, the roof one large eight sided piece of iron that had been pushed up into a peak in the center. There were four wrought iron benches in the gazebo, with entry points on the east and west sides of the building.

It would be a nice place to relax in the summer, a raised pit in the middle above the iron floor would allow them to build fires if they wished.

Seanna smiled, looked down at the girls who were nodding enthusiastically, and turned to the realtor. "We'll take it, please contact this number and someone from the finance department of Ramsay Enterprises will be here within an hour with the cash to pay for the house." Seanna then recited a number, watching as the realtor scribbled it on a shabby notepad, before turning to look at the gazebo one last time.

"You can afford to pay over $4.9 million for this house without a care? How?"

"I happen to be the new CEO for Ramsay Enterprises, I was appointed as such about three hours ago."

"So how does that make it possible for you to buy this house? What's so special about that company?"

"My company, ma'am, has a current net value of over $780 million and that's growing with each new quarter year that passes."

"Holy... ummm, I thought I was doing okay, with a net value of just over three million, but that's nothing in comparison to your company."

"I'm sure you'll get a nice chunk out of the sale of this house and property, thanks for showing it to us."

"You're welcome, Miss...?"

"Seanna Ramsay, ma'am, have a good day."

Seanna smiled as she and her Momma led the two girls to the sidewalk, then turned toward her Momma's home.

**********

About an hour after they returned to Momma's house, Seanna received confirmation of the purchase of the new house. Seanna, her Momma and the two girls worked together to make the evening meal, then sat at the table enjoying every last bite of the casserole they'd made.

They relaxed for an hour or two in the living room before the two little girls began to nod, and Seanna called it a night.

Her Momma helped her to put the jackets on the two girls, then Seanna led them out to her car, strapped them in, closing the door before climbing into the driver's seat; she then buckled herself in and started the car, waiting a few minutes before setting the car in gear.

She backed up, checking first to see the road was clear, then turned into the road and headed toward Sue's apartment. It likely wouldn't be the last time they would be going there, but within the next few days, the new house would become their home.

Once they were back at Sue's building, she released the two girls; after locking the car, she led them up the stairs to Sue's apartment, opening it, and telling the girls to take off their coats so she could hang them up. Once their coats were off, they ran to the TV and turned it on. The two girls watched a children's show for the next half hour or so before Seanna told them it was time for bed.

A few minutes later, once they were in their nighties, she tucked them into Leilani's bed and read them a story until they were asleep.

Seanna stayed up late enough to catch the evening news, including a brief piece on her being named as the new CEO of the company.

**********

The radio came on way too early the next morning, Seanna rolled over, looking at the clock, it was only 6 AM. She dragged herself out of the bed and into the shower, using a shower cap to keep her hair dry to save some time, then dried herself and put on a robe. She looked into Leilani's room, the two girls were still asleep. She padded into the room and gently woke them up, "Cereal and toast today, girls."

Seanna walked into the kitchen, placed a few boxes of various kinds of cereal on the counter, milk and sugar on the table, then waited for the girls. They entered the kitchen/dining area together, Leilani picked Shreddies, Asemba Fruit Loops while Seanna made the toast.

She gave each girl two slices of toast, with the choice of peanut butter and/or one of several jams. Both girls covered one piece of toast with peanut butter, Leilani chose a strawberry/raspberry jam while Asemba decided she wanted blueberry jam for her second piece. They quickly turned the two slices of toast into a sandwich, eating them at the speed of kid, making quite a mess of themselves.

Seanna laughed, but waited until they had finished eating before she grabbed a wash cloth and cleaned their faces. "Into the bath room, brush your teeth, and I'll be in there in a moment to run a bath for you. Now scoot!" The two girls scampered off toward the bathroom.

Seanna followed them a few minutes later, just as they were finishing brushing their teeth, having only had plain toast herself. She turned on the bath, adding a bit of bubble bath, testing the water to be sure it wasn't too hot, then turning off the taps once the bath was ready.

Like the day before, she lifted the two children into the tub and washed them, including washing and conditioning their hair; once they were fully clean, she lifted them back out, using towels fresh from the linen closet to dry them both before sending them to pick out clothes.

Seanna headed into the main bedroom, picking an outfit similar to what she wore the day before, but light grey instead of charcoal. When she had finished dressing, she wandered into Leilani's room and saw the two girls had picked out matching dresses, one lilac, the other rose.

Seanna helped the two girls to put on their dresses, tights and shoes before returning to Sue's room to do her make-up. She checked the time, it was now 7:50 AM, she figured the drive was about thirty minutes, they should have no problem getting there for 8:30 AM.

After putting on a different pair of black three inch heels, Seanna called the girls and they collected their coats from the hall closet.

**********

Seanna parked her car in the CEO space, then released the girls, locked the car and walked with them to the elevator, hitting the up button as she reached it. When it arrived, they got in, picked the seventh floor and were on their way up, arriving there half a minute later.

When the door opened, they walked out, Seanna led the two girls to the padded bench by the side wall of the reception area.

A few minutes later, the elevator opened again, and Jackie came out, walking right past them on her way to her office.

Seanna called Jackie by name, Jackie turned around and finally noticed them, then led Seanna and the girls into her office. Seanna allowed the girls to take off their coats and go behind the desk to play with the doll house there while she and Jackie talked.

Jackie asked if Seanna still had the judge's order regarding Asemba, when informed that she did, she grinned and then giggled. "I can't wait to see his reaction when he hears that a judge named you as in loco parentis for Asemba, I wonder if he'll explode?"

Seanna replied, "Between that, my being named CEO and the financial information, I think we're going to cut his legs out from under him. Oh, just for the record, Jackie, I had the finance department buy a house for me yesterday in the same community where my Momma lives."

"I've made copies of the various finance reports we were given, everything looks fine except for the report from the housing rentals division. That division barely made any money in the last twelve months, although a fair part of that may be due to the total loss of the three buildings we had in one part of the downtown core back in the early summer. The fire department ruled it as arson, aided by use of an accelerant. Those three buildings had a total of 190 units between them, average rental cost of about $850 a month, all wiped out in a few hours."

"So an accelerant was used? Hmmm... you might not know it yet, but the finance VP for the housing rentals division hasn't been seen or heard from in four days, missed a meeting he was required to attend today, and hasn't been in his office for nearly three months."

"So what's being done about that, Seanna?"

"I gave Thaddeus the card for the private investigator that Sue used to collect the info on Momma's half brothers and sisters."

"Do you suspect that he may have had something to do with the loss of those buildings?"

"No idea, Jackie, just he seems rather fishy at the moment, so I felt it better that he be checked out just to protect our interests."

Jackie looked at the clock hanging on her wall above the desk, "We should get going, it's a ten minute drive to the courthouse."

Seanna nodded, calling out, "Leilani, Asemba, time to go! Put your coats on, please."

The girls ran out from behind the desk, dragging their coats; Seanna helped them put them on and zipped them up.

Jackie, Seanna and the two girls left Jackie's office, heading to the elevator.

"So, Jackie, who will be watching the girls while we're in the courtroom dealing with that idiot?"

"My 19 year old daughter has the day off, she'll watch them for you," Jackie replied. "We'll meet her at the courthouse."

**********

It actually took them less than ten minutes to go from the headquarters building to the courthouse. Jackie had Seanna park in a space on the second underground level, one of the first spaces they found there, then helped her to get the girls out before heading to the elevator.

The exited the elevator on the first floor, walking over to the entrance of the cafe where a young woman was standing. Jackie introduced the young woman as her daughter Shonelle, then Shonelle spent a few minutes talking to the two little girls.

Once it seemed apparent that they were getting along just fine, Jackie and Seanna used the stairs to go to the second floor. Jackie led the way to the courtroom they would be using, then looked in before opening the door and beckoning to Seanna to follow her.

A man was standing behind of the tables used by attorneys; he was wearing what appeared to be a Sikh turban and a dark grey suit. He looked at them for a moment, then turned back to his table until he herd Jackie and Seanna drop their attache cases on their table. That caused him to turn and look at them again, a sneer on his face, as he spoke, "Ahhh, Miss Ramsay, you can't handle your own problems?"

Seanna and Jackie ignored him. When he received no reply, he shrugged and turned back to his table. Jackie giggled quietly and whispered to Seanna, "He doesn't pay attention too well, or he would have seen that your suit is a $650 high end brand name, not a cheap one."

Seanna whispered back, "Serves him right, it will just make it all that much easier for us."

The bailiff entered the courtroom, checked the time, and nodded, calling out, "All rise, the court of Judge Sascha Anston is now in session." He waited until the judge had seated herself, then informed everyone that they could sit again.

Seanna took a quick look behind her, seven people were scattered around the benches, waiting to see what would happen.

"Bailiff, what are we here for today?"

"Your Honour, today's case is being brought against Miss Seanna Ramsay by Mr. Singh. He claims that Miss Ramsay cannot, in any sense, properly care for the child known as Leilani Kealoha, and has entered a secondary claim regarding the child known as Asemba Charleston."

The Judge nodded, then spoke, "Mr. Singh, if you will present your evidence, please?"

"Your Honour, Miss Ramsay here," he said, "works a 40 hour week for the Shandihar Supermarket, earning $220 per week. That is just enough to cover the rental cost of her bachelor apartment and her own food costs, but not enough to feed one or even two children. Furthermore, the manager of that supermarket has told me that she is not a reliable worker, being lazy and irresponsible. He is present in the court."

Jackie spoke up, "Objection, Your Honour, Mr. Singh has outdated and inaccurate information about Miss Ramsay's financial status."

The Judge turned to face Jackie, "You have proof of this?"

"Yes, Your Honour, may I approach the bench to give the court stenographer these papers?"

"You may." Jackie then grabbed several sets of papers and walked to the front of the court, handing them to the stenographer. The stenographer took a few minutes to look through the various documents, then asked Jackie to prove their relevance.

Jackie faced the Judge, took a deep breath, then began to speak. "Your Honour, the documents I passed to your stenographer are financial statements from the six divisions of Ramsay Enterprises, a company started by Miss Ramsay's grandfather. They show that, over the 2.5 months between the end of September of this year and December 15, Ramsay Enterprises made a net profit of $11.3 million US. You may also wish to know that Miss Ramsay here was named as the new CEO of Ramsay Enterprises late yesterday morning."

"There was one other document I handed to her, Your Honour, one that I felt it would be better for you to see the original rather than a copy. That document was an order from Judge Thomas-Black, a member of this court, giving Miss Ramsay the right of in loco parentis for the child known as Asemba Louise Charleston. You might remember seeing Miss Ramsay's rescue of that child on last Thursday's newscasts."

"Furthermore, Your Honour, Miss Ramsay informed me this morning that she bought a house worth over $4.9 million yesterday afternoon. She plans to live there with both children, once they can sort out moving all their belongings to that new house."

The Judge chuckled, a high, pleasant sound that rang through the courtroom. "So young Miss Ramsay here, rather than being stuck in a dead-end job, is the new CEO for a highly respected company and owns a house worth almost five million? I see no financial problems."

Singh spluttered, "But... but... when I received the information I was given, the only income she had was from the supermarket."

The judge turned to him, a cold, hard look upon her face, "So, rather than make any effort to get information that was actually up to date and factual, you were prepared to cast slurs upon her work history by having the manager there say she was a lazy, no-good worker? That is coming rather close to a possible charge of defamation of character, Mr. Singh, I'd stop now if I were you."

Singh couldn't believe that fake woman was going to win! He screamed and ran toward the other table, yelling, "Filthy transsexual bitch!" several times before the bailiff grabbed him just as he took a swing at Seanna. Seanna backed away, letting the bailiff deal with him.

"Mr. Singh, that is ENOUGH!" the Judge snapped. "I'm holding you in contempt of court, sentencing you to 30 days and a $5000 fine. I'm also ordering you to be placed under arrest for attempted assault and assaulting an officer of the court. You can kiss your job goodbye, Mr. Singh. I don't think you will be wandering around in public for quite some time to come. Remove him from my court, please."

A few minutes passed before two county guards entered the courtroom, cuffed Singh, Mirandized him and led him away.

When they had left the room, the Judge turned to face the court and spoke to Seanna. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Miss. I've had the displeasure of having to deal with him in the past, but I never knew he harboured such hatred for others."

Seanna nodded, replying, "Your honour, we believe he has been responsible for many cases that resulted in broken families, often because he would push the case to the point where the defendant would spend themselves into bankruptcy, losing the case in the process. It is a known fact that one of his cases, from about twenty months ago, led to the death of one woman and another woman ending up in a mental health home. That second woman also lost her child, who has been bounced between five foster homes over the last nineteen months."

Jackie added, "Your Honour, I would not be surprised to find that he has targeted people who are known to be LGBTQI just so he could break those families as Seanna here informed you that he did regarding that case she mentioned. I believe his records need to be examined."

The judge shook her head, then spoke, "I'll order an examination of all of his records from his time with Child Protective Services. If evidence is found to support your claims, he may be looking at an additional twenty to thirty years of jail time for abusing his position there."

Here is the next part of Seanna's story. We're almost to Christmas in this part.

**********

Just after 10 AM that same Tuesday morning that Seanna and Jackie were in court, Thaddeus found himself with a few free minutes, pulled out the card with the PI's info on it and called the number. It went to voicemail, Thaddeus left a message and hung up the phone.

About 45 minutes later, Thaddeus's receptionist took a call. Once she discovered that it was the PI returning Thaddeus' call, she transferred him through to Thaddeus. "Thaddeus Savmo speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hello, Mr. Savmo, this is Jac Petroski returning your call," the man replied. Thaddeus recognized the man's accent as being Polish, it was one of several he'd heard since he was a baby, the community where he was raised had many people from Central and Eastern Europe.

"Mr. Petroski, thank you for returning my call. I know that you have recently worked with the former CEO of my company and an accountant here regarding the actions of the eldest surviving members of the Ramsay family, which resulted in their arrests a week ago. I have no idea if the matter I want you to investigate is related or not, or if an actual crime has been committed; the man I want you to investigate has not, as far as I know, been in the offices here for nearly three months, he was supposed to be at a meeting here yesterday and never showed up."

"Hmmm... I'll need his name, home address and phone number, cell number(s) if known, bank accounts, any other known properties. That will give me several places to start looking, if anything else is needed, I'll be sure to inform you."

Thaddeus gave him the information, they talked for another minute or two, then Jac hung up to start the investigation.

**********

Seanna and Jackie headed back down to the cafeteria, where they met Shonelle and the two girls. They spent half an hour relaxing over various drinks, then Seanna helped the two girls into their coats. Jackie said she would get a ride to the office from Shonelle.

Seanna took Leilani and Asemba back to Sue's apartment, after Seanna obtained a large number of boxes at a place that produced them and offered them for sale to the public. Once they were in the apartment, Seanna worked on packing up most of their clothing, leaving a few options for each of them to wear over the next several days. It was a slow process, with the amount of clothing in the apartment.

**********

Thaddeus was in the midst of a meeting with some of his junior staff people when he was interrupted by his receptionist. The one phone in the small boardroom had been turned off while they were meeting, which forced the receptionist to come to him in person. Thaddeus turned the phone back on and waited for the receptionist to transfer the call. It must be pretty serious if he needed to be interrupted.

"Hello, Mr. Savmo, it's Jac Petroski here. You need to come to Mr. Lundt's home now, bring your boss if you can, it's business related."

"Hello, Mr. Petroski, just why do I, let alone my boss, need to come there?"

"Mr. Savmo, I found the body of your Mr. Lundt slumped on the desk in his home office, a combined signed confession/suicide note underneath him. The reason I asked you and possibly your boss to come here is because it's related to the court case involving the elder Ramsays. By the time you get here, county and city police will likely be here, as well as the medical examiner."

"Oh, sh... I'll call my boss, we'll meet you there within an hour. Talk to you then," he said, then hung up the phone.

Thaddeus turned to his staff people. "I have to leave, reschedule this meeting to 11:00 AM tomorrow."

**********

Once Thaddeus was back in his own office, he called Seanna, then waited as the phone rang three times before she answered it.

"Hello, Seanna speaking, oh, it's you, Thaddeus, what's up?"

"I hired Jac this morning, he just found Bertrand Lundt in his home office, he also found a signed confession and suicide note."

"Oh, my, well, that would explain why he hasn't been in to work. So why did you call me?"

"Jac wants us both there as soon as possible. I'll pick you up in thirty minutes, Seanna."

"Both of us, huh? Okay, I'll ask the women here if they can watch the girls for me for a few hours."

**********

Seanna ran down the stairs, then knocked on the door of the apartment at the front of the house, JJ opened it a moment later.

"Hi, JJ, I have to go out soon and deal with something important that just came up, can you and Pat please watch the girls for me?"

"How soon are you leaving, Seanna?"

"About 25 minutes from now, JJ."

"So no time to really get anyone else. Well, your luck is good, Pat and I will be here all day, bring the girls down when you leave."

"Thank you, JJ, you and Pat have been a huge help since Sue was attacked," Seanna said as she turned to head back up the stairs.

**********

Just over twenty minutes later, Seanna handed Leilani and Asemba over to JJ and Pat, saying she would be back as soon as possible. A few minutes later, she could hear the low rumble of Thaddeus' '65 Corvette Sting Ray's 396 cubic inch "Big Block" engine.

She was out the door and running down the walk to the street, arriving there just as he stopped the car in front of the house. She opened the door, sat down, buckled herself in and they were off, it would take them about fifteen minutes to get to Bertrand Lundt's house.

**********

As they approached Bertrand's house, they could see close to a dozen police vehicles, split fairly evenly between city and county. They could also see the medical examiner's car parked halfway down the block due to all of the police cars on the scene.

Thaddeus pulled up in front of the medical examiner's car, then carefully backed the car up a bit before turning off the engine. He and Seanna released themselves, then stepped out of the car, locking the doors as they closed them, before they walked toward the house.

A female deputy sheriff stopped them when they were about fifty feet from the walk leading to Bertrand's front door. The deputy, who looked to be in her mid to late thirties, asked them who they were and why they were there.

Thaddeus quickly filled her in, she then used her cell phone to call someone; she listened for a minute or two, then said, "Okay, boss, I'll let them through," before waving her arm at the two of them. "Old Jac's helping out again, I hear, you two can go in now."

**********

Thaddeus and Seanna slowly walked up to the front door, finding it unlocked, they opened it and entered the house.

Another deputy stopped them for a moment, before a city police officer informed him that these two were allowed to be present. "Hi, folks, I'm Detective Pieter Krasnokow, one of Jac's friends on the city force. He called me as soon as he found the body. I'm one of the two officers he worked with to gather the info in the case that resulted in the arrests of the seven Ramsay kids from Papa Ramsay's first marriage last week.

"What Jac found here is directly related to that case. I can't go into detail, but it is enough to make the case open-and-shut."

"So why did Jac ask for both of us to be here, Detective?"

"Because what we've found here falls under RICO, anything gained as a result of certain crimes. This house was bought, as were both of his cars, with money Mr. Lundt was paid after he was "hired" to divert funds from your corporation to banks outside of the US. He would then move the money through two or three other banks before sending it to one of seven accounts at a bank in the Cayman Islands.

"Those seven accounts are in the names of the seven Ramsays currently being held in the courthouse. They were supposed to go in front of a judge at some time today, but with the evidence we've found here, that will probably be delayed for a while now.

"Over the last 6.5 years, since they hired him for this purpose, he has been given just over $19.3 million US total. We also learned that a beach house on the Jersey shore was bought using money they paid him. His offshore account that we found has $17.5 million US in it.

"From what we have discovered through the evidence found here, there are eighteen other properties, eleven cars and five boats that can be claimed under the RICO statutes; these people ordered him to steal and transfer money across state or federal borders for their benefit.

"He left a confession of his activities, listing them on paper, and provided the password to his computer here. The information we found on it goes into extreme detail, listing every movement of money after it was initially "taken" from the corporation.

"Other bits and pieces in there are even nastier, including a payment sent through Mr. Lundt to ensure Suzanne Kealoah's severe injury or death, and another payment through Mr. Lundt to hire the lawyer they intended to use in their defence."

"So those nasty excuses for human beings did give the order to have her harmed. Grrrrr!!!!!!" Seanna growled. "Sue Kealoah was my aunt, she left behind a four year old girl. That girl has been in my care for the last week, I've been with her as much as possible since Sue was hurt. Leilani, Sue's daughter, seems okay now, but I'm quite sure that she is going to need a lot of help and love to get through this."

Thaddeus waited for Seanna to finish, then asked, "They actually had him hire a lawyer using funds stolen from the corporation?" When the detective nodded, Thaddeus continued, "That lawyer is going to be really ticked off when he finds out about that, I'm sure."

Detective Krasnokow replied, "Doesn't matter now, that money will be reclaimed as well, likely within 48 hours. The simple fact is, the seven of them haven't got a snowball's chance in hell now, not with all of the evidence here, the court will have copies by tomorrow afternoon."

**********

Judge Ravena Adamowicz looked out over her courtroom. She'd just been informed that there was new evidence relevant to the case. The ADA continued, "I've been told that we will have copies of the new evidence by the end of the day tomorrow at the latest."

The Judge looked over at the defence table, the seven older people all sitting nervously in their chairs and the lawyer who it seemed was representing them. She wondered how they had hired him, Stephen P. Brandenburg's services didn't come cheap.

She shook her head, then spoke, "I have no choice but to remand the seven of you so the ADA there can get the evidence and examine it in detail. You will return to this court on Friday, January 6th at 9:30 AM. I expect Mr. Brandenburg will have all the files by then?"

The ADA looked up for a moment. "Yes, Your Honour, I'm sure we can transfer copies of all the files to him by that time."

"Then this court is adjourned."

**********

Thaddeus took Seanna to a cafe where they relaxed for an hour over coffees, Thaddeus had chocolate cake, Seanna a blueberry muffin. They talked for a while about what they had just heard. As they were finishing, Thaddeus stated, "You know we can't mention this at all. We need to stay out of it if we can, let the police and the courts do their jobs, the outcome seems to be pretty clear, I'd think."

Seanna nodded, then replied, "Yes, I think so, too, that detective said it couldn't be any easier, open-and-shut he said."

"Yeah, he did say that. Okay, I'm going to take you back to Sue's place so you can continue whatever you were doing earlier."

"Thaddeus, when you said we can't mention this, and that we should stay out of it, you were right."

**********

Thaddeus dropped her off in front of the house, Seanna ran to the front door, unlocked it and knocked on JJ and Pat's door. In the background, she could hear the low rumble of Thaddeus' car slowly fading into the distance as he drove away.

JJ opened the door, "Hi, Seanna, back already, I see. I'll get the girls for you. Leilani! Asemba!"

The two girls came running from the kitchen, when they saw Seanna, they ran up and hugged her, yelling, "Seanna back! Seanna back!"

Seanna giggled took the two girls by the hand and led them up the stairs to Sue's apartment. Once they were inside the apartment, Seanna sat them down for a moment. "I'm going to be buying furniture for the new house, do you two want separate bedrooms or to share one? Asemba, I also need to go to where you and your momma lived to get any clothing and personal items you might have there."

Both girls shouted that they wanted to share a room, so Seanna took them over to her laptop, opened it up, started it, typed in her password when the password screen came up, then navigated to a website, showing pictures of custom made bedroom furniture to the girls. After looking at the various options available, they finally chose a set that was princess themed, and Seanna placed an order, adding a second dresser.

She then told the girls that they could go and play, or watch TV, so long as they were fairly quiet.

Seanna then returned to her laptop, looking through the other bedroom sets, picked one she liked and ordered it. She then picked out furniture sets for the living room, the study and the library, asking when they could be delivered.

She figured that she could turn the study into her new home office, and use the library as a combination library & second office space.

Several minutes passed before she received a reply that most of it could be delivered on Friday, the rest by the next Tuesday.

She then typed in a different website that offered a wider variety of furniture, and placed an order to get pieces for the parlours, the remaining bedrooms, and padded benches for the balcony and the library. She also ordered two pool tables, one for snooker, one for eight ball, as well as a small bar and a dozen high backed, high seat wooden chairs which could be scattered around the billiard room.

Switching to a different department of that store, she also ordered a brand new high end washer and dryer set. Those would go in the laundry area, along with a large, deep sink that would be shared with the mudroom space. The only item that would be in the mudroom would be a large heavy duty washable floor cover, so that people could drop their dirty boots and shoes there instead of bringing them into the house.

Last but not least, Seanna looked through what was available in the kitchen department. She picked out a dishwasher, a nice eight burner stove with two ovens underneath, then a large double door refrigerator and a large chest freezer. She also picked out an island with two chairs for the kitchen. After looking through a wide variety of tables, she picked one out that could seat six people that would match the other items.

Then she saw a nice looking combined buffet & hutch, and a table that could seat up to eight people, both came in a mahogany stain. She decided that it wouldn't hurt to have plenty of table seating, so she ordered two of the eight seat tables, the 16' by 15' dining room was big enough to fit both tables and the hutch, and still have enough space to easily move around all the furniture.

After her order was processed, she had a quick chat with a manager who said they should be able to deliver it all on Friday.

Seanna chuckled to herself, it looked like Friday would be a busy day with two different furniture deliveries for the new house.

**********

Once she had finished picking out furniture for the new house, Seanna turned on the oven, letting it preheat, then pulled out some chicken thighs and dropped them in a baking pan, sprinkling a few spices on them. While she waited for the oven, she chopped up two large potatoes and set them aside for a while. When the oven was ready, she set the chicken on the lower rack and closed the oven door.

A little while later, she could just begin to smell the chicken as it cooked; she rinsed the potatoes briefly, then added some water to a pot, dropped the potatoes in and set them on the stove, turning the burner on to slightly higher than medium. She checked the chicken and potatoes from time to time, then pulled some frozen mixed vegetables from the freezer compartment of the fridge, placed them in a pot, added some water and set that on a second burner, turning it midway between medium and high before checking the children in the living room.

They'd been watching afternoon cartoons pretty much since she had said they could do what they wanted, they seemed happy enough.

Seanna periodically checked the various items, eventually pulling the potatoes off the burner, turning that one off. She placed a wooden board on the counter, set the pot with the potatoes on it, took some butter and milk from the fridge, then started mashing the potatoes.

Once the potatoes were mashed, she pulled the other pot from the stove, turned that burner off, ran the vegetables through a colander, then put them in a bowl, placing the bowl on the table. She then transferred the mashed potatoes to another bowl, setting it on the table.

She noticed two little faces peeking around the corner of the kitchen next to the living room and giggled. "I guess you two are ready to eat?" At their eager nods, Seanna told them to go wash their hands, then put on an oven mitt, pulled the chicken out and turned the oven off. She reached into a cupboard for three plates, set them on the table, then using the oven mitt to hold the baking pan, she placed a thigh on each plate. She grabbed a serving spoon and placed a scoop of potatoes on each plate, followed by a scoop of the mixed vegetables.

Seanna opened a drawer, pulled out some silverware and set it by each plate, then opened a different cupboard, taking out three glasses, setting one by each plate before she opened the fridge, pulled out the milk and filled the three glasses. Salt, pepper, they were set.

She then took a brief moment to wash her hands in the kitchen sink, turned around and found both girls already seated at the table.

**********

The three of them enjoyed the meal, chattering about their day, Seanna finished off the small amount of potatoes and vegetables that had been left in the bowls, then sent the girls to the living room while she cleared the table, rinsed dishes and placed them in the dishwasher.

She put some water in the pot that was used to cook the potatoes, then left it to soak along with the baking pan, she'd finish them later.

**********

Seanna called the two girls and told them to put on their coats, they would be going out for a while. As was often the case, she had to help them put their coats on, then she zipped them both up before reaching into the closet for her own coat, which was soon on and zipped.

She led them out to the car, secured them in their seats, then closed the back door, got in her own seat and started the car. She closed the driver's side door, waited for the engine to warm up, then backed up before turning to follow the laneway to the street.

There was no traffic, so she turned and followed the directions she had been given for the place where Asemba and her mother Annalise used to live before Annalise was killed. Nearly half an hour passed before she found the right street and then the correct building.

Seanna released the two girls, letting them out of the car, then closed the doors and used the remote to lock the car.

With one of the girls holding on to each hand, she walked toward the building, letting Asemba go for a moment so she could ring the bell. Just as she was about to ring it again, the door opened, revealing a woman around 40 years old. Seanna explained why she was there.

The woman left the doorway for a moment, the sound of a TV could be heard from the living room nearby. The woman returned a few minutes later, smiled down at the two little girls, handed Seanna two keys on a ring, telling her "Unit 5, on the second floor. Don't leave it a mess."

Seanna thanked her and turned to use one of the keys to unlock the door that opened to a set of stairs to the second floor. Seanna climbed the stairs, taking her time so the girls wouldn't fall behind, then used the second key to unlock Unit 5. The apartment behind the door turned out to be a small bachelor, about 25' by 10', including kitchen, bathroom and one fair sized closet.

In the main area of the apartment, Seanna saw a double bed lying on the floor by the back wall, a dresser to one side of the lone window, a four seat table in the middle of the apartment and a shabby couch, chair, coffee table and TV just inside the front door.

Opening the closet, there didn't seem to be much in the way of clothes, and most of it was either cheap stuff or obvious hooker outfits. At the very left end of the closet, there were three rather worn outfits and a shabby jacket that looked to be Asemba's size.

Most of the clothes in the dresser were Annalise's, about two thirds of it matching the hooker clothes, the rest t-shirts, jeans and shorts. Like the closet, there were only a few pieces of clothing that would fit Asemba, most of it being at least moderately worn.

Seanna asked Asemba if she wanted any of her clothing that was here, the girl shook her head, saying "No," at the same time. When asked if there was anything that she did want, Asemba pointed to the two stuffed animals on the bed, a pink bear and a grey cat.

Seanna wanted to be absolutely sure about it. "You don't want anything else in here at all?" Another no was the response from Asemba.

"Okay, then, grab the stuffed animals." Asemba picked them up and passed the pink bear over to Leilani.

Seanna led the girls out of the apartment, locked it again, then headed down the stairs, letting that door lock behind them. She knocked on the manager's door again, returned the keys and informed the woman that whatever was left up there was disposable.

**********

Seanna decided that since they were already in that area of the city, she might as well grab what she wanted from her own shabby apartment. After securing the girls in their seats and closing the door, she climbed into the driver's seat, buckled in and started the car.

A few minutes later, she backed out of the parking space, then seeing there was no traffic, entered the street, turning toward her old apartment. The drive didn't take very long, her old place was less than seven blocks away from the building they had just left.

After getting the two girls out of their seats once they arrived there, she locked the car and led them to the entry of her old building. She had had one of six small apartments on the third floor, even smaller than the one Annalise and Asemba had shared.

Using a set of keys she hadn't even looked at in over a week, she unlocked the entry door, then led the girls to a small elevator. She pressed the button to go up, but had to wait as someone was getting on it from the fourth floor, then the darn thing went up to the sixth floor. The building had six floors above ground plus the basement, which had three apartments along with the furnace and a small open space that most of the tenants in the building used as a recreation room. A ping pong table was at one end, three couches around a TV filled the other end.

Eventually, the elevator arrived at the ground floor, four people stepped out of it, all of them heading toward the building's front door. Seanna waited until they were out the door, then hit the up button again; the elevator opened and Seanna and the girls entered.

Seanna pressed three, and the elevator slowly climbed to the third floor; when it opened, Seanna led the two girls out, then down the hall to her old apartment, the one at the very back of the building on the right hand side, unlocked the door and waved the two girls into the room.

The space wasn't much to talk about, maybe 15' by 12', but it had three windows compared to one in Annalise's apartment. There was an old wardrobe instead of a closet, a dresser, a double bed, and a couch with coffee table and TV, with a small two seat table beside a window.

Seanna told the two girls to watch some TV, then spent the next hour sorting out her clothes. Two bags were filled with clothes she intended to keep, another four bags were filled with clothes she would donate to the nearest Goodwill or Salvation Army store she could find.

One last bag was filled with items that would be going into the trash bins at the side of the building.

She told the girls not to open the door at all, then she hauled the bags down to her car, putting the two with clothes she wanted in the footwells of the back seat of the car, then took two more trips to bring down the items she would donate before returning to the third floor one last time. She picked up the last bag, called the girls, locked the apartment, and headed down to the first floor, then out the door and over to the garbage bins, dropping the single bag in one of them, before turning around to enter the building again.

She led the girls down a small flight of steps, down the basement hall to the one door on the right side and knocked. When the door opened, she handed the keys to the apartment to the landlord and told him to do what he wanted with the contents of the apartment.

He asked if she was okay, she told him she had a much better place now, said goodbye to him and led the girls back up the stairs.

Seanna unlocked the car, secured the girls in their seats, closed the door, then opened the driver's door, climbed in and put on her seat belt. She waited a few minutes, then turned toward the street. She had to wait as a couple of cars went by, then turned into the street.

She had remembered, while she was sorting everything out, that there was a store that sold second hand items and clothing a few blocks away, and that it had a donation bin. When she reached the store, she grabbed the bags from the trunk and threw them in the bin.

Back at the car, she transferred the bags in the footwells of the back seat to the trunk, closed the trunk and the door, then got in the front seat again. She buckled herself in, then looked behind her; there wasn't any traffic, so she backed into the street and headed for Sue's building.

**********

Half an hour later, they arrived back at Sue's, Seanna taking the car through the laneway to the back of the house. She turned off the engine once she had stopped, then opened the door, grabbed her purse and closed the driver's door. Opening the back door, she released the girls, then popped the trunk open, grabbed the two bags, closed the trunk and followed the girls to the back door, unlocking it.

The girls headed into the house, scampering up the stairs to wait by the door to Sue's apartment. Seanna took her time carrying the two bags, then dropped them to unlock the apartment door, ordering the girls to take off their coats and leave them by the hall closet.

It only took a minute for the girls to get out of and then drop their coats, then they ran into Leilani's bedroom, each holding a stuffed toy from Annalise's old place. Seanna could hear the two girls giggling as she took off her own jacket, then hung all three of them up in the closet.

She stuffed the two bags into the bottom of the hall closet, figuring she wouldn't need them before the weekend.

She checked the TV listings and found a movie the girls might want to watch; she called them out as it was just starting. They sprawled on the couch as she went into the kitchen to get some chips and some water, then brought paper plates and plastic cups out as well.

When the movie ended, Seanna sent the two girls to Leilani's room to put on nighties and hop into bed. She cleaned up the remains of the chips, put the rest of the water in the fridge, then went in and read a bedtime story to the girls who soon drifted off to sleep.

Seanna watched TV for a couple of hours, then made her own way to bed, falling asleep within minutes of going under the covers.

**********

The next two days were spent packing up most of the clothes in the apartment, and deciding which of Sue's clothes she wanted to keep. In the end, about half of Sue's clothing would end up in a donation bin somewhere, some would go in the garbage, Seanna would keep the rest.

Since she knew that she would be fairly busy getting furniture into the new house, Seanna made an arrangement with JJ to keep the girls on Friday. She then drove over to the new house, being sure to arrive earlier than the first delivery was scheduled to show up.

The first delivery truck actually arrived about ten or fifteen minutes late. Seanna spent the next 3.5 hours showing the men where she wanted each piece to be placed. Several pieces were still in the back of the large truck when the second delivery vehicle showed up.

Now Seanna was even busier; thankfully, the second truck didn't have quite as much as the first, both were fully unloaded by 4:30 PM.

Once the second truck had disappeared down the road, Seanna moaned, leaning against the doorframe, she was worn out. She had been running all over the place, in and out of the house, up and down stairs all day; if she took another step right now, she would collapse.

She had stuffed her cell phone in one of the pockets of her jacket so she could answer if anyone called, but no one had. Still sagging against the doorframe, Seanna called her mother, who said that she would catch a cab and be over there in a few minutes.

Ten minutes later, Seanna's Momma hopped out of a cab, paid her fare and half-carried, half-dragged Seanna into the house.

**********

An hour later, after being able to stay off her feet and just relax, Seanna felt much better. They left the house, Seanna drove her Momma to her house, then headed into a mall for some quick Xmas shopping, picking up gifts for Momma, Tamara, Uncle Tony and his family, the two girls, JJ, Pat and the rest of the women in that house, then paid for the gifts to be wrapped in the various stores where she had been shopping.

Once her shopping was done and everything was stuffed in the trunk, Seanna drove across the city to Sue's building, she had missed not being with the girls all day. She managed to get the gifts up to Sue's apartment, then shoved them in Sue' bedroom closet for now.

After the gifts were out of sight, she wandered down the stairs, knocked on JJ's door and was mobbed by the two little girls.

**********

Early Saturday morning, which happened to be December 24th, Seanna grabbed most of the presents she had hidden in Sue's apartment and carried them down to her car. She asked JJ to just keep an eye on the children, she would be back in about an hour.

Seanna drove over to her Momma's house, then carried all the gifts into the front parlour. The furniture had been moved aside so a nine foot tall Norway spruce could be placed in a pot to one side of the small fireplace. Gifts were scattered in piles all around the tree.

Seanna informed her Momma that she would be back either late in the afternoon or early in the evening with the girls.

**********

Seanna decided it was a perfect day for the girls to be out having fun in the park. She called Mark and Kate to enquire if they could by chance meet at the park and give Toby a chance to run around with the three girls. Mark and Kate had seen the newscasts about Seanna's rescue of Asemba the week before and were all too happy to have a chance to go out and have some fun.

Seanna told Leilani that she would be able to play with Sally and the dog Toby, but that Asemba would need to be included. Leilani immediately began jumping up and down, she hadn't seen Sally or the dog for over a week, and she finally convinced Asemba to go along.

Seanna then had to get the two girls into their coats, both had decided on overalls, a t-shirt and a sweater for playing in the park. Seanna also made them put on a pair of boots, as there had been a bit of rain at some point during the night and the ground was still damp.

Once they were ready, Seanna put on her own coat and boots, locked the door, then led the girls down the stairs and out the front door. The park was a bit over two blocks away; it was a fair sized park, about four square blocks, so lots of room to run around.

**********

Seanna and the girls met Mark, Kate, Sally and Toby at a fountain a few hundred feet inside the park. The fountain was turned off at this time of year, but it was still used as a gathering spot that was easily recognizable by anyone coming into the park.

As soon as Toby saw and smelled Leilani, he was all over her, licking her face and anywhere else he could reach. Then Toby noticed that there was another girl with Leilani, but this one seemed a bit scared. He turned to face Asemba, sat down and then offered her a paw.

Asemba stood there for a minute, the dog lowered his paw, then raised it again. Leilani whispered to Asemba, "He won't hurt you."

Finally, Asemba reached out and grasped the paw when Toby offered it for the third time, then sank to her knees and hugged the dog.

**********

A few minutes later, after Mark had let Toby off the leash, then handed rubber balls to the girls, the three girls and the dog ran off to play. It surely couldn't have been more than ten minutes after that when Seanna looked over that way and saw a crowd of children playing there.

Seanna pointed it out to Mark and Kate, Mark laughed, saying, "Every time we bring the dog here, he becomes an instant child magnet!"

Like the first time, some children were tossing the balls around, Toby would chase first one, then another. Today, some of the kids were tossing sticks too and Toby thought it was a perfect time to play fetch. Between the balls and the sticks, Toby was all over the place.

Every now and then, the kids and Toby would fall to the ground and rest for a while before playing again.

The day was a bit warmer than usual for the time of year, the adults were content to watch as long as things appeared to be okay. If anything did happen, they would be able to get over to the children in about fifteen or twenty seconds if they ran the whole way.

At one point, Mark checked his watch and was surprised to discover that it was already 12:45 PM. "The children have been running around for the last few hours, how about we take them to Tom and Jack's for some lunch? Hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream..."

Seanna thought for a moment. "That sounds good, it's warm enough the kids could likely eat at the picnic tables under the tree there."

"Yup, and if they do eat there, we'll be able to keep an eye on them easily enough," Mark replied.

**********

When the adults wandered over to make the suggestion about going to Tom and Jack's for lunch, they noticed pairs or small groups of adults approaching the children from several different directions. They all met in a loose group around the children.

There was a bit of discussion. In the end, all but one family decided to go to Tom and Jack's; the whole group, including eleven adults and seventeen children aged from three to eight, started walking across the park toward the popular restaurant.

They had to wait for a minute or so at the stoplight/crossing at the edge of the park; when it changed to green, the group crossed, then turned up the street toward the restaurant, arriving there a minute or two later. The horde then invaded the restaurant.

Tom, an older gentleman, noticed the group as they walked in the door and laughed, business would be good today.

The children were brought to the counter one by one to pick out what they wanted; most chose a hot dog and fries along with a pop, a few decided to have a hamburger and fries instead. The adults placed their orders, the bill was added up and the adults all helped to pay it.

Tom informed them that they would haul two more picnic tables out from the shed behind the restaurant so they could all sit down. Jack, who actually was Jackie, Tom's wife, sent their two sons Paul and James out to carry the extra tables over to the tree, then set the food orders on an assortment of trays, with a bit of paper with a name on it placed on each tray to identify who would be getting the meals.

The group wandered out to the tree, arriving just as Paul and James placed the last table under the tree. The boys then headed into the restaurant, returning a moment later carrying two trays each, called out names and set them down by the child responding to the name.

The boys needed to make a couple more trips before everyone had their meals in hand, then they all dug in. It was a late but great lunch.

**********

Once Leilani and Asemba had finished eating, or had eaten as much as they could, Seanna took the trays into the restaurant. Kate had been right behind her, carrying the trays that she, Mark and Sally had used. Both women returned to the table to collect their child(ren).

Leilani thanked Mark, Kate and Sally for being able to play wth Toby again; it took a few minutes, but Asemba eventually thanked them. Seanna and the girls walked along the sidewalk beside the park, then turned at the corner to head for home. At that point, Mark, Kate, and Sally said goodbye, Toby giving lots of free licks to one and all in the process, as they needed to go the opposite direction.

Seanna said that she would give them a call some time soon about going to the park again, then the girls turned toward home.

**********

Seanna and the girls hadn't been in the door for five minutes before both girls crawled into bed for a well-earned nap.

She let them sleep for a while, she wanted them to be able to have some fun this evening, Christmas would be spent with Momma.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story, Christmas finally and Seanna starts working in the corporation's head office.

**********

At 4:30 PM, Seanna entered Leilani's bedroom and woke the girls up, saying they needed to get ready to visit her Momma. Seanna quickly packed some clothes for the two girls, enough to last a couple of days, then helped the girls into nice looking jersey dresses. After helping both girls to put on a pair of tights and picking out matching Mary Janes, she led them out into the main area of the apartment.

Once the two girls had their coats on, Seanna zipped them up, then grabbed her own coat and her purse as they left the apartment. Seanna led them down the stairs, out the back door and quickly strapped them into their car seats, then closed the back door and climbed into the driver's seat of the car. She started the engine, let it warm up for a few minutes, then backed up before following the laneway to the street.

Seeing that there was no traffic, Seanna turned into the street and started driving toward her Momma's house.

**********

It took them almost an hour to get to Momma's, traffic was slow in many places, it seemed everyone was out doing last minute shopping. Finally, Seanna was able to turn into her Momma's drive, park the car and turn off the engine.

Seanna sat there for a few minutes, driving here this time hadn't been fun, there had been three accidents on the way which she had had to drive around, and at least two almost accidents thanks to drivers not paying attention, one had been jabbering away on a cell phone. The only reason THAT driver hadn't ended up in an accident was that the drivers around the idiot HAD been paying attention.

With a quiet sigh, Seanna got out of the car, released the girls from their seats, closed the doors and used the remote to lock the car.

Seanna and the two girls walked up to the front door of Momma's house. Seanna rang the bell just as her Momma opened the door.

"Hi, Momma, I didn't expect you to be watching the door. Traffic was lousy, three accidents and a couple almosts, one idiot on a cell phone."

"Hi, Seanna, at least you and the girls made it here safely, come on in. Coats and shoes off, girls, then you can go to the playroom if you like."

Once the two girls had removed their coats and shoes, they scampered to the playroom at the back of the house. Seanna and her Momma brought in the two suitcases from the car, taking them up to Seanna's old room at the back on the second floor, then wandered down to the back parlour across the hall from the playroom after a brief stop in the kitchen to get some fresh coffee.

**********

The two women took seats on the big sofa, then Momma turned on the TV, just in time to catch the evening news. The three accidents that Seanna had bypassed were mentioned, as were two others; everyone was blaming the recent weather, especially the incoming cold spell and the freezing rain earlier that afternoon that left patches of ice everywhere. Seanna mumbled, "Easier to blame the weather than yourself."

Her Momma chuckled, then shook her head. "Too true, many people just won't take responsibility for their own actions nowadays."

The two women could hear the girls chattering now and then from the playroom across the hall. The rest of the news was the usual stuff, some reports on the president-elect's actions of recent days, plus two armed robberies, a missing woman and a big business takeover.

Once the news was finished, Momma suggested that they could get take-out, as she would be cooking for several hours tomorrow. Seanna nodded and wandered over to the playroom, asked the girls what they wanted, and was told, "Yummy chicken!"

Seanna giggled, returned to the parlour, pulled out her phone and called KFC, placing an order for a bucket and three bottles of orange juice.

**********

The order from KFC arrived about 35 minutes later, Seanna paid and took the food and drinks to the kitchen at the back of the house. Her Momma followed her into the kitchen, pulled out some plates, placed a breast, a drumstick and some fries on each plate, then set them on the table. She also placed some a knife and fork at each place in case anyone wanted to use them, then split one of the three bottles of orange juice between two glasses for the girls before setting a full bottle beside the two other plates as Seanna called the girls for dinner.

Momma pulled a few items from the fridge and made a quick salad in a large bowl, set it on the table, then put some on each plate. She figured that the salad would at least give them a bit of healthy food, no harm in making sure children have their greens.

As chicken can be a bit messy, Momma pulled out two bibs, tying one on each of the girls, then set clean dish towels across their laps.

Leilani and Asemba were ravenous and tore into the chicken, devouring it in a few short minutes, then ate their fries and salad. The two women smiled at the obviously hungry girls while taking their time to eat their own meals and chat about recent events.

The two girls waited patiently for the women to finish; when they did, Seanna grabbed a cloth from the sink, removed the bibs and wiped the girls' faces and hands before saying they could go to the playroom for a while before bedtime. The girls were gone as soon as she said it.

Seanna and her Momma quickly cleared the dishes, rinsing them before placing them in the dishwasher, then returned to the parlour. Seanna turned on the TV and found a comedy movie to watch, then settled into the sofa as she sipped at a fresh cup of coffee.

Halfway through the movie, there was a brief power outage. Momma grabbed several candles from the kitchen and lit them, placing two on the coffee table in the parlour and a few on plates on the kitchen table, then carried one into the playroom while Seanna checked on the girls. Seanna carefully picked up the two sleepy girls, balancing one on each hip, then slowly walked up the stairs to her old room.

Seanna stripped the two girls, then dressed each of them in a pretty nightgown before tucking them in with a kiss on their foreheads. Both of the girls were barely awake; a few minutes of reading from one of their favourite stories was enough, both were soon sound asleep.

**********

Seanna and her Momma returned to the main floor of the house, then the parlour, relaxing on the sofa and chatting.

The power eventually come on nearly an hour later, a quick call to the provider informed them that a frozen line on their street had snapped. Seanna was quite pleased at the prompt and efficient service that resulted in the power returning that soon.

The two women blew out the candles they had been using, and returned the candles to their normal place in the pantry next to the kitchen.

Seanna and her Momma stayed up to catch the late evening news, which was just as crazy as the earlier news had been; five more accidents thanks to the icy roads, two more robberies, both in Seanna's old neighbourhood, and a story of a woman who had been skiing at a location about an hour outside of the city, the woman had missed a turn and had skied off a fifty foot cliff, breaking a leg and wrist in the fall.

Once the news had finished, the two women turned off the first floor lights and went up to their beds.

**********

Seanna's Momma woke up at 6:45 AM on Christmas Day. This was a bit later than her usual wake up time of 6 AM, but she was glad for the extra rest as she would be busy in the kitchen for several hours today. Christmas dinner was always a big effort for her. At least this time she would have Seanna in the house; Tamara and Tony, Sr. and family were expected to arrive in the late morning or early afternoon.

After a brief wash, she dressed in a plain bra and pair of panties, an old pair of heavy jeans, a t-shirt, an old flannel shirt and running shoes, then wandered down to the kitchen to do the initial preparations for the big mid-afternoon meal. She turned the oven on to preheat it.

She spent the first fifteen or twenty minutes in the kitchen making the stuffing using a recipe her mother and grandmother had used, http://www.food.com/recipe/betty-crockers-classic-bread-turk... , then added some shredded pancetta for a bit of extra flavour.

Once the stuffing was ready, she rinsed half a dozen medium carrots and two Spanish onions, then chopped the carrots into 1/3" thick slices. She switched to the onions, cut each one in half, then each half into quarters, then set them with the carrots in a bowl on the counter.

She'd seen one of Jamie Oliver's recipes for cooking turkey that mentioned putting bits of rolled pancetta into the thighs and drumsticks of the bird. She thought it might be interesting to try, so she rolled a sprig of rosemary and a sliver of garlic into a thin strip of pancetta, then poked holes in the thighs and drumsticks as suggested in Jamie's recipe before placing each rolled pancetta into a hole.

Once the turkey was ready and stuffed, she set it in the roasting pan, dropped the chopped carrots and onions into the pan around the bird, then quickly cut half a dozen buds of garlic in half before dropping them into the pan as well. She foil wrapped the bird, placed the pan in the oven, turned the oven down to 180°C (350°F) and closed the door. As the bird was 25 pounds, she expected it to cook for about five hours.

It was just before 7:30 AM when she set the bird in the oven, a few minutes later, Seanna came wandering down wearing a nightgown and robe. The coffee pot was still half full, so she poured a cup and warmed it in the microwave before adding a bit of sugar and milk.

Seanna and her Momma chatted as Momma went to work on making some apple and mince pies, then set the apple pies in the oven. The mince pies would need to wait as there wasn't enough space to put more than two pies on the upper rack of the oven at one time.

**********

Just after Momma put the apple pies in the oven, Seanna heard the girls as they started down the stairs. Seanna was surprised, she had expected the girls to be awake a fair bit earlier to open presents, but it seemed the girls had been totally worn out the night before.

Leilani and Asemba bounced down from the bottom step, giggling madly, then Leilani spotted Seanna looking out from the kitchen. The two little girls wandered into the kitchen, received hugs from both women, then Momma set out a few boxes of cereal and popped some bread into her eight slice toaster. Momma then pulled out the mixings for blueberry pancakes, mixing the batter while the two girls watched.

Momma grabbed a frying pan from the wall near the window, then put some butter in the pan, letting it melt before she spooned the first bit of batter into the pan. It only took a couple of minutes before she flipped the pancake, then about the same time before she pulled it from the pan, asking Seanna to grab some plates from the cupboards. Momma set the pancake on one plate, then had Seanna cut it in half and give each half to one of the girls as she started the next one. A few minutes later, Momma and Seanna both had their own large pancake to eat.

With the cereal and toast, the pancakes would fill them up hopefully until the turkey would be ready for everyone to enjoy.

**********

With breakfast out of the way, Seanna led the two little girls into the front parlour where the tree had been set up. When Leilani and Asemba entered the front parlour and saw the piles of gifts under the tree, they both squealed in delight and ran over to the gifts.

Seanna followed them, settled herself down next to them in lotus position, then reached in, picked out a gift and handed it to Asemba. The little dark-skinned girl stood there for a moment as the gift was handed to her, evidently in shock, then shook herself and ripped off the wrapping. The gift turned out to be a pretty golden brown sweater that would bring out the colour of her eyes whenever she would wear it.

Seanna smiled, then handed a gift to Leilani; Leilani opened it to find a beautiful gold necklace with a unicorn and girl pendant.

Shortly after Seanna started passing gifts to the girls, Momma pulled the apple pies from the oven and placed the mince pies in it.

Gift after gift was handed to the two girls, various pieces of children's clothing, jewellery, and lots of toys including several dolls and stuffed toys. There were various games oriented to children under seven years of age, as well as several books suitable for younger children.

Momma wandered into the front parlour while Seanna was handing gifts to the girls and sat on a chair nearby, watching and smiling. Eventually, Seanna ran out of gifts for the girls, so she passed her mother one that turned out to be a lovely forest green knee length dress.

Momma laughed and joined them by the tree, reaching under it, finding a gift that had Seanna's name on it, and passed it to her. It turned out to be an ivory sweater and pale blue skirt combo that Seanna had been looking at several months earlier. Seanna giggled in delight.

For the next ten minutes, Seanna and her Momma passed gifts to each other. Like the ones for the children, there was a mix of clothing, plus items more suitable to older people. Momma had bought several pieces of cookware for when Seanna moved into the new house, along with a nice coffee maker and two vouchers for markets in the area. Seanna had bought her Momma a new knife set for the kitchen and a crock pot.

The old grandfather clock on the other side of the fireplace chimed 10:15 AM as they finished opening gifts. Momma and Seanna spent the next several minutes clearing up all the torn bits of wrapping paper before depositing it all in a large black garbage bag.

**********

The two women and the girls spent the next four hours or so watching various Christmas movies in the back parlour. Every now and then, Momma would get up, wander out to the kitchen to check on the turkey, then return to continue watching the movies.

All four pies were done by 10:15 AM, they were put in the fridge after being left out on the counter to cool down for half an hour or so.

At about 1:15, Momma pulled the turkey from the oven, having checked that it was cooked right through, then set it on the counter. While the turkey was sitting on the countertop, Momma was busy cooking the rest of the meal, preparing butternut squash with onions and pecans, lemon pepper green beans, potatoes and broccoli au gratin, a creamy corn pudding, and maple glazed sweet potatoes with bacon and caramelized onions. She wanted this to be a good, solid meal that would have everyone's mouth watering by the time the meal was served.

Just after 1:30 PM, the doorbell rang, Seanna answered it, letting in Uncle Tony, his wife, his son and her sister Tamara.

At about 2:30 PM, Momma transferred some of the items that had been fully cooked into bowls that were oven safe, then set them in the oven to keep warm while the other items finished cooking. The last of the food was fully ready just before 3 PM, Momma took a short break.

While Momma relaxed for a few minutes, Tamara and Seanna set the table for eight people, using the special heirloom silverware and plates. Wine glasses were set by all of the adults' seats, including Tony, Jr.'s; he was fifteen, old enough to enjoy a bit of wine on special occasions. Ordinary glasses were set by each plate, as well as mugs for those who wanted to have coffee or tea with the meal.

The various dishes were set on small silver platters around the main piece, the 25 pound stuffed turkey on its own heavy silver platter.

**********

At 3:15 PM, Seanna and her Momma called everyone in for the Christmas dinner; people found seats, a brief prayer was said, then Uncle Tony, as the eldest male, was asked to cut the turkey; he graciously agreed, cut and served turkey to everyone, then the table became a chaotic mess of dishes passing hither and thither as people took what they wanted, then passed the dishes onward again.

Everyone tried a bit of all of the various dishes, discovered what they liked and didn't, and worked on stuffing themselves right up to the gills. Uncle Tony and Tony, Jr. were the last ones to lay down their silverware, both had had two servings of pie to finish the meal.

Congratulations were given on a wonderful meal; Tamara, Seanna and Uncle Tony's wife Larissa cleared the table and started washing the dishes. The plates, once rinsed, would be fine in the dishwasher, they were good, solid high quality stoneware.

Once all of the dishes had been set to soak or put in the dishwasher, everyone ended up in the back parlour watching Christmas movies.

Shortly after 6 PM, the two little girls were yawning quite often, Seanna watched them for a few minutes, then took them upstairs. She led them into the bathroom, had them strip while she started the bath, then she grabbed towels and nightgowns, setting them on the edge of the sink. She gave the girls a quick bath without washing their hair, then helped them dry off and put on their nightgowns. She led them into her room, set them in the middle of the bed, and read a bit of a story until the two girls were asleep.

Seanna returned to the back parlour, spending time with the other members of the family, until they left just after 8 PM.

Seanna and her mother spent the last few hours of the evening listening to Christmas music on the radio before going to their beds.

**********

Boxing Day was spent relaxing, although Seanna did take the girls to see a movie at a theater in the heart of the city. When the movie ended, Seanna took the girls back to her Momma's where she packed up most of her clothing to be transferred to the new house.

The 27th and 28th of December were spent moving Seanna's clothing and personal belongings from her Momma's house to the new one, then Seanna's and the girls' clothing and personal items from Sue's place to the new house, where everything was placed where it belonged. Seanna also spent part of the 27th meeting the last furniture delivery and guiding the workers to where items needed to be placed.

On the 29th, Seanna watched the evening news which showed a clip of a woman in Texas catching a flying car seat after it had been thrown from a car involved in a collision on the Southwest Freeway a short distance from the IHOP which the woman and two children had just left. The reporter mentioned that a video of the catch had apparently gone viral on Facebook already, with close to 200k likes in just eight hours.

Seanna and her Momma talked about that and other things after the girls had been put to bed that evening.

On the 30th, Thaddeus called and asked if Seanna would be willing to start working at headquarters after New Year's. She spent about thirty minutes on the phone with Thaddeus, as he gave her information and advice related to the job, and she agreed to start then.

For some reason that Seanna couldn't quite understand or explain, the pictures of that woman catching the flying car seat stayed on her mind over the last two days of 2016. It was clear by the woman's reaction that she valued the lives of children very highly. Seanna thought about it for almost 24 hours, then decided to see if there was any way to trace the woman, whose name had not been given in the video clip.

**********

On the last day of the year, Seanna received an unexpected phone call from Judge Thomas-Black; it seemed the Judge had gone to school many years back with another Judge who had set up shop in the Greater Houston area, whereas Thomas-Black had stayed here.

Judge Thomas-Black had called her friend Judge Thibideau the day before, and had learned the identity of the woman from the video clip. It seemed he had been working with the woman in securing the safety of a transgendered child; the woman had brought the child to Houston to meet the Judge, and had then stumbled over the transgendered victim of a child rape ring shortly after that child was raped. The woman's quick action in contacting the Judge had led to the new child being examined, then the arrests of the ring over the next two days.

It was only after the last one had been arrested that the woman had gone out again, and the result was the catch of the car seat that day.

In fact, Judge Thomas-Black had talked with her Judge friend down there the afternoon of the 30th, then had decided to tell Seanna.

After her chat with Judge Thomas-Black had ended, Seanna sat and thought for a good long while. Judge Thomas-Black had told her the woman was looking for a new job, likely in the Houston area but possibly elsewhere. Her thoughts turned to the possibility that the woman might be interested in working with children, even though she had had a fairly decent job for four years doing business administration in LA. Seanna thought a bit longer, then decided that she would write up a job offer and send it to the woman through Judge Thibideau in Houston.

**********

The girls had whined all day long on New Year's Eve to be allowed to stay up late; Seanna had eventually agreed, she even made them have a nap in the afternoon, but it made little difference, by 11:15 PM, both girls were nodding off on the sofa in the parlour.

Momma had come over a few hours before, and helped Seanna take the girls upstairs, change them and tuck them into their bed.

Momma and Seanna returned to the parlour where they watched the ball drop in Times Square at midnight. The two women shared a brief toast wishing each other the best for the new year ahead, then Momma left to go home and Seanna wandered up to her own bed.

New Year's Day was spent relaxing in the new house, the girls loved the fact that the beautiful doll house was in their bedroom, where they could play in privacy with Seanna only looking in on them now and then. Stuffed animals were on the bed and all around the room.

**********

Seanna woke up at 7 AM on January 2nd; she groaned, she liked sleeping in, but this was her first day at work, she had to go there. She had a quick shower, deciding not to wash her hair, then dressed in a nice three piece suit, pantyhose and three inch heels.

She was nervous as she woke Leilani and Asemba, they'd had a bath the night before, so the three headed to the kitchen. After breakfast, which consisted of cereal and toast, she took the two girls upstairs and dressed them in nice dresses, tights and Mary Janes. Leilani's dress was light blue with slightly darker bands at the waist, neck, cuffs and hem, whereas Asemba's was a medium pink with darker bands.

Shortly after 8 AM, Seanna led the two girls out the side door of the house, locking it behind her, then unlocked the car; once she had strapped them both into their car seats and closed the rear door, she settled into the driver's seat, closed that door and started the car. As she waited for the car to warm up, she smiled at the two girls in the back seat, then slowly backed the car toward the street.

She made sure there was no traffic before she turned into the street, then headed toward the office building and her new job.

**********

Seanna pulled into the CEO's parking space just after 8:30 AM; she quickly released the girls, then locked the car. She headed for the elevators, the girls following close behind her; they had to wait a few minutes before an elevator opened on their floor.

When Seanna had talked with Thaddeus, he had informed her that she would be getting the biggest office in the building, one that had a wide south-facing window to let in sunlight. That end of the top floor was shared by a large board room across the hall from her office. There were half a dozen offices a fair bit smaller than her own at that end of the floor for the various divisions' Operations VPs. The other end of the top floor, beyond the reception area, was a huge ballroom, one hundred eighty feet long and sixty feet wide, used for special events.

Seanna had to stop at the eighth floor first, as that was where the company had decided to set up the new day care center. There were three women working there at the moment, Seanna dropped off Leilani and Asemba and talked with the staff for a few minutes. The gist of the conversation was that these women were only temp workers, filling in until full-time staff could be hired. A bit more chat led to the discovery that half a dozen applications for the day care center staff were sitting on Seanna's new desk, waiting for her to look at them.

Seanna shook her head, said goodbye to the temp day care staff, then headed up to her office on the top floor of the building.

**********

Her morning was quite busy, she attended one meeting where she met with various high ranking company officers, then had a short break where she looked at a couple of the applications that were lying on her desk when she arrived. At 11 AM, there was another meeting, this one with the various Finance VPs and her Uncle Tony. They spent the next 90 minutes planning for the new year.

She finally had a chance to settle down for a while, but it was already lunch time. She headed to the cafe on the first floor of the building, where she ordered a chicken wrap and a green salad for her lunch; she finished it in about fifteen minutes, then headed back up to the office.

Once she was in the office, she resumed looking at the applications. Four of the six applications looked good, she felt that three of the four would be suitable as staff for the day care center, but the fourth had worked in day care for almost fifteen years. Possible management? She took a closer look at that application, it showed that the woman had run her own day care center until a few months ago; the building where she had had her center had been partially destroyed by a heavy storm and the building had been condemned, ending her work there.

Seanna checked the information the woman had given, then called the home number and listened to it ring four times.

On the fifth ring, the phone was answered. "Hello, this is Juliet Landry speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hello, Mrs. Landry, I'm Seanna Ramsay, I've recently been appointed as the new CEO of Ramsay Enterprises. We are looking at creating a day care center in the headquarters building for all company employees, and I have your application in front of me."

"Ahhh, yes, there was a notice put out a week or so ago about your company hiring for that. I took a day or so to look up your company, and after finding that you seemed to be quite reputable, I figured it wouldn't hurt to put in an application there."

"Indeed, Mrs. Landry. I noticed that you have extensive experience running a day care center. How would you like to run this one? I want to say that I'm considering hiring another woman to work with you, but she will cover the business admin side of it, not the operations side."

"Hmmmm... I'm assuming the person you are thinking of hiring for that has a business admin degree?"

"I know for a fact that she does, I will be drafting up a letter offering her a job here once we finish talking. Her job will be to take care of the financial side of things and help out in the day care when not doing the books; effectively, she would be the Finance VP for the day care."

"I was never all that good with the bookkeeping myself, having someone who knows it well would make things much easier for me."

"I'm prepared to offer you a starting salary of $75 thousand per year, I will be hiring three other women who will be working with you, each of them will be offered a starting salary of $55 thousand per year. The Finance VP's salary would be the same as yours. If things go well, each of the people in your department would get a bonus at year end of three to five percent. Any additional hiring would be for you to do."

"Wow, I was lucky if my total income last year was $50 thousand, I've been on the edge of bankruptcy for the last two months."

"Well, I'm sure this will give you some much needed financial stability. Could you drop in at my office before 5 PM today, please?"

"I can be there in 45 minutes, Miss Ramsay, thank you very much."

**********

Seanna spoke with Thaddeus briefly, outlining her plans for the day care center, and informed him of the prospective salary costs. He listened as she spoke, then said that it looked like it was working out well, with four full time staff, they could get the ball rolling.

Seanna looked over the other applications, she had decided to get Mrs. Landry's opinion on the three she had picked.

Mrs. Landry arrived a few minutes earlier than expected and was shown into Seanna's office.

"Hello, Mrs. Landry, I called you in here because I want your opinion on the other applicants for the day care."

Juliet Landry looked up, surprised at what she had just heard. "You trust me to give you my honest opinion? Why?"

"Why would be because you ran your own day care for almost fifteen years with no legal issues at all, that's an impressive record. If it hadn't been for the amount of damage to the building your center was in after that storm last fall, you would likely still be working there."

"All right, let me see these applications, then, I'm assuming mine was with them until you called me earlier?"

"Correct, after reading your application, I decided to hire you, now you can choose your co-workers." Seanna handed her the applications.

Mrs. Landry looked through the applications for the next twenty minutes, then set two aside. "These two, I wouldn't hire them if they were the last workers in the field, one has outstanding assault charges arising from an incident with a child, the other has a poor work record."

"Hmmm, I didn't know about the outstanding assault charges, I assume you've worked with that one at some point?"

"Yes, she worked at my center for about three months, I walked in one day just as she raised her hand to hit a child. I fired her on the spot. I have no idea if she actually hit a child while working in my center or not, but I wasn't going to let her hit one, not on my turf."

"And the other?"

"She applied to work at my center about a year ago; when I saw her work record, I decided not to hire her, she just wasn't reliable."

"Okay, then, what about the other three applications?"

"Those three will fit in well, all have excellent work records, with three to five years in day care already."

"Hmmm... what about the fact that two of those three are a lesbian couple, would that make a difference at all?"

"Not at all, I met those two when they testified against a worker in the center they were working in at that point. This was about a year ago, those two walked in on another worker as she was sexually assaulting a five year old girl using a dildo. I was on lunch break at the time I found out, they stopped in at the cafe where I was eating on their way to court, I'd met them at training conferences over the last few years."

"Excellent, Mrs. Landry. Welcome to Ramsay Enterprises, you are as of now the head of the Day Care division. Your job will be to manage the day care center here, as well as the day care centers at any other employment sites we have in this state."

"Thank you, Miss Ramsay. Out of curiosity, where will the day care in this building be located?"

"On the south side of the eighth floor; roughly half of that end will be for the day care, including a large playroom at the end of the hall. The rest of that floor is the reception area and office space for the lowest levels of management in the corporation, including two boardrooms."

"That should be enough space, I suppose; if it isn't, I'll be sure to let you know."

"I should think so, each floor is 420 feet long by 60 feet wide, the building covers more than half the block on this side of 9th St. Oh, your first task of your new job is to notify the three applicants you approve of that they've been hired. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Landry."

"Thank you, Miss Ramsay, I'll call them once I'm in the day care. Have a good day."

**********

The rest of Seanna's first day at work was spent reading reports from the various VPs regarding recent activities. She was especially pleased to note that the quarter between October and December had brought in a net profit of $12.65 million US. That amounted to a gain of about $1.35 million dollars profit in just two weeks, not too bad, but a fair bit slower than the rest of the quarter had been.

Seanna also took some time to write a draft of the letter she intended to send to the woman in Texas through the Judge there. She left it on her desk after calling Thaddeus' secretary to let him know that she was considering hiring the woman to work in the day care center.

The next few days passed in a similar fashion, occasional meetings interspersed with her learning more about the company. Whenever she had a free moment, she went over the draft of the letter to the woman in Texas, and finally posted it Wednesday on the way home from work.

On the Thursday afternoon, Seanna informed Thaddeus that she wouldn't be in the building the next day, as she wanted to be in court for the next appearance of the elder Ramsays. She was pretty sure the new info in their case would kill any chance of freedom they might have. Thaddeus had replied that he had been considering going to see what happened, but didn't know when the case was scheduled.

Seanna had checked and informed him that the case was scheduled for 9:30 AM with Judge Ravena Adamowicz presiding.

**********

When the clock on the side wall of the office showed 5 PM, Seanna grabbed her jacket and headed down to the eighth floor. She picked up Leilani and Asemba, then headed down to the car, then home, arriving there just before 6 PM.

Seanna decided to get takeout and ordered several dishes from a popular Chinese restaurant about half a mile away from the house. The food arrived just over half an hour later, Seanna paid for it, carried the bags in, set them on the kitchen table and called the girls.

Once they had washed their hands, Seanna pulled out plates and silverware, then spooned some of each item onto the plates, sweet and sour chicken balls, chicken fried rice, shrimp with chopped vegetables and cashews, moo goo guy pan, almond guy pan and deep fried wontons.

The three of them managed to eat about half of the food, Seanna put the rest in the containers provided and placed them in the fridge.

The two girls were in bed shortly after 8 PM, Seanna was in her own bed just after 10 PM.

**********

Seanna woke up just before 6:30 AM on the 6th of January, used the washroom, then showered, washing her hair in the process. The two girls woke up when she had dried herself off and was using the blow dryer on her hair so she would be ready on time.

When she was finished, Seanna ran a bath for the girls, helped them wash themselves, then dried them and sent them to pick out clothes. They chose dresses in a different style than the previous few days, but in colours that were pretty close to the dresses they'd worn on Monday. Seanna helped them to put on the dresses, then tights before picking out the matching Mary Janes for each girl's dress.

They didn't have a lot of time to spare, so they had a quick breakfast of cereal and toast, brushed their teeth and put on their coats. Shortly after that, they were out the door, in the car and on their way to the headquarters building, where Seanna would meet Thaddeus.

Once they arrived at the company offices, Seanna dropped off the girls in the day care, noticing that Mrs. Landry and one of the new hires were already there, as was one of the three temp workers she had met at the beginning of the week. Mrs. Landry had informed Seanna on Wednesday that the two other girls needed to give at least two weeks notice at their current center before they could transfer to work here. Mrs. Landry had also informed her that she was thinking of hiring two other women who were, as far as she knew, currently unemployed; that company had gone bankrupt about six weeks ago, leaving seven women with no income for the foreseeable future.

Seanna knew that the girls were in good hands. She headed up to Thaddeus' office, then they went down to his car.

**********

Seanna and Thaddeus had arrived in the courthouse at 9:10 AM; they had looked around for several minutes before they figured out which courtroom they needed to be in, then they headed to that courtroom, 118, and took seats on the chairs in the enclosed seating area. There were eight or ten other people sitting in that area, it seems some others were interested in what was happening here.

Thaddeus looked over at the lawyers at the two tables. He was quite surprised to see Stephen P. Brandenburg at the defence table, Stephen was a high-priced attorney who usually demanded retainers in the neighbourhood of $200k US per case, if not higher. What made it even odder was that Mr. Brandenburg looked about ready to chew on nails and spit out bits of iron at everyone. Thaddeus correctly assumed that Mr. Brandenburg had found out that his retainer had been paid for with the funds procured via a criminal action.

Several minutes before the case was due to be called, a group of about a dozen city and county guards escorted the elder Ramsays into the courtroom, then to the seats placed behind the defence table. They were ordered to sit down and stay quiet.

Several of the guards took seats behind the railings, where they could keep an eye on the prisoners, two guards stayed beside them.

Just after 9:30 AM, the bailiff called out "All rise, court is now in session, the Honourable Ravena Adamowicz presiding."

Once the judge had seated herself, he then informed everyone that they could sit down.

Just as the Judge was about to ask what was taking place today, Mr. Brandenburg stood up and spoke. "Your Honour, I am asking to be removed from this case, I cannot honourably defend people who hired me using funds stolen as part of the case being tried here. I also discovered, the day after we were last here, that my retainer had been taken under RICO because the money was illegally obtained. With the retainer having been reclaimed, theoretically, I have not been legally paid to defend these people."

"So, Mr. Brandenburg, they have effectively paid no retainer?"

"That is my understanding of the matter, Your Honour. I may defend people, but I will not do it using blood money or similar."

"If you wish to remove yourself, Mr. Brandenburg, I cannot force you to stay, but it will delay the case somewhat."

"Thank you, Your Honour, I apologize for taking up the court's time with this matter." He bowed slightly, turned and left the courtroom.

Judge Adamowicz shook her head. "You people are in one heck of a predicament, I received a detailed listing of the charges against the seven of you this past Tuesday afternoon, I can't recall if I've ever seen a case like this one before. You stand accused of 386 counts of international wire fraud between the seven of you, as well as 157 charges of embezzlement and 79 charges of misuse of company funds. Each count of wire fraud brings a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine. Each embezzlement charge, if convicted, brings a sentence of five to twenty years in prison, the misuse of funds charges, being a subset of embezzlement, carry the same range of sentence. Then there are the charges that you conspired to commit grievous bodily harm against Suzanne Kealoha and/or conspired to commit murder against Suzanne Kealoha. If the conspiracy to commit murder charges result in convictions, the standard sentence is life in prison.

"This case is serious enough that the District Attorney took over the prosecutorial duties, and I can understand why. From the little bits of information I've heard, any jury in this country would convict the seven of you on all charges, the evidence is just that strong.

"Since you no longer have a lawyer, the court will have to appoint one for you. Once you have a lawyer, you have two options available: enter a plea and hope the court is lenient, or take the case through to the end and hope that you can beat the odds and win.

"The decision is yours. I'm remanding the case for three weeks so that you can get a new lawyer and have them review the evidence."

District Attorney Thames Blaine Everett III thanked the Judge and assured her the defence would have the evidence early next week.

"I will see you again in three weeks, January 27th, 9:30 AM, in this courtroom. If that is all, then this court is adjourned."

Here is the next part of Seanna's story, I hope you all like it.

**********

Seanna and Thaddeus left the courtroom shortly after the Judge adjourned the case. It was annoying that there would be another delay before the case started to actually be heard, but they had been expecting Brandenburg to walk out once he discovered what had happened.

The seven Ramsays sitting behind the defence table were stunned; they had thought that they would have a high-powered attorney working with them, and they had watched him walk out of the courtroom several minutes before, leaving them in the same position they had been in after they were initially arrested, that position being that they would have to depend on a county provided defender.

Then they had heard the Judge giving a description of the possible sentences and the extreme likelihood of convictions on almost all of the counts, maybe even the conspiracy ones, and the colour drained from their faces as they realized that they might never be free again.

The guards collected the seven Ramsays, taking them back down to the cells and split them, scattering them among the dozen or so smaller cells in the courthouse basement level. Once they were all secured in the cells, the guards wandered off to wait for transport orders.

**********

Seanna and Thaddeus returned to the office. Seanna was soon chin deep in paperwork, many of the higher VPs were sending her info on their specific duties and the various subdepartments they led, but the info was helping her to learn about the company and how it worked. Seanna was so busy reading through reports that she didn't even realize she had missed lunch until her secretary came in just before 2 PM.

"Miss Ramsay," she asked as she peered over the pile of paperwork on Seanna's desk, "It's nearly 2 PM, have you had lunch?"

Seanna blinked, then looked up. "Hmmm... no, I haven't, would you get me a chicken salad from the cafe, please?" Seanna placed the report she had been reading on a small clear space on the desk, looked around for a moment, then leaned back, at which point she felt the strap of the purse hanging over the back of the comfortable executive style office chair through the thin fabric of her blouse. She grabbed the purse, pulled out a small wallet and handed $10 to the secretary, who smiled, took the money and walked out of the office.

Most of Seanna's days were spent going through reports, although there were times when she would be required at meetings or a VP would want to show her around their domain. It wasn't all reports, though, some of her reading was information on the in-building employees. It wasn't quite as good as meeting everyone person to person, but it gave her some idea of the skills and abilities of the employees.

She chuckled, it wasn't like she was going to be able to meet every one of the nearly 1050 secretaries and clerks or the 775 lower level management personnel in the building, and that didn't even include the middle and upper management of the corporation. Nor did it include any of the employees or management based outside of the city itself, or in any of the twelve other states where they had offices. Those offices were much smaller, but necessary to keep each part of the company, wherever it might be, rolling as smoothly as possible.

The secretary returned about fifteen minutes later, carefully placed Seanna's chicken salad and change on the lone clear spot on the desk, then left. Seanna thanked her, then opened her lunch and started eating while continuing to read through the current report. Some of the reports she was reading came from the other offices, although those were mostly financial in nature or related to advertising being done there.

She managed to finish her meal eventually, and lost track of the time again, to the point she was startled when the secretary called to her from the outer office that she was leaving for the day. Seanna looked at her watch, it was 5:20 PM, where did all the time go?

**********

As she did every weekday now, she picked up the girls from the day care center in the building, then headed for home. When she felt up to it, she would make a meal, often something fairly simple, and she and the two girls would usually eat around 6:30 PM.

Tonight, she was running a bit late, so she decided to stop in at a KFC, where she picked up a bucket, some fries and pop.

Once they were home, she had the girls remove their coats, then go and wash their hands. The food was on the table when they returned. Seanna had bought some bibs after Christmas, remembering how well they helped to keep nice clothes clean, and it only took a moment or two before she had the bibs on the two girls, with paper napkins on their laps. Soon the three of them were busy eating.

After they finished eating, she let the girls watch TV for an hour, then sent them to their room to prepare for bed. She checked on them a few minutes later, helped them get their nightgowns on straight, then tucked them in and read a story until they drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps the work was tiring her more than she had thought it would, she herself was in bed by 10:30 PM and asleep within minutes.

**********

The weekends were the time where she was able to be with the children all day, or at least most of it. They would often go to the park, meeting Mark, Kate, Sally and Toby for some fun, or visit one of the museums around the city, or or other activities.

Seanna remembered the first time she took the girls to an outdoor skating area in the city on January 7th, and helped the two little girls into their very first sets of ice skates. The rink had a training program for children on Saturday mornings, and Seanna watched as two teenage girls approached the little ones, then led them out onto the ice. Leilani and Asemba slipped and fell many times, but they were clearly enjoying it.

By the time the hour long session ended, the two girls were just short of exhaustion, but their sheer happiness shone through the fatigue.

As Seanna helped them to take off the rental skates, both girls expressed interest in returning again. She looked at them, smiled, and assured them that they could continue to take lessons on Saturday mornings, maybe even on a weekday afternoon or two.

The two girls cheered and promptly team hugged her, one from each side, then all three of them started giggling.

They were soon in the car, Seanna had decided that she would get them their own skates and headed to a well-known sports store. Upon arriving at the store, Seanna let them out of their seats, locked the car and holding their hands, headed into the store. This was aided by a young male in his mid to late teens holding the door open as they were about to enter, Seanna thanked him and they continued inside.

Leilani and Asemba had no idea what was happening. When Seanna told a clerk she wanted skates for them, the two little girls couldn't believe it; when Seanna made it clear she would get them the skates, they both started squealing with excitement.

It took several minutes to settle them down, then a clerk had them both sit and took measurements, returning a moment later with two boxes. Both girls were four years old, Asemba being two months older than Leilani, but it turned out her feet were a half size smaller.

Ten minutes later, with the skates back in boxes and paid for, they exited the store.

**********

Work returned with the beginning of each new week, and Seanna began to catch up, the pile of paperwork decreasing each day.

One Wednesday morning in mid-January, Seanna received a completely different piece of paperwork, one that made her quite angry. The paperwork in question was a note from a female member of the construction division's lower level management group. The note specified that she was being harassed by a mid-level manager in her department, he was demanding sexual favours and threatening her job.

What made it worse was that this young woman was a fairly recent hire, but a valuable asset to the division, as her bachelor's degree in bookkeeping had her involved in keeping track of the financial side of things for part of that division. That was only one part of it, though, the worst of it all was that this young woman was known to be a lesbian by Seanna and upper management in that division.

The woman didn't run around announcing it to everyone, but the mid-level manager knew and was harassing her anyway. The woman stated in her note that he often waited for her to return to her office after lunch, then would walk in on her uninvited.

Seanna was furious. She wasn't sure how this had come through to her instead of to Adrian Porterhouse, but that didn't matter at the moment. She called Adrian and had him come to her office. When he arrived, she showed him the note, he was just as upset by it as Seanna.

"Adrian, both of them are your workers, so you have first right in dealing with this, but I'm coming along."

Adrian nodded, he had no problem with that. "Lunch is starting now, we should get ours now so we can be ready."

"Sounds good to me," Seanna replied as she picked up her purse and followed him out of the office.

**********

Seanna and Adrian tried to enjoy their lunch, but they were both worried about the young woman. Just as they were about to finish their meals, the young woman in question entered the main floor cafe, Adrian pointed her out and resumed eating.

Adrian and Seanna left the cafe a few minutes later, then headed up to an empty office on the eighth floor near the young woman's to wait and watch. Twenty minutes later, the young woman crossed the reception area, walked down the hall and entered her office.

Less than five minutes later, the mid-level manager, Jeff Marks, shoved her office door open, entered and closed the door. Within seconds, the young woman could be heard by both Seanna and Adrian as she told Mr. Marks to leave.

Seanna and Adrian waited a moment, hoping Marks would leave, but that was not to be. Both then headed down the hall and into the office, where Marks was pushing the young woman, Janice Eaton, down on the top of the desk, his other hand pulling up her skirt at the same time.

This was clearly far beyond harassment or bullying, he was obviously intending to force her to have sex, whether she wanted it or not.

Adrian was horrified, he stepped forward, yanked hard on Marks' shoulder, then shoved him against the side wall of the office. Seanna was no less horrified, but had the presence of mind to pull out her phone and call 911, then ask for the police.

The young woman, Ms. Eaton, slowly pulled herself up and walked around her desk, then sat in the chair, moaning softly to herself.

While Seanna talked to the police, Adrian glared at Marks, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Marks?"

Marks sneered, returning the glare, "Only giving her what every woman needs, what else? It's not like she's important at all, she's a woman."

Seanna had just finished talking with the police, who assured her a unit was on the way. "So, Mr. Marks, it's your opinion that that is all that a woman is good for? You do realize we live in the 21st century now, not the 18th or 19th?"

Marks laughed, "Doesn't matter, women are only good for having babies and keeping a man happy, men do all the real work."

"Really? So the fact that there are two fairly high female VPs in this office building means nothing? And I guess that would include me?"

"I don't know, who the heck do you think you are, lady?"

Adrian snarled, "The lady happens to be the CEO of the corporation, my boss and YOURS, well, not yours any more."

Marks snarled back, "Oh, you mean the tranny shit that had the company handed to her by you wusses?"

Seanna realized it was pointless talking to this idiot, she called the security office on the floor, three guards arrived a minute or two later. Just before they walked into the office, Marks tried to shove Adrian aside and leave, but Adrian stood his ground and knocked Marks down.

When the security officers entered the room, Seanna turned to them, "Clear Mr. Marks' office, he's no longer employed here. The police will be arriving shortly to arrest him for attempted sexual assault, Adrian and I walked in on him as he was trying to strip Ms. Eaton." Seanna then ordered the biggest of the three security guards to keep an eye on Marks, the guard, a 6'4" Native American, was all too happy to comply.

The two other guards left the office, heading to Marks' office to follow Seanna's orders.

Marks wasn't ready to give up just yet, he waited for the big security guard to look away, then tried to kick him between the legs. It might have worked if the angle had been better, but the kick glanced off the guard's inner thigh, narrowly missing his genitalia.

The guard growled, picked Marks up by the throat with one hand and was ready to hit him when Seanna told him to put him down. He dropped Marks on the floor, glared down at him and stated in a menacing voice, "You're lucky, buster, Miss Ramsay just saved your ass."

A knock on the door had Adrian stepping over to open it, letting in two police officers. They were quickly informed of what had happened, the older male Mirandized Marks while the younger one cuffed him, then the two officers lead him out of the office.

Seanna spoke with Ms. Eaton for a moment, "You might want to take some time and talk with a therapist about this."

Janice, still shaking from the recent events, whispered, "I don't have a therapist, Miss."

Seanna thought for a moment, then pulled a business card from her purse, "Call this place, they have several therapists available, including three women who specialize in counselling people who have experienced sexual assault, attempted rape, etc."

Janice Eaton nodded, replying, "Yes, miss, I will. Is it true that you are a transsexual, miss?"

"Post-operative, but yes, I'm also the new CEO here. I won't tolerate anyone abusing people who are LGBTQI, etc."

"Thank you, miss, thank you for being here, he was going to..." Janice started crying, full-throated sobs that tore at Seanna's heart, Seanna leaned down and hugged her. It took several minutes before Janice's tears began to slow, and a few more before they stopped.

"A good cry always helps, now I want you to promise that you will see a therapist as soon as possible."

"I will, Miss, I'll call them right now," she said as she reached to pick up the phone on her desk and began dialling.

Everyone else walked out of the office, letting Janice have some privacy for her phone call.

**********

Seanna was glad they had managed to get in there before Marks had been able to do anything. It was bad enough that he had been bullying and harassing Janice, he clearly thought nothing of taking advantage of a woman simply because he could. Seanna had no idea if he had done anything like this before, but she would send a letter to every employee in the building about what had happened, without naming Janice. In the letter, she would add that if any others had undergone similar experiences, they were to inform their manager, then the police.

Within minutes of returning to her office, she was typing up the letter; when it was done, she called her secretary in, then informed her that she needed a copy of the letter to go to every employee in the building as soon as possible. The secretary took the letter and left the room.

**********

Soon enough, she was back reading through reports and employee files, minus Jeffrey Marks, his had been marked "Fired/Prejudice/Arrest". The notation was obvious, he had been fired with prejudice and arrested due to his actions earlier that day, Seanna hoped he'd rot in jail.

Responses to the letter started coming into her office less than 48 hours after they had been sent out. By the Friday of the following week, seventeen women had come forward, claiming he had harassed, bullied, blackmailed or assaulted them. Reports went to the police.

**********

The days passed one by one, the work taking up most of her time, Leilani and Asemba a fair portion of the remainder. Each Saturday morning, Seanna would take them to the rink for another skating lesson, occasionally donning a pair of skates and joining them on the ice.

As January inched closer to February, Rebecca Chase, one of the teenagers who had been helping to teach the two young girls, approached Seanna while Seanna was enjoying a leisurely skate around the crowded rink in the brisk morning air.

"Hello, miss," she said as Seanna stopped, "Your two little girls are doing quite well, you might consider a figure skating class for them. Even though they've only been skating for a few weeks, they both show a natural grace that could be boosted through figure skating."

Seanna smiled, "That good, huh?"

"Take a look for yourself, miss, they're with my friend Tess who is wearing the gold and red toque."

Seanna turned and looked out across the ice, it didn't take long to spot them, both little girls were skating on their own, unassisted. It seemed that this girl was correct, her two girls were already showing a decent level of skill, figure skating would increase it and add grace.

"I see what you mean, have they been doing that well for the whole session today?"

"They've fallen once or twice, but that's nothing compared to the first time they tried it a few weeks ago."

"All right, then, when would these figure skating classes take place, and what is the cost?"

"They start at 10:45 AM on Saturdays, Miss, the classes last 75 minutes, ending at noon, and the cost is $100 for three months, $185 for six months and $350 for a full year per student. That sounds expensive, but part of the cost helps to keep the community center here open."

"Hmmm... at least you're honest about it, so who do I speak to about it?"

"Just go to the front desk, explain what you want and they'll process it, miss."

"I'll do that, then. Your name, please? I'm Seanna Ramsay, by the way."

"Sorry, miss, I should have introduced myself earlier, I'm Rebecca Chase, my friend who's helping your girls is Tess, Theresa Bownes."

"All right, keep an eye on my girls, I'll go pay for it and should be back soon," Seanna said as she sat on a bench and took off the skates. She put on her winter boots, returned the skates to the older woman running the skate supply area, then headed into the community center.

Seanna walked in, waited a moment by the front desk, then talked to a male who happily processed her request.

**********

Seanna returned to the side of the rink just as the girls finished the hour long first session, it was now 10:30 AM. When the two girls started to take off their skates, Seanna watched, then informed them that they would also be taking figure skating lesson on Saturdays. The first lesson would be starting in about fifteen minutes at the indoor rink on the other side of the community center.

When they had switched to their shoes and picked up their skates, Seanna led them to the other rink, then introduced the two girls to the woman running the figure skating class as they took their shoes off and put the skates on again.

Seanna sat on a bench nearby and watched as the class progressed; the woman had two assistants helping the new students. Seanna noted that there seemed to be a few other girls around the age of her two in the class, perhaps they might make some new friends.

**********

Work continued to consist of reading many reports, although she did seem to be catching up now, recent ones were at most a few days old.

Meetings with upper level management were held every two weeks, Seanna was beginning to recognize some of them. She ran into one of the two higher level female VPs one day while getting lunch, the woman's name was Temperance Bounty, which caused Seanna to giggle.

Temperance started laughing herself when Seanna asked, "Whatever made your parents name you that?"

Temperance replied, "If I knew, I'd tell you. I'd ask them, but long distance calls to Florida can get a wee bit expensive."

The two women chatted as they ate their lunch, then they went their separate ways, back to the daily grind.

**********

The second incident involving an LGBTQI person in the building happened when Seanna was at a meeting on February 10th consisting of a dozen members of the Toys division's marketing and advertising team, including the rising star of the ads team, one Marty Browne.

He had just outlined the initial phase of a strategy to mark the shift to toys oriented around St. Patrick's Day, when Richard Port, an older male sitting down near the other end of the table spoke up. "Why is the flouncing fairy running this whole thing? He's not a team, he's one person."

Seanna turned to him and snapped, "You might want to keep quiet if you still value your job, Mr. Port. This is your only warning."

"But," he spluttered.

"But nothing, Mr. Port. Mr. Browne is the perfect lead for this, you might know that if you knew his record of work here and elsewhere."

Thaddeus chuckled, "Indeed. One of our management people first saw Mr. Browne working a stall by a flea market on a weekend. The young man was chatting up a storm as people walked by, proclaiming this, that and the other, and people would take time to look at his items.

"Our manager wandered into the market, found the couple who rented out the stalls and talked to them. The young man had paid for a stall for a week immediately after he graduated from the university. His patter was good enough that he paid the next week a day early. His sales caused people to stay near the market, checking other stalls, as noted by the greengrocer with a triple stall a short distance away. The greengrocer's sales began to climb whenever the young man was present, but especially on weekends when the crowds came."

Seanna took over, "That manager notified his superior, who passed it up the chain to Thaddeus. When Thaddeus heard about him, he had the manager go to Mr Browne's stall to offer him employment here, this was in mid-August after several visits by our manager.

"Mr. Browne said he would think about it and call back, but before he could, he discovered that his grandmother had passed away. He shut down his stall, informed the couple renting the stalls that he would be back as soon as possible, and left for the trip home.

"He was gone for over two weeks, apparently there was some issue about who would inherit what, and it didn't get settled for quite some time. He finally returned to the flea market the first week of September, and met our manager again that next weekend."

Seanna stopped to gather her breath and Thaddeus continued, "So he told the manager he would think about it; when he saw him again the following Friday, he agreed to become one of our employees and officially joined us on September 12th of last year.

"His record since joining us has been impressive. The quarter ending in September showing $42k higher net profit than in 2015, the quarter ending December 31 shows a net increase in profit of over $190k from the same period in 2015, boosting Toys for that quarter over the $2 million mark net profit for the first time since 2006, and so far this year, we're showing a net profit increase of $110k over the same period last year. If this quarter continues as it has been doing so far, Toys might break through 2.5 million net profit in a quarter for the first time ever."

It was Thaddeus' turn now to catch his breath, and Seanna jumped back in, saying, "A large part of the increases we have been seeing since he was hired five months ago can be attributed to his work on the slogans used for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc."

"Now, Mr. Port," Seanna winced as she had the thought 'dick port' flash through her mind, "We come to you. You were hired seven years ago, you spent just over two years on the eighth floor before being brought up to the ninth and became part of the toys marketing team. You've been on this team for almost five years, yet you have almost nothing to show for your time here. The difference, Mr. Port, is called effort."

Richard Port glowered at Thaddeus and Seanna, but wisely kept silent through the rest of the meeting.

**********

On the following Tuesday, Seanna accepted a call in the office, Melissa informed her they would arrive Thursday afternoon or early evening.

Here is the next part of Seanna's story. Be warned, there is a bit of foul language in this part.

The board room bit with the seven elder Ramsays is a flashback event of sorts, meant to round out things somewhat. It also shows that they aren't truly evil, just too interested in doing and getting what they want that they just didn't think. Now it's all coming home to roost.

I decided to copy and paste the part about the result of the news report about the newborn from For The Love Of The Children: Part 1.

**********

Seanna was sitting in her office on the afternoon that Melissa was supposed to show up. She had caught up on the reports coming into her office recently, she had even worked her way through a large chunk of the files on staff members, mostly to get to know them all a bit better.

There were a few people scattered through the main building that she wanted to keep an eye on, as they might be trouble at some point. An example of this was that fool Richard Port, a man who had done very little in seven years, complaining about the new guy Marty Browne.

Seanna had quite clearly and bluntly told off Mr. Port, who was fuming at a woman putting him down, but he wisely stayed quiet.

Seanna was smart enough to know that Mr. Port had not liked being put down that way, she figured he'd do something dumb eventually.

Here she was with a rare free moment, well, she probably could continue looking at the employee files, but that wasn't urgent right now.

She chuckled as she recalled having taken a bit of time out nearly three weeks earlier, to catch the next Ramsay seven court appearance. It had been a bit of a letdown, she thought, the seven had changed their pleas to guilty, they were that freaked out over the previous appearance.

They had thought that they would be able to somehow get away with it all, the lawyer's walking out on them had shattered that in a very clear and sudden turn of events. Then the judge let loose with the fact that they were all looking at hefty jail sentences, decades in jail even.

This was the worst thing they could possibly hear, now they began to realize that they had put themselves in a very bad legal position.

The seven were emotionally battered and shocked shells of their former selves. Once the judge had finished, they had been led out of the courtroom a few minutes later, to where Seanna had no idea, but it was all too clear at that point that they were no longer fighting things.

**********

The seven Ramsay siblings from the first marriage were led into a large room with what looked like a board room meeting table. Once in there, they were told to sit and wait for a while, with two of the guards keeping an eye on them from either end of the room.

About thirty minutes later, a young woman in a fairly plain but suitable skirt suit walked into the room, looked at the seven and sighed.

"Hello, I'm Vesta Leamis, someone in the public defenders department here decided I should be put in place as your lawyer. I've been given all the relevant information for the case, skimmed through a fair bit of it, and to be blunt, you folks are down a damn deep hole with no way out. The evidence in the files is so clear that you would, as the judge apparently told you earlier, be unable to get anything other than convictions."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "You have two options, enter guilty pleas or keep fighting this in court. If you enter pleas, I will be very truthful with you, you have a chance of getting out of prison at some point. If you keep fighting the case, that chance will be lost, as the court could all too easily slap each one of you down with sentences of up to thirty years each for the wire fraud charges, plus up to $1 million fine per charge, then throw in the conspiracy charges regarding the assault and death of Suzanne Kealoha and add twenty-five to life."

She stopped talking again, pacing back and forth for a moment, then faced the seven. "It's up to you, folks, all I can do is offer advice. I'm going to go out and take a better look through the files for the case; when or if you make a decision, hit that buzzer," she pointed to a dull metallic button on a wall near one of the doors, "And inform whoever answers it that you need to speak with me again."

With that, Vesta turned and exited the room, heading into an unused office a short distance down the hall for another look at the files.

Patricia Ramsay, the eldest, born November 17, 1950, moaned that everything was ruined until Robert, the elder brother, told her to be quiet.

Robert, born January 7, 1956, paced across the width of the room just past the end of the table for a few minutes, thinking furiously.

"If what we've been told is correct, and we all heard the list of charges, it's doubtful we could get anything close to a fair trial. That bastard Lundt apparently kept EVERYTHING we did on his computer, and when he died, he gave the cops the password to that damn thing.

"With the signed confession/suicide note he wrote, plus whatever was on that computer, the cops got everything they need to convict us all; we weren't careful enough, as the transfers of the money left a trail that could be followed. The cops did that, and we're penniless. That means we have NOTHING that we can use to hire someone. The cops claimed all the accounts, the houses, boats, cars, EVERY DAMN THING!"

"So we either do as this lawyer suggests, give guilty pleas, or face a trial that will ensure we never see the outside of a prison again. I'm in not too bad a shape for my age, but there's no way in hell that I want to spend the rest of my life rotting in a cell if there's a way to avoid it."

Beatrice, the middle sister, born August 11, 1957, sighed, then spoke, "It doesn't look like we have a lot of choice. I don't want to die in prison."

Paul, the younger brother, born December 22, 1960, nodded, adding, "If we plead, we might be free in fifteen years or so, maybe twenty."

Rebecca, the youngest, born June 10, 1962, shook her head, muttering, "I should never have listened to the rest of you. Prison! Ugh!"

Robert heard her and sighed, then replied, "If we had a lick of sense between the lot of us, we wouldn't be where we are right now. But Daddy and Momma raised us as if everything we wanted could be ours when we wanted it, so we've always just taken whatever we wanted."

Chantel, the second youngest girl, born May 3, 1959, asked, "Is there any possibility at all that we can beat this case?"

Robert turned to face her and growled, "With the extremely detailed evidence Lundt left on his computer, not a snowball's chance in hell."

Vanessa, the second sister, born May 11, 1954, crumpled after hearing Robert's blunt statement and whispered, "Then we plead?"

Robert looked around the end of the table where the other siblings were all sitting. "That seems to be our best option, yes."

He then walked over to the button on the wall, slapped it and when someone spoke, he said, "Please inform Ms. Leamis we're ready to talk."

The seven had to wait another twenty-five minutes before Vesta entered the room, then they all informed her they would plead guilty.

**********

Seanna was still sitting at her desk, wandering in thought, this time she was remembering the most recent appearance of the Ramsay seven. Seanna and Thaddeus had shown up in the courtroom early again, then watched the guilty pleas being entered by the seven accused.

The appearance didn't last much longer after that, she remembered the Judge setting the sentencing date for February 27 at 9:30 AM.

**********

Seanna was interrupted briefly by her phone ringing, her secretary told her there would be a VP meeting next Thursday afternoon. Seanna sighed, she and the other VPs had been so busy with sorting things out for the last seven weeks that they hadn't appointed a new board. This meeting would be to nominate possible candidates, then arrange to contact them and set a time to appoint those who agreed to help.

Once the phone call was completed, Seanna returned to her musing, this time along a bit darker line than before. She was thinking about the upcoming court appearance of that thug that had beaten and killed Sue back in December, his trial would start on Monday.

She was sincerely hoping the bastard would get life in prison, he deserved it after what he had done.

She returned to her work, looking through more employee files, being interrupted occasionally by calls which were soon resolved.

**********

Seanna was just shutting down her computer and preparing to put on her coat, pick up her purse and leave when the phone rang again.

She answered it, and was quickly connected to Lara, a child that was traveling with Melissa. Lara took a few minutes to outline what had happened since they left Houston earlier that week, then informed Seanna about the baby they had just found on the side of the road.

Seanna spluttered, "A newborn? Someone just up and left a newborn on the side of a road? Damn, people are screwy."

The chat continued for a moment, with Seanna eventually telling Lara to have Melissa meet them at the house, giving Lara the address.

**********

A very large car pulled into the drive of Seanna's new house shortly before 6 PM that evening. Melissa climbed out, followed by Lara who was carrying the baby, Tabitha, Bobby who was wobbling around using a pair of canes and Rebecca who seemed to be watching Bobby.

They headed up to the front door, Melissa rang the bell and they waited for a minute, then the door opened.

Seanna looked out, stunned to see this young giantess and five children, but she was glad to know that they were all safe. She led them into the house, hanging coats up and having them carry their boots to the mudroom in back as they were wet from the slush on the driveway.

Once their outerwear was all sorted, they all gathered in the large living room, where Seanna turned on the TV, then used the remote to switch the channel. The new channel showed the beginning of the local newscast. There was a big story about a robbery in the downtown core, another about a car accident involving seven different cars on the edge of the city, then the piece they wanted to watch came on.

"I'm Bob Parvis, one of our lead stories tonight is the discovery of a newborn girl about an hour ago. The baby was found on the side of the road between Purcellville and Paeonian Springs, VA. We're asking anyone who may have info relating to this baby to call us at 555-1717."

Melissa, Seanna and the seven children had watched the newsman as he did the story on the newborn being found.

Within an hour, calls were flooding the news office, prompting them to add three more staff to keep up with the calls.

Most of the calls were simply nuisance ones, no real content, just people being idiots, obstructing the search for the newborn's family.

A few calls sounded like they might be pertinent, but further investigation revealed that the child they were claiming was not the newborn.

The station was about to shift over to the night time program, it being just before midnight, when the special lines rang again.

The person who took the call happened to be Bob Parvis, the reporter who had given the initial story on the 6 PM national news.

He listened intently for a moment, then nodded to another staff person, who picked up another line and phoned Seanna.

""Hi, Seanna, this is Phil Bottomley, I work with Bob Parvis, we believe we have the child's real mother on the line."

"Thanks for calling, Phil, can you connect me to her? I'm putting this phone on speaker, as the folks that found the baby are here with me."

"Sure thing, Miss Ramsay, just a moment," as a brief buzzing sound could be heard, "Here, we go, Louisa, you're talking to Seanna."

"Hello, Miss Seanna, I hear y'all have a pretty little girl that was found on the highway earlier, am I right?"

"That is correct, Miss, although I wasn't the one that found her. Here she is. Melissa?"

"Hello, Miss, I'm Melissa, I was coming here to start a new job when I saw and heard that little one yelling her head off. What else could I do but stop and grab her? That child could have died out there, it's the middle of winter! Such a sweet little one, too, quite the beautiful little girl."

"Well, ma'am, I been on the street for the last five years, usually living out of my seventeen year old clunker, sometimes in a shelter," Louisa stated. "That sweet little girl was the result of a rape last spring. I have no way to be able to care for a child, I can't even care for myself."

She stopped speaking for a moment, then continued, "I have terminal cancer of the ovaries, it's already spreadin'. The docs that I saw recently in one of the free clinics in the city sent me to a hospital. The tests showed I have less than a month to live, it's spreadin' that fast."

"Holy shit!" Melissa swore before she realized it. After a quick apology, she asked, "What about your family?"

"Family?" The woman on the other end of the line laughed, a harsh, sad laugh. "I ain't had no family since I was twelve. I turned eighteen two weeks ago, just before all those dayum tests were done, and I delivered that little girl by myself in the back seat of my clunker. There weren't hardly any labour a'tall, the water broke, and less than an hour later, she popped out. Gods, my back seat was an almighty mess!"

Melissa shook her head, she thought she had had it rough, but that was nothing next to this woman's experiences.

Louisa continued after another brief pause, "I'm glad someone found her. Y'all take good care of my baby, she needs it," then hung up.

Melissa, Seanna and the children were all stunned. It seems the little newborn was about to become the newest member of their family.

**********

Seanna sat back and sighed. Whether Melissa decided that she would keep her, or whether she herself would, that child now had a home. Seanna asked Melissa to keep an eye on all the kids, then carried the newborn out to her car and drove to the Children's Hospital.

Seanna spent four hours there, waiting as the child, who had no name yet, was examined extensively, then declared to be in good health. Seanna had to pay for the examinations with her company credit card, she wasn't pleased, but the child's health was more important.

Seanna and the child returned home after that. Seanna stopped in at a 24 hour market and picked up some organic infant formula and a pack of newborn diapers. When they were back in the house, Seanna changed the baby, smiling down at her, then mixed the formula and fed her.

She had noticed that most of the lights downstairs had been turned off, except for the kitchen and laundry area/mudroom.

She found herself making cute little cooing sounds to the baby, who looked up at her, blinking and contentedly swallowed the formula. Seanna had never expected that she would be in this position, yet it felt right to her, this baby needed a mother. If that meant her, so be it.

The baby eventually finished, then Seanna put her up against her shoulder and patted her back until she burped as she headed upstairs.

There had been no chance to get a crib, so she found a fair sized old orange crate, put a small blanket in it, then laid the child in the box. Seanna continued to watch the baby, cooing at her. Ten minutes after she was laid in the crate, the baby yawned, closed her eyes and slept.

It was a long night, Seanna woke up once to feed the baby and change the diaper, Melissa twice.

**********

When Seanna arrived at work the next day, followed by Melissa and the six older children, with Lara carrying the baby in the carrier, the daycare staff stood there goggle-eyed for a moment before Leilani and Asemba led the other kids down the hall to the playroom.

Lara handed the baby carrier and baby over to Melissa, then ran to catch up to the rest of the kids.

This was when Melissa was approached by Juliet Landry, Melissa smiled briefly at her as she approached.

The next ten minutes were spent in quiet conversation between Seanna, Melissa and the daycare staff members. Juliet asked if Melissa was the one that caught the carrier down in Texas in late December, Seanna said she was, then gave a brief history of Melissa's adventures.

Seanna eventually left Melissa in the daycare, then headed up to her office on the top floor. There was work that needed to be done.

**********

Whenever Seanna could find a free moment, she would pickup her phone, get an outside line, then call a school in the area.

This was not going well, the fact that these children were all new to the city and that all three were transgender was not the issue in Seanna's eyes. What she was seeing was school principals and vice-principals who didn't want to even bother to deal with transgender children.

Seanna was furious, after five calls that had all ended with the school refusing to take the three, she called Jackie Stormhouse. The two had a quick discussion about the way the schools were acting, then Jackie said she would file discrimination lawsuits against the schools.

While the two were talking, Jackie overheard someone outside her office mention a school that accepted ALL children, no matter what. Jackie briefly put Seanna on hold, then ran to her outer office door, where she saw one of the company's business lawyers walking by.

"Keisha," she called out, "Did I just hear you say something about a school that will take all children, even transgender ones?"

Keisha, a tall, slender black woman with cafe-au-lait skin, turned around, smiling, "You sure did, Jackie; my boy Ryan is twelve and already entering puberty. Over the last six months, he has found himself watching the boys around him, he says the girls just don't interest him."

"Hmmm... pretty good odds, then, that he might be gay," Jackie mused, Keisha nodding agreement. "This school is helping him?"

"Uh huh," Keisha replied, "Since he switched to there just after New Year's, his grades have been improving by leaps and bounds."

"Sounds good," Jackie grinned, then added, "Could you please come into my office, I need to have you talk to someone."

Keisha nodded, following Jackie into the inner office, then sat down in front of the desk as Jackie took the phone off hold, then put it on speaker so that Keisha and Seanna could hear each other. "Hiya, Seanna, I'm back, I think you'll want to hear what Keisha here has to say."

Keisha smiled across at Jackie, then began speaking. "Hello, Seanna, I'm Keisha Kingston, I cover business law in the building here. My son Ryan, who is twelve now, was not doing well in his old school, so I looked around, then had him transferred to a new school.

"This new school, Vinton Preparatory Academy, has been doing wonders for kids in this area for nearly ten years. The headmistress and actual owner of the land that the school sits on, Miss Felicia Antoinette Vinton, supports all children, including those who are LGBTQI, etc."

Seanna listened intently, then giggled briefly before she asked, "Miss Vinton will have no problem with transgender children, then?"

Keisha laughed, replying, "Last I heard from Ryan, there are five transgender girls there and two transgender boys, so yours will be fine."

"That is excellent news indeed. Thank you very much, Keisha, could I please have the phone number for that school?" Seanna inquired.

The information was soon obtained, and Seanna grinned as she ended that call, then set up the call to this superior school.

**********

The call rang a few times, perhaps six or seven, before someone picked it up, saying, "Hello, this is the Vinton Preparatory Academy."

Seanna introduced herself and asked to be transferred to Miss Vinton or the next person in line if Miss Vinton was not available.

There was a wait of about five minutes, then the line was connected again, Seanna hearing a whispery, elderly voice on the other end.

"Hello, this is Miss Felicia Vinton, the headmistress here, I was told that you wished to speak with me about something, Miss Ramsay?"

"I do indeed, Miss Vinton." Seanna then told her about the three transgender children who should all be in school, but weren't, as they had all just arrived up here after fleeing from their various circumstances, each being picked up and saved by Melissa before or while coming here.

Miss Vinton listened, saying things like yes, oh, dear, oh, my from time to time.

"Well, Miss Ramsay, I can say with all assurance that your girls will be welcome here, we respect everyone's need to live as they wish. Now when would you be able to bring them up here, please?" Miss Vinton asked, then waited while Seanna had to take a call.

Seanna eventually returned to the call, apologizing for the delay. Miss Vinton asked again when she could bring them there.

Seanna thought for a moment, then asked if they could come up later that day, and Miss Vinton replied that she could stay late if needed.

Seanna thanked her, the two talked for a moment longer, then Seanna ended the call and returned to her work.

**********

After she had relaxed over a nice lunch of grilled chicken breast with a Ceasar salad, Seanna called the daycare, then spoke to Melissa. "I think I've found a school for the three older girls you have, Melissa,", then Seanna told her about her discussion with Miss Vinton.

Melissa laughed, then replied, "The place is fairly quiet at the moment, I can come along with you and the girls if you like."

Seanna giggled, "If I like? You're the one that has any history with these girls, I'd think you need to be there for this."

Melissa answered, "All right, I'll grab the girls and tell Juliet that I need to go somewhere. Heh, I've been having fun with all the kids here."

"I'm not too surprised by that, Melissa," Seanna responded, "I saw the way that you tended to those two babies this morning."

**********

Ten minutes later, Seanna walked out of her office, then headed down to the eighth floor where she met Melissa and the three girls.

The group headed down to the underground parking, then to Melissa's car. Once Melissa used the remote to unlock the car, she sat down in the driver's seat, Seanna on the other side of the front seat and the three girls all climbed into the back seat. Everyone buckled up.

Melissa started the car, waited a bit as it warmed up, then backed out and headed for the exit. The drive took a while, as they had to make their way out of the city, then head for Lynnfield and the school's location in the northern part of that small but picturesque town.

Eventually, they pulled into the drive at the entrance to the school, then Melissa hit a buzzer that was near the gate.

"Hi, ahhh, give me a moment," announced a female voice through a speaker that was part of the buzzer system, "I'll open the gate."

They didn't have to wait for long, the heavy metal gate swung open silently, allowing them to enter the school property.

There were signs pointing to staff parking and visitor parking, Melissa found a space in the visitor lot, then everyone climbed out of the car.

They walked over to the cobblestone walkway that led from the parking lots to the school's entrance, where they headed inside.

**********

Melissa, Seanna and the girls had to wait for about ten minutes, then a voice called, "Miss Ramsay, could you all come with me, please?" The girl in question, a young woman actually, perhaps twenty years old, led them to a room with a table where they could all sit comfortably.

Just after they had all seated themselves, draping coats over the back of their chairs, a tall, elderly woman entered the room.

"Hello, I'm Miss Felicia Vinton, I'm the headmistress here. I assume one of you is Miss Seanna Ramsay?" she asked the two adults.

Seanna grinned, "That would be me, Miss Vinton. This is Miss Melissa Johansson, the person responsible for these three girls."

Melissa reached into her purse, drew out papers sighed by Judge Thibideau giving her authority to act for Tabitha and Lara, then pulled out another sheet, this one being the document giving her authority to act for Robert Paul Millar, now identifying as Rebecca Petra Millar.

Miss Vinton examined the documents, nodded, then asked if there were any school records. Melissa replied that they could get the records for all three children, but it might take a while, as all the records would be under their birth names and the schools were not known for civility.

Seanna laughed as Melissa said that, then spoke, "That's easy to fix, the company has lots of lawyers, I'm sure Jackie would help."

Melissa giggled, "By what you told me last night about how Jackie has helped you a few times, yeah, I'd have to agree."

"Ms. Vinton, if you'll give me a moment, I'll make a quick call and get Jackie, one of my company's lawyers, to help us out," Seanna said.

Ms. Vinton nodded, Seanna stepped out of the room and was soon talking to Jackie. Jackie agreed to help and Seanna ended the call.

Melissa was talking about some of her recent experiences when Seanna re-entered the room. Seanna listened for a few minutes.

Melissa eventually ran down, then Ms. Vinton suggested that she have the girls take some tests to find their appropriate grade levels.

Seanna and Melissa agreed, then left the room, taking their coats. They returned to the waiting area and sat down, picking up magazines.

The testing was apparently quite extensive, as the girls were kept busy for nearly three hours before they were done.

Ms. Vinton had been looking at the tests as the children finished them, she was pleasantly surprised. Tabby was very bright, bright enough that she could probably be placed in grade three instead of two. Rebecca would be fine in the grade seven group, Lara with the grade fives.

After hearing Ms Vinton's assessment of the three girls, Melissa agreed with her, as did Seanna. All that they would need now would be the school records, and Seanna stated that Jackie had likely already been burning the phone lines to get that sorted out for the kids.

**********

Jackie was not impressed, this was the school where Robert Millar, now Rebecca, had once taken classes, and they were being assholes.

The vice-principal stated that they could not release the records without proper authorization, Jackie responded that such authorization could be sent to them the next day, as she had been assured that the document giving Melissa authority over Rebecca/Robert was legally sound. She then informed him that, if the records weren't released once the authorization had been sent, she would bring in legal help there.

She had gone through the same hassle with the schools that Lara and Tabitha had attended before they ended up in Melissa's care. She hoped that they would all see sense and allow the records to be transferred, but she would contact legal people she knew just in case.

She spent another hour on the phone, talking to people she knew in northwest Texas, the Greater Houston area and Jackson, Tennessee. Each of the lawyers that she contacted, once they knew what was going on, swore to do everything they could to help the children involved.

**********

Seanna, Melissa and the three girls put on their coats and walked out to the car, it was time to go home.

Melissa drove again. Everyone was quiet, Seanna was thinking about the little baby, as was Melissa, the girls were all wiped out. Seanna turned around at one point and saw the three girls slumped a bit in their seats, all of the asleep, looking sweet, innocent and beautiful.

Seanna spoke to Melissa, they stopped off at a Chinese food restaurant, where the group ordered lots of food before exiting the restaurant.

They made one more stop, picking up Leilani, Asemba, Bobby and the baby from the company daycare, then continued on their way.

They split the group up between the two cars, Leilani and Asemba going with Seanna, the others with Melissa.

They eventually reached the house, both cars pulling into the drive, parking side by side, then everyone headed inside the house.

After they had finished eating, all of the kids headed for their beds, the little nap on the way home hadn't helped those three at all.

This is the end of this story, it should wrap up the loose ends I had in the story. Hopefully, I didn't miss any big ones. Enjoy!

I decided to add the Lesbian Romance tag, as it seemed to permit me to end the story on a slightly romantic note.

Jackie Stormhouse walked into the courtroom, flashing a brief smile at the bailiff, Sam Orlando, before taking her seat at the plaintiff's table.

The date was Tuesday, February 21, 2017. There hadn't been much progress yet in the retrieval of the three girls' school records.

She'd spent several hours, even some of that after the work day had ended on Friday, building up the case she was about to present.

A tall, slender, even what one would call dapper, male entered the courtroom and took a seat at the defence table.

Jackie recognized him, then giggled. He was Vance Berris, an attorney known more for "flash" than actual ability or substance.

Several people entered the courtroom, all but one taking seats on the available benches. The last joined Mr. Berris, grabbing an extra chair.

Jackie looked over at the two men; the second guy was Paolo Sabatini, another half-assed attorney, but one paid for by the city council.

Jackie shook her head, she honestly wasn't surprised to see Mr. Sabatini there, given the fact she was about to sue the city.

They had to wait another fifteen minutes before Sam called out, "All rise, court is now in session, Honourable Judge Annalee Smythe presiding." Once the tall, stocky black female judge had taken her seat, he stated to the people in the courtroom, "You may now be seated."

Judge Smythe showed a brief and very slight smile to Sam as she asked what was on the docket for the day.

"Your Honour, the first item is a civil lawsuit being entered on behalf of Lara Alicia Holman, Rebecca Petra Millar and Tabitha Elaine Woodson. This is due to the fact that five different schools in the city here, when called by Miss Seanna Ramsay, the CEO of Ramsay Enterprises, about these three young children being able to attend in order to continue getting a decent education, were flat out denied the right to attend those schools once Miss Ramsay informed the person at each school that each of these girls is transgender."

The Judge straightened up on her seat and stared down at the bailiff. "Were they implying they would help the children before they were informed that each of the children is transgender? Or was the fact of them being so known from the start of the discussions?"

Jackie spoke, "In each case, they were acting as if they would help the girls until they were informed of their transgender status, Your Honour. I have sworn statements from Miss Seanna Ramsay, as well as audio records of the actual conversations here if you need to see them."

Judge Smythe nodded, then stated, "Court will be recessed for one hour. Lawyers for both sides, I'll see you in my chambers."

The three lawyers followed the bailiff into the Judge's chambers a few minutes after the Judge had left the courtroom.

Once Judge Smythe was present to meet with the three lawyers, the bailiff exited from the Judge's private chambers.

Judge Smythe asked them all to take seats, then had a young woman bring them refreshments as they would be a while.

When the refreshments had been dispensed, Jackie opened a satchel, pulled out an audio cassette tape and handed it to the Judge.

Judge Smythe sighed, then reached for an old audio cassette recorder/player, plugged it into an extension cord and inserted the cassette.

Jackie informed the judge as to the initial relevant time and let the Judge advance the cassette to that point, then start the tape.

The next forty-three minutes passed as the four of them listened to the five conversations between Seanna and the various school officials.

In each case, when the fact that the girls are transgender was mentioned, the person on the other end devolved into throwing accusations of the girls being flaming faggots and other derogatory comments, as well as a large assortment of swear words, some not in English.

With the number of people working in the Ramsay Enterprises headquarters, it hadn't taken more than a few hours to find people who could provide translations for the swearing that was obviously not English, and signed statements had been brought by Jackie into the court.

Jackie handed these over to the Judge, stating what they were, then watched as the Judge's face slowly turned red, then almost purple.

Jackie quickly asked if the Judge was all right, getting a response that she was fine, but absolutely disgusted and furious.

The two defence lawyers were appalled. With this evidence, they were up the proverbial river without a paddle in a very leaky boat.

The Judge needed another twenty minutes to calm down enough to be able to re-enter the courtroom. As she got up from her seat at the table to go and put on her robes again, the look she shot toward the defence lawyers made it all too clear as to what was about to happen.

Once the court was back in session, the Judge asked Messrs. Berris and Sabatini if they anything to say in defence of the case. The two lawyers whispered back and forth between each other for a minute or two, then Mr. Sabatini stated, "We have no defence to offer, Your Honour."

Judge Smythe then turned to Jackie, asking her, "Since there is no defence being given, what do you consider to be fair compensation?"

Jackie smiled for a moment, then looked up at the Judge as she stated, "We're looking for awards in the amount of one million dollars each to be paid to the three girls by each of the schools that denied them the right or opportunity to continue their education there.

"Furthermore, we're looking to sue the city for fifty million dollars due to the blatant discrimination shown by the named school officials. Ten million of that will be paid by either the school in each case, or by the superintendent's office responsible for each of those schools."

Both Berris and Sabatini blanched. If the Judge agreed to the compensation request, the city would be shelling out sixty-five million dollars.

Judge Smythe nodded, then sat back on her seat a little bit as she thought about the suggested compensation amounts. The one million dollar cost per child per school seemed reasonable, it was the ten million dollars per school aimed at the city that worried her a bit.

The people in the court sat there, some patient, some nervous, some tense, as they waited for the Judge's response.

Judge Smythe sat there, thinking about it for nearly fifteen minutes before nodding briefly toward the bailiff.

Judge Smythe looked around the courtroom, noting the nervousness and tenseness of some of the people there, then spoke. "It is my belief that the amounts given are fair and reasonable. As such, I am ordering the individual payments to the girls in question and the larger amounts to be paid to Ramsay Enterprises within a reasonable time period, that being no more than six months from now.

"As the individual payments are much smaller and separate items, they are to be transferred to the three girls within thirty days.

"This court is now adjourned."

One of the women sitting in the courtroom, who had been tense since the Judge and lawyers returned, fainted in her seat due to shock. It came out on the noon news on several TV stations and at least four radio stations that the woman was the wife of a prominent city councillor.

The bigger shock, though, was learning that that particular councillor was the one at the head of the city's education committee.

The fallout from the brief civil case, especially when it was learned that there was no possible defence, resulted in the councillor being ousted as having supported discriminatory and defamatory treatment of students in many of their schools. Several other city officials were fired.

The case would be the trigger that would lead to tougher laws being put in place about discrimination of any kind in city workplaces.

Jackie returned to her office in the headquarters building, she needed to follow up on the school records requests for the three girls.

Her first call was to the principal of the school Robert Millar had once attended. Once again, the principal said they wouldn't cooperate.

Jackie spent a few more minutes trying to get him to agree to send the records, but he was adamant he wouldn't help the "fucking freak".

Jackie hung up the phone, then sighed, leaning back in her nice executive style chair for a moment.

She shook off her little fugue state shortly afterward and placed a call to the lawyer she knew in that area, Sally-Anne Jameson.

Ms. Jameson's office wasn't a big one, being housed in a small two room business unit in Whiteville, Tennessee.

"Hello, this is Jameson Legal, how may I help you?" came the loud, yet sweet voice of Sally-Anne through the phone system.

"Hi, Sally-Anne, this is Jackie Stormhouse, I called you yesterday about the situation with the school regarding Robert Peter Millar, AKA Rebecca Petra Millar. I just spoke with that idiot of a principal again and he adamantly refuses to cooperate with us about the school records."

"Well, Jackie," Sally-Anne giggled, "That shouldn't be too much of a problem. I was in the county courthouse this morning filing forms to obtain the records with the appropriate people there, including a lawyer guy I know who may already be involved in this situation."

"Who would that be, Sally-Anne? And involved how?" Jackie enquired.

Sally-Anne replied, "His name's Phillip Jacobs, he's the senior lawyer of Jacobs, Norman and James, Attorneys-At-Law. From what I've heard, he was on the scene the other day when the woman Melissa brought Robert, AKA Rebecca, back to the farmhouse to resolve things. The child's birth parents made it clear they would have nothing to do with the child, so they signed Robert over into Melissa's care."

Jackie laughed, "Oh, him, Seanna filled me in rather briefly yesterday about how Melissa acquired all of the kids on her way here."

"I've heard some of it myself," Sally-Anne stated, "but what made this morning interesting was that, when I met with Judge Alberts about getting authorization to get the school records, he was there and informed the judge about Melissa's rescuing Robert from a 'living hell'.

"When Judge Alberts had been fully assured that Melissa would be able to care for young Robert/Rebecca as necessary, he was quite happy to put his signature on the forms and formally file the order to have the originals of Robert's school records handed over to me."

"Sounds like you have a decent judge there, Sally-Anne. Kind of surprising with how a lot of folks down there seem to act," Jackie opined.

"Well, Jackie, Judge Alberts may be getting old, but when he finds out about abuse or mistreatment of children, he steps right into it. He's seen enough cases of serious abuse in his courts, both family and civil, over the last 30 years, to even consider putting a child in harm's way."

"Ahhh, so good to hear of someone who will do what they can to help children in their times of need," Jackie responded.

"Yep, he's a good guy. I should be going to the school. I hope to have Robert's/Rebecca's records within the next hour or so."

"All right, let me know how that goes, Sally-Anne. I hope the rest of your day goes well," Jackie smiled as Sally-Anne hung up on the other end.

"One down, it seems, two to go. Hmmm... Lorne's/Lara's case next," Jackie muttered as she picked up the phone again.

She soon was talking to the principal of Lorne's/Lara's former school in her home town. Melissa had gone to school there years before.

"I ain't giving you the records for no son-of-bitchin' freak faggot. I'm glad that disgusting little shit is gone from my school."

Those were the words spewing from Aaron Kingsland's mouth, Jackie shook her head and took her turn.

"If you won't hand them over politely, a lawyer I know down there will get the files through a court order already on file," Jackie growled.

"I ain't giving 'em to ya! No dang lawyer is gonna make me do it, either!" Mr. Kingsland answered her.

"If you won't cooperate with a court order to hand over the files, Mr. Kingsland, you might find yourself sitting in a jail cell," Jackie replied.

"Yeah, right," Aaron sneered, "I know everyone that matters in this town, ain't none of 'em gonna mess with me!"

"So be it, Mr. Kingsland, have a good day," Jackie sighed as she hung up the phone, ending the call with that particular asshole.

Jackie relaxed for a brief moment before placing the next call, this one to Carmen Santiago, a lawyer in that same town.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up on the other end, "Luis Ferranzano of Santiago & Ferranzano, how may I help you?"

"Hello, Luis," Jackie replied to him, "Is your partner in the office? I need to speak with him, it's Jackie Stormhouse calling."

"Ahhhh, the matter of Lara and the school records, si?" Luis enquired.

"That is correct, Luis. Is he there, please?" Jackie asked again.

"Si, I will put you through to his direct line, Jackie," Luis stated, then transferred the call.

Carmen picked up the phone, saying, "Hello, Jackie, I have some good news for you. I was at the courthouse just as it opened for the day and happened to cross paths with Armand Pierro, one of our family court judges here. He had no problem authorizing the record transfers."

"That is good news, Carmen. So I am assuming you will be going to the school soon to show them the court order?" Jackie responded.

"Yep, I was actually about to head out the door to go over there when Luis told me it was you that was calling," Carmen laughed.

"All right, let me know how that goes, Carmen. I need to find out what's happening on the third case, talk soon." Jackie ended the call.

Seanna had dropped off Leilani and Asemba as usual that morning, but had then headed to the courthouse to attend the first degree murder trial. She had been waiting for two months to see justice served against the bastard who had killed her Aunt Sue just before Christmas.

Seanna took a seat a few rows from the front, settling down to wait for the process to begin.

Just before a clock in the hallway outside the courtroom chimed the hour, two guards brought the prisoner in and over to the defence table.

At 9:11 AM, the bailiff called for everyone to rise, stating, "This court is now in session, the Honourable Theo Carter presiding."

Once the Judge had seated himself, the bailiff faced the rest of the courtroom, saying, "You may all be seated now."

There was only one item on the docket, the first degree murder case against one Robert James Johnson.

The evidence that had been gathered showed that several people in Sue's community had noticed Robert lazing around for nearly two weeks before Sue was beaten and later died. No one had said anything to him due to his sheer size, resulting in her needless death.

Seventeen witnesses took the stand that day, each one giving a similar statement about Robert lurking there, scaring them all.

When the defence attorney asked why none of them had done anything, one of the witnesses, a 76 year old female pensioner named Shirley Deirdre Wiseman, replied, "Just what do you think someone like me is gonna be able to do to someone the size of that man? I don't have no truck with guns, I haven't had one in the house since my William died twenty-seven years ago from war wound complications."

There were similar responses from several other witnesses who briefly took the stand again, many of them elderly and infirm.

They had taken a lunch break, but the witness statements had pretty much filled the day. Police reports, etc., would be done tomorrow.

Seanna left the courthouse at 3:55 PM, taking a moment to call Thaddeus and inform him she would be in court again tomorrow.

Jackie's third round of calls about school records had her calling Mort Jehans, the principal of the school Tabitha had attended.

She didn't even manage to say anything more than that she was asking for Timothy's/Tabitha's school records before the male on the other end of the phone started shrieking at her, "Fuck you and that disgusting tranny filth! It can rot in hell for all I care, I'm not helping you!"

Jackie spent almost ten minutes trying to resolve the issue, but Mort just kept on ranting about trannies and their "disgusting habits".

Eventually, enough was enough, it was obvious this principal had no intention of complying. Jackie hung up on him in mid-scream.

She sighed and looked up the information for the lawyer in The Woodlands, then dialled the number and waited as it rang four times.

"Hello, Thompson, Browne and Browne, Padraig Browne speaking, how may I help you?" was what she heard.

"Hello, Mr. Browne, I'm Jackie Stormhouse, I called your office on Friday about assisting in retrieving the school records for a child known as Timothy Woodson, who prefers to be addressed as Tabitha. Have you had any progress in getting the legal forms done?"

"Ahhh, good day to you, Miss Jackie. Regarding getting the necessary court orders prepared, I had a rather interesting run of luck when I called a friend who happens to be a judge for the city here in the family court division. It seems my friend works with Judge Thibideau."

"Thibideau... Thibideau... oh, yes, the judge a young woman named Melissa Johansson mentioned to me at some point recently."

"I see that you have some idea of whom I am talking about. My friend passed me over to Judge Thibideau, and between the two of them, I had all the papers needed before the court buildings closed Friday afternoon. I've been dealing with other matters so far today," Padraig said.

Jackie glanced briefly at a clock on the wall of her office, which showed 2:19 PM. "Lunch time for you about now, I suppose?" she asked.

Padraig laughed, "I could go and have lunch, but I need to finish what I'm doing, which should take about another half hour or so. I tend to eat a good, solid breakfast most mornings, I can easily pick up a sandwich or something on the way over to the school after that."

"It sounds like you have things well in hand there, Padraig. Thanks for the help, these kids deserve to be treated well," Jackie replied.

The two of them talked for a few more minutes before Padraig informed Jackie he had an incoming call on another line.

The day slowly wound down in the offices at the Ramsay Enterprises headquarters building.

Jackie had touched base late in the afternoon with each of the lawyers that had been helping to retrieve school records.

In the cases of Lara's records and those of Rebecca, the court orders plus the presence of two police officers had been sufficient. When Mr. Kingsland had seen the police officers accompanying Carmen Santiago, he had backed down rather fast and had cooperated.

The exception had been when Padraig Browne and two police officers showed up at Tabitha's school in The Woodlands just north of Houston. The principal there was still being a belligerent prick, even going so far as to assault both Padraig and one of the police officers.

The second officer, a big, brawny female, dropped the principal with a well placed punch to the gut and then cuffed him.

From that point on, things proceeded in a much more reasonable fashion, with the records quickly being handed over by the vice-principal.

As they were about to leave, Padraig politely stated, "Miss Dinford, it looks like you are now the principal here, he won't be coming back."

It was all too obvious that Padraig was referring to Mr. Jehans who was being picked up by the officers and escorted from the building.

Miss Paulette Dinford gaped in shock for a moment, then a smile slowly crept across her face. She'd take care of ALL of the kids there.

Seanna's cell phone rang at ten minutes to five that Friday afternoon. She answered it on the second ring.

"Hello, Seanna, it's Jackie. Just got the news, the school records for the three girls are now in our hands, well, friends of ours, actually. The only incident that occurred was that the principal of Tabby's old school actually hit both the lawyer and a police officer at the time. The second officer on the scene knocked the principal down, then cuffed him. The records were in our hands within ten minutes of that happening.

"On a side note, the vice-principal of that school will most likely take over the principal's job, which will benefit the whole school. Unlike the idiot that held the job until this afternoon, Miss Paulette Dinford is not a bigot and wishes to help and protect all of the children in her care."

"That is excellent news, Jackie. So we should have the school records in hand within the next few days?" Seanna enquired.

"Likely sooner, Seanna. I asked each of the lawyers to send the school files to your office via FedEx. You might have them tomorrow."

"I'll make sure to tell Melissa that when I see her in a few minutes, Jackie. Thanks again for your help," Seanna replied.

Seanna had returned to the headquarters of Ramsay Enterprises just before 5 PM, after a brief stop for a coffee and donut.

She was soon on her way up to the eighth floor, then she exited the elevator, heading toward the daycare area.

Melissa and the seven children were all waiting quietly in the entry area of the daycare as Seanna entered the room.

Seanna took a brief moment to quietly inform Melissa about the school records being on the way, then they all walked to the elevators.

The trip down to the basement level didn't take very long. From there, it was only a few steps to the two cars.

Melissa and the five kids she had rescued on her way to this job all climbed into her car, Lara carefully holding the baby.

Seanna, Leilani and Asemba were soon seated in Seanna's car and buckled in, then they were on their way home.

The following day, Melissa was in work as usual, dealing with financial issues for the daycare and tending to the children there.

Seanna had once again dropped off Leilani and Asemba before heading to the courthouse for the murder trial of her aunt's killer.

Melissa wandered around the daycare, occasionally watching over and tending the newborn, who had not yet been named.

At three times during the day, once in the late morning and twice in the afternoon, she answered the daycare's door and signed papers that showed she was receiving items that had been one day shipped through FedEx. The items each time turned out to be school records.

Melissa quickly scanned the information in each file, noticing that Timmy/Tabby and Robert/Rebecca had both been cited several times as being inattentive in classes. Lorne/Lara had managed to avoid that, but had several notations about fist fights on school property in her file.

The inattentiveness for two of the three and the fact that Lara had been in fist fights didn't surprise Melissa at all. Tabby, as noted in the tests done at the Vinton Preparatory Academy, was very intelligent; Rebecca was on a similar level but she was five years older than Tabby.

Fist fights were not at all unexpected when one was more feminine than many boys considered to be appropriate. If Melissa was right, every one of those fights had been started by one or more boys, not Lara, yet Lara had always been the one to get into trouble over them.

The trial had resumed just after 9 AM this morning, beginning with the 911 operator who handled the call from Leilani.

The tape of the conversation between Leilani and the 911 operator was played in court, drawing gasps of shock from many in the courtroom as they listened to it. The big shock was how calm Leilani seemed, but if one listened carefully, one could hear a faint tremble in Leilani's voice each time she spoke. With Leilani being only four years old, the prosecution believed using the tape would be more than enough.

Even though Leilani had calmly and clearly given the necessary information, it was still obvious to all that she was worried about her mom.

Next had been the reports from the officers of the police unit who had captured Robert Johnson that night.

Alex Bendal, 26, was the junior officer for that unit and had needed to pull his gun, putting it against Robert's head to stop him.

Kelmar Vanselm, 37, was the senior officer. He had been shoved aside by Robert, resulting in his partner having to draw his gun as noted.

Kelmar clearly stated to the court that if it had not been for the gun being held to Robert's head, Robert might well have killed him that night. He made it clear that Robert showed no concern at all when he shoved Kelmar, he intended to go through the officer and keep running.

The police reports were followed by ones from the various medical staff at the hospital where Sue had been taken and had later died.

The nine medical staff statements were only stopped for a fairly brief lunch, and continued until 4:15 PM that afternoon.

That was the conclusion of the major evidence. Seanna's mother would be on the stand in the morning, but that wouldn't take very long.

Seanna once again returned to the headquarters building, making her way up to the daycare to meet Melissa and the kids.

As she was entering the daycare, a call came through on her cell phone, an unknown number. She chose to answer it.

A short but detailed conversation ensued, during which she learned that Sanjit Singh's files had been examined extensively since his arrest in early January, and evidence of at least 37 different instances of clear and deliberate attacks against LGBTQI people had been found.

Almost all of them had eventually ended up being penniless and unable to pay the mounting court costs, thus losing their court cases.

Twenty-nine of the cases had resulted in temporary hospitalization of one or more of the victims, often for emotional/psychological reasons.

Twelve of them had actually attempted suicide, three succeeded. Eleven had done some form of self-harm but not attempted suicide.

Of the thirty cases involving lesbian or gay relationships, nineteen of those relationships had broken up due to the court issues.

One of the suicides had been a nineteen year old pre-op MtF girl, whose case had resulted in her being outed in school.

The second had been one half of a lesbian couple, they had worked at Ramsay Enterprises before Seanna took the helm there. The woman left behind lost her female child to the foster system and eventually ended up in a mental health ward, as Seanna already knew.

The third had been a fifteen year old girl, the child of an openly gay couple whose relationship had been destroyed by Singh's actions.

Seanna was appalled, how could one man be such an inhumane bastard as to cause all of that by his actions?

Mr. Singh would be in court on March 6 to face an assortment of charges being brought by the city and Child Protective Services.

Seanna thanked the woman on the other end, then killed the call. The expression on her face was warning enough for Melissa.

Seanna led Melissa off into a corner, then passed on what she had just learned. Melissa's response was "Holy hell, WTF?"

Thankfully, Melissa's comment wasn't overheard by anyone, all of those nearby were babies or toddlers having their late afternoon naps.

A few minutes later, Seanna and Melissa led the kids out of the building, homeward bound once again.

Court that Thursday morning didn't take very long, the only remaining witness was Seanna's mother.

Roselyn was quiet and polite on the stand, even when the defence lawyer tried to provoke her.

Her testimony lasted a bit over 45 minutes, then she stepped down from the witness box and sat down next to Seanna.

Closing arguments lasted for just under two hours, at which point Judge Carter decided they would break early for lunch.

Seanna returned to the courtroom just before one PM and Judge Carter informed the jury members about how to proceed.

Once he had finished speaking, the jury members left the room to discuss the case and come to a verdict.

Seanna, her mother, and everyone else waited for almost 2.5 hours before the jury returned.

Judge Carter asked if they had come to a verdict; the foreman, one Lamont Jones, replied that they had, a unanimous one in fact.

"So what is the verdict then, Mr. Jones?" Judge Carter enquired.

"We find him guilty of murder in the first degree, Your Honour," Lamont stated quite clearly so everyone could hear him.

Judge Carter nodded, turned to face the court and spoke. "Robert James Johnson, you have been found guilty of murder in the first degree. As I doubt you will ever feel remorse for what you did, I am sentencing you to life in prison. Take him away, this court is adjourned."

The guards none too gently grabbed Robert and hauled him out of the courtroom, then down to the cells to await the court vehicle. As the day was pretty much done for court business, he would return to the city lock-up for now and await his transfer to a state prison.

Seanna was glad that the bastard had been sentenced to life in prison, he would never be a free man again.

Since Seanna had informed Thaddeus that she might be busy all that week with court; that had led to his rescheduling the meeting of his Toys division's marketing and advertising team for the Friday afternoon, hoping that the court case would be resolved by that time.

Seanna had spent the morning going through the small pile of paperwork that had accumulated while was attending the trial.

She had almost cleared the pile by the time lunch time came around. She and Penny went down to the cafeteria together.

Seanna enjoyed a large Ceasar salad and a bottled water, Penny splurged on a rather hefty pasta plate.

Once she had finished eating, she said a quick goodbye to Penny, not knowing how long the meeting might last.

After a brief stop in her office to check that she looked presentable, she made her way to one of the thirteenth floor boardrooms.

She opened the door and walked in, then heard someone enter the room behind her. She turned and stumbled into Thaddeus' arms.

Seanna giggled briefly, then pulled herself free and looked around the room. A coffee and tea table was ready, along with refreshments.

The various members of the marketing and advertising team took seats around the table just before one PM.

From what Seanna heard from the various reports given, things were looking quite good for the quarter for the Toys division.

Then that utter idiot, Mr. Richard Port, had to prove he was an idiot by calling Marty Browne a flouncing fairy in front of Seanna again.

As noted on a previous occasion just two weeks earlier, he had been very clearly warned by Seanna about that.

Seanna immediately called a halt to the meeting. "Mr. Port, you are hereby fired pursuant to our non-discrimination policy." Seanna hit a comm unit on the table, two security personnel entered the room almost immediately. "He has been fired by me just now because he chooses to blatantly be derogatory toward people who are LGBTQI. Let him take his personal belongings and nothing, I repeat NOTHING, else."

The two security personnel escorted Richard Port from the boardroom, he was heard to mutter he would get back at her somehow.

Seanna called the security guys back. "Gentlemen, call the police, Mr. Port here is to be arrested for uttering threats against me."

Richard lost it at that point, he tried to jump past the security guys toward Seanna, but one of them blocked him from reaching her.

"Add an attempted assault charge to the one for uttering threats. Get him the hell out of my sight!" Seanna hissed.

This time, one of the security guys pulled a set of cuffs from his belt and cuffed Richard, then the two men led him out of the room.

The meeting continued in a much more pleasant manner after he had been removed, ending ninety minutes later.

Seanna had returned to her office and quietly cleared the rest of the paperwork on her desk before the day officially ended.

She'd spent the remaining time just relaxing, listening to some of her favourite music on a radio.

When five PM rolled around, Penny knocked on her office door. Seanna grabbed her jacket and purse, then they locked the office.

As usual lately, she left the elevator at the eighth floor, then walked down to the entrance of the daycare and inside the main suite.

The group, Seanna, Melissa and six kids, with Lara carrying the baby, headed down to the underground parking.

Again as usual, the kids Melissa had rescued joined her in her car, while Leilani and Asemba rode with Seanna.

On Saturday morning, Seanna used Melissa's car to take the kids to the outdoor rink where Leilani and Asemba had their skating lessons.

Melissa chose to stay at the house, watching the baby. She seemed to be quite happy to have any chance to mother the little one.

It was a bit of a snug fit with six children in the car, but they made it to the lot by the outdoor rink without any mishaps occurring.

Seanna had been too exhausted to take the kids there the previous week after the arrival of Melissa and the kids, then spending several hours in a hospital that same night while waiting for various tests to be done on the newborn. She'd actually slept late that day.

It was a wee bit nippy in the park today, part of that being the brisk northwesterly wind, but the children were all happy to be there.

Leilani and Asemba had been quite happy to return there, they had missed it the week before.

The two young girls showed the others to the skate rental centre, then once they all had skates on, they headed out onto the ice.

It was at this point that one of the two girls Seanna knew from previous visits appeared, holding her hands out to little Bobby.

"Hey, young man, let me help you to learn how to skate, hmmm?" Rebecca smiled at him as he grasped her hands with his smaller ones.

Bobby had been considered too young to learn how to skate by his family, and his MS hadn't been discovered until after Melissa caught him.

He was soon wobbling his way around the rink, being gently held the whole time by Rebecca, who helped him up each time he fell.

It didn't take very long, perhaps half an hour or so, before Bobby was utterly exhausted by the physical activity he had been doing.

Rebecca helped him over to the benches at the side of the rink, then removed his skates and helped him with his boots.

Seanna smiled, picked up the skates that Bobby had been wearing and returned them to the rental centre.

When she returned, she sat down beside him and complimented him on how well he had done and how brave he had been on the ice.

Bobby giggled, then ducked his head into her side for a moment, trying to hide a blush. He wasn't used to being complemented by others.

Seanna and Bobby watched the other kids as they skated around. Bobby mentioned that Leilani and Asemba seemed quite graceful.

Seanna laughed, "They should be, they've been getting regular lessons here and figure skating ones inside for nearly two months."

From what she could see, Lara, Tabitha and Rebecca, Melissa's Rebecca, that is, all seemed to be semi-decent skaters.

When the outdoor session ended, and they were all removing their skates, Seanna asked those three if they wanted to join the course for figure skating which would start soon in the indoor rink. All three replied with enthusiastic approval, Seanna was glad to see them having fun.

When the rented skates had been returned, they all headed inside, where Leilani and Asemba put on their skates again.

The other girls watched as Leilani and Asemba participated in the figure skating class.

When the class ended, Seanna talked for a moment with the instructor, then led the group to the office to pay the required fees.

"Lara, Tabitha and Rebecca, you'll be starting this next week, joining Leilani and Asemba. Now it's time to buy some skates," Seanna stated.

Once they were all in the car and secure, Seanna drove to the same sporting goods store where she had bought the skates for Leilani and Asemba several weeks earlier. The level of noise from the small group was a wee bit distracting to others in the store for a while.

The kids eventually settled down a bit as two clerks helped the three girls pick out skates. Seanna asked Bobby if he wanted his own pair of skates, his head bouncing up and down was a clear enough sign that he did. A male clerk soon came over and took the time to help Bobby.

By the time they left the store nearly an hour later, just after 1:30 PM, they were all famished.

Seanna looked at Leilani and Asemba, then whispered "Fish?" Giggles and a quick yes from the two girls soon had Seanna driving toward that restaurant that Leilani especially had come to love, the same one they had gone to on both days she had bought the child car seats.

They had to get a large booth due to having six children in the group. Bobby was the only one to ask for a chair.

The kids, for the most part, enjoyed the food, although Lara found out that she didn't like the taste of shrimp, oysters or mussels much.

There wasn't much left after six kids had eaten their fill. Seanna asked for it to be put in a doggy bag, it wouldn't last long with the horde here.

The trip home was fairly quiet, largely due to the fact that most of the kids were drowsy after all the exercise and then stuffing themselves.

On Sunday, everyone decided to have a lazy day. The kids watched several movies, giggling and crying at various times.

After dropping the kids off at the daycare on Monday morning, Seanna headed to the courthouse again, this time for the older Ramsays.

Thaddeus had decided to pass on it, as he knew it wouldn't be very long after they had all entered pleas at their last appearance.

Seanna had only been in the courtroom for about ten minutes when she was unexpectedly joined by her mother.

A brief whispered conversation made Seanna aware that her mother wanted to see this ended just like she did.

Just after 9:30 AM, the bailiff called out, "All rise, court is now in session, the Honourable Ravena Adamowicz presiding."

Once the Judge was seated, he gave the order that everyone in the courtroom could take their seats.

Judge Adamowicz looked around the courtroom, then down to the defence table, surrounded by the seven Ramsays and Ms. Leamis.

"A few weeks ago, the seven defendants in this case all changed their please to guilty.

"I have been thinking since that time about how I wish to deal with these people. Their actions were irresponsible in the extreme and thanks to the correspondence of Mr. Lundt, who signed a confession and suicide note giving information about their activities to the police. Given the nature of some of the details described by Mr. Lundt in that confession, you were all complicit in Sue Kealoha's assault and death.

"As I stated at your last appearance, I can't recall ever seeing a case like this one before. Will the defendants please rise?"

The seven Ramsay siblings slowly stood, each of them looking worn and ragged in their shabby jailhouse jumpers.

"Patricia Ramsay, you are facing 82 charges of international wire fraud. For each of those offences, I sentence you to twenty years to run concurrently. Further, you also face 46 charges of embezzlement. For each of those offences, I sentence you to fifteen years which shall run concurrently. Add to that 23 counts of misuse of company funds, I sentence you to fifteen years for each one, running concurrently.

"Last but not least, you were complicit as I stated earlier in the assault and death of your half-sister, Suzanne Kealoha. Since the assault resulted in her death, the criminal charge against the assailant was boosted to murder in the first degree. You face up to life in prison.

"On the count of conspiracy to commit murder, I sentence you to twenty-five years, to run concurrently with your other sentences.

"Next on the list is Robert Ramsay. For the 65 counts of international wire fraud, each sentence is twenty years, running concurrently. For the 37 counts of embezzlement, you are sentenced to fifteen years, each sentence to run concurrently. For fifteen counts of misuse of company funds, the sentence for each count if also fifteen years, to run concurrently. That brings me to the assault and death of Suzanne Kealoha.

"From evidence given by Mr. Lundt, you were directly involved in procuring the services of Robert James Johnson to commit the deed. That being the case, I am sentencing you to life in prison for that explicit involvement in her death. You reap what you sow, Mr. Ramsay.

"Next is Vanessa Ramsay. For 41 counts of international wire fraud, each sentence will be twenty years, running concurrently. For 11 counts of embezzlement, fifteen years for each count, running concurrently. For nine counts of misuse of company funds, also fifteen years each, running concurrently. For conspiracy to commit murder, you are sentenced to twenty-five years, also concurrent.

"Next is Beatrice Ramsay. For 53 counts of international wire fraud, each sentence shall be twenty years, running concurrently. For nineteen counts of embezzlement, fifteen years for each one, to run concurrently. For eleven counts of misuse of company funds, the sentence is also fifteen years each, to run concurrently. Finally, for conspiracy to commit murder, twenty-five years, also to run concurrently.

"Next is Chantel Ramsay. For 39 counts of international wire fraud, each sentence will be twenty years, to run concurrently. For fifteen counts of embezzlement, you get fifteen years for each one, running concurrently. For seven counts of misuse of company funds, the sentence is also fifteen years each, to run concurrently. Lastly, for conspiracy to commit murder, twenty-five years which shall run concurrently.

"We're nearly done. Next is Paul Ramsay. For 63 counts of international wire fraud, twenty years each, to run concurrently. For eighteen charges of embezzlement, fifteen years each, to run concurrently. For six counts of misuse of company funds, fifteen years each, to run concurrently. For for conspiracy to commit murder, you are sentenced to twenty-five years, which shall also run concurrently.

"And finally, Rebecca Ramsay. For 43 counts of international wire fraud, twenty years each, to run concurrently. For eleven counts of embezzlement, fifteen years each, to run concurrently. For seven charges of misuse of company funds, fifteen years each, to run concurrently.

"This next bit is the part that galled me the most. Rebecca Ramsay, for your part in helping your brother Robert to hire Robert James Johnson to assault Suzanne Kealoha, and the fact that that same assault resulted in Ms. Kealoha's death, I am sentencing you to life in prison.

"Due to the lengths these people went in their actions, especially the death of Ms. Suzanne Kealoha, parole is denied in all instances.

"Guards, please remove the prisoners. I apologize for being so long winded people. This court is now adjourned."

Seanna and her mother sat in the courtroom after everyone else, including the judge and bailiff, had left. Twenty years or more to someone in their sixties would not be an easy reckoning; in fact, it was possible that Patricia, Vanessa and Beatrice might not survive that long.

With Robert and Rebecca receiving life sentences for their involvement in Suzanne's death, they would never know freedom again.

Perhaps Chantel and Paul might make it through their sentences, but even they were facing long odds on ever being free again.

Seanna and her mother left the room, then the courthouse, each going to their own vehicle.

Seanna noticed that her mother had parked next to her car and waved to her as she climbed in, ready to return to work.

Seanna arrived back at the office just before the lunch hour. She decided to splurge, eating a chicken pot pie there with some bottled water.

Perhaps eating that had been a bit much, but she was content as she slowly walked up to her office, meeting Penny at the door.

Penny informed her that she had left the building for her lunch today, then headed to her desk in the outer office.

Seanna kept going, into her actual office space, then settled down in her comfortable office chair contemplating the evil of chicken pot pies.

She actually dozed off for a while, she was that full. The phone ringing on her desk brought her out of that semi-torpid state.

She answered it, then talked with Thaddeus for a while, bringing him up to date on what had happened in the courtroom that morning.

She managed to actually focus on her work for the rest of the day, the only other interruption being another call, this one from one of the police officers who had picked up Richard Port after the events of last Friday afternoon. Richard had apparently pled guilty on the charges.

The officer then told Seanna that the judge had sentenced him then and there, five years for the threats, two for the attempted assault.

Well, that simplified that problem rather nicely, Seanna thought. She wouldn't have to show up in court to deal with the idiot.

Just after 5 PM, Seanna and Penny locked up the office, then Seanna headed to the eighth floor to meet Melissa and the kids.

On the way home, Leilani was happy to tell Seanna that the baby had now been named, said name being Suzanne Eleanora Ramsay.

Seanna laughed, it was fitting that a little baby girl be given her aunt's names, it would be another way to remember her.

The rest of the week passed fairly quietly, nothing major happening in the office, just the usual activities on the weekend.

Seanna had informed Thaddeus in advance that she might miss a fair amount of the day on Monday, so she could be at Singh's hearing.

She dropped off Leilani and Asemba as usual, at the same time that Melissa led her pack into the daycare centre.

After that, Seanna and Jackie headed over to the courthouse together, taking seats in the courtroom about ten minutes early.

They were both watching when Singh was led into the court and told to sit down and stay quiet until he was ordered to speak.

Singh actually took a moment to look around, spotted the two women and shot a very nasty glare their way, which was quickly noticed. One of the two guard with him grabbed him by one of his arms and told him, rather firmly, to keep facing the front of the courtroom.

Court opened in the usual manner, then Judge Anston called for the case to begin.

The list of charges took over fifteen minutes to be read into the record. Each and every one carried the hate crime addition.

Judge Anston shook her head, then to down to business. "I've looked at the evidence from the initial case, that one involving a woman seated in the court today, but that pales in comparison to what has been uncovered over the last several weeks from Mr. Singh's records which he actually kept in a safe he thought was unlikely to be noticed. That wasn't the case, it was found and easily opened thanks to the court order.

"The notes he kept, each set in a separate notebook, went into great detail about his actions regarding many LGBTQI people.

"To put it bluntly, he crowed in those notebooks about the abuses he had committed against those he deemed to be 'lesser creatures'.

"I've learned of what happened to many of those people after Mr. Singh here targeted them, and in some cases, destroyed their lives.

"There is no plausible excuse for the things he did to those people, or for what resulted from his actions against them.

"Mr. Singh, you are charged with 67 counts of committing a hate crime and 67 counts of criminal negligence. There is also the matter that you blatantly misused your position in Child Protection Services to directly and indirectly harm others. How do you plead?"

Singh looked up at the Judge, then back towards me for a moment before facing the Judge again, then whispered, "Guilty, Your Honour."

"To what charges, Mr. Singh? I don't intend to waste time here while you sit there all day."

"All of them, Your Honour," he whispered.

"Repeat that, please, Mr. Singh, so the court stenographer can clearly hear you."

"I said to all of them, Your Honour," he stated, his voice cracking in mid-sentence.

Seanna quickly glanced over at him. Oh, wow, he looked like a wreck compared to the suave jerk he'd been several weeks earlier.

"Mr. Singh, hate crimes or additions can bring five years or more for each sentence, the criminal negligence similar penalties. With how many offences you have before the court today, I could even choose to make those sentences consecutive, but I won't.

"I see no point in delaying things any further than they already have been, Mr. Singh.

"I am hereby sentencing you to five years on each count of both offences. Do you understand me, Mr. Singh?"

Singh replied that he did, then hung his head down and began to weep in front of the entire courtroom.

"One last matter. In regards to your blatant misuse of your position in Child Protective Services to directly and indirectly harm people whom you were supposed to actually be helping instead, I'm adding a sentence of fifteen years, no parole."

Seanna felt no remorse for him, he had brought this down on his own head by thinking he was better than certain other people.

"Please remove Mr. Singh from my court. This court is now adjourned."

Seanna and Jackie exited the courtroom along with about fifteen other people after the Judge had gone into her chambers.

She spent several minutes in the newest washroom, scrubbing her hands over and over. She felt filthy just due to having been near him.

The two women returned to their respective offices, where Seanna tried quite intently to get over what she had heard in that courtroom.

On March 22, Thaddeus called her, saying he had finally found the woman who had lost her child thanks to Singh, then her girlfriend when that woman, Eileen Patterson, committed suicide after the Judge had ruled against them, then ended up in a mental institution.

"Stephanie Amber Constanza turned up in a medical home less than an hour outside of the city. I had Jak Petroski look into her case for us, telling him it was to right a wrong done against a former employee of the company. It took him until last Friday to find her.

"Once we knew where she was, I had him go before a judge there immediately to get an order to have her transferred to a hospital here.

"She arrived at the hospital early on Saturday afternoon and underwent a large number of tests, some giving rather interesting results.

"Those results led to officers in the closest jurisdiction to where she formerly resided to charge several people with drug related offences.

"Jak believes that the evidence is strong enough that only he will need to attend any court proceedings there.

"According to the doctors, with a decent program of medical treatment, they believe she can be released on her own in about six months.

"The daughter was found and informed that her mother is receiving proper medical attention so they can eventually be a family again.

"Shelley, the daughter, says the foster home she is in has been fairly decent. She'll manage until she and her mother can be together.

"One other thing, Seanna. Jeff Marks, the guy who tried to rape Ms. Eaton, pled guilty today and got fifteen years, ten without parole."

After the call with Thaddeus had ended, Seanna sat there, thinking over all the things that had happened in just three months.

She'd taken in young Leilani after Leilani's mother had died as the result of a brutal attack just a week or so before Christmas.

She'd rescued Asemba from her rather violent father in the all too well known incident at Di Panetti's Cafe a few days later.

Thanks to her mother, then herself becoming the new CEO of Ramsay Enterprises, she had a gorgeous home to share with the girls.

Then Melissa had come north after Seanna offered to hire her as the Finance VP of the new day care division.

Since Melissa arrived here, she was sharing this gorgeous home with Melissa and the five children she had rescued along the way.

The last of those five children had been given the names that had been her aunt's, Suzanne Eleonora, as a remembrance of her.

The various criminal issues she had been dealing with over that time period had now all been resolved.

Stephanie Constanza, Eileen Patterson's lesbian partner, had been found and would eventually be reunited with her daughter.

Lara, Tabitha and Rebecca would each receive five million dollars soon thanks to five schools discriminating against them. On top of that, another fifty million would be paid to Ramsay Enterprises within the next six months. Most of that would likely be donated to various charities.

She was still learning a lot about how to be a woman in modern society. She thought she would still be learning it all many years from now.

Goddess, how the mere sight of Melissa in a hallway at home or at work could cause her to feel so wanton.

Enough was enough. Things were sorted out now, there was no sense in delaying it any longer.

She cornered Melissa in the mudroom, grinning and giggling at her. "Melissa, will you be my girlfriend? Maybe even my wife eventually?"

The look on Melissa's face was priceless; she obviously had not been expecting that, then she flashed that wide, sweet smile of hers.

"You want me, do you?" Melissa asked as they headed back into the main area of the house. "I want you, too, Seanna."