Art by MidJourney.

Helen crept through her apartment into the living room, stepping carefully over the toys that Toni and Morgan had left lying around, for fear of kicking one and waking the two girls again. Exhausted, she slumped down on the couch next to Pepper.

"Peace at last," she sighed happily. Pepper picked up on her weariness, shuffling closer to wrap an arm round her shoulders. "You wouldn't believe what I had to negotiate to get her to take her medicine. A second birthday! Starting tomorrow," she laughed. "That girl is too smart for her own good."

"But she took it?" Pepper asked.

Helen nodded. "From tomorrow, she'll start aging like a normal girl."

Pepper didn't know how to feel about that. She knew the treatment was a start, but whether it was the start of recovering her husband, or the start of Toni's new life as her daughter, she couldn't say. She felt a pang of betrayal for the man she'd loved at even considering... keeping her.

She pushed those thoughts to the side. Any cure, and the decision to administer it, was still far off. Just getting to this point had been a remarkable feat of science on Helen's part. She rubbed Cho's shoulder. "You take tomorrow off. I'll handle the birthday party," she chuckled.

"Whatever did I do without you," Helen yawned. Her eyes fluttered closed, her head coming to rest on Pepper's shoulder. She was asleep.