“Are you serious?” Derek said to his sister. “You want me to venn you into what?”

“I have this problem baby sitting. The kids want me to play with them but I just don't do it right and they complain. Worst of all, they aren't wrong.”

“And that's why you want to be five years old again?”

Elizabeth paused, shaking her head. “I don't want to be five. I just want to have a five year old's perspective. That and I can practice being five with Meredith.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“It'll only be a couple days,” she said. “If Mom or Dad freak, it can be undone.”

“Okay,” Derek said.

He pulled into the parking lot at the mall. Normally, he found it annoying to bring Elizabeth to the mall because she wanted him to bring her friends with her. Bringing her by herself meant he could play his favorite radio stations.

“How can you listen to that noise?” She said as she got out of the car.

“Hey, soon, you're favorite tunes will be sung by cartoon animals. Leave my taste in music be.”

“My favorite tunes won't change.”

“No? You think a five year old swoons over Berti or The Hardies.”

“I don't swoon.”

“No, of course not. You like them for their musicianship and tight harmonies.”

She did not answer, instead pushing through the mall door ahead of him so he could not see her blushing cheeks.

The area around the Venn Machine was basically clear. She stepped up the machine and pulled a coin from her purse. “Oh, I should store this.”

“No, you shouldn't. I'll change it to something that looks like what Meredith would carry around when she's pretending to be an adult.”

“But my ID and my makeup....”

“Will become kid ID and kiddie makeup. Maybe some of it will become stickers you can use to make fake tattoos. It doesn't matter. You won't need the real stuff until you're you again.”

“I'll be me the whole time.”

“So you keep saying. Hit the button and get in. And if you modify me, I'll get my revenge.”

“I won't touch the controls.”

“Good.”

He got in the other side and was presented with an image of his sister. She was average height for a fourteen year old girl, wearing a loose blouse that didn't quite reach her waist. Her knee length skirt was black and contoured to her body. She wore nude-colored hosiery and a low-heeled shoe. Various bits of jewelry adorned her, including pierced earrings and a belly button stud.

He said “Five years old.” But the image selection did not really change. “Childish. Younger. Shorter.” Each of these words sort of worked and eventually got him some choices that made her the height and proportion of a five year old. Eventually, he was presented with face and head combinations that did not look like tiny adult heads. But, she was still wearing a teenager's outfit. He had purposefully looked in on Meredith before they left. He started altering her clothes so she was now wearing a blue dress with a ruffled skirt, white stockings and blue buckled shoes, no heel. He made sure her earrings were clip-on and eliminated her belly button stud and piercings completely. Her other jewelry was mostly inexpensive. He changed it to look more like costume jewelry, particularly something a child would wear.

Elizabeth was listening to her brother's mutterings as he slowly selected changes on the interface she could not see.

“Are we there, yet?”

“Ha, ha. Okay, last chance,” he said. “Ready?”

“I'm ready,” Elizabeth said. She stood up straight and waited. Soon she was nearly half as tall as she had just been, the interior of the machine looked so tall. The green button started flashing, demanding that she alter her brother. Instead, she just looked at her hands. Her nail polish was gone. And her fingers looked so tiny. She grabbed some of her hair and looked at it. It was a bit lighter now, just like when she was younger. Finally, the door opened and she rushed out to the mirror the mall had hanging outside the machine.

“What do you think?” Derek said.

She looked like she did when she was younger. “This is one of Meredith's dresses, isn't it?”

“When you said you had this crazy idea, I knew I would be in that machine trying make your clothes look right. Remember what you were wearing? Meredith doesn't often bare her midriff.” He looked at her again. “Where's your purse?”

“Oops, I left it in the machine.” She ran off immediately to the machine.

As he watched her go, a voice said to him, “Hey, Derek.”

He turned to find Tara standing there, she was someone he studied with and they had kissed a few times. But, she would not let him call her his girlfriend. “Hey, Tara, what brings you to the mall?”

“I'm meeting some friends shortly. I'm just early as usual.”

“I've got it,” Elizabeth said, tugging on Derek's pant leg.

“Oh, aren't you precious?” Tara said. “Are you Meredith?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “Derek said he would get me ice cream.”

Derek did a double take and looked at Elizabeth.

“Oh, that's adorable. Did you bring your little sister to the mall just for ice cream?”

“I... did.” He said still looking at Elizabeth. She just stood there fingering the hem of her skirt with an innocent smile on her face. He turned back to Tara, “Do you want to join us?”

Tara looked at her phone. “Sure, I have time.” She squatted down in front of Elizabeth. “Do you want to hold my hand as we walk to the ice cream store?”

“You'd love to, Meredith. Right?” Derek encouraged.

“Sure.” Elizabeth said, taking Tara's hand. As they walked though the mall, Tara and Derek talked about their school classwork literally over her head. She found it odd to be holding her arm nearly straight up in the air as Tara held her hand. She was just glad Derek had not taken her other hand and made it so she would have both arms up in the air.

At the ice cream place, Derek led them to a booth where Tara sat on one side opposite Elizabeth. “I don't want anything,” Tara said.

“That's okay,” Derek said. “This is just for Meredith here. Vanilla or Chocolate?”

“Rocky Road.”

Derek grinned as he said, “Meredith, the last time you tried a big girl flavor, you ended up not eating it. Don't you remember? So vanilla or chocolate?”

Elizabeth considered throwing a tantrum but decided not to. “Okay, 'nilla.”

“'Nilla it is.” He looked at Tara and said, “I'll be right back.”

She nodded and he turned to leave. “Are you in school yet, Meredith?”

“No,” Elizabeth said, still wondering why she agreed with Derek. “After summer, Mommy said I will. Just like Derek and Elizabeth.”

“That's very exciting, isn't it?”

“I don't know.” Elizabeth said. “Do you like, Derek?”

“I do.”

“Have you kissed him?”

“I have.” Tara said. “Did he tell you about me?”

“No.” Elizabeth said. She had to stop herself from saying she had seen Derek and Tara in the halls at school. “But, you wanted to come here with him.”

“I wanted to come here with you.”

“You did?”

“I wanted to see how he is when he's with his little sister. But, don't tell him that.”

“Okay,” she whispered. She wondered why she had whispered.

Derek returned with a small dish of vanilla ice cream and a plastic spoon. He sat in the booth next to Tara.

Elizabeth felt a little silly eating ice cream like a kid while her brother was with his girlfriend. It was such a small bowl of ice cream but she did not think she would be able to finish it.

“What were you two talking about?” Derek said.

“Meredith was telling me she's excited to start school in the fall.”

“She did?” Derek said. “Are you ready to take on Kindergarten?”

“Of course,” Elizabeth said between spoons of ice cream.

“She didn't ask you about what kind of brother I am?”

“Nope.” Elizabeth tried to wink at Tara but she could not get just one eye to close.

“Were we that messy when we were that young?” Tara said.

Elizabeth did not think there was a mess but then she noticed her fingers were covered in ice cream. The table top had some puddles of ice cream. There was some ice cream on her dress. Thinking about it now she could feel some ice cream on her face around her mouth.

“I was probably worse.”

“I'll take her to get cleaned up,” Tara said.

“Would you? I hate having to take her into the Men's room.”

“C'mon, Meredith. Let's get you cleaned up.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth got up and headed the wrong way. She was not sure why. The bathroom felt huge to her. She reached for the faucet but it was too far back.

Tara picked her up and sat her on the vanity. “Let me do your face first.” She had taken a paper towel and wet it in the sink. Elizabeth felt weird having her face rubbed by the girl who was technically only two years older than her.

She also rubbed the spot on the dress that was soiled. “I hope your mom can get this stain out. It's such a pretty dress.”

When they were done, she helped her hop down. “Do you have to go potty?”

“I think so.”

“Can you do it by yourself?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said, mortified. She entered one of the stalls and locked it behind her. She felt clumsy as she pulled her tights down. There were unicorns on her underwear. Did Derek do that? When she was done with her business she pulled her tights up and unlocked the door.

“All done?”

“All done.”

Tara had her wash her hands again before they returned to Derek.

“There's my beautiful girl. No longer covered in ice cream.” He looked at Tara. “I need to get her home. She's due for a nap, I think.”

“I don't want a nap.”

“Don't start that now. We aren't even home yet.”

“There you are,” a teen girl said. “We've looking all over for you.” Two other high school teens entered the ice cream shop.

Tara hugged the girls. “Bianca, Jade. Hi, I ran into Derek and his little sister, Meredith, and had to help them get ice cream.”

“Hi, Meredith,” one of the girls said, squatting down to her height. “That's a pretty dress.”

“I got a stain on it,” Elizabeth said, pointing out the stain.

“Oh, that'll wash out. Don't worry about it.”

“Meredith and I were just leaving. Have fun, girls,” Derek said, taking Elizabeth by the hand.

“Good bye, you,” Tara said, giving Derek a quick kiss goodbye.

Soon, Derek and Elizabeth were walking through the mall on the way to his car.

“She really likes you.”

“She seemed to like you to.”

“You know what I mean.”

“And I guess she did not think you were fourteen years old. Nice move with getting the ice cream all over.”

“Oh, yeah, I was hoping I didn't over do it.” Elizabeth said. Her five-year old face was not good at hiding her fib. Lucky for her, Derek had not been looking at her when she said it.

* * *

When they got to the car, Elizabeth tried to open the passenger side door but was not strong enough. Derek came to her side and opened the back door. “Sorry, squirt, you need to ride in the car seat. I'm not getting a ticket.”

“Seriously? We can just tell the cop I'm venned.”

“Not getting pulled over in the first place. Hop in.”

Elizabeth begrudgingly got into the car seat and Derek helped her get her arms through the harness as he clicked the lock in place.

“This is so demeaning.”

“At least you got ice cream. Just don't tell Meredith, she'll be jealous.”

* * *

“Are we there yet?”

“Very funny,” Derek said as he parked the car in the driveway and got out of the car.

“Hey,” she called out as he stepped toward the front door.

“Ha, ha, I forgot. Are you stuck?” He opened the backdoor to the car.

“That's not fair. I can't press hard enough to release the straps.”

“Poor, Little Lizzy,” he released her from the car seat. “Don't run ahead of me. You probably want me there when Mom first sees you.”

“Oh, right.” As they entered the house, she said, “Everything looks so big.”

“Derek, is that you?” Their mother called out from the kitchen.

“Yes, I have a surprise for you.”

Their mother was in her late thirties, trim, and a bit above average in height. She stepped into the living room as they also entered the room. “Derek, who's this?”

“This is Elizabeth. Tell Mom why you look so much younger now, Little Lizzy.”

“You know how you wanted me to get a baby sitting job...”

“Hold it,” Mom said holding her hand up. “You did the venn thing you were telling me about?”

“Yes. I didn't think you were paying attention.”

“I didn't think you would actually do it. How long are you going to be like this?”

“Just two days. You're not mad?”

“Why should I be mad?”

“Who are you talking to Mommy?” A voice called from the kitchen.

“Meredith, come in here and meet your cousin Melody,” Mom called out.

“Melody?” Lizzy said.

“I'm not explaining to her that you're Elizabeth. Deal with it.”

Meredith entered the room. She was almost the twin of Melody. And she was wearing the same outfit, although hers was not stained from ice cream.

“I have a cousin?” She said as she entered the room. She ran up and hugged Melody. “Hi, I'm Meredith.”

“Hi,” Melody said. “I'll be staying here a few days.”

“Are you going to sleep in my room? Is she, Mom?”

“We'll work that out later, Dear. Why don't you show her your room and play until dinner?”

“Okay!” Meredith grabbed Melody's hand and ran out of the room.

Melody ran after her.

“That went well,” Derek said.

“Why did you bring her to the mall?”

“I didn't think the machine would allow her to be transformed. You know those things only work for people who are mature enough. So, I figured if it worked, she's mature enough to deal with the consequences.”

“And you thought it would be funny having her be five again.”

“Of course.”

* * *

At first she had a hard time being as excited as Meredith. But, after the first few disappointing looks, she relaxed and tried to mirror her sister's enthusiasm. In what felt like the blink of an eye, Mom was peaking into the room to tell them to put the toys away and wash up for dinner.

“Five more minutes, Mommy?” Meredith said.

“No, there's two of you so it shouldn't take long to clean up. But, then both of you have to wash your hands.”

“Okay.”

Meredith put some stuff away but mostly she told Melody to pick stuff up and then tell her where it belongs. They went into the bathroom and Meredith just ran her hands under the water.

“Aren't you going to use soap?” Melody asked.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Don't tell Mom.”

When they were done, they went to the dining room. Melody picked a chair and started pulling it back. “That's not your seat,” Meredith said. “It's Lizabeth's.”

“Oh, where should I sit?”

“I don't know.”

Their father carried a platter into the room. “Merry, it's fine if Melody sits there. Elizabeth is sleeping over at her friend Abby's house tonight.” Mom had apparently filled him in on what was going on.

“Oh, okay.”

“So, Melody, are you two getting along?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good.” Their mother entered with another platter. “I was surprised to hear Elizabeth wouldn't be here tomorrow. I had thought we were going hiking.”

Mom and Dad sat down.

“I forgot,” Melody said.

“What did you forget, Melody?” Mom said.

Melody felt every eye in the room was on her. It had been nearly a decade since her parents towered over her like they were now.

“Nothing. I was thinking about something else.”

“Not broccoli,” Meredith moaned.

“You like broccoli, Merry,” Dad said.

“No, I don't. No one likes broccoli. Right, Melody?”

“I like broccoli.” Melody stuck her fork into a floret and popped it into her mouth. It tasted funny. It was familiar but not as she remembered it. She forced herself to chew and swallow it.

“You made a face. You didn't like it.”

Her mother looked at her funny.

“I liked it. It was just different that I was use to.”

Derek laughed. “Immature taste buds I bet.”

“Probably,” Dad said.

“What's that mean?” Meredith said.

“I'll tell you later,” Derek said.

“You always say that but you never do.”

“Remind me later.”

“Okay.”

After dinner, Mom said, “Derek, clear the table. I'm going to give the girls a bath.”

“Are we going to bathe together?” Meredith said.

“Of course. That's what cousins do.”

“We are?” Melody said.

“Of course,” Derek said, stacking up some plates.

Soon, the bathtub was filled with dirty water, a bunch of tub toys, and two little girls playing with the toys.

“Bath's over,” Mom said. She pulled up the drain plug and water started to run out of the tub.

“No-o-o-o, five more minutes,” both girls said.

Mom raised an eyebrow. “No, you two have to get dry and then into your pajamas. It's almost bed time.”

Shortly, they were in Meredith's room where she was picking out pajamas for Melody to borrow. “I think you should wear these.” It was a pink top and bottom with winged horses on it.

“That's so cute,” Melody said.

Mom popped her head in and said. “You two can share the bed. Lights out in ten minutes.”

“It's so early,” Melody said.

“Bedtime here is seven thirty, Melody. Besides, aren't you tired?”

Melody stifled a yawn. “No.”

The girls got into bed and Mom sat at the foot of the bed. “How about this book for nighttime?”

Meredith was going to protest but Melody said, “I don't know that one. Can we hear it?”

Mom knew the book had been Elizabeth's favorite bedtime book.

“I don't want that one,” Meredith said.

“You should let your guest choose.”

“You really want that one?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

As her mother read the story, Melody remembered a hundred other times Mom had read the book to her. She was still surprised as Mom gave the characters different voices. As Mom reached the end of the story, she noticed Meredith was asleep. “Thanks, Mom,” she said.

“You should call me Aunt Sarah.”

“Right. I forgot.” She yawned.

“Good night, Dear.”

“Good night.”

* * *

Melody woke first and walked into the kitchen. The counter tops were too high and the cabinet with the cereal was higher still. She pulled a kitchen chair over to the counter and climbed onto the seat. She opened the cabinet and reached for the cereal box. The box was wider than her fingers could reach so she needed two hands to grab it. She went to take a step backward when a large hand grabbed her around the waist and another hand grabbed the box of cereal as she was about to drop it.

“Easy there, Little Lizzy,” Derek said as he put her down on the floor. “You can't die when you're venned but you can still get very hurt.”

“Why is the cereal so high up?”

“That's what you have to say after you nearly fell on your head?”

“I'm sorry. Thanks, Derek.”

“That's better. Go sit down and I'll make a bowl of cereal for you.”

She hid none of her indignity as she sat at the table.

Derek delivered a bowl of cereal before he returned the chair to the table. He also had a bowl of cereal for himself. “So, how goes the great experiment?”

“I just learned how easy it is to be uncoordinated as a child.”

“Have you allowed your body's brain to take over?”

“What do you mean?”

“When you venn, especially venns with large body changes, the brain of the body knows how to be the body. For example, if you venned into a bird, you probably wouldn't know how to fly. The bird's brain would. Thus, if you wanted to experience flying, you could either spend months as a bird and figure out how to fly, or you could let the body's brain take over and do the flying for you.”

“I think I've been doing that without thinking about it. I never meant to eat that ice cream messily. And playing with Meredith, I completely lost track of time.”

“Was that fun?”

“It was so much fun. Thinking about it now, it feels childish. But, at the time, it was great.”

“How's my baby girl?” Their mother said as she entered the room. She planted a kiss on Melody's cheek.

“Mo-o-om,” she said, wiping her face with the back of her hand, spilling the cereal in the spoon on the table.

“Just like old times,” Mom said.

“I did it again,” Melody said.

“You did,” Derek said. “Or you're acclimatizing to your role.

“I thought I'd take you and Meredith to the park,” Mom said.

“One sec,” she said. “Say that again.”

“I thought I'd take you and Meredith to the park?” Mom said.

“Yaaay!” She threw her hands in the air as she cheered, spilling more cereal.

* * *

After coming home from the park, the girls played in Meredith's room for a while before Meredith said, “You want to see something funny?”

“What kind of funny?”

“That would be telling.”

“Okay, show me.”

“Follow me.” Meredith got up and when she got to the edge of the hallway outside her door she paused and looked both ways before sprinting for Elizabeth's room.

Melody was about to protest when Meredith loudly shushed her. She waved her arm to tell Melody to come into Elizabeth's room.

“Should we be in here?” Melody whispered.

“No. That's part of the fun,” Meredith said. She walked around Elizabeth's bed to a side table and opened the middle drawer. She immediately giggled. “See.”

Melody was not sure what was supposed to be funny. The drawer contained some of her bras.

When Melody did not laugh, Meredith grabbed one of the bras and put her arms through the straps. The bra hung loosely in front of her. “I'm a big girl now.” She laughed.

“We shouldn't...”

Meredith grabbed another bra and said, “Just put it on.”

“Won't your sister be mad that we're playing with her things.”

“I don't know. I want to see how it looks on you. Put it on.”

“No.”

“Fine. You're Meredith and I'm Elizabeth,” Meredith said. “Oh, look at those boys. They're so dreamy. I can't play with you. You don't understand.” She put her hands on her hips and Melody recognized how much she looked like Elizabeth when she is talking to Meredith herself.

“What do you mean you can't play with me?”

“You're too little. You don't understand. I have more important things to do.”

“But, I just want to play.”

“Then, go to your room and play. I have to call my friend Abby and talk about Ro-o-ob with her.” She turned away from Melody and pretended to hold a phone up to her ear. “Hi, Abs. Did you see what Ro-o-ob was wearing today? Ro-o-ob is so-o hot.”

Melody was not sure why she started to cry but she ran from the room. She did not hear Meredith call out for her to stop.

Meredith was in her own room when her mother appeared at the door, “What's all the shouting? Where's Melody?”

“I don't know.”

“Why are Elizabeth's bras on her bed? There were not there when she left Friday night.”

“I don't know.”

“Meredith?”

“We were playing with them.”

“I don't think that was Melody's idea.”

“No, it wasn't. I did it. I made Melody run away.”

* * *

Derek found Melody hiding under the stairs several minutes later. “You okay?”

“Merry hates me.”

“Merry doesn't hate you, Melody.”

“No, she hates Elizabeth. Why didn't anyone tell me I was so mean to Merry?”

“Why didn't you notice for yourself?”

“What?” Melody was shocked at what he had said.

“No one expects you to play with Meredith, Lizzy,” Derek said handing her a tissue. “That doesn't mean Merry is happy that you don't. Sometimes when you tell her that you don't want to play, you say it nicely. And sometimes you don't. Five year olds are not stupid. Their thoughts may be childish. But, they know when people talk down to them. I thought this was what you were trying to learn.”

Melody blew her nose. “I had no idea I was talking to Merry that way.”

“Well, you're usually fourteen. Teenagers are well known for being self-centered jerks.”

“You're eighteen.”

“I'm mature for my age. I learned this lesson with Mary Patton. We dated but I was not seeing Mary as my partner. I was seeing her as an accessory: she filled my girlfriend inventory slot like in a video game. She gave me such an earful when she broke up with me and I deserved every bit of it.”

“Is that why Tara was so interested in how you treated your little sister?”

“If I can work it in, I will ask her when we go out tonight to dinner and a movie.”

“You asked her out.”

“She asked me. You did it kid. And it only cost me a small bowl of ice cream.” He stood up and held out a hand to her. “Now, let's get going Meredith was very sad that you ran away. And she doesn't know about this spot, apparently.”

“She prefers hiding under the bed in the spare room.”

Derek accompanied Melody to Meredith's room. “Look who I found.”

“Mom grounded me,” Meredith said. “Hi, Melody. I'm sorry I scared you.”

After wondering if she had actually been scared she decided not to think too much about it. “It's okay. I don't have a big sister.”

“It's too bad 'Lizabeth isn't here. She's the greatest.”

“Thanks,” Derek said.

“She's the greatest big sister. You're the greatest big brother.”

Derek laughed. “I'll leave you to your games. I have to get ready for my date tonight.”

“Am I going to meet her?” Merry said.

“Not tonight. We're meeting up later. She'll come to the house eventually.”

* * *

Derek sat in the restaurant’s waiting area for twenty minutes waiting for Tara. She was not late; he was early. When she arrived she greeted him with a kiss. They were seated shortly thereafter.

“Before we get started, I have something of a confession,” Derek said.

“Oh?”

“Yesterday, you didn't actually meet Meredith?”

“That wasn't your little sister?”

“It was my sister. And she was little. But, that was Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth? She's a freshman at the high school isn't she?”

“She was venned.”

“Why was she venned as a five year old?”

“She hopes it will help her relate to children she babysits for.”

“That's kind of clever.”

“Yeah, isn't it?” He said. “I just wanted to make sure you knew. She did mention you spoke to her about me.”

“I told her not to,” Tara said with a laugh.

“I know. But, I guess I passed the test.”

“Now I'm not so sure.” She paused to drink in the frightened look on his face. She laughed as she continued, “The look on your face.”

“You!”

“No, I had no idea. So when she said she was here for ice cream, that wasn't why you were there.”

“No, we were fresh of the venn machines when we bumped into you.”

“Well, I'm impressed. You venned your sister in what seems to be exactly the way she wanted. You improvised that you were there with you little sister when I arrived. You actually bought her the ice cream, although you probably only did that because I was there.”

“True.”

“You obviously love your sister very much.”

“Yeah, I've known her for a long time.”

* * *

When Derek got home, he peeked in on Meredith and Melody sleeping before he went to his room and went to sleep.

In the morning, he did not need to rescue Melody as Mom was already in the kitchen when he arrived. The girls arrived shortly and were treated to Mom's pancakes.

The girls did not make a complete mess of it. But, Derek did note that Melody seemed to be a messy eater like Elizabeth.

“Is 'Lizabeth gonna be home today?” Meredith said.

“Not until later this afternoon,” Derek said, looking at the wall clock.

“When she gets home, you will have to apologize to her.”

“I know.”

“She won't be mad at you,” Melody said.

“She won't?”

“I just have a feeling.”

Afterward, the girls played together for several hours. Mid afternoon, Derek watched them from the doorway for several moments before interrupting. “Melody, it's time to go home.”

“Aww.”

“Can she stay?” Meredith said.

“Sorry. Help Merry clean up and I'll take you home. Don't forget your bag.”

“Okay.” After cleaning up the toys, Melody and Meredith hugged and said goodbye.

Derek led Melody out to his car and drove around the block. “It should just be a few more minutes,” he said as they sat in a parking spot at a convenience store around the corner from their house. “You should probably unbuckle and get out of the car seat. Did it work?”

“I won't know that till I babysit, I suppose,” she said as she climbed into the front seat. “But, I think I learned a lot from the experience.”

“Will Meredith ever see Melody again?”

It was at that moment that Elizabeth's venn ended. She grabbed the seat belt and put it on. “Maybe she can visit for a month over the summer.”

The phone in Elizabeth's purse emitted dozens of alerts. She took it out and said, “I forgot to tell Abby what I was doing.”

“You were missing for two days and Abby had no clue. She is going to kill you.”

Elizabeth was already texting as fast as she could.

* * *

After dinner, Elizabeth knocked on Meredith's door jam. Meredith was playing with some dolls and looked surprised to see Elizabeth. “Can I come in?”

“I guess.”

“What are you doing?”

“Mrs. Pumpkin is telling Mr. Pumpkin that she has to leave for work now. He's telling her to have a good day.”

Elizabeth sat down next to Meredith. “Is he a stay at home dad?”

“Yes,” she said. She offered the boy doll to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth lowered the pitch of her voice and waved the doll as she said, “Have a great day at work, Mrs. Pumpkin.”

“He wouldn't say Mrs. Pumpkin. He'd call her Erin. That's her name.”

“Sorry, have a great day at work, Erin.” She brought the doll into contact with Mrs. Pumpkin and make a kissy sound.

“Bye, Bye, Dear,” Meredith said as Mrs. Pumpkin.

“Looks like I have to watch the baby,” Mr. Pumpkin said.

Meredith put her doll into a car and had it drive away. They played for a while until Elizabeth saw her mother watching them play. After a few minutes, Elizabeth said, “I think it's time for your bath, Merry.”

Meredith looked at her mother and said, “I know. Time to put the toys away.” Once they were done, she gave Elizabeth a big hug. Before Elizabeth could react, Meredith said, “Thanks for playing with me, Melody.”

“You knew?”

“Derek told me later.”