After taking a shower, I got on the clothes Liliana had picked from yesterday’s purchases. Black and white thigh high socks that came from a pair of purple boots and met with cute purple shortalls with little bats over it and a little black crop top. Under it all was another Pull-up. If you paid attention as I moved you could just see a bit of the waist peeking here and there. I was thrilled. It wasn’t too much, but just enough to feel cute. How had I blocked out this part of myself for so long?
“You ready? I told the inner circle we would meet them for breakfast to make introductions.” Liliana broke me out of my thought and I pranced out of the bathroom and gave her a twirl. “My my, what a cute little girl I have.”
“All your fault! I swear I was tough before I met you.” I laughed, sticking my tongue out at her. “But… I just need to do something first.” I sat on the bed, picking up my phone. I called the number I had so many times to get the voice-mail again. “Hey mom! I know I said I was coming to the city to look for a place, but I was really doing the thing again… and you know, I did it! And I met the most wonderful girl while I was at it.” I smiled up at Liliana who gave me a sad look. “Well… I’ll call again later. Love you.”
“Oh sweetie…” Liliana sat next to me and pulled me into a hug. “How long has it been?” At first I couldn’t say anything. My voice hung in my throat as I fought not to break down. Tears came and gave way to sobs, but when I finally was able to get composed I spoke again.
“Three years.” I choked out. “One night she was fine, the next she was gone. Doctors say a blood clot broke free and it was over quickly. She didn’t suffer, but it’s still so hard to accept.”
“And you call her to hold onto her memory.”
“Yea, she was all I had. I never knew my dad, didn’t even want to look once I was grown up, so when mom went… letting go felt… like I was all alone.”
“Oh, baby… you’ll never have to be alone again. I’m here for you and you have the pack. You have a family again.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Getting out of the car, Liliana shouldered the bright pink Hello Kitty backpack. I didn’t know exactly what was inside it, but I had at least a guess as to something. She saw the blush on my face and chuckled. “Oh sweetie, this is just in case you get too excited and have an accident. We have to be prepared after all.” This did absolutely nothing to help my blush, quite the opposite actually. I let out a whine as I followed her through the doors.
It was a cute little diner that wasn’t very busy. There were two people at the counter and then a table of a mismatched looking group of people. Liliana led me over to the table and as we went I became very self conscious about my outfit. I tugged at the hem of my shorts. Desperate to make sure they hid the Pull-up, but completely unaware that there was almost no chance it would show to begin with. All I managed was to look more childish as I fidgeted.
“Stop fussing with it, honey. You look adorable.” I pursed my lips in protest, but tried my best to leave it alone. As we took our seats.
“So this is the new puppy?” A grumpy looking man chuffed. He had a thick British accent and wore a very nice looking suit.
“Yes Ronnie, this is Rachel. She is my mate and my little girl.” Liliana’s response brought a shy grin to my already pink face.
He snorted. “I guess that’s up to you then.” He sneered at me as he looked down his nose. I wrinkled my nose and stuck my tongue out at him. I was about to give him a tongue lashing when a smaller woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, chimed in.
“Well Liliana, I for one think she’s just precious.” She offered with a song-songy Irish accent.
“Thank you Winnie, dear.” Liliana said with a smile in her voice. Looking around the table, there were seven of us all together. I hadn’t noticed at first, but Marsha was sitting to the right of Mommy… Liliana. I gave her a shy little wave which she returned with a smile.
‘Nice to see you again, sweetie.’ She thought at me. It was nice that she was not only used to my gift, but chose to use it to talk directly to me instead of having me try and converse as embarrassed as I was.
“Ey, I wanna know why we weren’t asked what we thought about turning someone new to bring into the pack.” Barked a man in his thirties. He was dressed in the coolest fashion as if it was still the nineties he seemed to hold himself to a high regard though.
“Excuse me Nico, but I don’t believe even Maribelle would need to come to you for permission to do anything, let alone your alpha. It would be best you learn to remember just who is in charge. I appreciate your skills, but your attitude? Not so much.” Nico shrunk back in his seat. Liliana’s accent was much thicker when she was upset and he could tell he had better shut up. Maribelle, a bookwormish woman in what I would say was in her thirties, smiled shyly at the mention of her. She didn’t seem like the type to want to make waves.
“Now, this was not a meeting to discuss why I decided to turn her or to know how you wouldn’t have done it. No, this meeting was so you could all meet my new baby girl and so that some things could be discussed.” As she spoke the waitress came over. She put a child’s menu in front of me, complete with crayons.
“Well aren’t you just the cutest!? Excuse me, would you like a booster seat or highchair for your little girl?” I was stunned into silence. Little girl? Was she part of the pack too and just playing along?
Liliana smiled at her. “Oh, no thank you ma’am. I think she can be a big enough girl to not need one.”
“Okay, she really is adorable. Such a lucky mommy.” She praised, before taking drink orders. Liliana handed her a big sippy cup for my juice. I was stunned. I couldn’t feel her in the pack bonds, but here she was acting like all she saw was a two year old. Looking around I noticed Marsha, mommy and Winnie were all smiling. I didn’t understand, but when I glanced at the window my jaw dropped. There looking back at me was a toddler wearing the same outfit I was.
<Edited by @Aliceko_chan over on Twitter!>
Playpen of Ko 