Chapter 1

Cecily Roberts was sitting on the floor, using the coffee table as a desk. She was working on homework for one of her classes and had been for the last several hours. She heard motion behind her and glanced to see Sunflower getting up from the couch.

"What do you need, Sunflower?" Cecily asked, starting to move to get up from the floor.

"Nothing that I can't get on my own..." Sunflower said, smiling at Cecily. "You've been down there working for a while, if you try to stand up now, you're gonna go down and probably take the table out with you." She glanced at the other two people in the room. "While I'm up, anyone want anything?"

"I'm good," Came Rayne's soft voice from the love seat where they sat with Amethyst.

"I'm good as well," Amethyst said, smiling at Sunflower.

"Cecily, you need anything?" Cecily glanced in Sunflower's direction.

Cecily held up the pink cup she had sitting next to her laptop. "Can I have some more water?" Sunflower took the cup and just gave Cecily a look.

"What do you say?" She asked.

"Please?" Cecily said quietly. She blushed and looked at the rug that she was sitting on. She dropped her hands to her lap, palms up, the black titanium cuff on her left wrist impacting the edge of the table as it moved toward her lap. There was a matching cuff on the right wrist, as well as a matching collar around her neck. Sunflower held the keys to all three of the metal bands around her extremities. The collar was still somewhat new to the girl; but she had worn the cuffs for the past six months. She often hit them on things, occasionally there would be a muted 'thunk' of them hitting something in the house. The good news was that there was no 'ow' that followed that thunk. Sunflower had added the collar to the girl. Cecily had been a member of the household and a submissive to Sunflower for well over a year. It was something that Rayne and Sunflower had talked about before Sunflower decided to drop the money on the collar. Cecily had a family that she belonged to and one that she was proud to be a part of.

"Good girl" Sunflower said and wandered off to the kitchen to refill Cecily's cup and get herself something to drink.

"I don't understand how you can let her treat you like a child all the time, Cecily..." This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and this conversation happened often. Cecily shrugged.

"It's just that my brain is very child like and treating me like a child makes me happy and I actually manage to get stuff done..." Cecily said, going back to the text book that she had been reading on and off in for the last few hours while making notes on her laptop. "I don't think my grades would be as good as they are if I wasn't allowed to be me..."

"What ever floats your boat, munchkin." Amethyst said, using the groups nickname for the girl that sat on the floor. She'd specifically asked to be treated like a child; something about not getting the childhood that she should have as she was growing up. Amethyst went along with it only because the other two had encouraged her to support the girl. Rayne had, as the head of the polycule, decreed that Cecily was the child of the group. She was also the partner that was shared amongst the group. Sunflower walked back into the living room and sat the cup next to Cecily's laptop. Cecily had four cups total that were like the pink one that now sat next to her laptop. They were, in effect sippy cups that didn't look like sippy cups. Everywhere that Cecily went, she had at least one of the cups with her, and she would drink a lot of water throughout the day, mainly due to the medications that she was on. As they sat there, an alarm went off on Cecily's phone, which she silenced. Sunflower hadn't sat back down yet, so she just held out her hand. Cecily took the Apple Watch off of her wrist and handed it to Sunflower.

"Thank you," Cecily said, smiling up at Sunflower. Rayne and Amethyst shared a look. Cecily had gotten the watch only recently following the diagnosis of a chronic condition that would occasionally cause her to faint. Since she often didn't have classes with anyone in the polycule, they would all be alerted if she passed out and they all could respond to where she was. Since she had gotten the watch, it had only happened once; Cecily was at home, alone and had fainted when she stood to go to the bathroom. Sunflower was close to the house and got to Cecily first, but there was a mess because when Cecily passed out, her bladder released and she made a mess in the kitchen.

"Tomorrow is Monday, and I've got an eight am class..." Rayne said, closing her laptop. She was an early to bed, early to rise type person. "After classes tomorrow I plan on making a trip to the grocery store, so everyone have what you want for the week on the list. I'm going to head to bed, See y'all in the morning." Amethyst leaned over and gave Rayne a kiss on the lips.

"I'm not going to be up too much later, I've got a class at nine..." She said, smiling at Cecily. Cecily was the only member of the group that didn't have an early class on Monday, allowing her to possibly sleep in on Monday morning. She never got to, however, because Sunflower enforced a strict bedtime and wakeup routine with the girl. Her bedtime was ten thirty pm and Sunflower made sure she was up by seven. Tuesday and Thursday were the hardest for this, as Sunflower had to be in a lab for one of her classes at seven-thirty and was often out the door by six forty-five as she chose to walk across campus. For those mornings, the pair of cameras in their room, known colloquially as 'The baby monitor.'

"Goodnight," Cecily said. "Love you both and see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, loves," Sunflower said. "I'm planning on getting up around six and will get breakfast made."

"Sounds good." Rayne said, "Love you both and sleep well." She gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead and gave Sunflower a kiss on the lips. Rayne and Amethyst walked down the hall to their room and went in their room and shut the door. Sunflower smiled at Cecily, sitting there at the coffee table just working on her homework.

"How much do you have left, Princess?" Sunflower asked. "We need to get you in the bath, and I'd like to get you down for sleep early if possible tonight."

"But Mama..." Cecily whined. She didn't call Sunflower Mama unless the two of them were alone, but it occasionally slipped out. Everyone else in the polycule just kinda ignored it when it happened. It caused blushes when it happened in public though.

"No buts, little one." Sunflower replied. Getting the youngest person in the household to get in the shower or bath was often something that only Sunflower could accomplish. It often took Sunflower actually bathing Cecily to get her in the tub. "Your last bath was Thursday night. You need to take one."

"Fine..." Cecily said, her tone clearly not pleased with having to take a bath. "I just need to finish typing up my notes for this chapter."

"Well, Hurry up," Sunflower said. "I want you in the tub by nine, and you need to take your meds as well."

"Yes, Mama." Cecily said quietly. She was pushing, and she knew it, but growing up, she never got to enjoy a bath or shower and always had to be so quick that she wasn't even sure that she got the soap out of her hair or off of her body. Growing up as a boy had a few advantages, short hair didn't take anywhere near as long to wash and dry. "I'll take my meds after I finish my notes and before I hop in the tub."

"Good girl." Cecily beamed, She loved being called a good girl. Cecily finished up her notes and saved her document on her laptop, closing the lid. "Okay, Meds and a bath." She rolled her eyes as she said the word bath. She glanced at Sunflower as her eyebrows went up. "Sorry Mama." Cecily said, before wandering into the kitchen. A few seconds later, Sunflower heard Cecily gargle and spit water out three times, knowing that the girl had used her twice daily inhaler. Cecily came out of the kitchen. "Let me mark them and then I'll hop in the bath."

"Okay, I'll go get your jammies out and get the bedroom ready," Sunflower said, smiling. She had always taken joy in taking care of others and the way that she cared for Cecily was special. She treated Cecily as if she were her own daughter. Sunflower wandered to the bedroom that her and Cecily shared and pulled out one of the light weight sleepers that the girl owned. When she would sleep was one of the few times that Cecily would wear pants. Most of the time Cecily wore skirts and dresses; which suited Sunflower, as it made it easier to do a diaper check on Cecily when she was wearing one. She had issues with stress incontinence and, whenever she was really stressed would have accidents. Sunflower had woken up in a wet bed precisely once, and after that diapers were in the house for her girlfriend. They had quite a stash of diapers, so many that Cecily could wear nothing but diapers for a month straight and still have quite a few left over. Sunflower laid the sleeper on the bed and looked at it, and then opened the drawer that held Cecily's panties. Pulling a pair out, she laid them with the sleeper. She walked back over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Let me know when you're done, and I will help you get your jammies on."

"Okay, Mama," came the voice of a girl playing in the water of the tub. Sunflower wandered back down to the living room and sat on the couch, resuming the reading she was doing on her tablet. She would check on Cecily in a bit and make sure she was okay. After finishing the reading for her psych class, she got up, and went toward the bathroom and knocked on the door. "I'm good in here, Mama." Cecily's voice floated through the door.

"Okay," Sunflower responded. "You need to wrap it up, bedtime is approaching and you've got school tomorrow."

"But, I don't have school early..." Cecily whined. Sunflower could tell that she was tired and that she was starting to get overly tired.

"Doesn't matter, bedtime is ten thirty," Sunflower said. "It's been that way since you wanted us to start treating you like a child, and it's not going to be changing any time soon..." There were a few exceptions, but generally speaking, the bedtimes were a firm rule, one of about a dozen that the young girl had.

"Yes, Mama..." Cecily said. "I'll be out here in a bit."

"If you are out of bed after ten thirty, you're going to get in trouble..." Sunflower said. She could get creative with punishments. The most effective punishments were corner time, counting rice and writing lines. Cecily had been bad enough once that she had to write lines and count rice. She had been generally well behaved since then. Most of the rules related to her chronic medical conditions: She had to have her watch and phone on her if she wasn't at home (and the batteries shouldn't be dying), she had to have her cane (even if it was a good day,) she had to have her rescue inhaler with her at all times. It was fun to spot check her on the things too. The phone and watch weren't spot checked as much as the cane and inhaler were. Sunflower would know if the watch or phone weren't where with Cecily by looking at the tracking dot in the maps application on her phone, to say nothing of the parental controls that had been setup on the phone.

"Yes, Mama," Cecily said. Sunflower heard a giggle from Rayne and Amethyst's room and smiled. Amethyst may not have liked the fact that Cecily was treated like a child, but it didn't stop her from helping to take care of the youngest in the house; It takes a village as they say. Sunflower glanced at her watch to see the time. Cecily still had some time left and Sunflower figured she would be okay. Everyone watched out for Cecily.

Sunflower sat back on the couch and looked at her tablet before browsing Facebook. She got lost in time browsing on Face book and when she glanced at at the clock it was twenty-five after ten. "Mama! Can you help me get ready for bed." Sunflower shut the tablet off and plugged it in. She had a nine am class and might as well get ready for bed herself. She turned off the lights and made sure the doors were locked, something she often did as the last one awake. Satisfied that the house was secure, she walked into the bedroom and shut the door. Cecily lay on the bed, her panties on backwards, but that was it.

"Silly girl, you've got your panties on backwards..." Cecily giggled. "Let Mama help you." Cecily stood and Sunflower helped her put the panties on the correct way and then helped the younger girl put on the sleeper. After Sunflower had zipped it up, she helped Cecily lay down in the bed, popped her pacifier in her mouth, attached the clip to the sleeper and pulled the twenty four pound weighted blanket up over the younger girls body, and then lifted the rail on the side of the bed to keep Cecily from falling out of the bed. This was an issue that had happened only once, and Cecily had requested that the rail be purchased so that she didn't fall out of the bed again. "Goodnight Princess, Sleep well." Sunflower leaned over and gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead and then made sure that all of her stuff was plugged in. Cecily didn't have her watch on, and Sunflower decided to just let it go for the night. She watched as Cecily rolled over and curled around the very large stuffed shark that she slept with, realized that she didn't have her watch on, reach over the rail, grab the watch and put it on. Sunflower changed into a night shirt and got in the other side of the bed and laid down next to Cecily, rolled over and laid her arm across the younger girl. Due to the bulk of the weighted blanket, Sunflower could almost not feel Cecily in the bed at all, only the soft, deep breaths really gave Sunflower an indication that Cecily was asleep. Cecily would fall asleep very fast if she had her weighted blanket, her stuffed shark, and the rail on the side of the bed. As Sunflower fell asleep, she heard the microwave beep, and then it beep again and then nothing. She sat up and looked around the now dark room. The only light in a normal situation was a dim night light that was in the corner on Cecily's side of the bed. It was off which meant that the power was off. She lay back down in the bed and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't sure how long she laid there, listening to the sound of Cecily breathing but eventually there was a beep and the night light came back on. With that she rolled over, snuggled up into her girlfriend and went to sleep, only to wake up to another beep and the night light flicking off again. Something was up with the power, but she didn't know what. The microwave beeped again and the night light came back on again. She was getting closer to just unplugging the night light if it was going to keep turning on and off. Cecily wouldn't really need it, and if she had to get up in the middle of the night, she would have to crawl off the end of the bed because she couldn't put the railing down. Since the light was on, she rolled over and faced away from the light and went to sleep.

Chapter 2

Sunflower rolled over and shut off her alarm. It was five forty-five in the morning. The first thing that she noticed was that her phone was only at sixty-two percent battery, and the second was that the night light was off. She rolled over and stretched and got out of the bed. Cecily was still soundly sleeping, her breathing still very deep. Sunflower left the room and walked into the kitchen to find no power to the coffee maker.

"Power's out..." Amethyst said from the couch. "School is closed today as well, because of it..."

"Well, this is going to stink..." Sunflower responded, yawning. "Any idea when it's supposed to come back on?"

"They don't know yet. It's been out since around three AM," Amethyst glanced at the clock on the wall that still showed the time because it ran on battery. "They haven't officially come up with a cause yet. I know there were storms up in the north west part of the state, and I think that had something to do with it..."

"Are we going to get any of that?" Rayne asked, appearing from the bathroom. Her hair was all wet like she had taken a shower in the dark.

"I don't really know..." Amethyst replied. "Cecily's the little meteorologist." It was a true statement, Cecily was the one that often understood what the maps were showing (which was sometimes very different from what the meteorologist was saying was going to happen. It was interesting to watch this nineteen year old with no formal training in meteorology, tell someone that had been through years of school that they were wrong. Sunflower smiled at Amethyst calling Cecily little. It was true though.

"Okay," Rayne said, walking into the living room and sitting down, running a brush through her hair. "Let's come up with a plan. We don't have an estimated time to restore. What are priority items power wise?"

"Cecily's phone and watch..." Sunflower said. "My phone."

"My CPAP," Amethyst said. "It'll run off 12 volts, so we could use a car battery to run it. My phone as well."

"The laptops can all run off of 12 volts as well," Rayne said, "My phone is a priority power item. We can go without the laptops if we need to." She made notes on a piece of paper. "What about gas in the cars?" between the four of them, there were four cars parked in the driveway of the house that they shared.

"Well, Cecily has at least half a tank in her car, that's a hard rule and is one that she doesn't mess with." Sunflower said. She had had to bring Cecily gas precisely twice. The second time there had been a punishment that followed. "I have at least half a tank as well." She wouldn't make a rule that Cecily had to follow that she wouldn't follow herself.

"I have a full tank, I've not gone anywhere since I filled up," Amethyst leaned against the wall.

"And I was going to get gas when I was out running today, I've got a quarter tank..." Rayne said. "Can I get a status check on phone batteries?"

"Sixty percent on mine," Sunflower said, before tapping on her phone "Cecily's phone is at ninety nine percent, and her watch is at eighty eight percent."

"I'm at ninety one percent." Amethyst said.

"I'm at seventy three percent." Rayne said. "I will go down and charge my phone in my car after bit. Amethyst, where is your camping stuff, some of that might come in handy..."

"It's down in the van, I'll bring the stove and lanterns in. Everything runs off of propane and I've got a ridiculous amount of propane." She said.

"OK, Here in a bit," Rayne said. "I'm going to head down into West Virginia and try to get some groceries that we can keep with no power, as well as try to fill my car up."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Amethyst asked.

"You don't have to, but if you want to..." Rayne said. "You know what we can cook with your little stove, or at least what will cook well."

"I'll accompany you," Amethyst said. "There is nothing here that I can really do anyway..."

"OK, I want to be on the road by eight if possible." Rayne said. "I'm going to go get dressed. What time does Cecily normally get up?"

"Around eight," Sunflower looked at her phone. "So in and hour and a half." She was surprised that they had been planning for the last half hour. "Boy, is Cecily gonna be confused when she wakes up..." Amethyst chuckled.

"Yep, she is..." Rayne agreed. "OK, I'm going to go get dressed, Amethyst, you should as well."

"Yes, Ma'am" Amethyst said before turning to head to the bedroom that she shared with Rayne.

"Are you two going to be OK when we go?" Rayne asked.

"Yeah, I can take care of Cecily," Sunflower said. "The trick is going to be not killing my phone while I'm waiting on y'all to get back."

"If you kill your phone before we get back, we've got much different problems..." Rayne said, getting up from the couch.

"I know..." Sunflower responded walking over to the window and looking out into the new day that was beginning to show itself. The sky was clear, and the winds were calm, as she stood there, the sky was slowly brightening and making the campus of Ohio University visible in the growing light of day. Sunflower heard movement behind her and turned to see Amethyst standing there, dressed as if she were going on a hike.

"No idea what to expect..." She said, "Gotta plan for anything." Sunflower knew that Amethyst studied Aikido, a form of martial arts. She could be downright dangerous in a fight if she had to be.

"Makes sense to me..." Rayne said, walking out of the bedroom. She too was dressed like she was going to go for a hike. "I'm ready when you are."

"Let's go." Amethyst said. The pair walked over to Sunflower and they both gave her a kiss. "We'll be back, hopefully with supplies. I'm locking the door... Please leave it that way unless you've got a really good reason to leave the house."

"Okay, I've got the over watch," Sunflower said. "Be careful. I love both of you..." Sunflower watched them go, before pulling up the tracking on her iPad to be able to keep and eye on where the two girls were.

"Love you too" Amethyst and Rayne both said in unison, right before they walked out the door. Sunflower stood there in the mostly silent house. The only thing she could hear was Cecily's breathing from down the hall.

Amethyst sat in the passenger seat of Rayne's Toyota Corolla. Rayne backed the car out of the driveway and shifted the car into first gear. "See if you can get any information on the radio to find out what the hell is going on..." Rayne said, shifting the car into second gear. Rayne was the only one in the group that could drive a stick with no problems and they was trying to teach the others how to drive what they considered the only way to drive.

Amethyst started pushing buttons on the radio, trying to find a station that was airing news. "You know, I should have fired up the radio in the van. I might have been able to figure something out based on what I was hearing."

"I always forget that you've got all of that stuff in your van..." Rayne said, down shifting and coming to a stoplight that was out, which meant that the light was to be treated as a four way stop. Rayne stopped the car and saw no traffic, so they proceeded through the intersection and took the ramp for the state route that went through town. On the other side of Athens, they found a gas station that still had power so Rayne pulled in and up to a pump. They got out and fueled the car up, and continued on their way. They found a grocery store that still had power and went in.

Cecily woke to the silent house. She was use to it being quiet, but not silent. She slid off the foot of the bed as she couldn't put the rail down from on the bed, something about a safety feature for children so they didn't pinch their fingers... Cecily was more of a child than she was an adult, so she left the rail up and grabbed her phone and headed out to the kitchen to get some tea. She really wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but could drink it in small bits. She was surprised to find Sunflower sitting on the couch.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Cecily asked, trying not to sound like it was a question that a mother would ask a child.

"Classes were canceled today, the power is out all over the city," Sunflower said, patting the seat next to her. "Amethyst and Rayne went to go try to get supplies. We don't know how long it's going to be out."

"What are we going to do for the phones and stuff?" Cecily sounded scared. Her watch had activated only one time when she had passed out and she was home alone. Sunflower had been almost home and was the first one to the house, beating the medic that had been dispatched by a good four minutes. One of her medical conditions would cause her to black out when she stood up, sometimes leading to fainting. Cecily had a purple cane that she would use and had been issued a handicapped parking placard so that she didn't have to walk very far to get into buildings. Most of her classes were on line so she could get by with doing them from the house and not having to go across campus and trying to either find a place to park or walk a long distance to get to get to class.

"I think Rayne is coming up with a plan to charge the phones and stuff," Sunflower said, stroking Cecily's hair. She had been stressed when she realized that the power was out, and the stroking of the hair was calming Cecily down. "We're already coming up with a plan to keep things charged. It might involve charging them in the cars. The highest priority items are your watch and phone and Amethyst's CPAP. It's been speculated that the storms that his the north west part of the state caused the power outage. Rayne was wondering if the weather was going to affect us down here. If I give you my tablet, can you let me know what's going to happen?" Cecily sat up and looked at Sunflower.

"How does your tablet still have Internet?" Cecily asked, holding her hand out for the tablet.

"Because it's a cellular model... I've had it for a while. My parents got it for me when I started school, and then I hooked up with the polycule and you all got me addicted to ThinkPads. I don't think I could go back to anything else now." She smiled at Cecily. "I'm going to restrict what your phone can do in an effort to save battery power, OK?" As part of being treated like a child, Cecily had asked for parental controls to be added to all of her devices. There was nothing that she could do that Sunflower wouldn't see on any of her devices.

"Sounds good," Cecily said, smiling at Sunflower. "But right now, I've got your tablet and I can look at whatever I want and you can't stop me..." Sunflower gave Cecily a look and watched as Cecily dropped her head. "I'm joking..."

"I know you are," Sunflower said. "You're a good girl, now tell me what the weather is going to do." Sunflower pulled her phone out and opened the app to be able to adjust settings on Cecily's phone. When she was done, Cecily's phone was nothing more than an old flip phone that could only call and text people. Cecily was focused on the screen and wasn't aware that Sunflower was watching her.

"Uh..." Cecily said, glancing up from the tablet. "It looks like the storm system that caused the outage has already moved off to our east, but there is another system that is off to west of Seattle that could cause issues in a few days..."

"Okay," Sunflower said, "That's good to know. Hopefully they get the power turned back on soon. If you want to play on the Internet on my tablet for a little while, you can."

"But I could get in trouble..." Cecily said, panic spreading across her face.

"You know what you're allowed to look at and what you're not, prove to Mama that you can be good." Sunflower winked at Cecily.

"I can do that, Mama," Cecily said, smiling. It would be no problem for the younger girl to prove that she could be good, as she hadn't gotten in trouble for anything recently.

"What about soups?" Rayne asked. "We need the salt for Cecily, but the rest of us don't need that much salt." They had half a shopping cart full of stuff that could easily be made on the little camping stove. A lot of it was pasta based stuff.

"Soups would be easy, provided we don't have to add anything other than water." Amethyst said, glancing in the cart. "There is a camping store at the other end of this strip mall, Let's stop there and look for things that we can do for breakfast. We have a lot of lunch/dinner stuff, but not breakfast, and Cecily needs to eat or the sodium chloride will make her get sick." Amethyst looked at Rayne, everyone in the house paid attention to Cecily's health. "Oatmeal would be easy to make with the supplies on hand. How long do you think municipal water will hold out?"

"No clue, do you think we should get water?" Rayne glanced in the cart.

"Yeah, lets get a couple of gallons as well as a pack of water that we can drink." Amethyst said. "I'm going to send a text to Sunflower and see if Cecily will eat oatmeal before we buy some." She pulled her phone out and sent a text to Sunflower. A response came almost instantly. "Cecily will eat oatmeal if it's the only thing that is available, or if she's told to. If she has to, she prefers the Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal."

"She's getting oatmeal..." Rayne said, a giggle escaping her mouth.

"Why do you enable treating Cecily like she's a child?" Amethyst said.

"Because it helps her mental state." Rayne stated flatly. "She had a lot of bad days, mentally, before she asked us to treat her like a kid. It was a night and day difference once we had started to treat her like a child. Her grades improved," Rayne placed a box of Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal in the cart. "She became happier. She needed structure that she wasn't able to create on her own. That rules list that hangs on the fridge is something like the sixth or seventh iteration of the rules. They used to be a lot more restrictive. She's earned back a lot of privileges."

"She's earned a lot of privileges back?" Amethyst asked. "How so?"

"By proving that she could be responsible..." Rayne stopped the cart next to a large shrink wrapped package of water. "When we first started treating her like a kid, Her bedtime was nine thirty. It's ten thirty on school nights now. There are a few rules that have not and will not ever change, the rule about her having her phone, watch, inhaler and cane on her at all times. As long as she wants us to treat her like a child, those rules will be in effect, and given the fact that Cecily and Sunflower are in a D/s relationship, I don't see that rule changing even if Cecily decides she doesn't want to be treated like a kid. Most of the rules that exist are to correct things that need corrected." Rayne put several one gallon jugs of water in the cart. "Anything else you can think of that we can get here?"

"Nothing that I can think of." Amethyst replied. She was trying to figure out exactly why she didn't like Cecily being treated like a child. It was almost as if she were jealous of Cecily being care free and very child like.

"Okay," Rayne replied steering the shopping cart toward the front of the store. "Let's get out of here and go to the camping store. I want to get home to Sunflower and Cecily."

"Me too," Amethyst said. "I want to get home to Cecily as well. "I don't understand her obsession with being treated like a child, but I respect it. I'll try to do better. What's the saying: "It takes a village?"

"Yep," Rayne said, starring to place the items from the cart on the belt. "If we all help it make the job of a parenting that much easier. I will be honest, I don't understand how she can survive with the rules she has, but then again, I'm a Domme, so..." The cashier was giving them a strange look, only having heard part of the conversation. Amethyst was a switch, but her submissive side was more often than not the one that was facing outward. "Think of Cecily as being... Extremely submissive."

"Your total is eighty three forty two..." the cashier said, glancing between Rayne and Amethyst. In her head she was wondering which one of the two of them was going to pay.

"Okay," Rayne said, pulling a card out of her wallet. "Less than what I anticipated spending so that is good... Can get cash back?"

"Sure. Just select how much you want on the screen." The cashier said. The screen only went to eighty dollars, so Rayne tapped the option for eighty dollars cash back.

"I chose eighty dollars, cash back." Rayne said, pulling her card out of the machine. She handed it to the Amethyst and took the cash and receipt and handed them to Amethyst as well. Amethyst placed both the card and the cash in a wallet and dropped them into her purse.

"You two have a nice day..." The cashier said.

"You too." Rayne said, smiling. She had an idea of what all of the conversation that the cashier had heard. "Let's go, Amethyst..." The pair walked away and as soon as they were outside the doors, Rayne burst out laughing. "Let's get the car loaded up and head over to the camping store, I want to get home."

"Sounds good to me." Amethyst said, pushing the cart toward the car. The lights blinked as Rayne popped the trunk and unlocked the doors. "We locked the door when we left, right?"

"We did..." Rayne responded, placing the gallons of water in the trunk. "If it's still locked? Dunno. If it's not, someone had better be very clear as to why..." Amethyst nodded and handed Rayne a bag out of the cart. Once the trunk was full of the stuff that they had purchased, Amethyst pushed the cart toward a cart return and then went and got in the car. Rayne was already in the car, with it running. Amethyst got in the passenger seat, shut the door, and buckled her seatbelt. Rayne backed out of the spot and drove to the other end of the strip mall.

"I want you to take everything but your sodium chloride since you've not had anything to eat yet today. Hopefully Rayne and Amethyst get home soon..." Sunflower said to Cecily.

"Okay..." Cecily said, clearly not happy about having to take her meds this morning. "I just don't want to take them without food..."

"The one that causes you issues is the sodium chloride, we're gonna wait on that one until Rayne and Amethyst get home," Sunflower said. "Besides, I want coffee and can't make any because there is no power... I know Amethyst has the stuff to make coffee when she camps, but I don't know where any of it is."

"Mama, I want some tea." Cecily said.

"I can make you some as soon as I have a way to heat up the water..." Sunflower said, walking into the kitchen to get the meds that Cecily could take on an empty stomach. "Come in here." Cecily didn't really need supervision to take her meds, but it was something that was in the rules of her being treated like a child. One of the rules read that she wasn't allowed to take any medicine without it being given to her or being okayed by an 'adult'. The other three members of the household were considered the adults. Since Sunflower had gotten the medicine down and placed it on the counter, Cecily could take it. This applied to over the counter medication as well, there had been an incident that Amethyst was too new to the Polycule to know about that had transpired that had prompted the rule. Sunflower got a glass of water and sat it next to the pills. So that she could use it to take her pills and rinse her mouth out following using her daily inhaler. Cecily came in the kitchen and took the meds. "Do you have any reading that you need to do for any of your classes? We can read and take paper notes without power." Cecily took the pills and then took a puff off of the daily inhaler and then rinsed her mouth out.

"I do..." Cecily said, popping the last pill in her mouth. It had to dissolve under her tongue. "Let me guess, you want me to start doing my reading?" Sunflower smiled.

"You've got it, Princess." Sunflower said.

"Yes, Mama," Cecily smiled. "I'll have to go get my books and come out here because there is light."

Chapter 3

Amethyst was standing in the kitchen heating up some soup for dinner. She had pulled the battery out of Cecily's car as it was the least likely to go anywhere, hooked a solar panel and controller up to it, and wired her CPAP up to it. Now it was time to cook diner. There were two different soups on the camp stove slowly heating up. Cecily walked in to the kitchen and looked at the stove.

"Be careful, sweetie," Amethyst said to Cecily. "The stove is hot, don't want you to burn your self..."

"Yes, Auntie" Cecily said, after a few moments of confusion coming across her face. She wasn't used to Amethyst taking on a care giving role. Normally Amethyst would talk to her like an adult, but now she was talking to her like she was a child like Rayne and Sunflower often did. "You used to not like treating me like a kid; What changed?"

"Rayne and I had a conversation about you while we were out getting supplies this morning," Amethyst said, continuing to stir the soup. The meals over the next few days wouldn't be overly fun... "She explained the reason why you wanted to be treated like a kid, and," Amethyst looked to see who was in earshot. "Even though I had a pretty good childhood, I'm kinda jealous of you." She winked at Cecily.

Cecily tipped her head to the right. "Really? Why?"

"How many big decisions do you make?" Amethyst asked, her voice was a low, almost conspiratorial tone.

"I don't even get to pick out my own clothes, Sunflower does it for me..." Cecily said, her voice quiet. "I don't get to make any decisions..."

"I can only dream of how freeing that must be..." Amethyst said, stirring the soup. "Run along kiddo, tell your Mama and Aunt Rayne that dinner is almost done. I'll be dishing it out here soon. Be here, or be square."

"OK!" Cecily said, excitedly and went out to where Sunflower and Rayne were charging devices in one of the cars. When she got outside both of them looked at her.

"What's up, kiddo?" Rayne asked, glancing up at Cecily from her phone.

"Aunt Amethyst said that dinner is almost done," Cecily said, giggling. "She said to be there or be a square..." Sunflower chuckled.

"Okay, Let her know that we will be in there in a few minutes." Sunflower replied.

"Otay!" Cecily said, before going back in the house. Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other.

"Aunt Amethyst?" Sunflower asked, looking at Rayne.

"Amethyst and I had a talk while we were out this morning..." Rayne said, as her phone beeped indicating an incoming text message. "I explained the reason why we treat Cecily like a little kid, and how much it's actually helped her since we started, and she agreed to try a bit harder. I think she is trying already." Rayne smiled. "I know you're Cecily's mama, but I take pride in how far she's come. I never thought I'd care about someone as if they were my daughter, but family is what we make it."

"Whenever I get to take care of her," Sunflower said, standing up, "It fulfills a need in me that is hard to explain, a maternal instinct as it were."

"You're good at it..." Rayne said, finally looking at the text message. "They are estimating Thursday at eleven PM for the power to come back on... Wow..." Sunflower looked at Rayne.

"Think we're gonna make it?" Sunflower asked. The sun was setting in the western sky, causing sunlight to glint off the solar panel that was mounted on top of Amethyst's minivan. Normally one wouldn't catch an eighteen year old driving a minivan, but Amethyst had converted the van into a small camper, complete with a dedicated house power system. Right now the solar panel would be charging the house battery as the van had dropped off of shore power when the power failed. The group had gone camping once. Having four people packed into a Dodge Promaster and camping for two days is a bit cramped, but it was doable. Amethyst had designed the van to be able to pull the kitchen out and cook outside which helped. "The van has solar; doesn't Amethyst have a bunch of USB ports in there?"

"I think so..." Rayne said, "Let's go ask her..." The pair walked into the house as the last rays of sunlight were visible to the west. Walking into the kitchen, they saw that Cecily was already sitting at the table sipping on her soup.

"I've got Tomato and Chicken Noodle, what can I getcha?" Amethyst asked.

"Tomato," Rayne replied. "We have a question for you..."

"Tomato, coming up." Amethyst grabbed a Styrofoam bowl and put soup in it. "Shoot."

"How many USB ports are in the van on the house side?" Rayne asked, taking the bowl of soup. The spoon, like the bowl was disposable; the only dishes would be the pans and the serving spoons.

"Uh..." Amethyst did a quick count in her head. "I think there are at least eight, and two of them are PD rated... Wh---" she stopped talking as she realized where this was going. Rayne and Sunflower shared a glance. "We have unlimited power. I can even run my CPAP in there if I had to, or the laptops." Amethyst looked at Rayne. "Good call..." Amethyst said aloud. "I don't know why that didn't occur to me. Any thing that needs charged can be done in there. There's also an inverter, we can run the coffee pot, But I've also got a 12 volt coffee pot and kettle... Well, tomorrow morning, we can." Amethyst said, looking at Sunflower. "Soup?"

"Chicken noodle, please," Sunflower said, "And I like the idea of coffee in the morning..." She smiled. "What kind of soup did the kid get?"

"Tomato..." Amethyst said. "I told her that if I had the cheese to be able to do it, I would have made her a grilled cheese as well." She smiled at Cecily.

"Mama?" Cecily said, from the table, her phone was laying next to her, the screen dark. "May I turn my phone on and see if anything important has come in today."

"You may," Sunflower said, sitting down next to Cecily.

"So we got an answer as to an ETR..." Rayne said. "The power company is estimating Thursday at eleven pm for a restore..." Cecily's phone went crazy as it received everything that had come in during day while it had been turned off.

"Thursday?" Amethyst asked... "Wow..."

"After you clear the backlog on your phone, lets power it off again..." Sunflower said, glancing at Cecily.

"Yes, Mama." Cecily said, glancing through the list of things that had come in. Most were mundane email and forum post updates, but one thing stopped her in her tracks. "Mama..." Cecily handed the phone to Sunflower. The three 'adults' shared a glance. This only happened when Cecily's parents had reached out. The relationship between Cecily and her parents was tumultuous at best, and Sunflower often coached Cecily through the responses. Sunflower read the response out loud for the benefit of the group.

"Nathan, I know that we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things including your decision to pretend to be a girl or your relationship with these others that you have. But in light of the terrorist attacks, your father and I would like you to come home so that we know you are safe. You can bring your friends with you." Sunflower read aloud.

"I've not heard anything about terrorist attacks, what is she talking about?" Amethyst said. She looked at Rayne, who was looking at her phone.

"Oh my god..." she said softly. "A Terrorist group known as 'The Dawn Patrol' has claimed responsibility for the attacks that have left around a quarter of the country in the dark. The Department of Homeland Security is advising that if you are in an area affected by a power outage to listen to local officials. The utility companies are still working to assess the damage to the system and determine how to repair the damage that they find." Amethyst, Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other.

"It's not going to be back on by Thursday..." Amethyst said quietly. "Not if they hit enough big stuff." Part of one of Amethyst's classes had dealt with power transmission and distribution. "If I were going to do that, I'd hit the stuff that's not easily replaceable." She looked at the others. "Cecily, do your parents still have power?"

"Uh..." Sunflower handed the phone back to Cecily so that she could respond to the text. She got a response a few moments later. "They do... They have a massive solar farm so they don't lose power like the rest of us do."

"It's your call..." Sunflower said. "If you want to go back to Montana, I'll go with you. Let's sleep on it tonight and we can make a decision in the morning. Why don't you tonight pull up your weather maps and see what the weather is going to be like for that kind of drive so we know what we may be facing."

"Yes, Mama." Cecily sent her mom a message. "I told her I was going to discuss it with you all and I'll let her know in the morning."

"Sounds good, kiddo." Sunflower said. "We are going to have to think about the logistics of this if we do decide to go. We're going to need Internet and mapping, we're going to need to see about getting gas. I think we can handle food with what Rayne and Amethyst brought home today. The powdered eggs will last us a while." Sunflower chuckled.

"Once we get the little one to bed," Rayne winked at Cecily "We will start to get a course of action together for if we go. Logistically this could be a nightmare..." Rayne picked her bowl of soup up and just drank what was left out of the bowl. As she did so, she slurped a little bit. Cecily giggled and picked up her bowl to do what Aunt Rayne did. Sunflower shot her a look that said 'Do it. I dare you.' Cecily locked eyes with Sunflower and drank from the bowl, going as far as slurping like Rayne did.

"Can I get another bowl of soup?" Cecily asked smiling.

"You may, but," Sunflower said, sternly. "You won't be slurping it or you are going to be getting spoon fed..." Cecily looked at Sunflower.

"Are you serious?" She asked. Sunflower could tell that she was contemplating slurping the soup again.

"I am..." Sunflower said. "You'll have to eat your soup in the tub because you're gonna be a mess..."

"Sorry Sunflower," Rayne said sheepishly. "That's on me... I'm setting a bad example for the kid."

"You're her Aunt, that's your job," Sunflower chuckled. "It's my job to correct the bad behavior you introduce..."

"I guess that means I get to be a bad influence as well..." Amethyst said, giggling. "I'll try not to get her to get too riled up, Sunflower..."

"Thank you..." Sunflower stood, and grabbed Cecily's bowl. "You want more tomato soup, or do you want chicken noodle?"

"Mato..." Cecily said cutely. Sunflower fully expected the girl to slurp the soup. Being fed was something that they had discussed but had never done.

"I'm going to light one of the lanterns," Amethyst said, standing and going over to the lantern that sat next to the camp stove. Cecily watched as she lit the lantern and the room got brighter. The four of them were extremely lucky to have Amethyst as part of the family. "Cecily, the lantern is hot, so please don't touch it." Amethyst picked the lantern up and carried it over to the table and sat it down in the middle.

"If you touch it, you will get a spanking," Sunflower said, walking back over with a second bowl of soup for the girl. "I'm not joking." Spankings were a very effective punishment for the girl. She didn't like pain and would do anything she could to avoid it.

"Yes, Mama..." Cecily said quietly. The threat of a spanking was enough to deter the girl from doing something. "Um..." She watched as Sunflower put the bowl of soup down in front of her. "Since Aunt Amethyst is seemingly more okay with me being treated like a child, is it okay if I start calling you Mama all the time now?"

"I'm okay with it, but," Sunflower tipped her head toward Rayne and Amethyst. "You really need to ask them, not me."

"I'm okay with that..." Amethyst said, smiling. She would have to talk to Rayne tonight, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was envious of Cecily. "But, only if I get to call you little squirt..." Cecily giggled.

"I'm fine with it, She called you Mama before Amethyst moved in..." Rayne said. The addition of Amethyst had brought about some changes to the family, all of which were positive. Rayne looked at her little family. This family could get through anything (and they already had,) so the decisions facing them in the near future would be hard, but not the hardest thing they had overcome. They may not be a blood family, but they most certainly a family.

Cecily beamed, and started eating the soup that Sunflower had put down in front of her. "Thank you, Mama; and you can call me little squirt, Aunt Amethyst."

"I'm okay with that.." Sunflower said sitting back down. She glanced across the table and looked at Amethyst. 'Thank you' she mouthed.

'You're welcome,' Amethyst mouthed back.

"We still have hot water, right?" Sunflower asked.

"We should..." Rayne replied. "The only two appliances we have that gas are the furnace and the hot water heater. Cecily, how cold is it going to get tonight?"

"Down into the low forties..." Cecily said. She had looked earlier when she was playing on Sunflower's tablet. "It's supposed to rain tonight as well."

"After you get done with that bowl of soup, I'm going to get in the shower, assuming we have hot water still." Sunflower watched as Amethyst stood and walked over to the sink, and turned on the hot water.

"It's still hot." Amethyst shut the water off. "Not sure how long it will keep going but if we need to we can heat water and do sponge baths..."

"We can keep an eye on her if you want to go hop in the shower now..." Amethyst said. "That way you can get her tucked in by bedtime after having read her a story. Maybe we can pull out a board game or something and play for a bit..." She glanced at Rayne. "What do you think Cecily?"

"Otay!" Cecily said, very excitedly. She loved playing board games and loved it when the whole family would play. "Can Mama join when she's done with her bath?"

"She sure can if she wants to." Amethyst said. Rayne and Amethyst looked at each other and smiled.

"Thank you," Sunflower said. "I'll be back shortly."

"Cecily," Rayne asked, smiling at the girl. "Can you help clear the table while I get started on the dishes?"

"Yes, Auntie." Cecily said. It would be okay for her to help, all the bowls on the table were empty.

"And while you two are doing that, I'm going to go light the other two lanterns and pick out a board game. Sunflower, you can take one to the bathroom for your shower." She quickly lit the other two lanterns and handed one to Sunflower who took it to the bathroom with her.

"Let me go get your watch and phone from the van. There may not be power, but I don't want your schedule to get too messed up." Sunflower said, after zipping up the sleeper that Cecily put on and slipping the pink pacifier with a paw print on the front of it in the girls mouth, and clipping the strap to the sleeper. There was a general rule that if Sunflower did something, Sunflower was the one that undid the thing. Sunflower zipped the sleeper up, therefore only Sunflower was allowed to unzip the sleeper. The only exceptions were if Sunflower wasn't able to undo something that she had done. If Sunflower went to class and Cecily woke up after all the adults had gone then, Cecily could undo something that Sunflower had done. Sunflower went down to the van and got her phone, Cecily's phone and watch. A few moments later she came back in the bedroom. Cecily had already fallen asleep, so Sunflower put the phone on the night stand and easily slipped the watch on the now sleeping girls wrist. It fit nicely above the cuff that was also there. After pulling the blankets up Sunflower went out to the kitchen where a planning meeting was going to be taking place to discuss the possibility of a road trip to Cecily's home town of Missoula Montana. The three girls sat around the kitchen table, laptops out and connected to the small mobile hot spot that normally lived in Amethyst's van, but she had brought it in the house so that the three of them could use the Internet to start planning out this trip.

"It's thirty hours direct with no stops on the route that has no tolls. We can trade off driving, but we're still going to have to make stops." Amethyst said, glancing up from her laptop.

"You and I can share the driving..." Rayne said. "Sunflower can keep Cecily entertained."

"I can help with the driving..." Sunflower said. She was probably the most cautious driver of the 'cule and therefore was the one with the least number of tickets.

"This is going to be a speed run," Amethyst said. "Depending on how widespread the power outages are, we could be driving like it's a normal day and there are no problems to coming across to complete anarchy..." Amethyst looked at Sunflower and then at Rayne. "I'm going to need to get my weapons down..." Rayne nodded. "Sunflower, I'm not saying that you're a bad driver or that you helping wouldn't be appreciated, but things could get sticky really fast. I grew up on a farm and I know how to handle my self, not to mention my black belt in Aikido..." Sunflower looked at Amethyst. She rarely brought up her black belt. "Rayne has been studying under my training, she's advancing quickly. Our role in this is going to be to get us there in one piece with the two of you unharmed. Your job is keeping Cecily entertained for this journey. Remember how restless she was when we went up to Lake Erie..."

"Ok..." Sunflower replied. "I would still like to make my offer to drive if necessary known. Sometimes I feel like I get treated like a child in this house too." Rayne and Amethyst both looked at Sunflower.

"Please don't ever feel that way, and if you do, I want you to know that it's not intentional," Rayne said. "Neither one of us have the instincts to be able to take care of Cecily. Not in the same way you do. You're her mother, she needs you. Therefore, you get protected in the same way that she does. We aren't treating you like a child; you've just got a very special gift."

"Do you two remember how I, for the longest time, didn't like how we treated Cecily as if she were like six or seven years old?" Amethyst said, glancing between Rayne and Sunflower.

"Yeah..." Sunflower responded, looking at Rayne.

"Yeah..." Rayne responded to Amethyst. Both her and Sunflower looked at Amethyst, who was blushing.

"I..." Amethyst stammered. "I think I'm jealous of the way that she gets treated... Growing up I had a ridiculous amount of rules. Now that I don't have them, and can do what I want as long as it doesn't violate any rules that the Polycule has. I miss being taken care of and having rules to follow."

"Ok, it's something that we will discuss in the morning." Rayne said. She was the leader of the Polycule, and the dominant of the group, sure Sunflower took care of Cecily primarily, but she was still subservient to Rayne. The only member of the group that had any display of being taken by someone was Cecily with her collar and cuffs. Just because it wasn't publicly visible didn't mean that there was no dynamic. "If we decide to go, Amethyst, your family is in the Spokane area, right?" Amethyst nodded. "Would you want to see them or be dropped off with them?"

"I'd like to see them if possible," Amethyst said, "But it's not required." Rayne nodded and looked at Sunflower.

"What about you?" She asked.

"I haven't spoken to my parents in four years. Once I got accepted here and moved into the dorms, I cut ties." Sunflower said. "Controlling fucknuts... No, I don't want to see them..."

"Ok. Since I grew up in an untraditional family," Rayne started. "And my mother has always said that one's chosen family is often times more valid than one's blood family, I'm just going to advise her of the plan, the projected route, and give her updates along the way. I sent her a text this morning and she said they still had power, but it had flickered a few times. Last I heard, Columbus was largely unaffected except by storm damage." She looked at the other two people in the room. "In reality, the decision to go is up to Cecily. We are likely going to have to stand firm against her parents when they misgender and misname her. I worry that Sunflower will wear down if that happens constantly. Amethyst, you and I will have to act as buffer between them."

"We're not going to let our little girl get hurt." Amethyst said. There was a quiet determination in her voice that wouldn't have been there the day before.

"Alrighty, we have a heck of a day ahead of us for tomorrow." Rayne said. "Let's break and head to bed. This is ultimately Cecily's decision. If she doesn't want to go, we aren't going." Amethyst and Sunflower nodded.

"Goodnight..." Sunflower said, closing their laptop. When they had first started to realize that they were non-binary, Rayne had taken them in and guided them. Being someone who was non-binary and identified as a femme presenting person had some challenges, but having had someone hold their hand as they discovered themselves really helped. "Hopefully she makes a decision one way or the other."

"I agree," Amethyst said. "Rayne, How does eleven PM sound?" She closed her laptop.

"For?" Rayne also closed her laptop.

"My bedtime," Amethyst said.

"Down at eleven and up at six?" Rayne asked.

"Sounds good to me."

"Ok," Rayne said. "You've now got a bedtime, I expect it to be followed."

"Yes, Ma'am." Amethyst said. "It's twenty minutes until eleven, so I'm going to go get ready for bed."

"Good girl," Rayne said, standing up and heading toward the bedroom. The pair of them would need to discuss things, but overall the admission from Amethyst could only produce positive results for the girl. Rayne would need to talk to Sunflower about parenting, but it shouldn't be too hard to learn.

Chapter 4

Amethyst rolled over and shut off her alarm clock. She wanted to sleep some more but had agreed the previous night to a bedtime and wake up time as a pair of rules that she would start following. The worst thing about trying being treated like a kid again would be getting used to having rules again. Since she was the first one up and needed to be up anyway, she got out of bed, being careful not to disturb Rayne and walked out into the kitchen. There was still no power, so she fired up the camp stove and started to boil water for the pour over coffee maker that she used when she went camping. She made herself a cup of coffee and looked at the rules for Cecily on the fridge. She skimmed the rule list and tried to figure out which ones were ones that she might benefit from.

Cecily will be in bed by 10:30 PM and up no later that 8 AM.
Cecily will always have her phone and watch on her if she is awake. Neither device should have the battery level drop below twenty percent.
If Cecily leaves the house, she is to tell one of the three adults where she is going, when she expects to be home, and who she is going to be with. (This rule applies regardless of where Cecily goes, even if it is to campus.) a. Cecily will use the parental controls app on her phone to check in when she arrives somewhere. Failure to do so could result in being grounded.
Cecily must ask before spending any money. Only Rayne or Sunflower can approve purchases.
Cecily will have her cane and inhaler near by at all times. These items will spot checked on occasion. Failure to have them will result in punishment.
Sleep logs must be sent to Sunflower every day.
Inappropriate language is forbidden.
Cecily is not allowed to have caffeine after 2 PM.
Permission to Use alcohol or tobacco products must be obtained. Only Rayne or Sunflower may grant permission.
Only Rayne or Sunflower may give medication to Cecily, and they will inform each other. After Cecily takes her meds, she will mark them as taken in the Medisafe application.
Cecily's car must always have at least a half tank of gas in it. This will be spot checked and failure to have at least a half tank will result in punishment.
Cecily is not allowed to remain in her jammies all day. She must get dressed. Only skirts and dresses are allowed unless otherwise approved by Rayne or Sunflower.

The thought of her phone being tracked intrigued her, and having to check in when she got places also intrigued her. She had never had any restrictions on spending money, so that could be a good way to get her to slow her spending on some of her hobbies. The caffeine after two PM rule was interesting, but she wasn't sure how well it would work in practice. She often liked to have tea in the evening while she studied. She didn't have anything that was as important as a cane or inhaler to be told to carry with her, but could see the phone being an always carry with her item. She would have to ask about the sleep logs. She knew her fitbit could track her sleep, but had never really used that feature. One rule that she was curious about was the rule about Cecily not being allowed to take her meds without one of the 'adults' giving them to her. The water that she had put on the camp stove started boiling and she made herself a cup of coffee. Since her coffee didn't use all of the water she turned the heat off and sat the kettle back on the stove. She heard footsteps in the hallway and looked up to see Rayne walking down the hallway.

"You got any coffee?" Amethyst handed Rayne the mug of coffee that she had in her hands, and started a second cup of coffee. "Thank you.." Rayne said, taking a sip.

"So I was looking at Cecily's rules that are posted on the fridge..." Amethyst said, turning to glance at the fridge. "And some of them seem intriguing to me..."

"Oh?" Rayne asked, sounding slightly surprised. She had forgotten that there was a list of rules on the fridge, they had been there so long and were rarely referred to any more. As far as she knew they were up to date still, Cecily's rules hadn't changed much in the last six months.

"Yeah..." Amethyst sounded sheepish. She had always seen the list on the fridge, but hadn't ever really looked at it. "Rules one, two, there and three a, four, six, seven, but that might be hard for me..., eight, nine, and twelve..."

"So basically all the rules..." Rayne chuckled.

"Uh, yeah..." Amethyst giggled. "I didn't realize that Cecily had parental controls on her phone though, does that affect her laptop too?"

"We have a device on the network that works in conjunction with the parental controls app. When it gets to bedtime, it's as if her devices don't have internet. If she logs into one of her accounts on someone else's computer or phone, it stops that too; if she is logged to a service under someone else, it will let it go. To really see what it's capable of, you'd have to ask Sunflower to show you, she's the one that can actually set the settings, I can just approve things like extra time, or app purchases. I can also see her location and get the check-ins when she actually goes somewhere. Sometimes she checks in just to let us know she's ok when she's here during the day."

"Can you set different setting for different people?" Amethyst asked, finishing making her coffee.

"You mean could her settings reflect her bedtime at ten thirty and yours at eleven, yes." Rayne said. Sunflower had shown her how the software worked, and the extent of what it could do. "Something that the software can do that we don't really utilize, because we don't have a need to, is tell us everything that is said to Cecily or everything that is said by Cecily."

"Really?" Amethyst sounded dubious. "There is no software that can do that..."

"This can. I'll have Sunflower show you," Rayne responded with a smile. "We might be installing it on your phone today."

"Yes, Ma'am..." Amethyst said, sounding like a child that got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"The software is very useful, and a good asset.." Rayne said, "And don't worry, Rule number seven is definitely one that will be getting implemented..." Rayne broke off as they heard footsteps coming down the hall. A few seconds later, Sunflower appeared.

"Please tell me that is coffee I smell..." Sunflower said. They had been dragging through most of yesterday due to not having any coffee to get her going in the morning.

"It is," Rayne said, "I take it you would like a cup..."

"Please..." Sunflower yawned. "How'd you two sleep."

"We didn't get to sleep until around one, we were busy discussing things." Rayne said, watching Amethyst start to prepare the coffee for Sunflower.

"It's not an overnight process, that's for sure..." Sunflower chuckled. "I'm available to help if needed."

"Actually," Rayne replied, glancing at Amethyst, who was pouring water into the coffee filter. "Amethyst was looking at Cecily's rules and had questions about the parental controls app. I explained a little bit about what it can do, but you know it much better than I do..."

"Ok," Sunflower yawned. "Let's get some coffee in me and then we can go over what it can do. I take it that the discussions last night were leaning toward a 'lets try this and see what happens' result?"

"Yes Ma'am," Amethyst said. "Rayne suggested I take a close look at Cecily's rules since they were posted on the fridge to see if any of them resonated with what I want to try. I like the idea of someone knowing where I am and having to check in... I'm not sure about you two being able to see what I'm saying or what someone is saying to me."

"Just because we can, doesn't mean that we would." Rayne said, "The only reason we might is if we get an alert about you saying things that he AI in the software looks for. It does that regardless of the settings we choose."

"We just ignore alerts for those items, unless it's something egregious." Sunflower said, taking a cup of coffee from Amethyst. "I actually just happened to catch Cecily swearing in an on line chat one day because I happened to glance at my phone at just the right time. Cecily's phone pretty much became a brick for a little bit until I got home and could talk to her about it. She apologized to me and the person that she was talking to for talking like she did. She couldn't go into detail because they don't know about her little side, but it hasn't happened since." Sunflower took a sip of the coffee and looked at Amethyst. "Cecily is a good girl. I'll show you what the software can do once I wake up a bit more."

"What software?" came the voice of Cecily as she appeared in the hallway. She was up a bit earlier than normal, but Sunflower had gotten her to bed a bit earlier than normal too...

"The parental controls software." Rayne replied. "How are your battery levels?"

"My phone is at ninety four percent and my watch is at eighty percent." Cecily replied. "Can I have some tea, please?" One thing that Sunflower had worked very hard with Cecily on was saying please and thank you. Now it was almost second nature for the girl to say both.

"Ok," Rayne said, and then looked at Amethyst. "That's how easy it is to check percentages. What is your phone at, Amethyst?" Amethyst looked down at her phone.

"It's at sixty three percent..." She replied. Cecily watched as Amethyst poured water into a mug and dropped a teabag in. "And I have a timer set for three minutes."

"Why are we talking to Auntie Amethyst about the parental controls software?" Cecily asked, slitting at the kitchen table.

"Because she thinks she has figured out why she never liked that we treated you like a child..." Rayne said, smiling. "But I want her to say why it is, because it makes sense..."

"I was jealous of the fact that you get treated like a kid and have rules and to be taken care of." Amethyst said. "I was watching you get something that I wanted, even though I didn't realize that I wanted it. Do you want some oatmeal?"

"Yes, please," Cecily said, a smile in her voice. She liked oatmeal, but didn't have it often. "So does this mean that Aunt Amethyst is my sister?" Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other.

"For right now," Rayne said, glancing at Amethyst, "no. We are still trying to see if this is something that she really wants or thinks she wants. This may not work, it may work, but we're going to give it a shot."

"Otay!" Cecily said, watching Amethyst boil the water for the oatmeal. "So if Amethyst is little too, does that mean she can't use the stove?"

"That depends on how little she is," Sunflower said, smiling. "But it would stink if she was little enough to not be able to touch the stove as she's such a good cook." Amethyst smiled and blushed. She did have a way with cooking, often taking things that one wouldn't think that someone could make something out of and whip up something tasty. "You, little one, are much too young to be playing with the stove." That wasn't a written rule, but it was one that was enforced with pretty severe punishments if Cecily did something with the stove and she didn't have permission or supervision. She was allowed to use the microwave and most of what she cooked was microwavable.

"But if she's little, doesn't that mean that she is too little to play with hot things?" Cecily asked. Sunflower was trying to determine if she was trying to get Amethyst in trouble or not.

"Right now, she is allowed to touch the stove. It's up to Auntie Rayne to make the rules that pertain to Amethyst, not me and certainly not you." Sunflower's voice was stern, also known as 'the mom voice', which meant stop doing what you were doing or risk punishment. "Have you decided if you want to travel to Montana? We were talking last night before we all went to bed, and this decision is entirely yours. We're not going to influence you and are going to support you no matter what you decide."

"Ok." Cecily said, her voice had gone from the little high pitched voice that she used when she was little to the one that she had to use when she was pretending to be an adult. "I am going to try to see how serious they are about me coming and all of you coming. I will also tell them that if power isn't restored by tomorrow night we will set out on Thursday morning. Is it safe to assume that you three have already discussed driving plans and routes?"

"We have," Rayne said. "But this decision to go is up to you... There is some prep that we need to do before we can go. I'm going to move the cars around and have Amethyst put the van in the garage so that we can prep it and not have anyone know that we are doing it. Since the van started as a cargo van and there are no windows in the back we're going to make it look like it's just Amethyst leaving, with the three of us in the back until we get out of town and then I'll move up front."

"Since we have basically unlimited power, we can use the laptops and phones. I do have a TV and DVD player in there, so we can take the DVD collection with us, the server that everything is on won't do us much good. I would suggest that Cecily brings her kindle as well. Since my classes are all online, I'm going to bring all of my school stuff so I can keep studying and stay on target. No sense in falling behind." One thing that made this group unique is that while their classmates were out partying and doing who knows what, they are still staying on top of their studies. It was one thing that Rayne required from them. It wasn't a written rule, but GPA's had to stay up.

"That's not a bad idea..." Sunflower said, "I think I'll do the same."

"We're all going to take our school stuff," Rayne said. She had been quietly watching the conversation. "It's going to be a long trip, and we might as well be productive on the trip. Sunflower, make sure to bring coloring books and crayons as well."

"Will do." Sunflower said, watching Amethyst scoop some powdered yellow substance out of a bag. "Are we having pollen for breakfast?"

Amethyst chuckled. "No, it's powdered eggs. These don't require refrigeration and are shelf stable for at least ten years. I figured it would be an easy way to be able to actually have eggs for breakfast and for us to not have to have oatmeal every day. I've also got potatoes for when we do dinners... I excel at off grid survival stuff..."

"Cecily, after breakfast, I want you to go pick out what movies you want to take, pack up all of your school stuff like you were going to the library to study, and, if your mommy allows, pack a bag of clothes that consists of pants as well as skirts and dresses. If we have to do any of this on foot, you're not going to want to be in skirts..."

"I'll pack her bag," Sunflower said. "Although after wearing nothing but skirts for a year, pants are going to feel weird..." Sunflower chuckled. She rarely wore skirts and dresses, having only been allowed to wear them growing up. There was a rule that stated that Cecily could only wear pants with permission. Rayne was the only person who could overrule Sunflower on this rule. That had only happened once, one year ago. It had led to Sunflower being overruled, and put back in her place by Rayne while they were in a store looking for clothing for Cecily. Cecily had found a pair of overalls and had really wanted them. Sunflower had said no, cause they were pants, Rayne had said yes, because they were cute, and little. Rayne had decided that Cecily should wear the overalls once or twice last spring,

"Make sure her overalls get packed..." Rayne said. "Other wise I don't care what she wears. The van is insulated and has heat." There was a diesel heater in for the back of the van to heat it without having to have the engine of the van running. "Also, make sure that all of the meds get packed, Mine, yours and Cecily's. Amethyst is the lucky one that doesn't take anything..."

"Will do," Sunflower said. "Should probably make sure we take pillows and blankets as well."

"Yeah," Rayne said. "Make sure that Cecily has her sleepers and weighted blanket as well. We can make sure she's bundled up nice and snug." One other issue that Cecily dealt with was a lack of temperature control. The rest of the group could be hot and Cecily would be cold. It wasn't uncommon for a sweater to be near by for Cecily on hot days. "Who wants to take bets as to if Cecily spends the entire trip in sleepers?"

"I guess it wouldn't be fair if I just dressed her in them and didn't let her change?" Sunflower chuckled.

"In terms of the bet, nope..." Rayne giggled. "But that's not that bad of an idea... Since we're planning on leaving from the garage, she can just wear her sleeper down and into the van. She's going to be falling asleep pretty much as soon as we hit the road."

"Very true," Sunflower said. "That might be the best way to go about it. I think we can handle that."

"Wait," Cecily said. "If we go, I get to stay in my jammies?" The rule about staying in her jammies came about after a depressive episode where Cecily had worn the same pair of jammies for a week straight and hadn't taken a shower for two. It was right after the diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or as it was more commonly known: POTS. The diagnosis had come as a surprise to the girl, who had randomly passed out a few times, and injured herself at least once. A mug had lost it's life once when she passed out, and it had cut her up pretty good. The Apple Watch and iPhone had been purchased shortly afterward. Cameras had been installed in the common areas of the house and in the bedroom that Sunflower and Cecily shared. Rayne and Sunflower could see all the cameras, Amethyst could only see the cameras that were in the common areas of the house.

"If we go, yes, you get to stay in your jammies." Sunflower said, smiling at Cecily. "Uh, so there is something that I bought for Cecily that you two don't know about yet, but I want to bring it so I have to tell you two about it..." Cecily blushed and Sunflower went down the hall. Amethyst and Rayne looked at each other and shrugged. A few seconds later, Sunflower came back, holding a pacifier dangling from a pacifier clip. "I wasn't sure if you two would be ready for this, but Cecily has a pacifier." The pink pacifier dangled from the paci strap that was in the colors of the trans flag. Rayne and Amethyst looked at each other and watched as Sunflower walked over to Cecily and popped the paci in her mouth and attached the clip to her sleeper. "Because I put that in her mouth it will stay there until I take it out; I bought it a few weeks ago and she's gotten to where she can't sleep without it. So it has to come with us..."

"How are we going to explain that to her parents?" Rayne asked.

"Well, you didn't know about it before just now and it's been in the house for almost a month..." Sunflower said, with a smile. "I wasn't trying to hide it from the two of you, I just hadn't figured out how to tell you about it yet..."

"Well," Amethyst said. "It does add an extra layer of cute to our little girl..." She paused. "If I'm a little am I still her aunt and part time caregiver?"

"For the time being," Rayne said. "Yes..." She looked at Amethyst. "In the future, who knows, we may need to set up Sunflower and Cecily's room as a nursery and Sunflower and I will sleep in the room that you and I share now, Amethyst."

"When I bought the paci, I didn't know if she's even use or want one. She had made comments about getting one occasionally, but we'd never done it..." Sunflower said. "Besides, on the trip it will provide us with quiet for a bit." She winked at Cecily. "Cecily, any one may put the paci in, but if one of us puts it in, one of the three of us are allowed to remove it. Not you." Cecily nodded, a smile evident on her face behind the shield of the pacifier.

"Ok, so we're going to switch cars around and get Amethyst's van in the garage so that we can load it without anyone knowing that we're doing it." Rayne said. "If Cecily says we go, then we are going to go in the morning. Let's all pack bags and get everything prepped for an early roll out." The other three members of the household nodded, and set off to complete the pre-trip tasks that they had to do.

Amethyst shut the garage door, and using the light on her phone walked around and opened the side door on the van, flipping on the lights in the back. The lights had two settings, white or red. There were also LED light strips around the inside for a more subtle amount of light. Right now, she wanted all the light. The interior was setup with the bed on the drivers side and a small kitchenette on the passenger side. A TV hung on a mount behind the passenger seat and a chair was bolted to the floor, but on a removable mount so that the chair could be removed if more space was needed. The chair had a five point restraint harness on it, and Sunflower would most likely be the one that ended up in the set with the seatbelt, and Cecily would simply sit on the bed. Since the two of them would not be visible from the front of the van it would be ok. Rayne came out with an arm load of stuff. She opened the door on the back of the van and slid the stuff in the space under the bed. Sunflower was the next one out, with blankets and pillows. She sat these on the bed and went back into the house.

"Hey Amethyst?" Rayne asked, poking her head up above the height of the bed.

"Yeah?" Amethyst glanced over through the door that connected the front of the van with the back.

"How much fresh water is on board?" Rayne's head disappeared.

"Right now," Amethyst went back to making sure the front of the van was empty of things that didn't need to be there. "None, but we will have twenty gallons of fresh in the white tank. The next one of these I build will be bigger..." She chuckled. "You want the laptop table up or not? I can use the laptop as a big GPS if needed."

"Yeah, put it up..." Rayne said, walking around the drivers side of the van. "Think we could connect one of the cameras to the hot spot and use it to keep an eye on the little one while we're driving."

"Probably..." Amethyst said, mounting the laptop table and adjusting it so that the screen on whatever laptop ended up there would be visible from both seats. "I mean they only connect via wifi, right?"

"Yeah," Rayne said. "I would just be worried about it sending all the video upstream and chewing through the data. We're gonna be using enough of it as it is..."

"I do have a wifi router that we could connect it to, and only use it locally..." Amethyst said. "No data usage would be required. It would just require us to switch devices between the networks."

"Let's do that..." Rayne said. "I'll get you a camera." Sunflower walked out into the garage.

"What about a camera?" She asked, placing more blankets in the van.

"We're going to put one of the cameras in the back of the van so we can keep an eye on the two of you." Rayne said. Sunflower shrugged. Rayne could see everything anyway, it wouldn't bother her one bit. Cecily had already given permission in writing to be observed all the time.

"Sounds good, Sunflower said. "Do you want to just grab one of the ones that are in our bedroom?"

"That sounds good, can you bring it out next time you come out?" Rayne asked. The bedrooms were considered private spaces and were not entered by the others without permission. "Sure will, I may bring the rail from Cecily's side of the bed down and see if it will fit on the bed. May help if someone is trying to sleep while we're in motion too."

"Good idea." Amethyst said. A rail was something she had considered building into the bed, but she couldn't get the design right and had kinda forgotten about it. "If it fits, we can put it in before we roll tomorrow. I'd rather not have Cecily fall out of the bed." Sunflower nodded, and opened a drawer that was at the front end of the bed, and stuffing the blankets into it. "I'm going to grab the single burner butane stove and the small cook set. It's smaller and since we are going to have a lot more stuff than we normally do, will make this a bit easier, but we're all going to either eat the same thing or we're going to have to wipe the pans out and cook different things."

"That sounds like a good idea," Rayne said. "We do have some space behind the front seats, should we need it."

"We might..." Amethyst said. "We're packing in a lot more than we did when we went to Lake Erie... We still need to bring all the food we got this morning down and get it stowed away."

"Stowed away? What is this, a ship?" Sunflower said, walking into the garage, carrying both the rail and the camera. Rayne took the camera and helped Sunflower climb in the van with the rail. She got it situated under the mattress. "If someone is in the bed this will be stable..."

"It is kinda like a ship..." Amethyst said. "Maybe we should christen her the SS Roadtrip."

"Am I good to put the rail back on our bed?" Sunflower asked.

"You can leave it here if you think that she will be ok without it." Rayne said, zip tying the camera in place where she wanted the bracket.

"Actually, take it down," Amethyst said, appearing with some nylon webbing and her drill. "I'm going to attempt to fashion some sort of restraint on the bed. If nothing else it will keep someone from getting tossed out of the bed."

"Careful or we might have to do that to our bed when we get back.." Sunflower chuckled.

"I'm not sure how well it would work with you laying in it too..." Amethyst chuckled.

"Fair..." Sunflower said. "We will come up something if we have to. Cecily may not like being strapped to the bed, but who knows..."

"I would like being strapped to the bed..." Cecily said, appearing and carrying her backpack to the open door of the van. "All of my clothes that you laid out are in there, as well as my school stuff." There was a thud as the bag it the floor of the van.

"Is your laptop in there?" Sunflower asked. Cecily looked down at the bag.

"Yes..." she said in an almost inaudible tone.

"Let's try setting the bag down..." Sunflower said, sternly. Cecily had a bad habit of dropping her backpack with her laptop in it. Sure the laptops were all business grade devices, and were a touch more rugged than a lot of devices out there. "Gently this time..."

Chapter 5

The mini van pulled up to a two story house. Sunflower recognized the house from photos that Cecily had shown of where her parents lived. It wasn't situated in the same place: the home that Cecily had grown up in being situated on a very large plot of land outside of Missoula Montana whereas this house sat in a suburban subdivision. Sunflower and Cecily got out, it was just the two of them in the minivan. As they walked around to the passenger side of the van, their hands briefly joined, before Cecily fell into step one step behind and to the right of Sunflower as the pair walked toward the door. Once they got there, Cecily moved in front of Sunflower and knocked on the door. The house was the same one that Cecily had grown up in, but she'd not been here in three years, having run off to college when she graduated high school. Her knocking was a courtesy, out of respect to the home that she had walked away from three years prior. The two of them could hear footsteps from inside the house. A few moments later, the door opened. A middle aged man stood there, his brown hair slowly fading to grey above bushy salt and pepper eyebrows.

"Can I help you ladies?" He asked. Cecily hadn't mentioned coming to see her parents, knowing that they were not supportive of her transition. When Sunflower and Cecily had started this journey, they weren't planning on stopping in here; Montana wasn't even on the list of places that they planned to stop. They were laying the ground work for the two of them moving to Seattle or down into Silicon Valley. Rayne and Amethyst would follow suit shortly thereafter.

"Hi daddy…" Cecily said quietly, It was the first time that her father, James, had seen his daughter. A woman appeared behind the man at the door. She wore her long blond hair in a braid, and the skirt that she wore swished around her ankles as she stopped. "Hi Mommy." Sunflower's hand was on Cecily's back, very gently rubbing to reassure her that Sunflower had her back. Sunflower had texted Rayne and let her know that Cecily wanted to stop in and see her parents, regardless of the outcome. If the outcome was good, then great; if the outcome was bad, well, at least Cecily had Sunflower with her.

"Nathan?" Cecily's mom, Olivia asked. She could see her child in there. "Is this Sunflower behind you?"

Cecily had told her parents about the girl in one of her classes that went by the name Sunflower. She only knew Sunflower's legal name because it was on mail that arrived at the house as well as visible whenever she logged into the on-line system for the university. Olivia had thought it a strange name, but not any stranger than Lily or Rose. Sunflower could see Olivia looking Cecily over. The pair had opted for a slightly older look for this, something more age appropriate than what the younger girl normally wore. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she wore brown wedge sandals to make her just a little taller. The black skirt with red polka dots that she wore went to her knees and the solid white tee shirt both being selected because they could fit any of the ages that Cecily viewed herself as. "My name is Cecily, I am your daughter, and yes, this is Sunflower." Sunflower smiled. She had coached Cecily in what to say.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts," Sunflower said, holding her hand out to shake theirs. Neither of them offered their hands, so Sunflower dropped hers back to Cecily's shoulder. Sunflower touched the collar that was around Cecily's neck and Cecily visibly relaxed.

"Would you two…" James paused, looking looking for the word he wanted. "Like to come in?" Cecily looked at Sunflower, wanting her OK before they crossed into the house. Olivia turned and went down the hallway. Sunflower gave Cecily the slightest nod, and the pair followed Olivia down the hallway. James shut the door behind them and Sunflower heard the unmistakable sound of a deadbolt being thrown. She knew the sound because one of the last things she did before she went to bed every night was make sure the doors were locked. She followed Cecily into the family room and sat on the couch. Sunflower looked at Cecily and gave a slight nod. Cecily knew that nod to mean two things: one, she was allowed to sit on the couch, and two she needed to check in like the rules said she needed to do. She sat next to Sunflower, pulled her phone out and checked in via the parental controls app on her phone like she was supposed to do. Sunflower's phone dinged, and half way across the country, Rayne's phone dinged as well.

"So, what brings the two of you all the way out here?" Olivia asked, sitting on the couch opposite the one that Sunflower and Cecily sat on. "When you said that you wanted to be a girl, this isn't what I had in mind…" She said. "I don't know what I had in mind, but this wasn't it." She watched as Cecily and Sunflower's hands joined, and noticed for the first time the matching jewelry that they both wore. "I still think you did this just to spite us, We gave you everything, Nathan; Everything you wanted." Sunflower could see why Cecily had a therapy appointment regularly: the way her parents treated her. “Why couldn’t you have been normal like your brother?” Based on what Cecily had told Sunflower, they had always held her brother, Josiah, in higher standards than her.

”I am normal," Cecily said. "And my name is Cecily and I'm your daughter…" Sunflower moved her arm behind Cecily and gently touched her back. "I thought that, just maybe, you would be supportive. I finally found myself and I'm sorry that it doesn't match who you want me to be." There was strong emphasis on the words you and me. It was a true statement: they were upset their son had come of age and realized that she was a girl.

"Yeah," James said, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees; he steepled his fingers under his chin before continuing. "Well, normal boys don't want to dress like a girl and normal people don't wear that…" He motioned toward the pair of them. "Stuff around their necks and wrists."

"Well, I never said that I was a normal boy," Cecily said, her voice rising. "I've never been into the 'traditional' boy things…" She visibly relaxed as Sunflower touched her back again. "And our jewelry is a sign of commitment to each other, as well as the other members of our household. I think we should be leaving." Sunflower stood and walked around the back of the couch. When Cecily stood, her father stood as well. He towered over her five foot three inch height by a full foot and Sunflower watched as Cecily froze. When Sunflower had realized that Cecily had frozen, she snapped her fingers, and watched as Cecily shook her head and then walked around the couch to stand one step behind and one step to the right of Sunflower.

"Even responding to a snap like a dog," James leered at Cecily. "Yeah, you're not normal…"

"Jim," Olivia said. She'd not spoken much since they'd arrived. "That is our child, They've made a decision that you don't like, but that doesn't mean that they are any less our child." Jim shot her a look and she looked like she deflated. Sunflower recognized that look; Rayne had only used it once on her.

"Mama…" Sunflower heard Cecily say quietly; She sounded like she'd been drugged. Sunflower turned as Cecily's eyes rolled in to the back of her had and she plummeted toward the floor. Neither Jim nor Olivia heard Cecily call Sunflower Mama, which was just as well. There was a thud as she impacted the floor, the wrist with the watch on it bouncing.

Olivia screamed but remained where she was. Jim just stood there, thinking this was all an act. Sunflower crouched and started to asses Cecily as the watch started beeping to indicate that it was about to call emergency services as well as the emergency contact list.

Sunflower woke the next morning to her alarm going off. Cecily was sleeping and had slept through Sunflower's alarm like she normally did. Sunflower got up and got dressed in the outfit that she had laid out for herself the night before. She got up and walked into the kitchen, where the light was back on and the coffee pot was powered up. Rayne was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Since it's only six, I figure let Amethyst and Cecily sleep for another hour or so..." Sunflower poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from Rayne

"I'm going to try to keep Cecily awake while we are driving, not sure how well it's going to work. She falls asleep in a moving vehicle."

"Yeah, I know..." Rayne said, sipping her coffee. "Maybe she should just lay in the bed, and you sit in the chair."

"Probably," Sunflower said, smiling at Rayne. "I think I can handle buckling my own seatbelt though..."

"I don't know..." Rayne said with a chuckle. "Maybe I, as the head of the household, should buckle you in..."

"Who are we buckling in?" Came Amethyst's voice from the hallway.

"I'm teasing Sunflower about buckling her into the seat in the back of the van."

"Oh, that would be something to see..." Amethyst said, pouring coffee into a mug. Everyone in the house was used to Cecily getting buckled into the back seat of what ever car she was in.

"Why am I going to be getting buckled into a car seat?" Sunflower said. "I'm an adult that can buckle her own seat belt..."

"We'll see about that..." Rayne said, starting to chuckle.

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower said. Cecily appeared at the end of the hallway...

"Do I smell coffee?" Cecily said, walking out into the kitchen.

"Yes, it is," Rayne said smiling. "Would you like some tea?"

"Please?" Cecily said, She didn't like coffee, nor was she allowed to have it. Rayne looked at Sunflower.

"Where's her sippy cup that she can have hot drinks in?" Amethyst asked.

"It should be in the cupboard..." Sunflower said. The last time that Cecily had used the cup the day before the power had failed. " Amethyst opened the cupboard and pulled out the pink mug that was spill proof mug that she could have her tea in. She had spilled tea in her laptop, causing the keyboard to need to be replaced. That had been what led to her having to always have drinks in something spill proof around her laptop. Amethyst made Cecily's tea and handed her the mug

"Thank you," Cecily said, taking the mug and sitting at the table. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as we get dressed." Rayne said. "We're going to get food on the road."

"Ooh." Cecily said, suddenly excited. "Does that mean I can get a happy meal?"

"It might be a little bit early for a happy meal." Rayne said

"Aww..." Cecily said.

"I'm going to go get dressed." Amethyst said.

"Do I have to get dressed?" Cecily asked, after taking a sip of her tea.

"Nope," Sunflower said. "You're getting to stay in your jammies and will be going down for a nap once you get in the van. I'm proud of you for not falling out of the bed last night." Cecily smiled. She always liked being told that she was a good girl or had done something to make her Mama proud Sunflower hadn't slept well, just in case Cecily fell out of the bed. Every time that Cecily fell out of the bed, she had managed to hurt herself.

"I'm going to go get dressed too," Rayne said. "If you want to head down to the van, and get settled, Amethyst and I will be down in a few." She smiled. "And Sunflower, don't buckle your seatbelt." Sunflower sighed.

"Yes, Ma'am..." She said with a sigh. "Alright little squirt, lets go down and get you all buckled in."

"Otay..." Cecily said, hopping out of the chair and heading toward the entrance to the garage on the first floor of the house.

"Hey Rayne?" Sunflower shouted to make sure that Rayne could hear her from their bedroom.

"Yeah..." Rayne's voice was distant, but audible.

"We should probably leave faucets open so that water continues flowing just in case the power goes out again... It's only going to get colder and we don't want to come back to frozen or burst pipes; or worse... Water everywhere."

"Sounds good, Amethyst and I will get it before we head down to the garage to join the two of you." Rayne's voice carried down the hall.

"Good thinking, Mama," Cecily said, stepping out into the garage. The garage was colder than the house, as it had less insulation, Sunflower opened the door on the side of the van and reached in and turned on the dimmer light strips around the outside edges of the van. Cecily went over and laid in the bed and let Sunflower wrap her in the blanket that was laying there, and then Sunflower took the twenty four pound weighted blanket and laid it across Cecily's body and then took the four straps that Amethyst had affixed to the bed and buckled them over top of Cecily. It was overkill, but she would be warm until the van heated up and she wouldn't be falling out of the bed, even if the rail wasn't up, which Sunflower lifted to it's upright position.

"Normal rules apply with the straps on the bed, Cecily," Sunflower said, picking Cecily's pacifier up and plopping it in the young girls mouth.

"Yes Mama." Came the muffled pacifier speak of the eighteen year old girl. Sunflower sat in the seat with the five point harness and spun it to face the front of the van. She wouldn't be able to see Cecily from where she sat, but that was part of why the camera had been brought down and placed in the van. All of the phones had already been set up and were able to see the feed from that camera. She would be able to see Cecily at any time just by looking at her phone. She could, also, just release the lock and spin the chair as well. Amethyst and Rayne came out of the house and shut and locked the door from the garage to the house. Amethyst went around and got in the drivers side of the van, and Rayne climbed in the back. Rayne smiled at Cecily who was all bundled up and strapped down in the bed.

"It doesn't look like she will be going anywhere..." Rayne said, tipping her head toward Cecily. "Now let's get you all buckled in."

"I can do it myself..." Sunflower whined as Rayne started pulling all five of the straps in to position. She had never used all five belts on the seat belt system, but Rayne was going to hook them all up for her.

"I'm doing it for you, which means that the normal rules that apply to Cecily also apply to you." The rules that Rayne spoke of, of course was the one that stated that if Sunflower or Rayne did something, only Sunflower or Rayne could undo it. So in this case, the only person that would be allowed to undo the seat belt would be Rayne, unless she gave Amethyst a direct command to do so.

"Yes, Ma'am..." Sunflower said, knowing that there was no changing Rayne's mind. "What if I have to tend to Cecily?"

"Then I'll come back and tend to her,." Rayne said. "Remember, the camera can see both you and her, and I will be watching. There is a monitor to the right of the camera," Rayne pointed at the monitor that wasn't there before. "That will, once, Amethyst throws the switches, let you see what we're seeing through the windshield. Once we stop and get breakfast, I'll get something for Cecily running on the TV. You just relax and not worry about having to mom as much for a bit. Think of it as Grandma is taking care of the little one..." Sunflower smiled. The stress of what they were about to do was already high, and not having to be in charge and she was already on edge from it.

"Yes, Ma'am," Sunflower said, understanding what Rayne was trying to do for the first time. Rayne kissed Sunflower on the forehead and then closed the door to the van, dropping the bar that would keep the door from being opened from the outside into place. The one on the back doors had been in place since they had finished loading the van yesterday. Rayne gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead and t hen went through the door that went to the front of the van. It slid shut and then there was a click as the lock engaged. Sunflower felt safe strapped in the seat completely locked in the back of the van. Suddenly the engine started and the monitor that would let Sunflower see what was happening in the world outside the van lit up. As she watched the garage door go up, she saw that the sun was just beginning to make the sky an orange color. It looked like it was going to be a clear day, and probably a good one for a drive. Suddenly the image switched to the camera on the back of the van that Amethyst used when backing up. It showed the garage door going down and once it was down, the view switched back to the camera up front and the van pulled out of the driveway. Lights flicked on a control panel to Sunflower's left, and she glanced at them. Rayne slid a little window in the door open, not much more than a four inch by four inch panel so that one could see in the back of the van.

"How are the gages, Sunflower?" Rayne asked. Sunflower knew that the gages weren't visible from up front.

"House battery is at seventy five percent, Solar is at about two amps right now, water heater and diesel heaters are off, water pump is off, We appear to be drawing about a quarter amp per hour using the LED strips."

"OK," Rayne said, the monitor changing to show the two of them sitting in the seats up front. A laptop was mounted on each table. "Text me What you two want from McDonald's so we have the whole order together when we get there."

"Yes, Ma'am" Sunflower said, picking up her phone. She knew Cecily's breakfast choices, and typed out Cecily's choices first, and then her own. She watched at the monitor switched again to she the road in front of the van. Suddenly, it switched to show the camera from in the back and Sunflower could see her self strapped into the seat. She blushed and hid her face in her hands. She could hear Rayne chuckling from up front.

"Yes, I am keeping an eye on the two of you as well." Rayne said, chuckling. "Don't worry, your safe, setting the monitor back to the rotation."

"You're silly, Rayne..." The swivel on the chair wasn't locked so she spun and could see Cecily, laying in the bed asleep again. The bed looked more like a crib, with the head and foot boards being padded, and the addition of the rail on the open side, Cecily was all snuggled in like a bug in a rug. Sunflower felt the van slow and make a right hand turn; spinning around she saw that they were pulling into McDonald's. She watched as they pulled through the drive through, She could only hear the muffled sounds of Amethyst ordering the food, as the wall between the front of the van and the back was rather well insulated. A few moments after they had gotten the food, Amethyst pulled into a parking spot and the door from the front of the van slid open and Rayne came back into the back, and Amethyst followed her.

"Cecily," Rayne said, gently shaking the girl awake and unbuckling the straps that held her to the bed. She left the rail up. "We've got breakfast." Cecily stirred and as she did, her pacifier fell out of her mouth. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"That was the best best nap I've had in a while. How long was I out, an hour?"

"About ten minutes..." Rayne said, watching Amethyst pull the table out of it's stowage position and set it up. Rayne sat the bag on it and started pulling out food.

"Do we need to turn the diesel heater on?" Amethyst asked. "It doesn't feel like the heat from up front is doing much for back here... Maybe the engine heat can maintain it once the diesel heater makes it warm."

"Sounds good to me," Rayne said, handing hash browns out to everyone. She pulled sandwiches out of the bag and started handing them to the correct person. Then came the drinks. Something that the group of four had always done was wait until Rayne had a bite of her food before eating their own. It was one of the unwritten things that had been agreed upon at some point and no one had ever suggested changing it. Rayne took a bite of her hash brown. "Eat..." She watched as Amethyst reached around Sunflower and flipped the switches for the diesel heater. There was a quiet rumble as the heater started, and a few moments later, warm air came out from under the bed. Due to how well insulated the back of the van was, it didn't take long to hit the sixty eight degrees that the thermostat was set at.

"Is sixty eight good or do we want it warmer?" Amethyst asked. Cecily was still in her sleeper, bundled up in blankets so she would likely start to get warm, and Sunflower was in a sweater and jeans and hiking boots. She had dressed for the cool weather.

"Sixty eight is good for me..." Sunflower said.

"I'm just a baby, what do I know," Chuckled Cecily. "Sixty eight should be good for me too, I can always ask to have a blanket or two removed." There was laughter at Cecily's joke. It was often joked that she was the baby and that she was always the last one to know things, and depending on what was going on, it was often true. Unless a decision was caused by her or she was the one that proposed an idea, she was often the last to know, but she was OK with that.

"OK, We can leave it at sixty eight and if you two want it changed one of us can change it. The group tucked into their food and ate silently. The curtains around the front of the van, which acted as both light blocking and insulation were drawn to keep prying eyes from looking inside. The camera that could view out front was on the outside of the curtain and the monitor showed the view of both cameras. Once the food had been devoured, Rayne looked at her little family.

"Are we ready to continue?" Rayne asked.

"I am..." Cecily said, laying back down on the bed.

"I suppose I am." Sunflower said. She really wished that Rayne hadn't bucked the shoulder straps that were keeping her upright in the seat. "Rayne, can you please undo the shoulder straps? Being forced upright is getting uncomfortable."

"I bet that it's just as uncomfortable for Cecily when you buckle her in with all the straps..." Rayne said.

"Maybe..." Sunflower said, "But Cecily will fall asleep no matter what seat she's sitting in and having all the straps keeps her from slumping over..."

"Hmm..." Rayne stroked her chin. "I think state law requires children to be buckled into five point harnesses when in a car seat..." She smiled at Sunflower. "Right now, you're a child in a car seat so..."

Sunflower sighed. "Yes, Ma'am." She said quietly. She knew she wasn't going to win. "Can you at least pull my laptop out and put it on the fold down table and strap it down so I can use it while we are driving?"

"What do you say?" Rayne asked, using the same way of talking with Sunflower that they used with Cecily.

"Please?" Sunflower asked, watching Rayne nod and Amethyst fold the table down from it's place on the wall. Sunflower's laptop was placed on the table and strapped down. Rayne plugged it into one of the twelve volt outlets and hit the power button.

"It should auto connect to the hot spot from the other night, but please no streaming because we don't have that kind of signal or data." Sunflower nodded, most of her music was downloaded on the laptop. "Cecily, Do you want to watch anything?"

"Can you pick something for me, Auntie Rayne?" Cecily asked, her voice barely above a mummer.

"Sure can, sweetie." Sunflower paid little attention to what ever Rayne had turned on, until she heard the singing and knew that Rayne had turned on a movie that Cecily had seen dozens of times and knew all the songs in. Sunflower smiled and started to work on a project that she had for one of her classes. She figured that if she was going to be stuck in the van, and stuck in this seat strapped in like she was, she might as well be productive. "I'm going to put your binky back in and strap you back down. Do you feel warm enough with the blankets or do you need more, less?"

"I'm comfortable..." Cecily said, grumbling around her pacifier. "Can you wrap my arms up in the blankets too?"

"You want to be a burrito?" Rayne asked, "OK, one baby burrito coming up." Rayne undid the blankets and let Cecily make herself comfortable.

"We ready to roll?" Amethyst asked from the front of the van"

"Yeah," Rayne said, "Just getting Cecily strapped back down, I'll be up in a second." The van slowly started moving as Rayne wrapped Cecily up in the blankets like a burrito and finished by wrapping the weighted blanket around the girl and then strapping her down and pulling the straps rather snug. She gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead and then made her way toward the front of the van, stopping and giving Sunflower a kiss on the forehead as well. "Maybe next time we stop, I'll release the shoulder straps..." Rayne whispered in her ear as she disappeared through the door and into the front of the van. The monitor showed open road ahead, and few cars. One thing that Sunflower couldn't tell was what direction they were travailing, but the sun seemed to be in the wrong place.

"What direction are we going?" Sunflower remembered the route that the on line mapping had suggested and she was pretty sure that this wasn't it.

"Southeast..." Came Rayne's voice. "There were reports of bridges out on the normal way that we would have had to go to get out of town. It's going to be a long journey, just sit back and enjoy it." Sunflower heard snoring and spun the chair so she could see Cecily. She was still wrapped up in the burrito, not that she could wiggle her way out of it with as tightly as Rayne had wrapped it around her. Cecily was very slightly sucking on the pacifier and that was the only thing keeping the pacifier from falling out of Cecily's mouth. As the van continued heading southeast, Sunflower started to feel herself doze off.

⁠Sunflower woke to the van slowing down and making a right hand turn. She sat up and moved her head around a bit, cracking her neck. "Where are we?" She asked, groggily.

"Princeton, West Virgina..." Rayne said. "We're at a rest area, Unbuckle your self and wake Cecily up, and let her up. We're going to stretch and make a potty break."

"OK." Sunflower reached up and pulled the release on the restraint on the seat and stood. The van was tall enough that she could stand inside with ease. She walked to the bed and gently shook Cecily while simultaneously releasing the straps that held her down. "Cecily, get up, we're at a rest area. Let's run in with Rayne and go potty."

"Huh?" Cecily said, sounding very groggy and like she had just woken up.

"We're at a rest stop, Rayne is going to take us in to go potty." Sunflower said, rolling back the layers of the burrito that Cecily had been wrapped in.

"Oh..." Cecily said, wiggling to help untangle herself from the blankets. "I'm still wearing a sleeper, is that OK?"

"Yep, you look young, so everyone is just going to think that you're a teenager that is on her way somewhere with her parents, which is true..." Sunflower said. "Don't worry, Auntie Rayne and I will protect you." She wasn't sure how much use she would be at protecting Cecily, but Rayne would protect them both. Cecily slipped her shoes on as Sunflower removed the bar that kept the door from opening from the outside. She opened the door and saw Rayne and Amethyst both standing there. In the time that it had taken Sunflower to get Cecily up and ready to go, Amethyst had run in and gone to the bathroom. Rayne reached into her purse and pulled out what looked like a pair of nylon wrist cuffs attached to each other by a length of hot pink plastic that looked kinda like a slinky. It had been purchased prior to going to the zoo one trip so that Cecily didn't wander off and get lost.

"I figured it wouldn't have hurt to grab this." Rayne said, "Sunflower, put them on." Rayne watched as Sunflower attached one cuff to her left wrist, and the other to Cecily's right wrist. Cecily would walk one step behind and to the right of Rayne, and Sunflower would walk one step behind and to the left of Cecily, who would have to hold her right arm behind her due to the length of the cuffs that connected are and her mommy. Once they got into the building the family restroom was open, so Sunflower removed the cuff from Cecily and told her to go into the single occupancy restroom. Sunflower started to remove the cuff from her wrist, but a look from Rayne stopped her. Rayne reached over and removed the cuff from Sunflower's wrist.

"Remember, I'm in charge, little one," Rayne whispered in Sunflower's ear. "We will talk about this once we get back to the van..."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sunflower said, sheepishly. She wasn't used to getting treated like she was a kid. She was getting treated the exact same way that she treated Cecily. Cecily came out of the bathroom and Rayne attached the cuff back to Cecily's wrist.

"Go, Sunflower," Rayne said. She was apparently breaking with tradition and was waiting until the submissive had gone to he bathroom before she did. When Sunflower had walked out of the bathroom, Rayne and Cecily had moved over to a decorative railing that separated the section of the rest stop with the maps and other travel guides from the side with the restrooms. There was a bench there, and Cecily was sitting quietly, with the cuff looped through the railing so that neither of the two people cuffed together could wander far without removing the cuff. Rayne pointed next to Cecily and Sunflower sat and held up her left wrist. Rayne attached the cuff and looked at the girls. "Stay here, and don't talk to anyone. If anyone tries something, I want you to scream like hell. I will be right back." Direct commands were something to be obeyed regardless of where someone was in the hierarchy of the family. Sunflower was trying to figure out why she had stopped getting treated as an equal and why she was getting treated like a child. While she was lost in thought, a boy in his teens sat down next to her.

"So, where are you from?" He asked, he had a typical accent from Appalachia. He was dressed in a button down flannel shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, and a ball cap. Sunflower couldn't see what the cap said. He reached up and tapped her on the shoulder. She remained motionless. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Cecily and Sunflower's hands joined and Cecily squeezed Sunflower's hand. Sunflower slowly turned her head to face the boy.

"Please do not touch me." Sunflower said. There was a muted ripping sound as Cecily did something she had never done before: she released the cuff from Sunflower's left wrist. She wanted Sunflower to have unrestrained movement should it be necessary.

"Is that your little sister?" the boy asked. "Where are you from?" He gave Sunflower a glance that creeped her out. She didn't trust this kid.

"No, that is my daughter, and I suggest you move away." Sunflower said sternly. "I'm not telling you where we're from." She let some of her accent come out just to confuse the boy. There weren't a lot of people that were east of the Rockies that knew her accent.

"Your daughter?" He spat. "You don't look old enough have a daughter." Cecily sat quietly, but paying very close attention.

"Yes, she's my daughter, but that's none of your business." Sunflower said. She wasn't ready to get up and move yet. Rayne had sat her and Cecily here and Rayne expected the pair of them to be here when she got done.

"Whatever I want to make my business is my business," he said, getting spittle on Sunflower's face. "I'm making this my business."

"That..." Sunflower started. "That doesn't make it your business." She had figured out that this boys parents were probably right leaning on the political spectrum, and he would really have an issue with the fact that she was a lesbian as well as the fact that Cecily was transgender. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rayne walk out of the bathroom. Rayne took one look at the situation and walked over.

"Is there a problem here?" Rayne asked walking over.

"There's no problem," the boy said. Rayne looked pointedly at Sunflower, then her right wrist, and then back at her face.

"He was asking where we were from and if C was my little sister, Ma'am." Sunflower said, not looking at Rayne. She knew when deference was the right thing to do.

"Young man, I would suggest that you keep your nose in your own business." Rayne said, in a tone that meant that she meant business. Sunflower had only ever questioned that tone once, and her bottom had paid the price for it. "Girls, go out and hook up with Auntie A and get in the van. I've got your six." Cecily and Sunflower stood, grabbed each other's hands and started toward the door. Rayne walked behind them, backwards allowing for a larger distance between the girls and the boy. When Sunflower and Cecily had gotten outside, they took off in a jog across the parking lot. Amethyst saw this and opened the door to the back of the van.

"What's going on?" Sunflower slid the door shut and dropped the bar in place.

"There was a boy in there asking questions that he didn't need to know. And we're going to be in trouble because Cecily released the cuff in case I needed to defend us." Sunflower was on the verge of tears. She rarely disobeyed Rayne. She understood the dynamic and had never intentionally disobeyed.

"I'm sure she will understand..." Amethyst said. "Hang on, we're going to go pick Rayne up. Have the back door open, Cecily, get in the bed and stay there, pull the rail up since you can't strap yourself down." Sunflower lifted the bar out of the way, and opened the door as Rayne turned and jogged for the van. She jumped in the back and slid the door shut, dropping the latching bar in place.

"Amethyst get us out of here." Rayne said. "Sunflower, sit your ass in that chair and buckle yourself in."

"Yes, Ma'am" Sunflower said. She sat her bottom in the chair and bucked up all five straps. She sat there and waited for the lecture that she knew was coming. Cecily was sitting on the bed crying quietly. Sunflower wanted to get up and go hold her, but she had explicitly been told to sit in the chair.

"Cecily, sweetie," Rayne said. Her getting angry was such a rare thing that it had been six months since it had happened. "Just relax." Rayne popped Cecily's pacifier in her mouth and the girl started to calm down. "Sunflower, tell me what happened."

Sunflower tried to hide the tears in her voice as she spoke. "We were sitting there, waiting on you to get out of the bathroom and that boy sat down next to me and asked where we were from. I didn't trust him from the second he sat down, when I didn't answer, he poked me and said that he was talking to me.. That was when Cecily removed the cuff from my wrist so that I had both hands. I told him not to touch me. He started asking if Cecily was my little sister. And asked again where we were from. I threw my normal accent in and confused him a bit. I told him that Cecily wasn't my little sister, but my daughter. And that where we were from was none of his business. And he said I didn't look old enough to have a daughter." Sunflower stopped long enough to take a breath. She was on the verge of hyperventilating. "He also said that it was his business if he wanted it to be his business. Typical right-winger... That was when you came out of the bathroom."

"Cecily is that what happened?" Rayne asked, her voice full of concern. The girls had been to the point of flight if necessary.

"Yes, Ma'am" came the mumbled and muffled reply from Cecily who was still crying. Rayne reached up and released the seatbelt from the seat that Sunflower sat in. She motioned for the girl to stand and Rayne gave her a hug.

"Go get in the bed and comfort Cecily..." Rayne said, rocking with the motion of the van. The monitor flipped to show the rear camera. There had been a red Ford pickup behind them for a while. Sunflower climbed in the bed with Cecily and held the younger girl.

"Hey, Rayne..." Amethyst said from up front. The little window was open.

"Yeah?" Rayne lowered herself into the seat and did the bottom three buckles on the harness.

"See that red pickup?" Rayne glanced at the monitor.

"Yeah..." Rayne replied. "Let me guess, been with us since we rolled from the rest area."

"Yeah..." Amethyst said. "Unknown intentions, But we need to get gas soon." She unbuckled the seatbelt and dropped the bar in the door. "When we stop, you two stay in here and stay quiet. Rayne slid the door open and climbed into the front seat. The door slid shut and there was the unmistakable 'click' of the lock getting engaged. Cecily held Sunflower tighter, and Sunflower watched the monitor showing the camera from the rear camera the best she could. The view switched briefly to the camera in the front so that the two in the back could see that they were about to take an exit. The camera switched to the camera in the back again, and the truck was taking the exit with them. The truck followed them all the way to the gas station, stopping at the pump behind them. Sunflower heard the front doors open and watched on the camera as Rayne walked around to the drivers side of the van. She watched as a middle aged man, dressed very similarly to the boy at the rest stop. Then she watched in horror as the boy got out of the back seat of the truck. She wondered what had happened after her and Cecily had gotten out of the rest area. She could hear the voices outside, but not what was being said.

Chapter 6

Amethyst did something that she rarely did: She had her back to a potential threat. She was watching Rayne's face for a clue when to turn around. The gas was flowing into the van and it would auto shut off. This was around where they planed to stop to fill up.

"Why did you tell my son to mind his own fucking business?" The man that got out of the driver seat of the pick-up said loudly.

"Because your son was asking two people that I care very much about questions and decided to poke one of them in the arm, She has a bruise, by the way and I could have charges filed against your son for harassment and assault of one of my family members." Rayne said. "You need to learn to grow up, and that not everyone's business is your business."

"My son said that the older girl started it by winking and smiling at him, almost inviting him to sit down next to her." The man spat. He was within arms reach of Amethyst now.

"Sir, with all due respect, would you please explain to me why my family member would make moves toward your son, who appears to be a minor when she is not one." Rayne said calmly. "Given the fact that she has a child of her own to care for, She wouldn't want to take on another child. Your son needs to learn to mind his own business. And you do as well." The gas pump clicked and Amethyst pulled the nozzle out of the van and put it back in the pump. She told the pump to print a receipt. She turned to the red faced man.

"Sir, I strongly suggest you go back to your truck and leave." Amethyst said.

"Like I'm going to listen to some punk ass little girl." The man said. "Why don't you tell the little boy that was dressed like a girl to come out here and fight like a man..." Amethyst saw red, but Rayne beat her to it.

"That's a girl." Rayne said. "And she's got nothing to do with this. Your son acted out of line, got caught by someone that is very protective, and you can't accept that it happened." That was when the man took a swing at Rayne. Rayne wasn't expecting the swing and took the hit in her jaw. The man swung again. Rayne blocked the second swing, and guided the guy down to the ground as a Virgina State Police cruiser rolled into the lot. They were instantly intrigued by a short girl pinning a much larger man to the ground. They parked their cruiser and got out walking over to the girl that was pinning the guy to the ground.

"What's going on here." One of the officers asked.

"Sir," Rayne looked up from the ground where she was pinning the man to the ground. "This man, took a swing at me, which I wasn't expecting, and then attempted to take a second swing at me, at which point I blocked him, and assisted him to the ground."

"We have video if you'd like to see it..." Amethyst said.

"Please let him up," the Trooper said. "Miller, go talk to this guy..." He looked at Amethyst and Rayne. "Can I get your ID's please, while I watch the video." Amethyst moved her laptop so the officer could see the camera that was mounted on the side of the van and rewound the video back to when they pulled into the gas station.

"The truck had been following us ever since we left the rest area on 77, There was an altercation between Rayne and the minor that is in the truck that involved two of our companions." Amethyst said. "They are in the back of the van if you'd like to see them."

"We would." The officer said. Rayne handed her ID and Amethyst's ID to him. She pulled Sunflower and Cecily's ID's out of her wallet and handed them to the Trooper as well

"I'm going to open this door and step into the back of the van. Cecily is going to be very intimidated, just a heads up." Rayne opened the door and stepped into the back of the van, where she looked at Sunflower and Cecily. "So, the Virginia State Police are wanting to talk to the two of you. Cecily, they will probably want to talk to you alone. We will pick the pieces up afterward, ok?" Cecily nodded and unclipped the pacifier from her sleeper. Rayne had put it on the sleeper so it was something that would get dealt with after this was all done. Rayne poked her head back up front. "Sir, can you come around to the passenger side of the van, I'll just open the door over here."

"Sure thing, Miss Williams." He said, walking around to the passenger side of the van. Rayne slid the door open and cranked the diesel heater to keep the back of the van as warm as possible. Which one of you is Roslyn?"

"That's me, Sir." Sunflower said, standing and moving to the seat that she had occupied not that long ago. Cecily perked up at the use of Sunflower’s legal name

"I'm Trooper Darrin Marsh with the Virginia State Police, can you tell me what happened at the rest area?" Sunflower relayed the incident at the rest stop to the VSP trooper.

"He had poked you and you didn't get up and move?" Trooper Marsh asked. "Why not?"

"Rayne asked us to stay there while she was using the facilities." Sunflower replied truthfully. She left the dynamic and the cuff out of the story. "There were a lot of people in the rest area, and Rayne is a little bit..." She struggled for the word that she wanted to use. "Protective of both of us..." The trooper glanced up from his notepad.

He glanced over to where Rayne was standing outside the front of the van. "You're not being held against your will or being forced to do any thing you're not a willing participant in, are you?"

"No, Sir." Sunflower said, not showing the deference that she would normally show. She smiled. "The dynamic that our family has is entirely consensual."

"Ok, so Rayne told you and Cecily to sit there and stay put so she knew where you were when she got done, and this guy's kid came over and sat down, started asking you questions that you weren't willing to answer, for any reason, and he wasn't happy about it and tried to get you to to answer them. When you didn't, he poked you and effectively demanded you answer his questions, which you again, refused. At this point, Rayne came out, got you and Cecily out to the van, and then you all did a rolling pickup of Rayne and now here you are?"

"Yes, Sir." Sunflower said. The deference had returned.

"This is a nice van y'all have." The trooper remarked.

"Thanks," Sunflower responded. "It's Amethyst's."

"Cecily," The trooper asked, as if he were talking to a child. "Can I ask you some questions?" Cecily poked her head out from the hood on her sleeper.

"Yes, sir," Cecily answered quietly. Sunflower trusted him enough to tell him what happened, so she figured she could trust him too. He had use Sunflower's legal name so that was interesting and something that excited her.

"First question," Trooper Marsh asked, glancing inside the van. Cecily was still wrapped up in blankets like she was cold even with the heat blowing full blast. "Do you two mind if I step inside and pull the door shut to keep the heat in?"

"Fine with me," Sunflower replied, her arms wrapped around her. The sweater she had on was doing little against the cold.

"Ok, with me..." Cecily said quietly. She wasn't used to making decisions and she just agreed with what Sunflower had said.

"I'm sure that you heard what Roslyn just told me, but how much of it did you actually see or hear?" Trooper Marsh asked.

"I heard the boy ask where we were from. And I just kept looking down because people like him don't like people like me." Cecily said. "But everything that Mama told you was accurate to the best of my recollection."

"Mama?" He asked, glancing from Cecily to Sunflower. “What do you mean by ‘people like him don’t like people like me’?”

"Mama would be me," Sunflower said, smiling. "It's another one of our family dynamics. She gets treated like a kid, which has done wonders for her mental health, and I get to play as a mommy." Trooper Marsh nodded. This group of girls has some strange dynamics, but they all seem happy and healthy... He thought to himself. This also explains the large pacifier that is sitting on the counter to my left...

“I’m transgender, sir.” Cecily said quietly. Sunflower squeezed her hand. “Most people that are right leaning on the political spectrum don’t think I should even exist.”

"Ok," Trooper Marsh said. "I'm going to go out and talk to Rayne and Amethyst and really quick. You two sit tight for us, ok?"

"Yes, sir." Both Cecily and Sunflower said at the same time. Trooper Marsh opened the door and then stepped out, closing it. Sunflower could still see the other trooper talking to the kids dad by their truck.

__

"So, other than the assault charge on the dad for striking you, Rayne, and if Roslyn wants to purse an assault charge on the kid, I think I'm done with you all, but if you could hang out for a bit, I'd like written statements from you and Roslyn, Rayne." Trooper Marsh said. "Do you know if Roslyn would want to press charges against the kid?"

"I'm not sure, Sir." Rayne said. "You'd have to ask her."

"Roslyn?" Amethyst sounded confused.

"Let me guess," Trooper Marsh said. "She goes by a different name..."

"Yeah," Rayne chuckled. "She goes by Sunflower."

"If she'd said something I'd have called her that... Rayne, your little family has opened my eyes to a lot of things." Trooper Marsh paused. "Ok, let me get some forms for the two of you to fill out really quick and you all can hop back in the van, it's nice and warm in the back." He smiled, tipped his hat and then went back over to the cruiser. Amethyst and Rayne hopped in the van. Because the heat was still blowing at full tilt, the front of the van was warm too. Rayne stepped into the back of the van.

"Sunflower, Trooper Marsh wants to know if you want to press charges against the kid..."

"Can I ask that he spend the night in jail, " Sunflower said quietly, Cecily had fallen asleep in her arms. "Might scare him straight."

"You can ask," Rayne said. "He's bringing statements for you and I to fill out. Probably so that we don't have to come back for the court hearings..."

"It's going to be hard to write a statement while holding her..." Sunflower chuckled, and then gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead. "I might be able to get her down on the bed and Amethyst can get her all buckled in while we write them..."

"Here," Rayne said, sliding her arms under Cecily, and picking the youngest girl in the group up with ease. "Slide on out of the bed, we're gonna burrito her up again." Sunflower did as she was ordered and slid out of the bed. She watched as Rayne laid Cecily in the middle of the bed and looked at Sunflower. "Do your thing, Mama." Sunflower smiled and wrapped Cecily up tighter then Rayne had wrapped the girl up. Sunflower laid the weighted blanket down over the girl and then buckled the straps in place as well. She stepped back and watched as Rayne lifted the railing and locked it in place. "When we get rolling from here, I want you to ride up front with Amethyst for a little bit. I want you to explain why you're so good at caretaking. You have a knack for it and none of the rest of us do." There was a knock on the sliding door on the side of the van. Rayne opened it and Trooper Marsh stood there, holding two clipboards.

"May I come in?" He asked..

"Sure." Rayne said, smiling at Sunflower. Trooper Marsh stepped into the van and pulled the door most of the way shut. It kept most of the heat in the van. He reached up and shut his body camera off.

"Sunflower," He winked at her. "Rayne, can you two please provide written statements as to what happened? Trying to make it so you don't have to come back for court when we get this guy in there..." He held the clipboards out, one in each hand. Rayne took the clipboards and handed one of them to Sunflower, who looked confused.

"How..." Sunflower let the thorough trail off.

"How did I know your name?" He smiled. "I said your legal name and Amethyst was very confused... That was when I learned that you went by a different name. My kid is non-binary and goes by Alex. Not the name that my wife and I bestowed upon them when they were born, but they have found who they are and my wife and I going to support them." Rayne and Sunflower smiled.

"Thank you, Trooper Marsh." Sunflower said. "I'm assuming that I will have to sign the form with my legal name?"

"Unfortunately," he started. "Yes, you are going to have to sign the form in your legal name."

"Ok." Sunflower said, and set to writing, She didn't necessarily like her given name, but she had no desire to change it. It had been bestowed on her in honor of some distant relative that she had never met because they had been gone before her birth. Trooper Marsh looked over at Cecily, all bundled up and strapped to the bed; She had already fallen asleep. "Does she do well all cocooned up like that?" He asked.

"Yeah, some of her best sleep is when she's all cocooned up like that." Sunflower said, glancing up from the form she was writing on.

"Whose idea was the rail and straps?" Marsh asked.

"Straps were Amethyst's," Rayne replied. "The rail has been on Cecily's side of the bed for the last two years."

"She have a history of falling out of the bed?" He gazed at the girl. She wasn't going anywhere until the straps were released.

Rayne looked at the girl in the bed. "Yes, we've been the ED twice with head injuries, thus the rail. It also helps to make her feel little so..." Rayne let the thought trail off. Amethyst poked her head into the back of the van.

"I'm going to go get some coffee, anyone want anything?" She asked.

"Can you get me a coffee, please?" Rayne asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," Amethyst replied. "Sunflower?"

"Can you please get me a hot chocolate since they probably don't have my tea, and same for Cecily, I'll get it in her hot sippy cup when it gets out here." Sunflower replied, glancing up from the statement she was writing.

"Trooper Marsh," Amethyst said. "Anything for you?"

"No thank. You, Amethyst." He replied. "Miller might get upset if I got something and he didn't."

"I can get something for him as well if he wants..." Amethyst said. "He might like that."

"While It's a good idea," Trooper Marsh said, with a smile. "Mr. Tanner in the truck back there might try to say that you are bribing us into arresting him..."

"Fair point." Amethyst replied. "Rayne, I'll be back with the drinks."

"Ok, Please pick up some snacks while you're in there..." Rayne said, glancing up from the statement that she was writing. She was trying to make it as detailed as possible.

"Yes, Ma'am," Amethyst said, pulling her head back in to the front of the van and getting out. A few seconds later, Rayne saw Amethyst walk across the front of the van on the monitor... The motion on the monitor captured Trooper Marsh's attention. He saw the camera mounted in the corner that could overlook the entire rear area of the van.

"Lots of cameras around here," He remarked. Sunflower glanced up from the statement and looked at him. She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't actually hear what he had said.

"Hmm?" Sunflower said.

"I was just noting that you all have cameras all over this thing..." Trooper Marsh said. "Including one that looks in back here." Sunflower shrugged. She was used to being able to be observed no matter what she was doing.

"I don't even notice them any more..." Sunflower said, shrugging. "Cecily is a fall risk, so there are cameras in all of the common areas of the house as well as the bedroom that her and I share." She smiled. "We can all see the cameras in the common areas, Rayne and I can see the cameras that are in the bedroom. It's like a baby monitor of sorts."

Trooper Marsh tipped his head to the side. "I can see that, Can I ask you girls a question? If it's too personal, just tell me."

"Sure," Rayne replied. She spoke for herself and Sunflower.

"How did you end up getting involved in this..." He let the thought trail off as he searched for the words he wanted. "Lifestyle, relationship, yeah..."

Rayne chuckled. "Well, it all started when Sunflower and I shared a class, and became very close friends."

"It didn't help that we had accidentally schedule d the exact same schedule..." Sunflower chuckled and glanced at Rayne, her smile radiating. "After about nine months, Cecily was in one of our classes..."

"Of course she wasn't Cecily yet," Rayne said, glancing over at the sleeping girl. "That was before she transitioned..." She smiled. "Anyway, Sunflower and I brought her into the polycule, knowing she was transgender and was going to be transitioning." Rayne smiled at Sunflower. "We took her under our wing, and took care of her. Our little family has grown a bit, Amethyst joined us last year. I manage to keep the four of us on track and getting things done." She bit her lip. "There is a bit of a Dominant/submissive role to the household. I'm the Dominant. What I say goes. The other three are submissive to me, although Sunflower is Cecily's Dominant; We as a group are polyamorous and we get along really well." She smiled again. "This ragtag group is my family, and I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"So explain how Sunflower came to be called Mama, cause I'm still not understanding that..." He said.

Sunflower smiled at Rayne. She loved telling this story, and it was one that she didn't get to tell to many people. "So, when Cecily was growing up, she had both a very sheltered childhood and a lot of rules that she had to follow. When she got to Ohio University, and was exposed to all sorts of stuff that she didn't know existed and her mental health really declined. She told us that she missed having the rules and structure in her life. She asked us to start treating her like a kid again and here we are. She has rules that she has to follow, some of them would seem strange to folks that don't understand the point of them. We treat her like she's nine, ten years old and it's improved her mental health and grades. The rules aren't as restrictive as they used to be, she's earned a lot of privileges back. Her bedtime is a little later than when the rules were first put in place, Some things haven't changed like having a bedtime or the rule that says she has to carry her phone, watch, and inhaler with her at all times. The parental controls on her phone will probably always be there. We're protective of our little girl."

"I'll say," Marsh said. "She just willingly let you take control of her life like that?"

"She asked for it..." Rayne said. "In writing, even. She wrote out exactly want she wanted, we didn't ask her to, and we used that to build the first set of rules. I think I still have a copy of the letter and the first set of rules on my laptop." Rayne glanced at Sunflower. "We didn't just wake up one day and decide to make her a kid again. We gave her back what she lost when she had to grow up faster than she was ready. Thankfully there hasn't been any other times that she's tried to kill herself, that's as a result of the rules that she's got now. That was the catalyst for all of it. We've made her a better person. No rules get created without serious discussion. I still love how we spot check her and she still won't have something, or she will have less than a half tank of gas."

"I remember spot checks from my time in the Army..." Marsh chuckled. "We had a guy in our unit that kept losing things so the Sargent started tying the stuff that he needed to have to him. It was funny to watch." He chuckled and then sounded confused. "Why does she have to have a half tank of gas in her car?" "

"I had to take her gas twice because she had run out," Sunflower said. "After the second time, a rule was put in place and it's not been a problem since." The front door of the van opened and Amethyst got back in, carrying drinks and a bag full of snacks. "All of her rules are there to help her."

"Tell me more about the parental controls, my kids are nine and twelve." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I worry about them online."

"We use an app called Roar." Rayne said. "Sunflower knows the most about it, speaking of it, Amethyst, give me your phone so we can get you set up..." Amethyst unplugged her phone and handed it back into the back of the van.

"Can one of you tell me what the diesel is at? The heater's been on for a bit and we have access to diesel here..." Sunflower took Amethyst's phone and started the process to add Amethyst's phone to the parental controls app.

"Diesel is at three quarters remaining." Rayne said, being able to see the fuel gauge easier than Sunflower.

"Thank you!" Amethyst said. She glanced back as Sunflower was installing the app on the phone.

"So you can set your normal parental controls stuff," Sunflower said, tapping away on the phone. "Time limits, location, and what apps are being used for how long." That's the basic plan, which costs something like five dollars a month, we have the higher tired plan, which lets us see messages that are sent or received, and monitor usage across all the apps that Cecily uses." She stopped talking and kept tapping."

"Why are we installing this on Amethyst's phone?" Marsh asked, watching both Rayne and Sunflower glance at Amethyst.

"Because I'm jealous of Cecily and the fact that she gets treated like a kid and I miss being treated that way." Amethyst said, quietly. "So I'm going to have rules applied to me and we will see after a bit if we think they are helping me at all."

Sunflower handed the phone back to Amethyst. "Go through the app and sign into all of your accounts. I'll do the parent part."

"Yes Ma'am,"Amethyst said, taking the phone back.

"Eleven is her bedtime?" Sunflower asked Rayne.

"Yeah, that's what we agreed on for now." Rayne said.

"What will the phone do at bedtime?" Marsh asked. He had a notebook out and was making notes.

"Her phone will act as if there is no internet." Sunflower said, with a smile. "She will still be able to make phone calls or text, but not do anything that requires the internet." Sunflower glanced at the monitor to see how engrossed Amethyst was in setting up all of her accounts on the app. "It is possible to disable monitoring from the phone," She said quietly. "It does alert me that it's happened and there had better be a good reason for it, but it can be done." Marsh was making more notes.

"I'm going to have to look into this for my kids, I think..." He said, with a chuckle. "They aren't going to like this, but it's for their protection. Let me run out and check on Miller really quick and see if we can get you all out of here soon."

"Thank you,' Rayne said, watching him exit the van. She glanced at Sunflower once the door was shut. "He probably thinks we're a bunch of crazy people."

"Nah," Sunflower said. "Probably thinks that we are over protective of these two... They are worth it though."

"Are you done with your statement?" Rayne asked, picking up the clipboard.

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower glanced at Rayne. "It's as complete as I can make it and as truthful as I know it to be."

"Ok, I'm going to take the statements out to Trooper Marsh." Rayne said, She was sitting on the edge of the bed in the very small area not protected by the railing. "For the Parental controls, same settings as Cecily, please."

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower said. "Do you mind if I hop up front and get ready for the next leg of the journey?"

"Nope, go ahead." Rayne replied, smiling. "I'll take care of Cecily if she wakes up."

"Before you come up," Amethyst said, holding a coffee out, for Sunflower to take and hand to Rayne. Sunflower passed the coffee back to Rayne, who sat it on the table next to Sunflower's laptop.

"Hey, Sunflower," Rayne said, unplugging Sunflower's laptop. "Let's switch the laptops, I want to try to get some stuff done while you ride up front." Instead of handing a laptop back, Amethyst handed a hot chocolate back.

"Ok, Rayne," Sunflower said, "Let me get your laptop off the table, While I'm doing that, can you dump Cecily's hot chocolate into her sippy cup that will take hot liquids?"

"Sure can," Rayne said, standing and starting the process of moving the hot chocolate to the mug that they referred to as the sippy cup. Sunflower appeared in the doorway with Rayne's laptop, and sat it on the table after grabbing her own laptop. There was a knock on the door to the back of the van and Sunflower opened it. Troopers Marsh and Miller stood there.

"May we come in?" Trooper Marsh asked, with a smile.

"Come on in," Rayne said. "Shut the door so we can keep the heat in, don't want the kid to wake up." She chuckled. Marsh and Miller stepped in to the van and pulled the door shut.

"Which one of you is Rayne?" Miller asked. Marsh pointed at Rayne who was still slowly pouring the hot chocolate into the mug that would keep it hot. "We're going to arrest Mr. Tanner for assault. Your statement and the video evidence should be enough to convict unless he's got a really good lawyer." Miller said. "Which one of you is Roslyn?" Marsh pointed at Sunflower.

"That one is Sunflower." Mash said. "She prefers Sunflower over her legal name."

"Alright..." Miller said. "Sunflower, May I see the bruise that was left by Matthew Tanner?" Sunflower glanced at Rayne who nodded, very subtly. She was giving Sunflower permission to do as needed

"I, Uh." Sunflower said. "Am going to have to take my sweater off."

"We can turn around," Miller said. "I'd like to take a photo for the report. Would you like to press charges against the young Mr. Tanner?" Summer lifted her sweater and pulled her left arm out of the sleeve. The bruise was larger than it was shortly after they had gotten in the van. Rayne grabbed a spare blanket and wrapped it around Sunflower's torso to keep her warm and to hide any exposed bits when Miller took the photo. Miller was the professional, and quickly and accurately took the photos. Once he was done, He nodded to Marsh. "You can put your sweater back on, Sunflower."

"I'd rather the kid not get a mark on his permanent record, but," Sunflower said, putting her arm back in her sweater. "I want him to learn something from this..."

"Night or two in Juvie?" Miller asked. Sunflower nodded. "Earliest he could be seen in the court would be Monday..."

"Maybe that will scare him straight and he will start to mind his own business," Sunflower said.

"Ok," Trooper Miller said. "That sounds like a reasonable thing... I'll see if it's something we can do. " He reached into his right front pocket and pulled out a little case and opened it. Trooper Marsh was doing the same. They both pulled out business cards and handed one each to Rayne and Sunflower.

"If you all need anything while you're in the State of Virgina," Marsh said, smiling.

"Give us a call, we will do what we can to help you." Miller said, finishing the statement. It was like they rehearsed this. Marsh glanced at the monitor and saw a tow truck pull up.

"The hook is here..." Marsh said, The view on the monitor changed, and now showed the camera pointing out of the front of the van. Marsh saw another Trooper roll up and disappear off the left edge of the screen. "We'll be right back." Marsh turned and exited the van; Miller followed. The view on the monitor switched to show the three troopers talking as the tow truck hooked up Tanner’s truck. A few moments later, the camera on the side of the van picked up the elder Mr. Tanner being led to the second cruiser that had shown up.

Sunflower moved her laptop to the laptop table in the front of the van. “Ok, I’m ready to roll whenever…”

“We have to wait for them to say it’s ok,” Rayne said. “I would imagine that they will let us roll soon. Amethyst, let’s top the diesel off before we leave here. We’re going to need it when we stop. I think that once we get rolling, I’m going to wake Cecily up so she can work on homework while we drive, I think Sunflower wants to keep her on as close to a normal schedule as possible.”

“I do…” Sunflower said from the passenger seat. “She didn’t sleep well last night and that’s why she’s sleeping so much. Also, I’m not sure how well the parental controls app is going to work, we don’t have the home device with us…” There was a knock on the sliding door and Rayne opened it to reveal Trooper Marsh. Rayne waved him in.

“We’re getting ready to take the young Mr. Tanner to the post.” He said, sliding the door shut. “You all are free to go, and please do me a favor…” the thought trailed off.

“Yes, sir?” Rayne asked.

“Please take care of your two little ones.”

“I’m not that little,” Amethyst said from the front of the van.

“Will do,” Rayne said, she smiled. “Amethyst is just as little as Cecily, she just doesn’t know it yet.” There was a ’humph’ sound from the front of the van which caused Sunflower to chuckle. “Be safe out there, Sir. Too many crazies…”

“Isn’t that the truth…” Marsh said, smiling. “You girls have a good day.” He gave a salute and left the van, closing the door behind him. Rayne dropped the bar in place and sat in the seat in the back; she didn’t buckle herself in.

“Amethyst, let’s go top the diesel off, and continue on our way.” Rayne said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Amethyst said, starting the van. It rolled slowly and came to a stop.

“You going to be ok by yourself?” Rayne asked.

“Yeah, should be,” Amethyst said. “Unless, you think I need supervision, Mommy.”

“I have the cameras, I can keep an eye on you while you are getting gas.” Rayne replied.

“Ok,” Amethyst replied, Rayne could hear the blush in Amethyst’s voice. Rayne selected the camera that looked on the side of the van so she could watch Amethyst put diesel in the tank. It didn’t take long to fill the tank up. Amethyst got back in the van and put her seatbelt on. “Everyone ready to roll?”

“Let’s go.” Rayne said. “We’ve spent too much time here.” She reached over and flipped the diesel heater off.

“Yes, ma’am,” Amethyst said, dropping the van into gear and slowly rolling out of the parking lot.

Chapter 7

Amethyst compared the road that she was seeing to the mapping display on her laptop. She took the ramp and set the cruise control again. “So, you just seem to have a knack for taking care of people?” She asked, not glancing at Sunflower.

“Yep, I have for a while,” Sunflower said, glancing at Amethyst. “I mean, you’ve seen me tell Rayne to do things to take care of herself...” Amethyst chuckled, remembering the time that Rayne had been sick and Sunflower had threatened to tie the head of the household to the bed. Cecily and Amethyst had both watched, mouths agape while Sunflower had practically marched Rayne into the bedroom and tucked her in, with a threat of a spanking if she didn’t stay in the bed. It was one of the only times that anyone in the house had tried to tell Rayne what to do.

“I remember that…” Amethyst said with a chuckle. “I thought you were gonna get it when she finally woke up, but you didn’t. I know I would have…”

“Rayne and I have an agreement…” Sunflower said. “I take care of anyone in the house who is sick. I’m the mom, yes you call her mommy, but I’m the mom of the group.”

“Isn’t that the truth…” Rayne said from the back of the van. “I tried being little; it wasn’t for me…”

“Wait,” Amethyst said. “You tried being little?” Rayne slid the door open to help the conversation flow easier.

“Yep,” she replied, leaning forward in the seat. “I don’t like being told what to do, but Sunflower has permission to if it comes to my health. You ever actually paid how much attention she is on top of Cecily’s health issues?”

“Only kinda…” Amethyst admitted sheepishly. “I just know that I can barely keep up with my own issues.”

“Well, maybe Auntie Sunflower can help with that kiddo.” Rayne said; she was busy typing on her laptop and both Amethyst and Sunflower could hear her striking keys occasionally.

“Possibly,” Sunflower replied. “I know you have a lot of doctors appointments, but I don’t know what your conditions are.”

“Primarily ADHD and autism. I also have PTSD from living through a tornado when I was ten. Let’s just say that thunderstorms scare the shit out of me.”

“Language…” Rayne said from the back of the van. “Just so you know, I’m writing up a list of rules for you, princess, and language will be one of them.” Foul language wasn’t generally an issue as everyone tried to keep their mouths clean because of Cecily. It was only the occasional slip up now from any of them.

“If you were ten,” Sunflower did the math in her head. “That would have been around the time of the Joplin tornado…”

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. We were there because they were taking grandma off of life support and mom wanted us to be able to say goodbye.” She paused, looking in the mirror as she changed lanes. Once she was back in the line she started in, she continued. “We were in the medical center when it got hit. It was bad. That’s why I always curl up into Rayne when there’s thunder. Loud noises scare me; I should probably see a therapist, but I’m scared I’m going to get laughed at.”

“Any therapist worth anything isn’t going to laugh at any of your issues,” Sunflower said. “We might be able to find someone for you that you get along with. I can help you find someone; I have contacts from my psychology classes.” She paused and typed a few things on the computer in front of her. “What has been diagnosed and what hasn’t?”

“The ADHD has been, I have only compared how I feel to the criteria that is used to diagnose the other two conditions.” Amethyst said, her voice sounding sad. “I really am worried about going to get checked out.”

“I’ll find a doctor that I trust and I’ll go with you” Sunflower said.

“Shouldn’t mommy go with me?” Amethyst asked.

“One of the two of us will go with you, I’m sure,” Sunflower said. “We’re the adults, its’ our job to take care of you and make sure all of you is healthy,”

“You’re not as big as you think you are, Sunflower,” Rayne said from the back of the van.

“I’m not big…” came the mumbled reply from Cecily, who was still bundled up in the bed. “What time is it?”

“It’s noon…” Rayne said. “You should probably wake up.”

“Yes, Ma’am” Cecily said, trying to sit up. “I can’t sit up.”

“I know. Maybe if you ask nicely, Auntie Amethyst will pull off so that we can stop to go potty again, cause I’m sure you have to go, and I can let you up.” Rayne said. Amethyst held her arm out with her thumb up to indicate that she had heard the request. Because the sliding door was open, Rayne could see the thumb.

“Is anyone hungry?” Sunflower asked. It had been the better part of six hours since they had eaten, but they also hadn’t done much.

“I am a little,” Rayne replied, glancing at the display on the wall that showed the video feed from the front of the van. They were coming up to an exit with a lot of food choices.

“I am thirsty and have to go potty…” Cecily said. “I want chicken nuggies…”

“I’m hungry,” Amethyst replied. She sounded sheepish. Sunflower and Rayne both shared a glance through the door. Amethyst would often not eat anywhere near as much as she should. It was something that they had discussed trying to do something about, but nothing had been settled upon.

“I’m slightly hungry too,” Sunflower said. “Cecily, where do you want your nuggies from?” She was particular about her nuggies.

“Wendy’s, if possible, please?” Cecily said from the bed.

“Wendy’s.” Sunflower said.

“Got it.” Amethyst took the left lane at the bottom of the ramp and headed in the direction of the Wendy’s.

Rayne was sitting there, staring at the monitor on her laptop. She reached up and rubbed her eyes. Staring at the screen was starting to get tiring… “Hey Cecily,” Rayne said out loud, Cecily was behind her, and she couldn’t see the girl without spinning in the chair.

“Yes, Auntie Rayne?” Cecily said quietly. She was sitting on the bed, wearing one of the seat belts that could be used when the bed was in couch mode; she was coloring on some blank sheets of paper that Sunflower had brought with all of the school supplies.

“I want to lay down, can I trade you spots?” Rayne asked, spinning in the seat and facing the younger girl. She slid her laptop into the pocket on the back of the front wall to free up the table for the coloring that the girl was doing.

“But Auntie, the van is moving and I’m not allowed to get up and move when it’s moving.” Cecily said.

“I’m going to get up and help you get to the chair and make sure you’re buckled in.” Rayne smiled.

“What’s going on?” Sunflower asked from the front of the van.

“I want to lay down and I’m going to switch spots with Cecily.” Rayne answered, pulling the release on the seat belt.

“Can you do up all five straps on the seat belt, please?” Sunflower asked.

“Will do, Mama.” Rayne said, she stood, and grabbed on to the bar that was mounted to the counter in the galley. “Cecily, undo your seat belt and grab onto my hand. I won’t let you fall.” Cecily did as she was told and unbuckled her seat belt and cautiously stood. She took Cecily’s outstretched hand and made the swing to the chair. Rayne buckled Cecily in the seat and spun it so that it faced the table and locked the swivel mechanism. “Let me get your coloring stuff moved over to the table for you. And then I’m going to take a nap.” Rayne moved the coloring stuff to the table so Cecily could keep coloring. "Hey Sunflower,”

“Yeah,” Sunflower replied, spinning in the passenger seat as much as she could.

“Can you make sure I’m up in about 90 minutes, I’d rather not mess up my sleep schedule by taking a long nap.” Rayne laid down in the bed and strapped her self down.

“Sure can…” Sunflower replied. “I’ll keep the kids quiet too.”

“Thank you,” Rayne reached over and pulled the rail up, a soft muted click.

“Cecily, can we turn the lights down so Auntie Rayne can sleep?” Sunflower asked gently. “I can turn on one of the task lights so you can still see.”

“Otay, Mama,” Cecily said, glancing through the door at her Mama. She watched as Sunflower unbuckled her seatbelt and came in the back of the van. She reached over to the panel by the door and dimmed the lights, switched them to red, and closed the vent in the roof. She made sure Rayne was comfortable and then as she went back to the front of the van, she flipped on the light that would give Cecily white light to color by. “I’m going to shut the door to the front, but leave the little window open in case you need something, ok?”

“Otay Mama,” Cecily said. She looked up at Sunflower and smiled. Sunflower gave the girl a kiss on the top of the head.

“Hang on,” Amethyst said. “There’s a cop about to pass us…” Sunflower dropped down low to avoid being seen by the cop. She watched as the cop passed on the left, and proceeded to move about ten miles per hour faster than the van. Once the cop was out of sight, Sunflower moved back to the front seat of the van. She slid the door shut and opened the little window so she could check on Cecily from time to time.

“So. I know that the parental controls can control the phone working during certain hours, what else can it do?” Amethyst asked. They were driving south-southwest now, after having stopped for fuel again. Both Cecily and Rayne were both asleep in the back of the van.

“What do you mean?” Sunflower asked. "We should probably wake those two up soon. Rayne's been out for about ninety minutes… "

"Yeah. Do you want to wake them up? I'm thinking we should stop soon to hit up the bathroom…" Amethyst said. "Looks like there is an exit coming up…" Sunflower stood and slid the door to the back of the van open. The light that came in through the door roused Cecily, who looked groggily at Sunflower.

“Hi Mama…” she said, in that sleepy tone that kids have when they wake up.

“Hi Princess,” Sunflower said. “We’re going to stop for a potty break. Mama needs to wake up Auntie Rayne…”

“Otay,” Cecily said. “I want to stretch my legs…” Cecily kicked her legs to provide emphasis on her stretching them. She was short enough that when she was all buckled into the seat, her feet didn’t touch the floor. Sunflower gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead as she passed.

“Rayne…” Sunflower said, reaching out to gently shake the sleeping girl.

“Huh?” Rayne asked, propping herself up on one elbow. “What time is it?” One thing that the back of the van lacked was a clock.

“It’s almost five, you’ve been out for about ninety minutes.” Sunflower said. “We are about to get off the interstate and stop for a potty break and to stretch our legs…”

“Ok,” Rayne said, rubbing her eyes and then her neck. She had been laying funny on the pillow when Sunflower had come back. "How far have we made it?" She sat up and lowered the rail on the side of the bed.

“We are about to pull into Kingsport Tennessee…” Sunflower said. “It appears they have power and we can get gas. Have we used the diesel heater since we filled up in West Virginia?”

“I didn’t turn it on, and Cecily can’t reach it when she’s buckled into the seat like she is, I’m not sure that she would understand how to actually turn it on. She’s never been shown.” Rayne replied.

“Ok, I’ll relay that to Amethyst.” Sunflower said, heading to the front of the van. She could see a truck stop in the distance. “Since it’s around four thirty, we should start thinking about dinner. I know we’re limited with what we can make in the van and we should save the stuff in here for when we get out to the middle of nowhere and we can’t find food somewhere; but at the same time, I’m tired of eating out already…”

“Honestly,” Rayne replied. “Me too. When we get stopped, once we’ve all gone to the restroom, let’s have a quick family meeting…”

“Ok,” Sunflower said, “I’ll let Amethyst know. We will probably be rolling off the interstate in a few.” Sunflower turned and went back to the front of the van. “Once everyone goes to the bathroom, Rayne want to hold a family meeting.”

“Ok,” Amethyst said, glancing at Sunflower. "Any idea what it’s about?”

“Foodstuffs,” Sunflower replied, buckling her seat belt. “We’ve not been on the road a day and I’m tired of eating out; I think she is too.”

“I mean,” Amethyst turned on her right blinker and started for an exit. “We could stop and get other food so that we can cook in the van. We do need to be conscious of Cecily’s sodium intake.”

Sunflower glanced at Amethyst. “What do you know about her sodium intake?”

“I know that she needs a lot of salt, but I don’t know how much she needs per day…” Amethyst said.

“What do you know about the rest of her meds?” Sunflower asked.

“Uh…” Amethyst replied, slowing for a red light at the bottom of the ramp. “I know that she has a lot of pills… I get hit with notifications every time she doesn’t take them on time…”

“Yeah, but do you know what each one does and how often it should be taken?” Sunflower said, she wasn’t trying to toot her own horn, she was just trying to prove how much she took care of the family. “What about Rayne’s meds, what do you know about hers?”

“Uh…” Amethyst replied, “About the same…” she blushed.

“This is why I’m the mom of the group. I can somehow keep track of all off it, I am the fixer of the family. I can fix almost every problem that comes up,” she said. “Once we get home, we’re going to get you into a doctor, and we’re going to get you healthy.”

“Sunflower, you can do as necessary to get her healthy…” Rayne said, “I’d like to get my child healthy… She seems to do an ok job of taking care of herself, but could be better at it. We will discuss it over dinner…”

“Yes, mommy,” Amethyst said, “I want to stop and get gas here, there is a station with power and we are at a half tank on the engine fuel.”

“Yes, Ma’am” Sunflower said.

“Amethyst,” Rayne said. “When we stop, I want to switch driving with you. That way you can take a rest…”

"I was going to propose that when we stop, we boondock and just sleep. I thought you didn’t want to travel at night?” Amethyst replied, sounding confused…

“I don’t,” Rayne replied, appearing in the doorway to the back of the van. “But I think while we’re still to the east, we can go into the night for a little while. We are going to need to get as much distance as we can and we lost time because of having to deal with Mr. Turner and his son… I’d like to make Memphis tonight, if possible…” Amethyst pulled the van next to a pump. “Sunflower, Cecily and I will run in and go to the bathroom, restock on snacks and drinks, and come back out; Amethyst, if you could fill the van up with gas we should be done inside by then; Come in and add what you want to pile of snacks and such and we will find somewhere to discuss dinner…”

“Sounds good, Mommy,” Amethyst said, shutting off the engine.

“Sunflower and Cecily, with me,” Rayne said, opening the door in the back of the van. “Stay close. I’m just glad this place isn’t busy like the rest area…” The three girls walked into the gas station and made their way to the bathroom. “Go, Cecily…” she had the smallest bladder of the group and with the amount of water that she normally drank, she was constantly going to the bathroom. Sunflower and Rayne watched as Cecily entered the single stall bathroom and closed the door. “Has she had enough water today?” Rayne asked. She kept up on Cecily’s health but not to the same extent that Sunflower did.

“No…” Sunflower responded. “But then again, none of us have… I’m not sure how to get her the right amount of water without us stopping every hour for her to go to the bathroom…”

Rayne looked at Sunflower. “Could always put her in diapers…” the bathroom door opened and Cecily came out.

“Who are we putting in diapers?” She asked, watching Rayne and Sunflower glance at each other.

“Sunflower, go…” Rayne said, having decided to be the last one to go to the bathroom, just like in the rest area.

“So who is going to end up in diapers?” Cecily asked Rayne.

Rayne glanced down and smiled at the girl. “Maybe me, maybe you, maybe Sunflower, maybe Amethyst, maybe all of us, maybe none of us…”

“It’s probably me…” Cecily said, blushing and looking at the floor. “I’m gonna be in trouble…”

“If we put you in diapers, it’s not because you’re in trouble…” Rayne crouched down so she could look Cecily in the face. ”It’s because we love you and care about you. Now why do you think you’re gonna be in trouble?”

“Because my pee was yellow,” Cecily replied, looking at the ground. “The doc wants me to drink three liters a day, and Mama usually reminds me, but she didn’t today and I slept a bunch…” She sounded like she was going to cry.

“I can assure you that you’re not going to be in trouble,” Rayne said, lifting Cecily’s chin so she could look her in the eyes. “Wanna know how I know?”

“How?” Cecily asked.

“Because none of us did,” Rayne replied smiling at the girl. “Do you know how much you drinking water has gotten the rest of us to drink water? I’ll even give you the answer: a lot. We are all aware that we weren’t drinking enough. When we do things to set a good example for you, we aren’t doing it just when you can see us. We are doing it all the time. Character is how you act when no one is watching. I never realized how dehydrated I was until I started trying to drink more water. “

“Really?” Cecily asked. “You guys have changed the things you do because of me?”

“We have…” Rayne said, watching as the bathroom door opened. “But it’s made all of us better…” She smiled at Sunflower. “I’m going to go in and go to the bathroom, Why don’t you two go and start picking out snacks and such. Sunflower, make sure to grab eight to ten liters of water.”

Sunflower was aware that her eye brows rose. “Yes, Ma’am” She took Cecily’s hand and led her toward the snacks and such in the store. While they were looking at snacks and deciding what to get, Amethyst came in. Rayne came out of the bathroom and traded spots with Amethyst. She came out and selected some snacks.

“Have you gotten the water yet, Sunflower?” Rayne asked.

“No,” Sunflower responded. “We’re still trying to figure out snacks….”

“Ok,” Rayne handed her stuff to Sunflower. “Take my stuff and I’ll grab the water. Amethyst said we have fourty gallons of water on board, but I want to save that for when we get out in the middle of nowhere. Even if we limit our consumption to one and a half liters a day, that’s still seven and a half and that doesn’t account for usage for food or bathing. Water is going to be where we’re going to have to come up with something…” She went back to the cooler and came back with several gallons of water. She carried them up to the counter and sat them there. “We have more, but I don’t feel like carrying six gallons of water around…”

The employee chuckled. “I get that.. Let me know when you’ve got everything up here and I’ll check you out.”

“Sounds good,” Rayne said. She turned to look at Sunflower and Cecily. “Girls, after you pick what you want, bring it up here and sit it on the counter. Nothing that will ruin dinner though…”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said, to acknowledge that they had heard Rayne.

"Wonder what we're doing for dinner, Mama…" Cecily asked.

"Auntie Rayne said we'd discuss it when we got back in the van, remember?" Sunflower said.

“Oh yeah…” Cecily said. One of the conditions she had led to something called ‘Brain fog’ by her doctors. Cecily could be told something and, often times, if she didn’t write it down, it was often lost forever, or until someone reminded her that she needed to do something. “It’s not been a good brain day, Mama.” She gave a sad smile.

“It’s ok, sweetie,” Sunflower said. “You’ve not had enough water today and we both know that you have worse days when you don’t drink enough water…” She smiled at the young girl. “Well, I think Auntie Rayne is going to fix that even if we have to put you in diapers…” Sunflower glanced around, the clerk was paying attention to them. “Let’s talk about this when we get in the van. I think that Auntie Rayne is going to want me up with her and we will get you and Auntie Amethyst tucked into bed for the next leg.” Sunflower and Cecily walked up to the counter and sat their stuff on it. Rayne was pouring herself a cup of coffee about six feet away.

“Hmm… looks like the circus is in town…” he said. Rayne glanced over without moving her head too much

Sunflower instinctively pushed Cecily behind her. “Excuse me?” She said, her voice loud enough for Rayne to hear her. She wanted Rayne to back her up.

Rayne had watched Sunflower push Cecily behind her, knowing that it was a defensive move. She heard the bathroom door open and Amethyst come out. “You two, go get in the van,” She said in the tone that meant business and then she snapped her fingers twice loudly. It was a signal that meant ‘come here, now.’

Amethyst heard the snap and abandoned what she was looking at and went to stand one step behind and to the right of Rayne. ”Yes, Ma’am?”

“I heard what you said and I don’t appreciate you speaking to my family like that.” Rayne said. “A, go get in the van I will be along shortly.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Amethyst said, turned on her heel and walked out the door. She climbed into the passenger side of the van and then into the back.

“You just lost this…” she did the quick math in her head. “$45 dollars worth of merchandise that would have been a sale. I would put the gas back, but I can’t. You should be ashamed of your self for picking on a teenager that has a hormone imbalance. You’re what, a thirty year old man, and you’re picking on a seventeen year old girl. Just think about that for the rest of your pathetic life.” Rayne turned and walked out the door toward the van. The cashier was mumbling something, but Rayne couldn’t tell what. She just wanted to get out of here. She was already tired of Cecily getting picked on during this trip. She suspected that Cecily was probably crying in the back of the van as she opened the drivers side door and got in. Cecily was giggling. That was a good sign. “We’re going to go to the Walmart that is down the road, we’ll come up with the water and snacks there, and it will probably be cheaper. Amethyst and Cecily, in the bed, let’s strap Cecily down, Sunflower, up front with me, please.” Sunflower quickly strapped Cecily into the bed, covered both Amethyst and Cecily up, and lifted the rail.

“Since Sunflower put the rail up, does that mean that only Mommy or Sunflower can put it down?” Amethyst asked.

“That’s correct," Rayne said. "You want to get treated like a child, you will get treated like a child…"

“Yes, mommy,” Amethyst said, closing her eyes. It felt strange for the girl to be laying in a bed with a railing on one side and having the other three sides be solid wood. When she built the van, she hadn’t foreseen the family that she now had. She wouldn’t trade them for anything. She heard the door to the front of the van slide shut and then heard the engine start. She could hear the faint sounds of Rayne and Sunflower talking up front and the sound was strangely comforting to her. She couldn't make out what was being said so she closed her eyes and focused on relaxing. She needed to relax and rest, but she also wouldn't be able to sleep until they had stopped and gotten food, so she focused on how relaxed riding in the back of the van made her.

Amethyst felt the van roll to a stop and then heard the door to the back of the van open. She opened her eyes and looked toward the door, seeing Sunflower and Amethyst come into the back, they slid the door shut.

“You girls awake?” Rayne asked.

“I think I dozed off…” Amethyst said, stretching. “Where are we?”

“We’re at the Walmart about three miles down the road from the gas station…” Sunflower said.

“Do you want us to lock you two in the van and run in and do the shopping, or do you two want to come with us?”

“I want to sleep…” Cecily said, she looked like she was asleep and neither Rayne nor Sunflower were going to wake her if she were. “But I also need to get up and move around.” She tried to sit up was held fast by the straps.

“I guess I’m coming in as well…” Amethyst said. “Mommy, can you lower the rail so that we can get up?” Sunflower reached over and let the rail down.

“You can let Cecily up as well,” Sunflower said.

“Amethyst, What do we have on board stove and cookware wise?” Rayne asked, opening a drawer to find a bunch of plastic cups and plates. It had been a while since she had taken an inventory of what was where in the van.

“We have the Jetboil, I’m not sure how much fuel we have for it though. We have the single burner butane with at least eight bottles of butane on board; and we have the two burner propane stove, It and the propane are in the garage. I think there are four of the one pound bottles of propane down there, I also have the hoses to hook it and the lanterns to a twenty pound cylinder of propane.” She paused and slid a drawer out. “There’s the cookware…”

Rayne peered in the drawer, they had the cookware to be able to cook several things at once. The biggest issue would be doing the dishes when they were done. “White water is in five gallon jugs, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, there’s one under the sink, with a foot pump, and then three jugs in the garage. I just switch them out as needed. For hot water, I boil some. Why, what are you thinking?” The vans build was very simplistic, not a lot of frills, but it was enough to be better than camping in a tent.

“I know there is no black tank, just the composting toilet…” Rayne said. “What do you do with grey water?”

“There is a ten gallon tank under the van, with a remote controlled valve that I can use to dump it. I often dump while driving down the road. I’ve been planning on adding a thirty or so gallon white tank with an electric pump, but other things have taken priority.”

“How do you know when the tank is getting close to full?” Rayne asked.

“I’ve got a float switch in the tank, much like what your car uses to determine the gas level. It turns on a blue light on the control panel with the switches when the tank has about three gallons left.” Rayne glanced at the control panel. She could see the light, and it was presently off.

“Ok,” Rayne replied, closing the drawer with the cookware in it. “We have no refrigeration on board, right?”

“Now that, we do have…” Rayne replied, lifting a section of the counter. The lifted section of the counter revealed a powered cooler that was presently turned off. “I haven’t used it for anything yet, but it does get cold. It’s controlled by a switch on the control panel and is hooked to the house battery. It runs on twelve volts.” Amethyst reached over and flipped an unlabeled switch. A soft red glow came from the switch, and the display on the fridge came on and had two temperatures one at thirty-three degrees, and one at ten degrees. “It’s got a freezer as well… It’s small, but better than nothing…”

“We could have salvaged some of the stuff from the fridge at the house… Why didn’t you say something about this?”

“I kinda forgot. Remember, there used to be a regular cooler there for the longest time. That would have required ice, but we didn’t have a way to get ice and I just remembered that I had replaced it. This thing is only two weeks old.” Amethyst said, looking at the floor. She felt like she was in trouble.

“You’re not in trouble,” Rayne said. “This just changes what we can do for food, by a lot. We may have to stop and resupply every few days, but this is much better than only eating canned food or dehydrated meals. We still have them, but we can do things with chicken and beef… Do we have a meat thermometer on board?”

“That, is something we don’t have on board…” Amethyst said, smiling. “I didn’t think to grab the one from the house…”

“Sunflower…” Rayne said, no even glancing at her.

“Just put it on there…” Sunflower replied looking up from her phone. “I also put some food items on the list. Unfortunately, I don’t think that we will be able to do chicken nuggets…”

“Aww…” Cecily said, she reached up and rubbed her eyes. Amethyst reached over and undid the straps holding the younger girl to the bed. “Mama, can I wear real clothes into the store? I promise to keep them clean.”

“Yep,” Rayne said, answering for Sunflower. “Let’s dig out her overalls and a shirt… Get her dressed Mama.”

Chapter 8

Cecily sat her bowl on the counter and looked at Amethyst. They had made spaghetti for dinner, “Who’s doing the dishes?”

“Since Auntie Amethyst cooked, I’m going to do the dishes,” Sunflower stepped on the pedal to dispense water into a pot so she could boil it to get hot water to do the dishes with. “Do you want to help Mama by drying the dishes?”

“I can…” Cecily said, smiling. Since the railing was down, she sat on the edge of the bed.

“Everyone back there in a stable enough position for me to keep driving?” Rayne asked from the front of the van.

“Amethyst is in the seat strapped in with a three point, Cecily is sitting on the edge of the bed so she can help me dry the dishes from dinner. Once we’re done with that, I’ll get her strapped down, and then I’ll move Amethyst to the bed and we can get them to bed." Sunflower said loud enough for Rayne to hear her through the window on the door which was cracked open only slightly.

"Ok, sounds good." Rayne said, starting the engine. A few seconds later, the van started to roll out of the parking lot. “Can you strap Amethyst in with all five points, please?”

“Will do.” Sunflower responded, turning to Amethyst, who was giving her a pleading look. “I have to, she will know, and I don’t want to get in trouble…” Amethyst nodded and let Sunflower buckle the last of the two straps. Since Sunflower was the last person to touch the straps, only her or Rayne could undo them. Amethyst sighed and spun back to the table, she was working on some reading for one of her classes; she figured that doing it now while she was still awake and coherent would be better than trying to do it when she was tired.

“Mommy,” Amethyst said. “How late can I stay up?”

“Until Auntie Sunflower is done with the dishes and moves you to the bed, Why?” Rayne asked.

“I have some school work I need to do for McFadden’s class, and I’m not overly tired, so I was going to work on it.” Amethyst flipped a page in her book and continued reading.

“You fell asleep on a three mile drive from the gas station to Walmart…” Sunflower replied with a chuckle as she dunked a sponge in the hot water. “I know why your mom wanted you in a five point… You’re gonna fall asleep.”

"I am not…" Amethyst said, whining. Sunflower shot her a look; Cecily often did the same thing.

"Ok…" Sunflower chuckled, "We will see how long you last…" She handed a dish off to Cecily to dry. Cecily was already back in her sleeper, and looked like she could fall asleep at any moment. "I'm a mother that has a daughter that says that she won't fall asleep and then she falls asleep…”

“I’ll still be awake by the time that we hit Nashville…” Amethyst said defiantly. “I’ll show you I’m big and can stay up…” Sunflower smiled at the girl and passed a bowl to Cecily. Dinner had been made in one pan, which was the one that Sunflower had used to make her hot water. That would help with getting the pan clean with the limited water that she wanted to use. She washed another bowl and passed it on to Cecily.

“I don’t think you’ll be awake when we get to Nashville…” Sunflower said.

“Right turn to the freeway…” Rayne said from the front seat.

Sunflower braced herself against the bed. “Ok!” She was the only one that would be affected by the turn. Sunflower washed the last bowl and handed it to Cecily, who dried it and placed it in the drawer that it had started in. Sunflower washed the utensils and handed them to Cecily. They went back into the appropriate drawer and Sunflower washed the pot, and handed it to Cecily to dry. She left the stove out, as it needed to cool before it could be put away. “Cecily, do you have any homework you need to get done?”

“I could do some reading for Peterson’s class…” Cecily said, “But I’m sleepy…”

Sunflower smiled at the girl. “How about you do half an hour to an hour of school work, and then we will see how you are doing?”

“Otay,” Cecily replied. “Can I have my backpack and the lap table thing, please?”

“Yep,” Sunflower replied, pulling the girls purple backpack out of where it had been stowed. The lap table was pulled from a different stowage area. “Just slide back and buckle one of the seat belts for me.”

“Wait, why does Cecily get to buckle her own belt, but I didn’t…” Amethyst said.

“You did,” Sunflower looked at her. “But your mom wanted you in all five points and asked me to fix that for you.”

“Cecily will be able to take off her own seat belt though…” Amethyst whined. Sunflower looked at Amethyst and then looked at Cecily.

“Cecily, what is the rule when it comes to seat belts?” Sunflower asked.

“I can buckle my own if Mama wants me to, but I’m not allowed to undo my own unless I’m given explicit instruction to do so…” Cecily repeated from memory. That rule wasn’t written anywhere, it had been stated once or twice and Cecily understood the reasoning and that was that.

“That’s not a bad rule to start following, Amethyst…” Rayne’s voice came from the camera. She had the video feed up and had been listening to the exchange. Amethyst spun to face the camera.

“Yes, Mommy…” Amethyst said, sounding sheepish.

“You good, Princess?” Sunflower asked Cecily.

"Yes, Mama." Cecily said.

Sunflower smiled. "I'm going to dim the lights so they aren't as bright, and I'll come back and check on you two in a bit."

"Ok, Auntie Sunflower." Amethyst said.

"Otay, Mama." Cecily said. A lot of bright light would bother the girl and she'd end up with a headache and be miserable. Sunflower gave Cecily a kiss on the top of the head and started to walk toward the front of the van, pausing to give Amethyst a kiss on the forehead.

“Don’t worry, It will get easier as time goes on, just let the adult side go and embrace being a kid and not having to worry about making decisions.” Sunflower whispered in Amethyst’s ear. “Trust that your mommy and I know what we’re doing.”

“I trust the two of you with my life.” Amethyst said softly. “I’ve seen the way you care for Cecily and I’ve been jealous of that, but I’m thankful that I’ve got that now. It will just take me time to adjust to being taken care of so thoroughly. I promise to make the two of you proud like Cecily does.”

“Atta girl,” Sunflower said. She leaned up to the window in the door. “Safe for me to come up?”

“Nearest I can tell, yes…” Rayne said. Sunflower slid the door open far enough that she could squeeze out and not let too much light enter the front of the van. It was still daylight, but the light was fading fast. Sunflower quickly shut the door behind her and latched it closed, and dropped into the passenger seat. She buckled her seat belt as a Tennessee Highway Patrol cruiser passed the van in the left lane.

“That was close…” Sunflower said, with a chuckle.

“I’d seen him behind us, but I thought he was just a Civi…” Rayne said. They watched the cruiser slow and pull into a turn around. “Guess I need to be more careful. I was doing two under the speed limit, guess he didn’t find anything to ding us on.” She glanced at Sunflower and smiled.

“Guess not,” Sunflower said, smiling back. “The kids are both working on school work, I’ll go back and check on them in a bit.”

“Sounds good,” Rayne said. “So how do I be as good of a mom as you?"

Sunflower looked at Rayne. "That's the easy part… You do what ever it takes to make sure that your little girl is safe, loved, and taken care of." She smiled, her voice becoming emotional. "Be prepared to lay your life down to protect her. Remember the day that Cecily fell and we got the alert from the watch and I beat the ambulance home?"

"Yeah…" Rayne said.

"I got chewed out by a police officer that watched me run a light and get in front of the medic. I didn't know that they were the ones that were dispatched to the house, but I suspected it. The officer followed the medic and he watched me get out of the car and pretty much take the front door off the hinges with the way I went in the house." She pursed her lips. She had thought that she was going to get arrested that day. "I explained what had happened, and he gave me a very stern warning to never do that again. I thought I was going to get a ticket at the very least, or at the worst arrested. I was preparing my one phone call to you to explain what happened. I knew that you'd know what to do. Luckily I didn't have to."

"You've never told me that…" Rayne said. She didn't sound mad or upset, it was just a statement of fact. "You're lucky you got away with just a talking to." She hit the turn signal to go around a slower moving truck. "I mean, I've seen when your mom side turns protective. You get a don't mess with me or my daughter attitude. I saw it when we were at that gas station with the way you pushed Cecily behind you. I was ready to back you up. Same at the rest area when I found out what was going on. Speaking of, I wanted to ask you, why didn't you move? I would have been upset because you'd moved, but I would have understood it when I learned why…"

Sunflower bit her lip. The real reason that she didn't move was because the threat wasn't to Cecily; it was to her. Since Cecily wasn't the target, protocol took precedence. If Cecily had been the target of the boy, then she would have probably retreated to the van. "Protocol took precedence. I was the target of the boy; Cecily wasn't. I was going to stay put until either things escalated, or you came out. My heart sank when Cecily undid the cuff. I thought I was going to get in trouble because of it. I don't fear punishments, that's what happens when you don't follow the rules. I don't have many rules compared to the two in the back, but the ones I do have, they are not to be broken. It sets a bad example for the little ones."

"What do you mean, protocol took precedence?" Rayne asked. She wanted to understand the complete thought process here.

"There is an unwritten rule that says that if you, as the Dominant of the group does something, you are the one that should undo it unless you give us permission. It's why neither Amethyst or Cecily will undo their seatbelts, It's why you can tell me to stay somewhere and I'll stay put. We all respect that rule. You had placed Cecily and I on that bench and run the cuff through it so that we didn't run off. The cuff was unnecessary, you could have just told us to sit and we would have. You expected us to be there when you got out of the bathroom. You're the Domme and I'm the submissive. You gave a direct order, I obeyed." Sunflower glanced at Rayne. "I hope that made sense."

"Can I make one thing clear, because I feel like it was forgotten here…" Rayne said. Her voice was full of compassion. This was the first time that the two of them had discussed the incident in the rest area in-depth since they had left the gas station where the Turners had been arrested.

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower said, sounding confused.

"Regardless of any written or unwritten rule," Rayne signaled to get back in the right lane. "If you are in a situation that makes you uncomfortable or puts you in danger, you are allowed to break protocol to escape the situation. I'd have figured out what was going on. Remember I can see where both of your phones are, and you always have them on you." Rayne glanced over, her face lit softly by the dash lighting and the laptops. "The van would have been a safe fall back. Amethyst would have protected you two. I didn't trust the kid, that's why I didn't turn my back to him and I walked backwards out of the rest area. I'm sorry I snapped at you the way I did when I got back in the van. You have a calling to protect Cecily. Like you just said, you'd lay your life down for her, but I want you to think about what that would do to her. In reality, I think you're going to be taking care of Amethyst more than I do. You have a knack for it. I'm like the other parent, the one who defers to the mom. I heard what you said to Amethyst before you came up. This really does take the work of both of us to make it successful, doesn't it?"

"It does," Sunflower said. "On its face, we're treating those two like they are children. In reality, it's just another form of Dominant/submissive relationship. One where there are different titles, but someone is, with consent, controlling the life of another person. " She paused. “I’m worried about her parents. She’s told me stories. I’m afraid that they will try to take our baby from us and will try to forcibly detransition her. Do you know what that would do to her mental state?”

Rayne glanced over at Sunflower. “I do.” She replied, grimly. “There would probably be a repeat of what happened a year ago.” That had been shortly after the multiple diagnoses that had turned the girls life upside down; when she’d tried to take her own life and when Rayne and Sunflower had started to try to provide structure to the younger girls life. “Before her parents could get to her, they are going to have to get through us. Me, Amethyst and you, in that order. Cecily is alive today because of our combined, albeit unorthodox, methods.”

“You know, I have never thanked you for that.” Sunflower said after a few moments of silence. She had been the one that had found Cecily that day and made the frantic call to get emergency services to the house. If she had been ten minutes later, Cecily would probably not be here today. It had messed Sunflower up pretty good for a little while and she had vowed to protect Cecily with every fiber of her being. The need to nurture and care for others had been there prior, but it snapped and came out full force. It had been a shock to both Rayne and Cecily with how much responsibility that Sunflower had added to her day to day. Cecily was her kid and she dared anyone to get in her way when it came to the girl. “So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me just take over and do what needed to be done to protect Cecily.”

“I wasn’t going to stand between you and what needed to be done that day…” Rayne said. “You had that fierce ‘Don’t fuck with me’ look. That was the first time you had called her your child; and the first time you had called yourself her Mama. I wasn’t going to get in the way or do anything to stop that. There was a determination in your voice that stopped me in my tracks. And that takes a lot. You had that same determination in your voice the day she fell. The only thing that was going to stand between you and her were the medics treating her.”

“Yeah,” Sunflower said, giving a sly smile. “Well, that’s my daughter. Her safety and security are first and foremost. Everything else is second. If it’s not going to affect her and cause her harm, I’m going to protect her. If it’s me, as long as I’m surviving it, I’m good.” Sunflower glanced at the setting sun. “I’d do the exact same thing in a heart beat…”

“I know you would,” Rayne said, glancing at her mirrors. She had a habit of glancing at her mirrors and instrument cluster every so often. “Will you help me take care of mine?”

“Absolutely.” Sunflower said. “You said that you had written up a rule list, Want me to look it over?”

“Actually, yes,” Rayne said, turning the headlights on. “I emailed it to you before I started driving with the intention of having you look at it. If there is anything you want to add, use the track changes function.”

“Will do, I need to connect to the internet to pull down the email, but that won’t be much in the way of data…” Sunflower said.

“Sounds good,” Rayne said. “See if you can find anything on the attacks, while you’re at it.”

“Will do,” Sunflower said, turning the brightness down on her laptop so that she didn’t blind herself or cause a distraction to Rayne. She pulled her email down and then went to various news sites. “Looks like they have brought quite a few places back online, the majority of the Northeast is back on. It looks like the various safety and protection devices worked like they should have. Looks like there is still some stuff in the middle of the country that is still out due to the damage that was inflicted on the system. Looks like they took down some of the really high voltage lines, and that’s going to take time to repair. In Washington state, it looks like they managed to actually damage a power generation station at the Grand Coulee Hydro plant,” She glanced over at Rayne. “Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t go into engineering. Some of this is fascinating.”

“How so?” Rayne asked. “I’ve just never looked at it in the same way you have.”

“You’ve never wondered how the power gets from a generation facility to us in the house? Or how things like roads or bridges are built?” It’s something that has held my interest for years, but I don’t have the mathy brain to go into engineering.” Sunflower said. “Somehow I have the brain to go into computer science though…”

“I mean, I’ve given it thought, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve given it in-depth thought.” Rayne said, “Besides, it’s not something that interest me.”

Sunflower smiled. “I bet Amethyst has given thought to the way public works are built and maintained…” Sunflower disconnected from the internet router. “Ok, now to look at the rules…”

“Ok,” Rayne said. “Just make notes, and if you see something that you need clarification on just ask. I used Cecily’s rules as a starting point, so it’s going to look familiar.”

“Ok,” Sunflower said, starting to read.

Amethyst will be in bed by 11 PM and up no later than 6 AM
Amethyst will always have her phone on her person if she is awake. Battery level is not to drop below twenty percent.
If Amethyst leaves the house (including to campus) she is to check in using the parental controls app on her phone when she arrives somewhere. She should let Rayne and Sunflower know where she is going and when she expects to be home.
Amethyst must ask Rayne or Sunflower before spending any more than fifty dollars in a single transaction.
Sleep logs must be sent to Rayne daily.
Inappropriate language is forbidden.
Amethyst must ask for caffeine after 2 PM; Rayne and Sunflower may approve this request and will inform the other.
Permission must be obtained to purchase or use use Tobacco or alcohol. Only Rayne and Sunflower may approve this request and will inform the other.

“The rules look good to me,” Sunflower said. “Do you think Amethyst should be allowed to provide permission for the rules that she could with Cecily still?”

“I think we should until she does something to have that permission removed.” Rayne said. “She’s never steered Cecily wrong yet, so…”

“Sounds good,” Sunflower said. “The rules look good. I need to sit down with Cecily and go over her rules and see if we need to modify any of them.“ This was a common practice, every so often they would revisit the rules and make sure that the rules that were in place were both still effective and needed as well as to possibly add rules if there was something that needed to be addressed. The revisitation of the rules usually occurred every three months or so. This was part of the reason why and how Cecily had earned privileges back.

“Mama?” Cecily said from the back of the van.

“Duty calls…” Sunflower said, unbuckling her seatbelt and standing, going into the back of the van. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“Can I turn on something on the TV?” Cecily asked.

“Well,” Sunflower said. “That depends on what we turn on and if it will bother Auntie Amethyst.”

“I mean, I can put in headphones if I need to…” Amethyst said, spinning in the chair. “I don’t really care what she turns on.”

“Ok,” Sunflower said. “Cecily, did you finish your reading?”

“Yes, Mama.” Cecily said. She smiled at Sunflower. “And I did the after after chapter questions as well.”

“Did you do them on paper or on the computer?” Sunflower asked.

“On the computer,” Cecily replied. “I put the file on the SSD that is attached to the router.” It wasn’t as nice as the network attached storage that they had at the house, but it did work on the Wi-Fi network that was in the van. Right now there were two networks, the one that the connected the cameras, TV, and anything that didn’t need internet access; there was a four terabyte drive that was attached to the Wi-Fi router that acted as a temporary network attached storage. The other network was a WiFi hot spot that had internet access. Rayne had to approve everyone connecting to that just to keep the cost of the internet down. The group could go through several gigabytes worth of data without a second thought; but that was the life of four college students that were all studying computer science.

“Ok, I’ll pull it down and look at it in a second,” One of the requests that Sunflower asked Cecily to do was to retype the question, so that Sunflower could easily check the work. Sunflower and Cecily were on the same track of study and that helped as Sunflower had done everything a semester prior to Cecily, so the material was still somewhat fresh in her mind.

“Otay,” Cecily replied. “Can I watch Frozen?”

“Frozen coming up…” Sunflower said, removing the remote from where it was velcroed to the wall next to the TV. She opened the app that let her play videos from the drive attached to the router. She selected Frozen and turned it on, lowering the volume to try not to disturb Amethyst too much. “Ok, I’m going to go back up front, give a holler if you need anything back here.”

"Otay." Cecily said. "I'm just going to be good and watch the movie."

"Can you double check that I'm understanding this problem right?" Amethyst asked. She was specializing in networking and was working on her Cisco Certified Network Associate certification as well as her degree.

"Sure." Sunflower responded, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What are you struggling with?" As Sunflower and Rayne had already completed the classes that Cecily and Amethyst were taking, they often acted as tutors and sounding boards to help the other two make sure that they had a good understanding of the material. Pop quizzes also often occurred. Something else that they had done was build a lab at home for practice to be able to break things and rebuild them to get the real world, hands on experience to help further understand the material. One area that Cecily had struggled with was understanding the installation options for a linux based installation. After setting up several virtual machines, she understood the reasoning behind the various steps of installing the leading free operating system on servers, she had gone from a D in that class to a B. But it was all because Sunflower and Rayne had taken the time to make sure that she understood the why of her classes.

"Ok, so I know in Windows and MacOS how the network configuration works. I'm a little less familiar with the way that the configuration works in Linux…" Amethyst said. "I have a VM that is running Ubuntu, and I have one that runs Fedora and they seem to be completely different.”

“What versions?” Sunflower asked. “Also, let me grab my laptop from up front., I think I’m going to need it for this…”

“Latest of both…” Amethyst said. “I had pulled them down the night the power went out…”

“Ok,” Sunflower replied opening the door to the front of the van. “I think I have the previous releases, but the way they both operate hasn’t changed.” She looked at Rayne. “Am I ok to come up and grab my laptop? Amethyst needs some help with Linux.”

“Yeah, it’s ok to come up. It’s a shame that we don’t have a server we can easily virtualize in here.” Rayne said.

“Well, I mean, we have the laptops.” Sunflower said. “I still have that second drive in my laptop that has Ubuntu on it, so I’m going to boot into that and try to help her talk her problem out. We need to upgrade the storage in her laptop so that she has the space to be able to do things like virtualize. But then again, you know me, virtualize all the things…” She sat in the seat and removed her laptop from the table. “I wonder about one of those little micro computers for in here.”

“We’re not in here enough where we don’t have easy access to the server at home to need an onboard virtualization host…” Rayne said.

“Maybe not,” Sunflower replied, closing the laptop. "But, it could act as a small file server for the van so we can carry more movies with us…"

"It would have to completely solid state…" Rayne said, glancing at Sunflower. “This thing bounces way too much to use spinning rust…”

“Agreed,” Sunflower said. “I’ll be back, holler if you need something.”

“Will do,” Rayne said. “I’ve got coffee, music, and semis to keep me company. I should be good for a while. I don’t know if we’re going to make Memphis, but Nashville is definitely a possibility.”

“Ok.” Sunflower said, slipping into the back of the van and closing the door.

Sunflower felt the van slow and she glanced up at the monitor for the forward facing camera mounted in the front of the van. They were coming up to a rest area. Sunflower cracked the door open. “Rest area?” She asked.

“Yeah, my coffee has made it so that I have to go, We should probably make sure that Cecily and Amethyst go while we’re stopped.” Rayne replied, pulling the van into a parking spot and shutting off the lights. She left the engine running, someone was going to be with the van at all times. “I want to make this quick and get back on the road. Sunflower and Cecily with me, please. We’re not going to use the leash, just stay close.”

“Yes, Ma’am” Sunflower said, she glanced at Cecily, who, as soon as she heard the were pulling into a rest area started putting her shoes on. Sunflower opened the door and her and Cecily stepped out and walked to the front of the van where Rayne joined them.

“We’re going to do this the same way as the last two stops; Cecily, Sunflower, me,” Rayne said. ”Any questions?” The three of them walked up to the door and entered the rest area. One thing about it being about seven in the evening was that the number of people In the rest area had dwindled.

“Since it’s not crowded, why don’t we just use the women's room, we all three can go at once,” Sunflower said..

“Sounds fine to me,” Rayne said. “Just wait outside the doorway for me.”

“Yes, Ma’am” Cecily and Sunflower said at the same time. The three girls walked into the restroom and did what they had come into the rest area to do. A few minutes later Sunflower and Cecily were in the van and Rayne had taken Amethyst in to go to the restroom as well.

“Mama, I understood what you and Auntie Amethyst were talking about when you were helping her.” Sunflower smiled at Cecily.

“Was I right about what I was saying?” Sunflower asked. She’d not restarted the movie and wouldn’t restart it until Rayne and Amethyst were back in the van.

“You were…” Cecily smiled, one of her areas of focus was in system administration and she was pretty well versed in a lot of administration tasks. “And I think that you did just fine explaining it. Better than I would have.”

Sunflower smiled. “You have a habit of over explaining, especially if it’s something that interests you…”

“Guilty as charged…” Cecily said giggling. The door opened and Amethyst climbed in, shut the door and dropped the locking bar in place. She sat in the seat and looked at Sunflower.

“Can you buckle me in, please?” Amethyst asked.

“Sure thing, sweetie.” Sunflower said, standing up to buckle the harness.

“Thank you,” Amethyst said. “Umm… What should I call you?”

“Hmm?” Sunflower asked.

“Do you want me to call you Mama or what?” Amethyst smiled.

“You can call me whatever you want.” Sunflower replied, pulling the straps snug. “There ya go, all buckled in.” Sunflower gave Amethyst a kiss on the forehead.

“Ok Mama,” Amethyst said. “Thank you for helping me with my homework and buckling me in.” The front door opened and Rayne got in.

“We ready to roll?” Rayne asked, buckling her seatbelt.

“Kids are buckled in, we are ready to roll.” Sunflower responded.

Chapter 9

Sunflower lifted the rail after giving both Cecily and Amethyst a kiss on the forehead. "Good night girls." she said loud enough to be heard over the din of the road.

"Good night, Mama…" Cecily said, her voice muffled around her pacifier.

"Good night, Mama," Amethyst said. Sunflower set the lights to red and dimmed them as far as they would go. She wanted there to be light in case either one of the girls woke and needed to slide the cassette toilet out so that they could go to the bathroom. The toilet would probably see more use once they got out in to the middle of the country. Sunflower stepped into the front of the van and slid the door shut, latching it so that it wouldn’t open if they took a corner.

“Kids are down…” Sunflower said, dropping into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt. “I left red on as low as I can get them so they have some light and pulled the toilet out.”

“Sounds good,” Rayne did her normal check of the mirrors and speedometer. "Any issues from Amethyst going to bed at 10:30?"

"Nope..." Sunflower said. "She gladly went; Also, she's calling me Mama like Cecily does…"

"I'm Mommy, you're Mama," Rayne said, "Works for me." They rode in silence for a while; both of them taking on the darkness that was this rural area of Northern Tennessee. Up ahead just at that point that makes one wonder what they are seeing, there were what looked like red and blue lights from a law enforcement vehicle. “What’s this?”

Sunflower glanced up and saw the lights in the distance. “No idea…”

“Hop in the back, let them know what’s going on,” Rayne said, slowing a bit to give Sunflower time to get in the back without being seen. “Stay quiet and keep them quiet until we get through this…”

Sunflower unbuckled her seat belt and stood, grabbed her laptop and headed toward the door to the back of the van. "Will do…" Once she was through the door she sat in the seat and buckled the harness.

"What's going on, Mama?" Asked Amethyst, sounding like Sunflower had woken her up. Cecily lay beside her, her breathing deep and steady.

"We seemingly have stumbled into a roadblock or something," Sunflower spun in the chair so she could see Amethyst laying in the bed. Cecily had two stuffies and Amethyst had none. " Rayne told me to come back here and keep the two of you quiet, so keep your voice down. I'm going to turn on the monitor so we can see out of the front of the van." Sunflower had turned the TV and monitor off when she had tucked the girls into bed. The back of the van lit up with the monitor and Cecily stirred.

"What's going on?" The younger girl mumbled around her pacifier. Amethyst looked at Sunflower and then at Cecily.

"There's a road block up ahead, Rayne told me to come back here and keep you two quiet while she talks to the officers running the road block." On the monitor, the van approached the road block. There were no other vehicles on the road. Sunflower changed the camera to the one that showed the inside of the front of the van and saw that the monitor on the camera in the back was powered off.

"Good evening, sir." Rayne said, looking at the officer that had stepped up to the passenger side of the van.

"Good evening., The road up ahead is closed, power lines are across the road." Rayne looked around. There was an emergency turn around and she wondered how much back tracking and back road driving she would have to do. Luckily the van was built for that, and had off road lighting that could be powered up and light the way. Amethyst had even rigged up a light sensor that would automatically dim the lights if a vehicle were coming the other way. "The only way around is to go back to exit to the east, make a left, make a left at the light, and stay on there until you get to the next light. Make a left there and you can get back on the interstate.”

“This from the terrorist attack?” The officer looked around.

“Yeah…” He said quietly. “They took down one of the high voltage lines that crosses the road. From what we can gather, we think they thought that the supports would fall like dominoes, at least to an extent. It didn’t work that way so the power company is up there, already working on repairing it, but there are lines down across the road.”

“So the exit behind us, left, left left, and back on and should be good?” Rayne clarified. The GPS would get her there, but she wanted to make sure that she had the basics down. “Anything else I need to be concerned about?

“That’s correct, Ma’am,” the officer said. ”Only thing I can think of would be wildlife; just throw as much light as you can forward and you should be good.” He said, with a smile.

“I can throw more light forward than your cruisers can…” Rayne said, chuckling. “Be safe, sir.”

“You too,” he replied, patting the top of the door before taking a step back. Rayne nodded at him and put the van back in gear, making a wide turn to hit the turnaround. She reached over and flipped the switches to power up all the lights so that she would know what she was working with once she got off the interstate. As soon as she flipped the switch, night turned to day. The far edge of the light reached seventy five yards in front of the van and given that once she got off the interstate she wouldn’t be moving at seventy miles an hour, the distance that she was throwing light would be sufficient to see any wild life that she might come across. Turning the switches off, the road ahead was plunged into relative darkness. No sense in blinding the tiny pinpricks of light that she could see on the horizon as they got closer.

“Sunflower, you can come back up now…” Rayne said, loud enough that Sunflower would have heard her if she was still awake. “You can unbuckle your seat belt if you buckled it.” Sunflower unbuckled the harness and stood, bracing herself on the counter. Both Amethyst and Cecily had fallen back asleep and were out again. She left her laptop on the table and made her way to the front of the van again. As she sat in the passenger seat, she smiled at Rayne.

“Wires down, huh?” She said, buckling her seat belt. “The girls are asleep again, they woke up when I went back and made noise.”

“Ok,” Rayne said, slowing as she approached the exit. The GPS chimed because it wanted her to turn left, and then turn left again to get back on the interstate. She made the left and then ignored the GPS, driving toward the traffic light she could see in the distance. The GPS beeped again, this time telling her to turn around as she had driven past the ramp to the interstate. Rayne slowed to a stop at the light. It was blinking red in her direction, and after looking both ways, she turned left at the light. The GPS beeped one last time, before deciding that this was a way that would work and routing Rayne back toward the interstate. Rayne reached over and flipped the switches to light the road up.

Sunflower blinked. She knew the van had lights everywhere externally; they often used them when they camped in the Wayne National Forest to light up the campsite. “I never realized that we could throw that much light forward…”

"I didn't either until I threw the switches earlier," Rayne said. "It will be useful once we get out into the middle of nowhere…" Rayne giggled. "They might even see it from space…"

"It's going to take a lot more light than that…" Sunflower said, giggling as well. Despite the reasons for this trip, they were treating it as if it were a normal excursion for the group. "You think we're gonna make Memphis tonight?"

“Probably not.,” Rayne glanced around, looking at Sunflower in the process. “I’m thinking once we get to Nashville we find somewhere to boondock.”

“I know what our water level was when we left the house. I’d want to check that soonish. I’m not sure how much we’ve used…” Sunflower said. She was the one that generally managed the consumables on board. “I really wish the gauges for the tanks either had displays up here or had a way we can display them on one of the screens…”

“Well, you are the resource manager of the group…” Rayne said, slowing the van due to a herd of deer crossing the road. She pushed a button and the lights on the front of the van started blinking so the deer would finish crossing. This was a system that Amethyst had rigged up herself for things just like this. “I also know you can estimate pretty well, so what do you think?”

“White tank is probably around seventy five percent full, we used a bit of water for dinner because of the pasta, and what Cecily has had to drink.” Sunflower giggled. “I hope that Cecily doesn’t have an accident; that would be a rude awakening for Amethyst…” She thought for a second. “Grey is probably at five percent full. Most of the water has gone into Cecily, and we dumped the dish water over…”

“I worry that we’re not drinking enough water… I know we need to make sure that Cecily is, but I feel that you, me, and Amethyst aren’t.” Rayne said, slowly accelerating past the spot where the herd of deer had crossed the road. “What color was your pee the last time we stopped?” Sunflower glanced at Rayne. She was used to being the one that asked those kind of questions.

“Slightly yellow, with a slight odor…” Sunflower admitted. She thought about saying her urine was clear, but Rayne wouldn't be above standing in the stall and checking.

"Mine was dark, with a lot of odor…" Rayne admitted. She knew that Sunflower would also stand in the stall and check. "I've not had anywhere near enough water today…"

"You have a cup or jug or bottle up here anywhere?" Sunflower asked. "If not, I know there are cups in the back…" She watched as Rayne reached over and picked up a twenty ounce water bottle out of the cup holder. Sunflower removed it from her hand and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Don't worry, Mama is gonna take care of you too…" She quietly slipped into the back of the van and filled the water bottle, causing Amethyst to stir.

"Whatcha doing?" the girl that had been asleep asked quietly.

"Getting some water for Rayne. Random question for you," Sunflower said, screwing the cap back on the bottle. "When we stopped to go to the bathroom last, what color was your pee?"

"Fairly dark yellow…" Amethyst sounded confused. "Why? What color should it be?"

"Clear…" Sunflower replied, giving Amethyst a kiss on the forehead. "It should be clear. Go back to sleep, kiddo."

"Ok…" Amethyst replied, rolling over and curling back into Cecily. Sunflower went back up front and sat back in her seat, handing Rayne the water bottle.

"Drink it…" Sunflower said.

"Yes, Mom…" Rayne said, sticking her tongue out at Sunflower. When it came to health was one of the few times that Sunflower would tell Rayne to do something. Otherwise, Rayne was in charge. When it came to everyone's health, Sunflower was in charge. "Did we bring those hydration multipliers that we got for Cecily with us?"

"Yes," Sunflower said, her voice had that mom tone; one that everyone in the household knew meant business. That voice was respected by everyone. "We're all going to add some to our water tomorrow. I'd rather not have Amethyst or Cecily wet the bed.." Sunflower had woken up in a wet bed before, and it was something that wasn't really fun to do; It had taken her a few minutes to figure out that she wasn't the one that had wet the bed… Managing Cecily's water intake vs her having accidents was a very delicate balance. Sunflower had gotten pretty good at maintaining that balance. "I can manage Cecily's water intake to the point that she doesn't have any accidents, but that's going to be the least of my worries. Her and I can't do this trip solo. We can reduce our water intake a bit, but Amethyst told me that her urine was dark yellow. I'm only slightly dehydrated, but you and Amethyst are extremely dehydrated."

"What about Cecily?" Rayne asked.

"She's had enough," Sunflower said. "Maybe a little less than normal, but not enough to cause issues. It's a very delicate balance of sodium intake, water intake and expelling." Sunflower glanced at Rayne. "It's my fault, I knew we weren't getting enough water, but I didn't do anything to fix it. That changes now. We trust you to lead us and guide us in our day to day lives, and you all trust me to ensure the health of everyone and I feel like I've failed."

"It's on us too…" Rayne said, sharing a knowing glance at Sunflower. "We know that we should be drinking water, we know how much we need, we didn't follow the rules."

"They aren't rules…" Sunflower said. "We've never had a rule about water with anyone except Cecily…"

“Yeah,” Rayne started. “That’s an unwritten rule. I’m thinking we might need to add one to the written rule list that is the household rule list.” The household rule list hung on the fridge next to Cecily’s rule list. It wasn’t as extensive, but it was still there. Sunflower had drafted that list of rules too, and, it had evolved as the household had grown. “Next time we stop at a Walmart or similar, we’re going to get water bottles, all four of us, and we’re going to use them. I am going to try to find a Walmart to boon dock at…”

“Sounds good,” Sunflower said. In the distance, she could see the traffic light that they would need to turn left at to get back on the freeway. “I take it we’re going to make Knoxville tonight?”

“Knoxville, yes,” Rayne said. “Nashville, no. When we get to Knoxville, and get the van set for boon docking, I want you to sit in the chair in the back and recline it so that it’s flat and you can sleep in it.”

“I was thinking that I could simply climb in bed with Cecily and Amethyst and cuddle both of our children,” Sunflower said. She’d have to get inventive to get in the bed. Three people in a what was the equivalent of a twin bed would be stretching it, but it would be doable. It would be easier if the bed were pulled out to make the bed a full sized bed instead of a twin, but she could make do. She’d have to undo the straps that held Cecily to the bed.

“It’s going to be a tight fit with the three of you in the collapsed bed…” Rayne said, stopping at the blinking red light and waiting a few moments before turning left. She reached up and turned off the lights that were throwing all the light forward and the roadway in front of them was plunged into darkness.

“We’ve done it before…” Sunflower said. “I think I slept the worst, but I can always sleep tomorrow when we are driving if I need to.”

“I mean, you could try to pull the bed out with them on it, but I don’t think that it will work very well…” Rayne said, making a right turn onto the freeway.

“If you don’t sleep in the chair in the back,” Sunflower said. “Where are you going to sleep?” She glanced over at Rayne.

“Well, I could either hang the hammock," Rayne said. "Or just sleep up here in the front passenger seat." There was a hammock that was designed to add a hammock in the cockpit should extra sleeping space be needed.

"You're not going to get good sleep up here…" Sunflower said, glancing at the hooks that were put in place to allow for the hammock to be used. "And this seat won't be that comfy either."

"You and I can nap while Amethyst drives," Rayne said. "I know how well soundproofed the back of this thing is. If we're all back there and someone breaks in, we're liable to not hear it." Amethyst had, somehow managed a very soundproofed living area in the van. If they were at a campsite and their neighbors were making noise, it would be very quiet. Rayne was right: if someone were to break in the front of the van while they slept, their first clue would be when the door to the back of the van opened. Unlike the other doors in the back, the door separating the front and the back didn’t have a way to prevent the door from opening like the ones that opened to the outside. She glanced at her right mirror and then at Sunflower before turning her attention to the road in front of her. In the distance, they could start to see the light pollution of Knoxville.

"Fair point…" Sunflower said. "I'm thinking about taking Cecily's collar and cuffs off… I don't know what we're going to get into and she's already at a disadvantage because of her size, but it's something for an attacker to grab. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if someone harmed her using the symbols of submission that I put on her…”

"The same could be said for our hair…" Rayne said, driving past a sign that said forty miles to Knoxville. ”Are you going to propose we all shave our heads?” Rayne glanced over at Sunflower. “Leave the collar and cuffs on. It would probably do more damage to her mental health to remove them; besides, did you bring the Allen wrenches?”

“I have one in my purse at all times, and Cecily has one in her wallet.” Cecily had never needed the one in her wallet, and Sunflower had put instructions and sizes in the emergency contact info so that medical personnel could remove the bands of metal without damaging them. “She’s never needed to take them off, so I don’t even know if she has ever tried to take them off…” They had come off for a few medical appointments, but out of respect for Sunflower, Sunflower was the one that both removed and replaced the collar and cuffs. Sunflower had already decided that if Cecily had to remove the cuffs and collar and put them back on, that she would remove them and then put them back on at the next possible opportunity. “She’s always deferred to me to do that…”

“I mean, if you and Amethyst had collars, you’d both probably do the same thing…” Rayne said. “You’d get a set of keys in case of an emergency, but you both would defer to me for removal.”

“We would,” Sunflower said quietly, smiling at Rayne.

“It is the right thing to do.” Sunflower yawned. It was approaching eleven PM and Sunflower was getting sleepy. She'd been running non stop since she had woken up at five thirty. "Are you going to be good if I go back and try to fall asleep?"

"Yeah," Rayne said, pointing at the GPS. "Should be about twenty minutes until we get to the Walmart we’re going to stop at. In the morning before we get going, we’re going to run in and get a few things. Wonder if Amethyst wouldn’t mind doing real eggs in the morning…”

“Knowing her,” Sunflower said, “She will be perfectly ok with it.” Truth be told, while the powdered eggs were a decent substitute, and were good for a trip like this because they didn’t need to be kept cold, they didn’t have the same taste as fresh eggs. It was similar, but not the same. “If I’m still up when we stop, I’ll make sure you’re good. At home I’m often the last one up and I verify that doors are locked, and things are set for the next morning. I’m not used to going to bed before every one else.”

Rayne glanced over at Sunflower. “That’s because you’re the mom of the group. A mother is always doing something to help or keep track of her kids. You just do such a good job of it. I can barely keep track of my own schedule, let alone any of yours, and yet, you somehow manage all of our schedules down to the half hour, not to mention making sure that we are all healthy, that we all get enough sleep, get enough water. You continuously do all of these things to make sure that we are all on time, healthy, and taken care of and you do it every day without fail; you don't take a break, You're often the first one up, and the last one to bed, you make sure we're all up. You continue to do this even if you're sick, at times when you'd confine the rest of us to bed." Sunflower was the only member of the group that hadn't been confined to the bed when she was sick. Mothers don't get sick days, she'd tell her self and push through whatever bug she had.

"Mothers don't get a day off…" Sunflower said The previous year, the trio that Sunflower took care of took her out to dinner on Mothers Day as a way to thank her for every thing that she did for the family. "If they want a day off, They have to do a lot of work for it. It's often simpler to just not take a day off…" Sunflower glanced at the monitor that showed the girls sleeping in the back of the van. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. There had been days where she had wanted to hang up the mom hat, It was usually when she was overwhelmed by things that were going on, and, once things were calm again, she was good. “It gets tough sometimes, but you all are worth it.”

“You know,” Rayne said, taking an exit to the right to take her onto the interstate that ran around Knoxville. “You don’t have to take care of me, I have made it twenty years and haven’t died yet.”

“That’s by sheer chance…” Sunflower responded. She winked too, but it was missed in the darkness. “You’re not as adept at taking care of yourself as you think you are…” Rayne took another exit, and Sunflower could see the Walmart that Rayne was heading toward. The store and parking lot were lit, and that was a good sign. “Wonder if they are open so that we can go in and go potty…”

“You want to wake Amethyst and Cecily?” Rayne asked, slowing for a red light at the bottom of the ramp.

“No,” Sunflower said. “I’m talking about for you and I. Those two went potty before they were put down, and you and I have been drinking water and coffee…”

“Fair point,” Rayne said. “Once we get parked, why don’t you run in and go, and I’ll go when you get back so that the kids aren’t alone in the van if they wake up. While you’re in going potty, I’ll start getting the van set for boon docking.”

Sunflower glanced up from her phone. “Ok, The low looks like it’s going to be in the mid twenties tonight, I’m going to fire up the diesel heater and work on keeping the back warm. I think if we leave the door open, the heat will get up here too.”

“Sounds good,” Rayne turned into the parking lot and parked the van, extinguishing all the exterior lights. “Run along so I can go.” Rayne had taken a nap earlier in the day, but Sunflower hadn’t. Rayne started pulling the curtains to block the windows in the front of the van from someone on the outside looking in. Sunflower grabbed her phone and got out of the van, heading for the store. Rayne continued preparations to boon dock. There wasn’t much to really do, except to stow stuff needed while driving. Rayne quietly slipped into the back of the van and fired up the diesel heater and set the temperature to sixty eight. The batteries were still full between the very little power drain of the lighting in the back of the van and the alternator charging the house battery. The morning sunlight would help to replenish the batteries, as would driving the next day. While Rayne was doing a system check, Sunflower hopped back in the front of the van.

“They are open, and you should run in and go potty that way I can get you to bed…” Sunflower said quietly as she walked back into the back of the van. "I'm used to being the last one up, no sense in breaking with tradition now."

Rayne chuckled. "Yes, Mama…" She quickly exited the van, only taking her phone with her. Sunflower glanced around, trying to see what all needed to be done to boon dock. It looked like Rayne had done everything needed to prepare. Amethyst stirred a bit as Sunflower sat in the swivel seat.

"What's going on?" She mumbled, looking up at Sunflower.

"We're at a Walmart," Sunflower said quietly. "We're boon docking for the night. It's midnight. We made it to Knoxville; we had to detour because of some damage that the terrorists' did."

"Where are you going to sleep?" Amethyst asked, glancing around the darkened interior of the van. "We haven't pulled the bed out, and there is no more room here…"

"I'm going to lean against the back door and sleep on the floor," Sunflower said, with a smile. "Or I'm going to sleep in the chair right here."

“But you won’t get restful sleep that way…” Amethyst said. “I should be the one that’s uncomfortable for sleep, not you…”

“No, you’re driving, I’m not…” Sunflower said, a smile on her lips. “You and Rayne getting us there safely is more important than me not getting enough sleep. Out of all of us, I actually get the least amount of sleep, usually between four and five hours a night. I will probably be the first or second person up tomorrow.” Sunflower was a light sleeper and would often wake when Cecily turned over in the bed in her sleep. "Go back to sleep, sweetie." The front passenger side door of the van opened and Rayne climbed in.

"Alright, let's sleep…" Rayne said, locking the door and running the seatbelt through the handle to keep it from being opened from the outside. Rayne sat in the passenger seat and reclined it as much as possible.

"Do you want a blanket?" Sunflower asked. "I can grab one of the six that are on the bed..." Most of the blankets were still folded down near the foot of the bed with only the weighted blanket and the larger comforter being in use.

"Is the small striped one that we use on the couch back there?" Rayne asked, trying to see the pile of blankets at the foot of the bed.

"Yeah," Sunflower said. "You want it?"

"Please…" Rayne said. Sunflower stood, grabbed the blanket, and went up front to cover Rayne with it.

"Thanks, Mama." Rayne said with a smile. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome," Sunflower said quietly. "I enjoy it." Sunflower stepped into the back of the van, and sat in the seat. She was debating on sleeping in the seat, or propping herself up against the back door. If she propped herself up against the back door, she would know if one of the girls got out of bed for some reason, and it would also alert her if someone were to try to open the back door. They wouldn’t be successful as the latching bar was in place, but she would know about the attempt. Sunflower pulled a blanket off the pile and covered herself up with it. The dim lights in the back of the van not being bright enough to keep her awake. After a few moments, she drifted off into a fitful slumber.

Chapter 10

“So why are you holding her?” Sunflower asked. She was standing in what looked like a hospital and she was talking to a receptionist. “All I want to know is what gives you the right to snatch her and put her in the psych ward.”

“As you’re not her guardian, or a direct family member, I can’t provide any of that information to you.” Sunflower had estimated that this conversation had been occurring for several minutes.

”I’m asking what gives you the right to just snatch my daughter out of a doctors appointment and place her in protective care.” Sunflower said, slamming her fist on the counter. A titanium cuff was on her wrist and it protected her from the impact. She was on the verge of getting kicked out and was slowly loosing her cool with this woman. Cecily couldn’t call as Sunflower had the girls cell phone in her purse. The only thing the girl had was her watch. Sunflower’s phone rang, the caller was Cecily, presumably through the watch. Sunflower looked at the woman as she put the phone to her ear. “Cecily, what’s going on?”

”I don’t know Mama…” Cecily said, the crying very evident in her voice, but what was more noticeable was the slurring of her speech. “All I know is I was talking to Dr. Roberts about things and next thing I know, A needle is getting jabbed into my arm. I’m in a room and they have taken off all my clothes and put a hospital gown on me.” Sunflower glared at the receptionist. “I still have my watch, collar and cuffs on. They can’t figure out how to take the collar and cuffs off. It’s the only thing keeping me grounded right now.” It wasn't uncommon for Cecily to hold onto the collar or cuffs if she were stressed or overwhelmed.

”Ok,” Sunflower said into the phone. “Remember everything, I will get to you, I’m going to talk to Dr. O’Neal and try to find out what the heck is going on—“

“Fuck, someone’s coming…” The call disconnected. Sunflower looked at her phone and then looked at the receptionist.

”Get me Dr. O’Neal…” Sunflower said, her voice that stern voice that mothers use that meant business. “Now…”

”I will do no such thing…” The receptionist said. “You need to leave before I call security.”

”This isn’t over…” Sunflower said, turning on her heel and causing the skirt that she wore to swirl around her. “Goddess knows it’s not over, not by a long shot.” She fired off as she walked through the first set of doors. She pulled her phone back out and dialed Rayne. While she waited on Rayne to pick up, she walked over to her car and sat on the hood.

”What’s up?” Rayne asked, sounding confused at Sunflower calling.

”It’s finally fucking happened.” Sunflower said. “They have her in the psych ward. They’ve stripped her and put her in a gown, Said they jabbed her in the arm with a needle, and based on the way she was slurring her speech, I’d say they sedated her. She was crying, but it was a scared cry.” Sunflower took a breath. “They won’t let me talk to Dr. O’Neal, at least through the receptionist; they won’t tell me anything because ‘I’m not her guardian or direct family member.’ I’m more of her guardian than her fucking parents who are on the other side of the country…” It was rare for Sunflower to cuss, but when it came to Cecily, she was closer to being a helicopter parent than anything.

”First off,” Rayne said, “I need you to stay calm. This is why we did the power of attorney thing after she attempted once.” Sunflower heard a car door slam and a car start. “I’m going to go home, get the power of attorney and bring it over. If we need to make a trip and get her clothes or stuffies or anything else, we will do it. Are you at O’Neal’s office or over at Forest Lawn?”

“Over at Forest Lawn, we are back at Building F,” Sunflower said. She heard the front door slam, and then the car door and then heard Rayne’s engine roar to life.

“What was she there for? There is nothing on the calendar other than the appointment with O'Neal at four. My ETA to you is twenty minutes.” Rayne said.

”To see about getting her adderall adjusted…” Sunflower said, as her phone beeped. “O’Neal’s office is calling, I’ll call you back.” Without waiting on a response from Rayne, she switched calls. “This is Sunflower.”

”Sunflower, it’s Dr. O’Neal.” Samantha O’Neal’s voice came from the speaker.

”What the hell is going on Samantha?” Sunflower wanted Dr. O’Neal to know that she wasn’t pleased.

"I was going to ask you the same question…" Samantha O'Neal said; She sounded confused. "I just got a call from the on staff psychiatrist… Said they had to sedate Cecily. They called me because the hold on her automatically cancels her appointment for this afternoon." A car door shut and an engine started. "I'm on my way over. Do you have the Power of Attorney documents and do you accept the duties as described?"

"Rayne is bringing them over; She will be here in twenty minutes, but yes, I accept the responsibilities and duties." Sunflower said. The Power of Attorney documents would allow Sunflower to advocate on Cecily's behalf. "I just want someone to tell me what the hell is going on…"

"Let me see if I can get some answers and I will let you know," Doctor O'Neal said. "When Rayne gets there, I want you to wait until you hear back from me before you do anything. Don't let any one know that the POA exists…" Doctor O'Neal had a copy of the POA that was signed by Cecily as well as Sunflower and Rayne so that Doctor O'Neal could discuss a plan of care with them.

"Ok…" Sunflower said, "I'll be waiting for your call…"

Sunflower woke with a start, and looked around the van. She could see Amethyst sleeping still, and hear Cecily breathing. She was covered in sweat and was trying to get her breathing under control. Amethyst stirred from her sleep.

"You ok?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah…" Sunflower said, standing up. "I had a nightmare." She often had nightmares, and they were all some variation of losing Cecily to something.

"You want to talk about it?" Amethyst asked. Sunflower always offered to talk to Amethyst if she had a nightmare, so she thought she would offer the same to Sunflower.

"Thank you for the offer," Sunflower said. "But this is something that I'd rather discuss with Rayne." The nightmare had unnerved her, more than she wanted to admit to Amethyst. She was used to being the rock, the steady thing that kept everyone else on track. The only person that really got to see the weak, vulnerable side of Sunflower was Rayne. "It's nothing against you, but it's something that her and I have discussed quite a bit." Sunflower might have to even talk to her own therapist about it and that would be hard from the road; there was no privacy in the van. The only person she worried about overhearing the conversation with her therapist was Cecily. There had been a few mornings where she had verified that Cecily was still in the bed following a nightmare. ~~They were infrequent, but they happened.~~

"Ok," Amethyst said, "I'm here if you change your mind." Amethyst rolled over and cuddled into Cecily. Sunflower grabbed a cup and dispensed some water into it, and quickly drank it. She picked up her phone and looked at it. It was five in the morning, and her first alarm would be going off in about half an hour. She sat in the chair and spun so she could see Cecily and Amethyst sleeping. There was something calming about watching Cecily and Amethyst sleeping. Given the nightmare she had, knowing Cecily was safe was very comforting. Sunflower looked at her phone and saw that it was almost five in the morning. Her bodies biological clock had woken her. Cecily briefly stirred and glanced up at Sunflower.

"Morning, Mama…" Cecily said quietly. She watched as Sunflower smiled. "What time is it?"

"It's just after five. You've got another few hours of sleep to have yet, kiddo." Sunflower said quietly. "Go back to sleep."

“Yes, Mama.” Cecily laid her head down and grabbed Rainbow, her stuffed penguin. Sunflower reached over and put Cecily’s pacifier back in. Spinning back to the table, Sunflower swapped Amethyst’s laptop for her own. She wanted to document the nightmare while it was still fresh in her mind. Her therapist had asked her to document any nightmares to see if there was some trend that they could use to curb them. As she was typing, Rayne stirred.

“Who’s up?” Rayne asked quietly. “I can hear you typing…”

“It’s me…” Sunflower replied quietly; her voice just barely audible over the sound of her hitting the keys on the keyboard. "It happened again…"

"You need to talk about it?" Rayne asked, sitting up and making her head visible to Sunflower. She still wore the clothes that she had on the previous day as did Sunflower.

"Probably…" Sunflower said, her voice quiet. "I'm documenting it for the next time I see Doctor Edwards." If I ever see Doctor Edwards again…

"I'll scoot over to the drivers seat, bring your laptop up and we will document as we discuss it…" Rayne said, clambering out of the passenger seat and handing Sunflower the blanket she had slept with. Sunflower stood, covered Amethyst and Cecily with it and then grabbed her laptop, and went up and sat in the passenger seat. She quietly slid the door shut and looked at Rayne.

"I don't want Cecily to hear this…" Sunflower said. "If it weren't so cold out, I'd say lets hop out, but it's too cold out there."

Rayne held up a finger and undocked her laptop. She clicked through a few things and then started playing white noise. She turned the volume up and then opened the door to the back and sat her laptop on the table. She came back up front and slid the door closed. Sunflower knew the trick. If there were white noise it would prevent someone from listening in. "Ok, We're as isolated as we can be in the van. Tell me what happened."

"It was the one where Cecily went in to get a med adjusted, that she's not even on in real life. They sedated her and we can't get to her. In the nightmare she had her collar, cuffs and watch on, but was put in a hospital gown. In the dream I had on at least a cuff on my right wrist, I slammed it on the counter when I demanded to know what was going on and it made a very loud thunk," Sunflower looked at her right wrist; there was no cuff there. "Doctor O'Neal called and was going to try to figure out what was going on. You were bringing the POA, but I woke up… I was so relived to see that everyone was still in the van where they were when I went to sleep."

Rayne reached behind the passenger seat. That was where her laptop bag had been stowed. She pulled it out and pulled a file folder out of the main pocket. Sunflower recognized the folder: it was the folder that contained the Power of Attorney forms. "I meant to tell you yesterday, but the POA's are right here." There were four forms in the folder, each with an accompanying form for someone to accept the duties outlined within the documents. Each listed two people to possibly take on the duties if required. Sunflower's listed Rayne and Amethyst; Rayne's listed Sunflower and Amethyst, Amethyst's listed Sunflower and Rayne, and Cecily's listed Sunflower and Rayne. It was a bit of fact in the nightmare; which made it even more convincing.

"I figured you had them with you," Sunflower said, smiling for the first time that morning. "Just in case…" Usually if Sunflower didn't think of something, Rayne did. It was part of why the pair worked so well together. Sunflower glanced at the display, She'd been typing while she was telling the story and had finished her message to Doctor Edwards. "I'm going to send this to Dr. Edwards just so she can put it in her files." Sunflower had talked, at length, about these recurring nightmares. Very few of them involved her being the focus of the events; she was almost always the one watching Cecily get taken from her. "I had one yesterday morning too…" Rayne shot Sunflower a look. "It was too busy, and we really haven't' had a chance to talk…"

"We had last night after you put the girls down…" Rayne said. "Tell me about yesterday morning…"

"Cecily and I were out west looking for housing, and she decided that she wanted to stop at her parents place to see them…" Rayne and Sunflower shared a look. "After things had gone downhill, and her dad was done with telling her how he thought she transitioned to spite them, were deadnaming her, said that normal people didn't wear a collar or cuffs. Interestingly enough, I had on a collar and cuffs as well. Well, when she stood up, her dad stood up and as you know, he's taller than her. Well, she froze, so I snapped, like we do to attract the attention of the group. Well he commented on me snapping as she came over and stood one step behind and to the right of me. Her dad shot her mom that look and she shut up. Suddenly, Cecily said 'Mama' and then passed out. I started to asses her as her watch started beeping and then my alarm woke me up."

"You two were looking for housing?" Rayne asked. "For you two or for all of us?"

"In the dream, it was all of us." Sunflower said. "We were all looking for a place. For some reason Cecily and I headed out west, We were in the Seattle area and had made a trip to Spokane, and then went to Missoula. I don't know if we found anywhere or not…"

"Ok," Rayne said. "I don't know what to make of the dream from yesterday morning. Are we going to move to the Pacific Northwest?"

"Dunno…" Sunflower said, a smile crossing her face. "It would be much better for Cecily's POTS…" The heat of Ohio in the summer was not a good thing for Cecily's POTS. She had several flare ups in over the previous summer that had kept her in bed for days on end.

"Maybe it's something we need to look at once we are all done with school. I'm sure we could all find Master's level programs out there if we wanted to continue our education." Rayne glanced at the video monitor that showed the two girls sleeping in the back of the van. "Have you done any looking into graduate level stuff or are you not going to go after your masters?"

"Probably," Sunflower responded, following Rayne's gaze to the display. Cecily and Amethyst were both sleeping peacefully in the back. "I haven't decided yet. I keep thinking about going after my certifications in Linux just to expand my scope of knowledge. I can do that anywhere though…"

"Fair enough…" Rayne's alarm went off; she reached up and turned it off. "Think we should wake the girls?"

"Well, it's going to be hard to go in and get the food without them…" Sunflower said. "Think we should dress Cecily in her overalls today."

"Sounds like a plan." Rayne said, standing. "Wonder if we could find a pair of overalls for Amethyst?" Dress the girls up like twins?” Sunflower smiled at Rayne.

“I like that idea…” Sunflower said. She watched as Rayne opened the door, Amethyst sat up and Cecily thrashed slightly in the bed… Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other. Cecily couldn’t move a lot, but her arms were free. Sunflower lowered the rail and pointed at the chair; Amethyst understood and went to sit in the chair. Sunflower carefully sat next Cecily as she flung her arm and then wailed “Mama!”

Cecily was rolled down the hallway, She was laying on her back on a gurney. She was swinging her arms, trying to reach the man that was pushing the gurney; trying to get him to stop.

“Mama!” she hollered. Sunflower had been there a little bit before, and then the person pushing the gurney had come in and taken her out of the room while Sunflower was down talking to someone about her care. She was in a regular medical hospital. She didn't have her phone or her watch; Sunflower had both the only thing she had on her was her collar and cuffs and she feared loosing them soon. She felt cold on the back of her neck and realized that she still had the AirTag that Sunflower had jokingly affixed to her collar. It had been modified to remove the speaker that was in there so it wouldn't audibly beep. She stopped trashing and looked around. She could see the top of an iPhone sticking out of the orderlies pocket on the right side of his chest. On the left side was the patch for the facility that her therapist worked with: Forest Lawn.

The orderly pushing the gurney stopped and swiped a keycard. Either they were going somewhere that was keycard access to get in, or it was just a secured doorway. She watched as the doors opened to reveal another set of doors, the gurney was rolled in and the orderly let the doors behind him shut. A few seconds passed and he swiped the keycard again; the reader beeped and the far doors opened. The gurney was pushed into the next little room and the door they had come through shut. The orderly waited a few moments and then swiped his keycard on another reader and then stuck his thumb on a fingerprint reader. There was a thunk and then the doors at her feet opened on the automatic openers. She had seen this type of arrangement before: in the hospital she had stayed in after she had had attempted to take her own life after the multiple diagnoses had come in.

She was wheeled into a room with a very small window and hooked to a monitor. The IV in her left arm was moved to a higher pole and she watched as a syringe of something was shot into the port on the IV so that it would enter her bloodstream. "What was that?" she asked, her speech starting to slur. "You'd better tell Sunflower where I am…" and then everything went black.

Cecily's eyes popped open and she gasped for air. She attempted to sit up and was brought up short by the straps securing her to the bed. She let out a wail of frustration, anger, and fear. Her eyes focused on Sunflower. She reached for Rainbow and for Sunflower. Sunflower released the straps holding her to the bed and Cecily curled up against Sunflower and rested her head on Sunflower's chest.

"Mama, I thought I was never going to see you again…" she said. Sunflower looked up at Rayne from the bed; Rayne shrugged.

"Do we need to talk about it?" Cecily pulled her head out of Sunflowers chest, and looked at her. “Do you want to talk alone?”

“It’s okay if Rayne and Amethyst hear…” Cecily said. It was common knowledge in the house that Cecily had nightmares “I was in a hospital and strapped down to a gurney. Sunflower was there, but she had left the room to go talk to a doctor or something. While she was gone, an orderly came in and took me and the bed some where else.” She looked at the three people in the back of the van with her. “Mama wasn’t back so she would have no idea where I was when she got back. Mama had put an AirTag on my collar and as long as it was there, she’d be able to find me.” Sunflower and Rayne looked at each other. They had AirTags on the keys, and a few other commonly lost items in the house.

“I had put an AirTag on you?” Sunflower asked confused. “Your collar doesn’t have a place to hold an AirTag…”

“You found something to use…” Cecily said. “Anyway the orderly pushing the gurney took me through one of those things where you have to unlock a door, go in, close that door, and then you can unlock the other side to continue, but the side you come through first has to be closed and locked before you can continue. This one had three doors...” Sunflower and Rayne looked at each other. The only place that they had ever come across that type of a door arrangement was when Cecily had been hospitalized following her attempt.

“An interlock…” Rayne said quietly. “Are you two having the same dream? Or at least different parts of the same dream?” Sunflower hadn’t gone through an interlock in her dream, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t one and given the location in which the dream took place, it was entirely plausible. “Cecily, do you know where you were or just that it was some kind of a medical facility?”

Cecily recalled the dream. “The orderly that was pushing me had the logo of Forest Lawn on his scrubs. Once through the interlock thing or whatever it’s called, they wheeled me into a room and then pushed something through my IV and everything went black.” Forest Lawn had a highly secure unit that had a set of interlocks to get in and out of. Cecily had been there briefly, only because that was the first bed available. After a bed had opened in a lower acuity unit, she had been moved.

“Did you have your watch?” Sunflower asked.

Cecily thought for a few moments. “I don’t recall, I know I still had my collar and cuffs. They didn’t try to take them.”

“I mean, they think they are permanent based on the first visit you had to the facility.” Sunflower said, with a smile. “I’ve seen your chart; it actually states that in the chart…” Cecily had told them during intake that the collar and cuffs were welded on and that there was no way to remove them without cutting them off; due to how snugly they fit, they didn’t want to cut them off. Cecily wiggled and Sunflower let her sit up.

“Did you have a dream too, Mama?” Cecily asked, looking concerned. Cecily knew that Sunflower had the occasional nightmare, but usually not the details nor how often they really occurred.

“I did…” Sunflower said, glancing at Rayne. Rayne nodded; she would be there to help pick up the pieces if necessary. “In my dream, you were at Forest Lawn to get your adderall adjusted. It’s a med that you don’t take in real life, but in the dream they just snatched you and admitted you. They put you in a gown, but left your collar, cuffs and watch on you. I had your phone, but you called me from the watch. Doctor O’Neal had no idea what was going on either. I don’t know what happened because I woke up in a sweat.” She pursed her lips and looked at her family. “Cecily, you getting taken from me is something that keeps me up at night.” Sunflower gave her family a look. “It would hurt to lose Rayne or Amethyst, but losing you would literally crush me.” Sunflower stroked Cecily’s hair. “Most of my nightmares involve me losing you.

“You wouldn’t let them take me, would you?” Cecily asked. She sounded scared, like she was afraid that someone was going to try to take her. Sunflower accompanied Cecily to all of her appointments, and was sometimes in the room with her and Dr. O’Neal during a session.

“If I’m in a position to attempt to retain custody of you, I will do so, princess.” Sunflower stroked Cecily’s hair some more. “And if I’m not in a position to attempt to retain custody, you’d better believe I’m going to be fighting tooth and nail for you. That’s why we all did the Power of Attorney forms, that way someone can advocate on our behalf if we’re not able to. You would have Rayne and I both fighting for you.” Sunflower wiped a tear from her cheek.

“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily…” Cecily said, with a giggle. “The first few nights that I was at Forest Lawn were some of the scariest in my life, I was alone and scared, I had screwed up and tried to take the easy way out. Of course they had put me in the highest acuity unit for the first few days." Cecily reached up and wiped a tear away. "It was a bit unnerving at first to be watched all the time. I wasn't even allowed to go to the bathroom without someone watching. I tried to deprive you all of me."

“You’re not the only one that has…” Amethyst said quietly. Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other. This was a new revelation to them. "It was when I was fifteen, I was being bullied in school for liking girls. I took a lot of pills." Sunflower had noticed that the medications that Amethyst did take she was always removing the pills from the bottles and taking them in front of someone.

"Is this something we need a rule on?" Rayne asked, her voice full of compassion, not anger or disgust. "We can make it happen if we need to."

"Maybe…" Amethyst's voice was barely audible over the sound of the heater running. "There's a reason why I take pills out of the bottles and take them in front of one of the two of you. I occasionally still struggle with the thoughts." Sunflower and Rayne shared a glance again. "I'm sorry." A tear slipped down her cheek.

Rayne looked at her and reached up to wipe the tear away. "Why are you apologizing, princess? It's nothing to cry about. The four of us need to lean on each other for support, especially out here. I'm proud of you for admitting it. My question to you is what can the three of us do to help?"

"Cecily has a rule that says that she's not allowed to take her own medicine, I think that may be a good one for me too. Ideally locking the meds up would be best so that I can't get into them. Sometimes it's a struggle…"

Cecily leaned over and hugged Amethyst. "Don't worry, Mama and Auntie Rayne will take care of us; they will do what ever they need to keep us safe." Cecily smiled. "I mean, some of my rules, both written and unwritten, are the result of me asking for help, or doing something that wasn't very smart."

"Wait…" Amethyst said, glancing at Cecily. "There are rules that are unwritten? How do you know what they are?"

"She memorized them…" Sunflower said, smiling. "There's only a few that are specific to her… Cecily, Tell Amethyst which rule you're thinking of."

"I'm not allowed to handle sharp objects," Cecily said, glancing at Amethyst. "And if I am, I am supervised." Cecily looked at Sunflower to see if the answer she had was sufficient to explain it. Sunflower shook her head no ever so slightly. "That rule exists because I had a problem with cutting. It's not written down because it's something that we don't want everyone to know…" They had classmates come over and see the rules on the fridge and question them about the rules for both the polycule and the list for Cecily and some of them had started asking questions regarding the lists of rules that were on the fridge.

"The unwritten rules for Cecily are very much like most of the protocol rules that we have as a group; Things like 'If Rayne does something, Rayne undoes it unless she gives explicit permission to someone else'" Sunflower said. "I'm in the bathroom any time Cecily uses a bladed razor for a reason. I'm surprised that you've never picked up on that…"

"To be honest, I'd noticed," Amethyst said. "I figured there was a reason, but it wasn't my place to ask."

"And I, for one, appreciate that." Sunflower said, patting Amethyst's leg. "If Cecily wants to tell you the others, she can." She smiled at her family. "Is anybody hungry?"

Chapter 11

Sunflower was laying in the bed, strapped down, under Cecily’s twenty pound weighted blanket; she had stirred when the van had hit a bump in the road. The bump had been on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River. “Where are we?” She asked groggily. She’d been asleep for about ninety minutes; just enough to feel refreshed.

“We just crossed the Mississippi and are now in Arkansas,” Rayne said from the passenger seat. She could see Sunflower from where she sat. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty good,” Sunflower said. ”That nap was what I needed after my fitful sleep last night.” She stretched as much as she could under the blanket and being strapped down. “Can I unbuckle and get up?” Rayne had been the one that had strapped her down so she wasn’t going to touch the straps…

“You may…” Rayne’s voice came from up front. ”We’re going to be stopping for fuel here in a bit. So you can sit up, but I want at least one strap holding you down. Can’t have the mom of the group getting hurt…”

“Well,” Sunflower said unstrapping herself so she could switch to a sitting position. “I do have some homework I can work on while we travel. I think you and I are the only two that haven’t really done anything school wise on this trip…”

“Hey,” Rayne said. “Speak for yourself. I’m up here working on one of the papers that I have to do for Young’s class…”

Sunflower leaned forward to grab her backpack from where it was stowed. Her backpack was lighter than everyone else’s as she used electronic text books where ever possible. She pulled her tablet out and opened one of her text books. “Is that the one on Database design?”

“Yeah,” Rayne said. “It’s not as easy as it sounds. I will tell you that the server from the house would be useful. We’re going to have to look into a 100% solid state, fully replicated machine that we can use in here when we go on trips… My laptop is having trouble with trying to build the database…” Rayne’s laptop was the oldest of the group, and it sometimes struggled depending on what she was doing and if she was doing it on her laptop or letting the server do the heavy lifting.”

“I’m not doing anything with my laptop right now, would it help you?” Sunflower asked.

“Maybe,” Rayne said. “Can you bring it up?”

“Sure.” Sunflower unstrapped herself and stood, grabbing the laptop and carefully worked her way to the front so she could give the laptop to Rayne. Rayne had an account or the password to everyone’s laptops. Sunflower smiled at Cecily who was sitting in the swivel seat; she was coloring on a piece of paper. “How are we doing, Princess?”

“Good Mama…” Cecily said. “Should I work on some homework?”

“Probably…” Sunflower said. “How much water has everyone had today?”

“Two bottles,” Amethyst said, her voice sounding proud. ”And it’s starting to go through me…”

“I’m into my third bottle,” Rayne said. “I’m in the same boat as Amethyst…”

“I’ve had three bottles, Mama,” Cecily said with a smile.

“I guess I’d better step up my drinking game…” Sunflower said. “Y’all are gonna drink me out of the van…”

“We drink any more and we’re gonna either need diapers or gonna have to start using the toilet…” Rayne said.

“Too bad…” Sunflower replied. “I’m not having a bunch of dehydrated girls in this van…”

“Yes, Mom…” Rayne replied sticking her tongue out.

“Do you want your backpack, Princess?” Sunflower asked Cecily. From where she was standing, she would be able to reach it with ease.

“Please…” Cecily said. “I have stuff for one of my psych classes that I can do.” Sunflower handed the pink backpack to Cecily. “Thank you, Mama.”

"You're welcome, Princess." Sunflower said, giving Cecily a kiss on the forehead.

"Sunflower," Rayne said. "Sit down and strap yourself in before I come back there and do it for you…”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sunflower said, sitting on the bed. She did a strap around her waist and sat back, grabbed her tablet and started reading. Cecily chuckled. “Quiet, Munchkin… Otherwise I will have to put your binky in.”

"Yes, Mama…" Cecily said, the smile on her face audible in her voice. It was one of the ways that they joked with each other. Cecily knew where the lines were, she'd helped draw them and she would, sometimes, go right up to the line and start to stick her toe over.

Sunflower realized they had pulled off the freeway and were pulling into a gas station. She knew they were stopping so she went back to reading. “We’re going to do it the same way we’ve been doing it. Me, Sunflower and Cecily while Amethyst fills up the van and then Amethyst will come in.” Rayne said. “Does anyone need to get anything while we are in the store?”

“I need all the candy…” Cecily said. Candy was something that she had to ask for and was something that she would sometimes be allowed to have, but she often wasn’t.

“Uh,” Sunflower said, glancing in Cecily’s direction. “No… Although I could go for a cup of coffee…”

“Can I get hot chocolate?” Cecily asked as Amethyst slowed the van to a stop at a pump.

“I think we can arrange that.” Rayne said. “It’s only noon, so we can allow the kids to have caffeine…” They had made a pot of coffee with breakfast before they left the Walmart, and it was long gone. They had been on the road for three hours, and it was time for more coffee.

“Even me?” Sunflower asked.

“Even you…” Rayne said, a smile in her voice. “Do we need to do lunch?”

“I’m a little hungry…” Amethyst said, shutting off the engine and unbuckling her seat belt.

“Cecily and Sunflower, go ahead and unbuckle your seat belts, Sunflower this place looks busy, so we might want to do hidden leash on Cecily…”

“Ok,” Sunflower said. “I’ll have to figure out what I did with her leash. We didn’t use it at the rest area, but I know it came with us" She unbuckled her seat belt and stood, stretching for the first time in a little while.

“Mama, do I have to be on my leash?” Cecily asked, glancing over as Sunflower rummaged through one of the bags that she had brought.

"Yes…" Sunflower said. "I have had enough dreams of losing you that I'm not going to let it happen… If we are not in this van, you're going to be leashed." She pulled the two foot long, black leather leash out of the bag, turned, and unbuckled Cecily's seat belt. "Did you tell Mommy if you were hungry enough for lunch yet?"

"No," Cecily said, lifting her chin so Sunflower could attach the leash to the ring that was attached to the collar. "But you're Mommy…"

"No," Sunflower said, placing the handle of the leash in Cecily's hand and motioning for her to stand up. Sunflower helped her put her coat on and zipped it up for her. "I'm Mama; Rayne is Mommy."

"Oh…" Cecily said. "I'm a bit hungry, Mommy." Rayne turned to face the two in the back of the van.

"Ok," She said. "That's two that have answered the question… Sunflower, what about you?"

"I would normally be eating about now, so lunch sounds ok to me." She replied, zipping up her own jacket. "We are ready whenever you are." Amethyst opened her door and started to get out.

"Where is your jacket, Princess?" Sunflower asked. She watched as Amethyst stopped in her tracks and just stared, dumbfounded. Rayne handed the jacket to Amethyst.

"Thank you, Mommy and Mama…" Amethyst said, sheepishly. She was trying to get out of the van without having her coat on. She was too warm, but hadn't said anything. "I'm actually hot, so I was going to not wear my jacket to cool down."

"That's different," Rayne said. "Maybe we need to change your shirt to something that you're not going to be so hot in." They had found a pair of overalls for Amethyst, and her and Cecily were dressed alike. They hadn’t had the heater in the back turned on since they left the Walmart parking lot. "Besides, if you're uncomfortable, about anything, you need to speak up."

"Yes, Mommy," Amethyst said. "Do I have to wear my jacket?"

"Not this time…" Rayne replied. "Sunflower, are you two ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower responded, sliding her hand through the handle of the leash and then joining hands with Cecily. Unless one looked really closely, the leash wasn't visible, but, all Sunflower would have to do would be give a gentle twist of her hand and Cecily would remember that the leash was there.

"Alright, Let's go," Rayne said, opening the door and getting out of the van. Sunflower moved the bar out of the way and opened the door. Her and Cecily got out of the van and Sunflower slid the door shut. The trio walked into the gas station and went straight toward the restroom. On the way past the coffee bar, Sunflower dropped the leash. It had been a while since they had done any leash training and Sunflower wanted to see how much Cecily remembered of it. Cecily was the last in the line and, because the leash had been dropped, Cecily stopped where she was when she processed that Sunflower had dropped the leash. She didn't say anything and just watched as Sunflower and Rayne walked a few steps ahead. Sunflower turned to look at Cecily. She smiled at the girl, and then snapped her fingers and pointed to the floor in front of her. Cecily walked over and looked at the floor in front of her.

"Good girl…" Sunflower said to Cecily. "It's been a while and I wanted to make sure that you remembered what to do."

"I remember, Mama…" Cecily said. "It's not like we've not had me on leash in a while."

Sunflower smiled, and noticed the clerk was looking at them. "Good," Sunflower said. "Let's continue this discussion in the van."

"Yes, Mama…" The trio of girls walked up to the restroom.

"Sunflower, Cecily, go ahead…" Rayne said.

"Together?" Sunflower asked, confused. This was the first time that they had been told to go into the restroom at the same time.

"Well," Rayne shrugged. "It's either that or I take Cecily in. Protocol dictates that one of us has to hold the leash for her to move."

Cecily blushed. She knew the rules and that was one of the rules when leashed, that was if there was no one authorized to take the leash, then she didn't move unless given explicit instructions to. "I could if I were directly told to by one of the two of you…"

"You're not going to get told to do that," Sunflower said. "We're not going to let you out of our sight." She opened the door to the restroom and ushered Cecily in before following and closing the door. "Go to the bathroom, and don't flush."

"Yes, Mama," Cecily said, practically undressing so that she could go to the bathroom. "I'm not going to lie, I'd be willing to consider diapers… Especially if you are going to dress me in my overalls…"

"We'll talk to Mommy about it," Sunflower said, taking the coat that Cecily had been wearing. Sunflower watched as Cecily undid the straps on the overalls and lowered them, sitting on the toilet. She went to the restroom and stepped away from the toilet and started to get dressed again. Sunflower glanced in the toilet, nodded, and then flushed, before sitting on the seat herself. After she had gone, She did the same thing with her own urine. She didn't flush, that way Rayne could see the color. She quickly pulled her pants up and walked over to the sink so she could wash her hands. Cecily slid her coat on, the end of the leash protruding from the left sleeve. "Come wash your hands…" Sunflower quickly washed her hands and then stepped to the side so that Cecily could wash her hands. Once their hands were dry, they left the restroom and joined Rayne in the corridor. "Hers was practically clear, mine was slightly yellow and is still in the bowl."

"Ok," Rayne said. "Go get your coffee and hot chocolate, so that we can head out as soon as Amethyst comes in and goes to the potty. Please stay inside the building until I'm done."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sunflower responded taking Cecily over toward the coffee bar. They were being watched closely by the clerk still. Sunflower noticed this and turned to Cecily, and held her finger up to her lips. This was a sign that Sunflower didn't want Cecily to speak and to instead use sign language. This was something that they had been working on learning for a while. It made it much easier to communicate when speaking wasn't a viable option. Rayne and Amethyst knew some of the signs as well, and would often limit Cecily to sign language to help hone their skills.

Why sign? Cecily signed, unsure of why Sunflower had removed her voice.

Clerk heard us talking earlier about your leash. I don't want him to get any ideas. I don't trust him. Sunflower signed back. Rayne came out of the bathroom just in time to see Sunflower finish signing to Cecily.

Trust who? Rayne signed.

Clerk, He heard us talking about Cecily being on leash when we came in. Sunflower signed. I told Cecily to go no speech

Ok, We will need to make sure Amethyst knows when she comes in Rayne signed back. She was a more proficient signer than Amethyst. I will speak on your behalf if necessary. Rayne glanced up as Amethyst came in. She walked up to the group and smiled. Rayne put her finger to her lips. Go to the bathroom and then get your drinks. Sunflower and Cecily are quiet.

Ok, Amethyst nodded and went to the bathroom. Sunflower and Cecily got their drinks, and Rayne grabbed several bottles of water. Rayne carried them up to the register as Amethyst came out of the restroom. She looked at Rayne as she turned and smiled. Do I need to sign or may I speak?

"You can speak," Rayne said at normal volume. She signed as she spoke, and out of the corner of her eye, saw the clerk jump. So, we weren't expecting speech… Rayne thought to herself.

"Ok," Amethyst said, signing as well. "Let me get my coffee. Are we going to go get lunch?"

"That or we are going to find something to make in the van," Rayne said, smiling. "We did pick up stuff to make sandwiches and such." In their early morning foray into Walmart they had gotten stuff for lunch too. "We will talk about it once we get back in the van."

Yes, mommy Amethyst signed. She got her coffee and the four of them walked up to the register.

"Anything else for you?" The clerk said loudly.

"I've got two that are hard of hearing," Rayne said to the clerk. "No need to talk loudly to me…"

“Oh…* The clerk said, sheepishly. ”I… assumed and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yeah…” Rayne said, smiling. “Should probably work on that…” Cecily and Sunflower walked up and sat their drinks down next to Rayne’s and smiled.

“What did you girls get?” Rayne asked while signing.

Hot Chocolate Cecily signed, she had to lift both of her arms and Sunflower let the leash go. The handle hung from her sleeve.

Coffee Sunflower signed, looking at the clerk, who had seen the leash dangle from Cecily’s sleeve. He looked confused.

"Why is…" he started. "You know what, you do you." Rayne smiled at him as he rang up the items that sat on the counter. Take your drinks and go get in the van. Rayne signed to the girls. She watched the clerks eyes as he watched Sunflower put her hand through the leash and take Cecily's left hand. He watched the pair of girls leave the store. "What did I just watch?" he asked himself out loud.

"You watched a very protective Mama and her daughter," Rayne said, winking at him. Amethyst carried her coffee over and sat it on the counter. "What did you get?" She signed as she spoke.

"Coffee," Amethyst said and signed at the same time.

The clerk pushed buttons on the register, and Rayne looked at him. He wasn't wearing a name tag, so she couldn't put a name on him if she wanted. "She didn't look old enough to be that girls mom…"

"I also never said that our family was conventional…" Rayne said, glancing at the credit card terminal to see her total. "That girl makes sure that we are all healthy and happy. She is a Mama to us all; and a damn good one at that…" Rayne picked up a king sized pack of Reese's and sat it on the counter.

"But it looked like the younger girl had a leash coming out of her sleeve." He said, scanning the pack of peanut butter cups.

"That she did," Rayne smiled. "That little girl is everything to this family; We would all lay our lives down to protect that girl. As a result, we use some… Unorthodox methods, but they work…" Out of the corner of her eye, Rayne noticed that Amethyst had wandered off from her previous position, one step behind and to the right of Rayne, which caused her to snap her fingers loudly.

The clerk looked at Rayne. "What's with the snap?" He watched as Amethyst walked over and resumed her position.

"It brought that one back…" She motioned over her right shoulder to Amethyst. She'd been quiet as she resumed the position. Rayne could sense that it was Amethyst. "It works in loud, busy environments as well. It's a sharp sound and will penetrate most noise. Rayne pulled out twenty bucks and handed it to the cashier, who had put everything except the coffees in a bag.

"You girls are a strange lot…" he said, with a smile. "Safe travels, where ever you're going,"

"Thanks," Rayne said, she ignored the statement about them being a strange lot. "Have a good day." She grabbed her coffee and turned as Amethyst grabbed her coffee and the bag and followed Rayne. Once they got in the van and got settled, Rayne turned toward the back. "First thing, Sunflower, you may use your voice again; Second thing, are we all buckled in and ready to roll; and Third thing, good girls in there, all three of you. The clerk thought we were odd, but ya know, by the normies standard, we are…"

"Cecily, you may speak again as well…" Sunflower said, signing as she spoke. "Cecily is buckled in, I will be in a moment." Sunflower said.

"You may do three or five, Sunflower," Rayne said, starting the engine. Up front two seat belts clicked as Amethyst and Rayne both buckled their seatbelts. "As soon as I hear or see Sunflower buckled in, we're rolling. Sunflower buckled the lower three belts on the chair.

"I'm in. Let's roll," Sunflower said, opening her laptop. Rayne put the van in gear and started to drive away.

“Mama,” Cecily said. “Can I have my hot chocolate?”

“Is it in your sippy cup?” Sunflower asked.

“You put it in the cup…” Cecily said with a giggle. “So, yes.”

“Loose the sass or you're gonna end up writing lines…" Sunflower said. "You may drink your hot chocolate, besides, you just rarely ask before eating or drinking…" From the front seat, Amethyst giggled.

"I just wanted to ask…" Cecily said, sounding sad.

"Amethyst, don't laugh at your sister or you will have to start asking for food and drink…" Rayne said, her voice stern.

"Yes, Mommy," Amethyst said quietly. "Sorry, Cecily."

“Do either of you still have homework you can work on?” Sunflower asked the two that weren't driving.

“I have more reading for Peterson’s class…” Amethyst said from the front seat. “That won’t require a laptop…”

“Where is your laptop bag?” Sunflower asked. “I can hand it to you if I need to.”

“It’s up here behind Rayne’s seat…” Amethyst said, her voice faint as she was looking out the window. “Can I just ride and not have to be working on something? I normally don’t get to just ride when we go on a trip.”

“You may.” Rayne’s voice could be heard. “I say it’s ok, and I know what Mama is trying to do.”

“Can I have my backpack?” Cecily asked. Sunflower grabbed it from where it was stowed and handed it over the edge of the bed. Cecily took it and rummaged around, finally pulling her laptop out. “Thank you.” She said. Her sippy cup of hot chocolate sat next to her. It had fallen over, but it wouldn’t spill.

“What are we doing for dinner?” Rayne asked from the passenger seat. Her and Amethyst had switched off driving about two hours before.

“Where are we?” Sunflower asked. She’d not been paying close attention to where they were.

“About ten miles outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.” Rayne said, consulting the larger map on the laptop. “We’re gonna stop for fuel, and figured food might not be a bad idea as well.”

Sunflower spun the chair and looked at Cecily. The girl was out and was slumped over her laptop. “Well, Cecily racked out, just like she does on long car rides…”

“Do we want to waste time doing a sit down full service restaurant type meal or do we just want to get fast food and keep driving?”

“I’m not big enough to pick…” Amethyst said.

“Sunflower,” Rayne said. “What do you think?”

“I’m getting tired of fast food…” Sunflower replied. “A sit down place might be nice, but we are in the south and I worry about Cecily…”

“We will protect her,” Rayne said, a smile in her voice. The smile wasn't a pleasant smile. It was more of a 'I dare someone to try' smile. “Don’t you worry about that… You want to wake the little one and see where she wants to go?”

“Sure thing,” Sunflower said, spinning in the chair so she could see Cecily, who had fallen asleep and slumped over in the bed. Her laptop lay half on her lap and half on the bed. “May I unbuckle so that I can move to the bed? I need to move her laptop so that I can even think about waking her…”

“You may, but be careful…” Rayne cautioned from the front seat. ”It looks like straight smooth road ahead.”

Sunflower nodded, unbuckled the seat belt and stood while using the frame around the bed to help stabilize herself as she sat next to Cecily in the bed. Picking up the laptop, she made sure it was sleeping and then proceeded to slide it back into the backpack. The only other thing that Cecily had pulled out was a text book that was still closed that sat on her right. Sunflower picked it up and put it back in the backpack before gently laying her hand on Cecily’s arm. “Wake up, Princess,” Sunflower said softly.

“Hmm?” Cecily mumbled, obviously half out of it.

“We’re gonna stop and go out to dinner somewhere. Do you have a preference where we stop?” Sunflower asked.

Cecily stretched as much as she could with the seat belt holding her down. “What kinda place?”

“Well,” Sunflower said. “Mommy was thinking a sit down type place, like an Olive Garden , or maybe Applebee's. It really depends on what we can find that has power and is open…”

”Either of those will work…” Cecily said, wiping drool from her face. Her pacifier had been in her mouth but had fallen out when she fell asleep. Sometimes it stayed in, other times it didn’t. If it didn’t, Cecily would drool in her sleep. “Do I have to talk or can I sign?” The girl asked quietly.

“I heard her,” Rayne said from up front.

“Now, or when we get to the restaurant?“ Sunflower asked.

From now until we get back into the van after dinner. Cecily signed. I just don’t want to talk to anyone except the three of you.

“Yes,” Sunflower signed as she spoke. “We can do that, but you’re going to have to remember that you need to wait for me to interpret before you start responding, otherwise, they are going to know that you can hear.”

I can do that… Cecily signed. You know how I get when we go places…

Sunflower nodded. “I’m going to go back to the seat, be good we will be there in a few…”

Yes, Mama Cecily signed. She sat back and smiled. It wasn’t often that she decided that she didn’t want to speak; but it did happen from time to time.

“Just so the two of you know,” Sunflower said, signing as she went. “Cecily has decided that she is going to be non-verbal for a while, at least until we get back in the van after eating.”

“She decided, you didn’t remove vocal privileges?” Rayne asked, also signing. The question was relevant and important. It meant that if Cecily spoke, she wouldn’t get in trouble.

“Correct,” Sunflower replied, spinning in the chair to face Cecily. The girl was all smiles.

“We have both an Applebee's and an Olive Garden at the next exit.” Rayne said.

You have to pick Applebee's or Olive Garden. There are both at the next exit… Sunflower signed.

Olive Garden. Cecily signed back.

"Olive Garden," Sunflower said.

“Olive Garden it is.” Amethyst said, taking the exit from the freeway.

On the monitor, Sunflower saw that they were approaching the top of an exit ramp and it looked like they were going to turn right. “Right turn.” Sunflower said and signed to Cecily.

Ok Cecily signed, leaning back against the side of the bed to prepare for the turn. The van made the turn without having to stop as the light was green when they got to the top of the ramp. A few moments later, Amethyst backed the van into a parking spot. They had the disability placard for Cecily with them, and since Cecily was with them, they used the placard and parked close to the front door.

“Given that we are going into a restaurant, lets skip the leash. ”Rayne said, signing as she spoke. “Please stay one step behind and to the right of Sunflower; Amethyst I’d like you behind Cecily; Let’s go.” The four of them got out of the van and walked into the restaurant. The hostess smiled at them.

“Good evening ladies,” she said, grabbing four sets of silverware. “Just the four of you this evening, would you like a booth or a table, and would you like a kids menu?” She hasn’t been looking up and didn’t see Sunflower signing what she was saying to Cecily.

Kids menu Cecily signed.

“Yes, just the four of us,” Rayne responded, watching Cecily answer Sunflower. “A booth would be fine, and we’d like a kids menu, please.” Rayne looked at Cecily. We got you sweetie.

“If you ladies would follow me, please” the hostess said, grabbing the menus and walking always from the podium. The four girls followed her to a booth where they sat, Amethyst and Cecily on the inside, and Rayne and Sunflower on the outside. The four of them looked at the menus.

What do you want to eat? Sunflower signed.

Chicken Alfredo Cecily signed back. I want the kids sized one because I rarely eat all of the adult one and we don’t really have a way to store it.

Ok, Sunflower responded. What do you want to drink?

Can I have caffeine? Cecily asked. It was after two and the rule was no caffeine after two. If I can, may I please have Coke, if not, may I have Sprite?

We’ll see, Sunflower signed. The kids chicken Alfredo, and Coke or Sprite. You know the kids meal doesn't come with the salad or bread sticks, right?

I know, Cecily looked at the menu as the server came over.

"Good afternoon," she said. "I'm Samantha, and I'll be your server; What can I get you girls to drink." Samantha glanced up from her order pad as Sunflower finished signing.

The group waited on Rayne to order her drink first. "I'd like a water, please."

"Water, OK," Samantha said, looking at Amethyst.

"Water, please." She said, signing the sign for water.

"Another water, Ok," Samantha said. "And for you?"

"She will have Sprite," Sunflower said, tipping her head toward Cecily. "And I will have water, please" Sunflower signed as she spoke.

"Ok," Samantha said, looking at the pad that she had written the drinks down on. "I've got three waters and one Sprite."

"Uh," Rayne said, signing as she spoke. "Can the little one get water, please?"

"Instead of the Sprite or in addition to the Sprite?" Sunflower interpreted what Samantha was saying for Cecily, who visibly pouted.

"Instead of, please," Rayne said. You've not had enough water today, end of discussion. she signed to Cecily.

Yes, Mommy… Cecily signed back.

Samantha watched the silent discussion and, when it looked like it had stopped, she spoke. "Ok, four waters. I'll be right back with the waters, salad, and bread sticks."

The group watched her go. Rayne looked at Sunflower. You know she's not had enough water today… None of us have, even though we have all been drinking water non stop. Rayne stopped and made sure that everyone was paying attention. Before we leave, I want everyone to go to the bathroom and after you do, I want you to tell me what color your urine is.

Yes, Mommy Cecily and Amethyst signed at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

Yes, Ma'am Sunflower signed. She still wasn't used to being taken care of, but what Rayne had said the previous day about Sunflower taking care of all of them was true. They all tried to take care of Sunflower because none of them could do what Sunflower could. The bigger problem was that sometimes Sunflower needed to put her own mask on before she could start to put the masks on the others.

"You've got to put your mask on first, Sunflower." Rayne said, smiling at Sunflower. "I know you've not had enough water today."

Sunflower pursed her lips and smiled at Rayne. "I was only slightly yellow when we got here." She said. "I've had more than you realize…" She saw Samantha approaching with a tray. Server she signed. Samantha set the tray she was carrying down on a stand that she had carried over with her and distributed the drinks.

"Ok, got the four waters," she said, sitting the last two in front of Rayne and Sunflower. She picked up the salad and the breadsticks and placed them on the table, followed by four small plates. "Cheese on the salad?" She smiled.

"Please?" Rayne asked.

"Ok, tell me when to stop…" She said, starting to grind the cheese.

Rayne was watching the cheese fall on to the salad, and when she thought there was enough cheese, she made the sign for stop without vocalizing it. Samantha stopped grating the cheese and shook the grater, placing it back on the tray. "How…" Rayne said.

Samantha smiled. "What can I get for you?"

"I'd like the five cheese ziti, please." Rayne said, signing at the same time.

"Five cheese ziti, and for you?" she looked at Amethyst.

"Chicken Alfredo, please." Amethyst said, also signing.

"Chicken Alfredo, ok." She wrote on pad, then she did something unexpected: she tucked the pad under her arm and looked at Cecily. and for you, sweetie

Cecily looked surprised and then looked from Rayne to Sunflower and finally at Samantha. She wasn't used to someone signing, almost always relying on Sunflower or Rayne to interpret as needed when she was non-verbal.

Go ahead, tell her what you want. Sunflower signed.

Can I get chicken Alfredo, please Cecily signed.

Chicken Alfredo, ok. Do you want the kids or the adult size? Samantha signed,

Kids sized Cecily signed.

Got it. Samantha signed. She looked at Sunflower. "And for you?"

Sunflower smiled. Chicken Alfredo she signed.

"Ok, so a five cheese ziti, two adult chicken Alfredo, and a kids chicken Alfredo." Samantha said, closing the note pad. Let me get this in for you and I'll be back to check on you in a bit. She signed, and then picked up the tray and the stand it sat on. She walked away and Rayne and Sunflower looked at each other.

"Well, that was unexpected…" Rayne said, signing and then picking up her water. "Who wants salad and or breadsticks? If you want some, get some." She took a breadstick out of the basket and took a bite. The others got what they wanted and started to eat.

Chapter 12

The van rolled down the highway, as they had the previous night, Cecily and Amethyst were in the back studying, Rayne was driving and Sunflower was riding shotgun. "Did you get enough to eat?"

"I did." Sunflower responded. She had been staring out the window, not saying anything.

"Good," Rayne said. She glanced over at Sunflower "Penny for your thoughts? You've been quiet ever since lunch." They were approaching Fort Smith Arkansas. "We're gonna need to stop for gas soon, we've got a quarter tank until E."

"I'm just worried about what's going to happen when we get to Cecily's parents." Sunflower said, looking at Rayne. "I'm just thinking about six months ago."

"Ah." Rayne said. She recalled the incident in her mind.

There was a knock on the door and Rayne opened it to reveal two Athens police officers standing there. She watched as a third cruiser pulled up and parked, the officer getting out and coming to join the two at the door.

"Good evening, Ma'am," One of the officers said. "Is Nathan Roberts here?" Rayne looked at the officer.

"Oh, you mean Cecily…" Rayne said. "May I ask why you would like to see her?”

“We received a request for a well-being check.” One of the officers said. “We’re required to follow up on one.”

“Hang on…" The two officers looked at each other as Rayne started to close the door.

“May we step inside, Ma’am?” The officer that asked for Cecily said. Rayne looked at them.

“You have a warrant?” She asked.

The Officers looked at each other again, they apparently weren’t used to someone just saying ‘no’ to them. “No, Ma’am.”

“Then you can wait here, I’ll leave the door open if you wish.” Rayne said, turning and walking back in the house. She went up the steps and looked at Cecily. “There are three police officers at the front door that would like to talk to you…” Cecily looked from Rayne to Sunflower. “They asked for you by your birth name…”

“I’ll go down with you.” Sunflower said. The two of them walked down the steps hands joined. Rayne walking down behind them. The officers looked confused.

“Which one of you in Nathan?” The officer that had asked for Nathan at first asked

“I am, but that’s not my name any more…” Cecily said, her voice quiet. “What can I help you all with?”

“Can we speak to you alone?” The officer asked.

“Ma’am, who are you?” the second officer that had been at the door when Rayne opened it asked Sunflower.

“I’m Sunflower…” She replied, looking the officer in the eyes. She wanted him to know that she wasn’t intimated by him.

“May I speak to you alone, please?” He asked. Rayne gave a very slight nod, giving permission. The third officer, a female with brown hair pulled back in a very tight bun looked at Rayne.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Rayne looked at the members of her family talking to two different police officers for some unknown reason. Her gaze turned back to the officer. “I’m Rayne.” She said, brushing her hair out of her face as the breeze moved her hair. “I’m the defacto head of this family.” Rayne glanced at Cecily and Sunflower.

“What can you tell me about how she,” Her head tipped toward where Sunflower and the officer were talking. “Treats him.” Her head tipped to where Cecily and the other officer were talking.

“For starters, please refer to her,” Rayne pointed to where Cecily stood. “As her; her doctor and the state have all agreed that she is female and I can provide her drivers license if you’d like to see it…”

“That won’t be necessary…” The Officer said. Rayne finally got a glimpse of her name bar. Her last name was Wilson.

“Officer Wilson,” Rayne said, smiling. “Sunflower treats Cecily as if that girl were her child. She would lay her life down to protect her, as would I. May I ask who the complainant was?”

“It was his…” Officer Wilson paused. “Her parents. They seem to think that she’s being forced to do something against her will, primarily because they claim she doesn’t talk to them any more…”

“Oh for fucks sake…” Cecily said loudly. “I am not talking to my mother.” Sunflower and Rayne looked at each other and Rayne snapped her fingers. Cecily walked over, her head hanging.

“Watch the language, sweetie,” Rayne said. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

“Sorry Ma’am…” Cecily said, returning to where the officer that she was had been talking to was standing. Officer Wilson watched her go.

“I take it there is some… animosity there?” Officer Wilson asked.

“Yeah,” Rayne said, glancing at Cecily. “When she came out as transgender after she graduated high school, but before she got to college, her parents forced her into conversion therapy; Let’s just say that ever since then, she’s not really talked to them, for any reason.”

“So this visit is an attempt to get her to talk to her parents?” Officer Wilson asked.

“Pretty much,” Rayne said. “Sunflower usually handles any interaction with them for Cecily as Cecily doing it usually results in a conversation with the therapist, and us keeping a much closer eye on her than we already do. I would trust no one more with her than I do Sunflower. That includes my self.” Rayne glanced in Sunflower’s direction. “She’s got a gift. We take care of Cecily like she’s our own child.”

Officer Wilson tipped her head to the right. “That’s the second time you’ve said that or something like it. What do you mean by you treat her like she’s your own child?”

“It’s just like it sounds…” Rayne responded truthfully, She was watching Cecily, who had turned to look at her. The officer that she’d been talking to walked with her. The scene reminded Rayne of walking with her father. “We take care of Cecily like she’s our kid. It seems to help her.”

The Officer that was talking to Sunflower and Sunflower both walked over.

“Can we talk to Officer Wilson?” The officer that had been talking to Cecily asked. Rayne shrugged.

“This is my parents…” Cecily said, her voice sounding dejected. A few of their neighbors were out and were looking at them. Having a cop or two show up to the off campus housing wasn't uncommon. “They are trying to force me to talk to them…”

Sunflower draped her arm over Cecily’s shoulders. “We’ll get through this,” Sunflower said. The three of them stood in a diagonal line, with Cecily in the middle. The three officers walked back over, with Wilson in the lead and the other two behind her on either side.

“We’re going to clear the scene,” Officer Wilson said. “After talking to the other two, we think this was an attempt to use the police to try to get Cecily to talk to her parents. We are going to request that the Missoula PD stop by and advise them that this is not an appropriate use of our resources and that if they do it again, we will press charges.” She looked at the three of them. “You two make sure you take care of Cecily. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”

“You’ve got a job to do and we understand that. Out of curiosity, was this request called in direct to you all or by Missoula PD?” Rayne asked.

“It was called in direct to us.” Officer Wilson said. She had been the first to be dispatched on the call, but had been the furthest away. It also wasn't the first time that she had been to the house. The girls had been playing music too loud once and one of the neighbors had called. The house sat in a neighborhood that was more than just kids from campus, and sometimes the neighbors thought that the college kids played their music a bit too loud.

“Ok, is there an incident number and a call for service, and if there is, can I get copies of them” Officer Wilson pulled a business card out of her pocket and grabbed the microphone that was attached to her epaulet.

“S23, Can I get an Incident and CFS, please?” She said into the microphone. She wore an acoustic tube ear piece and as a result, no one around her, except for the other officers could hear what was being relayed by dispatch. Officer Wilson jotted some numbers down on the back of her business card and handed the card to Rayne. “There are the incident and CFS.” Sunflower and Rayne had been keeping a record of all interactions between Cecily and her parents should it be necessary to attempt to file a restraining order. After Cecily and Sunflower had told Cecily’s parents to back off, they largely had. Sunflower was doing a much better job of taking care of Cecily than her biological parents ever had.

“I’m not going to have to go back with them, am I?” Cecily said quietly.

Sunflower gently squeezed Cecily’s shoulder. “Not if I have anything to say about it…” Rayne and Sunflower had discussed if it would be practical for one or both of them to file to adopt Cecily. They had gone as far as starting to talk to an attorney to see if this was something that they could do.

“Sunflower and Rayne, to be honest, we see nothing that would necessitate us removing Cecily from your care.” There had been an incident where Cecily’s parents had called the University PD while she had been in class and they had pulled her out of class to find out if she was ok. “If this continues, I would suggest contacting an attorney about a restraining order. It would give you legal options if they continue. Also, Sunflower, as the mom, I would call them and advise them that they need to cease and desist or legal action will be brought against them. I can’t tell you girls what to do, but, you three are very bright and can figure out what the next steps are…”

“Thank you,” Rayne said. “Is there anything else you need from us?”

“Nope, we’re about to clear the call.” Officer Wilson said. “You girls have a good night.”

“You know, I still wonder about adopting Cecily…” Rayne said. Sunflower glanced at her in the slowly darkening evening.

“Didn’t the attorney say that all we really had to do was prove that we provided for her?” Sunflower asked. “You just thought about when her parents called and said we were abusing her

“Yeah.” Rayne said. “But herein lies the problem. We work part time jobs. Most of our money comes from the excess in our student loans.” Rayne and Sunflower worked part time at the colleges library and walk in IT help desk.

“But we do work and all the money helps to provide for all of us.” Sunflower said. “I don’t think that it’s as much the money as it is just proving that we are there for her. We are more of her parents than her actual freaking parents. I propose that we look into it again when we get back.” They hadn’t had any issues from Cecily’s parents in a few months, but still kept the notes about interactions. “Ever since we made it clear that they needed to back off after the welfare check, they have been even more distant.”

“Yeah,” Rayne said, glancing at the door that separated them from the kids. “But we’re about to go into the lions den…”

“And I’m worried abut that too.” Sunflower said, glancing at the display that showed the camera in the back of the van; Cecily and Amethyst were both sitting on the bed, working on homework. “What are we going to do if when we get there, Cecily doesn’t want to go to their house, or step foot inside.”

“Well,” Rayne said. “We do what we always do: stand by her decision. Yes, we will have driven all that way for nothing, but this is an adventure and it’s something we’re doing as a family. We could always go visit Yosemite…”

“Now that would be fun…” Sunflower said. “I’ve always wanted to visit some of the parks out west…”

“We will,” Rayne said. “If they are open… The Grand Canyon isn’t too far out of the way of the route that we planning to take through Arizona… It’s maybe two hours north of Flagstaff.” Sunflower looked at Rayne.

“The only way you know that is if you have looked it up.” She smiled.

“I want to make this somewhat educational as well…” Rayne said. “We’ve got two kids back there. Might as well learn something…”

Sunflower chuckled. “Spoken like a mom… How do you plan intend to keep Amethyst in the dark on the surprise visit to the Grand Canyon?”

Rayne slowed the van and changed into the right lane. “By driving that part of the trip and having you up front with me.” There was an exit up ahead and there were plenty of gas stations that had power.

“We’re taking an exit,” Sunflower said after she opened the door into the back of the van.

“Good, I’ve got to go potty…” Amethyst said. “Where are we?”

“I have to go too…” Cecily said.

“We’re in Fort Smith Arkansas. Planning on trying to make it until Oklahoma City before stopping for the night. Once we stop and get gas and have a potty break, I want to pull the bed out tonight so that one of the two of us can sleep on the bed too…” Rayne said.

“I can sleep in the passenger seat or the swivel chair, it does at least recline…” Amethyst said, as Rayne slowed to a stop at the bottom of the ramp.

“The bed will be much more comfy than sleeping on the floor…” Sunflower said.

“What time is it?” Cecily asked. She had been up all day and hadn’t napped so she was starting to get tired.

“It’s almost eight. Your bedtime is in two hours.” Sunflower said.

“No wonder I’m getting tired.” Cecily said. Long car rides tended to cause her CFS to flare up and this was no exception. “I’m starting to feel like a flare is gonna happen soon.” Rayne turned into a gas station and pulled up to a pump.

“We’ve not run the heater, have we?” Rayne asked; She was looking at the pumps and one of them had both unleaded and diesel nozzles.

“We’ve not.” Amethyst’s voice floated up from the back.

“What feels like it’s going to flare up, Cecily?” Sunflower asked, turning as much as she could in the seat to be able to see Cecily.

“I feel like a CFS flare is coming, but that’s usually accompanied by a POTS flare…” Rayne shut off the engine and looked at Sunflower.

“You’ve been giving her her meds, right?” Rayne asked. Sunflower just looked at her.

“Yep, but if she’s going to flare, then there’s not a lot that will stop it other than rest….” Sunflower unbuckled her seat belt. “And even that’s not a guarantee.” Sunflower had done the most research on POTS and ME/CFS in the group as she was the primary caregiver for Cecily. “The only thing I can think of to do would be to give her more salt to help stave off the POTS, but that won’t help the CFS…”

“While we’re in there, lets find some salty stuff for her.” Rayne said, unbuckling her own seat belt. “I don’t really want her to go down and hurt herself while we are in the middle of nowhere.”

“Ok, when we get back on the road, I need to go thorough and check to see what we have medication supply wise for her. I might need to contact Dr. Obarsky and have her send a set of scripts somewhere out here.” Sunflower was listed as a person that any of Cecily’s doctors could talk to because Sunflower handled most of the interactions with the doctors.

“If we have to do that, it should be a larger city where it’s likely that they will have everything. The Midodrine and Sodium Chloride are the ones that seem to be the hardest to get…” Rayne opened the door. “Take the kids in and use the restroom and start to get snacks.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said. “Amethyst remove the bar from the door, please?”

“Yes, Mama.” Amethyst said as Sunflower opened the door and got out before opening the door on the side of the van. Cecily was the first one out, having been helped by both Amethyst and Sunflower. She had her cane in her hand but it was collapsed.

“Why don’t you extend your cane, sweetie.” Sunflower prompted. “Just in case, you seem a bit wobbly.”

“Yes, Mama,” Cecily said, pulling the elastic band on the purple cane up and letting it unfold itself and slide together. Cecily pushed down on the handle to firmly seat the sections of the cane. Amethyst climbed out of the van and shut the door. The three of them went into the building and headed straight for the restroom.

“Cecily, go first,” Sunflower said. Cecily nodded and went in the restroom. She didn’t lock the door. Sunflower was thinking of all of the things that they could get that would have salt that wouldn’t spoil or otherwise be too bad for Cecily. So far, the best she had come up with was pretzels and potato chips. There was a running joke between the four of them that following Cecily’s POTS diagnosis, that her doctor had prescribed her French fries. Even prior to the diagnosis, Cecily ate a bunch of salt. Cecily came out of the restroom and smiled at Amethyst. “Amethyst go.” Cecily came over and stood on Sunflower’s right, leaning against the wall.

“Whatcha thinking about, Mama?” Cecily said.

“What kind of snacks we can get you to help bolster the sodium levels.” Sunflower said, glancing over as Rayne joined the two of them. “Cecily’s gone, Amethyst is in there now.”

“Ok.” Rayne said. “Are you trying to come up with food stuffs that are going to be high in sodium for the little salted one here?”

Cecily giggled. “I’m salty, not salted…”

“If I sprinkle salt on you, you become salted…” Rayne said, smiling.

“Yeah, I am.” Sunflower said. Amethyst came out of the restroom and stood next to Rayne.

“Sunflower,” Rayne said. “Go.” Sunflower went into the restroom. The three of them that were out in the hallway waited silently. Once Sunflower was done, It was Rayne’s turn. “Go take the girls to get snacks. No caffeine for Amethyst… They are going to be going to bed soonish.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said, walking in front of Amethyst and Cecily and heading toward the snacks. “Beef jerky…” She said, somewhat randomly. “We don’t have to do anything to it to keep it from going bad and it’s not just salt, it’s also protein which means that all of us can eat it…”

“Uh,” Cecily said. “What about pretzels?”

“We can get pretzels.” Sunflower said. Cecily pulled a bag of pretzels off the shelf. Sunflower grabbed some potato chips and beef jerky. Rayne came out of the restroom.

“What do we have for snacks?” She asked, looking around and locating Cecily and Amethyst. It wasn’t hard, they were the only people in the station besides the clerk.

“So far, pretzels, beef jerky and potato chips.” Sunflower said. “I’ve been looking at other things too, but Cecily’s teeth aren’t in that great of shape, so I’m worried about nuts…”

“I mean, we could get a bag of sunflower seeds and have her suck the salt off of them…” Rayne said, and winked at Sunflower.

“I don’t think you or Amethyst would want to see that…” Sunflower replied, picking up the hidden meaning of what Rayne was proposing.

“I mean,” Rayne replied picking up two of the largest bags of sunflower seeds that were on the shelf. “I’ve seen the two of you do things that no one else has gotten to see.” Rayne winked. “You’re not the only one that can make sure that everyone is ok and accounted for…”

“How often do you watch us sleep?” Sunflower asked quietly. She knew that Rayne could, if she wanted to, check on the Cecily and her while they slept. There had been unanimous consent between Cecily and Sunflower before the camera had been purchased and installed.

“About as often as you look at the app that lets you see where we all are,” Rayne smiled. “It’s comforting to know that the family is safe.” They carried their items up to the counter and sat them down.

Sunflower blushed. “How do you do it? You’re often in bed before me…”

“Finish making your selections, girls.” Rayne said loud enough for Cecily and Amethyst to hear her. “I go to bed before you, but I’m not asleep before you. I am often awake until you’ve gone to your bedroom. It’s when you’ve gotten into bed is when I finally go to sleep.”

“Oh…” Sunflower said quietly. “I guess I never realized that you stayed up until I got to bed. Would you like me to start going to bed earlier, Ma’am?” Amethyst and Cecily came up and placed what they wanted on the counter. The clerk was giving them a strange look.

“Let’s continue this when we get back in the van.” Rayne said, quietly.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said.

The clerk looked Sunflower. “You’re not being told to do something against your will, are you?” The clerk asked.

“What?” Sunflower asked. She was so caught off guard by the question and had pushed Cecily behind her and taken a step back. “No, I’m not doing anything against my will.” The clerk had watched Sunflower take a rather defensive stance with Cecily. The clerk looked nonplussed.

“Why don’t you take the girls to the van and get them settled in, I’ll finish up here.” Rayne said calmly.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said, looking at the clerk. “Come on, girls; You heard her.” Sunflower started toward the door, Amethyst and Cecily in tow. The clerk watched them go. Rayne looked at the clerk.

“Let me start by saying that I don’t appreciate you making that statement to one of my partners…” Rayne said, once the other three were all the way outside.

The clerk, who’s name tag read ‘Olivia” smirked. “Well, it sounded like she was being forced to do something against her will. And I have a moral duty to ask.”

“A moral duty?” Rayne said. “You do realize that if any of the three that are with me were the victims of anything nefarious, you would have just put their lives in danger, right?” The clerk finished scanning items and looked at Rayne.

“Yes, A moral duty.” Rayne noted the total and stuck her card in the credit card machine. Rayne pulled the card out when the machine beeped. “God calls us to protect those that can’t protect themselves.” The clerk said.

Rayne just stared at her dumbfounded. “And what makes you think that they can’t take care of themselves?”

“Well, it seems like they are all listening to you and that you’re controlling them some how.” Olivia stated, placing the stuff they had purchased in a bag.

“It seems that way, but you’re sticking that little button nose into something it doesn’t belong in. Those three listen because they have chosen to listen, not because I make them. They could tell me no and there is nothing I can do about it.” Rayne said, taking the bag off the counter. “You should be careful before you get yourself or someone else hurt.“ And with that, she left the store and went and got in the van. "You girls good back there? Because I want to get moving, and I think that clerk might be calling the cops; She thinks that I'm forcing you all to do something against your will.”

“Cecily is strapped in the seat, Amethyst is helping me put the bed together.” Sunflowers voice floated up from the back of the van. “We’re stable enough to roll. Why does she think that you are forcing all of us to do something against our will?”

"Because, apparently God calls on her followers to protect those that cant' protect themselves." Rayne said, starting the engine and pulling out of the gas station. She was trying to keep the rear of the van away from the clerks line of sight to make it harder to get the tag off of it. "Amethyst, once you're done back there, I'd like you up front with me, in case we get stopped, please."

"Yes, Mommy." Amethyst said.

“Left turn to the interstate,” Rayne said, starting to make her turn. The van accelerated up the ramp, as Amethyst made her way to the passenger seat. “What is it with people in gas stations and rest stops…”

“No idea…” Amethyst said, dropping in the passenger seat and buckling her seat belt.

Olivia watched the van pull out of the lot. She picked up her cell phone and dialed a number. “Yeah, I got one for you.”

“Give me the details,” the voice on the phone said.

“Red Dodge Sprinter, Ohio tags, antennas all over it.” Olivia said, still staring out the window.

“Four girls on board, went eastbound on I-40.”

“Got it.” The voice said. “Someday you might get free…” The phone beeped as the line went dead.

“Mama,” Cecily said, “Can we turn on cartoons?” Cecily had been strapped to her customary place in the bed, but she could still see the TV from where she lay.

“Sure,” Sunflower spun in the chair so she could grab the remote. “What do you want to watch?”

“Umm…” Cecily said. “Can you pick?”

"Sure..." Sunflower said. "How about," She played with the remote a bit. "Moana?"

"Sounds good." Cecily said. "I mainly want something on in the background while I'm doing my reading for this class."

"Well, if you're trying to focus, why don't we turn on some Einaudi or something similar?" Sunflower asked, glancing at Cecily.

"That would work too." Cecily smiled. Sometimes she just wanted something on in the background and she didn’t care what it was just as long as something was on in the background. “I probably won’t get as distracted as I would with a cartoon…”

“Yep.” Sunflower responded. She turned the TV off and spun back to her laptop after reaching up and turning on the radio that was in the back of the van. Sunflower reached up and turned the radio on, connected her laptop and started playing music through the speakers in the back of the van. Sunflower switched back to the paper she was reading.

"What is this?" Cecily asked, glancing at where the speakers were located. Unless one knew were to look for them, they were rather well hidden.

“It’s something I found the other day,” Sunflower responded. “It’s called Lo-Fi and for me it keeps me focused on what I’m doing and I feel more productive.” She spun in the chair so that she could see Cecily. "What do you think about it?"

"It kinda fades into the background more so than even Einaudi does…" Cecily said. "Let's try it and see how it helps."

"That was my thought,” Sunflower said, smiling at Cecily. “Focus on your homework.”

"Yes, Mama." Cecily said, glancing down at her laptop. She started reading what was on the screen and was quiet.

Sunflower felt the van slow and glanced up at monitor that showed the video feed from the front of the van. It looked like they were pulling into a rest area. Amethyst slid the door open.

"We're pulling into a rest area," she said. "Rayne wants us little ones to go potty, and then you get us tucked in. It's almost ten."

"It is?" Sunflower asked, pulling up the task bar on her laptop. She had the program she was using running full screen. The clock in the lower right hand corner of the display read 9:51 PM. "Wow…" She spun in the chair to look at Cecily. Cecily was, surprisingly awake this late in the day and having been stuck in a car all day. "Cecily, lets get our stuff packed up, and get our shoes on, we're going to be going into a rest area and going potty and then we are going to get ready for bed."

"Otay Mama," Cecily said, closing her textbook and laptop. She slid them in her backpack and tried to slide forward to put her shoes on. She wasn't able to reach them where they had been placed in the shoe cubby by the door. It was one of the things that they had done to help keep the van tidy.

"I can't get to my shoes unless I unbuckle…" Cecily said.

"Nope, you can wait until we stop…" Sunflower said, closing her laptop. Rayne pulled the van into a handicapped parking spot and shut the engine off.

"Sunflower, take the little ones in and go potty," Rayne said. "We have about two hours before we get to Oklahoma City, I'm going to pull the bed out and get it ready so that we can get the kids to bed once we get back on the road."

"Sounds good," Sunflower said, standing. Everyone except Cecily had their shoes on still. "Cecily, unbuckle and slide over here so we can get your shoes on. Tomorrow, we're going to do a wipe down with the wipes…" Sunflower glanced into the cockpit of the van. "All of us…"

"Yes, Ma'am." Rayne said. Amethyst and Cecily shared a look. They were not used to hearing Rayne call Sunflower ma'am.

"Yes, Mama." Cecily said, sliding across the bed so that Sunflower could help her put her shoes on. Sunflower crouched and put the shoes on Cecily's feet and did the Velcro straps up. Most of Cecily's shoes were slip on, but these were for when they had to do lots of walking. Cecily carefully stood and Sunflower opened the door. Amethyst did the same and waited on Sunflower and Cecily to exit and begin walking to the building. Amethyst felt strange walking one step and behind Sunflower, but she took it in stride.

"We're going to go use the single stall, Cecily, then Amethyst, then me. I will come check the bowl after each of you to see what color your urine is." Sunflower said. The trio walked up to the single stall family restroom. Sunflower had her head on a swivel and was watching the small number of people that were wandering around the rest area. "Cecily, don't lock the door."

"Yes, Mama," Cecily said quietly. Cecily went into the bathroom and went potty. Sunflower poked her head in and looked in the bowl while Cecily was washing her hands. Sunflower flushed the toilet, and followed Cecily outside.

"Amethyst, go. Same thing, don't flush."

"Yes ma'am," Amethyst said, disappearing through the door to the bathroom. Amethyst didn’t lock the door either. Her sister hadn’t been allowed to lock the door so she assumed that she shouldn’t either.

Rayne walked up to where Sunflower and Cecily were standing. "I've got the bed pulled out and ready for the girls once we get back out there. I take it Cecily's gone and Amethyst is in there now?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Sunflower said. "I asked Amethyst to not flush so I can see what her urine looks like. Cecily's already gone, I'll go after Amethyst; Once I go. I'll not flush so you can check mine."

"And who checks mine?" Rayne asked with a smile.

"I will…" Cecily said, giggling. Rayne and Sunflower glanced down at the girl as Amethyst opened the door to the bathroom and joined the other three where they were waiting.

"Sunflower, go." Rayne said, glancing down at Cecily. "You're going to check mine, huh?"

“Yeah,” Cecily said, giggling. “It’s only fair, right?”

“How do you figure?” Rayne asked, smiling,

“Cause I’m big and I want to help take care of you too,” She said.

“Little sis, I don’t think it works that way…” Amethyst said, giggling. “Besides, Since Mommy pulled the bed out, I’m pretty sure that we’re going to be getting put to bed when we get back to the van…”

“You are…” Rayne said, as Sunflower came out of the bathroom. “Take the girls and go get them tucked into bed, I’ll be out in a few.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said. “Come on girls, Let’s go get ready for bed.” Rayne watched the three of them head back out to where the van was parked. Sunflower opened the door to the back and had the girls climb in before climbing in herself and pulling the door shut. Cecily and Amethyst took their shoes off as Sunflower dropped the locking bar in place on the door. “Let’s get changed into our jammies, girls.”

“Yes, Mama…” Cecily and Amethyst said at the same time. Ever since they had been on the road, Amethyst had been going to bed around ten thirty, and hadn’t been complaining about it. The two of them changed into their jammies, and then Cecily crawled into the bed. Sunflower sat on the edge of the bed and then tucked Cecily in, covering her with the weighted blanket and then strapping her down to the bed. Sunflower gave Cecily a kiss on the forehead and then got up. Amethyst laid in the bed and Sunflower covered her up as well, before pulling the railing up Sunflower gave Amethyst a kiss on the forehead and pulled the railing up.

“I’m going to leave the lights on low like I did last night and Rayne and I will keep an eye on you with the camera…” Sunflower heard Rayne get in the front of the van and start the engine. She slid the door to the back of the van open.

“Are we good to roll?” Rayne asked, turning, but not being able to see anyone.

“Yep,” Sunflower said. "I'll be up in a few, finishing getting the kids to bed..." It wasn't that much work, Cecily was already breathing deeply. Amethyst looked up at Sunflower.

"Goodnight, Mama..." Amethyst said quietly. "I wish I had a stuffie..."

"Well," Sunflower whispered, "I'll talk to mommy and we will see if we can't stop and get you a new friend. Now let's go to sleep, kiddo."

Chapter 13

Sunflower was pacing in front of her car as Rayne pulled up and backed into the spot that was next to where Sunflower was parked. She hung the other handicapped placard in the windshield and got out of the car and walked up to where Sunflower was pacing. Sunflower stopped and then just hugged Rayne.

"Any news?" Rayne asked, as Sunflower started sobbing.

"No..." Sunflower replied, taking a breath. "I just hope that she doesn't sign anything. I'm still waiting on Samantha to get here."

"Well," Rayne replied. "I brought the power of attorney form, and we told her the first time, and have told her more than once to not sign anything without us present." Sunflower released the hug from Rayne and took a step back. She squinted in the sunlight. "Why weren't you in the room with her?" Her voice wasn’t accusatory, more curious. Rayne had been to appointments with Cecily as well, and generally speaking they didn’t leave Cecily alone.

"I was..." Sunflower said. She looked at Rayne. "I was asked to step out of the room and over to the desk on the outside of the interlock so that I could fill out a form that needed to be filled out." Sunflower looked in the distance at the building. "When I was permitted back into the secure area, she was gone, and I went back to the desk to find out what happened."

"Let's go over and sit at that table," Rayne said, pointing to a table that was situated under a tree, but was somewhere that they could see the front door. "How's the battery on your phone?"

Sunflower looked at her phone. "I'm at ninety two percent..." The pair walked over to the table that Rayne had pointed out. They sat and Sunflower finally noticed how Rayne was dressed. Her brown hair had been pulled back in a bun, and she was dressed in a pantsuit. She even had a little briefcase to match. "Why the look?"

Rayne looked down at her attire. She had left school, ran home and headed to Forest Lawn. "I had just gotten out of one of my classes and we were doing presentations... Besides, being dressed like a bad ass bitch might be useful." She smiled. "I grabbed Rainbow, one of her sleepers, a dress and her CPAP. Nothing with strings." Only a few things of Cecily's had strings.

"Ok..." Sunflower watched a black Lexus pull into the lot and park in a reserved parking spot. It, unfortunately, wasn't the first time that they had to bring things to Cecily while she was in a psych ward. "I keep thinking about packing a bag just in case that has most everything... Did you bring her shoes?" Sunflower watched as Doctor Samantha O'Neal got out of the car and walked over to where Sunflower and Rayne were sitting. She sat across from them and looked at them.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "Brought her ballet flats..."

"I've been on the phone with the staff psychiatrist." Doctor O'Neal said. "All they have told me is that they had to sedate Cecily because she was fighting them." Rayne and Sunflower shared a glance. "I, for one, don't believe that for a second. Cecily is all of one hundred twenty pounds soaking wet, and she's one of the sweetest people I know." A car pulled up and parked next to Samantha's. The male driving it got out, grabbed a briefcase and walked over to where the three of them were sitting. Sunflower gave a slight smile at the man.

"Dr. O'Neal called me and thought that I should come in case that you needed me, Sunflower." Doctor Ian Edwards said. Some times Sunflower had stuff come up during Cecily's sessions that Doctor O'Neal relayed to Doctor Edwards and they talked about it at the next appointment. "I'm at both of your disposal, Even yours, Rayne." He watched as Sunflower reached up and held onto the collar that she wore. He knew that it was something that she did when she was stressed, anxious, or distressed.

"Thank you, sir." Rayne said quietly, showing deference to Doctor Edwards.

"I'm going to go in and see if I can find out what is going on..." Samantha said. "Rayne, did you bring the form?"

"Since I don't work here," Doctor Edwards said. "I will sit out here with the two of you..."

"Yes, Ma'am," Rayne said, patting the briefcase that she had laid on the table. Sunflower also expected that it contained a complete copy of Cecily's medical history. "All that needs to happen is the side that says that we accept the responsibility needs to be signed."

"Ok, I'll be back," Samantha said, standing. Rayne and Sunflower watched her walk toward an entrance that was labeled 'staff only,' She swiped a key card and went through the door.

Sunflower awoke and reached up and stroked Cecily's hair. She was happy to see that the younger girl was still strapped in the bed where she had been placed several hours before. This nightmare was getting really old. She reached up and grabbed her phone from the shelf that it was laying on. She quickly typed the nightmare up and put the phone back on the shelf. It was two thirty eight in the morning...

"Sunflower," Doctor Edwards said, "Would you be willing to take a walk with me?" It was phrased as a question, but It wasn't really a request.

"I'll call you if Doctor O'Neal comes out..." Rayne said. "Make sure you have your phone..." Sunflower slid her phone out of the back pocket on her jeans. "Good girl. Go on the walk with Ian."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sunflower said, standing. Ian looked at Rayne and mouthed "Thank you" Ian knew of the dynamic between Rayne and Sunflower as well as the dynamic between Sunflower and Cecily. The pair waked away from the building that housed the psychiatric urgent care. Sunflower trusted Ian and had shared some things that really bothered her with him.

"What's going through your mind?" Ian asked as they walked down a path leading into a wooded area on the grounds of Forest Lawn. The whole property was actually rather tranquil, but that was by design. Forest Lawn was a mental health facility and they wanted their patients to be calm.

"I feel like I've some how screwed up. I promised Cecily that I'd take care of her and protect her, but I didn't and I can't right now..." Sunflower reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I promised her that if I could retain custody of her I would do so. I let my daughter get removed from my custody."

"Was there anything that would have prompted them to have a reason to put her on a hold?" Ian asked. The two of them walked while Sunflower thought about the question.

"The only thing I can think of is that she nicked her self shaving the other day..." Sunflower said, glancing over at Ian. "Got her self a few times... At least three on her face when she was taking care of that this morning and five separate places on her legs, I think." She stopped walking, causing Ian to stop and look at her.

"Sunflower?" He asked. "What is it?"

"They think she's self harming..." She said. "The first time she was here, a year ago, when she made her attempt, she had cuts on her arms and legs... It was a similar thing, she had been shaving, but in her chart it states that she's a self harm risk." She looked at Ian. "Of course her file states that her collar and cuffs are permanent as well, because that's what she told them when she was here...” This was new information to Ian.

“Are they?” Ian asked, sounding surprised; this was news to him. “What about your collar and cuffs?”

Sunflower glanced at Ian and smiled. “It depends on what you mean by permanent.” She reached up and slipped her finger in the leashing ring on her collar. “In the sense that the collars will only come off if necessary, yes, they are permanent. In the sense that they can’t be removed, no, they can be removed. There was loctite applied to the screws, but it’s the stuff to keep the screw from vibrating out.”

“So, both of your collars and cuffs are permanent in the sense that they won’t come off without a reason, but they could be non-destructively removed?” Ian asked, wanting to make sure that he understood what Sunflower was saying.

“Yes…” Sunflower said, starting to walk down the path again. “Cecily told them that there was no way for them to remove her collar without cutting it off, which they won’t do as hers fits tighter than mine and they don’t want to injure her. It was a panic reaction as the first time she was here after her attempt. It was the one thing that kept her connected to us on the outside.” They came up to a bench that was situated next to a retention pond. Sunflower sat and looked out over the water. “I can’t do this…” Sunflower’s strong façade broke and she started crying. It appeared that Ian had been expecting this and pulled a pack of tissues out of his pocket. He handed one to her and she wiped her eyes. “This was hard the last time and we knew why it was happening. This time we don’t. It’s going fuck her head up again.” She dabbed at her cheeks, glad that she hadn’t put on makeup that morning. “The last time, she was so clingy when she got out. It took months for her to get to where I could get her to bed without me laying next to her.” She paused and looked at the water. The early fall day was still warm enough that they could be outside but it was cool. “I have to make sure her CPAP is setup and she’s got the mask on.”

”What time do you usually go to bed?” Ian asked.

“Her bedtime is nine thirty, I don’t go to bed until midnight, I’m often the last one up.” Sunflower said. “I’m the mom of the group. I make sure that everyone is on schedule and that the stuff that needs to get done, gets done…”

”How does that make you feel?” Ian asked, watching Sunflower.

“I like it. It’s made me better at taking care of myself.” She glanced at Ian. '“Ian, are we having a session?” Ian smiled.

”Are we?” Ian asked back. “Sunflower, any time I talk to you, we are in a session. Sure the setting is different, but yes, we are in a session.” He watched as Sunflower pursed her lips. “I’m sorry that you thought this was a friendly visit, but when Dr. O’Neal called, it was because she knew that you were going to need support. You just had your child forcibly removed from your custody… You went though and obtained guardianship as well as did power of attorney forms with Rayne just to protect Cecily in case something like this happened.” He paused. “I’m so sorry that this is happening, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

Sunflower sighed. “I shouldn’t have left the room.”

”Why’d you leave the room?” Ian asked.

”They had a form that they needed filled out, they said it was for me to be in the back with her…” Sunflower replied, thinking back. “They had filled in most of the form for me, and I just needed to sign it. I skimmed it and didn’t read it.”

“Do you recall what the form you filled out was?” Ian looked at Sunflower as her phone rang.

Sunflower’s eyes shot open as her alarm went off. She lifted her head and looked around. Cecily and Amethyst were both sleeping, one on each side, satisfied that they were safe, she reached up turned her alarm off. She slid out of the bed and sat in the chair and pulled her laptop out.

“Come up here…” Rayne said quietly. Sunflower grabbed her laptop and went up front, sitting in the drivers seat. Rayne slid the door shut. "Let's talk about it..."

Sunflower sighed, not wanting to discuss it. She wanted to just write it down and forget about the nightmare until she was able to talk to Dr. Edwards in private. “Do I have to? I just want to write it down and only relive it once. It was a continuation of last night.”

Rayne looked at Sunflower. “A continuation of yesterday? That’s something different…”

“Yeah. It pretty much picked up where I woke up yesterday morning.” Sunflower said. She placed her laptop on the table that was for the drivers side. “I was pacing in front of my car in the parking lot and you pulled in. You had brought the forms, and we were waiting on Dr. O’Neal to show up and get us answers. She did and we discussed what had happened and then Ian showed up.” Sunflower paused when Amethyst rolled over on the video feed from the back of the van. “Apparently Samantha has called him in case I needed him. She went in to try to find out what was going on, and Ian and I went for a walk.” Amethyst moved a bit more and Sunflower paused. “We talked about the situation, and why I hadn’t been in the room. They asked me to come out and fill out a form, so I did; well I signed it. I had skimmed it and everything looked correct, so I signed it. I still don’t know for sure what I signed, but It was when she had been taken from the room. I told him that Forest Lawn’s chart for Cecily showed that her collar and cuffs were permanent. He asked if mine were too; I still had both on.” Sunflower paused. “I told him yes, but no. Yes in the sense that they aren’t removed unless it is necessary; no in the sense that they can be removed.”

“You’re still wearing the collar and cuffs?” Rayne asked. “What do they look like?”

“Like Cecily’s but sliver.” Sunflower responded. She’d been typing as she was speaking again and had typed everything out. “I’m going to send a message to Doctor Edwards and see if we can do a phone session…”

“Ok,” Rayne said. Even though Sunflower made sure the other three were healthy, Rayne and Amethyst helped make sure that Sunflower was healthy. “If you can do a phone session, We will have Cecily and Amethyst occupied in the back and get you on the phone with him.” One of the things that Sunflower did was to make sure that Rayne knew the outcomes of appointments to help her with remembering to write things down or anything like that.

“Okay, I’ll call and see what I can do. I looked at Cecily’s meds last night before we went to bed and I need to see if I can get her scripts sent out here.” Sunflower looked at Rayne. “How are you on your meds? Sunflower had looked at Rayne’s meds as well. She would have to call about Rayne’s meds too.

“I’m low…” Rayne said sheepishly.

“Okay, I’ll call about yours too.” Sunflower glanced at the display that was showing the rotation of the cameras on the outside of the van. “I must have racked out before we stopped last night, where are we?”

“A rest area about thirty miles outside of Oklahoma City…” Rayne replied. “I think I drove for another half hour after you went to bed.” I will say that it was strange to be the only one up…”

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to…” Sunflower said. “I’ll add calling in your meds to my list… I need to work on finding a therapist for Amethyst… Wonder if Samantha or Ian would take her on as a patient.”

“Your thought being that Cecily and you trust these two would make it easier for her to trust either one of them?” Rayne asked. “That makes sense to me. I would trust either of them…”

“Ok, so call Ian about a phone session, also ask if he’s accepting new patients, Call Obarsky about refills for Cecily’s meds to be sent out here, and call Tomlin's office about refills for you.” Sunflower looked from the laptop to Rayne sitting in the passenger seat. “Did I miss anything medical that needs to be taken care of?”

“Medical,” Rayne said, while rubbing her chin. “No,” They looked at Sunflower and then at the monitor that showed the camera in the back of the van. It sill showed Amethyst and Cecily sleeping. “Think we should wake the girls up? It’s almost seven, and I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry…”

“That sounds like a plan.” Sunflower said. “Are we going to make something in the van, or go out. If we’re going to go out, we’re gonna need to get the girls dressed…”

“Well, let’s wake them and see what they want to do first…” Rayne said, with a giggle. She stood and opened the door to the back of the van and looked around. Amethyst opened her eyes first.

“Hi Mommy.” she said groggily. “What time is it?” Her blonde hair was splayed across the pillow

Rayne let the railing on the side of the bed down. “It’s just before seven. We let you girls sleep in because we were talking. We were wondering if you wanted to make breakfast in the van or if we wanted to go out for breakfast?”

“I could go for real eggs and pancakes…” Amethyst said, her voice quiet so she didn’t wake Cecily. “Should I get up and get dressed?”

“Yep,” Rayne said, “I want to wake Cecily up. It’s not something I get to do very often…” Rayne reached over and unstrapped Cecily, who as soon as the last strap was released, rolled over holding Rainbow and blinked a few times at Rayne.

"Hi, Mommy…” Cecily said.

“Mama and I wanted to know if you girls wanted to make breakfast in the van or if you wanted to go get something, maybe at a sit down place?” Rayne asked, looking from Cecily to Amethyst and back.

“Where would we go?” Amethyst asked, her voice barely audible over the heater. “Also, I want a stuffie…”

“Well, Mama and I would need to know what was around here,” Rayne said. “But, once we do, I will let you know where we’re going.”

“Otay…” Amethyst said, quietly. She buckled herself in the seat, and then spun it so that she could see Cecily, who had transitioned to a sitting position in the bed. Her pacifier dangled from her mouth; she wasn’t actively sucking on it, but it still sat between her lips. Amethyst eyed her curiously as she sat there trying to figure out what the pacifier would be like.

Up front, Sunflower moved to the passenger side of the van and sat her laptop on the mount. “I’m ready when you are…” She buckled her seat belt and looked at Rayne. “I’ve already sent a message to Doctor Edwards. Both about my dreams and about seeing if he can see Amethyst… I’ve also sent a message to Obarsky and O’Neal’s offices about refills for Cecily.”

Rayne sat in the drivers seat and looked around the cockpit of the van. “We should, uh, probably take the window shades down…”

Sunflower glanced up at the windows. “Probably…” She pulled the shade off the passenger side window and folded it up, stowing it behind the drivers seat. Rayne did the same with the drivers side. The pair of them quickly pulled the much larger shade down off the windshield.

“Ok, now we can roll…” Rayne said. “Find me breakfast, mama…” She smiled as she pulled the van from where she had parked it.

“I found a McDonald’s at the intersection of interstate 40 and Kickapoo. Exit 185…” Sunflower said. “I’m not sure that I feel comfortable taking Cecily into a sit down restaurant. We’re in a pretty red neck area and I don’t know that we will last long enough to make OKC without food and I don’t want Cecily to go too long without her meds.” One of Cecily’s meds was semi time critical; the caveat was that it also required her to have food in her stomach. One of the meds that Sunflower was on also had the same requirement about taking the med with food. Sunflower turned to the door to the back of the van that was open. “You girls OK with McDonald’s for breakfast?”

“I am,” Cecily’s voice came up from the back. “You already know what I want…”

“I’m okay with it…” Amethyst said, her voice louder than Cecily’s had been. Cecily was the quietest person in the group. I’ll text you want I want.”

“Is the road really named Kickapoo?” Rayne asked, accelerating as she came down the ramp to merge back into the traffic on interstate 40.

“Yep…” Sunflower laughed. Her phone dinged and she looked at it. She was expecting the notification to be the food order from Amethyst. “Well, that was fast…”

“What was?” Rayne asked, glancing in Sunflower’s direction and

“I just got a message from Dr. Edwards…” She said. “He said he could see me at 11 Eastern time, and because of circumstances, he can still see me even though I’m out of state. He also said that he could do an intake with Amethyst after he sees me.”

“What about me?” Amethyst said, popping her head up into the doorway.

“I asked Dr. Edwards if he could see me on short notice, mainly about the dreams I’ve been having. I also asked him if he could see you for an intake appointment because you were starting to look for a therapist. The worst thing that happens is you meet with him a few times and decide that you and him don’t click and we try someone else…” Sunflower said. “I figured that you seeing someone that either I or Cecily saw would make it easier on you.”

“Will you be there with me?” Amethyst asked.

“If you allow me to be and if Ian is ok with it…” Sunflower said. “Then, yes, I will be with you.”

“Otay…” Amethyst said, smiling at Sunflower. “Mommy, can I have a stuffie?”

“We will stop and look for a friend for you when we stop to get refills on meds later.” Rayne said, smiling at Sunflower.

“Mama!” Cecily suddenly said. “I’m hungry!”

“I know, we’re going to go get breakfast.” Sunflower said.

The van pulled into the parking lot of a Walmart in El Reno, Oklahoma. Rayne parked and unbuckled her seat belt, glancing at Sunflower.

“Well,” Sunflower said. “I’ve never had a dream do that though.” Sunflower said. She glanced at the monitor that showed Cecily and Amethyst both sitting on the bed working on homework.

I’m going to go check on the girls. When it’s time for Ian to talk to Amethyst, I’ll bring Cecily up here and entertain her for a bit. Rayne signed.

“I’ve never heard of it happening, but that doesn’t mean it can’t…” Ian said.

Ok Sunflower signed to Rayne and then turned her attention back to Ian. “The part that got me was that I didn’t know what I had signed.” Even though Ian was on the phone, Sunflower signed what she was saying; Rayne having thrown her into interpreter mode. It didn’t matter that Ian couldn’t see her as they were on the phone.

“Ok,” Ian said. “In the note that you sent me, you said you had on a collar and cuffs like Cecily’s, and unless something has changed since last week, you don’t wear either.” Ian said. Sunflower looked at her wrists; there were no cuffs there.

“I don’t,” Sunflower said. “I wouldn’t mind something indicating that I belong to Rayne, but at this time I don’t have anything. That’s part of how I know I’m dreaming.” She paused. “That might be the only thing that tells me it’s a dream…"

“Ok, so in the first part of this dream, Cecily is in getting her meds adjusted, a med that she’s not on. You’re called out of the room to sign something; Next thing you know, she’s being held but no one will tell you why as your not her spouse or guardian, but yet, you had filed for and obtained guardianship. Any idea why they wouldn’t have had the paperwork yet?” Ian asked. “I can think of a reason, but I want to know if you have any ideas.”

“I didn’t know about the guardianship in the dream until you mentioned it to me in the dream; Samantha didn’t even know about it… I’d have told her.” Sunflower paused, looking at her hands. They were shaking. “I’d imagine that the only reason why is because it had just happened and I simply hadn’t gotten the documentation to them yet.”

“I don’t know the cause of the nightmares,” Ian said. “But I will tell you this: if you sign anything for her, read it, and read it thoroughly before you sign it.” There was the sound of rustling paper. “I don’t know what else to make of the dreams. Cecily is your kid, this isn’t a game for you. Keep her close and keep an eye on her. Protect her. Is there anything else that you want to talk about before we bring Amethyst in?”

“Nothing that I can think of…” Sunflower said, standing and opening the door into the back of the van. Sunflower heard the ding of a text message coming in. Sunflower looked at her phone as she stepped into the back of the van. “Amethyst are you ready?”

Amethyst took a deep breath. “As I will ever be…”

“Ok.” Sunflower pulled her earbuds out of her pocket and handed the left one to Amethyst, who put it in her left ear. “Rayne, I just got a notification that the prescriptions were ready. Can you take Cecily in and pick up yours and hers. See if they will let you pick up mine and if not, I’ll go in after Amethyst’s session and get mine. Might want to see if we can get stuff to do a quick dinner on the road, we’ve spent enough time in the OKC metro…”

“Hello?” Amethyst said, tentatively. She was watching Sunflower, who was watching what Rayne was signing to her.

Take care of Amethyst, you know where POA is if needed. I’ll text you if I need something. Rayne signed.

“Hello, Amethyst,” Ian was saying. “I’m Doctor Ian Edwards. I’m a psychiatrist that has been working with Sunflower for quite some time and she tells me that you’re looking for a therapist. I’d like to take some time to get to know more about you and see if maybe, I can help you. Sunflower has told me a little about you, but I want to hear it from you. Also, if you don’t want Sunflower to be on this call, you may, at any time, ask her to leave.” Amethyst looked at Sunflower in shock; like she had forgotten how to speak to someone.

“Uh, I’m Amethyst…” She stammered. Sunflower smiled, thinking back on her first session with Ian eight months prior. She sounded very similar. “I am twenty years old and I hold a black belt in Aikido. I’m currently going to school for Computer Science with a focus on circuit design and a minor in Electrical engineering. I also hold an Extra Class Amateur radio license.” Amethyst paused. “I don’t hang out with people much, I’m an introvert and I get anxious easily; but I’m loyal to the polycule. I’ll protect them regardless of how I’m feeling.” Sunflower could hear the pen scratching on the paper that she knew that Ian was writing on.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” Ian asked.

Amethyst looked at Sunflower, who nodded. “Yes…” her voice was tentative and nervous. Ian picked up on it.

“Nothing to be worried about…” Ian said, reassuringly. “Is Amethyst your legal name?”

“Yes, Sir.” Amethyst said quietly. Sunflower recognized the tone that Amethyst had used; It was one of deference.

“Ok,” Ian said. “I only ask because I know that with Sunflower, that Sunflower isn’t her legal name. So a black belt in Aikido, huh? How long have you been a student of the marital art?”

“For the last thirteen years.” Amethyst smiled. “I look forward to my classes every week. I’ve even started to train Rayne in the art.” Sunflower sat in the chair typing on her laptop. She was only partially paying attention to the conversation between Amethyst and Ian, much like she did when she sat in on the sessions between Cecily and Samantha.

“Tell me about Rayne.” Ian said. Sunflower knew that Ian would end up circling back around to the list of things that Amethyst enjoyed.

“Oh…” Amethyst was startled by the change in topic. “Uh,” she paused to gather her thoughts. “Rayne is the head of the polycule. She’s the one who is in charge, we are all subservient to her. She would also do everything she needed to in order to protect us. She guides us and, even though we aren’t equals, she takes what we think about things into consideration.” Sunflower stopped typing to focus on the conversation.

Ian was treating Rayne as if he had never heard of her in order to get a clean view of her as to how Amethyst saw her. ”You said that Rayne is the head of the polycule, is the one in charge, and that you all are subservient to her; can you explain that to me?”

Sunflower sensed Amethyst looking at her, so she spun in the chair. What do I tell him? Amethyst signed. She looked panicked.

Tell him about it. Explain it to him. He’s trying to get your take on things. He knows that Cecily is a little and what that entails. You’re not going to surprise him. Sunflower signed back.

“Amethyst?” Ian asked. “Are you still there?”

“Yes, Doctor Edwards.” Amethyst said. Her father held a doctorate in Electrical Engineering and everyone called him Doctor. It was a habit that had been ingrained in her from a young age. When someone had a title, you used that title for them. No matter what. “I’m trying to get my thoughts in order here.”

“Ok.” Ian said. “Take your time.”

“Rayne is the dominant partner in our little family. She has sole veto power over anything, but we can challenge a veto. Well I think in the hierarchy, it’s Rayne and then Sunflower and then Me and then Cecily. Rayne and Sunflower take care of Cecily and I.” Amethyst smiled at Sunflower.

“Ok, Tell me about Sunflower.” Ian said.

Amethyst smiled at Sunflower, who signed Whatever you say won’t come back on you in any way… “If Rayne is the head of the family, Sunflower is the one who keeps us all on track. Sunflower is the mom. She’s the one that largely responsible for all of us staying healthy, she’s the one that makes sure that homework is done, classes get scheduled, Doctors appointments get scheduled, she will go to incredible lengths to make sure that we are taken care of, sometimes to the detriment of her self. Sure we sometimes butt heads, but she will let us get it out and then we talk about it and come up with a plan from there.”

“Ok…” Ian said. ”Tell me about Cecily…”

Amethyst giggled. “Cecily is my little sister… She’s the kid of the group, both in her age and how she acts. For the longest time, I didn’t like the fact that she was treated like a child. Until I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t like it; it was that I was jealous of her…. Growing up my parents were very strict and there were lots of rules and structure. I graduated high school and moved to Ohio for college and suddenly, the rules and structure were gone. Cecily had both and I was envious of it. I’ve decided to try to submit to Mommy and Mama in that way and so far, I think it’s working. We’ll reevaluate in a bit, I’m sure, but for now, I seem happier. It’s freeing to just surrender like that.” Amethyst paused. “Cecily brings joy to my life, even though she’s treated like she’s nine or so. I’ve never had a little sister before.”

“Ok,” Ian said. “You mentioned Mommy and Mama, I’m assuming that would be Rayne and Sunflower. Who is which?”

”Mommy is Rayne, and Sunflower is Mama.” Amethyst said, smiling at Sunflower. “Cecily has called Sunflower Mama for as long as I can remember, so I just started doing it too…”

“Ok,” Ian said. “Tell me a little about this radio thing you mentioned.”

“Well, I hold an Extra Class Amateur Radio license,” Amethyst looked at the display for the radio. “That’s the highest class of Amateur Radio License that one can earn in the US. With the equipment in the van that I’m in right now, I can talk around the world. I really should turn the radio on and see what is going on out there.”

“Well,” Ian said, a chuckle in his voice. “I can tell you from what I’m hearing on the TV that things in the middle of the country are still kinda rough.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Amethyst let a giggle out. “We have to keep paying attention to places that have power as we try to get supplies, but my van is pretty self sufficient…”

“Tell me about your van…” there was curiosity in Ian’s voice.

“It’s a camper van. We use it to go camping, or as we are now, to head to Montana because Cecily’s parents want her to come home. I’m not sure what to expect when we get there, but I’m going to help protect my sister as much as possible.” Amethyst smiled as she glanced around the van. “I built it. With my own two hands and It’s mine. It’s a bit cramped with the four of us in it, because when I built it, I didn’t have the family that I have now.”

“You consider Rayne, Sunflower and Cecily to be your family?” Ian asked. Sunflower watched as Amethyst reached up and wiped a tear from her face.

“I do…” Amethyst said. “My family growing up wasn’t anything like the family I have now; They didn’t show the love and care that this family I have now does.”

“Ok, I think that’s something that we can get into in our next session.” Ian said. “Would you be open to weekly sessions? I can see you after I see Sunflower. I see her every Wednesday at 5 pm. I could put you in on Wednesdays at 6 pm if that works for you?”

Sunflower watched as Amethyst blushed. “That would work for me, Sir. Thank you.” Amethyst picked up her phone and opened the calendar application, adding an event to occur weekly.

“I have some documents I need you to sign, but they can be signed electronically…” Ian paused. “Can you give me your email address to send you the forms?”

“Sure,” Amethyst said. She rattled off her email address and made sure that Ian had it correct.

“Ok, I’ll get these sent to you,” Ian said. “I’m also going to include my contact info and a link to register with the online system we use for scheduling, I’m also going to include two digital fillable copies of the release of information form; These can be electronically signed like every other form I’m sending you. You don’t have to fill these out, this is just so that if you want to allow Sunflower and Rayne access to things involving your care, you may allow that. There will also be an emergency contact for that I need you to fill out.” He paused and there was the sound of rustling paper. “If you have any questions, please call me.”

“Yes, Sir.” Amethyst said. “Thank you for seeing me today.”

“You’re welcome,” Ian said. “We’ll be getting into the harder stuff in the coming weeks. It sounds like you’ve got a really good support system which is going to be helpful. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye.”

“Bye!” Amethyst said.

“Bye, Ian.” Sunflower said. The phone beeped as the call disconnected.

“How’d I do?” Amethyst asked, pulling the earbud out of her left ear. Sunflower picked the case up and put the earbud back after Amethyst had handed it to her. She did the same after pulling the right earbud out of her ear.

“You did just fine,” Sunflower said, spinning in the char so she could see Amethyst. “He’s going to slowly get into the issues you have. I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up with at least a diagnosis of PTSD from the storms. I’ve seen you when it gets bad.” She heard the door in the front of the van open and glanced up at the monitor to see Cecily and Rayne climbing in the drivers side. Sunflower reached up and slid the door to the front open and motioned Cecily and Rayne back into the back of the van.

Is it ok to speak? Rayne signed.

“It is,” Sunflower said out loud. “We just got done talking to Ian, he’s going to send all the paper that one needs before starting to really get into stuff. Something that he’s sending Amethyst is a pair of ROI forms, just in case she opts to allow us to have access.” Rayne and Sunflower both turned to look at Amethyst at the same time.

“It’s not required that you allow either of us this access.” Rayne said. “It would be useful to have if it’s needed, but not required. We will also make sure that a copy of the POA gets on file.” Sunflower looked at Rayne and back to Amethyst.

“We will be as involved in this as you want us to be,” Sunflower said. “I’ve had Rayne in my sessions with Ian, Rayne and I have both sat in on sessions with Cecily, It’s not just therapy, we’ve both been there for her doctors appointments. Now granted, her situation and the relationship that her and I have is very different from the relationship that Rayne, you and I have.”

“I trust the two of you with my life,” Amethyst said. “I trust that if I allow you access to all of my medical care that it won’t get blabbed about in front of anyone that doesn’t need to know and that you two will use that information to help keep me safe.”

“Mommy and Mama will take good care of you…” Cecily said. She’d only been partially paying attention to the discussion. Amethyst reached over and hugged the younger girl.

“I know they will. I’ve seen them with you.” Amethyst said. She looked at Sunflower and Rayne. “I will give you both access via the ROI. It will be easier to have it set up if something happens rather than try to set it up during it. I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit worried about what will happen when I start to tell Ian of my past…”

Sunflower and Rayne looked at each other, there was something that they didn’t know, and whatever it was it wasn’t good. “Cecily, can you put your earbuds in and turn on some YouTube videos or find something to entertain you quietly while Mama and Mommy talk to Amethyst, please?”

“I can,” Cecily said, grabbing her backpack and pulling out a pair of earbuds and slipping them in her ears. Sunflower knew that Cecily’s earbuds would block out all the sound around her. Sunflower, Rayne and Amethyst all huddled close so they could talk quietly.

“Ok, What are you worried about telling Ian?” Sunflower asked.

“Remember when I told you that I tried to take the easy way out when I was fifteen?” Amethyst said. She watched as Sunflower and Rayne both nodded. “After that, I was inpatient for a month…. I learned a lot about me and how to deal with the feelings that I had. I’m worried that when Ian finds out, he is going to send me back.” She paused and chewed on her lower lip. “Sunflower, yesterday, you told Cecily that if you were in a position to attempt to retain custody of Cecily that you would do so.” She stopped talking and looked at Rayne and Sunflower, hoping they understood where the unstated part of the sentence was going.

“Does that apply to you?” Rayne asked. They watched as Amethyst nodded. “Yes. It does. That applies to all of us. We’re all going to fight for each other, because sometimes family is the only thing that is worth fighting for.”

“The Power of Attorney forms are not just for show,” Sunflower said. “We both are ready to stand up and advocate for you if something happens. I will tell you that I’ve talked to Ian about this very topic. He had told me that hospitalization is something that is one of the very last things that he will do. So it’s going to take a lot for him to get to that point.”

“That makes me feel better,” Amethyst said. “I’m just nervous with what’s been happening in your dreams, Sunflower. Is it really that easy to hold someone?”

“Yes,” Sunflower said quietly. “It is. But here’s the thing: they have to be able to prove that you need to be there or they have to release you.” She paused. “Doesn’t mean it won’t be scary, doesn’t mean that it’s right, but that POA that you signed giving us the ability to do things, that is for a worst case scenario like that.”

“I’ve gotten better…” Amethyst said quietly. “I still struggle, but please don’t let me go back…” Amethyst started visibly shaking. Sunflower and Rayne both looked at each other.

“We’re going to keep you with us…” Sunflower said softly. Can you have Cecily move to the front of the front of the van? She signed to Rayne, who nodded.

Rayne went over and tapped Cecily on the shoulder. Can you go sit in the passenger seat? Mama needs the bed to help Amethyst with something.

Okay Cecily signed back and stood, smiled at Amethyst and Sunflower and went up to the passenger seat.

Sunflower moved to the bed and picked up Rainbow and handed her to Amethyst. Amethyst held on to Rainbow for dear life. “Amethyst, where are you? What’s going through that head of yours?”

“I want out…” Amethyst said; her voice was flat and monotone. Sunflower wrapped Cecily’s weighted blanket around Amethyst. “I don’t want to be in this cage any more.”

Is she back there? Rayne signed.

Seems like it Sunflower signed back. This is similar to when Cecily has a flashback… Cecily having flashbacks to her being in the high acuity unit at Forest Lawn.

“Amethyst,” Rayne said, calmly. “Tell me five things you can see.” Sunflower nodded.

“I can see…” The voice was still monotone, the normal lilt of it still missing. “A door with a window,” This caused Rayne and Sunflower to look around the back of the van. It had started it’s life as a cargo van and there were no windows in the back. “And the bed, it’s a dull grey metal frame with white sheets.”

Ward?" Rayne signed to Sunflower.

Sounds like it… Sunflower signed back. That sounds like the beds at Forest Lawn… I’m debating on pinching her… The two of them looked at Amethyst, who sat, eyes open but not speaking.

“Is there a window to outside?” Sunflower asked.

“No.” Amethyst said quietly. “I’m wearing a hospital gown. It’s scratchy and I don’t like it.” To emphasize, she reached up and rubbed her shoulder right around her collar bone. Just as suddenly as this had started, Amethyst looked down and saw that she was holding Rainbow and then she just leaned into Sunflower, buried her head in the slightly older girls chest and started sobbing. “I’m not going back to a place like that again.” Her voice was broken, in between sobs.

“I assure you that Ian isn’t going to send you back there unless he really thinks you’re a danger to yourself.” she said reassuringly. She was stroking Amethyst’s shoulder length blonde hair. “And trust me: that’s gonna take a bit…” Amethyst looked up at Sunflower.

“You promise?” Amethyst said.

“I promise.” Sunflower said. “Rayne, were you able to get my meds?”

“No, they wouldn’t give me yours,” Rayne replied. “Something about us being from out of town; they need you to go in and get yours. Why?””

“Well,” Sunflower glanced from Rayne to Amethyst. “I told Amethyst that if she wanted we would see if we can find her a friend, so if you’re ok with it, I’ll take our little one in with me and we will look for a friend for her.”

“I’m good with it, if Amethyst is good as well.” Rayne said. “I was thinking doing mac and cheese with hotdogs for dinner?”

“Sounds good to me…” Sunflower said. “Amethyst, do you want to go in with Mama?”

“I can,” Amethyst shrugged the twenty pound blanket off of her. “I trust the two of you completely. I’m just nervous…”

Chapter 14

Sunflower glanced at the monitor that showed Amethyst and Cecily both laying in the bed, having been tucked in about an hour before. “I’m thinking that we should both keep a log how Amethyst is doing and see if we can pinpoint anything else that we might need to bring up to Ian.”

“What do you mean?” Rayne asked, doing her normal glance around the front of the van. “About behaviors, reactions, that kind of thing?”

“Yeah,” Sunflower glanced at the monitor that showed the back of the van because she saw movement; Amethyst had dropped Peanut, her new teddy bear. “Hang on, gonna go give Peanut back to the kid; she dropped them again.” Cecily still had Rainbow in her hands, although it was harder to lose the penguin because she was trapped under a twenty pound blanket that was strapped down over the girl.

“Be careful…” Rayne said. ”I don’t see any vehicles that might be problematic.”

“Ok.” Sunflower said. She unbuckled her seat belt and quietly slid the door open, stepping into the back of the van. She picked Peanut up, knocked any debris that they had picked up from the quick stay on the floor and placed the bear back in Amethyst’s arms. The girl was having better luck with her paci, which hadn’t fallen out of her mouth. They would have to get one that was properly sized, but for now the one that they had picked up when they got the bear was doing the job. Sunflower rocked with the gentle motion of the van as she bent over and gave Amethyst a kiss on the forehead before making her way back to the front of the van. “It safe for me to come up?”

“Looks clear,” Rayne said. She glanced over as Sunflower shut the door to the back of the van and sat back in the passenger seat. “You know, Cecily really liked riding up here and being able to see everything.” When they had left the Walmart parking lot that they had stopped at in El Reno, Sunflower and Amethyst were in the back discussing things and filling out the paperwork for Amethyst’s being able to see Ian, as well as for Rayne and Sunflower’s access to anything from the appointments.

*“I bet she did…” Sunflower said. “She rarely gets to ride up front, but a lot of the time, it’s by her choice, not because she’s not allowed.” There was no rule that said that the youngest member of the household couldn’t ride up front, but if she went with any combination of the other three people in the household, she rode in the back. If all four of them went in one car, then Amethyst joined Cecily in the back seat. The only time that Cecily really rode up front was if Rayne was driving; the girl rode in the back seat when Amethyst or Sunflower drove. The topic had even come up in sessions with Samantha: Cecily felt more comfortable in the back seat. After Sunflower and Amethyst had come out of Walmart the two of them had sat in the back of van and had gone over the paperwork that Ian sent over. *

“Did you get all of the paperwork filled out?” Rayne asked, not glancing in Sunflower’s direction.

“Yeah,” Sunflower looked out into the darkness that was Western Oklahoma. They’d been on the road for about three hours and would need to stop again soon for potty breaks if nothing else. She grabbed her water bottle and took a swig. “Everything except for the family history. She said she needs to contact her parents about that.”

“That makes sense.” Rayne replied, reaching over and turning the headlights on. “That’s going to be a hard conversation for her to have with her parents.”

“Yeah,” Sunflower said. “One of the questions that she’s answered already is the one about previous stays… Poor thing had a flashback.”

“You did explain to her that it would take her actively trying to harm herself for Ian to pink slip her, right?” Rayne asked, glancing over at Sunflower.

“Yes…” Sunflower replied, glancing over at Rayne. “But, when you’re reliving something that was traumatic, the brain doesn’t even process the present; it fully believes that it’s back at the time of the traumatic incident. Cecily has had them talking to Samantha, and she knows that Samantha is very unlikely to pink slip her. She’s more likely to suggest PHP than to admit someone…” Samantha had, in fact, done just that with Cecily; about a month after her stay she had relapsed and had self harmed between her last appointment and the one where Samantha had noticed. “That appointment was rough…”

“I remember that…” Rayne said. “You almost threw in the towel on being a caregiver…” It had been very hard to get Cecily to go to the PHP sessions. She had been afraid that Samantha was going to put her back in-patient so soon after she had been discharged. Cecily had done the PHP and learned a thing or three about other coping mechanisms.

“Yeah, Not one of my more proud moments…” Sunflower said. “But that’s part of why I see Ian every week…” Sunflower looked out the window and was silent for a bit. Rayne let her have her time to think. “I remember sobbing into your chest that night. I thought I was going to end up loosing my baby for a second time and that I had failed to take care of her. I’m never going to let that happen again…” Sunflower turned toward Rayne and Rayne could see that tears had streamed down her face while she was looking out the window. “Never again…”

“I know,” Rayne said, reassuringly. She reached over and gently rubbed Sunflower’s shoulder. It was the easiest body part for her to reach. “I’m not going to let it happen either…”

“We’ve got a five to seven year old, and a probably seven to nine year old back there…They are trusting us to guide them, protect them, and keep them healthy.” Sunflower paused. “My parents gave up on actually trying to take care of my brother and I… By the time that we were in middle school, my parents were largely hands off. As long as we were home by the time the street lights came on and we didn’t get in trouble they didn’t care. I refuse to be distant like my mother. I want to know where my kids are every moment of the day; I want to know when they get places and when they leave. The world is scary and complicated. It’s up to us to fix the system…”

“What system?” Rayne asked.

“The one that says that adults have to always act like adults and not like children.” Sunflower looked at Rayne in the dim light of the dashboard. “Do you know the looks when I took overalls and stuffies to Forest Lawn. I got looked at like I belonged on the inside with Cecily for bringing comfort items to someone that was in a psych ward…”

”Sunflower,” Rayne said.

“Sunflower…” Rayne’s voice came from the drivers side of the van.

“Huh?” Sunflower said, jerking awake. She looked around; it looked like they were at a different Walmart. “Where are we?”

“We’re about 40 miles from the Oklahoma-Texas border…” Rayne said, pulling into a parking spot and turning ~~the exterior lights to ~~the van off. “It’s sixty-two degrees outside. You want to get out and talk about it?” Rayne watched as Sunflower rubbed her eyes and then reached for the door handle. Sunflower got out, and shivered; the sixty-two degree air was a lot cooler than the very accustomed to seventy-four in the van. “Tell me what’s going on…”

“Nothing…” Sunflower glared at Rayne.

“Look,” Rayne said looking around the parking lot before locking eyes with the slightly older girl. “I know that you’ve been having nightmares and that you’re worried that it’s going to affect how Cecily and Amethyst see you.” Rayne sighed. “Sunflower I’m worried about you and your sleeping…"

“I’m sleeping enough…” Sunflower replied.

“Sleeping, sure,” Rayne said. “Is it restful? Do I need to give you a bedtime?”

“It’s not restful…” Sunflower admitted, reaching up and rubbing her eyes. “I’ve got too much going on in my head. Even when I’m awake, all I can think of is all of the ways that Cecily’s parents can try to take her from us… And you know that is something that will keep me up at night. I know that the odds of her being taken from us are slim, but…” her voice trailed off as she looked to the setting sun in the west. “It still keeps me up at night…” She watched the sun very slowly drift down out of sight behind the trees in the distance. “A bedtime wouldn’t help… I’d just get frustrated and get up and do things.”

“You had another one, didn’t you?” Rayne asked, suddenly figuring out what was going on.

“Yeah…” Sunflower said quietly. She looked at the ground. “Let me go check on the girls and turn off the cameras, I want this conversation to be as close to private as we can get it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sunflower said, leaning on the front of the van, enjoying the heat from the engine. Rayne climbed out of the van a few moments later, carrying a grey hoodie. Sunflower slipped the hoodie over her head.

“You looked cold…” Rayne said, looking off into the distance. “You’re not the only one that can take care of everyone else. The girls are working on school stuff; let’s talk about it.” Rayne’s tone was one of concern.

Sunflower sighed. “It started with us in the front of the van… we were talking about keeping track of anything that we might need to bring up to Ian once she starts seeing him on a regular basis.” She paused and looked at Rayne. “We were in the front seat of the van, but the girls were asleep and Amethyst had dropped Peanut. I went back and gave her peanut back. You told me that Cecily liked riding up front, which I knew, but that her doing so isn’t common.” Sunflower paused, and looked at Rayne. “You asked if we got the paperwork done, and we had, but in the process she had a flashback to her stay in the ward.” Sunflower paused again. “In the dream the flashback was a lot worse than the one she had when we were in the back of the van.” Sunflower sighed. “Do we have to do this?”

“What else happened?” Rayne asked. There was a tone to her voice that caused Sunflower to look at the ground in front of her. “I’m asking because I need to know what is going on in your head. I can’t take care of our children like you do. You’re their mom, They both need you. I need you; I need you to be healthy and functional. So yes, we have to do this.” Sunflower reached up and wiped a tear from her face. The second tear was stopped by Rayne. “It’s not worth crying over.”

“Fucking hell…” Sunflower snapped. “Our kids are very much worth crying over. They have both been pink slipped at least once. They both know how easy it is to snatch someone. No, they are worth crying over; they are worth protecting with everything we have.” Sunflower looked at Rayne, who looked slightly shocked. “I rambled to you in the dream about how by the time my brother and I were in middle school, my parents were largely hands off as long as we were home by the time the street lights came on. I refuse to be distant when it comes to our kids. I want to know where they are, where they are going, when they get there, and when they leave. I told you that this world is scary and complicated; and it is. We have two kids that use going back to childhood as a way to cope with it. I had the staff at Forest Lawn look at me like I belonged on the inside when I took Rainbow and Balto to Cecily. If stuffed animals help to bring comfort to someone that is going through trauma, who are we to argue with that?” Sunflower looked at Rayne. “Sorry for the language.”

“You don’t have any rules limiting language.” Rayne said. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go into psychology instead of Computer Science?”

“I would probably just tell everyone to regress to deal with it.” Sunflower laughed. “I would get too involved in everyone’s lives to be effective at being a psychologist…” The larger issue was that she had done enough research and study in the field that she had a very good grasp on the concepts of what she was talking about. She had done her final paper for her Psych 201 class on the benefits of regression as a therapy method. She had netted an A on the paper and an A in the class along with a suggestion that she switch majors to psychology. She had considered it, but that was before she became very involved in Cecily’s life in a parental role.

“Remember, I tried to regress to help me and it didn’t work.” Rayne said, chuckling. “I didn’t mind giving it a shot though…”

“That’s often what’s required to find the right thing to do.” Sunflower said. She looked at Rayne in the lights that lit up the parking lot. “Thank you for forcing me to talk about it now and deal with the emotions. I don’t want a repeat of what happened after Cecily was involuntarily admitted…” In the moment, Sunflower had been calm, cool and collected, trying to guide Rayne and Cecily through the system. There had been so much to learn about how to handle things and it had to be a crash course. That was why there was so much done now to solve some of the headaches of that month long stay. It had taken the possibility of Cecily doing PHP again to break the bottle that all those emotions had been stored in. When everything was all said and done, there had been what amounted to an emergency session with Ian that had lasted several hours. Ian had almost told Rayne to take Sunflower to the Urgent care at Forest Lawn for a hold, but he had talked her down from doing anything rash and figured that, with all the safeguards in the house to take care of Cecily, Sunflower would be ok. For about a week, Sunflower was kept under constant watch. It had been a lot for Rayne, who wasn’t used to having to keep close tabs on someone, let alone two people at the same time. Rayne had done something to Sunflower that she had never done: she grounded her to the house and kept tabs on her via the cameras. Cecily even helped to take care of Sunflower.

“I can’t do this without you.” Rayne said, glancing over as a police car pulled into the lot and parked in the far corner of the lot. He left his parking lights on and just sat there. Rayne had the feeling that they were being observed. “When we get back in the van, let’s see what the girls want to do for dinner. I’m ok with going somewhere to get something and coming back.” She tipped her head toward where the cruiser sat. “I don’t know if he’s here because of us or if he’s just doing paper work. While we are working on getting dinner sorted, I want you to type up the nightmare and send it off to Ian. I need you 100% functional. I can’t take care of all three of you and if something happens out here, it’s going to be even harder to take care of things…”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said. That was as much a direct command as it was a suggestion. “Cecily will probably want chicken nuggies…”

“Then we shall acquire some chicken nuggies for her.” Rayne smiled at Sunflower. “I love you, and I’m so glad to have you in my life.”

“I love you too.” Even though the four girls made a polycule, the two primary couples were Rayne and Amethyst, and Sunflower and Cecily. “I’m glad you’re in my life too, I don’t know that I’d be as happy as I am without you. The two girls kissed and then went and got in the van. Once they had closed the doors to the outside, they opened the door to the back to allow the heat up front and also so that they could go back and sit with the girls.

“It’s almost dinner time, What do we want to do?” Sunflower asked.

“Uh…” Cecily said, looking sheepish. Amethyst blushed. Sunflower and Rayne looked from Cecily to Amethyst and back.

“What’s up?” Rayne asked. Something was happening and the ‘adults’ weren’t privy to what it was…

“We…” Amethyst said. “Got into the fridge and made sandwiches. We didn’t know what you two were doing and made something that we were allowed to make.”

“You’re not in trouble.” Sunflower said, turning to Rayne. “What do you want to eat, since these two already ate.”

“Just because we ate doesn’t mean that we can’t eat more…” Cecily said giggling.

“Ok, So what do we want?” Sunflower responded. “Probably want something where we can get kids meals for the little ones.”

“I mean, McDonalds works for me, I’d have to look at a map to see what all is around here…” Rayne said. “Give me a few to see what we have around here.” Rayne disappeared into the front of the van.

“Mama?” Amethyst said.

“Yes, sweetie?” Sunflower said, leaning against the wall that separated the cabin from the front of the van.

“Is it ok if I have my pacifier clipped to my shirt when we go out?” Amethyst moved the pacifier between her fingers and looked at the floor.

“I, personally, have no problem with it,” Sunflower said, “but there are a lot of people out there that wouldn’t understand. You will get looks from adults and kids alike; most of the normies don’t get it. We’re different and they don’t like it. If you want to carry your paci, I’d say carrying it in your purse would be ok, but having it clipped to your clothes where it would be problematic.”

“Is there something that we could maybe get that would be more accepted?” Amethyst asked quietly. “I want something that I can chew or suck on if I get anxious or something.”

“I found us a Wendy’s, Everyone stable enough to roll?” Rayne asked from up front.

“The girls are sitting in the bed,” Sunflower said, watching both Cecily and Amethyst buckle their seatbelts. “And are now buckled in; I’m going to sit in the swivel.”

“Ok,” Rayne said from up front. ”Can you get a list of what the three of you want and text it to me?”

“Yep,” Sunflower said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and typing what Cecily and her wanted. When she was done, she looked at Amethyst. “What do you want from Wendy’s?”

“Can I get a Dave’s Double, only cheese and lettuce, and a large fry?” Amethyst said. Sunflower typed what the girl wanted into the phone and sending the message to Rayne.

“Done.” Sunflower said. She reached down and unlocked the swivel and spun the chair so that she could see Amethyst. “So what is the reasoning for asking if you can have your paci clipped to your shirt when we are out and about?” Sunflower watched as Amethyst put her paci in her mouth, and then signed Because it’s already become a comfort item and I don’t want to be without it.”

“It’s become a comfort item?” Sunflower questioned. “That was… fast.”

“I didn’t expect it to be that fast either…” Amethyst mumbled around the pacifier. She sat against the back of the bed, cradling Peanut like a baby. “It is a safe item.”

“Ok, After we get you girls to bed, I’ll see if Mommy will let me get on the internet and I’ll see if I can find you some things that might be useable while we’re in public.” Sunflower said, feeling the van slow. She spun the chair and looked at the monitor, they were making the right turn into the parking lot of Wendy’s.

“Right turn,” Rayne said from up front.

“Ok.” Sunflower responded, She watched as the van entered the drive through line and stopped. There were a few cars in front of them. “I think i know of something we might be able to use, I’ll have to find them on the internet…”

“What are we talking about?” Rayne asked. She’d heard bits of the conversation, but was still in the dark as to what was being discussed.

“Amethyst was asking if she could clip her paci to her shirt and leave it there if we were out of the van.” Sunflower said, leaning toward the middle of the van so that Rayne could hear her better. She stole a glance at Amethyst, who was blushing. “She told me that the paci has already become a comfort item and she doesn’t want to be without it.”

“I mean, Cecily is the same way with her collar.” Rayne and Sunflower could determine a lot about what was going through Cecily’s head based on how she was holding on to her collar. There was a very slight grip to full on a two hand white knuckle tight grip. A slight grip on the collar or leashing ring was a sign that she was content and nothing was majorly wrong. The two handed, white knuckle grip was indicative of something being majorly wrong, stress, or anxiety. This usually also had dissociation and non normal speech patterns for the girl. It always troubled Cecily when Sunflower would remove the collar for cleaning, which only happened maybe twice a year and the collar and cuffs were never removed at the same time.

“Let’s discuss this over dinner, I might have some ideas…” Rayne said, letting the thought trail off as the van rolled forward.

“Ok,” Sunflower said; She glanced at Amethyst. “Mommy will help us figure out something…” Sunflower watched as Amethyst nodded.

Sunflower watched as Cecily rolled over and glanced in her direction. Amethyst, Rayne and Sunflower had been trying to come up with something to substitute for the pacifier that would be more socially acceptable. “What time is it?” Cecily asked.

“It’s nine thirty…” Sunflower said, glancing at her phone. “You’ve been out for about thirty minutes. Would you like me to tuck you in?”

“Please?” Cecily yawned, this caused Amethyst to yawn as well.

“Can you tuck me in too, Mama?” Amethyst asked..

“Sure can…” Sunflower said. “Cecily, since we’re not in motion and we’re not going to be, you have the option to not be strapped down. Which do you want to do?”

“Can I not be strapped down?” Cecily asked, shyly. “I love the straps, but I’d like to be able to move…”

“Ok,” Sunflower watched as Cecily laid down in the bed. The straps were affixed to the bed in such a way that if they weren't in use, they would tuck between the mattress and the frame of the bed. “Tuck the straps in between the frame and the mattress.”

“Otay…” Cecily said. She turned and tucked one side of the straps in the crevice. Amethyst did the same with the other side, and then smiled at Sunflower.

“I helps” She said.

“You did.” Sunflower replied, smiling. Rayne“ Good girl; Amethyst, you need to get jammies on, you’re not sleeping in your clothes…”

“But I’m warm…” Amethyst whined. “If I change, I won’t be warm any more.” Sunflower glanced at the thermostat for the heater, it was set to sixty eight, and Amethyst was sitting there, under a blanket.

“You can change under that blanket and you will be ok;” Sunflower glanced at Rayne.

“We can turn the heat up a bit if that would help you…” Rayne said, smiling at Sunflower. They watched as Amethyst looked at them, her eyes darting between the two adults.

“What’s going on?” Amethyst asked suspiciously.

“It’s not cold in here…” Sunflower said. “We can either turn the heat up a little, or you can change under the blanket. Trust me the changing under the blanket works…”

“It does…” Cecily said quietly. She was already dressed in her sleeper, having put it back on when they had gotten back in the van after the stop for meds and the appointment that Sunflower and Amethyst had with Ian. “I would do it when I was in the Boy Scouts…” She glanced at Sunflower, who gave a slight nod. “It works best when you put what you’re going to change into under with you and let it warm up. It’s also easier with a sleeping bag, but I’ve done it with blankets before…”

“I remember that from camping when I was a kid the first time.” Amethyst said, grabbing the pants and shirt she was going to sleep in and pulling them under the blanket. “It’s been a while since I’ve done it though.”

“You do however,” Rayne started. “Have a dilemma…”

Amethyst stopped in mid wiggle as she was trying to slip her pants off and not exit under the blanket. “I do?”

“Yeah…” Sunflower replied. “Who clipped your paci to your shirt?”

Amethyst blushed. “Mama did.”

“Which means,” Rayne said smiling at Sunflower. “That only Mama or I can remove it from your shirt.”

Cecily giggled. She knew the game they were playing: They were playing confuse the little one. The younger girl glanced at Rayne and Sunflower. “Can I have my pacifier?” Cecily’s pacifier was clipped to one of the thin metal bars that formed the rack for the laptops to slide into. Since Rayne was the closest to where the pacifier was hanging, she unclipped it and put it in Cecily’s mouth, finally clipping the clip to her sleeper. “Thank you.” She mumbled around the pacifier.

Sunflower watched as Amethyst dropped a pair of pants |is this what she had on?| out from under the blanket. A few seconds later the shirt came out, the pacifier dangling from its strap. Sunflower took the shirt and unclipped the pacifier from it. She waited until Amethyst had stopped wiggling under the blanket before she went to reclip the pacifier to Amethyst’s pajamas.

Rayne and Sunflower sat in the front seats of the van, both looking at Amazon to see if they could find something that would be suitable for Amethyst to use in public. “We might need to what she is wanting to do with it to help pick the right things…” Rayne said. Amethyst’s description of what she wanted to do was slightly vague. It wasn’t clear if she wanted something to just have in her mouth or if she wanted something she could suck or bite on.

“I agree…” Sunflower glanced at the monitor that showed the two girls sleeping in the bed. Without Cecily being strapped down, Amethyst and Cecily had rolled together and were intertwined in the bed. The good news was that they were all the way against the inside edge of the bed and weren't likely to fall out; it just meant that Sunflower would be sleeping on the outside edge. As long as there was no chance of either Amethyst or Cecily falling out of the bed, she was ok.

“Did you ever type up the nightmare from yesterday up and send it to Ian?” Rayne asked, looking at the dark display of Sunflower’s laptop.

“No,” Sunflower followed Rayne’s gaze to the display. “I need to do that still…”

“After you do that, why don’t you do a quick wipe down with the wipes, I will as well and we can get Cecily and Amethyst to do the same tomorrow. None of us have wiped down since we left Ohio…” Rayne gave Sunflower a slight smile. They had been on the road for three days and they had only been doing basic hygiene.

“Sounds good,” Sunflower said. “I’ll type up the nightmare if you want to go back and grab the wipes.” Sunflower reached up and pushed a key of the laptop waking it. She opened the application that she used for taking notes and started typing. Rayne could see a number of files in the folder that she was working in; she knew that Sunflower kept copies of every message that was sent between her and Ian. Sunflower glanced up as Rayne got up and went into the back of the van and grabbed the wipes. While Sunflower was typing, she caught a glimpse of movement on the monitor as it cycled through the cameras that could see the exterior of the van. She wasn’t sure what it was that she had seen, but she waited for the screen to cycle back around. The screen flipped to show the camera that was mounted on the back of the van and there were two guys standing there. Sunflower paused the rotation waved her arm to attract Rayne’s attention. Rayne looked at the monitor and stopped what she was doing. She watched the two guys for a few moments, and then tapped Amethyst on the shoulder.

“Ungh” Amethyst mumbled, rolling over to look at Rayne, who held her finger up to her lips. There are two guys at the back door right now, How do you want to handle?

What do they want? Amethyst signed back as she sat up.

Unknown. Rayne I’m thinking light the exterior up…

Let’s start there… Amethyst unclipped the pacifier from her shirt. Hopefully, the van lighting up like daylight will scare them off. Rayne walked over to the control panel and put all four of her fingers on the switches to light the exterior lights up. Amethyst had grabbed a staff and was ready to open the side door and jump out. The two of them looked at each other and nodded. Rayne threw the switches as Amethyst opened the door and jumped out. A few seconds later, Rayne was standing one step behind and to Amethyst’s left.

“Can we help you with something?” Amethyst shouted, startling the two that were trying to figure out where all the light had suddenly come from.

“We thought our buddy left this van with supplies for us…” one of the two guys said.

“Not quite…” Amethyst said. She watched the other guy try to conceal a pry bar. She was leaning on her staff like she was using it to support herself. Rayne had watched her practice with the staff and knew that she could be downright dangerous with it. What she was doing now was being as disarming as possible. Amethyst was distracted as a car turned down the aisle that the van sat it. The guy with the pry bar decided to use that moment to swing at Amethyst, who blocked the pry bar and then used her staff to hit the guy between the legs. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. There was more white light and some red and blue lights as the car that had turned down the aisle turned on his beacons and stopped the car. Amethyst started to slowly lay her staff on the ground as the other guy decided to start running. She tossed the staff and caught the guy that was trying to run between his feet and watched him go down. Two deputies got out of the cruiser and walked over and cuffed the two guys. Amethyst and Rayne stood there, hands visible as the deputies searched the two guys. There was a muted click as the door on the side of the van was released and slid shut. Sunflower had unlocked the door from the locked open position to try to keep some heat inside.

“What’s going on here?” One of the deputies walked up to Amethyst and Rayne and asked.

Rayne gave a slight nod to Amethyst to indicate that it was ok for her to talk to the deputy for them. “These two were attempting to break into our camper….” She said, glancing at the two guys that were handcuffed and laying on the ground. “the one that had the pry bar in his hands decided to swing at me, I blocked him and took him down with my staff…”

“And the other one?” The deputy asked.

“He tried to run away…” Amethyst said, shrugging.

“Where did you learn that?” The deputy asked, he had seen it all happen and it happened so fast that he wasn’t sure what had happened.

“I’m a black belt in Aikido…” Sunflower said.

“Ok, Can I get your ID’s?” The deputy asked, glancing at the two of them.

“They are in the van…” Rayne said, speaking for the first time. “And there are two others with us, one of them is asleep.

“Ok,” The deputy said. He watched Rayne go to the side door of the van. She opened it and climbed in. Sunflower was laying in the bed holding Cecily who looked like she was crying.

“The cold woke her,” Sunflower said. “I see that the cops are already here…”

“Yeah,” Rayne said, pulling her back pack out from where it had been stowed behind the passenger seat. “I think they were already coming to take a look for these two.” She pulled the two ID’s that she needed out of her wallet and left the backpack on the seat. She reached over and set the thermostat to seventy four to help combat the cold air that was coming in via the door that wasn’t completely shut. “I turned the heat up, that should help keep the van warm for the two of you…” Rayne got out of the van, leaving the door slightly cracked.

Sunflower cuddled in between Amethyst and Cecily. “Goodnight girls,” She said. “Sleep well.”

Chapter 15

Sunflower and Ian walked up the where Rayne was sitting with Samantha. Samantha had a scowl on her face

”What’s up?” Sunflower asked as she sat next to Rayne.

”Where do I start?” Samantha said. “They said they had to sedate her, but no one bothered to look at her chart to see if she was allergic to anything; luckily she’s not in that class of medications… Sunflower, you’re on an ROI that doesn't have an expiration date, you should have been told what was going on by someone.” She paused as one of the security vehicles pulled in and stopped in front of the building. “Right now, I don’t know if I can do anything. They aren’t going to let the two of you see her until tomorrow at the earliest and maybe not even then depending on what unit they put her in. I haven’t been able to talk to the staff doc yet, but I’m going to be trying.”

”Samantha,” Sunflower said quietly. “Within the last few weeks, I have obtained guardianship of Cecily, in every respect.” She looked at Ian and then back at Samantha. “About the only thing I haven’t done is attempt to adopt her.”

”I’m not sure that will help right this second; You have the same power with the DPOA…” Samantha said. “But keep that in your hand, it’s your Ace in the hole…”

”So right now, there is nothing we can do?” Sunflower asked, sounding defeated “This is going to set her back months. Any idea what unit she will be placed in?”

”Not yet…” Samantha glanced up from her phone. “I’m looking at her chart, So far the staff doctor hasn’t even been in to see her.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s just after three, and on Friday… I don’t know that she will get an evaluation today, and unfortunately, weekends don’t count for the 72 hour clock. They have until Tuesday to either prove that she needs to be held and get a court order stating such, get her to voluntarily sign her self in, or release her.” Samantha looked at Rayne and Sunflower. “I will not be of any part of trying to hold her for any reason.” There was a ding from Samantha’s phone and she glanced at it. “I’ll be right back, the staff doc wants to talk to me.” Sunflower and Rayne watched her walk back over to the door that would give her access to the secured part of the building.

”I wish I had read that paper more thoroughly” Sunflower said, a sigh escaping her mouth. “I worry that I was tricked into this.”

”Well,” Rayne said, glancing at Ian. “The good news is that we’ve told her not to sign anything without us present.”

”Well,” Ian said. “Given that Sunflower has complete guardianship of Cecily, It’s a moot point. Her signature is worth as much as a five year olds…”

”How do you figure?” Sunflower tipped her head, not following the statement that Ian had made.

”The second you were appointed guardian, she lost the ability to sign documents on her own.” Ian said. “I’m rather well versed in this and even though Cecily is an adult by age, the guardianship effectively turned her back into a child…”

”There was no turning her back into a child…” Sunflower smiled. “She never grew up.” ~~Rayne and Sunflower’s phones both chimed.~~ All three of their phones ~~rang~~ chimed and they looked at them. “Looks like Samantha wants us to meet her in the lobby and to bring all of the paperwork and the stuff for Cecily with us.” The three of them stood up and walked over to the cars.

”I have the DPOA in my briefcase” Rayne said, pulling the bag that she had packed for Cecily out of the trunk. She handed the bag to Sunflower; Rainbow’s head stuck out of the top of the bag.

”Well,” Sunflower hefted the bag up onto her shoulder. “If you have the DPOA, then you also have a copy of the letter of guardianship… I made a copy and put it in the folder.””

”Ok. That’s good to know,” Rayne said, shutting the trunk. “Where is your purse?”

”It’s in the trunk of my car, I’m going to grab it in a second.” Sunflower said, fishing her keys out of her pocket. She popped the trunk and pulled the backpack that served as her purse out and put it on her back. “Ok, let’s go…” The three of them walked into the main lobby of Building F, where they found Samantha standing with a man in a suit as well as the receptionist that Sunflower had argued with an hour prior. There were several forms that were laid out on the counter and the man in the suit held a piece of paper as well. The receptionist glared at Sunflower.

”Sunflower, Rayne, I’d like you to meet Doctor James Tobias, He’s the staff doctor on duty from two in the afternoon until ten at night. Doctor Peter Upton is the first shift doctor and he briefly saw Cecily, but he left at two. I have a call in to see if we can speak to him.” She turned to Doctor Tobias. “The gentlemen with the girls is Doctor Ian Edwards, He is Sunflower’s therapist.” She then turned to the papers that were laid out on the counter. ”Sunflower, do you see the form that you signed laying here?”

Sunflower glanced at the forms that were laid out. She realized that Samantha was trying to figure out what for Sunflower had signed. “It looked Ike this on the top, but this on the bottom.” She picked up two forms and stacked them the way that she had seen the form when she signed it. “But it didn’t look like two separate sheets when I signed it.”

”That’s because it wasn’t…” Samantha said. “It was a combination of two forms that had been put together in such a way that tricked you into thinking that you were verifying address and insurance information, not signing her in on a seventy two hour hold.”

”Let’s go to my office…” Dr. Tobias said. The conversation was starting to attract the attention of the few people that were in the lobby of the building. “I want to try to understand exactly what happened and I want to explain how we’re going to fix it.”

”With all due respect,” Sunflower said. “Right now the only three people that are here that I trust are Dr. O’Neal, Dr. Edwards and Rayne. I don’t trust you and I am most certainly not going to allow my self to be led into a controlled portion of this facility where I may not be able to extricate myself.” Sunflower felt Rayne’s hand on her back. She relaxed a bit.

”Miss Jenkins,” Dr. Tobias said. “I can assure you that you will be leaving this facility unless you do something to show myself, Dr. O’Neal or Dr. Edwards, although not part of our staff, that you pose a risk of harm to yourself or others. I feel that Dr. O’Neal and Dr. Edwards both know you well enough to properly judge your mental state. The only reason I’d like to go to my office is because I have access to all the charts from there and I can have security pull video and help us get to the bottom of what is happening and what we can do to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

Sunflower looked at Dr. Tobias. “Is your office behind a door that is key-carded for entry or both entry and exit?”

”It’s behind a door that is only key-carded one way: to gain access. To exit, all you have to do is push a button…” Dr. Tobias said. “I assure you that you will be leaving here today, and you will be most likely taking Cecily with you.”

”What do you mean ‘most likely’?” Sunflower asked. “Let’s go to your office.” Dr. Tobias turned and walked toward a door and swiped an access badge over the reader, which beeped and had a green light. He pulled the door open and Samantha was the first one through the doorway. Sunflower was next, and she saw the button for to release the magnetic lock. “No tricks?”

“No tricks, Scouts honor…” Dr. Tobias said, holding his right hand up, pinky finger and thumb forming a circle with the remaining three fingers vertical. Sunflower knew the gesture; Cecily had explained how sacred it was and that when a Scout did something like that, they honored it. “I am an Eagle Scout. I’ll tell you what, I’m going to let the door shut, and then I want you to push the button to make sure that it opens. I’m going to give Rayne my access card so that she can open the door.” He handed Rayne the access card after giving his lanyard a tug and disconnecting the breakaway clip.

”He’s not lying to you, Sunflower.” Dr. O’Neal said softly. “He’s trying to help us.”

“I know,” Sunflower said. “It’s just that I was apparently tricked into putting my daughter on a seventy two hour hold. I’m supposed to protect her and I was tricked.” Sunflower reached up and pushed the button to open the door, and there was the thunk of the magnetic lock release in and Sunflower reached up and pushed the door open. “Ok. I’m satisfied…”

”My goal is not to do any more trickery,” Dr. Tobias said. “As of right now, I know we’re on shaky ground. When I said ‘most likely’ I meant that it might depend on if she is still sedated. She might be spending the night with us depending on how she’s doing.”

”So, you’re saying that you’re going to release her?” Sunflower asked, as they walked into Dr. Tobias’ office.

”Please, have a seat.” Dr. Tobias said, walking around the desk and sitting in his chair. He turned to his computer and typed a bit. He pulled the notes of the nurses up and read them. Samantha and Ian both stood on either side of Sunflower’s chair. “Ok, I’m going to be honest, The only notes in here from the nursing staff was that Cecily was combative and that was why they had to sedate her.” There was a knock on the door. “Come in.” Dr. Tobias said. The door opened and two men walked in, both dressed in business casual. Dr. Tobias stood to greet the two newcomers. “Dr Upton, Dr. Reynolds, I’d like you to meet Rayne, Sunflower and Dr. Edwards. You already know Dr. O’Neal. Dr. Upton, as previously discussed is the first shift head psychiatrist; Dr. Reynolds is the head of the facility. One other person will be joining us, and that is Rebecca Watson. She’s part of our legal team.”

*”Dr. O’Neal actually called us and asked us to come in.” Dr. Reynolds said, leaning against the wall. “We’ve got ourselves an issue… James, how is Cecily as of the last time that someone had checked on her?”

“The newest notes are from about two hours ago…” Dr. Tobias replied looking at the screen. “They are from one of the admissions nurses.”

”Where is Cecily now?” Dr. Reynolds asked, looking at the monitor.

”She’s presently in one of the private rooms in Birch…” Dr. Tobias looked at Dr. Reynolds and then at Dr. Upton. “Peter, did you see her before she was taken to Birch?”

”What is Birch?” Sunflower asked. She was familiar with most of the units, but not Birch.

”Birch is a unit that we established recently, to help take care of patients with medical issues while they are staying with us here at Forest Lawn.” Dr. Reynolds said. “It’s a lot easier to treat the patients in house than to transport them to a medical hospital. It’s a fully staffed small stand alone medical facility.” Sunflower watched as Dr. Reynolds picked up the phone on Dr. Tobias’s desk and dialed a number. “Hey, it’s Dr. Reynolds…” He listened as the person on the other end of the phone said something. “Can you give me an update on a patient, her name is Cecily Roberts, and she’s in B139, I’ll hold.”

”I did see Cecily before she was taken to Birch…” Dr. Upton said. “She was being very combative; I’m the one that ordered that she be sedated to keep her from harming herself.” He paused and looked at Dr. Reynolds. “She was swinging at the nursing staff and we had to do something to protect the staff and Cecily.” He sounded like he felt like his decisions were being questioned.

Sunflower looked at Dr. Upton. “Did you read her chart, specifically the part where it states that she will regress in stressful situations? Did you do anything to comfort her? Did you attempt to explain what was going on to her? Did you review any part of her chart, including the diagnosis list?" Samantha placed her hand on Sunflower’s shoulder.

”Dr. Upton,” Dr. O’Neal said. “As Cecily’s primary psychiatrist, I have put extensive notes in about how she involuntarily regresses and that if she is ever admitted, I need to be informed at once. I need to be part of her care team, it’s a very delicate situation.” Samantha placed her left hand on Sunflower’s right shoulder. “When Sunflower referred to Cecily as her daughter that wasn’t a figment of speech. Cecily is her daughter in every respect; No decision about anything relating to Cecily’s care should be made without consulting Sunflower.”

There was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Dr. Tobias said. The door opened and a middle age woman walked in the room.

The newcomer looked around the room. “This must be serious…”

”Rebecca, please meet Sunflower Jenkins, Rayne Williams, and Dr. Edwards,” He pointed at each as he said their names. “And you know Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Upton and Dr. O’Neal…”

”Ok, Thank you.” Dr. Reynolds, said into the phone; he placed it back on the base. “Cecily’s still out… Based on the dosing, it might be another hour or two before she starts to come to.” He looked at the group in the room that was now standing because there weren’t enough chairs. Should we move this to the conference room or maybe my office, I have more chairs in there…”

Sunflower looked at him. “I’m good here…” If he was uncomfortable, so be it.

“Dr. O’Neal,” Dr. Upton said. “There is nothing in Cecily’s medical record that indicates that we are to involve Sunflower in any care decisions. As a matter of fact, there isn’t even an ROI. We shouldn’t be talking to her about this with her in the room.”

Sunflower glanced at Samantha and then at Dr. Upton. “There's an ROI in there for sure, I was standing there when it was filled out, signed and scanned in by Chelsea, one of Dr. O’Neal’s medical assistants. It’s in there…” Dr. O’Neal was tapping on a tablet that she had pulled out of her bag.

”Peter, here’s the ROI, along with my notes about Sunflower needing to be informed of every decision.” She handed the tablet to Dr. Upton, who skimmed the page. “Although, the ROI and the DPOA are both rendered null when you figure in that Sunflower sought and obtained full guardianship of Cecily.” The three doctors and Rebecca looked at each other.

”Do you have the documents with you to prove that?” Rebecca asked.

”Rayne has them because of where they were stored, but yes, they are here.” Sunflower said.

”Hang on,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Before we look at that, can we address the form that Sunflower signed?” He had been glancing at the form that was laying on Dr. Tobias’ desk.

”What form"?” Rebecca asked. Apparently no one had given her the full story about what was going on.

Dr. Reynolds looked at the paper. “May I?” He might have been the Executive Director of the facility, but it wasn’t his desk.

Dr. Tobias picked up the form and handed it to Dr. Reynolds, who looked at it and then handed it to Rebecca. “Sunflower was tricked into into signing Cecily Roberts in on a 72 hour…”

”How does…” Rebecca said, starting to read the form. She glanced up at Dr. Reynolds. “Robert, Figure out who created this… fire them; if they are licensed, we will take it to the appropriate Board to have their license revoked and we will press charges… Whoever did this should not be allowed to work in any form of health care.” Rebecca turned her attention to the four Doctors that were staff at Forest Lawn. “Cecily is to be released as soon as it is practical. If we hold her for any longer than that, Sunflower could file with a court for kidnapping; we’re already on shaky ground. Robert, I am going to make a copy of this and put this one in the safe in my office. It might be needed as evidence…”

“I would like a copy of that form…” Sunflower said. “I would also like copies of all of the admissions paperwork. I want to know what two forms were bastardized to create what I signed. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this.” Rebecca left the office with the form.

”Sunflower,” Samantha said. “May I see the guardianship paperwork?” Rayne opened her briefcase and pulled out a manila folder and handed it to Sunflower. Samantha knew of the dynamic between the two of them and right now it looked like Sunflower was the one in charge, but that made sense given that the real subject of everyone being here was Cecily and the buck stopped with Sunflower when it came to the girl. Sunflower pulled two pieces of paper out of the folder and handed them to Samantha who looked at them. “Sunflower, I’m going to take these and scan them into Cecily’s medical record.”

”Ok,” Sunflower said.

”Come in,” Dr. Tobias said loudly as the phone on his desk started to ring. “Dr. Tobias.” He listened for a few seconds. “Ok, thank you. We will be right there…” He placed the handset in the cradle and looked at Sunflower. “That was the nurse that is overseeing the area of Birch that Cecily is in. She’s starting to wake up and is very confused. We don’t normally do this, but Sunflower, you and Samantha may go back and see her.”

”What about me?” Rayne asked, “Don’t I get to see her too?”

”You are going too…” Dr. Tobias replied. “As am I, but it’s just going to be the four of us. Sunflower needs to talk to her and calm her down.”

Rayne and Sunflower stood and looked at Samantha. “Lead the way, Samantha…” Sunflower said.

Samantha went out the door and turned left, heading toward the lobby. Sunflower and Rayne followed, with Dr. Tobias bringing up the rear. “Sunflower,” Dr. Tobias said.

”Yes?” Sunflower slowed so that she could walk next to the doctor. He pulled his lanyard off again and handed it to her.

”I know you still don’t trust any of us after today, and I don’t blame you.” Dr. Tobias said quietly. “Where we’re going is key carded to get in and out with a double security access point. My keycard will open any door in this building; I want you to feel safe and not feel like you’re trapped.” They walked out of the corridor, through the door and in to the lobby. A different receptionist sat at the desk now, and she looked confused when the four of them walked through the lobby toward another door, which Samantha swiped for access and Dr. Tobias held open so the group could walk through. Once the four of them were in the antechamber and the doors were shut, Sunflower swiped Dr. Tobias’ keycard to gain access to the main corridor that ran through the middle of the building. Once the four of them were in that part of the building, they followed the signs to the unit known as Birch. There was another key card reader, and Sunflower swiped the badge again. The reader beeped and showed a green light. When the lock made a thunk sound, Samantha pulled it open and the four of them went into the antechamber to get into Birch. Sunflower swiped the card again and they entered the central room of the unit. Sitting in the middle of the room, was a large square desk that had four people sitting, one on each side.

”Good evening Dr. Tobias…” one of the males sitting in the desk said. “Miss Roberts is in B139 and it‘s right over there.” He pointed. The door was open to the room and Sunflower could see Cecily.

”Mama!” Cecily screamed when she saw Sunflower. “What’s going on, where am I and who is with you and Rayne?”

Sunflower awoke with a start after Amethyst moved rapidly in the bed. “What’s happening?” Cecily was thrashing on the bed and Amethyst was moving to not get hit.

“I think she’s having a nightmare.” Amethyst said, moving around the bed to the swivel chair.

“Mama!” Cecily flung Rainbow and her blanket across the van and then her eyes popped open.

“I’m right here, sweetie.” Sunflower said, her own distress from her nightmare temporally forgotten. “Tell Mama what happened…” Cecily moved so that Sunflower could hold her.

“What’s going on back there?” Rayne asked, finally having woken up from the commotion. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, Cecily had a nightmare…” Sunflower said, stroking Cecily’s hair. She had managed to get Cecily’s pacifier back in her mouth. “It woke me up from my own nightmare… The same recurring nightmare that I’ve been having. I’m getting tired of it… Amethyst, can you set the lights to red and make them a little bit brighter?”

“Yes, Mama…” Amethyst said, moving to adjust the lights like Sunflower had requested. The adjustment in the lights caused Sunflower to blink in the now brighter light.

“I thought I wasn’t going to see you again…” Cecily said, mumbling around the pacifier and starting to sob. “I was back at Forest Lawn and they weren’t telling me anything and wouldn’t let me see you and then you walked in to where I was being held. I’ve never seen where I was being held in the dream before. I just know that you finally got back to where I was.”

“Can you describe where you were?” Sunflower asked, continuing to stroke Cecily’s hair. “I want to see if our locations are similar…”

“The best way I can describe it would be that I was in a hospital room, but I was at Forest Lawn and I was strapped to the bed…” Cecily said. “I think my room number started with a B because I heard someone talking about me on the phone…” Sunflower looked down at her daughter.

“In my dream you were in a new unit that was called Birch. It was effectively a medical ward that is part of Forest Lawn’s facility.” Sunflower said. She could hear Rayne typing in the front of the van.

“I just found a press release…” Rayne said. “Announcing a new unit known as Birch that serves as a stand alone medical facility for anything that not emergent. It’s from about six months ago.” Rayne stood and walked into the back of the van. “I didn’t know anything about it…”

“I didn’t either.” Cecily mumbled. Sunflower stroking her hair and rubbing her back was slowly starting to put her back to sleep.

“What time is it?” Sunflower asked, her voice as loud as it needed to be for Amethyst and Rayne to hear her.

“It’s just after five…” Rayne responded. “I propose that once you get the little ones back to sleep you come up here and we will come up with a game plan.”

“A game plan for what?” Sunflower asked quietly.

“We will discuss when you come up here.” Rayne said. There was a tone to Rayne’s voice.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Sunflower said quietly. “I’ve almost got her to sleep. I’m going to strap her down when I get her back in the bed that way if she’s still asleep, we can roll.”

“Sounds good.” Rayne said, She moved from the passenger seat to the drivers seat. Sunflower glanced at Amethyst, who was still sitting in the swivel chair. She had pulled her laptop out and had it on the table in front of her.

“Do I have to go back to bed?” Amethyst asked. “I want to work on homework.”

“That’s fine,” Rayne replied from the front seat after the van had rumbled to life. “The heater does a lot to keep it warm back there, but not so much up here…”

Sunflower gently guided the now sleeping Cecily back into her spot in the bed, placed Rainbow in her arms, and covered her up with the weighted blanket, and then pulled the straps tight. The final thing that Sunflower did was pop Cecily’s pacifier back in her mouth. As Sunflower went past Amethyst, she paused and kissed her on the top of the head. “Keep an eye on your sister, please.”

“Yes, Mama,” Amethyst said, placing her own pacifier in her mouth. Sunflower made her way into the front of the van and sat in the passenger seat. Her laptop was already on the table. She fired up her notes app and started typing. Typing out the nightmare took a little bit of time.

“Do we want to get a move on, maybe get out of the city and head toward the Texas border?” Rayne asked. “Might be a really pretty place to watch the sunrise from out that way.”

Sunflower glanced at Rayne, who was drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “Learning opportunity?” she asked, smiling. “What time does the sun come up anyway?”

“Seven eighteen…” Amethyst said from the back of the van. The door was still open to the back of the van and she had heard the whole conversation. “What’s going to be educational about seeing a sunrise?”

“How often do we get to see a sunrise as a family?” Rayne asked, starting the van.

“I want to see the sunrise…” Cecily mumbled from the bed. She sounded like she was close to asleep and not really awake and with it.

“Let’s roll to the west and see if we can find somewhere to stop and watch it.” Rayne said. “Everyone stable enough to roll?”

“Yep.” Sunflower said, giving the shoulder belt a tug to make it tighter. She pulled the laptop table a touch closer to allow her to keep typing. “Would you want to read the nightmare files that I have where I’ve sent things to Ian, to be able to see if maybe you can help me work through them?”

“I’m ready to roll, and Cecily is still securely strapped into the bed. I’m in three.” Amethyst said from the swivel seat.

“Can you go to five, please?” Rayne said, glancing at the monitor that she could see Amethyst on as she put the van in gear and slowly started to drive as Amethyst did up the two shoulder straps on the swivel seat.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Amethyst said. “Any objections to me turning the radio on and seeing if I can get any information as to what’s happening out there?”

“Use headphones so you don’t wake your sister…” Sunflower said, not even pausing from typing. Sunflower had an innate ability to carry on a voice conversation and type something completely different and not miss a beat with either while she worked. It was a skill that served her well as a parent, a student, and as an IT professional. She also had an uncanny ability to filter out multiple conversations and pick the most important parts out of conversations that occurred around her. It was part of the reason why Cecily didn’t get away with much. Sunflower was always paying attention, even when she wasn’t.

“Yes, Mama…” Amethyst said, quietly. On the monitor, Sunflower saw Amethyst slip a pair of headphones on her head and watched her reach up and flip some switches.

Rayne pulled the van over into a parking lot that had a sign for a scenic overlook. Sunflower looked up from the monitor and glanced around. “Where are we?”

“A scenic overlook somewhere before we cross into Texas…” Rayne said. It was still dark outside and she couldn’t really see anything. “Wanna wake the girls and go watch the sunrise. Should only be about ten or twenty minutes before the sun starts to break the horizon.”

“‘I’m still awake…” Amethyst said. It was just before seven in the morning. “There’s not a lot happening on the radio. I am beginning to wonder if what ever transpired on the ground affected the ionosphere as well…”

Rayne and Sunflower shared a look. “I have no idea what you said, child…” Sunflower said, giggling. “Unbuckle yourself and wake your sister…”

“Yes, Mama…” Amethyst said, her voice quiet.

On the monitor, they watched as Amethyst went and sat next to Cecily in the bed.