Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts II
By "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl and Doug "Candle Light Author" Helm

Those characters that are original and the story "Adventures of the
Chibi-Scouts II" are copyrighted (c) 2000 by Will Wolfshohl & Douglas
Helm.

This story and our other Sailor Moon stories reside at
http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/

Send comments to: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl (wwolfshohl@logicon.com) or
Douglas "Candle Light Author" Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca)


Part 12  "Double-O-Scouts"

       As the sun slowly sank into the western sky, Lita Anderson and
Raye Hino played in the darkening courtyard of the Cherry Hill Temple.
The evening air began to chill as the shadows elongated and deepened.
       Lita glanced towards the steps where Chad was watching them.
Beside him, sat Raye's grandfather. Turning back to her friend, Lita
thought, <This Raye's very different from the one that I know.> She
wondered if Chad coming into Raye's life at an early age had had a large
part to do with it. <But even my Raye's changed a little.> Not much...
The fiery priestess was still stubborn and prideful; even if her tongue
wasn't as sharp as it had once been.
       It was some moments before Lita realized that Raye was looking
at her curiously. "What?" Lita questioned.
       "I'm glad you came back," the raven haired child declared.
       Lita smiled. "So am I." Then giving Raye a quick hug, she added,
"I wanted to come back."
       "Promise you won't leave, Lita," Raye asked hopefully, "I don't
want you to never ever leave again."
       "I'm gonna have to leave soon."
       "What?!?" Raye jerked in surprise.
       "I really like being here, Raye, honest," the brown haired girl
said while trying to soothe her friend, "But I gotta leave soon. I can't
stay here forever." <Even if I'd like to.>
       "Why?" Raye questioned, the child had a stricken look on her
face.
       "Well... I havta leave with Serena and the others," Lita
explained, "Being six ain't so bad but I'm really fifteen, you know."


       Something Reenie had told her nearly a year ago flashed through
Raye's mind in that instant. "Fifteen?"
       "Yeah, I bet that sounds really old, huh?" Lita remarked with a
grin.
       <She ain't the REAL Lita,> Raye concluded. Anger started to well
up within her. "Why do you gotta leave?" she asked softly.
       "I like you, Raye. You're a good friend but I can't stay here
forever," Lita attempted to explain, "You know Serena, Mina, and Amy
gotta leave too."
       "No!"
       "We gotta. 'Sides, I got them here so I gotta get them home."
       Blinking back tears, Raye bolted to her feet and glared at Lita.
"You aren't my Lita!" she hissed harshly.
       "Serena must have told you," Lita countered, "When I leave,
you'll have the old Lita back."
       "NO!" the little girl shouted.
       "Raye..." Lita came to an abrupt halt as Raye whipped out one of
her anti-evil wards and promptly stuck it to her forehead. Lita was so
surprised that she just sat there and looked at the angry child.
"Whatcha go and do that for?!" Raye gave a choked sob before turning and
running across the courtyard to the main temple building.
       Ignoring the calls of her grandfather and Chad, she ran to her
room and slammed the door shut. <She ain't evil...> That was some
consolation. Still, how could Lita have mislead her? She had known
something wasn't right. Lita's aura had been slightly off. Why hadn't
she noticed it before? <I thought she came back!> Raye thought while
giving heaving sob and burying her face into her pillow.
       Emotions warred with each other. She was upset at thinking that
her favorite playmate was lost once again. She was hurt by Lita's, and
even Serena's, deceptions. She was also confused. Lurking in the back of
her mind, as if cloaked by a misty veil, were memories of her acting
very badly, especially toward Chad. She couldn't understand her
behavior. Reenie had explained it to some extent but she hadn't believed
the older girl. Now though, she had been given proof. The older Raye had
made her act naughty. She was a meanie. Was the older Lita a meanie too?
Raye promised herself to never be like her older self.


       Lita tore the spirit ward from her forehead and looked in the
direction in which her friend had fled. <Stupid, stupid, stupid!> she
berated herself, <You let it slip that you aren't HER Lita!> She had
thought Serena had told her but that wasn't any excuse. She moved to get
up and came face to face with an angry looking Chad.
       "What happened?"
       "Raye said she was glad I came," Lita stuttered out, "She wanted
me to stay forever but I can't." She then gave a helpless shrug. <I
didn't think Raye would react that badly to the news.>
       Chad visibly relaxed and then chuckled. <Raye's just sleepy.>
"Well, I think it's time for bed."
       "Aw man!"
       "I know, Lita, but Raye's usually in bed by this time on school
days. Why don't you get changed."
       "Okay," Lita agreed and jogged off towards Raye's room. <I hope
I can smooth this out. If I get sent home, Mommy's gonna hit the roof!>


       Six year old Serena Tsukino snuggled a little closer to Molly
while looking up from her position on the teen's lap. "Molly, are ya
okay?"
       "Yes," Molly indicated while running a hand through Serena's
hair, "I'm just glad you and Reenie are all right." Molly thanked Kami
that the children had managed to get away from that strange boy.
       "Of course, the Chibi-Scouts showed up and stopped the baddie!"
Reenie stated proudly.
       "And Pegasus," Molly cooed, her eyes seemed to stare at
something beyond the far wall. "Oh he was such a lovely sight."
       "Did ya see him before?" Serena questioned.
       "I think so," the teen responded, "When I was little like you."
She gave Serena a light tap on the nose.
       "You not little like me." Serena giggled. "You big 'n' pretty."
       <Why's Serena talking like a baby?> Didn't Molly see it? She
decided to change the subject. "Melvin sure thinks so," Reenie offered.
This caused Molly to blush.
       "Are ya Melvin's girlfriend?" Serena asked curiously. Molly
blushed even more.
       "Yes," the teen finally managed to squeak out.
       "Is that why you were kissing him like this and stuff?" Reenie
questioned before trying to mimic what she had seen the older girl and
Melvin doing in the park before the attack.
       <Boy, look at her face!> Serena thought, <Mol looks like she'll
burst into flame.> She decided that she needed to come to her friend's
rescue. "Reenie tricked me. She say you 'n' Melvin weren't goin' out."
       "Really?" Molly said, "Why?"
       "Serena..." Reenie hissed.
       "Me not know," Serena said before adding, "She say Melvin not
like you." She suppressed the giggle that wanted to escape as Molly
turned a stern eye toward the eight year old.
       <Hah!> Serena thought, <I just got some payback!> Content that
her friend and Melvin were getting along, and that the attack seemed to
have had no lingering aftereffects, Serena allowed her eyes to droop.
<Oh, I'm sooooo sleepy.> She felt her head press against Molly's chest
and a pair of warm and protective arms wrap around her. Giving another
yawn, she blinked a few times before finally giving into sleep. She had
had a very long day.


       Mr. Aino blinked as he opened the door and found his daughter's
bedroom in darkness. Carefully coming into the room, he made his way
over to the bed and looked down upon the small child it held. Seeing
that his little girl was awake, he lowered himself onto the edge of the
bed and said, "Don't you want a story?"
       "No," came the throaty reply.
       Reaching over to the bedside lamp, he switched it on and saw
tears in his daughter's eyes. "Sweetheart, what's the matter?" he asked
with concern.
       Mina sniffled again before saying, "D-Daddy... I try to be good
but..." she trailed off and sniffled again.
       "Come here, Mina," her father requested and lifted his little
girl out of bed. Settling her on his lap, Mr. Aino said, "You're a very
good girl. And what happened with the shower was an accident." He knew
his daughter was simply energetic and full of curiosity for life.
Although he hoped that Mina would settle down a little as she grew.
       Mina snuggled closer to him while holding one of her many
stuffed animals. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave his child a
comforting hug while saying, "You don't want to be sad for Amy's
birthday party tomorrow."
       "I can go?" Mina squeaked out. After that flood this evening,
she hadn't thought her parents would let her.
       "Of course you can, Mina." The little girl shifted around so she
could wrap her arms around his neck. "You want to hear a story?"
       Mina just shook her head and hugged her father. It had been a
long time since she could do this. She needed his reassurance and
comfort.


       Dr. Mary Anderson was also worried about her daughter. She
looked down at the child lying in her bed and gave a little sigh. <I
wish I knew what was troubling Amy,> she thought, <I just hope she's
more excited about her party tomorrow.> She briefly wondered how Chad
was making out with Lita and Raye. A smile tugged at her face then.
       Turning her attention back to little Amy, she brushed aside a
few lose strands of hair before planting a gentle kiss on her daughter's
forehead. <I know sometimes Amy and Lita get jealous but I've never seen
it this bad.> Turning, she left her bedroom and made her way back
towards the living room deep in thought. <I thought things were getting
better after that ghost business.>
       They had spent a very quiet evening together. She had enjoyed it
and even Amy had enjoyed it, almost had needed it. It had come as no
surprise that Amy had asked to sleep in her bed that night.
       Well, she wasn't going to solve everything tonight and she had a
few last minute things to do before tomorrow.


       Lita Anderson stared gloomily up at the dark ceiling. <Little
brat!> she angrily thought, <This floor's hard!> Raye had put up enough
of a ruckus that she had decided to sleep on the floor; not to mention
that the priestess had physically kicked her out of bed. <Oh, if I was
braver, I'd go home.>
       However, three things were stopping her. Firstly was that Lita
was feeling guilty. <I never wanted to make Raye feel bad. 'Sides, I'm
not about to let her push me around.> Secondly was the simple fact that
if she did go home, she'd never be allowed to spend a night at a
friend's house again. Finally was that she had promised Amy to let her
and Mommy have some quality time and she would never break a promise to
her sister.
       <I tried talking to her but she just won't listen to me.> Raye
was furious. It didn't help that Raye was convinced that Lita had fibbed
to her all along.
       Folding her hands behind her head, she let out a large sigh.
<This really sucks.> And the night marched on.


       Reenie glared down at her cousin who was sleeping beside her.
<When Serena sleeps, she really sleeps!> She wanted to talk to Serena
though. <Well, there's only one thing to do.>
       Moments later, Serena bolted upright and gave out a squeal of
pain. The little girl jerked away and fell out of bed with a thump.
Reenie tried not to snicker at the display but a small noise slipped
past her lips.
       The first thing to appear was a disheveled mass of golden hair.
The next to follow were sleep-filled and annoyed looking blue eyes.
"Hey! Whatcha do that for?!" Serena demanded as she stood up fully and
rubbed her bottom. "Is it an attack?"
       "No," Reenie answered softly, "I just wanna talk."
       "Is it important?" The pink haired girl nodded.
       Serena crawled under the covers before asking, "So what did you
want to talk about, Reenie?"
       "Do you think I'll have a boyfriend someday?"
       "What?!" the child demanded while sitting up.
       "Shhh..."
       "Don't you `shhh´ me." Serena scowled while leaning close to her
daughter's face. "If I have a bruise where you pinched me..."
       Reenie gulped. <I keep forgetting this one can get big!> Her
Serena could as well, although the chances of the little girl thinking
about it were remote. She decided to press on. "Serena, do you and
Darien act like Molly and Melvin do?" Reenie blushed. Serena gave her a
blank look so she explained what she had seen.
       The little girl giggled a little before saying, "You mean me and
my Darien?" Pink hair bobbed up and down in a nod. "I think so. My
Reenie..." <She's not my Reenie...> Serena paused for a long moment.
"Yes, we do."
       "Why?"
       Serena shook her head and then explained, "For me, it's like
there's nobody else around but Darien."
       "Mommy and Daddy act like that. And Mommy gets this really sad
look when Daddy gots to leave."
       "Love is strange," Serena confessed, "Me and Darien used to
fight a lot and then..." She yawned.
       Reenie gave her mother a confused look for a long moment and
then said, "But I love Mommy and Daddy." <And you.>
       "That..." Serena gave another expansive yawn and snuggled deeper
into the covers before mumbling, "Different."
       "Why?" There wasn't any response. Reaching over, Reenie shook
Serena until the little girl's eyes fluttered open. "Why?"
       "Different types of love," Serena answered sleepily.
       "So will I act like that?"
       "Yep," Serena said and rolled over to her side.
       Reenie tried to picture herself making strange faces like she
had seen Molly and her mother making. Giggling a little, she thought,
<That's so weird.> Sure, she wanted a boyfriend of her own (even if boys
were icky sometimes) but her Sailor Scout duties made it impossible. But
even if she had a boyfriend... She had wondered what it would be like to
kiss the way her parents did. It seemed so gross. "Is kissing gross?"
       "Hmmm..."
       "Do you think I'll find somebody special like you found Daddy?"
It was several seconds before Reenie realized that her mother wasn't
answering. "Serena?" Reaching over, she nudged the child but there was
no response but that of slow breathing. <I gotta ask her.> She'd die of
embarrassment if she had to ask her aunt or Melissa. There was no way
she could talk about this with her father and while she liked Molly, she
wasn't about to confide such a personal thing to her. <I want to ask
Mommy something.> And this was a great way to do it.
       Grinning wickedly, and feeling some apprehension, Reenie reached
under the covers towards Serena. Moments later, a piercing shriek shook
the Baker home.


       Molly Baker ran out of her room and down the short length of
hallway to the guest bedroom. Opening the door, her ears were assaulted
by a mixture of yelling and giggling. The guest bed was a writhing mass
of covers, arms, legs, and heads. Putting on the sternest face she could
manage, Molly walked across the short space to the bed and caught each
child by an arm before shouting, "ENOUGH!"
       Both children froze. Two sets of large eyes swung around to
regard the teen. "Now what on earth is going on?"
       "She pinched me!" Serena squeaked out.
       "She pinched me!" Reenie protested back.
       "Did not," the youngest of the children retorted.
       "Did too." Molly sighed as Serena stuck her tongue out. Reenie
did likewise and a tongue war had begun.
       "Both of you stop it this minute or I'll phone your mommy." That
threat had the desired effect. Small tongues disappeared back into their
mouths and the combatants tried to disentangle themselves. "I don't care
who started it," Molly remarked, "But I know both of you were definitely
NOT sleeping."
       Serena sniffled a little and gave Molly a very sad look. "You
don't believe me?" she squeaked out and gave another sniffle. "I was
sleepin', Mol, honest. I not wanna get in trouble. I wanna go to Amy's
birthday party." Reenie, for her part, remained silent and simply
watched the scene unfold before her.
       "I thought you were a big girl now but I guess you aren't,"
Molly commented and bending down, lifted Serena out of bed. Seeing the
stuffed bunny that Serena had brought with her lying on the floor, Molly
bent down and picked it up. "You come and sleep in my room." Then
ignoring Serena's protests, the redhead walked from the room and then
turning back, ordered, "Go to sleep, Reenie." With that, she closed the
door but not before Serena gave Reenie a glacial look.


       As Saturday morning arrived, Amy Anderson slowly opened her
eyes. Raising one small hand, she rubbed at them to get the sleep out of
them. Beside her was her mother. The older woman's face was softened in
sleep and it reminded Amy of some of the pictures of her mother's youth.
Truly, her mother in this universe was about ten years younger than her
mother as was the case of the other parents. The exception was the
Tsukinos. Ken and Ellen were only about three years younger, if that.
       Amy would have stayed snuggled beside her mother longer but her
small bladder was demanding attention. Quietly sliding from the warm
bed, she padded softly to the washroom. After lowering her garments, she
hopped onto the toilet and shivered a little in the cool morning air.
       <Last night was great!> She felt better than she had yesterday.
<I really needed this.> She sensed a smile grace her lips as she thought
of being with her mother for the entire evening. <Even when I was
little, I never really did that.> Her mother had often gotten
babysitters to care for her.
       After finishing her business in the bathroom, Amy walked back to
her mother's room and crawled up onto the bed. She was just sliding
under the covers when her mother's eyes fluttered open.
       "Good morning, birthday girl."
       <It IS my birthday,> Amy thought and felt the stirrings of
excitement within her. "'Morning Mommy!" Amy greeted her mother and gave
her a large hug. "Are we gonna go swimmin'?"
       "Yes, dear, and we'll pick Lita up at the ice rink."
       "Then the party?" Amy asked. She could feel anticipation pulsing
through her body.
       "The party's this afternoon," Mrs. Anderson answered, "We have
to come home after your swimming lesson to get ready for it." She sat up
and pulled Amy into a large hug. "So what do you want for breakfast?"
       "Pancakes!"
       "How many?"
       "Six!" Amy answered.
       "Six? Is that a lot?" The child shook her head. "Why not?"
       "'Cause I'm a big girl!" the blue haired girl declared proudly
and then giggled as her mother hugged her again and gave her a kiss.
       "You certainly are." Feeling mischievous, she added, "You're a
whole five years old today."
       "Six!"
       "Six? Are you sure you're not five?"
       "Nuh huh, I'm six!" Amy declared while holding up seven fingers.
She giggled when she saw her mistake and corrected it. "I'm six. I'm
six. I'm six!" Repeating this simple mantra, the little girl scrambled
up and started bouncing on the bed. Her mother indulged her for a few
moments before stopping her.
       "Now let's get breakfast, then we need to get you ready for
swimming."
       "Okay!" Amy declared excitedly and leaping from the bed, ran out
of the room and down the hallway to change out of her pajamas.
       <I'm glad they only have one birthday a year,> Mrs. Anderson
thought. <At least she seems in better spirits today.>


       Lita had always used some type of physical activity to work out
her frustrations. It was for that reason that she had thrown all caution
to the wind once her skating lesson had started. Raye had sulked the
entire morning, only moderating her mood enough so that she wouldn't be
kept from attending Amy's birthday party. The young priestess, however,
was still giving Lita a hard time.
       <Stupid Serena and her dumb ol' ideas!> Lita whined as she
blazed a figure eight into the ice. <We should've told Raye from the
start!> The fact that she had grown quite fond of this universe's Raye
only exacerbated matters. As Lita straightened out her path, she did a
single Lutz jump and came to a stop.
       Her temper rose when she glanced over to where her friend was
and saw that Raye was pointedly ignoring her. <Oh Raye... if she's
ignoring me now, she gotta be seriously POed!> Nevertheless, she wasn't
sure what she could do.
       "Lita?"
       Lita skated towards the coach, jerked to a stop, and windmilled
her arms for a moment, before abruptly sitting onto the cold surface of
the ice. "Yeah?"
       "Do you want to sit out?" the coach asked. Lita shook her head.
"Then come over here and listen to me."
       Blushing brightly, Lita scrambled up and skated her way over to
stand beside Raye and the rest of the class. "Sorry Coach," Lita
squeaked softly.


       "Amy!"
       Amy looked up into the stands from the swimmig pool and saw her
sister waving at her. She waved back and then turned back to Kimmy who
was floating in front of her. <It's almost time to go home,> Amy
thought. "You promise you're comin'?"
       "Yep!" Kimmy chirped.
       <I'm so lucky to know Kimmy,> Amy decided, <This Amy's got it
great. I can't remember having many friends in school.> At least until
she had met Serena. Now she didn't know what she would ever do without
her and the other Sailor Scouts. <I never had a real birthday party
either.> Not until Serena had thrown her a party for her fifteenth
birthday. She was starting to like the idea of having a birthday party
as a kid.
       A short time later, the swimming class was over and she rushed
into the changing room to shower and dress. She was greeted by Lita and
her mother. Running over, she gave her sister a wet hug.
       "Amy!" Lita squawked but returned the hug anyway. <She sure is
hyper.>
       "Sorry Sis," Amy chirped.
       <Those two...> "Come on, Amy," Mrs. Anderson prompted, "Let's
get you dressed and then we'll head for home."
       "'Kay," Amy said and started to change. "How was skating?"
       "Fun," Lita replied but Amy didn't miss the look that was in her
sister's eyes.
       <I wonder what happened?> Amy thought. Well, she'd worry about
that when she got home. <I gotta party to get ready for!>


       Carrie was looking warily at Mina. Her best friend was up to
something and that typically meant she'd be spending time in the corner
when they were inevitably caught. Given that Saturday had turned out to
be nice and clear with a bright sun and even a slightly warm southerly
wind, Carrie didn't want to spend it stuck in a corner.
       "Come on, Care-Care... I mean Double-O-2," Mina was saying, "We
gotta dress up so that they won't know we're superspies."
       Carrie had been disappointed when Mina had nixed the idea of
playing pretend Chibi-Scouts. She had been looking forward to playing
Queen Beryl. This "Superspy" idea was a new kick that Mina was on. "I
don't know. Your mommy won't like us messin' with her clothes." She
squeaked as her blonde haired friend plunked a large floppy hat onto her
head.
       "But we gotta wear disguises," Mina insisted and started making
up her own disguise. By the time she was done, Carrie was almost
prepared to give up the game and run home as fast as she could. Her best
friend looked like she had put on every single piece of clothing and
jewelry she could find.
       "Come on, Double-O-2," Mina declared, "We must rescue the super
secret formula from the evil spies." With that, she trooped out of her
parents' bedroom. Carrie hesitated for a moment and then taking off the
hat, quickly followed Mina out of the room.


       <Oh Carrie,> Mina whined, <You're such a wimp.> She was
disgruntled that her friend wouldn't dress up but at the moment, she
wasn't about to push her luck. <I'll need help with this secret
mission.>
       Carefully, they crept down the stairs towards the kitchen. <Oh
no!> Mina thought as she heard footsteps. "Quick, Double-O-2," she
hissed to Carrie. She ran into the living room then hopped on and then
over the couch. Carrie jogged into the living room and looked around.
       "Mina?"
       "Quick!"
       Carrie was just starting to look around for Mina when she heard
someone come into the room. Turning, she saw Mina's father looking at
her curiously.
       "Where's Mina?"
       <Good girl!> Mina cheered when she heard Carrie fib. <She'll
make a good superspy. She just needs training.> And she would see her
friend got it. After a moment or so, she peeked over the couch and saw
Carrie looking at her. "Is he gone?"
       "Yeah," Carrie began, "Mina let's..."
       "I'm Double-O-1. Use our code names... We don't want the bad
guys to know who we really are." Hearing Carrie sigh, Mina declared,
"Let's go." She snuck around the end of the couch and made her way
towards the kitchen. After making sure that Carrie was with her, she
peeked around the corner and saw her mother standing at the counter.
"Okay, Double-O-2, you go distract the enemy while I steal the secret
formula."
       "But..."
       "Come on," Mina prodded and pushed Carrie into the kitchen.


       <Jeez, this gal needs to get into the spirit of things.> After a
few moments, Carrie had her mother distracted enough so that Mina
slipped into the room unnoticed. Stealthily, the little blonde walked
over to the refrigerator and opened it. <There it is...> Glancing at
Carrie, she started reaching for the secret formula that was craftily
hidden as a bottle of Jolt Cola.
       "Mina Aino!" thundered the voice of her mother, "What are you
doing, young lady?!"
       "RUN!" Mina yelled to Carrie before grabbing the bottle and
shooting out of the kitchen.
       <Run?> Carrie pondered. <I wanna hide.> She knew that this had
been a bad idea. Her sense of danger increased even more when Mina's
mommy turned to look sternly at her. <Mina!> She was just trying to
think of a way to get out of this mess when there was a crash. "What was
that?" she asked, her eyes bulging.
       Mrs. Aino didn't answer. Instead, she ran from the room. Carrie
ran after her. She sucked in her breath when she saw the remainder of a
table lamp scattered about the floor.
       In the silence of the room, they heard sniffling coming from
behind the couch. Moving past the adult, Carrie carefully hopped onto
the couch and peeked over it. "Are ya hurt?"
       "Go 'way!" Mina hissed, her sniffles increased when her mother
came into sight.
       "Are you hurt, Mina?"
       "No," Mina replied after a little bit. Sniffling a little, she
apologized, "I'm sorry, Mommy."
       "Oh Mina," Mrs. Aino said and lifted her daughter up. "Young
lady, what were you doing with my clothes?"
       "Playing Superspy," Mina squeaked out.
       <I knew we'd get into trouble,> Carrie thought bleakly, <Better
get ready for the corner.>
       "Well, you shouldn't have all that stuff on. A SUPERspy has to
be invisible," Mrs. Aino commented while removing the jewelry, "And you
see what happens when you're not careful?"
       "Yes Mommy," Mina sniffled out.
       "If you want to play Superspy, go play outside." She brushed a
few stray hairs from Mina's face, straightened her trademark ribbon,
then added, "And you're going to have a little nap before lunch. We have
to go to Amy's party." When Mina giggled, her mother and saw that Carrie
was standing there with mouth agape and eyes bulging.


       Reenie Tsukino climbed the steps to the second floor of the
Tsukino home shortly after lunch. <Boy, Serena can really pinch.> While
Reenie at first had held an advantage over the smaller Serena, but the
child quickly rallied to meet the challenge. Ellen hadn't been very
upset about hearing what had happened. Neither child seemed the worse
for wear. Serena avoided talking about what Reenie wanted to talk about,
which considerably annoyed the pink haired girl.
       Seeing that her aunt was finishing dressing Serena for the
party, Reenie stepped into the bedroom and announced, "Aunt Ellen,
somebody wants to talk to you on the phone."
       "Thank you," Ellen replied, "Reenie, go and get ready for the
party."
       Serena tugged her mother's arm and asked, "Can Reenie do my
hair?"
       "All right, that would help. What about it, Reenie?"
       "Sure," Reenie agreed and came further into the room.
       "Just no pinching."
       "Promise!" both children replied before giggling.
       Reenie took the brush from her aunt and hopped up onto the bed
to kneel behind Serena. She started brushing the golden hair and for
several seconds the room was quiet, then Serena realized, "You weren't
kidding last night, huh?"
       "What?" the eight year old asked in puzzlement.
       Serena turned to look at Reenie and questioned, "You really
wanted me to tell you about boyfriends and stuff?"
       Reenie glanced back towards the door before saying softly,
"Yeah, you are my mommy." <Who else am I gonna ask?> She was surprised
to see Serena's eyes mist over slightly so she said, "What's wrong?"
       "Oh Reenie, I..." Serena began and then, blinking rapidly to
clear her eyes, she gave her daughter a large smile. "Sorry about last
night. What if we talk tonight? But no pinching this time."
       "Promise."
       "You're the bestest big sister," Serena complimented, "Now do my
hair, please, or Mommy will scold us."
       <And you're the bestest mommy,> Reenie thought as she resumed
her task.


       Amy Anderson shot out of her apartment and raced down the
hallway towards the exit. She only came up short when her mother called
her back. Dancing from foot to foot, she looked back down the hallway
where her mother and Lita were emerging from the apartment and towards
the exit.
       "Wait for us, Amy, or are you going drive the car?"
       "Yep!" Amy replied.
       Lita for her part walked beside her mother with a smirk on her
face. <Amy's gonna explode if she keeps this pace up.> Indeed, the blue
haired girl had been in motion since Lita had gotten home. <She's going
to be zonked by suppertime.> While Lita had managed to nap for a good
hour after her lesson, mostly owing to a restless night before, Amy had
hardly slept a wink. <You'd think this was her first real birthday as a
kid.> As she followed her mother and sister out of the apartment
building, Lita briefly wondered if the combination of a hyper Amy and an
equally hyper Mina would necessarily prove be a good thing.

End of Part 12

Coming next in Part 13  "Friendships"