Mommies and Daddies

Board 

Hey everyone! Sorry for another delay. I just can’t seem to keep consistent with this story it seems. I really tried to push this chapter out, but after an emergency from a friend, an admittedly amazing concert, and a great pride parade, this is just what happens sometimes. So, I will still stick to three chapters next week, but now… there will be one more releasing either Sunday (28 June) or Monday (29 June). I should know more by the posted chapter on Friday (26 June), and I will let you all know then because…   Looking ahead… there is another poll out for what I next write. This may be the last one, but for now, the three options as well as the link can be found back in other chapters as well as most recently in chapter 27. And just in case you forgot my method or are new here, this poll will remain open until I post my final chapter. When that will be exactly will be posted at the latest during the second to last chapter. Now… last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 35: The Rumblings Are Being Set in Motion “Ugh!” Addy complained, trying to make changes with her first big project as a second grader. “This is so hard! Why can’t I just color a picture or something?” Her dad chuckled. “You’re growing up, sweetheart, and part of growing up means taking on tougher challenges. I wish we could all just draw a picture sometimes… but sometimes, you need to do something that you don’t want to do.” “But why?” Addy whined, getting frustrated about making a tiny presentation on the Great Wars. “This thing happened like a million years ago. I already know everything about it!” “Oh?” Her dad raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” “Yes!” she confirmed with the utmost confidence. “Then tell me…” Her dad’s eyes sparkled with a cunning plan. “Then why did it start?” “I…!” Addy had barreled hard into her answer… and then stopped. ‘Shoot! I know this. I know this one!’ But try as she might, she couldn’t come up with the answer. “I… I guess I don’t know that one exactly. But… but Dad! No one really does!” “They most certainly do, honey.” He sighed and pulled two of her props, one of a Little and one of a Big. “It all started because the Bigs were picking on the Littles in their various communities. Back then, regression wasn’t practiced. Back then, Littles just existed in society… but they weren’t treated very nicely.” He then showed the two paper props fighting. “Eventually, the Littles had enough… and bombed the Big capitol of each state. It was awful… and the war started soon after the Bigs hit back and started arresting Littles by the hundreds… maybe even thousands.” He paused and set the paper props down. “That’s why it started…” “But the teacher said that the Littles hit first,” Addy popped back, remembering a little more now. “That they are more responsible.” Her dad rubbed his temples. “Maybe… they did hit first, yes… but when people are pushed down for so long, something is bound to happen. It might have been a protest in the street or the passing of a bill… but yes, they chose violence instead. And what followed ripped our country and several others apart.” He paused again and then pushed the props back toward Addy. “But that’s why this presentation you’re doing is important. You should know these things because that war changed everything in our society. And… you should also get used to running presentations. Something tells me that you’ll be doing a lot of them.” Addy twisted at the notion. “But… but I get so nervous!” Her dad smirked and rubbed her shoulder. “You know what, pumpkin? So do I.” He then stood up and stretched. “But let me show you a few things I’ve learned that have helped me. So, stand up and get ready. I’m going to teach you a few things about presenting to a group of people.” Addy still didn’t want to do the presentation, but learning from her dad was always the best. Her mom was awesome in her own ways, as evidenced by the cartoon character band-aid on her knee, but her dad taught things in a way that always somehow stuck longer with her. *              *              * Addy nervously tapped her fingers on her tablet as she sat at the head of the table looking for the right moment to speak up. With her dad still in his medically induced coma, in theory at least, there was no head of their organization anymore. As evidence by the various organizations, each was in charge of their own piece of the puzzle, seeming like a tentacle at the end of an octopus… but now without a head. Deep in her thoughts though, Warren then reached over from his new seated position around the table and touched her hand. Some feared his loyalty and vulnerability to the board still, but Addy had pushed the others for him to be here. Especially without their dad, he was an invaluable piece of insider information into Juventas. Josh and Elena were critical in their own ways, but Warren had the experience of over ten years being on the board… and personal access and knowledge on the three members they were now looking at taking down. Problem was… no one knew how to do that. “Go on, Addy,” her brother encouraged quietly in the midst of the standoff. “Look at the group… they need a leader. It can’t be… they don’t trust me, and if it’s anyone else, they’re going to feel slighted because another group is taking the lead.” He then subtly gestured with his head. “I mean, there’s no way that LRG is ever going to take an order from ABI… or vice versa…” He patted her hand and looked at his sister with the utmost trust possible. “I believe in you… Dad believed in you… you got this, sis.” Addy smiled and nodded back. “Thanks, Warren.” She winced before opening her tablet to some of the notes she had jotted down late last night while sitting at her dad’s bedside in the hospital. ‘Well… here goes nothing…’ She then stood up and banged lightly on the desk to get everyone’s attention. Everyone stopped immediately and turned to her. Addy took a deep breath and remembered the lesson her dad had been teaching her since second grade. ‘First thanks and acknowledgment…’ Addy turned to her left and right. “I want to thank you all for coming. I know for some of you, it can be quite the trek to get here. So, let’s do the introductions before we start…” She started on her left. “First, myself, my brother Warren, Josh, and Elena, representing the pro-Little side of Juventas. For the record, in case there was any doubt still, each of us have more than proven our loyalty to this cause.” Addy felt she didn’t need to say so… but she could still see the skeptical stares from others contemplating four board members planning to take down the old heads of the company they worked for currently. With no objection though out loud at least, Addy pushed on. “Second, from ABI, we have Assistant Director McCormack.” She quickly noted, trying not to focus on the fact that everyone had seemed to send their assistants or vice presidents or counsels or whatever here instead of the leads. “Next, from the Littles Liberation Front and Little Protection League, we have Co-chair Hutchinson. Locally, we have Sam Hausman and Sgt. Emily Brandice representing the adoption circuit and police force who started this investigation.” Both her friends smiled encouragingly at her and Addy felt a little lighter in their presence. “From the APL, we have Vice President Wilkins.” She moved further to her right to the final member of the group here today. “And last but not least, from the Littles Revolutionary Group, or LRG, we have Ida.” Addy could already see the animosity between some of the groups. After all, while LRG had been responsible for a large chunk of the coordinated effort to pass the Little Laws, the ABI had them on their watchlist for years after a series of break-ins, demonstrations, and covert and unsanctioned missions against Bigs. Of course, everyone around the table knew the ABI had been thoroughly pro-Big back then and had indiscriminately targeted the group. And yes, LRG had broken the law several times… but it was usually to save a Little from being butchered under a surgeon’s knife or to stop a law that would have removed Little’s rights in the time before the Little Laws were passed. Still, Addy was encouraged that neither had tried to fight the other. She took another breath. ‘Next, address the problem…’ She tried not to focus on just one person. “So, as you all likely know by now, my… our dad,” she corrected, looking at Warren, “has been hospitalized. We believe he was poisoned…” Several murmurs began around the table. While it was nationally known that a founder and former board member of a leading pharmaceutical had been hospitalized… the poisoning was deliberately left out of the media. “Yes, yes,” Addy tried to wrangle the table back in. “It’s tragic but we now may have a time limit if we are being targeted at all. Right now, we have evidence of this poisoning which my brother will soon distribute to you all for circulation. Unfortunately, we can’t pin this to any single individual, but we believe that the older members of the Juventas board are now feeling the pressure and wanted to eliminate or at least remove a large piece from the board here.” “And you think one of the old board wanted to eliminate your father to do this?” Co-chair Hutchinson asked. “I do,” Addy verified. “I don’t believe in coincidences, and we know that the poison used, HB 1993-01-J, was locked away in a deep storage facility only a high-ranking member could access.” “Okay… and that’s a tragedy and merits an internal investigation and we all have sympathy for your father,” Assistant Director McCormack started up, “but where does that leave this group? While your father’s poisoning is a tragedy, I don’t know if we can make a case like a single poisoning that has such a short half-life stick to the three disastrous board members we’re all focused on.” “Right… and there’s more,” Emily quickly added morosely. Addy nodded and smiled back at her friend. All the governmental agencies, even with their number twos sent instead, were hardheaded and stubborn. There was a reason this group had existed for so long and yet hadn’t moved far on their investigation of Juventas. “Yes. From the evidence you all know we gathered, there is a lot of it,” Addy continued. “It will take time to correlate all the data to real-world examples, however… we believe that this drug isn’t the only one out in circulation that violates the law. For example,” Addy reached into her briefcase, “a nutrition bar.” Each of the members around the table eyed the small thing with suspicion. “That’s it?” Ida asked. “We at the LRG have heard the reports as well… but this can’t be it for how we’re going to take down the Juventas board.” “Oh, can it, Ida!” Vice President Wilkins snapped at the Big to her left. “This is a big deal. Not only does it cross the state lines… but it’s a fragrant violation of our governmental drug policy.” “But that’s not the point,” Assistant Director McCormack added. “If we can’t make something stick because we don’t have a plan, all this is for nothing. We’d be sticking our necks out with a bunch of garbled up nonsense to the greater public. We might know this stuff is dangerous… but what about a politician from Carolina?” “Correct,” Addy noted almost smiling, much to the surprise of the group. Little did they know, but she had been waiting for this exact moment. “We don’t have a plan for how to approach this. We have evidence but it needs to be bundled… coordinated with your various organizations and agencies.” Addy paused and looked down at the files before her. ‘Then, propose a solution… even if it’s not complete, it can be critiqued and molded or at least get everyone started…’ She then looked back up at the various faces all staring at her. “Therefore, I have asked you all here to form a plan for what we do next. And as much as I don’t want to, we can sit on this longer if we need to. Something tells me that once one thing leaks from this… everything will… So, we need to come up with a plan we all can agree on.” The murmurs began again and soon devolved into raised voices and even a few shouts. This time though, Addy let it all go. They needed to debate all this until everyone was at least 90% on board with the plan. In the past few minutes though, she noticed how nervous her brother looked. “Hey… you okay there?” She trusted him implicitly, but there was a distance in his face… something maybe of a regret or even just exhaustion. She wasn’t sure… “Yeah, sis… all good I just…” He winced and shook his head. “Never mind…” “No. Tell me,” Addy pressed. She could tell by his face by now what was something to poke at and something she should just drop. When he broke up with his high school sweetheart freshman year of college… she didn’t poke then. When he found Julia later in college… she absolutely poked then. He sighed. “Just… look around, Ads. Everyone here… so many agendas and so many hopes and tasks and… I’m sure it will all be fine, but…” He grimaced with whatever was on his mind now. “What about my family? That threat is still out there. And… for that matter, what about yours?” Addy’s heart clenched at the notion. Juventas had already gone after their dad… but that still left Julia, Jakey, and Oliver vulnerable now. As soon as Juventas got wind of what they were doing and if they weren’t prepared… it could get ugly. If that happened, the group would be starting off on the defensive with their information, and they might have to use it as a bargaining chip to save their lives… or whatever piece of them Juventas decided to screw with to send a message. But Addy knew she had to remain strong and patted her brother’s shoulder. “I’ve thought about that too… It keeps me up nights, Warren. It really does…” She took a deep breath. “Cuddling Oliver helps… like a reassurance for me that he’s still there and not taken away like Patrick and Cara were…” That day still haunted Addy with how powerless she was in it all. “That’s different. We have more information than those two. I read the report. I just…” He sighed again. “Our loved ones… we’ve already been hit. It’s hard not to dwell that they won’t try again.” Addy only nodded and gave her brother a side hug. She knew her words would simply never be enough for a husband and a caregiver of a Little. Truth be told, Jakey had dubbed him ‘Daddy’ years ago… but knowing what Addy knew now as to why he was like that, she understood why Warren allowed it but still felt a cringe whenever that word was uttered to describe him. If it was natural, then maybe he would be fine… but it was just another constant reminder of the depravity of Juventas on those who they felt got in their way. Just like the one her feared would strike again now. By the next day, the egos had mostly been settled, and Addy was more or less sure that most just wanted to leave and permanently go home rather than stay overtly at some inn nearby or whatnot like they had done the night before. It was difficult getting ABI and LRG to cooperate… but Addy had been the mediator, noting that placing the Littles needs above their own had to be their priority. Now, viewing the final plan at a high level, it seemed to have worked. Being the defacto leader now, Addy stepped up and ensured everyone was on board still with what had been conjured up to take down Mr. Allen, Mr. Bouras, and Mr. Drakos. “Now,” she began, “each of us on the board at Juventas will deepen our probes of further current information. What I took from the servers is still solid… but some has now passed the statute of limitations. We will still publish it for the court of public opinion… but anything we gather now will only add strength to our case against the board members.” Everyone seemed on board with that, and Addy knew that was more or less the case because it wasn’t their necks on the line. It was hers, Warren’s, Josh’s, and Elena’s. “Next, due to the unfortunate side effect of the Little Laws limiting some protections in these cases and expanding identity covers… some of the evidence will be unable to be prosecuted unless we can find old scientists or test subjects… which is unlikely due to the possibility or prosecution against some and the regressed minds of others.” Addy paused. “Just in case you know of any, I would appreciate your help in this matter… but if not, I might have a solution already.” “And barring that even…” she continued hastily, knowing the time was ticking down for today. “We will be going after the nutrition bars fully as our main prosecution. It is current, it crosses state lines which makes it a federal case, and we can even involve other federal agencies due to the lack of warning labels on the bars themselves.” Addy then gestured to the APL and ABI. “Thanks to the efforts of your organizations, we also know now that the government will take our case more seriously and a conviction will be more solid if we can tie the food to being eaten by Bigs. It’s more of a long shot, but if we make it work, the old board might as well throw away the key.” Everyone nodded and grinned. Littles had more protections under the law in most ways now, like not being taken to the local doctor for a quick lobotomy like the old days, but cases with Little abuses could still get tricky. A product that could hurt a Big though… if convicted, Bigs almost always received the harshest punishments, and the public outcry would be devastating. Addy smiled at everything starting to take shape. There were still several details to iron out and contacts to be made and recorded… but it was a plan and a million steps closer to achieving their end goal than the organization had ever gotten to at this point. “We have a plan. If everything goes right… we should soon have ourselves a conviction. And then… Juventas will truly change for the better!” Many around the table cheered… but not everyone. “Okay… now we have a plan…” Co-chair Hutchinson began skeptically, bringing the mood down a little bit. “Now what?” “Now?” Addy took a breath and tried to keep her patience. “Now, you all go back to the leads of your various agencies and organizations and coordinate this plan with them. We are going to need their support and approval if this case if sever going to take off like the way I know we all want it to.” Her watch then beeped and Addy glanced down and turned it off. “But… that will have to be for another day. Right now, four of us need to attend a board meeting and try to keep the board in line as best we can until you all are ready to strike.” She took a deep breath and leaned forward. “And last… but I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you just how important this is. If half of what we know is true, the lives and well-being of millions of Littles are on the line…” *              *              * Still riding the high of that final note, and the approving glances she received after, Addy sat at her spot at the board meeting table. Nearby, Josh, Elena, and Warren were all seated as well… none of them giving even the slightest indication that less than two hours ago, they had all been planning what was essentially going to be a coup of the higher leadership of the very personnel they were surrounded by now. Mr. Bouras got through the first parts as fast as he could. Mr. Drakos, behind him, seemed to be steaming something fierce for supposed failures he was now laying on his VP’s shoulder. Apparently, after his experience at the party, Mr. Bouras had grown weak and ineffectual at keeping people in line. Mr. Bouras seemed to try to move forward… only to strangely, at least for him, become more flustered. “Uh, now onto…” Mr. Bouras almost appeared to be struggling to find the words. “Old business, you fool!” Mr. Drakos chastised him. “Old business! Damn it, man. How many times have we done this?” He pinched his nose and shook his head before glaring menacingly at his formerly most trusted advisor. “Either get you head in the game… or I’ll find myself a new VP.” “Yes, boss!” Mr. Bouras answered, nearly clicking his heels together in a salute at acknowledgment of the command. Some bosses would make a threat and that would all it would ever be. Mr. Drakos made a threat… he was the type who could and would carry it out to the letter. Mr. Bouras quickly looked at his list. “Ah yes… here we go! GR90P… a feed additive for cows… the federal government seems to want to expedite this process to ensure a healthy productive meat seasons from the plains. Something about an increasing populace with all the Littles we’re pulling from Earth.” The board was silent, and Addy becoming more adept at these things, could see the sway of a new vote being about to be called. It was for something simple, but each member was clearly thinking of all the angles as Mr. Bouras went around the room. For her own part, Addy viewed her notes that she had taken on the new drug being put to a vote. She had found her own technique to help wrap her previously scattered thoughts into one single spider web diagram to best show the connections. With GR90P, the positives were that more beef would be available, cattle would be healthier, and most would require less feed if needed during winter months. The negatives would be that it could permanently place the cattle industry on being reliant on the drug in the feed and that some farmers might resist it… but those were two future problems. Addy didn’t want to, but she knew it all equated to more money in their pockets… so Allen, Bouras, and Drakos, at least in a tie, would vote for it. Warren seemed squeamish but there was no debate from either Josh or Elena. So, Addy knew her vote. To ensure less problems for her, she approved of it. “A vote of 4 for, 1 abstention, and 1 rejection… the motion passes!” Mr. Bouras rejoiced, the dollar signs practically lighting up his eyes on the spot alongside Mr. Drakos and Mr. Allen. Addy pretended to cough to shield her mouth and worded ‘I’m sorry’ to both Elena and Josh… the one nay and the one abstention respectively. Both only shrugged their shoulders. Addy had recently taken them aside and pushed for both to be a little more discerning with their votes. Elena didn’t sway as much as Josh, but both were rapidly learning to reserve your vote for when it counted… and not make an enemy of yourself. They and Warren and Addy all knew a vote was coming that could forever change the balance of power on the board. So, most shrugged off the minor loss. “Now,” Mr. Bouras began again, still seeming to ride the high of his triumph with the drug he had introduced last week. “New business. I think we should seriously consider looking into partnering with Diamo…” “I would like to discuss the nutrition bars,” Addy piped up, interrupting Mr. Bouras. She saw and she knew… and she feigned and apologetic look. “Oh, sorry about that Mr. Bouras. I was just thinking about them the other day and I think they rank as a much higher priority for the company… giving how many we could sell per day based on Little consumption projections alone.” When Addy had first arrived in the board room, she felt like a tiny church mouse about to be stomped to death and never given a single thought. Now, with her training by her dad and the seemingly endless supply of evidence at her side, she felt on top of the three that once tried so hard to fluster and intimidate her. As a nurse, she loved her job. There was a sense of seeing a problem and then fixing it, but… as time went on, more and more Addy couldn’t do what needed to be done. There always seemed like a new drug being forced on them. New regulations to regress the Littles and new ways to ensure they would never return to Earth. She had seen it with Patrick first and then Oliver. They could go home but when you show a starving person paradise, is it truly any wonder when they don’t leave? Addy knew that was the point… so she had felt powerless. Now, as a board member, she could still help people… but she also had the power to do so. She was head of her division and though she felt like she was walking on thin ice at all times, she knew she could order a test and change the ingredients to ensure a drug given to Littles could still be busted through with some recovery time. The drug would still go out and Addy didn’t like that… but it was something. ‘If only I could do more, I would love this place…’ A fire was starting to burn in her soul coming here… a hunger she couldn’t just stamp down. If only the three board members were out of the way… “The, uh…” Mr. Bouras was clearly flustered. So, instead, Mr. Drakos eased forward, seemingly curious about her notion. “The nutrition bars… the ones that were barely a flicker on our radar?” He tapped his fingers together and his face seemed neutral, curious, and disgusted all at the same time. “I wonder what brought this query on… do you mind sharing that with the board or…” “Apologies for the announcement… chef’s surprise is now being served in the dining hall,” the overhead speaker announced. “Wait… chef’s special?” Mr. Allen asked, his hand already rubbing his stomach due to another earlier than usual meeting happening right in the middle of lunch. Mr. Bouras sighed as Mr. Drakos slumped back in his chair. They could have pushed but chef’s special and one member already showing signs of breaking and being one of their few strong voting pillars… the debate would have been over quick. And either way… the board members would have just simply marched out. “Okay…” Mr. Bouras breathed resignedly. “One hour for lunch… then right back here! You’re not in your seat then… we might call a vote and cast your vote ourselves!” His annoyance was obvious… but so was his lack of any real power to stop the wave soon filtering out before him. Stuck in the middle of a query, all ready to go, it took Addy a second to gather her things and then exit with the rest of the board members. ‘Geesh… if only that could have been pushed, I would have… woah!’ Warren, sneaking up behind her, had nearly just shoved her in a side room before closing the door. Stalking over to her with his hands on his hips, he glared back at his little sister. “What the hell was that, Addy? You trying to prove something today?” “What?” Addy shrugged nonchalantly. “I was just probing for more information on the one thing we’re really going after… or did you forget that?” Warren sighed and his lips pinched right after. “That is supposed to be on our own… not to the frickin’ president of the whole blooming company and one of the main guys we’re trying to pull down!” He shook his head and basically growled as he turned away and shook out his frustrations. Turning bac by the nearby window, his fury was still evident… but so was the patience he no doubt received from both their dad and being one of Jakey’s caregivers. “Look… I get you want to do this. I get that Dad was hurt by them. I get that I’m being threatened and that they’re dangerous and that now you know a connection between them and half the bad stuff in your life that you didn’t even know about… most recently with the kidnapping of Patrick and Cara last year… but that doesn’t give you the right to go off and get yourself caught.” Addy knew he was right, but they were also right there, and she wanted to throw them off balance and get them to confess to something else they had done. “But I…” “No buts!” Warren snapped. “This is pretty easy to grasp. We probe other things… not the bars. We do that crap on our own and out of their sight. We go around asking, they’ll just pull cover and bury the evidence so deep, you’ll need to break in again just to find it.” Addy didn’t want to admit it… but she knew he was correct about everything. “You’re right… that was stupid of me. I’m sorry…” “Yeah, it was, but…” He smiled for the first time in the past ten minutes at least since she had mentioned anything about the bars. “It’s okay and… I get it. We just… we need to remember Dad’s lessons. Slow is terrible but it keeps you alive. I mean… look at him with getting poisoned. I checked his lab work with what I could, and he sped up his findings to help out the others in the bunker… he triggered something. I’m not sure what… but he went fast and now he’s still in a coma.” “I know, I know…” Addy was even telling herself the same thing now. Going slow was terrible… but she also knew her dad’s age and that it was likely one of the few reasons he was still breathing. “But… what do I even say now?” Warren scratched his head. “Well… you tell them that we talked at lunch, and I informed you based on March’s newsletter. There was some information in there and it was before your time here. It’ll work… I think…” “Fine…” But Addy didn’t like just leaving it there. “So, no information then?” “Well… I wouldn’t say that.” Warren reached into his briefcase and pulled out a single file. “We’ll look this over together at lunch. It’s some research into one of the products from the company that Bouras was just about to discuss. Codename… mocking jay.” “Will do…” Addy sighed and started walking for the door. But Warren stopped her. “Oh, and Addy?” She turned back toward him as he stepped closer to her. “Yeah?” “Try not to do that again…” He then held up a small device. “I can only use my contact at the announcer’s desk so many times before Drakos or Bouras catches on. A little trick from Dad but it can be a lifesaver when you know something is on that’s good to eat.” “I’ll remember that…” She checked her watch. “Oh hey. We better go. Bouras is timing us this time, remember? Something is telling me we don’t want to get on his bad side” “Right.” He stepped over first and reopened the door before waving her on. “Come on, sis. We’ve got a single chef’s special to try out. Hopefully, there won’t be a surprise in it this time…” Both chuckled and walked right out. Precisely 55 minutes later, everyone was seated. There was still some time until a full hour had passed… but no one wanted to take the risk. “So, Ms. Pepperidge…” Mr. Drakos began again, completely cutting off Mr. Bouras when he was just about to start. “I was just about to ask you why you were so interested in “Actually… you know… I’m going to fully admit this is a newbie mistake,” Addy admitted. She didn’t like seeming the ditz or newbie on the team… but it was also an easy way out. “I found one of my dad’s files and I would ask him but…” Each of their once smiling faces fell a little and Addy knew her trap was working to reverse their curiosity. Shame seemed to be a high motivator for each. ‘Gotta remember that…’ She then pushed the March newsletter forward. “Turns out, I asked Warren instead and he filled me in with the past newsletter. That’s all!” “Very well…” Mr. Drakos dismissed it all with a look of disappointment and a single hand wave. Before Bouras could pipe up even then with the next order of business, Addy beat him to it. “Actually, I would like to instead talk about something called… mocking jay. More specifically… why chemical analysis was called in but never officially used. Did something get mislabeled maybe?” While Drakos seemed too far in his own world now, Bouras’ and Allen’s faces both grew white. Addy and Warren could barely contain their excitement. It was small in the files… probably something the old board was trying to keep hidden but something the old board had privately consulted on with them already. Something else that could get them in hot water. Addy had been worried that the ruse wouldn’t work and Drakos or even Allen would hound her right after they stumblingly clarified about mocking jay… but Warren was right. Once they hurriedly answered, they all went back to their brooding ways and Bouras took over the meeting that resulted in little progress and a trashed agenda. The old heads seemed even queasy by the end as well… Twiddling her thumbs for a moment and contemplating the future, she heard a knock at the door. “Come in! It’s open!” In stepped Kimberly. A Big bordering on Middle height, she was usually pretty timid around the other board members… but she was efficient and steeped in both facts and an uncanny ability in knowing how to get things done around here. She had worked for Addy’s dad and now her secretary… “Ah, Kimberly!” she warmly greeted. “Here with next week’s inventory projections?” Kimberly shook her head. “No, ma’am. I will have those to you by COB. Instead, this is…” She winced and quietly and gingerly closed the door behind her. “This is about those… contacts you wanted me to look up?” she still whispered low. “Oh!” Addy thought it would have taken longer… but she knew Kimberly… and Kimberly never seemed to fail with these kinds of tasks. “So… you found them?” Kimberly nodded. “All of the most immediate ones. And…” She stepped closer and her eyes grew wide before setting the folder down in front of Addy. “I think we have a lead on… the other one… priority one…” Addy smiled silently and pawed for the file to come closer to her. Her grin only grew as she saw the name on the file and opened it up to see what Kimberly had brought her. Seeing inside, she sighed, seeing that her hunch had likely paid off. ‘Oh, Dr. Halgen… there you are…’

Amy looked at her niece she was obviously in what her sister-in-law called little space where the girl acted way younger than she really was smiling shyly as she sucked her thumb cuddling up with her uncle, Amy went to the kitchen next to fill up a bottled of milk figuring her niece would like a drink.  She then came back into the dining room, "hey sweetie I have a nice bottle of milk for you, would you want me to take you into the living room and give you your bottle that way you can watch television." Amy asked as she wanted to spend a little time with Valeria and get her comfortable with her and her husband.

So removing it causes incontinence?

Always sees the bulge or hears it. One time I had a onesie on over it and she noticed it.