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Bahahaha!!!! Bye Harley!!! Ya done!!!! Ya gone!!!! Time for a real Big to give Paul the safety and security he needs. Gloating aside, I’m hanging all my hopes on Savannah and I really, really, really want her to live up to my expectations…but, like, also I know there has to be character growth and “enhancing the drama” so maybe she won’t be the one or maybe she’ll screw up too.  But PLEASE!!!!?! I just want one caregiver with their heart in the right place and their poop in a group at the same time!!! Uhg! Soooo….you got any more of those updates? …Cuz I already need my next fix…lol (No pressure, tho, because I feel very lucky and appreciative to get this content, just expressing my enthusiasm).

Charlotte finds herself on her second lap of life, being reborn as Charlotte Marie Ashcroft. Having experienced decades of regression from her past life, Charlotte is weary of the magic that the running shoes possesses. When Charlotte receives the running shoes as a gift for her first birthday, all her doubts, fears, and concerns return to her when she confronts the shoes that nearly made her disappear. But old habits die hard, as Charlotte strangely finds herself drawn to the shoes once again.  The shoes work their charm on her as they did in her past life, pushing Charlotte into another dilemma.  Can Charlotte trust the strange magic from the running shoes?  How do the shoes work?  Has Charlotte sealed her fate once again?   This story is a sequel to “The Running Shoes”, a story inspired from Olympiczero's "The Ballet Slippers".  I strongly recommend that you check out his story as it is an amazing read, and the inspiration behind this entire story.  His entire story can be found here in the link below:   Having written “The Running Shoes”, I felt like there were some unanswered questions from the previous story.  This “Second Lap” if you will, would address everything the last story didn’t cover, and it should tie up some loose ends on the mystery that is behind the mysterious running shoes. But be aware.  Charlotte’s second lap is going to be a lot faster (shorter), so there will be a lot fewer chapters in this story.  Consider this an abridged sequel with the pacing being a lot faster than the previous story. If you haven’t read “The Running Shoes”, I encourage you to read that story first.  You can find that story here:   But I recommend that you read the stories in the following order for the best experience and out of respect for the author who inspired me to write these two stories: -    Olympic Zero’s “The Ballet Slippers” -    The Running Shoes -    The Running Shoes – Second Lap This story is the official second part to The Running Shoes and is to be treated as a tribute, and my own unique spin on the original classic.  Fans of “The Ballet Slippers” should be familiar with the theme and how this story serves as a spiritual continuation of the original classic.  Enjoy the story!   So yes.  I am finally working on the sequel.  As for updates, they will will be done as I find time to do them.  I am very busy so I'll try to keep this story updated when I can.  Enjoy everyone!      Prologue - Second Lap Charlotte Marie Ashcroft woke up in an incubator in the NICU at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center in Santa Rosa, California.  Despite it being only two days since Charlotte was born, the newborn Charlotte felt a strong feeling a Déjà vu inside of her.  While everything felt very new to her, there was a lingering familiarity at the same time.  It was like Charlotte had experienced life before.  A past life that she had a full memory of. Much of this was weighed down by her drowsiness as a newborn.  Her long naps afforded her very little moments of consciousness while the nurses tended to her around the clock. As sleepy as Charlotte was, there was a strangeness that she felt that she just couldn’t let go.  Decades from a past life that she was just beginning to ponder. A strong and powerful thought entered Charlotte’s mind.  A thought that she had no memory of despite having the same thought a couple of days ago. ‘They listened.  They gave me another chance.  Another chance at life. They…It was…it was…’ Charlotte’s tired mind tried to process the rest of her train of thought.  ‘It…it was…it was…the shoes.’ The shoes.  The very thought of them made the newborn Charlotte smile again. The running shoes.  The very tools that Charlotte thought that were working against her were actually listening to her the whole time.  Here Charlotte was, just two days old, being stabilized in the NICU due to her being born one month premature.  The incubator and the other machines were doing a wonderful job in keeping Charlotte alive and healthy. As the days passed, Charlotte received regular feedings from the nurses, which was usually followed by changing her diapers.  Charlotte’s temperature was continually measured and she still needed an incubator due to her low birth weight unable to regulate her body temperature.  Due to one frightening episode of apnea and three different episodes of bradycardia, Charlotte still needed a ventilator for the first couple weeks of her life. Charlotte, as drowsy as she was, slowly pieced together all the scattered fragments of her past life.  As strange as it was, Charlotte felt like this past life was her very own, making her current life a continuation of her original life. Charlotte could feel her fingers reflexively close around nurses that laid their fingers on her palms.  As they did this, another fond thought entered Charlotte’s mind: her name. ‘I….Who am I?  I am….my name is….Charlotte…Warren…’ But that wasn’t right.  While Charlotte was very close, the fragmented memories from her mother’s wedding were still jumbled together in her mind. A few days later, Charlotte heard a noise which startled her. At the same time, this loosened something inside of Charlotte. ‘My name….I am…Charlotte Ashcroft.  I have….a big sister….Lauren Ashcroft….My mother’s name….Darcy Ashcroft….My father’s name….Michael Ashcroft….’ All this was enough for Charlotte to immediately fall asleep. One thing that Charlotte immediately noticed was how strange and different her dreams were.  Despite being only a newborn, Charlotte had numerous dreams where she was already an adult.  Charlotte could only guess that these dreams were only various memories from her past life. Charlotte snapped awake to suddenly forget just how small she actually was.  The Charlotte that she saw in her dreams was a Charlotte that had already ran the first lap.  Being a newborn again, Charlotte reasoned that this was her second lap.  Her return to consciousness was swiftly met with an overwhelming feeling of fatigue and a sensory overload that overwhelmed her to the point of tears. “WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” A NICU nurse immediately attended to Charlotte.  She checked her breathing and temperature and made sure that Charlotte was adequately fed.  After the nurse changed Charlotte’s diaper, she fed her. Another thing that Charlotte didn’t realize was that her mother visited her every day. Darcy often visited Charlotte, but it was usually during the long spans of time that Charlotte slept.  Darcy often held Charlotte under the supervision of the NICU staff before giving her new baby girl back to them for her continued care. During one moment that Charlotte woke up, she was almost two weeks old, and she could feel herself swaddled by loving arms.  A gentle hum filled her ears, which sounded like a lullaby.  It sounded…familiar.  Like she had heard this voice before. It was…Charlotte knew it was her. Mother. Mom. Mommy. Mama. Charlotte would’ve uttered ‘mama’, but realized that her vocal cords couldn’t process speech yet.  So she cooed instead when she felt the warmth of her mother cradling her.  She was cradled in her mother’s arms and she felt safe. Two weeks passed.  Darcy was getting into a white limousine with Lauren. A look of eagerness came over Darcy’s face as she found her favorite spot in the back seat of the limo: the right most seat facing the window.  Darcy sat in the tan leather seat and buckled herself in. Lauren, not caring what seat she took, buckled herself in the middle seat next to Darcy and smiled.  “So are you finally taking Charlotte home, mommy?” Darcy shrugged her shoulders.  At this point, she was used to her adult daughter calling her mommy, as it has been more than a year since the wedding.  Lauren was indeed her daughter now.  Legally, yes.  But for Darcy it was much more than that. Darcy then thought of her daughter’s question.  Is Charlotte coming home today?  This, Darcy knew was a matter that she didn’t have any control over.  It was all up to the doctors and nurses at the NICU to decide when Charlotte was ready to come home.  And at this point in time, it has been 23 days since Charlotte was born now. “I don’t know,” Darcy finally said.  “It’s up to the doctors.  Charlotte needs to be healthy enough to breathe on her own.  Don’t you remember her birth weight?  It was only 2 pounds and 9 ounces!” Lauren gave her mother an understanding nod.  Lauren knew that this was normal for a baby that was born one month premature.  In nine more days, Charlotte would be coming up to her actual due date of December 10th.  “I know, mommy.  I just want to see my baby sister at home where she belongs.  I mean, won’t it be great to put her in that new nursery?” Darcy smiled at the mention of the nursery.  This was a fun project that both her and Lauren both worked on.  It gave them both time to bond beautifully as new mother and new daughter.  Even though it has been a year since Darcy married Michael, having Lauren as her daughter was still new, and working on Charlotte’s nursery together was the best idea ever.  They both shared laughter, stories, and burdens as they both worked on the important room that Charlotte would be staying in. What Lauren liked the most was that she actually had the time to work on the nursery with her mother.  Even since Charlotte was born, Lauren took a sabbatical from her modeling to help Darcy with taking care of Charlotte.  All the details that they put into the nursery were all personal and done with love and care.  Lauren smiled as she glanced at the sun glistening into the window of the limo as it coasted down the long driveway leading to the gate of the Ashcroft Estate.  She glanced at her mother and smiled.  “I can’t wait for Charlotte to come home.” “Me too.” Darcy told her.  “I’m so happy that I was able to have a child.  It really felt like God was giving me another chance at being a mother, considering the miscarriage that happened more than 31 years ago…” “He gave you two more chances,” Lauren said, pointing to herself.  “You lost your husband and a baby, and I lost my mother to breast cancer.  I am happy that you are my mother now.  I am also happy about how understanding IMG Models was in letting me take a sabbatical.” Darcy nodded.  “IMG Models was also generous with my maternity leave.  When they found out that I had a preemie, they told me to take as much time as I need.” The minutes seemed to fly on by as the two continued to share their stories, their lives, and their tears with each other.  Darcy now knew that Lauren was the daughter that she never had.  A daughter that God just gave to her freely, along with Charlotte.  It felt much less like a legally binding agreement and more like Lauren being like her own flesh and blood. Her daughter just as much as Charlotte was. A friendly honk of the horn snapped them both out of their reverie. Both women swiftly ended their discussion and glanced up at the driver. The rear glass divider separating the passengers from the driver rolled down and he pointed out the window. “We are here,” the limo driver announced in a pleasant tone.  “The NICU at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center.” Lauren smiled.  “Thank you, Jenkins.  I will call you on my cell phone when we are getting ready to leave.” “Very good,” Jenkins said with a jovial smile.  “You two wonderful ladies have a great time in visiting your new member of the family.” Lauren kindly pointed to Jenkins.  “And you have a fun time too, Jenkins!  Don’t exclude yourself from the fun.  The Ashcroft family includes you as well.  No worker is excluded.  So have fun!” Jenkins respectfully tipped his hat and nodded.  “I will have fun, Miss and Mrs. Ashcroft!” The two entered the NICU and the staff permitted Lauren to enter without any hesitation. Darcy was already approaching the respirator that Charlotte was laying in when her mind began to catch up to the present.  All she heard was that “Charlotte needed a little more time”.  “Charlotte was breathing, but not long enough on her own”.  She also heard that Charlotte’s sleep apnea was improving, and there were now zero cases of bradycardia. Darcy was about to pick up Charlotte when a voice stopped her. “May I, mommy?”  Lauren said with a pleading face. Darcy gave Lauren a warm smile.  “Only if it’s okay with the nurses.” The nurse, who called herself Breanna, nodded.  “She can.  At this point, we are just taking safety measures to ensure that Charlotte is ready to come home.  With only one case of sleep apnea last week, Charlotte is getting very close to being able to breathe on her own.  We monitored her yesterday and she was able to breathe for two whole hours on her own!” Lauren’s smile grew as she heard of the good report from Nurse Breanna.  She grinned as she held her new baby sister in her arms.  Charlotte was fast asleep, making small and gentle breaths.  “My cute wittle baby daughter!” Lauren cooed. Then an explosion. FLUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!!!! Lauren sniffed the air and laughed.  “Whoopsie!  It looks like my baby sister needs a changie poo!” Darcy nodded and grabbed Charlotte.  “Let me.  I’ve been changing her diapers since they first admitted her here.  Don’t worry, Laurie.  You’ll have plenty more diapers to change when she’s at home.” Lauren nodded, secretly relieved that she didn’t have to change Charlotte’s messy diaper.  She handed her baby sister to Darcy, who laid her right on a table that the NICU used for diaper changes. Darcy began changing Charlotte’s diaper, encouraging Lauren to watch everything that she was doing.  “Pay attention,” Darcy said with a smirk.  “You will be doing a few of these when she comes home.” Darcy unsnapped the buttons on Charlotte’s plain white onesie and peeled open the tapes of Charlotte’s diaper.  She smiled as she heard her daughter gasp when she saw what was inside.  A big wet gooey mess covered the inside of the diaper and Charlotte’s diaper area. “I can’t believe how small that diaper is!”  Lauren said with a gasp. Darcy laughed.  “Yeah.  That’s a P1.  Charlotte is just about ready for size N, which is newborn.” As Darcy wiped Charlotte clean, she could see Charlotte’s eyes begin to squint open.  She saw her baby daughter’s mouth open up with a widening smile. “Yeah!” Darcy said with a smile.  “Mommy’s changing your stinky diapy!  And look!  Your big sister is here too!” All Charlotte did was smile and coo at the sound of Darcy’s voice. Minutes later, Darcy had a diaper all powdered and began to delicately fold it between Charlotte’s tiny legs. Charlotte’s eyes flickered as she just stared at the two large women that were next to her. While Charlotte knew that the first one was her mother, she didn’t know who the other one was. Who is that?  Who is that other lady?  While Charlotte was supposed to know, her memories were too repressed to even know who she was.  All she had was a blank slate.  A new body with a new mind.  A mind and brain that was just beginning to boot up. A mind that would take at least 2 to 3 years to begin to develop. Charlotte drifted off, sleeping what she felt like was a few minutes. But when Charlotte woke up, she was in her respirator again.  Her mother and that strange woman that accompanied her were gone. In reality, Charlotte slept for a few hours.  The NICU nurses continued caring for Charlotte, changing her diaper, feeding her, and putting her in her ventilator as needed. A couple of days later, Charlotte was showing remarkable improvement.  After breathing for two hours without a ventilator, this turned into three. Three hours turned into four. And then five.  Six hours.  Seven hours. Eight hours of breathing without a ventilator. The NICU nurses then carefully watched Charlotte around the clock as she slept for the first full night without a ventilator. Darcy was impressed when she visited Charlotte that day. With Charlotte’s health improving, Darcy now wanted to get answers from the doctors.  When can Charlotte finally go home? That same day, Darcy got her answer. One week. One week later, Charlotte squinted her eyes open.  While everything inside of her felt brand new, there was at the same time a part of Charlotte that couldn’t help but notice that something felt familiar.  It was like she had lived this life before. But how?  How could I have lived this life? This awareness dissolved into the drowsy and perpetually sleeping newborn self that Charlotte was.  A self that felt almost overwhelmed by the brand-new world that awaited her. Everything was new.  Sounds.  Sights.  Smells. And Déjà vu.  This feeling lay dormant inside of the newborn Charlotte like a sleeping volcano.  A volcano waiting for the opportune time to erupt. But something else erupted instead. “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” All the NICU nurses agreed.  The doctors agreed. Even Darcy agreed. This was Charlotte’s day. After 32 days of hospitalization since her birth, it was finally time for Charlotte Marie Ashcroft to leave Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center. It was finally time to go home.

Have to keep you guessing every now and then! 😈 Thanks for the comments   Just to let everyone know... I don’t know for certain whether there will be another chapter tomorrow. I’m going to do my best. I have a few more ‘in the can,’ but writing is going awfully slow right now. We’ll see how I do between now and the morning. If I can get more of a chapter written by the afternoon, I'll try to post tomorrow night.  Maybe I’ll start getting some better inspiration now, too... Unfortunately, today’s total currently stands at a pittance of 373 words... 

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yes - try walmart mattress protector