Cynthia'S New Home

[robehouse]

"I guess continue treating her like a toddler for now. After all, I don't want to have to wash sheets and clothes everyday in case she decides not to act like a fourteen year old."

"Okay, I will go home and check there. Can you have Mary check the barn where the puppies are? call me if you find her, and I will call you if I find her too."

Melanie walks quickly home and enters the house. She starts looking for Cynthhia.

[baby_snow_white]

Mark nods. "That is probably a good idea for now. She seems to be content to be a toddler. Whether she is doing it because she thinks we wanted a toddler or she is doing it on her own."

Gina nods. "Yes I'll have Mary check the barn where the puppies are at." She walks over to where Mary was at. "We need you to go to the barn and see if Cynthia is in here. We can't find her anywhere."

Mary nods. "Ok mom. I'll go check in the barn." She walks down to the barn and looks around. Mary checks where the puppies was at. There was no sign of Cynthia. Mary walks out of the barn. "She wasn't in the barn."

Gina nods. "Ok I'll call Melanie and see if she found Cynthia at home."

Mary nods. "Ok you do that. I'll be back out here shortly." She goes into the house while Gina calls Melanie to see if Cynthia was there. Mary hears singing coming from her bedroom and she looks in. Cynthia was setting on the floor holding the puppy in her arms and singing to it while she lightly rock the puppy. Mary quietly leaves the upstairs and goes down the stairs. She looks at Gina. "Mom, I found Cynthia. She is in my room singing to the puppy and rocking it gently."

Gina puts the phone back to her ear. "Mary said she found Cynthia. She is up in Mary's room with the puppy. Mary said Cynthia is rocking and singing to the puppy."

[robehouse]

Melanie searches the house, looking in Cynthia's room. She opens the closet and sees the diapers in the box. She finds the size 6 diapers and opens the package. She puts one in the crib for tonight and leaves the room. She looks in the playroom and then comes downstairs. She looks in the room that will be Cynthia's studio and doesn't see here. Melanie hears the phone ring.

"Hello? No, I don't see Cynthia anywhere." Melanie waits while Gina and Mary talk. She gets excited when Gina says that Mary found Cynthia upstairs in her room. "I'll be right there."

Melanie hangs up the phone and hurries over to Gina's house. She is out of breath when she sees Gina.

"Is it alright if I go upstairs?"

[baby_snow_white]

Gina nods. "Yes it is alright if you go upstairs. You remember where Mary's bedroom is at. It hasn't changed since she was a baby. The second room on your right as you go up the stairs. I'll be outside with everyone else if you need me." She watches Melanie going up the stairs and then she walks outside.

Cynthia continues to rock the puppy and sing a lullaby to her.

[robehouse]

"Thank you."

Melanie walks upstairs and finds Mary's bedroom. Even if she had not known where it was, the door had Mary's name printed on it in stars. Even before she got to the room Melanie could hear Cynthia singing to the puppy. Melanie looked in the room and saw Cynthia sitting on the floor holding the puppy as she sang to it.

"Hi Cynthia. You should have told someone where you were going. We didn't know where you were."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia turns around. "Oh hi mommy." She looked at Melanie. "Well you all was busy talking. Daddy was talking to Curtis and some other guys. Mary was talking to some other people and you was talking to Gina. Mrs. Blanchard said it was really rude to interupt adults while they was talking. So I came up here to check on the puppy. Since I was lonely and I figured she probably was too. I wasn't sure who the puppy was until I looked underneath. There is no male part. So the puppy must be a girl like me. When I came up here. The puppy sounded like it was crying. When I picked the puppy up and started holding her. She stopped crying. When I started singing to the puppy. She acted like she was really enjoying it. Are you mad at me for not telling you where I was going? I didn't think any of you would miss me. You all seemed to be involved with each other and not paying me any attention."

[robehouse]

Melanie listens to Cynthia's explanation and nods her head. "You should have let me know anyway, Cynthia. Yes, it is rude to just butt in when an adult is having a conversation, but I want you to get my attention when you want to go somewhere else. You can tug on my blouse or pants or something. I thought you would go play with the other children after you finished eating."

Melanie notices some food on Cynthia's face."Let's go get you cleaned up. When we are finished you can come back in here if you want. This is Mary's bedroom and you should have got someone's permission before going into someones room."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Ok mommy. I hadn't planned on staying in here,but when I heard the puppy crying. I couldn't just leave her here alone. That would have been really irresponible of me. She is going to be my dog and I should learn to take care of her and her needs." She shakes her head. "I was going to,but the older kids told me to get lost. They didn't want me around to play with the younger kids. So I came in here to check on the puppy. I knew she wouldn't tell me to get lost or to leave. She loves me unconditionally and I love her the same way."

[robehouse]

Melaniie nodded as Cynthia talked.

"Okay, let's go to the bathroom."

Melanie waited until Cynthia set the puppy down and got it settled then she took Cynthia's hand. She led her over to the bathroom and pulled out the little stool that was sitting against the wall and put it in front of the sink. When Cynthia climbed on the stool Melanie got a washcloth and got it wet. She washed off Cynthia's face and hands. When she had dried Cynthia off, Melanie patted Cynthia's bottom.

"I would like for you to try and go potty while we are here, Cynthia. I know it hasn't been very long since the last time,but I think it would be a good idea for you to try again."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Ok mommy." She puts the puppy in the box and covers it up so it wouldn't get cold. Cynthia takes Melanie's hand and walks to the bathroom. She stands still while Melanie cleans her face and hands up. Cynthia looks at Melanie. "I don't have to go mommy,but I'll try for you." She hops off the stool and walks over to the toilet. Cynthia takes the stool with her and sets down on the toilet seat. She waited for a few minutes and was about to get up with she started to wet. A few moments later. There was several plops as poop hits the water.

[robehouse]

Tracy stays at the sink and washes her hands as Cynthia tries to go potty. She sees Cynthia move like she was going to get up then hears her peeing. After a bit she hears her pooping as well.

"Good Job! do you want mommy to wipe or can you do that yourself?"

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia smiles. "Thank you mommy." She thinks for a moment. "You wipe my bottom." Cynthia stands up on the stool so Melanie can wipe her bottom for her.

[robehouse]

Tracy pulls a few squares of toilet paper off the roll and wipes Cynthia carefully. She pulls Cynthia's training pants up and fastens her overalls on her. Tracy lifts Cynthia off the stool and sets her on the floor. Tracy flushes the toilet and pats Cynthia on her bottom before leading her out of the bathroom.

"Are you going to stay with the puppy for awhile?"

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Yes I'm going to stay with the puppy. I don't know any of the kids downstairs and the older kids made it clear they didn't want me around." She skips down the hall to Mary's room. Cynthia sets down on the floor and picks up the puppy. She starts to rub the puppy gently.

Gina sees Melanie coming out the door. "Didn't Cynthia come out with you?"

[robehouse]

"I'm sure the younger children would be glad to play with you. The only way you can get to know them is to be around them. Okay, You can stay up here. I will be downstairs with daddy or Gina. If you need me just come downstairs. I will let you know when it's time to go."

"I let her stay upstairs with the puppy. She really doesn't want to be around the other children and I guess we were boring her. I let her stay upstairs with the puppy until we were ready to leave."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Probably,but the older kids don't want me to. They told me to get lost and not to come back over to where the younger ones was at or they would feed me to the monster that lives under the deck. They said the monster loves to eat children who don't listen to what they are told."

Gina nods. "Oh I see. I figured they would be fun for Cynthia to play with. Since they are all around the same age mentally. If she is that attached to the puppy. She might not want to leave the puppy to go home. Cynthia might put up a fight."

[robehouse]

Melanie listens as Cynthia tells her what the older children were doing."I'm sorry they treated you like that. There aren't monsters under the deck. In fact there aren't monsters at all. I'll be back later."

"The older children aren't making it easy on Cynthia. They wouldn't play with her and told her to stay away from the younger children or they would feed her to the monster that lives under the deck. Yes, she might not want to go home, but she will go home. I don't think she wants to spend the night here."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't you who was being mean to me." She nods. "Yes there are monsters. One lives under my bed and one lives in the closet. I've heard strange noises in both areas. Megan's crib is safe. There are no strange noises under there."

Gina starts to laugh. "I see Mary's story has been at it again. She use to tell them that if they didn't behave. The monster under the deck would come out and drag them under the deck. They would never been seen or heard from again." She nods. "Yeah she probably is not going to want to go home."

Mary walks over. "I've been requested to play for the party. I'll be back in a little bit with my fiddle." She goes into the house and picks up her fiddle out of the living room. Mary walks back outside. "Where is Cynthia at? I was wondering if she would like to play with me? She is really good at playing."

[robehouse]

Melanie listens as Cynthia explains about the monsters in her bedroom and closet.

"Cynthia, There really aren't any monsters. I really need to get you a nightlight for your bedroom. Since you have been sleeping in Megan's crib, would you like daddy to take your big girl bed out of the room so the monsters can't hide under there? When Megan gets here you can share the crib with her."

"Cynthia is upstairs with the puppy. Maybe you can talk her into coming down and playing with you. I would like to hear that too."

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Yes I would,but daddy worked so hard on putting it together for me. I don't want him to feel bad about me not using it." She looks confused. "If there aren't any monsters in my room. Then what is causing the strange noises in my closet and under my big girl bed?"

Mary nods. "Ok I'll go ask her." She goes back into the house and up to her room. Mary comes down a few minutes later. "I think she wants to,but she is afraid to play in front of everyone."

Cynthia comes outside without her overalls on. She walks over to Melanie in her t shirt and training pants. "Hello mommy. Mary wants me to play with her. Is it ok with you?"

[robehouse]

"It's okay, honey. Daddy will be happy to take the big girl bed down. We can put it in the garage and store it until we need it. I'm not sure what the noise is. You don't need to worry though, Daddy and I will protect you."

Melanie waits while Mary goes and talks to Cynthia. She smiles when Cynthia comes out in just her tee shirt and training pants. She nods her head when Cynthia asks if she can play with Mary.

"Yes, of course it's alright. What happened to your overalls though?"

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia nods. "Ok mommy. Daddy can take the big girl bed down. I don't need it since I'm not a big girl. I'm a baby girl and baby girls sleep in a crib." She looks down at herself and then at Melanie. "The puppy had an accident on my lap. I think she needs to wear diapers do she will not have accidents."

[robehouse]

"You are not a baby girl. You are my teen age girl, Cynthia. That is who I adopted and that is who I want. Yes, before I adopted you I wanted an infant or toddler, but I want you now."

"I don't think they make puppy diapers. You will just have to be careful and set the puppy down when you think he may have to go to the bathroom."

"Go ahead and play with Mary. Does she have a guitar that you can use?"

[baby_snow_white]

Cynthia shakes her head. "No I'm not. Teen age girls don't have accidents,They don't wear training pants, they don't sleep in a crib or eat out of a highchair. Those are things that a baby girl does. Also teen age girls are tall. I'm not tall. I'm the size of the younger kids here." She starts to giggle. "Yes they do. They are called Puppy Pampers. They also make diaper for different breeds. There is Husky Huggies and Lab Luvs." Cynthia shakes her head. "No I'll have to go home and get my guitar."

[robehouse]

"How do you know so much about doggie diapers? did you see an ad for them or something? Lot's of teen girls still have potty accidents or wet their beds and wear some kind of protection for it. I doubt there are that many that sleep in a crib though."

"Okay, I'll walk you home and get you something to wear over your training pants. I'll tell your daddy where we are going and that we will be right back and then we can go over to the house."

Melanie goes out and explains to Mark that they are going home to get Cynthia's guitar and some clean clothes to wear. She comes back and takes Cynthia's hand and walks back to their house and opens the door. She takes Cynthia upstairs and starts looking for clean clothes for Cynthia.

"What would you like to wear?"