✅ Over Protected

44. Mummy Needs Help

Me and Lyra were bouncing around the lounge, rolling on the floor and waving our dolls. We were probably both feeling big enough to have done something more serious, but I think neither of us wanted to be big right now. We were having too much fun. Not much time went past, before Mummy came in again with Penny, who was blushing so much she was like a beetroot. That was something else to giggle about, but I didn't let her see my amusement for now. It was too important to make sure that my friend was feeling okay, after a few minutes that must have been very embarrassing.

"Are you okay?" I asked her again.

"Mmmhmm," she said, giving a little nod. "I think that was a bit of a surprise. I should have expected it really, I mean, I'd talked to your Mummy about it, but only in a kinda rough way. But I chose to... I mean... I didn't take my pills, so it's my fault. And I think... it's not that bad, right? I barely felt it."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes," I said with a shrug. "You're not too upset?"

"Nope," Penny shook her head decisively. "I think I'm feeling a bit... Umm, the word you used was 'fuzzy', right? Like there's all pink fluff in my head. Like Reggie." She cuddled the plush giraffe, and then I had to join in, just making sure that Reggie was still as soft and fluffy as I'd remembered. So that was how Penny's thoughts felt; it was a good description.

"That's okay," I said. "We all get fuzzy sometimes. You can just relax and watch stuff and you don't have to care."

"Yeah, it's kind of nice. But I feel like... I wanted to tell you all the... like, that I'm okay. It's really hard to think of the words, but I know I have to try because it's something important and you might worry."

"Thank you," I said, and shifted from cuddling Reggie to hugging Penny. I was glad to know that she was still happy, but I was a bit nervous about her trying to keep being a big girl, or thinking that she needed to for my sake. But I could feel my brain starting to melt again, so I was sure it wouldn't last too long.

"You can just let go if you want," I added, a moment later. "We're allowed to be babies today, no serious thoughts. Just fun stuff."

"I will. I dunno how to stop trying now I managed it, but maybe it'll all just go away again. It's getting harder anyway. Should we play the game some more now? I might not be able to count soon."

"We can watch cartoons?" I said. "Or you can help me brush Reggie's mane and tail. He likes pampering, and that's super easy."

"How about both!" Lyra said with a giggle, beaming like she was really proud of herself and it seemed like the cleverest idea in the world. And it was a really good idea; I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it. That was another sign that my brain was starting to go into baby mode, and I kind of wondered how far it was going to go today. Would we be giddy and playful, or would we forget how to walk and talk?I knew that Mummy would have chosen, and I would love it whatever we ended up doing; but right now I still had enough thoughts in my head to be comfortable.

Between us we managed to gather Reggie and all the most strokable toys, and a couple of little hairbrushes, to sit on the couch. Grooming my cuddlies could be a lot of fun, and I was really excited to try doing it with all three of us there. And Lyra was already fumbling with the TV remote, trying to find some cartoons that were the right age range for all of us. It looked like she knew what she was doing, but she had just enough fog in her head that she could be extra proud when she managed to get it right.

She picked some show I didn't really know, though the repeated words in the opening song made me quite sure that the title was Professor Apocrypha's Magnificent Gumball Machine. But before we could get into watching the actual show, or brushing Reggie's tail once we'd sorted it out so that we had one little brush each, my head turned towards a sound from the kitchen. The back door was opening, which I hadn't expected for at least another couple of hours.