"Get that word for me, sweetie," said Ellie.
"hmm, tho-ruff?" said Lita.
"Almost, try again."
"Tho-ro-ugh," said the little girl.
"Excellent, well done! Now the next one," said Ellie.
Lita lay back against Ellie's chest. "I don't wanna," she pouted.
"C'mon honey, we're almost there!"
Mother and daughter were on Ellie's bed, practicing reading. While Lita was a really good reader for her age, she sometimes lacked motivation, and this was one of those times.
"I want to play with my barbie dolls," Lita moaned.
"You can play with your dolls all you want after we finish, c'mon, what's the next word?"
Lita sighed but sat back up and looked at the book again.
"Bit-tween," she said.
"That's it, good girl. And what does it say after that?"
Lita sighed again. "I want to play with the dolls," she complained.
"Honey we're almost done, just a couple more pages," said Ellie
Lita had an idea. She turned back to look at Ellie. "If I finish this book will you buy me a new doll?" she asked.
"What? How are you saying that, you know you have to practice your reading and spelling for school!" said Ellie with a smile on her face.
Lita giggled, knowing Ellie was right.
"What if I read the next book very fastly?"
"It's quickly," Ellie corrected her.
"Will you buy a doll then?" she asked, innocently.
"No, I will not, you already have a lot of dolls! Come on missy, sit up and let's finish this book," she said as she tickled the little girl.
Lita giggled and eventually sat up again.
She looked at the book but still couldn't concentrate. She turned to look back at Ellie once more.
"Well when are you gonna buy me a new doll?" she asked.
"Sweetie, we just got you a new barbie not that long ago!" exclaimed Ellie.
"But I want a small doll this time," said Lita.
"What do you mean small?" asked Ellie.
"A child barbie," said Lita.
"A child barbie?" asked Ellie with a frown on her face.
"Yes, I want a child for barbie and Ken, they're adopting," Lita explained.
Ellie was taken aback at this.
"They're adopting a child?" she asked. She wasn't sure what to say.
"Yes, they have been waiting forever. But that's how adoptions work. You first have to wait, and then you wait forever, and then you wait some more, and then you go to the courthouse, and then you go to the courthouse again, and then you wait, and then you keep going to the courthouse and waiting until one day you go to the courthouse and then you get adopted. Right mommy?" she looked up at Ellie.
Ellie's heart broke a little bit.
"Do you feel like you've been waiting forever to get adopted?" she asked.
"Uh huh," Lita nodded.
"Well, it's not long to go now, sweetheart," she said as she leaned in to kiss her.
"So that's why I need to buy them a child, so we can all get adopted at the same time," said the little girl.
Ellie chuckled. She took a deep breath.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do, but you gotta work hard at your reading and spelling, okay?"
A smile crept up on Lita's face.
"Okay!" she exclaimed, then went back to reading the book.
Ellie hugged her tightly and placed another kiss on the top of her head.
"That's my good girl," she said.