"The store is all secured. I locked up all the doors, put the cash register drawers in the back office and activated the downstairs alarm. Do you mind if I go and watch some TV before dinner?" James asked his mother, already heading towards the living room.

"Why don't you come here so we can talk for a moment first." Emilia instructed her son as she prepped items from the fridge.

"Oh, ok. Sure. What do you want to talk about?" James asked his mother nervously.

"I want to talk to you about Libby."

"Oh, ok. What about her?"

"What do you think about her?"

"I'm not sure what you mean mom?"

"Well, obviously this is a lot to take in in one day and up until you went to go find her neither one of us knew she… well that she was a she."

"Yeah, I guess I always just imagined that a girl's bedroom would be covered in posters of puppies, fairy lights and stuffed unicorns."

"Yes, she isn't what I expected of her either." Emilia chuckled, "But, perhaps that's why no one else wanted her. You didn't happen to meet any of the Davenports today did you by chance?"

"Not really. I think I met Andrea Davenport but it was only for a moment."

"I met her and her mother earlier today at the auction. According to Andrea, Libby wasn't exactly very popular at school. Seems she was a bit of an outcast, chose to be rude and insensitive to Andrea and everyone hated her for it. Seems no one was even willing to speak to Libby until Andrea gave a speech to the school and convinced everyone she wasn't so bad. Still a bit of a loser though, only managed to make one friend after that."

"Yeah, I think I met her friend. They were together when I found Libby."

"So, perhaps if Libby really is so unlikeable then I should find you a different servant to train. Perhaps a…"

"No, Libby is fine." James jumped in quickly without even letting his mother finish her sentence.

"Are you sure?" Emilia asked, taking careful note of her son's eagerness.

"Yeah, Libby will be fine. Besides, I don't know how much I trust Andrea. She seemed a bit… I don't know, I just didn't get a trustworthy vibe from her."

"Alright, but be sure and be careful with her. And if you change your mind let me know. The research lab is always in need of test subjects so she'd be easy to dispose of."

James diverted his attention away from the TV when he noticed Leah and Libby exiting from the bedroom, both dressed in pajamas. Libby looked over at James for a moment, her normally dysthymic expression changing to a slight smile before returning her gaze to the kitchen. As instructed, the pair approached the threshold between the kitchen and the living room and kneeled silently.

"Well, it's good to see the two of you are capable of following basic instructions." Emilia laughed before lowering the heat on the stovetop so she could head over to inspect the newest members of her household, "Let's see, you both look and smell significantly better then you did earlier. I can't really tell if you tried to fix your hair or not but seeing how both of you have very similar disheveled hair I suspect it might just be beyond either of you to maintain yourselves. Your pajamas look good on you both, very simple but cute. If I checked behind your ears would they be clean?"

"Yes Ms. Richardson, I made sure she was clean." Leah replied with Libby blushing as they spoke about her as if she wasn't there.

"But what about you? Were you just as thorough cleaning yourself?" Emilia teased Leah, making Leah blush now as well.

"Of course Ms."

"And the little present that I had originally intended for you, is she wearing it as I instructed?"

"Yes Ms., of course." Leah nodded.

"Well well, you sound much more agreeable now then you did earlier in the day. Perhaps you are just better suited to being on your knees. I think from now on you will always kneel before reporting anything to me. Now, did the present fit properly? It should have been adjustable but I suppose there is quite a size difference between you and her." Emilia asked, not even pausing to let her humiliating new set of instructions sink in.

"Yes Ms., it fit properly but just barely."

"Good, and don't worry mommy, I'll soon get an identical present for you so you and your daughter can be a matching pair." Leah said with a laugh, causing both Libby and Leah to squirm, "And does your pathetic little spawn understand my gift to her? Does she know what it is and its purpose?"

"Yes Ms., I explained it to her. She didn't recognize it at first but once I told her what it was she knew its purpose. She has read quite a few books and is quite smart."

"We'll see about that… in time of course. For now, Libby, you can go attend to your master. Cooking with the terrible ingredients in this kitchen is taking longer than I expected so you can help me in the kitchen Leah."

Cautiously both Libby and Leah rose to their feet, with Libby backing out into the living room and then rushing over to the sofa and taking a seat next to James.