Playdates were always fun, especially when they were with magical kids like Pedro and Rosella Madrigal, or the Skywalker-Jinn children. And the only thing even better than any ordinary playdate was a sleepover playdate.
Gabby, Rosella, Lamenta, Pedro, Antonio, Omega, and Boba were having a big pillow fight in Pedro's room of clouds and pillows.
Feathers were flying all over Pedro's cloudy room as the kids threw pillows all over the place.
Even Antonio's animals joined in the fun.
Mila and her boyfriend Tech, however, being the babysitters for tonight, came in to find all the commotion.
"Everyone, please- Mph!" Tech started before he was hit in the face with a pillow.
Mila giggled at her boyfriend's little accident. And she laughed a little harder when Tech took the pillow off his face and spit out some feathers.
Mila clapped her hands and called out.
"Alright everyone, bedtime!" Mila said.
"AWW!" the kids groaned.
"But we're not tired!" Omega whined.
"Yeah, Mila." Rosella said. "We were having fun."
"Can't we play a little more?" Pedro pleaded. "Por favor?"
"Please don't make us go to sleep yet." Gabby said, making her puppy eyes.
Mila looked at the kids. None of them seemed to be sleepy at all.
"Well, I guess we can't force you to sleep if you're not tired."
"Warm milk might make them sleepy." Tech suggested. "It is a commonly used and very effective method."
"Our grandpa usually read to us before we go to sleep." said Lamenta.
"Yeah. Tell us a story." Gabby smiled. "Please, please, por favor?"
The three youngest girls fluttered their lashes.
Mila had to admit, it was adorable.
"What kind of story would you like to hear?" Mila said.
"Well," said Boba. "Back home, Grandpa usually lets us pick out a classic story, and when he tells it, we like to our own spin on it."
"What kind of spin?" Pedro asked.
"Sometimes we imagine we're in the story." Omega said. "It's a lot of fun."
"Yeah. We make the story even better through the power of our imaginations." Gabby said. "We can do any story at all. Like... Oliver Twist for example."
"Oh, I have that very book in my room." Mila said. "If you'll all get ready for bed right now, I'll read the book to you. And then it's off to sleep."
And so, the kids agreed.
Mila made a quick trip to her room to look for the book while the kids got themselves ready for bed. And by the time Mila came back to Pedro's room, the kids were all on their own puffy clouds, ready to hear the story.
Mila and Tech sat together in a really big and puffy cloud shaped like a big chair and opened the book.
"Once upon a time," Mila began. "There lived a young orphan who dreamed of finding a warm and happy home."
