I got a hold of that lawyer the next day and he asked me to come meet with him to further discuss the situation. I decided it best not to take her with me because that would be incredibly distracting and once again I talked Pony and Soda into watching her. "Just for an hour or two." I said, ignoring their glares. I was gone longer than I had expected but for the most part we got everything figured out. The second I walked in the door both of my brothers jumped up. I could see by the worried expressions on their faces that something wasn't right. "What's the matter?" I asked, quickly.
"See we just turned around for a second-" Soda started talking quickly.
"Then when we looked again she was gone-" Pony finished.
"WHAT!?" I demanded. They both flinched. "What do you mean she was gone? You lost her?" Please let them be kidding. I prayed over and over again.
"Well technically we didn't loo-"
"When was the last time you saw her?" I asked, beginning to panic.
"About an hour ago." Pony said softly. "We where all here in the living room and we turned around, just for a second."
"An hour?!" I yelled. They hadn't seen her for an hour?
"Well maybe not that long. Maybe more like forty-five minutes." Pony said.
"We looked everywhere Darry. All over the house and we even walked around the block a few times. We're sorry." Soda said.
"Your sorry!?" I shrieked, running into the bedrooms, searching closets, under beds, and even inside dresser drawers. I looked everywhere. Even in the most unobvious places.
"She's not here. We checked everything." Soda said. "We thought maybe she was hiding but we couldn't find her anywhere."
"Check again!" I ordered, rushing into my bedroom to look. "Katherine!" I yelled. "Katherine where are you?" I continued to yell for her as I searched everywhere from under the bathroom sink to behind the mirror but I couldn't find her. "Katherine!" I screamed, rushing out past my brothers into the living room. I scanned the room with my eyes again and then turned back to Pony and Soda. "Could she have left the house? Does she even know how to open the front door?" They both shrugged. I let out a loud breath. My heart was pounding. I was imagining all the horrible things that could happen to her. What if she had gone outside and made her way down to town? What if she'd crossed the street and gotten hit by a car?! I flinched. I couldn't stand thinking about it. "Katherine!" I screamed again. "Katherine where are you? Are you hiding?" She didn't answer. "Do you want some ice cream?" I tried. What if I never found her? How would I live with myself? What would happen when social services found out I lost my own kid? They might take Pony and Soda away from me. Oh gosh! She was only one! All sorts of things could've happened to her.
"Num yum!" we heard a little voice squeal.
"Katherine!?" I shrieked, my heartbeat increasing even more. Then a little suit covered baby came out of the fireplace, chocolate cake covering her mouth.
"Num yum!" She squealed again and then erupted with tiny giggles. I ran and scooped her up. She was covered with ash but she was ok and that was all that mattered. I sighed relieved. That had scared the heck out of me.
Soda started laughing all the sudden. "Looks like she was having a party with the chocolate cake. Clever hiding place."
I on the other hand didn't find it a bit funny. I was just glad to see that she was alive! "Katherine, no." I said.
"Num yum!" She said, showing us her chocolate covered hands and giggling some more.
"No." I said again, pointing to the fireplace. "No." I didn't know if she understood or not but it was worth a try.
"She don't know any better Dar." Soda said.
"That's why I'm teaching her." I said.
"No no?" She asked as I walked into the bathroom and turned on the bath water.
"That's right. No fireplace and no hiding." I undressed her and put her in the tub. The water immediately became dark as I washed all the suit and ash off of her. Golly but she was a mess. She splashed around happily. By the time I had her clean and dressed again it was getting real late. I carried her back out into the living room and set her down. I then went over and laid a chair down in front of the fireplace just in case she decided she wanted to go back in there. "Stay clean, baby girl. I don't wanna have to give you another bath tonight." I said.
"Darry, we're sorry about that." Pony said.
"It's all-right." I sighed. "She's fine." I went into the kitchen and started on Dinner.
"Hey, how'd things go with your lawyer?" Soda asked.
"Good." I said. "I'm not sure if I'll have to go to court yet but I sure hope not. What's Katherine doing?" I asked.
"Playing with my shoes." Soda answered. I chuckled. I was beginning to relax a bit or at least trying to but it wasn't real easy. Taking care of her was just getting harder every day.