"Olivia! Come on, we're gonna be late!"
"I'm not here!" came a tiny voice from one of the many bedrooms of the Walker mansion.
Karen smiled. It was the beginning of September, and five year old Olivia Walker was starting school.
She walked through the halls of the manse in search of her new stepdaughter, still getting lost at times. She had married Stanley Walker only a month before, quickly becoming attached to his children Olivia and Mason, but she was having a hard time getting them to warm up to her. After passing Stan's library for the third time, she turned around and decided to try one more time and find the playroom.
'If the kid's gonna be anywhere, that's where she's gonna be' Karen thought to herself.
As she rounded the corner, she heard sniffling coming from the bedroom she shared with Stan. She quietly pushed the door open and was faced with a tiny redhead sobbing on her chaise lounge. Karen walked over to the little girl and slowly began stroking her hair.
"Hey, Curly. What's with the tears?"
"Karen, I don't wanna go to school." Olivia sobbed.
"How come? School is gonna be great! You're going to the best school in all of Manhattan, probably all of New York! It's gonna be so much fun." Karen tried her powers of persuasion on the five year old.
"No! I don't wanna leave."
Karen frowned at her inability to comfort Olivia. "But you'll be back at one o'clock. The school is right across the Park, and Driver will bring you back to the Manse as soon as class is over so that you can play with your toys."
Olivia stopped and looked at Karen. "I don't care about the toys."
Karen looked shocked. Olivia and her brother had more toys than there were citizens of New York City. "Well honey, if you don't care about the toys, why don't you want to go to school?"
"I wanna stay here with you." Olivia said in a low whisper.
Karen felt tears in her eyes. "Really?"
Olivia nodded.
"You don't want to go to school because you want to stay here at the manse with me?"
"Yea."
"Aww, come here, Curly." Karen said, holding her arms out to Olivia. The tiny redhead crawled over to her stepmother, and sat down in her lap. "Listen, you have to go to school. But how about this, what if I ride with you and then I'll pick you up this afternoon?"
"Really, Karen?"
"Sure thing, kid. Now come on, go get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs!" Karen said as she and Olivia walked out of her bedroom. Olivia started to walk toward her room then stopped and ran back towards Karen. She wrapped her arms around Karen's legs, catching Karen off-guard.
"I love you, Karen." Olivia said as she ran into her bedroom to get ready for school.
Karen smiled, tears in her eyes, "I love you, too, Olivia." Karen whispered as she walked away.