(I own only plot.)

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked, watching his wife cry.

"Yes I am!" She wailed. "Oh, darling, our baby, she's all lonely and she feels so isolated and... Oh, Jazzy, it's all my fault!"

"Trudy, please don't say that. It isn't your fault." Jasper tried to comfort the crying woman.

She sobbed. "Yes, yes, yes, it is my fault! Since the thing with Joy and Casper, she doesn't feel right, she hates to be involved!"

Jasper said "Trudy, she loves you. This whole thing is the two of you being daft. I know you don't think so. But you're not that kind of girl. You're a good mother."

Trudy wailed "No, you don't get it! She feels that we don't love her, that we keep getting in her way!"

After a few more hours of that, he put his sleeping son in the cradle, lifted his wife to her feet and gave her a sharp slap to the cheek. "Now, listen up. You. Are. A. Fantastic. Mum. You love her more than your life is worth. You do not get in her way. You. Are. Lovely. And. You. Are. Strong."

Trudy just nodded. Her head felt clearer after that slap. She rested her head on his chest. "I just wish I could find a way to help her feel accepted."

Mara walked in, clean and tear-free. Trudy shot over and hugged her daughter hard. Mara said "Trudy, I can't breathe!"

Her mother's heart broke a little more to hear her daughter use her name and not call her as her mother. Jasper sighed. Trudy whispered "I'm sorry I made you feel so isolated, honey. Can I not make it up to you somehow?"

"It doesn't matter, Trudes. Look, I was just coming in to tell you, Jerome's parents have invited me to go to Rio de Janeiro on holiday for the summer." Mara told her mother, who felt beyond crushed.

"OK, love." Trudy released her daughter, blinking sad tears from her eyes. "You have fun. Here, take a few hundred pounds, buy yourself some nice clothes."

Jasper noticed that his wife was hurt. "Mara, may I speak to you?"

Outside, he took his daughter to the soundproofed cellar. "What is it?" Mara asked.

"You do realise that your mum really wants to make amends? She's spent six hours crying because she thinks she's isolated you from your friends and from your own family. When you call her by her given name, it almost kills her. She loves you, Mara. Please, just consider her feelings."

Mara felt incredibly guilty. She ran upstairs, catching her mother. "Mummy!" She squealed, almost knocking her mum off her feet.

"What's brought this on?" Trudy rubbed her daughter's back.

Mara wailed "I don't wanna go to Rio. I wanna stay with you, Mummy!" She buried her face on her mum's shoulder.

Trudy sighed. "Honey, what's been said?"

"Daddy said that I upset you."

She sighed. "Not that I don't love you, baby, but why does it matter if I'm unhappy?"

"Because you're my mum and I want you happy."

"Honey, if you really want to, you'll ignore Dad and you'll go to Rio. OK? You have Mum Authorisation." Trudy told her daughter, kissing her cheek.

"Now, Mara, remember, you have to be twenty five before you do anything out of permission. And you're to only kiss him once a day, sleep in your own bed, rest nicely and you're to make sure to get to sleep at a decent time, no ridiculous times. And we want letters." Jasper told his daughter, holding his son.

Trudy fussed "Have you got everything? Money? Phone? Clothes? You did pack fresh socks? A sunhat? Sun block? Sunglasses? Oh, did you pack food and drink for the flight? I will not have my baby eating airline food. Oh, darling, have you got your hypoallergenic body wash, shampoo, conditioner and your new hairbrush?" She flapped, straightening Mara's vest. "You have to wrap up. You ought wear a coat! I cannot have you catching a chill. You sure you'll be a good girl for them? Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Trudy, quit fussing. She'll be fine. She's ready. You're not. You're going to shut up and relax. Got it?" Jasper told her. His eyes flashed with the promise of pain and torture. She nodded and quieted.

"Look, darling, I'll miss you." Trudy whispered.

"I'll miss you, too, Mum. And you, Dad. And you, baby boy." Mara kissed each of them on the cheek.

In the hotel in Rio, Jerome said "Mara, you know the hotel rooms? Mum and Dad have booked two double rooms. One for them, one for us. They're... uh, ha, they're... honeymoon suites."

Mara did the most daring thing she'd ever done. She nodded. "Great. I'll tell Mum and Dad that we've got single rooms. They won't mind unless we end up as expectant parents. And what they don't know won't hurt them."