Hello, readers! Sorry for over the month wait on this update. I got caught up in school and let another one of my story's take precedent.
Anyways, for this update, we're staying in our world. Sorry, it had to be done. But don't fret, you'll be sticking with Adam and Carol as they try to come up with what's happened to Daphne. (Though, they'll never fully be able to understand. And if you don't either by the end of the chapter, you know what to do: Questions for Dodo!) And you'll get a little more Dr. Blake Sheldon and meet a few more new characters of mine.
So disclaimer: You know I don't really own anything other than my OCs and plot idea, which is pretty much all this chapter, since I stayed out of the Wonderful Wonder World. And I don't own the song; I mention the title in the story and the artist is Natasha Bedingfield, if you don't know.
So enjoy!
After calming Daphne down, Carol was able to quickly gather all the feathers and beak. She was still unsure what was going on. Getting a heart had completely changed Daphne. Was it the heart, or Daphne herself that caused the change? We need to find out who's heart is now beating in Daphne's chest. Carol resolved, as she put the feathers and beak on her desk, unsure what to do with them. She couldn't just throw them away. It's like she lost her baby teeth. Parents keep their kid's baby teeth, right?
She walked over to the window, where she could see Daphne swinging happily outside on the swing set up in a tree; Adam had made it four years ago. Carol smiled to herself, seeing Daphne so happy and carefree and... normal. If she were to be honest, she was relieved Daphne looked like a normal girl; she wouldn't have to be hidden from the world and if seen considered a freak of nature. Though, either way, Carol would always love the little girl, no matter how she looked.
After seeing Daphne was fine, Carol made her way to Adam's office. "Adam?" Carol called and knocked softly on the door frame. Adam turned around to look at her, she could now see he was on the phone.
"Yeah, thanks, Blake. I really appreciate it. Yeah, yeah. I know. I owe you a lot, a lot of drinks." Adam finished and hung up.
"So that was Blake?" Carol asked.
"Yeah, I asked him to find the files on Daphne's heart donor. He's going to fax them over. And he'll be stopping by after his shift." Adam answered.
"Okay. You're curious about the heart, too?" Carol asks, and sits in one of the chairs across from his desk.
"Yeah. I mean what's it going to hurt? I've already broken quite a few rules; what's another one going to hurt?"
"Adam -" Carol started to try to console her husband when the fax machine beeped, then the papers started to come through the machine.
Adam went over and picked up the page. As soon as he saw the picture of the heart donor, he dropped the paper.
"Adam?" Carol asked, coming over to him, she saw the scared look on his face; it was like he had just seen a ghost. She hesitantly picked up the page and squeaked in surprise, also dropping the page. "No way. There's no way..." Carol said, before picking it up again and looking.
There was a colored picture of the donor. She was a little girl, no older than 9, she had brown curly hair, green eyes, and freckles all over her nose and cheeks. She was adorable. But the thing that frightened them, was if you changed her eyes to blue and cleared off the freckles... she'd be Daphne.
"How is this possible, Adam?" Carol asked, still looking transfixed on the photo.
"I have no idea." Adam took the page from her, and went over to his computer. He pulled up Google and looked up the little girl's name: Ophelia O'Malley. There were countless newspaper articles about her. It appears she was in a lot of plays, and just the other day, had performed her first Broadway show, being in Annie, as the lead and title character. Below that article, was the little girl's obituary. Adam and Carol read it, then looked at each other.
The little girl and her mother had been in a car accident on their way home from the opening night; her mother was driving them. Drunk. With her daughter dying and being behind the wheel intoxicated, she was currently waiting in jail for a sentence hearing; which has yet to have a set date.
"Mommy!? Daddy!? Where are you?" Daphne called from inside the house, causing the couple to remember what their current issue was. Adam quickly exited the Google web page, as Daphne stuck her head in. "What'cha doing?"
"Oh, I was just asking Daddy what he wanted for supper." Carol said quickly.
"Anything hot and home cooked would be great, honey." Adam answered.
"Come on, Daphne, let's go cook some dinner for Daddy." Carol made her way to the door, took the little girl by the hand, and went into the kitchen.
Adam looked back down at the donor page. He was surprised that she was so young, yet had accomplished something people who are over four times her age, are still trying to do. He continued staring down at her picture, yet all he could see was Daphne. How is this possible? They look similar enough to be identical twins. Adam shook his head, in frustration. If her appearance and memories have changed with this new heart, what else has changed in Daphne? Adam continued staring at the page, as if waiting for it to respond and tell him what he wanted to know. It was quiet, so quiet. Except he started to hear a ticking. That's right. I almost forgot. Adam opened his top drawer and took out the clock that had been in Daphne's chest. Then there's this. What is so special about this? I keep feeling like this is important, but how? How could it have been acting as her heart? It's not possible...
"Adam! Supper's ready!" Carol yelled from the kitchen.
Adam looked at the time on his computer. It had been over an hour since Carol left him alone in his office. Adam shook his head, stood, and left the mysterious clock sitting on top of the donor page on his desk.
As the family of three sat down to dinner, a quick succession of knocks came at the door, before Dr. Blake Sheldon entered. "Hey! Is supper read-?" Blake stopped in his tracks upon seeing the little girl sitting at the table, looking at him with a huge smile.
"Uncle Blake!" Daphne happily hurried over to him and grabbed his hand. "You're just in time!" She pulled him toward the table.
"Who's this?" Blake asked tentatively.
"Uh! Uncle Blake! It's me, Little Chickadee!" Daphne says disgruntled.
"You know Daphne, Blake. Quit joking around." Adam says to his friend trying to help him understand and seem normal. So it appears her memory has even involved Blake. Which is both impressive and makes sense; he is my closest friend, so if Daphne would have been our actual daughter, she would have grown up calling him that and been around him. Though, it's odd for her to realize who he is without actually meeting him yet.
Blake sits down next to the little girl. "Little Chickadee, huh?" He asked her.
"Uh-huh. Because everyone called Daddy, Birdy, because of his last name. But it's really pronounced bur-day. So you thought the nickname fitting for me, and to annoy Daddy. Don't you know?" Daphne asked, a little upset at having to explain herself. "Everyone's acting weird today." She muttered under her breath.
"Yeah. I remember. Sorry, Little Chickadee." Blake answers and watches Adam stiffen at the pet name. Yeah, this will annoy him a lot. Heheheheheheh. But how in blue blazes is she supposed to be the little bird girl we worked on this morning? Adam sure has some explaining to do.
Supper passes with small talk of how everything went at the hospital, and other unimportant matters. Once supper was over, Adam and Blake excused themselves to Adam's office, while Carol and Daphne cleared the table and did the dishes.
"What is going on, Adam? I feel like I've been put into one of those Twilight Zone shows!" Blake asked as soon as the door shuts behind him.
"I don't know. When Daphne woke up from the surgery, she screamed and when we entered her room she looked like this. She thought she fell asleep on a bird, because her feathers came out and her beak was no longer on her face." Adam began to explain how her memory has also changed to where she believes she's really their biological daughter.
Blake slumps down into one of the chairs, completely stupefied. "Wow. Okay, seriously... Where is this girl from?"
"I don't know. And I feel like we'll never know." Adam said, also sitting now, feeling defeated. "You didn't look at the donor's page did you?" Adam more stated than asked.
"No. The less I know the better." Blake answered.
"Well, I feel you should take a look at the picture." Adam handed him the donor page.
Blake's eyes widened at the picture. "Seriously, Adam. This is all crazy. How can this be happening?"
Adam shook his head. "All I care about is that Carol is happy."
"What about you? Do you even want her here?" Blake asked his friend seriously. "You've already dug yourself quite the hole to make your wife happy, but can you live with all the things you've done?" Blake asked him, truly concerned.
Adam remained silent.
Blake sighed. "Fine. I always thought you'd take a while to be a good father." Adam looked at him and narrowed his eyes at the accusation. " Like when Carol told me you were trying in the beginning, because I knew you weren't a baby person, and I figured you'd have a son. But here you have a child that isn't your own, is something I don't even know what to say... Could she be an alien or something like that? Anyways, and she's a girl. All this points to you not being a good father to her." Blake counted off his points on his hand.
"Blake. You're my best friend and I'm used to your behavior. But that was a little too much, even for you." Adam stood, glaring at him.
"You're only mad because you know I'm right." Blake told him seriously.
Adam raised his fist ready to punch him, when the door opened and Daphne entered. "Uncle Blake! Aren't you going to play with me?!" She hurries over to his side, then turned to see Adam ready to strike. "Daddy!? What's going on? Are you guys fighting?!" She looked a little frightened of him, causing Adam to lower his raised fist.
"No, honey, your dad and I were just joking around." Blake smiled, trying to not worry her. "What game did you have in mind?"
"Hmm. How about Crazy 8's?" Daphne said thoughtfully.
"Alright. Let's go." Blake took her outside of the office and back into the dining room, where a deck of cards was waiting.
Carol came into Adam's office shortly after. "How did it go?" Carol asked.
Adam sighed. "Carol, do you think I'm a good father?"
"Where's this coming from?" Carol gave him a pointed look, but upon seeing he was serious and needed an answer, she sighed, "...Of course... You haven't fully warmed up to Daphne yet, but I'm sure a little more time, you'll be a great dad."
"That's not extremely encouraging Carol." Adam turned to his computer and began searching something online.
"What are you looking for?" Carol, now curious, came around and watched from behind him.
"A psychiatrist. I need someone to talk to, and Daphne's going to need to talk to someone too."
"Why? I understand you have a lot on your chest, that might help to talk to someone other than me. But why does Daphne need one?"
"We have a little girl who believes she's our biological daughter with memories we aren't aware of. We need her to talk with someone, and have them tell us if she's created memories that could be an issue later on." Adam stated.
"Alright. I see your point." Carol agreed.
"Hmm. This child psychiatrist looks good. His name is Dr. Splasherton. He's highly recommended." Adam told her and looked to her for her opinion.
"If you feel it's for her best interest, then I suppose. He doesn't seem so bad."
DODO
(A few days later)
Adam, Carol, and Daphne are waiting in the reception room for Dr. Splasherton. "So what are we doing here again?" Daphne asked.
"You're here to see a man. All you have to do is talk with him." Carol answered her.
"Okay." Daphne accepted this answer and nodded.
"Daphne." The receptionist called, and Daphne got out of her seat.
After being ushered into the office, the receptionist closes the door behind her. The room was big, with comfortable looking furniture, toys that were put in boxes along the side, and a desk, where a man was sitting behind. She went over to his desk and sat in front of it, just like she did in her parent's offices.
"Hello, Daphne. Kiwi?" The man behind the desk offered. He was a slim man, with thick-framed round-rimmed glasses on his face, and a green bow tie neatly tied around his neck. He appeared to be in his thirties, not much older than Daphne's parents.
Daphne scrunched up her face at the weird fruit. "No thanks... Who are you?"
"I'm Dr. Splasherton. Most of the kids call me Dr. Splash." The man answered her.
"Doctor? Like my daddy?" Daphne's eyes brightened immediately.
"Your father works with hearts, right?" Dr. Splasherton asks. She nodded vigorously in response. "I'm a different type of doctor. I just talk with people and help them with any issues they might have."
"Oh. Okay... Can I call you Dr. Kiwi?" Daphne suddenly asked.
The doctor was actually surprised by this. "Why would you want to call me that?" Not one of his clients had suggested this name to him before.
"You offered me one, and you have a whole bowl of them on your desk. You must really like them." Daphne stated.
"That's very observant of you Daphne. I do like kiwis. And you can call me that if you want." The now dubbed Dr. Kiwi told her.
Daphne smiled at him. "So... Dr. Kiwi, what should I talk about? Mommy told me that's what I was here to do."
"Do you like music, Daphne?" Dr. Kiwi asked.
Daphne smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah."
"Any favorite songs?"
"My mommy would sing me a song when I was smaller. It's called Freckles." She answered.
"Hmm. I don't think I've heard it before, could you sing some of it for me?" Dr. Kiwi asked her.
Daphne nodded, "'Cause a face without freckles is like a sky without stars Why waste a second not loving who you are Those little imperfections make you beautiful, lovable, valuable, They show your personality inside your heart Reflecting who you are."
"That's a very good song. It's got a good meaning to it." Dr. Kiwi nods. "And you're a very good singer, Daphne."
Daphne looked down, and a her cheeks began to redden.
They continued to talk about a few other things before the a chime rang out into the room, meaning their time was up. "Daphne, I'll need to talk with your parents for a little bit. Ms. Billings, will take you into the other room, there are some toys you can play with." Dr. Kiwi tells her.
"Okay. Bye, Dr. Kiwi!" Daphne waved goodbye, before leaving the room with the receptionist.
Daphne's parents were shown in shortly after. "So, how did it go?" Adam asked him.
"Daphne's a lovely girl. You're very lucky parents to have such a thoughtful, creative, and talented daughter. In my opinion, she's perfectly normal." Dr. Kiwi answered. "Oh, Mrs. Birdìe, I did want to know why you sang the song, Freckles to Daphne when she was younger. I'd understand if she actually did have freckles on her face, but since she doesn't, I was curious."
"I... I didn't sing that song to Daphne." Carol answered surprised.
"You see, my wife, is more of the bedtime story type, not singing." Adam added.
"That is odd. She was able to sing the chorus of the song perfectly. I looked it up before you came in to check how well she knew it, just to be sure." Dr. Kiwi looked over his other notes. "You mentioned over the phone that you were worried about her changing after a heart surgery. I assume you don't know who the donor is..."
"She was a child star on Broadway." Adam answered.
Dr. Kiwi raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Did she have freckles?"
Adam nodded.
"I would have never believed before today that recipients of donated organs would take on attributes and memories of the original donor... but this is cause for further study. I'd like to visit with Daphne every two weeks." Dr. Kiwi told them writing in his files quickly.
"Of course." Adam answered.
"How was Daphne's voice?" Carol asked.
"Quite lovely, actually. I mean, most kids can sound decent, but she sounded as if she'd had lessons or something." Dr. Kiwi looked up at Carol and saw her surprised face. "So, before she...?" Carol shook her head.
"Daphne never sang for me, but when she'd hum, she was very off. It wasn't good at all." Carol told him.
"Interesting." Dr. Kiwi returned to his notes. They continued talking a little bit more, before they felt that they'd discussed everything important to the little girl.
DODO
(Later
that day)
The little family arrived home, and Adam returned to his office to process everything. He was in the middle of reviewing patient files for upcoming surgeries, when there was a timid knock on the door.
"Yes, Daphne." Adam called, not looking up from the papers.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
"Sure."
Daphne entered, and looked around her father's office. She tilted her head as she looked in his glass cabinet and saw some trophies, pictures, and a glove with a baseball in it. After so much quiet, Adam looked up from his pages, to see Daphne staring transfixed at the baseball and glove.
"Daphne?" Adam called.
She turned to him, a small hopeful smile on her face. "Will you play with me?"
"Play what?" Adam asked.
"Baseball." She pointed to the ball and glove in the cabinet.
"You know how to play?" Adam asked surprised.
Daphne nodded. "Of course... though I can't remember how... You taught me, right?"
"No. I'm sure you learned it in school." Adam offered.
Daphne smiled. "Yeah. That's where I learned it."
Adam looked at his old baseball and glove. He'd played baseball all throughout school, college, and even the hospital held a couple of games for the doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers to play during the summer. It's funny. Since Daphne came into our lives, I never once thought she'd want to play baseball with me, since she's a girl. And Carol said I should spend more time with Daphne, so I can 'warm up' to her... I guess I could use the break. It's not like these papers are going anywhere.
"Alright, Daphne." Adam smiled at her.
Daphne's smile grew even larger, to the point that Carol would say she had a Cheshire grin, and started jumping up and down excitedly. "Yay!" She hurried outside the house and waited for him.
Adam opened the door of the cabinet and took out the ball and glove. Then he went into the room Carol and he had redecorated to be a nursery and took the child's baseball glove off the shelf, before joining Daphne outside.
She gladly took the glove from him and ran a little ways from him. He started out with a simple toss, which she quickly caught and threw back with quite a bit of power, surprising him a little.
Soon they were both giving it all they had. Adam was shocked at how well Daphne was catching his pitches and how quickly and powerful her pitches back to him were. They were both soon sitting down next to each other, covered in sweat and gasping, when Carol came outside to tell them dinner was ready.
"Wow. Looks like you two were having fun." Carol watched her husband as he looked down happily at Daphne. There was no mistaking the change in her husband; he'd warmed up to her.
"Let's go, Champ." Adam stood, and pulls her to her feet.
Daphne smiled at her father. "Okay." She retained her grip on his hand and walked inside the house holding his hand.
DODO
(A few days later)
Adam had grown completely attached to Daphne and couldn't imagine her not being in his and Carol's life. He seemed so much happier, that his co-workers even noticed.
Blake was relieved that Adam had finally warmed up to her, even though, it only took that first night before he completely adored the little girl. There's just something about Daphne... Once you meet her, if you don't automatically like her, she'll win you over without really trying by just being herself.
Adam had been busy since that day that Daphne went to see Dr. Kiwi and they played baseball. Now he finally had the day off, and was able to remember the conversation with Dr. Kiwi. He still couldn't get over the whole Freckles song memory that Daphne had.
Before he fully realized what he was doing, he was at the jail where Ophelia's mother was being held. He was surprised when they let him in to see her.
The woman who entered, was blond, tall, and skinny to the point she looked almost anorexic, the baggy orange prisoner uniform not helping. She looked a little banged up and scratched but not like she had been all that hurt in the accident. He recalled the photos he'd seen in the paper about the whole accident and death of Ophelia he could find. This didn't even look like the same woman.
"Who are you? And what do you want? If you're a reporter, I swear...!" She started.
"I'm not a reporter. My name is Dr. Adam Birdìe." Adam began to explain.
"Doctor? I'm not crazy, though... No. I deserve what I get. I killed my little angel." The mother started, then she got quieter as she spoke, "I thought I wasn't that drunk. I had gotten myself hammered plenty of times and drove before I had given birth to Ophie. I hardly drank after she was born. But that night was a celebration for her success on her first Broadway show, and she even had an offer from an agency that thought she would be like the next Shirley Temple."
"I'm sorry for your loss. I'm not that type of doctor though. I'm a surgeon. I performed the surgery of your daughter's heart transplant into another little girl." Adam started.
"Yeah, they told me that Ophie's heart was the only main organ that could be donated..." The woman looked away. "Isn't that terrible? I'm hardly hurt, but my daughter was so bad that only her heart was salvageable?" The woman bit her lip and silent tears streamed down her face.
"I'm sorry for the loss of your daughter. The little girl who received the heart is doing very well." Adam offered trying to ease her conscience.
The mother looked at him. "I guess that's good. Ophie had a good heart. So I guess I'm glad it's still living and helping another little girl."
"I wanted to ask something of you. The parents of the little girl have noticed some changes in their daughter and wondering if it's anything to do with the transplant." Adam started.
The mother's eyes hardened. "There's nothing wrong with my daughter's heart!" She seethed.
"I'm not implying that at all, ma'am. Their daughter was suddenly able to sing very well, and was singing a song they'd never heard before. Does the song Freckles have any importance to you?"
The mother looked down and closed her eyes, tears really starting to fall. "How...? How could she know about our song?"
"So you sang it to Ophelia?" Adam asked, seeking confirmation.
She nodded, trying her hardest to keep herself together. "One day after a dance lesson, Ophelia was crying because all the girls in her class didn't have freckles on their faces, so they made fun of her for it. Though, I knew it was just jealousy, because Ophie was the best; the teacher even told me... Anyways, I had heard the song earlier on the radio, and I really liked it, so I looked it up and sang it to her. After that, it became our song." The woman looked up at Adam. "I'm done talking. Thank you for letting me know about the little girl, but please don't come back. I'm not over Ophelia's passing, and I don't think I ever will get over it." With that she stood and left him at the glass.
Adam felt saddened by the mother's obvious genuine grief over her daughter. He felt grief for having to come and reopen the fresh wounds of the mother. Adam left the jail, and sat in his car mulling over what he'd learned. So the heart did change Daphne; Ophelia's now become a part of Daphne. Ophelia's memories and abilities are now a part of her.
So what'd you think? I'd love reviews with your thoughts on this, tell me if you have issues with canon characters, and/or if you have questions for Dodo that you'd like answered.
Dr. Kiwi, is named after KiwiSplash, because she's been such a great reviewer for us. Hope you don't mind, KiwiSplash! Dodo and I wanted to do something to show you our thanks.
Next chapter: Daphne is growing up! And I'm not sure if she'll make it to Wonderland or not, but know that it'll be either the next chapter or the one after that. So the fun will really start!
TA: And as for Questions for Dodo... There were none. So Dodo, you're off the hook!
Dodo: Seriously?! I wanted to answer some questions! It's all I have to do while I wait for Daphne to remember me and let me out of the locked part of her mind! ... Well, I guess I should mention the poll.
TA: You're right! Well, I haven't fully decided who I want Daphne to fall for and be her love interest, so check out my profile page to take the poll! ;) I will be keeping it open until the next chapter update, which is unplanned, so it could happen at any point. But since my spring break will be coming up, I should be able to do a lot of writing... So if I don't update before the 21st of this month, the poll will close and then we can all know who Daphne's official love interest is!
Dodo: oh joy. *hangs head*
TA: Awe! Quit it! You know you're excited to know who you'll be paired with!
Dodo: *shakes head* No. They're my friends. And boys.
TA: We'll talk about this next chapter after you've hit puberty. I think you'll have a change of heart~! *hugs Dodo tightly*
Dodo: *eyes widen and mouths to you "help me!" *