Here's chapter 17. There's only three more chapters after this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Happy birthday, Michelle!" her father yelled as her parents opened the door later that morning.

"Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Daddy!" Michelle squealed (man, her voice was high at seven. It sounded like tires squealing on smooth pavement) as she examined her much younger parents.

They looked the same, just younger. Her mother had the same blonde locks, and her father had the same chestnut brown hair, but both of them lacked silver strands in their hair. They both had the same pale skin, but both were wrinkle free. Her mother no longer bore the fat of having Tommy (she'd managed to lose the baby weight after Michelle, and she vowed to lose the weight again after having Tommy, but four years later, that had yet to happen). Instead of her wire rimmed spectacles, she wore black rimmed, square ones. Her father still had laugh lines around his eyes (around the time Michelle turned twelve or thirteen, stress caused those laugh lines to turn into nothing but wrinkles).

"I can't believe our little girl's turning seven years old," her mother said with a lighter voice than in the future. "Ready for your special birthday breakfast?"

"You bet!" Michelle exclaimed as she stood up from her bed.

Her eyes glanced into what should've been Tommy's room but was now an office as they passed, and she became filled with sadness. If her parents weren't facing away from her, they surely would've picked up on the sudden change in mood.

I'll get you back, Tommy, she mentally whispered. I promise.

Michelle watched as her parents disappeared into the kitchen to get away from the seven annoying kids in the dining room.

"Lucy," she hissed to her best friend at the time. "Can you cover for me? I have to go somewhere, and I don't want my parents to know I'm gone."

"What do I say if they ask?" Lucy asked, looking rather comical with blue frosting surrounding her lips.

"Tell them I'm in the bathroom. Everyone knows I have a tiny bladder; I use the bathroom multiple times in twenty minutes, so as long as I'm not gone for more than half an hour, they won't question it."

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you, Lucy. You're the best friend in the world!" Michelle said as she grabbed her jacket and bolted out the door.

Michelle received a lot of weird looks as she took the bus to the station closest to Anthony's and even more weird looks as she dashed through the streets towards the Antique Shop.

"Hey, kid!" A man in a black trench coat called. "Do you have the time?"

"Um," Michelle said. "No. Around noon. Sorry, but I really have to go," she said before continuing to run. She was in such a rush that she didn't notice that the stranger continued to watch her as she sprinted towards the shop.

"No!" Michelle wailed as she arrived at the front door, which was labeled with a Closed for Vacation. Be Back Soon sign.

Of course, the one week Anthony closes the shop. He only goes on vacation twice a year: Christmas and one other random week, and apparently, this year it happened to be the week of Michelle's birthday.

"No!" she shouted, kicking the door.

She stared at the sign for another minute or two before turning to go home, only to yelp as the stranger in the trench coat blocked her path.

"You're running out of time, Michelle," the man hissed. Michelle blinked once, and he was several yards down the street. Either the man could teleport or he was ridiculously- impossibly- fast.

"Wait! Sir!" Michelle yelled, bewildered, but the stranger ignored her. Michelle went to run after him, but before she could take a step, hands grabbed her from behind, causing her to scream in surprise.

"Michelle!" A voice yelled, and Michelle turned around to see her mother gazing at her in disapproval.

"Thanks a lot, Lucy," Michelle muttered.

"Lucy didn't tell me. Gina told me you left, and I've been searching everywhere for you," her mother said.

Goody Two Shoes Gina. Should've seen that coming.

"What are you doing here?" her mother asked.

"The truth is… Dad's birthday is coming up, and I wanted to talk to Anthony about him putting that clock on sale- the one Dad's been obsessed with since before I was born. I should've told you, but Mom, you're not the best liar, and if Dad asks where we went, the plan would fall apart. I came here to talk to Anthony myself, and then if he agreed, all we would have to do is buy it, hide it, and forget about it until Dad's birthday, but according to the sign, he's on vacation," Michelle lied.

Wow. She didn't give herself enough credit. She was a good liar, and really, that should not be something to be proud of, but she didn't care.

"That's very sweet of you," her mother said, "but you could've asked a friend's parent or your aunt or your grandparents to take you. I don't want you coming here alone. I'll let you off the hook because it's your birthday, but don't do it again."

"Thanks, Mom."

"By the way, when did you start calling us Mom and Dad?"

Shoot. She didn't even notice!

"Uh, Lucy calls her parents Mom and Dad. I thought I'd try it out."

Her mother laughed. "Okay, but can we stick to Mommy and Daddy just a bit longer?"

"Okay, Mommy."

"Thank you."

As soon as her mother looked away, Michelle frowned.

First attempt: failed.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!