Chapter 2
Cream wakes to her alarm clock named Cheese. The little Chao has a habit of waking her up like clockwork every morning, in time to get her day started every day at 6 am. She sits up, and washes up for the day before headed down to make breakfast. She pauses to look at herself in the full body mirror in the hallway. She knows she could have it off a lot worse, but she still feels melancholy at the sight of her body nearly frozen in time.
She was born with a defect that makes her not go through puberty right, and as such she's ten years younger than she really is. She's a legal adult now, but who would believe it? In a few years she'll be old enough to legally drink alcohol, but who would believe it? She sighs as Cheese sits on her head, and rubs her ears.
"Why," she asks herself. She turns away, and continues to the stairs. Downstairs she pulls up a short stool to cook herself some eggs, toast, and bacon. She makes another portion for her mother who comes down just as Cream pours the milk.
She kisses Cream on the cheek, "Good morning Cream."
"Morning mom," Cream says, trying to sound upbeat. Vanilla helps carry the food to the table, and Cream gives Cheese a Chao Fruit from a bowl. They eat in quiet for minute, and then Vanilla speaks up.
"Sweetheart, today I think we should get you an ID."
Cream looks up, "…Does it matter?"
Vanilla nods, "I think it would be good for you, that way you have proof if you ever need it."
"It could be faked," Cream says. She tries hard not to feel sorry for herself, but some days it's hard. Now she's eighteen, but there's so much scrutiny she has to deal with. People will give her odd looks if she tries to go into an movie, she can't get a boyfriend without people thinking he's a pedophile, or without actually being one. She knows how Tails feels about her, but he's only eleven.
Vanilla sighs, "Sweety, I really think it would be good for you, please? I won't force you…"
Cream stares into her food, "…What if someone sees me?"
Vanilla pats her hand, "We'll just say that I need to renew mine." It's a mutual agreement between these two that Cream's Turner Syndrome is to stay between them until Cream is ready to share the truth.
And neither of them sees that happening anytime soon.
Cream finally nods, "Okay… when?"
"This afternoon," Vanilla says. "And after we'll go watch a movie."
Cream raises her eyebrows, "Which one?"
"Well the local theater is doing a double feature of The Hobbit…"
Cream smiles, "Thanks mom!" She'd heard a lot about that movie, her friends had all seen it at some point. They were afraid of taking her with them because they aren't sure Vanilla would approve of the violence. In Cream's opinion it's nearly the perfect birthday present.
They both clean up after breakfast, and after a hug Cream heads up to change. She sheds her typical orange dress for a pair of blue jeans, and a sleeveless pink polka-dotted top with frills around the waist. She slips on her new shoes, and the watch, admiring herself in the mirror. This should be acceptable.
Vanilla nods in approval as she comes down the stairs. As a joke she put a small pair of sunglasses on Cheese, but he seems to like them. Then they load up in the van, and make for the city.
Once at the theater they buy a large popcorn, and drink for each of them. Cream loves the commercials, especially the one for the new Captain America movie coming out. The first movie makes Cream smile all the way through, especially since Vanilla paid a little extra for them to see it in IMAX 3D. They break between the movies, and on their way outside they get refills on their refreshments.
The second movie makes cream laugh so hard her glasses almost fall off, especially the scene with the barrels. She likes the elves, they get eternal youth, kind of like her… only in her case it's only skin deep.
Once the movies are over they put their things in the trash, and Vanilla takes them out for some Chinese food for lunch at Panda Express. This is how Cream wanted her birthday to go, with at least a little maturity. Vanilla still treats her like a kid in some ways, but she never forgets how Cream feels. She does her best to treat her like her age when the others aren't around.
Once they're done she takes Cream to the Social Services building, and the lady looks skeptical at first glance. Once she checks the database though she nods, and takes Cream around for the photo. One half-hour later Cream has certified proof of her age in her hands.
"…You were right Mom, I do feel better now."
Vanilla pulls Cream into a one-armed hug, and they head for the car. Cream spots a familiar shadow on the ground of someone standing on the building's roof. When she looks over her shoulder to see who it is there's nothing there.
Suddenly she starts to feel afraid; she's not ready for this. There'll be questions, and of all the people that had to find out why did it have to be him?