The three of them sat across from the little girl as they watched her eat her sandwich.
"What are we going to do?" Claudia asked in a whispered tone.
Artie adjusted his glasses "Well, we'll just have to cover her in goo so that way it can turn back into a bandage…and that'll solve this problem."
"What?" Steve asked, turning to Artie; his first word in nearly two hours.
Artie turned to Steve "What? We turn it back into an artifact, problem solved!"
"It?" Steve asked.
"…It…is a three-year old child…with skin, and organs…and blood. She is a human being. We can't just make her go away." Steve remarked, turning back to her.
Artie watched Steve watch the child "Are you actually thinking about keeping her?" he asked.
"Yes." Steve told him.
Claudia took his arm "Steve, we should talk about this first." She suggested.
Steve sighed "…Claudia, look at her. Granted, she was an accident; but should she be punished for your stupidity?" he asked.
"Are you really going to throw that in my face now?" she asked in her typical snarky tone.
"I'm not trying to…just…we can't just get rid of her." He emphasized.
Steve laced his fingers together "I would have too much guilt." He muttered.
Claudia sighed heavily, she knew guilt was a heavy burden for Steve as she looked at the toddler "We can't take care of a kid, Jinksy…I'm too young, and neither of us can afford it."
Steve turned to her "Then she can be the Warehouse baby; made for the Warehouse, by the Warehouse; in a matter of speaking."
Claudia smiled as she looked at the toddler "What are we going to name her?" she asked.
The toddler yawned, taking one last bite of her sandwich before focusing on fighting her sleepiness.
"Abby, it's time for your nap." Steve said, standing up from his chair and walking towards her.
"But I'm not sleepy." She protested.
Steve smiled "Doesn't matter, lets go back to the house." He said, gingerly picking her up.
"I'll be at the B and B if you need me." Steve said, leaving the warehouse.
Claudia and Artie sat in silence before Artie turned to her "First things first." He said before hitting her over the head with a newspaper.
She flinched "Ouch!" she said, leaning away from Artie.
"How could you be so stupid? Using an artifact so carelessly!" he said, standing up and pacing around the room.
Claudia shrugged "He was bleeding all over the place, what was I supposed to do? Run all the way up to the office to get a first aid kit?" she said, standing up as well.
"Look, Artie, I'm sorry…but I will take responsibility for this!" Claudia remarked.
He rubbed his brow "Claudia," he said, but nothing else came out of his mouth.
Claudia raised her arms "What else am I going to do? Steve's right, we can't just get rid of her."
Artie sighed "Claudia, if we keep her, Mrs. Fredric is going to find out, and the Regents will find out, and God knows what they'll do."
"I'll talk to Mrs. Fredric! I'll see if I can suede her!" Claudia protested.
Artie looked at her, so desperate to make everything work, as well as make and keep everybody happy.
"…you could give it a shot." Artie suggested "But I don't think it'll work." Artie said.
Claudia hugged herself "I'm not going to give up on her." She told Artie.
Artie nodded "I know."
Steve sat on the coffee table while the toddler slept on the couch, he watched her closely when the front door opened and gently closed as Claudia stuck her head into the living room.
"She out?" Claudia whispered.
Steve nodded "She's out."
Claudia dropped her messenger bag on the floor and sat next to Steve on the table and looked at the toddler.
"We have such a dilemma." Steve whispered.
Claudia smiled "Yeah, but she's such a cute little dilemma." She whispered before turning to Steve.
Steve chuckled under his breathe "On a scale from one to ten, how much trouble is this going to cause?" he asked her.
Claudia sighed "I'm going to talk to Mrs. Fredric the next time she appears, and hope that she hears me…us…out." She said.
"Hopefully." Steve said.
Claudia smiled gently "But in the meantime…I am going to have fun." She said.
Steve smiled as he wrapped his arm around Claudia as they both looked at the toddler "She looks just like you." She said.
"With red hair." Steve said.
Claudia chuckled "We need so much stuff; clothes, toys, food, furniture." She said, beginning to calculate all the costs in her head.
"…you think the Warehouse could pay for it?" she asked Steve.
Steve shook his head "Nope." He said bluntly.
"Way to burst my bubble there, Jinksy." Claudia said, her sarcasm beginning to slip out.
The silent was comforting until the door shot open "HONEY, I'm home!" Pete yelled.
Steve and Claudia shushed Pete as they walked into the living room, but it was too late; the toddler was awake.
She rubbed her eyes as she sat up on the couch, Steve face palmed himself as Claudia turned to Pete, and now Myka, who were standing in the living room entrance.
"Who's that?" Myka asked.
Steve and Claudia turned to each other before turning back to Pete and Myka "She's our daughter." They said in unison.
Pete chuckled "Yeah, right! Seriously, who is she?" he said, walking closer to the couch.
"I'll take her upstairs." Steve said, taking the toddler and guiding her up to the bedrooms.
Claudia stood up "We had a mishap with an artifact, and now Steve and I have been blessed with the gift of life." She said, letting her sarcasm spill out of her mouth.
Myka stood next to Pete "She's not lying."
Pete looked at Myka "You think?" he asked, before turning back to Claudia.
"You can ask Artie yourself…Steve and I have procreated…can't believe I just said that." Claudia remarked.
Pete smiled "YAY! We have a baby in the house! What's her name? Can I meet her? Can I go with you to buy her outfits?" Pete asked, beginning to berate Claudia with questions and requests.
Claudia took a step back "We don't know what we're going to do…we want to keep her, but Artie is advising otherwise. We are just going to keep this low profile until I talk to Mrs. Fredric…and maybe the Regents."
Myka rubbed her neck "Uh, ok. But, how did this happen?" she asked.
Claudia crossed her arms "…you might want to sit down."