A Friendly Demonstration
Chapter 58
For the last twenty minutes or so Harm divided his attention between the kitchen clock, the casserole dish in the other and the Hall window overlooking the street. Even so, he was nearly taken unawares when Gill's Ford focus pulled in to the kerbside. Throwing open the front door he hurried down the ramp along the footpath just in time to relieve Gill of her two loaded suitcases, which she surrendered with hardly a murmur of protest.
Harm dropped the suitcases in the Hall, next to the three-quarter length mirror and took Gill in his arms for a welcome home kiss.
"M'mm…" Gill smiled against his lips, "A girl could get used to this!"
"Well, that's the general idea," Harm agreed as, with a hand in the small of her back he guided Gill straight into the kitchen where he proved that he was as good as his word, so by the time Gill had washed her hands the kitchen was redolent with the aroma of a freshly served mild vegetable curry.
"M'mm... this is good!" Gill said in mild surprise as she took her second mouthful of curry and watched appreciatively s Harm poured two glasses of Cobra, fresh from the fridge.
Harm's eyebrow rose in a question, "Well, of course it's good," he said complacently, "but why the surprise?"
"Oh… I suppose it's because I'm used to the army's version of curry, which," Gill's eyes twinkled with mischief, has very little in common with curries as served in the better Indian restaurants, authentic curries and your offering."
"How so?" Harm asked as he loaded his fork.
"Well, according to David, what we eat as curries are an Anglo-Indian adaptation of the native recipe, which he says although authentic, having tried it in India, is much less pleasant to our western palates, and of course, unless like three eight, you have a cook sergeant who has served with the Ghurkhas, the army version of curry is different again. But you've got nothing to worry about, as I said, this is very good!"
"But not authentic?" Harm asked plaintively.
"Oh yes, completely authentic for a Virginia Vindaloo!" Gill laughed, total unable to resist the dig, or the alliteration, although the truth be told Harm's curry was nowhere near as fiery as a Vindaloo.
"Or a Tennessee Tandoori?" Harm joined in the game.
"Or a Kentucky Khorma!" Gill riposted.
That was enough for Harm, he laid his fork down for a moment and grinned happily across the table, "Oh, I am so going to love having you live here!" he exclaimed happily.
"M'mm…" Gill smiled back, "But don't forget, I can be little Miss Snippy from time to time."
"Oh… well… during those times, I'll just ignore you, and leave it to Mattie to coax you out of your temper!"
Gill smiled, "Y'know… I think I've said it before, if so, I'll say it again. I am so relieved that Mattie has accepted me as part of your life… and didn't make me out to be the enemy."
"A major, if not the most important part of my life," Harm gently and smilingly corrected her.
"Well… after Mattie, that is," Gill demurred.
"No… even including Mattie," Harm disagreed. "Gill, I love Mattie so very much…"
"I know, anyone with one eye and a brain cell could tell that!"
"But that doesn't prevent me from recognising her faults, add one of those faults is a rush to judgement. Now, like you, I am relieved that you and she have hit it off, and I'm even more relieved that she didn't feel the need for either an 'intervention' or to sabotage what we have…"
"M'mm… This has turned serious, very quickly," Gill commented, "But maybe I can – with my devious female mind – shed a little light on Mattie's reaction to me, to us…"
"Go on, I'm all ears…" Harm smiled.
"Well… Look at things from Mattie's perspective… You told me that she pushed you into confronting your feelings towards Mac and then pushed you into declaring them to Mac…"
"Ouch! And look how well that went down!" Harm agreed and then managed a lop-sided grin, "You sure as hell don't pull your punches, do you?"
"I try," Gill smirked and then continued more seriously, "Because that was such a giant SNAFU, I reckon that Mattie has pulled in her horns, and is content to let you proceed at your own pace. Up to a point."
"Why up to a point?" a puzzled Harm.
Gill nodded, "I have a feeling that if Mattie sees you making what to her seems a huge mistake, then she won't be backward in coming forward to let you know her opinion."
"It took Harm a few moments to work through Gill's syntax, but then he grinned, and reaching out across the table he covered her hand with his, "But I'm not making a huge mistake am I, are we?"
"No, of course not!" Gill agreed emphatically.
"Good… so let's get the kitchen squared away, because I have plans that should occupy us for the rest of the evening," Harm grinned.
Gill was already on her feet, "I like the way you think, sailor!"
"We have our uses," Harm smirked.
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"Jeans and a T-shirt?" Gill asked in some surprise as she joined Harm for breakfast on Friday morning.
"Yep," Harm replied laconically.
"Any particular reason? I mean, I can't see you wearing that kit to the office?"
"M'mm…" Harm agreed as he served Gill with eggs and toast, "The nurse arrives at zero nine hundred hours, and then at twelve hundred, or thereabouts, we head out to Stoke Mandeville for a briefing on Mattie's care, and to bring her home."
"Command decision to take the day off?" Gill teased him lightly.
"Just so," Harm agreed, "And thanking my lucky stars that it's today and not Monday!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, 'oh'. Admiral Chegwidden picks up the reins again at Falls Church on Monday, and given his feelings when he retired, I'm not altogether reassured by the prospect of having him in command again!"
"I thought you'd said he'd mellowed?" Gill asked around as mouthful of toast.
"He had," Harm agreed, "But that was before he was recalled to active duty. I don't know what sort of pressure the SecNav must have put him under, but I can almost guarantee that A J didn't accept the offer with smiling thanks!"
"So he's likely to be a bit grumpy? Gill asked with a grin.
"That might just qualify as the understatement of the year!" Harm agreed.
"So…" Gill concentrated on wiping the last of her egg with the remaining corner of the toast, "You're going to be here all morning?"
"All morning," Harm agreed.
"So, I needn't feel guilty about leaving you with clearing away all the wreckage? House rule Number One notwithstanding?"
Harm eyed her helplessly, "Go on then, abandon me to domestic agony while you go and enjoy your day!"
"What, herding files from one cabinet to another?" Gill chuckled. "Thank the Gods for Sergeant Cuthbertson!"
"Sergeant Cuthbertson?" Harm commented never heaving, he was sure, heard the name before.
"M'mm… He's the only soldier in the place and keeps all our civilian clerks in line. The officers would be lost without him! After all, the backbone of the army is the non-commissioned man!"
"Sounds pretty much like the Navy with our Chiefs!" Harm concurred.
"M'mm…" Gill gulped the last of her coffee, stood, and walked around the table, where Ham met her half-way. "I'll see you this evening, at about eighteen hundred…" she told him as she reached up to kiss him gently on the lips.
Harm eagerly returned the kiss, "I'll have something ready for the table for about eighteen thirty," he told her, "And I'll bet Mattie tries to use her stay in hospital as leverage for a pizza!"
Gill's laugh trailed over her shoulder as she stopped halfway to the door, "You'll have to find someone else to take a sucker bet like that!"
"Yeah, probably!" Harm laughed, "So g'wan, git! And drive safely!" he called after her just before he door swung shut behind her.
Left alone in the house, a feeling Harm discovered he no longer relished, he set-to to clear away the breakfast wreckage and to square away the living room where he expected to interview the nurse, hoping that the long conversation he'd had with the agency advisor had, at least in part been relayed to whoever the carer was, and so save him the task of repeating everything that had gone before. He also heartily hoped that whoever turned up on the doorstep would be acceptable to Mattie. He acknowledged, wryly, to himself that if there was a clash between nurse and patient, he would be back to square one in pretty short order. While Mattie probably wouldn't be flagrantly disobedient, he knew her well enough to know that she had her own peculiar slant on what was and what wasn't staying within the confines of acceptable behaviour. Above all, he hoped that the nurse had a sense of humour, and a willingness to walk that extra yard.
The living room tidied, he glanced at his watch and realised he had more than enough time to brew an extra pot of coffee, and so wandered into the kitchen where he refilled the old-fashioned percolator – his preferred method of brewing coffee – and sat down to wait for the percolator to finish its cycle, or for the nurse to arrive, "Whichever comes first!" he grinned self-deprecatingly at the conceit, knowing that it would be at least two hours before the nurse showed her front.
In the meantime, once he'd drunk his coffee, there was laundry to be done, rooms to be squared away, fresh towels placed in Mattie's shower room, and a host of other little domestic duties that would keep him gainfully occupied for the time being.
Harm's calculations weren't too far off, and he had just retrieved the last load of freshly laundered bed-sheets and duvet cover from the tumble dryer when the anticipated ring of the front door bell had him hurriedly place his armload on the kitchen table and head for the front door.
The woman who stood at the top of the ramp regarded him doubtfully, or so it seemed, for a second or two before she spoke, "Captain Rabb?" she asked almost tentatively, or so it seemed to Harm.
Harm returned her gaze with interest. The woman in front of him stood at about five feet six, just about average height, and about average weight and, he guessed, was in her early thirties, with neatly trimmed mid-brown hair and hazel eyes with laughter lines at the corners.
"That's me," Harm agreed with a smile and a nod, "Won't you please come in?"
With a muttered, "Thank you," the woman stepped past him into the hall and stood, undecided which way to turn.
"Straight through here, please, Miss…? Or is it Mrs…?" Harm inquired, as he pointed out the door to the living room.
A flash of a smile greeted Harm's attempt to break the ice, "It's 'Miss', the nurse acknowledged, "Miss Heather MacLauchlan. Or… if you'd prefer to be formal, then 'Nurse' will do just as well…" She dipped a hand into her handbag and pulled out a brown envelope, "My letter of introduction from the Agency," she explained as she offered it to Harm.
"Well… formal is not something I do much of at home," Harm replied, as he quickly scanned the letter, nodded in acknowledgement of its contents, and indicated a chair, "Please, take a seat… So, if you don't mind, you'll be Heather and I'm Harm…" He caught the look of surprise on the Nurse's face and his smile broadened into a grin, "Yeah, Mattie will be the first to tell you that it's a goofy name!"
"Well… it is unusual," Heather responded, her flashing smile showing again. "I take it that Mattie is the patient?" she asked, looking around as if searching for someone, taking the neatness of the room and the few photographs that had mysteriously sprouted on a few of the surfaces since Mattie's arrival..
"She is," Harm agreed, "And at the moment she's in Stoke Mandeville for assessment, and unless you have any objections I'll take you with me when I go to collect her after lunch?"
"No, that sounds fine to me. It's probably better to have our first meeting on neutral ground, anyway. It lessens the risk of an immediate confrontation."
"Trespassing on her territory?" Harm queried.
"Exactly," Heather smiled. "But now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get down to hard tacks. I have a written briefing from the agency saying that Mattie has had a spinal injury and is confined to a wheelchair, and that you, as a single parent feel that there are certain aspects to helping a teenaged girl that are problematical?"
"Broadly speaking that is true. However, Mattie has made some progress since I spoke to your agency, and can now take one or two very uncertain steps, entirely unsupported, and I am no longer a single parent… My… well… girlfriend, I'd suppose you'd call her is in the process of moving in. But…" Harm held up a hand to stave off the interruption he could see coming, "Both she and I are serving officers, which means that we can't be here for Mattie during duty hours. And that is where you come in. So you see there isn't much change in your role since I first approached your people. What we need is for someone to be with Mattie during the day, not only for her health and safety, but to help her where she can't help herself. For example, I'm expecting a briefing today at Stoke Mandeville, laying down a course of therapy for Mattie. Now, whether that is at Stoke Mandeville or somewhere else we will still need to drive Mattie to and from her appointments. Do you have a suitable vehicle, and are you willing to undertake that part of the duty of looking after Mattie? I would of course, reimburse you on an agreed scale for the gas you use in transporting Mattie to and from her various appointments."
"Oh…" Heather hesitated for a moment, "It's not usually part of my job… but, yes, I can fit a wheelchair in the boot of my car." She paused a moment, her forehead wrinkled in thought before she continued slowly, as if she was feeling her way through her argument, "But it's not just that… If Mattie is having physiotherapy, then I'm betting that her physio will insist she continues with some exercises while she's not actually in therapy sessions, and out of safety concerns, if nothing else, I would need to supervise those exercise sessions. So it would only make sense for me to attend her physio sessions, wherever they might be, so that I have grasp of what she's supposed to be doing… and if I've got to be there, then it only makes sense that we only use one car, and if, as you say, you'll pay for the fuel, then, yes, I'm happy to transport Mattie to and from physio…What else do you need me to do?"!
Harm breathed a silent sigh of relief, "Well, that will be up to you and Mattie to work out between you. She's very independently minded, but from what I'm told, she'll need a minimum of help in getting dressed and undressed. She has difficulty in getting feet through the right holes in jeans and pants, otherwise I think she's pretty self-sufficient. He trainers are Velcro-fastened, and there might, initially be a problem with that, but she's got her sights set on walking by and running by next summer…"
"Definitely ambitious, then," Heather smiled.
"Only slightly," Harm agreed with a smile, "She intends to go to our Naval Academy and then onto flight school – she wants to become a fast jet pilot, you see…"
"H'mm… I wonder where she got that idea?" Heather asked with a slight smile, her eyes going to one of Mattie's favourite photographs on the mantelpiece. A photograph that showed Harm halfway up the side of an F-14 and wearing a shit-eating grin.
"Yeah, that would probably be my influence," Harm admitted.
"Well… it's a better ambition than just wanting to be famous for being famous!" Heather agreed.
Harm stood, "You know, Miss MacLauchlan – Heather – I think we're going to get on just fine!"
"I hope so, Mister Rabb," Heather answered with a smile, "But much of that depends on Mattie, doesn't it?"
"That it does! That it does!" Harm agreed. "Now… how about I fix you a drink, tea? coffee? Then I'll give you the dime tour…"
"A cup of tea would be just fine, thank you," Heather smiled, although not without some misgivings as to whether an American Navy Officer could brew a passable cup of tea.
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"Does it feel weird to you?" Julia asked Jen.
Jen looked up from her computer screen, "How do you mean?"
"Well… us… working as normal, but with the Captain not here…"
Jen frowned in puzzlement, "I'm not sure what you mean," she replied. "After all, it's not as if he hasn't been away before…"
"True," Julia acknowledged, "But before you arrived from DC, if he was out of the office, I was normally with him, driving him. And then after you arrived it was either you or I…"
"Until he took on Hawkes," Jen pointed out.
"Yeah…" Julia's shoulders slumped, "I'm not doing a very good job of explaining myself, am I?"
Jen grinned, "Not so much that you'd notice," she agreed cheerfully.
"Aw, gee, thanks for that!" Julia replied in a voice loaded with sarcasm, and then took a deep breath. "Look… beforehand if he was out of the office, one of us was with him, which meant that the other covered both our desks, and that made the time go quickly. But today, well, it's only just gone ten hundred, the first sight file's completed. He hasn't left me any drafts to be typed up. Yeah, I've got a stack of filing to do, but that will all be done by lunchtime…"
"So… you've nothing much left to do?" Jen asked, and there was something in her voice that caused a quiet alarm to start sounding in Julia's mind.
"Not that much, no…" Julia agreed cautiously.
"Well… once you've squared away what you've got to do, I could do with a hand with some data entry," Jen suggested.
"Yeah, okay, I could give that a whirl… but you'd have to show me what you want doing…" Julia conceded.
"Naturally!" Jen agreed, and then her eyes took on a distinctly mischievous gleam, "But in the meantime, seeing as how you're not too busy, you could maybe scare us both up a cup of coffee?" she suggested.
"Huh! I might have known there was a catch to it!" Julia grinned, but nevertheless quit her chair, smoothing the creases out of the front of her skirt as she did so.
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"So… you see, it's not too far, and it's an easy drive," Harm said, glancing hopefully across at Heather, as he pulled the Subaru into the hospital car park.
"M'mm…" the nurse said non-committally, and then with a bright smile, 'too bright?' Harm wondered, said, "Yes, it's not too bad, about forty minutes…"
"Yeah, and I can't see therapy sessions beginning before zero nine hundred… uh… nine am," Harm hurriedly amended.
"No, probably not, and it's okay, Mister Rabb, I do understand the twenty-four hour clock.
"So… if you arrive, as agreed on the terms and conditions at zero seven hundred, that will allow me to get off to work on time, and allow you to help Mattie, if she needs it, and grab a cup of tea and a slice of toast before you have to leave Northolt…" Harm added.
"Now… that's really tempting… a slice of toast and a cup of tea!" Heather declared with a grin, "But let's leave the final decision until Mattie and I have checked each other out?"
"Of course!" Harm agreed, "After all, that's why we're here!" but he shot the nurse a quick, sideways glance. Was she teasing him? No… couldn't be… but there was a certain, somewhat familiar gleam in her eyes, which reminded him of Gill at her mischievous best.
Harm slid the Subaru into a vacant slot, not too far from the main entrance, and hopped out of the vehicle, and waited for Heather MacLauchlan to follow suit and pick up her handbag, before locking the car and then he said with a slight lift of the eyebrow, "Shall we…?"
"Of course, that's what we're here for," the nurse replied gravely and fell into step with him as they made their way across the stretch of tarmac to the steps at hospital's main entrance.
Taking advantage of the familiarity gained by his previous two visits, Harm led Heather MacLauchlan through the maze of seemingly endless corridors direct to the room Mattie shared with Ginny Woodman, where, as he expected, the copper-haired teen was already ensconced in her wheelchair with her bag packed and sitting on the foot of the bed, and Harm noted, with a pair of elbow crutches propped against the side of the bed.
"Hey, Squirt!" He grinned and then jabbed his thumb at the crutches, "This more of your junk?"
"Yep, sure is, so get used to 'em! From what the doc says, they're just about going to be my best friends for the next few months!" Mattie replied, but her heart wasn't really in her answer as she tried not to stare at the woman at Harm's side.
Harm nodded, "Well, if the doc says you need 'em, then I guess I'll have to put up with 'em! In the meantime, young lady," Harm's voice dropped half an octave as he unconsciously added depth to his words, "This is Heather MacLauchlan. If you two can get along she's going to be your nurse, instructor, caretaker and driver until you get your feet back under you!"
"And if we can't?" the teenager challenged the idea.
"Well, I reckon you'll just have to learn! Remember, Heather has got to like you just as much as you need to like Heather – that is if the plan is going to work! You do… uh… want it to work don't you? After all, there's still the academy in the future."
"We'll work it out!" Mattie ground out, but with a challenging look at Heather, "The academy's too darned important to let personal things get in the way! Besides…" she added with a lightning change of mood, evidenced by her brilliant smile, "I'm pretty sure that sometime in my life I'm going to have to work with people I don't like, so…"
"Just so," Heather agreed with a twinkle in her eyes.
Mattie blushed, "Oh… I didn't mean that I don't like you, it was more of a hypothingy… after all, how can I not like you, when I don't even know you?"
"My thoughts, exactly!" Heather agreed.
"So… We need to get to know each other!" Mattie said decisively.
"Just so," Heather agreed
"Well… that's a good start… isn't it?" Harm added hurriedly as he became the focus of two pairs of judgemental eyes. "Uh… was that dumb thing to say?"
"Just a bit," Mattie agreed complacently while Heather merely smiled and shook her head. "You don't really expect me to answer that, do you, Mister Rabb?" she asked.
"No… I guess not… Mattie, I need to find Doctor Jameson and find out what he's got planned for your aftercare. If I leave you and Heather together, war isn't going to break out, is it?"
"I wouldn't have thought so," Heather said after a confirmatory glance at the teenager, "But wouldn't it make more sense if I heard direct from the doctor as well?"
"Yeah, and while you're getting your briefing, I could roll along to the therapy rooms and say 'bye to Ginny. You wouldn't want me to skip town without saying goodbye, would you?"
"No… I suppose not. So… can you make it to the therapy area on your own?" Harm asked Mattie and interpreting the look he got in return he grinned, "Ah… another dumb question?"
"Just about," Mattie grinned.
"Okay… so… we'll meet back here in half an hour? That should give us plenty of time to get briefed and for you say your good bye," Harm suggested.
"Suits me!" Mattie grinned. "I can't wait to blow this joint!"
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While the atmosphere in the car on the way home hadn't been frosty, it hadn't been particularly cheerful either. With Mattie, of necessity in the front passenger seat and unable to twist around completely to speak directly to Heather, who sat behind Harm, the two women had just about managed to carry out a desultory conversation, mostly centred around the provisions of the folder that Harm had handed to Heather on his return from his consultation with Doctor Jameson.
So it was with a feeling of relief that Ham drew the Subaru up onto the short driveway in front of the garage and switched off the engine. "Do you want to sit back and see just how Mattie copes with dismounting?" Harm asked Heather.
Heather nodded, "That was more or less what I had in mind, Mister Rabb, but I'll probably be able to see better from outside the car…"
"Of course," Harm conceded and then drew a breath as he turned to his adopted daughter, "Ready to impress us all again, Squirt?"
"You betcha!" Matte replied, but her smile was just a little tight lipped as she opened the car door and waited for Harm to bring her chair around from the rear hatch.
"Okaaaay… Here goes nothing!" Mattie declared as she gingerly, and under the interested and concerned gazes of Harm and Heather, lowly lowered herself to the tarmac, holding on to the door pillar for support as she shuffled into a half turn and feeling behind her with her free hand, slowly lowered herself into the waiting chair.
"Ready?" Harm asked as Mattie took a breath.
"Ready, aye, Cap'n!" the irrepressible teenager grinned, her words bringing answering grins to both Harm and Heather's faces.
"Okay then, I'll open up and get out of your way!" Harm nodded as he stepped up onto the ramp and unlocked the front door, stepping through and to one side, "Okay! Come ahead!"
Mattie took another deep breath and manoeuvred the wheel chair so that it was facing the foot of the ramp and with a determined just o her chin, grabbed the wheel rails and started her run at the ramp, while Harm and Heather watched her closely.
Whether it was because she hadn't had to negotiate any steep ramps for the past three days, or whether Mattie was tired after the morning's therapy session, or maybe it was just because she went at the ramp too hard in order to impress Heather would for ever remain one of life's mysteries, but she had made it about three quarters of the way up the ramp when she ran out of steam.
With a muttered "Crap!" Mattie grabbed for the brakes, forcefully applying the right hand brake as the chair started to roll backwards, but she missed her grab at the left hand brake. As a result, the chair, gathering speed rolled backwards down the ramp and veered to the right.
In front of Harm and Heather's horrified gaze and to the accompaniment of an explosive "Shit!" the chai veered more to the right and dropped off the side of the ramp. It only fell about eighteen inches before it landed on the lawn, but that was enough to tip it sideways and threw Mattie clear on to the grass.
Almost before she had stopped rolling Harm was at her side with Heather a half pace behind him, "Mats! Are you okay?" he demanded anxiously.
Mattie pushed herself into a sitting position, "Yeah… I think so," she said, but then winced and rubbed her right elbow with her left hand.
"Mattie!" Harm persisted.
Mattie gave him a rather shaky grin, "I'm okay, Harm… nothing broken, except my pride!" she tried to assure him with a tight, rather white-faced grin, "They teach us how to do that in hospital," she added, deliberately making light of her tumble, as Harm put the chair back on its wheels.
"What? They teach you how to crash?" Harm demanded incredulously.
"No, of course not!" Mattie gave Harm a look that suddenly made him think that she was the parent and he the child, "They teach us how to fall without hurting ourselves!"
"Are you sure?" he demanded, still doubtfully.
"Of course, I'm sure!" Mattie replied, with a suggestion of snappiness in her voice, "But if you don't help me up off this cold wet grass, I'll probably catch pneumonia! So, your hand, please?"
Recalled to duty, Harm gave a shake of his head, and knelt beside the girl, placing one arm around her back and giving her his other hand to hold onto he carefully stood up, bringing Mattie with him and lowered her into the chair, which was held steady by Heather.
Once Mattie was safely back in the chair, Harm glared at her, "And that's just about enough nonsense from you this afternoon, young lady! I know you want to do it by yourself, but that's not going to happen. Just this once, I'm going to push you up the ramp, and then once we've gotten you indoors, Heather is going to give you a quick once over, and if she thinks there's any cause for concern, then it's straight back to hospital!"
"But, Harm…" Mattie started to object, but realising that any protest was in vain lapsed into silence. Harm was in full zone five over-protectiveness, and Mattie was astute enough to realise that only an all clear from Heather would satisfy him.
Five minutes later, safe in her room, Mattie shrugged off her sweater and slipped out of her blouse, grabbed her crutches and hauled herself to her feet. "See?" she asked Heather, turning so that the nurse could see that there was no bruising to her back, neck or shoulders, "Not a mark on me!"
"Well… Apart from that bruise on your elbow," Heather demurred, "but a little arnica will help that. Are you quite sure you don't hurt anywhere else?"
"Only my legs – but that was from physical therapy this morning! Other than that, it was just my pride that took a battering!"
"H'mm… I don't know… maybe you should head on back to hospital…" Heather said slowly, fighting back a grin at the look of dismay n Mattie's face.
"You… you don't mean that, do you? Please. Tell me you're joking!" Mattie protested in an almost whimper.
"I don't know, after all a bruised pride is a pretty painful thing," Heather said innocently.
"Bruised… Painful?" Mattie spluttered as she caught on, just a few seconds too late that she was being teased. "Oh… I am so going to get you for that! Remember what they say about payback!"
"Just remember, that I've got the casting vote!" Heather chuckled.
For a moment the two stared at each other, Mattie unsure whether or not to be angry, but finally her sense of humour came to her rescue, "Still gonna get you!" she grinned.
"Yeah? Bring it on!" Heather retorted. "But in the meantime, how about you get dressed again, so we can go tell your dad that you're not coming apart at the seams?"
"That's the best idea you've had yet!" Mattie agreed as she pulled her sweater on over her head, "You have no idea just how bent out of shape he gets if he thinks someone he lo… if he thinks someone he knows is in any sort of trouble!"