Chromia looked up to see who had entered the room, and smiled when she saw Prowl, and Jazz with Stephanie perched rather happily on Jazz's left shoulder.
"Good morning Stephanie. You appear to be in a good mood today." Chromia called out to the girl.
"Chromia! Good morning! I'll be in a better mood once I get some coffee and donuts." Stephanie replied with a smile.
"Jazz, Prowl." Elita said simply as she greeted the two bots.
Prowl simply nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Mornin Lita." Jazz replied with a smile.
It was a voice that Stephanie wasn't familiar with and that meant she'd never met this individual.
"Hi! I'm Stephanie." She said by way of greeting as she introduced herself.
"I am Elita One, but most simply call me Elita… well, except for Jazz. He just calls me 'Lita'." She said as she stood up and went over to complete the introduction.
Stephanie smiled even wider as she heard the bot, and it had to be a bot because the voice was coming from someplace well above her as it got closer. "Call me 'Steph'. Everyone else does, except for Prowl and Annabelle. Prowl always calls me 'Stephanie', and Annabelle calls me 'Stephy'." She said as she stuck out her right hand to shake.
Elita smiled as she took the girl's hand between the thumb and index finger of her right hand and completed the hand shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you Steph. I've heard quite a lot about you already."
Stephanie gave an exaggerated frown as she spoke. "Uh oh! How much trouble am I in because of what Humbug said about me?"
Chromia couldn't help it, she burst out laughing.
"I'm afraid that I don't know any 'Humbug'. May I ask who you're talking about?" Elita replied curiously.
"That's the name she's given Ratchet, and I've seen her call him that to his face!" Chromia answered while laughing.
Elita spun to face Chromia. "Seriously?" She asked in disbelief.
"Oh yes, and she'll argue with him in a spark beat. I watched her do it." Chromia said with a smile.
Stephanie remembered Sarah telling her that this Elita was one of the 'girl' Autobots. That made her feel excited. She knew the Autobots were special… they had to be! Jazz had stopped her from getting robbed, and had even brought her here to save her life. That was before he got her a new cane, and a place to live. Humbug had saved her life and got her new clothes. Prowl had found out how her family had gotten killed, and even who had done it, plus he got her a whole bunch of clothes and other stuff too.
Stephanie had only met five of the Autobots so far, but all of them had been very nice to her. Being around them meant that she didn't feel like she was all alone anymore, because there was someone to actually care about her. She knew that Jazz was one of those who cared. The way he'd acted after finding out how her family had gotten murdered by Brawl, he couldn't say that he didn't care about her, because he'd already proven that he did. It was a good feeling. To know that no one cared if she lived or died had always hurt in a way that she couldn't explain. To say that she'd felt abandoned by the entire world would not have been exaggerating. Living in the sewers, she had been alone and completely forgotten.
For the past few days, things had been very different. Stephanie had people that she could interact with; people that she could talk to without being afraid of what they might do. It was a strange feeling, but one that made her feel good inside. She remembered the countless times that she had talked softly to herself just to hear the sound of a voice so she wouldn't feel so lonely. Even then, on those occasions, she'd made certain to keep her voice barely above a whisper so that no one could hear her speak and find her. Fear had ruled her life… whether it was fear of starvation, or being of found didn't matter… it was still fear. Now things were different.
Stephanie couldn't help but laugh at the comment from Chromia. "Humbug's a grouch. Since all he does is gripe at me all the time, I call him 'Humbug'. I don't think that'll stop him from being a grouch though."
Elita chuckled merrily. "I don't think it will either." She admitted honestly. "He's been a 'grouch' for as long as I've known him."
Stephanie knew that the bots were really old, because Prowl and Jazz had been spark mated or married for several million years! This meant that Elita had to have known Humbug for a seriously long time!
"You might get away with call Ratchet a 'Humbug', but I doubt that anyone else will say such things because he usually throws a wrench at the bot who calls him by anything other than his name." Elita said sternly.
"He betta not throw a wrench at her! He'll find out just how good Ah am at causin damage." Jazz growled in a promising tone.
"I too would become highly objectionable should such an event occur." Prowl stated seriously.
"That's perfectly understandable given the injuries Stephanie would receive from a wrench that weighs more than she does." Elita replied evenly.
BREAK
Sarah Lennox walked into the rec room with a bit of morning fog remaining. She still needed more coffee, and she knew that she could get plenty here. Besides, she needed to check on Stephanie and see how the girl was doing. She knew that since Stephanie was living with Prowl and Jazz, they would need to bring her to the rec room for the girl to eat. That meant this was a good place to look for her.
She saw that Jazz and Prowl were sitting at a table with two other bots. Sarah could hear Stephanie's rather cheerful voice talking to the two femmes. That was surprising considering what had been discovered yesterday. She climbed to the top of the bot sized table and sat down at the small table across from Stephanie.
"Morning Stephanie. You seem to be in better spirits today." Sarah said slowly.
"Well yesterday wasn't really a good day for me, but I'm… I'm glad I finally know what happened. Now… I need to move on and start living my life." Stephanie replied gravely.
"I know I can't spend the rest of my life crying over something that no one can change… so I have to start over now. Jazz and Prowl already said they'd help, so I can start a whole new life now." Stephanie added honestly.
"I would think your family would be glad to see you finally moving on Stephanie. It can't be an easy thing to know that someone you love is squandering their life in the sewers." Sarah said as she was brought a cup of coffee.
"You're probably right. Besides, now that I'm here, I'm not a filth monger anymore." Stephanie exclaimed before taking a large bite of donut.
"You seem to be enjoying that type of sustenance quite a bit Stephanie. However, it does not contain all of the recommended nutrients that you will require." Prowl noted.
"Yeah well you're not takin 'em from me you overgrown donut monger!" Stephanie blurted out in Prowl's direction.
"Donut monger?" Sarah asked in disbelief. "What's a 'donut monger'?"
"A cop, because they're all badge wearin, cuff totin, gun packin, donut mongers! They hog all the donuts!" Stephanie replied with a grin.
"I am not actually a 'cop' Stephanie. Although I am using one of their vehicles as an alternative mode, I am most certainly not one of your police officers." Prowl stated firmly.
"Then I guess you can't be a donut monger. Just 'cause you look like a cop, doesn't make you one." Stephanie replied sagely.
Sarah was struggling not to laugh. She set her coffee on the table and placed her hand over her mouth in her effort.
"Why do you think would Prowl hoard the donuts when he can't eat them?" Elita asked.
"Cause that's what cops do." Stephanie said factually. "How do you get a cop to stop chasing a robber?"
"Help him catch the robber?" Chromia suggested.
"Nah! You throw him a donut!" Stephanie exclaimed brightly.
"Ah don' think dat would work on Prowler." Jazz said with a laugh. "He'd ignore tha donut and nab the robber anyway."
"That is invariably correct. I would not endeavor to focus upon a mere pastry, when a potential criminal is near at hand." Prowl said succinctly.
"Yeah, but like you said… you're not a cop!" Stephanie said with a giggle.
"True! He merely looks like one of their vehicles." Elita agreed.
Elita found that she actually liked Stephanie. There wasn't actually a very large number of human females that she could associate with, so that placed the girl in somewhat rare company to begin with. One thing she didn't care for though, was Stephanie's past. Optimus had told her all of it, the whole sordid mess. It was tragically similar to that of Bluestreak, except that Stephanie was far younger than Bluestreak had been. Both however, had learned to show everyone a brave face and a cheerful smile in spite of the tremendous heartache within. Still, both had lost their immediate family to a senseless war.
"Stephanie, I need to ask if you feel like supervising Annabelle again this after noon for me? Will and I should be back around seven…" Sarah began hesitantly.
"Sure!" Stephanie interrupted quickly. "Belle's cool! It's not like she tries to do a bunch of stuff she isn't sposed to."
Sarah let out a relieved breath. She had been expecting to need to talk the girl into it, but that hadn't been the case at all. "I'll have some sandwiches and stuff in the fridge for the two of you to snack on, and I'll fix supper when I get home. How's that?"
"Sounds great to me." Stephanie shrugged.
"The only thing you'll need to do is help Annabelle with her bath. She hasn't really learned how to work the water faucets yet." Sarah replied gratefully.
"I can do that." Stephanie stated easily.
"Thank you. This time I am going to pay you for watching her." Sarah insisted.
"No you won't, because I don't have to take it." Stephanie shot back seriously.
"Stephanie Marie Harrington!" Sarah said sternly. "You just agreed to watch over Annabelle for several hours, and I told you last time that you would be getting paid this time!"
"Yep… you said that alright." Stephanie allowed. "But I never agreed." She added with a smirk.
"Uh oh… Ah'm stayin outta dis." Jazz muttered softly.
"Fine!" Sarah snapped almost angrily. "Perhaps you'd care to tell me why you don't want to be paid?"
"What would I do with the money? It's not like I can walk in a store and buy something. I wouldn't know what to spend it on anyways." Stephanie answered seriously.
"Well… isn't there something you might want?" Sarah asked in surprise.
"Like what?" Stephanie returned.
As Sarah thought about it, she realized that movies were probably out of the question, video games too, the girl didn't have a CD player, so she wouldn't be buying any of those either. Books, coloring books, and even puzzles… everything that she could think of required sight to make full use of. What would Stephanie spend the money on?
"Well?" Stephanie pressed. "What would get? I don't want junk food because then I'd get wider than I am tall, and that's no good."
"Besides candy and junk food, I can't really think of anything." Sarah admitted heavily.
"Exactly! So why should I try to keep track of it when I don't need it?" Stephanie asked rhetorically.
Sarah shook her head. It was plain to see that she wasn't at all happy about this. There really wasn't anything she could say to argue with the girl. Then, she decided that she could save the money for Stephanie so that she could have it later. Letting Will know what she planned to do would see to it that he might argue with her instead.
BREAK
Prowl rolled up the driveway to the Lennox house at two minutes to one. The instructions were for Stephanie to be there at one in the afternoon, and Prowl had timed things impeccably as usual. Stephanie got out and went up to the door. Before she could even knock, the front door opened.
"Stephy! You here!" Annabelle exclaimed with excited happiness. "You come so we can pway dolls!"
"Well that's kinda why I'm here. We'll do a lot of stuff together." Stephanie replied with a smile.
"Stephanie! I'm glad you're here. There are tuna salad sandwiches in the fridge and a dozen juice boxes. Chips are on the counter next to a couple of plates. I hate to rush off like this, but this meeting won't wait." Sarah said hurriedly.
"No problem. You two go do what you need to do, and me and Belle will be right here when you get back." Stephanie said as the two adult walked out the door.
Once they were alone, Stephanie and Annabelle played with Annabelle's dolls for quite a while. Then Annabelle wanted to be a Fairy Princess and have a tea party. She nearly shook her head in nostalgic exasperation because she clearly remembered her little sister Celeste doing the same thing. Instead of complaining that she was bored, or that she would prefer doing something else, she stayed right where she was and pretended to enjoy the imaginary tea party.
Stephanie couldn't help but remember the numerous times that she'd gotten annoyed and even angry at her little sister for wanting to do the same thing. Now she fervently wished that she'd done differently. Instead of shouting at Celeste that she needed to practice her Ballet, she would have participated in the tea parties, and played with her sister. There were so many things she wanted to say to her family… 'I love you' being first among them, but she'd never get that chance.
The tea party had seemed to last for an eternity, but was most likely only a couple of hours. It made Annabelle happy and the excited chatter showed just how much fun the girl was having. That was actually something important to Stephanie. She couldn't really have explained why if she tried, but making sure that little Annabelle had some good memories to look back on was something she needed to do.
Once the tea party was over, Annabelle wanted to color some more pictures. Stephanie almost laughed at that particular idea. Coloring was something that she knew she couldn't ever do well without a lot of help from some one else! They sat down at the dine room table with several coloring books and a box of crayons. Annabelle would tear a page out of the coloring book which had perforated pages to make such a thing much easier. Then, she would tell Stephanie what the picture was, what color she needed to use and where. It was a strange little arrangement, but one that worked, so Stephanie didn't gripe about it.
After Stephanie had 'colored' more than a dozen pictures, Annabelle started getting hungry. The tuna salad sandwiches were in the fridge wrapped up in aluminum foil which made opening them easy. Annabelle ate one of the sandwiches and some chips, while Stephanie had two. They each drank a pair of the juice pouches before Stephanie figured that it was time for Annabelle to take her bath.
"Stephy… will can you take a baff with me? Mommy say I don't dood it wight." Annabelle asked earnestly.
Stephanie had to think about that for a moment because she was honestly not prepared for such a possibility. Sarah certainly hadn't mentioned that she'd need to accompany the girl in the tub. Whatever doubts and misgivings Stephanie might have had were shoved aside by the realization that if anything happened, she would be right there to do something and call for help.
"Sure… I can do that. I'll scrub your back and you can scrub mine. How's that?" Stephanie answered after thinking about it.
"Okay!" Annabelle said brightly.
Stephanie had Annabelle lead her to the girl's room and closet, where she got out a pair of undies and a nighty for the girl. The two girls made their way to the bathroom, and Stephanie started filling the tub after making sure the water wouldn't be too hot for Annabelle. It wasn't nearly as hot as she'd have preferred, but this bath wasn't for her. She closed the lid to the toilet, grabbed several towels and placed them by the sink. Then she helped Annabelle get undressed, before she removed her own clothes and placed them on the closed toilet. Since the tub was about half full, Stephanie turned off the water, and let Annabelle get in first.
BREAK
Will and Sarah walked in to the house to find complete silence. Both of them looked around but saw neither Stephanie or Annabelle. They began walking through the house looking for either one.
"Ohh… that's it! Right there!"
That moaned and breathless cry had come from the bathroom. Will's eyes widened in alarm as he looked at his wife. She didn't look very happy either.
"Yes! Harder! That's it! Right there! Now do it faster!"
Sarah's mouth dropped open and her eyes bulged as her disbelieving mind registered those words. With a hardened expression on her face she opened the bathroom door to see what was going on. She immediately closed the door with a confused look. She shook her head and silently motioned for her husband to follow her. She led the way in to the living room where she sat down on the couch.
Will opened his mouth to ask a question, but his wife shook her head. The perplexed but serious look on her face told him that his questions would be answered, but not right then. With a heavy sigh of exasperation, he sat back and waited.
About a half hour later, Annabelle and Stephanie came walking in to the living room. The two were talking about what they would do until Mr. and Mrs. Lennox got home. More coloring appeared to be the primary choice.
"Mommy! Annabelle squealed when she spotted her parents.
Annabelle climbed up on the couch and crawled into her mother's lap.
"Mommy Guessed what? Stephy says I is the bestest back scratcher in the whole big wide world!"
"I sure did! I meant it too!" Stephanie said firmly.
"She was that good huh?" Sarah asked casually.
"Ohh yeah!" Stephanie moaned. "That itch has been driving me crazy for years because I couldn't get to it! But she sure did!"
"Sounds like we might need to get her to scratch your back more often then." Will said with a lot of relief, now that he knew that what he'd heard hadn't been what it sounded like.
"Oh yeah! Because that was the best thing I've ever felt!" Stephanie answered with a smile.
Author's Notes… Now come on! You didn't REALLY think I'd put something like that in here… now did you? Leave a review and tell me what you think.