Chapter 23

Mandi wasall curled up in bed when Amelia got up to her room after work.

"Hey, babygirl," she said. "How are you doing? Want a cuddle?"

"Yes, please, Mommy," she said, big gray eyes pleading.

Jumping up onto the bed, Amelia pulled Mandi toward her and smiled as the redhead nestled in close. "Sounds like you had a big afternoon."

Mandi nodded vigorously.

"Want a quiet evening, just us?"

"Yes, p'ease," mumbled her Little girl, and snuggled up closer. "I's tired, Mommy."

"You are tired, aren't you? Do you want to talk about it?"

Her snuggle monster nodded, face still cozied up. "Can we eat first? There's leftover mac cheese in the fridge, and we can have veggies with them? An' an' an', can we eats them on the couch?"

"That seems like an excellent idea, babygirl," said Amelia as she extracted herself from a very clingy Mandi and went off to sort out dinner.

It was nice actually, cooking for someone else, for once. She'd gotten so used to prepping food for herself that it had become fuel, instead of pleasure. But seeing Mandi's happy food wriggles inspired her some; and she found herself cutting slices of zucchini, eggplant and peppers into hearts, before roasting them; putting the offcuts into a container in the fridge, to use as the base for a pasta sauce the following day.

When it came to time to eat, Mandi shuffled over to the couch, the entire coverlet still wrapped round her, like an oversized cloak.

But the delight in her voice when she saw the heart-shaped vegetables on her plate made Amelia's in her chest soar. "Mommy! You made me heart veggies!"

"I did, petal. Now eat up before it gets cold."

Amelia set the television to watch the next episode of Fraggle Rock, and the two of them tucked in, Amelia pausing every now and then to remind Mandi to drink some water.

"You like water an awful lot, Mommy," said Mandi. "Is it your favorite?"

That made her chuckle, because if she was being honest, she was terrible at making sure she drank enough water herself. "Not my favorite, but I know that it's good for me, so I make sure I have some." She made a mental note to up the size of her water bottle and another to go to the Ranch store and see about finding a cute water bottle for her Little girl.

Mandi seemed so content, watching all the Fraggles work together to solve each other's problems, that Amelia really didn't want to ruin it by asking her about therapy, but when they'd finished dinner, and the third episode came to a close, Mandi brought it up herself.

"Hey, Mommy?"

"Yes, petal?"

"Can we have that talk now?"

"Of course we can." Amelia paused, unsure where to start.

Mandi was all Big Mandi now, letting the blanket slide down from around her shoulders. "It's okay, I know what I want to say, I think."

"Go right ahead."

She paused, and Amelia realized that her girl was nervous, so she reached out a hand and squeezed Mandi's. "You've got this."

Mandi squeezed back, and then took her hands and placed them tightly under her arms, almost like a cage. But as she spoke, Amelia realized that it wasn't a cage at all, it was protection.

"So I think it might have come across a few times that I sometimes find it difficult, ‘out there'." She made quotation marks with her fingers. "Partly because of how anxious I get, and partly because of my autism. People haven't always been very kind to me—they aren't when you don't fit in. But the thing is that I'm not inherently broken, not really, and this is one of the first places I've ever been where I've truly felt other people believed that too. You've all—and especially you, Amelia—just accepted me for who I am."

Amelia felt a twinge at hearing her name without Mommy prefixing it, but it emphasized how serious a topic this was to Mandi, so she nodded and listened.

"I like it here. A lot. I feel safe and happy, and people like me. I even feel like I might be able to get know other people. Not everyone all at once, but bit by bit." She took a deep breath and dove into the next sentence. "I guess what I'm saying is that I'm thinking about asking Master Derek about possibly staying. But I don't want you to feel overwhelmed or pressured or any of that. Getting to know you has been"—and here she blushed, pink painting even the tips of her ears—"one of the best experiences, but I know you weren't expecting this. And if I did stay, we could continue on, or not, as you choose. It's not a u-hauling situation; I'd stay in the Littles' Wing, and we'd get to know each other better. Keep on as we are."

She met Amelia's eyes, her gray eyes earnest as if trying to express how serious she felt about what she was saying. "I don't want to freak you out, and this isn't me attempting to push what we have into a different stratosphere, but this place is special. I feel safe here, and if you're comfortable with it, I'd like to explore what that might look like for me."

Those were a whole lot of words in one go, and Amelia needed a moment to consider how she felt. "You did an amazing job of explaining how you feel, baby. Give me a moment to process it. I'm not," she added hurriedly, "stressed or cross; I just want to make sure I address all the things you said."

"That's okay," said Mandi. "How about I pop to the bathroom, and we can talk about it when I'm back?"

She looked nervous though, and Amelia caught her hand before Mandi could slip into the bathroom. "Thank you, for sharing with me. And I know we can definitely work it all out. I just want to make sure I don't give you a glib, quick answer, but really think through what I say."

Mandi nodded, and when she went into the bathroom, Amelia let out the breath she'd been holding.

All she'd been able to think about today was Mandi. She'd even almost missed two prankster Butterflies attempting to sneak out some of the Middle books. Luckily, she'd averted that disaster and sent them to talk to Miss Price.

This connection she had with Mandi had completely bowled her over, almost upended her life and she'd been meaning to talk to her about what it might mean when Mandi left; if she'd consider a long-distance relationship of some sort, perhaps. But the idea that Mandi might stay…

Well, it was an idea that Amelia could get fully on board with.

"Amelia?" the voice at the bathroom door was shy, and she beamed at her girl as Mandi peeked around the doorjamb.

"Come and sit back down, Mandi. Wow, you really are thinking about all the big changes. So I'm going to be honest, I'd already thought about talking to you about what we'd do when your week here was over. I don't want to lose this connection with you, and I've really enjoyed getting to know you better, so the idea of you staying on at the Ranch sounds really lovely."

When Mandi smiled, it was one full of hope, and Amelia wanted to never see that fade.

"I do think you're right, and moving into the Littles' Wing is a good idea; but we could date and maybe, later down the line, we could, as you say, u-haul it and move in together, if that's something that you'd like. But like you said, there'd be no rush. Have you spoken to Master Derek yet?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to speak to you first and see if you'd be comfortable with it. Because, you see, I was hoping that I might be able to stay on as an assistant librarian. I've really enjoyed working with you, and there are so many things from my undergrad course I could bring into the library, but I didn't know if you'd feel comfortable with me staying in that role, especially if we continue… well… you know."

Amelia did indeed know. "I see," she said, "well I wouldn't have any concerns about you staying in that role. We've been considering advertising the post anyway, so it's not like we'd be creating the job for you exactly. And I would certainly support your application. I've seen how much you love your job, you're really good at it, and the way you've worked with the other Littles has been fantastic. You'd be an asset to the staff."

Mandi looked excited. "Do you think… do you think I should speak to Master Derek then? About the possibility of staying?"

"Yes," said Amelia, her heart full. "I really, really do."