Laura is busily breastfeeding, keeping her fully distracted from what Liz and Steve are talking about. She doesn’t notice Liz walking into the bathroom, nor Liz discovering the dice in their container on the counter.
“Hmm, what’s this?” Liz murmurs, opening the container. She spills out the dice.
“One year you have walked this Earth. Now this number is none. No longer are the dice bonded to you. Enjoy what has been returned to you.” Laura shrinks for a final time, becoming a newborn. Liz gapes at the much younger infant still suckling at her breast.
“What just-” she starts. She turns one of the die over and spots the name of the magic shop carved on the side. “Steve!” Steven comes into the bathroom. He stares at the now newborn Laura.
“Honey, where did that baby come from?” he asks.
“This is the same little girl I found in the nursery. I opened this container and spilled these dice, and then she shrunk,” Liz says. Steve frowns at her. “I know how it sounds. But I found something on the side of this die. It’s the name of a store. Maybe if we contact them, we can get some answers?”
“Liz, I don’t know about this…” Steve says slowly. He rubs the back of his neck. “But that baby is wearing what the other one was wearing. And you’re not one to lie.” He sighs. “Okay. I’ll call.”
“I’ll put this little girl in something better suited for her size,” Liz says. She heads back to the nursery while Steve calls. “Are you finished yet, sweetie?” Liz asks Laura. Laura continues to feed hungrily. “All right, I can wait.”
Laura has finally gotten her fill, been burped, and put into a new diaper and a onesie when Steve returns. By now, she has caught onto the fact that the dice were rolled again. Somehow, she didn’t disappear. She just turned into a newborn. Liz looks up from Laura sitting in her lap.
“Well?” she asks Steve. Steve sighs.
“The man I spoke to knew what the dice were. Apparently, once they bond to someone, when you roll them, you get younger by that number of years. He said that the little girl you’re holding is named Laura Peters. The dice rolled enough to turn her into a newborn, then were no longer bonded to her. The man was able to do something to keep the dice from bonding to anyone else until we can return them.”
“Laura Peters?” Liz asks quietly. She looks down at the newborn in her arms. “I have a coworker with that name.”
“More like ‘had’, at this point,” Steve says. Liz looks back at Steve.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the man can reverse the effects of the dice, but only if the person hasn’t gone all the way back to a newborn. Laura can’t be returned to her proper age. She’ll have to grow up again.” Upon hearing this, Laura lets out a wail. Liz quickly pops a pacifier in her mouth. Laura suckles on it eagerly.
“There’s nothing that can be done?”
“If we bring Laura to him, he might be able to age her up a bit, but only to a young child at most. Not an adult.” Steve walks over and tickles Laura’s stomach. “So, Liz, what do you want to do?”