Kaitlin, wake up,” a voice says. Kaitlin feels someone gently shake her. She opens her eyes and sits up. Linda smiles at her. “You must have been pretty tired!”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s see how you did during the nap!” Linda lifts the skirt of Kaitlin’s dress. “You’re dry! Good work!” Kaitlin beams proudly. “We’ll be handing out snacks in a bit, so until then, you can play for a bit.” Linda walks away. Kaitlin goes back to the finger-painting station she and Laura had been at before. As she heads over, she spots Linda carrying Laura over to the changing table again. Kaitlin might have avoided another accident, but Laura clearly didn’t.
In a few short minutes, Laura toddles over to Kaitlin and sits down. She takes her pacifier out of her mouth.
“What now?” Laura asks quietly.
“Well, I’m hungry, tho we thould thtay for thnackth,” Kaitlin says. Laura nods and puts her pacifier back in her mouth. The two of them finger paint together while the other daycare attendees are woken up and changed. Finally, Laura and Kaitlin are brought over to the same table they’d eaten at before and are given some snacks. They both devour the food and guzzle down their drinks. Linda swoops in to wipe Laura’s face and hands clean.
“Girls, you’re in luck,” Linda says as she wipes Laura down. “Today’s a gorgeous day, so you get to play outside for a bit!”
“Fun!” Laura chirps. Linda chuckles. She picks Laura up.
“It sure is!” Linda takes Kaitlin’s hand and leads her to a large glass door that opens into a fenced in playground behind the daycare. She opens the door. “Go have some fun, Kaitlin!” Linda walks off with Laura and deposits her in a sandbox with a few other diaper-wearing toddlers. To her chagrin, Kaitlin realizes that while she has some freedom, Laura is being more closely observed by the employees. This might make it difficult to escape, but this is the best shot they have at leaving.