Leah's eyes go wide as they pull up to her best friend, Tonya's house. Tina notices her expression and laughs, "Did you forgot it's Tonya's little brother's birthday?"
Leah starts to pull the pacifier out of her mouth but Tina scolds her again, "Now remember what I said. If you do a good job acting like a little girl you can convince someone you know that's what you are. I can say you're a friend from his daycare group. Or you can go right ahead and tell Tonya who you are. It's up to you."
Leah considers her situation and then puts on her best toddler voice, "Me dunno big girls. Me scited see Ben."
"Good. Very convincing."
Tina unbuckled Leah and then leads her into the backyard where Tonya and Ben's mom, Mrs. Prince, greets the two.
"Hi Tina, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Is Leah here?"
"No, she's not feeling well today. I'm sorry to drop in unannounced, but one of the daycare parents had an emergency and asked me to watch little Hailey here. She and Ben play well together, so I was hoping it'd be ok to let her come."
Mrs. Prince looks over Leah and she expects to be immediately recognized, so instinctively hides behind Tina.
"Oh she's a little shy isn't she?" remarked Mrs. Prince.
"Only with new people," Tina says with a subtle wink at Leah.
"Well you're both absolutely welcome to stay. The kids are playing over in the sandbox. Go over and play with your friends Hailey."
Leah is given a gentle scoot in that direction while the adults shift into small talk. Getting past Mrs. Prince is a relief but Leah soon realizes she has a problem when...