“Ironically enough, a parent-teacher conference,” Tina says. They pull into the parking lot of Leah’s high school.
“What? What if someone recognizes me?” Leah squeaks, terrified.
“Don’t worry, you’re wearing a diaper and you’ll be in a stroller.”
“That’s not enough.”
“You want to look more like a baby?” Tina asks, confused.
“Well, either that or wait in the car.”
“It’s too hot to let you wait in the car, honey,” Tina says firmly. Leah sighs.
“I guess we’ll add more to my baby outfit, then.”
A few minutes later, Tina pushes the stroller, containing Leah, into the high school. Leah hides in the stroller. To increase her baby disguise, Tina put her in an even thicker diaper, a soft onesie patterned with flowers, messed with her hair a little bit more to make it even more juvenile, and gave her a pacifier to suck on.
“You look exactly like the babies that attend my daycare,” Tina whispers to Leah. Leah merely sucks on the pacifier loudly in response. “We do still have that Hail Mary option to drive home your baby disguise if someone recognizes you, but I don’t think we need to worry about that.”
Tina and Leah arrive at Leah’s homeroom teacher’s classroom. Leah’s homeroom teacher, Ms. Mallory, opens the door when Tina knocks. She beams.
“Hello, Tina!” She spots the stroller. “Oh! Who do we have here?”
“This is my niece, Hailey. I’m sorry that she came with, but literally every childcare option fell through. She should stay quiet during the meeting.”
“It’s not a problem. She’s adorable, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Tina says with a smile. “So, shall we get started?”
The parent-teacher meeting goes by quickly and smoothly. Leah stays in the stroller, suckling on the pacifier quietly. When the meeting is over, Tina thanks Ms. Mallory for allowing her to bring “Hailey”.
“She behaved perfectly fine,” Ms. Mallory says with a wave of her hand. “It wasn’t even a problem! Though…can I hold her?”
“Sure! Just be gentle and try not to get her worked up. It’s naptime for her soon.”
“Got it.” Ms. Mallory removes Leah from the stroller. She coos at Leah for a few moments, before a frown creasing her brow. “Wait a minute…”
“What?”
“Leah?” Ms. Mallory says to Leah. Leah locks eyes with Tina, signaling to her stepmother that they need to initiate the Hail Mary.