Pop Star's Lament

Chapter 3
She’s My Older Sister

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Chapter Description: Symphana experiences the joys and challenges of sisterhood.

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“Wanna pway, Wanna pway!” yelled Lilith as she tugged and strained against Symphana’s grip on her hand. Symphana held back the eager toddler with difficulty, preventing her from running into people and things in her haste to get to the ball pit.

“C’mon Lilly, just wait and we’ll go to the ball pit together, okay?” asked Symphana as she reasoned with her.

“NUH UH! Wanna pway now!” demanded an impatient Lilly. With her straight cropped black hair swaying wildly, she gritted her teeth and struggled against Symphana's hold, pulling with all her might toward the ball pits, urging her sister to hurry.

Natasha squatted and locked eyes with the little girl. One look from the black depths of his demonic eyes shocked her to her core. She ducked behind the safety of Symphana to stare at him with a fearful expression, forgetting all about the ball pits.

“Are you sure she’s truly a toddler with a toddler’s mind? She’s reacting rather strongly to you, Natasha.”

“There might be some lingering effects, but I’m certain they’ll pass with a little time, dear! There’s nothing to worry about,” assured Natasha confidently. Symphana wondered just how much of his bravado was real.

“When we get back to your mansion, she’ll be her normal age again and won’t remember a thing about this afternoon. Trust me!”

He sniffed the air and produced a powder blue diaper bag stuffed with baby products. Its side sported the name “Lilly” on it in large, hand-sewn letters.

“Do you want to change her, or should I do it? This last one might be because of me,” said an amused Natasha with a mischievous grin at Symphana.

“Oh, I’ll do it. You can get us some food and we’ll sit over at a table over there after I give Lilly her bathroom break.” She pointed at a section of free tables as she pulled the now docile Lilly along towards the changing station in the burger joint’s restroom.

“Well, aren’t you just the capable and caring big sister?” he said with genuine admiration while walking toward the burger joint’s orders counter.

In the restroom, with Lilly strapped to the changing station, Symphana undid her snaps and stripped the little girl of her lower garments in prep for her diaper change.

“T’ank ‘oo for da diapie, Symmy,” said Lilly as she let her big sister clean her up.

“It’s not a problem, Lilly. You changed my bottom enough times, I’m sure!”

“Yeah, I ‘member! ‘Oo make big messies!” babbled the grinning little girl.

Symphana wondered if Lilly remembered or if she was just babbling. She hoped it to be childish contrariness and put the thought aside for the moment.

She finished her diapering duties, checked herself to make certain she wasn’t wet and found to her delight that she was still dry. She unbuckled Lilly from the changing table and put her on the ground.

“Okay, let’s wash our hands. I’ll bet Natasha has chicken nuggies waiting for us!”

“Chikin nuggies!” yelled Lilly, while clapping her hands in delight. Symphana regretted it in an instant as washing both their hands without Lilly dashing off for her nuggies became an arduous chore.

“Now I know how hard it was for her to take care of me,” she reflected as they went to the table where Natasha waited. He’d already set up a high chair for Lilly and a booster seat for Symphana.

“There are my girls!” he said dramatically as he put Lilly in her high chair. Symphana climbed into hers with care and surveyed the contents on top of their table.

Two "Miley Smiley" meals adorned the table along with shakes and french fries. Symphana frowned at the youthful spokesperson on the box, realizing that in a few months, she'd be her musical rival.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Natasha?”

“No, I’m just having a coffee. You two enjoy yourselves and play in the ball pit afterwards. Then later, after Lilly’s gone down for her nap, we’ll talk,” he smiled while savoring the unease bubbling off the young girl.

To him, the delicious, heady mix of raw emotions bubbling off Symphana were like a delightful gourmet meal of fear! He breathed in a massive hit of it to his olfactory center and sighed with deep satisfaction.

Lilly burned through her Smiley meal with speed and swiftness. The ball pits would wait no longer for her!

Symphana nibbled on a few nuggets. Worry about Natasha’s promise of things to come suppressed her appetite.

The two went to the ball pits while Natasha watched them from his perch on the other side of the plexiglass.

After a few minutes, Symphana put aside her cares and worries to revel in the pure joy of a kid playing in a ball pit with her little sister. She had so much fun, she almost needed a new pull-up. Fortunately, she caught herself in time and dashed off to tend to her “business”.

Natasha next took them to a “Kiddie Arcade” as a grand gesture of his generosity. In reality, this disguised game center was a day care where the kids could play and nap under careful supervision while their guardians tended to more important details.

He returned as Symphana watched over Lilly as she slept on her back with her arms splayed out. Rubbing her tired eyes, she fought off the urge to sleep next to her sister, as she didn’t want to miss anything.

Natasha picked up little Lilly, who continued to sleep in the oblivious manner that exhausted babies and toddlers were capable of. They entered a limo and went back to Symphana’s mansion.

The change to the servant’s quarters gave Symphana a shock. Across from the butler’s quarters, a nursery had sprung up.

“Weren’t you going to return Lilith to her normal age, Natasha?” she asked.

“I’m putting it off until we’ve had our talk, little Symmy,” said Natasha. He locked eyes with her for a moment to let her know the topic wasn’t open for debate.

Natasha laid Lilly down with care into one of several cribs in the nursery and brushed his finger against her soft cheek with a tender lightness.

The little girl responded to his caress with a beatific smile and put her thumb in her mouth while continuing to sleep, unaware of her circumstances.

“They’re angels when they sleep. It’s quite the contrast to all the ruckus they create when they’re awake.” Said Natasha in hushed tones. He turned away from the crib to address Symphana in a no nonsense, direct manner.

“You’ve got a little over 24 hours to go before our trial period is over. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” he asked as his hands rasped together, making an unpleasant sound that shivered her spine.

Symphana had faced entire crowds of rowdy people in a gallant manner. She’d braved stalker-crazed fans and performed her death-defying stunts with no concern for her well-being. Something about those events always sat well with her. Her keen intuition either helped or prevented her from getting injured.

(Well, to be honest, from serious injuries anyway...)

With Natasha, it felt like her stomach had tied itself into little knots. She’d seen the effects of anxiety on her friends, associates and colleagues, but never felt it for herself.

Now she did. An unseen, dark, gnawing dread engulfed her entire being as she faced Natasha.

“I need a drink!” she said for the first time in her life. Natasha just laughed and produced a Shirley Temple for her out of nowhere. He put his firm hand on her shoulder to guide her from the nursery to the living room. There, they would negotiate their bargain with only minor distractions.

And what a bargain it would be!

 

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