The Exchange,

Chapter 6
The exchange part 6

Chapter Description: Sandra goes home

It wasn’t long before Anya was walking down that first corridor. Sandra realised that it felt like an age ago since they had been last here. So much had happened in such a short space of time. Her whole new way of life was difficult to take in so quickly. The independent woman that she had been was apparently gone with no current known way of returning from her normal state. That in itself was hard to come to terms with. Quite frankly Sandra was surprised she hadn’t gone into shock or was crying constantly. Perhaps the severity of her situation hadn’t quite hit her yet, but she doubted that. The point where she had peed on Blake, if she hadn’t gone into shock then, there was a strong possibility she wasn’t going to go into shock at all. She looked at the dragon she still held tightly, feeling foolish, but equally happy

Anya walked through a door that opened as they approached it, it whooshed closed and a light came on. They were in a different corridor but it was clear this was a home instead of one of the corridors they had previously been in, as pictures lined the walls and there was a pile of shoes just inside the door. Anya kicked off her shoes adding to the pile, humming happily and put the changing bag down beside the shoes Carrying Sandra through into the next room Sandra saw that it was a large lounge area. It was all in beige, a glass coffee table sat in the centre of the room, a large very comfy looking white sofa stretched down the length of one wall. There were a couple of shelving units with various trinkets dotted randomly on the shelves and some pictures of scenery on the walls. In one corner was a baby’s playpen, there was also a baby walker propped up on its side against one wall.

Anya carried on through the lounge and into the kitchen area. The kitchen had black work surfaces and red tiles on the walls, mingled with white. There was a cooker and a dining table, a baby high chair took head place at the table between two chairs. Sandra guessed that probably indicated that there wasn’t any siblings she was expecting to pop out of the woodwork at any moment, although it also confirmed her suspicion that Blake lived here too. The kitchen looked like a normal kitchen, accept that there was a large pad on one of the work surfaces and she couldn’t see any utensils laying out. The pad had multiple buttons and Anya walked over to the pad and pressed a couple of buttons then turned her back on the pad and threaded Sandra into the high chair, took the dragon off of her but put in on the table beside her so it was still in plain view, the dragon was smiling happily at her. Sandra was satisfied with that.

"Stay here a moment sweetie" Sandra nodded, it wasn’t like she could go anywhere else. Anya disappeared out of the room for a second. Sandra was left in the room with the strange pad making higher and higher pitched noises, it sounded like it was warming up.

Anya returned moments later holding that strange cucumber kiwi fruit.

"Here you can have some of this while mummy puts away the shopping." She peeled the fruit in front of Sandra, like a banana. Inside looked like cheese strings, orange in colour and rubbery looking. Anya carefully extracted a few of the strands and placed them on the high chairs feeding tray. Sandra looked at them doubtfully, and Anya laughed at her expression.

"It’s okay sweetie. Its tasty num nums." Anya popped one of the strings into her mouth and rubbed her tummy over dramatically. "mmmmmm, its good. Now Sandy try" With that Anya turned her attention back to the whirring kitchen pad.

Sandra picked one of the thick strands up, it flopped around in her hand. She sniffed it but it didn’t actually smell of anything in particular. Cautiously she put it in her mouth and bit down.

"Whoa!" She broke into a giant grin. What a strange taste. It was sweet and refreshing, like a really juicy orange. in fact it tasted very much like an orange, with the exception of the curry taste. It had sharp spices in it that reminded Sandra of a Korma dish. The two flavours shouldn’t be compatible but Sandra found herself drooling at the mix of sweet and bitter. She chewed, swallowed and crammed the second of the two strands into her mouth happily.

"These are really good" She tried to say between her full mouth, suddenly some juice went down the wrong way and she splutter and coughed. Instantly Anya was by her side hauling her out of the seat and patting her on the back. Between the patting Anya was saying "Be careful sandy, you silly thing, you have to swallow your food before you try talking, perhaps I should have cut them into smaller chunks for you. i’ll do that next time"

Sandra suddenly realised something and as she continued to cough she spluttered.

"Mummy you can understand me again now huh?"

Anya nodded, feeling her heart swell on being called mummy properly for the first time, Sandra hadn’t even noticed she’d said it.

"Yes that’s right, we’re back in our quarters so we’re able to communicate properly." Sandra had stopped coughing and Anya returned her to the high chair.

"Can I have some more please?" Sandra asked hopefully. Anya broke another two strands off and pulled them apart with her hands into smaller more manageable chunks, placing them on the tray she smiled and said "That’s your lot kiddo, I shouldn’t even be feeding you this stuff, you’re digestive system probably isn’t ready for it" Sandra looked down at the pieces of fruit and then at her tummy. Iinstead of worrying though she plucked a piece of the fruit up and sucked on it happily. Anya had returned to the kitchen pad just as an item materialised on it. Sandra stopped chewing, had she just see something pop out of thin air? That was impossible. Anya simply gathered the packet up and stored it away in a cupboard. There was another low humm and a second packet appeared. Anya repeated the process of putting the product into a nearby cupboard. Sandra recognised the items from things that had been gathered and placed in the basket earlier. Suddenly her red pineapple outfit came into existance on the pad and Anya set it to one side, grinning broadly. "You really are going to look adorable in that. I can’t wait" Sandra craned her neck round. Sadly the position of the high chair and the fact that Anya was stood directly in front of the machine meant she couldn’t see quite what was going on.

"What is that thing?" Sandra was thankful she was finally able to ask questions and get them answered.

"This?" Anya asked pointing to the pad. "This is Buddy. When we go shopping we pick stuff up put it in the basket and mini-B...thats the card you saw popping out of the trolley, registers what you’ve selected. Then you buy it and they transport it here the next time you activate Buddy in your kitchen."

Sandra cocked her head to one side, enthralled by the device.

"Yeah but how EXACTLY does it work? I mean how did you pay at the shops? I saw no money."

Anya walked over to the high chair and showed Sandra her hand. "You can’t see it because its embedded into my hand but everyone on board has a chip implant. It knows how much currency a person has, what job they do, where they live. When you get scanned it simply deducts how much money you owe from your credit account. Sandras hands snaked out and using both of her small pudgy hands she grabbed onto her mummys large outstretched palm so she could inspect her palm closely. Anya let her daughter look at her palm for a few minutes, smiling as Sandras pudgy little fingers clung to her own adult fingers, then Anya gently pulled it away so she could continue to put away the groceries. Sandra looked at the outfit on the side.

"what is that outfit? I saw some fruit earlier that looked like that."

Anya nodded but didn’t look round as she put something away in a refrigerator. "That is a Pymatri, its actually a vegetable. Sandra looked at it as she chewed carefully on a chunk of the strange fruit. "And what’s this stuff i’m eating" She asked her mummy. Anya came back quickly, "That’s Alumirp. Tasty isn’t it. I knew you’d like it." Sandra nodded enthusiastically as she continued to chew and watch her mummy tidy away the groceries. She suddenly remembered the dog bird thing.

"What was that dog bird thing? I liked him loads" Anya almost dropped the jar she was putting away she turned and looked at Sandra seriously, her eyes narrowing as she studied her baby swinging her legs happily in the high chair

"How did you know it was a he?" She asked.

"His voice sounded like a little boy" Sandra replied quietly, suddenly aware that the smile had gone from her mummys face. Anya crossed the room in two steps and pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. Taking Sandras hands in her own she looked direct into Sandras eyes.

"Sandy, tell mummy. You understood the birdie didn’t you." Sandra looked at her mummy, she was suddenly feeling afraid, the Alumirp on her feeding tray forgotten. What should she say? Should she lie, would she get in trouble if she lied and then it was found out later that she had fibbed, more importantly what would happen if she told the truth. Would lying achieve anything? Tears started to fill her eyes, she was confused as to why her mummy was bordering on looking angry. Slowly she gave the tiniest of nods. The serious expression on Anyas face turned to fear and she stood up and began pacing the room. Muttering to herself.

"Keep calm, just think this through, it’ll be alright." Sandra was afraid, her mummy was acting strange when Sandra spoke her voice quavered on the verge of crying.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do anyfing bad." Anya stopped pacing, lifted Sandra out of the high chair and gathered Sandra up into her arms.

"Oh, sweetie, you’ve done nothing wrong." She said as she carried Sandra through to the lounge area, Sandra started to whimper as she realised they were leaving the dragon behind. Realising why her daughter was suddenly fussing, Anya retrieved the dragon from the table and handed it to her baby to hold. They returned to the lounge and Anya sat down on the sofa, settling Sandra down in her lap. Anya was still looking worried.

"Listen Sandy, it’s important you don’t let anyone know that you can communicate with that Gliph. You’re my baby and I am here to keep you safe. I don’t want to scare you but its not normal for a child to be able to communicate with the animals here. I’m not sure how you’ve managed it and thats the problem. If others find out then..."

Anya couldn’t help it, she suddenly broke out into a sob and she hugged Sandra tightly. Sandra was afraid by her mummys reaction and she started crying too. Anya suddenly realised she was scaring her baby and quickly composed herself. Apologising profusely.

"I’m sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to frighten you." Anya rubbed her tears away quickly. "I better explain something. Everyone here fits into a category, a job role, some are designed to be doctors or teachers or hunters or fishers. There’s a coming of age ritual that happens when you go through puberty and your job role becomes obvious. You become naturally gifted in a specific area. The fact that you are able to communicate with that Gliph means you will be a Ranger. That’s not a problem in itself, quite the opposite in fact as Rangers are actually fairly rare these days and its exciting that that’s what you’re going to be. But you’re still an infant and you shouldn’t be portraying Ranger abilities this young in your life. The other scientists in the facility, if they find out, will want to do tests, extensive tests....and....I’m..."

Again, Anya lost the plot and began crying. Sandra looked up at her mummy and she clung on tight to the soft jumper she wore. "Mummy. MUMMY...Don’ cry" Sandra tugged on the jumper. "Don’ cry, I wont tell anywun, I wont. I pwomis" Sandras heart was pounding. Her voice had become overly childish, but again it hadn’t really registered with her that she had developed a lisp in conjunction with her mummys agitated state.

Earlier her mummy had told her she wasn’t a lab rat, but Sandra wondered how true that actually was. It seemed so long as she was normal and didn’t exhibit any strange behaviour she would be left alone, but if she started being different.... Sandra was a geneticist, one of the greatest the modern world had seen, this is what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Her brilliant mind. Although not quite so brilliant now that she was a foot and a half tall, wet herself regularly and lived on a diet of breast milk. She knew that the curiosity of scientists could often get to such an overpowering extent that they would do anything for answers. Sandra didn’t want to bring any more attention to herself than she already had. She could play dumb, she wasn’t planning on being anyones lab experiment, well no more so, than she already was.

Anya seemed to calm down a little at Sandras promise. She hugged her child tightly. "It’ll be our secret kiddo okay. I don’t even think you should tell your daddy about the Gliph"

Sandra made a note of the dog bird thing being called a Gliph and it was odd but upon hearing the word she felt like she had already known it, like it had been on the tip of her tongue the entire time. She also realised that Anya’s last sentence had finally confirmed that she had a daddy. It had to be Blake. She wondered if she would feel comfortable calling him daddy, and realised actually she had no problem with it at all, it felt more comfortable than calling him by his name.

The mother and child hugged for a little while longer, just enjoying being in close proximity to one another then Anya caught sight of the time.

"My goodness is it that late already? I better get dinner started."

Her cheery disposition had returned, pushing aside her worries for now. There wasn’t much point in fretting over something that hadn’t happened yet, quickly she carried Sandra over to the playpen and popped her daughter down in it.

"you play nice while mummy is busy. Be a good girl okay" Before Sandra could protest Anya disappeared into the kitchen.

"No Wait?" Sandra called after her, but it was too late and suddenly Sandra was alone in the room. She looked at her dragon and stuck one of his ears into her mouth, chewing on the crinkly sounding fabric. She surveyed the rest of the pen. There were some stacking blocks and a couple of thick cardboard books. A large set of bright coloured plastic keys. Nothing overly exciting for anyone over the age of 12 months. Did mummy expect her to play with this stuff?. Anya appeared, leant over the pen and handed Sandra a bottle of liquid.

"Have some juice okay. Sweetie." Sandra took the bottle with both hands, she let the dragon fall out of her mouth and stuck the bottle in her mouth without any qualms what so ever. She was actually really thirsty now it had been pointed out to her, and she guzzled a few mouthfuls.

"Fankyooo" She said between the bottle nipple. Anya merely smiled and headed back into the kitchen. Sandra looked at the dragon. He really should have a name. She put the bottle down, it fell onto its side but it was drip proof so didn’t leak. She then picked up the dragon again and looked at his smiley face grinning back at her.

"i’m gonna be a ranger when I grow up." She said to him happily not actually knowing what a ranger was or did. "you can be my sidekick if you wanna" Suddenly she realised she was talking to a plushie and horrified at how stupid she felt she lobbed the toy across the pen. Instantly regretting her action she crawled over to it and picked the dragon back up. It felt as if more and more of her adult self was being swallowed up by the ever growing child side of her. Would she lose her mind? Was she destined to become a drooling unintelligible infant? She didn’t believe that was exactly the case but she knew she was certainly changing. They took her for her mind so it didn’t make sense to her to wipe that clean, but why was she happy to talk to a toy? She looked at her booties and suddenly felt the need to pull one of them off. She struggled with the first one for a moment then it popped off. She turned her attention to the other one and in her effort to pull it off she fell backwards onto her back. It came off too and she grinned at her achievement flipped over so she could crawl and slotted the two booties through the bars of the playpen. With that done she felt she could return to the task of naming her dragon. His main bulk was green and his name suddenly came to her.

"You’re Pea." She said happily to the dragon, for he was pea coloured. Pea simply smiled at her, she giggled lightly as she stuck his ear back in her mouth. She lay down on the floor of the playpen and in a matter of moment was sound asleep., a puddle of drool already forming.

Anya came into the lounge once dinner was prepared and cooking. She saw her baby all bundled snuggly in the playpen sound asleep and Anyas heart simply melted. She retreated back to the kitchen and rummaged around a set of drawers finding a camera she came back to the lounge and took a couple of pictures. Their first baby pictues. She still couldnt believe she had been this lucky in sourcing a new child. Anya had so much love to give. Her heart melting at the sweetness of her baby in such a cute pose. It was past 7pm now and it was past Sandras bedtime although she didnt know that. Blake was home later than Anya had expected him. Just as she was thinking that, there was noise at the front door and Anya stepped into the hallway and greeted her partner with a kiss. He was already loosening his tie and grinned happily for the attention. "sorry i’m late, emergency, you know how it is" He kissed Anya full on the lips

She smiled and led him into the living room, pointing at their sleeping child.

"isn’t she just perfect."

Blake looked at the baby asleep in a strange position.

"She is pretty cute. Has she been okay the rest of the day"

Anya nodded happily. "I gave her some Alumirp you should have seen her face it was priceless" Blake chuckled imagining their baby’s reaction then he shook his head chastising Anya.

"You know you shouldn’t be feeding her stuff like that yet."

Anya nodded. "I know but still it was really funny.

They stood there in the centre of the lounge for a while just staring at the slumbering Sandra, Blakes arms wrapped around Anyas waist lovingly. She then pulled away.

"Dinner is probably ready" She led him into the Kitchen and he sat down at the table as she busied herself getting plates and utensils from drawers. She turned to him as she started pouring the soup she had made into bowls.

"Can you get Sandy for me, while I finish up here."

Nodding he got up from his seat and went back into the lounge. He gathered up Sandy as gently as he could.

"Come on Sweetpea, Time for din-dins." Sandra woke up to find herself aloft in the arms of Daddy, already that overpowering smell of safety wafting over her. She smiled sleepily at him and clung onto his shirt. He smiled down at her and stroked her hair as he walked back to the kitchen and threaded her back into the high chair. She clearly wasn’t awake as she kept nodding asleep then waking up abruptly, only to nod off again. Blake watched her, chuckling every time her head bobbed close to the high chair feeding tray.

"I think someone is a sleepy baby."

Anya placed a bowl of soup down in front of Blake.

"it’s way past her bedtime, its almost 8pm. I think I should just feed her and put her to bed"

Blake nodded. "Its probably for the best, she has had a pretty busy first day." Anya sat down at the table as Blake tucked into his soup. She reached over and pulled Sandra from the high chair, settling the baby onto her lap, unbuttoning her shirt and maternity bra and even in Sandras sleeping state the baby seemed to instinctively know what was going on and she latched on and begun to suckle. The family sat round the dining table in an amicable silence for a while as man and baby fed. Soon both were finished and Anya carried Sandra to her nursery and popped her gently down on the changing table. Stripping the baby naked Anya cleaned her up, put a thick terry nappy and plastic pants on her and then dressed her in a light pink footed sleeper suit with poppers around the crotch area for easy changes. Blake had entered the Nursery shortly afterwards holding Sandras dragon.

"Cute toy, when did you get this?"

"We got that today after leaving your surgery. she was so happy when she saw it."

Carefully Blake walked to the crib and place the dragon at the head end. Smiling softly as he did so. As he retreated Anya walked up beside him and placed Sandra gently into the crib, half covering their daughter in her patchwork crib blanket. Both parents stopped, side by side and stared at the peacefully sleeping infant. Blake leant over and kissed Sandra on the forehead, Anya echoed the actions and together, silently they retreated from the room. Anya paused long enough to swicth on a plain round night light, and then closed the door.

She wondered what tomorrow would bring, now that she finally had a proper family to take care of