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Spoiled

Billie wasn't in the room when you woke up, but you could hear the toilet flush in the bathroom.

The sun was shining in through the cracks of the shuttered windows.

There were toys in the room now.

Used baby toys, all over Billie's bed.

Attached to the head of your crib.....right above your surprised face was an old fashion baby mobile.

It had stuffed clown dolls on it, that were slowly rotating.

You didn't hear any music or lights.

You sat up in the crib to inspect the strange clown mobile closer, just as Billie finally came walking back into the room from the bathroom.

You could tell something was wrong as soon as you saw her.

She looked sick.

Her eyes were puffy and red and she was sniffing back snot.

She saw you watching her and immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry Clover....I'm sick. Here's your breakfast, and some toys. I'm just gonna take a nap ok? Just wake me up if you need anything." She said followed by a cough.

Your breakfast was a bottle of warm honey milk mixed with brown sugar oatmeal.

It wasn't terrible....

In fact you finished the bottle in about five minutes.

You would have finished it sooner had the hole in the nipple been bigger.

You tried to bite a bigger hole, but the nipple was chew resistant.

Your new toys consisted of  four wooden blocks with the letters "O" "S" "M" and "V" on them, a lollipop shaped rattle, half a box of broken crayons, an old math textbook and a blue eyed, brown teddy bear in a tiny black and white suit with a missing left eye - that had been placed with a blue button.

Billie dumped the toys in your crib, kissed you on the top of your head, and said to "Play quietly when you're done eating your breakfast, sweetie."

You tried to keep yourself entertained in the cramped crib, as Billie slept in the roomy bed nearby....

But after you finished your morning breakfast bottle you had to poop really bad.....so you climbed out of your crib as quietly as you could - so you wouldn't wake up your sick birth mom who was snoring now.

You tiptoed into the bathroom.

Then you sat down on the toilet and just stared at an ant eating a crumb on the floor because there was nothing else to entertain you.

Maybe you could borrow Billie's phone later...

You were glad the toilet didn't make a loud flushing sound when you were finished.

You were back in your crib, solving 3rd grade math problems with a broken green crayon out of pure boredom - waiting for Billie to wake up- when you heard a knock at the room door.

You dropped your crayon, as the doctor invited himself into the room.

"- Billie? Clover? You missed morning mass. Is everything ok?" He asked, strutting into the room with his white coat trailing the ground.

The fabric touching the floor was dark grey with dust.

Billie was still snoring, so you spoke up from your crib.

"- My mom's sick." You told him.

"Well....so are you, Clover. You're made of the same mold. But that's ok. I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you and your mommy get better....Has she been sleeping all this time? Did she even feed you your breakfast?" He asked, coming to a stop beside your crib.

His head barely made it over the top of the crib, and he was standing on his tip toes as he looked in at you.

You nodded, "It was pretty good!" You said, holding up the empty bottle for him to see that you had eaten it all.

"So your mom was able to pump ok? Her milk finally came in?" He asked.

You shrugged, having no idea what type of milk was in the bottle.

The doctor decided to crawl up on top of Billie's bed to wake her up and ask if she pumped for you this morning.

She seemed confused at first, seeing the doctor on her bed.

"I uhh...I tried, but nothing came out." She admitted.

"Well you'll just have to try harder! You don't want your baby to starve do you?" The doctor warned.

"I gave her some formula mixed with oatmeal." Billie said.

"- Formula?! What formula!?" The doctor demanded.

"The one Corinne gave me after Walden dropped off these toys for Clover."

"Corrine?! Where did Corrine get baby formula?! I hope it wasn't from the display case in the old theater room! That was forty year old formula!" The doctor gasped.

Your stomach started to bubble, just then....

Billie was stunned into silence - her eyes widening in horror.

"- I MUST speak with Corrine AT ONCE! You know she has the neurological cerebral function of a preoperational stage hybrid breakdown! If she gave your baby that old formula - we're going to have to induce emisis with Ipecac - STAT!" With that, the small doctor scurried down off the side of the bed and ran out of the room.

He left the door wide open and you were able to see him jump on a little scooter - before he took off rolling down the hallway.

".....Did you call the doctor in here?" Billie asked you.

You shook your head no.

"I was just coloring quietly in my book when he walked in." You told her, as you held up the mathbook to the page you were working on.

"- Why? It's not even eight! The doctor always makes his morning rounds at eight!" Billie said, glancing over at the bedside clock that said it was 6:58 am.

You shrugged at first, but then you remembered what he had said earlier.

"He said we missed morning mass and he was worried about us." You told your mom.

Billie's mouth dropped in horror.

"- Oh NO! Come on - hurry! We gotta repent!" Your birth mother cried, before jumping up out of her bed.

She didn't even bother changing out of her night clothes - a large dark grey tshirt with a faded picture of Donald Duck on it, over top her plaid black, white and red flannel pajama pants.

She stepped into her white and gold laced shoes that had been beneath the bed.

Then, before you could even stand up to climb out of your crib - Billie was scooping you up under your arms.

She held you against her chest as you wrapped your legs around her waist and your hands around her back.

Then she hurried out of the room with barefeet you, saying the only atonement for missing mass, was going down to the railroad tracks where the homeless people live.

"Why?" You asked curiously.

"....Because we gotta pick out a worthy sacrifice." Billie answered.