Appaloosa Plains

It was late June as Alyssa opened her eyes to see the love of her life, Jax, still sleeping beside her. She gently smiled and kissed his cheek before plucking herself upwards into a sitting position to stretch and wake herself up the rest of the way. I’m living in a fairytale… love of my life beside me, ranch starting up on a crisp, summer morning, and his adorable toddler twins cooing in their nursery in our grand home, but something doesn’t feel right. She thought to herself as she slipped away from the bed and over to the balcony which looked out to their barn and fields where the horses would be put out shortly. For a moment she simply stood there still with her hands lying gently on the rail as she watched the sun rise, but soon found herself stirring to do something different and exciting. She glanced over her shoulder, as she turned to face their bedroom, to look back at her fiancé lovingly before tiptoeing through the room, making sure to grab her cell on the way, and down the stairs and through the house to travel down to her largest barn.

“Look at them all.” She whispered to herself as she opened the door and breathed in the smell of equine and the fresh bedding placed down the night before for them. “I love them all.” She mentioned with a gentle nod as she wrapped her arms around herself. It was a slightly chilly morning, one that certainly was perfect for riding, but a little colder than wanted for someone wearing only a short nightgown. She smiled softly as one of the horses neighed at her and another, nearer one, nickered. Walking over to the little mare which had just nickered, a smile broadened over her face. “You wanna go riding, don’t you?” She giggled before pausing slightly and tilting her head at the mare through the bars, “I do too.” She sighed and began walking away from the mare, but the mare nickered again and Lyss could hear her pawing at the ground. The smile crept up on her face again as she turned back around, suddenly grinning as a glint of happiness flickered in her eyes like fire, “Well, maybe a short run won’t do any harm…” Grabbing up the halter and lead on the mare’s door, she slid her finger across the name, Arienelle, before entering the stall and haltering the little mare and jumping up on her and lightly kicking her to make her trot out of the stall and out to just… run…

~~~

“Melody, c’mon! We need to go pick up Aunt Amber from the airport.” Will called from the door of their apartment. It was nothing special; one bedroom, one bathroom, one master suite, kitchen and dining area, and a sitting area with a small television. They had to get a second bed for Amber to sleep on while she was staying with them for at least that year. Their parents were hoping the new set up with him and his family would provide her with the same stability, a little less sisterly drama, and maybe also a few more friends. Will hadn't heard much about his littlest sister’s situation, but he did know it’d been rough on her.

“Coming Daddy!” Melody called back as she ran out in a cute little outfit, perfect for meeting her aunt in. She reached up to her father wanting to be picked up. With a light chuckle, Will scooped her up in his arms and planted a kiss on her shoulder. “We’ll be back with Amber soon.” He mentioned as he gave Chelsea a quick kiss and headed out with his daughter.

Only an hour later, they arrived at the airport and found Amber, with her long, chocolate-colored hair and bright blue eyes, standing very lady-like on her own in a corner of the waiting room. Will immediately crinkled his nose at her attire. No wonder she doesn’t have any friends… Has she not compared her clothes to everyone else’s recently? He wondered to himself as he watched Melody run over and give her a big hug, unable to note his dear sister’s evident shock at being grabbed by the child in such a hug. “My dear brother,” She smiled as she gingerly picks up her niece and held her against her hip, “how may you be on this lovely day? Your daughter seems to be a rather joyous type. I think you have raised her decently well. How is your fiancée, Chelsea? Is she well? I have unfortunately not seen her since I was very young.” Amber reminisced and questioned as Will forced himself to walk over to his sister, still wondering how she could possibly even be allowed to wear a dress of such odd nature. Shouldn’t a girl her age be wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt? No wonder their parents sent her to him.

“I’m doing pretty well, Amber, and thank you. I think Melody is normally a happy girl, but there are times when she begs to differ.” He smirked gently over at Mellie as Amber set her back down on the ground, as lady-like as she had picked her up. Trying to push his thoughts of her odd behavior away, he continued, “Chels is great! She’s excited to see you, and I think she’d be happy to take you shopping sometime. She loves shopping and getting nice stuff.”

Amber’s eyes darkened ever so slightly as she metaphorically crawled a little deeper into her shell. I like what I wear, though… She inwardly reminded herself, knowing how impolite it would be to show that she had caught his rude comment. I like who I am… Has my brother changed so much as to no longer accept me for who and what I am? I do not think I can believe what I am hearing right now. When Amber had told her parents about Lolita dresses and wanting to hold more elegance than people did, they had been proud of her and willing to help her and support her. However, that love and support seemed to have stayed in Florida when she decided to fly to her birth-town. Ever so slightly, she shifted on her feet and dropped her eyes down to the ground before gently curtsying. “Well, brother, I believe that dear Chelsea may be missing us by now, may we be off to see her?” She asked him curiously as she raised herself back up, pulling on a pair of small, white gloves which matched the frills on her light blue dress.

“Yupp…” He picked his daughter up and started out of the airport, hearing his sister’s light footsteps behind him, he decided to not help her with her carry on. “They told me they’d put your bags in my car. So, we should be good.” He mentioned as they arrived to the car where, sure enough, her bags laid in the trunk, waiting to move into a new hanging closet. After settling themselves in the car, they headed back to their home to once again see Chelsea.

Chelsea woke up and sleepily waved to Will and Melody as they left to go get his sister. She curled up on the couch with a blanket, still in her pjs and watched TV, fighting off her sleepiness. She had been studying for a big exam all week and was drained after finally taking the test last night.
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Jax heard Alyssa wake up and move around and sleepily pulled himself out of bed to go check on the twins. They cooed happily when they saw him and he picked one of them up and changed her diaper before setting her back into the cozy crib. He and Alyssa were so busy that he was thinking about hiring a nanny for the girls. Usually the women took care of the kids but it was kinda awkward because they weren't really ALyssa's. Sure she loved them but he felt bad asking her to do stuff for them. He sighed and made his way down to the kitchen where he sat on a stool at the counter eating cereal.

Walking back into the small apartment complex, Melody ran ahead of them to the elevator. "My niece is quite sweet." Amber mentioned with a blink of her eyes and a slight tilt of her head to the side as she paced after the little girl. Her brother gently smiled at her before following his daughter and picking her up as the elevator doors opened. They rode the elevator up to their floor, then walked off of it, carrying all the bags they could, even Melody carried a few of them. For a moment William watched his sister, and daughter, who ran ahead once again to their apartment.

"I just want you to fit in, okay? I think shopping would be a really good thing for you, and it'll give you a way to reconnect with Chelsea. Our town isn't as big as any town in Florida, of course, so it's really important that you fit in and get to know everyone from the start, okay?" William finished, constantly trying to assure that she'd follow his directions, but still felt as if she would have a hard time fitting in. Without another word and only a slight nod in response to his concerns, Amber made her way to her new home and walked in. She immediately followed Melody to their shared room and looked out the window.

Melody flopped down on her bed, as she dropped the bags she had brought in for her auntie, before glancing over at her looking out the window. "You okay?" She asked softly, blinking her eyes and shifting a little on her bed. "That's the fire escape. We're not supposed to use it unless we have to get out..." Melody whispered as she noted Amber's inquisitive gaze towards said ladder. "And that's your bed over there." She pointed across the room to the cheap bed which her father and sorta mother had worked so hard to buy. "It'll be okay, though, I promise." She smiled before starting out of the room again.

Her final glance at Amber had said it all, Melody would never judge her, unlike everyone else here. So, at least Amber had found a friend, though that friend was but a very young child, rumored to be "too much like Alyssa." For a moment she debated escape, but then determined it an unwise and unladylike move. I will simply have to do things the proper way. I will have to ask for permission to leave and hopefully they will let me. I will ask my brother, of course, because I do not doubt him to be easier on my differences than I think Chelsea will be. She finished her thought before sliding her bags onto the floor by her new bed and floating back out of the room to where her brother was. "May I go out? I think it necessary to stretch my legs a little. I had not really had the chance to do so since I left Florida, would you mind?" She asked softly with hopeful eyes of her brother. Still shocked by her odd behavior, Will couldn't help but start by shaking his head no, but then he realized it might be nice for her to get out.

"Don't go too far off and be back before dark, mom wouldn't be happy if you died or had some other Plains drama happen to you." He nodded, motioning to the door before stepping back into the kitchen to continue lunch which he had started.

Stifling a slight giggle, Amber smiled softly and a hint of delight shined in her eyes. "I thank you ever so much, brother! I am sure my walk will be much enjoyed, and mother should not have to worry. Nothing bad has ever happened to me during my time here, so I will surely take care of myself again." She grinned slightly before once again leaving the apartment.

After making her way outside, she immediately wandered to the pond in the central park far across town which she remembered so fondly.

"Do we really need to go outside? I'd rather stay here draw..." Kanade said with a soft sigh as she watched her sister push the box with 'secret' yaoi manga under her bed as far as it would go, soon followed by a box filled with stuffed animals in order to obscure it. Up until now, their parents hadn't managed to discover them. However, Kanade had a feeling one day they would, and she wasn't looking forward to the drama that would most likely occur between their parents and her twin once they did. Kandade herself wasn't too much into yaoi, or yuri either, for that matter. If there was a really good story behind it, well, then she might read it. But if there was too much explicit material she just didn't see the appeal. Then again, most of the manga's Yui ind weren't that bad and okay to read. There were just some... Kanade shuddered at the thought.

Kanade and Yui were twins and had moved to Appaloosa Plains about a week ago. Up until then, the two of together with their parents lived happily in Tokyo, Japan. However, as their father was offered a job in America, Appaloosa Plains (and his hometown) he didn't wish to turn it down. Although he said it was for the job they were moving, both the twins and Riko thought it had rather to do with that Sebastian missed America. There was also one more reason as to why he wanted to move here. His father had recently been diagnosed with cancer and it was uncertain for how long he would live, so Sebastian wanted to be close to his parents in order to be able to help them in case something happened. Although Riko had been reluctant to agree at first, after a while she saw reason in his request and it was decided. They were moving to Appaloosa Plains- all the way from Japan.

"Yes, we do!" Yui said cheerfully as she kicked a few more things under her bed in order to make sure it was hidden. The two were sharing a room, though since they had just moved in everything was messy. So far, there was only one bed standing in their shared room. Kanade had volunteer to sleep on a madness on the floor until they would buy another bed. That would be soon, their parents had decided. "It will be good for you, going out there and meeting new people, you know! I'm sure everyone here will be nice. Besides, I wanna see if it's true that everything is super large in America!" she picked up her IPod and earphones from her bed, stuffing them in her pocket before she grasped hold of Kanade's wrist and pulled her out of their room.

"Dad, we're going out!" she called loudly. He was standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner while their mother was sitting in her home office, working.

"Yeah, just make sure to be back in time for dinner!" Sebastian called back as Yui pulled her twin through the hallway.

"Will do!" Yui called back, throwng the door of their apartment open, still pulling her sister with her. Kanade managed just to shut the door hastily before her sister started pulling her down the stairs, almost making her trip.

"Yui!" she exclaimed, pulling herself free from her sisters grip, "calm down. I can walk on my own.. it's alright. We'll go outside. Just don't make me talk to scary people..." she mumbled.

Yui smiled and hugged her gently. "Don't worry. I won't let creeps hurt you. I'll punch and kick them, if I have to! No one breaks through the yuinator!" she giggled and then walked down the stairs to the door.

Together they exited the apartment building, starting to make their way through the town, glancing around at everything curiously. Yui took out her IPod and plugged in one of her earphones, though she kept the other ear free so she still could hear what her sister was saying. Then she pushed the play button, a smile spreading across her face as music started playing.

"So, sis? Where should we go?" Yui asked, tilting her head.

Kanade looked thoughtful. "Hmm... I don't know, Chipmunk... what about the park? I haven't seen it yet but I'm sure it's beautiful..." Though not as beautiful as home, Kanade thought sadly. She would miss the sound of cicadas in the summer or the blooming of the sakura trees in the spring. It was obvious that it would take Kanade much more time to adapt than her sister, who already seemed to be at home. Or she was just pretending to... sometimes Kanade wasn't quite sure what Yui really felt. She was always so happy and upbeat... she was always wonderful.

"Okay," Yui said with a grin, starting towards the Appaloosa Plains park.

Kanade followed suit, smiling shyly.

Feeling saddened by her family's disapproval to her attire and personality and self in general, Amber sighed and sat down on a park bench overlooking the pretty pond, pulling out a tiny journal which she had hidden in a pocket within her skirt which had been hardly noticeable. She read some of the words within it about the past several years. Sighing again, she took the tiny pen and wrote down three words within it and boldened the lettering on the page for emphasis: I miss home. A few ducks flew into the pond and she wondered how they could be so fortunate to fly away at will and how she was unfortunate and incapable of ever truly escaping the scrutiny of her brother and his fiancee.

Looking away from the ducks, she noticed two girls her age, certainly twins, who she could not recall from her past here. Who are they? She wondered, smiling slightly as the softer looking twin. They are pretty... She pushed her thought away as soon as it approached her mind with regret and fear of it being discovered. She wasn't even that certain of her sexuality, but what would her brother ever say to her liking girls? Would he even be okay with that? Afterall, he was not exactly happy to learn about Amber, his prior girlfriend and mother to his daughter... was he? What if he attempted to disown me? With that thought, her eyes darkened again slightly and she pushed the smile off her face, she wouldn't allow herself to like girls.

The twins entered the park, taking in everything carefully with soft smiles on their faces. The park was beautiful, in Yui's opinion, but she too found it to be far from as beautiful as their home country. Even if they had lived in Tokyo which was very modern and a city, they had still been outside and seen other places, surrounded by breathtaking nature. Yui had always liked nature, and in fact, her sister had so too. This place was so very different from what they knew... it was hard to identify it as nature, even if it obviously-kind-of was.

Yui's eyes widened as a girl suddenly caught her attention. Wow, she's beeeeeeeeeautiful! And look at her dress! Oh my god, it's a lolita! It's so beautiful... She thought excitedly to herself, glancing at her sister briefly. Kanade was hiding behind her shyly, a small blush creeping across her cheeks as as she drank in the appearance of the girl. Yui smiled and grasped hold of her sisters wrist, quickly starting to to approach the girl with her friendly grin on her face.

"Konichiwa," Yui said happily, "I just wanted to tell you that your dress is absolutely beautiful! Oh my god, I never thought I would find anyone wearing lolita here. I mean, it's not that it's even that normal in Japan, but I totally didn't expect to find it here! Agh! I love you!" she said, nearly hugging Amber. However, her sister stopped her in time, grasping hold of her shirt and pulling her back.

"I-I'm sorry," Kanade said quickly, bowing politely as it is custom in Japan. "For my sister, that is. She sometimes goes a bit o-out of hand..." she mumbled softly, trying to keep herself from blushing so furiously in embarrassment.

Amber's eyes widened slightly as one of the girls attempted to hug her and her sister held her back. However, the twin's apparent embarrassment was slightly adorable and she found the urge to politely stand and curtsy back in response to her gentle bow. "It is entirely fine, miss... I am surprised to meet someone who knows of it and does not harshly critique it. I thank you both for that..." She trailed off, getting lost in the quieter twin's eyes. "What are your names? I seem to have forgotten to, umm, introduce myself." She stammered, losing her ladylike touch for a moment. "I go by Amber."

Yui looked down, scuffing her feet and sighing softly. "Sorry," she said, also bowing briefly, politely, before looking up again, "I just get so excited when meeting someone with such pretty dresses. I mean, I do have a few myself and would walk around in them every day (unless I'm cross dressing, I do that quite a bit too)...well... if we could effort it. Most people think it's weird, though," she shrugged her shoulders a little before smiling again. "Nice to meet you, Amber-san. I am Yui, and that's my twin, Kanade... come on, Kanade. Don't go all shy. I'm sure she won't bite or do anything bad, so there's no need to be scared!"

She nudged at her shy sister a little as she hid behind Yui again, peeking at Amber shyly. When around strangers, even if they were pretty, Kanade was not just a little shy. However, when Yui stepped away so that Kanade was suddenly on her own again, she once more bowed politely before saying softly. "U-uhm... yeah, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Amber-san..." she straightened up and smiled a little, "why would we criticize it? We are all individuals with i-individual tastes, after all," Kanade pointed out, tilting her head as she watched the girl curiously.

"Is it normal to be criticized when expression individualism here?" Kanade asked curiously before her sister spoke again, her eyes sparkling brightly with admiration.

"More importantly- you would look soooooooooo pretty in one of my cosplaying sets, I'm a hundred percent sure! We should totally do that some day! All three of us!" she suggested happily. Never mind that there was a chance Amber didn't even really know what it was, or was into anime and manga, for that matter.

Slightly shocked by the excited personality clashing with the distanced one, Amber looked between the two sisters and smiled slightly, glancing over at the quieter twin. For whatever reason, Amber could tell she was fascinated by the girl and knew she wanted to get to know her better. "Um, yes, well, I like some anime, but typically avoid it because it can be, u-umm, rather odd at times... but most of it is alright, I suppose." She paused for a moment and finally pulled her eyes back to the sister, Yui, who she was talking to. "Thank you for appreciating my dress, my brother does not care for it at all, I think... He wishes for me to go shopping with his fiancee, but I know I will not care for that trip." She paused again, looking back to the shy sister, standing just slightly straighter and taking a step slightly back.

"I lived here when I was younger, but it has been a very long time since then. If my brother's apparent concerns are accurate, I am afraid for the coming school year because, well, I do not have any friends and I do not think they will accept me." She sighed softly and broke her gaze to look at the ground. Maybe I should go shopping with Chelsea... maybe the girl, Kanade will like me more if I wear the same clothes as them... but I like what I wear... She looked back up and gently blinked her eyes at the twins again while allowing a soft smile to slip across her face as she looked at Kanade again.

Ah crap, his alarm was bleeping, very loudly for that fact. Too loud for the tender headed man lying on a cheap and rather poorly made bed; his face buried in a pile of ragged pillows. What time is it? Too early his brain wanted to tell him but the man gingerly turned his head to the hated machine still bleeping away in that awful high pitch tone that tore through his skull and hammered what ever braincells he had managed to spare from the previous night. With a sort of satisfaction and a rather heavy hand he slammed the machine quiet, lifting his protesting body out of the bed and staggered to the bathroom; removing the clothes he had drunkenly decided to keep on and hopped into the shower, turning the settings to the coldest they would go and with some hesitation pressed the on button and with a harsh yell of profanity he began to sober up quickly. When he was done he quickly through on his clothes he wore when he helped out at the ranch, he rummaged around the apartment for his trucks keys but after a rather fruitless search and a series of more profanities he headed for the front door. Before he exited he saw a hastily scribbled note pinned to the door, it was from Lucas, only Lucas had that same childish hand writing that made a doctors scrawl look like artwork in comparison. It read: Hey Carth, I've got an 'appointment' with a client, you know one of those rich snobbish college boys up in high town, had to borrow your truck, I'm sure you won't mind big bro. Lucas. "Dammit!" He cursed once more, tearing the paper off the door and scrunching it up in annoyance, now I'm definitely going to be late.

He was out the door with a new found vigour, forgetting about his still protesting head, the pain could wait, he had only just started helping out at the ranch and he needed the extra cash it provided, the last thing he wanted was to be fired before he had at least one pay check. Breaking out into a brisk jog he made his way through the streets of the small town, the town was still rather sleepy even though the morning was in it's stride now but he saw a few of the regulars in the club he worked at, each of them giving the now sprinting man a queer grin as they must have found the sight rather amusing. The time was drawing closer and closer to him being late and after a quick glance of his watch he somehow found the energy and his legs willingness to move even faster than they had already been pumping. After half an hour of non stop running he finally arrived at his destination; Alyssa's ranch. Panting heavily, he paused to gain control of his breathing and to allow the gentle breeze passing through to cool his sweat covered skin. Once he had gained back his composure he made his way to the stables, his job here was to tend to the horses, grooming them and feeding them.... Well that's what he thought anyway, he had never been around horses before really, he had only said that to the owners of the ranch because he needed the money badly. He entered through the wooden doors and the sweet aroma of hay and the more sharply contrasting smell of manure greeted him, along with a chorus of noises from the horses.

He began his duties by checking up on each horse, counting them one by one so he had a clue of their numbers and found one of the stalls empty, hmmm maybe one of the owners took it out for a walk... Or ride, I guess. it didn't matter much to him, he just wanted to get started, he searched around for their food but like his search for his keys he came up empty handed; he had no idea what he was looking for and with a lack of knowledge on the animals had even less ideas how he would feed them, did they each of a bowl to fill like a dog? Or did he have to hand feed them each? He sighed deeply to himself, he was beginning to wonder if this wasn't a good idea after all. After another search he finally gave up and decided maybe it be better to give them a run about and took them out one by one to the field he had been told to take them when he was first told he had the job, it was all going well when the last one decided it didn't like the new man pulling him a little rougher than it had grown accustomed too and with a sudden power it bucked dragging Carth off his feet. What happened next was a blur and Carth didn't know if it was by instinct or just pure luck but somehow he had managed on the beasts back and was clinging for dear life by it's muscular neck. The horse ran madly towards something the man could not see but he didn't care for that at the moment he just wanted to stay alive. I want off.....

Determining the young mare needing attention simply by running, not to mention her own desperate-yet-silent need to run a horse, Alyssa pushed Arienelle to sprint out to the main polo field where she just ran her around it in circles as if she were a purebred thoroughbred. After a moment of racing around the field, she slowed her training mare down to a steady trot, forcing Arienelle to hold herself under control. Such a silly mare, always wanting to sprint. She is sweet enough, certainly, but she lacks control... Alyssa broke her thought off as she drifted into her talented past with her gelding, Dexter. Dex had control... and maneuverability. He had everything. Feeling her cheeks warm at the thought of him, she released the reins and allowed her to gallop across the field as fast as she could, still controlling her direction. The speed quickly calmed her, but it didn't make her happy, but she would never have admitted that, not even to herself.

After Arienelle's speedy gallop, Lyss slowed her down to a plodding trot or walk, whichever Arienelle felt like doing, really, as they made their way back to the stables. She wouldn't want her new stablehand to worry about the horse's condition. Afterall, it wasn't like she'd even really interviewed him before accepting his application. She just needed to get the ranch back up and running in order to service the town to its best capability, and it's not like someone couldn't learn how to. Nearing the barn finally, she was able to see the front fields in the distance. So much to do today. After they're all let out, I'll need to figure out which eight are looking vivacious enough to be the mares or geldings for today's lesson. Then I have to teach what'shisname how to take care of them if he doesn't already know, not like she'd even looked past the part about felonious acts on the application, and hopefully he'll pick it up fast. If not... I'm in trouble. Finishing that thought, she turned the corner to see the young man taking the horses out to pasture, with many of them already out. Glad to see him following her first instruction, she smiled and watched him as he lead one of the older mares out before trotting Arienelle back inside and down the corridor of stalls to the heated water trough at the other end of the barn and around the corner.

Hopping off to allow the mare to drink, she started to turn the corner again and saw the "angry" gelding of the barn storming down the aisle at her. "Woah!" She called out to him, but watched as he continued on in a rage. The poor man on top of Clint was holding on for his dear life. "Woah!!!" She called out in firmer voice, throwing her hands up to spook him. Rearing up, Clint obnoxiously whinnied his disapproval before throwing his hooves back to the ground and attempting to buck the man semi-riding him off. "Stop, Clint!" Alyssa spoke out desperately as he began to go up again. With all will to calm the horse gone, she threw herself towards them and slapped the gelding's front shoulder. With that, his eyes grew wide and he stopped. "That's what I thought." She grumbled at him, turning to see what shape her new stable hand was in.

William dragged himself over to his sleeping fiancee with her lunch, gently placing it on the footrest beside the couch. Melody was already working on setting the table, "Daddy?" She called over to him as she looked at the different silverware in the drawer. "Which ones do you wanna use today?" She asked, holding up a green spoon and a blue spoon.

Chuckling softly to himself at his daughter, Will nodded at the green spoon while taking over their meals to the table area of the kitchen. Grabbing the necessary green silverware to eat the soup and salad, Melody followed him over and set it all out for them. "Eat up," Her father started, looking down at him after setting their bowls down, "and then I gotta get you a nap. You've been up since really early this morning to wait for Auntie Amber." He gently smiled at his little girl before planting a kiss on her cheek and sitting down at the table. Grinning and giggling happily, Melody sat down with him and began eating the wonderful meal for them. What Will had forgotten to mention to his daughter is that he wouldn't be home until late that night because of work. With any luck, Chels would wake up from her nap long enough to watch her soon-to-be daughter. Sheesh... I don't know how we're making it through everything right now between Chelsea pushing summer classes in order to pass through schooling quicker and me working six days awake, and sometimes three nights a week. My parents offered me money to care for Ambs, but they're not giving any of that until school starts in August... Was this the reason they wanted to push her here? She's just so... different... than I'd remembered her to be. William thought about this as his daughter ate up her meal and he slurped his own down as well.