====Lara Cooper Manifests====
**Date:** 26/11/1987 CE 15:45 pm
**Location:** 722 Beech Street, Portland OR
**Participants:** [[LaraCooper Lara Cooper]], [[AndrewCooper Andrew Cooper]], [[JackCooper Jack Cooper]], [[WendySimmons Wendy Cooper]], [[JosephCooper Joseph Cooper]]

Her small ears could still hear the heated whispers from the kitchen as she followed her mothers request and placed the basket of hot, steaming rolls made by her uncle onto the ladened table.

"Andy!" she called to her older brother, sitting in the living room watching the Thanksgiving football games with intensity. "Mom says to get Uncle Joe." He pretended not to hear her. She pulled out her chair carefully and climbed onto the seat. "Mom says it's time for dinner." Food, as always, got Andy off the couch and he came through the door and to her side, jostled her unnecessarily as she settled and then he grabbed one of the rolls.

"Not before dinner, Lara," he said, mimicking his mother's voice and adding a snicker as he took a mouth full of bread and then raced off towards the backyard. Lara tried to glare at him as he broke their mothers rule and was trying to make her look guilty of snacking but she couldn't bring herself to, all she could hear were her parents.

She knew why they were whispering. They didn't want anyone to hear. Andy hadn't over the television and Uncle Joe was still in the backyard, resting in the hammock. The only one who could hear was her and she squeezed her eyes shut, clamped her hands over her ears, buried her chin into her chest and tried desperately not to.

It wouldn't work.

They were growing more angry and it seemed like their voices found some special road into her brain. Dad was angry about the table she heard, angry that Mom had put a space for the twins again.

The poor twins, she thought sadly. The memories began to resurface, dark and muddled and full of loss. She rememered that sinking feeling that had filled her tummy. She remembered trying to explain it to Mom and Dad, trying to make them understand that it was the twins who were sick, not her, that she knew there was something wrong. They had almost taken her to the doctor instead but finally they had checked on the twins and they had seemed fine to Mom and Dad. But she had known somehow, known that they weren't ok, known that they needed a doctor.

She felt Andy and Joe nearing from behind her and she sat up, her small balled fists clutched in her lap, eyes locked onto the table. Andy knocked into her chair as he went by.

"Watch it, squirt." She glared at him with all the force of her growing anger as Joes large, warm hand scruffled her hair, mussing the two braids her Mom had made that morning. She twisted fiercly under his hand and as he rounded the table, she could feel him looking over at her with concern. Then, finally, he seemed to hear them too.

"Hey..." He began but Dad came into the room and so Joe kept quiet. Dad was still angry, but it was that quiet angry. The kind when you knew you were really in trouble. Even Andy saw it and quickly stuck the half eaten roll under the table and out of sight. It didn't matter though. Mom was right behind and quickly took the plate from one of the twins places out of Dads hands and she hugged it to her if it had stubbed a toe or gotten a bee sting.

"Wendy," Dad said hotly, "give me the damn plate." Lara squeezed her eyes shut. Joe and Andy looked away. All of them knew Mom was about to yell. Lara tried putting her hands back to her ears but now it was really no use.

"You can't just forget them, Jack." Wendy spat back.

Lara curled in on herself as the angry words continued to fly.

"You can't pretend that they were never here."

If only they had believed her, she thought with growing anger as she tried to block out the fighting.

"I remember them damnit.."

If they had, thought Lara, then they would have gotten a doctor sooner.

"Then how can you act like they're gone..."

The doctor would have helped the twins from being more sick.

"We can't move on with that..."

And then they'd be ok and then Mom and Dad wouldn't be fighting.

"I don't want to move on!"

And we'd all be together and happy and quiet and...and...and

"Just give me the God Damn Plate!"

"Stop!" Lara shouted, and her little balled hands slammed down onto the table.

There was a huge crash of snapping wood, of sliding plates and shattering glass and dull thumps as food spilled everywhere but then almost immediately, the dining room was soaked in silence. Lara froze, looking at her hands and the giant V that was now the table between them. The valley filled with everything except that plate Mom still held tightly. In a flash, Lara leapt from her chair and dashed out of the room and towards the stairs, scared and frightened.

Mom and Dad were already mad and now she'd broken the table and all of Thanksgiving was on the floor and and and...

She found the door to her bedroom but through the tears and weak knees she couldn't find the doornob. She grew more distressed, her vision growing more blurry until finally she banged on the door and then stumbled forward into her room. From there she dove into bed, curling up beneath the covers and hiding under the pillow. There wasn't any place else she could go and so she shut her eyes and tried to disappear as she sobbed.

Left in Lara's wake were three adults, blinking at the mess now in front of them and the noises of her pounding steps and slammed door, each trying to clearly understand what they had just seen. Wendy and Jack looked over at one another, the so recent fight now a memory.

"O happy dagger," murmured Joe in the hanging silence.

Wendy, her eyes trailing back to the table, her face blanched said, "Jack..."

"What was that?" asked Jack quietly, tearing his eyes from destroyed meal to look at his wife and brother.

"It looked like a sword..." Joe answered grimly, his initial shock beginning to ebb.

"A sword?" murmured Wendy.

Jack caught her eye and nodded, surprised to find himself relieved that he wasn't seeing things, "Maybe two."

They each stewed with the lingering impressions. There had been blades, one or perhaps two, emanating from the little girls hands as she pounded on the table in her childish rage, slicing down into the thick hand made table as if it had been air.

Wendy's motherly intuition brought her back to some of her senses even as her hand rubbed at her wrinkled forehead, her mind burning to try and understand. "Andy...where's Andy?" She glanced frantically for a moment before catching sight of her son laying on the floor next to the debrie. In a moment she was at his side, rolling him onto his back and finding a large lump starting to grow on the back of his head. Jack moved the up turned chair to make room to kneel on the other side while Joe hovered over them, looking down at the young boy with concern. "He doesn't seem hurt," Wendy said with obvious relief.

"Just a little bump," Jack said calmly, his hands drifting over his sons body carefully testing to make sure that was indeed all that was wrong. Both parents let out a held breath when Andy groaned and started to come around. He was still groggy though and Wendy maneuvered her knee under his head and held him in her lap, gently stroking at sandy hair.

"What was that?" she asked quietly, "What happened?" She look over at her husband, hoping that he had an answer. Jack, his concerned focus still on his son, shook his head, for once uncertain.

"I'm not sure..." he voice trailed off. "She..." Jack murmured, starting to think out loud. He layed a hand on Andy's crinkled brow, "She could have killed him with that..."

Wendy took in a sharp breath, her arms laying protectively on her son's limp body. "She wouldn't do that..."

"Did she look like she was in control?" Jack countered, the stress and heat beginning to grow in his voice. He took a breath and tried to steady himself as Wendy tore her eyes away and tried to reign in her fear. Jack looked up towards his brother, still standing quietly above the scene.

"She needs help, Joe," he said, still composing himself upon shaky ground. Joe met his brothers eyes, his blue holding Jacks brown that were full of trepidation and restrained desperation. Joe broke the gaze first, turning with a heaving sigh from the family on the floor and looking over the broken table and meal while running both hands through his light brown hair. "Please, Joe..."

"Yeah, Jack," Joe said quickly, then took a breath to calm his nerves. "I can make some calls." Wendy looked up between the two men then turned to Jack, silent and questioning.

"You remember Toby?" Jack said as he gave her a slightly more confident smile.

"Toby? Toby Wyld?" She frowned, trying to bring up a face to go with the name, "the guy from college...the one with the little girl?" Jack nodded but it was Joe who spoke.

"He helped me through...things..." he started lamely then rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes against painful memories he thought had long dulled.

"He came after the...fire...the one at the cafeteria," Wendy recalled at a whisper. Both men looked at her, surprise evident on their faces. She had never spoken about that time years ago when Joe's abilities had made themselves apparent. It had been confusing, almost deadly, and it had seemed better to let things settle rather than try to explain the complex and strange situation to a woman who didn't want to discuss it in the first place. But now it all resurfaced. "He came to help you..." Joe nodded silently, still wrapped in his memories and the wake of Lara's explosive display. Wendy looked back at Jack, saw the concern on the elder brothers face and pursed her lips to avoid pressing a matter she wanted desperately to clarify.

Joe settled after a moment. "There are others that could help her but...but they might want to take her away."

"What?" Wendy was immediately up in arms.

"They like to take dangerous kids somewhere safe so that they can learn without hurting other people." Jack interjected, frowning down at his son in thought.

"She's not going anywhere!" stated Wendy, her tone heating and her hands tightening around Andy.

"Wendy," Jack started, trying to stay calm. "What if this had happened at school? In the car? Hell, at the grocery store?!" He took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down.

"She's not, she's not some kind of...of..."

"Freak?" Joe finished for her.

Wendy stiffened and shook her head from side to side as she looked up at Joe, shocked and embarrassed at her own implication. The word rang in her ears, echoed by the same slunged insult thrown at Joe on that firey night. "She's a little girl," she finished softly, apology tinging her words as her eyes starting to brim with tears.

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind," Joe said softly to himself, working to shrug off the painful memory and the tension that had lingered between himself and his brothers wife since then. He gave her an understanding and forgiving smile and squatted down by her side placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her free hand landed gently on top of his. "It seems she's a dangerous little girl," he added seriously and Wendy's hand drifted away and back to Andy's face. Joe sighed, "Let me see what kind of favors I can call in. She is going to need help, need a...need a teacher," Joe said softly and paused for a moment, contemplating. "Maybe I can take her instead," he shrugged coming to realize what he might be getting himself into. "If she comes with me then at least she'll be nearby. I can probably show her what she needs to know...And she will be safe." He added with certainty.

"Who are they?" Wendy asked quietly, her eyes lingering on Andy as she tried to keep her head admist this new reality.

Joe took another breath and tried to recall the scripted answer he had heard Toby give on more than a few occasions. "They're a group whose job it is to help folks like me...like us. Help keep us safe and able to live normal lives." As he spoke, Wendy turned to him, trying not to believe too uniquivicolly in Joe's altruistic organization.

She nodded, thoughtful then locked onto a more understandable detail. "What about school? She has school on Monday."

"She's got to learn to handle this first, I think," Jacks gaze flickered to Joe who knodded in quiet agreement. Jack turned back to Wendy. "Long division is going to have to wait."

"We'll have to think of some kind of excuse..."

"We'll have one by Monday." Jack said steadily.

"She'll get to go study abroad," Joe murmured softly with a smile that Jack soon shared. Wendy, who was starting to pull the pieces together, finally joined in as well. Their good humor was dampened as Andy groaned again and reached up towards his head.

"Mom?"

"Shhhhh," Wendy cooed. "You're alright, sweetie." He groaned again, still groggy and content to lay in his mothers arms.

"What do you want to do about him?" Joe whispered after a moment. "Are you going to tell him?" He eyed Jack sternly.

"The loud mouth of the Oregon seaboard?" Jack quipped back with renewed humor. "He's a good kid, but I don't think he's ready for this kind of secret. Not yet." He looked to Wendy who thought deeply for a moment as she brushed back her sons hair. With a sigh she looked up at Jack and nodded.

"We should go up in the morning," Joe said finally, his mind already working through the numbers he could use, the list of favors he might be calling in.

"Tomorrow?" Wendy asked, less to the two men at her side than to the ether, still hoping for some alternative. Jack nodded and Andy shifted.

"We need to go talk with her," Jack said slowly, glancing at his brother.

"I spur to the rescue of the noble Andy," quoted Joe as he leaned in and motioned for them to leave Andy in his care.

Wendy looked down, disinclined to leave her son's side, but began to slip her legs out from under him. "MMmom?" Andy said as his eyes flickered open with her movements and he forced himself to sit up, embarrassed to find himself in such a childish position. "My head hurts..."

"It happens that I know just the cure for that," Joe interjected quickly.

"What's that?" asked Andy, his curiousity helping to dull the pain.

"Pie."

Jack and Wendy couldn't help but smile as Joe gave Andy a hand up onto his feet and easily wrapped an arm around his shoulder, steering him through the swinging door and away from the mess of the dining room and into the kitchen.

Jack and Wendy sat for a moment more then shared a long look. Wendy's lips trembled but the strength that he loved so much beamed out of her. "What do we tell her?"

Jack shrugged, "The truth."

She nodded in quiet agreement, took a deep breath, "Ready?" As they both rose to their feet he leaned in, pulling her close for a brief moment and kissing her lightly on the forehead. They walked hand in hand until they reached the stairs when Jack took the lead up to the second floor.

Halfway down the hallway, he stopped in his tracks as he came to the door to Lara's room. The papers and pictures that had been more loosely taped on its surface had fallen to the floor when the door had been cut in two. It stood awkwardly now, one half still on its hinges while the other half was held fast by the doornob. He felt Wendy's near silent gasp from behind him, her hand landing on his back as if to steady herself. With another pair of deep breaths, the two pressed on in silence.

The small lump under the covers quickly gave Lara away and they sat to either side of her on the twin bed. As their weight fell on the mattress, Lara curled more tightly into the small ball she had made of herself.

"Lara, honey," Wendy said, reaching out to try and pull back the blankets. Lara only shrunk further into herself, clasping at the neon green and blue blankets with fierce determination to stay hidden as she trembled.

"Come on..." Jack said softly, "where's my little butterfly?" Lara froze again, hearing the gentleness in her fathers voice. Wendy was never sure if it was Jacks tone or that nickname, but either way her little girl poked her head timidly from underneath the covers. Her eyes were red and full of fright as she looked from one to the other and back again.

"I'm...sorry...I...broke...Thanksgiving..." She stuttered through heaving breaths.

"Oh honey, it's alright," said Wendy, stroking her daughters cheek. Lara looked uncertainly at her father, waiting to see if he too would forgive her. He looked at her for what seemed like forever and Mom fell quiet too.

"You broke the table, Lara." Jack said with a firmness that was only tinged with anger. Lara froze. "You made a big mess." He raised his eyebrows expectantly until she nodded in agreement. "And you broke the door to your room." They could tell she was genuinely shocked at that, but her disbelief drove her out of the covers a bit more as she craned her neck and saw more of what she had done. She gathered the blankets to her as her knees met her chin.

"I'm sorry..." she said again and looked pleadingly up at her father, still hoping to be forgiven. "I didn't mean to...I don't know how I did...I just got so mad..." She buried her face into her knees. "You wouldn't stop yelling..." She started to cry again, "if you had listened they'd be ok..."

Wendy reached out and smoothed down the frayed remnants of her braids and Lara sagged into her mothers arms and they rocked together until the sobs ebbed. Jack twisted on the bed and let his hand fall onto the back of Lara's head and she looked back up at him with newly reddened eyes. He smiled back at her and she weakly returned it as she found a steadier breath.

Jack couldn't think of a better way to break the news so he surged forward, "You're going to go with Uncle Joe tomorrow."

"You're sending me away?!" Lara cried out, looking at her mother for support but she could see that Mom and Dad were already on the same side.

"We're not sending you away, honey," Wendy said steadily. "You're just going to go with Uncle Joe and take some special...lessons." The little girl frowned with obvious confusion.

"What kind of lessons?" she asked dubiously. This was a new sort of punishment.

"Ones that'll help keep you from breaking tables and doors," Jack said, brushing her cheek with his finger.

"But...I don't even know what I did..." A thought brightened her tear streaked face, "I just won't do it again...I promise...I'll just be like everybody else...then I can stay..." She looked into both of their faces, believing that this new plan would work.

"I know you'd try, honey," Wendy said with forced calm. "But you can't be sure."

"But I don't want to do it again...I don't want to be different..." the tears started dribbling down her cheeks again, "I don't understand why it...happenened...I don't...know what...I did..."

"Oh honey," Wendy said quickly, pulling Lara into a tight embrace again. The little girl sobbed once more in her mothers arms, distraught and confused and unsure of what she was. "Shhh..." Wendy cooed as she rocked her daughter gently. Eventually the sobs died down again in that comforting embrace and Lara sagged tiredly. She turned her head though to be able to see her fathers face, her reddened eyes appealing for an explanation from the source that always had one ready.

"What am I, daddy?" she whispered.

Jack felt his heart leap in his chest as his little girl looked to him for answers. "You're Lara Cooper," he said, choking down the swelling in his throat as his hand cupped her damp face. "You're my beautiful little butterfly."

"Butterflies don't break Thanksgiving, daddy."

"This one did," he said, trying to steady his smile for his daughters sake, "and that's ok." He took his time giving her a kiss on the top of her head and stroking her hair as he settled his own nerves. "My butterfly has special wings," he looked intently into her blue eyes, "Wings like no one else in the world."

"They're good wings?" she asked, hope tinging her words.

He nodded, "They're good wings," he reassured her. "But they are special and you need to learn how to use them right." Jack's face turned more stern, "If you don't, you might hurt someone, Lara."

She shook her head, "No...I don't want to hurt anybody..." she argued quietly, pushing herself away from her mother and grasping the blankets to her with earnest.

"I know." Jack continued, then hardened himself to what he knew he had to say, "And Andy will be ok."

"Andy?!" she whispered in shock, her face blanching as she gripped the blanket tightly.

"He just has a bump on his head," Wendy added quickly, softening the blow while avoiding passing Jack a reprimanding glare.

"But it could have been worse. A lot worse." Jack added darkly, trying to ensure that his daughter fully realized how dangerous her actions had been. "Think of it like this, Lara," he squared himself to her and his professors face fell into place. "Do you think you could drive a car?" She frowned and looked a bit speculative as she shook her head from side to side. "Ok, but imagine if you tried. Don't you think you'd hurt someone?" She thought deeply about it for a long moment then nodded in resigned agreement. "But you could learn right? When you're old enough and then you would be able to drive without hurting anyone because you would know how." Jack waited for this train of logic to pass through the little girls mind. While she processed his words, her eyes locked onto the damaged door and she looked a bit more scared.

"Someboby can teach me not to do that again?" she asked quietly.

"You're going to get taught to control it so that you don't hurt anyone with it." Jack clarified.

"Why can't they just make it go away? Then I won't be able to hurt A...anybody...ever. Even if I wanted to...cause sometimes I..." Wendy stroked her hair as a loose tear ran down Lara's cheek and her words trailed off as all of the times she had wanted to beat up her older brother came floating to the surface.

"Don't think about it that way, sweetie. It's not..." Wendy took a deep breath as she realized she believed the words that she was about to pass on, "It's not a bad thing. It's not something that you should make go away or should want to make go away. It's just something you need to learn about so you can use it right." Jack looked over at her as she spoke and wished Joe could have heard those words, seen the acceptance on Wendy's face.

Lara could and it steadied her. She wiped the back of her hand across her runny nose, "Do you know who's going to be my teacher?" she asked, starting to grow more curious now that she had been forgiven and everything seemed to be turning out alright.

"How about me?" asked Joe from the doorway. Wendy and Jack turned to him and Jack smiled as he saw the look exchanged between his younger brother and wife, realizing that Joe had been standing there long enough to have overheard Wendy. She smiled at the younger man, their usually muted exchange sharing more acceptance and forgiveness than it had in years and that started to heal the distance that had settled between them.

"Uncle Joe?" Lara asked with confusion. Jack looked back down at her.

"Does that sound ok?" She nodded but still frowned.

"But he's not a teacher," Lara whispered to him confidentially.

"I do assure you, my lord, he is very great in knowledge, and accordingly valiant," Joe said quietly from the threshold, adding the slight flurish of a bow.

Lara brightened for a moment, finding security in known ground. "All's Well that End's Well!"

Jack's smile broadened, "Let's let the two of you talk about it for a bit." Then his voice turned more stern, "and then you have to come down and help clean up alright?" Lara turned back to him, her exuberance at knowing the answer to her uncles riddle falling into a more serious gaze that mirrored her fathers as she nodded in absolute agreement, willing to do anything she could to remedy the situation. "And we have a table and a door to fix too." Jack smiled again, seeing that she understood her responsibility to deal with the after effects of her actions.

A thought crossed her mind though and the steadyness wavered. "After...after I learn...I learn to use them good...then I can come back...right?" She asked uncertainly. Wendy wrapped her up again in a big hug.

"Oh of course, honey." She lay her head ontop of Laras and they rocked again, "It'll just be for a little while. Just until we know everything's safe and sound." In the soothing words meant for his daughter, Jack could hear Wendy trying to convince herself and found himself wanting to believe in them too. He let them linger for a moment then placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder and gave her a little half smile. She smiled back and forced herself to release her daughters small form. Jack brushed his fingers on Lara's cheek as he rose and she beamed at him before he turned towards the door.

"He's still in the kitchen," Joe said, picking up on Wendy's concern even before she voiced it.

Instead Wendy's mouth hung open, trying to find the right words. Finally she just said, "Thank you," and squeezed Joe's arm. He returned another smile as she passed. Jack nodded in appreciation as he stepped carefully over the debrie and patted Joe affectionately on the shoulder before following Wendy downstairs. In turn, Joe moved to take their place on the crumpled blankets.

Lara's grip on them tightened as her parents walked through the broken door and disappeared. She watched them go, and then watched the empty air that they had just filled until she was certain they weren't going to come back before turning her eyes on her uncle who was waiting with nervous patience for her attention.

She looked at him with wide, uncertain eyes. "Are you ok, Uncle Joe?" she asked worriedly.

His smile broaded as he nodded. "Thou art always figuring diseases in me; but thou art full of error: I am sound." She frowned, their game pushing all of her concerns aside for the moment. The worry came back though as she failed to place the quote. "Measure for Measure," he provided finally. "But that one wasn't fair, I don't think you've read that yet."

"Maybe we can read it together..." she said slowly, her mind returning to the moment.

"I'd like that." Joe said, trying to gather himself. "Your mom and dad told you about coming with me right?"

She nodded, "They said you could teach me now not to hurt anyone with...with..." she seemed at a lost for words to describe her new found abilities. She settled on, "with my wings."

"I like to call it my gift." Joe offered with a weak smile. He shifted a bit so he faced her and cupped his right hand, bringing it up into the space between them. Her eyes grew wide as in his palm a small circle of bright yellow light began to grow, hovering above his calloused skin and warming their cheeks with a soft radiant glow.

"It's so pretty...like...like a little sun," Lara said softly, staring at the orb with awe. Joe smiled as he watched her. "Have you always been able to do that?" she asked skeptically.

He smiled, "For a long time, yes."

"Why didn't you do it before...it's so...so neat." Her eyes dropped back to the orb as Joe took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to explain the complexities of the situation to the little girl.

"Some people can be scared of it, Lara." His tone grew so serious that it drew her attention back to his intense blue eyes that now flickered with an inner light. "And that means it's best to keep these kinds of things secret," he said slowly to ensure his words struck home. "They aren't something to share with your friends or talk about with anyone but me and your mom and dad."

She looked up at him with confusion. "What about Andy?" she asked quietly.

"How good is Andy with keeping a secret?" he quipped, and she smiled, acknowledging her brothers big mouth without having to say a word, but quickly the frown returned.

"But why would people be scared?"

"Because we have something different. Something they don't understand or have. It's something dangerous that might be used to hurt them."

"But your little light is so small!" she countered.

"That's because I know how to control it," he cautioned. "It doesn't have to be." He watched her turn back down to look at the ball of fire and he focused his attention on it. The orb expanded to the size of his hand and the yellow light grew more intense, the heat flowing off of it rising until Lara pulled away as it began to sizzle of its own accord.

"It's so hot," she murmured, her eyes starting to water as they lingered on the sun he cupped easily in his palm, her own hands rising to block the light and heat as it reddened her face. He let it burn, driving in his point and then closed his fingers, snuffing out the glow. She swallowed as she thought. "Have you scared people?"

His face fell slighlty, "Yes, I have. But I've also helped people with my gift," he added quickly.

"How do you do that?" she asked quietly.

"A good friend taught me a long time ago," Joe answered solemly. "A friend who helped me keep from hurting anyone, a friend who helped keep me safe."

"And you could show me too?" Joe nodded, not trusting himself to answer with words as his memories boiled again. "But I don't even know if I can do that again. I...don't know how..." she murmured.

Joe looked at her for a moment, growing uncertain as she grew more troubled. He looked around the room, searching for an idea. He stood and picked up her school notebook from her desk and ripped out a piece of paper and then turned back to her bed. She stared up at him and grew quiet as the serious look that usually fell on her fathers face found its way onto her uncles. He set the paper down on the bed in front of her and squatted down so that he was level with her face. "See that paper?" She nodded quickly. "I want you to close your eyes," he began steadily, taking on a conspiratorial tone as he continued, "I want you to see that piece of paper up here," he poked a finger in the middle of her forehead and she smiled slightly before she refocused and tried to concentrate. He let her think for a moment, and couldn't help but smile as her little face grew intense. "You have it?" She nodded more slowly, as if to avoid shaking the vision loose. "Ok," he took a deep breath and hoped this would work. "I want you to take your finger and draw it down the middle of the paper while thinking about cutting it in two. Focus hard but remember, just the paper." She frowned deeper, her face growing concerned and a bit scared but she pushed through it. Her hand reached out, index finger extended and trembled as it neared the paper, found it and pressed down on the thin sheet. Her frown deepened as the rest of her face screwed up with concentration and effort while her finger drifted down the sheet. Joe watched her, not realizing that he was holding his own breath as he saw the paper quiver under her hand and then slowly divide into two pieces as she moved down the length of the sheet. "Good," he said with relief and surprise as she reached the other side. His voice though caught her off guard and she lost her concentration as her eyes opened and looked down at what she had done. Her finger continuing uncontroled for another few seconds and sliced down into the blankets and sheets between her and the two sides of paper.

"Oops..." she said softly, balling up her hands to her chest while her excitment over her success was squashed by the damage that had followed. She glanced up at him, fearful again but trying to hold back the tears.

"That's ok," he said, trying to be encouraging while again, fully realizing the danger this little girl contained in her small body. "You'll get better at it," he added with certainty. "And up at the cabin you won't have to worry so much about breaking anything or hurting anyone. There's lots of space and places to practice. It'll just be you and me and Mu." His steadiness rubbed off on her and her hands relaxed as she gave him a trusting smile. Joe tried not to let that daunt him. He already knew that he would be breaking that last promise, that there would have to be more than the three of them by the time they were through. That was hurdle for a later time. "Now..." Joe said, standing again and wavering a bit in the new position he had found himself. "I think your dad wanted you to help clean up."

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