The New Girls

Andi and Louisa were new. They arrived within days of each other. The Pony Girls and Sophie decided to show them around together. They wanted to show them their favorite things to do in the house. But before we get to that, let's introduce Andi.

 

And this is Louisa. 

And this is where our story starts. 

One morning, shortly after their arrival and after Andi's jet lag had passed, Sophie observed the two new girls chatting to each other. She went over to them and announced that this is a good day to show them around so they can settle in and discover their own interests.

'I'll go first, come with me,' Sophie said, walking away. The two girls followed her. They went into the bedroom. Sophie stopped in front of a couple bars sitting under the window.

'This is where I dance. This is my barre. Daddy made it for me. Do either of you like ballet?' 

The girls shook their heads. 

'That's ok, no one else does either. That's why the Pony Girls gave me Madeline.'

The girls assumed Madeline was Sophie's doll, she was sitting on the barre. 

They followed Sophie to a bunch of blankets on the floor. 

'This is where Isabelle sleeps. She's Mommy's little Pom.' 

'Pom?' inquired Andi. That meant something different in Australia. 

'Mommy's Pomeranian,' Sophie said. 'She's the little fluffy dog you see running around. The black dog is Colby. They are kind of afraid of us but they are nice. Max is the pom who used to take care of us.' 

She led them to Max's ramp and walked up. She gathered a couple objects and sat on the bed. She patted a stuffed dog and said, ' this is Max.' Andi and Louisa exchanged a startled look. 'Well no, of course this isn't actually Max, it's kind of his spirit. You see, Max went to heaven.'

'That's so sad,' said Andi.

'I'm sorry,' said Louisa. 

'Can we pet him?' asked Louisa. Putting her arm around another stuffed Max Sophie said yes. Louisa patted his head as Andi scratched his nose. He was very soft. Sophie explained that these were very special toys. The one was made by Mommy's good friend and the other had a little pouch where Mommy had put Max's ashes and tag. She placed her hands over a clay disk to show them that her hand was almost the same size as Max's tiny paw. They spoke about Max for a while. Suddenly Sophie held up her doll.

'Do you want to see my doll?' she said. 

After their walk around with Sophie, she delivered them to Melody who was in the kitchen waiting for them. She helped them climb into the counter as Sophie walked out of the room talking to her doll. 

'This is where I cook with Mommy,' said Melody. 'Tonight we are having pasta with a pork chop for Daddy and hot sausage for Mommy. Mommy is always here to supervise. We mustn't get too close to the stove or oven or we could get damaged. 

Louisa was standing on the other side of the counter. 

'Is this chicken soup?' she asked. 

Melody and Andi moved carefully to the other side. 

'That's the dogs' dinner,' said Melody. Mommy calls it human grade, so it looks like people food.'

'I'd like to help feed the dogs sometimes!' said Louisa. Andi said she'd like to make a Shepherd's Pie. Melody said she thought Mommy would like both those things very much.

After the tour of the kitchen, Melody brought them to Aria who was snuggled on the couch with some books and watching TV. She patted the couch and the new girls snuggled in next to her.

'You can use the TV anytime,' stated Aria. 'We can watch mostly anything. But Mommy says no scary stuff or violent stuff unless she's with us. I like The Golden Girls. Rose is so funny,' she said chucking to herself. She muted the TV and pointed to her books. They were some of her favorites. Then she showed them Mommy's Kindle. 'Mommy let's me use her Kindle if there's a book I want to read. You can read any of my books or have Mommy help you download one. Andi I saw you brought your tablet with you. You can download books to that as well. Mommy will help.'

Then she plopped Mommy's tablet on her lap. 'This is Mommy's tablet. She loaded an app. This is Etsy. This is where we get most of our clothes.' 

'Mommy needs to supervise us but we're allowed to use it to buy stuff.'

After showing them all the cool stuff the tablet can do, she took their hands and gave them to Sonata.

They joined Sonata on the dresser. She looked at them and said, 'Well, I'm into astronomy but it's below zero tonight, so I'm thinking that's a bit cold for you two.' 

'I'm Australian, we don't even have snow where I'm from,' Andi exclaimed. She looked at Louisa.

'I'm from Florida,' she said. 

'Ok so too cold,' Sonata replied. She thought a minute. 'Let's go to the bathroom!' she declared, jumping off the dresser. 

Andi and Louisa looked at each other in confusion. 'Do I need to turn up my hearing aid or did she actually say bathroom?' Andi asked the other doll.

'She said bathroom,' answered Louisa. Intrigued, they followed Sonata off the dresser.

They found Sonata in the tub. They approached hesitantly.

'Don't worry, there's no water,' Sonata assured them. 'We're here because my other interest is the ocean and the animals who live there. Mommy has a little collection.' Her head bobbed away and she came back holding something in her hands. She placed it on the mat hanging over the side. 'This is a cownose ray. They swim in groups in the deep ocean but sometimes they come close to shore to feed. They only get to be about three feet long. Sometimes the groups get so big there can be thousands! A group like that is called a fever.'

'Can we touch him?' Louisa asked reaching out. 'Sure! Said Sonata. The girls stroked the tiny ray. He was very smooth.

Sonata taught them about whales and sharks. They even got to pet the Manta Ray. Sonata made it so interesting they found that they couldn't wait to look at the stars with her. Climbing out of the tub, Sonata told them there was one more stop. She took them into the living room. Two bikes were propped against the wall.

'These are our bikes. There are only two so Mommy might get us another so there are more to share. We can't ride right now because of the cold but sometimes Mommy let's us ride in the kitchen if we are careful... If the weather is bad for a while. What's wrong, Louisa?' Louisa looked sheepish.

'I don't know how to ride a bike,' she worried aloud. 'Don't worry, Sophie will teach you, she's the best at riding bikes!'

'Can we get a quad bike?' asked Andi. 

'Daddy has one, maybe you can ride with him,' Sonata replied. Andi smiled.

It was bedtime. The girls got ready and climbed into bed. Louisa couldn't sleep for a long time. 

In what felt like a late hour, she turned her head to where she knew Andi lay sleeping. 

'Andi,' she whispered, 'are you awake?'

She felt Andi turn her head. 'I'm awake.' 

'It was a nice day,' she said. 

'It was,' Andi replied. 

'I think I'm going to like it here.' She felt Andi reach for her hand. Finding it, she squeezed Louisa's fingers. 'Me too,' she said, smiling into the dark.

Feeling the comfortable weight of Holly on her legs, Louisa feel asleep. She dreamed of adventures with her new sisters.

Yes, she was definitely going to like it here. 

We hope you enjoyed our story!

- Love Aria ❤️