OOC: Should we skip to the meeting with LJ?

Cassie is sitting in the living room of her house looking nervous. She has a hold of Karoliena's hand tightly as the two wait for the nanny to return with the kids. "I'm fucking scared," she admits, lifting a hand to show Karoliena that she is shaking from worry that Jody would be difficult. She was going to just introduce Jody at first and then let Kari see the twins later. They were too young to know much anyway - Jody was the one who would potentially be difficult. When she hears the front door close, she jumps a little and stands up. "Oh....shit.." she says nervously. She kisses Kari. "I'll be right back," she says before dashing from thr room.

She walks out into the hall where the nanny is stood with the kids. She smiles as Jody runs to her. "Mommy!" she yells, hugging around Cassie's legs. "Hey, LJ!" Cassie says with a smile. She looks up at the nanny. "Can you take them into the room," she says, looking at the twins. She looks back at Jody. "Hey LJ, let's go in the living room. I want you to meet someone," she says with a little smile. "Santa?" Jody asks. Cassie laughs. "No, baby, it's too early for Santa. Come on." She smiles and takes Jody's hand as they walk into the living room. Jody was the spitting image of Cassie. It was like someone had just shrunk Cassie down to a tiny size. As the two walk into the room, Cassie sits on the chair on the other side of the room from Kari as Jody stands and stares across at her. Cassie smiles a little, clearly really nervous.

As Cassie sits down, she nervously looks at Jody to see what her reaction will be to seeing Karoliena there. For a few moments, she just stares, and Cassie holds her breath. When Karoliena speaks again, Cassie looks up. She strokes Jody's hair. "She is. She's the cutest little thing. My baby," she says with a little smile. She looks up just to see Karoliena wave. Jody doesn't move and Cassie sighs a little. When Kari speaks to her, Jody turns and leaps into Cassie's lap, burying her head in her mom's shoulder as if she's too shy. Cassie feels scared. Jody was normally a little shy, but she never reacted like this before. She pats her gently on the back. "What's wrong, LJ? you're not shy. Come on, be nice." Jody shakes her head, still refusing to look up from Cassie's shoulder. Cassie looks sad immediately and looks over at Karoliena. "Please LJ. Please, for mommy?" Jody puts her arms around Cassie and hugs up close to her. "Are you scared?" Cassie asks. Jody nods. "There's no need to be scared, baby. Karoliena is really nice. Are you not gonna say hello?" Jody looks up at Cassie and then turns her head to look at Kari again, still hugging tightly to Cassie.

When Karoliena speaks to her again, Jody looks back at Cassie. "The lady," she says quietly. Cassie smiles a little and kisses the top of her head gently. "The lady just wants to get to know you, LJ. She's mommy's friend and she wants to come here to live with us all. She really is lovely, and your mommy likes her very much." She smiles as Jody looks up at her and takes everything in. She felt sorry for Jody, because Cassie was all she knew as a parent, so it would be hard for her to accept anyone new. "Can you be a big girl for mommy and be nice?" Jody nods her head before she climbs down from Cassie's knee and walks slowly halfway across the room, standing and looking at Karoliena. After an awkward silence, she speaks in her little high pitched voice. "What is your name?" she asks.

Cassie watches with a little smile as Jody walks closer to Karoliena and stops within a distance where she obviously thought she could run if she needed to. Cassie could see she was really nervous. She never really had to meet new people, and she had been the same the first time she met Gia Rose. When Karoliena says her name, Jody listens to her and smiles a little. It wasn't like any name she had ever heard before. When she's asked her own name, she looks back at Cassie as if seeking permission to speak. "Go on, you can tell Karoliena your name. You don't need my help." She giggles. Jody looks up at Kari and says "my name is Jody. Jody Summers," she says with a little smile.

Cassie laughs a little at the way Jody says her full name to Kari. "Very formal LJ!" she says with a chuckle. When Karoliena asks if she likes to sing, Cassie laughs even harder. "Ooooooh no. She is not allowed to sing," Cassie says with a wink. "Huh LJ?" Jody looks back at Karoliena. "I a bad singer," she says. "Mommy no like me sing." She smiles at Karoliena and moves closer before pulling herself up on the sofa beside her. She looks across at her. "You are mommy's fwiend?" she asks, intrigued by this new woman who was in their house.

Jody laughs a little when she hears Karoliena laughing. "I sing bad," she repeats. Cassie watches as she sits up on the sofa beside Kari. It was a good step, and obviously Jody was starting to trust her a little more now if she was willing to sit so close to her. She smiles at Karoliena from across the room, staying quiet to let them both talk. Cassie shrugs when she looks across at her, as if to say it's fine for Karoliena to tell Jody they are more than just friends. She had to learn some time. Jody looks down when Karoliena says she and Cassie are friends. She smiles at her. "Mommy's fwiend no take away mommy?" she asks hopefully. It was part of the good thing about kids, they didn't hide behind their fears like adults, they just said them straight off the bat.

Cassie laughs. "She isn't that bad at singing. She just likes to sing in her bed at 4am when the rest of us are sleeping. And when I say sing I mean screaming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs. She chuckles and shakes her head. Jody laughs and looks at Karoliena as if for approval. She smiles when Cassie promises not to take her mommy away. That was her only fear. She looks confused when she says they love each other. "Kari is my girlfriend, LJ," Cassie says. "She knows what a girlfriend is, sweetie. She remembers when Katie was around."Cassie laughs. When Karoliena holds her pinkie out, Jody smiles and links it onto her own pinkie. "Promise," she says softly. She then reaches into the pocket of her jeans. "I got candy," she says, holding a piece out to Karoliena.

Cassie smiles over at the two of them, chuckling at the way Jody started up at Karoliena. She clearly didn't understand everything that was being said, but she smiled anyway, Karoliena's accent was funny to her, and it made her laugh. "Her time slot should be 'some time when mommy is at work,' but it never is. She likes to sing for her mommy, don't you baby." Jody laughs and turns to Kari. "I sing for my mommy," she says with a smile, feeling like Karoliena had her back in this little argument. Cassie smiles. "Yeah, she's very understanding. I thought it was good that she knew mommy had girlfriends when she was still young enough not to have prejudice, that way she'll grow up knowing how normal it is." She smiles as Jody and Kari pinkie promise and then laughs when Jody hands over the candy. "Kari, you think she's being nice with that candy, but really she's implicating you. I bet you ten bucks she stole that. She always dips her hands in those jars of candy the stores have, even when I tell her not to." She smiles at Jody and Karoliena, so happy that the two were managing to bond already. She had been scared LJ would reject her, but it clearly was not going to be the case.

Cassie walks over and sits down so that Jody is between them. She smiles. "So what do you think LJ, can Karoliena come to live with us or not?" She asks, gently brushing her hair. Jody looks up at Karoliena and then back at Cassie, clearly thinking hard for a few moments. She then nods and smiles. "Lady can live," she says, making Cassie laugh. "She can live? Jeez that sounds damn ominous LJ!" She smiles and reaches over to stroke Karoliena's arm. "See I told you she would love you, Kari. You did brilliant with her." Jody looks at them both and smiles before she starts eating some candy. "You know there are times when I think I should pay for it, but I think I'll wait until she gets caught. I tell her not to but I think she needs to learn her lesson the hard way," she says, chuckling a little. "The thing is, you think she's perfect right now, but wait until one morning when we have to go out and you have to get her out of bed. Oh my god...the tantrums you will see, huh LJ? You don't like getting up in the mornings do you?" Jody pouts at Cassie. She smiles at Karoliena. "Lady will let Jody sleep." Cassie shakes her head. "Trying to play us against each other already. She's a smart one."