She looked at the stairs, wishing there were two bathrooms downstairs. The baby kicked her in the bladder, his favorite spot lately. Already he reminded her of Mickey. She heaved herself upright and battled gravity up the stairs. It was a near thing, but she made it. Once those issues were resolved, for few minutes anyway, she peeked into Miss Weena’s room, smiling as she always did at the sight of the garish Mardi Gras theme that dominated everything but Miss Weena’s personality. The green, gold and purple canopied bed lay empty and abandoned in the dim light that managed to break through the drawn curtains. The silence was almost absolute but not quite. Luci heard the quiet rustle of papers to her right.
“Miss Weena—” Luci waddled further into the room, inhaling Miss Weena’s spicy perfu
