Surprise Offer 2: is a direct continuation of the story about Lily and her ‘brother’ Lance. Can she find acceptance and her place in the world as Lily instead of Lance? Emotions run high as Lily’s new best friend and ‘adoptive’ family members move things forward at lightning speed. Can she handle it all? How will a surprise just before Thanksgiving change everything? Lily and Sammie are back, ready to take on the world with pigtails and dancing, in a way only ten-year-old little girls can do.

Previously

While standing next to Aunty as she dealt with Lauren, Lily felt someone put their hands on her shoulder. Looking behind her, Lily noticed it was Granny. Taking the offered hand, her and Granny lead the family towards the zoo entrance.

As Lily walked towards the zoo, she took in the sight of all the Christmas lights. It wasn't even dark yet, and yet still pretty. On the buildings and fencing around the ticket booths, there were even Christmas decorations of different animals with Santa hats on, which were at Lily’s level, like a kid her size had put them up.

Grandma addressed the lady in one of the ticket booths, “Hello, Ma’am. We have five adults and two kids.”

“How old are the girls?”

Pausing to decide her choice of words while looking at Lily, ‘There shouldn’t be any price difference between six and ten. I will go with it.’ “Six and 20 months.”

“The toddler is free, the six-year-old is six, and each adult is 12. With tax that comes to 70 dollars and 29 cents.”

The extended family headed to the polar bears across the entrance plate from the ticket booth. Mommie had grabbed Lily’s hand when Granny was busy putting her money away. The regressed girl had even forgotten how she was dressed. The fact that she wasn't embarrassed to be dressed and treated younger than her actual age helped with the illusion.

“Look at bears having fun in the snow, Mommie.”

They slowly meandered around the zoo, looking at various animals and the Christmas lights. They found themselves heading into the African section of the zoo. The lights were excellent in this area, but the little girl couldn't find any animals when she searched for them.

They eventually found themselves in the Reptile House, where there appeared to be a few volunteers inside.

“Aww, cute. Let me see your dress, Lily.”

Lily looked to see who was talking. Megan, whom she had met at the recital, was standing there wearing an elf costume while holding a small animal. The regressed girl smiled while unzipping her coat. She exposed her dress so Megan could see it.

“This is a hedgehog. Would you like to touch it?”

“Yes, please, Megan,” Lily touched the small animal lightly.

Megan leaned in and whispered, “How old are you today, Lily? You make a very cute little girl. Make sure Aunt Katie sees you. She normally is either at Kid's Korner or with Santa.”

“I’m six when wearing this dress,” Lily whispered back. “Thanky, Megan. We haven't been to either place yet, so I’ll look for your Aunt Katie when we go.”

Lauren had waddled over, so Megan started her spiel again, “This is a hedgehog, would you like to touch it?”

“Bye, Megan.”

Lily, while being followed by Granny, headed to another volunteer which had a lizard in their hands.

Slowly, the regressed young girl and Granny went around the building while Aunty held onto Lauren’s hand as she toddled around. The girl in the red dress shivered when they got to the spiders and just glanced at the snakes.

Hanna grabbed Lily’s hand and headed towards the door after the whole building had been seen.

‘Wait, Aunty, my jacket is unzipped.”

While zipping up the zipper, “Were you too warm in here?”

“No, Megan wanted to see my dress.”

A couple of exhibits later, Granny directed the family down a path that had a sign that said ‘Susquehanna Valley Railway.’

“Five adults and two girls,” Grandma said.

‘Age of the girls?”

“Six and one.”

“The one-year-old is free if she sits on a lap. The rest comes to 28 tokens.”

Grandma tried to hand a credit card over.

“Sorry, we can only accept tokens. You can get tokens from those vending machines over there.”

Uncle Eric, being closer, beat out his mother-in-law to get the tokens. He handed them to Granny Gilbert, who paid for the family to enter the train station.

After the train ride, Aunty, while holding the two girls’ hands, followed the signs towards Santa. Seeing that Santa and the food court were in the same place, “Santa or food first, girls?”

“Sanna!”

With a giggle, “Guess Lauren has voted, Aunty.”

The small group headed towards the line for Santa. Aunty removed both of the girls' coats before handing them to Uncle Eric, who wasn't joining them in the line. Mommie did join her daughter in line and received Lily’s hand when she requested it.

Once Lily and Mommie were next to see Santa Claus, an Elf, which was maybe three inches taller than Lily, with bells on her costume, leaned over and quietly said, “Lily, you look like an adorable little girl in that dress and hairstyle. Probably a good thing my husband, your lawyer, isn't here to see it, or I would be getting one just like it for Christmas. Thanks again for helping my little Molly at the recital. Whenever she talks about the recital, she tells everyone about Miss Candy Cane helping her.”

Lily immediately stared at the elf with wide eyes.

The elf interrupted the regressed girl’s thoughts by saying in a normal voice, “Okay, you're next, Lily. Santa, Lily here, has been a very good girl this year. She's a beautiful ballerina and helps take care of younger kids.”

“Ho, Ho, Ho, little Lily, such a good little girl,” Santa patted the spot next to him on his chair.

In a quieter voice that only Lily and Santa could hear, the elf said, "She organized and put on a ballet performance for kids in the hospital and is a professional entertainer and face painter at children's birthday parties. She is a very good girl, Santa. I'll get her gift out of your special sack."

Santa smiled at his elf before focusing on Lily, "And what would such a special little girl like for Christmas?"

“Santa, I would like a wooden dollhouse kit and a new bike.”

“I will see what I can do. I usually double-check my lists, but my elf assures me I should find your name multiple times on the nice list.”

“Thanky, Santa.”

“Now, why don't you smile for the camera, sweet Lily?”

Lily smiled while a teenage elf took a picture of the interaction.

The Lily-sized elf, who apparently was her lawyer's wife, handed her a wrapped present that felt suspiciously like a stuffed animal, and escorted the little girl back to her Mommie. When they reached her, the elf reached into her pocket and handed Mommie some Zoo Tokens, "Mrs. Vanderbilt, please use these to get Lily's face painted. It is set up in the petting zoo. Every regressed little girl needs their face painted, even if they are a professional face painter themselves. These tokens should be enough to get that photo free, too."

With that, the elf went off to help Lauren and Aunty, who were next in line, leaving Mommie looking at the five tokens in her hand, each with a five on them. The adult then quickly glanced at the pint-sized elf walking towards Santa with Lauren.

“Who was that?” Mommie asked her regressed daughter.

Lily looked at the elf walking away, “She is one of Santa’s elves who helps keep track of the naughty and nice list. I believe I met her yesterday at the recital. She’s married to Mr. Olsen.”

“Married at her age?”

“If it is who I met yesterday, she assured me she was 28 years old. The toddler girl I helped up yesterday called her Mommie.“

‘Oh, she must be a dwarf.’

~o~O~o~

After a stop in the food court, the family headed towards the children’s zoo. They stepped into the goat area, and Daddie walked up to the booth.

“Can I get two brushes and feed, Ma'am?”

“That will be two tokens for the two feeds, and a non-monetary collateral deposit for the brushes.”

Handing two tokens over and his car keys, he was rewarded with, “That is ten tokens. Here are eight tokens back and your brushes and feed.” Tom looked at the large one and three small tokens in his hands.

“Here you go, Lily and Lauren, feed and a brush for each of you for the goats.”

While walking past the farmhouse, Susan saw the sign for face-painting.

“Lily, that reminds me. The elf gave me tokens to have your face painted. We have to go in here.”

Lily just shrugged with a smile on her face.

“Hello, you have time for two Princesses' faces, Ma'am?”

“I do have time,” Sue looked at the older of the two kids, noticing the blond hair, pink coat, and the petticoated dress sticking out. “Would this one be Lily?”

“Yes, why?”

“One of the Christmas Elves gave me specific instructions for this pretty face, though she didn't mention another girl.”

Shrugging, Mommie pushed Lily towards the chair. “Guess you are up.”

As soon as Lily sat down, the face painter grabbed a sponge as she started patting brown paint on the little girl's face, “Hi there, Lily, I am Sue. How old are you?”

“Umm,” Lily looked around and noticed no one was close enough to hear if she talked quietly. “Ten going on six.”

“So you are like the Christmas elf. Do you know the Christmas elf?”

“It depends. I saw three people in elf costumes today. I know the one working the line at Santa, my lawyer's wife. Megan, who is the older sibling of Tina, from ballet, is also wearing an elf costume. I have never before seen the photographer who was dressed identical to Megan.”

Grabbing a brush and red paint, the painter attacked the regressed girl’s nose. “Yes, besides the Christmas elf, Megan and her best friend, Lauren, are wearing elf costumes tonight. Those two girls never miss a chance to cosplay.”

Lily thought for a moment, “Am I cosplaying when I am wearing my Lala rag doll costume for my gigs doing face painting?”

“I am not an expert, but it might be.”

“How about Halloween when I was Sleeping Beauty?”

“Lauren explains that cosplay is dressing up in costumes that represent specific characters. Sleeping Beauty meets the specific character requirements,” Sue stated as she switched to brown face paint. “So you dress up as a rag doll and do face painting?”

“Yeah, I’m Raggedy Lala. People can hire me to do face painting and help out at birthday parties through Gilbert’s Costumes. It’s a lot of fun, and people say I’m pretty good at face painting.”

“Well, that helps explain the strange message I got from the Christmas Elf,” Sue said as she continued working. “I was told I needed to demonstrate my true artistry to you and not use one of the ones out of the book. I had to inspire you while making you feel like a special little girl. I didn’t understand the directions at the time, but I do now.”

Lily smiled, “I told Megan I do face painting, and I guess that is how her aunt found out. So, I’m getting something special? I know it’s easier to just copy the ones out of the book, but I always have more fun when I just create my own when doing someone’s face.”

“It certainly is,” Sue stopped for a moment and looked at Lily. “Always remember to have fun when face painting. When you’re having fun, the customer enjoys the experience more, and they walk away happier. If it stops being fun for you, then it is time to put away the paints.”

Many brush strokes later, a mirror was held in front of Lily. The young girl saw that her face was painted as a reindeer, complete with a red nose. She had a holly leaf with berries and a candy cane between her eyes, and there were antlers with snow on them above her eyes.

Lily smiled big with her red painted lips.

“Down you go, little girl,” Sue winked at Lily. “It was nice meeting another professional face painter, but it is the next Princess's time.”

Once Lauren was seated, Sue asked, “What is your name, Princess?”

“Lauwen.”

“Which of these items do you want?”

“No! Lily face!”

“No, the reindeer is a custom one for Lily,” Sue tried to explain to the toddler, but reconsidered when she saw the expression on the baby's face. “Do you want to match Lily?”

“Yef, pwease.”

“Is that ok, Lily?“

“Yes, it is fine with me if Lauren matches me."

The face painter quickly did another reindeer for Lauren. When the toddler was helped down, the face painter looked at Susan Vanderbilt, “That will be 14 tokens. Also, can I get a picture of one of the girls, and for you to sign a photo release form? When I create a new design, I like to save it in my collection.”

“I will gladly sign it, but it will have to be Lily, because Lauren is actually my niece.”

After the form was signed and payment made, Lily, holding Lauren’s hand, went slowly towards where Aunty Hanna was standing outside the farmhouse.

“I see we have two reindeer. Should we go pet an actual reindeer?”

“Yef, Mama.”

When they reached the cars, Granny spoke, “By the time we get home, it will be close to two girls' bedtimes. How about Lily and I swap? Hanna can take me home.”

“Fine with me, Alison,” Mommie said.

On the way out of the zoo, Mommie expressed interest in getting photos of Lily in front of the Christmas tree back at their house.

After posing for multiple pictures in front of the tree, “Mommie, can I quickly see Sammie?”

“Yes, no more than 30 minutes, at least your face will need to be scrubbed before bed.”

Letting herself in next door, she heard, “Lily, is that you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Berger.”

“Cute face paint, and that skirt isn't your normal style.”

While removing the jacket. “Thank you. Sammie picked the dress out. Granted, she was being silly when she grabbed it.”

Not knowing what to say, “Is your Mother home?”

“Yes?”

“Well, the girls are upstairs. Tell Samantha I ran next door too. Her father is in his workroom if she needs anything.”

While knocking on Sammie’s door. “Knock knock.”

“Lily!”

“Cute!” … “Adorable! Where did you get that dress?”

“Blame Sammie, Julie.”

“Oh, Sammie, I have a message, your Mommie ran to my house for some reason. Your Daddie is in his workroom.”

“Did you actually wear that dress to church, Bestie?”

“Nope, just to ‘Hanna Zoo.”

“So, Juliette, nice pink dress. I also see that you're not hiding your reading material upon me entering.”

While setting the American Girl magazine down, “I was modeling a bunch of Sammie’s dresses after we were done with ballet.”

Lily nodded.

“But enough about me, what is the story of the little girl dress and reindeer face paint?”

Lily, with Sammie's help, carefully explained the story of the dress before describing her day at the zoo.

“Juliette! Time to find Jimmy so I can take you home. Lily, your mom is expecting you at home,” Heather Berger called out from downstairs.