✅ My Sister's Problem

78. Relax Completely

The rest of the afternoon was lazy and relaxing. I didn't need to do anything important today, but I didn't want to sit around thinking about the possibility of being babied more, or how it would feel to be taken out in a stroller. That reminded me of the crazy dream that had started me down this path; there had been a stroller in that, hadn't there?

I wanted to think about something normal for a while. So I decided I was going to take a long, hot bath. So far since we got here I'd been rushing through a shower in the mornings, so as not to miss a minute of fun stuff. But I felt that today was a good day to relax. I started running the bath, and found a bottle of tea tree and lavender scented bubbles. I also wanted my shampoo, conditioner, and the little pumice stone I used to rub the dry skin on my heels. But when I picked up all the other bits and pieces, I ended up spending quite some time looking for my bath boat. Had Lindy been making plans apart from the traps she'd already sprung on me? That was another thought to make me both nervous and excited. I didn't want to get her in trouble, but once I'd realised it was missing I wanted to know where the little bowl was.

Mum set my mind at ease when she brought it up to me. It had been right where she had told me it would be; but after the emotional ups and downs of the last few days, I hadn't remembered correctly.

"I'll forget my own head next," I said, and laughed. I looked down at the bowl; the first time I'd seen it since the trip started. And the first time since Mum had repaired it as well. It was a pretty neat fix, with a spiderweb of red-yellow lines over the surface of the bowl like lightning. She'd done her best to make it look good rather than just fixing it, and I knew that had to have been Lindy's contribution. I would have to fix it later.

"I guess you really haven't been misusing it, then," she smiled. "Remember to put it back in the cabinet so your sister doesn't get any funny ideas."

"I will."

By then the bath was full right to the top, much more water than I would normally have put in, and the bathroom was pretty much full with fragrant steam. As I stepped into the bubbles, I displaced about my own mass in water and bubbles out of the overflow pipe. From the upstairs bathroom, that was a short length of pipe sticking out through the wall, where a jet of water would cascade down over the sand beside the house. Or in this case, a person standing on just the wrong part of the deck.

"SALLY!" I heard Lindy scream. "Was that you? I only just washed my hair!"

"Now it's extra clean," I called back. "Don't worry, it's clean water. Just overfilled the bath."

"I hope you didn't pee in it, baby!" she called, and I giggled at that too much to say anything in response. We both knew that would only happen if she was putting my hand in water, or playing her wind chimes. Still, she continued: "I'll get you for this in the morning!"

"Not if I get you first!" I called back, completing the phrase that had become one of many running jokes over the years we had come here. Then I could step back from the window, although I left it open so that the air in here didn't get too humid. I sank back into the bath, splashed around the bubbles a little, and let myself soak.

I did briefly wonder what would happen if I fell asleep in the bath. Now I'd conditioned myself to respond to feeling my hand in water when I was half awake; but would my body react the same way if I was entirely submersed? I actually had no idea. And I realised that even if it did, it would be pretty difficult to tell. Still, I didn't need to sleep now, and I was pretty sure that I didn't doze off in the bath. Not for more than a couple of minutes at most; so the question was moot, and would probably never be answered.

Dinner was ready when I came down, a towel around my head and just a light robe foir the evening. Mum had cot spicy fried chicken; which always meant we ended up drinking more than normal. Mum was ready with the refills as well, but there was one more surprise this year. Mum said that while I had been acting so mature this year, organising my time to learn new things and helping out my friends so many times, she thought that I deserved to be treated like an adult a little more. I was allowed a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, although by the time we had emptied the bottle between us it was back to Sprite. Lindy glared at me when she realised I was getting a new treat. She said she could be the one drinking wine, because I was just a little baby. Mum didn't argue; she just said "No".

"You'll see what a baby she is in the morning," Lindy laughed, but Mum still didn't say anything. Lindy had to know by now that she was going to get in a lot of trouble if she tried upping the ante on her tricks anymore. She would have to find something safer. Maybe she would try to make me wet the bed again, but without her illicit use of Mister Tunes. But without a bowl to put water in, Mum having not brought all the baking utensils, she would find that harder than she might have expected. I wouldn't object though; that particular trick wouldn't upset me nearly as much as her last trick.

I got my own drinks that evening. Didn't give Lindy a chance to add anything, despite knowing that she would be in so much more trouble with Mum if she did. We watched TV for hours, catching the feature-length finalé of one of Lindy's favourite shows on Netflix. I was glad that for the longer episode, they'd put in just enough exposition to ensure that it wasn't necessary to have an intimate knowledge of the whole story so far. The downside was that it turned out longer than we had expected, so it was a lot later than usual before we went to bed.

All in all, it was a wonderful day; and I knew that the rest of this trip would have to go smoothly.

* * *

I woke to the feeling of warmth and wetness. My hand was in water, hanging over the edge of the bed into a bowl. I immediately thought of all the times I'd experienced this before, and all the times I had dreamed about it or imagined it while listening to that meditation tape. I knew so well what I was supposed to do; but I was also lying across my other arm, and the pins and needles in my hand meant that I couldn't just let go and go back to sleep like the story dictated. I propped myself up on my arm, and shook the offending hand until I started to recover some feeling in it. Then I looked down at the scene in front of me, and realised that Lindy had been too tired, and probably shouldn't have tried this trick today.

The bowl was my bath boat. I must have forgotten to put it back after my bath; even when Mum had reminded me. Lindy had just picked it up from the bathroom floor; probably grabbing it before she came down for dinner, as Mum hadn't reminded me to put it away in the evening. And next to it, Lindy was fast asleep with her head resting against the side of my bed. She'd tried to sit and wait for me to wet, but she hadn't had the energy to keep her eyes open.

I did my best to make sure she was comfortable. I picked her up, which was starting to take a lot of effort now she was growing up. After a couple of attempts I managed to lift her sideways out of my door and into her own room, where thankfully the door hadn't been locked. She must have been completely exhausted; so I tucked her into bed without waking her. Then I exited the room, resisting the urge to poke around while she was asleep. This wasn't the time for pranks, no matter how much I thought she deserved one. I locked her door from the outside using a little trick that we'd mastered years before, just so that it wouldn't keep tapping against the frame every time the wind changed. And then the only thing left to do was dispose of a bowl of warm water.

The water was still around body temperature, I thought. I must have woken up almost right away, which meant that Lindy had been really tired to nod off so quickly. I carried it carefully along the landing to the bathroom, but was surprised to find the door locked. I froze for a second, but then I heard the toilet flush and the door opened to reveal Mum staring in surprise.

"Sally, what's going on?" she asked. "I heard moving around. And what's this for?"

"I was just putting it away," I said, but when she put a finger in the water to check its temperature, I knew that may as well have been a confession.