"Please, do this for me. You're going to look so pretty in your little party clothes and with your hair combed. Okay fine, if you don't want to do it for me at least do it for Cande. She's leaving tomorrow and we won't see her again for a very long time. Don't you want to look nice for the last time you see your aunt?" Layla fought with her baby who was shaking her head violently as Layla tried to comb it. My guess as to why she was acting the way she was, was the signs on chocolate around her mouth. "Oh my god Cande, you swear you didn't give her chocolate? She's never had it before, I won't give it to her because she's just a baby. I have no idea where she got it from. Look at her she's, it's like she's possessed! Here go, take your dress to Cande, show her how pretty it is. When she gets near you put it on her. I'm giving you permission to use force to get it on. If you really need to tranquilize her!" As soon as Layla released Ava she came running at me smiling with her arms in the air. She sat in my lap and held out her dress trying to put it on herself. "Oh I see how you are, you're a good girl for Cande and not your own mother?! Okay Ava Cande is your new mommy, and Dean is your new daddy. What do you thing about that?" The smile grew on Ava's face as she shook it frantically yes to Layla's last statement. Ava reached her tiny hand up and touched my cheek. She showed me that she had got the chocolate from someone's purse by the tank. They had just left it there so she took a look inside. When she got the chocolate, it was the best thing she had ever had so she dug through the bag to find more. She had found a couple of small plastic packages but when she opened them and tried eating them, they were just some weird rubber shaped thing. They weren't candy at all, they didn't taste like it even though some did taste different. She quickly threw them aside and left them alone when she didn't find any thing she wanted in the bag. She showed me how Layla had been talking to Ava's dad and how happy she looked because he would be coming home soon. That was when his infection started to clear up more, they were hoping it was soon. The last thing she showed me was how she had been running around naked with wild hair, a dirty face,and her dress clutched in her hand before I had arrived here.
"Do you see what I have to deal with. She's a naughty baby. Did she show you the rubber things she tried to eat? She was trying to eat condoms Cande! Condoms!" Layla laughed as her eyes fell on her baby who was now napping in my arms. "You really have a way with her, and kids in general. So how did it go, meeting your other halves parents and all?" She scooped up her baby and gently placed her on the top of the tank to nap. She then floated off peacefully asleep. "If there's anything that calms her demons it's the water." "You were right Layla, it was pretty easy and I was making a big deal out of nothing. His parents are really sweet and I was glad he introduced me to them." She smiled agreeing in approval. "How are you Cande?" "I"m fine." I replied not looking at her. "No How are you? I've known you for far too long. I can tell something is up. You may be able to hide it from others but not me. Now tell me what's bothering you?" I took a deep breath knowing that there was no way of getting Layla to drop the subject. "I'm scared Layla, not of the whole mission just some of it. We're going to Moscow not now but sooner or later. You know as well as I do, Moscow is pretty much dead. There's no more infected like you and I, it's nothing but pods. That's it, i'm not even sure if anyone is alive at the HQ. Mark called it a suicide mission and he's right. I'm so scared that I actually went to him to give me something to drug the girls with. Not the bad kind of drugging but the kind someone does because they love someone. It's going to kill their emotions tomorrow, so they don't feel sad when we leave. How selfish of me right? I want to turn off my emotions as well, not feel anything, you know how much easier it would be to do the mission. I would feel no fear at all, and if something were to happen. I haven't told anyone this, just you so i'm trusting you won't say a word. No one can know I'm scared, what kind of Captain would I be? Huh? I am going to be in charge of other peoples lives other than my own." She walked over to me wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Feeling scared is perfectly normal. I would be worried if you weren't scared honestly, it's just part of being alive. Or in this situation what we consider to be as living. You're going to be just fine as are your crew members. You know why? Because they're going to be under the command of Cande Luna. You're a great captain and everyone knows it, Chris knows it that's why he chose you. You need to stop doubting yourself, you're so much braver and stronger than you know. You don't give yourself enough credit. Drugging the girls isn't selfish at all, If I were in your shoes I would do the same exact thing. You did it because you love them and you don't want to see them hurt. I wish I was drugged when Dax left. Now stop acting like you're not going to make it back. Because you are, someone has to help me with that demon seed until Dax comes back. Now go home and get ready. I'll see you around five." She leaned over and kissed my forehead one last time before she walked off in the direction Ava had been floating.
