This bonus chapter is dedicated to James P. Thank you again for supporting me so I can continue writing these stories!

As they walked into the local branch of Burger Lord, Laura was hit by a wave of noise – the chatter of families, the clinking of cutlery, and the occasional squeal of an excited child. This had been a common haunt right through their high school days, and the place she would end up having dinner with her friends on just about any day they didn't have one of their families cooking for them. But it felt different now, noticing how they were now older than a significant proportion of the customers. Amy and Emily seemed unperturbed. Amy, presumably, was well used to having her sister in tow, so there was nothing new to her. But it was the first time Laura had found herself sympathising more with the tired parents in the crowd than the energetic kids.

"Game!" Rosie cried, pointing at a nearby table where a young boy was engrossed in a tablet sticking up from the table in front of him.

"Okay, sweetie," Laura said with a smile. "Let's see if we can find a free tablet so you can play too."

Emily was already one step ahead of her, waving them over to a booth where she had dropped her bag and jacket on the seats to assert ownership. Laura hurried over, sat down, and then got up again just as quickly. She needed to help Rosie onto the bench seat, then urge her to scoot along so that Laura could sit next to her. On the other side, Nat seemed content to be sandwiched between Emily and Amy.

"Tablet!" Nat demanded, reaching for the screen embedded in their table. The tablets here were mounted on springy arms that rose up from the table, allowing them to be turned around so that they could be positioned comfortably for the young (or young at heart) patrons anywhere around the table.

"Games!" Rosie echoed, grabbing for the other screen. This particular booth only had two; its third replaced by an asterisk of blue insulating tape covering a hole in the tabletop, which was presumably why these seats had been the last choice for all the other families around them.

"Patience, young padawans," Amy said dramatically. "First, we must navigate the treacherous waters of menu selection."

Laura smiled at Amy's theatrical flair, grateful for the lighthearted moment. Nat protested and decided to sulk, because she wanted someone else to order their food while she played her current favourite game. But Amy quickly browsed through the options on the screen, picking a couple of menu items and showing Nat different pictures to choose from. Laura took the hint, and gestured towards the tablet in front of Rosie, hoping that her sister could still understand the concept of picking what she wanted to eat.

"What do you want, Rosie?" she asked, and then realised that she wasn't quite following her friend's example. She tapped the button marked 'Baby Lord' in the corner of the screen, and the menu was replaced by a set of cartoony images of burgers, fries, and chicken pieces. Rosie seemed to understand the bright user interface a bit more now it wasn't cluttered with text and numbers; and as she slapped clumsily at the pictures, she saw them added to an image of a plate at the bottom of the screen.

When she was done, Laura entered her own preferences. Then she reached into her pockets in search of the means of payment, but the screen returned to the main menu as Amy tapped her dad's credit card against the top of the other tablet.

"He'll be happy to pay for you guys," she explained with a shrug. "You cause him less trouble than me. The daughter he wishes he'd had."

"I think I'd be the star of his nightmares if he'd had to raise me," Laura said with a shrug. "I'll remember to thank him later."

With their food on the way, then she could choose one of the games on the tablet for Rosie to try. There were several that were clearly designed for small children, and Rosie seemed quite satisfied with a simple game that presented her with pictures of five frogs in a variety of rainbow colours, and played a cheerful fanfare when she could manage to touch the two that were the same.

As the kids disappeared into a little electronic world of their own, Laura found her eyes wandering around the restaurant. A second later her heart soared, and then she wished that she hadn't looked after all.

On the other side of the room, she saw Ben gesturing with a cup. His animated gestures made it clear that he was laughing as he talked about some subject important to him. For the briefest fraction of a second, the decision on Laura's mind was whether to invite him to join them. A fourth consecutive day of unexpected interaction with the guy she liked was nothing to be sneezed at. But those thoughts had disintegrated just as soon as she wondered who he had been talking to. Opposite Ben was a tall blonde girl, built like an anime cheerleader with proportions that barely seemed real. She was tall, slim, and laughed in a way that probably showed off perfect teeth. Her clothes were carefully coordinated blacks and midnight blues, and tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination.

"Earth to Laura," Emily's voice cut through her thoughts. "You okay?"

"Y... yeah, I'm fine," Laura stammered, directing her eyes back towards the tray of food that had appeared in front of her while she was distracted. Maybe if she didn't look at Ben again, she wouldn't overthink the situation so much. But it didn't help much, because the images conjured up in her mind's eye were infinitely more disturbing. She needed something to distract her. "Sorry, kind of spaced out. Did you ask something?"

"Was hoping for an expert opinion to settle this debate," Amy said. "These two are denying the inherent superiority of Lime Berry over all other milkshake flavours. Do you–"

"Choc lots better!" Nat interrupted her sister.

"See what I have to deal with?"

"She has a point," Emily pitched in. "I mean, I'll go for raisin mint anyday. But chocolate is one of the all time favourites."

"But the Lime–" Amy started to argue her side, and Laura found herself starting to laugh. This was exactly the kind of philosophical debate she would expect from her closest friends, and it was great to see Nat joining in as well.

"Don't get me wrong," Emily said with a shrug. "I like lime juice. And I like summer berries. But both together? Extremely mediocre."

"I'm with Nat," Laura decided, after a little more debate. "Other flavours can be great, but chocolate is a good default. There's no variation there. It doesn't matter who you are, or how recently they changed the flavour thing, or what mood you're in, chocolate will always be good. I mean, sure, the others can sometimes be amazing when they're just what you need. But I prefer something I know won't disappoint."

"Traitor," Amy gave a theatrical pout, and Laura responded with an equally-artificial grin. Then she picked up her chicken burger and started to eat. It wasn't long before her eyes drifted back to where Ben was sitting, still showing the same level of excitement about whatever topic he was expounding on. The girl was still laughing too, but sometimes she was taking over the conversation.

Laura couldn't think of a time Ben had been so animated talking to her. He'd been excited when they were dancing, sure, but then his excitement had been directed more towards the band than the person next to him. Laura forced herself to look away, but she couldn't stop the parade of self-doubt across her mind, or the suggestions from her subconscious mind about how much Ben might enjoy spending time with his mysterious companion once they got home. A part of her was glad that Amy and Emily were facing the other way, so they wouldn't laugh at her for obsessing over a guy who looked like he had his eye on someone else.

As Emily and Amy's conversation morphed into a casual debate on the merits of various burger toppings, Laura's mind was racing. Should she go say hi? Would that be weird? She briefly imagined Ben reacting with guilt, although her brain flip-flopped between seeing him apologise to her or to his companion. She might not be particularly experienced in the games of romance, but she was sure that you couldn't get a girl to smile that broadly over dinner if you weren't playing.

It was crazy to be jealous. A month before, she'd thought that Ben was cute, and dreamed about getting to know him. But she'd had no idea if he was even available; and to be honest with herself she still didn't. Maybe he wanted to date her, and he'd thought the concert tickets were a clear way to break the ice. Or maybe he'd only intended to see her as a friend, and would have been surprised to learn that she thought anything else. Or perhaps, after the fun they'd had at the concert, he'd decided that he was less interested than he'd first thought. Or perhaps, meeting Rosie, he'd jumped to the conclusion that she was only looking for a friend to help her with babysitting.

It was easy to imagine a harried single mother being too busy to consider dating. But did that extend to big sisters as well? She didn't know. Had he been hoping that there would be some kind of secret signal between them behind Rosie's back, or that Laura would invite him to her room once the little one was taking her nap? She had no idea; and even if she'd been pretty confident in her understanding of what he wanted, she didn't think she would have known what to say to him. How did you tell a guy you were into him without going too far? How could she be sure that he would be receptive?

It was all too easy to assume that she'd sabotaged her own chances without even realising. Maybe the gleeful laughter she could imagine from that table could have been hers, if she'd found it easier to show her true feelings. Or, of course, she could be completely mistaken. Because it was also easy to think it would take months to get to know someone that well; to be so open. So maybe Ben had a girlfriend all along, and he'd invited Laura to the concert just because the love of his life wasn't into Thünderstreich. Perhaps she was one of the guys in his mind, along with Jez and Ryn. Everything more than that could have been all in her mind.

She hated herself for not knowing. She had an urge to stand up and stride over there; ask Ben what she was missing. Or maybe she could just ask to be introduced, and let his guilt do the rest. But if she was seeing him on a date... If he'd never intended Laura to have those feelings towards him, and really hadn't known how optimistic he had made her... He wouldn't have done anything wrong. And in a situation like that, what kind of monster would she be to interrupt his date night?

Her focus on this most vital line of thought was suddenly interrupted by Rosie trying to climb across her lap. For such a small child, she could certainly cause a lot of discomfort when all her weight was focused on one point.

"Don't tease her like that!" Amy was reprimanding Nat, who sat with an artificial "who, me?" grin plastered across her face, and a rebellious glint in her eye. Laura wished that she had been paying more attention, so she would at least have some idea of what was going on around her. Rosie seemed more than a little disgruntled, but the only thing Laura knew right now was that her sister wanted to get out.

"Do you want to go, Rosie?" Laura asked, trying to hold her still. "Want to go play, maybe? Just hold still while I get out of your way, okay?"

"Does she need a change?" Emily asked quietly. She barely made a sound, but it seemed she had waited until Laura was looking in her direction so she could see the words on her lips. It was hard to guess, but Laura assumed that Nat had called Rosie a baby again, which really didn't seem like a nice thing to say.

"I can help!" Nat said, earning another glare from her sister.

"You've helped quite enough, Missy," Emily told her.

Laura gave up trying to understand what she had missed, and pressed gently against Rosie's diaper. It felt warm, so she guessed that a change was in order.

"Come on, Rosie," she said. "Let's go get you changed, so you can enjoy the rest of your dinner, okay? And I think we've got some frozen yoghourt for dessert if you can be good for me."

"I can change her!" Nat persisted. "She's just a little baby, it's my turn to be big sis now."

"It's your turn to be quiet and not embarrass her," Amy insisted. "Don't call her a baby."

Laura sighed, guessing at the shape of what had happened now even if she didn't know the details. But she didn't have any idea how to dismiss Rosie's embarrassment. She helped Rosie down to the floor, anyway, and offered to take her hand rather than carrying her to the restroom. That seemed to calm her down just a little, but it would still need a lot of work to revive her spirits.

It wasn't like the large family bathroom they had used the day before. Burger Lord had a baby changing room about the size of a regular bathroom stall, with a trashcan in the corner and a changing table that could fold down from the wall once the door was closed. But she could help Rosie up onto the table easily enough. The hard part was that Rosie was just sitting there, looking down at her hands.

"Not a baby," Rosie pouted.

"I know you're not," Laura said. "You're my little big sister. You're a big girl too, even if you're a bit littler now. Is that okay?" There was just a little nod, so she kept on talking, as calming and reassuring as she could muster: "Remember, Nat is still young too. And sometimes she might not think about what she's saying. She wants to help, but she doesn't know how yet. So, do you think you can be good for me, and then we can get back to playing games and eating dinner?"

Rosie nodded again, and then slowly lay back so that Laura could get her into a clean diaper. And while she chattered about silly things to keep the toddler occupied, Laura's mind went back over how strange this was. After just a couple of days, changing diapers was starting to feel a little more natural. A couple of months back, she would never have believed this situation was even possible. But no matter what problems came up, she knew that she would protect Rosie from any kind of bullying, no matter how small.

After all, she reminded herself, she had wanted a little sister for years. Now that she had Rosie, she was going to make the most of every moment.