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What was the saying? Ships in the night

They were two ships in the night, passing each other, never the twain shall ain

"Fine," he htfall, Mary watched froirl mulled over which coat to wear out One was a puffy parka that was red and black, a gift fro that was, as far as Mary could tell, like bubble-wrapping the kid--Rhage had even joked that it was the Gore-Tex equivalent of one of those huot into and bounced down hills The other choice was a sedate, navy blue peacoat, the old-fashioned kind with the sailor buttons and the collar you could stand up like Dracula’s

A part of Mary’s heart ached that this was the first time in Bitty’s life that she’d had any kind of decision toout of poverty, she had been lucky to have anything at all--and the idea the girl had spent so h to o to the clinic," the girl said as she put the parka back in her closet

Mary had known all along that the wool coat was going to be the choice Rhage had given the thing to the girl--and Wrath, son of Wrath, sire of Wrath,of the entire race, but no one held a candle to Bitty’s father

And tonight was going to be scary

"Do you think there’s so?" Bitty said as she came back from the closet

"No," Mary said "I don’t But it’s better to know that for sure rather than sih" Bitty walked over to the dressing table and sat down in front of the three-part ree" Boy, Mary hated to bring up the abuse "The reality is, though, that your body has been through a lot It doesn’t h your transition and be tall and strong But what if there’s so we can do now to make sure that happens?"

"Is it because of the broken bones?"

"Yes"

Bitty fell silent, picking up the hairbrush and running it through the long broaves that fell past her shoulders--even though she’d already brushed the around the roo what else they could do to s irl would be into Bitty didn’t deh, and she seemed content

There also had been a lot of new purchases lately--and it was hard not to give the little girl the world

Hard, too, to stop the frickin’ Brothers fro her rotten Bitty had arrived at the Brotherhood mansion with two battered suitcases, a doll head, and her old tiger, Mastiht or two, her football team’s worth of overprotective pains in the asses, better known as the BABUs (Bad-Ass Big Uncles), had been laying things at her doorway like offerings to an altar