Dear Diary,

I love it when a plan comes together!

I managed to get Saffron and Isnomi to go to sleep by yawning a lot and bitching about wanting sleep until they both started yawning. I got them both cuddled up on the bed between me and the wall, doing our nested-spoon thing. Good thing, too, because I don't know why but halfway through faking being sleepy I got whomped with a big 'ol Need To Sleep. I know the others got to sleep before me, but only because Isnomi's fake-snores shifted to real snores just before Saffron started snoring. As I drifted off, I heard the near-silent click of the door and squeaky wheels setting to the floor as Marie crept in. At some point between there and dreams my furry lover blanket draped herself over me and snuggled us all a little closer.

Another night of dreams. Still mostly peaceful, although the itches itched a little more. The psychedelic tadpoles had come back in force, but they'd all switched from titillate to comfort, which was nice with the Return of the Itch King. The sky pulse to the east kept up until just before false dawn, then shut down with a sense of finality. False dawn lit the sky with a caterwauling shriek of triumph.

Isnomi's Crowing Shriek of Ultimate Victory woke all three of us. Even Saffron booted up fast, because thrilled shrieking baby is only slightly less terrifying than any other form of shrieking baby. I opened my eyes to see the rug rat standing buck naked, one arm against the wall bracing herself up, the other waving her diaper back and forth like a victory flag. "Ahnama na baba! AHNAMA BA GA!"

I didn't need Blend to translate that one. I scooped her up and held her above my head as I rolled onto my back. "That's right, Menace! You're officially a Big Girl now!" She took a two handed grip on the diaper and yanked at it. The diaper remained unimpressed with her efforts until she went all fuzzy, bit the damn thing, and yoinked one way with her teeth and the other with both hands. Under her ongoing growls I caught the tiniest sounds of ripping cloth. "Let the poor diaper go, Menace. It was just doing its job. Let it retire peacefully into serving as a butt wipe or wash cloth or something.

She froze and blinked at that, then opened her mouth to let go of the cloth. She half-folded, half bunched it up, then patted it, said, "ga ja," then gave it her best two hand throw toward Marie's cart. Her best two hand throw got her just enough distance for the thing to land on my face. I shook my head and spluttered to get the faint baby powder residue off my tongue while Isnomi erupted into baby giggles. "Ahnama na baba! Ahnama ba ga!"

"Yes, you are, little one. You are my Big Girl, and I am very proud of you." Saffron sat up and claimed Isnomi, who seemed perfectly okay with nursing as a Big Girl. Shit, I had half a mind to trade in my Juvenile status for Big Girl status if I could get more Saffron boob time out of the deal.

With my hands freed, I balled up Isnomi's Last Diaper and tossed it onto the desk. I figure if I left it lying there for a couple days and wound up not giving a shit, I'd just hand it off for recycling, but a tiny sentimental part of me thought I might want to, I dunno, get Marie to embroider something onto it, like today's date maybe. I squirmed around to face Marie, put my mouth next to her ear, and said, "is it ready?" She grinned and nodded at her cart. "Okay, everybody. Time to get dressed!"

Marie rolled out of bed, bouncing to her feet and pulling her Maid's uniform off the top of the cart, incidentally sliding the side open just a touch as she did. I followed her lead and went to the armoire, pulling out my uniform and dressing as quickly as I could. Saffron lifted an eyebrow, spun around to sit on the edge of the bed, then guided Isnomi's hands through making everything on me Just So. Once I'd been primped to her satisfaction, I held my hands out and took the Menace while Saffron went to the armoire to get dressed herself. Meanwhile I lifted Isnomi to stand atop the cart, my hands under her armpits gently helping her balance.

"Now, Isnomi, there are rules for Big Girls, like we told you. Big Girls don't leave the room without clothes." She gave me a look, and I said, "maybe, once in a while, in an emergency or on a very special occasion, but normally? No clothes, no leaving the room. No clothes, no cart."

I barely kept from laughing at her forlorn look. She glanced to Marie, who said, "No."

"CA!"

"No clothes, no cart."

She shook her head hard enough to rattle her little brains. "Na ca, CA!"

I couldn't leave her half panicked any longer. "Marie? I'll hold her up, if you could help with the rest?"

"Yes." While Isnomi froze, her eyes getting bigger by the second, Marie pulled out a stack of tiny red triangles. I hated sacrificing my nice panties, but I still had one pair left for special occasions, and my daughter wouldn't be sandpapering her crotch or going commando just yet. Her long fingers flashing in a stunning display of dexterity, she slipped the itty bitty silk panties around Isnomi's bits and tied them in place. Lucky little bugger didn't need any kind of bra yet, training or otherwise. A tiny hypersonic squee emanated from Isnomi when Marie pulled a stack of tiny black slacks out of her cart next, then, one leg at a time, threaded Isnomi's slightly-less-chubby-legs-than-yesterday through the legs of her new pants.

She reached down when Marie left them unsecured, but froze when I shook my head. "Not yet." Next Marie pulled a stack of tiny white ruffled blouses, and we tag-team juggled her into one, tying it in the back. 'Too tight' and 'too loose' were mostly irrelevant due to prepubescent lack of boob, but Isnomi untying her shirt remained a strong likelihood. Once we had her blouse properly tied and tucked, we did up her pants, and then, with Isnomi's bat slaying squeel of glee growing ever louder as it descended into the realm of human hearing, Marie pulled out a pair of shiny black boots and slipped them over the menace's feet. Finally, Marie pulled out a stack of jackets made out of a familiar thick red material.

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After the shirt, Isnomi had apparently figured out how to squirm helpfully, and soon Marie's claws flashed up and down her front, securing all the buttons. That's when I saw the little nametag, 'Aetos-Diaz'. Not my suggestion. Pure Marie. My brain melted a little. I dropped Isnomi into Marie's clutches and glomped onto my favorite tiger-Maid. She might have started her day far wetter of apron than she expected, but fuck you. Somebody'd been cutting onions.

Right about then, Saffron finished in the armoire. Face full of Marie apron, I heard the doors close and the soft cloth ropes slither as she tied it shut, then all sound ceased from her side of the room. "Goof. You are adorable."

I wiped my eyes across the apron, then turned back around. "What drugs are you on, Kitten?" I nodded toward our industrial-sonic-glass-cutter daughter. "She's the cute one."

Somehow Saffron managed to march across our padded floor, right up to our mega-squeeing little one, a grin stretching her face. "Yes, she is. Aren't you cute, my baby?"

"Ahnama na baba!" She bunched her arms up, bent her knees a little, and said, "Ahnama ba ga!" then thrust her legs straight, shoving her hands above her head, "DAHDA!"

We might have lost more than a few minutes to cooing and tickles and giggles. Marie offloaded Isnomi's wardrobe into the armoire, as well as the few other items I'd had her make, then we trundled off to the Dining Hall, Saffron and I flanking Marie's cart, each lending Isnomi a finger so she could stand right at the front edge of the cart, hands above her head in a victory pose. We rolled into the Dining Hall just after breakfast hit the tables, and all eating at the ROTC table ceased when they caught sight of the Menace.

Everybody except Raven took turns letting her sit in their laps, feeding her whatever they could get their hands on. She took it as her due, graciously feeding whoever's lap she sat on, one tiny handful or spoonful at a time. At one point, as Angel passed her off to Bill, she looked up at me and said, "Welp, there goes today's rotation."

"What do you mean?"

She looked down the table and called out, "who wants to go down to Driver's with Isnomi today?" Every hand at the table shot up, even Raven's, though her other hand never stopped sketching. Even a couple hands at the surrounding tables shot up. "Okay, who wants to hold the fort here today?" Every hand slammed down, most of them going straight under the table just to be sure.

I laughed, "okay, okay, I get the point." I looked to where Isnomi fed a strip of bacon, one carefully broken off bite a time, to Bill. "Isnomi, would you like to come to see Bill's mom and dad today?"

"Ya!"

Her shout filled a sudden silence ripping out from the doorway of the Dining Hall. I looked up to see Headmaster Miles standing there in the doorway, staring at our table. Staring at Isnomi. She noticed, because of course she did. She clambered up onto the table, doing her little tiptoe sprint to the end of the table, nearly toppling off the end before Fred managed to get a hand between her and skydiving to the stone floor. "Hamada! Ahnama ba ga na! DAHDA!"

The Headmaster turned toward our table, took half a step forward, and froze. I watched the clockwork soul spinning freely for a moment before he continued forward. He nodded to Isnomi. "Cadet Aetos-Diaz. Everything as it should be, I see." He nodded to the table. "Cadets."

"You okay, Headmaster?"

"Thank you for asking, Cadet Diaz. I'm certain I will be. This is simply my first experience with lucid dreaming. I never expected it to be quite so disturbing. I'll see you all tomorrow, I suppose." With that he turned and walked straight up to the head table, grabbed Doc DeLeon and Doc Roberts each by a hand, and dragged them out of the Hall.

Utter silence reigned until Isnomi turned to the hall and shouted, "DAHDA!"

There was much rejoicing.

When we all got to Drivers', Raven looked at me and said, "do you have the posters?"

I facepalmed, "ah, shit. I'm sorry, Aetos. I asked the Maids and Maintenance to see if they could do something to protect them from the sun and weather, but I forgot to get them back this morning."

She shot me an adorkable smirk and said, "that's okay, I think this will do for the day." She walked over to where the awning had just gone up above the table, where Isnomi held court with adoring folks waiting in line for Drivers' food. She had to get Angel to give her a boost, but right where the Academy crest had resided yesterday, she hung a single picture.

Isnomi, standing in full 'victory' pose with both hands in the air, one of them holding a flagpole with a simple blue flag with a wide white diagonal stripe across it, the words 'Una Ciudad Invencible' across the base of the stripe. I walked over and leaned in close. "What flag is that?"

She looked down at me from atop Angel's shoulders. "Camden's."

By the end of the day, every single one of us was exhausted. Them from chain-casting Assess Health and Inspect, me from doing that on top of recharging them all. I don't think I had to tag anybody more than twice an hour, but oh, my god, I remain absolutely unsure of that. So. Many. Volunteers.

Midway through the day we lost Isnomi for a bit when Momma Driver came out bringing us all lunch, took one look at Isnomi, and completely lost her shit, enveloping the entire line, square, diner, and volunteering station in a massive mega squee-storm. I swear at one point she was running in circles around the diner itself, squealing in harmony with the Menace for Bill's dad to come out and see. When he did, Isnomi launched herself at him, glomped him like a starfish on the side of a fishtank, whereupon he patted her on the head, shuddered a little, and handed her back to Momma Driver, who went straight back into Kawaii Overload Berserker Mode.

At the end of the day we collected Isnomi, put away our table, chairs, and awning, and staggered back to the Academy. We had to go in the back; the front had a crowd so goddamned big we couldn't see the stairs. We got up to our room, let Marie take care of undressing and bathing all three of us, and tumbled into a pile on the floor one at a time as she finished.

As you've asked, a reminder. We see The Smith on the morrow. Wear The Dress.

I nodded. In the morning.

Visit The Smith at night? How could you think I value us so little as to even consider that.