Chapter Twenty-Nine - Steffie's Mom, and Also Steffie's Legs

"Oh," Mom said from the other room.

Steffie looked away from the TV. She was supposed to be doing some worksheets her mom had given her, and she definitely was... during the commercial breaks.

It was Saturday morning! She was allowed to have a bit of fun. Besides, the commercials were always super long and Saturday had all the best shows.

Mom slipped out of the kitchen and crossed the living room, but not before looking at the TV and 'tsking' to herself. She didn't tell Steffie not to, though, so it was totally okay. Mom stopped by the window at the front of the house and tugged one of the blinds down. That happened to line up with the sun outside just right to splash a beam of light across the TV that made it impossible to see anything.

"Mom," Steffie complained.

"You have worksheets," Mom said.

"I always have worksheets," Steffie shot back. And it was true! She loved her mom a whole heap, but her mom also wanted Steffie to be 'successful in life' or whatever. And that meant that Steffie had to be smart.

She knew that being stuck in a wheelchair made things complicated. She knew it all day long. It also meant that if Steffie was going to be successful, she'd need to be ten times as smart as anyone else. So, worksheets.

It had gotten a bit harder after she had made friends, because now her lessons during the week weren't as strict or organised as they had been before because her friends needed time to catch up. That meant even more worksheets, and most of those after 'school' had ended.

Steffie bore it with good grace. Or that's what Mom said, anyway.

"They do know it's Saturday, don't they?" Mom asked. It was that tone of voice she used when she was mostly talking to herself.

"What is it?" Steffie asked. It wasn't like she could see the TV well anyway.

"It's Emily, and her sisters," Mom said.

"Oh!" Steffie disengaged the brakes on her chair, tossed the worksheets onto the couch, then she rolled herself back and across the living room. "Are they here to play?"

"Without calling ahead," Mom said. "I hope that Emily doesn't need an emergency babysitter, I need to get groceries later."

"Mom!" Steffie whined. She never got to play with her friends. Well, that wasn't strictly true. They did a lot of goofing around and playing during and after class, but it wasn't the same as play-play. Mom insisted on letting everyone out into the backyard to play at least once a day (which wasn't a thing before, for obvious reasons) but Steffie was mostly trapped in her chair.

Athena liked to talk, and Maple liked to stand nearby and listen to Steffie complain about stuff, even if her replies were usually monosyllabic (her current set of worksheets were vocabulary practice, and the word was on her mind and primed for use).

So, most of her play time wasn't really spent playing, at least when her friends were around. Which was why she was practically trembling in her seat as she heard the familiar sound of several pairs of feet coming up the front porch.

Mom opened the door, smiling and greeting Emily and her sisters and... another woman that Steffie didn't recognize, a tall dark-skinned lady that seemed to be about the same age as Emily. "Hello, hi, welcome. I wasn't expecting guests, so I'm sorry if things are a little untidy," Mom said.

It was a silly thing to say. Mom was always picking up and cleaning things, so the house was as clean as it ever was. "Hi Miss Headerson," Emily said. "I'm sorry for dropping by so suddenly. We had something to talk about and, ah, yeah, I wanted to talk about it."

Steffie gave Emily a once-over and listened to what she said. Emily was weird. She was always super shy, like Maple was, but sometimes she'd be very... not shy? Darn, she'd seen that word earlier... Not extroverted, that was another word. Commanding? Yeah, that was the one!

"Steffie!" Trinity said. She ran forwards, three pairs of shoes flying off behind her as she left them by the door.

Then Steffie was swamped by Trinity hugs.

She wouldn't tell her other friends, because it was mean, but Trinity gave the best hugs.

"Hey," Teddy said. She stifled a yawn, then grinned, all teeth. "What're you watching?"

"Hero cartoons," Steffie said.

"Oh, yuck," Teddy said.

Steffie giggled. "I keep watching them hoping the bad guys win one day, but it never happens."

"Yeah, that's just capitalist proper ganders is what it is," Teddy agreed. Then she shooed Trinity off and gave Steffie a hug too. Teddy was a nice middle ground between cool and fun. She was easy to get along with, and Steffie really wanted her to turn into a bear even if Mom said she couldn't in the house, or in the backyard, or in the shed after that one time.

"Hi, Steffie," Athena said. She gave Steffie her hug too.

Of all the sisters, she was probably the one Steffie liked talking to the most. They had nice debates about stuff, and Athena was smart. She liked learning things, and sometimes they did puzzles and things together, and Athena would always be the first to figure things out.

She was also, Steffie realized, the more... emotionally intelligent of her sisters. That was important, according to Mom. Also, she was a great gossiper.

"H-hi," Maple said from behind Athena. She didn't come up for hugs. In fact, she mostly stayed half-hidden behind Athena.

"Hi Maple!" Steffie said. She always tried to be nice to Maple, even if Maple wasn't very talkative. "What are you guys doing here?"

Trinity had already mostly relocated to the couch, and the loveseat, and the big fluffy seat squeezed into the corner of the room, while Teddy had moved behind Steffie and grabbed onto the handles of her chair to move her around. "Maple made you a gift," Teddy said.

"A gift?" Steffie asked. She glanced at Maple, but all she saw was Maple's face turning red and her focus redoubling on the floor. Steffie knew a bit about the sorts of things Maple could make. Her sisters swore up and down that she'd really made a super-sonic toaster, and Steffie had seen enough hero cartoons to know that gadgeteers could make some pretty cool things.

She didn't expect to get anything for herself though.

"Yep. We need to convince your mom to give it to you though," Athena said. "So put on the puppy-dog eyes."

"The puppy-bear eyes are better," Teddy said.

"Bears don't have puppies, you idiot," Athena shot back.

"I know that! They have cubs. You're a puppy."

"What?"

Steffie tuned the two out as they started bickering back and forth over her head. She was paying more attention to Mom and Emily and the other lady who were talking in the entranceway. "Are you sure it's safe?" Mom asked.

Emily grimaced. "Yes? Maybe? Maple hasn't made anything unsafe before." That earned her a look from the other lady. "Well, nothing unsafe that wasn't meant to be unsafe. We tested it a bit at the base. Trinity used them, and they work."

"You tested them on one of your sisters?" Mom asked. She didn't sound very impressed.

"I let Trinity try them," Emily corrected, that bit of command coming out. Steffie was a little impressed. Mom could be very... Mom sometimes. "She's uniquely capable of surviving things without being hurt. I wouldn't risk one of my sisters like that."

"Right, sorry," Mom said. "It's just... this is a lot."

"We understand," the other lady said. She touched Mom gently on the arm. "It's a lot to take in. But it's... well, something. An opportunity, maybe? A small chance for Steff to feel more normal?"

Steffie's ears were burning as she was wheeled closer. "What's going on?" she asked.

The adults turned their way, and the concern was replaced by smiles. The fake kind, mostly. "Hey, sweetie," Mom said. That was a very neutral sign. Mom usually called her Steffie when being serious, and love when things weren't good. "Emily here, and I suppose Maple, said that, ah, well, Maple made you something."

"Uh-huh," Steffie said. "Teddy said she made me a gift?"

Mom nodded. "It's up to you, I think. You're old enough to choose to try it or not. Emily said that Maple made you legs. Not actual, new legs, but... ah," Mom paused.

"Something like an exoskeleton," the dark-skinned lady said, filling in for Mom.

"I want to try!" Steffie said right away. "What do they do? How do they work?"

"Oh," Maple said. "They're worn over your legs. There's a belt too. It should be easy."

Steffie almost gawked. That was awesome! And also, more words than she'd ever heard from Maple in a single sentence. "I definitely wanna try!" she said.

There was no way she would skip an opportunity to kick Teddy's butt.

***