“Is Uncle Damon up?” Crystal asked as her new nanny came into her room.

“Yes, he is. He'll be out in a minute.” Nat said and smiled happily. “If you want to say goodbye to Susan, it might have to be through the bedroom door.”

Crystal shrugged because she hadn't seen Susan for even longer than she hadn't seen Uncle Damon. She loved Uncle Damon, though. Even if he left for years and years, she would always love him and remember him. He was her bestest friend and he was magic. He could make money appear out of nowhere and make her laugh, even when she was sad or had hurt herself.

He had even made Teddy disappear when her friends had raced to get the other bears. She knew this, because she had been looking right at Teddy to make sure that no one took him by mistake. Then he appeared on the couch in a different spot, which meant that Uncle Damon had done it. He didn't use a cloth, or waved his hands, or anything.

He. Was. Magic.

“Brush my hair, Nat Nat.” Crystal said and held the brush up to her.

“Sure thing.” Nat said.

Crystal wanted to look her best for Uncle Damon, because he was taking her flying today and that was something that no one else had ever done. She was excited, even though she was still tired. She hadn't fallen asleep for a long time the night before, because the party was so much fun and then she was sad about losing all those teddy bears and then she was happy that all of her friends were just as happy as she was.

She just hoped that Uncle Damon was right and that she could start having sleepovers. Her friends had all done it at everyone else's place and she wasn't allowed, because there wasn't room for them in their old home and she couldn't stay out all night without her mom being there, and the other parents didn't allow that, so she always had to say no when her friends asked.

Crystal picked up a bow and held it up for Nat, who took it and quickly did up a ponytail of Crystal's hair and tied the bow around it to secure it.

“Now we match.” Nat said and tapped her bow and touched the bow in Crystal's hair.

“Will Uncle Damon like that?” Crystal asked as Nat took her hand and led her out to the living room.

“He better, or I'll smack him good to make him notice how pretty you are!” Nat said and Crystal giggled.

“Uncle Damon always notices.” Crystal said, a bit proudly.

“I'm glad to hear that.” Nat said with a smile and a door opened and closed quickly down the hallway.

“I'll just be a minute!” A man's deep voice said and another door shut.

“You better not make us late!” Nat said loudly.

“It's my plane, so they better wait, dammit!” He responded and Crystal giggled again.

Nat shook her head. “Next time, I'm setting the alarm earlier, just so he doesn't make us late again.”

“Next time?” Crystal asked.

“You don't think this will be the only time we go flying, do you?” Nat asked and Crystal stared at her and wasn't sure what to say. “There's no way he's going to leave us home all the time. I promise.”

Crystal looked into Nat's eyes and knew that she was telling the truth. “Okay.” She said, even though she wasn't sure if she could trust this new person in her life. Nat Nat seemed nice and Crystal would have to wait and see if she was going to be angry at different times and would complain about Uncle Damon like Aunt Jenny did.

*

I quickly used the bathroom to keep the plumbing clean, used a Cleaning Hands spell ring to wash myself all over in seconds, and quickly did my hair up into a normal ponytail this time and not the fancy one I usually wore. I equipped my best suit and made sure it was wrinkle free, then left the bathroom.

“Ladies, I am very sorry for the delay. Something urgent came up and I had to take care of it as quickly as possible.” I said and saw Nat nod slightly in understanding. “I'm all ready to go and...” I stopped talking when I saw that the two of them were dressed in a similar fashion. “You two look very nice.” I knelt and gave Crystal a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for dressing up for me.”

Crystal's face flushed a little red. “We'come.”

I stood up and made a kissy face to Nat.

“Don't even think about it.” Nat said with a laugh. “Your charm can't stretch that far.”

“Ha! I made you laugh anyway.” I said and she shook her head.

“Go get Teddy and our bags and let's go.” Nat said.

I saw Crystal's surprised face and knew taking Teddy along was the right thing to do. I jogged back to Crystal's room and stored the luggage as I grabbed the giant teddy bear. I came back out and we left the apartment and rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

Crystal didn't say anything about me carrying Teddy instead of giving him to her and we went to the car in the parking garage. I stuffed Teddy into the backseat and Nat put Crystal into the front seat, and we got in and I drove us to the small airport.

I could see Crystal trying to look around at everything as we pulled into the parking lot. It was the same space I had used before, out of sight of cameras and pedestrians, and we got out. I carried Teddy again and Crystal took my hand as we walked over to the corner of the building. I stored the car just before it was out of my sight and we went in the front door of the small terminal.

“Ah, Mr. Smith and company. You are just in time.” The man behind the counter said and waved at the security gate beside him. “You can just carry the bear through the scanner.”

“Thank you.” I said sincerely, and the man smiled and nodded. We walked through the scanner and nothing beeped, so we went through into the waiting area. The door on the other side was already open and Miss Carlyle was there.

“I would normally ask who the little lady is with you and properly introduce myself; but, we are short on time and our flight window is approaching.” Miss Carlyle said and waved us through the door.

“That's Crystal and this is Teddy with a capital T.” I said as we walked by. “That's Miss Carlyle and she runs the plane for me.”

“Hi!” Crystal waved with her free hand and then we were out and up the small stairs into the plane.

“We'll get a better look at the plane when we land.” I whispered to Crystal as I took her to the airplane seats. She sat down and stared at everything that she could see. I strapped Teddy into the seat next to her and Nat belted Crystal in, then we sat in the seats behind them and belted in as Miss Carlyle closed the steps and the door.

“We're clear!” Miss Carlyle said into the cockpit and then she sat down on her little jump seat and strapped in. Less than five minutes later, we were shooting up into the air and I heard Crystal take in a long slow breath. I reached forward and put my hand on hers. She turned her hand over and gripped mine like a vise.

“It's almost over.” I said and the plane started to level off. “There we go.”

Crystal didn't let my hand go, so I unbuckled my seat belt and moved around to look at her face. It was a mix of shock, surprise, and delight. Her eyes darted to the windows, to the floor, to the ceiling, out the window again, then finally to my face.

“We're flying!” Crystal gasped.

“For about an hour.” I said. “We can get up and walk around if you want.”

Crystal looked a little worried until I unbuckled her and Teddy.

“Let's have Miss Carlyle give you and Teddy the grand tour.” I said and Miss Carlyle was there.

“I'd be delighted to show the young lady and her friend around.” Miss Carlyle said and then whispered. “I might even have a few snacks hidden that we can sneak to Teddy.”

Crystal beamed a smile to her and took her hand and I carried Teddy around the whole plane, from front to back. The only place Teddy couldn't go was the cockpit. After a short explanation, Crystal understood that it wasn't because he wasn't allowed, it was because he couldn't fit through the little door. Crystal went in alone and looked back, so I moved Teddy's arm to wave.

“He can see it all from right here.” I said, which reassured her.

After that, the galley was pillaged by Miss Carlyle and Crystal. She came back to the reception area with a handful of candy coated chocolate candy and a handful of sour gelatin worms. Now she had a problem, because she didn't know which one to start with. I put a tissue down and had her put the candy down, wrapped it up and shook it, then opened it again to show that they were mixed.

“Now you don't have to choose. Just grab something and chew.” I said.

“Thanks, Uncle Damon!” Crystal said and started picking at them. Unlike what I would have done, namely shoving it all in my mouth, she picked each thing up and took her time eating them. I thought she looked very refined and poised, and her outfit helped convey that, too.

It's funny how the mind associates things like that, no matter what age they are. I thought and sat nearby as I watched her calmly eat. I wasn't sure why it seemed so fascinating or why I wasn't bored. It wasn't long before it was time to land and we went to the airplane seats and strapped in for the descent.

Crystal gasped and turned to look at me. “Teddy!”

“It's all right. He's going to show us why we need to strap in for things like this.” I said. “Aren't you, Teddy?”

“We don't have time to get him anyway.” Miss Carlyle said and the plane dipped and tipped forward.

“Go for it, Teddy! Give Damon a safety lesson!” Nat said and laughed as Teddy did a great somersault off of the couch, bounced on his butt, did a half-twist into a barrel roll, careened off of the galley wall and flipped over, then landed with a thump beside Miss Carlyle in her jump seat beside the cockpit.

“I'd give that landing a solid 9 points. He's even sitting up.” I joked.

“That was definitely a 9.” Nat said. “Did you see that, Crystal? Teddy might be a secret gymnast!”

Crystal giggled and we all had a good laugh.

When we landed, I walked over to him and quickly checked him. He hit a few places hard, so I need to make sure that he wasn't damaged or had stressed his stitching or something. I noticed one of his arms was a bit floppier than usual and he had definitely picked up a bit of dirt from the floor mats, so I made an excuse that Teddy needed the bathroom.

I walked by everyone and went into the bathroom, stored him, and paid to clean and repair him. “Whew!” I said when we came back out. “It's okay, everyone! It was just a false alarm. I forgot that Teddy doesn't have a wee-wee.”

Crystal giggled and covered her mouth with both of her hands.

“Damon!” Nat gasped and Miss Carlyle shook her head.

“It's all right.” I said. “Now we just have to decide if he's staying at the hotel or coming to the meeting with us.”

“He's definitely coming along.” Nat said, and glanced at Crystal. “I assume you need me there, too.”

“For a little while. I need to show you off and I'm sure that they are going to love your designs.” I said. “Which reminds me.” I took out three normal pendants and gave one to Miss Carlyle, then knocked on the cockpit door. The two pilots came out and I gave them one each. “This is a prototype product and...” I explained what it did, the potential drawbacks, and that it worked every single day for ten hours straight.

“Sir, if this really does what you say it does...” One of the pilots asked and the other put his on.

“Whoa.” He said. “It's like drinking coffee.”

Both the other pilot and Miss Carlyle put theirs on and looked surprised.

“Every pilot in the world is going to want one. Or two. Some international flights are a lot longer than ten hours.” The first pilot said. “Thank you, sir.”

“It was Natalie's idea to give them to you.” I said and the three of them nodded their thanks to her. “I wonder if Derek sent the car again?”

“He did.” Miss Carlyle said. “Enjoy your weekend, sir.”

“You, too. See you all Sunday night.” I said and I, a pleased Nat, a happy Crystal, and a giant teddy bear left the plane to go to a business meeting.