"Jackson? Amy?" Kira called out. "Could you please come here for a moment? I would like a word with you."

Amy had her arms outstretched, reaching for the doll. She was waiting with awe for Mom to give her the doll. Unfortunately, Mom heard Kira and set the doll on the table.

"I have another customer, children," she stated. She pumped her fists in the air. "I will go and see what the new customer wants. You kids can stay here and look around. And let your sister have the doll, Jackson." She dusted her skirt with her hands and would have gone if I had not stopped her.

I grasped her wrist. "No, Mom. Do not."

She gave me a confused look. "What is the matter, my son? Are you suddenly allergic to customers or something?"

"Bend over."

She raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and lowered her head to my level, and I whispered in her ear. She covered her mouth with her hands and quickly moved herself away from me.

"That is your...stepmother?"

"Not yet, but she will be because she and Dad are getting married."

"And...what is her name again?"

"Kira. Amy and I do not care for her because she is and will never be our mother. You are."

She uncovered her mouth, and a couple of tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her fingers and said, "I am so blessed that I have wonderful kids like you. I was afraid that you would not want anything to do with me after I left you. I thought that you would forget about me."

I shook my head. "Amy and I will never stop loving you. Never. And that is a promise that we are willing to keep."

Mom embraced us in a hug. "I should fight for full custody for you two. Your father does not deserve you. I do. And like I said before, he is not fit to be taking care of you. He has serious issues."

"Please do so. It is Dad's fault that he and you divorced. Not you. You were just...frustrated."

"Indeed." She let us go and huffed. "Now stay here and out of plain sight while I kick this lady out of my shop."

But before she could even make a move, Amy burst out crying. She held up her little feet and had arms out once again, her fingers outstretched and reaching for the doll that was sitting on the table.

"She wants the doll," I stated, realizing why she was sobbing.

Mom quickly scooped up the doll and finally handed it my sister. Little Amy immediately came to a halt at the crying and cooed happily. She hugged the doll and kissed her wooden cheek.

"This is the doll that I was referring to back when we were in my office."

I recalled the name. "So this is Gabi Dollson?"

"Yes. And she comes with a friend. A friend that I would like you to have, Jackson. But first, let me throw that evil step-mom out."

"Actually, she is not evil. She treats me and Amy with respect. More so than Dad."

"Do not fall under her spell, Jackson. I beg of you. She is only pretending to be nice so that you will love her. It is just a sickening trap and nothing more."

"Jackson! Amy!"

Kira's voice. She sounded close.

The three of us faced the other end of the aisle where we had walked down and spotted someone hurrying towards us. Little Amy shrieked and covered her eyes with her feet, and I recognized who it was.

"Yay. It is Kira," I said sarcastically.

Kira stopped in front of me and my sister and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Phew. I found you two."

"What are you doing here, Kira?" I demanded. "I specifically told you that Amy and I could go by ourselves."

"I know. I am just here to make a delivery to you two." She was holding two jackets. One was blue, and the other was black. Those jackets belonged to me and my baby sister, and she held them out to us. "You forgot to wear your jackets." She tried handing them to us.

I was not having it and pushed them back. "No, Kira. Just no."

"You need to wear your jackets."

"Do you take me for a fool, woman? It is hot outside!"

"But there is no sun. Just a purple sky."

"That is how Forlot works! No sun exists in Forlot, however, it still can get either hot or cold. And right now, it is blazing hot!"

"What about being inside this antique store?" She shivered and hugged herself. "It is freezing in here."

"Then why did you not wear a jacket?"

Our biological mom coughed loudly to get our attentions and shut the glass door of the case.

"I do not believe that we have met," Mom said. She held out her hand. "My name is Donna."

Kira forced on a smile and shook her hand. "The name is Kira, and these are my kids."

"Ah. So you say that these are yours?"

"Well, not biologically. I am marrying their dad."

"Ah." One of her eyes twitched. "I get it now."

She pointed to her eye. "What is wrong with your eye?"

"Do not worry about it. It does that from time to time. Perfectly normal for me."

You are probably wondering why Kira is not realizing that Donna is our biological mom. You see, Dad only admitted to her that we had a mother and that he had an ex-wife and never went beyond that. He absolutely hated Donna and did not want to devote his time discussing about her.

Kira noticed the doll in Amy's little hands and snatched it. She examined it. "Amy, you cannot get this doll."

"Why not?" Mom snapped.

"Have you not heard? This doll is cursed."