Rachel heads right toward Vanessa

As if to spite Lauren, Rachel pushed her stroller right up to Vanessa. “Excuse me!” she said, with a wave to get the girl’s attention. “Have you seen an elementary school around the zoo?” she asked, gesturing to Lauren. “This little one got separated from her friends, and we’re trying to help her.”

Vanessa sighed, before glancing at the group. “No, I haven’t...seen…” she trailed off, staring at Lauren.

Lauren panicked. If Vanessa found out about this, she’d never live it down! Lauren knew her sister; Vanessa would make sure everyone in town found out that Lauren could and had passed as a child young enough to still wear diapers. She would definitely tell Rachel, too, and if the woman would have reacted badly before, she’d be explosive now! She had to make sure Vanessa didn't suspect a thing.

Pushing down her pride, Lauren bit her lip and made her eyes water. It wasn’t difficult; this situation was so humiliating and stressful that it was harder not to cry. “I-I wanna go home!” she said tearily.”Pwease?”

“It’s okay!” Amanda said, letting go of her hand and hugging her. “We can still have fun! And we’ll find your teacher, okay?”

“O-okay,” Lauren said, sniffing. Comforted by an eight year old. Great.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was frowning, but had redirected her attention to Rachel. “Actually, yeah,” she said, pointing to the Reptile House. “I think I saw a bunch of little kids head in there.”

“Oh! We were headed that way anyways,” Rachel said with a smile. “Thank you very much.”

“...Sure, no problem,” Vanessa said, staring suspiciously at Lauren again. Lauren sighed in relief when Rachel moved on, her daughters taking her hands again. She was glad to be getting away from Vanessa, but she still felt as though her sister’s eyes were drilling into her bare back.