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Faolan took the potted plant, holding it with one arm, his free hand ruffling Lauss' hair. "She misses you, too, lad, but this is just how it has t' be fae awhile. Cannae hae structure wi'out rules. It ain't all your fault. When Lee's back, we'll all sit down an' discuss this all an' gae from there, alright?" He gave Lauss a gentle nudge. "Gae on, then. Anson's waitin' on you."

Anson patted Lauss' shoulder. "It'll be alreet, lad. I doubt they'll keep her from you fore'er." He said nothing else as they walked to the daycare, though he sometimes greeted other clan members that they passed. The sound of children laughing and playing grew louder as they neared the daycare and Anson began to grin. He could see his youngest daughter bouncing about the playground. "Looks like you'll get t' be meetin' one o' me daughters already, boy. That blond 'un there wi' th' blue ribbon in her hair is Kendra."

The little girl looked up at Lauss, fixing him with large green eyes, her expression slightly reminiscent of her older brother. "Yes?"

Anson came up behind the boy. "Oi, Kendra, me dear. This is Lauss. He's th' boy what lives wi' Lee an' your brother."

Kendra looked up at her father, not really sure how to react to this strange boy's statements. Anson gave her an encouraging smile.

"You wanna come play wi' us?" the girl asked Lauss. "I can teach you th' game. It's really easy." She held out a small hand invitingly.

Anson sat down on a nearby bench to watch the kids, even the older, somewhat slow one, as they played. He figured if this went well, he'd talk to Lee about letting Lauss come here after school for awhile to tutor kids and play with them.

Kendra went over the rules of Simon Says for Lauss, speaking slower than she normally would to a child her own age. It was simple enough, though. One child would be decided on to be Simon and the others would line up before them a few paces away. Simon would call out a command, using "Simon says . . ." before it. The kids would do what the command was and be allowed to step forward. If the command was called without saying "Simon says . . ." before it and someone did it, they had to take a step back. First one to get to Simon won and got to be the next Simon.

"So, you think you want to try playing?" Kendra asked after explaining how to play. The other kids around were giggling a little at there being a teenager wanting to play with them, but none were being rude about it.

"Alreet. Thomas will be Simon first, okay?" Kendra said, the other kids agreeing. She took Lauss' hand and drug him over to where they were supposed to stand. "Now remember, Lauss, only do what he says if he puts the 'Simon says . . .' part in front of it, okay?"

Thomas smiled at them. "Simon says . . . hop on one foot."

The other kids hopped on one foot as well.

"Now th' other foot," Thomas/Simon said. A few actually did. "I didnae say 'Simon says' yet." Those kids took a step back. "Alreet, Simon says pat your head and rub your tummy."