Emily and Helena then began talking. They appeared very comfortable with each other, and Ash noticed that his mother seemed to be treating Emily as an equal. Ash had to agree, considered that when she babysat for him, Ash had treated Emily as possessing just as much authority as his mother.
Ash himself was very much aware of the fact that Emily's estimation of him was going down by the second as Ash continued to drink from the bottle. Emily may have thought of Ash as an overgrown toddler beforehand, treating like he was four or five, but he had the feeling that this was cementing her view of him as more akin to a two-year-old.
Ash sighed inwardly as he kept swallowing the milk, knowing that he really couldn't do anything about it. That was when someone new entered the kitchen, someone Ash had never met before.
The girl looked to be about eight, and the resemblance between her and Emily was clear. They had the same dark hair and green eyes, though her hair was cut shorter in a bob. She was dressed more tweenishly, in capris, a sky blue t-shirt and wearing light makeup. She seemed to have a more aggressive air, however.
"I am *not* watching Lizzie again, Em! The deal was..." The girl said loudly, only trailing off as she noticed Ashley.
"This is Ashley. Say hello, Claire." Emily said quickly, giving a warning look at her sister.
Claire looked as if she wanted to burst out laughing, but the warning look from Emily, not to mention the raised eyebrows of Helena, made her tamp down on it. Instead, she took in Ashley's snowy white toddler dress and exposed pink Pampers with an only slightly mocking smile. If Ash had any luck at all, he would have finished drinking the bottle before Claire came in. As it was, he had to endure several more seconds of suc-king on the bottle in front of Emily and Claire before it was empty.
Though Emily had already made an introduction for him, Ash tried to say something to Claire as Helena removed the rubber nipple from his mouth. His luckless streak continued, however, as Helena immediately popped his pacifier back in.
"Hi, Ashley! I was just going to say that Emily needs to watch the toddler party since we had a deal to switch off every hour." Claire said, turning her attention to her older sister.
Emily sighed and stood up from the table.
"Mrs...I mean, Helena. Would you like me to show you the deck behind the house? That's where the parents are hanging out. Claire can take Ashley to the party in the den." Emily said brightly.