The Ebbingdales Escape PV Linda Ramirez Closed

EmmaLee was bored.

She had quite forgotten how boring the New York condo could get. She, her parents, and her seven and a half month old sister, Chlo, had been here for a bit over a week and while she was excited to see her childhood friends, Alura, Grace, and Kiernan, at this point, the pre-teens had exhausted everything they could think of to do. They had played every wizard game Alura could think of, every no-maj board game that Grace owned, every kind of card game that Kiernan could come up with. They had re-explored every inch of their building - twice and had played with Chlo, EmmaLee's baby sister, for so long that she had taken a three hour nap instead of her usual two hour one.

Yesterday, Kiernan had been whisked away to some obscure uncle's funeral and of course all of their fathers were at work, so this left an entirely female population on the seventh floor of the Arcana, the all-wizard condo building off of Bowary that they lived in.

Currently, the three girls were laying on their backs on the floor of EmmaLee's living room, the crown of their heads put together, their hands in the air, playing a clapping game.

"Knarls, nifflers, kneazles, crups, how many bowls will fill them up?" The girls chanted, smacking each others hands clockwise around the circle with each word. They alternated counting in French and English with each round, counting and clapping faster and faster until a smack missed the other person's hand. The girl who missed would lay her hand down on her chest and play would continue until only one hand was left in the air. Their mothers' lilting voices drifted in from the kitchen as the girl's played, until a pair of bright green eyes and a shock of red hair appeared above them.

"Hey girls." Chirped Alura's mother, Clair. She was as older image of her daughter: tall, slim, athletic, but she had her autumn hair if a rockish pixie cut and so many freckles that she looked tan. "We were thinking about going shopping today, what do you think?"

The three girls bolted upright, causing Clair to leap back to avoid a four head collision as the other mothers entered the living room from the kitchen. Celeste had already retrieved Chlo from her nap and bundled her into her stroller. Emilia, Grace's mother, was a thin, dark haired woman from Mexico. She was a stark contrast to her fair skinned, blonde daughter. The only physical feature they share was their wide bottle green eyes and a particular quirk to their lips when they smiled.

"Yes, please!" The girls said in unison, scrambling to stand up and head for the door. All three of their mothers laughed as they followed their daughter a little more patiently out of the apartment and onto the main street. Baby Chlo in her stroller babbled happily as her mother laughed, but reached out towards her sister ahead, giggling and making a sound like "lehleh. lehleh."

~~~

The group of women and girls entered the lobby of Ebbingdales Wonders for Wizards chattering animatedly. As they approached a glorious green and gold elevator in the middle of the building, Celeste turned to address the girls.

"Alright, les filles, we will be up in the salon for a while and then we will be shopping for winter clothes for Chlo." She said with a smile. Chlo babbled happily and flexed her fists at the sound of her name. She was a healthy, pale pink baby who shared EmmaLee's white hair. Chlo's hair was still rather short, but very full as it curled around her ears and eyebrows like whipped frosting on top of a strawberry macaroon. The girls giggled and waved in unison at the babe. "Meet us at 5 on the robes floor to buy your school robes and dresses for this year. Your fathers are meeting us for dinner after that on the top floor." Celeste continued as she wrinkled her nose playfully and danced her fingers over her youngest daughter's grasping hands. This caused Chlo to giggle and babble even more as she seemed to have everyone attention.

"Oui, Maman." Yes, Mother EmmaLee said as her friends nodded their own agreement. The mother gave a chorus of admonishments to be good and good byes as they, plus Chlo in her stroller, turned and entered a waiting elevator. Once the doors were closed, EmmaLee turned to her friends, grinning widely.

"So, where to first?"