“Oh, we met the nicest couple three weeks ago,” Amber started. “Remember them, Peggy?” Without giving Peggy a chance to respond she immediately continued. “David and Marcie? They’re in their early thirties.”
Amber turned towards Mr. and Mrs. Miller. “He’s a dentist and she’s a hair stylist. They’re B class and have money. She wants to quit working when the adoption is complete so she can be a full-time stay at home mom. It’s all set up, nothing more to do but wait for the baby to come.” Amber smiled. What a great liar.
“That sounds wonderful,” Mrs. Miller said. Turning to Peggy she continued, “See, honey, I knew this decision was right for everyone involved.” She turned back to Darren and Amber. “Thanks so much for being there for Peggy. I hope she appreciates all you’ve done for her.”
Peggy sat there looking bewildered. She tried to look appreciative and smiled slightly, saying, “Yes, thank you guys. You’ve done a lot for me.” She paused for a moment. “But I don’t really remember David and Marcie.” She paused for another few seconds and continued, “But maybe the treatments have made me a little forgetful.”
“What treatments?” said Mr. Miller, now looking a little confused.
Amber spoke up before anybody could say anything else. “Nothing out of the ordinary, really. If we notice that Peggy is feeling a little anxious, we can give her a small 4M dose. Her doctor prescribed it and asked us to help out after he’d seen her appear pretty worried during the first two or three visits. He sent us home with a portable unit so we wouldn’t have to come in all the time.”
“Okay, that’s makes sense,” Mr. Miller replied. “So how are you feeling, Peggy? Is everything alright?”
Darren and Amber weren’t sure if he was just sincerely asking her, or probing for some hint of suspicious doings. Amber nervously squeezed Darren’s hand as they looked at Peggy. Peggy could easily unravel their entire plan if she said something stupid.
“What are you getting at, dear?” Mrs. Miller said to her husband. “It’s obvious how good they’re taking care of Peggy. Look how great she looks. She could call us anytime if things weren’t going well.” Turning to Peggy she asked, “You still have your palm screen, right?”
Peggy began looking around for her purse. “Yes, it should be in my purse.”
“Which is in your room, Peg. Let me grab it for you.” Amber quickly walked back to Peggy’s room and reached for her purse which was up in the closet where she and Darren had put it. Peggy’s palm screen was kept in Amber’s purse at all times so she could screen all calls and make calls on behalf of Peggy. Amber quickly put Peggy’s palm screen into the purse and returned to the front room with it.
“Here you go,” she said as she handed the purse to Peggy.
Peggy opened her purse the saw the palm screen. “Yep, it’s always right here in my purse.”
“I’d like to see Peggy’s 4M device,” said Mr. Miller.
“Really!” said Mrs. Miller to her husband. “Is that really necessary? You’re just going to upset everyone with your prying, that’s what.”
Mr. Miller looked embarrassed and said, “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that, honey. I was just curious what the technology looked like today, that’s all. I knew they were making home devices for a while, but the last ones I’d seen were as big as a nightstand.”
Darren spoke up, “No problem, Mr. Miller. Let’s go have a look.”
As Darren and Mr. Miller went to the back room to inspect the 4M machine, Peggy spoke to her mother. “Darren and Amber are taking good care of me. I’m just really scared about having my baby and how I’m going to feel giving it up for adoption.”
“I know, dear. It’s hard. You’re just going to have to trust that this is really best for all. Someday not too far off from now you will see that. But it’s understandable that you’re nervous about it now.” Mrs. Miller continued, “We love you and support your decision. As soon as this is all over, we want you to come back home and we’ll take care of you until you can get on your feet again.” She gave Peggy a hug.
Peggy looked a little relieved. “I’m glad you guys are there for me too.”
A few minutes later Darren and Mr. Miller came back from looking at the 4M device. Mr. Miller was excitedly talking. “Wow, that is some amazing technology.” Looking over to Mrs. Miller he continued, “Honey, that thing is small enough to carry under your arm. And it can run off your vehicle too. Pretty handy for long trips, or being stranded in traffic, or…”
Mrs. Miller cut him off, “Honey, why are you so interested in that bloody thing? I don’t get it.” She looked at Amber and Darren. “It must be a guy thing.” Looking back at Mr. Miller, she said, “You certainly have the money so if you want to buy one of those contraptions, for goodness sake, go right ahead.”
For goodness sake is right, Mr. Miller was thinking. He was already scheming and planning how he could incorporate a Lansing III portable 4M machine into the car, conspicuously hidden so that Mrs. Miller would nonchalantly get a dose to his choosing whenever they were in the car. It would sure cut down on those long babbling sessions whenever they traveled and all but eliminate any arguments about how he was driving.
Turns out, Mr. Miller wasn’t being suspicious about Darren and Amber’s treatment of Peggy at all. He really was interested in that blooming machine.
Amber’s joking weeks before about Mr. Miller had been right on the mark. Mr. Miller already had a portable unit secretly hidden in their bedroom so at nighttime he could administer a subtle 4M treatment to his wife while she sleep or napped. It kept her right in check, non-argumentative, and happy as a clam. But traveling had always been a problem. Not anymore!