“I’m fine,” Emily lied, though for once it was a small lie. “Just fine. So are you guys ready to head out? The stores close at five, so if we want time to see what they have, we should leave soon.”

Teddy groaned and rolled off the bed, and Athena hopped off her chair.

“We can grab something to eat, too,” Emily added. It gave Teddy’s step a bit of pep.

Why couldn’t all her problems be as simple to understand as her sisters?

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Bonding

So you two can pick out whatever you want as long as it’s not too much, okay?” the Boss said.

Teddy nodded. She was real good at following orders, but she had to show she was the best, not only to cement the chain of command, but also to teach her new sister how things were done. “You got it, Boss,” she said.

The Boss had brought them all to the same thrift store where Teddy had gotten her awesome hoodie and the dress that became part of her costume. In fact, most of her clothes, except for her underthings, were bought here.

The Boss said that secondhand panties were evil, though, so they didn’t get any of those. Teddy figured they should have bought a few. There had to be a way to weaponize some of the granny panties she’d seen, but if the Boss said no, then it was no.

The Boss had a few things to look at, so with a little wave to the pair of them, she moved off and left them in the shop all on their own.

Teddy spun around and took in the sea of racks and clothing, no two garments alike. “There’s a lot of stuff to look through,” she said.

“I suppose,” Tina replied. “So do we just go around and pick out any outfit we happen to like the appearance of?”

Tina always had to use big words where small words would do, Teddy noticed, but it wasn’t that big a deal. She mostly knew what the bigger words meant, and if she didn’t then she could guess. Bears were great at guessing. “Yeah, pretty much,” she confirmed. “I found this by looking really hard.” She tugged at the front of her hoodie, the one with a big bear on it.

“Then perhaps I won’t look that hard,” Tina said.

Teddy blinked. What was that supposed to mean? “Look, skirts and stuff,” she said as a sort of distraction. There were, indeed, skirts and stuff hanging off a rack. Tina moved over to them and brushed her hand past a few as if feeling the fabric.

“I don’t know if I like skirts,” she said at last.

“Yeah. I’m more of a shorts person, but I’m a bear, so I don’t get cold.”