It started with a stormy night, like all good stories should. Her papa, Admiral Alexander Montgomery, had thrown a party that night. Callie loved when her papa had parties. The men dressed in blue uniforms with big gold braids and the ladies wore pretty ball gowns with lots of lace. Music played all throughout the house and the tables were always filled with her favorite foods, like white soup, meat pies, jellies, and dry cake.

But that night, the night in question, Callie didn’t care much about the party, she wasn’t feeling well. Janey, one of her nannies, kept trying to give her awful-tasting medicine, so to escape, Callie grabbed her three favorite dolls and snuck into her papa’s study. Her papa was busy at his desk, but when Callie came up next to him, he lifted her to his lap and hugged her tight. Her papa always hugged her. Then they heard Janey calling after her, and Papa put his finger to his lips, then moved his legs so she could hide beneath his desk. Callie loved it under Papa’s desk. She had a blanket and toys and, of course, her papa’s legs, so it was warm and cozy. She had just finished arranging her dolls when her papa’s best friend, Gregor, came in. Gregor was her favorite because he always picked her up and spun her around until she was twirling high in the air. But tonight, he sounded very serious.

“There’s trouble, Alexander,” he’d said, and Callie stilled immediately.

Her papa swore, something Callie had never heard before, and it scared her. His chair scraped the floor so loud she had to cover her ears from the sound.

That was the night Callesandra met her new mama.

After her papa and Gregor had left the study, Callie went back to her room. Janey made her take the yucky-tasting medicine after all, then helped Callie change into a nightgown. It was a short while later that she saw her new mama for the first time. She and Janey were in the hallway outside her mama’s room on the way back to bed when her mama called out, “Wait.”

Callie was scared at first, because her mama was mean and pinched her a lot. Callie figured that’s just how mamas were, but when she stood before her, this mama spoke softly and was nice. Her new mama looked just like her old mama, but she wasn’t mean and didn’t hurt her. She had prettier eyes too. They sparkled blue, whereas her old mama’s eyes had been brown.