Molly Stevens looked up to her mother with pleading eyes "Can I keep him?"
Her mother looked back with the tired eyes of a parent, "No, honey, of course not. Mr. Bear is probably someone else's toy."
Chris fidgeted when she said that, so much so that Mary Stevens grabbed her daughter and jumped backward, thinking that the big teddy was going to fall on her child.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Christopher Bear paused, "Also, I'm nobodies toy."
"What?" Mary asked.
"I mean no body owns me."
"See? Mom, can I keep him?"
It was the question that finally broke her mother's patience, "Yes. Yes, fine, you can play with the bear. But do it out front, just in case his owners come looking for him."
Molly jumped and ran toward Chris, pulling on his giant plush paw with all her might.
"Hey, hey, hey." Mary put her arms on her daughter, "Be careful. He probably weighs more than you. Let me help you."
And then Mary Stevens, mother and wife, took hold of Christopher's free paw . . .
