The morning sunlight streamed through the windows as Will tore through the house in his continued search for the medallion. Dresser drawers were emptied, cabinets rummaged, and even the laundry basket overturned. His movements were increasingly frantic, each passing minute adding to his sense of despair.
Downstairs, Stacy was doing her best to keep breakfast routine for the kids. Ben and Lily sat at the table, happily munching on pancakes. Stacy sipped her coffee, her mind only half on the meal as she kept glancing toward the stairs, wondering how long Will could keep this up.
Ben tilted his head, watching her with curiosity. “Mommy, what’s Dad Mom doing upstairs?”
Stacy almost choked on her coffee at the term. “Dad Mom?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Ben said matter-of-factly, pointing upward with his fork. “You said Daddy is you now, so Dad Mom.”
Stacy sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Dad is looking for something valuable. Something very important.”
“Oh,” Ben said, nodding sagely. Then, with the casual air of a child stating the weather, he added, “If it’s the medallion, he won’t find it.”
Stacy froze, her coffee mug halfway to her lips. “What do you mean he won’t find it?”
Ben shrugged, taking another bite of pancake. “I threw it in the lake yesterday.”
For a moment, Stacy could only stare at him, the words refusing to fully register. “You… what?”
Ben looked up at her, his face completely innocent. “I thought it was cool having two moms. So I threw it in the lake so Dad wouldn’t change back.”
Stacy’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, but no words came out. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or scream. Instead, she put her mug down with a shaky hand and stood, taking a deep breath.
“Stay here,” she said, her voice unnaturally calm.
“Did I do something bad?” Ben asked, his fork hesitating mid-air.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Stacy said, managing to keep her tone even as she hurried upstairs.
She found Will in the hallway, crouched on the floor and digging through a box of old keepsakes. He looked up at her, his face a mixture of hope and exhaustion. “Anything?”
Stacy stared at him for a long moment, unsure of how to break the news. Finally, she exhaled and said, “I found out what happened to the medallion.”
Will straightened, his borrowed face lighting up. “You did? Where is it?”
Stacy hesitated. “Ben… threw it in the lake.”
Will blinked. “He what?”
“He thought it was cool having two moms,” Stacy explained, her voice strained. “So he decided to make it permanent.”
Will’s mouth opened, a series of unintelligible noises escaping before he finally managed to form words. “He what?!”
Stacy held up her hands, trying to calm him. “Look, we can figure this out. It’s a lake. It’s not like it’s gone forever.”
Will slumped against the wall, running his hands through his hair. “Not gone forever? Stacy, that lake is huge! We’re talking about a tiny medallion in who-knows-how-many feet of water!”
Stacy placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, Will. We will. But right now, we need to stay calm.”
Will stared at her, his face pale. “Calm? I’m stuck like this indefinitely, and you want me to stay calm?”
“Yes,” Stacy said firmly, locking eyes with him. “Because freaking out isn’t going to help us find it.”
Will let out a shaky laugh, leaning his head back against the wall. “This can’t be happening. This can’t actually be happening.”
Stacy squeezed his shoulder. “It’s happening. But we’ll get through it. Together.”
For a moment, they just sat there, the weight of the situation pressing down on them. Then Stacy gave his arm a small tug. “Come on. Let’s go eat breakfast and make a plan. We’re not solving anything on empty stomachs.”
