#( SEDUCE MAZIE AWAY FROM HER UNDESERVING HUSBAND )

[lcfthaunted]

open

Alice was five months when John Henry disappeared, and now Mazie’s planning how to celebrate her first birthday. It’s far from the first time she’s been left behind with no warning, even setting aside the decades of searching, but now they have a child, and she’s furious. It’s not like they have very many people left, after all; Jeremy and Xavier disappeared into Black Badge and the Earps are gone, her husband along with them. She only has Nicole and Rachel now, though she’s sure some gifts may appear for Allie from their friends who can’t be near them anymore. Still, far from what she’d expected when she first learned of her pregnancy.

Mazie’s fury spikes at the most inconvenient of times, like standing in the sparsely-stocked grocery store trying to decide what to make for Allie’s birthday. Daughter on her hip, her eyes fill with angry tears as she glares at a box of snickerdoodle mix—not that she would sink to box mix, but the reminder of old plans and new realities crash over her. Clutching Allie close, she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to wrangle her emotions under control again, before sharply turning away from the box mix and nearly running into someone else. “Oh—!” She checks her daughter first to be sure the girl is unharmed before turning her attention to the other. “I’m terribly sorry, I really ought to pay more attention to my surroundings.”