Starting Over at Four

The day my aunt, Renee Dover, came to visit, Dad sat Mom down and said, "The 180,000 in savings doesn't get touched. I don't care who asks for it. That money's for the kids."

What they did not realize was that Aunt Renee had been standing just outside the door, listening for quite some time.

I only learned the full truth in my previous life. Her boyfriend, Ray Dutton, had been hounding her for 180 grand to put toward the wedding.

She did not have the money, and my parents had already turned her down when she tried to borrow it.

Then she noticed my sister, Candace Bennett, sitting on the carpet, smiling that soft, sweet little smile of hers. Her eyes lit up.

"Come on, Mary, I'm not making this up. A kids' clothing brand is looking for child models. One day of shooting is 20 grand."

Mom paused mid-step, the grocery basket still in her hand. "Twenty grand?"

"Yeah!" Aunt Renee pulled Candy onto her lap. "How much do you and your husband even make in a month? That's enough to cover your living expenses for months."

She bounced Candy on her knee. "She's so adorable, and you're not going to let her do it? That's a waste."

My head went white.

No. I could not let her take Candy.

I threw myself off the couch and cracked my knee against the coffee table. Tears shot to my eyes, but I did not care.

I lunged forward and locked my arms around Candy's legs.

"She's not going!"

Candy flinched. "Levi?"

I held tighter. "Candy's not going! No photoshoots!"

The smile on Aunt Renee's face froze for just a second before she recovered. She bent down, her voice turning syrupy sweet. "What's wrong, Levi? Are you upset 'cause you wanna tag along with your sister?"

I lifted my head and glared at her. "Bad Aunt Renee!"

The living room went silent.

Mom frowned. "Levi, that's rude. You don't speak to your aunt like that."

Dad set his cup down. "Apologize to your aunt."

I shook my head, crying harder. "She's gonna sell Candy! You can't let Candy go with her!"

Aunt Renee's eyes turned red immediately. She looked at Mom, the picture of wounded innocence. "Mary, do you hear this? I'm trying to do something nice for Candy and he says I'm selling her?"

Mom pried me off Candy's legs. "Levi, you're just upset about being away from your sister, aren't you?"

I thrashed against her, reaching for Candy. "She's not going! Aunt Renee's bad!"

Every adult in the room was staring at me. None of them noticed me slip the phone watch off my wrist.

Dad had just bought it for me. It was blue, with a calling function and GPS tracking built in.

In my previous life, I had nothing like it. This time, the second I came back, I clung to Dad and begged until he caved and bought me one.

While Mom held me and tried to calm me down, I snuck the watch into Candy's sleeve. She looked down at it, confused. "Levi?"

I grabbed her small hand and fumbled the clasp around her wrist. The band was too big and hung loose on her tiny wrist, so I tugged her sleeve down to hide it.

"Keep it on. No matter what happens, never take it off, and don't let anyone see it."

Candy nodded without question.

Aunt Renee wiped her eyes and turned to Mom. "Mary, you're really going to take a four-year-old's word over mine?"

Our Nana called almost right away. Mom put her on speaker, and Nana's voice rang through the room loud and clear.

"Renee is Candy's own aunt. You think she'd hurt her? Levi's just a kid being overprotective of his baby sister. He probably wants to tag along and play too. You're not seriously taking his word over hers, are you?"