That's when she cried. I'd never been faced with that dilemma before. Of course, I'd never gotten mindspeech from Lynx before, either—telling me to hold her and tell her that everything would be fine. I did that. It went a long way toward clearing up the waterworks and got me a tighter hug and a kiss. Who knew? Besides, it made my birthday better to know that I could help someone else instead of just getting stuff for myself. We drove to the mall in my new Jeep Rubicon, which was red and awesome, complete with the smell that new cars have. I let Lynx drive while I wedged myself in the back seat between Gina and her mother. There was a light in Gina's face that hadn't been there earlier, and I was grateful to be part of it. Halfway through our shopping trip, I sent mindspeech to Mom, telling her the cost was mounting. She told me to keep going. Lynx grinned—he'd been included in her return mindspeech. "Don't worry, kiddo," he crooked an arm around my neck. "It's for a really good cause and she can afford it." Mom called my cell phone before we left the mall, telling us that Dad was on his way to haul packages, and to bring Gina and her mother to the house.
