Samantha didn't try to struggle as Veronica pulled the dress onto her, followed by white knee socks and saddle shoes. The dress clung to her gut, the seams ready to break every time she breathed while the shoes squeezed her feet like a pair of vises. She didn't bother to complain, knowing it would do no good. "You look wonderful," Veronica said. "But we've got to do something about your hair."
Samantha followed her meekly to a rock. Veronica combed the tangles from Samantha's hair with such violence that Samantha imagined she would end up bald. She cried out with each stroke, which only prompted Veronica to comb harder. By the time she finished, the lace collar of Samantha's dress was wet with tears. "Don't worry, Mommy, we're almost done."
She put Samantha's hair into bouncy curls just as Becky had used to do for Molly, a skill Samantha never mastered. When Veronica finished, she studied Samantha for a moment. "Something's missing. Oh, I know." From the burlap sack she took out a bow the same color as the dress. She tied it onto the back of Samantha's head and nodded. "Perfect."
Then she held up a mirror. For the first time Samantha saw her face, with the apple cheeks and head of black curls. She patted the bow that stretched the length of her head.
She really was a baby now. Nothing she could do would change that. Even if Joseph saw her, he would just think she was another toddler, not the woman he loved and who loved him. By the time she was old enough to date boys again, Joseph would be in his thirties. He would probably have a family by then, another woman he'd fallen in love with.
Her life on Seabrooke was over. Everything that had happened, all the things she'd done, they had been erased in seconds by the Fountain of Youth-by Veronica. Now, trapped in this tiny body, in these adorable clothes, what could she do? Nothing. I'm three years old, she thought. Today I'm three years old.
She wiped the tears from her fat cheeks and smiled to expose a pair of dimples. "I wook so pretty. I wuv you, Mama Vewonica," she said. She hugged Veronica, who kissed her on the forehead.
"Come on, everyone's in town waiting for us."
"Oh boy," Samantha said. She took Veronica's hand and skipped towards town. Today I'm three years old. I'm a big girl now, she thought.