She emerges from her shower engaged in the now daily ritual of trying to use her fingers to comb out the tangles in her long, black hair. Jacob clears his throat and says, "Um...the Creep left you a present, I think." He reaches over and picks the hairbrush off the wooden chair and offers it to his daughter.

Megan squeals happily and her smile is so sweet and engaging, one could easily fall in love with her. "I can't believe it. He actually gave me a brush!" She spins and bounces around, joyfully, a beautiful sight that makes my slight effort worth the time spent a hundredfold. Megan looks up...