The damn rascal looks especially triumphant at that, as if with that single statement, she's completely won our verbal joust. It's time to end this, I will not be out smarted by a four year old damnit!
"Miranda, what have I taught you about stealing?"
Something in my tone must get her attention, as she drops the smile to respond, parroting my words back to me dutifully, "That we can't steal from family and we should only steal from strangers when we won't get caught."
I smile, "Precisely. Now, what is mommy?"
That gets a blink and a frown from Miranda, "She's… family?"
Ah, huh, not exactly where I was going with this, but I could see how she made the leap, "Yes, she is that, but she's also mine. She's my playmate, my pet, and my toy. So is Aunt Jessie for that matter. So when you make mommy think she's a cat, you're stealing my toy. And we don't steal from family, do we Miranda?"
Miranda scowls but I stare at her and after a moment she drops her gaze to the table, "No daddy… Aunt Jessie doesn't play right anyways… she doesn't do kitty as good as mommy."
Ah yes, that had been fun, when Miranda had first started controlling those around her, only for us to find that Jessica was quite immune to the little tyke. Not that Jessica didn't still try, she did her best to follow Miranda's orders as if they were my own. But Miranda was a smart kid, and she knew the difference between Mommy becoming a kitty and Auntie Jessie pretending to be one for her sake. My daughter was not a fan of anything less than the real deal.
Smiling, I've finally hit on the perfect way to solve all my problems, "Now, I have an offer for you sweetie. Would you like to hear it?"
Looking up from where she'd been staring into the table, she blinks, "Um, yes?"
Still smiling, I lay it out, "If you can be very good and eat not only your veggies tonight, but all of your veggies up to your fifth birthday in two months, as well as listen to mommy without ordering her around, I will give you something very special for your birthday. Your very own playmate."
Miranda is sharp, she catches the subtext given I just talked about it, and glances at Trish, "You mean like mommy?"
I chuckle at her tentative excitement, "Exactly love. Younger than mommy perhaps, closer to your age would be best I think. Perhaps even two playmates, if you're extra good. And they'll do whatever you want. You'll have to take care of them of course, if they get sick or hurt I may have to take them away from you… but beyond that, they'll be all yours. Does that sound good?"
Miranda considers this for a long moment before nodding slowly. Then she throws out, "But I still get ice cream for dessert right?"
I can't help it, I snort at that. Well, for a final concession, it's not the worst, "Yes love, eat your veggies and we'll have some chocolate chip cookie dough.
She grins toothily and proceeds to chow down. As Miranda attacks her veggies with a ferociousness she's literally never seen before, I turn to Trish, who at this point is getting a tad obscene, "Trish, revert to Personality Prime."
Yeah, Miranda had done this a bit too often, to the point that I had a contingency implanted specifically for this situation now. Trish blinked and a moment later went back to eating, her mind filling in the blanks with memories of passing off the veggie situation to me and sitting quietly while Miranda and I talked, all things cat related erased from her mind.
Getting Miranda a playmate wouldn't be difficult. There were plenty of orphanages around Singapore. We may have to shop around a bit to find a child she truly liked, but if she was anything like me, it would be the control she'd like most, not the look of the one she was controlling.
And honestly, if there was one thing I'd learned about my daughter in the past four years going on five, it was that she was exactly like me.