Dolly looked over at the slumped over form of a teenage girl sleeping at her desk. Katie had been falling asleep at her desk a lot recently, textbooks and half finished homework serving as her pillows.

With a soft sigh and the sounds of rustling fabric, Dolly stood up from her place on the shelf she shared with Moppet. Moppet was also beginning to rouse from her own rest. Their girl needed them still, even after all these wonderful years.

“She’s out cold, huh?” Moppet asked, her voice a little raspy. It always was, though it’s closer to a squeak when Moppet is mad.

“Yes, it appears so,” Dolly replied while shaking her head. “It can’t possibly be good for her back, sleeping like that.”

“Probably not, but she’s way too big for us to move to her bed. Maybe if our Katie was a toddler again,” Moppet said before moving to jump off of the shelf.

Dolly leaned over the edge and watched as Moppet landed on Katie’s unmade bed, rolling down the large pillows for a moment. She caught herself though, before she got to the edge and stood up, smoothing down her rumpled skirt and neatening her red yarn hair.

Dolly laughed to herself, a quiet sound made quieter still as she placed a porcelain hand over her mouth.

It was always fun to see how unfazed Moppet always was when it came to the falling part of taking leaps.

Dolly was never so good with falls, but she was made of porcelain so she had a bit of an excuse.

“Alright Dolly, I’m movin’ her big bendy lamp this time, the one with the flowers painted on it,” Moppet announced as she started to push the lamp on Katie’s bedside table. Once it was close enough, Dolly very carefully climbed onto it. It shook for a moment, but it didn’t give. It never had before. Dolly doubted it ever would.

Once Dolly and Moppet were both on the bed, they seized a throw blanket that Katie kept at the foot of her bed and pulled it to the edge. Then, hand in hand, they slid down the blanket like a child would on a playground slide.

After reaching the floor, the two of them went about the familiar motions of picking themselves up and straightening out their clothes.

“Alright, let's get this up onto her, so she at least doesn’t catch a cold,” Dolly said while giving the blanket a little tug. It easily fell the rest of the way off of the bed and she worked to gather it up in her arms.

“Dolly, the house is always kept warm, I don’t think she’s goin’ to catch a cold,” Moppet told Dolly, but she made her way over to Katie’s bookshelf nonetheless.

It had changed over the years, the bookshelf started out a pale pink, as was most of Katie’s room during the early years. Then, when Katie was eight, it was painted purple and covered in dinosaur stickers. Eight year old Katie absolutely loved purple and dinosaurs, but for some reason didn’t like Barney. Something about him needing feathers.

And finally, it was painted a dark blue with gold accents. It has stayed that way since Katie repainted it when she was fourteen. It held adventure books and stacks of filled out notebooks and sketchbooks.

It was also easy to climb. 

Moppet had to do a little jump in order to reach, but once she did she was able to easily haul herself up. She turned to take the blanket from Dolly after she had gotten up high enough that she could immediately set the blanket on the desk next to Katie's arm. 

Dolly began climbing up as soon as she was sure that the blanket wouldn’t fall. She was able to easily reach the shelf and pull herself up, as she was much taller than Moppet. 

Once she was up and on the desk next to the shelf, Dolly seized a corner of the blanket before carefully making her way across the cluttered desk. She picked her way through the scattered pencils and crumpled papers. 

“Are you ready, Moppet?” Dolly asked, her voice quiet, just above a whisper. 

“Ready,” Moppet answered with a nod

“Alright. One, two, three!” At that, the two dolls lift the blanket and drape it around Katie’s shoulders and Dolly carefully tucked it under her arm. She took a moment to brush Katie’s hair out of her face before stepping back. 

Moppet started going through the loose papers all over the desk. She had always been rather nosy, and Katie had long since grown out of the phase where she told them everything. Moppet was of the opinion that if she was going to learn something, she’d have to investigate.

“Look at all these numbers! And there’s letters! How do they expect her to do all of this everyday after bein’ at that awful school all day? It’s no wonder she’s been passin’ out at her desk so much!” Moppet stomped her foot, very purposely stomping on a particularly difficult equation.

“Hush, Moppet, you’re going to wake up our Katie up and the poor girl is exhausted already,” Dolly chided with her hands on her hips.

“Don’t worry about wakin’ her up, she can and has slept through hurricanes. What we should be worried about is how we’re goin’ to get those hardheaded teachers to lay off a little!” Moppet quipped back, stomping on the half finished math homework once more.

“Oh Moppet, you care so much, and I love you for that, but our Katie can handle a little homework. We just need to help make sure she rests well whenever we can,” Dolly said with a little sigh and shake of her head, her curls bouncing. 

“She is really smart,” Moppet admitted with a small, but very proud smile. 

“Come on, there are many hours left in this night, let's go for a walk.” Moppet nodded and made her way to the edge of the desk, where the bookshelf was closest. 

Dolly followed, being far more careful than Moppet was. Dolly was always very aware of things such as tripping hazards or anything that could possibly make a lot of noise. Moppet was far less careful, but thankfully she didn’t slip on a pencil or trip over an erasure. 

Moppet climbed down first, then Dolly after her. 

“Should we ask Corduroy to keep an eye on her?” Moppet asked once they were on the floor once again.

“No, I think Katie will be fine, we shouldn’t wake up Corduroy for no reason,” Dolly replied as she took hold of Moppet’s hand.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the bedroom, thankfully Katie left her door open to let the dog in and out at will. It was handy because without climbing on Katie’s desk chair, it would be impossible to go on their almost nightly walks.

There weren’t any lights on, but the window in the upstairs hallway had its curtain open and the light from the streetlights spilled in. It was more than enough for Dolly and Moppet to see by though, as they were more than used to navigating the Miller home.

It had been the same place Katie had lived in her entire life, although both Dolly and Moppet had lived in another before the Miller home.

Katie’s mother had found them in an antique store, shortly before Katie was born. They had been placed in Katie’s room, way back when it was her nursery.

They’ve been looking over Katie her entire life, protecting her from nightmares and guarding her from the monsters in her closet and under her bed. They’ve watched her grow up, from a crying infant to a boisterous toddler to a bratty preteen and all the way through her teenage years.

Now they were watching her get ready to graduate highschool.

While Moppet was not particularly fond of the amount of work Katie was being given, she ultimately knew that Katie could in fact handle it. She had watched that girl grow up and she knew in her heart that Katie could tackle any problem and come out on top.

Dolly, on the other hand, was always secretly worried about Katie. While she had also watched Katie grow up, she knew that the world was big and dangerous. And Katie was a person, and people can be hurt and even broken. She didn’t want that for Katie.

But the both of them had seen the college brochures, they knew she was getting ready to be a part of the big wide world. And while neither of them were ready to let her go, it was for very different reasons.

The upstairs hallway of the Miller home was lined with framed photos hanging on the walls. They documented life over the years for the Miller family. Photos from birthdays and holidays and trips. Most of the photos had pictures of younger versions of Katie, immortalizing her braces and acne, princess birthday parties and gap toothed smiles. All of Dolly’s and Moppet’s favorite versions of their favorite girl.

Katie’s parents were also often in the photos. Katie got her big brown eyes from her mother, and her hooked nose from her father. The freckles she had when she was younger was probably to be blamed on the both of them. But in any case, Katie was obviously theirs and they were hers.

As dolls, it took both Dolly and Moppet time to learn to appreciate such things, they didn’t have parents after all. But as time had passed, they both could see how Katie was this wonderful mix of her parents and learned to appreciate how she seemed to be the best of both worlds.

“Moppet, do you ever think about what life is going to be like when Katie goes to college?” Dolly asked, finally acknowledging the very thing she knew the two of them had been avoiding speaking about. 

“Sometimes,” Moppet admitted, turning her head to look up at Dolly. The porcelain doll was nearly twice the height of Moppet, who was a ragdoll that many figured was a knock-off Raggedy Ann.

“Sometimes?” Dolly prompted, turning her own head to look down at Moppet. She could feel Moppet’s hand tighten around hers for a brief moment, but she knew the pressure would never be enough to cause her hand to crack.

“Yeah, like how we’re goin’ to be all alone in that room, ‘cept for Corduroy that is, but he isn’t a great conversationalist.” 

“Katie doesn’t talk to us anymore,” Dolly said, gently reminding Moppet. “She hasn’t since she was six, which is when children generally begin to stop speaking with us and forget that we’re there for them.”

“I know, I know, it's just, it’s gonna be quiet is all I’m sayin’,” Moppet replied with a sigh. She was right of course, when it would finally be time for Katie to head off to college, it was going to be rather quiet in the Miller home.

“You’re right, it will be.”

For the next couple of minutes, the two of them walked in relative silence, still hand in hand. They didn’t worry about the dog waking up and chasing them around, he was old and very used to their late night walks. Katie’s parents were also very sound sleepers, much like their daughter.

So Dolly and Moppet were free to talk and wander as much as they liked, even if their conversations died out rather quickly when they both had a lot on their minds.

It was slow going, when they got to the stairs, as Moppet needed a hand getting down them without falling, and Dolly had to be very careful to avoid tripping and breaking.

So slowly but surely they made their way down the stairs, pausing to take a break when they reached the bottom step.

“You’d think we’d be askin’ for too much if we asked for an elevator,” Moppet muttered, turning to look back up the looming mountain of stairs.

“We probably would be, Moppet, seeing as they all think we’re inanimate objects,” Dolly replied with a rueful smile. 

“Bah, they’ll get a grip with a couple conversations,” Moppet said with a dismissive wave of her cloth hand and Dolly laughed, covering her mouth with her own hand.

Moppet smiled when she saw Dolly laugh, then she took one last jump and landed on the hardwood floor, nearly falling over but catching herself at the last second.

Dolly clapped lightly for a moment as Moppet bowed with a wide grin, then the porcelain doll held onto the banister as she slowly stepped down to the floor. Which then prompted Moppet to clap for her and pulled another laugh from Dolly.

For a wonderful minute, all of their combined worries about their girl faded and it was just them out on another walk, talking and laughing. 

But the bubble they had slipped into seemingly burst as the two of them began making their way to the backdoor. Once again the walls were lined with framed photos and the occasional painting. All bursting at the seams with memories that Dolly and Moppet couldn’t help but get swept up in. 

Both let their minds wander as they walked, sifting through their favorite memories, or most pressing concerns.

“Do you think she’s ready?” Dolly asked, eventually breaking the almost silence in the Miller home.

“What do ya mean Dolly?”

“Do you think Katie is ready for, well, the world? It’s big and dangerous and homework is one thing, but college? Being all grown up?” Dolly grabbed her parasol from where she kept it tucked behind the dog’s automatic feeder. It was easier to keep it there rather than worry about bringing it down the stairs nearly every night.

“Dolly, our girl is ready, it’s the world that needs to be worried,” Moppet said firmly, resting her hand on Dolly’s shoulder. Dolly couldn’t argue with Moppet, not about this.

Before, years and years before, she and Moppet would get into near constant fights. They’d argue on how to support Katie, way back when she was a baby. They had to learn to work together, and while doing that, they learned to love.

Love is something that’s so inherent in humans, but not quite so for toys, for dolls. Typically they learn from their humans, mimic a clumsy type of love that is reminiscent of a reflection from a shattered mirror.

But Dolly and Moppet have more or less gotten the hang of things like love and cooperation and communication. 

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”

Dolly nodded and pushed open the doggy door, it was never locked so it swung open with very little effort. She held it open for Moppet, walking out after her and opening her parasol outside.

The garden was messy and wild by garden standards, plants grew past their beds, weeds were slowly overtaking the cucumber’s patch of garden. Most of the flowers had closed up for the night, so while most of the garden was shades of green awash in blue from the bug zapper hanging from the back porch, with the occasional pop of color from chipped garden gnomes.

Moppet led the way through the sprawling garden, easily ducking under branches and leaves. It was a little more difficult for Dolly to traverse the garden, as she was much taller than Moppet. She utilized her parasol to make following the rag doll easier, knocking aside leaves and low hanging branches so she wouldn’t have to duck so much.

Slowly, bit by bit, the two of them made their way to their favorite part of the garden.

Nestled between two Lavender Rhododendron bushes was a small stone bench that was slowly being overtaken by moss. There were a handful of stone statues around it, the closest was a little stone dragon statue with a mostly worn away face. The eyes were long gone, taken by time and the elements, it had been there even before Katie’s parents had moved in.

Moppet and Dolly sat on the stone bench, side by side. 

“Dolly, I have a question for you,” Moppet announced, nearly as soon as the two of them had been settled.

“Ask whatever you wish to ask,” Dolly told her as she closed her parasol and held it in her lap.

“Do you think that this could be forever?”