Cissie laughed and ruffled Bart's hair again. "If you cut your hair, it won't be nearly as much fun to do this. And honestly, I can't promise not to talk to Tim, since--I pretty much tell him everything these days," she said in a rush. "But I do promise to leave your dignity in tact." She hesitated a moment and then gave him a sheepish smile.

"In the spirit of honesty--I'm a little worried about you, but I'm also stuck on being happy that you're alive and back. So I'm not pushing and I'm focusing on the happy, rather than the worry," she admitted. "And it might take me some time to get used to you being... older. Because the Big Sister mentality is really hard to switch off."