Kat5

I just double checked my notes. Mike visits tonight, then a quiet day, then the weekend with the Kats.

I tried copy/paste into a notecard, changed the font,t hen changed it back and re-pasted it back in here. I think that worked? It's amazing how these things happen. To err is human, to really mess things up, you need a computer. I know one man that will argue that the serving size of oreos is "When it hurts to pick them up, eat one more." So if it helps, I'm following the rule of thumb of "Size x 1.8-2.2" and sort of winging it. A beagle can be up to 16" tall at the shoulder. I know one beagle in Real Life that has two settings: "Hey you, rub my belly" and "I am SPEED." so the thought of a 32" tall little seeking fur-rocket would have me hiding behind a bigs leg.

I'm tryign to figure out what's different, I didn't change a single thing and it's gone wonky. It's not helping that my eyesight keeps getting worse, sorry!

Chapter Fifty One Sitting in the shopping cart outside the store, John fidgeted impatiently as he watched Amanda pour the water out of his toddler cup, careful to leave the ice in. He also made sure to keep his hands on the rail in front of him. When he heard what Nana Claire’s job was, he had accidentally bitten the pacy. Well okay, it hadn’t been an accident per se, he bit down on it to avoid blurting out a bad word. The pacy did its job, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t annoying. Mommy had glanced at him and even nodded at him in approval. He even played friendly while the cashier put a sticker of a giraffe in a hat on his shirt. But the moment they started walking away he started to reach up to grab the pacy and his hand was intercepted between thumb and forefinger and a whispered warning “Don’t touch, or you’ll start the timer.” kept him from trying again. However, it was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to grab the pacy. It didn’t even inflate that much, but somehow it was like it grabbed his teeth and would not let go. By the time she was done pouring some Sprinten Up into his cup and sat it next to him, his knuckles were starting to turn white from the effort of squeezing the handle of the cart so that he wouldn’t get carried away with his breathing hard. Finally, even though it had only been a couple of minutes to get out of the store and roll the cart to the car, she reached over and squeezed two spots on the pacy and held. After two seconds it let go of all of his teeth all at once and did that oddly pleasant electrical sensation that somehow made him want to keep it in. Weird. Immediately after pulling the pacy out of his mouth and letting it dangle by the strap, she leaned down and wrapped him up in a hug and then kissed him on top of the head. “I’m very proud of you, you know.” Looking up, he asked “Hmm?” That got him a kiss on the forehead before she explained “You stayed so calm the whole time, and then you used the pacy to keep from getting in trouble, and you waited patiently for us to get out of the store so that I could deactivate it. I think you deserve a little treat for that.” Smiling now at being praised, even if being for something you would praise a child for spoiled it a bit, he gave her a smirk “If you insist, We can get hot wings on the way home.” Suddenly a finger gave him a gentle poke on the forehead “Our Hot wings might actually put you in the hospital. And fried and sauced wings might also make you throw up. Tell you what, I’ll make you something easy on your stomach, give you a bit of medicine, and then you can have one peanut butter cookie, and one chocolate chip cookie.” A smirk started to grow, but before he could even open his mouth she held up a finger and said “Not bargaining right now.” Before he realized it he had already slumped and mumbled “Yes Mom.” Finally, he was lifted out of the shopping cart and slid into the carseat. Before she buckled him, she checked his diaper and frowned. She offered his cup to him and he took it happily. As she shut the door he was already taking a great big drink the Spriten Up. Fizzy soda? Check. Hint of lemon? Check. Hint of lime? Check. Oh so slightly sweet? Double Check. It tasted exactly like someone had mixed sprite and 7 up half and replaced the corn syrup with actual sugar. It was almost better than both sodas on their own, and it was just familiar enough to make him nostalgic for home. Home. John sighed before taking another big drink. The car door behind him shut and he heard a gentle warning: “Don’t drink too fast and throw up.” Sadly, that warning was probably needed, so he took a sip and waited a bit before taking another sip while she drove. By the time he had taken five swigs of Spriten Up, he felt the car turning and them come to a stop. When she got out, he took another swig of his soda before she could open his door. Wearing a motherly smile, she asked “Well, do you like the drink?” He nodded and held it out saying “This tastes really great, you should try a sip!” “You know what?” She said as she took the cup “I think I will, to see what you like.” She took a pretty good sized drink and then froze in place. He watched her left eye clamp shut, her right eye twiched and her entire face looked comically scrunched up like she had somehow taken a bite of something both far too sweet and far too sour at the same time. Mom disappeared from his view for a moment and he could hear her swallow loudly and made a funny sound as she did a full body shudder. Coming back into view, she had the most obvious fake smile possible plastered on her face and her left eye was still twitching. “Yep. That is one really good drink. I’m glad you like it. Is it helping your tummy?” After chuckling for a moment, he stopped to think for a moment and admitted “Actually … yes.” Nodding while she unbuckled him, Mom said “That’s good news. We’re still going to play it safe with your lunch today. Here, let’s leave this cup here safely in the carseat while we slip into this store for just a moment to do something.” While she picked him up and slung the diaper bag, he noticed that they were back at the pet store, and there were about ten cars in the parking lot. “Umm… Mommy?” “Yes, sweety?” she asked as she got her arm under his bottom to hold him up. There was a definite squishiness between her arm and his bottom.. “Why are we back at the pet store?” With a smirk she explained “Well, since I didn’t check and change you at the grocery store, you’re not going to make it home without leaking. And since I don’t want to scrub the carseat with a wet rag again, we’re going into the pet store on the way home and you get to pick a chew toy for Xerxes.” “And I get to pet all the animals?” As they passed through the doors, he noticed the same pretty brunette at the register with no customers. And she obviously recognized him as she started smiling and waved at him. By the time they had walked past her, the young woman had a roll of stickers on top of the register and SUCH a mischievous grin. John heard a clacking of claws on the other side of Mommy and tried to *lean* so hard to see around her to see the dog. The man and woman he saw going past with the dog didn’t matter, he wanted to see the dog. But he never got a peek. Rounding the corner, he was carried into the womens restroom. Immediately he blushed again. Something about a guy being carried into a womens restroom never felt right. Regardless of his inner feelings, a plastic changing table made for people bigger than him was folded down when he was placed on it he involuntarily gasped as the cold plastic immediately got him, even through his shirt. Canvas strap over his chest pinning his arms to his sides, and his shoes were off in seconds. Mommy was becoming a pro at this, and as his shorts came off, even more of his legs came into contact with the plastic and he started to shiver. “W-wh-why isthissocold!?” he barely got out in one breath. “Let’s see If this one is heated…” She started looking at the top part of the wall as she said softly to him. There was a large hard plastic ledge at the top, and she must have been looking at some buttons or something that he couldn’t see above it, because she reached out and poked something three or four times. Each time her finger moved he heard a soft beep. Smiling at him she explained “Sorry sweety, the ones at the pet store don’t get used as often, so this one apparently doesn’t warm automatically like the one at the grocery store.” By the time she had finished her explanation, the plastic was starting to warm up. Slightly. She perused the buttons again and observed “There’s a button up here marked ‘Relax’ if you want to see what it does.” If he hadn’t been strapped down, he would have shrugged, so instead he settled for saying “Sure?” With a simple nod and the statement “We’ll try the lowest setting”, she poked a button that he could not see and set about changing his diaper. It took a few seconds for him to notice anything, but when he did it felt like sound waves of some sort rippling through his body. It was strange in that it felt like his muscles started to just get softer as they relaxed. The button said relax, and relax he did. By the time the diaper change was over, his entire body felt limber in ways that did not make sense to him. He wasn’t even able to aim his feet into the leg holes as Mommy pulled his shorts back up. When she pulled on his shoes and tied them, he started to feel like his body was drunk, even if he himself was not. Once the strap was unbuckled, John tried to sit up, but failed. Mom dind’t even notice as she picked him up and got him up into his usual place on her hip. His head flopped limply against her chest. Walking out of the bathroom, they found another Big mother waiting patiently outside the door with her own little. The little man on her hip had a pacifier in his mouth and two hands full of her shirt in his hands. It was obvious that he was trying to push himself away from her and squeeze her side as hard as he could with his knees. He looked like he was seething, but did not dare to actually try to hurt her directly. The giant blonde waited patiently for them to move out of the way, leaving John several moments to look at the little she was holding. He had hair tht perfecly matched hers, Strangely he had freckles that didn’t seem like they belonged on an adult. For a brief moment their eyes met. The other littles jaw clenched for a moment and then he nodded at John. It just sort of seemed that the was fed up with the woman, but was afraid of making her angry. So John did the only thing he could think to, he nodded back. They quickly parted ways with the unknown woman and Mommy zig zagged through the aisles in a way that you can only do when you’re familiar with a place. She was taking them toward the door, but suddenly she stopped and whispered “John.” He immediately looked up at her, saw that she was looking something and turned his head. And there in front of them was a large circular wall. Well, okay it was waist high on the amazons behind the other side watching. So it was a small wall to them. But inside this wall there were two dogs and one tall, slender Amazon man. One dog was obviously a large beagle. Which seemed contradictory, but here we are. The other dog though? The Single biggest Saint Bernard conceivable. To John, Xerxes was the size of a small horse. And if Xerxes was a horse, this mountain of brown and white fur seemed just as big as a small elephant. Watching for a few moments, they got to watch an obedience course. The trainer put them through their paces for a full minute. The Beagle was always in a hurry to do the commands as fast as possible, where the St Bernard did everything asked of her in her own time. If anyone else was in a rush, it clearly wasn’t her problem. And John could not stop staring at her in fascination. After a minute or so the trainer noticed them and waved “Hello there! Are you enjoying the class?” Before he could say anything, Mommy chimed in by saying “I think John here is enamored with that Saint Bernard.” The tall and slender man stepped over and snuked down at John before speaking to Mommy “Well, if their owners are okay with it, I think that Bernadette is ready to see how she does with Littles. Mickie is a bit of a firecracker though." And so after the man walked over to explicitly get permission from the owners, a brunette woman went through the gate into the training area and knelt down with her hand on the back of the Beagle and started trying to give him a talk of some sort. Mommy leaned over the rail and put him down on his own feet. Trying to stand up on straight, the effects of the ‘relax’ setting on the changing table made themselves known as John toddled side to side for a second and fell on his butt. Leaning forward, he put his hands on the floor and spent a moment getting his knees in place and slowly stood up. It was like his entire body was drunk and no matter how hard he tried, it simply would not do what he told it to do. So he barely kept his balance as he toddled a few steps toward the mountain of dog in front of him. But halfway there he found himself on his butt again. There were apparently three people watching because John heard three different people say “Awww” and one of them walked over to talk to Amanda to make small talk. For the dog trainers part, he didn’t seem like a little having trouble walking and moving was even remotely unusual. Quite the contrary, every time John got back up, he seemed impressed that a little ‘could’ stand up. Before he could get back up the third time, the dog came and laid down next to him, smelling loudly all over his face with nose the size of his first, and a mouth bigger than his arms. After a few moments of being smelled down, the Saint Benard laid down next to John and then just watched him. So, witht h opportunity in front of him, he scratched at the dogs side and then got a handful of fur and carefully used the dog to help him stand up. He was afraid of hurting the dog, but frankly he probably couldn’t have hurt this magnificent beast if he had tried. The trainer chimed in “Don’t worry little boy, Bernadette here is very gentle with littles. She won’t hurt you.” John had to take a deep, calming breath to keep himself from mouthing off. But once he had mostly calmed down he went in and tried to hug the great gentle giant around her neck. John grimaced as he got drooled on more than a bit, but it was a small price to pay to hug this dog. Wobbling a bit with his still unsteady muescles, he stepped back a bit and asked the trainer “How big is she?” The large man blinked for a moment as though he didn’t understand the question, or more importantly, the source of a clearly spoken sentence. Eventually he answred “Oh! Well, she’s sixty four inches at the shoulder, and just over four hundred pounds. Do you know how many that is?” John simply nodded along and looked up “Mom, how much bigger is she than Xerxes?” Mommy laughed for a moment before answering “She’s well ove rone and a half Xerxe’s. She’s pretty big.” He nodded again and asked “How tall am I here?” With a patient smile she answered him “You are four foot eight inches here.” John nodded and thought for a moment “So she’s only a half a foot taller than I am?” Mommy shook her head and answered “No sweety, you measure a dog at the shoulder.” The trainer pointed and said “Exactly! Here, let’s stand her up.” And then the man snapped his fingers and said up. With a huff the giant Bernadette lumbered up to her feet and John found himself awestruck in one moment. And in the next moment he heard the brunette giant from his right. She shouted “Mickey NO!” And then he was body checked by a thirty two inch tall beagle shaped missile, which sent him falling over backward onto the thick rubber mat. Next thing he knew, John was flat on his back and being licked all over on his face. Ten seconds later the beagle was licking the air as he was picked up by the trainer, and the Brunette was picking him up as his own Mommy came running around the wall. After being held up between the two of them and rotated like as they both prodded at him and inspected him for any new booboos, he was taken fully back by his own Mommy and held securely in his rightful spot on her hip. He could hear “I’m SO sorry, We are having Mickey trained because LPS says we need him trained before we can adopt a little.” But once he noticed Bernadette plodding over to him and smelling his leg to make sure he was okay, the giants didn’t exist anymore, he grabbed a handful of Mommy’s shirt with one hand and leaned down to scratch at an ear with his left hand. He still felt uncoordinated, but he did okay showing his affection to the lovable behemoth. After a couple of minutes of the bigs talking, mommy patted him on the butt and said “Okay John, say goodbye to the nice doggy. It’s time for us to go. The groceries are in an insulated bag, but it only lasts so long.” “Awww” John complained for a moment before giving the great big dog a couple of pats on the head and telling her “Bye Bernadette!” The fact that he had not acknowledged the bigs never occurred to him. Nor did it matter. Bernadette was SO big and sweet. On the way out of the store, Mommy snagged a bone for Xerxes to chew on without ven slowing down. As though she’d bought several of that exact bone from that exact bin every month. While they were in line, he could see the blonde woman from at the bathroom in front of them. And in the shopping cart was the same blonde little. Only now in place of the little with balled up fists and a defiant demeanor… That same little now was flopped limply to one side. He tried to grab at the hand rail, but one uncoordinated hand movement later the little struggled to sit himself up. He moved more like a tired infant than a grown adult. And then if dawned on him. John realized that his own limpness came from whatever that changing table did to him, and Mommy said she used the lowest setting. What he was seeing must have been the result of the highest setting. OR… the thought occurred to him that he hoped it didn’t have a higher setting than what he was looking at as the little in the shopping cart locked eyes with John. The defiance was still there, but he looked so tired. But after a few moments, the blonde woman and her little were done and heading out of the door. Out of sight, but not out of Johns mind. Once at the front of the checkout line, Mommy exchanged spme hand gestures behind his back and by the tim ehe caught onto what was happening, he was back on the conveyor belt. As the belt rolled him forward, he tried to get up onto all fours and crawl away from the checkout, but he never stood a chance. As he reached the front and the belt stopped. As soon as he moved a bit, the belt moved. He crawled in place for a moment before he was picked up and rotated to be sitting on the price scanner, face to face with the same gorgeous 20 yr old brunette woman with a big toothy grin leveled at him. “Hello again little boy!” she said with the sound of genuine excitement in her voice. John gave a little floppy wave and smiled. It was impossible to resist getting caught up in this young woman's smile. She reached out to ruffle his hair and said “My name is Amica, what is your name?” His own smile growing a bit more genuine, he answered “John.” Master of the English language when confronted with a twelve foot tall brown haired beauty, John was. Amica rubbed her hands together briefly as her grin became more mischievous. “Well John, I have a SUPER important task for you. I need you to pick one of these stickers for me to put on you. And then I’m going to get excited and put more on you anyway.” John rolled his eyes so hard the back of his head bumped the screen behind him before he looked at the roll of stickers and pointed a bit awkwardly at one sticker and said “Cartoon duck, please” Peeling it off, she said “One Howie the Duck, for the cutest little man!” and put it on the front middle of his shirt right next to the giraffe sticker from the grocery store. Then, as he was picked up by Mommy, there was a 'thump' as something his his bottom and both giants had a little giggle at the extra sticker now on his butt. Now paid up and on their way, out the door, Amica blew him a kiss. Once they reached the car, Mommy slid him into his carseat and gave him a kiss on the forehead and whispered “Someone is certainly popular with the ladies.”

Life hasn't been terribly giving as of late, but I'm working on it a little but every night. I'm also trying to make sure I make it a quality chapter, don't want to rush it or make a big giant word salad. But most importantly, I'm glad to have the privilege of sharing a decent quality story with y'all! (Edit: I am actually almost done with Chapter 51. I won't offer spoilers to this one, not even to tease Guillend.)

I am absolutely beside myself to have read this! Thank you kindly for the update, I enjoyed this immensely!

Hey, life happens and I, for one, will happily wait for your next chapter. I have enjoyed this story immensely. And there's no problem from me with waiting for an author that's sharing an experience being a bit side tracked by real life. I hope that things go well, and even if your padding does not stay dry, I hope that the rest of you can stay mostly dry. (Edit to admit: I for one definitely don't have any room to complain about any delays after three weeks due to some seriously bad luck.)

Those eyes are still staring into my soul. It's hilarious.

The way I see it, this way it is neither sprite, nor 7 up. So the reader can just imagine that it tastes like whichever they prefer. I have a way with words, but I'm willing to admit that it's not a good way with words.

Confession time: I am a frequent consumer of hit double strength green tea, and the occasional black tea. I would hope dearly to butter up my big to supply me with a steady stream of hot tea. To me, it's the ultimate win-win from a business standpoint. If you think about it, she keeps people coming back. First by moving her stores sales days up a day ahead of the other stores, and second by 'helping' Littles learn their place and conveniently sharing kid-like recipes and such with the parents to keep the Littles eating foods and meals that seem to fit the ideal stereotype they want. It just so happens that any little that earns her ire gets a sample of chocolate, and she let's rhe rest sort itself out. (Yes, I fleshed out her character in my notes all the way back in chapter ten. She may pop up from time to time.) I think this really tells that the most skilled mean people will disguise themselves perfectly as the nicest people.

While she is obviously superbly school "All littles should know their place/be subservient to Bigs" you have to admit that she is very good at what she does.

Chapter Fifty Amanda took a deep breath and sighed. Reclined in the rocking chair with John on her, he was finally back asleep. Gently stroking his back, she asked in a whisper “How can something so sweet and so easy to take care of normal be so hard to take care of when he gets sick?” Patting his butt one more time in his sleep, she slumped. The diarrhea wasn’t completely done yet. As she eased out of the chair and started toward the bedroom, she kissed him on top of his head in his sleep. For a full day he hadn’t held down any solid food, only cold milk stayed down, and nursing straight from the tap wasn’t going to work. At one point she’d had to pin him on the couch with one leg and use the breast pump, put a couple of ice cubes in the bottle to swirl it around, and then pull him into her lap and hold him in place while making him take what milk she could get into him. Wobbling a bit in place while she changed his diaper, it took a bit longer than it would if she’d have gotten more rest, but she did manage to get him cleaned and slathered generously in rash cream just in case. She wound up standing in front of his crib with the rail down thinking very seriously about putting him in the bed with her before deciding against it and getting him laid down. As one last precaution, she swapped his blanket for a towel. Just in case. Practically doing a zombie-like shuffle to her computer desk, she sleepily updated her notes. “Son broke his fever after a little bit over 36 hours from the time his symptoms showed up. Does not seem to remember most of being sick and mumbled about chinchilla invading in his sleep.” A movement to her left caught her eye and she added to her notes “Dog is dragging his bed into sons room. Goofy dog is being quiet and thinks he’s being sneaky. Have not slept, If anyone ever reads this, pray that your littles don’t catch this bug. I have changed his diaper fifteen times. Nanite rash cream is a godsend.” Powering off her computer, she zombie shuffled to the kitchen to set the coffee maker to come on automatically in the morning an hour earlier than she usually made coffee. Also just in case. Finally shuffling toward her bed to hopefully sleep more than the four hours total she had in the last two days, she stopped and looked back to the kitchen as she mumbled “We have to go to the store in the morning. Ugh.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John woke up feeling much better even if most of his body felt sore from the inside. With a mighty yawn he sat up, grimacing at the contents of his diaper, and rubbed at his face sleepily. There next to him was his pillow, but oddly there was a towel draped over it. No matter, onto it he flopped. With one last mighty yawn he did his best to doze back off to sleep uninterrupted once again. Half an hour later he realized that he was starting to wake up when he felt himself being lifted. Instead of reacting in any way, he made a game of staying completely limp aside from barely cracking one eye open to see a little bit while he groaned involuntarily. All throughout the entire diaper change his entire body was limp. Eyes closed again, he was carried off to the couch where Mommy laid down and got him comfortable on top of him and they got a bit more rest together. With no sense of time, he had no way to know that he had been gotten up early. He just rested his head on her chest while he dozed back off. Eventually, he could feel himself being tilted upward as Mommy sat up and got him shuffled around. A gentle pat on the back to get his attention. From above him came the whisper “Come on sweety, let’s see how you’re feeling today before we head to the town.” John tilted his head upward and opened his left eye slightly to look at her before groaning and flopping his head back against her left breast. Feeling her get up and carry him against her hip, he stayed mostly limp as she somehow managed to get some toast going using only one free hand. In fact, he stayed mostly motionless all the way up until he was deposited in a booster seat and pushed up to the table. A piece of buttered toast and a sippy cup of juice were placed in front of him, but since he had just gotten over being sick he had absolutely no appetite. But not eating wasn’t allowed as she picked up the piece of toast and held it up in front of him. “Just take at least a few bites and drink some juice. We’re going to town to get you something easy on your stomach..” “Coffee?” She just shook her head “No sweety, no coffee today. I think your bottom has been busy enough.” With a deep breath and a long exhale, he relented “Fine.” So after forcing himself to eat half of a piece of toast and drink some of the juice, his hands and mouth were wipe off seemingly out of habit, and he was carried straight to the bedroom. Giving him a hug before sitting him on the changing table, Amanda said “Okay John, we have to go to the grocery store, and it’s only a bit brisk outside. What would you like to wear?” Furrowing his brow a bit, he replied “Why not just change me and then I’ll stay here while you run to town?” Shaking her head firmly, the answer “No Sir, that’s not an option. First of all, it’s against the law. And we obey the law in this household, Mister.” Despite being tired and in a funk from being sick, he couldn’t resist the smirk that sprouted on his face as he snarkily replied: “What about the law of gravity?” Rolling her eyes, Mommy admitted “Okay. If you break the law of gravity, I will be very impressed. And then you’ll be in time out.” With an overly dramatic huff, he caved “Okay. Shirt and shortalls please. And … a spare pair of shorts.” Her face filled his view as she leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek “I’m just glad that my witty young man is coming back out. You’ve been gloomy even though you broke your fever last night and stopped going off every half an hour.” With an unusual meekness he confessed “I’m sorry, I just feel tired and my stomach still hurts.” “Well!” Mommy said with a clap “You’ll be feeling better in no time, and We just need a few things from the store. Surely we can find something to settle your stomach.” With one more hug he was tilted down and his diaper was changed for him. Since it was just a bit wet, the change itself took only a moment and two diapers were held up before him. “Monkeez, please.” With a light bop on top of his head with the blue diaper, he was told “Up.” and it was slid underneath him. Moments later he was powdered and taped back into the inescapable diaper. With a nudge of some part of the table, the bars popped up and as she tilted him up, she peeled his shirt off and slid him down to the floor to go pick his clothes. If you’ve never been in nothing but a diaper and found yourself standing on the floor next to a fully dressed woman three times your height, it’s a humbling experience. But it was a humbling experience that John was getting used to. As he pulled the drawer open, he changed his mind on what he wanted to wear. After all, a shirt and shorts he could put on by himself, the shortalls he needed help with. So grabbing a pair of gray shorts and a blue shirt, he took a moment to tug them both on, grabbed one of his only other pairs of shorts, and then shouldered the drawer shut. Leaving his room, he barely made it past the couch before he was picked back up and carried back to his room. Placed on top of the dresser, a drawer was opened and socks were tugged into place on his feet before he was placed back on the floor before. He never even had a chance to protest, as she left the room to go get things ready to leave the house. So he tried again, this time as he made it past the couch he rolled his eyes as he was picked up and sat on the counter top. Before he could protest -this- time, his new toddler cup with a straw was held up. “Do you want water or juice in this? If you go with water, we can get something to put in it while we’re out.” Well, when she put it like that, then maybe he could ply for something unhealthy. “Water, please.” With a nod, she sat the cup to one side and held up a sippy cup with just a little bit of liquid in it. As he opened his mouth to complain, Mommy already had a finger to his lips as she explained “You are drinking just a little bit of cold milk. It’s good for you and it always perks you up a bit.” As she took her finger away, he started to open his mouth, but she gave him that ‘Mom says so’ look so he just nodded as he took the sippy cup from her. Left to himself on the counter, he knocked back the milk and by the time she had water and some ice cups in his toddler cup, he was already feeling a bit better emotionally. His stomach wasn’t doing well, but just a tinge of smile crept onto the right side of his mouth. So with a diaper bag on one shoulder, and John on her other hip, they made their way to the door. Mommy stepped into her own shoes, but instead of putting his on him, just picked them up and told him “hold.” And he was still holding his shoes when he was slid into the carseat and buckled in. Mommy disappeared from his view as the car door shut, and he could hear her fussing at Xerxes to get back in the yard. Moments later he heard her door open and as it shut he looked up at the window and asked “Hey, can I drive?” With a slight chuckle, she responded “No Sir, you may not.” “Ugh.” He rolled his eyes “First, I can’t break the laws of gravity, and now I can’t drive the car. What’s next, you won’t let me try and jump over the stream on a pogo stick?” There. He could see her roll her eyes in the mirror. “John, are you always this snarky after you’ve been sick?” With a smirk he answered happily “Yes!” He could see Mommy holding her hand over her eyes and hear her mumbling something about a dork. After the car was started, she leaned back and her arm came into his view, dangling the drink cup for him to take. Just for his own amusement he poked it and made her wait a second before taking it from her. After he got a bit of cold water, they were already leaving the driveway onto the main road. After trying to get uncomfortable in the car seat that cradled him just so, with his knees slightly up, he got bored in pretty short order. Between the boredom and the motion of the car ride, he drifted back off to sleep after about ten minutes. The next thing he knew, the car door was opening and Mommy was unbuckling him. Holding up his shoes over him, she asked “Do you want to walk, or ride?” Looking down at his feet, and still being a bit bleary eyed he said “I guess I’ll just ride in the buggy.” And with that choice made, she got the diaper bag and then just hoisted him up onto her shoulder. Before she shut the car door, however, she held up his pacy. With a shrug, he opened his mouth and took it while she struggled to do the clip onto his shirt with one hand. Mumbling “I did that out of order and made it way harder than it needed to be.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and carried him into the store. After making it into the store and easing the diaper bag into the shopping cart, she tired to lower him into the seat, but when he shook his head, she got her arm under his butt and his head resting on her shoulder near her neck and pushed the cart in front of her with one hand. From his vantage point he could see the several dozen cars in the parking lot through the glass doors. As they moved from the front doors toward the produce section, he was bombarded with the sound of distant beeping as cash registers did their job. As a woman with little girl in the shopping cart walked past them to the exit, he noticed the table by the entrance that he was pretty sure had cookies last time had some triangle shaped snacks bigger than both of his hands side by side. As he was carried to the middle of the produce section he felt himself tense up as he heard a certain voice out of the murmur of the crowd around him. “Oh Dearie me! I recognize that adorable little boy!” It was Nana Claire. In a flash of realization he became hyper aware of a few things. He was wearing shorts that his diaper was sticking out of. He had a pacifier in his mouth. He had no shoes on so he couldn’t walk through the store on his own. None of this had occurred to him at any point today. The voice was getting closer. Rapidly. “Now I never forget a little, but I sometimes forget the names.” Hurriedly he spit the pacy out of his mouth and wipe his mouth off on the shoulder of the shirt in front of him. After a moment he was tilted and rotated. Mommy rested her arm on top of the buggy, and he was in turn sitting on her arm. Her left hand under his knees had a grip. Not only coul dhe had not fallen if he moved, she also had a god enough grip that even if he did somehow fall, he would have just been held upside down like some sort of poor animal. Feeling no choice but to give into his compulsion to look up, he saw exactly what he expected. A large gray haired woman, the quintessential giant grandma judging by her appearance. And she was smiling at him like he was a child that was behaving. He couldn’t help staring up at her for several moments, frozen like a deer in headlights. She had said something. He didn’t notice. Mommy’s free hand waved in front of his face, snapping him out of it. “Oh!” was all he said. Nana Claire needed no other prompting, the great big smile returnign to her face. “There he is!” she started “It looks like you are much more comfortable relying on your Mommy than the last time I saw you. It warms my heart to see such a happy little!” “Ummm… Thank you?” John barely registered twhat he thought to be a veiled message behind her words. Turning from him, Nana Claire smiled back up at Mommy “Okay, so if I recall … he liked grapes, strawberries, Mango, Pineapple … Did not like banana?” Mommy was nodding enthusiastically now “Yes! You remembered him pretty perfectly. How do you remember that?” Waving a hand dismissively, she explained “Nana Claire never forgets a single little that she helps, but occasionally she forgets names. What was his name?” Immediately John slumped when he realized that she was asking his name, but not asking HIM his name. Sho he waited as the conversation went on, Mommy and Nana Claire exchanged names, and caught up briefly. Nana Claire asked a few more questions, and his hatred of carrots came up. So of course, being the bastion of knowledge that she was, the older woman lead them to the produce section and convinced her that he would love something called Parsnips roasted in honey, because they were sweeter than carrots. But they were shaped like carrots, just … white carrots. Having mostly tuned out their conversation, he tuned back in when he heard Mommy mention tht he had been sick and still had an upset stomach. Nana Claire immediately leaned down, her face an image of sympathy. “Awww, someone still has an upset tummy? Well! Being a portal little, I bet I know something that will perk him right up?” John mumbled “Rift” to himself, even though he knew that it was functionally the same thing to the bigs. Nana Claire was already back to ignoring him and speaking to Mommy as she leveled a disarming smile at her. “Well Mommy, you’re in luck! We have a lemon lime soda inspired by some that exist back in his world. I’m told that this soda with some saltine crackers will settle most any littles stomachs.” Okay, John decided on the spot that he could go back to ignoring Nana Claire to his hearts content later. Mommy seemed dubious, though “I don’t know about the soda …” John reached over and tugged at her shirt “May I please have some seven up and crackers?” He wasn’t even playing it up. Weeks now, and his one major concession was a single toddler cup with a straw. Bring on the soda from home! “Well… Okay, let’s try some.” Mommy caved pretty easily on this one. And with that, Nana Claire waved them along. Mommy slid him into the seat of the cart and they were off at a brisk pace, the older woman suddenly seeming to be surprisingly spry, waving to over a dozen different Mommies pushing carts with littles in them, just like he and his own big. Every single Big with a little in the cart waved back and greeted Nana Claire by name. This woman was VERY good at what she does. As they arrived at a far off corner of the store, tucked past coolers and diapers, there was a small section marked “Interdimensional” that was even past the section marked “International” And there on the narrow shelf were a few things that were ‘inspired’ by interdimensional products. There was a bags of what looked like dorito chips, but somehow looked a bit different, There were a couple of candy bars that were in his size, and several other products. But within a moment he found himself unable to see the shelf because Nana Claire picked up an eight pack of bottles and turned around in front of the shelf to hold it up. The bottles were green and looked like the very epitomy of copyright infringement. Unable to help himself, he noted “That looks like a cross between Seven Up and Sprite!” Now with her own playful smirk, Nana Claire addressed Mommy while responding to him. “This is called Spriten Up. In their dimension it is made with a couple of ingredients that are illegal here, but the recipe has been adjused to be pretty close. And don’t worry, it doesn’t have any caffiene.” Looking down, Mommy asked “Do you w..” “Yes! … Please!” He didn’t even need to hear the question. The Spriten Up went into the cart behind him and Nana Claire leaned down to whisper “You just keep being a good little for your Mommy, and Nana Claire will help her take care of you. Yes?” Taking a moment to process the statement, he couldn’t tell if it was blackmail or bribery, so after a moment he nodded and whispered back “Yes Ma’am” With a satisfied nod, Nana Claire ruffled his hair and then picked up his pacy dangling from his shirt to hold it out in front of him. It took a moment, but obediently he opened up and took it. After he took the pacy, she held out her arms and aked “Would one tired little boy like a hug?” Eyes darting over to Mommy, she seemed to look like she was watching a very wholesome display, so John just held up his arms, and Nana Claire leaned down and hugged him where he was in the cart, and gave him a few reassuring pats on the back. “Now!” Nana Claire was back to addressing Mommy. “Let’s get you two some crackers and then I’ll get back to my spot. The rest of the shopping trip consisted mostly Mommy grabbing a few nessecities and waiting patiently in line to check out. Looking up while they were waiting in line, he asked “Hey, Mommy?” Smiling down at him, she asked “Yes, sweety?” “I thought that we came early, it wasn’t this busy last time.” Holding up a finger, she explained “Today is Wednesday, and all the new sales start today. Most of the other stores started their sales on Thursday, so they started doing theirs one day earler and now they get the crowds one day a week.” “Huh. Okay, that seems clever.” John admitted. “Yes, the rest of the week if you come in the morning it’s not very busy. Once I was one of like three people here. But we needed something to settle your stomach, and I wanted a bit extra to cook for when Mr Mike comes by for dinner tonight.” John smirked, but didn’t get a chance to say anything as they made it to the checkout and she had to start putting their couple dozen items on the conveyor belt. The chorus of beeping to his right paused for a moment as the cashier, a young brunette paused and said “Oh! Spriten Up. You have a portal little!” Mommy shrugged back “Rift, but yes. I was told that this will help settle an upset tummy.” With a beep as it went across the scanner, the young woman said “We have a house brand version, but they all claim that they can taste the difference.” While she then pulled out her card to pay, Mommy said “You know, that Nana Claire sure seems to her stuff when it comes to littles.” John couldn’t see the cashier with the register in the way, but he could hear her explain “She sure does. She’s been the General Manager of this store for longer than I’ve been alive.” In unison, Mommy and John both said “Oh.”

Woah hey, okay now. Might need to dial the expected dramatic effect down 33.33% (repeating, of course) Either we troll Guilend and say it was Director Kassia coming to teach Amanda first hand(paw) what it's likes to be diapers and spanked under the thinly veiled excuse of helping to berter understand her little, or we pretend that it's one of the inter dimensional chinchilla picked as a Hitchhiker.

It's funny that you should ask just now! So let us say that I've had a not exactly great turn of luck as of late. From work, to computer getting hacked and having to nuke and reinstall windows, to bills, eye infection, etc. I'm known for my luck. Not good luck. But I'll tell you how blessed I am. We got it sorted. AND! Because of the previous hiccup, I had moved the file to an online storage doohickey and now that I have my laptop mostly sorted out, I have the file back untouched and I was talking with a friend last night while I worked on the story. It feels good to be back to writing, but now I feel like I'm trying to shake the rust off due to a bit of misfortune. Excellent news! A certain character is making a second appearance! No spoilers though, since I'm only halfway into the chapter.

I'm sorry. But there was no way Guilend was anywhere near close to that. I like him a lot, but he is fully committed to being his own meme!

Excellent, Excellent chapter! Thank you so much for this! The circumstances are obviously not ideal, but they are perfect for each other in this moment.

I would love to just be relaxing quietly with nothing bad going on and sipping tea while writing in peace. What's REALLY funny is that I backed the file up online ... and now I have to get access to it back.

So umm... There's going to be a slight delay. Laptop got hacked and knee jerk was to nuke it and do a fresh install of windows, then reset every password to every account, delete all payment info from anything and everything. So umm... I'll put things back together. Sorry.

I mean ... I think that's pretty cool. But can he be like, SUPER 70's spy movie brittish?

Remember: I, the Author, cannot say that Xerxes is not the main character. Granted that John and Amanda are both main characters and share the spotlight. But let's face it, if I wrote an entire chapter from Xerxes' point of view, many of us would enjoy it. Because dogs are awesome.

Do it! Please please do it! I would giggle like mad the entire time I read it! You can post it here, you can post it separately, you can post it on a post it note, I just want a ping!

I mean, it's a fever dream. And it seems normal to me because I wrote it a while back while running a fever. So it's ... y'know. Normal to me?

I don't think that one single evil chinchilla stands a chance against an Amazon Mommy?

Inter dimensional chinchillas! It's slightly more impressive. ... also I wrote this while running a fever ... Oh! And as a PG13 film, you know that they're allowed one F bomb and you spend much of the story waiting to see who's going to drop it. Will it be a big? Will a little earn a tanned bottom? Will Guilend finally get his wish and a Big says it and gets the full little treatment? Stay tuned ... to DragonBig Z!

Chapter Forty Nine Amanda felt Johns forehead. He was getting a bit warm again, so instead of getting him snuggled in, she stood up and carried him to the kitchen. Sitting him on the edge of the counter, she used her upper thigh to gently pin his legs so that he couldn’t fall as she opened up the medicine bottle that her Mom had so kindly gone to town for. Looking at the medicine cup, and the little syringe with no needle to just squirt the medicine into his mouth, she opted for the cup. Carefully measuring the amount, she held the cup up to his mouth. He just shook his head “No, the last one tasted bad!” Tilting the cup against his mouth she said patiently “Take the medicine, sweety.” He started to lean back. He had made it about forty five degrees before she finally put a hand behind his back and pulled him back upright. “This medicine is going into you.” He had barely shaken his head before she picked the medicine syringe used to squirt liquid medicine into the mouths of children that wouldn’t drink it willingly. He eyed the syringe and said “You wouldn’t dare.” Face completely impassive, her right eyebrow slowly went up and she shrugged. As she started to suck the medicine into the syringe, she saw him give up. “Ugh. Fine!” John finally caved and reached out to take the cup. He shotgunned it like it was a shot glass of tequila. She watched his face closely as his left eye squinted up, his right eyebrow right up, and as hit entire face squinted he started to slowly shudder a bit. “Does it taste that bad?” she asked softly. He only nodded, so she tossed the medicine cup into the sink, then picked him back up and took him to the rocking chair for his snuggles. As she got him covered back up, he started complaining. “This is ridiculous.” He started. Calmly, Amanda asked “What is ridiculous, sweety?” “The medicine! It tasted like grapes made of chalk!” He was starting to seem a bit animated. “Well sweety, Medicine just tastes like medicine.” “Uh uh.” He shook his head “If they can make the peanut butter taste as addictive as crack, they can make cookies taste like chewy crumbly happiness with a hint of delerium, then they can make the medicine taste better. The only reason it could taste that bad is to make us not want to take it.” “Well sweety, the medicine here is also much more effective than it is on your world.” She tried to bring him to reason. “Not good enough.” So after about five minutes of going back and forth, she pulled her shirt off, and slid a bra strap down. If he was going to keep being grumpy, he was be grumpy and fed. Small blessing, while he was nursing, his entire body relaxed and then he finally fell asleep peacefully. Before he even halfway drained one breast. He had obviously been seriously tired and didn’t want to sleep. So going about the nightly routine, she went ahead and got him comfortably in his crib, set about pumping the rest of the milk, and logged onto her computer to update complete notes in the journal she kept about him. After that, she decided to grab the receiver for the baby monitor and then go to bed early. She had a hunch that this could turn into a rough night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Xerxes, having not gotten the attention he wanted from his little, grabbed his doggy bed after everyone went to sleep and dragged it into his littles room right up next to the bed. Going back into the living room, he found the big green plushie that made his little laugh so much on the couch, and carried it to his bed. Xerxes then walked in three circles to get himself exactly so and flopped down with his head on the plushie that smelled like his little. Every time throughout the night his little made a sound or a whimper, Xerxes stood up and peaked through the mesh wall for a moment before laying back down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Taylor sat on the living room floor. He was reclined on a stuffed lizard and grumbling about a cold thermometer in his ear. He was wearing nothing but a diaper and towel draped over him. A large hand tried to hold his head still, but he refused to stay still. Another cough racked his body, pulling him away from the thermometer in his ear. There was a beep and a sigh from above him. “John for the third time, please just hold still for ten seconds.” He tried to say no, but he coughed again. The thermometer went right back into his ear. Fourth try being the charm, the thermometer finally started a series of warning beeps. Once again from above him he heard a sigh. “John, your fever has gone up. Here, drink this.” He shook his head. No, that last dose tasted bad. A little medicine cup was held to his lips and his nose was pinched shut. He would not win this time, so he gave up and took the nasty medicine. But the second she let go of him he flopped onto his side on the rug. He didn’t have to, he was just feeling dramatic as he heard footsteps moving away from him toward the kitchen. His chest hurt, and he still tried to say ‘I’m not sick.’ but all that he got was a cough followed by ‘-ot ick’ as the foot steps came back. She obviously did not hear him because she just picked him up and sat n the couch with him on his back across her lap. There was a cold sensation across his lips so he tried to turn his head. But the inside of an elbow stopped him. He was not going without a fight, so he used both hands on the bottle and one sweaty foot to push up against her arm. Victory! The bottle moved. Hah! Just as he was reveling in his victory, because he was absolutely not sick at all, a blanket was pulled over him and he was wrapped up like a sweaty, coughing burrito. “Cheat!!” he croaked out a little better than he could have before the cough syrup a minute ago soothed his throat. “John.” Amanda said to him softly “You have not had anything to drink all day and you refused to eat. You’re drinking this and that’s not negotiable.” “No! I refmmmpphhhh” And in the nipple of the bottle went. He absolutely refused to drink. Ever the arbiter of unfairness, the giant Mommy cradling him squeezed the bottle and a little bit of cold, refreshing juice dribbled into his mouth. It tasted just a bit different, but his brain couldn’t connect the taste with any medicine that he knew of. After several minutes he gave up and started drinking from the bottle. By the time he was halfway through the bottle, he started to drift off to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~ John woke up to an odd scratching sound above him. He sat up and looked at the window above his bed. There in the window was Steve, his loyal pet squirrel, scratching at the window to get his attention. “What is it boy, do you need something?” In response the squirrel gave him a long series of panicked chitters. John knew what he needed to do. “Mom!” John called out. “Mom! I need to get up!” From through his door he heard her call back “I’m coming sweety, one moment!” She came into the room and reached up and lowered the side of the crib. Smiling at him she asked “Are you feeling better?” With a nod he said “Yeah, I told you I’m not sick. Can I go outside?” Pausing to check his diaper to confirm that he was clean and dry, which he already knew and could have just told her, she nodded and picked him up and put him down, and only after she put some shorts on over his onesie did she swat him on the booty and send him on his way. As he went through the living room he saw Mom go back to the table where Mike was waiting. They had a big pad of paper and had spent several days sketching out the plans to expand the fence to make the garden bigger and apparently that involved building new, bigger trellis’s. Which immediately turned into doing math and soil testing for reasons that he was happy to not be involved with. The screen door was oh so slightly open, so he helped himself onto the porch where he was greeted by his waist high squirrel standing next to Xerxes. The dog was staring intently, clearly listening to the Squirrel in some sort of animal conversation. Which of course animals are wont to do. When they saw him Xerxes barked briefly and jumped off the porch and started scratching at the gate on the side of the yard facing the river. John stepped into his shoes without bothering to tie them and hopped down the three large steps to the ground. When he ran over to the gate, he heard a strange sound on the other side. Spotting a Trellis leaning against the fence, he used it like a ladder to climb up and peek over the top. What he saw when he peeked over the top of the fence took him completely by surprise. There, plain as day, was a large wide oval of what looked like a thin layer of bright blue rippling water. Clearly it was a portal. Portals all look like bright blue rippling water. That’s just the rule. Coming out of the portal were round fluffy forms a bit less than Johns own height with curled fluffy tails. They were bounding around the field by the dozens, and as he watched, they were gathering up all the woodland creatures and herding them into the portal. OBVIOUSLY they were kidnapping the animals, and the people were next. Climbing down from the trellis, he ran back to the house and leaned into the door to shout “Mom! Mike! There’s a portal in the back yard and you’ve gotta come quick! We’re being invaded!” Mike and Amanda jumped up and ran out the door and over to gate. The moment that Mike opened the gate he turned to Amanda and said “We have to call for help.” While the gate was open, John climbed into Xerxes’ back, and Steve jumped up onto Xerxes' neck. Both of them held on tight as Xerxes took off into the field barking loudly and chasing the evil chinchillas away from a fox that was being dragged belly up, kicking and biting at the air. As Xerxes got close and the Chinchilla’s let go of it, the Fox rolled onto its legs and took off toward the treeline like a red lightning bolt. Within moments Amanda was running through the field using a shovel from her garden to pick up the chinchilla’s and hurl them toward the portal. Mike came into view every so often as Xerxes darted back and forth barking at the adorable, yet menacing, swarm. Mike seemed to just be simply grabbing them and hurling the beach ball sized animals back through the portal that they came through. Steve would chitter directions at Xerxes, and any time one of them tried to take down the dog, John would grab it by the tail and shove it off. Together the three of them managed to avoid being swarmed. Finally, after what seemed like twenty minutes, reinforcements arrived. First Aunt Cat ran up with Kate on her shoulder. Aunt Cat just punted one like a soccer ball back through the portal. Agent Praefectus started grabbing them by the tail, shouting “Bad Chinchilla.” and hurling them back. For some reason John caught a glimpse of Miss Bairn. She wasn’t even fighting them. The tall woman with a dark brown pony tail, dressed like she had just come from work simply stood with her arms crossed and stared at a swarm of Chinchilla. An entire group in the swarm stopped short of her and did not dare climb her. Before they could turn and attack someone else, Miss Bairn just pointed back at the portal. Miss Bairn didn’t even say anything. She just looked disappointed. All the Chinchilla in front of her turned and sulked and walked back to the portal, all clearly dejected like they had been sent to their room just for trying to take over another dimension. As Xerxes carried him and Steve past Amanda, he could hear her shouting to Agent Praefectus “Hey, shouldn’t there be police, or the army or more ABI agents here for this?” Luckily Xerxes ran past Agent Praefectus next and for a brief moment it sounded like he shouted back “Yeah, but John hasn't met them yet, so he doesn't know what they look like!” That made no sense to John, but he had more work to do as he and Xerxes and Steve saved a baby bear from being dragged away. Plus he got to pet the bear cub before it ran off. Double win! ~~~~~~~~ The Battle of Chinchilla field was fierce, and by the end of it they were all tired, but excited as the last of the Chinchilla menace retreated back through their portal. Everyone celebrated with cups of plapple juice on the porch. But while they were celebrating John found one straggler that got left behind because it was in their yard and it could not climb the fence. While the adults were distracted, John fed the chinchilla some sweet peas and befriended it. When it followed him back to the porch, it took quite a lot of convincing to get them to let it stay with him. But they had to let it stay, because he had already named it Gizmo. That’s just how that works. After everyone had left, Mom insisted on cradling John and feeding some more juice that he was pretty sure had medicine in it. He knew she knew how to take care of him better than he did, but he fussed about it anyway because he was tired. And finally Gizmo was put into a diaper and laid in the crib next to him. They snuggled up nice and close and drifted off to sleep. But Gizmo was so soft and so fluffy that John must have been sweating, because soon he felt like he was wet and slick with sweat from head to toe. Luckily Gizmo didn’t seem to mind, he just let John lay there with him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Waking up, John lay face down on something large and soaking wet. He was wearing only a diaper, and as he pushed himself up he could see that he was in his crib and laying on his giant pillow. He felt gross. “M..” it took a moment because his throat was sore, but he swallowed a few times and managed to find his shakey voice. “Mommy?” he called out. It was just a few seconds before she was in the room and the side of the crib came down. Her hand went to his forehead and immediately she sighed in relief. “Okay, it seems like you finally broke your fever. You must have been having one weird dream, you were mumbling about Chinchilla's.” “Mom?” “Yes, sweety?” “If a Chinchilla comes through a portal in our yard, can I keep it?” He could see her close her eyes and take a deep breath as she felt his forehead again. “Yes, sweety. If a Chinchilla comes through a portal, you can keep it. Now let’s get you bathed and your bedding washed. You’re gross.” “Thank you Mom.”