groveoflove

“No!” Fern jerked back as panicked as he was at Rachel’s sudden arrival, flinching as she scooped him up. He struggled for a minute or two, before he could calm down enough to realize she wasn’t holding him tightly or shaking him. As his initial panic began to die down, he was horrified to find himself crying in front of Rachel, but he couldn’t get himself to stop. He bit down hard on the nub of the pacifier in place of one of his fingers, before he began sucking at it. But he was still shaking, even as he tried to stifle his cries. He dug his nails against his other arm, trying to force himself to focus enough to calm down. “I-I’m sorry-“ Fern managed to get out, finally succeeding in beginning to cut his sobs off, though he was still trembling.

May glanced in the mirror to see Brie fast asleep. Smiling a bit, she started on her way to the restaurant, a nice looking place called Angie’s Garden. She couldn’t remember if Angie had been the owner or the owner’s little. But once she pulled into the parking lot, she decided to let Brie sleep for a bit longer before waking her up. ‘course, she couldn’t resist snapping a photo and sending it to Rachel, Brie just looked so cute and tiny there! Someone knocked right on out as soon as I started the car! After that, she scrolled through social media for about fifteen minutes or so, before glancing at the time. “Hey, Brie, sweetie. We’re here, time to wake up.” She gently shook the little’s shoulder, before starting to unbuckle her. She gave Brie a bit to wake up fully, before placing her back on the ground, taking her hand. “Okay, I think they have bathrooms for training littles here. Do you need to go before I ask for a table?”

“People didn’t really care about other groups of people there.” Fern admitted. It still felt immature but he was getting more and more excited about the zoo tomorrow. And it looked like he wouldn’t even have to be in the stroller most of the time, he could walk. Leaking on his overalls was embarrassing though, he thought Rachel had just been teasing about him being an apparent heavy wetter. He hadn’t even noticed he’d leaked till she pointed out. “.....See you later.” Fern watched her go before laying down, vaguely upset he hadn’t remembered to grab Hashbrowns from the fort. Too late now though. He sighed, rolling over to his side, closing his eyes. And despite his earlier protests, he was out like a light within minutes. And in the end, it wasn’t the horror movie that gave him the nightmares, it was the stupid talk about his old family that did it. Which was nothing new, most of his nightmares were about his dad, but this one felt so so much more real. Like he was right back there in that day, in their tiny kitchen, and his dad had stopped him on his way out. All because he’d been so stupid, and had told Lacie that he didn’t want to be a girl, because he’d been dumb enough to think that them being friends and Lacie being gay meant something. But she’d just laughed it off, and blabbered to everyone else, which was bad enough, but of course his dad had to find out. And he’d been so angry, and had grabbed his shoulder, and- Fern woke up with a jolt of terror racing through his body, his heart pounding. He was shaking all over, his breath hitching in his throat, his hands darting up to his face. Numbly, he registered that his cheeks were wet, but he didn’t remember when he’d started crying, if it had been before or after he woke up.

May glanced down at her phone as Brie picked out her toy, quickly typing a response. Sounds good! Want to meet there, or for us to head to your place and we all take one car? And give my cute little niece a squeeze from Aunt May! “Speaking of animals, how do you feel about visiting the zoo tomorrow with Rachel and Maddie? Bet it’ll be fun.” She hummed, helping putting the doll into the carriage. “And I’m good for heading to lunch after this, unless you want to stop at home first. Are you feeling tired enough for a nap?” They started on their way to the checkouts, which was such a quick breeze here, before heading to load to the car. “I’m thinking about the family restaurant not far from here. They definitely have a menu for older littles.”

“Okay.” Fern said, sounding unsure. He wasn’t planning on taking Rachel up on her offer, but he guessed it was kind of nice to hear. He was much more relieved though once the conversation died down, and he could focus on the documentary. It was pretty interesting. He knew there had been talk of trying to clone woolly mammoths in his world, because they actually had frozen whole specimens of them, but science was nowhere near as advanced yet. So it was really cool to be somewhere that actually HAD reached that point. “Do people still kill elephants here for ivory? And sharks for their fins?” Fern paused, placing down his sippy cup once it was empty. He already had to go again, being so much smaller here definitely had made his bladder smaller, and he’d usually hold it for longer, but.....was there really a point by now? Wasn’t like he was getting out of diapers any time soon. Maybe Rachel had a point. He sighed, trying to concentrate on the movie, as he began to relax his bladder. Once he started going, it was much easier, but still just as embarrassing feeling it start to soak his diaper. Trying to distract himself from that, he looked back up at Rachel. “How long are we going to spend at the zoo tomorrow?” Because he definitely didn’t want to lose time because of an afternoon nap.

“Oh, I’ve heard they’re pretty challenging for littles. Amazon kids play with them too, though of course, they’re a bit different. We had some as kids, but these ones are probably more advanced. I think some of them have been getting some simple A.I?” May said thoughtfully, picking up a box that advertised its self for littles, aged three to five. A bit out of Brie’s range, maybe, but Brie was also not regressed. It looked to be a puzzle where the goal was to unlock all of the sections to release the toy inside. This one seemed to be math based, but some others looked to be more directed memorization or simple problem solving. “Do you want one to try it out?” She gasped dramatically as Brie pointed out the dolls, ruffling her hair. “You want to play with dolls? I never could’ve guessed! At all.” May grinned. “Go on, pick one, cutie. And from what I heard from Rachel, Maddie isn’t much of a doll kind of girl, so next time we go over, I’m sure she’d be thrilled to let you play with hers.”

“Maybe.” Fern answered noncommittally. He’d liked Brie but not enough to go blabbering about his personal issues, and she’d probably think it was weird too. Once Rachel left, he just distracted himself with scrolling through the movie options, trying to put the previous conversation out of mind. He had a weird tight feeling in his chest, and he wanted to plow right on by it. Eventually he settled on another animal documentary, this one about that wooly mammoth Rachel had said they’d managed to bring back. He was interested about that topic. ”This one. Do they have any woolly mammoths at the zoo, or are they too big?” Though woolly mammoths were about the same size as African elephants, he’d never know here. Maybe animals were a lot bigger. He took the sippy cup, focusing on drinking some of it as he fidgeted. “....Sorry for getting upset.”

“Oh, are you? I haven’t noticed. Do you happen to like unicorns, miss Brie?” May teased, reaching over to help the little place everything in the cart. “I’m sure plates aren’t far. And I suppose we want to continue the cute trend, huh?” Sure enough, plates and silverware were only an aisle away, and even helpfully were placed by age range for sizing purposes. May plucked a few from the toddler section, tossing them down in the cart as well. All the silverware was still that chunky plastic with a larger handle, and of course there wasn’t any knives, but May could always help cut whatever food needed it. Seemed a bit irresponsible to hand Brie knives far too large for her little hands. After that, May wandered on down some other aisles, keeping slow so Brie could keep up, grabbing some snacks for herself, before getting some cheap supplies for easy meals. Cooking wasn’t really up her alley. Finally, she ended up near the toy aisle. There wasn’t as of a large selection then at the little store, of course, but there was still a fair amount for choices. She even saw some of the ‘brain’ toys, those puzzles or matching ones meant for littles who’s parents wanted to encourage their learning skills still. “You want to pick anything before we find the books?”

“I don’t want them to see me like this, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Fern said, sounding upset, as he placed his plate back on the floor. Rachel could say whatever she wanted, but it was just all words in the end. People lied or changed their minds all the time, or just got sick of others. Rachel was nice now, way nicer than any of the other amazons he met or even the people back home, but she could always change her mind. “Can we talk about something else?”

“It’s good.” Fern answered, nibbling at another piece. It was still a bit weird to have actual meals around the same times every day, no skipping or anything. Probably why he wasn’t so scrawny anymore. He smiled a bit as Rachel commented on it, though it faded once she mentioned his old home. He shrugged, looking down at his plate as he picked at the next piece. “...My brothers, I guess. But I already hadn’t seen them in a long time, they’re older with jobs and stuff.” Not a lot of time to go back to some tiny ass town you hated to visit your kid ‘sister’ who wasn’t even your full sister. And that meant having to see their dad who’d they’d voluntarily hadn’t seen in years. “What’s the point in missing anyone anyway? Not like I’m ever seeing them again.” Fern said quietly, keeping his eyes down on the plate.

“Hmm, I think we should be good here. Just need food, some cups and plates for you, and we can see if they have any books or toys you’d want.” May grinned down at the little. “Okay, I’m heading to the produce section first, I’m a sucker for fruit, and strawberries are about to be in season. Then I’m thinking we can head to the little snack aisle. So, start thinking about what you might want, cutie, because there’s going to be a lot of options!” She grabbed her usual fruit, deciding to throw in some veggies too in case Brie liked them, glancing down every now and then to make sure Brie hadn’t wandered off from the cart. Once in the littles aisle, she then grabbed another carton of juice, since Brie had seemed to love the one in this morning. And a little brand one would be sure to be sweeter. “See anything you might like?” As Brie picked out her choices, May grabbed some plastic cups, sized for a toddler sized little who was moving away from sippy cups. They were adorable, pink and purple and sparkly. It was one of those cups that had a design on the outside that floated around as you lifted the cup to drink. And knowing what Brie seemed to like, May had grabbed the box showing off unicorns and princesses.

Fern was bored sitting in the highchair as he waited, absentmindedly swinging his legs back and forth. Especially because he didn’t know why Rachel couldn’t trust him out on his own for a few minutes, he’d given up trying to make escape attempts by the time she’d adopted him. Maybe she just thought he’d get into something she didn’t want him in. But as bored as he was, the wait wasn’t too long and the grilled cheese did smell good too. Once Rachel handed him the plate, he tried his best to be careful dropping it. It was a silly small thing, but being able to carry his own dish felt a bit more mature then what Rachel usually did, and he didn’t want to ruin it by dropping his food. Plus, Rachel might be upset over it. Once at the fort, he placed his plate down on the ground till he found a spot that was comfortable before picking it back up. “I haven’t had grilled cheese in a long time.” Fern admitted, waving his hand over the plate to cool the sandwich down before he started eating it. “Rhoswen, my brothers’s mom used to make it, but I didn’t visit there that much.” He took a small nibble out of the sandwich, before pulling one of the pieces apart just to watch the cheese stretch.

“Do you like reading?” May asked, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting on their way. “Can’t really put triggers into books. And maybe we could find something to listen to that doesn’t have any unfortunate side effects. We could always get you another toy. Even if you aren’t interested in playing, I bet you’d find something that’s interesting because it’s nothing like your world.” The drive wasn’t long, only about fifteen minutes or so, so before they knew it, they were pulling into the parking lot. May got Brie out of her seat, holding firmly onto her hand as she walked towards the store. Brie was so tiny, and the cars here were so big, even if May knew every call nowadays were programmed to detect any object or person in front of them and stop, it still made her nervous. The grocery store was fairly large, and was one of the newer fully automated ones as well. Other than a handful of human employees, the rest of the store was completely run by robotic A.I and some fancy dancy machinery. It was pretty helpful, honestly. If you ever had trouble finding something you wanted, you’d just have to approach the nearest stand and immediately get the exact location. May made sure to go slow, knowing Brie might want to gawk at all the sights as she grabbed a cart. “Do you want to ride in the cart or walk besides me?”

“I don’t want to take a nap, I’m not tired, I don’t need it.” Fern said immediately said, fluttering his hands up and down. He felt way too full of energy right now to even think of a nap. Though, he was a bit hungry now, admittedly. He’d mostly picked at his breakfast. “....Can we have lunch in the fort? And then watch another movie?”

Ah, time to clean that potty again. Hopefully it’ll eventually become a breeze. “Of course, cutie! Can’t leave your friend behind, can you?” May said affectionately once that job was done, making sure the little grabbed the unicorn before offering her hand so they could head down to the garage. “I was thinking we should get some cups and silverware sized for you at the store too. Do you think you need anything else while we’re there?” May asked, as she buckled the girl into her carseat, lightly booping her nose. “Anything you miss from home you’d want to try here?”

“You gave up so you can’t. No take backs.” Fern didn’t quite hug Rachel back, but he was in a good mood, and feeling relaxed enough to lean into her hug, before she let go. He turned around to close his eyes, staring to count out loud. Which was much more boring than hiding, but easy enough. “Okay, 100!” He started on his search, checking the living room first. But Rachel didn’t seem to be there, and there wasn’t a lot of hiding spots he could see her fitting in. He wandered over to the dining room next, very carefully looking behind the china cabinet before backing off. He whirled around, sparing a glance to under the table. Only the curtains were next, so he made his way over there. And once he was by the window, it was obvious where Rachel was hiding. “Found you!” He pulled back the curtain, too busy enjoying himself to care much that Rachel obviously didn’t seem to try hard to hide.

Fern grinned, wiggling free from the corner, briefly stumbling over the mop he’d moved before. He got up, looking himself over before figuring he was fine, other than bumping his knee. He scooted on out of the bathroom, before trying to sneak up on Rachel to surprise her (though it was likely in vain). “Boo! I got you! I won!” He laughed. “You didn’t even look in the bathroom!”

May took her time showering, wanting to relax. Brie was adorable and fun, but oof, having a little around was a lot of work! And Brie wasn’t even regressed! Hopefully the day out today would go better then yesterday. And then maybe they could find a little friendly restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner, linner as her dad used to call it. Once she was done, she got dressed, going for a cute midriff tank top and some jeans. Sadly, it was still too chilly for shorts, but she was sure it would warm up soon. She quickly did her hair, ruffling her fingers through it as she studied it in the mirror. Maybe she would go shorter? Or maybe grow it out again. That might be cute. ”Okay, Brie! I’m all done. You want to do some “business” before we head out?” May called, moving into the living room, actually doing the air quotes with her hands. “I don’t think the grocery store will have bathrooms for you.” Though maybe a little friendly restaurant might?

Fern took off immediately, not wanting to lose any time. Rachel did have much longer legs then he did after all, and wasn’t weighed down by a dumb thick diaper. The first room he darted into was the kitchen, where he shot a quick look around to analyze his options. The cabinets on the bottom were too obvious, she’d look there first along with the broom closet. He briefly considered using his climbing skills to scramble up the counters and hide in one of the cabinets up THERE, but he was pretty sure Rachel wouldn’t be thrilled if he did something risky like that. And today had been...kinda fun, he’d been given way more options and freedom, he didn’t want to lose any of that if he got in trouble. So he ditched the kitchen for now. Rachel was already past the 50s so he had to move it. He considered hiding behind one of the houseplants as well, before finally darting into the downstairs bathroom. Which admittedly, he’d never actually been in before. There wasn’t a tub, so there wasn’t any ‘need’ for him there. He eventually settled on the towel closet there, as it was smaller and seemed to be mostly used for storage. He hastily moved a mop to the side, before scrunching down in the corner behind the vacuum cleaner and under a laundry basket. Boy, he hoped there were no spiders in here.

May hummed again, tapping her chin. “Some of it is a difference in generation, I suppose. I know when I was younger, there WAS much more forcibly grabbing littles, even if they seemed to be doing fine on their own. And there wasn’t as much checking on if said homes were safe for littles either like there is now.” She scooped Brie out, placing her down on the ground. “And that would be wise, you wouldn’t know what to watch for yet.” May sighed, playfully poking Brie’s forehead. “I suppose we do have to take care of it now. But after I need to get ready for the day, are you okay playing with your stuffies for a bit?” She lead the way into the bathroom, before looking at the potty with a bit of a grimace. Oh, she wasn’t looking forward to this. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard to pop it out of the frame, though it definitely looked like it needed more strength then a littles, and with Brie’s help, they were able to clean it out. “Now I know why some parents delay on potty training their littles!” May joked, washing her hands, before stepping back so Brie could move her stool over to wash her own. After that, she gave the little an affectionate hug, before moving to her bedroom to grab her things for her own shower. “Don’t try getting on the couch without me, okay?!” She called out.

“I just drank a lot of water.” Fern huffed, letting Rachel pick him up and bring him back downstairs. Even if Rachel hadn’t said to only play downstairs, he likely would’ve stuck down there. Rachel usually always carried him up and down the stairs, and he didn’t think he could make his way up them by himself in time. They were pretty darn big compared to him. But there were loads of other hiding spots he could find easily, he bet. He’d finally have an advantage of being so small compared to Rachel. “I want to hide first.” Fern decided after a minute, wiggling so Rachel would know to put him down. “And don’t peek!”

“Mhm. You should be careful listening or watching anything aimed at littles too.” May warned. “A lot of them might...affect you heavily, especially because you aren’t used to them. Some littles need a bit of extra help to calm down or to ease them into their new lives, but some of it might just, well.” She tried to search for words to put this carefully. “Make you much more like a baby.” ”And I thought we could do some grocery shopping! We need some food for you, plus I need some things. And, sweetie, I don’t really feel comfortable leaving you home alone right now. I trust you, but I’m worried you could get hurt. Most of the furniture is way too big for you.” Not to mention leaving a little alone just felt wrong.

Fern tried to hold it back, but couldn’t help a small giggle from slipping out as he tried to squirm away. “Sssstoopp, I’m trying to watch!” He ducked his head, before looking up to watch the ending of the movie play out. He was satisfied to see he was right on the ending, as he leaned back. “I watch a lot of horror movies. If they have some of the ones from my world here, can we watch one sometime too? I like Jordon Peele’s stuff. They’re really good, and he casts mostly black actors, and horror movies have a long history of leaving them as side characters. And-“ He realized he was rambling, and cut himself off self consciously, so Rachel wouldn’t find it annoying. “...Yeah, I like animals.” Fern was relieved at the offer of a subject change, and tried to quickly think of what he wanted to do. He didn’t really want to watch another movie right now, especially a family movie, so he had to think of games he liked as a kid. Though he did really like playing in the rain and the mud. You could see frogs. “....Can we play hide and seek or something? Um. I’m a little wet...”

“And it’s not even a black coffee, I jumped loads of milk in there.” May giggled, getting up to start gathering the dishes. “Well, we should be careful with food here. There’s no telling if something meant for amazons will upset your stomach or not, everyone’s different.” And that kind of accident would not be fun for either of them. “I’m surprised Renee didn’t tell you. Most shows and music here have triggers woven into it. It’s supposed to draw you into whatever is playing or make you feel a certain way. Did you notice feeling really calm at the store yesterday? That was probably because the music in there is meant to keep new littles from freaking out.” May said, coming back from slipping the plates into the dishwasher. “That podcast was definitely not meant for littles, it was meant to scare you as much as possible, which it did, huh?”

Fern jumped at the sudden sting, but laughed once the initial start was over. “All those pointy things in there and he still uses just a knife!” He commented, as the killer left the girl’s body, heading off to probably stare at another some more. He could tell she was so obviously intended to be the final girl, she was a sweet nice ‘plain but movie plain’ pretty amazon girl who actually had some survival instincts of NOT walking alone like a ditz. They’d even decided to show off her family at the beginning, a single dad and her little little brother with an implied dead mom. It was kinda funny that at least horror movie troupes were similar here. “I bet she’s going to kick him into that weird robot machinery at the end they showed earlier.” Fern didn’t quite relax into Rachel’s hold, but he wasn’t holding himself stiffly or tense like he usually did either. But for now, it looked like the amazon girl was going to go be sappy to her love interest who was obviously going to die, so he went back to fiddling with the plastic shark till the scene was over.