Lights, Camera, …What?!? Book 1 Chapters 44 and 45 by Sofia Hammerstein

Connor Slane has grown up to be one of the brightest kids in his dimension and one of the most ambitious computer science majors at his top university. Now, thanks to an exchange program between his university and his mother’s alma mater, Emerson University in another dimension. Connor has the chance to forge his own path in computers and his other love, filmmaking. Having seen still images of their amazing holographic films, he hopes go to Emerson, and then return to build his own empire - and maybe even find his true self, as his mother did.

Beth Sylvester is a Tweener herself and another child of influential parents in the other dimension. Her wealthy Big mom is the daughter of a disgraced former CEO, and her dad is the first and only Tweener to serve on the Supreme Court. Connor’s mom and Beth’s dad were good friends while she was in the dimension, and they’ll quickly discover that they enjoy hanging out with each other. They’ll also discover that if either is going to survive to the end of the semester academically or as mature adults, they’ll need to help each other out. If not, Connor could quickly find himself on the one-way road to being adopted by some Big, and Beth might not be far from that fate either…

---

---

 

---

 

---

 
The Legal Stuff: Lights, Camera, …What?!? By Sofia Hammerstein
 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Copyright © 2023-2026 Sofia Hammerstein.
 

 
 

Chapter 44: Dusty
 

BETH WOKE UP in the strange room and had a moment of panic with the large woman shaking her awake in what amounted to a nursery from her nightmares!

“What?!?” She started.

“Shh, sorry to scare you, dear,” Amanda said to her.

“Sorry, I forgot where I was,” Beth breathed, her heart rate decreasing as she realized it was just Amanda.

“No worries; I figured you would want to get a shower before everyone starts getting here, though.”

“Oh, right. How long until the party?”

“About two hours, and Meggy’s guests should be showing up.”

“Okay, I’ll get that shower then,” she told her. “Is Connor up already?” She asked curiously.

“He’s out swimming,” she told her.

“Oh, I wish I’d known; I would have gone with him?”

“I’m sure he’ll go tomorrow; I’ll make sure and wake you up when I get him up.”

“Thanks!”

After Amanda left, Beth started her morning routine and decided she might as well wash her hair while she was in a nice home bathroom. Amanda and Fred had clearly spared no expense in setting up the bathroom to care for a Little with a big tub! She couldn’t help but wish she had the same luxurious multi-nozzle shower, complete with AI controls, back home! The control panel was set at a lower level that Beth had to admit was easier to use than the ones back home. Eventually, she was slightly embarrassed when she realized how long she’d been in the shower!

Knowing what she had been told about it being a ‘princess’ party, Beth decided she’d wear the casual dress she’d brought. ‘Definitely not a princess dress, though,’ she thought with a smirk. She began thinking of the over-the-top frilly dresses she had insisted a princess must wear to her birthday parties until she was nine.

That was when, unfortunately, the last time she had invited Tasha, the girl who would be her nemesis through high school. She’d seen Beth’s beautiful dress, but instead of complimenting it, insisted it meant she was nothing but a Little who would just grow up to wear diapers the rest of her life.

Beth had started crying but was too afraid to tell on Tasha when her mom tried to figure out why Beth was in tears. It only escalated through high school since she got away with it once. Tasha, who grew to be nearly twelve feet tall, was the worst offender at bullying Littles. ‘Sadistic bitch,’ Beth thought as she pulled the dress over her head. Even with the stricter rules about adoption back home, the witch still somehow adopted a pair of ‘twins’ the day after graduation. She had felt horrified to see Tasha pushing them around in a stroller with locking pacifiers stuffed in their mouths. Shaking the memory from her head, Beth finished her hair and makeup to make her look like a typical college girl heading out for an afternoon of fun.

As she came down the stairs to find breakfast, she found Meggy, Connor, and Bella all sitting in highchairs with plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cut-up pancakes, with Amanda and Megan alternating feeding their daughters and doing last-minute party prep. They were having a rather animated conversation, it seemed.

“Connor, it’s a PWINCESS party! You have to be a PWINCESS to attend!” Meggy was telling her nephew.

“I guess I can just go work on homework?” He suggested.

“No, you’re my nephew; you have to come to the party!”

“But I’m not a girl? So, I can’t be a princess?” he said, turning red as he saw Beth.

“Beth, you have to save me here?” He laughed and squirmed with embarrassment.

“Save you from what?” She found herself asking.

“Meggy thinks I need to wear a princess dress to attend her party?”

Beth smirked and inwardly squirmed about the idea, “Well, of course! Remember, she’s the birthday princess, so what she says is a royal decree today. Do you have a pretty princess dress?”
 

I LOOKED UP at Beth and stuttered, “I’m a boy; of course, I don’t have a dress?”

Even as I said it, I knew participating would probably be fun. There was no way I could just agree to it, though!

“So, if you had a dress, you would participate?” Beth asked me.

“But I don…”

“If you had one,” she smirked and approached my chair, “would you?”

“If I say no…?”

“I have ways of torturing you?” She said, wiggling her fingers, “And you’re trapped in that seat all vulnerable?”

I gulped.

“I guess?”

“Yay! That’s settled then!” Meggy smiled.

“I still don’t have a dress?” I reminded her.

“Yes, you do,” Bella smiled at me.

Aunt Megan came in right then, holding two dresses on hangars that looked like something from a storybook. Both dresses featured wide skirts that seemed puffed out with tulle or something. I noticed one was larger than the other, so at first, I thought one was Bella’s until I realized she was already wearing hers?

“The purple one is yours, Connor, and the green one is Beth’s,” Bella informed us.

“Wait? That’s for…?” Beth stuttered.

I looked at her, “Guess you have to participate too, huh?”

That did it, she really did tickle me then, and it took everything I had to not pee my pull-up!

“Finish up your breakfast, and you two can go get dressed. Shelby is coming over to help Connor out in a moment. I swear she probably put up as much of a fight about the dress as Connor has…?” Bella said.

“More, I think,” Shelby’s voice said behind me. I couldn’t turn much in the chair, but when I did, she was dressed in what seemed to be a similar dress but in a lighter shade of pink. “The color doesn’t help, Mom; you know I hate baby pink!”

“Where’s Ryan?” I asked.

“Ran away to a work project,” Shelby said. “Guess you weren’t fast enough, Connor!”

I sighed, “Literally tied up here,” I pointed to the harness.

She just giggled in response.

I thought about just taking forever to eat, but given Beth had already devoured her plate. So had Shelby, who had just arrived, while I still had some bacon. I decided then I’d performed enough of a show of a fight. I was let down from the table, and Beth said, “Shall we take care of the ugly duckling first?”

“Hey, I’m not that ugly,” I griped while Shelby giggled.

“I haven’t seen you much over the years, Beth, but you and I will get along just fine!”
 

A SHORT WHILE later, I found myself sitting on a chair in Beth’s room, which was technically Shelby’s. “Connor, why don’t you hit the bathroom before we start?” Beth suggested to me.

I sighed but stood up and went to her bathroom first, carefully hopping onto the slightly taller toilet and then returning after washing my hands.

“Good girl,” Beth smirked.

Even as a part of me cheered, I gave in to the need to stick my tongue out at her!

Shelby laughed, “Okay, let’s take care of your hair first. Fortunately for us, you have plenty of it!”

“Try not to do too many braids? It took me forever this morning to get the ones out from last night!” I gave a pointed look at Beth.

She giggled, “Whatever Her Highness desires! I’m thinking curls?”

“I like that! Curling iron or use nanite spray?”

“I like doing it the old-fashioned way,” Beth told her. “Do you have one?”

“Give me a minute to dig it out,” she said as she went into the duffle she’d brought over.

I looked as she started placing something like a curling iron from back home that my sisters would use but seemed cordless. “What else do you have in there?” Beth asked her.

“I brought my SkinSync makeup,” she said. “I figured we could use the big guns on her.”

“I am here, you guys!” I griped.

“Really? We hadn’t noticed,” Shelby smirked at me.

I sighed, “You sound just like Riley!”

“We’ve got to find a way for us to meet!” Shelby smiled. “Now, just close your eyes, and Beth can start on your hair. I’ll program your face, and we’ll get you all prettied up!”

I felt I had to do my best to seem like I hated what Beth was doing, but the truth was, it was my favorite thing when my sisters decided I needed to be their doll. Last night when Beth did my hair, it was similar to when they would just be bored. My sisters doing my makeup or something had always been fun, even if I had to put up the requisite fight to protect them knowing I was enjoying it. Dressing me up didn’t happen, but once we all hit high school and got busy with our own activities. I found myself just sitting there and began nodding off slightly. At the same time, my hair was pulled and twisted this way and that, even as I wistfully remembered times with my sisters.
 

AS BETH WAS working on Connor’s hair, she was quickly discovering something she hadn’t known about herself… She found this… appealing. The idea of dating Connor wasn’t completely abhorrent once she realized her proportional size compared to him, and her mom’s to her dad was almost identical. But, to have him willingly let her do this to him? She was finding herself aroused by the activity!

‘I may need to do laundry tomorrow, actually,’ she thought as her body reacted. ‘With everyone watching me so closely…’

However, she turned her head back to Connor and admired the curling iron Shelby had brought up with her. It was one of the newest ones that could change the diameter while using it with some sort of holo-field-like projection. They were lightyears ahead of the old hot ones her mom had used as a kid. These also used a special electrical charge to form the hair to the curl you wanted without using an entire can of hairspray. She soon had a combination of thin tendrils of rings on the top side of Connor’s head and wavy barrel curls at the bottom. She grabbed it back and forth, “Up or down, do you think?” She asked Shelby.

“Definitely down, can’t have her looking too grown up!”

Beth laughed at that. “How many of these parties have you been subjected to?”

“As the birthday girl or as a cousin?”

Beth looked down at the shorter girl, “Either?”

“At least ten as the birthday girl. I would guess seventeen of them as the guest?” She shook her head, “No, probably more than that. Mom’s other sisters liked to do these silly things too.”

“Liked to do?” Connor suddenly spoke up.

“Well, Aunt Chloe died when I was seven, and so I stopped having to go extra ones then.”

“What happened?” Connor asked, “I guess since Mom never had positive things to say about her, I forgot she wasn’t there last weekend? I don’t know if Mom knows she died?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard she used to be a real witch when your mom was here, so Grandma might not have mentioned it, to be honest. Chloe was going to pick up her daughters from daycare one afternoon, and a manual-driving moron ran a red light. She was killed instantly, from what Mom has said.”

“What about her… daughters?” Connor asked.

Shelby smiled, “Well, it was pretty rough for them for a week or so. Aunt Chloe didn’t have a will in place, so there was no clear picture of who they went to.”

“Ouch,” I said.

“Yeah, I was pretty young, so I don’t remember much of the story, but they were severely restrained during that time. Great-Grandpa Joe and Grandma fought for them and managed to gain custody of them as the nearest relatives.”

“They’re not here, though?” Beth asked.

She shook her head, “Nope, apparently, they gave them an option of moving to an island my Great-Aunt Hannah lived on. We took a family vacation to bring them there and settle them in.” She smiled, “They had beautiful beaches there! And a waterpark!”

Beth smiled at her, “Why didn’t your mom and you guys stay there too?”

She shrugged, “For all that is horrible about being forced to be a babied Little, Mom wasn’t getting much of that once we were born. Really since before then, when they were home, they pretty much treated her like an older kid. They’d only done as much as needed before due to that stupid Venture group going after her because of her parents.”

“Huh?” Beth asked.

Connor looked at her, “I’ll explain later; it’s more my mom’s story.”

“Anyway, how is the programming going there, Shelby?” she asked.

“Almost there; it’s kind of a weird look to do work in their systems since normally makeup at our age is about making you look older! I just want the look to be more age-appropriate for today. You almost done with her hair?”

“Pretty much,” Beth said, finding one last strand out of place. “She could use something more in her hair. I’m going to go grab some hair things I saw in her mom’s old things.”

“Her?” Connor asked.

“Duh, if you’re a princess, you’re being made an honorary girl for the day!” Shelby said. “While you’re grabbing them, I’ll start getting her makeup on her.”
 

I SAT STILL for a long time and talked with the two of them. I’d been incredibly intrigued as Shelby had been doing something with her phone and a canister after taking a closeup picture of my face.

“There! That should do it!” Shelby said.

I watched as she opened the canister and revealed… “That’s just a makeup brush?”

She held the short but broad makeup brush in her hand and shook her head, “Not exactly, these brush on, but it’s not just a makeup brush. Each strand excretes nanites that will pigment the skin in just the right way when activated. You have to program them first, brush them on, then activate them with the app. Close your eyes now,” she told me.

I was genuinely curious as this seemed like an overkill application for nanites!

The brush felt weird to me as she ran it across every corner of my face and around my jaw. It sometimes tickled, and I nearly sneezed as she did my nose.

“Stop being such a baby!” Shelby joked at that. “There, you can open your eyes to see this in the mirror. I’ve used this for years and still find it amazingly cool to watch!”

I opened my eyes and stared in the mirror. Shelby pressed a button on the phone, and between the hair and makeup, I no longer looked anything like Connor. My lips were stained red, a bit deeper than my normal color. My eyes, though, looked to have darker eyelashes, thinner eyebrows, and a light dusting of glittery eyeshadow. Across my face, the skin was smoothed out like I had seen my sisters after they used concealer, foundation, and powder. There was just a hint of blush that looked like it was applied to the perfect spots on my cheeks.

In a word, I really looked pretty!

For about two seconds, that is!

My skin began to itch worse than anything I’d ever experienced, and a dust cloud suddenly fell off my face!

“Wha…?!?” Shelby said.

Beth must have returned right then because she finished it, “What the hell?”
 
 

Chapter 45: Princess Party
 

BETH WALKED IN and had a moment’s glance at an adorable-looking little girl’s face in the mirror of the vanity for just a moment before the dust fell.

“Oh dear,” Amanda said, surprising her by walking right behind her and making her jump.

“What happened?” Connor asked.

“Shelby, is that your nanite makeup brush set?”

“Yes, Grandma, it is?”

Both of them pressed into the room, and suddenly Amanda was staring at Beth, “Beth, can you keep what I’m about to talk about a secret? Even from your father?”

She squirmed, “Umm… I guess that depends. Will it hurt anyone?”

Amanda laughed, “You are your father’s daughter… No, it won’t hurt anyone, but it might cause harm to Connor if you don’t?”

“Of course, I can keep that kind of secret!”

“You too, Missy?” she said, looking at Shelby.

“Of course, Grandma!”

“Connor, what did your mom tell you about nanites before you left?”

Connor was the one squirming now, with his hair curled and beautiful it made for a cute sight. “She told me to keep anything I knew a secret?” He was nervous now with the others in the room.

“It’s okay, Connor, you can trust both of them,” Amanda assured him.

He sighed, “I know Mom was injected with them to alter her when she first got here, then later figured out how to edit their programming to fix things?” He squirmed, “I also know that from her I have them in my body from being in her womb when she was pregnant with me?”

Beth gasped, “They transfer?”

Amanda looked at her, “Yes, they do; they’re probably in just about every person to some extent at this point with the proliferation that started thirty years ago. Putting nanites in makeup is probably one of the more irresponsible uses we’ve created for them.” She shrugged, “I do admit they are effective.”

“So, what happened to the nanites in the makeup, Grandma?” Shelby asked.

“I’m guessing Connor’s nanites decided they were an intruder and attacked them.” She looked down at Beth, “Beth’s dad had a similar problem after her grandma and aunt tried to attack him.”

Beth gasped, “You know exactly what happened with Mom and Dad with her mom? He’s never been willing to talk about it?”

Amanda looked at her, “I do, but I will respect his wishes there. Suffice it to say it was a close call for him, and he had to risk some serious choices. Now, Connor, I can probably fix this if you want me to allow these kinds of nanites to work on you?”

“Probably a good idea, Connor, if, for some reason, you get cast in the film,” Beth said.

“Huh?” Connor looked at her.

“I’m sure that’s what they’ll want to use this stuff on any actors; it’s the industry standard,” Beth told him.

Connor looked thoughtful momentarily, “These would be the only ones that can get through?”

“I’ll make sure of it,” Amanda told him.

“Yeah, I guess?” Then he looked up at Beth, “The things I do to be beautiful!” The roll of his eyes made her laugh.
 

I SAT THERE and waited while Grandma disappeared for a moment and returned with a tablet and some little transmitter she had. She looked at her watch and swore, “Crap, going to be close to getting this done in time…” she looked at Shelby, “Can you go ahead and program another batch of your makeup?”

Shelby nodded, and I tried to see the screen Grandma was working on. Of course, Mom had told me about the nanites. She also taught me how to reprogram them if needed but forced me to promise not to tamper with them or let others know I knew how.

“Connor, these nanites honestly saved me, even as they also caused problems when I came home,” Mom told me.

“They’re why you stayed tiny when you came home?”

She nodded, “Something about the alterations I made while I was there kept me static when I returned.”

“But you figured out a solution?” I asked.

“It was incredibly risky and dangerous, though, and I wouldn’t want to have you repeat it,” she said.

“If I have them in me, will I have a problem when I come home anyway?”

“I think I found the problem there and already uploaded that patch,” Mom told me. “I’d recommend against changing anything major unless it’s an emergency. Your Aunt Bella lost a ton of height when we fixed her.”

I shuddered at that, “That might make me a Little if I go through as a Tweener?”

“Or make you into an even tinier Little if you become a Little…”

I thought through Mom’s warnings and almost told Grandma to stop, but Beth was right; with as small as our film crew was, it was almost a certainty I would have to play some sort of role on camera.

“There, that should put the right exception in,” Grandma said. “Do you know the password?” She asked me.

“Password?” Beth asked.

I nodded, “Mom didn’t like the idea of just anyone being able to get into her nanites and change things, so she added a password. Took fooooorrrreeeever to memorize the stupid thing!”

Grandma passed me the tablet, and I began typing the incredibly long string of characters that was a mix of a sentence to help remember it since it included letters and symbols. It was a paragraph, not a password, to me!

I pressed the enter button that was present and felt a slight jolt like I’d been shocked in a static war with my sisters!

“Ouch,” I said, “That stung?”

“Sounds like it worked,” Grandma said. “Try the brush set now; I need to get back downstairs and help organize the arriving munchkins. If you three can help when you’re done?”

“Sure, Grandma,” Shelby said. “Though for putting this monstrosity on, I should get a day off,” she griped after she left.

We both laughed. “Close your eyes again, Connor,” she said.

“We need another name for her today,” Beth said.

“You’re right!” Shelby said as she began brushing his face again.

“Another ‘C’ name?” Beth suggested.

“Look some up?”

“Let me grab my phone,” she said. Shelby didn’t take long to do the trick again, and this time, when she pressed the start button, my face stayed the look she had programmed.

I knew I should probably look annoyed or nervous, but I couldn’t help but smile at the image in front of me. I looked so pretty! I loved the glittery eyeshadow, even though I knew this would be a dangerous look to have around campus!

“You look adorable!” Beth practically squealed.

I felt my heart flip at that and wondered if that shot my hopes of maybe dating her down the road to hell?

“Umm… thanks…? I think?”

Shelby and Beth both giggled at me. “Here, let me help you with your dress, Beth, start giving us some name suggestions!”

I stood up, and my taller cousin said, “Go ahead and take your shirt and pants off?”

I blushed, “Umm…”

“You have a Pull-Up on, right? We won’t see anything with that!”

“Though we may want to switch colors?” Beth suggested. I saw her looking down at her phone still, but clearly, she had glanced up for a second.

“Oooh… right!” She looked thoughtful but shook her head, “We don’t have any that would be his size, though. Mine would be too big, and even if Mom wore them, they would be way too small. I guess we could go with one of her nighttime diapers?”

I blushed, “These will be fine?”

“As long as you promise to be a lady and not flash your panties, I guess they will be,” Shelby smirked. “Now strip already?”

I blushed bright red as I pulled off the sweatshirt and jeans I’d worn that day after swimming. The Pull-Up, thankfully, was in its unused state, as I’m sure someone would have been certain to comment otherwise! “Okay, stick your hands up like a ballerina!” Shelby said to me.

“Huh?”

“Just put your arms up!” she told me with a shake of her head. Given that she was well over a foot taller than me, she had no problems lifting the dress above my arms. She carefully pushed the skirt and bodice past my face and hair as I did so.

“So here are some options,” Beth said, “Charlotte, Courtney, Carly, Candice, Cassidy, Callie, Cindy, Christina, Carrie, Corina, Carolyn.”

I turned around and looked at myself as she fussed with the dress and began tying the enormous over-the-top bow in the back. Of course, with sisters, it certainly wasn’t my first time being dressed up as a doll, but unlike when they insisted that I wear their dresses, this dress fit me like it was made for me. Combined with the hair and makeup, I really truly looked like a girl.

“I like Carly and Courtney?” Shelby said.

“Carly?” Beth agreed.

“That works, I guess,” I said, even as I fought my excitement that they had hit on one of my favorite names.

“Nice to meet you, Carly; now I think you’ll be ready for the ball once you put on your shoes! Let’s get Beth all dressed up here too!”

Thirty minutes later, the three of us approached the stairs just as Grandma came up. “Oh, my goodness, you look adorable, girls! Connor, we have to take a picture and send it to your mom!”

I sighed dramatically, “If you insist.”

She reached down and picked me up, setting me on her right hip before reaching down with her hand towards Shelby, “I know you’re a big girl, but hold Granny’s hand as we go down the stairs?” She looked at Beth, “Any chance you can take a picture down there?”

Beth giggled and waved the phone that she had in her hand, “Sure!”

Beth was down at the bottom and snapped a picture of Grandma holding what would probably look like the youngest granddaughter and guiding the slightly older one down the stairs. I grimaced, knowing that if Riley saw this one, she would definitely be making it into one of her 3D prints!

When we were done, she put me on the ground and took a picture of Beth, Shelby, and me. “Can we see?” I asked.

She nodded and showed me the picture. It was a clear picture of what looked like three young girls. Beth looked like she might have been the big sister in early elementary school, while Shelby looked to be the preschooler, and I looked to be just learning to walk compared to them. None of us looked like our ages, and that was confirmed a moment later when a strange woman said, “Oh my gosh! You are so adorable, Shelby!!!” And leaned down to her level to hug her.

“Thanks, Aunt Cassie,” Shelby said, somewhat nervously.

I grimaced when I realized who it was. “And this must be my great-nephew…?”

“More like a niece today?” Shelby suggested.

“Yes, I’d guess that would be the case, huh?” She said as she leaned down and hugged me, “Did we pick another name besides Connor?”

“She’s Princess Carly,” Grandma said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said with a smile that honestly seemed genuine. I looked into her face and saw a much older woman than I expected, given she was younger than Mama.

“You too,” I said nervously.

She laughed, “I’m guessing your mom told you enough stories… Don’t worry; you’re safe. I’m just here because your cousin’s daughters are friends with Meggy, and it seemed like, as a grandma, I should be here.”

“Oh,” I said.

Sensing my discomfort, Grandma said, “Come on, Carly, let’s go meet all of your cousin’s friends!”

In the time it had taken for us to get ready, the living room had transformed into something of a daycare, with about a dozen Littles and that many ‘mommies’ sitting around talking and playing. All the girls were dressed in their finest princess attire. Most featured skirts much shorter than ours and proudly displayed padding of various thicknesses and shades of white and yellow, from what I could tell.

Meggy saw me and smiled, “You look beautiful!!!!” She came over and hugged me. Our very poofy dresses got significantly in the way and made both go up in the air. Displaying her diaper to all those behind her, and unfortunately, I also figured my Pull-Up!

“Happy Birthday,” I told her.

“Thanks, this is the greatest birthday gift ever!” She said with a smile. “We can’t call you Connor, though?”

Beth was standing beside me along with Shelby, “This is Princess Carly.”

“I like it! Princess Carly, come meet everyone!!!!”

The names she introduced flew by so fast that I couldn’t remember them! Really about the only ones that stuck were my new cousins Cammie and Zoey. Zoey had been adopted by Cassie’s daughter Kristina, and Cammie had been adopted by Klara.

“I’m sorry,” Beth had said to them quietly.

Zoey had laughed, though, “There’s nothing to be sorry about! I graduated high school and didn’t even want to try and be an adult, only to have it taken away from me. Mommy was actually my favorite English teacher and swimming coach. I decided to try a community group called Connecting Littles to see if I could find a good mommy or daddy. That night when I saw her there, we recognized each other, and I knew she was the perfect mommy for me. We get along really well!”

“I met my mommy at Connecting Littles later, too,” Cammie told them. “Other than diapees and helping Mommy by drinking her milkies, I can do what I want.”

“Huh,” Beth said, looking at me.

I shrugged, “Sounds like Meggy, actually.”

I had initially felt really exposed in the dress, but given everyone else was in nearly matching styles of dresses, I actually probably fit in better with all of the girls dressed like I was. A few crawled around some, Cammie being one of them, but all could still walk and talk like adults when they chose to. After lunch and presents were given to the birthday girl, all the Littles were nursed or given bottles and changes. Besides that, it seemed like an ordinary children’s birthday party, like I remembered the twins having not long ago!

The ‘adults’ led all of the Littles in traditional birthday games I could remember playing when we were really little. ‘Pin the Tale on the Donkey,’ ‘Musical Chairs,’ ‘Simon Says,’ ‘Duck, Duck, Goose,’ and ‘Musical Statues’ were all played. They also had some crafts of making t-shirts with stick-on pictures that adhered when you applied a special heater to them that the adults would use. Meggy insisted that even us ‘older girls’ like Shelby, Beth, Leelah, and myself had to participate! It was like having an aunt and a baby sibling all in one. She would be the cutest baby on the planet one minute, then take charge like she was her age the next!

Just before lunch, Grandma had insisted on all of the family members sitting in a picture together, plus Beth, who she also forced in. “Your daddy stayed with me for a few weeks, and he was here hanging out with Carly’s mom all the time! You’re at least a niece at this point,” she told her.

Bella was the most petite girl in the picture, but when I saw it later, I realized I looked like the second youngest in almost every photo.

Soon after, all the girls were stripped out of their fancy dresses and placed on the floor of the large playpen in onesies over their freshly changed diapers, with a t-shirt, or one girl was just left naked. “Why don’t you three change out of those dresses while the girls nap?” Grandma said to us. “Your aunt made a girl’s swimsuit for you if you want to wear it to keep up appearances, Connor. There’s a swim diaper, and it’s in your room. You can wear one of your regular ones, too.”

“What about this makeup?” I asked Shelby on the way upstairs as Beth gave me a ride on her hip.

“Just leave it alone; it’ll stay in the water.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, remind me to show you how to deactivate it later; the last thing you want to do is go to classes Monday with that on!”

Beth giggled, “It would definitely bring down your age a bit. I would never use that glittery eyeshadow in college unless you’re ten feet or taller.”

“Really?” Shelby asked.

“Don’t get me wrong, it can be really cute! But the stupid Bigs would see it as a little girl playing dress-up,” she sighed.

“They take all of the fun out of things,” Shelby said, clearly annoyed.

The two of them helped me out of the dress, and I blushed as I walked back to my room in just the dry Pull-Up. After visiting the restroom, I looked at the swimsuit left for me and knew exactly which I would wear.
 
 

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you like this and press the Kudos button! I should be posting a couple times a week until this is fully posted here on BC. This time of year is a bit insane for me in the real world, so this may be more of a once-per-week posting for a few more weeks here though! This first full novel is complete (73 chapters plus Epilogue) and published on Amazon if you wish to be impatient though! I hope to have Book 2 published there in the next few months as well.

All of my published works have AI read audiobooks available for them. I’ve spent some time tweaking pronunciations, and they’re pretty good when you can’t afford thousands to pay for audiobook creation! They’re a $1.99 addon to the $6.95 price on Kindle. If you’ve already purchase the book it should come up as only $1.99. They’re also available on Audible directly, but that’s $10.95 versus the cheaper price! https://www.amazon.com/author/babysofia