Lights, Camera, …What?!? Book 1 Chapters 10 and 11 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…

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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 10: Urgency
 

I COULDN’T HELP but blush as Laura began talking to me about things right after buckling me in the baby seat. “So, what did you do in high school?”

I shrugged but found my shoulder movement limited by the stupid straps. “I swam freshman and sophomore years, and even medaled at the state level sophomore year. I like band more, though, so I stuck with just music my last two years.”

“Any other sports?” Jason asked.

I noted that Beth and Grandma were both listening to my responses.

“No, I’m not really much of an athlete…?”

“Weren’t you like taller than everyone else around you, though?” Jason pushed.

I shrugged, “I was, but more gangly than a massive pile of muscles that would do football or something.”

“Didn’t you study Tae Kwon Do like your mom?” Grandma asked me.

I made eyes around the car. Cameron shook his head and laughed, “You don’t have to worry about saying things in here, Connor. You can guarantee the moment your grandmother sat down in the car, she scanned for anything bug-wise. The actual vehicle AI was written by her, so I have a feeling she also has a way to make Luxuria forget about anything?”

“Just a simple privacy mode, Justice Sylvester.” She smirked.

“So…?” Grandma asked.

“I thought Mom told you this?”

“Not everything. The portal communications are way riskier for being overheard.”

I nodded at that, “I get that.” I looked at her, “Yes, my siblings and I have been practicing Tae Kwon Do with our mom since before we were out of diapers.”

Laura snorted.

“Laura!” Cameron hissed.

“Sorry, it’s a normal pun Daddy,” Beth tried to help her sister out. “I heard it was used on you once upon a time?”

I watched the Justice turn red himself then too. His glare seemed deflected from some sort of invisible shield though as Laura looked unphased.

“So, are you good?” Jason asked.

“I’m good enough,” I told him with a smile.

“Further than your mom was when she came?”

“When she left,” I told Grandma.

She looked a bit surprised then, and I realized Mom hadn’t been sharing that information. “Your great-grandfather would have loved to meet you,” she told me.

“Mom’s said that too,” I told her.

Suddenly the holographic woman reappeared and said, “We have arrived at your destination. I’ll wait here for you.”

“Thanks!” Beth told her as she wasted no time in reaching over to help me out of the seat.

“I’m going to grab a spare couple of Pull-Ups to put in my bag,” Grandma announced to the whole world.

“I won’t need them, I hope…?”

“Never know,” Addison said, breaking her silence. “You just had that lunch with all of the other exchange students. I wouldn’t put it past someone to have messed with visiting students there.”

I groaned but knew that was true. Beth sat me down outside the large vehicle and asked, “Where to first?”

“You probably need everything clothing-wise at this point?” Grandma asked.

“Except underwear, apparently,” I said with a blush.

“Let’s just hit a few of the big stores, Beth. We shouldn’t need to hit every teen store that you and Laura love here. Most won’t even have clothes in Connor’s sizes.”

“Go to a couple of the Little shops?” Laura suggested.

“Maybe… I don’t think we’re looking for baby clothes though, Laura,” Cameron said to her. He looked at his watch. “This will have to be a bit of a speed trip, I’m afraid, if we’re going to catch dinner before we leave.”

“Let’s get to it then!” Addison said and reached down to hold her husband’s hand.
 

BETH WAS ACTUALLY genuinely amazed at how quick a trip to the mall could be made when her mom and Amanda put their minds to it. Even the super-shopper Laura looked outpaced as they made it from one store to another.

“You’ll have to wear your uniform most of the time,” Amanda had told Connor as they started. “Let’s just focus on several pairs of jeans, maybe some slacks, a few t-shirts, dress shirts, and that swimsuit you mentioned?”

Connor had clearly been prepared for the trip, but even so, Beth watched him shirk into the group more as they passed some Bigs who were even taller than her mom. At one point, he was looking at a pair of pants Amanda had handed to him, when a teenaged salesgirl asked, “Do you need help trying on those pants? I can help you!”

“No thank…” was all poor Connor got out before the girl was already popping the snaps of his uniform pants open.

“Excuse me, he doesn’t need help. And if he does, he’s got me, his grandmother, and my mom to help,” Beth found herself saying to the tall girl who towered over her. She had just about turned Connor’s pants into a skirt by pulling open the snaps but suddenly stopped when she realized the looks she was getting.

“Umm… Sorry about that, I’ll go help another customer!” The girl dashed away to the checkouts, and Connor was left blushing the cutest shade of red ever.

Unable to help herself, Beth found herself leaning over and redoing the snaps for him. Fortunately, the ones furthest up his crotch hadn’t yet been undone, so it avoided a bit of awkwardness. “Sorry about that,” she apologized to Connor.

“It’s okay,” he said with a sigh, “thanks for stepping in.”

“Happy to,” she smiled at him. ‘He really is cute… I wish he’d come through at his own height!’

A few minutes later, she held onto the pants for him while they got a key to a dressing room. They were told that Littles weren’t allowed in one on their own according to store policy, so Amanda went with him. ‘Dad probably should’ve been the one…?’ Beth couldn’t help thinking.

While they were at the checkout counter, the girl shriveled when her mom gave her a stern look. “Mom, you don’t have to terrorize everyone,” Laura said.

“Only people who deserve it?” Beth said. “And she deserved it.”

“What else do we still need?” her mom asked Amanda and Connor.

“Swimsuit?” Connor said.

“Excuse me, do you have any swimsuits in Little sizes available?” Beth asked the girl who was finishing bagging their purchases.

She shook her head, “It’s not quite time for them to be in-season for us. You might try Littlecise? They’re a few doors down?”

“Thanks,” Amanda told her.

Beth grimaced; she’d walked past those stores before. “You sure you want a swimsuit…?” She asked Connor. “If that’s the only store carrying them right now, it may not be worth the trip?”

“How bad?” Connor asked her.

“Probably a six or a seven out of ten?” she responded.

He shrugged, “I don’t want to get fat, and none of the exercise equipment in the dorm is sized for me. Mackenzie said she would take me with her to swim in the mornings if I got a suit?”

“I’ll walk beside him,” her mom said to her. “Amanda and I’ll go in with him. Why don’t the rest of you go do a quick fifteen minutes, and we’ll meet you outside the store?”

Beth saw the look on Connor’s face and felt terrible for him as he realized the group was about to be less protective. “I’ll go with you too,” she told them.

“You sure, sweetie?” her mom asked.

“Yeah, sis? They probably carry things in your size there…?” Laura looked at her in surprise.

She shot her sister a laser glare and said, “We’re just two college students. We’ll be fine.”

Laura shook her head and said, “Jason, let’s go down over there and see if they have any of those headset accessories Meggy told us about!”

Beth looked up and followed her mom and Amanda down the hallway with Connor beside her.
 

I COULDN’T HELP but be nervous based on the signals I’d been getting as we walked into Littlecise. It instantly became apparent why Beth had been worried about this store. Immediate inside were racks and racks of ballet leotards, dresses, and other dance apparel appropriate for a three-year-old’s first ballet recital!

The following section consisted of some sort of wrist and ankle cuffs that led your Little in guided aerobic exercise. Another area featured safe mats you could fall onto. It was adjacent to a section of balance beam type units and even some sort of VR headset attached to a baby bouncer.

Grandma and Addison moved quickly through the store until we were greeted. “Good afternoon! Oh my gosh, your baby boy is so cute!” She said, looking at me. “You must be such a good big sister too, huh?”

Beth looked like she wanted to die right then.

Thankfully Addison spoke up, “we’re looking for a swimsuit for Connor here. We were told you might have some in stock?”

“Oh, you have a wading pool somewhere for him?”

“Something like that,” Amanda said.

“Well, over here, we have the selection. Of course, there are about four girl choices for each boy choice. Boys’ clothes are so bland, aren’t they?” She looked at Beth as she said that.

Beth shrugged, “I guess.”

Internally I actually agreed with the woman completely. I had always thought it wasn’t fair how many more choices my sisters had.

“It looks like we have these five styles in small enough sizes. They’re based on the latest competition suits we say, but the important part is they’re basically a romper and will keep him from accidentally falling out of his suit, or worse yet, his diaper. About six months, I’m guessing?”

“That’s right,” Amanda said.

She looked and held out four options. One was a light blue with white horizontal stripes that looked pretty girly to me. Another featured cartoon sharks on them, one had flowers, and another had ‘Handsome’ on its butt. All of them were like a wetsuit almost with sleeveless shoulders that would cover all the way down to a pair of shorts. ‘I like that it covers me more…’ I thought. ‘Too bad these were banned from competition back home, I might have kept swimming longer…’

I did grimace about the patterns and decorations though, as Grandma asked, “Which ones do you want?”

“I guess the sharks and the blue ones?”

“How about the flowers?” Beth said, “I know a lot of guys who have that style?”

“I also even have a matching larger one-piece for your sister here, too, if you pick it!”

Before Beth or I could say ‘no,’ Addison said, “Sold, show me the other suit!” with a wink at Beth.

Poor Beth looked like she was about to die, but got let off the hook when they discovered her size was unfortunately out of stock. ‘I would kill my mom if she did that… but she would do something like that too!’

I paid for the swimsuits… or rather, Grandma paid for me, before we headed out to rejoin the others. “Find something?” Cameron asked us.

I nodded, “Not great, but they’ll work.”

“Almost found something for Beth to match, too,” Addison smirked.

“Really? Cute?” Cameron looked like he was enjoying picking on his daughter as well.

Beth looked at me, “Tell me your parents are just as crazy?”

I laughed, “My mom came here before me on an exchange program; what do you think?”

By that point, I had jeans, shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas, socks, shoes, and now swimsuits in my new size, so I figured we were about good. “Dinner now?” I asked.

They looked at the watch devices on their wrists, and Cameron said, “It’s early, but we have to get to the airport for our flight, and you’ll need to get you back to your dorm and unpack the rest of your stuff before bedtime.”

“Seems like we’ve got a plan then,” Grandma said. There was a bit of discussion on where everyone wanted to eat, finally settling on a casual place that Cameron and Addison apparently used to frequent. “I’ll call Fred and have him meet us there.”

The walkout to the car was almost successful, until I suddenly felt the urgent need to go pee, followed by some sudden cramping in my stomach! “Is there a bathroom on the way out?” I asked.

Beth looked at me, “How bad?”

“Bad…?”

“This way to the closest one,” she said as she reached down and grabbed my hand, and pulled me along. Grandma and Addison followed right behind us as I caught a glimpse of a bathroom sign.

The urgency inside my gut was growing fast! It was faster than it had been when I’d been the victim of food poisoning one time. My need to pee suddenly felt like I’d been holding things for an entire day!

Beth looked down at me as we reached the restroom and said, “Almost there!”

I watched her force the large door open and couldn’t help but note that even though I was only waist-high to her, the door made her look like a tiny kid pushing it open!

The grumbling in my gut grew stronger even as an open stall appeared! Finally, I managed to pull my pants and shirt out of the way, but before I could even fathom whose arms were trying to help, I lost the battle.

Epically lost the battle!

I felt a pile of muck begin to fill the back of my Pull-Up!

Its stickiness was just registering in my brain while the front was being soaked by my urine. There was literally no stopping it, and I just stood there helplessly as Grandma and Beth’s eyes watched me.

Whatever had affected my stomach was vicious because my intestines must have emptied everything they had right then. I looked down in horror as I realized the leg gatherers had given up in their battle to hold everything inside. Small gooey droplets began climbing down my legs like some sort of slugs.

I looked up helplessly as Beth said, “I’ll give you two some privacy…?”

My heart broke as I figured any normal relationship between us was probably ruined.

After several long moments, I heard a mom come in with her young daughter. “Go potty, sweetheart, then we’ll go play in the playpark for a bit!”

“Mommy, it’s stinky!”

“Now, sweetie, sometimes that happens in the potty room. You don’t smell so good sometimes yourself! Do you need me to help you on the potty?”

“Mommy! I’m five now! I’m a big girl! I don’t need help to potty!”

I heard a giggle, “Okay, but you know I’ll help you if you change your mind!”

I heard the adjacent stall door close, even as Amanda asked, “Done?”

I could feel my stomach clenching in some sort of painful after-effects. My abdominal muscles that had been forced to release my bowels felt like they’d been beaten up in a tournament where I lost every match or something. “I think so…? Why did that happen?”

“I’m guessing there was something at lunch; Beth was right to be worried. You’ll probably go back to find the rest of your friends also had some issues.”

“Not you?” I gasped, realizing now I had to get out of the mess I was in. I was concerned my pants would get ruined, so I tried kicking them off.

“I’ll get those,” she said. “I’m guessing they only put it in the desserts of Littles, or they may have only used a small dose that would get someone your size.”

“Can I complain?” I asked, annoyed at being poisoned.

“Not worth it,” she told me as she managed to free my shoes and feet from the pants. Thankfully, they were still clean. “I know you’re not going to like this, but why don’t we get you cleaned up on a changing table. It’s a bit easier on my old bones,” she told me.

I nodded, “Okay.”

She motioned for me to follow her out of the stall to where a couple countertop changing tables were situated. Grandma pulled something from her oversized purse to place down on the table. She was just about to lift me up under my arms onto the table when I heard, “She’s a stinky baby! She missed the potty!”

I winced, guessing my hair threw her right then.

“Now, sweetie, that little boy can’t help it any more than you could a couple years ago! It’s not nice to pick on Littles who can’t help themselves! Now apologize!”

I was being lifted up by Grandma as the girl came toward me and said, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to be mean.”

I winced as I was sat down on top of the counter and more poop squirted out of the leg holes. “Umm… apology accepted,” I had no idea what else to say.

“Well, we’ll let you get back to clean up there. From the back, I figured he was a girl. That’s some long hair for a boy!”

Grandma laughed, “family tradition.”

She looked at me with sympathy and pushed me onto my back. The girl and her mother washed their hands even as she began pulling at the Velcro sides of the Pull-Up. “This isn’t going to be pleasant,” she whispered.

“Sorry…”

“Unfortunately, you couldn’t help this at all. I’ll talk with your grandfather about getting you some things like we used to have for your mother to help. We’ll have something for you when you come home with us this weekend.”

I nodded as she lifted my legs effortlessly awayfrom the disgusting Pull-Up, just like one would a tiny baby. Baby wipes came out, and she brought one up to my butt. I winced at the intimate touch as she began first down the middle of my butt, then made her way to both cheeks with a second and third wipe. Finally, she used one hand to wrap everything in the destroyed Pull-Up and tossed it into an adjacent disposal chute.

Still holding my legs up, she wiped me with a few more wipes and then asked, “Do you want to wear a diaper to be safe? You may not be done with all of that?”

I felt my eyes open, “I thought the point of the Pull-Ups…?”

“Not when the deck is being stacked against you. I’d honestly say you probably should wear a diaper to dinner, and you’ll have to at bedtime regardless. Try your Pull-Ups again tomorrow?”

“What if I need to go?”

“They’ll hold anything you can throw at them?”

I didn’t know how things went so far off the rails so quickly, but I couldn’t think of a good response right then. Instead, I just stared at Grandma with my jaw open…
 
 

Chapter 11: Family
 

BETH FELT HORRIBLE for poor Connor! She might not remember her time as a Little, but she could remember seeing the looks of horror on the faces of all those Littles around her as she grew up the second time. Even in the State of New Haven where she’d grown up, while forced babying didn’t occur as often, pranks from Bigger students to Littles were not unheard of. One time, her friend Elsie had been the subject of a spiked drink while they were at a dance.

It was horrifying to see her poor friend going from looking like a princess in a beautiful gown when they arrived, to leaving in a school diaper and onesie. The worst part had been the school forcing her and six others with the same problem to wear diapers for the next six months until the end of the school year. Elsie had been just under six feet tall, but most of the others had been shorter. Lindsay had been the exception, as she was as tall as Beth was now. Nearly eight feet tall and spending her junior year in diapers had been horrible for the poor girl. She’d eventually transferred to a school in another town to escape everything.

Beth knew all too well about the ease of discretely using the products that had evolved from ones her mom’s mother had developed. Some of them didn’t even require ingestion now, so she was sure Connor hadn’t stood a chance of resisting.

Her mom asked her some inane questions as everyone stood around waiting for Connor to be cleaned up.

The door opened, and she saw a Big mom and her young girl coming out. “Mommy, why was that Little in Pull-Ups? Shouldn’t he wear diapees?”

She shook her head, Ames was better now, but there was no doubt that prejudices still ran deep here towards adult Littles. A few minutes later, Amanda held the door open for Connor as he came out.

Connor had been wearing the Pull-Up before, which was slightly thinner, but now definitely had additional padding on his rear. He looked embarrassed and refused to meet anyone’s eyes as they walked to the waiting vehicle. Her dad and the others had gone on ahead, so Amanda and she were the only ones there as the limo’s door lifted open for them.

Beth bent down to Connor and said, “Hey, don’t worry about this. It’s not going to be the last time someone spikes something on you, and you can’t let anyone know it gets you down.”

Connor looked at her in surprise, “Why would you care?”

“Well, your mom apparently had a close friendship with my dad, which means she must have been a special lady. I know they were never more than friends, but I think they were pretty close friends? I’m not exactly a ‘family member,’ like Amanda is, but we can be friends too?”

Connor was red with embarrassment but looked up at her and said, “I can definitely use friends.”

He held out a hand to her, but she leaned over and hugged him instead. “Better get used to hugs if you’re going to be my friend!”

“Aww…” Laura said from behind her.

She turned and glared at her baby sister, “Hush you!”

Some giggling broke out, but at least some of the tension left Connor’s shoulders. Luxuria buckled Connor in again, and they were soon off to a restaurant that Beth knew had been a favorite of her parents when they had been in school. Apparently, it was being run by the original owner’s daughter now. The menu had changed some, though, and she personally appreciated that there were some more modern dishes on the menu!

Her parents were both recognized by the hostess, who, after seating them, ran to the back to let the owner know they were there. “Cameron, Addy!” the woman, a bit younger than her parents, said happily in her chef’s jacket. “I’m glad you came!”

“Wouldn’t miss it, Ginny!” her dad told the woman. “Needed a place to take the kids to eat before leaving them to eat the horrors of campus food for the next semester.”

“Those are horrors,” she agreed. “I didn’t go to Emerson, but I’ve heard enough horror stories to know it’s best to be avoided. Beth, you’re the one going to school here, right?”

Beth looked up at the woman, surprised she remembered her name, “That’s right.” She inclined her head to where Connor sat in a booster seat between her and Amanda, “And this is Connor; he’s also a student.”

She smiled in a way that made her believe she probably didn’t want to rip Connor from the booster seat and baby him. “Nice to meet you, Connor. How do you know this clan?”

He pointed to her dad, “Her dad was friends with my mom in college.” Then, he pointed to Amanda, “She’s my adopted grandmother.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! Feel free to come here and eat sometime if you want. I don’t let anyone bother customers, if you know what I mean. Enjoy the meal!”

Beth took that cue to start looking at her extensive menu while noting that a smaller, but identical, version had been handed to Connor. Many empty seats were still present at the table for the rest of Amanda’s family, who was supposed to be arriving soon.
 

I LOOKED AROUND the menu for a few minutes, deciding what I wanted to eat. I didn’t remember Mom mentioning this place, so I assumed it wasn’t one that she went to with Grandma. I was just about set on picking something that was a spicy chicken roast dish when Grandma waved at someone, “Over here.”

I turned and saw a small entourage coming inside then, and I assumed this meant I was going to meet the rest of the family. Walking in front was a couple made up of a larger man and a shorter woman. I recognized my Great-Aunt Megan from pictures mom had shown me, which meant the man next to her must have been her husband, Matt. A couple of taller teenagers walked beside them, while Megan carried a toddler-sized Little on her hip that I knew must be mom’s friend Meggy from pictures I’d seen.

What surprised me was how young she looked! ‘How does she look younger than me?’ I could help but think!

Behind them was an older giant of a man using a cane to help stabilize himself, and a shorter Little with two taller teenage Littles, a boy, and a girl, beside her, walked in front of him. I was soon introduced in a flurry of hugs. The shorter Little was my Aunt Bella, and the other two Littles were her kids, Ryan and Shelby. After everyone was seated, I really wanted the full story of how an adopted Little had kids but had been given a whispered, “We’ll explain this weekend.”

I was used to our family of six, which was a fair amount of chaos, but this large table of extended ‘family’ was a bit overwhelming, so I went back to the menu. A dish labeled ‘Spicy Stuffed Cantalonian Chicken’ intrigued me. Mom had raised us to eat the ‘spiciest foods on the planet’ according to my sister Riley’s friends. Of course, none of us blinked an eye at it, but apparently, that wasn’t normal.

The waitress came by, taking orders, “And for you, sweetie?”

“I’ll take this spicy stuffed chicken?”

“Umm… I don’t normally get like this, but our shorter guests typically can’t handle that dish?”

Grandma laughed beside me, “I’m guessing he’ll be fine with it. His mother had weird taste buds, and I have a feeling he takes after her with that.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at us but continued down without further comment to Beth, who ordered some sort of pasta dish with seafood. I watched the odd family dynamics as Meggy and Bella had bibs velcroed around their necks. Meanwhile, Bella’s kids, Ryan and Shelby, were treated like adults with booster seats to help them reach the table. Ryan looked a little older than I was. Shelby talked to Laura about both graduating in a few months from high school.

I did my best to track conversations to learn about this group, but there was so much going on! Beth must have sensed it, “Not used to this?”

I shook my head, “I mean, I have three sisters, so it gets loud sometimes, but this is pretty chaotic?”

She laughed, “It can get worse, you know? Wait until you’re eating in the cafeteria tomorrow?”

I shrugged, “That always seems different. I don’t care about others talking. I’m just curious to get to know all of these ‘relatives’ I’ve never met here. I know Mom said Aunt Bella had two kids, but I didn’t know I had cousins before? Mom and my Mama were both only children.”

Beth looked at me and said, “My dad was an only child too, and my mom’s sister has been in prison with a rejuvenation sentence for as long as I can remember, so I can understand that.”

I found myself giving up tracking all the different conversations, and just chatting with Beth then. I was genuinely surprised at how easy it was to talk with her. I also appreciated that she hadn’t once brought up my accident in the mall! Eventually, food arrived, and I felt my eyes practically explode at how large the food was.

“This is enormous!” I exclaimed.

Amanda laughed, “That’s pretty close to your mom’s reaction when she first saw our food. I should have remembered to ask them to split the portion into a box.”

I nodded, “Do our dorms have refrigerators?”

“They do have some common area fridges, but I wouldn’t trust anything left in them,” Beth told me. “Something like that left in a fridge is just asking for tampering.”

I sighed, still remembering the feeling of my bowels suddenly being outside of my control earlier. Even now, I could feel my guts occasionally groaning in protest. ‘I hope this meal isn’t a mistake!’

The waitress seemed to hover in the distance after delivering our meals, and I felt like she was particularly watching me. But, for that matter, so were most of those at our table.

“What?” I asked as I sliced a piece of the chicken and collected some of the stuffing onto the bite.

“Just waiting,” Aunt Bella said beside Grandpa Fred.

He had his own twinkle in his eye, “Go ahead,” he said.

I shook my head and went for it. Mom had said something about eating contests with Grandpa Fred once. The bite was quite flavorful but only left the barest tingle on my personal spice meter. “Were you all waiting to see if I would cry from it being too hot or something?” I asked, spearing another bite and ensuring a pepper was now wrapped around the meat.

Aunt Bella shook her head from the high chair she was sat in. “Your mom was just as weird. I don’t know how you can eat that!”

The waitress came by about ten minutes later, “Everything okay?” She asked.

“It’s good,” the chorus came.

“And you, sweetie, that’s not too spicy for you?”

I laughed, “If you think this is spicy, you really need to get out more…?”

The waitress looked at me like my body had sprouted a couple of extra heads. “Umm… Does that mean you don’t like it?”

“Oh, I’m happy with my choice. It is tasty, just not spicy?”

She left soon after, shaking her head, which made Beth giggle. “I wonder if any spicy food contests are coming up on campus?”

“The bigger question is if they’re during hours that a Little may attend,” Grandma said beside me. “Fred had difficulty finding contests in the right hours to take Stacy to.”

“My mom did spicy food contests here?” I felt cheated by not having heard this story. “She never told us that one?”

Grandpa Fred had been listening and jumped in from the head of the table, “Your mom always had a theory that since in your dimension, the smaller the pepper, the spicier it is, and since ours were so large, that nothing really was as spicy as yours. It took until we found some hybrid pepper before I ever saw her even sweat!”

I laughed at that, “We’ve gone to a few special shows out of town for spicy foods over the years. I never knew that Mom was hustling people here, though?”

“Oh, she definitely was!” Cameron said. “I always enjoyed her having fun at some moron's expense. She put plenty of Bigs to shame on what she could eat. You definitely should try and hit up a contest if there is one!”

After that, I became the center of attention with stories from Mom’s time from Cameron, Grandma, Grandpa, and Great-Aunt Megan. Meggy contributed a number of the better stories. Some of my favorites included the escapades that she, Megan, and Beth’s dad had gone on together. I knew they were together when Meggy had to be adopted but didn’t bring that story up!

Eventually, dinner was wrapped up, and we were waiting for the check that Beth’s dad insisted on picking up. I heard arguing from everyone about that, but just tuned it out, waiting instead for a chance to say thank you. Grandma nudged me then, “Need to use the restroom before we leave?”

I could feel my bladder was kind of full, so I said, “Yeah, actually?”

“Fred, you want to take Connor to the men’s room with you?”

“Sure, Mandy,” he told her.

“Come on,” he told me. “Anyone else need to go?” He looked at Bella’s son Ryan.

“I’m good, Grandpa,” he told him.

I followed the giant man through the restaurant with my backpack. I noted his cane didn’t seem to be all that necessary and wondered if he was just dealing with some sort of recovery from something. Then, finally, the bathroom was opened up, and he asked, “Just need to pee?”

I thought for a second and nodded, “I think so.”

“Let’s get you out of that diaper then. I think you can reach that urinal over there?”

He motioned towards an ultra-low urinal that kind of surprised me, actually. It seemed even lower than the fixtures in the bathroom in the dorm, so obviously, the restaurant was okay with Littles using the potty here. Fred undid one tape and asked, “Is that enough?”

I nodded and moved towards the urinal. It was a relief to go like a normal person this time! He used the taller urinal next to me while I went. I was done long before he was and tried to figure out if I could restick the Velcro tab myself. I gave it an attempt but was sure it wasn’t tight enough when I reattached it.

“You get it?” He asked.

I shook my head, “I don’t think it’s tight enough?”

He picked me up and sat me on the countertop, undoing the tape quickly, and resticking it much tighter. “Better?”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

“Good, let’s wash our hands and get going! I know Cameron and Addy have to get going to make their flight soon!”

When we came back out, I found Grandma and the others just standing up from the table. “Thank you for dinner, Cameron,” Fred told him. “You didn’t have to do that!”

Cameron laughed, “You didn’t have to help me years ago either!” Then, he looked down at me, “You all good?”

“I think so?”

“Well, let’s get you and Beth back to campus then, and then we’ll head to the airport!”
 

BETH HUGGED HER dad and mom goodbye. “I love you guys! See you soon!” Laura and Jason got hugs, too, though Jason looked annoyed by his. ‘Boys!’ she thought.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Fred had loaded everything they bought into Amanda’s car to store some of it. She looked at her watch and saw it was an hour before Amanda had told Connor’s Nest Mother he’d be back. ‘I’d go help move him in… but I really don’t want anything to do with that building!’

She watched her parents drive off a few minutes later while Connor and Amanda had loaded up his backpack, arms, and her arms with as much as they could carry. It looked like they were getting all of the swim diapers and one box of the Pull-Ups in one load. Amanda had a case of water for Connor that she somehow handled well too. “I guess I’ll see you around, Connor,” Beth said, “It was nice seeing you again, Amanda,” she added.

“Don’t be a stranger, sweetheart,” Amanda said. “Why don’t you come over in a few weeks for dinner? A nice home cooked meal?”

“That sounds nice,” Beth told her. She looked at Connor, “I’ll email you later, so you can get my email? Sounds like we might have a class or two together this semester. Maybe we can get together and study?”

Connor’s face brightened, “Sure, that sounds like fun!”

Beth made the awkward trek away from them and towards her own dorm room with the goodbyes finished. She had just reached the elevator and pressed the door-close button when she heard, “Wait!!!”

She reflexively hit the door-open button and smiled, “Livy! You’re back!!!” She gave the slightly taller girl a hug, before noticing the backpack and rolling suitcase with her. “Just got back?”

“Yeah, my flight got in about an hour ago. Got a Bruber back just now.”

“Cool!” She said as she pressed the elevator to go to the fourth floor, where their rooms were next to each other.

“When did you get back?”

“Last night, but I only came in to drop my stuff off this morning. I spent the rest of the day with some… family members and an exchange student.”

“Exchange student? They’re almost always Littles?”

“Connor is…”

“Ooh… Connor?”

“You’re horrible… It’s not like that. My dad and his mom were great friends back when they were here at college.”

“Wait, his mom? I thought you said he was an exchange student?”

Beth laughed, “I don’t know the full story… but what I do know is crazy…!”

Beth and Olivia talked for a long while about Connor’s family story. She couldn’t help but think, ‘I wish he was taller. I actually thought he was kind of cute!’

 
 

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you did so and press the Kudos button! I should be posting a couple times a week until this is fully posted here on BC. 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