Lights, Camera, …What?!? Book 1 Chapters 26 and 27 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 26: Saturday in the Dimension
 

I WOKE UP to a giant face shaking me awake, “Good morning, Connor, time to get up,” it said. I pulled back for a second, squinted, and realized it was just Grandma.

“Oh, morning,” I told her. “What time is it?”

“It’s about eight; I thought you might like to go for a swim before a late breakfast?”

I smiled, “Sure, that sounds like fun. I didn’t even see the whole house yesterday? I know Mom said you have an indoor pool?”

“When we moved, we had to get a house with one; your mom was a fish in the water!”

“Dolphin,” I laughingly muttered.

“I heard that,” she laughed. “I still remember the first time we took her to go swimming with dolphins in Selegnasol.”

“She said they didn’t want to let her?” I asked as I stood up and stretched.

“Nope, they insisted that she prove she could actually swim first. Blew them all out of the water when they realized she could!”

I nodded and suddenly felt an urgent emergency level need to pee. “I’ll be right back,” I told Grandma and rushed to the bathroom. I squeezed my bladder with my hands as I closed the door. I managed to pull down my pajamas and the Pull-Up but barely made it onto the potty when my bladder let loose. ‘That was odd,’ I thought but was relieved to make it. The Pull-Up was thankfully dry, but there were some loose drops on the floor that I wiped up before I walked back out to the room, where Grandma handed me one of the swimsuits she’d picked up. “Here, put this on, and I’ll be back in a moment!”

As she was walking away, she asked, “Did you make it okay?”

I blushed but nodded, “Yes… it was a really sudden urge, though.”

“Let me know if it becomes more of a problem. The way the rules are set up, even if you become completely unpottytrained this semester, they can’t penalize you as long as you’re wearing protection.”

I nodded, “I know; I’m hoping that doesn’t happen, though!”

She pulled the door shut as she left, and I pulled everything right back off clothing-wise and stepped into the swim diaper she’d left me and then the swimsuit. Stretching the tight swimsuit over the top of my chest made me grateful for these odd competition-style suits we’d found. I preferred the coverage it gave me over the speedos I’d had to wear for high school swim before I quit!

The bad thing about the skintight garment was it left no doubt that there was a diaper underneath it!

I pulled open the door and found Grandma wearing a one-piece swimsuit that looked quite flattering for her - even at her age. “Ready?” She asked.

I nodded, “Do you have a swim cap, though?”

“I knew I forgot something… Let’s look in these drawers; I didn’t completely throw stuff out from your mommy.”

I watched as she pulled out socks, tights, and a few things in one drawer before saying, “Here we go!”

It was probably a little small, but I knew it would stretch. The cap was grey and looked to have an attempt at an image of the front of a dolphin with its eyes. “Not too girly even!” Grandma smiled at me.

I shook my head, “My mom wore this?” Thinking about how old it was!

“A fair amount it seems to still be okay; let’s see if we can get it on over that hair of yours,” she said. I expected her to kneel down, but instead, she picked me up, carried me to the changing table, and sat me on it. “Much easier to get to your hair up here!”

My butt felt the padded surface and hoped it would be less acquainted with this one than I was getting with the one in my nest room! She pulled at my hair for a moment, found a hairband somewhere that she used to put up in a bun, and pulled the cap on the top. “You know this would be easier for you if your hair was shorter? Less chance of ending up in one of the girl’s nests too?”

I shrugged, “I like my hair the way it is.”

She gave me a piercing look, but I just shrugged. “Swimming now?”

Her laughter was friendly as she picked me up and held me on her hip as she descended the stairs. My mouth dropped as she carried me through the hallways and into a beautiful glassed-in indoor pool area. “Mom said this glass could project?” I asked her.

“When your mom was here, I only had one section of it that could do it; now, the whole walls and ceilings can. There’s also a holo-screen setup over on that half of the room,” she pointed to one end by the jacuzzi and the shallower end of the pool.

“Cool,” I said.

“So your mom told me you swim as well or better than her, but let’s ensure you know the rules. You never come out without me, Grandpa, Auntie Megan, or another Big I trust.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have Tessa able to watch?” I asked.

“She’s a great AI, but I’ve never upgraded her to deal with water diffraction. Some newer emitters can, but I’ve never seen the point.”

She stood me up by the water’s edge, “You can swim as long as you want to this morning. I’ll pull you if we need to get going before you wear yourself out.”

“Okay,” I told her and dove into the water. Her pool was huge!!! At least twice the size of the one in the dorm complex, and it meant I could really get into a rhythm before I had to do a wall touch and turn around. Not that I had to do a wall touch… it was still so ingrained with me, though, that I did it all the time.

I followed my routine of switching strokes and lost count of where I was in the repeat of the pattern when there was a splash beside me, and I registered someone was swimming alongside me. Or at least trying to!

I found myself pushing myself to go faster and quickly was lapping the person several times. Eventually, as I passed to one end of the pool, I was pulled out of the water. “Got myself a fish!!!” A deep male voice said.

I squealed unintentionally as the giant form of Grandpa held me in the air. It was a little unnerving to suddenly be feet above the water in his arms. He cradled me like an infant and said, “Used to catch your mommy like this too!”

“I’m guessing she also told you she was a dolphin, right?”

He laughed, “Yes, she might have tried to insist that to me. Never really believed her, though! I thought your cousin might be able to keep up with you, but you left him in your dust.”

I looked at the pool’s edge and saw an exhausted-looking Ryan. “How do you swim like that?” Then, he added, “Grandpa said your mom was good at swimming; I’m guessing he wasn’t kidding!

I shrugged, “Mom literally taught us how to swim before we could walk.”

“That’s nuts…”

“Does Shelby swim?”

Ryan shook his head as Grandpa carried me over to the edge and placed me on my feet. “She’s like Mom, practically scared of the water.”

“That’s too bad,” I said.

He shrugged, “We all have things we like differently. I’ll have to make sure I come swimming while you’re here, though; you’re great at pushing myself!”

I laughed, “Glad you think that.” Then, I looked up at the giant form of Grandpa, “I’m guessing it’s time for breakfast?”

He laughed, “Yeah, your grandmother came out of the pool to start that about an hour ago.”

“How long was I swimming?” I asked, suddenly feeling tired.

“Two-and-a-half-hours?”

“Oh…”

“Your mommy used to do the same thing,” he laughed. “Here’s a towel, dry yourself off, and we’ll eat out here on this table,” He said, pointing to a patio area they had set beside one end with a bar. There were a couple picnic benches there, and soon I was sitting on a highchair on one end beside Ryan and Shelby. “Where’s Aunt Bella?” I asked.

“She’s working on some designs today,” Shelby said.

“She still does that?” I asked.

“Yeah, a few years ago, she made a deal to sell designs to a print and sew-on-demand company.”

“Print and sew on demand?” I asked before I took a bite of the biggest piece of bacon I could have imagined. There was a great seasoning coating it, and I could tell there was some heavy smoking process. It tasted heavenly!

“Yeah, there are a lot of kiosks, and even some home setups now, that you put your design into the system of colors or patterns. In the commercial machines, you can even add textures and things like overlays, glitter, sequins, and other things. Mom was talented at designing, but with Grandma’s help, she learned how to work with the software and systems better than just anyone else. Her designs have gotten really popular!”

“That’s cool!” I said, “I’d love to see that some time!”

“I’m sure one of these days we’ll have her make something for you, Connor,” Grandma said. “She has one of the machines here in the basement.”

“Cool!” I said with a smile and kept eating.

“So, what are your sisters like?” Ryan asked.

I smiled and glanced toward Shelby, “Honestly, Riley is a lot like Shelby. I think they would really get along great. The twins are a little more rambunctious? They’re cheerleaders and tend to be pretty social.”

“Cheerleaders?” Shelby looked nervous.

“Why is that bad?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s right… it’s different over there. Here at least, cheerleaders are the cattiest bullies on the planet. The squad at our school regularly picks on whichever Little is nearest.”

“Some of the ones I’ve known back home can be that way too… I guess the difference is they’re not five feet taller than you?”

She nodded.

“Do they pick on you?” Grandma asked gently.

She shook her head, “No, one tried to one time but… well… You taught me well?” She blushed.

“Good girl,” Grandpa said.

“So you do martial arts, too, right?” Shelby asked me.

I nodded, “Mom trained my sisters and me from the time we were tiny.”

“Who’s better?” Ryan asked.

I laughed, “Honestly if you look at the trophy case, it’s Riley.”

“If you don’t?” Shelby inquired.

“I can hold my own,” I said with a smile. “I got tired at tournaments of it ending up being Riley and me at the end fighting each other. So I decided to leave the trophy hunting to them.”

“They have a lot?” Ryan asked.

“It’s a little ridiculous, honestly. Mom and Mama had to create a whole set of shelves along two room walls for all of the trophies.”

“Any of those yours?” Shelby

“A few,” I smiled.

“We should spar sometime?” Ryan suggested.

“Isn’t that like picking on a little kid?” Shelby asked.

“Somehow, I have a feeling the fact that he’s two feet shorter than me won’t stop him from kicking my a… butt.”

‘Good save,’ I thought to myself, even as he was getting a glare from Grandma. I laughed. Grandma and Grandpa joined in on some of the conversations over breakfast before I was sent up to shower and get ready for a busy day with our family and Megan and Meggy coming over.
 

BETH SPENT SOME time Saturday going through her class schedule. Just the names of the courses were practically making her want to curl up with Rings and go cry! This was one of the first really heavy semesters for her Electrical Engineering degree, and she knew she would be spending countless hours at night studying!

This semester she was taking a Digital Logic Design course, some throwback course dedicated to early designs as far as her older friends had told her. ‘If it’s a throwback, why do we have to take it?’ Beth thought. She had an Electromagnetic Fields and Waves class, Signals and Systems, and Calculus IV joining the soul-crushing part of her workload this semester. She knew those four classes would eat up all of her time, so she could ensure she never even approached the personal danger of a ‘B’!

‘At least I think this elective of Cinematic Narratives should be fun?’ The thing she had struggled with most was finding good ‘Elective’ credits that sounded like fun to her. The course seemed set up to do a combination of teaching how to film with holocameras but also had projects throughout the semester. ‘I hope that class doesn’t end up being my undoing for time!’

Beth had already put everything in her personal calendars on all of her devices. Still, she also wanted to have old-school binders ready for each. Her friends would give her a hard time when they saw her break out paper instead of her tablet, but she always felt like not having the screen helped her sometimes.

‘I wonder if that’s how I was the first time?’

Her conversation with Livy had been long overdue in their friendship, but she’d been thinking all through her shower and breakfast if she really should have done that or not. She found herself cuddling Rings as she looked at her schedule, hoping she could continue to keep up. The worst thing about knowing about her past wasn’t its grossness and horrifying nature.

No, the worst part was knowing she had failed once before, picked herself up, and then turned around and failed so bad that she was basically dead!

Sighing, she decided to try and start reading a little of each textbook’s first chapter to see if she could be more prepared for that first day.

‘Last thing I want is to be that dunce Betweener that gets lumped in as a Little in class,’ she shuddered, thinking about some she’d seen.

The odds of something like Nevaeh happening in her experience were maybe once per year. Around finals, she’d seen more Bigs just drop out when given that option. With Littles… well, like she’d said, it was better. Instead of like sixty to seventy percent of the class disappearing each year, it was down to thirty percent. Given ten percent of Bigs gave up each year, that was closer to the baseline, in her opinion. ‘Of course, the Bigs didn’t end up in someone’s nursery normally,’ Beth thought. ‘Wonder what happens to Bigs like Nevaeh after graduation? I’ve already seen her lose her gold potty star!’ She couldn’t help but giggle at that thought.

Most businesses probably never asked about their Bigs Potty Charts, but she figured it had to be on the transcripts!

No, it was a fact of life that mainly Littles endured. The scary thing was that she’d seen a dozen or more Betweeners sent over to Sanders Hall last semester. It seemed suspicious that when they started running low on Littles in a nest, they often tried to fill those holes! Whether it was with Portal Littles, their clear preference, or a Betweener!

Really, Nevaeh had probably bought someone else their freedom by taking up a spot in the dorm at the beginning of the semester.

Beth tried to go back to studying but eventually gave up and crawled into her bed with Rings to read a fun book for the afternoon to get her mind off her stress.

‘It’s going to be a long semester,’ she thought.
 
 

Chapter 27: Playhouse
 

I HAD CLIMBED my way back up the stairs after breakfast and taken a shower to clean myself up. Grandma had put a ladder in the bathtub that let me climb up into the tub and back out like an above-ground pool ladder back home. ‘I think Mom told me Grandma always gave her baths?’ I thought. When I was done and dressed in one of the casual jeans and sweatshirt sets from the previous day, I went out to my room to brush my hair. ‘Need to wash it tonight while I’m here,’ I thought.

My sisters and mom had me in the habit of not washing it daily to keep it from drying out. Instead, I used the same dry shampoo stuff they did, and it worked pretty well. Rather than put my hair into a ponytail that day, I let it hang loosely past my shoulders like I usually did at home. Just in case I needed it, I put a black hairband on my wrist and thought about playing more with the goggles.

My phone buzzed just then, Want to come over and hang out here? The message was from Shelby.

Sure! I responded.

Knowing I would have to go outside to get to their ‘house,’ I grabbed a coat we bought the day before and put my phone in a large zip hand pocket. I held off zipping it up until I got to the outside door. Hopping down the steps reminded me of jumping down some crazy steps at a Mayan pyramid back home on vacation. These things were massive compared to my small size.

‘Well, I am only the size of a very young baby to them,’ I reminded myself.

At the bottom of the steps, I found Grandpa hanging around, “Finding everything okay?” He asked me.

I nodded, “Shelby asked me to come over to their house?”

“Glad to see you two getting along so well! Those kids never see friends outside of school. Well, Ryan doesn’t really leave here now; everything’s online, so he’s pretty much here like his mother - all the time.”

“That seems boring,” I said.

“It is; I worry about Shelby after she graduates. I’m hoping she can get through graduation and make it to Hamilton okay. Once she’s there, I’m sure she’ll be fine!”

“Did you all ever consider moving to another state? I think that one is safer for Littles?”

He nodded, “We thought about it, but with Grandma’s job, it would have meant leaving too much behind.” He shook his head, “Enough heavy talk, though,” he smiled and opened the front door for me, “Just go on over and knock. Knowing that girl, though, she’ll probably be waiting for you on the front porch!”

“Thanks,” I told him.

The open door blew a ton of cold air opposite the past few days, and I was really grateful I’d thought to grab a coat! Overnight the temperatures had dropped probably close to freezing, and it was night and day from the previous day.

As I approached the house, I couldn’t help but think that to a Big would probably seem like a child’s playhouse. It appeared to be two stories tall, but even with a pitched roof, it still didn’t climb to the height of the first story of the main house! It was a cute home, though, with an old-fashioned wrap-around porch and rocking chairs sitting out on it. The paint complimented the main house, so it seemed like a well-to-do family built their ‘children’ the perfect place to play.

As Grandpa guessed, Shelby was outside to greet me as soon as I approached the house. “What do you think?” She asked me.

I climbed four stairs up the porch and motioned, “This seems like a normal place!”

She laughed, “I’m sure this is more normal for you. It’s so rare to have things sized for Littles here! Come in before we freeze,” she said.

She only wore leggings and a long sweater, so I figured she had to be cold!

Inside, the house was nice and warm, and she said, “Take off your shoes there,” to me.

I followed her directions and looked around. To my left was a dining room with a table that seemed bigger than the family one we ate at back home most of the time had been, but I figured that was just my short size. ‘I’m child sized even compared to back home,’ I had to admit. Room for probably eight Littles was present at the table, but somehow, I could tell it was five chairs at most that got used much. I figured a Betweener could probably sit in the chairs, if not a little bit like a middle schooler sitting on a kindergarten chair.

Everything looked ‘real,’ and I guessed Amanda and Fred probably had some guests who cooed at it. Looking at the place, I noticed that there was a larger door that a giant could probably squeeze through. They would have to stay really low to not break anything, though!

“Here, let me give you the tour!” she said with a smile. “Obviously, dining room,” she said and walked me back around the side and through a door where there was a… play kitchen?

“Just a play kitchen?” I asked.

She laughed, “Sort of…” with a shrug, “Mom never really cooked much anyway, so when Grandma and Grandpa built this for us, he put in a working refrigerator and freezer,” she gestured, “and then a working sink, dishwasher, and microwave.” Finally, she pointed to a newer-looking appliance, “And this an AmeniTea, our family Christmas present.”

“What does it do?” I asked.

“Cooks, anything you want?” She smiled.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Well, almost anything. It does have to have the resources for it. We have a pretty large starter pack, though, that we installed.”

“That’s cool,” I said skeptically. “So the stove, though?” I pointed to what looked like a plastic toy stove from a daycare back home.

“Doesn’t work; even when Mom lived on her own, she could have burned water!” She laughed.

I laughed with her and let her lead me around the rest of the first story, where there was a half-bath, a Living Room with a sizeable holoscreen setup, and a really comfy-looking set of chairs and couches. Family pictures of Shelby and Ryan growing up were placed along the wall, along with photos with their mother with them. I even saw one with my mom and her mom together. Unable to help myself, I used the camera on my new phone to take a picture of it.

“Whatcha doing?” She asked me.

“It’s cute; I’ll send it to my sister Riley. Maybe she can use it to make a print for Mom.”

“That’s cool; I know my mom misses your mom still.”

“I know the same is true for my mom; she was just terrified of ever shrinking even smaller if she came back.”

“Well, that’s it for this floor; the basement is our old play area and Mom and Ryan’s hidden work areas. As far as any Big guests are concerned, Mom still plays there with the toys during the day.”

“That’s got to be weird?” I asked as she led me up the stairs.

She nodded, “We’re just lucky we have Grandma and Grandpa; if Mom had any other parents, we might never have even been allowed to potty train or leave daycare ourselves.”

“I’m glad they are,” I said. Shelby pointed, “That’s Ryan’s room, Mom’s room is down there, and this is mine,” she said with a smile.

She pushed open a white bedroom door with her name on a cute nameplate, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” She asked, clearly offended.

“I need a picture of Riley’s room to show you, but your room looks nearly identical to hers! Like, I swear she even has that exact same comforter!”

She looked at me in surprise, “Really?”

I laughed, “Yeah, I wish we could get the two of you together. You’re like long-lost twin sisters in some ways!” But then, I looked around and noted that her vanity was just a little different; probably the only main difference was the open box of girls’ Pull-Ups off the side. She blushed a little when I noticed, but I said, “Why are you embarrassed? I’m wearing one right now too?”

She shrugged, “I just like to think I’m an adult; I hate wearing them.” She motioned for me to sit on the floor across from her as she sat and leaned against her daybed.

“Your school rules require them?” I asked.

She shook her head, “Not necessarily. You can go to school without protection on… it’s just too risky?”

“How so?”

Shelby sighed, “So for a Little in our high school, we have potty charts like you do… but they’re not quite as important? Besides being an embarrassing item in your homeroom class, it’s not a big deal. You can go to college without any potty stars. The worst case is that a university like Emerson may highly encourage diapers instead of Pull-Ups when you go to college.”

“I won’t say that makes sense… but I guess that seems like something they would do.”

She nodded, “So anyway, as long as you’re wearing at least a Pull-Up and have an accident, it’s not the end of the world. You might even be lucky enough to make it home without a teacher or a Big student noticing.”

“If they do?” I asked.

She shrugged, “They usually change you if it’s a teacher, or if it’s a student, they’ll either change you or drag you to the nurse. Just depends on the Big.”

“Change you? Where?” I asked.

“If it’s a teacher, probably right in the classroom in front of everyone.”

I felt my jaw drop, “You’re kidding!”

“Nope, if you’re baby enough to have an accident, they feel like they can change your pants in public.”

“That’s horrible! Has that happened to you?” I asked hesitantly.

She nodded, “Not since Middle School, though. Grandma found out and went to school and ripped the heads off the teacher and principals. I’ve never had a problem with them doing that in high school.”

I wanted to ask if she had accidents, but I thought better of it. “What happens if someone isn’t wearing a Pull-Up or something and has an accident?”

“There aren’t many idiots who won’t at least wear a Pull-Up, but they usually get spanked in front of everyone and are never allowed back at school without diapers for the rest of the year. Their potty privileges get completely revoked then, too - they can’t even enter a bathroom without an alarm going off.”

“This place is nuts!” I said.

She nodded, “You’re right; I wish I could visit your dimension! The idea of living without diapers and some Amazon’s nursery hanging over my head sounds amazing!”

I suddenly felt terrible for her and leaned in and hugged her, “I’m sorry you’ve grown up like that!”

She looked shocked but smiled, “I’ve had it better than most! At least Grandma and Grandpa helped make sure no one could really bully us as much.”

I nodded, “Mom said they protected her a lot too.” I looked around her room and asked, “So, like, what do you like to do for fun? Ryan already let me know you’re not a swimmer. I guess you do martial arts like my family… but what else do you do to hang out with friends?”

She shrugged, “Hard to actually have ‘playdates’ with friends growing up. Other than at school, friends, I don’t really have many. I spend a fair amount of time on homework and then maybe some with my EdgeSphere goggles playing games.”

“Those are really cool; I haven’t had much of a chance to play yet, though.”

She smiled, “Aunt Megan and Meggy are coming over later this afternoon; I’m sure she would be happy to play a couple games with us.” She shook her head, “Just don’t hope to beat her on any games!”

“Why?” I asked.

“So my mom designs clothes still, right?”

I nodded.

“When Aunt Megan adopted Meggy, it was more like she adopted a teenager still in some ways. The girl basically sits and plays video games all day!”

“Oh, that’s kind of cool!”

“Yeah, but it also means she’s, like, at the Professional Level. With EdgeSphere games, she can hide that she’s a Little and plays all the time as this world-class gamer. She’s amazing!”

“I guess practicing every day for decades and never having to stop for a potty break would help?”

She laughed, “That’s almost exactly what she says!”

Shelby and I hung out for the next couple of hours, and it felt very much like being with Riley. Then, just before lunch, she led me downstairs for the rest of the tour and showed me the basement. Most of it was occupied by the largest play area I could imagine outside a daycare! Toys meant for kids six months to three years were spread about as if they were regularly played with.

I had to ask, “So, do these actually get played with?”

Shelby blushed, “Sometimes… We’ve had a pretty lonely childhood, and sometimes we move things around to make it look good in case LPS visits.”

“Does that happen often?” I asked nervously.

She shook her head, “Only twice while I’ve been alive. Our nurseries in Grandma and Grandpa’s house passed inspection with no problem. The playhouse was less liked until they saw this room.”

“How does an Amazon even get in here?” I asked.

She smirked, “They sent a Betweener in.”

I noticed some dolls that looked like they probably were twenty years old, while other toys looked like they had just been pulled from the packaging. “You said your mom has a workroom here?”

“Ryan does, too,” she said, leading me to a wall with a play nursery setup. She pressed on a spot on the changing table behind some toy diapers, and a section of the wall disappeared.

“Whoa, cool!” I said. “Holo-wall?”

“Yep, Grandma is pretty creative!”

The wall exposed a hallway that must have gone into the ground a little way before we came to the first open doorway. Ryan was inside working on something on a computer. “Hey, Ryan,” Shelby said.

He didn’t hear us, so he jumped, “Oh, it’s you two! Hi,” he said. Then, without saying anything else, he said, “Gotta keep working here…”

“See you later,” I said and followed Shelby back out of the room and noticed across the hallway, there was another room. “What’s that one?” I asked.

“Oh, Grandma made a room for me too in case I ever want to just work from home… I want to leave and go to college, though, so it’s pretty empty.” She opened the door and showed me a barebones home office without anything personalizing except a couple pictures.

“Cool, even if you don’t use it!” I said, “It’s got to be nice to have a backup?”

She nodded, “It is; I hope I’m long gone after graduation!”

I nodded and knew that would be similar to Mom leaving, and I suspected the family would miss her a lot. She continued down the hallway and opened a door at the end that led to a vast open room filled with bolts of fabrics, sewing machines, and some odd contraption in the middle that her mom was working with.

She looked up and said, “Oh, hey, guys!”

“What are you working on there?” I asked.

“Oh, this is a FashionFuser,” she smiled. “I put in all of the details of clothes, and it’ll print, sew, and size any clothing for me.” I watched as she fiddled with some settings, “I was just getting ready to print this sample dress,” she said.

“Can we watch?” I asked.

“Sure, it doesn’t take long,” Aunt Bella said.

With the press of a button, I saw the machine come to life, and in a clear cube in the middle, a dress dummy suddenly sprang to life from nowhere. “What is that?” I asked, “Where did that come from?”

Aunt Bella giggled, “Your mom would have loved this thing too. It’s a hologram that is precisely the model’s measurements for the dress or garment. So it prevents having multiple types of dress dummies like I used to have.”

I watched as from nowhere, like a 3D printer, it began running an attachment around in circles from the top of the dummy downward, and a dress began to take shape.

“Mom, you are not going to get me to try one of those monstrosities on again!” Shelby griped beside me.

“Huh?” I said, even as I realized there was a reason she wouldn’t want to be caught dead in it. It must have been the frilliest and most babyish dress ever imagined! A diaper cover was just visible under the short skirt of the dress when it was done. The dress skirt puffed out and was supported by some sort of fabric, pushing it out to where it would probably nearly be as wide as the wearer’s arm span! It featured lace around the outside of puffy short sleeves, more lace around the neck, and some lacy white fabric peeked out from beneath the skirt.

It was so adorably sweet I was pretty sure every Amazon in the dimension would fall over trying to dress their Little girls in them!

“Don’t worry, sweetie, this one is for me. Your cousin Meggy’s birthday party is next week, and she is having a Little party with baby attire required.”

“Do I have to go?” Shelby asked nervously.

“I can definitely make a matching outfit for you? You’d certainly be adorable if I made this in pink?” Her mom teased her with a smirk. “Or, you can just be a babysitter?”

“Babysitter!” Shelby said as quickly as she could while picking up her mom and hugging her.

I laughed at the two of them and had to appreciate the unique relationship they had!
 
 

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