“Thanks for coming” Lisa said as she held the baby in her arms

“No problem. It was about time, in any case. How old is she already?” Ron asked

“Two months” Lisa said

“Wow, two months. She is so big already. And she looks just like you. Except for the nose. The nose is just like Joe’s”

Sitting next to Lisa, Joe chuckled and said:

“For her own good, let’s hope that this is not true”

“What was her name again?” Ron asked with a smile

“Stella”

“What a pretty name. You must be so proud”

“We are” Joe said

“It’s been a while, Ron. What are you involved in, right now?” Lisa asked

“Well, the same type of research for the Government. For the FSD, as always” Ron said, keeping his answer generic on purpose

“Are you still trying to make people grow?” Lisa asked in an innocent tone

Ron blushed.

“You know I can’t tell you. Not since you left”

“You could not tell me before, either. I was just in public relations” Lisa replied softly, keeping a smile all along, despite the fact that there was some poison in her words.

“You were great” Ron said

“That wasn’t me” Lisa complained. “And Joe did not deserve it”

“Darling, you know I didn’t care” Joe said

“I would care if I was asked every day about how it was to be trapped with giant girls or picked up by your girlfriend or about how afraid you were of Casey. God, I was supposed to be the heroine and I was fed up!” she said

Ron tried to calm things down:

“So, how are you doing in your new job?”

Lisa took the chance to get out of the uncomfortable conversation she had unconsciously started.

“Great. I love kids. Kindergarten teacher must be like my ideal job. I love being here with Stella, now, but I’m going to get back to work as soon as possible”

“Do you need anything?” Ron asked

Lisa kept a smile as she observed the young man that had once been the nerd of High School, back at Henford. It was funny that only 6 years later this nerd was asking her if she needed anything on behalf of the Government. She knew he could, though. At 25, Ron had a PhD in Biochemistry and was a top researcher for one of the more opaque Government agencies, which also meant that it was one of the Government agencies with the highest discretionary budget.

“You guys are treating us quite right” Lisa said, treating Ron as a government agent on purpose

“I was asking as a friend” Ron said, his tone a little upset

Lisa softened her expression and said:

“I know. That was unfair on my side. Really, we don’t need anything. The Government has given us all that we need and we are doing quite all right, ourselves. Thanks for asking”

“Ok, I’m happy to see that you are doing well. I need to leave, but I’ll see you soon” Ron said

“Sure. My next quarterly checkup is only in a couple of weeks” Lisa said

“Take care”

Kelly caught herself crying. Her mother’s call had finally broken the dam and now all the thoughts that she had managed to keep at bay were flooding her consciousness.

“I can fool mom, but I cannot fool myself. My life is a failure. It is a total and complete failure. And things are only getting worse.”

She knew when it had all started. It had been the moment she had drank that damned growth formula. It had been fun, for a few days. And then it had brought her total misery. Problems started right after she shrunk back to normal size. Of course, Casey was the villain. But Lisa was the only hero. And that left Kelly into the very uncomfortable position of having been a freak, having done a few bad things and not having done too much to redeem herself.

The feds took care of Casey. And they took care of Lisa too, although in a very different way. But, after several months of medical tests and questionings, they had finally decided that she was neither bad enough nor good enough. She found herself back in Henford.

It was incredibly uncomfortable. Most people did not talk to her. The ones that did were not especially gentle. And that included her father. She fought with him a few times.

Fred did not dump her right away, but after a few weeks it was evident that their relationship had no future. He could not stop seeing her as the giant girl that had kept him kidnapped for a few days, even if he knew she had had no other option.

The fact that the Feds had not prosecuted her did not mean that she was completely safe, though. Wally Emmett, the security guard at High School, sued her for kidnapping. And the High School principal sued her for the damage she had caused. And finally, pushed by the popular pressure, the mayor had sued her for the damage to Henford’s infrastructure. And her mother wanted her to come back home for Thanksgiving!

Her father did not consider it was necessary to spend too much of his savings in a good lawyer. And the lawyer she got barely managed to use the fact that she had been key in saving the town together with Lisa to get her sentence alleviated a little. She did not set a foot in jail, but she now had a criminal record. She also had a huge debt, even after her mother had used as much of the family savings as she had been able to alleviate it. This had finished destroying the relationship with her father.

There was only one option, and it was to leave Henford. She could not go back to college, though. She had been expelled. The criminal record had been the excuse. She knew they would have found another one if needed. In any case, she would not have had any money to pay for it.

Eager to put as much distance as possible between her and that stink hole of a town, she crossed the country and decided to start a new life in the West Coast. And, tired of the gossip of small towns, she looked for the biggest city she could find.

Her life had been in a constant decline, though. Her jobs got worse and worse and she did not manage to get a decent enough relationship. She had finally touched the bottom when Kurt left her, in what had been the most promising relationship she had had since Fred. The fact that her boss had let her go from her assistant job just a week later made things even worse. Without money, without a father to call to ask for some and with a lot of bills, she had soon found a place where her talents could get her enough money to pay the rent.

She hated her job every day, though. It was not that she was shy about her body. She was very proud of it, and she did not mind people seeing it. But her job told her how much she had failed.

“I was going to be a lawyer. And here I am, showing my tits and my ass for a living” she thought again. “Oh yeah, and fucking pizza delivery boys, among other people that cross my path”

It was not going to get better, she knew.

The phone rang once more.

“What the hell does she want now?” she thought. Still, she picked it up.

It was not her mother’s voice, at the other end of the line. Still, she knew it.

“Kelly? This is Ron”

The damned Ron Howard!

“What the hell do you want?” she asked bluntly

“I’m also happy to talk to you”

“Cut the crap” she said

“Ok, I’ll cut the crap. Kelly, we would like you to come for a check-up. You haven’t been here in two years”

“My lawyer told me that you could not force me to take those tests, so again… cut the crap” Kelly said

“We are not forcing you to come. I’m asking. Gently” Ron said

“Look, you are probably the last person I would like to see, so there is no fucking way I will come” Kelly said

“Look… I don’t know how to put it… but we know that you don’t have a dime”

“You are spying on my accounts?” Kelly asked in an angry tone

“Kelly, we are the Government…”

“You don’t have the fucking right!” Kelly said

“As a matter of fact, we do. But I don’t want to discuss legalisms here. I want to offer you a deal. We just want to do some tests on you. The usual stuff. A few hours, nothing intrusive. And we are willing to pay. Fifty grand”

She was about to yell when she thought on what he had said:

“Fifty thousand dollars?”

“Yes, Kelly. We are willing to pay you fifty thousand dollars” Ron said

Kelly remained speechless.

“I can send a plane to pick you up tomorrow” he said