Tanner stirred awake in his house at the rising voice of Ivory who he had thought was talking to herself, but once his brain started functioning properly he realized she must've been talking to someone over the phone.

“ What kind of trouble are you in this time?” He heard her ask. Curiosity growing Tanner scrambled to his feet and moved closer to the wall to peek out of the small window where he saw mainly the torso of Ivory as she paced back and forth .

“ Isn't it a better idea to go straight to your parents?” Ivory asked. Another moment of silence ensued, likely the other participant on the phone talking.

An audible sigh escaped from Ivory's mouth. “ This is very short notice, I have plans for tomorrow evening.-” Ivory stopped mid sentence. “ Wait, you're already at the station!?” Another pause. “ Ugh, alright . . .I'll be there.”

Tanner saw Ivory toss her phone on the bed and her frame making its way towards him. He moved from the window attempting to appear he wasn't being a total eavesdropper. In seconds he heard a tapping of her fingernail from the outside. Though the house was roofless, she found it more polite to 'knock' rather than peering above the structure like a menacing force of nature. Tanner stepped out of the front of the structure and onto the table in front of Ivory who was crouched down to her knees to talk to him at his level. Another common gesture performed so Tanner wouldn't feel so dominated by someone who towered far above talking down to him.

Judging by the still semi-glassy look in her hazel eyes that the phone call clearly disturbed her sleep. “ I take it you heard the bulk of that.” She inferred.

“ Kinda hard not to. What's going on?”

Ivory rubbed her eyes, still trying to shake off the cobwebs. “ My niece Marcelle called.”

Tanner had to repress the urge to cringe at the mention of her name. “ Dare I ask what mess she's gotten into?”

“ Her roommate got into it recently and they were supposed to stay together during fall break so she needs a place to stay for the week.”

Tanner was semi-impressed, he thought she found herself involved in something along the lines of armed robbery or grand theft auto. “ That's pretty . . .tame. Still, she couldn't stay over at her parents?”

“ She said she didn't want to make them think she couldn't handle herself; that and she already took the train to the city.”

“ Dang it.” Tanner thought. Knowing that she took the time to get here, Ivory wasn't going to just turn her away.

“ I'm going to go get her; you'll be fine for a half hour on your own.” She stated. If anything happens you know what to do right?.

“ Got it.” Tanner replied, flashing the watch on his wrist for Ivory to see. Another handy product made for him essentially acting as an standalone smart-watch that didn't need to be synced to a main phone. This allowed for Tanner to be able to call Ivory or Ingrid at any point should he fall into trouble and a bonus emergency button that would automatically alert both of there phones if Tanner faced dire peril.

Ivory threw on a makeshift outfit consisting of some black sweatpants and white tank top before heading out the door. Much like how she anticipated her daughter to be taken back at the reveal her dating someone, there's no question there will be a repeat performance once she learns Marcelle will be staying at the house. After not seeing each other for three years she hoped the time apart had allowed both girls to mature and any grudges between them had boiled over.

She pulled up outside of the lobby where she saw Marcelle outside waiting dressed in dark denim shorts and a black midriff leaving little to the imagination of her smooth olive skin. No longer confined by the standards of high school dress codes, she was free to strut what God gave her in hips and breasts that were struggling to be contained in her tight clothing. Ivory easily distinguished by her auburn hair and green eyes that were nearly radiant enough to be seen through her wide-framed sunglasses.

“ Auntie Ivory!” Marcelle waved as she noticed her relative pull up beside her. She wasted no time putting her bags in the trunk before joining her in the passenger side.

Ivory took a brief look over her niece, despite not changing a whole lot in the last 3 years from 17 to 20 in terms of physical appearance she still had a hard time believing she was staring at the same girl who she once saw as a baby only a couple of months old.

“ Do you want to see some photo ID, it's really me.” Marcelle quipped, taking notice of the attentive gaze of her aunt.

“ Oh sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's amazing how much you've grown up.” Ivory stated, putting the vehicle into drive and pulling off.

Marcelle giggled. “ I guess college really does mature people. Speaking of being grown up, how's Ingrid been?” She asked as a setup so she can get to the topic that was her main interest.

Ivory had to laugh at how Ingrid was virtually unchanged in most regards, only older and taller. “ Same old, same old. Soccer obsessed big game coming up.”

“ Ha, you're not kidding. What about Tanner?”

“ Also doing well.” Ivory bluntly answered.

Marcelle's bright face toned down somewhat at that run of the mill answer, she had to fish out of Ivory what she really wanted to know. “ That's good, but . . how is he reeeaaally?” She asked with more implication of what she was referring to.

Figuring that Marcelle was going to see for herself anyway, Ivory went ahead and explained. “ On the brighter news it seems like his condition has stabilized and the doctors don't think he'll shrink any further; if he does it'll be on such a minuscule level it won't be noticeable. But now he's been left at 3 ½ inches tall.”

Marcelle covered her mouth in shock, though in reality it was only done to hide the amusement on her face. “ W-wow, I had no idea he'd get so tiny.”

Ivory nodded in agreement. “ It took us all by surprise. It usually occurred sporadically, but once it he turned 13 it accelerated tremendously.”

“ It must've been tough.” Marcelle said, still putting up the front of acting concerned.

“ There was plenty of adjusting that needed to happen. Overall his general physician thought it was best to treat him as normal as possible and not constantly bombard him with reminders of how small he is.”

Marcelle's facade faltered and she raised an eyebrow in genuine confusion. “ He's only a few inches tall, how is there anyway to treat him normal when he isn't?”

Abandoning her eyes from the road momentarily, Ivory shot a rather dissatisfied gaze at the callous tone of her niece's statement causing the latter to backtrack.

“ Sorry, sorry. I guess . .it's something I can't relate to very much. I know it isn't easy for you guys let alone how Tanner copes with everything.”

Ivory's face softened as she returned focus to the road nearing the house. “ By the way . .later this evening, I'm having a guest come over. . .for dinner.”

“ Holy- . .So Ivory's back on the market huh?” Marcelle asked, teasingly nudging her aunt with her elbow. She chuckled a little as she saw Ivory trying to find the words to to elaborate. “ Say no more, I'll be on my best behavior.”

Ivory sighed, glad she didn't have to provide any further explanation. “ Thank you.”

Tanner kept himself as occupied and focused as possible on the lesson curriculum on his tablet. Shrinking wasn't going to be any excuse for him to be uneducated, unlike everything else this was something Ivory specifically requested to the doctors to reach out and have made. Tanner didn't mind it at least gave him something to do,though today his mind kept drifting to the impending moment where Marcelle would come home. He secretly hoped that somehow someway that this was all a misunderstanding or that Ivory sent her packing back on a train to her own parents.

The realization that neither of those fantasies came to fruition made his heart skip a beat when he heard the door open followed by the chatter of both Ivory and Marcelle. There was no mistaken her silvery voice, it sounded a touch more mature and pronounced after the years passed.

There voices drawing closer he knew they were on the way so he went ahead and stepped outside of his house.

Initially giddy about seeing Tanner is his miniature glory the mental preparation she did in her mind did zero justice to the sight before her. Her pace slowed to a methodical walk as she approached Tanner coming to grasp that Ivory was not kidding at how dramatically he's shrunk. He was every bit as puny as she thought he'd be, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.

Tanner tried not to lock eyes with her during the awkward period of her coming to terms with his current size.

Ivory came behind Marcelle putting a hand on her shoulder. “ Can you try not to stare like that, it's making him uncomfortable.” She whispered.

Marcelle jolted out of her own inner thoughts“ Oops, sorry I didn't mean to . .it's- . yeah.” Tanner didn't blame her, if the roles were reversed he doubt he'd handle it any better.

“ Anyway, how have you been Tanner?” She cordially asked.

“ Y'know . . . I'm alive and breathing.” He responded, the air between them noticeably weird.

“ I'm sure you two want to catch up a little bit so I'm going to go downstairs and clean up. You remember where the guest room is right Marcelle?” Ivory asked.

“ Down the hall on the right.”

“ If you need anything you know where to find me.” Ivory said before leaving for the first story of the house. Marcelle kept her back turned making sure to listen to every last footstep on the stairs until she was certain Ivory was far away.

Turning back around Marcelle sported a new smug grin. “ Now lets try this again. How have you been Tanner?”