Tom had finally figured out what was wrong.

At first, he thought he’d just lost some weight. He’d realized one day that at some point, without giving it much thought, he’d started to cinch his belt one notch tighter than he had before. He wasn’t exactly complaining that he’d slimmed down a bit, but it seemed odd that he’d dropped the weight without making any changes to his routine. He’d been spending a little more quality time in the bedroom with Lily lately, but surely that wasn’t enough to explain it.

He would’ve just shrugged it off, except that he kept noticing other strange things too. He felt clumsier than usual, for one thing. Three times in the past week, he’d spilled his drink after misjudging the glass’ weight, and he kept tripping over the front step to the house. Yesterday, he’d had to readjust the mirrors in his car, even though Lily hadn’t driven it.

And now, today, while he was rifling through his closet to pick out a tie, it finally dawned on him that he was looking up at the underside of the top shelf. At 6’3”, his line of sight had always let him just barely see the topside of it, but today, he couldn’t do that without rising up onto his toes.

“Hey, Lily, could you come in here?”

“Just a sec!” He heard some light noise from downstairs, followed by a faint creaking on the steps before his wife appeared in the bedroom doorway.

Tom wasn’t just tall; he was big all over. He’d played football in high school, and his body still held on to a lot of the bulk he’d put on back in those days, though he’d traded in some muscle for love handles. Lily couldn’t be more different in that regard, standing only 4’9” with a rail-thin body. Tom outweighed her delicate 80-pound frame by nearly triple, and stood almost exactly 18 inches taller than her.

…Well, he was no longer so sure about that second part.

“What’s up, Tom?”

Now that she was here, Tom felt self-conscious about his question. She cocked her head curiously as he hesitated to speak.

“Lily, do I look… shorter, to you?”

Lily blinked, clearly not expecting this to be what was on her husband’s mind.

“It’s just that… I used to be able to see over the top of this shelf, and I just noticed that I can’t now.”

Lily stifled a small laugh. “Um… no, I can’t say you look any shorter.”

Tom had always loved Lily. They had dated through most of high school, but broke up after they were accepted at separate universities. Tom had dated around a bit, but never found anyone he enjoyed being with as much as her. They reconnected in their senior year, and he’d been thrilled to learn that Lily felt the same way. They got back together immediately after graduating, and got married only a few months later. Seven years on, he was still completely crazy about her.

If anything, his feelings had only gotten stronger. Especially lately; as Lily entered the room, sunlight from the window dancing through her vibrant red hair, Tom was completely mesmerized. There was just… something about her lately. He couldn’t really say what it was, but he could barely keep his hands off of her, and luckily, she seemed to feel the same way about him. For the past few weeks, he kept catching himself getting distracted at work, daydreaming about her slim, lithe body, her fiery head of hair, and her gorgeous emerald eyes. As she approached him now, he nearly forgot about why he’d called her up here in the first place…

…And then he suddenly remembered, turning his attention back to the shelf. Lily came up next to him, looking the same direction, as though the shelf itself might hold some clue.

“Maybe… you’re thinking of times when you’ve been wearing shoes?” she offered.

Tom shook his head. “I don’t really wear shoes upstairs.”

Lily leaned against his side, head resting on his lower chest. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her. “Well… you are gonna be 30 this year, hon. Sometimes people shrink a little as they age, especially tall people.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” 

“I mean, for what it’s worth, I’m changing as I get older too. I’m actually putting on a little weight for the first time since, like, the fourth grade.”

“Wait, really?” Tom looked his wife up and down, but she shrugged and shook her head.

“Just a couple pounds, not enough that anyone would notice. My point is just that, y’know, people don’t stay the same forever. Maybe you did get a little shorter, but I mean, who cares, right?”

“Yeah…” Tom replied, still looking at the shelf, thinking. Lily broke into a wry smile.

“I get it. You care,” she said, her words dripping with teasing accusation. “You care a lot. I never knew this about you.”

“What? No. Knew what about me?”

“I just never realized that you were one of those guys who obsessed over his height.”

Tom let go of Lily to turn toward her. “Whoa, I don’t know about obsessed, it just seemed a little weird—”

“Tom,” Lily interrupted. She stepped toward him again, wrapping her arms as best she could around his midsection, craning her neck all the way back and resting her chin on his chest to maintain eye contact. He draped his thick arms over her shoulders, feeling a warmth in his heart as he looked into her eyes. “Your very loving, very devoted wife got up early today to make you breakfast, and you’re letting it get cold while you fuss over whether you’re only six-foot-two-and-a-quarter now. That sounds at least a little obsessed to me.”

“I, that’s—” Tom stammered through a few more false starts while Lily just patiently smiled up at him. Eventually, he stopped, smiling back at her as he nodded in defeat.

“I guess this is kind of a dumb thing to complain about, huh? Especially to you.”

Lily shrugged, her smile breaking into a full grin. “Maybe a little. But I am a patient, sensitive partner who is always willing to listen to my husband share his feelings.” She affected an overly proper tone as she spoke, as though she were quoting relationship advice. Tom laughed, and she rose and fell with the motion of his gut, pinned as she was against it.

The two stared at each other silently for a moment. Tom’s hands slid down Lily’s waist, and her grin widened as he squeezed her butt. He briefly thought about calling in sick and taking her back to bed, but thought better of it; after all, he’d just pulled that move last week.

And besides, she’d mentioned that breakfast was getting cold. All of a sudden, he snapped into motion. Lily shrieked, first in surprise and then in laughter, as Tom hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder. She playfully punched at his back as he carried her down to the kitchen table.

* * *

Lily was starting to run out of patience.

It had only been a few days later that Tom started going on about his height again. Something about having to fix the mirrors in his car; to be honest, Lily may not have paid as much attention as she should have. She felt bad that Tom was so anxious, but at the same time, the whole thing just felt a bit silly to her. She’d known Tom since high school and he’d really never been the “fragile male ego” type; apparently, she’d just never seen one of his buttons get pressed. If he really had gotten a little shorter, it was completely imperceptible to her, but it seemed to be the only thing he could think about.

Lily felt guilty that she was struggling to find much empathy for her husband’s anxieties. Tom was a huge sweetheart, and she’d never known him to be anything but a kind and loving husband. He was generous, thoughtful, and always put her needs first. That’s part of why this whole thing with his height was so bizarre; despite her best efforts to be sympathetic, she couldn’t help but see it as a bit vain and self-obsessed, words she’d usually never use to describe him. She never would have guessed that something so inconsequential could have done such a number on his psyche.

It was especially frustrating because recently, Lily just couldn’t seem to get enough of Tom’s body. There was just… something about him, lately. He’d always been attractive, big and broad and brawny, with coffee-brown eyes and hair, but in the past month or so she’d started picking up on something extra, something she couldn’t really place, but which made her want him more than ever before. He seemed to feel the same way about her, and they’d been having a great time together… until Tom started stressing out about his height. For one reason or another, that seemed to be the only thing that could take his mind off of her.

She didn’t mean to be dismissive, but this was driving her nuts. She’d be halfway through undressing him, when suddenly all he could think about was how his shirt seemed baggier than it used to be. She would desperately try to recover the momentum, and sometimes she was able to refocus his attention, but just as often there was no getting him back, and he’d go to bed moping while she went to bed unsatisfied. 

She was trying her best to be patient with him, but she was really getting tired of hearing about how he had to stretch a little further to reach something that she’d need a stepladder for. Maybe she was being a bit selfish herself, but Tom just wasn’t paying her the kind of attention he usually did, both in the bedroom and out. Eventually, she realized that no matter how many times she tried to gently assure him that his height was nothing to worry about, he wasn’t going to let it go. So, to try and set his mind at ease, she called their doctor to schedule an appointment, and scheduled her own yearly physical at the same time.

In fairness to Tom, the doctor was a little concerned about his height loss; Lily was right about it being a natural part of getting older, but it usually didn’t set in until middle age. And even then, Tom had lost a full two inches. Unless this had started years ago and Tom was only just now noticing, that was a lot faster than expected, and might suggest some kind of problem with his spine. Still, without any other symptoms, the doctor’s only advice was to do some daily back exercises and continue to monitor the situation.

That had been it for Tom’s appointment, but Lily’s was a little more eventful than she’d expected.

It started when the nurse weighed her at 91 pounds. Lily balked; she knew she’d been putting on a little weight lately, but more than ten pounds? She ran her hands down her body, but it felt just as slim and slight as ever. Where was the weight going?

Maybe all of Tom’s fretting had put the subject in her head, but she decided to ask the nurse to check her height. The nurse shrugged and gestured to the chart next to the scale. He marked Lily at 59 inches tall.

Lily inhaled sharply through her nose. She’d been 4’9” since grade school, and now, she was 4’11”.

The surge of exhilaration she felt took her by surprise, and she struggled not to show it outwardly, breaking into a grin for a split second before forcing her face back into a neutral expression. 4’11”! She repeated the number to herself in her head over and over as the nurse scribbled some notes in her chart.

She realized that she definitely couldn’t let Tom know how excited this made her; it would probably just make him more anxious, and besides, she might sound like a bit of a hypocrite, with how much she’d been trying to downplay his height loss.

Was she being a hypocrite?... No. No! Tom had always been huge, and he still was huge. But Lily… her entire life, Lily had been the smallest person in any room she walked into. That was 30 years of short jokes, 30 years of patronizing condescension, and 30 years of people singling her out to pick on because of how small and frail she was. Bullies in high school used to grab her and lift her up onto the top of the lockers, where she couldn’t get down until someone (usually Tom) showed up to help her. And then in college, she had not one, not two, but three IDs confiscated by bouncers who refused to believe that someone as small as her could really be 21. Even as an adult, she was talked down to everywhere she went, and if she ever complained about it, people would have the gall to try and tell her that she was just imagining things.

No, this was completely different from Tom’s bruised ego. She had every right to be excited. To be sure, 4’11” was still tiny, but maybe those extra inches would give her some reprieve from all the little indignities and inconveniences she’d endured throughout her life. And besides… maybe it was still on-going! Maybe her body was deciding to make up for lost time, and she was finally hitting her teenage growth spurt 15 years late! Okay, probably not… but maybe she at least had a shot of reaching five feet even!

The rest of the appointment went quickly. The doctor noted her height increase, but didn’t pay it much mind; growth spurts at Lily’s age were extremely rare, but not unheard of, and much like Tom’s shrinking, it wasn’t anything to worry about in isolation.

On the drive home, Lily stared out the passenger window, doing her best to mask her excitement. Tom cleared his throat, eager to fill the silence.

“So, your appointment go okay?”

“Hm?” Lily turned to look at Tom. “Oh, yeah. Nothing to report, really… Well. Actually, um… there was one thing. It uh, it turns out that I’ve actually gotten a little taller!”

“You… you got taller?”

Lily shrugged, realizing her mistake and hoping now to play it off. “Yeah, I… I grew two inches, apparently. It’s not a big deal, the doctor said it happens sometimes.” Why did I even say anything?

“Two inches…” Tom repeated. They drove in silence for several minutes, Lily shifting awkwardly in her seat. She looked over at Tom a few times, but he seemed to be deep in concentration.

“You know…” he finally said. “I uh. I’ve lost two inches. And you… you said you’ve gotten two inches taller?”

Lily furrowed her brow. “Oh, huh. Yeah. I… hadn’t even thought about that.” She hadn’t. That was a little odd.

More silence. Tom seemed like he wanted to say something but was holding it back.

“I mean, it’s just a coincidence, right?” Lily finally offered.

“Right, no, obviously, of course!” Tom had responded a little too quickly.

“I mean, there’s no way they could be related. Your spine and my pituitary gland don’t have anything to do with each other.”

“Right, right…” Tom replied, trailing off as he retreated back into his thoughts. Lily’s shoulders slumped; she’d hoped this doctor’s visit would put him at ease, and instead it was starting to look like it just made things worse.

She decided to try and force a change of subject. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. We had to get up early to make it to the doctor’s office. I dunno about you, but I wouldn’t have minded staying in bed a little longer. What do you say, when we get home, we… make up for lost time?” She placed a hand on his thigh.

“I dunno, Lily.”

“Oh come on, Tom! You took the day off work for this appointment, so we have the entire afternoon to ourselves. Wouldn’t it be a shame to let it go to waste?”

He didn’t answer right away. She leaned toward him, slid her hand around to his inner thigh, and slowly crept upward. She leaned even further, fighting her seatbelt to get as close to his ear as she could.

“I’ll let you do anything you want with me,” she whispered in a low, breathy voice. Tom’s chest expanded as he inhaled, and Lily grinned as she felt him stiffen through his pants.

That was all the convincing he needed.

Lily kept her hand right where it was the rest of the ride, occasionally giving Tom a small squeeze to remind him of what he had in store when they got home. As they pulled into the driveway, she had barely stepped out of the car before Tom scooped her up in his arms. He kissed her passionately as he carried her, stopping only briefly to get the front door open. He took her upstairs, and Lily laughed as he literally tossed her onto the bed. She had just enough time to get her top off before he descended upon her. A moan of pleasure escaped her lips as he wrapped a hand around each of her wrists, pinning her to the mattress as he planted kisses across her neck and chest. Lily loved the feeling of being held down like this. She squirmed and struggled against his grip, not to try and get free, but to feel just how impossible it would be to escape. Tom’s powerful arms completely overwhelmed her own, and she was unable to budge them even a single inch as his mouth slowly worked its way down her torso.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the iron vice of his hands and the soft warmth of his lips and tongue. 

And then she opened her eyes again, a thought flashing through her mind. It was a thought she'd never had before: the thought that it was too bad that she never got a turn holding him down.

Tom knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any less crazy.

He needed to share what he’d learned with Lily, but he was worried that she wouldn’t be receptive. He knew full well that he’d been getting on her nerves, and ever since the doctor’s office, he’d been trying to make a better effort to at least fake like everything was fine. In reality, he was spending more time than ever trying to figure out what was going on, but when they were together, he did his best to push it out of his mind and focus on his wife.

Thankfully, focusing on his wife had never been easier. She still had that strange, extra spark to her, some ineffable quality that could turn him on from something as small as a smile from across the room. All he ever really wanted to do was take her to bed and keep her there, and he was grateful that she still felt the same way, despite her recent frustration with him.

The discovery he’d made would, unfortunately, put an end to that. He was already feeling a bit depressed about it, and wished he could just… ignore the problem, and keep on enjoying things as they were. But he couldn’t. And he needed to have a very serious, very strange conversation with his wife.

He decided he’d collected enough evidence to convince her of his theory about three weeks after their trip to the doctor. That Saturday, he entered the living room to find her watching TV on the couch.

“Lily, um… can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

He took in a breath and shut the TV off. Concern gradually crept into her face as he silently took a seat next to her.

“Tom… what’s wrong?”

“Sorry, I’m just… figuring out the best way to say this.”

Lily leaned toward him, putting an arm behind his back. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me anything.” 

Tom took a deep breath, nodding. “I… I need to show you something, and before I do, I’d just like to ask you to keep an open mind. I know how this is gonna sound.” Lily furrowed her brow and tilted her head to one side as Tom took out his phone.

“I’ve been… measuring myself, every day since we went to the doctor. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, and that back problems couldn’t really explain it. Especially when I haven’t been in any kind of pain.” He navigated to the photo gallery and opened up a folder he’d set up. “Do me a favor, and scroll through these. It’s easier to see if you scroll faster.”

Lily took his phone, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. The first photo was a picture of Tom, zoomed in so only the top half of his face was visible. There was a height chart behind him, the marks easy to see due to the zoom. Tom’s head was more or less even with the 73” mark.

“Where did you take these?” Lily asked.

“The attic. I didn’t want to bother you about this until I knew more.”

Lily stared at him for a moment before she looked down at the phone and scrolled. The next photo in the album looked exactly like the first one. She scrolled again, and again it seemed identical. She looked back at Tom.

“Like I said, It’s easier to see if you go faster.” Lily continued to stare at him for a moment before turning back to the phone.

She returned to the first picture and started flipping through them again, more quickly this time. Tom studied her face as recognition and then confusion slowly set in: as the photos advanced, the top of Tom’s head gradually drifted downward.

“It… you could’ve just gotten the angle a little off.”

“No I couldn’t. I used one of your old tripods.” Lily was a wedding photographer; their garage was full of old cameras and other equipment. “But don’t take my word for it, keep scrolling.”

As she advanced through the photos, the ¾” mark appeared above Tom, and then the ½” mark.. The final photo in the album showed him standing at exactly 72”.

“That last one’s from this morning. The doctor was concerned that I’d lost two inches in less than a year, but now I’ve lost another inch in less than a month.”

Lily was quiet for a moment, processing the information. “Um… Have, have you been doing those back exercises?”

Tom sighed as he took back his phone. “It’s not my back, Lily. I… If I had just been getting a little shorter, then… well, I’ll be honest, you’re probably right that I might take a bit of a hit to my pride over that. But the reason I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this is because everything has felt… weird. I don’t think it’s just a matter of height; I’ve been dropping weight just as quickly. Let me ask you: do I look like I’ve lost 30 pounds? Because I have.”

Lily looked him up and down. “Uh… I mean. You do look a little slimmer, actually. But… no. Not thirty pounds slimmer.”

“If I was only getting shorter, that wouldn’t explain the weight loss. I think I’m getting…” he trailed off. He knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any less crazy. “I think I’m getting smaller.”

Lily didn’t respond, and Tom couldn’t blame her—what do you say to something like that? They sat there in silence for a minute or two, before Tom decided to rip the next band-aid off.

“Have you measured yourself at all in the past three weeks, Lily?”

“What?”

“Have you measured yourself? I mean, we found out at the doctor that your height had changed too. Exactly as much as mine had, just in the opposite direction.” Tom studied her face, a mix of skepticism, sympathy, and… something else.

“Tom… we both agreed, that was just a coincidence.”

“So, come up to the attic with me and prove that it was just a coincidence. If you haven’t grown anymore, or if you’re not exactly one inch taller, then I’ll drop it.”

Lily exhaled through her nose, watching him as he stood up and turned to offer her his hand. She rose to her feet, and her eyes widened as she looked up at him.

Tom had been avoiding this for weeks. He didn’t want to stand right next to her like this, to see how their heights compared now. He knew that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to hide his worry from her.

Lily used to barely come up to his chest. Now, she nearly came up to his shoulders. For the first time, he saw the same look of disorientation on her face that he’d been feeling for two months. He struggled to find much relief in that.

Tom swallowed, his mouth dry. “Let’s um. Let’s go get you measured.” May as well make it official.

The attic was small, the space almost entirely taken up by boxes of Christmas decorations and old clothes. Tom had nailed the height chart to an exposed beam, and set up a tripod that could hold his phone a few feet away from it. Lily hadn’t said a word as she followed him upstairs, and now approached the chart with trepidation, as though it might jump out and bite her. She slowly turned around and put her back to the chart, standing up straight as she looked to her husband. Tom swallowed again and nodded. It was exactly what he thought.

“Lily… You’re five feet tall.”

A single laugh of surprise came out of Lily’s mouth before she covered it with her hand. Tom couldn’t quite read her eyes. Surely she wasn’t… happy about this, right? No, no, he misinterpreted. She was just in shock.

“Why?... Why is this happening?” she asked. Tom winced; this next part was going to be an even harder sell.

“The ‘why,’ I can’t tell you, but I think I know the ‘how.’” He took his phone out again and leaned in next to her.

“Look at these photos again. I’ve got twenty of them here, one a day. I get a little bit…” he trailed off, not yet used to the sentence he was trying to say. “I get a little bit shorter in all of them, except for five.” He demonstrated by flipping back and forth between two photos that were, in fact, identical.

“I spent a long time trying to figure out what was different about these five days. After it happened the first time, I started keeping a log of everything I did, to see if I could catch something out of the ordinary.” He paused here, still barely believing what he was about to say.

“...Well?” Lily finally prompted. “Did you find anything?”

“Lily…” Tom heaved a big sigh. “These are the only five days that we didn’t have sex.”

“What?”

“I know. I know! Even with… everything else, it sounds ridiculous. But it’s the only common thread I can find. When we sleep together, I end up just a hair shorter. And, I assume, you end up a hair taller.”

“Tom, no, that… There has to be a different explanation. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Tom looked at her sympathetically, having initially reacted the exact same way himself. He swiped through the album to pull up a few particular photos from the set.

“It’s a little hard to tell, but if you look closely at this one, I actually shrank a little more than average. In this one, too. And this one, and this one. These were all taken on Sunday or Monday morning. What tends to happen on the weekends, Lily?”

Lily put a hand to her forehead. “...We have sex more often. At night and in the morning. And sometimes in the afternoon, too.” He nodded, and then navigated to a different picture.

“Except for… this Sunday morning here, which was one of the days where there wasn’t any change. Because you got up early on Saturday to take pictures for that wedding.”

Tom could see the gears turning in Lily’s head. “I was gone all day, and was too tired when I got home to do anything…”

“I can’t explain it, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Well, as much as any of this makes sense.”

Lily took a few meandering steps in the direction of the ladder down to their bedroom.

“Okay…” she muttered. “What do we do now?”

“I’m going to call the doctor’s office and schedule another appointment. If we go in and show her all of this, then maybe she’ll have some ideas. Until then… we have to stop sleeping together.”

“Wait, what?”

“I know, Lily. Trust me, I’m not happy about it either, but I just think—” Lily interrupted him by jumping up to kiss him. He instinctively moved to catch her, the way he had thousands of times in the past, but his grip slipped and the kiss quickly broke off as she fell back to the floor, her face filled with disappointment and confusion.

She’d been heavier than he expected her to be.

“I love you so much, Lily,” Tom said after a moment, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I love being with you, and I love… being with you. I don’t want to be up here having this conversation. I want… I mean to be honest, I want to be tearing your clothes off right now.” Lily laughed, and Tom smiled sadly at her. “But until we know more about what’s going on, I don’t think it’s safe.”

The disappointment on Lily’s face was gradually tempered by understanding. “Yeah. Okay. I get it.” Tom hugged her, and even this small gesture of affection felt odd now that he was analyzing it. This wasn’t what it felt like to hug his wife. She was still small, but she felt so much bigger in his arms than she used to. The process had been so gradual that it was easy to ignore on a day-to-day basis, but now that he was focusing on it, it was impossible to miss.

He also realized that just standing there, silently holding her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo (her head was so much closer to his nose than it used to be)... It was starting to turn him on.

“What if…” Lily said, her voice partially muffled by his chest. “What if we fooled around just one more time first?”

“Lily…”

“We’ll stop after that! But… we have no idea how long this could last. I understand that we need to be careful until we can learn more, but that means it could be months, or years, before we can… be together, again. If I’d known this morning was the last chance I’d get with you, I would’ve savored it more!” Tom tried to respond, but she kept going, her voice tinged with a hint of anger. “You already knew about this, so you did get a chance to prepare! It’s not fair to deny me the same opportunity!”

“I… you’re right, I’m sorry, it’s not fair, but Lily—”

“It took more than 15 times for you to lose an inch. One more couldn’t really hurt anything, could it?”

Tom looked down at her, face full of trepidation. This seemed like a bad idea. Plus… Having sex even once more would mean he’d officially be less than six feet tall. He hated to admit it, but that thought bothered him.

“Please, Tom? Just one more time. We’ll make it good enough that it’ll last us until… Well, we’ll make it good enough to last us.”

He hesitated for another moment. But then, against his better judgment, he crouched slightly to get his arms around her waist. He lifted her up, this time adjusting for her increased weight, and she locked her mouth to his. She wrapped her legs around him, and he closed his eyes as he tried not to think about how much easier that was for her now.

* * *

Lily had a proposal.

“Make it good enough to last us.” Good one.

To be blunt, the past week had sucked. Intellectually, she agreed with Tom that putting their sex life on hiatus was the safest move. But now that she couldn’t have him, she wanted him even more, and she had already wanted him a lot. She tried seeing to her needs herself, but masturbating barely did anything to curb her thirst for her husband. She wanted—needed—Tom. She needed to feel his arms around her, needed to be sandwiched between the mattress and his big, thick body. She needed him to hold her down and fuck her... And he couldn’t.

She was a wreck, and it had only been a week.

She’d tried, a couple mornings after their discussion, to gently suggest that it might not be so bad if they slept together one more time. Tom immediately shut her down, snapping at her much more fiercely than she’d ever heard him before. She was surprised, and even a little hurt, but as she watched him practically leap out of bed and start getting dressed, making a point to never look at her, she realized why he’d reacted that way: he was just as wound-up as she was, and if he so much as entertained the thought of having sex, he’d immediately cave.

The energy in the house was awful. The two of them made a point to spend as little time together as possible, knowing full well that they couldn’t rely on their self-control. Conversations were short and terse. Tom at least got to go to work and get away from things for a while. Lily would’ve loved the same opportunity, but of course she had no gigs booked for the week, and no last-minute emergency requests were showing up on Facebook. So during the day, she’d try to read or watch TV or clean or do anything to distract or mentally prepare herself for the evening, and every night it was completely in vain; she practically had to lock herself in the bathroom to keep from pouncing on Tom the second he walked through the front door.

Tonight, they were sitting at the kitchen table, awkwardly eating spaghetti, both trying to eat fast and get away from each other.

Tom seemed unable to handle the silence. “I think… whatever’s happening to us, it’s affecting our sex drives.”

“Yeah no shit,” Lily snapped back, immediately regretting her tone. “Sorry. I’m just… on edge.”

Tom stared down at his plate. “It’s fine, I know. I am too.” 

“What did the doctor say?”

“She’s booked solid. Can’t see us for another three weeks.”

“God dammit.” Lily grabbed the parmesan cheese. “I mean, whatever. It’s not like she’s gonna be able to help us anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“C’mon, Tom.” Lily let out a short, rueful laugh. “Does anything about this situation seem medical to you? It’s been a while since health class, but I don’t think they ever went over this kind of thing.”

“Well, okay, what then?”

“I don’t know! It’s like… magic. One of us pissed off a witch or something.”

“Lily, be serious.”

“I am being serious!” She dropped her fork and leaned forward. “What about this situation doesn’t seem like some kind of stupid magic curse, Tom? Right now, I am so goddamn horny that I want to throw our food on the floor and fuck you right here on the table.” She started breathing heavier, and fought to erase the mental image from her mind. “But I can’t do that, because for some reason, it’ll make you shrink, and make me…” She swallowed. “Bigger.”

That was the other thing.

At first, Lily had been over the moon that she really had grown another inch. But after a day or two, the novelty wore off; after all, 5’0” was still pretty small. She probably could’ve been content with it… except she knew for a fact that there was a way for her to keep growing. It just meant… Tom would have to…

Every time she reached this point in her thoughts, she desperately tried to stop. Tom was scared of what was happening to him. She’d be scared too, in his position. And, sure, he was still a foot taller than her, and sure, that meant he still had plenty of height that he could afford to lose… but that wasn’t her call to make! It wasn’t right to feel jealous or bitter about it.

And as nice as that sentiment was, it didn’t reflect her true feelings at all.

Which brought Lily to her proposal. It was something she’d been thinking about for a day or two now, and in the heat of this conversation, she found herself suddenly blurting it out.

“Tom, I want to be taller.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m sick and tired of being a tiny little waif. I’m tired of people looking down on me, I’m tired of feeling unsafe anytime I’m alone in public, I’m tired of all of it. Even you throw me around like a ragdoll.”

“...I thought you liked it when I did that.”

“I… I do! But… I don’t know. I don’t know! Maybe, after seven years, a change of pace sounds nice! I probably wouldn’t have ever thought about it on my own, but now that I know that it’s possible to get taller, I… I want it. I want it so bad, Tom.” There was a mania in her voice, and she tried her best to rein it in. 

“Between that and the sex, I’m fighting a war on two fronts over here. And I can’t keep doing it!”

Even that wasn’t the entire truth. There was only one front in this war. If she thought too long about her height, and the possibility of increasing it, those thoughts inevitably intermingled with the inferno of lust burning away inside of her. And for some reason, thinking about Tom getting smaller, shrinking a little bit day by day… It was like pouring gasoline on the fire. Even before they’d stopped having sex, it had been everything she could do to control herself when he’d first shown her those photos. That album was what she’d look at when she was alone, desperately fingering herself to try and get some relief. The truth was… She didn’t need him to hold her down and have his way with her. She needed the exact opposite. 

But she wasn’t about to tell him that.

Tom’s shoulders slumped as he smiled sadly at his wife. “Lily… I’m sorry. I can’t. I wish I could, but…” he trailed off.

Lily got up from her chair and moved to her usual seat, right next to his. She was worried he’d try to leave, but he stayed right where he was. She took his hand, exercising every ounce of self-discipline she had to sit still and hold it gently.

“Tom… being this small sucks. I’ve had to deal with it my entire life, and… and I didn’t even realize just how much I hated it until I started growing. But now… I need this. I need it, Tom.” He started to reply, but she kept going. “Just listen! Just… listen. We’re both miserable. We can’t keep going on this way. It’s only been six days and I already feel like I’m going to pop. The doctor won’t see us for another three weeks, and she probably can’t help us when she does. So, here’s my idea. 

“Let’s just… get it out of our systems. Let’s have as much sex as we can make time for. We’ll smoke the whole pack! Do it so much that we’re sick of it! And when we’re the same height—” Tom’s jaw dropped, but Lily pressed on. “When we’re the same height, we’ll call it quits. Permanently… unless we can figure out how to stop this from happening.” In truth, that didn’t sound like nearly enough for her… but it seemed like a reasonable compromise.

“Lily, I love you, but… that’s… we can’t.”

“It won’t be that bad! You’re six foot, I’m five foot, so we’ll meet in the middle at five-six! Okay, that’s… a little short for a guy, but not that much!” Lily gave a small, desperate smile that Tom didn’t return. “We’ll be equals! That’s what couples are supposed to be, right? Equals? That’s just… that’s just fair, isn’t it?”

“Fair?”

Lily squeezed his hand tighter. “Tom. I love you. You are the best husband I could ever hope for. I haven’t ever really asked you for much, mostly because I’ve never had to. I’m asking for this. I understand that it’s a big sacrifice on your part, but it’s a sacrifice that your wife is asking you to make.”

Tom was silent for a long, tense moment. Lily nervously brushed her thumb back and forth across the back of his hand, staring at him in anticipation.

After a long, long time, he finally replied, “Okay.”

“Great.” Lily threw their food on the floor and fucked him right there on the table.

Tom was already having second thoughts.

It was early. The bedroom was bathed in soft blue light as he lay curled up in bed, staring out the window as he mulled over the events of last night. He’d already lost three inches, and yet he’d agreed to let Lily take six more.

But then… had he really agreed to it? Lily was right that the entire past week had been miserable. If he ever looked at his wife, heard the sound of his wife’s voice, thought about his wife for too long, he’d instantly get hard. Jerking off would help… for about 20 minutes. Sometimes less. And even that minor remedy wasn’t available to him while he was at work; at least Lily had gotten to have the house to herself most days. 

When he told her they had to stop having sex, he thought the difficult part would be losing the emotional connection, the intimacy. He never would have guessed that it would pose such a physical challenge for the both of them. It was like she’d become a biological need for him, as fundamental as food or water.

So when she started giving him the hard sell last night, how could he have possibly refused? He’d been dying of thirst in the desert, and there she was, dangling a canteen in front of his face.

He felt the impulse to blame her, to accuse her of manipulating him while he was in a vulnerable state, but that wasn’t fair and he knew it. It’s not like she put a gun to his head. He could’ve stopped after the first time, or the second, or the third, but he’d kept going until they both had to stop out of exhaustion. It wasn’t until he’d woken up this morning that he’d started to regret what he’d signed up for.

Still, it wasn’t too late to renege.

Behind him, Lily groaned softly as she stirred. She rolled over, pressing herself against his back as she wrapped an arm around him, her toes rubbing up and down the back of his calf. He tensed up as he thought about how she used to only reach down to his knees.

“That was the first decent night of sleep I’ve had in a week,” she purred into his ear, her voice low and groggy. He couldn’t disagree with her there; half the reason they had both been so on-edge was from how little their mutual temptations would let them sleep.

“I love you,” Lily whispered in his ear. “You’re so, so wonderful. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” She nuzzled his shoulder. “I know how much I’m asking you for. I know how hard it must be to go through with this.”

This was his opportunity. If he was going to back out of their deal, now was the time. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back for it yet, but I promise you, I will. I’ll find a way to make you as happy as you’re making me.” Her hand started rubbing his chest, then slowly moved down his stomach. He sighed as her fingers glided over his thigh.

He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life at 5’6”, but how could he possibly say no to her? How could he take back all the joy he had given his wife? If it really meant this much to her… then maybe it was worth it.

She readjusted behind him to get a better angle as her fingers encircled his cock.

“Not yet, Lily, I’m still tired. And sore.” It was true. Muscles all across his body ached: his thighs, his core, his jaw… and, of course, his groin.

“You’re sending me some mixed messages, big guy.” Sure enough, he was hardening in her grasp.

“I’m… sensitive, after last night. You need to be gentle.”

“Oh, of course, baby,” she cooed. “I’ll be so gentle.” He let out a small shudder as she began to slowly pump him. “As gentle as I can be, while I take care of my wonderful…” she paused to kiss his ear. “Generous…” Another kiss. “Sexy husband.” She nibbled his earlobe as she continued to work him back and forth, her grip firm but tender. He closed his eyes, losing himself in the soft, steady rhythm of her hand. His climax came slowly, a tide of pleasure rolling in across him. He gasped, his entire body clenching and then going slack as the wave receded. Lily released him, but continued to softly fondle him for a few moments while he basked in the aftermath.

“I know what I just said about owing you,” she teased as she sat up, rubbing his back. “But I do expect you to return the favor for that later. 

“Right now though, I want to get us measured.”

* * *

Lily loved to have a project.

When she was younger, she’d dreamed about a career in photography. A photojournalist, maybe, or a nature photographer. Shooting models for fashion magazines, or maybe even making fine art.

Unfortunately, she’d graduated just when print media had one foot in the grave and websites were all “pivoting to video.” Photography jobs were still out there, but the field had become so narrow and competitive that she never managed to get her foot in the door. 

Technically, she did have a “career” in photography, but wedding photos had never really been what she had in mind. It was all so samey, and her clientele was always stressed out, opinionated, and entitled. Plus, Tom’s accounting job brought in more than enough money for the two of them. She really only needed to book gigs when they were saving up for a big purchase, or more often, when she needed a reason to get out of the house. As the years progressed, she’d found herself with less and less motivation to work, booking fewer and fewer clients. The “photography” part of the equation had lost its spark for her a while ago; she barely even kept up with her old Instagram account anymore.

But now, she had something to shoot.

It was easy enough to convince Tom to keep documenting the process. It became more apparent by the day that there was very little a doctor could do about their problem, but just in case, the more records they had, the better. Of course, now that Lily was involved, Tom’s grainy attic selfies weren’t up to muster. He didn’t see the point in making the pictures look good, since they were just for documentation, but she’d taught him a long time ago not to challenge her on anything related to photography.

The spare bedroom in their home was a combination office and photo studio. Lily would sometimes have clients over for portraits, or use it for personal projects when inspiration struck her, which had been happening less and less lately. But it was certainly striking now.

The wall was covered by a large, dark blue sheet, which trailed a few feet onto the floor. Lily had gotten a bigger height chart, one that would show up better on-camera, and fastened it to the sheet. Combined with her lighting set-up and careful framing, it created the impression that the chart was floating in a void. Every day, she’d start with two standard photos, one of her and one of Tom, standing at attention in front of the chart.

Realistically, those were the only photos they needed. But where was the fun in that?

With the boring part out of the way, she’d join Tom in the frame, the camera set on a timer to take a new photo every few seconds. She’d spend as much time as he’d tolerate posing with him: their backs together, their arms around each other, photos of them kissing, photos of them hugging, photos of them pretending to measure each other on the chart. She could usually get at least 30 minutes of modeling out of him each day, and then she’d spend the rest of her morning going through the photos they’d taken, saving and organizing her favorites.

“I just don’t really get the point of all this, Lily,” Tom said as they wrapped up the day’s shoot.

“It’s fun! Let your wife have some fun.”

Tom gave her a half-smile. “I feel like my wife has been getting her way about a lot of things lately.”

She grinned impishly and leaned in against him, enjoying the way her head now slotted perfectly into the crook of his neck. “That’s because she has a very kind husband who loves to make her happy.”

“Well, I guess I can’t argue with you there. I am pretty great.”

Lily laughed, then shooed him out of the studio to go get ready for work. 

She was glad that he didn’t press her too hard about why she wanted so many photos.

Lily quickly sorted the new pictures into the correct folders, pairing them with similar-looking photos from the previous days. Then, she jumped to the beginning of the album that showed them standing arm-in-and-arm, posed like a couple’s portrait. Slowly, she clicked through the 20 photos she’d collected for this set so far. They’d had so much sex that first week that the changes were easy to see.

On Day 1, Tom was a bit under six foot, while Lily was a bit over five. Click. Tom shifted downward a little, while Lily shifted upward. Click. Tom had already lost nearly half an inch, while Lily had gained the same. Click, click, click. The previous inch had taken nearly three weeks, but after only five days, Tom was down to 5’11” while Lily had reached 5’1”. In the present, Lily began to breathe heavier. 

The next inch was slower; they couldn’t keep up the pace of those first few desperate, ravenous days, and besides, Lily wanted to have more photos. She kept clicking, watching herself grow and her husband shrink, the pictures creating an impression almost like a stop-motion animation. Far too quickly, she reached the most recent picture, the one she’d just uploaded: Tom not quite reaching the 5’10” mark, while Lily stood a hair over 5’2”.

Lily was practically panting as she looked at the new photo, one hand rubbing the back of her neck while the other slipped between her legs. All at once, she shoved away from her desk and jumped to her feet, leaving behind a trail of discarded clothes as she sped toward the master bathroom, where Tom was showering.

* * *

Tom wasn’t just shrinking.

He’d suspected as much from the beginning, but it had been hard to tell. Did he really look skinnier, or was it just that his body was losing its width alongside its height? But now that he’d lost another three inches (God, I’m really only 5’9” now…), he was sure that he was slimming down even relative to his size. As he stepped out of the shower, he appraised his body in the mirror. He’d weighed himself earlier at 151 pounds, about 80 pounds down from where he started. Some of that was from the shrinking, but his gut had also flattened out dramatically, and there was less flab around his thighs and forearms.

Had he really lost eighty pounds? That was how much Lily’s entire body used to weigh. A few months ago, he’d been nearly triple her weight, and now he was less than double. And that was before he factored in her own growth.

In the past couple days, it had become impossible to ignore that Lily’s proportions were changing, too. She’d always been extremely thin, even for her ultra-petite stature. Now, she actually had some modest curves. Her ass and thighs had filled out a bit, as well as her chest. She had tits now! Small ones, sure, but bigger than they’d ever been before. And, while they were small proportional to her body, they were also getting a boost in size from her growth.

Although he’d always been attracted to her, he wouldn’t pretend like these changes were unwelcome… though he might appreciate them more if they weren’t coming at his expense. If she wasn’t slowly draining him like a vampire, siphoning more and more of him away to make herself taller, sexier, bigger. 

He… he didn’t like that she was getting heavier and heavier in his arms, that he had to crouch a little less to kiss her every day, that due to his own shrinking perspective, she was already starting to look fairly tall to him. He certainly didn’t like the way the walls and ceilings of every room were gradually inching away from him, the way that every time he picked something up it seemed just a little heavier than last time, the way that his broad chest and thick arms seemed a little thinner every time he studied himself in the bathroom mirror, like he was right now. Why would he like any of that?

Tom was still naked, but the bathroom felt like it was getting warm. He shook his head to push those thoughts away, and moved toward the bedroom to get dressed. He never got the chance; his wife jumped him the second he opened the door.

* * *

Lily had finally made him move.

She was lying on the bed, Tom straddling her hips, his dick deep inside her. His hands were clamped around her wrists, as they often were. Being held down like this felt as good as ever; in fact, it felt even better. Because every day, she could look up into Tom’s face and see that he was having to struggle just a little bit harder to hold her down.

And just now, she had finally made his hand move.

Tom froze mid-thrust, and Lily felt an intense pulse of euphoria radiate from deep within her as she saw the sudden fear in his eyes. She started pushing harder against him, her arms trembling with effort. He was pushing harder too, throwing his full weight against her. 

But then, his “full weight” was a lot less than it used to be.

She dug deep to find one more burst of strength and, grunting loudly, shoved as hard as she could. Her hands raised an inch or two off the mattress, which was enough to make Tom lose his balance, followed by his grip. He collapsed on top of her as her freed arms shot into the air.

I just overpowered Tom! I just—ah!! Her thoughts were washed away by a tidal wave of endorphins, the thrill of her accomplishment pushing her to climax. She moaned and bucked her hips, and felt Tom come as well only a moment later. For a while they just laid there, wordlessly panting, drenched in sweat. Lily placed a hand on Tom’s back. Before, it would’ve been painful if he’d laid on top of her like this. It might even injure her. Now… it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she could bear it.

“We’ll have to check in the morning,” she said as she caught her breath. “But that should officially put me over 5’4”.” And put you under 5’8”.

They had done a lot of experimentation over the last month, and Lily had spent a lot of time analyzing her photos to try and figure out how this worked. She had a pretty good handle on the rules at this point. Their sizes would only change overnight, in their sleep; Tom would shrink and Lily would grow by about 1-2 millimeters per sexual encounter; the harder they came, the bigger the transfer. The type of sex didn’t seem to affect the outcome; whether they used their genitals, their hands, their mouths, or even a toy, so long as they made the other person come, whatever force in control of this would “count it.” But if only one of them came, the effect was never as strong. There was also some kind of “refractory period;” if Tom made Lily come multiple times in succession, that still only counted for one, though it was more or less guaranteed to have the maximum effect.

The question Lily still had no good answers for was why. What caused this? Would it ever stop? It was more obvious than ever that this problem was far more magical than medical, but Lily wasn’t having much luck researching real-life magic online.

The only clear answer was that it worked off of emotion. Physical intimacy was the trigger, and the magic was broad enough to encompass whatever that meant in the moment. It also seemed like it was responding to a deep-seated desire within Lily, a desire that she hadn’t even been aware of until all of this started. It seemed strange to her, though, that it wasn’t being as charitable to Tom, instead preying on a deep-seated fear that he’d been unwittingly harboring. As much as she was enjoying this, she also felt guilty that for Tom, this wasn’t fun at all, that she’d had to pressure him into making a sacrifice for her sake.

You’d think it would either curse us both or bless us both. 

Tom’s dead weight was starting to be a little much for Lily. She nudged him to scoot down and to the side, transferring some of his weight to the bed, then gently guided his head to lay on her breast. Even that gave her a bit of a thrill—she had breasts now. It had taken a while for her to realize that the magic was doing more than just “scaling her up,” that she was also getting a little, well, rounder. She wasn’t complaining; the extra weight was going to all the right places. Even the slight bulge of a belly that was beginning to develop looked more cute than anything. Her hips had widened as well, and that wasn’t just extra weight; she could feel bone not too deep under her skin. Whatever was happening was changing her skeletal structure.

It was changing Tom’s, too. She wrapped her arms around him, and could tell by feel and by sight that his shoulders and rib cage had grown narrower, even relative to his shrinking stature. She smiled at him protectively, reminded once again just how much he was giving up for her. She placed a hand on the back of his head and gently pressed it deeper against her chest.

“Five-four…” Tom muttered, beginning to doze off. “Just two more inches to go.”

Lily didn’t answer him. Instead, she just stared at the ceiling, an intense sadness suddenly overtaking her as she realized that this was almost over.

* * *

Tom was losing it.

Ever since he started shrinking, he’d become a lot less sociable at work. He spent as much time as possible holed up in his office, and did his absolute best not to stand up around anyone else. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain why he was getting smaller; he couldn’t really give a good explanation even if he wanted to. Plus, he was embarrassed to admit it, but Lily had been right: he had hung a lot of his ego off of his old height, and he was fostering a deep anxiety that his coworkers would think less of him as he quickly became the smallest man in the office.

Tom looked away from the spreadsheet he was editing and tugged awkwardly at his sleeves. Once his old clothes had gotten too big and baggy, he’d swapped over to clothes selected to fit his eventual 5’6” frame. They’d been way too tight at first, but now that he was down to 5’7”, they more or less fit, except that the sleeves and pant-legs were both a little shorter than he’d prefer.

He rubbed his eyes; he could really use a coffee. He had a clear line of sight from his office door to the break room, a fact he was very grateful for, since it meant he could wait until the coast was clear to go get something. Once it looked like everyone had filed out, he quickly slipped down the hall, poured a cup of coffee from the pot, and turned to head back.

And found himself face-to-face with Kathy. 

Of all the people for him to run into, it had to be Kathy. The tallest woman in the office. With her heels, he was staring directly into her lips, and he could feel intense waves of emotion wash over him as he tilted his head back to meet her gaze.

“Waves of emotion…” What emotion? Fear? Yeah, a little. Shame? Yes, but… something else. What… 

Oh, God.

Was this turning him on?

“Hey, Tom, I… didn’t recognize you from behind.” Kathy was clearly confused by what she was seeing. “I guess I, um… I guess I haven’t really seen you around much lately.”

“Yeah! Haha, I…” Tom was throwing everything he had into acting nonchalant, and it wasn’t working. “I’ve just been, really busy, lately. Kind of been, um… chained to my desk, y’know.” He awkwardly shifted his weight to try and find a stance that might help conceal his erection.

“Hey, are you… feeling okay?” She clearly had no idea how to address the 5’7” elephant in the room.

“Um! Yeah, no, uh, actually, I have been… a bit under the weather, lately, and… uh…” he was starting to hyperventilate. “Sorry, I need to, go, actually.” He dumped his coffee in the sink and took off for the bathroom, locking himself in a stall.

Oh God. Fuck. He unbuttoned his fly, his rock-hard penis pushing out from his slightly too-small pants. Without even thinking, he reached down and started stroking it. Kathy was so big now! Everyone was so big now! And they were going to keep getting bigger and bigger as he shrank smaller and smaller and—

What the hell are you doing! Get a grip! His self-control finally caught up to him. He heaved a huge sigh as he leaned back against the stall door and put his dick away.

Tom was losing it. He nearly started jerking off at work because he saw a woman a few inches taller than him. A woman who had to look down her nose to make eye contact with him…

Stop it.

A mental image began to form in his mind.

Stop. It.

He started breathing heavier, the crotch of his pants once again feeling tight.

Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP IT.

He imagined Lily, staring down at him the way Kathy just had.

And then he came.

Mortified beyond words, Tom did his best to clean himself up, then texted his boss: “sorry, feeling really sick, need to take off.” He practically ran to his car and drove to a nearby grocery store, where he pulled into the back of the parking lot and sat with his head in his hands for hours, until the time when Lily would start expecting him home.

* * *

Lily was 5’6”.

She’d spent the last hour staring at the photos from this morning’s shoot. She combed through each of them meticulously, praying for at least one picture that showed even a little bit of space between the top of her head and the inch mark. An excuse for just one more fuck. No dice. It was honestly impressive just how perfectly her and Tom had hit their target, given that the size transfer had some variance to it. She wondered if the magic had somehow taken their deal into account.

Lily was 5’6”. This was the end of the road. Tom had graciously, selflessly, agreed to give her enough height to make them equal, and that’s exactly what he did. Once he agreed, he hadn’t complained or tried to back out a single time, even though Lily often caught him with a look of worry or dread on his face. He had given her an incredible gift, at a gigantic cost to himself, and he’d probably be grieving those lost inches for years to come.

So she couldn’t ask him to keep this going. It just wouldn’t be right.

No matter how badly she wanted to.

That’s what these photos were for. She’d taken so many of them, and could relive the magic of getting bigger, of watching her husband shrink, over and over again. Unless they could figure out the root cause of this curse (or whatever it was), they were never going to have sex again, and Lily could already feel that same feral, uncontrollable lust from before welling up within her. So, here was what she was going to do: Tom was at work for another eight hours, and Lily was going to spend that time sitting here, looking at these pictures, and pleasuring herself raw, draining herself of even the slightest bit of sexual desire, so that she could enjoy a chaste, pleasant evening with her husband.

Because that’s what Tom deserved. He deserved a wife that was as good to him as he was to her. A wife that respected him, and the sacrifices he made for her. A wife that was big enough to take care of him… No, no no no. He already had that. But did he really? Wouldn’t it be so much easier to nurture and protect her husband if she were bigger? That… didn’t make any sense. Tom was an adult, he didn’t need to be “protected.” But then, he might, if he were smaller… she needed to stop thinking this way. It was wrong. But how could she say it was wrong when it felt so right, when it felt so good to grow? 

She needed to push these thoughts out of her head and focus on the pictures. 

It was really hot to scroll through them and watch as more and more of his mass was transferred to her. She was so enamored with the story these pictures told… but, wasn’t the story incomplete? The melody unresolved? This didn’t feel like an ending. It didn’t even feel like a midpoint. Both her and Tom were changing, transforming. Didn’t she want to see what this magic would ultimately turn them into? Wouldn’t that really be what was best for Tom? No, of course not. Respecting his wishes was what was best for him. 

But what if she knew better than him?

She shook her head. That was a terrible thing to think, and her arousal was briefly tamped down by shame. What the hell was wrong with her? At first, she’d assumed that these thoughts were a product of her own libido, that some part of her was trying to find a justification, however flimsy, to keep this going. But the more she struggled to get these ideas out of her head, the more she grew to suspect that there was something else going on here. Was this another effect of the magic? She knew that it had the power to drive her half-insane with lust; what if it could also influence what it was she lusted over? She’d never even thought of growing taller before, never imagined her husband shrinking. But ever since it started happening, she’d grown obsessed with it. Sexually obsessed. That had to be the magic’s doing, right?

Or… were these her true, secret feelings? Had she always felt this way deep down, in a part of her heart that she never acknowledged? Maybe she was just blaming the “curse” because even now that it was granting her deepest desires, she was ashamed to claim ownership of them.

It didn’t matter. Even if these were her real feelings, they were selfish feelings, and for her husband’s sake, she had to take control over them. She couldn’t keep… Oh God… she couldn’t keep fucking him smaller. She needed to have some self-discipline.

* * *

Tom was 5’6”.

He pulled into the driveway after another long, embarrassing day at work. Now that Kathy had seen him clearly, it was all anybody was talking about. Most people were too polite to question him about it directly, and for those who weren’t, he just made up some lie about it being a genetic condition. He told them not to worry about him, that he’d already been through the worst of it, and wouldn’t be getting any smaller. No, he didn’t know why they’d never heard of such a thing, or why no results came up about it online. They’d have to ask his doctor. At the first break in the conversation, he’d excuse himself and hide in his office, doing his best to stay there until the end of the day.

As he stepped into the house, he was surprised to see Lily just standing in the middle of the living room, shoulders rising and falling as she breathed, her posture bringing to mind an enraged bull.

“Uh… what’s up, hon?” he asked.

In response, she charged him, slamming him against the door as she jammed her tongue down his throat. He put his hands on her shoulders to try and push her away, but suddenly found his own body betraying him, moving instead to start peeling off her clothes.

Not long after, they were lying on the cold floor of the foyer half-naked, Lily continuing to kiss and nibble at his neck as he lay motionless.

Tom was, technically, no longer 5’6”.

Lily had never been more ashamed of herself.

The two of them were still lying on the floor, the taste of Tom’s cum still in her mouth. She was on top of him, kissing him wherever her mouth could reach. Slowly, she came to her senses, and a shroud of guilt descended upon her. She looked up at Tom, and the feeling intensified when she saw his expression. She’d never seen him look so hurt.

“We… we had a deal,” he muttered. Lily pulled back, sitting up and scooting away from him, covering her mouth as she realized just how badly she’d screwed up.

“I didn’t… I didn’t complain one time, when it was my turn to give something up,” Tom continued, not even bothering to look her in the eye. “You didn’t go a single day before you went back on your word.”

Lily tried to speak, but nothing but a sob managed to escape her throat. She covered her mouth again and rose to her feet, her vision blurry with tears. She turned and ran upstairs into their bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Collapsing onto the bed, she buried her face in a pillow to dull the sound as she wailed in shame.

She was a terrible wife. She had completely violated her husband’s trust. She’d… she’d basically forced herself on him. He hadn’t really tried to stop her, but she knew full well that the magic’s effect on their sex drives meant that he couldn’t think straight one she’d rushed him. She knew that… and it hadn’t stopped her.

He’d given up so much for her, and all she could think about was taking even more. Her cries grew louder, her entire body wretching with each sob. She laid like that for hours, long enough for the sun to go down. Her weeping would subside, then violently resume as she once again thought about what she’d done.

Eventually, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Lily didn’t respond.

“Lily? Are you awake?” came a muffled voice. “I… I’d really like to talk to you.” Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet and trudged to the door, opening it with a slow creak.

Tom’s face turned into a deep frown of pity as soon as he saw her. I must look like a real wreck. She broke down again and threw herself against him. He staggered backwards and the two of them nearly fell to the ground before Lily realized her mistake. She was used to thinking of him like a big, padded wall, someone she could throw her entire weight against to no effect. That wasn’t the case anymore.

Now, she was technically bigger than him. Or she would be in the morning, at least. Her sobs intensified as she hugged him tight, blubbering “I’m sorries” into his shoulder.

Tom wrapped his arms around her, gently patting her back. He wordlessly held her like this until she managed to calm down. It was the first time she’d missed being so much smaller than him, being able to get lost in his embrace.

“I won’t pretend like I wasn’t hurt,” Tom finally said, his own voice cracking. “But… I love you, Lily. And… I forgive you.”

Lily breathed in sharply, desperately trying not to cry again. “You do?” she finally managed to squeak out.

Tom nodded. “I mean. You clearly regret what you did, you know that it wasn’t okay. And… you’re not gonna do it again, right?”

“No! God, no, Tom, I promise.” She backed away from him, crossing her arms in front of her. “It will never happen again. We are… celibate, from now on.” Something inside her scowled at the thought. She balled her hand into a fist, nearly punching herself in the stomach to quiet that part of her.

“Okay. Then, let’s just put this behind us, alright?” He smiled softly. “How about, you go get yourself cleaned up, while I head back downstairs and get started on some veggies to go with the steaks I’ve got in the oven?” For the first time, it dawned on Lily that Tom had long-since gotten dressed, while she was still basically naked, wearing nothing but her panties and an unfastened bra.

She smiled for the first time in hours, and felt herself once again fighting the urge to cry. Not in shame this time, but in love. She threw her arms around her husband again.

“I don’t deserve you,” she sighed.

“You deserve the world. And more.”

* * *

Tom felt awful.

Ever since that night, Lily had been in a deep depression. He was doing everything he could to cheer her up, and now and then he could get her to smile, but it never lasted long. She barely spoke and recoiled from his touch. He tried to suggest booking some gigs to get her mind off of things, but she just shrugged him off. It killed him to see his wife in this state, and it hurt even more to know that he was, in some sense, responsible for it.

Maybe that was overstating things. She wasn’t upset because of anything he’d done. She was upset because of something she’d done. No matter how many times he tried to reassure her that he’d forgiven her, it was clear that she hadn’t forgiven herself. 

If he had just… not said anything, if he’d gone along with it, she’d be happy. He’s her husband; isn’t making her happy the most important thing he could do?

No, no. He was allowed to have boundaries. They’d made a deal, and enforcing the terms they agreed on didn’t make him a bad guy.

So why did he feel like one?

It didn’t help that his libido had once again kicked into overdrive, just like before. His concern for his wife managed to overrule it, but whenever he wasn’t actively worrying, his entire body ached for her.

Stupid fucking curse. 

He’d taught himself some breathing exercises to keep cool when his arousal started spiking, something he especially had to use whenever he found himself around taller women. He still didn’t understand why that, of all things, turned him on so badly. Anytime he tried to think about it, he was overcome with shameful memories of the office bathroom, so he kept the topic as far out of mind as his circumstances would allow.

When he wasn’t fretting over his wife’s depression or trying to keep his own urges in check, he was slowly adapting to life at 5’6”. It wasn’t so bad, really. Higher shelves were out of reach for him now. The “big and tall” menswear store he’d shopped at for years no longer carried anything in his size. He had to be a lot more careful lifting heavy objects; he’d nearly hurt himself trying to lug a stack of file boxes to a storage closet at work, something he’d always done without a second thought. On the plus side, his coworkers had stopped pestering him with questions about his condition, once they realized he wasn’t going to give them any satisfying answers.

Sometimes, he couldn’t shake the vague feeling that people were looking down on him. In literal terms, they were, but he also couldn’t help but feel like he was being… dismissed. Ignored. It was harder to get a clerk’s attention at a store, or to get people to make room for him in a crowd—he’d gone grocery shopping this past weekend, and it had been absolutely exhausting to navigate the crowds, in a way that it never had been when he was his old self. He’d never noticed that back then, people would just reflexively get out of his way.

The hardest adjustment was the same thing it had always been: Lily herself. He was so used to the thin, diminutive woman he’d known for fifteen years. Every time he saw her, every time he looked directly into her eyes without looking down, it felt freshly disorienting (and freshly arousing; breathing exercises…). In some ways, it felt less like they’d met each other in the middle and more like he’d stayed the same while she’d grown to 6’3”.

She just seemed so big.

If he stepped back and looked objectively, Lily hadn’t filled out that much. She had modest breasts, and hips just wide enough to give her waistline a pleasant curve. She’d gained a tiny bit of weight all over, just enough to make everything a little smoother and rounder. Likewise, Tom still had plenty of meat on his bones. They both looked, you know. Average. Maybe Tom was on the skinny side of average, but still.

But for some reason, despite all of that, it often felt to Tom like Lily was… bigger than him. By more than just the extra millimeter she’d stolen.

Breathing exercises.

He couldn’t place what it was, exactly. She wasn’t (meaningfully) taller than him, she didn’t really seem thicker than him. She almost seemed… denser. Or, it was almost like she projected an aura that was larger than her physical form. Even as she was now, melancholy and devoid of energy, Tom still sometimes looked at her lying in bed or curled up on the sofa and felt vaguely… intimidated by her. The way a sleeping lion might still intimidate you if you were trapped in its den.

No, not a lion… When he looked at her, it was as if he could see… something else inside of her. When he thought about how she’d slammed him against the door with surprising force, how she’d torn his clothes open and literally sucked a little bit of the size out of him (breathing exercises, breathing exercises)... when he thought of how she was in that moment, and when he looked at her now, she sometimes appeared to him like… Like a titan. A titan imprisoned and confined, squeezed into a too-small body, her full power suppressed.

Didn’t he want…

Breathing—

Didn’t he want to set her free?

—Exercises.

He could do it. It wouldn’t be hard. In fact, it would feel great. All he wanted was to make Lily happy, right? He had the power to do exactly that. Were his “boundaries” really more important than his wife’s joy?

Of course, it would be a big sacrifice. Of course it would be! It would be awful to get any smaller. He hated the thought of the world rising up around him, of becoming more and more powerless. Of going from “short,” to “puny,” to… less. He hated all of that, and his hatred was exactly why he spent so much time every single day thinking about it.

But… for Lily’s sake, maybe he was willing to take on that burden.

* * *

Lily didn’t know what to do with herself. 

She was grateful beyond words that Tom had forgiven her so easily, but she didn’t deserve it. Even after everything that had happened, all she could think about was how desperately she wanted to keep growing. It had only been about ten days but she felt so sex-starved, absolutely famished for Tom’s cock and the size that would come with it. 

Shame was the only thing that seemed capable of dampening those feelings and, luckily for her, shame was something she had in no short supply. Tom had, once again, been kinder and more loving than anyone could ever ask of him, and once again, all she could think about was how she could take him for even more. The urge was so powerful that she didn’t even want to let him touch her, afraid that even the slightest gesture of affection would rob her of her self-control.

Last time, this had been excruciating. Now? She felt heartbroken. Was this going to be how it was for the rest of their lives? What was even the point of being married then? She couldn’t make love to him, couldn’t touch him, could barely even look at him, and every waking moment she had to confront the temptation to violate his trust.

She’d wondered before why the magic was blessing one of them and cursing the other. Now, she understood that they were both cursed, and she was actually worse off than him. Everything she ever wanted, everything she’d never known she wanted, was at her fingertips. But taking it would mean hurting the one person she loved more than anything. It would mean completely betraying her husband, betraying herself, abandoning any principles she might have for the sake of selfish gain.

So, she’d taken to largely lying in bed, staring at the wall. Or, lying on the sofa, staring at the wall. Chores around the house were piling up, and her already slow career had ground to a halt, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about any of that. She was fully enveloped in a cocoon of self-loathing, terrified of what would happen if she let herself out of it.

“Hey,” Tom’s voice suddenly made her more aware of the world around her. Her eyes looked up to meet his gaze briefly, but she otherwise didn’t react. He sat down on the edge of the bed and she immediately pulled her legs back away from him.

“Lily, I… I’ve been thinking a lot.” Great. He was probably thinking the same thing as her, that there was no sense staying together with things the way they were. “I love you so, so much and… it’s just breaking my heart to see you so upset.”

Here it comes.

“So, I… I’ve decided that…” he continued talking, but his voice diminished to a mumble that Lily couldn’t make sense of. She lifted her head off the pillow to look at him.

“What?”

“I… I said… I’ve decided that you can… you can have a little more of me. If you want.”

Lily’s breaths immediately grew loud and ragged, but she was quick to seize control of herself.

“No. No, Tom. We’re not doing that.”

“It’s okay, really! I don’t—”

“It’s not okay!” Lily shot upright. “I am not going to guilt-trip you into doing this again! I shouldn’t have made you do it the first time! N. O. No.” Tom opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came to him, so Lily continued. “Besides, it wouldn’t fix anything. How much more would you give me, an inch? Six inches? A whole fucking foot?” Now it was Tom’s turn to start breathing more heavily. Lily felt bad that she was upsetting him like that, but she needed to make her point. “It wouldn’t matter! We’d hit whatever new limit you set, and then we’d be right back here, with me desperate for more and you even smaller. Long term, it’s all drawback and no gain.”

“I want to see you get big—better! I just want to see you get better, Lily. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I’m your husband, I made a vow to always put you above anything else.”

Lily decided to take the risk of grabbing Tom’s hand, clenching her teeth to beat back the wave of lust she felt as her skin touched his. “Tom. I know that you’re trying to help right now. But you need to listen: this is only making it harder for me. I can barely keep myself in check, and you’re adding fuel to the fire. I made a vow to you too, and I can’t let you hurt yourself for my sake. So please, please, just drop it.”

Tom pulled his hand back, nodding sadly as he got to his feet.

“Who knows,” Lily said. “Maybe the curse isn’t permanent. It showed up out of nowhere, maybe it’ll go away on its own, too. Maybe we just have to wait out the clock.” For some reason, Lily doubted that.

“Yeah… yeah.” So did Tom. He sullenly left the room, closing the door behind him. Lily laid back down.

Although she’d spoken harshly, she was touched that he was willing to give up more of his size for her sake. She wished she didn’t have to send him away like that. She wished that, at the very least, she could’ve held him in her arms.

…Wait a second.

Did he almost say he wanted to see her get bigger?

* * *

Tom was thinking more clearly.

It was the following morning. He’d gotten up early, wanting to spare Lily (and, to be honest, himself) the pain of them both being in bed together. It might be time to think about trading in our king-size for separate beds. He was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing pajama pants and one of his old t-shirts; it was way too big to wear outside, but it still worked well enough as a night shirt. He idly scrolled through his social media feed on his phone while munching a bowl of cereal, when he suddenly picked his head up, alerted by the sound of creaking steps.

He smiled hopefully as Lily appeared from the other room, and his spirits lifted when she smiled back. She… actually looked happy, for the first time in over a week.

“Morning,” she said as she entered the kitchen, sleep still hanging on her voice.

“Morning! Hey, about yesterday. I’m sorry that I poked the bear like that. You were totally right, feeding this thing isn’t going to solve our problems. I guess I was just… feeling a little desperate to find some way to help you.” 

Lily’s smile widened. “I know. You’re such a sweetheart. And pretty cute, too.” She punctuated her sentence with a wink. 

Tom blushed at the compliment, and blushed harder as Lily surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. He felt his heart-rate shoot up and floundered to gain control over himself.

“That’s um… kind of dangerous, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Maybe a little. But, I was up late last night thinking, and I’ve come to a decision. We’re not gonna beat this thing by dwelling on it or pouting about the things we can’t do anymore. I think we both need to just… learn to be content with the amount of contact we can get away with. Learn enough self-discipline that we can just stop before things get out of hand. And the only way to do that is by practicing, right?” Tom was surprised by how calm she seemed; Lily didn’t appear to be struggling against herself at all. Tom couldn’t say the same.

“I can maybe learn to live with never sleeping with you again,” she continued, “but I don’t think I can live with never kissing you again.” To prove her point, she leaned down once more, this time pressing her lips to his. He immediately grew hard and pulled away.

“Okay, okay, I…” he swallowed. “I see your point, and you might be right. But we need to be careful. It… could be easy to take things too far.”

“You’re right, sorry. Too much at once.” Lily smiled at him before heading to the refrigerator. He took a few deep breaths as she quietly rooted around for something to eat.

“Hey, I’m just curious,” she said from behind him. “What do you weigh these days, hon?”

“Um… Uh-wh… Well…”

“Sorry, I was just wondering. You’ve slimmed down so much! I always used to like how big and hunky you were, but…” she reappeared in front of him, sipping a glass of orange juice. “Honestly, I think I might like you even better this way. You look cute!”

…There was that word again. “Cute.” Tom couldn’t recall her ever using that word for him, and now she’d dropped it twice, back-to-back. He didn’t mind the compliment—if he minded anything, it was how intensely his body was reacting to such mild flirtation—but the shift in her vocabulary struck him as odd. In fact, everything about her behavior struck him as odd. What was going on?

“So?” she asked, placing her glass on the table as she sat down next to him. “How much do you weigh?”

Why was she so curious about this all of a sudden? 

“I dunno, um… about, 125, 130?” Lily’s mouth formed an O, and then spread into a big grin.

“No… Tom, that can’t be right. That’s so small!” There was something about the way that Lily emphasized the word “small” that sent a chill down his neck.

“No, I uh. I looked it up actually, that’s about average… for… my height.” Lily was the same height as him; why was she so surprised? She must weigh about the same, right?

“Well, I just don’t believe it. There’s no way! Come on, you’ve gotta come show me.” Lily got up from the table and headed toward the stairs, stopping to turn back to him when he didn’t follow. “Come on!”

“Uh, weren’t you getting breakfast?” 

“I’ll get something after, this’ll only take a sec. Come on!” She waved him toward her.

He was relieved that she was in such a better mood today, but something was off about her. There was a laugh in her voice, as if she was in on a joke that was going over his head. He couldn’t really see the harm in doing what she asked, but all the same, he was cautious as he got up to follow her to the upstairs bathroom.

Lily leaned against the sink and gestured for him to step onto the scale. “Go on. I bet you still weigh at least 160.”

Tom actually hadn’t weighed himself for several weeks, so he wasn’t sure exactly what he weighed anymore. He watched Lily with suspicion as he stepped onto the scale, and looked down as the dial settled into place. Lily stepped around and bent down to read the number it had landed on:

115.

“Oh my God, Tom! That’s even smaller than you said you were!” 

Tom started fidgeting. “Uh, yeah, um, I guess uh, yeah…”

Lily had been smiling this whole time, but now, with her eyes half-lidded, a tuft of red hair hanging over her face, there was something different about the way she was looking at him. It seemed almost… predatory.

“I mean, Tom… that’s less than half your old weight. I had no idea that you had shrunken so much.” He was just imagining that she had drawn out the word “shrunken,” as if she were savoring the taste of it, right? “I mean, I guess now that I’m really looking, that old shirt is pretty huge on you.”

“I mean, I, uh… uh!” Tom couldn’t seem to find a coherent thought.

“Here, let me show you something. Lily placed a hand on his shoulder, which sent an electric jolt through his nerves. She gently pushed him off the scale, then stepped onto it herself.

“What does it say for me, Tom?”

Tom didn’t move at first, instead just silently staring at her. The scale gave her just enough of a height advantage that Tom had to look up slightly to meet her eyes. She gave a small shrug as if to ask what the hold up was. He swallowed and turned his gaze down to the scale.

And then, he froze up again.

“Tom? Tom, what does the scale say?”

He opened his mouth to speak, lip trembling. Breathe. Breathe! “W-, wuh, one—”

“Wuh wuh wuh wuh wuh?” she parroted back at him in baby-talk. “Come on, quit joking around. How much do I weigh?”

“...I gotta go.” Tom moved to leave, but Lily blocked him.

“Whoa, whoa! What’s the matter, sweetie? What’s wrong?” 

“I have to go!” He forced his way past her, sprinted down the stairs, and locked himself in the other bathroom. Door locked, hand grasping his shaft through the soft fabric of his pajamas, he finally answered Lily’s question.

“155. 155 pounds.” About a full third heavier than him.

At least the pants were dark enough that they didn’t show the stain.

Lily didn’t know whether to be elated or furious.

This entire time, Tom had been behaving like he was in a horror movie, like getting shorter was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. He’d made her beg him to give up some of his size for her. He made her feel like a monster for taking a pinch more than they’d agreed on. And then, he’d come to her feigning pity, acting as if he could give her a little more as some grand gesture of love and self-sacrifice.

And all the while, that little shit had been just as into it as she was!

His little Freudian slip had been the stray thread that let her finally unravel his facade. How quickly he’d forgiven her; his apparent panic when she talked about growing; his complete and unquestioning commitment to their deal; the way he’d been so agreeable to all of her photo sessions.

He wasn’t afraid of shrinking; he was afraid of how badly he wanted to shrink. It was the middle of the night, and Tom was snoring softly next to her. She had half a mind to see how close she could get him to coming before he woke up.

But no. No, that was not how she was going to play this.

Listen, she thought as she stared up at the dark ceiling of their bedroom. She supposed she was… praying? I don’t know what you are, or how you’re doing this to us, but I know full well that you’re listening. We wouldn’t have landed so cleanly on 5’6” if you weren’t taking our thoughts and feelings into account. 

She paused as if expecting a response. None came.

It’s clear that, for some reason, you’re not going to let us stop having sex. You’re not going to be happy unless we’re fucking, unless we’re changing each other. But I think, as long as you get your way on that, you can be negotiated with. And I want to negotiate.

You want me to get bigger? You want Tom to shrink? Fine. I want that too. But it’s going to be on my terms: I’m not going to force it on him. I don’t even think I need to, since I’m pretty sure he wants it just as much as us.

I guess the first step is proving that. I think I’m right, but I can’t go forward with this unless I’m positive.

She began to formulate a plan. Tomorrow morning, she’d kiss him. With the way the curse influenced their libidos, even a quick peck on the cheek should get his blood pumping. After that, she’d start teasing him about his size. Maybe… oh! Maybe she could get him to compare weights with her! Now that they were the same height, they probably weighed about the same. She might even edge him out by a couple of pounds. She’d tease him about how he weighed the same as his dainty little wife, his wife who was now, strictly speaking, taller than him. She’d gauge his reaction, and see how it compared to his response to the kiss. If the teasing had a bigger effect on him, then, well…

This was a good plan. God, just thinking about seeing him squirm was making her wet. Was she sure she didn’t want to try and jerk him off in his sleep?

No, now see, that’s exactly what we need to negotiate about. For this to work, I need to be able to play it cool. I can’t control this situation if I can’t even control myself. I’m on your team now, so you don’t need to keep punishing me for not going along with you. Once I know for certain that Tom likes this as much as me, we can do this the right way, and I can have a clear conscience about it. And if I’m wrong, if he’s not into it… then I guess we’ll just have to go back to seeing whether or not I can wait you out.

There was still no response, and Lily still felt horny as hell. She rolled over, turning her back to Tom as she slid her fingers under her waistband. For the first time in a while, she felt good about tomorrow.

Nine hours later, Lily was ecstatic. Her plan had gone so much better than she could have imagined!

God, she never would have guessed that he weighed so much less than her now! He really didn’t look that skinny. Seeing 115 on the scale had sent such a thrill through her that she almost dropped the act and took him right there in the bathroom, but honestly, she was so glad she’d stayed strong. All of those pitiful little expressions he cycled through while the fuses blew in his head would be cherished memories for the rest of her life. Ugh, she should have thought to set up a camera in here beforehand!

Oh well, there was always next time.

With Tom hiding in the other bathroom, Lily started to calm down, and curiosity got the best of her. Why did he weigh so much less than her? Shouldn’t they be more or less the same? She didn’t really look more than, maybe ten pounds heavier than him? Where were the other thirty hiding?

She wondered if it had something to do with the fact that these weren’t their “natural” heights. Lily studied her reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t given it much thought until now, but she supposed she didn’t really have the body of a 5’6” woman. She had the body of a 4’9” woman who just happened to be 5’6”. And for Tom, it would be the opposite; he had the body of a 6’3” man scaled down. Maybe all those subtle differences in their proportions explained the weight gap?

She wondered if Tom was finished downstairs yet. Poor little guy… Heh. Even though they were still the same height, she was starting to think of him as a “little guy.” 5’6” was pretty short for a man, but it was more than that, and it was more than her weight advantage, big as it was. All of his skittishness and anxiety, combined with the complete meltdown she’d just witnessed… he just felt smaller to her now. Even though he could look her straight in the eye, everything about him just screamed “little.” It was as though his current stature was no different from that oversized old shirt he was wearing. 5’6” was far too big for him, ill-suited to the much smaller man she could see inside him, and she needed to help him shed it, help him into a size that fit him better.

She felt the heat start to build within her.

No. Not yet. Be patient. If we take this too fast, we’ll scare him off.

To her delight, the heat began to fade. The magic was listening to her.

Casually, she descended the stairs and lightly knocked on the bathroom door.

“You okay in there, Tom?”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered. “I just uh. I just had a stomach ache.” She covered her mouth to keep from laughing at his obvious lie.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Just like she had all morning, she put a bit of a doting, patronizing edge in her voice. “Do you need any medicine from upstairs?”

“I-I think I’m okay. I shouldn’t be much longer.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” She turned to walk away… but she just couldn’t help herself. She leaned her back against the door, arms crossed, and turned her head to talk over her shoulder.

“But yeah, isn’t that crazy Tom? I never would’ve guessed that I was so much heavier than you now. It’s so weird!”

No response.

“Tom?”

“Sorry! I, uh… it’s just that I’m… trying to concentrate.” She snickered into her hand. Yeah, I bet you are.

“Okay babe, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need any help!”

Lily chuckled, then felt her stomach growling, reminding her that she hadn’t had breakfast yet. She strolled into the kitchen and grabbed the carton of eggs out of the fridge. She’d never had much of an appetite, and one egg had always been plenty for her.

Today, she decided to have two. No, three.

After all, I’m a growing girl.

* * *

Tom felt a kinship to the squirrel out the window.

It was the following morning, and once again, he was up early, alone in the kitchen. Holding a large mug of black coffee, he was standing at the sliding-glass door that led out to their modest backyard, watching. There was a single small tree out there, and a squirrel was maneuvering between its branches. Some cat from the neighborhood had hopped their fence and sat at the base of the tree, staring up with rapt attention, tail twitching. Now and then, the cat would lower itself into a pouncing stance, then relax and think better of it, waiting for a more opportune moment to strike. Looking for the perfect moment to scale the tree and grab the squirrel in a single fluid motion. The squirrel would wander out to the edge of a branch, searching in vain for an escape route before gingerly retreating and trying a different, equally futile direction. Now and then, the cat would move to a different position, never letting the squirrel stray from its sight.

The squirrel was trapped. It was only a matter of time before the cat caught it.

Yesterday had been, blessedly, a workday. Lily had tried to insist he stay home, since he’d feigned illness to explain his sprint to the bathroom. She tried to get him to climb back into bed and let her take care of him, her voice dripping with the same innuendo that it had all morning. He managed to convince her that he was feeling fine, and got to spend the entire day at work cooling down. He barely got anything done all day, spending most of it trying to figure out what the hell had happened that morning. What had prompted the sudden change in his wife’s behavior? In less than a day, she’d gone from depressed and sexually frustrated to a flirtatious beam of sunshine. If the curse was making her too horny to focus, the way it was with him, she certainly wasn’t showing it.

Why had she become so obsessed with his weight all of a sudden? Why did she make him weigh himself in front of her like that?... Does she know? Does she know that, for some reason, the curse wasn’t just causing his arousal to surge, but was causing it to surge even more intensely for taller women? For… larger women? How could she know that? He hadn’t said anything about it, to her or anyone else. Lily’s smart, and she’s your wife. She knows how to read you. He must have said something, done something, that had given it away.

But then… if she was doing this on purpose, then why would she torture him like this? Why would she drive him crazy when she was now the one barring them from having any further sex? He’d already volunteered to give her more size the day before, and she’d refused him. What else could she want out of him, if not that?

Before he knew it, it was time to leave, and he’d made no progress on either his work or any of these questions. He could just ask her directly, of course… but, no. He couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to admit to her that he nearly came right in front of her just because he learned that she outweighed him (by forty pounds!!). He couldn’t bring himself to admit that the vision that haunted him, the vision that seemed to drive all the blood in his body into his groin, was the vision of Lily’s beautiful, smiling face, pushing further and further away from him as she rose larger and larger. He knew that if he tried to confront her about her behavior, she’d make him own up to why that behavior had made such an impact on him, and he just couldn’t do it.

So all he had were questions.

Lily was much calmer when he got home that night. She mostly left him be to do her own thing about the house, though every now and then he caught her looking at him with a knowing smile. He could feel her daring him to say something. He didn’t.

But today was Saturday. It was him and Lily together, all day long.

The squirrel was trapped in the tree.

“Tom, are you busy?” Her voice called from upstairs. He gripped his coffee mug tighter.

“Uh, no, hon, what is it?”

“Could you come up here?”

He took a deep breath. He had no good reason to avoid her. He downed the rest of his coffee, steeled himself, and went up to meet her.

Lily was in her office, making some adjustments to the studio lights. He noticed an old folding table and chairs resting against the far wall. When did she get that stuff down from the attic? They don’t look dusty. He hadn’t been in here in over a week, not since they’d completed their deal.

“I know it’s a sore subject,” Lily said as she moved to another piece of her lighting rig, “but it hit me last night that we technically have one more photo session to do. We never documented that last millimeter.”

“O-oh… Uh… I dunno if I really feel like doing that, Lily…”

Lily smiled at him sympathetically, moving toward him to put a hand on his shoulder. “Please, Tom? These sessions were the most fun I’ve had taking pictures in years, and there hasn’t been any excuse to do them since we stopped having sex. It’s just one more.”

Tom sighed; he’d frankly been expecting a lot worse than this. “Okay. Just one more.” Lily beamed at him.

Like always, Tom went first. He approached the height chart, looking nearly a foot overhead at the 6’3” mark. It was so far away. It was hard for him to believe that he’d ever been that tall. 

He swallowed his nerves and smiled for the camera.

Lily took her own picture next, and then directed him to cycle through all their standard poses as the camera snapped away. He stood next to her, he embraced her, he held a finger to the height chart as she stood rigidly against it. They had gotten it down to a pretty set routine by the end, and he’d basically memorized the marks she wanted him to hit without much guidance.

But this time, it seemed like she had a few new ideas.

“Pick me up!”

“What?”

Lily stood in front of him, snaking her arms around his neck. “I said, pick me up!”

Tom gulped. “I’m… I’m not sure I can, anymore.”

“Oh come on, I’m not THAT heavy. You can do it!”

155 pounds was pretty heavy. It was also about 1.3 times Tom’s new body weight (don’t focus on that, that’s what she wants). As he looked into Lily’s unwavering eyes, however, he realized that he wasn’t going to get out of this without at least making the attempt. He filled his lungs and crouched to get an arm hooked behind her knees and lifted.

And nearly fell over, her mass compromising his balance.

“C’mon, you can do better than that!” Lily admonished. Tom felt like he had something to prove now. He spread his feet apart into a more solid stance and squatted, wrapping his arms around her again.

His entire body shuddered in protest at the weight, his arms and legs trembling as he struggled to straighten himself back out, the soft clicking of the camera drowned out by his grunting.  He couldn’t do it. Every muscle failed at once. Lily let out a yelp of shock as she went crashing to the floor, her interlocked fingers behind Tom’s neck bringing him down on top of her.

“Oh my God Lily, are you okay?! I am so, so sorry.” Tom scrambled backwards. His wife had largely broken his own fall, though his knees had hit the floor hard.

Lily burst out laughing. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Just took me by surprise, that’s all.” Tom offered his hand and Lily, still laughing, used it to climb to her feet.

“Gosh. So you can’t pick me up anymore. That’s wild.”

Tom broke eye contact and looked away. “Y-yeah.”

“I mean, I think you used to be able to lift me with one arm. Or, remember that music festival we went to? I was too short to see over the crowd, so you had me sit on your shoulders all night long. And now, I’m too heavy for you.” She took a step toward him, and Tom instinctively took a step back, some animal ancestor deep in his brain issuing a warning to give the predator approaching him a wide berth.

“I’ve got just two more ideas for this session, and then you’re free to go. Would you help me set up the table and chairs?” She turned to head toward the card table, shooting him a seductive look from over her shoulder when he didn’t immediately follow. 

He quickly caught up to her, and together they set the table up in the center of the camera frame, a chair on either side. Lily took a moment to adjust the camera lower, then took a seat and gestured for Tom to do the same.

As he sat down, she placed an elbow on the table, her open fingers pointed upward.

“Let’s arm wrestle.”

Outside, the cat’s tail twitched.

Lily didn’t say anything else. She just sat there, waiting patiently, a smug smile on her face. Tom could feel his heart beating faster, and adjusted in his seat as his penis pressed against the crotch of his pants. Lily was much heavier than him now, and she’d just proven that he was way, way weaker than he used to be. Was it… was it possible that he was weaker than her?

His pants grew even tighter, to the point that it was starting to hurt.

That couldn’t be right. They were still the same size! It’s not like those forty extra pounds were all muscle. Besides, aren’t guys supposed to be stronger than girls? Something about muscle density?

He could do this. He could beat her. The camera continued clicking away as he slowly raised his arm up onto the table, clasping her hand in his.

“Ready?” she asked. Tom nodded. “Set.” She briefly opened up her hand and then closed it again, clasping one finger at a time. “Go!”

Tom threw everything he had behind his arm. This wasn’t the time to go easy on her or draw it out. He needed to win. The sudden burst of force clearly caught Lily off-guard, and he managed to push her hand nearly halfway to the table.

But then, she caught up to him.

She wasn’t completely overwhelming him. She was struggling just as much as he was, her arm shaking, her face red with effort. But as she groaned through gritted teeth, their arms slowly but surely inched back to the neutral position, and then kept going. Tom drew on every ounce of strength he had in him, but no matter how hard he pushed, no matter how loud he shouted, his hand continued to creep slowly but surely toward the table.

I’m weaker than my wife. The thought hit him like lightning, sending a jolt of shameful pleasure through him that broke his concentration. His hand slammed into the table all at once.

“You did really good, Tom,” Lily said through labored breaths. “You honestly made me work for it.” She made no move to release his hand or let it up, and the torsion was starting to hurt his arm. He tried to retract it, but found that she was still pinning it down with her full strength. He looked from their hands to Lily, who was staring at him hungrily. He pulled and pulled, but he couldn’t break her grip. He jumped to his feet, his knees knocking over the flimsy card table, but still Lily had his hand. His panic increased and he tried to run to the door, but only made it a few staggering steps before Lily yanked him back, clamping her free hand around his other wrist.

Twisting him around, she shoved him toward the height chart, and suddenly she was right there with him, pressing him against the wall with her full weight. After what had just happened, he doubted he could push her off, but he was so stunned that he didn’t even try.

“So, now we’ve proved it,” Lily said in a low, growling voice. “I’m bigger than you. I’m heavier than you. And I’m stronger than you. That means… I can do whatever I want to you, right?” Tom’s jaw went slack as he shivered in fear.

“Right?”

“Y-y-y-yes.”

“That’s right. I can do whatever I want to you. But I’m not going to. Do you know why?”

Tom tried and failed to find any other words, so she simply shook his head.

Instantly, Lily’s face softened into a kind, warm smile. “Because I love you, silly! You’re my whole world. And just because my world’s gotten a little smaller lately doesn’t mean I love it any less.” She kissed him, and he felt his fear instantly dissolve against the softness of her lips. Her tongue pushed its way into his mouth, and he let out a soft moan.

Lily broke off the kiss and smiled at him again. There was still something powerful and intimidating about her, but at the moment that just seemed to magnify the radiance of her face. This close, it was almost more affection than Tom could stand, and he reflexively squirmed against her heavier body.

“And because I love you, instead of doing whatever I want to do to you, I’m only going to do what you want me to do to you.” Still leaning against him, she slowly lowered herself onto her knees, and began unfastening his pants. “And I think what you want me to do is suck your cock.”

“Lily, we, we can’t… I’ll get…”

“I know, I know! That’s why I’m only going to do what you want me to do. All you have to do is say ‘stop.’ Just say ‘stop,’ and I’ll back off. You have all the control here.”

How could she say that, after what she’d just done to him? She knew what she was doing. She knew how the curse worked. How was he supposed to—

Tom let out a long, low moan as Lily cradled his balls. She slowly drew her hand back, delicately running a single fingertip down the length of his shaft. “Just one word, baby. S, T, O, P. Just say ‘stop’ and that’s exactly what I’ll do. Your devoted wife is only here to do as you tell her.”

His lips trembled in pleasure as he struggled to make the sound of an S.

“I do have to say, it’s nice to get confirmation that you’re still happy to see me,” she said, nuzzling her face into his groin, sneaking in a kiss against his inner thigh. “You’ve looked so scared all morning, a girl could get the impression that you don’t like her anymore.”

Tom screwed his eyes shut and tried to concentrate. Just four letters. S! S!

“But I get it, baby, I do. Things probably are pretty scary for you, now that you’re so little.” His dick twitched on the word “little,” and Lily responded by kissing the side of the shaft, causing Tom to gasp like a drowning man.

“You’re so little now, and everyone else seems so much bigger than they used to be. And your sweet, tiny wife, petite little Lily, she’s bigger than you are now!” She continued to plant small kisses all along his length.

A thought managed to penetrate Tom’s euphoric haze: the camera was still clicking. She’s shooting all of this?

“And she’s been bullying you all morning, hasn’t she? Well, she feels bad about how mean she’s been. And that’s why she’s going to make it up to you, going to give you exactly what you want.” She opened her mouth wide and slid her lips around his dick, slowly taking more and more into her mouth before reversing course. Tom’s knees began to go weak as she went back and forth, back and forth, but he clenched his fists and struggled to speak.

“S-s-st… St… St…”

Lily immediately stopped moving and released Tom from her mouth. The sudden removal of her touch made Tom involuntarily howl in frustration.

“Tom? Are you trying to say ‘stop?’”

Tom panted wordlessly. He started to instinctively move to stroke himself, but Lily took each of her hands in his.

“Tom? What are you trying to say?”

“P-please…”

“Please what, baby?”

“Please… please don’t stop…”

Lily heaved an affectionate sigh and cuddled her face into Tom’s belly. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” She took his cock back into her mouth and started working back and forth again, this time teasing his tip with her tongue. In no time, Tom came, his entire body shaking violently. Lily continued to suck and lick as his legs gave out from under him and he slowly slid to the ground. As she let his penis slip out of her mouth, she moved to embrace him, lightly scratching the back of his head as he went completely limp in her arms.

“I guess we’ll need to do another photoshoot tomorrow.”

The cat strutted down the sidewalk, trilling proudly as it carried its fresh kill in its jaws.

Lily’s heart swelled.

Tom wasn’t even doing anything. He was curled up in the corner of the sofa, staring off into space; probably thinking about what had transpired between them a few hours ago. But even so, the sight of him made Lily’s heart flutter. He was just so… adorable! 

She’d told herself that the blowjob was a big move, and she should give him space for the rest of the day, let him come down from all the heavy emotions. Let him recover, then give him another nudge tomorrow. She’d tried to distract herself sorting through the day’s photos, but she could only look at so many pictures of Tom moaning in pleasure before it wound her up too much to leave him be.

“Hey, big guy,” Lily said as she sat down next to him. She made a mental note that it might be time to retire that pet name. She placed a hand on his back and he flinched. “You doin’ okay?”

“...I dunno,” he replied, his voice small and forlorn. He seemed so sad, so pathetic! She felt the impulse to throw her arms around him, to squeeze him and smother him in kisses, but she resisted; that would probably not have the intended effect right now.

“Is it about what we did earlier? You wanna talk about it?”

Tom shrugged, but otherwise didn’t reply.

“Here,” Lily said as she scooted away from him. Reaching out, she gently tugged at his shoulders. He tensed up, resisting her slightly, but Lily was able to gradually guide his head into her lap, his face turned away from her. She started to gently stroke his hair, and little by little, she felt him relax.

“Nothing happened that you didn’t want, right?” Lily asked softly. “You could’ve stopped me at any time. I promise, I would’ve listened.”

“You know I couldn’t say no. The curse…”

“Tom. You just needed to say one word. The curse didn’t take away your ability to speak; in fact, you begged me to keep going.”

Lily wasn’t being entirely fair, and she knew it. Neither of them had had any sex, barely had any physical contact, in over a week. Tom was probably right that he wasn’t constitutionally capable of refusing her advances. What she was after was his consent to keep this going, and while this had technically qualified, it was a loophole, one that she had knowingly taken advantage of.

She felt a little guilty about that. But that guilt was tempered by the certainty that deep down, he was loving this, no matter what he said. The more she probed, the more she began to suspect that shrinking was an even bigger turn-on for Tom than growing was for her. Which only fueled her lingering anger that he was lying to her about his feelings.

In other words, if he didn’t like her exploiting the curse this way, then maybe he should be more honest with his wife!

It wasn’t even the lie that bothered her, per se. It was the idea that… that if she accepted his framing of the situation, then he was doing her a favor. He was allowing her to have some of his size, and she owed him a huge debt of gratitude for it. It felt like a sneaky way for him to try to control things, when their sex life should be something mutual between the two of them. If anything, she—no, it should be equal. 

“I just don’t get it,” Tom said. “Two days ago, I offered to give up some more of my size for you, and you said no. You were really firm about it, and made really good points about why it was a bad idea. And now, two days later… you do this.”

“I kept thinking about it, after we talked. And I guess… After mulling it over, I decided it was okay to go a little further.” That was technically the truth, but Lily was also being careful not to say that she was accepting his deal. She didn’t even want to lie about that. For now, she just wanted to keep pushing things forward. The longer she could keep this going, the closer she could get Tom to admitting how he really felt. Confronting him about it directly right now would probably just make him defensive, so she needed to be more subtle. At least for the time being.

“Why not just… talk to me, then?” He asked. “Why… Why did you…”

“Jump you? I dunno, I thought it would be fun. We used to do stuff like that all the time. Well, maybe not exactly like that. I never used to be stronger than you.” She squeezed his bicep as she spoke, drawing his attention to how much thinner it had become; even if he was a little moody right now, she knew that would push the right buttons. “To be honest, Tom, I’m not too sure why you’re upset. You already said you were okay with shrinking a little more, right? And you certainly seemed to enjoy what happened in the moment. So… What’s the problem?”

“I… I don’t know, shouldn’t we… we should have talked about it first. Made sure we were on the same page.”

“That’s exactly what I did, Tom. That’s why I kept telling you that you could stop me at any time. I made sure that I was on your page.”

“But… I mean. How long are we going to keep this going? How—...” He tensed up, and she smiled, knowing exactly what he was about to say. “How much more of my size am I going to give you?”

Lily gently prodded him to roll over, so that he was looking up at her. A wave of affection washed over her as she stared into his eyes. Stared down into his eyes. “As much or as little as you want.” And we both know you want to give me a LOT. “It’ll be just like this morning: as soon as you want to stop, we will.” It’ll be just like this morning: you won’t be able to help yourself. God, how small did Lily want him, anyway? She wasn’t really sure. All she knew for right now was that she wanted him smaller.

All of her more devious thoughts were hidden behind a placid, loving smile. Tom drew in a few long, deep breaths as he stared up at her.

“Okay. Okay. If we stop when I want to, then… okay.” Lily ran her fingers across his cheek.

“I’m glad to hear it.” This was progress! He still wasn’t being forthcoming about his desires, but if he wasn’t actively trying to stop it, then he was at least implicitly admitting what she wanted him to admit.

She ultimately wanted more, but that was good enough for now.

“Well, now that that’s established,” Lily said coyly. “It’s completely up to you, but after this morning… It might be nice if my sweet, thoughtful, gentlemanly husband returned the favor.”

She continued smiling down at him, playing with his hair with one hand as she ran her other up and down his arm. After a few minutes, he sat up to kiss her. With one arm propping him up, he used the other to squeeze her breast, then moved down to hook his fingers under her waistband. Lily giggled into his lips as she pushed herself up slightly and helped him remove her sweatpants and underwear, then reclined and spread her legs as his head returned to her lap.

* * *

Tom’s lungs were filled with Lily’s scent.

He was on his back as she straddled his head, his tongue lapping at her pussy. As he licked her, She stretched forward, toward his waist, and massaged the base of his dick. His tongue found an especially sensitive spot and she gasped, her thighs clenching around him.

It had been a busy weekend.

A part of Tom still didn’t like any of this. Lily kept saying that he was the one in control, that he could stop this any time he wanted, but that just… wasn’t true. Lily had become an all-out assault on his senses. The sound of her voice, the sight of her growing body, her touch, her taste (he stretched up to lick at her clitoris, eliciting another gasp), her smell (he breathed in again, and again his lungs were filled with her scent)... he was powerless to resist any of it.

She knew that, and she was taking advantage of it. No matter how many times she tried to say that he had the power to stop this, the truth was that she had full control over the situation. She was being manipulative and selfish, in a way he’d never known her to be before. Why was she pretending like she was just “giving him what he wanted?” Why—

Tom moaned, his voice reverberating off of Lily’s thighs and groin and back into his ears, as Lily’s hands, slick with lube, began running up and down his cock. He involuntarily clenched the sheets of the bed, kicking slightly. The pleasure was too intense, and his body was instinctively trying to escape the overwhelming sensation.

Lily lowered herself, silencing him as she ground her cunt against his face. He could feel her breathing quicken, and he struggled to focus on the task at hand, working his tongue more vigorously as she pumped him faster and faster.

His cries of orgasm were muffled by her flesh; hers rang out throughout the room.

For a moment, time had stood still, and now it was slowly accelerating back to normal. Lily gradually relaxed her thighs and flopped off to the side, releasing Tom. Exhausted, he forced himself to sit up and reposition himself, laying down again once he was in Lily’s arms, her breasts squished against the back of his head. His face was drenched in her, and every time he breathed in, he felt another wave of euphoria as her scent seemed to completely fill him up.

“I’m so fucking tired,” Lily whispered between labored breaths. She kissed the top of his head. “In a good way, though.”

Tom nodded; unlike her, he didn’t even have the energy to speak.

“Unless I lost count,” Lily said, her words slurred and sleepy. “Which is very possible. But I think we managed to give me an entire inch this weekend.”

The words hit him like a splash of cold water. Had he really given up that much, in such a short span of time?!

Why was he letting her do this to him? Yes, she was irresistible; the ubiquitous smell of her sex made it impossible to forget that. And… okay, fine, getting smaller, getting… more vulnerable, it turned him on, for reasons that he couldn’t fully explain. As his wife started to doze off, her chest rising and falling against him in a steady, hypnotic rhythm, it was undeniable how nice it felt to be held in her arms like this. He felt… secure. And the thought of being held like this as he got even smaller as she grew larger and larger, imagining what it would be like to get fully lost  in her massive embrace… Despite his exhaustion, he actually felt his dick begin to twitch.

But that didn’t matter! There were more important things in this life than sex! Even at his current (correction, his former) height, he’d felt a loss of status, a loss of respect. If he kept shrinking, it wasn’t just going to be people looking down on him. It was going to start becoming a practical problem.

Think about how frustrated Lily used to always be. Half her clothes from the children’s section, needing a stepladder to reach anything, getting talked down to by everyone. Was that really what he wanted for himself? Because at the current rate, it would be no time before he was Lily’s old size, or—his dick twitched again—or even smaller.

“We need to—” Tom started loudly, rousing Lily.

Stop. We need to stop. That’s what he wanted to say.

“We need to… slow down.”

“Mm, I agree. I don’t think I could keep up this pace if I wanted to.” Lily was speaking softly, her purring voice giving Tom goosebumps. “You’re just so fuckable though, it’s hard to resist you.”

Tom shuddered, but pressed on. “That’s not what I mean. I can’t… I can’t shrink this much.”

“Mm-hm… Can we talk about this in the morning?”

“I’m serious, Lily! We need to…” Stop. Stop! Just say it! “We need to slow way, way down.”

Lily didn’t reply, but now Tom’s head was racing. “God, an entire inch in one weekend? Everyone at work is gonna notice I’m shrinking again! It was bad enough having to explain it the first time.”

“It’s only an inch, baby. I don’t think they’ll be able to tell.”

“Oh, no, and my clothes aren’t going to fit right, either! Shit. Shit.”

“Hey, hey, shhh. Shhhhhh. Breathe.” Despite himself, Tom did as she said, inhaling another lungful of her scent. “Why don’t you call in sick tomorrow? We’ll figure out your work clothes, and I’ll help you figure out what to tell them. Okay?”

“...Okay, yeah, that’s… that’s a good idea. Sorry, for panicking.”

“It’s okay! Everything’s okay. I’m here to help you take care of everything.”

Tom slowly relaxed again, his eyelids growing heavy as he melted into Lily’s arms.

“I love you, Tommy,” Lily slurred, barely awake

“Love you too…” Tom blearily replied.

* * *

Lily was sore.

Her entire body groaned in protest as she dragged herself out of bed and limped into the shower, setting her wedding ring on the sink before closing the stall door.

Definitely overdid it this weekend. Might need the whole day to recover. She half-expected the magic to wind her up in protest, but thankfully, it didn’t. It’s not like it had any place to complain after the past two days, after all.

Lily let out a deep groan of relaxation as the hot water hit her body. She stood there for a long time, nearly falling asleep on her feet once or twice, before she started to wash up. She smiled in sleepy contentment as she cleaned herself; it was always hard to be certain, but she thought her breasts felt bigger, her hips wider.

She stayed in the shower so long that the water was starting to cool off. She shut off the water and stepped out into the steam-filled bathroom, wrapping herself in a towel. She wiped away the fog on the mirror and grinned, appreciating the way the towel hugged her curves.

No wonder Tom can’t control himself around me. I look GOOD.

It was more than just her body. Her skin looked clearer, too. The thought suddenly hit her that she hadn’t had a single blemish since the magic had taken hold. And looking closer at her face… The faintest beginnings of age lines had been starting to form, so faint that she was probably the only one who could see them, but now there was no sign of them at all.

Damn. Well, I’m not complaining.

She grabbed her wedding ring and slipped it onto her finger, then paused, studying it curiously.

Why did her ring still fit?

She’d outgrown most of her old clothes, and the ones she hadn’t had been oversized to begin with. Why hadn’t she outgrown her ring? From her perspective, her fingers looked as small and dainty as ever, but she knew full well that they were thicker than they used to be. And yet the ring was still a perfect fit.

She laughed a little to herself. You’re growing the ring along with me, aren’t you? I had no idea magic curses were so sentimental. Well, that’s very sweet of you. Tom hadn’t said anything about his ring getting loose, so his must also be changing size to match him.

Unfortunately, the curse wasn’t magnanimous enough to grow anything else. The clothes she’d bought at 5’6” would still more or less fit her at 5’7”, but of course, she wasn’t planning on staying 5’7” for long. That raised the question, though: what size should she even shop for? She’d had a target to aim for last time, but now…

As she once again studied herself in the mirror, she also considered that, if she needed new clothes anyway, then maybe she should buy more things to show off her developing figure. She was such a homebody that her wardrobe had largely devolved into plain, comfy clothes: t-shirts, sweatpants, hoodies, loose jeans, and a single pantsuit she’d wear when shooting a wedding (God, it’s been months since I booked any gigs, I should fix that). When she first had to start replacing clothes, she’d largely stuck to the same style, or… lack thereof. Maybe this time, she should use it as an excuse to spice up her look!

Then again, nicer clothes would be more expensive. Hard to justify the cost, especially when she was liable to outgrow anything she bought.

She shrugged, deciding to worry about it later. For now, she grabbed some underwear from the closet and threw on one of Tom’s old t-shirts. It was still huge on her, but it didn’t swallow her whole, the way it would’ve in the past.

She blushed as she imagined herself getting too big for it, then shook her head. They had all the time in the world for that. Today, she just wanted a lazy day relaxing with Tom.

Welllll… She did have one or two ideas she wanted to try out.

* * *

Tom was looking up at his wife.

Technically, she’d been taller than him for nearly two weeks now, but the difference hadn’t been noticeable. Now, it was. He’d lost an inch and she’d gained it, and the difference was enough that he had to consciously look up to meet her eyes. 

Why did that send such a thrill through him?

The morning had been peaceful. They were both dog-tired after the past two days. There hadn’t been much talk, but there’d been a lot of hand-holding, kissing, and cuddling. Just like the night before, Tom couldn’t deny the comfort he felt wrapped up in his wife’s arms, amplified by the widening of their height gap overnight. Despite his concerns, this was nice.

And then, he’d gotten up to use the restroom, and when he’d finished, he opened up the door to find her standing there, waiting for him. Confronting him with the fact that he now had to look up at her.

His face went flush and he felt himself harden as he swallowed. Lily just beamed down at him, tilting her head from one side to the other, letting her freshly-washed red hair sway back and forth. 

“Um… Sorry, did, you need the bathroom?” he finally managed to ask.

“Nah. I just like lookin’ at you.”

Tom blushed harder, breaking eye contact. Feeling awkward, he searched for a change of subject.

“Oh! Hey, I’m sorry about freaking out last night. My work clothes are probably fine.”

“You sure, sweetie? I don’t mind hemming your pants for you.” She took a step closer, slipping her arms around him.

“No, no, it’s uh. It’s fine.” He looked back up at her and felt his breath catch in his throat. God, she was gorgeous, and she was looking at him with such adoration. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had shoved him against the wall only two days ago. 

Lily moved to his side, gently guiding him back to the living room. “You were worried about having to explain why you were smaller at work; I think I have a good idea about how to handle that. Especially since, well, in the long run you’re gonna keep shrinking, right?”

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to slow down, but that means you still want to keep going, doesn’t it?”

Ice ran through Tom’s veins. “We can… We can keep going, if you want to.”

Lily suddenly stepped in front of him, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. “I didn’t ask about what I wanted to do. I asked what you wanted to do. Do you want to keep this up, or do you want to stop?”

Tom felt himself going beet-red, and went quiet for way too long.

“I guess, um. I guess we can keep going. For a little while longer.”

Lily giggled softly. “Technically, you still didn’t answer my question, but I’ll take it for now. So, if we’re gonna keep going, you’re gonna keep getting smaller. It won’t be a one-time thing, having to explain your shrinking at work, right?”

“I guess so.”

“But, ugh, that sounds so awkward!” Lily was hamming it up a little as she spoke. “Having to explain to all those nosy jerks that you keep getting littler and littler. I wouldn’t want to do that. It’d be more convenient if you only had to do it once, right?”

Tom wasn’t sure what she was getting at, but he did know that she was trying to turn him on. It was working. “Sure, yeah…”

“C’mere.” Lily plopped down on the couch, and then pulled Tom onto her lap. He wasn’t that much smaller than her, but he was light enough that she didn’t seem to mind his weight on her legs.

“You trust me, right Tom?”

“Uh… Yeah, of course.”

“Great. Take out your phone.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you trust me and I just told you to. Do it.” Her voice wasn’t harsh, but it did have a sudden undercurrent of authority.

Tom shifted to one side to get his phone out of the pocket of his sweats, Lily steadying him on her lap as he did so. He unlocked the screen and moved to hand it to her, but she pushed it away.

“Pull up your boss’ phone number.”

Tom was still confused, but knew she was just going to give him the same answer if he asked her why again. He opened up his contacts and scrolled down to the one labeled “Paul (Work).”

“Here’s what we’re gonna do, Tom. In a second, you’re gonna dial that number, and then you’re gonna hold the phone up to my ear for me while I talk to your boss.”

“Wait, you’re gonna wh—”

“I’m still speaking.” Lily’s voice was clipped and authoritative. Tom went still in her arms. “I’m going to talk to your boss, and we’re gonna sort everything out, and you’re gonna sit still and stay quiet the entire time, alright?”

Tom couldn’t follow what she had in mind, and he couldn’t help but worry. Was she going to explain the curse? That wouldn’t work, and Tom didn’t really want his boss of all people learning about his sex life.

“I’ll ask you again: do you trust me?”

Did Tom trust her? He was starting to question that. This entire weekend, it felt like she’d been playing mind games with him, and now, it felt like she was raising the stakes. Was the curse fucking with her head? Was it fucking with his head? He was less and less sure of what to believe.

“I trust you.” God dammit. Why was he caving that easily?

She smiled at him warmly, and it felt like a shot through his heart. All of that anxiety suddenly seemed to dissolve. “Well, if you trust me, then you don’t have anything to worry about, right? Just do what I told you to, and everything will work out fine.”

“Okay.” After a moment’s more hesitation, he hit “dial” and held the phone up to Lily’s ear. He still didn’t understand that part. Why couldn’t she use the phone herself?

Tom got his answer immediately. Lily’s left hand was supporting his back, and as his boss’ ringtone droned through the phone’s speaker, her right hand shot out like a viper, burrowing into his underwear and wrapping around his cock.

“Lily, what the f—”

“Shh! I said you had to be quiet! He’ll hear you!” Even as she admonished him, she started stroking. He almost let out a moan, but caught himself as he faintly heard a click come through the line. He could hear his boss’ voice, but it was too quiet to make out.

“Hi Paul, this is Lily, Tom’s wife.” She sounded polite and cordial, even as she stroked him. “I’m calling to let you know that, unfortunately, Tom’s having some medical issues, and won’t be coming back to the office for a little while.”

A pause, while Paul responded. “Yeah, it’s that shrinking condition again. They thought it was over, but he just keeps getting smaller and smaller.” Tom involuntarily let out a whine, and Lily silently shushed him, staring at him severely. He clamped his free hand over his mouth.

“It’s progressing enough that they want to keep him under constant observation. He needs 24 hour care and attention while they figure out how to treat him. Hm? Oh, that’s very sweet of you to ask. I’m holding up okay. I’m actually at the hospital with him right now, though he’s asleep.” The entire time, her hand kept working up and down. 

“I’m sure he’d love to see some folks from the office, but unfortunately, they’ve got him under quarantine. Both of us, actually. I haven’t been showing any symptoms, but they don’t want to risk me being a carrier for it. We’re actually getting transferred to a hospital in…” Lily stopped to think; Tom wasn’t sure if she was speeding up on purpose, or if it was just nerves. “In Maryland. It’s a facility that specializes in these kinds of cases. The doctors are hopeful that they’ll be able to get it under control, but they’re not sure when Tom will be cleared to come back to work.”

Another pause as Paul spoke. Lily stretched up to give Tom a kiss on the cheek. He whimpered softly through his hand.

“Yes, FMLA is exactly what I was calling to ask you about. If you could email me the documents, I’ll fill them out and get them back to you later today. You can send them to lilyphotog@email.net. That’s L as an ‘lion,’ I as in ‘India’...” Lily painstakingly spelled out her entire email address, stroking him faster and faster as she went. Just when Tom couldn’t take it anymore, she suddenly stopped moving her hand. Tom bit his tongue to stay quiet.

“Thank you so much for everything Paul. I don’t have the name of the hospital we’re transferring to on-hand, but I’ll send it to you later, in case anyone would like to send a card. Oh, the doctor’s coming in, I’ve got to go. Thanks again, Paul!” Lily signaled to Tom with her eyes, and he hung up the call. The second he did, she started pumping again, and he wailed in pleasure as she brought him over the edge. She pulled back her hand, wiping his cum on his pants, and hugged her to him.

“There! We’ve got enough savings that you can take a month or two off. Once you’re ready to stop, we’ll pretend like you’re better, and you can go back to work! Now, you don’t have to deal with any awkward situations at work while you shrink!”

“Lily… what the fuck was that?”

Lily looked confused. “I was helping.”

“By jerking me off while you talk to my boss?”

“Oh. I mean, I just thought that might be fun. You seemed to like it.”

Tom blinked slowly, mouth agape. “Why would I like that, Lily? Why would I want you to do that?!”

“If you didn’t like it, why didn’t you leave? It’s not like I was restraining you. You could’ve just hung up the call and hopped down.”

Tom stammered, at a loss for words. “I—! You said to—...!”

“That’s right. I said to sit still and keep quiet. And you did as you were told, even though you didn’t have to. You were so well-behaved!”

Tom’s face burned so red with embarrassment he was afraid it might catch on fire. “I… You asked me to trust you…”

“Oh, of course, Tom! I would never do something like that if you didn’t trust me. And it means so much that you do! You trusted me enough to let me make the call, and you trusted me enough to keep following my instructions! And look! Everything turned out for the best, just like I said it would! You don’t have to deal with your coworkers, you get a little vacation, and we both learned something about you!”

“...What do you mean? Learned what?”

“What do you think, silly? We learned that you like it when I boss you around! You like it so much that you do what I say without even thinking!”

Tom slowly shifted backward, his butt sliding off of Lily’s lap and onto the couch. His eyes unfocused, though he could still make out the blurry shape of Lily’s smiling face.

Lily had let Tom mope long enough.

She flopped down onto their bed, staring at the back of Tom’s head. Shortly after the phone call, he’d trudged up here, as if in a trance. He didn’t even bother to change out of his soiled pants; he just laid down in bed, motionless for the rest of the day.

“Alright, Tom. It’s time we talked.”

No answer.

“I know I went pretty hard this morning. Honestly… I’d been thinking the idea over for hours, but I didn’t really think I’d have the guts to go through with it. It was a lot, and I understand that.”

Still, no answer.

“...But I’m not going to apologize for it. I had a good time, and I think you had a good time, too. And, to be perfectly honest, I’m getting a little tired of this. I keep doing things that we both know full well that you like, but afterward you always slink off to go pout. How do you think that makes me feel?” She was letting herself get heated, and that wasn’t going to solve anything. She took a breath and reeled herself in.

“I think… you're under the impression that the things you felt were something to be ashamed of. They weren’t. No one thinks any less of you as a person. Certainly not me.”

At first, the silence persisted. Lily was about to start talking again, before a small, quivering voice eked its way out of her husband.

“You humiliated me.”

Lily took a deep breath. “Tom, look at me.”

Nothing.

“Tom. Roll over, and look at me.” After a moment, he complied. Rolling over had brought him closer to her; he moved to scoot back away, but she gently stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

“I want you to look me in the eye, and I want you to tell me that you didn’t enjoy it. If you do that, I’ll apologize right here on the spot, and I’ll never do anything like that ever again. But I have to hear you say it first.”

He stared at her for a long, tense moment, eyes shimmering. Slowly, his lip began to tremble, and a single sob escaped out of him.

Lily’s stern exterior instantly crumbled. She’d been holding herself back ever since she laid down, determined to push through this conversation, but she couldn’t stand the sight of her husband so upset anymore. She reached out and pulled him to her, cradling his head as he sobbed into her shoulder.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay. Everything is okay.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he managed to say through his tears. “I don’t feel like myself anymore.”

Lily slipped a hand under his shirt from behind, and she felt him relax against the warmth of her hand running up and down his back.

“It’s this stupid curse,” he continued, gaining enough composure to speak more clearly. “It’s making me… it’s giving me these feelings.”

“Are you sure it’s the curse, Tom? Because… I’ve been feeling a lot of new things too, but the longer this goes on, the more I’m starting to realize that… maybe those feelings aren’t so new, after all. On some level, I think I’ve always had these… urges, and I just never let myself acknowledge them. Certainly never let myself act on them. And the magic is so, what’s the word, symmetrical, that I have a hard time believing that the same isn’t true for you.” 

He said nothing, and Lily frowned. “I wish you’d talk to me. This would be so much easier if we could just… have a conversation.”

She sighed as he maintained his silence. 

“I think… I think you’ve always had a little bit of a submissive side.” Tom hugged her tighter. At least that got a reaction. “Maybe you’ve never accepted that part of yourself, or maybe you never even knew it was there. Either way… I think that shrinking the way you have has forced you to confront it. I think it’s put you in touch with those hidden feelings in a very immediate, very sudden way, and it’s left you feeling a little overwhelmed.”

He was still unresponsive, but that meant he wasn’t denying anything. 

“And, I’ll admit, I haven’t really been helping. I’ve been pushing the envelope pretty hard, especially the past couple of days. And I won’t pretend like that hasn’t been at least a little selfish; like I said, just like you’ve been made aware of those submissive feelings, I’ve been feeling a stronger and stronger urge to… take charge. Once I started to guess at what was going on inside your head, it got harder and harder to resist.”

“But,” she quickly added, “that’s not the only reason I’ve been doing these things. I love you so, so much, Tom. Realizing that you had these feelings, that you’ve probably had them for a long time… it made me feel guilty.” 

He pulled away enough to look up at her, not comprehending. She gave him a melancholy smile. “It made me feel guilty to know that my husband had these… desires, these needs, and that I’d gone seven years without fulfilling them, without even knowing they existed. Now that I do know, I guess I can’t help but want to make up for lost time.”

Tom looked down, considering her words. “How do you know we’ve been this way all along? How do you know it’s not just the curse?”

Lily shrugged. “My gut says that’s not how this works, but I can’t prove it. I guess it could be the magic messing with our heads. But… does it really matter? We feel the way we feel, right? What’s wrong with accepting that?”

“B-because!... I. I can’t keep shrinking forever. I mean… There’s only so much of me. If the curse is… if the curse is making me crave it, then at some point, I’ll have to learn how to resist it, or it’ll kill me. And even before that point, if I—if we don’t learn how to control this soon, I mean… I’m still big enough to live a normal life, but if this doesn’t stop, that won’t be true for all that much longer.”

Lily hugged Tom tighter to her, reassuringly kissing the top of his head. “I want you to listen to this next part closely, Tom. I will never, ever do something to hurt you. I won’t let the curse, or anything else, take you away from me.” She’d found an authority to throw behind her words that seemed to penetrate Tom’s defenses, and she felt him relaxing deeper into her embrace.

“So, with that said, I want you to be honest with me. Really honest.” She pushed him away slightly so that she could once more look him in the eye. “Set all your ego and your pride and your shame aside, and tell me: can you truly say that there’s anything that happened this weekend that you didn’t enjoy?”

His face started to redden, and Lily gave him a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay. You can say it.”

“...No. I… enjoyed everything.”

Lily gave him a mischievous grin. “So, you liked it when I teased you about being smaller than me?”

“...Yes…”

“And you liked it when I showed off that I was stronger than you?

“Yes…”

“And when I threw you against the wall?”

…Y—actually, uh… It was…” Tom swallowed. “It was… hot, but you were also… kind of rough with me.”

Lily blinked. She hadn’t expected that. “Oh… Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry, Tom. I’m… I’m new to this.”

“I know.”

Lily tilted Tom’s head back to kiss his lips. “But see? That’s exactly why we need to be able to talk. Now I know that you don’t like it as much when I get rough.” 

Lily held him reassuringly for a few moments, but soon, she couldn’t help but resume her teasing. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I mean, you’re so small and so weak that I don’t really need to use much force to keep you in line, do I?” She felt Tom’s penis harden against her, and could feel herself growing wetter alongside him. “And besides, you’re so eager to please, so well-behaved and obedient. You don’t need me to twist your arm or push you around to remind you who’s in charge, do you?”

Tom whined in agreement.

“Who's in charge, Tom?”

“Y-you are.”

“Good boy.” She kissed his ear, then bit it. Tom moaned in pleasure, and the sound was so beautiful that she couldn’t help but moan right along with him. She hadn’t planned for this conversation to go this way. She’d just wanted to finally have an honest talk about their feelings. 

Then again, if their current feelings were horny… What was wrong with that?

“No, I don’t have to be rough with you at all. I can be gentle with you. I can be kind, and loving, and giving. Of course, I’ll still have to remind you of your place sometimes. But even that’s kind and loving, Because that’s what you want me to do. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Did you like it when I put you in your place this morning?”

“It… I…”

“Tell me the truth, Tom. No pride, no ego.”

“It was the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me. And, and, and I felt so ashamed afterward, and—” she cut him off, filling his mouth with her tongue.

“There’s no room for shame here,” she said as she broke off the kiss. “There’s just what you want, and what I want, and how we can give it to each other. Speaking of which…” She threw one leg over his hips and, straddling him, rose up to her knees, looming over his prostrate form. She glared down at him maniacally, licking her lips as she recognized the lustful panic in his eyes.

He looked so cute down there.

“Do you like it when I get bigger?”

A long pause, then: “Yes.”

“Do you like it when I get taller? Heavier? Stronger?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like how every day I get a little curvier, a little fuller? My tits, my ass, my thighs… Do you like seeing me get thicker?”

“Yes!”

“Do you like getting smaller?”

“...Yes.” a small whimper accompanied the admission.

“Do you like getting littler? Weaker, more pathetic, more hopelessly under my control? Do you like it when I make you shrink?”

“Yes… Yes…!”

“Do you want me to make you shrink right now?”

“YES!”

“Yes what?”

“YES MA’AM!”

Lily descended upon him, smothering him in ravenous kisses as she stripped the both of them. 

Then, she made him shrink.

* * *

Tom could hardly believe his reflection.

It was a week later, and he now stood at five foot, three inches. A full foot shorter than where he’d started.

He felt even smaller than that.

Part of it was that he was shrinking in proportion—even if he was 5’3”, most of his body was actually smaller than that of a 5’3” man. Lily had been the first to notice that particular wrinkle. His weight loss had kept apace as well; he’d gone from average to skinny. Beyond that though, he was also just… slighter. This isn’t what he would’ve looked like if he’d dropped a bunch of weight at 6’3”. His shoulders were narrower, and even the less fatty parts of his body had gotten thinner proportionately.. If he was still tall, he’d look like an absolute beanpole. Plus, as he studied his face in the mirror, he could swear that it looked… different, somehow. Did his eyes seem a little bigger? A little lighter in color? Was his jaw a little more rounded? His lips a little more pronounced? He felt like he couldn’t quite tell which parts had really changed and which ones he was imagining, but the overall effect made him look… softer. 

Maybe I could grow out my beard?... When’s the last time I needed to shave?

He’d lost a full foot of height, well over a hundred pounds of weight, and now, even his face was changing. Thinking about all of this was almost too much. He felt overwhelmed with—

“Out of the way, shrimp!” Lily suddenly pushed him, sending him stumbling away from the bathroom mirror so that she could use it.

“Y’know…” Tom said, indignant. “I never used to push you around or talk to you that way when you were the smaller one.”

Lily didn’t bother turning toward him, instead grabbing a brush to start working on her hair. “That’s because I didn’t like being treated like that. You do.”

Tom’s face turned crimson and he stared at the floor.

Lily finally looked over to him, and immediately laughed. “Was that really enough to get to you? God, you’re so fucking cute.” She stepped toward him and ruffled his hair, and his embarrassment only deepened.

All of these changes… the way he was shrinking, weakening, softening… there was still a part of him that was nervous about it. He was still worried about how far this would go, about how they’d manage to stop it when it got to be too much. 

But… in the here and now, there wasn’t much point in pretending like he wasn’t loving every second of it.

The smaller he got, the more vulnerable he felt. And Lily… Christ. At 5’9”, she was officially tall for a woman. He only came up to her nose, his eyes only reaching her chin. Just standing next to her made him feel small, powerless… and filled with yearning. She was teasing him, but it really was effortless for her to turn him on. He had enough pride left that it was still a little humiliating that she could do so little and have such a powerful effect on him… but that just made it hotter.

Of course, it wasn’t just her size and power that turned him on. She was transforming into an absolute bombshell. The bigger she got, the more she filled out. He’d been married to her for seven years, and even still, it was hard sometimes to remember the thin, flat woman she used to be. Her curves had graduated from modest to impressive to astounding, with hips that rivaled the width of shoulders and breasts that gave her a deep valley of cleavage, something that nearly every new outfit in her wardrobe flaunted. She was “softening” too, though not in the same way as Tom. Every part of her—her thighs, her chest, her ass, her stomach—was unbelievably smooth and soft to the touch. In bed, she’d fully wrap her arms and legs around him, and Tom would feel himself sink into her.

As she continued to brush out her hair, Tom took the opportunity to study her face as he had his own. She’d always been pretty, but… no, she definitely looked different too. Like with himself, it was hard to point to specifics—higher cheekbones, maybe? Some subtle change in the shape of her brow?

She looked gorgeous, yes, but also… powerful. Like a queen, or a goddess, or…

A titan. A titan he was freeing one chain at a time.

Tom continued to watch her groom herself, mesmerized by the light playing off of her auburn main. As she ran the brush through it, he couldn’t help but think that even her hair seemed different. It seemed… bouncier. More lustrous. It was also longer than she usually wore it, coming down a bit past her shoulders.

He’d lost track of time. At some point, she’d moved on from her hair, and started applying make-up.

Wait. Why?

“Uh… are you going out?” He asked. She started, turning toward him in surprise.

“Oh! You startled me, I didn’t hear you come in.” Tom said nothing; she didn’t need to know that he’d never actually left.

“Those little feet of yours are too hard to hear. I’m gonna have to put a bell on you to keep track of where you are. Maybe a collar… what do you think?” She turned from the mirror to shoot him a self-satisfied smile.

“I—Uh…” Just like that, she’d robbed him of his words. He took a deep breath and tried to find them again, repeating his question.

“Were you going out somewhere?”

“Mm-hm!... Oh, did I forget to tell you? I’m taking you out to dinner!”

Not “we’re going out to dinner,” but “I’m taking you out to dinner.” Tom’s breathing quickened slightly.

“Oh, uh… Yeah, I didn’t know…”

“We’ve been cooped up at home for way too long. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been having plenty of fun with you… but I could stand to get out, couldn’t you?”

“I… guess so.”

“Besides, I wanna go show off my cute little man!”

Two reactions hit Tom at the same time: pulse in his groin, followed by a wave of anxiety.

They had been cooped up at home for a while. Tom hadn’t seen anyone but Lily in over a week, and he was a full three inches taller then. He’d already been shorter than nearly every man he encountered, and now most women would be taller than him, too. If they weren’t going somewhere with kids, there was a decent chance he’d be the smallest person in the entire restaurant…

He cleared his throat to keep himself from making a more embarrassing sound, his dick rock-hard between his legs.

“Um! But, uh… I don’t think I really have anything to wear…” Lily had made a run for groceries and some new clothes for herself a few days ago, but Tom had stayed home to clean the house.

Lily stepped away from the mirror and planted a kiss on Tom’s forehead, then giggled; in his reflection, Tom could see an imprint of her lips left behind by her wet lipstick.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. I bought you a suit the other day. I’ll help you get dressed as soon as I’m done in here.”

“Oh, uh… I think, I can probably get dressed myself…”

“Of course you can, baby! But don’t you think it’ll be a little more… fun, if you let me help you?” She took another step forward, forcing Tom backward against the wall, pinned against her soft, supple body. She lifted one leg, pressing her thigh into his cock.

“O-o-okay… I’ll wait for you.”

“Good boy. Now give me a kiss.” She stood up straight, head back, forcing Tom to strain up on his toes to reach her lips. As he kissed her, she eased back from the wall, snaking her arms around him. With a slight grunt of effort, she lifted him off his feet and spun around, setting him down at the door.

“Now quit distracting me and let me finish getting ready.” Tom, still reeling from the fact that she had picked him up, nodded wordlessly.

“And Tom? Don’t you dare touch your cock while you wait. It belongs to me, you understand?”

He looked down at the floor, unable to meet her gaze. “Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Lily liked being in charge.

The drive to the restaurant was quiet, save for the low hum of the engine. She’d always hated driving; cars were just one more thing that weren’t made for people as small as she used to be. She’d have to have the seat pushed up as far as it would go, and even then scoot forward to reach the pedals, while also maintaining back-achingly perfect posture to see over the dashboard. A smaller car might’ve worked a little better… but Tom drove way more than she did, and so it had made sense to prioritize his comfort.

Now, she could casually lean back against the seat, and her head actually reached the headrest! The seatbelt didn’t dig into her neck, and she felt far more confident now that she didn’t have to strain so hard to take in her surroundings. Ever since she’d broken the five foot barrier, she’d been feeling more and more like the world around her was actually built to accommodate her.

Clothes shopping was an exception to that rule, however. Her upscaled proportions, coupled with her expanding bust and hips, made it hard to find things off-the-rack that fit her well. The forest-green cocktail dress she was wearing had taken her hours to find, and it was tight, constricting her chest and limiting how deeply she could breathe.

Then again, Tom certainly seemed to like how it fit her; from the corner of her eye, she could see him staring at her the entire drive.

Tom’s own suit had the opposite problem: Lily just couldn’t find something small enough to fit his slender frame while still having enough length. She’d done her best… but it was a little baggier on him then it really should be. He looked like a teenager borrowing his dad’s suit for prom. Though to be fair, that just made him look cuter in her eyes.

We’re gonna need custom-tailored clothes soon. That’ll get pricey fast.

As they arrived at the restaurant, Lily pulled into a space and stopped the car.

“Wait right there,” she said to Tom. She climbed out of the driver’s side, then came over to the passenger’s, opening Tom’s door and offering him a hand.

After all, she was taking him out to dinner.

As he stepped out of the car and rose to his full height, Lily gazed down at him and heaved a heavy sigh of affection (or tried to, anyway—stupid dress). Tom was just so cute now! Every single time he rose to his full height, she was taken by surprise by just how low he came up on her. She wanted to push him back down and tear that silly oversized suit off of him… but she fought off the impulse as she remembered that they weren’t alone in the parking lot. Instead, she offered him her arm, giggling as he blushed and hooked his hand around it.

Lily was so glad that Tom had come around on things. Up until now, the magic had been exciting, but it had been tempered by murky feelings of guilt and shame. Now, they were free to embrace it fully. She didn’t have to worry that she was taking advantage of him, and could instead fully revel in the joy of growing bigger, of watching him shrink, and of exerting more and more control over him. Indulging Tom’s submissive side was fun, bordering on addictive. The more he shrank, the easier it got to make him feel small. Lily could assert her dominance with only the subtlest gestures now.

“No no, let me get it,” she said as she opened the restaurant’s front door for Tom.

Lily stepped through the doorway behind him, and the host’s eyes immediately shot to her prodigious bust before darting up to meet her gaze. She gave him a mildly disapproving look, just to make sure he knew she’d caught him. In reality, she didn’t mind; getting leered at like that was certainly going to get old fast, but for now, the attention was novel and appreciated.

“Um—Hello! Welcome. How many in your party?”

“Just the two of us,” Lily answered, throwing an arm around Tom. The motion sent a bounce through her entire body, and she stifled a laugh as the host looked like he was going to pull a muscle trying not to steal another glance.

“Certainly! Right this way.” Fumbling to grab two menus, he stepped out in front of them and turned toward the dining room, clearly relieved that he no longer had to contend with the temptation of looking at Lily directly. He led them to a small table with two chairs, and Lily made a point of pulling Tom’s seat out for him before sitting down herself, shooting her husband a wink. As she rested her chin atop her interlaced fingers.

* * *

Tom couldn’t stop fidgeting.

Every move Lily made, every word she spoke, asserted her position above him. Her maneuvers were subtle, nothing as overt as the way she’d commanded him at home. No, her attitude now was much more relaxed. She wasn’t exercising her dominance, she was just… taking it as given. The way she moved, the way she spoke to him, everything about the way she presented herself just assumed that he was the subservient partner. And he couldn’t bring himself to challenge that assumption. 

At home, he’d been self-conscious about how badly the suit Lily had bought fit him. Now, he was grateful for the extra space in the pants.

He was well past the point of pretending like this kind of thing didn’t turn him on. But, experiencing it in public, in front of other people, this was something different. Something more. It was one thing to get off on being submissive in the bedroom, but suddenly that role was spilling over into other aspects of their relationship. Was Tom really comfortable with that? With Lily being, completely… in control? It’s not like he was used to being “in charge” in their marriage; he’d just always thought of them as, well, equals. And now, by doing nothing more than opening a few doors for him and pulling out his chair, Lily was silently asserting that they were equals no more.

Then again, the bigger she got—the more he shrank—the more he had to admit that there was less and less that was “equal” about them every day.

She glanced up from her menu to smile at him, and he felt his heart flutter. Though she said nothing, he could almost hear her voice offering rejoinders in his head. Just let go! Stop trying to make yourself feel the way you think you’re supposed to, and embrace the way you actually feel! There’s nothing to be ashamed of!

Easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one with a hard-on in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

“Hi there!” said the waitress that suddenly appeared beside them, a blonde woman with an average build who looked to be in her early 20s. Tom reflexively wondered how he’d measure up to her if he stood up, and tried to shake off the thought by fixating on a stray thread in the tablecloth.

“Have you decided what we can get you this evening?”

Lily tapped a painted fingernail on a line on the menu. “Yes, I’ll have the twelve ounce ribeye, with the baked potato and a side of broccoli.” The waitress nodded along as she scribbled in a notepad.

“And for you, sweetie?” The waitress asked as she turned to Tom. The compliment caught him off-guard, and Lily pounced on the split-second of silence. 

“My husband here never has much of an appetite, I think he’ll be good with just the house salad.”

“Wh-...? No, Lily, I’m hungry, I want to get a steak, too.”

Lily cocked an eyebrow, and Tom instantly felt a pang of… guilt? Did challenging her on even something as small as this actually make him feel guilty?

“I don’t think you realize how little you eat these days, hon. I really don’t think you’ve got the stomach for much more than the salad.”

“I… I want the steak!” Tom could feel the blood rushing to his face, fully realizing just how petulant he sounded. His cheeks turned a hue darker still when he caught the eye of the waitress, who was clearly feeling a bit awkward caught between the two of them.

Lily’s jaw shifted from one side to the other before her lips curled into a smile. “Fine then. My husband will have the six ounce cut. Same sides. And if he doesn’t clean his plate, he’s going to have to answer to me.”

“Uh… great, okay,” the waitress answered. “We will, get those right out to you.” She grabbed the couple’s menus and quickly excused herself, not knowing how else to handle the strange energy at the table.

* * *

Lily couldn’t help but feel smug.

“I tried to tell you.”

Tom was staring forlornly at his plate. It still had half a steak and an untouched baked potato, along with most of his broccoli.

Lily, meanwhile, was leaning back in her chair, an empty plate in front of her as she crossed her arms. She wasn’t actually mad; honestly, she thought the whole thing was pretty funny. But playing up her disappointment was getting Tom flustered, and getting Tom flustered was rapidly becoming her favorite pastime. 

“We can’t stay here all night, Tom. You told me you were hungry, so what’s the holdup?” 

“I… I don’t think I can finish this.” Poor little thing; Lily could tell from his labored speech that he’d already forced himself to eat more than he should’ve.

Too bad for him that she was enjoying this too much to let him off the hook.

“I don’t understand, Tom. You were so whiny about wanting a steak, so I got you a little one. Only half as big as the one I ordered for myself.” Lily pointedly looked at her own plate, a few streaks of juice the only remnant of her meal. “I finished mine, why couldn’t you finish yours?”

“I-... Look, I’m sorry, I’m just… you were right, I got full faster than I thought I would.”

“Oh I know I was right, Tom. But now I’m more curious about why. How on earth did you get so full so fast? Did you eat at home or something?”

“...Come on, Lily. You know why.” Lily remained silent, forcing him to say it himself. “It’s, it’s because I’m smaller.”

Lily theatrically slapped her forehead. “Ohhh! Right, of course! You’re smaller. You’re just a short, scrawny little guy now. You’re too little to stomach a full meal, aren’t you?”

She couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her husband turn a deep shade of crimson. “C-c’mon, Lily. Stop it.”

Lily immediately made herself stop laughing, and affected the sternest glare she could as she leaned in toward him. “Did you just tell me what to do, Tom?” He squirmed under her disapproval, and her scowl immediately broke into a grin; he was too cute to even pretend to be mad at.

“N-no, just, I… we’re in public…” his eyes darted around to other tables, paranoid that someone was listening to them.

“I know we are! That’s why I was so shocked by how fussy you were earlier, embarrassing me in front of the waiter. I thought you were better-behaved than that.” He withdrew away from her reproach, looking smaller than ever. God, was he really still 5’3”? It was hard for her to imagine that as small as he looked, he was still bigger than she used to be by a fair margin.

 Well, she’d fix that in due time.

“We have a problem now, Tom. Because I took us somewhere nice, somewhere that’s a little pricey, and right now I’m seeing about forty dollars of wasted food on your plate. What are we going to do about that?”

“It’s, it’s fine, I’ll just ask them for a to-go box. I can eat it tomorrow for lunch.”

“Absolutely not. Not after you made such a scene.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t make a scene,” Tom argued back. “I just said I wanted a steak.”

“You directly contradicted me in front of someone else.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts.” Lily leaned forward and gently nudged his plate toward him. “You wanted a full meal, you got a full meal. Eat it.”

To be honest, Lily was surprised he was putting up this much of a fight. She could’ve finished that much food back when she was 4’9”. She’d be pretty full after, but it wouldn’t have been an issue. Was his appetite already smaller than hers used to be? She was taken by surprise by just how hot that was. She’d discovered yet another way that he was just… less than her, and she could feel the heat building between her legs as she thought about it. She wondered if there was some corner of the parking lot that was dark enough for them to fuck in the car, instead of having to wait to get home.

Tom looked at the food, then gave a long, pleading look at Lily. He seemed for a moment like he might try to keep arguing, but then he shifted in his seat, picked up his knife, and began cutting another forkful of beef.

“Oh, excuse me!” Lily called out to their waiter as she passed by. “Could I look at your dessert menu?” She’d gotten a pretty hefty cut of meat herself and was honestly feeling pretty full, but she could force down a slice of cheesecake to further accentuate the difference between her and Tom.

The waitress smiled and nodded at her, heading off to fulfill her request. While she waited, Lily refocused her attention on her husband, who was now making himself eat a piece of broccoli.

“That’s right, Tom. Good boys clean their plate, don’t they?”

He nearly choked.

* * *

Tom felt sick.

He was laying in the backseat of the car, breathing slowly as he tried to work through the pain of his bursting stomach. If he didn’t feel so miserable, he’d feel ridiculous; it was a six ounce steak. He could hardly believe it had done this to him.

“Did we learn anything tonight, Tom?” Lily asked as she drove.

He let out a low moan of discomfort before answering. “I learned that I can’t eat very much anymore.”

Lily laughed softly. “I guess that’s true. Your stomach’s a lot smaller than it used to be, you know. Just like mine’s bigger. It’s funny, I’m kind of tall for a woman now, but I’m not really all that big, but there’s all these little things that really make me feel the growth if I pay attention to them. Utensils are smaller and lighter than I’m used to, and a forkful of food doesn’t fill my mouth up in the same way. It’s even easier to chew. I guess all of that’s the opposite for you, right?”

Tom let out a low moan that sounded vaguely like agreement.

“It probably felt like you were trying to eat with a serving fork, and that meat must have seemed tougher than you expected, since even your jaw is littler and weaker than it used to be. I bet your shrunken stomach is having a harder time digesting, too, which means the food piles up for longer. Combine that with your stomach also being smaller, and, well… I guess that explains why you’re feeling so bad, huh?”

“Uh-huh…” Intellectually, Tom recognized that Lily going on about all the little ways that his shrinking was affecting him was hot, but he was in too much pain for it to really turn him on.

“That’s not really the lesson I was thinking about, though. Did you learn anything else tonight, Tom?”

He knew the kind of reply she was fishing for, but he felt too sick to find the right words. After he stayed silent for a beat, Lily answered her own question.

“I think you learned a very valuable lesson about listening to your wife. If you’d just done what I told you, you wouldn’t be sick.”

“Yeah…” he trailed off into a burp.

“Are you going to do as you’re told from now on?”

“Yes…”

“You promise?”

“Lily, come on.” He wasn’t feeling well enough to play this game right now, but he caught her disapproving glare in the rearview mirror and sighed. “Yes, I promise.”

“Good. Then we’ll consider it a lesson learned, and say this stomach ache is punishment enough.”

Punishment? She was planning to start punishing him if he disobeyed her? He wanted to say something, to argue, but he felt too sick. Instead, he just laid back and closed his eyes. Before long, the soft motion of the car lulled him to sleep.

“Ah! Careful, careful!” She rushed to Tom’s side as he heaved a large plastic tote full of lights through the door to the garage. He was clearly struggling with it, and she moved to snatch it away from him before he dropped it.

“These are expensive, Tom. And delicate. You need to leave the heavy lifting to me.”

“Heavy” really wasn’t really the right word. Not for Lily anyway; Tom was leaned against the wall, panting. Poor little Tommy. Lily set the tote on the floor, then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a comforting hug. His head barely cleared her shoulders now, and it was only a little larger than each of her breasts. She instinctively held him tightly, pressing his face deep into the cleavage of her v-neck tee.

“I was just trying to help,” he said, his voice muffled by her body.

“I know, baby, but you need to be aware of your limits. You’re getting pretty small now, and pretty weak, too. If you push yourself too hard, you might break something, or worse, you might get hurt.” She felt him slacken in her arms, silently conceding the point. “Just stick to doing what I tell you to do. That’s plenty of help.”

“Okay…”

“Speaking of,” she said, loosening her embrace. “How about you get the floor swept while I finish hauling everything down here?”

Tom nodded and grabbed a broom from the corner. Lily stopped to fix her hair; some of it had come loose from its clip when she’d rushed to help Tom with the lights. God did she have a lot of hair now. She hadn’t paid it much attention with all the other changes that had been going on, but it had become impossible to ignore that, along with everything else, her hair was growing in thicker and faster than usual. A lot faster; she always used to wear it fairly short, but in a few short months, it had made it all the way down to her shoulders. It was a little inconvenient, but she had to admit that it looked fantastic, a flowing cascade of crimson, full of volume and as lustrous as a shampoo commercial.

Right now though, it was in the way, so Lily tucked as much of it as she could back into a quick, messy bun, and went back upstairs, stacking up two boxes of equipment in her arms—the more she carried at once, the fewer trips she’d have to make, and the more she could show off her superior strength to Tom. It was a win-win.

There just wasn’t enough room in the office. The longer this went on, the less satisfied Lily was with the photos she was getting. She needed a bigger space to work, and since they didn’t use the garage for anything but storage, it was the perfect place for her to move her studio into.

“I still don’t really understand what the extra space is for,” Tom said idly, sweeping dust out onto the driveway as Lily returned with the card table they used for the arm-wrestling pictures.

“Well… take this for example.” Lily patted the card table with her free arm. “Here, I’ll show you.” Setting the table down, she took out her phone and beckoned Tom over.

“Upstairs, I only have room to set up one camera. These arm-wrestling photos don’t really capture the match very well. We’re at a dead-on angle, so it’s hard to track the depth of our arms. You can’t really get a good sense of who’s winning.”

“I… don’t think that’s true.” The photo Lily had pulled up was from yesterday. Tom was using both hands, throwing his entire body weight against her arm, while Lily sat in a relaxed pose, watching him smugly. 

“Well, okay, it’s pretty easy to tell who’s winning,” Lily agreed with a laugh. “Still, the photo would play better from a more dynamic angle. But then that raises the question: which angle to use? I could put the camera behind my shoulder, or behind yours. I could put it up high to give a bird’s eye view, or place it on the table, pointed up at our hands. If I wasn’t busy modeling, I could move around the scene, take shots from all of those angles and more. But since that’s not an option, the next best thing would be to have multiple cameras set up at once, positioned at different angles, all taking photos on a timer.

“But, more cameras means more tripods, and it means more lights, to make sure the lighting looks good from multiple angles. There’s no room upstairs for all of that. Down here, we’ve got all the room we want. Get it?”

“I guess.” Tom looked around the garage, thinking. “It just seems like… I don’t know, it’s just kind of a lot, isn’t it?

“Tommy.” Lily took a step toward her diminutive husband and, gently cupping his chin, turned his head upward to meet her gaze. “I’m a lot. And I’m a little more every day.” It was like she’d flipped a switch in his head. Gone was the thinker, the over-analyzer. All that remained was her sweet, docile husband, gazing up at her in a mix of adoration and anxious deference. She’d never get tired of that expression. It made her feel like a goddess, revealing herself to a humble mortal she’d deigned to bless with a glimpse of her beauty. “I don’t think a cute little thing like you has any right to question my decisions, do you?”

“Uh—n-no, sorry.” Lily gave him a patronizing smirk.

“I forgive you. Now how about we spend a little less time talking, and a little bit more time working? Once we get set up, we can take the day’s photos, and then… maybe we can head back upstairs.” She winked at him. “If you’re good.”

The work was finished in no time. Together, Lily and Tom recreated Lily’s studio, filling the spare space with lights and tripods.

“Oh, where’s the height chart?” Tom asked.

“It’s upstairs still, but don’t worry, we’ll get it tomorrow.” Tom was confused, as Lily fished a sewing tape measure out of her pocket.

“Today’s special. I thought it would be more fun if we measured each other manually. Come see how big I am.”

Tom swallowed, then complied. Five different cameras, arranged in a semi-circle around them, snapped away as Lily stepped on the tip of the tape measure and Tom stood close, raising the other end up over his head. It occurred to Lily that his viewing angle down there might make it hard for him to get an exact measurement, but that was fine. After all, they both already knew what it would say; there was a reason she picked today to set up the new studio. She wanted this milestone captured in the highest fidelity she could manage.

“Six feet. You’re six feet even—ah!” Hearing the number aloud sent Lily into a frenzy. She descended upon Tom, filling his shrunken mouth with her tongue as she grinded against him. Unable to resist her weight, he collapsed to the ground. Lily followed him, pinning him between her pillowy thighs as she slipped her fingers under his collar, ripping his shirt open one button at a time.

* * *

Tom had never felt a deeper peace.

He was naked, just this side of the edge of sleep. Every muscle in his body was relaxed, not a drop of tension to be found anywhere as he melted into his wife’s arms. Lily surrounded him on all sides. Strong arms held him securely against her, her titanic breasts enveloping his face. A single massive leg rested atop his own, pinning him in place with pleasant weight. Her tummy squished against his torso, warmth flowing from it, keeping his nude body warm in the chilly bedroom. Lily was by no means “fat,” but her midsection was just as soft and plush as the rest of her, yielding against his body like an overstuffed cushion. He was fully and completely ensconced in his wife. They’d been at it for hours, the smell of sex heavy in the room as golden afternoon light shone through the windows. Her fingers glided gently across his scalp and he involuntarily let out a sigh of utter contentment. He reached out and placed a hand on her ass, sinking his fingers deep into her supple flesh.

Some tiny part of his mind was still sounding an alarm. He was only 4’11” now. Yesterday, he had officially reached five feet even, and they’d “celebrated” so much that he’d already blown right past it, right on to the next inch down the scale (it wasn’t very long ago that he thought having sex three times in one day was a lot—now, that was the baseline). He’d lost a full 16 inches of height, and god knows how much weight; he was honestly a little scared to step on the scale now. By the end of the week, he’d be down to Lily’s original ultra-petite size, and things were showing no sign of slowing down. Shouldn’t he be more worried? Lily had promised him that they’d stop whenever he asked; wasn’t it about time he asked?

That voice was unquestionably within him, but its cries seemed distant, muffled, quiet. Tom was so filled with bliss that there just wasn’t any room for worry.

“I love you, Lily.” It felt somehow wrong to break the silence, as though the moment would last forever if they simply stayed quiet. But he couldn’t help it. Right here, right now, he felt that love with all his heart, and although he’d told her a million times, he needed to say it once more.

“I love you too, Tommy.” Her voice was low and sultry. She’d never called him “Tommy” before all this, but he’d been noticing her starting to pepper it into her speech more and more. He felt a thrill of goosebumps run down his back. Of course she was using the diminutive form of his name; he’d become the diminutive form of himself.

Suddenly, Lily moved, rolling onto her back. She kept a tight grip on Tom, pulling him with her as she turned, and he now found himself lying on top of her. Memories flashed through his head of when he’d lie in bed with her resting on top of him. That felt like an entire lifetime ago, though it had only been a few short months. It seemed impossible that the massive woman beneath him could have ever curled up on top of him; their transformations were so extensive that it made his old memories seem false.

He stretched forward to kiss her before nuzzling his face back against her bust.

“I’ve been thinking, Tom.”

“Hm?”

“Well, we talked about it before. How I don’t really like it when you call me ‘ma’am.’”

“Mm-hm.” Her voice made her collarbone vibrate against his head. It felt nice.

“I mean, I like the sentiment. Little cutie like you, showing me respect. But ‘ma’am’ is what you say to… I don’t know, that’s what the cashier at the store calls me. My husband should have a more intimate word for me. ‘Mistress,’ that’s a popular one, but it doesn’t feel right either. It makes me think of like… leather and whips. That’s not us.”

“What about… Goddess?” 

“Mmm,” Lily purred, as though she’d just bitten into a rich piece of chocolate. “That’s getting warmer, certainly. But it’s still not quite right. A goddess takes care of the whole world. I’m only interested in taking care of one person.” She stretched down to kiss the top of his head. “One good little boy that always does as I tell him, though every now and then I have to get a little strict with him.”

Tom felt himself blushing intensely, his cock hardening against Lily’s thigh. She shifted her leg slightly, teasing his erection with her soft, pliant skin.

“Y-you sound like you have something in mind.”

“Mm-hm, I do. But don’t you have any other guesses?”

“Um… n-no. I can’t think of anything else.”

Lily giggled, and rolled over again. Tom felt the coolness of the sheets against his back as Lily returned him to the bed, and then slowly felt his entire body compress under her weight as she rolled on top of him. Her messy red hair fell in thick locks all around his head, blocking his view of the bedroom as she loomed over him, grinning.

“Liar,” she accused, a laugh in her voice. “I think you know exactly what I mean.” Tom’s breathing quickened, but the only reply he could offer was an empty sputter.

“No? You don’t remember? The other day, at the mall?”

* * *

Lily was getting frustrated.

This was the third store they’d been to, and she couldn’t find a single bra in her size. 

She knew she was big; hell, she was enormous. But surely there must be one store in this damn town that sold bras for larger women.

She winced as she felt the strap of her current bra dig into her back. This thing had fit her when she was 5’9”, which was nearly three whole inches and probably at least a cup size ago.

“Tom,” she beckoned. She’d brought him along because she thought it would be hot to model new bras for him in the changing room; of course, she’d expected to find some new bras to model. “Can you grab that clerk over there and see if they have any more selection than this? I’m gonna keep looking.”

“Oh, um. Okay.” Tom wandered in the direction of the sales clerk, a woman in a black blazer a few dozen feet away. Despite her discomfort, she couldn’t help but pause to watch Tom. He looked so small over there all by himself! It was adorable… but also vaguely concerning. She was suddenly struck by the urge to keep a protective eye on him, and felt a little bit of anxiety that wouldn’t abate until he was back at her side.

He approached the clerk, who turned to smile as he drew near. She had at least six inches on him, and Lily couldn’t help but feel a thrill seeing how Tom measured up to her, dwarfed by even a fairly average woman. They were too far away for Lily to hear, but she saw Tom nervously point back toward her, then suddenly seem to panic as the clerk waved at Lily. Confused, Lily waved back, but the clerk’s attention had rapidly returned to Tom. She looked like she was… apologizing?

After another moment, Tom hurried back to Lily’s side, face bright red.

“She said that this is all the stock they have, but that there’s a shop that specializes in plus-sized women on the other side of the mall.”

“What else did she say? Was she asking about me?”

Tom didn’t answer, instead staring at the ground.

“Tommy?”

“She… she mistook me for a kid. She asked if I was here with my mom, and I pointed back at you bec—”

“You did what?” Lily asked, an ugly, snorting laugh bursting out of her.

“I didn’t hear her right at first! I thought she was asking about my wife! I didn’t really process what she said until after I pointed!” Tom was getting increasingly flustered as he struggled to defend himself.

“Oh my God, that’s so funny. I mean, I get it. The magic’s turned you into a real babyface, you know. I don’t think you look like a kid, but combined with your height… yeah, I can see where someone would make the mistake.” Tom fidgeted anxiously, face beet-red as he bore a hole in the floor with his eyes. “Oh, it’s no big deal, Tommy. I used to get mistaken for a kid sometimes. It’s a little humiliating but you’ve gotta learn to shrug it off.”

He didn’t answer, and Lily rolled her eyes. He could really be too sensitive sometimes. “Well, come on. Let’s go check out that plus-sized shop, so your mommy can finally get some new bras.” She burst out laughing as she took his hand and headed back out into the mall. As they walked, she occasionally shot him a knowing look, sending a new wave of embarrassment through him.

As they entered the plus-sized shop, Lily squeezed Tom’s shoulder. She spoke in a stage-whisper, clearly loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

“Now behave yourself. Mommy won’t be too long.” She chuckled again as Tom looked around in a panic, terrified that someone might have overheard her teasing. She kept laughing softly to herself as she left him near the front door to start perusing the racks.

She couldn’t get over how funny this was.

Funny… was that the word to describe the giddy feeling in her chest?

“Excuse me, miss,” Lily said as she approached a clerk. “I’ve got my little boy here with me. He can sometimes misbehave when I let him out of my sight, is it alright if I bring him into the changing room with me?” She gestured toward Tom, shuffling awkwardly by the door. He was a good twenty feet away, and even Lily had to admit that at this distance, it was easy to mistake him for a child.

“Oh, certainly, that’s fine. I get it, kids can be a real handful,” the clerk answered sympathetically. Lily felt an odd rush of excitement that the woman had bought the lie.

“I think he just gets a little anxious and starts acting out when I’m not around. He’s kind of a mama’s boy.” Lily couldn’t help but laugh at her own joke, and though she didn’t get it, the clerk politely laughed along with her.

“Tommy!” Lily called out. “Come help Mommy in the changing room!” It took every ounce of self-control for Lily not to burst out laughing as Tom stared back at her as though she were an oncoming truck. She waved him over insistently, and he slinked toward her.

She smirked; he used to be so scared of shrinking, but right now he looked like he was trying to make himself too small to be seen.

“Lily, please, cut it out…” Tom pleaded once they were alone in the changing stall.

“Is that any way to talk to your mother, young man?” Lily playfully chided as she unbuttoned her blouse. Tom clammed up, half embarrassed by her teasing and half flustered to see Lily’s tits spilling out of the too-small bra she was wearing. She undid the hook in the back and Tom let out an audible gasp as her breasts exploded outward, no longer restrained.

How did he keep finding ways to get cuter?

“Relax, Tom, it’s just a joke. You have to admit it’s funny.” He said nothing, and avoided eye contact.

“Or… maybe it’s not a joke to you. Maybe you want me to be your Mommy. Is that what has you so embarrassed?”

“N-n—” Tom’s protests were cut off as Lily stepped forward, pinning against the wall and smothering him with her breasts. It was so much fun that he was just the right height for her to do this.

It almost made her sad that he wouldn’t be staying this big for long.

“Are you suuuure that’s not what this is about, Tommy?”

Tom struggled to get his mouth free from her tits so he could respond. “No! Lily, please!”

She backed off, laughing. “I’m just teasing you Tom, lighten up.” He was clearly still unnerved, but she just shrugged him off as she tried on the bras, relieved to have finally found some big enough to fit her. She led Tom to the register to pay, the clerk doing a double-take as she looked at Tom, gears turning in her head; they were out the door before she could ask any questions.

Lily spent the next few hours leading Tom around the mall, continuing to tease him. She’d ask him if he wanted to go into every toy store they passed, or if he’d like his Mommy to buy him a treat from each snack stand they walked by. She felt a little bad that the teasing was cutting him so deeply, but for some reason, she just couldn’t make herself let up.

“Tommy loves his Mommy,” she half-sang as they headed for the parking lot

“C’mon, say it just once,” Lily said on the drive home.

“I don’t want to.”

“Come on. This isn’t even close to the most embarrassing thing you’ve done for me. Just say the word one time!”

“I don’t like this, Lily. You told me that I get to set the boundaries. I’m setting this one.”

“Fine, fine, you’re right. I’m sorry if I’ve been taking this too far.” She finally started to feel some legitimate guilt. It had been a while since Tom had really and truly told her “no,” and she felt bad about disrespecting that.

They drove in silence for another 15 minutes. Then, Tom let out a sigh of resignation.

“...’Mommy.’ There, satisfied?”

For once, it was Lily’s turn to feel flustered.

* * *

Tom was still pinned under Lily.

“It was just a funny thing to tease you about at first, but… when you actually called me Mommy, it just felt… right.”

“Lily…”

“I know, you said this was a boundary for you. If that’s true, then, well... Okay. But. You do have a track record of saying you don’t like something, when really you’re just too embarrassed to admit you like it.”

Tom wished he could get away, but there was nowhere to go; he was completely trapped beneath her. He couldn’t even get his arms free.

“Are you sure that you don’t like the idea of me being your Mommy?”

“Lily, I… you’re my wife. I’m not a child.”

“No! No, of course you’re not, baby. But… you’re so little now, Tommy. Don’t you feel like you need to be… protected? Nurtured? We both know you like submitting to me, and you like it when I take control in a gentle way. Dominating you, but with love and affection. Am I wrong?”

“Well… no, but…”

“A ‘wife’ is somebody you’re equal to. You don’t really want to be equal to me, right? You want to be… less. You want to feel taken care of. And that’s okay, because I want to take care of you. But ‘wife’ isn’t really the right word for that. I think ‘Mommy’ is.”

“I don’t know, Lily. It just feels… it feels like more than that. It feels like… surrendering.”

“But don’t you want to surrender, Tommy? Isn’t that exactly what you like? Isn’t it exactly what you’ve been doing?”

Tom went quiet, taking the deepest breaths he could with the weight of Lily’s body on top of him.

“You’ve been giving yourself to me bit by bit every day for months now, Tom. And I love it, because the more you give, the more I have to cherish, to treasure. Give a little bit more to me. Let me be your Mommy.”

Tom reflexively wanted to protest, but what was the point? She could feel his erection pressing deeper and deeper into the softness of her stomach the more she spoke.

A shameful thrill ran up and down Tom’s entire body.

“...Okay. You… you can be my Mommy.” 

Lily let out a low, sensuous moan, and kissed Tom tenderly, hungrily.

“Say it again, baby. What am I?”

“You’re my Mommy.”

She moaned again, grinding against him. He could feel her juices leaking all over his legs. Suddenly, she rose up on her knees, then lowered herself, slowly, onto his cock.

“Mommy loves you,” she uttered breathlessly as she began to rise and fall, her colossal breasts bouncing with each motion. 

Tom tried to answer, but managed to make no sounds beyond a pitiful, gasping whine.

“Are you going to be a good boy for Mommy?” she asked as she increased the intensity of her movements. Still, Tom couldn’t manage form any words, the pleasure feeling like an explosion in his brain.

“Say it, baby. Tell Mommy you’ll be a good boy.” Lily’s own words were becoming more and more labored, struggling to get out amidst deep, rapid breaths.

“I-... I-... I-...!!”

Lily suddenly froze. Clenching her legs tighter against Tom’s, she leaned forward, her tits pouring over his chest as she took each of his wrists in a powerful grip, pinning him to the mattress.

“Say it.”

“I-I-I-I’ll be a good boy, Mommy.”

Lily’s entire body began to tremble, every muscle from her head to her toes clenching tightly. She opened her mouth as if to scream, but no sound escaped. The sight of his titanic wife—his titanic mommy—orgasming so violently above him immediately brought Tom over the edge as well. She was holding him down too tightly for him to move, but he nevertheless struggled in vain to buck his hips up into her. He came so hard that he nearly passed out. Lily collapsed on top of him, before moving to the side, spooning him tightly, and he was once again surrounded by her. “Bliss” no longer described the sensation. It was something deeper, something that went beyond words.

He had no idea how long they laid like that, or whether he fell asleep at any point, but the golden light of the afternoon had been replaced by the soft blue light of the early evening before Lily spoke.

“I came so hard I think I gave myself a leg cramp,” she said, exhausted, and then laughed. Tom laughed along with her.

“I’m getting hungry,” she continued. “Let’s get dressed and I’ll make dinner.”

“Oh, no, it’s my night to cook.”

Lily’s arms tightened around Tom as she gently kissed the back of his head. “Let Mommy cook for you tonight, sweetie. You’re not getting out of all of your chores, but tonight, I want to take care of you.”

“Okay, Lily. You can cook.”

Lily suddenly tugged on his shoulder, making him turn to face her, and kissed his forehead.

“My first rule, as your new Mommy, is that I don’t want you calling me ‘Lily’ anymore.”

“...What?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s very appropriate for you to talk to your Mommy on a first name basis. It’s disrespectful.” She smiled at him through half-lidded eyes, but her tone made it clear that she wasn’t kidding. “From now on, as far as you’re concerned, my only name is ‘Mommy.’”

“That… that’s crazy, Lily.”

“Ah!” she tapped a finger against his lips. “Remember, you just told me you’d be a good boy. Good boys don’t talk back. I’ll let that one slide, but the next time you disobey me, I’m not going to be so lenient.”

Tom’s eyes went wide. 

“Do you understand?”

A long, pregnant pause. A hundred different responses flashing through his mind. But in the end, only one made it to his lips.

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes… Mommy.”

“Good boy.”

Lily wanted everything to be perfect.

Tom had put an incredible amount of trust in her, and she knew that she needed to respect that. Obviously, she was getting off on this; good fucking God was she getting off on this (should she forbid him from cursing? Might be fun). But, setting all the domination and mind games and magic aside, Tom was still her husband. When he’d first agreed to start giving her his size, she had promised him that she would find a way to repay him. He’d only given her more since then, which meant that she had an even greater debt to him.

Which was to say, if she was going to be his Mommy, she was going to be the best Mommy he could hope for.

She woke up at four in the morning, too wired to sleep and deciding she had more productive things to do than toss and turn for hours. If she knew her Tommy, he was going to wake up anxious and full of doubt, second-guessing his decision to accept this new relationship dynamic. She needed to absolutely bury him in reasons to embrace her as his Mommy, to suffocate that doubtful voice in his head. 

She planned out her morning as she washed her hair. She was getting tall enough that she had to bend over slightly to get her head under the shower head; it was inconvenient, but any frustration was completely overshadowed by the reminder of her growth that it provided. That shower head had been a good foot above her the entire time they’d lived in this house, and now she had to stoop down to fit under it. A soapy hand slipped between her legs at the thought.

First favor I’ve done Tom today: letting him sleep while I’m feeling this horny.

Getting all of her hair wrapped up in a towel took a frustrating amount of time. It wasn’t just long, it was thick, and just when she thought she’d gotten it all, she’d catch a few stray locks poking out. Once she finally had it wrangled, she moved on to thinking about what to wear. She’d splurged on a few outfits that showed off her expanding figure back when she was 5’9”, but she was more than 6’1” now; none of it really fit. She still had a few tops she could squeeze into, but none of them felt right. She didn’t just need a nice outfit, not even a sexy outfit. She needed one that screamed Mommy. She imagined tight U-neck blouses, floral skirts, dark stockings, and thick, oversized sweaters. Fashionable but cozy clothes that would make you long to cuddle up to her, or chaste, conservative outfits betrayed by the absurd amount of woman straining against them.

She didn’t have anything like that. The stores wouldn’t be open for hours, and she needed to be ready by the time Tommy woke up. She’d have to improvise.

Stepping into the walk-in closet, her eyes scanned across the racks and shelves as she thought deeply about what might work. On a lark, she turned her attention toward Tom’s side of the closet, and her eyes immediately lit up in inspiration as they settled on a blue terry cloth bathrobe. It had been a gift to Tom from years back, and he barely ever used it, which meant it was in near perfect condition. It wasn’t exactly what she had in mind for the ideal wardrobe, but it certainly checked the “cozy, cuddly” boxes.

Plus, most importantly, it would actually fit. Lily slid her naked arms through the sleeves, enjoying the fluffy material brushing against her skin. She pulled it closed, and—

Oh.

It didn’t fit.

Lily could barely get the two sides of the robe to come together; it was tight across her shoulders, and her hips and breasts were too big. Pulling it as tightly as she could, she could just barely make the robe close, but doing so constricted her chest, and the taut threads stretched across her back felt like they might tear if she kept them like that too long.

She still hadn’t quite reached Tom’s original height, but his old clothes were already too small for her. She was, unquestionably, bigger than Tom ever was.

She covered her mouth, working hard to let out a long, slow shutter quietly enough that it wouldn’t wake Tom in the other room.

Taking a moment to collect herself, she decided that the bathrobe was still her best bet; she’d just have to wear it open. Not exactly the “conservative yet sexy” vibe she’d hoped for, but it was still the best option she had available to her.

Next on the list was make-up. She wanted to apply a subtle touch here, doing just enough to accentuate her beauty while still appearing at a glance to be wearing nothing at all. A little lip gloss, some light mascara, maybe some concealer to hide the dark spots she must certainly have under her eyes.

Actually… no. Despite having gotten so little sleep, her reflection looked stunningly fresh and radiant. She touched her cheek, and realized all over again just how smooth it had become. Studying her reflection closely for the first time in a while, she was once more struck by just how much she’d changed. The transformation in her face was much smaller and subtler than anything else, but it had crept along so far that she now felt like she was looking at both her own reflection and the reflection of a completely different, much more beautiful woman at the same time. Her eyes seemed larger, her irises a brighter shade of green. Her lips looked so full and enticing that she wanted to kiss them. Her teeth had always been fine, but now they were pristine.

She looked every bit as soft and warm as the too-small bathrobe flowing loosely around her… but there was something else, too. Something almost… regal about her face. Her reflection reminded her of storybook illustrations of kindly, benevolent queens, the kind that get replaced by evil stepmothers but return at the end to restore peace and order. Absolute authority and loving femininity in perfect harmony.

You know, magic curse, you’re pretty darn good at what you do.

She could still stand to use a touch of make-up, but only a touch. She needed to be careful not to—

She laughed softly.

She needed to be careful not to gild the Lily.

Hair still tied up in a towel, bathrobe flowing freely about her naked body, she quietly opened the bathroom door. The first light of dawn was starting to creep in through the window, just enough that she could see Tommy still in bed, her heart melting at the sight of him bundled up in the sheets. He looked so little, so precious. She wanted to immediately crawl back into bed with him, curl up around him, protect him from a world that would very soon be getting too big for him.

But there would be time for that later.

She descended the stairs cautiously. She was a lot less light on her feet these days, and had to take the steps slow to avoid making them creak too loudly. She headed for the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee before she started frying a pan of bacon. As she waited for it to cook, she began chopping vegetables, beating eggs, and making a pie crust. Cooking was so much easier when you could actually reach everything! She wondered if Tom could smell her cooking in his sleep, if the soft thunk-thunk-thunk of her knife was penetrating his dreams. It made her heart swell to imagine him snuggling deeper into his pillow as the familiar scents and sounds soothed his unconscious mind.

More and more sunlight gradually filled the house as Lily worked, assembling the quiche and sliding it into the oven. While it baked, she poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat in her favorite chair, smiling contentedly as she heard it ever so slightly groan under her weight. The chair was an overstuffed loveseat, and she used to be able to pack herself tightly into one of its corners, curling up there to read or nap. She was too big for that now, but still not as big as she wished; the loveseat was a bit too wide for her to use both armrests at once, and if she scooted all the way back against the cushion, her feet couldn’t quite reach the floor.

Oh well. At least there was still something around here for her to grow into.

When her coffee was done, Lily unwrapped her hair. Grabbing a brush from the bathroom, she began to dutifully brush it out, humming quietly to herself. She’d never wanted to deal with the maintenance of long hair, but this morning at least, brushing it out felt peaceful, meditative. Although, if it kept growing as fast as it had been, caring for it would become a full-time job in itself. She could always get it cut… but that seemed like such a waste when it looked so beautiful.

The thought was interrupted by the dinging of the oven timer, spurring Lily back into action. Like everything else, the quiche had been a calculated choice. It needed to sit out and cool, providing a window for her and Tom to spend some time in bed together, while the delicious smells wafting from downstairs would remind him that she’d been taking care of him since before he woke up.

With everything ready, she crept back up to the bedroom and eased herself into bed. Tommy was sleeping just as soundly as she’d left him, a gorgeous little angel of a man. As quietly as she could, she gathered some pillows to prop herself up higher. She didn’t just want him to wake up to the sight of her; she wanted him to wake up to the sight of her looking down at him.

She took a few moments to play with her hair and the bathrobe, making sure that each lock and fold of fabric draped over her body in the most enticing way possible. When she was finally satisfied, she reached out and stroked Tom’s cheek with the back of her hand.

“Tommy, sweetie, it’s time to wake up.”

* * *

Tom’s eyes fluttered open.

He’d been dreaming. He couldn’t remember any of the details, but he was left with a feeling of… comfort.

As he slowly blinked the sleep away from his eyes, it felt less as though he’d woken up and more like he’d simply transitioned into another dream.

Lily was lying next to him, staring down into his eyes, face glowing with adoration. Her gorgeous red hair flowed down around the arm propping up her head, seeming to dance in golden beams of early morning sunlight. Was she… wearing his old bathrobe? It hung loosely over her, just barely covering one of her nipples. The way her hip dramatically rose up from underneath the plush blue fabric brought to his sleepy mind the image of a tidal wave. 

Tom’s eyes returned to Lily’s. She said nothing, instead just continuing to stare, the robe shifting along her body as she heaved a small sigh. Had he been fully awake, such an intense focus of affection might’ve made him blush. But as he was, half-asleep with his mental guard completely down, the sight just filled him with joy. He couldn’t help himself. With as much speed as his groggy body would allow, he closed the gap between them, throwing his arms around her as he buried his face in her tremendous breasts. He felt a jolt of arousal as he realized that he was too small for his hands to meet behind her back, which prompted him to begin kissing and nuzzling her. She giggled softly at his enthusiasm, and he felt the softness of the bathrobe fall across him as she embraced him.

“I love you so much, Lily,” he sighed. 

Immediately, he felt her stiffen in his arms. Her embrace tightened slightly, and it no longer felt comforting or loving. It felt vaguely… dangerous.  All at once, he became intensely aware of just how much heavier and stronger she was than him, how completely she had him at her mercy.

His mind flashed back to the cat and the squirrel.

“Sweetie, we talked about this.” Her voice was flat, devoid of affect. Tom craned his neck; she was holding him too tightly for him to see her face clearly, but out of the corner of his vision he could make out her eyes, half-lidded, staring down at him judgmentally.

“T-talked about what?” He’d done something to upset her, though he couldn’t imagine what. He was still shaking the last vestiges of sleep from his brain, and he scrambled to think of what he possibly could have done wrong in the short minute or two he’d been awake.

“Are you really trying to say that you don’t remember?” Her flat tone gave way to disapproval, and it felt like a knife to Tom’s heart. What did he do?! All he’d done was hug her, and tell her he loved her, and—

Oh.

“You called me ‘Lily,’ baby. You’re not supposed to do that anymore.”

“R-right, um. I’m sorry, it—”

“You were so good about it last night. You addressed me properly all night long.” Tom still didn’t like this. It was one thing if she wanted to be a bit… well, maternal toward him. Forbidding her from using her name, making her exclusively call her Mommy, like he was a little kid… it just seemed like it was taking things too far. He hadn’t argued with her about it last night, he’d played along to humor her, because, well…

Because he was finding it harder and harder to tell her no.

“I-it was an accident. I was barely awake, it was force of habit. It won’t happen again, L—... Mommy.”

“Hm.” Lily pushed Tom away from her slightly. With one hand clamped on his shoulder, she grabbed his chin with the other, tilting his head around, inspecting him, her expression cold.

“I guess that makes sense. This is still new, I guess you need some more time to adapt. But I’m not going to accept that excuse much longer. You will show me the respect I deserve, understand?” Every word was dripping with disapproval. There was a rational part of Tom that wanted to say something, to put his foot down, to tell her that this game wasn’t fun. That rational voice was completely drowned in the shame Lily was raining down upon him.

“Yes, Mommy. I understand.”

“Good.” Lily released him.

Then, she peeled off the oversized pajama pants he’d slept in.

* * *

Lily was just pretending.

Enforcing the “Mommy” rule was just a domination game. Just some kinky fun: set some rules, punish her submissive little husband when he broke them. It made perfect sense he wouldn’t remember the rules first thing in the morning, it was clearly just an honest mistake. But, being unreasonably strict was part of the fun.

Hearing him say her real name certainly hadn’t angered her for real. Obviously she wasn’t actually upset that her sweet, soft little boy had spoken to her as though they were equals. It was just fun and games! Just silly, sexy, fun and games. 

And the frustration she was feeling was just her getting too into her character.

Is it the magic that’s making me feel this way?... Oh, who cares. I’m mad, does it matter why?

After all those hours of preparation, all the time she spent planning out the perfect morning, he’d gone and ruined it the moment he woke up. “Honest mistake?” He shouldn’t be capable of making that kind of “honest mistake.” It wasn’t about him calling her Mommy, not really; that was just a symbol of his devotion, of his complete and total acceptance of her as his Mommy. That acceptance needed to be bone-deep, it needed to be drilled into the bedrock of his mind.

He shouldn’t see Lily, his wife, and call her Mommy. He should see his Mommy, and call her Mommy because it wouldn’t occur to him call her anything else.

These were the thoughts going through Lily’s head as she sucked her husband’s cock, her lips and tongue working with aggressive speed. Tom was sprawled out on the bed, screaming in pleasure as he writhed in response to every movement Lily made. She paused, rose up onto her hands and knees, and crawled forward to loom over him, placing a finger to his lips.

“Hush, and sit still. Mommy’s working.”

She immediately went back at it, and Tom struggled not to move, clamping his hands over his mouth. Despite his best efforts, he still continued to squirm a little, and a few pitiful little whines escaped from him. Despite her anger, Lily couldn’t help but find that adorable. 

He was lucky he was so cute.

She continued to lick, and suck, and lick, bobbing up and down over and over. And then, just when it seemed as if he couldn’t take anymore, just when it seemed like he was about to completely explode…

She stopped. 

“Alright, Tommy. We can’t spend all day in bed. Let’s go eat breakfast.”

“H-...Huh?...” Tom responded, his voice whining and desperate.

“I told you last night, sweetie. The next time you disobeyed me, you wouldn’t be getting off the hook. I understand it was an accident, and I know that you apologized. But that doesn’t mean you get out of being punished.”

“I… I don’t under-...” He trailed off, swallowing, too close to climax to think straight. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s very simple. Your cumming privileges are revoked, until I think that you’ve learned your lesson.”

“B-but…”

“Tommy. Do you really want more punishment?”

He hesitated, wriggling under her disapproving glare, desperate for release but even more desperate not to disobey her further.

“...No, Mommy.”

“Good. Then let’s eat.”

Tom nodded, then moved to put on his pants. Lily held out a hand to stop him.

“Mm, no, I think pants privileges are revoked, too. I need to be able to keep you honest.”

Tom looked at her pleadingly.

“Don’t give me that! You have nowhere to be. You can wear pants again after you’ve earned them.”

Tom slumped, defeated. “Fine.”

“Not a fan of your tone, but I’ll let it slide. Now seriously, come on. I’ve got a quiche cooling on the counter and it should be just about perfect.”

* * *

Tom couldn’t even think.

At the breakfast table, Lily had served him a slice of quiche—it was delicious—as she went over the chores he had to do for the day. She wanted him to put away the dishes, mop the kitchen, vacuum everywhere else, and dust everything. If he did a good enough job, she’d finally let him cum.

“Okay… Mommy. I’ll get the house cleaned.”

“Good! But, remember, this is a punishment, which means… come here.”

Slowly, Tom rose to his feet, and circled the table to approach her.

“Yeah, see, this doesn’t work,” she said, gesturing to his dick. His erection had largely died down over the course of their meal. “Clearly, I’m going to have to stay on top of this.”

She reached out and ran a finger across his balls, making his knees go weak. Loosely grasping his shaft, she pumped him only a couple of times before stopping. Tom found himself moaning in frustration, his body aching for release as she drew back her hand.

“I need to be careful not to overdo it. Anymore than that and I think I might’ve put you over the edge.”

“Llll…. Mommy, please.”

“Mm. I’m going to enjoy hearing that phrase. Come on, Tommy. Let’s take care of the day’s photoshoot so you can get started on your chores.”

“Ph... Photos? But… I’m naked…”

“And?”

Tom stared at her, the look on her face almost too innocent, as if she couldn’t possibly imagine why that would be a problem.

“Nothing…”

Once they were done shooting, Tom got to work. Or tried to, anyway. Every chore on Lily’s list would’ve been easy at his old size, but ever since the curse, each one was more difficult every time he had to do them. Most of the dishes went in cabinet shelves that were no longer within his reach, which meant that emptying the dishwasher involved dragging a stepladder back and forth around the kitchen. Dusting was a similar story, though at least he didn’t have to bend down so far to reach table legs and lower shelves. Even the vacuuming and mopping were getting harder; the vacuum was starting to get heavy, taking more and more of strength to push around, and if he overfilled the mop bucket, he could barely lift it at all. Amidst everything, he had to admit that this was giving him a newfound appreciation for Lily; she’d been handling chores like this at an even smaller size for years.

Speaking of his wife, she was absolutely relentless. Whichever room Tom went in to work, she found an excuse to lounge around in it. While he was working in the kitchen, she sat at the table with her phone. When he moved into the living room, she sat on the sofa with a book. He couldn’t complain too much about his lack of clothes, because she wasn’t wearing much more than him, never changing or even closing up the bathrobe. She was absolutely stunning, and seemed to make a point of sitting in the most provocative positions possible. The sight of her was incredibly distracting.

And of course that wasn’t the half of it. If, at any point, she decided that he’d gotten too flaccid, she was suddenly upon him, massaging his cock with her fingers or her mouth until it was once again rock-hard. It was driving him insane. It didn’t even really feel good anymore; he was so overstimulated that all he really felt was a constant dull ache, his penis screaming out for attention, making it impossible to concentrate on his chores. A few times, he nearly gave into instinct, reaching down to take care of it himself. A sharp, wordless glare from Lily was all it took to make him stop.

He'd be angry, if he had the mental bandwidth to be anything but desperate.

A few months ago, he could’ve handled the chores in only a couple hours. With his shrunken size, it’d probably take the whole morning and a bit of the afternoon. With Lily’s torture, he was barely even halfway done by 1:00 PM.

“How’s it coming, Tommy?”

“I…” he took a deep breath, reclaiming the handful of available braincells he had to focus them on conversation instead of cleaning. “I’m nearly finished down here. Once I’m done dusting, I can start on the upstairs. I hope it won’t take as long.”

“Good, because I want you take a break from cleaning. I’ve got something else for you to do.” Lily plopped down in the center of the loveseat in the living room, resting her arms across the back of it, and slowly spread her legs, the bathrobe gradually falling more and more open as she did so.

“Wh… What is it, Mommy?”

She smirked at him. “I thought it was pretty obvious. I want you to eat me out, baby.”

“B-but… But I… I haven’t…”

“Hm? Are you trying to say that you haven’t gotten to cum yet? Why should that matter, sweetie? Mommy wants to feel your tongue inside her, and you said this morning that you’d do whatever Mommy wanted you to, right?”

Tom hesitated, fidgeting, so Lily continued. “You’re the one who’s being punished, Tom. I don’t see why I should have to go without just because you misbehaved. Watching you pattering around the house naked all day, keeping you nice and hard, it’s got me horny. So, come help Mommy out.”

Sighing in defeat, Tom approached his wife. Kneeling down, he gradually moved his face closer and closer to her glistening pussy.

“Thaaaat’s it, good boy. You are a good boy, Tommy. I know you’re—ah!!—I know how hard you’re trying. It’s not fair, is it, sweetheart? Mmmmmmm. You made one little slip-up when you first woke up, and Mommy’s been punishing you for it all—oh!—day—ah!!—long. She’s just so strict, isn’t she? Not even a cute, sweet, obedient little thing like you can live up to her standards. Oh!! Mmm, mm-hm, right there, cutie, right there. Keep going. Faster. Faster! Faster!” 

Lily panted, harder and harder, as Tom continued to lick. After only few more moments, she erupted, her heaving breaths turning slower and deeper. The sight of his wife, mostly naked, breasts rising and falling with each inhalation, was nearly enough to make Tom cum right alongside her; he had no idea how he managed to hold it in.

After a beat, Lily smiled down at Tom, still kneeling on the floor. “That was very good, Tommy. Good enough that I think you’ve earned a commuted sentence.” She rose to her feet, and as he moved to follow suit, she scooped him up into her arms, carrying him across the room.

She was going to let him cum? Tom was so overwhelmed with relief that all of his frustrations and misgivings left him at once.

“Thank you, Mommy.”

“Oh, sweetie, you’re welcome!” Slowly, she carried him upstairs to the bedroom. It wasn’t really surprising that she could carry him so easily now, but this was the first time that she’d really proven it.

Setting him down on the edge of the bed, she smiled down at him, the same glowing, affectionate smile he’d first woken up to.

“Let’s see now… what’s going to be the best way to make my little husband cum?” she said as she lowered herself to her knees. “I could finish what I started this morning. I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Y-yes, Mommy.” A part of him couldn’t help but be embarrassed by how pathetic he sounded, but he didn’t care. He needed to feel release.

“I could always use my hands, but that’s not as fun. I could just fuck you… but honestly, I’ve been teasing you so much today that I think you’d burst before I even got you inside of me. Just feeling my thighs against your cock might be enough to do it.”

“I… Uh-huh.”

“What to do, what to do. I mean, you’re so wound-up that I think touching you at all might be enough. In fact, I might not even need to touch you. I bet if I just said the right things, whispered the right words in your ear, that would do it, wouldn’t it Tommy?” As she spoke, she gradually dropped her voice into a low, sultry register, and sure enough his cock began to twitch.

“Please… Mommy, I can’t take it anymore…”

“Oh, sweetie, you’re right. Mommy’s being mean again, isn’t she? If all it’s going to take is one little touch, then I just need to pick the best part of me to touch you with, don’t I? And I think I know just the thing.”

Slowly, Lily leaned in, raising a hand to each of her breasts. At a torturously slow pace, she eased forward more and more, holding her breasts up and apart, until one rested on each of Tom’s thighs. Slowly, slowly, she brought them together, pressing them more and more firmly against Tom’s cock. It was fully buried in her cleavage, completely consumed by her tits. Tom bucked his hips violently as Lily held still, squeezing his penis between her breasts as he came. The torturous anticipation he’d been racked with all day collapsed, crumbling away under the rushing force of one of the most powerful orgasms Tom had ever felt. As he finished, he fell forward, Lilly’s breasts squishing against his midsection as he throw his arms around her neck.

“That’s my good boy.”

Lily closed her eyes, hands fidgeting in anticipation.

She was standing at attention, back pressed against the height chart in her studio. One of the cameras rhythmically clicked as Tom struggled to reach the top of her head to mark her on the chart, stretching as high as he could on his toes. Lily felt his slight, scrawny body struggling against her own, his shoulders bumping up against her breasts, and had shut her eyes to try and ignore him and keep still. 

“I… I can’t reach around your, uh. Your chest.” A thrill went down Lily’s spine, and she had to redouble her efforts to hold still.

“Try from the side then! C’mon, hurry up. You know that today’s the big day!”

Tom swallowed and nodded, moving around to her side. Lily shut her eyes more tightly, balling and unballing her fists as she waited, gripping the fabric of the new teal sundress she’d been saving for the occasion. She’d been waiting to hit this milestone ever since she cracked six feet; she’d been so close yesterday, by today she must have reached—

“Um. I can’t reach from this side either. Your hips are too wide for me to stand close enough. Maybe I can go get a stool—”

“Oh, for… here!” Snapping her eyes open, Lily grabbed him by the waist and hoisted him up. Suddenly, they were eye-to-eye for the first time in nearly a month. Tom blushed, too awestruck to do what he was up here for, and Lily blushed back, heat building between her legs as she studied her husband’s precious, delicate face, and realized just how weightless he felt in her arms.

She broke eye contact by looking up, gesturing with her head to the height chart. Tom shook himself out of his reverie and made a dot with a pen.

“You’re 6’3”, Mommy.” Lily breathed in slowly, deeply, her expanding lungs pressing her tits against Tom’s body.

“A-actually, you… you’re just a little bit taller than 6’3”.”

The cameras kept clicking away, and Lily mentally snapped a picture as well, taking a beat to enshrine this moment in her memory.

“Do you know what that means, Tommy?” she asked, continuing to hold him up to her level.

The look on his face made it clear that he did.

“It means that even if you were still as tall as you used to be, your wife would still be bigger than you.”

“Y-... yeah.”

“But you aren’t as tall as you used to be, are you baby?” Lily turned around, placing Tom against the chart, his head level with the 6’3'' mark. Then, she began to very gradually lower him.

“No, you used to be up here, but now you’re all… the way… down… there.” On “there,” Tom’s feet finally touched the floor again. Lily wrapped her arms around him, her tits deforming around his head as she pulled him firmly into her chest.

“From my big, strong husband, down to my adorable little boy.”

In response, Tom simply threw his arms around her, squeezing her as tightly as he could (which wasn’t all that tightly).

“Are you Mommy’s adorable little boy?”

“...Yes.”

“Then say it, sweetie.”

Tom pulled his face out of her cleave enough to look up at her, face turning a deep shade of red. Lily couldn’t help but laugh.

“I-I’m… I’m your…” She grinned as she felt his erection pressing into her leg, just above her knee. “I’m your a-adorable… adorable little boy…”

“You are!” Lily lifted Tom up again, planting a big kiss on his lips before setting him down and hugging him even more tightly. “And you get littler and more adorable every day. Speaking of! We still need to measure you, don’t we?” 

The doorbell echoed into the garage from the house.

“Stay right there, sweetie. Mommy will be right back.” She quickly made for the front door, her dress flowing around her bare ankles. Even something as simple as answering the doorbell gave her an opportunity to revel in her growth, appreciating how many fewer steps it took to make the trip.

She opened the door on a delivery man, whose eyes only came up to her throat. Surprised, he immediately looked up to meet her gaze, then glanced down at the extraordinary amount of cleavage she had on display, tantalizingly close to his face. After lingering there for just a second too long, he forced himself to look back into her eyes, clearing his throat.

“I have a uh, delivery…” he said, stepping aside to reveal a large cardboard box, roughly three feet long on each side.

“Oh, yes! I’ve been expecting that. Thank you so much, sweetie!” The delivery man was visibly flustered as Lily took a step out onto the stoop, grabbing onto one of the box’s handholds.

“Oh, ma’am, be careful with that! It’s… heavy…” before he’d even finished his warning, Lily had heaved the box up into the air one-handed, steadying it with her other hand as she moved to bring it inside. She set it down in the foyer, then shot the man a wink before shutting the door.

“What is that, Lil—” Tom stopped, feigning a cough to mask his misstep. “Mommy?”

Lily glowered at him for a moment. He hadn’t fully slipped up since the day she’d punished him, but he still kept having all these little near-misses that showed her that he’d yet to really internalize their new relationship. Still, he was technically obeying her, so she couldn’t exactly punish him. She just hoped he’d get better at it with time.

She shook her head and turned her attention to his question. “It’s a new office chair. That cheap one we’ve got upstairs is starting to creak under my weight, and… well, my hips are getting a little too wide to fit between the arm rests. This is one of those big fancy ones, like you see in an executive’s office!”

Tom raised an eyebrow. “Those are… pretty expensive, aren’t they? Can we really afford something like that right now? I mean, I’ve already missed two paychecks being out of work.”

“Sweetheart…” she answered, closing the distance between them and placing a hand against his cheek. “You’re talking to me like I’m your wife. I’m your Mommy now, remember?”

“But, no, that’s… That’s not… I’m talking about our money. That’s… you know… real.”

Lily’s eyes went wide and Tom desperately tried to backpedal as she silently fumed. “I’m not! I’m not saying that… this, isn’t real. But, I’m just worried, you know? You bought us both all-new clothes this week, and that’s like, the second or third time you’ve done that. And now the chair, it… I mean, I can see our bank account. The costs are adding up.”

“Tom, what are you?”

“...Huh?”

Lily shrugged and crossed her arms, staring down at her husband imperiously. “What are you?” she repeated. “What did you just tell me that you are?”

Tom still didn’t catch on for a moment or two, but when he did, he shook his head. “No, Li—” her stare intensified and he stopped himself, clearly more out of frustration than out of respect.

He was really trying her patience.

“No, Mommy, that’s not what I’m talking about right now. I—”

“That’s what I’m talking about right now, Tommy.” She took a step closer, resting a hand on each of his shoulders and standing up straight, lording her eighteen inch height advantage over him. Light streamed in through the window in the front door at Lily’s back, making it so that he was literally in her shadow.

Her intimidation tactic worked, and she watched the nerve drain out of his face. He looked so small down there, so pathetic. Is this what she used to look like to him? He’d never tried to intimidate her with his size like this, but the fact that he used to even be capable of it made her angry.

“Now, I’m going to ask you again, and if you don’t answer me this time, you’re not going to like what happens. What are you?”

Tom sputtered and stuttered, the little bit of defiance he’d mustered completely draining away from him. “I-I… I’m… your adorable little boy.”

“That’s right, Tom, you are. Do adorable little boys worry about things like ‘bank accounts?’”

“I… I…” Looking down into his eyes, she could see that he wanted to argue with her. His lips quivered as he tried to force himself to speak, but no words came.

“Personally, I think that adorable little boys, adorable good little boys, trust their Mommies to handle things like that for them. Don’t you agree, Tommy?”

“Uh… I…” she could feel him trembling through her hands. Good. “I guess so…”

“Do you trust your Mommy, Tom?”

“I-it’s not about trust, I’m j-just worried that we’re going to run out of—”

“Tom. Do you trust your Mommy?”

“I… I mean… of course I trust you.”

“Mommy.”

“Huh?”

“Say, ‘of course I trust you, Mommy.’”

Tom deflated slightly. His eyes darted around, but with how close she was, there was nowhere he could turn to avoid looking at her.

“...Of course I trust you, Mommy.”

“Louder.”

“Of course I trust you, Mommy!”

“Good boy.” Warmth had all at once returned to her voice, and she smiled at him as she patted his head. She was still mad, but she needed to reinforce the behavior she wanted out of him.

“Now say, ‘I’m sorry for talking back to you, Mommy.’”

She could hear Tom’s voice catch in his throat. His lips quivered, and there was a slight shimmer in his eyes.

Was she really making him cry?

“I-I…” He heaved a sigh, turning his gaze toward the ground. She realized that it wasn’t her that was bringing him to tears, not exactly. It was his shame that he wasn’t putting up more of a fight.

She’d have to train that out of him.

“I’m sorry for talking back to you, Mommy.”

“Good boy,” she cooed. Gently, she used one hand to tilt his head up to face her, and the other to wipe away the tear running down his cheek. She kissed him tenderly on the forehead, and smiled as she felt him shutter beneath her.

“Now, sweetie, I want you to say just one more thing: ‘let me put your new chair together for you, Mommy, to show you how sorry I am and how much I love you.’”

“L-let me put your new chair together for you, M-mommy. To, to show you how s-sorry I am, and how much I love you.”

“Oh, honey! That’s so sweet of you! You can take it to the garage to work on it. Be careful though, it’s heavy. Don’t try to pick it up, just drag it. We’ll have to finish the photo shoot later—oh! That’s right! The cameras are still going!” Lily took off toward the garage, leaving Tom to struggle with the heavy box alone.

She was still nursing a bit of anger toward her husband, but it was starting to fade. More importantly, she felt pretty confident that after all that he wouldn’t ask her any more questions about their finances.

Which was good, because she didn’t want to spoil his surprise.

* * *

Tom had let this get out of hand.

Obviously, he had a pretty strong submissive streak. He’d made his peace with that weeks ago. He even had to admit that it was pretty fucking hot when Lily put on the whole “Mommy” act. He didn’t really mind calling her Mommy while they fooled around. If he was being honest, he liked it, and he liked it a lot.

But this entire time, Lily had been pushing the envelope further and further. It was fun, at first, as she kept exploring more and more ways to dominate him, her efforts multiplied by her absorption of his size. But something about that day he first called her Mommy… it felt like something had changed. Like he’d activated something in her, and this was no longer a matter of fun and games. She wasn’t content to take charge in the bedroom, wasn’t content to find little ways to belittle and dominate him throughout the day. Now, it felt like she wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than complete, unquestioning subservience.

Lily had told him, back when he was 5’6” (God, that seemed so tall now!) that he was in complete control. That she was only playing the role of a dominant partner because that’s what he liked, and if he stopped liking it, all he had to do was say the word, and she’d stop. He only had to give her as much of his size as he wanted. She’d play the role of the boss, but in reality, he’d be the one in charge.

Had that ever been true?

Had she just told him what he needed to hear to agree to go along with all of this? Or, had she really meant it at the start, and decided to quietly change the terms of the arrangement somewhere along the line? Did he lose control of the situation at some point, or did he never have it to begin with? 

As he lay in bed alone, curled up in the sheets as he listened to Lily moving about downstairs, another possibility occurred to him. What if he did still have control? He’d complained, and pushed back, and even gotten upset a few times, but he’d never actually told her to stop. What if…

What if on some level, he wanted this?

No, that couldn’t be true.

Then why hadn’t he tried to have a serious talk with her? Over the past several days, he’d occasionally tried to resist her, tried to argue or assert himself, but she’d just steamroll him and he’d inevitably go along with whatever she said. She’d “punished” him a couple times, but she rarely had to go that far. A stern look, a sharp word, and he’d suddenly feel an irresistible wave of shame and guilt, and found himself desperate to get back in her good graces. 

Was… Was this the next stage of the curse? Was he right from the start that it was playing with their minds? That would explain why Lily had suddenly kicked her domination games into overdrive, and why he found himself incapable of resisting her; even now, as he considered the idea of going downstairs and calmly but firmly asserting some boundaries, the idea was unpleasant to him. The mere thought felt like touching a hot stove.

That was it then. The curse was robbing him of his willpower, just like it was robbing him of his size. Maybe Lily would stop if he could work up the nerve to force the issue… but he wasn’t capable of doing that anymore.

The only other explanation was that… that for all his fretting and complaining, he liked the way Lily was treating him. And that just couldn’t be right. He wanted his independence! He’d been telling himself for a while that he’d talk to her about ending their sex life once they swapped heights; that seemed like a poetic way to close things out. But now, 4’9” was in the rearview, and he still hadn’t even tried to broach the subject. It… it just never seemed like the right time. Either she was scolding him for failing to meet her expectations of obedience, or she was smothering him with affection, or they were having a normal, quiet moment, and bringing it up would ruin that.

Or, or, or.

Was the curse going to ever let him ask to stop? 

“Tommy!” came Lily’s voice from the kitchen, followed by creaking stairs. Lily’s footsteps were just a little bit heavier every day. “Are you awake?”

“Yes… Mommy.” He rolled over to look toward the door, and his jaw dropped.

Lily was breathtaking. The first time he saw her each day, her beauty overwhelmed him all over again. Probably because, in part, every morning she was just a little bit more beautiful than she’d been the night before.

She was wearing a soft blue sleeveless sweater-dress, the chunky knit patterns in the fabric warping and stretching as they traced the outrageous elliptical lines of her body, flaring out dramatically at her chest, coming back in to follow the curve of her belly, before once again exploding outward as the dress reached her hips, so wide they nearly filled the doorframe, before the hem finally terminated just above the knee.

Her hips filled the doorway horizontally, and the rest of her filled it vertically, her head only a few inches shy of the molding, her wild auburn mane taking up most of the gap. Her hair, wavy and lustrous, rose voluminously off of her scalp before descending down her shoulders and beyond, curling up just a bit at the tips. It looked messy at first blush, but it was clearly a well-manicured, deliberately planned mess.

And then there was her face, smiling that same adoring smile it did so often, watching him wordlessly as he slowly took in the sight of her. 

Tom finally realized he’d been staring.

“Um. Sorry.”

“No! Mommy loves the way you look at her, sweetie. Never apologize for that. You look as long as you like.”

Tom felt an aching in his heart. Her words, soft and melodious, made him painfully aware of just how much empty space there was in the bed when she wasn’t in it. His feet came nowhere close to the edge of the mattress, and even if he were to lay spread-eagle, he wouldn’t be able to reach either of the sides from his current position. Seeing her there in the doorway, the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen, looking down at him with such pure, undiluted love, it made every single inch that separated them feel unbearably painful. All he wanted to do was curl up with her, let her soothing touch and warm, expansive body take away all of his fears and anxieties.

The fact that she was the root cause of those fears and anxieties didn’t make him want that any less.

Slowly, she began to enter the bedroom, and Tom did his best to hide the anticipation he felt as she drew closer. She sat on the side of the bed, and Tom felt the mattress deform under her weight. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she reached out and gently guided him to scoot over and lay his head on her lap, sliding her dress up slightly to give him full access to her impossibly silky thigh. He sighed as she stroked his hair, and he very nearly forgot entirely that he’d been so troubled before she came in.

None of that seemed important right now.

“I got a phone call, sweetie. I actually have a wedding booked this weekend.”

“Oh!... Really? I haven’t heard you talk about wedding photos in months.”

“I know, but these folks booked me all the way back last year. I did their engagement photos, they were really nice!... Boy. I guess they’re gonna be in for a real surprise when they see me, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, wow. Well, we do need the money.”

Lily’s hand came to a rest on Tom’s neck. “Oh, sweetie, are you still thinking about that? I told you to let me worry about it.”

“I know, but. It’s just… we’re burning through most of our savings. I’ll probably have to go back to work soon.”

“Shhh.” She began gently massaging his shoulder; Tom thought about how strong Lily had gotten, and how hard she must be concentrating to avoid using too much force. “You need to trust your Mommy, sweetheart. She’s got everything under control, I promise.”

Tom tried to respond, but Lily just kept talking. “Anyway, I don’t really love shooting weddings, but it might be fun to see it from a different perspective! No more standing on chairs to get a good eye-level shot, ha. Plus, it’s been a little bit since you’ve gotten out; why don’t you come with me?”

“You want me to come?”

“Sure! Why not? Good food, dancing—oh, I haven’t gotten to dance with you since you started shrinking, that’ll be a blast. I’ll get the pictures taken care of in the first hour or two, and then we’ll make a date night out of it!”

“...Okay! Sure! That sounds fun.”

Lily gently started tugging on Tom, pulling him into her lap and sitting him up. Sitting on her leg like this brought him up to her eye level… maybe slightly below it.

“There’s just one thing, sweetie. I expect you to behave yourself if I take you out. Do you understand what I mean?”

Tom furrowed his brow, and then widened his eyes, his jaw going slack. “No… Please.”

Lily smiled and shook her head. “You have to call me Mommy. If anything, it’s even more important that you do it in public. It wouldn’t reflect very well on me if people saw that I let my little boy talk to me disrespectfully, would it?”

“Re-wh-... How will it reflect on me if people hear me call you that? Everyone will think I’m some kind of… weird pervert!”

“Well, Tommy, first of all: you are kind of a weird pervert. But that’s okay, it turns out so am I. And secondly—”

“I—!”

“And secondly, you don’t have to worry about what anyone else thinks of you. There’s only one person in the entire world you need to please, and she wants you to call her Mommy when she takes you out. Will you do it? Will you be good for me?”

This was it. This was the perfect opportunity to try and hit the brakes. She was making a new demand of him, more ridiculous and humiliating than anything before. And she was asking him if he was willing to go through with it. He didn’t know how much she was really asking, but she was asking all the same. 

This was the time to say something.

No, I’m not going to do that.

I’m sorry, but that’s too much for me.

We should have set a safeword at the start of this; I’d be using it right now if we had.

“...”

“Tom?”

“...O-...Okay, Mommy. I’ll do it.”

Either Tom was right, and the curse was taking away his willpower, or Lily was right, and he was a gigantic pervert.

Well.

“Gigantic” really wasn’t the right word.

“Yay!! Oh, I knew I could count on you, sweetie.” She squeezed him, tightly enough that it probably would have hurt if not for the ample cushioning of her soft sweater and the supple flesh beneath it, and kissed the side of his head over and over again. Each kiss seemed to snuff out one of the screaming voices inside of him, pleading with him to turn back while there was still time. Soon, there was only one thought remaining in his head:

God, her lips are so big now.

“Let’s go get measured for the day, and then I’ll make you something to eat, okay sweetie?” She didn’t bother waiting for his answer, and instead simply stood up, carrying him down the stairs. Some distant part of Tom continued to struggle and fight for control the entire way, but the rest of him simply stared up in awe at Lily’s beautiful face.

Stepping into the garage, Lily shifted Tom in her arms, maneuvering him so that he was facing her, guiding him to hook his hands around her neck and his legs around her waist; his legs didn’t really reach around her waist, but they were able to rest comfortably on her hips. Supporting him with one hand, she began turning on the cameras with another, and before long, they were all clicking away.

Slowly, Lily peeled Tom off of her, and set him down facing the height chart. His eyes were level with the 4’5” mark, and he slowly looked up, tilting his head to fixate four inches higher, at the 4’9” mark.

He thought back to how life used to be. To his slight, petite wife. The woman he could pin to the mattress without a thought, who he used to sling over his shoulder and carry around like it was nothing. He imagined her, at her old height, her old proportions, looking down at him from that 4’9” mark.

Even if she hadn’t grown an inch… she…

“That’s right, cutie.” The real Lily leaned against him, mushing him against the chart, his head just barely clearing the underside of her breasts.

“Even if I hadn’t grown an inch, I’d still be bigger than you. Probably stronger, too.”

That wasn’t what Tom had been thinking. Not exactly, anyway. No,the thought that had shot through Tom’s mind had been more pointed. More troubling. Surely he hadn’t thought that, right? That… that had to be the curse. It had to be! It had planted the thought in his brain, the thought that now continued to reverberate through the corridors of his mind.

Even if she hadn’t grown an inch… she’d still be big enough to be my Mommy.

Lily was having fun.

“Alright, let’s get one with Carl and Grandma now! Everyone else, back out of the frame please.”

It’s not like she hated doing wedding photos. They’d just gotten a bit samey. She’d taken a long enough break that doing this felt a little novel again. Plus, she was actually getting to point her camera around, frame shots, make creative decisions; the kinds of things that the stationary set-up she used for her and Tom at home didn’t allow for.

And, frankly, it was just fun to be big in public.

At 6’6”, she was nearly a full head taller than the next tallest person in attendance. She was drawing so much attention that she was a little worried that she was upstaging the bride. She’d tried to dress conservatively, putting her hair in a tight bun and wearing a professional-looking pantsuit.

But a body like hers was hard to conceal.

On some level, Lily didn’t really feel like she was growing. It felt more like the world around her was getting smaller. The bride, the groom, the crowd of guests, the other vendors… Everyone was just so little! It was like she’d been invited to a miniature wedding—even the taller men seemed somehow smaller to her than it seemed like they should. A thought struck her as she considered why: her eyes were growing along with the rest of her. Everything really did look smaller to her than it would to someone of equal stature.

Well, whatever the explanation, the end result was that the entire mini-wedding struck her as absolutely adorable.

“Alright, that’s perfect. Oh, Carl, your boutonniere just got knocked a little out of whack. Lemme come fix it for you.” It was a lie; she just needed an excuse to get close to the groom. His grandmother stepped away as she fiddled with the lapel of his tuxedo and the flower pinned to it,     looking at him judgmentally the entire time.

“Carl, sweetie, you’ve been staring at me ever since I got here. I know I can be a little… distracting, but don’t you think there’s someone else you should be focusing on today?”

“What? No, I…” He trailed off as Lily raised an eyebrow, silently questioning whether he was really going to deny her accusation. “...You’re completely right. I am very sorry.”

“Oh, hon, it’s not my feelings you hurt.” Truth be told, he probably didn’t hurt his new wife’s, either; she’d been staring just as much as everyone else. She was staring right now! Lily beckoned her over with one hand as she finished “adjusting” Carl’s tux.

“Linda, you gotta keep an eye on this guy! Make sure you don’t ever let him forget who’s boss, alright?” They both laughed at her teasing as she pulled her camera off of her neck and handed it to Linda. “Here. Take a selfie together. It’ll be fun to see it mixed in with all the other photos.”

Lily wrapped up the photoshoot and wandered into the reception hall, scanning the crowd for her husband. Her eyes lit up when she saw Tommy standing against the back wall, wearing a suit that she was pretty sure matched the 10-year-old ring bearer’s. The crowd wordlessly parted for her as she entered the room; even those who didn’t turn to look at her, few and far between as they were, instinctively knew to get out of her way. She reveled in the feeling of power. A crowd like this would have been a nightmare to navigate before, but now, she commanded it without so much as a single word or gesture.

She was so glad she came.

* * *

Tom was starting to wish he hadn’t come.

He’d never been much of a social butterfly. He probably would’ve felt a little awkward at a stranger’s wedding no matter what. But now that he was a mere 4’6”, it wasn’t just awkward; to be perfectly honest, it was a little scary. Being surrounded by so many people, so much bigger than him, getting gawked at, getting lost in a sea of people who towered over him when he tried to make his way over to the bar, getting turned away from the bar because he was mistaken for a child… it was overwhelming.

Making matters even worse was the fact that all those little, unconscious ways that people were belittling him, treating him as less-than just because of his small size… it was making him anxious, but to his shame, it was also making him horny. He hoped that Lily would finish with the pictures soon. Her teasing would probably just exacerbate his problems, but even so, he’d feel a little more secure if he had her here with him.

He needed his M—... his wife. He needed his wife.

He’d no sooner had the thought when Lily’s head, hovering over the entire crowd, got his attention. He smiled as she waved to him and strode over by his side.

“Hey there,” she said as she leaned against the wall, arm resting well over his head. “What’s a cute little thing like you doing here all alone?”

“W-waiting for my wife.” She was so fucking huge now. The last inch she’d taken from him brought the top of his head down beneath her breasts, forcing her to lean down slightly to even see him when she was standing this close.

“Your wife?” Lily asked. Her tone was more playful than scolding; “wife” was still a word she allowed him to use, after all. Still, he knew exactly what she wanted him to say. He gulped, looking around to make sure no one was too close before turning his gaze back up at her radiant emerald eyes, peeking at him over the swell of her enormous bust.

“M-my Mommy, I mean. I’m waiting for my Mommy.”

“Mm. That’s two.”

“...Huh?”

“Two times you’ve addressed me properly, cutie. I’m keeping count. Listen, I know full-well that I’m making a big ask. Which is why…” she bent down further, leaning far enough that she was nose-to-nose with him. “...Once we get home tonight, I’m going to reward you for each and every time you do it.” She punctuated the explanation with a kiss, then reached out her hand for him to take.

With no point of comparison, it looked like the same delicate, dainty hand that it always used to be. But as he reached up to take it, it clearly dwarfed his own. His hand was completely subsumed by hers.

“Come on sweetheart, they’re about to start serving dinner.”

The two of them were seated at a table near the back of the dining hall; understandably, the better seats were reserved for the actual guests. They shared a table with a few other hired hands: the florist, the planner, and the makeup artist. Lily effortlessly fell into a familiar pattern of small-talk, having had these kinds of conversations dozens of times over the years.

Tom was preoccupied with the fact that his feet didn’t reach the floor. Between that, the smaller portion of food Lily had arranged for him, and everyone else at the table talking shop about weddings, something he knew nothing about… he felt like a kid that got seated at the grown-ups’ table.

“And, what do you do, Tommy?” asked the florist. Tom internally winced; Lily had been the one to introduce him, so now all of these strangers were using her pet name for him.

“I uh. Work at an accounting firm. We mostly service local companies around town. You know, places too small to have their own accounting department.” With the conversation pivoting to something he could actually talk about, he felt a small bump in his confidence, and sat up a little straighter. He reached for his flute of champagne…

…And Lily snatched it away from him.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Tommy.”

So much for the confidence.

“Li… Mommy,” Tommy said sharply, between his teeth, praying that the others wouldn’t catch what he said.. “Y’know, I am an adult. I’m allowed to drink.” He reached for the glass, but she pulled it further away and gave him a disapproving look.

“First of all, you need to watch your tone.” The florist and the planner exchanged awkward glances. “And secondly, I’m serious. You haven’t had any alcohol since you started shrinking, we don’t know how much you can handle anymore.”

“Did… did you say shrinking?” the planner asked.

“Oh, yeah! Tommy didn’t always used to be such a cute little guy. Actually, he used to be nearly as tall as I am!” Lily beamed happily at the others, as if what she was saying didn’t sound insane. Tom nervously picked at the chicken breast on his plate, praying for the moment to end.

“I used to be a lot smaller, too. Nearly as small as him. We’ve kind of traded places, plus a little extra!”

The makeup artist cautiously laughed, assuming that Lily must be making a joke. The others joined in, and Lily laughed alongside them before downing Tom’s champagne in one gulp, then reached for her own.

“Whoa! Are you sure you should be drinking that much?” Tom asked.

“Oh, please. I’m huge! I could probably down a whole bottle without it doing anything!” Lily giggled, then threw back the second glass.

* * *

Lily had miscalculated.

It was true that her body was much larger now, and that it took more to get her drunk than it used to. But until three months ago, she’d been 4’9” and 80 pounds soaking wet, and she was only used to drinking enough for that body. Her alcohol tolerance was, apparently, one thing that hadn’t grown with her, and her increased mass could only help so much when she was used to getting tipsy off a single glass of wine.

The evening quickly turned into a blur.

Lily leading the dance-floor in a… somewhat loose interpretation of the Electric Slide.

Carl and Linda insisting she do a shot with them.

The bridesmaids insisting she do a shot with them.

The groomsmen cheering her on as she made good on her threat to chug an entire bottle of champagne. 

Tom, desperately trying to stay upright as she aggressively grinded on him.

Tom, slow-dancing with her, his head tucked beneath her breasts.

The whole crowd laughing as, in the middle of the song, Lily loudly asked if anyone had seen her husband, she seemed to have misplaced him.

The whole crowd cheering as she took off her jacket, undid a few buttons of her blouse, and let her hair down.

Tom, bringing her a pitcher of water.

Tom, sitting on her lap while she made out with him, the water untouched.

Linda and the bridesmaids, insisting she do another shot.

Linda and the bridesmaids, shouting questions about her and Tom over the music.

“Feel how light he is!” Lily yelled, hoisting Tom up and offering him to Linda, who herself was drunk enough to accept without really thinking. The smaller woman had to struggle slightly to take him… but not that much.

“Oh wow, yeah, he’s like… a heavy suitcase, maybe!”

“Really?” another bridesmaid interjected. “Let me try!”

“Alright, alright!” Tom shouted indignantly. He struggled out of the maid of honor’s arms, hitting the floor with a hard thud.

“Ow!”

“Ohhh, sweetie, c’mere! Let Mommy kiss it better!”

The other women all laughed.

“So like, I don’ wanna pry but… what happened to you? When me ‘n Carl got our engagement photos done, you were like…” Linda held her hand flat at her clavicle, to indicate Lily’s old height. “‘N now, yer like…” She opened her hands and her eyes wide, gesturing to Lily’s massive form. “How’s that even happen?”

“We have no idea!” Lily giggled in response. “It jus’ started happenin’ one day. But I like it, and he likes it, so iss workin’ out!”

“How’s that even work?” a bridesmaid asked. “I mean, if I had a guy like that, I’d be worried about breakin’ ‘im. An’ yer a lot bigger’n me. What do you two even… y’know… do?”

Lily grinned impishly as she sat down, plopping Tom onto her lap and cuddling him against her “Whatever I want. That’s the best part.” A round of approving “oooohs” came in response.

“Tommy likes it that way, though. He likes it when I boss ‘im around, don’t you, sweetie?”

When he didn’t answer right away, Lily frowned and looked down at him. “Iss okay, baby. Iss nothing to be ashamed about.” She turned back to her new friends. “He’s shy about admitting it, but iss true. He gets off on doing what I tell ‘im.”

Once again, everyone burst into laughter.

“Sounds like the perfect husband!”

“Linda, it’s not too late for an annulment! You should find a guy like that instead!”

Lily laughed way too hard at the joke, Tom bouncing up and down on her leg as she did. “No, no, Carl seems like a good guy. You jus’ gotta train him, thassall.” More laughter. “Jus’ gotta find the right buttons to push. Like Tommy here, he’s got kind of a… Mommy thing. He likes to be mothered. Don’t you, sweetie?”

Tom blushed intensely, making himself smaller as he stared at the ground.

“Aww, look how embarrassed he is!”

“It, I, mmph…” Tom sputtered.

“Tommy, why don’t you tell all these nice ladies what you are?”

Tom looked up at her, pleading, still nursing the arm he’d landed on, but in her drunken state that just made Lily laugh. “C’mon! Say it!”

“You can tell us, Tommy!”

“Yeah, we’re all friends here!”

“I… I… ugh. I’m… her adorable little boy.”

Tom cringed so hard at the ensuing wave of laughter and whooping that Lily drunkenly imagined him actually shrinking, right there in her lap.

After more drinking and dancing and laughter, at some point Lily found herself holding a microphone, the one that had been used for toasts during dinner.

“I just wanna say!—ooh, whoops,” Lily had shouted far too loud into the mic. She certainly had everyone’s attention now.

“I jus’ wanna say, that you are all wonnerful people, an’ I know, I’m not a guest, I’m just the photog… photographer, but I’ve had such a great time getting to know alla you!” The crowd cheered in response. “Carl, Linda, you’re such a cute lil’ couple, you’re both such sweethearts, and I’m so glad I got to be the one to doc… to docu… document your big day! I can’t wait to share all the pitchers with you, an’—”

There was a sudden burst of feedback, and then the amps went dead. Confused, Lily looked down at the microphone, then covered her mouth in shock.

“Oh my god, I am soso sorry!” She shouted. “I… I’ll be honest I am drunk off my ass.” The crowd all laughed. “I guess I was… grippin’ the microphone too hard, and…” She held it up for everyone to see; the plastic casing was crushed, as was the circuit board inside. Little chips of plastic flaked off and fell to the floor.

“I dunno who owns this, but please, lemme know, I will pay for that. Gosh, thass embarrassing… Tommy, I can’t see where you are, but I promise I’ll be gentl’er than this when we get home!” Roaring laughter filled the hall as Lily gingerly set the smashed microphone on a nearby table and slinked away.

* * *

Tom was exhausted.

It was well past midnight, and he was doing his best to prop up his wife as they made their way to the car. In truth, he wasn’t capable of doing much other than steer her in the right general direction.

“Here,” he said, opening the back door. “You should lay down. You’ve had way too much to drink.”

“I… don’ approve of you tellin’ me what to do.” Lily then proceeded to do exactly what he told her to do.

“Ughh… there’s no space back here! My legs’re all cramped up! This car’s gettin’ too small.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to get us home fast.” Tom climbed into the driver seat and moved the seat as far forward as it would go.

“...Oh. That’s… oh.”

“Wha? What is it?”

“I, um. I can’t reach the petals.”

Loud, snorting, drunken laughter exploded out of the back seat. “Oh my god! You’re so tiny now, Tommy! Ah… shit. What’re we gonna do?”

“I guess we’ll just have to call an Uber, and you’ll have take one back here tomorrow to get the car.

“Ohhh no. Suddenly Misser Cheapskate wants t’splurge on an Uber? No way, ‘stoo pricey.”

“Well, okay then! What’s your idea for getting us home?”

“We’ll jus’ wait ‘til I sober up, it’s fine.”

“L—Mommy, that’s going to take hours. We’ll be here until morning, at least.”

“Thass fine, I know how we can spen’ the time.” She pushed herself up to one elbow, smiling at him sleepily. “I kept count all night, Tommy. I can’t walk straight, but I kept count. Well… okay maybe I lost count at some point, but I got an estimate.”

“...What? Kept count of what?”

“How many times you called me Mommy! I tol’ you, I was gonna reward you for each of ‘em. With that las’ one you just did, yer at 22. I’m gonna make you cum 22 times. I’ll prolly be good t’drive by the time I’m finished.”

“We’re not going to fuck in the car 22 times. Especially not in the middle of a parking lot.”

“Sure we are! I think we got a blanket in the trunk.”

“You were just complaining that you didn’t have enough space back there.” 

“Someone’s bein’ a sourpuss.” Lily tried to put a teasing affect on her voice, but her slurred speech sort of ruined it. “Yer grumpy about me teasin’ you in front of all those ladies, aren’t you?”

“I mean… I didn’t like it.”

“Sure you did.” For a split second, Lily seemed astonishingly sober. But it didn’t last. “You love bein’ humiliated and domi-... domni… nominated.”

“I don’t like being forced to call you Mommy in front of other people.”

“That makes 23,” she smiled. “An’ I think you do. I think… I think this whole thing yer doin’ is part of it fer you, too. You don’t jus’ wanna gimme control, you wan’ me to have to take it. You wanna tell yerself that iss happenin’ agains’ yer will, ‘cuz iss hotter for you that way. Isn’t that right, Tommy?”

Tom was silent for a long moment, Lily grinning at him like the Cheshire Cat in the rearview mirror. At last, instead of answering, he decided to fish his phone out of his pocket.

“Look, I’m just gonna get us a cab—”

“No yer not!” Lily shouted. She seized Tom by the wrist, making him drop his phone down into the footwell. “Yer gonna get back here and let Mommy reward you! Oop, iss 24 now.”

“That one was you! Let go!!” Tom struggled vainly as she yanked on him, pulling him through the front seats and into her arms. He struggled against her, but it was completely fruitless; he may as well have been wrestling a grizzly bear. Her movements were slow and awkward, between how drunk she was and how little space she had to work with, but bit by bit she was managing to peel off his clothes, pressing her lips to any patch of skin she managed to expose. 

“Stop! Stop it, Lily!”

Suddenly, she did. She went completely still, and a wave of fear overcame Tom. He’d just called her Lily. It was bad enough that she was about to fuck him in public; was she about to figure out a way to punish him in public now?

There wasn’t enough light for him to clearly see her face. He froze in her arms for a long, silent moment. Every second she didn’t say something, his fears multiplied.

Finally, the silence broke, as a long, low snore escaped her lips.

Tom breathed a sigh of relief. He moved to get off of her, to crawl back into the front and get his phone… and found that he couldn’t. He couldn’t move at all. Her arms were still wrapped around him, and even asleep, she was too strong for him to get out of her hold.

“Mommy… Mommy! Wake up! Lily!”

“Mmm… Mommy loves you too, baby.” She shifted slightly, but didn’t loosen her grip at all. He kept trying to call out to her, to struggle against her powerful arms, but it was useless. She was dead to the world, and all he could do was lay there, half-dressed, and wait for her to wake up.

She had complete power over him, even while she was unconscious.