Chapter 3

“He’s not my…butler, grandma,” said Alice, who hadn’t looked up yet from chopping vegetables. But as Elena came striding into the kitchen, with Jack nestled cosily into the crook of her big arm, Alice turned around and put her hand up to her mouth. Jack couldn’t tell if she was smiling or laughing or just surprised, but a moment later, her gently shaking body confirmed that she was trying her best to stifle a giggle.

“But…heheh…you sure do look cute there, Jack,” Alice said, blinking her eyes gently as she managed to hold back the most obvious signs of her humor. She couldn’t deny that her brother looked so adorably cute there, being held by Elena like that, but she knew that he was feeling quite sensitive around his still-mysterious condition, and didn’t want to exacerbate his insecurities surrounding it.

“Doesn’t he, though?” laughed Elena, hitching Jack up on her hip like he was a little child, causing his legs to swing and bob in the air. “And to think that he’s your older brother, Alice! Haha, it’s not even that he just looks younger — I think anyone could easily mistake him for your son, at this point!”

“Aw, now…uh, don’t lay it on too hard, grandma,” Alice said softly, putting down her knife and wiping her hands in her apron as she turned to face them. “Jack’s been going through a lot and…and he’s a little sensitive right now, you know?”

“Awwwww, a little sensitive, huh?” teased Elena, turning down to pinch Jack’s cheek with her big fingers. “I’m sorry, little one — of course I should have assumed that someone sooooo little would also be a little overwhelmed to be next to someone as big as me.”

“Oh, and I totally knew that you’d come decked out in some heels,” came Sadie’s voice. She was striding in from the living room. “Just to lord it over Jack, haha!”

“Well speak for yourself,” chuckled Elena, pointing down to Sadie’s black platform heels. “Pot calling the kettle black, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Where’d you get those?” asked Sadie, pointing down to her mother’s open-toed heels. “They’re super cute.”

“Oh I got these at Shein,” remarked Elena, lifting one foot up out of the air in a sexy pose. As she did so, Jack felt himself sink down a little further on her arm, and he felt his little legs bump into the soft, pillow flesh of Elena’s exposed lower stomach.

“Hmmm, nice,” replied Sadie, pursing her lips in thought as she looked down at her mother’s heels. “I’ve been meaning to branch out a little and get some slightly higher heels…haha, I mean, it’s not like we can make ourselves any smaller around Jack, so why not just embrace whatever’s happening and flex our femininity a bit?”

“I think,” put in Alice, who was starting to get a little uncomfortable, “That Jack’s condition doesn’t really call for us to “flex” anything, really. We should just be trying to make him as comfortable as possible, and…well, maybe not talk so much about how small he is?”

“Haha, oh Alice!” chided Elena playfully, tilting her head to the side as she looked slightly downward at her granddaughter, “Always the nice one…always so soft, gentle, understanding…you’re a lucky little guy, you know that, right, Jack? Having such a sweet “little” sister to look after you.”

“And yet…looks like even Alice can’t resist a bit of the “feminine flex,”” teased Sadie, pointing down to Alice’s 2-inch heels. “Those make you, what? 6’1? 6’2?”

“Almost 6’2,” murmured Alice quietly, suddenly blushing crimson in embarrassment. “And…they’re not a flex, mom. I just…I just decided that it might be nice to wear them around the house a little.”

“Mmhmm, she’s embracing the old “domestic” persona already,” laughed Elena, giving Alice a playful little poke with her free hand. “And lemme tell you, Alice — once you start down that road, it’s reeeeally hard to go back. The more you sink into it, the better and more natural it feels.”

Alice’s eyes shot over to Jack, and, for a quick moment, his eyes went up to hers, and their gazes locked. He saw that her cheeks were rosy with shyness, and even though a part of him wondered why she was reacting this way to her grandmother’s expected and typical teasing, another part of him — an unspoken, subconscious, deeper part — understood what was going on…that she was feeling self-conscious about the “caretaker” role that she had been increasingly inhabiting in regards to him. And somehow, strangely, her self-consciousness served to intensify the sensuality of her appearance, and Jack found himself staring at her full, feminine arms, her large breasts, and the soft, tight flesh of her exposed stomach.

“Ehehe, well…whatever you say, grandma,” Alice laughed softly, trying to keep the conversation moving along with a humorous little shake of her head.

Elena continued touring around Alice’s house with Jack on her hip for the next several minutes, giving Sadie a chance to complete her “spruce-up,” and giving Alice a chance to finish preparing the birthday meal. Jack had tried to protest that Alice needed his help, but Elena had simply laughed and shaken her head.

“Oh no,” she giggled, her big breasts jiggling and shaking against Jack’s body as she laughed, “I think your “big sister” will get on juuuust fine without you, little guy. I mean, I’m sure you thought you were trying to help before, but come on — more than a head shorter than your sister, even with a step stool? Yeeeaaah, I think it’s MUCH better that you just come along on my hip — let’s go out to the garden!”

About twenty minutes later, after Elena had completed her “tour” of Alice’s backyard with Jack, they were all sitting down at the table, ready to tuck into the meal that Alice had prepared. Sadie had proposed that Jack use a kid’s seat, but Jack had complained about this, ultimately refusing it.

“I’m only 4’9, mom!” he had protested. “It’s not like I’m…I don’t know…like a tiny kid or something!”

“Not yet,” Elena had muttered, winking over at Alice as she settled herself down at the head of the table.

“Only 4’9…nice,” Sadie had shot back, shaking her head. “Okaaaay, whatever you want, Jack. But don’t whine and complain if you can’t reach things on the table.”

A few minutes later, Jack found himself wishing that he had swallowed his pride. He could still eat from his plate, but it was a bit awkward, and he had to actually kneel up on his chair to reach the big dishes that were being effortlessly passed around at the table by the other three women.

“Here Jack, just…just let me serve it out to you,” Alice finally muttered down at him, after watching him struggle with the big serving spoon for the pot pie. He watched her large arm reach over him and gently but firmly grasp the spoon, indicating wordlessly that he should let go and let her do her thing.

“So mom, anyway,” Sadie was saying to Elena, “Yeah, that’s right — we’re not sure what’s causing him to get smaller, but Alice has been doing a superb job of taking care of him, and I’ve made sure that I’ve been around a lot more…you know, to oversee how everything’s going.”

“Oversee, huh?” asked Elena, grinning at Alice. “Your mother always has been an “alpha” type, hasn’t she?”

“You could….uh…haha, you could say that,” chuckled Alice, helping herself to a huge spoonful of pot pie. Jack couldn’t help but marvel at the size of his younger sister’s portion — it had to have been three or four times the size of his own. And he knew she was going to eat it all.

“And gosh, I wonder which parent I got THAT from?” joked Sadie, tilting her head sideways and staring straight at Elena. “But yes, considering how long BOTH Jack AND Alice kept his condition a secret from me…well, I think it’s only proper that I come over a lot more, just to see for myself how everything’s going.”

“Well I can’t really blame you, Sadie,” Elena sighed. “It’s important to know what’s going on with Jack’s condition, even if your kids try to “protect” you by keeping it a secret.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve been “protected” enough, thank you very much,” remarked Sadie wryly, looking back and forth at her two adult offspring. “And…Alice, actually, you know…I’ve been thinking…”

“About what, mom?” asked Alice, who had glanced down at Jack and nodded at him, miming spooning food into her mouth, encouraging him to eat.

“Well…I’ve been working from home a lot recently,” mused Sadie, leaning back in her chair and putting her big arms behind her head. “Lots of computer work, you know. I’ve been thinking…why not just bring my computer here and set up a little work station in the den? I can lighten the load you’ve been dealing with, taking care of Jack 24/7 and all…and in return…” and here she turned to look down at Jack from across the table, “…he can do some tasks for me.”

Jack blinked up at his mother, feeling intimidated by her tone. Sadie wasn’t as easy to read as either Elena or Alice. His sister could always be trusted to be kind, gentle, and empathetic, and Elena pretty much wore her heart on her sleeve, and was always a sure bet to inject some good-natured, fun humor into any exchange. But Sadie was different — she was a little more serious, a little more severe, a little more capricious than the other two. Jack didn’t really know what she was getting at with what she had just said. Was she…asking him to be, like…her secretary? Or maybe something else?

“Uh, mom,” began Alice, her voice reflecting Jack’s own confusion, “What kind of tasks are you thinking of having Jack do, exactly?”

“Aww, listen to that,” piped up Elena, who was already mostly done with her first huge plate of food. She pointed at Alice with her fork, going back and forth between her and Jack. “She’s speaking up for my sweet, shrinking grandson! Isn’t that just adorable, Sadie? The big sister protecting her little brother, haha!”

“Oh come on Alice,” said Sadie, still leaning back in her chair as she looked at her daughter steadily, “I know you’ve been shouldering the whole brunt of Jack’s care by yourself, and of course it makes sense that this burden has made you a little…overprotective. But that’s exactly why I’m bringing all this up! You can relax a little, focus on your baking…do whatever…and let me look after him during the day a little bit.”

“I mean, I was doing fine before,” said Alice, turning to Jack with an almost-wistful look in her eyes. “I think? Right?”

Jack nodded vigorously, wanting to make it perfectly clear to Alice that she had been doing a fine job, and that he appreciated her helping him out. It went without saying that this whole conversation was hard for him to listen to already — they were all talking about him, but it was all to do with taking care of him. He was the older brother here! It all felt so embarrassing! And he wasn’t even really THAT short yet, anyway…maybe they were all overreacting.

“Honey, I don’t think your mother’s saying that you’ve been doing a bad job of anything,” said Elena soothingly, reaching over and touching her granddaughter’s arm. “You know how she is…when something important’s happening, she has to be right in the middle of it, you know? Haha, it’s how she’s always been!”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t help it,” Sadie admitted with a shrug, returning to her normal seated pose as she forked herself a hefty helping of pot pie. Once again, Jack couldn’t help but notice how much his mother, his sister, and his grandmother were all eating compared to him. He had tried to eat normally, but he had only managed to pick at his food so far. All three of the women, who had served themselves much larger portions, were already almost done.

“I should’ve been told about Jack’s condition earlier,” Sadie continued, looking back and forth between her two offspring, “And so I don’t think I can really be blamed for being unwilling to take a backseat while my son’s dealing with an unknown ailment that’s already caused him to get reeeeally small and short…and for all we know it’s just starting.”

“Mom, can we…you know, maybe not go there just yet?” asked Alice, with a touch of annoyance in her voice as she put her fork down and then, almost without realizing it, placed her big hand on Jack’s back, right in the middle, so that her hand actually covered a good portion of it. Jack froze, feeling the warm, soft touch of his younger sister’s huge hand on his back, not knowing whether to like it, to be embarrassed, or to be intimidated by it.

“And anyway, how is Jack being your personal secretary gonna help with him getting treatment?” Alice continued. She was definitely soft-spoken, but she could definitely hold her own in a conversation when she felt strongly about something. Elena finished off her plate as she watched the conversation unfold, her eyes dancing merrily from person to person. Everyone else was under a good deal of stressed tension, but not Elena — she was there to lighten everyone’s mood, and make sure nothing got too out-of-hand. Jack felt reassured by her energy, even as he winced with embarrassment every time he saw her eyes flitting cheerfully over his shrunken body. She enjoyed it a little too much…but what could he do about it?

“Now Alice, I know you’re a grown woman,” Sadie answered, beginning to smirk slightly, “But listen to yourself. You’re getting all worked up about the prospect of your little brother doing some little things for me, but what has he been doing all morning, hmmm?”

Sadie let the silence speak for itself. Alice sighed and looked up, giving her mother a slightly-weary smile. At this point, she knew better than to keep pushing back against her.

“Helping you in the kitchen, right?” said Sadie, smiling and nodding as she answered her own question. “And I liked seeing how well the two of you were working together! I even took a little picture, when neither of you were looking, and…heheh…mom, check this out…isn’t it cute?”

Sadie leaned over and showed Elena the picture on her phone. Jack saw as his grandmother’s hand went up to her mouth and she gasped.

“Oh my godddd…” Elena breathed. “Precious…just absolutely precious…my full-grown, gorgeous granddaughter, standing there next to my little shrunken grandson — and he’s standing on a stool and she’s still a head taller — and look at her, helping him hold the knife to chop the carrot. Awwwww!”

“So, anyway, my point is,” Sadie finished, holding out her hand for her phone back (which Elena didn’t notice for several long moments since she was marveling at the picture), “That if I’m gonna be working here, I’d like a little help from my shrunken son too. Is that too much to ask, Jack?”

She asked this last question with a smile as she turned to look down at him; Jack felt a chill go through him. On the surface, at least, he certainly didn’t have any problem helping his mother out. But there was something in her look, something in her eyes, and the way she was smiling at him, that indicated that there might be something a bit more to Sadie’s plans for him. But he didn’t have too much time to think about it, because Elena was clapping her hands, making him blink in startled surprise. Jack registered that Alice and Sadie didn’t seem to react at all to Elena’s clapping, but again, even though he didn’t dwell on it, everything that happened seemed to hammer home the fact that he was so much smaller than everyone else at the table.

“All right!” Elena was laughing, right after she clapped. “That’s settled then — now enough about YOU ALL, haha…it’s MY birthday, after all! So Jack, in the vein of you helping out around the house…how about you go bring me those presents sitting over there by the fireplace, hmmm?”

A minute later, Jack found himself tottering up to the table with a single large bag in his arms that was half the size of his entire body. The bag itself, which contained a new black leather jacket for Elena, wasn’t too terribly heavy, but it was heavier than Jack had been expecting, and far more ungainly. The rest of the table watched him approach with amusement. Alice was pursing her full lips, trying to hide her blushing embarrassment for her older brother; Elena’s eyes were wide, and her mouth was open in unadulterated enjoyment; Sadie was leaning back again in her chair, a little smile on her face, as she analyzed her son’s movements.

As Jack came up to the table, he saw that he was looking up at his grandmother’s face — even sitting down, his head only came up to her shoulders.

“Oooooo, what’s this?” she cooed, making a big show of reaching down to take the large bag from him with one hand (which of course would have been impossible for him to do). “A birthday present…brought to me by my precious little shrunken grandson? Haha, it doesn’t get any better than this!”

Jack had inwardly winced again at Elena’s repeated use of “my shrunken grandson” to refer to him, but really, even though the term wasn’t his favorite, he had to admit that it was accurate. He WAS still shrinking, as far as he could tell, based on Alice’s daily measurements, and, just like his mother had hinted at a little earlier, there wasn’t an end in sight.

A little while later, Elena had opened up all her presents and the rest of them had enjoyed cake and ice cream, with Jack only sampling a little taste, since he wasn’t hungry. Alice had gotten up to do the dishes, and Sadie had logged online to do some shopping for a new desk…a desk which, of course, she planned on having shipped directly to Alice’s house. It was time for Elena to go, and she insisted on having Jack “escort” her out the front door. Seeing as how he was eye-level with her elbows, it was a little absurd to think of Jack “escorting” her anywhere, but she was adamant that the birthday girl needed a satisfactory “sending off.”

“Now Jack,” Elena said, putting her hands on her knees and peering down at him as they stood together on Alice’s front stoop, “I’m a “modern grandma,” you know, haha — I’ve got social media and everything, so I expect you to keep me posted on your shrinking progress, ok?”

“My…my shrinking, uh…progress?” asked Jack, a little confused by her choice of words.

“Heheh, well yeah!” laughed Elena, reaching out and gently, playfully pinching his cheek with her long fingers. “Let’s not kid ourselves, little guy — it sounds like you’re in it for the long haul. Barring some kind of anomaly, you’re not going to stop shrinking anytime soon, and I want you to tell me how it’s going, ok! I’d really hate to miss it when you hit important milestones, like 4’6…or 4’0, or 3’6…haha, you get the picture, right?”

“I…y-yeah,” nodded Jack, feeling immensely intimidated both by his grandmother’s big body so close to his, and by the prospect of having to keep her updated on his shrinking.

“Aww, now no moping,” chuckled Elena, suddenly releasing his cheek and rising up to her full height. Jack’s eyes grew wide as he watched her tower over him — he was staring into the top part of her stomach, and he didn’t need to look down far to see her exposed belly, with her belly button at his shoulder-height. He blinked, and saw the creamy white flesh ripple and undulate as Elena continued laughing.

“No moping,” Elena repeated, “And no pouting…you’ve got two fine women in there who are eager to take care of you. And, of course, I’m not even counting myself, but count on it, little guy — you’ll be seeing a lot more of me from now on!”

“Oh, I…I will?” asked Jack, blinking and smiling blankly, not knowing what else to do in the moment.

“Oh yessss!” purred Elena, bending down one last time to give him a loving kiss right on the top of his head, before turning on her stylish heels and walking away, waving all the while. “I can’t WAIT to see you again here soon! And just think, Jack — next time I see you, you’ll be EVEN SMALLER!”

With those parting words, Elena was gone, and Jack was left to stare after her, watching her gargantuan ass jiggle and undulate behind her in her wake. She was right, he knew…she was absolutely right. But how small exactly he would be when he saw her next, he had no idea.