HTTYD - Day 9, Part 3b (Patreon)

(gonna update httyb before part 4 but it's been fun returning to this!)

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“Oh my gosh, Marcus honey, look how cute you are!”

The 36 year old man standing in Jessie’s hands chuckled at his mom’s initial assessment of him, as the woman approached Jessie with a look of both concern and incredulity. It wasn’t the first time Ruth had seen her son’s size, but witnessing his shrinkage in person was a lot different than seeing it through FaceTime calls on her phone. “I don’t even know how to give you a hug,” she added, hovering her hands around Marcus while she tried to recall the YouTube videos she’d watched on the best way to hold little people.

As she gradually closed her fingers around his body, he laughed at the level of care she was already exhibiting. “It’s not too complicated Mom. Just don’t squeeze… and don’t hold any fingertips over my private parts.” That second part made Ruth second-guess her approach, and she suddenly froze, thinking he’d said fingers and not just specifiedfingertips.

Jessie giggled, “Here, just watch me.” Marcus took the cue and turned so he was standing on Jessie’s palm at a perpendicular angle to both her and his mom, and then the young girl took her other hand and slowly wrapped it around his body. “I guess I mostly hold his chest,” she commented, setting him down in Ruth's waiting hands. “Just ignore what he said. Don’t overthink it; if you pick him up and it feels weird, then you can adjust it.”

Marcus’ mom tried again, and felt more confident on her second time around. He wanted to say that the harder it was for people to pick him up, the more awkward it made him feel. But he knew his mom wasn’t being difficult on purpose. “So strange,” she murmured. “It’s been over thirty years since I last held you in my arms. I never thought I’d be able to do it again.”

Raising her eyebrows with a sigh, Ruth handed her 9 inch son back to Jessie. “Well we should head back to the house. I told Emma to bring Morgan over as soon as she gets out of class. They still don’t know you two are here, it’s gonna be a big surprise.” She turned around to get back in the car, and Jessie slung her things into the backseat before getting in the front passenger seat. “I know we talk on the phone fairly often,” Ruth said as she turned the car on and drove away from the airport’s pickup zone, “but it still feels so exciting to actually have you here, Marcus. How long’s it been?”

“Two years I think,” he responded, getting comfortable in Jessie’s lap as she gently lay a hand over his midsection, an impromptu seatbelt.

Ruth kept turning her head as she drove to watch her son and Jessie interact, to see how they operated in a world where he wasn’t even a foot tall. “It doesn’t really feel like it’s been two years,” she said. “But then I saw Jess out there on the curb, and I didn't even realize it was her at first! You two need to come up more often! At least once a year.”

“Well why don’t you, Emma, and Morgan ever come down to LA instead?” came the man’s retort.

“Cuz there’s more of us here in Aspen than there are in California.” Marcus knew his mom would say something like that, but at the same time, he hadn’t had his mom come out to visit him in close to a decade. “Anyways,” Ruth continued, “how’s my favorite granddaughter been doing? You still playing volleyball?”

“‘Favorite granddaughter?’ I’m your only granddaughter,” Jessie laughed, rolling her eyes.

Ruth was confused, and looked at Jessie as such. “That’s not true.”

Jessie realized she’d forgotten that her cousin was her grandma’s other granddaughter, and she giggled again. “Oh. Oh yeah. I’m dumb.”

“That’s okay, that’s okay.” Ruth leaned close to Jessie, whispering, “You really are my favorite though. Just don’t tell Morgan.” The two of them both laughed, and then Ruth heaved a giant sigh as she looked out the window while waiting at a stop light. “I’m just kidding. I love both my children and both my granddaughters more than even I expected before I became a parent. But… Morgan has definitely been going through her ‘teenage rebellion’ phase for a while now. She should've grown out of it by now. You’re not going through that though, right?” Ruth looked over at Jessie with a twinkle in her eye, and tapped her on the nose. “You’re too cute to be complaining all the time.”

“News to me,” Marcus jokingly chimed in, causing his mom to laugh.

“Heyyyyy!” Jessie squealed, playfully but gently shoving him on his shoulder.

“See? You’re just proving my point,” he grinned, looking up at her.

“You saying I’m not cute?”

“That's definitely not what I'm saying. You’re the most beautiful girl I think I’ve ever seen.” No matter how many times he said it, hearing it always made Jessie smile. “Although…”

“Oh my God,” Jessie giggled, as her dad and grandma broke out into a fit of laughter. “No more talking for you,” she said, pushing back with her hand to cover his face. But Marcus had so much fun teasing his daughter, he didn’t even care.

The three of them went on to talk about what life was like for Marcus now. He was still the same person he’d always been; the same smarts, same habits, same likes and dislikes. Yet being at such a small size now meant he wasn’t able to do almost anything the same as how he used to. He explained his tiny furniture and appliances, and things like how his car had been refitted for someone like him to drive. But how even with all the changes to his life he’d made, Jessie still helped him out in a myriad of ways every day. “It’s almost like she’s your new momma now, isn’t it?” Ruth commented. Marcus didn’t exactly like someone referring to Jessie as his mom. But she thought it was hilarious.

“No, I’m serious,” Jessie’s grandmother reiterated, despite chuckling a bit as she said it. “There are two things every mother is supposed to do for their child: to take care of their needs, and to teach them about life. I stopped doing the first one a long time ago when you moved out, but as long as I’m around, I’ll always do the second one and keep guiding you through life wherever I can. Even if the phone calls for help don’t come as often as they used to, I’m always here when you need someone to talk to. Because I’m your mother. No matter how old anyone is—even if they’re older than me!—they can always use a mother’s loving touch.” Jessie pursed her lips and wistfully looked out the window, wondering for the millionth time in her life why her biological mom hadn’t stuck around. Ruth noticed Jessie’s mood shift, and reached over to place her hand on her shoulder. “Or a grandmother’s loving touch. I’m sorry Jess, that was insensitive of me.”

The teenage girl politely smiled and shook her head, “That’s okay, I know what you meant.”

There was an awkward silence in the car, so Ruth decided to break the tension and keep talking. “Anyways. That’s the second role of a… parent, let’s say that instead. But the first, taking care of you. Most people reach an age at some point in their life where they don’t need to be taken care of anymore. And some people reach it, but then they unreach it, like if they get laid off and have to move back in with their parents.” Having reached their house, Ruth turned to look down at her son, a casual but serious expression on her face. “Even though you have all these little gadgets and doodads and special stuff around your house, I’d be very worried if Jess moved out and you were living on your own. The world just isn’t built for people of your size, no matter how much you try to change that.” Assuming a more maternal look of love, Marcus’ mom reached over and gently stroked his hair, like he was a baby again and he was the most precious thing in the world to her. “But that’s okay. Because you raised a truly wonderful and amazing girl, and I know she’ll never let anything happen to you. That’s what I mean when I said it’s like she’s your other mom. Just like I took care of you as a kid, now it’s your daughter’s turn to be like a mother for you as long as you need it.”

*  *  *

Ruth sat in her rocking chair on her back patio, watching with a smile as Jessie played with her dad on the backyard trampoline. She kept placing her dad in the center of the canvas, and then would jump as close to him as possible to see how high she could make him bounce. It was kind of terrifying for him, since every time it felt like he was thrown 30 feet into the air, and he had to trust his daughter to catch him again. But every time she did.

“Aaaaand… bounce!” Curled up into a ball, Marcus’ heart skipped a beat as the teenager came hurtling down from the sky, her bare feet landing on either side of him. Just a couple centimeters to the left or right, and he was pretty sure he’d flatten like a pancake under her foot, but instead her aim had proven to be perfect, and he got catapulted so high into the air that even Ruth gasped in astonishment.

But then, just like the dozens of times before, he came falling back down, with Jessie catching him in her hands while a massive grin donned her face. “If you’re so interested in seeing how high you can make me go,” he groaned, “you should just throw me in the air instead.” He was being sarcastic, but his panting daughter answered him earnestly.

“Yeah, but this is safer. Because as long as I land on both sides of you, I can make you go up in a straight line, which makes you easier to catch.” Proving her point for the 29th time in a row, she set him back down in the middle before backing up with a daring fire in her eyes. Again she jumped, landing her feet on his left and right. But this time, she overshot by a couple inches; instead of the balls of her feet landing beside him, she boosted him up with her heels instead. As a consequence, instead of her dad shooting up right in front of her, he actually flew up behind her body instead. The wailing 9 inch man only made it past her legs though, because a split second after getting bounced up, Marcus crashed into his daughter—resulting in him accidentally bouncing a second time off the teenager’s butt.

Realizing what happened, Jessie broke out into a hysterical bout of laughter, collapsing near her dad’s body, her legs falling on both sides of him. Her weight on the trampoline caused a natural decline in the canvas, and just as Marcus was beginning to stand up, he fell over again and found himself tumbling down between his daughter’s legs while she cackled at the embarrassment of his misfortune. “Jess,” he grumbled, feeling trapped between the young girl’s thighs as he tried scrambling to his feet, instead slipping on the uneven surface and falling over yet again. This time, he fell on his butt, with his back landing right against her crotch. He froze in fear, and in turn her laughter subsided, until she suddenly grabbed him quickly and yanked him away whilst standing up.

“Jessie?!”

She and Marcus both looked up to see who had called her name: it was Emma, and she was standing next to Morgan and Ruth on the patio. Luckily, it seemed as though Jessie’s aunt and cousin were so preoccupied with their surprise that they hadn’t noticed the awkward spot that Marcus had fallen in just moments before. Their eyes immediately dialed in on the little man in her hands, and he laughed awkwardly. He didn’t love all the attention on him in that moment. But it had been years since they’d all seen each other, so he was about to get a lot more attention than he wanted.