barucai
[3 mini stories] Family photo, First day back, Bus stop
Published: November 14th 2024, 4:39:37 am
Hi Hi ✨
Back to the fmg-35 universe with three quick stories! Just some glimpses of women adapting to their new, bigger world 😅 Got any ideas for more stories in this universe? Or maybe there's one you'd like to see continued?
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Family Photo
"Mom, you're doing it again!" Tommy whined, squirming as his mother attempted to arrange the family on the oversized couch. "You're squishing me!"
"Sorry, sweetie!" Sarah quickly lifted her hands away from her ten-year-old son's shoulders, still not entirely used to managing her strength. At 7'2", she towered over both Tommy and her husband Mike, who sat patiently on the other end of the couch, already resigned to what had become their annual holiday photo struggle.
"Maybe if we tried a different arrangement?" Mike suggested, running a hand through his graying hair. "Emma could sit in front instead of—"
"Dad, we are not doing the pyramid thing again," their sixteen-year-old daughter Emma cut in, rolling her eyes. At 7'1", she'd nearly matched her mother's height since contracting the virus last summer. "Last time, you almost fell off my shoulders."
Sarah suppressed a laugh, remembering last year's failed attempt. "Your father's just trying to help, dear." She stepped back, studying their arrangement with a critical eye. The matching Christmas sweaters she'd ordered looked comical now – hers and Emma's stretched tight across their broad shoulders, while Mike and Tommy's hung normally.
"The timer's going to go off in two minutes," Tommy announced, checking the camera setup. "And my sweater's itchy."
"Here, what if..." Sarah moved forward again, her bare feet silent on the plush carpet. "Mike, love, you and Tommy stay on the couch. Emma and I will stand behind."
Mike nodded, relief evident on his face. "That could work. Though you might need to bend down a bit to fit in the frame."
"Story of my life," Emma muttered, but moved into position behind the couch. Her long dark hair, matching her mother's, cascaded over the red and green sweater.
Sarah took her place next to Emma, both of them carefully leaning down to ensure their heads would be in the shot. The height difference between the standing women and their seated family members was stark – Sarah's hand could easily pat both Mike and Tommy's heads from her position.
"One minute!" Tommy called out, bouncing slightly in his seat.
"Tommy, sit still," Mike said, reaching over to steady his son. "And Sarah, hon? You've got that worried crease between your eyes again."
Sarah consciously relaxed her expression. "I just want one normal family photo. Is that too much to ask?"
"Define normal," Emma snorted, but her tone was affectionate. "Face it, Mom. Normal flew out the window when you and I turned into amazons."
"Language," Sarah corrected automatically, though they all knew it was a lost cause. The term had stuck, even if Sarah wasn't entirely comfortable with it.
"Thirty seconds!" Tommy's excitement was building.
Mike looked up at his wife and daughter, his expression softening. "You know what? I think this is perfect. This is our normal now."
"Dad's getting sappy again," Emma teased, but she was smiling too.
"Ten seconds!" Tommy practically vibrated with anticipation.
Sarah felt a sudden rush of emotion as she looked at her family – her patient husband who'd supported her through every change, her daughter who'd faced her own transformation with remarkable grace, and her young son who thought having a super-strong mom and sister was the coolest thing ever.
"Everyone say 'Christmas'!" Tommy shouted.
"Christmas!"
The flash went off, capturing the moment: Mike and Tommy seated on the couch, grinning broadly; Emma and Sarah behind them, bent slightly at the waist, their heads tilted together. The height difference was obvious, the size contrast clear in their matching sweaters, but their smiles were genuine.
"Let me see!" Tommy jumped up, rushing to the camera. "Oh man, Mom, you blinked!"
"What?" Sarah straightened up, ducking slightly to avoid the ceiling fan – a habit she still hadn't broken. "I did not!"
Emma moved to check the photo, laughing. "He's messing with you, Mom. It's actually... it's really good."
The family gathered around the camera's display screen, Sarah and Emma naturally hanging back to let Mike and Tommy see. The photo was somewhat unconventional – the height difference made traditional composition impossible – but there was something charming about it.
"Look at that," Mike said softly, reaching back to squeeze Sarah's hand. "That's our family."
"Even if we don't quite fit in the frame," Emma added with a grin.
Sarah felt her eyes welling up. "It's perfect."
"Mom's crying!" Tommy announced.
"I am not! I just... the Christmas lights are very bright."
"Sure, Mom," Emma drawled, wrapping one long arm around her mother's shoulders. "Blame it on the lights."
"Well," Mike clapped his hands together, "who's ready for hot chocolate? I made sure to buy extra-large mugs for my favorite amazons."
"With extra marshmallows?" Tommy asked hopefully.
"Is there any other way?"
As they moved toward the kitchen, Sarah paused for one more look at the photo. Yes, they were an unconventional family now. Yes, their holiday card would probably raise a few eyebrows. But Mike was right – this was their normal. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Mom!" Tommy called from the kitchen. "Emma's using her height to keep the marshmallows away from me!"
"Am not! He's just too short to see them on the counter!"
Sarah laughed, ducking through the doorway to join her family. Some things, at least, never changed.
---
First Day back
"Damn, Rachel, that was my third set of handcuffs this week!" Officer Mike Davis groaned, watching his partner hold up the mangled metal restraints with an apologetic grimace.
"Sorry! I just..." Rachel Thompson sighed, her 7'3" frame towering over her longtime partner as she dropped the twisted cuffs onto their patrol car's hood. "He was resisting, and I forgot to adjust my grip."
It had been three weeks since she'd returned to active duty after her transformation, and the learning curve was proving steeper than anyone had anticipated. The department had rushed to accommodate their changed female officers with new uniforms and modified patrol cars, but the day-to-day reality of police work presented constant challenges.
"Look," Mike pinched the bridge of his nose, "I know you're trying. But that's the fourth perp this month who's threatened to sue for excessive force. Just because you barely touched them—"
"Barely touched them?" Rachel's voice rose slightly. "The guy was waving a knife! What was I supposed to do, ask him nicely to put it down?"
"You dislocated his shoulder."
"I tapped him!"
Mike looked pointedly at the crushed handcuffs. "Yeah, and I'm sure that was just a 'tap' too."
Rachel slumped against the patrol car, causing it to dip noticeably on its reinforced suspension. Her new uniform, specially designed for the department's transformed officers, stretched tight across her shoulders as she crossed her arms. "Maybe I should just go back to desk duty."
"That's not—" Mike started, but was interrupted by their radio crackling to life.
"All units, 10-31 in progress at Fifth and Main, armed suspect..."
They locked eyes for a moment. Mike sighed, reaching for his keys. "We'll figure it out. But for now, try not to break any more department equipment? The captain's already riding my ass about the budget."
"No promises," Rachel muttered, ducking to fold herself into the passenger seat. "But I'll try to tap more gently."
The patrol car pulled away from the curb, its front end riding noticeably lower on Rachel's side. As they drove, she stared out the window, watching her distorted reflection in the shop windows. Three weeks back, and she still barely recognized herself in uniform.
Maybe desk duty wasn't such a bad idea after all.
---
Bus Stop
"Oh fantastic, it's one of the old buses," Carli groaned, watching the vehicle lumber towards the stop. At 7'4", she was the tallest of the three women huddled under the too-small shelter, her dark hair brushing against its plastic roof.
"Could be worse," Daisy shrugged, adjusting her gym bag. Her 7'1" frame was more modest, but still made the regular commuters give them a wide berth. "Remember last week when the bus didn't show up at all?"
"At least then we could've split an Uber," Dee chimed in. She was the shortest at 6'11", though that word felt absurd these days. "These older models don't even have the extended sunroof sections."
The bus wheezed to a stop, its hydraulics hissing. The doors opened to reveal a familiar face – Dave, one of the few drivers who hadn't quit when dealing with transformed passengers became part of the job.
"Morning, ladies," he called out cheerfully. "Bit of bad news – the new bus broke down. We're stuck with old faithful today."
"Brilliant," Carli muttered. She watched the other commuters board first, noting how they carefully avoided eye contact. "Right then, same as last time?"
"I'm not sitting in the back again," Dee protested. "My neck still hurts from being hunched over."
Daisy checked her phone. "We've got fifteen minutes until work. Unless you ladies fancy walking?"
They exchanged glances before Carli sighed in defeat. "Fine. Formation C it is."
One by one, they boarded the bus. Carli took the rear section, sitting sideways across three seats with her legs stretched into the aisle. Daisy claimed two seats in the middle, crouching awkwardly to avoid the ceiling. Dee managed to fold herself into a regular seat near the front, though her knees pressed firmly against the seat in front.
"Everyone secure?" Dave called back, amusement evident in his voice.
"Just drive, Dave," Carli responded, trying to sound annoyed but failing to hide her grin.
As the bus pulled away, an elderly woman clutching her handbag stared openly at them. "I remember when this sort of thing would've been in the circus," she said loudly to no one in particular.
"And I remember when being rude was considered impolite," Dee shot back, then immediately blushed at her own outburst.
The woman huffed and turned away. Daisy snickered, then winced as the bus hit a pothole, banging her head on the ceiling.
"Two more stops," Carli announced, checking her own phone. "Then sweet freedom."
"Until tomorrow," Dee reminded her.
"Don't remind me. I've got that interview at the tech startup next week. They promised all their facilities are 'amazon-friendly.'"
"That's what the gym said," Daisy grumbled. "Turned out their idea of 'friendly' was removing one wall of the shower stall."
The bus lurched to another stop, sending Carli sliding slightly. A businessman boarding the bus took one look at their arrangement and promptly decided to stand.
"You know what's truly mad?" Dee mused, absently rubbing her cramping neck. "They took less than a month to redesign the entire public transport system in Stockholm."
"Yeah, well, this isn't Stockholm," Carli replied bitterly. "This is good old London, where 'temporary solutions' become permanent fixtures."
Dave's voice crackled over the intercom: "Ladies, your stop's next. Mind the ceiling on your way out."
"One of these days," Daisy grunted as she began the awkward process of unfolding herself, "I'm just going to rip the roof off and be done with it."
"You'd still have to pay the fare," Dave called back cheerfully.
As they disembarked, ducking and weaving with practiced coordination, a small child pointed at them from the sidewalk. "Mummy, look! Giants!"
"Not giants, sweetie," his mother – herself a transformed woman – corrected gently. "Just regular people trying to get to work."
"Regular people who need a bloody telescope to see their feet," Carli muttered, straightening up with a series of pops from her spine.
The three women watched as the bus pulled away, already dreading tomorrow's commute.
"Coffee?" Dee suggested.
"God yes," Daisy nodded. "But not from the place on the corner."
"Their chairs are literally made of twigs," Carli agreed. "Found that out the hard way last time."
As they walked toward their preferred café – one of the few with reinforced furniture – Dee suddenly laughed.
"What's so funny?" Carli asked.
"Just thinking... remember how excited we all were about growing taller?"
"Yeah," Daisy snorted. "Be careful what you wish for, right?"
They ducked through the café's modified doorway, a bell chiming somewhere above their heads. At least here, they could pretend to be normal – even if normal now meant drinking from cups that looked like thimbles in their hands.