Cameron squinted up at the sun, soaking in the rays--his hands behind his head. This had turned out to be the most relaxing vacation ever--despite the early stresses, everything seemed to work out just fine. 

"You're starting to get burned..." a voice said from above. It wasn't God speaking to him, it was his girlfriend Kate. A shadow eclipsed his sunshine right before he felt a firm, but gentle pressure around his left ankle. Gravity suddenly escaped him as he was lifted up, dangling upside down. 

He looked down below to the spot where he was laying, between the tan legs and below the striped bikini bottom was the section of towel that had previously been all his. 

At the beginning of the week, this would have disconcerted him quite a bit, and, he had to admit that there were still butterflies formed in his stomach whenever he rapidly rose into the air, but, like a pavlovian dog expecting dinner at a bell, he now knew that good things could be expected whenever he was plucked like this--the butterflies now more from anticipation than from fear. 

Being 12 inches tall turned out to have it's advantages.

Kate gently lowered her shrunken lover facedown onto the top of her chest, he arms stretched across the mound, a baseball-sized nipple poking through the bikini a bit into his abdomen. 

Many advantages.

He looked around at all of the other beachgoers. The other day when she first coaxed him into leaving the hotel, he had worried what others would think, but, except for a few kids pointing, there hadn't been any indication that people had paid much attention to his state. After all, a good percentage of the vacationers likely used Dimension Air to travel there in the first place, so size-changing technology was just a normal part of life. 

Kate shifted a bit as she reached to the side of the lounge chair, and he heard a giant slurping sound shortly before feeling the coolness of a large puddle of white goop land on his back.

"Oops, that's probably way too much..." she said as her fingertips scraped away the excess suntan lotion, wiping it on the towel. 

He relaxed as giant fingers massaged the substance into the skin on his back, legs, and arms, the pressure strong, but not painful at all. Then she nudged him on his side, flipping him over on his back, and repeated the same for his bare chest and face. A large white clump was missed around the waistband of his boxer shorts which he wiped off and onto the exposed area of her breast. 

As her chest heaved up and down from breathing, he gazed up into her enormous eyes and asked, "Can I just stay here?" After five days, he had gotten somewhat used to the high pitch of his shrunken vocal cords. 

She laughed. "And get a doll-shaped tan line on my chest? No thanks..." she said as she scooped him back up and placed him back on the towel in between her legs. That wasn't such a bad spot to be either. 

------

As Kate walked through the airport, struggling a bit with all of the luggage and the bikes, she thought about how fast the vacation had zoomed by. She glanced over her shoulder at the backpack and smiled. It was an impulsive decision, but it was also the right one. Although she was now ready for him to get back to normal size so he could help her get their belongings to the luggage check-in!

------

Inside the backpack, illuminated with the green hue of a glow stick, Cameron had one hand braced against the canvas sack to keep from shifting too much from the constant swaying, as he reached into his pants pockets with the other hand to pull out a small felt-covered box. 

He opened the lid to reveal the diamond ring inside. The original plan was to spring the question on her in Hawaii, and he had still considered doing it regardless of the ring's (and his own) diminished proportions, but decided to wait until the trip back when he was back to normal--or rather, she was shrunk down to join him. He had doubts about whether it was the right decision or not before the trip, but now, he was certain that she was the one, and he had to admit that she was right about the barrier in their relationship--his trusting her. He smiled as he thought about how she had taken care of him all week. She was right.

Almost on cue, there was a sudden swing of his environment, and then there was a bright light at the top of the bag as the zipper opened and his girlfriends face peered down. Cameron quickly closed and concealed the box.

"I'm going to check in the luggage now, and I'll ask about how we get you onto the plane without having to go through the reduction chamber, okay?" Kate said. He could tell she was worried about getting into trouble with the airline, but he was certain things would be okay and gave her the thumbs up signal as the outside light disappeared again with the sound of a zipper. 

-----

Kate set the backpack down gently against the side of the check-in counter  to separate it from the luggage she was having reduced. She used all of her strength to throw the bags and bikes up onto the conveyor belt for reduction. 

She walked a few feet to the other end of the conveyor to pick up her items, now all neatly hanging from a keychain and thought for a moment about making Cameron even smaller like the russian woman had done to her own mate... While the thought made her excited, she was looking forward to having full-sized Cam hold her in his arms. She smiled as she pocketed the bikes and luggage, but as she turned around, it quickly turned into a frown. 

And then full-on panic.

The backpack she had leaned against the counter a moment earlier was gone.