Chapter 2: So good to see you!

“Could you please stop fidgeting, Shannon? Your making the car swerve” said her mother in an exasperated tone.

“I’m not fidgeting Mom!” almost screamed the young titan. “It’s this stupid car which is too small!”

“More like you’re too fat for it, yeah” mocked Derek.

Shannon resisted her sudden urge to punch Derek on the nose, with some difficulties. Her little brother was so annoying. At just fourteen, he had already entered the worst phase of his teenage years. Prideful, loud, obnoxious and, most irritating of all for his giantess of a sister, already bonded. One year ago, Derek had met Joshua, and for whatever reason, the cute Minor had chosen to be with him. It had made him all the more insufferable, really. Seeing the two of them together, cuddling each other, and sometimes doing evidently more by the sound of it, was really infuriating.

Thankfully, Joshua hadn’t come with them for their trip at Old Creek. His family remained at the Big Easy and his parents, while liking Derek, didn’t want to part a whole week from their Minor boy. In the absence of his pet lover, her brother had become more aggressive, but Shannon had already decided that she wouldn’t let him mess with a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Alejandro again. In fact, it was great that he was so arrogant and bad-mouthed right now. It would perfectly contrast with her well-behaved and soft self.

“Derek, watch your tongue” growled their father, Andrew Matthewson. “You’d better behave yourself at the Ferrand’s, or I swear I’ll get you out of the base-ball team!”

“You wouldn’t do that! You know that I can become a pro, dad!”

“Yeah, well a pro should know when to run his mouth and when to shut up!” said their mother, Alexis, with a very firm tone. “Especially considering that this trip was made possible thanks to your sister.”

“Oh, please, Mom! You know I only made it because you met Auntie Ofelia at work and had the idea” answered the black Titaness, who thanked God for this opportunity.

Two months ago, the firm her parents worked at organized a colloquy of famous geneticists from all over the world. Shannon’s mom had been tasked with insuring that the newest technologies would be accessible to all the scientists and it was there that she had met Ofelia Ferrand for the first time in ten years. Auntie Ofelia had come to their big mansion to eat and they had spent such a good time that Shannon had had the idea to visit Old Creek.  Thanks to her wealth, arranging a trip had been easy, and the hardest part had been to convince her parents. They had relented and arranged the dates only because the winter holidays were fast approaching.

Shannon had reserved the best three rooms of Old Creek best hotel, the “Minor by the Sea”, and the family had enjoyed a rather comfortable trip in plane and then train to this charming little town. The teenager had to admit to herself that she had been quite disappointed to see her hometown after all this time. It was far smaller than she remembered, with backwater equipment and a general feeling of sleepiness, compared to New Orleans. She had felt a little sad to compare this place with her childhood memories, but hopefully, she would make awesome new ones here.

While Auntie stayed at her family’s house, they had talked a lot about the past, their hope for the future, and their fears. Ofelia had been kind enough to mention her son, Alejandro. She was afraid that he wouldn’t ever become his better self if he remained at Old Creek, that he would never properly heal and find a wonderful mate. Of her three children, Ofelia wanted grand-children from her elder the most, because, as she had said it, it would be proof enough that her little boy would be in safe hands and happy. Shannon remembered full well how the conversation had went then.

----------------------------------

“Why are you worried, Auntie?” asked the young woman. “I’m sure that he’ll find someone when he’ll want to.”

“But that’s the problem sweetie; I’m not sure he wants to. It would be another thing if there was another Minor in Old Creek, but he’s the only one. And, well, he is distrustful of MAJORS…”

“With good reasons” interrupted Shannon. “I would be too, where I in his situation.”

“You’re absolutely right, but… I don’t want him to be lonely. Sooner or later, Alaric and Lindsey will leave the house. My daughter is preparing herself to enter a college at San Francisco, down the coast from our home once she'll be old enough, and Alaric… well, he’ll go to the UCLA next semester.”

“And you’re afraid that Alejandro won’t cope with it?”

“He has had a hard time accepting the idea that his brother would leave, you know. He wasn’t angry to let him go, he was afraid. But Al’ has to go if he wants to pursue his dreams. He want to become an astronomer, like his father so he can't stay here any longer.”

“But the little guy will still have you and your husband Auntie”, said Shannon with tact.

“It won’t be the same. My baby boy is a Minor. He may not want to hear it aloud, but he needs a MAJOR his age around him to make him happy. And… well he’s wasting his gifts at Old Creek” she sighed, with a hint of despair in her voice.

“His gift?” had asked Shannon, more than a little intrigued.

Now, that was something she had never heard off. She had met a handful of parents with Minor children, and they all had tried to sell their offspring to her, but none had ever called their diminutive and genetically inferior kids gifted. She suspected that Auntie Ofelia was too fond off her boy after what had happened to him. Still, it wouldn’t kill her to know more about Alejandro. She doubted she would ever meet him, but just in case…

“I know it’s strange to call a Minor gifted”, answered Ofelia, “but he truly is! He’s smart, imaginative and he never gives up, no matter the odds, when he wants to do something. You should have seen him struggling with math at first. I was certain he would ask to stop his home-schooling… Instead, he requested more lessons to better understand it! And his imagination… Where you and I only see junk, he sees potential. Truly, my boy would make a wonderful partner for some forward looking MAJOR, designing our future.”

Auntie Ofelia had watched her in the eye, and Shannon had immediately understood what she meant. She was trying to get her hooked in her Minor boy! Truth been told, even if Alejandro was only a tenth of what his mother depicted, Shannon would be more than happy to be with him. Perhaps that, if he had indeed some character, he wouldn’t be too afraid of her.

She had begun the preparations for a week at Old Creek immediately after this discussion.

----------------------------------

“They live here? It’s super small!” exclaimed Derek.

“It’s extremely large for Old Creek”, explained Andrew, already a little tired to deal with his son’s depreciative comments. “Remember that they have a minor kid. Houses too big are a problem for them. Or have you already forgotten how much time you spend searching Joshua each week at home?”

Derek answered with a low growl but said nothing more and helped his mother and his sister out of the car. Once outside, Shannon stretched to her full height. This ranted car was far too small for her, but it had been the best Old Creek had to offer. She smoothed her dress and approached the front door. Once her family was around her, she knocked loudly. Almost immediately, the wooden door swung open, and a very beautiful MAJOR her age opened it. He wore a dark grey smoking with a red cravat and a white shirt. His looks were only marred by the scar on his forehead.

“Alaric!” almost screamed Shannon, engulfing the smaller boy in a massive hug.

The other MAJOR was obviously disoriented. He wasn’t used to have to crane up to look at people anymore, especially not girl. But, despite his size, he barely reached the top of Shannon monstrous boobs.

“Shannon?” managed to  say the muffled teenager. “Is that you?”

“Yeah! It’s me!” chirped the gigantic woman. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Darling, perhaps you could wait for us to be inside before trying to smother our hosts” said Alexis in a half-amused, half-concerned tone.

“Of course mom, sorry” said the black mountain of a girl while releasing Alaric.

“Come on in” invited the boy.

As much as the outside air had been relatively cool, but quite easily bearable for a MAJOR, the inside of the Ferrand’s home was rather hot, which surprised the Matthewson.

“Is there really a need to warm up the house so much?” asked Derek, with all the delicacy of a bull in a china store.

“Yeah. My bro feel the cold a lot more than us” answered Alaric, clearly not shocked by his guest’s question.

“Speaking of which… where is the little hero?” asked Andrew.

“Still up there in his room” answered a deep masculine voice. “Don’t worry Andrew, he’ll get down sooner rather than later”’ added Jules, before embracing his old friend in a bear hug.

“Wonderful, simply wonderful. I’m so happy to see you, French J!”

Mister Ferrand let out a roar of laughter at his old nickname.

“It has been far too long since anyone called my like that, Monsieur!” he said, releasing Shannon’s father. “But come on in, don’t stay here, the table is ready. Aperitif is coming its way.”

“You do know that underage drinking is still forbidden in the U.S., right? Not everyone here can sip wine legally!” asked Andrew jokingly.

“Bah! My house is but a minuscule fragment of France. Here, kids can drink alcohol… with moderation!”

The Matthewson family laughed at it and proceeded to the dining room. There, a massive table had been prepared, with nine glasses of champagne, sausages and fine bread. Auntie Ofelia was working in the kitchen at the other side of the room, separated from the main area by a massive bar.

“Take a sit, take a sit!” she said. “Lindsey went to get Alejandro.”

----------------------------------

Once installed, the Matthewon waited for their hosts to come join them. Alaric and Jules had done so immediately, and Ofelia had joined them soon enough, but their younger and older children remained up there. Shannon noticed that Auntie had left two chair near her, one each side of her massive body, in a rather obvious plot to force her Minor boy to sit near the huge black girl. Shannon was both happy and worried about it. If the small guy was as intelligent as Auntie said he was, he was bound to see the trap and he would react, probably by asking to move.

She hadn’t much time to consider it, since Lindsey came into the dining room, quite cheerfully. Her long dark hair had been put into a French braid and she wore an exquisite red dress, perfect for her age. Still, she was alone.

“Lindsey, where’s your brother?” asked Jules Ferrand.

“In the living room” chirped the girl. “He said he needed to wait a little before coming here.”

“You’re sure he won’t return in his room?” asked Ofelia, clearly worried.

“I made a deal with Lind, mom” said a new voice behind Shannon.

The black giantess turned her head and her hearth skipped a beat. That Minor was gorgeous! His face was even more beautiful than his twin, and his very short beard gave him a wilder look she liked. He was quite pale, but she did not know if it was natural or if he was worried sick. Perhaps a bit of both. Then, Shannon’s eye went to his left arm, or lack thereof and she suddenly felt bad.  She had to say something, quickly.

“Hey Alejandro! Nice to meet you again!”

“Yeah… nice to meet you’ answered the Minor without any enthusiasm.