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Fair warning: this is the second-to-last chapter of written content for Mrs. Romero's story and due to the Character POV spacing, the last chapter will be a short one.  Good news, it's from Mrs. Romero's perspective!

Chapter 13 - A Twist of Fate

“In conclusion, Alexandria Bexley and I are seeking funding to establish a fully functional laboratory so that we can continue our research into improving reduction technology as well as exploring the concepts of long-term rear confinement for eligible inmates and the associated positive effects of reduced prison overcrowding.” Katie said, proceeding to the final slide, which showed a detailed breakdown of all the expenses they anticipated.

As Katie briefly discussed each item on the expense list, Alex handed out a printout of the expenses to each of the investors.

“With your funding, we plan to secure an already initiated acquisition of a laboratory space for sale in North Carolina. We will also hire a staff of interns and doctors as well as secure additional Wardenesses and inmates for support in the experiment.” Alex said.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Katie asked.

“Yes, I have one.” Joyce said, raising her large arm. “Clearly the little man can handle pressure, we all saw at least two examples of that..” Joyce looked over and scoffed at Suzanne, who giggled into her hand.  “...but what exactly are the limits of their durability?”

“Great question, Ms. Emerson.” Katie said, “ There is still a lot of testing required to confirm a specific pascalian value, so to speak.   Pressure is defined as Newtons per square meter, but we observed a rapid increase in durability as the target of reduction gets smaller and smaller.”

“I’m not sure what a ‘pascalian’ is, but are you saying that they could handle…say the full weight of my foot?”

“Perhaps, but that degree of force distributed over such a relatively small surface area will result in a much higher pressure.  It’s why our teeth are so effective at chewing.  The jaw’s applied force is great and the surface area of the tooth is miniscule.”

“So you’re saying I can’t chew on one either?” Joyce asked.  Katie was prepared to respond but Joyce held up a hand, “I’m kidding, dear.  Thanks for your answer.”

“Thank you for your question.” Katie replied cutely.

“Just curious…” Darlene Gonzales said. “...will we be extending this confinement alternative to female inmates as well?”

“It's unlikely.” Alex said.  “As it turns out, and I won’t get too in the weeds on this, our research indicates that males are FAR more susceptible to the Sizer technology than females.”

“That’s right.” Katie added, “and we feel that it would be most productive to stick with the demographic most likely to yield useful data when it comes to rear-confinement.”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Senator Langley said with a huge smile.

“My question is for Mrs. Romero.” Suzanne spoke up quietly.

“Hi, Mrs. Romero.  Thank you for demonstrating for us today.  My question is about drift.  Did you happen to notice the inmate shifting around between your cheeks as you walked or moved about?”

Mrs. Romero tickled her chin, “As I think about it, no I don’t think so.  He stayed pretty snug in place.”

Suzanne smiled, “Wonderful!”

“Just to add onto that…” Alex said, “...one of the reasons why we selected rear confinement was because of the added pressure that buttocks naturally undergo when wearing pants.  Even if Mrs. Romero were bottomless, I think Dante would have remained completely confined.”

Mrs. Romero nodded in agreement.

“And once those pants come up…” Alex said, her eyes widening and a gentle chuckle escaping her lips, “it doesn’t matter where he drifts within her gluteal cleft, he’s not coming out until she brings him out!”

The Board laughed.

Katie added, “Mrs. Romero is a somewhat special example since her buttocks are so large and soft..perfectly suited for this experiment and our long-term confinement research.  A woman with slightly smaller buttocks could experience issues with drift, but we are aware of those potential problems and are actively working on solutions.”

“Thank you!” Suzanne said, slumping back down in her chair.

Brooke raised her hand, the beauty mark above her lip dancing as she spoke.  “How do they eat when confined?”

Katie replied, “Quite simple.  The Wardeness will either bring the inmate out to feed him or she will bring the food into him.”

The Board laughed again.

“That’s the ‘how’.  For the ‘what’, it’s really the discretion of the Wardeness.  Ms. Bexley and I envision the Wardeness simply tearing off small morsels of food from her larger meals.  Although….” Katie paused for a second, resting her chin on her hand.

The Board remained quiet as she thought.

“...I don’t want to get too ambitious, but we are currently looking into alternative methods of sustenance that will unburden the Wardeness of the regular responsibility of feeding the inmate..but I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves.”

Brooke nodded and jotted down a few notes on her notebook.  Joyce whispered something into Suzanne’s ear and Suzanne nodded, writing a few things onto her notebook.

“Any other questions?” Katie asked.

The room was quiet for a moment, but then Senator Langley raised her hand, her gold bracelet jingling.

“Just two from me.  The first is about acclimation.”

“Sure, Senator” Katie said.

“Do you anticipate the inmates experiencing any long-term negative reactions to rear confinement?  Obviously, we all saw that Dante was just fine after his short stay with the lovely Sofia here, but I can imagine that the bleeding hearts out there will have something to say about cruel and unusual punishment.”

“That’s a great question, Senator Langley.  I’ll do my best to answer it.” Katie said, hesitating slightly, trying to find the right words.

“Rear confinement is still in its infancy and there is so much still to be learned.  We intend to bring on a clinical psychologist to better help us understand the psychological and physiological responses to long-term rear confinement.  We feel that long-term confinement sessions will add stress to the inmate, perhaps more than what he might endure within the conventional institution, but he will come out on the other side so long as we introduce him slowly.  The results will come, but they will only be as quick as we can properly acclimate them to their environment.”

“Hopefully you can gather that data quickly, Ms. Walker.” Senator Langley said with a smile and continued.

“My other question is about the period of confinement.  Just how long will Dante here be required to remain between Sofia’s buttocks?”

Katie looked at Alex for a moment and when neither of them said anything, Katie responded, “We’re still trying to determine the best figure for that, Senator.  Right now, we believe that in order for rear-confinement to be a viable tool for retributive justice, we believe it should not be any less than 12 hours…although, as I said earlier, we believe that a gradual introduction into this regimen would be best.”

“Thank you, dear.” Senator Langley said, nodding.

“If there are no more questions, I’d like to thank you all so much for your time.” Katie and Alex said.

The group applauded once more, this time for Katie and Alex who were grinning ear to ear.

“Alright girls, if you wouldn’t mind giving me and my colleagues some time to review your presentation and your expense estimate…” Joan Bexley said, putting her horn-rimmed glasses back.

“Of course, of course.” Katie said. “Thanks again.” Katie locked eyes with Mrs. Romero and gestured for her to follow her and Alexandria out of Conference Room B.  The Twins held the door open for the three of them to leave, but one of them held up a hand to stop Katie, the last one out.

Katie’s eyes widened for a moment as the Twins hand touched her chest and she looked up to see the pretty, stone-face of the Twin.  She ever-so-slightly cracked a smile.

“Here you go.” The Twin said, holding out in her hand Katie’s tape recorder and batteries.

Alex, Katie, and Mrs. Romero went across the hall into the empty Conference Room A and immediately started celebrating.

Alex set her hands on Katie’s shoulders and then pulled her in for a big hug. “You did it, Katie….”

Katie wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist, pulling her in tighter and then whispered in her ear, “No…WE did it.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but hopefully there is no issue with me running to the little girls’ room.” Mrs. Romero said.

“No, not at all..please go right ahead, Mrs. Romero.” Katie said graciously.

“Just remember to take Dante out first…” Alex shouted out just as Mrs. Romero was about to enter the lavatory.  “...and give him a nice rinse-off as well if you don’t mind.”

Mrs. Romero rolled her eyes and entered the bathroom.  With a self-conscious giggle, Alex observed, “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“It's okay.” Katie said, “We only needed her for today’s presentation.  We’ll give her the check for the promised amount and Mrs. Romero can go home, get her bath, and we can start thinking about the future! …Assuming we’re approved, that is.”

Alex scoffed, “Oh, we’re going to be approved!  There’s no doubt in my mind!”

“We’ll see!  Now..what time are Taylor and Sabrina arriving again?” Katie asked, looking at her watch.

“I think they said around–”

“--girls!”

Katie and Alex whipped their heads around to see Joan Bexley enter Conference Room A, leaving the rest of the women in Conference Room B.

“Hi Mrs. Bexley…that didn’t take long.  Good news, I hope?” Katie said in a rare moment of vulnerability.

Mrs. Bexley frowned and looked at Katie, then at Alex, and then back at Katie.

Then her frown inverted into a full smile.

“No way!” Alex erupted, leaping forward and wrapping her arms around Joan Bexley.

“Thanks, mama!” Alex cheered.

“Don’t thank me, Alexandria!  Thank the Board.  You and Katie blew the socks off every one of those women in there.  They could not say enough good things about you two…not to mention Sofia…they LOVED her!” Joan laughed.

“She did great.” Katie said with a humble smile.

“She was so charming and she really had such great control and authority over your inmate.  I have to be honest, and I’m speaking for every one in that conference room, except for those strange supermodel body guards following our Senator around…but we all seriously questioned your decision to enlist such a….fragrant woman for this experiment.”

Katie and Alex both were about to begin stammering, trying to find a way to explain away the fact that they had to make a last-minute Wardeness change, complete with forgery and abundant deception to both Mrs. Romero, Dante, and even the Board.  They didn’t have to say anything though.  Joan continued.

“...but once things got going, it became perfectly clear to all of us that your selection of Mrs. Romero and her exceptionally unpleasant aroma only serves to demonstrate just how strong of an idea that rear-confinement actually is.  If little Daniel can survive not only in such a large rear under such extreme movement conditions but also under such INCREDIBLY strong aromas, I’m confident that he can survive any rear end.  What a clever idea on your part, girls!”

“It's Dante, though.” Alex said.

“Pardon?” Joan asked.

“His name is Dante, Mom.  Not Daniel.” Alex reaffirmed.

Joan laughed and waved her hand dismissively, “Oh, whatever!  Anyway, if it wasn’t clear from my earlier praise..we are EMPHATICALLY going to fully fund your research for the next 3 years!”

Katie and Alex literally jumped and collided with each other in another huge hug.

“There are just a few minor revisions we, as a group, decided to make to your expenses.  Let’s review.

For one, we would like it if you acquired more volunteers for rear-confinement.  I see that you originally allowed for 5 inmates.  We went ahead and upped that to 20.  I understand they’re incredibly durable but still, you never know what could happen and it's better to have too many than not enough!  Additionally, we don’t think that your quoted cost for Wardeness compensation was quite high enough to incentivise enrollment so we increased it to $41,600 per year per Wardeness.”

“That’s wonderful!” Katie and Alex said.

“Oh, there’s more!  We’ve also taken the liberty of multiplying your estimated attorney retainer by five.  We understand that legal matters can be a major hindrance on technological progress and we want you girls completely unencumbered by silly litigious matters.”

“Awesome idea, Mom.” Alex cheered.

Suddenly, Katie and Alex's ears perked up in interest when they heard heavy stomping down the hallway. The three women turned toward the quickly approaching stomps and were caught off guard to see a little girl.

The little girl had long, blonde hair that was still settling from the sprint she'd just finally concluded, and her hands looked equal parts filthy and sticky. God only knows what she'd gotten into.

"Where's mommy?" The little girl asked up toward Joan Bexley.

"Are you lost, honey?" Alex asked the little girl.  Alex's mom rolled her eyes.

"No, this one is not lost.  Or perhaps a better way to put it would be that she remains lost until she wants to be found."

Joan Bexley peered down at the mischevious child, the woman's hands anchored on her hips.

"Are you behaving yourself, Nina?" Joan asked.

The little girl grinned, showing a mouth covered in chocolate. She was almost sensible and self-aware enough to fake offense to the question. "I'm always good!"

Joan chuckled, "Well, everything's all finished now.  Lord only knows what you've gotten into.  Where is your mother's secretary?"

The little girl tilted her head in confusion for a moment, and then her eyes lit up, "Oh, you're talking about Miss Jerk-Face?  I dunno."

Joan rolled her eyes, looking over at Katie and Alex.  "Sorry, girls.  This one is Brooke Bennet's daughter.  Apparently she's had free reign of this hotel during our entire meeting."

The middle-aged woman removed a sanitizer wipe from her pocket and thoroughly wiped down Nina's hand before grasping it and walking her to the conference room to reunite with her now available mother.  The conference room, as described by Nina on the walk over, was probably now a boring place with old boring ladies talking about boring stuff.

When Joan Bexley returned, she sighed, "Sorry about that girls.  We all roll our eyes when we hear that Brooke has to bring Nina along for her business trips.  Every time, she's assigned to an assistant who is supposed to watch her during our meetings, and not once have they ever been able to control her."

Without even waiting for a word from the flabbergasted Alex and Katie, Joan transitioned right back into business.

“Two more things.  We saw your budget for research and development into size restoration.  While we admire the idea of improving that metric, we don’t think it aligns with the Board’s long-term goals.  We would require that you take that $390,000 and put it toward your research and development into improved size reduction.”

“Sure…that’s no problem.” Katie said, slightly less excitement in her voice.

“And the last thing. We’re approving you for $3.3 Million worth of funding per year for a total of 3 years, at which time we will renegotiate an extended term of funding if applicable.  In the meantime, the Board expects you to minimize your Reduction Failure Events as best you can. Try also to improve your Reduction Of Mass percentages..I know you’re very close to 100% but I think we can get closer! We were honored to meet Sofia and observe the start of Dante’s sentence, but we would like for you to begin immediately with expanding your operation to include at least two more Wardenesses and inmates.  I understand that you had a difficult time even procuring Dante.  Senator Langley has some strong connections in the prison industry and she is quite confident that she can call in a few favors.”

“That’s wonderful news, thank you so much, Mom.” Alexandria said.

“Yes, thanks a lot Mrs. Bexley.” Katie echoed.

“No problem girls.  I did have one more thing…this is more of a personal recommendation as opposed to a unanimous recommendation or stipulation from the Board.  The terms ‘Wardeness’ and ‘inmate’?  I understand that your field of research right now is in utilizing the female rear end for restorative justice while also reducing prison populations, but I think those terms cast too small a net over what could be a much larger demographic in the future.  I recommend referring to them more generally as ‘Participants’ and ‘subjects’, going forward.

Katie replied, “That’s a great suggestion, Mrs. Bexley. Alex and I will be happy to discuss it.  Was there anything else?”

“No, I believe that’s everything!  We look forward to seeing you at the follow-up appointment one year from now…and we can’t wait to see how Sofia and Dante’s relationship has developed!” Joan said excitedly.

“...Pardon?” Katie said quizzically.

“Well, you said that Dante is an inmate under your supervision and control for the remainder of his reduced 7 year sentence, correct?” Joan Bexley asked, a thick, black eyebrow raised curiously as she continued.

“I gathered from your presentation that the whole point of this experiment is to determine the long-term effects of rear-confinement on both the Wardeness and the inmate, correct? The Board ultimately formed its decision to proceed with funding on the grounds that Dante would spend that time confined within Sofia’s rear.”  Joan said.

“Oh..about that…Mom.” Alex started to say, but Katie interrupted her.

“You’re absolutely correct, Mrs. Bexley.”  Katie blurted out.

“Oh, how wonderful!  We’re very much looking forward to seeing what you two can deliver in a year’s time..and we’ll all be looking forward to seeing Sofia again…although we may have to bring some scented vapor rub to dab under our noses!” Joan chuckled.

Joan Bexley opened her arms, “Come here, girls.  You did GREAT today!  I’m so proud of you.” Joan said with a smile as she hugged both girls.

The raven-haired 44-year old got to the hallway when she turned around for one more question.

“Oh, one other thing.  RR Laboratories?” Joan asked.  “What’s that stand for?”

Alex smiled and put an arm around Katie.  “It was right there in both of our faces but it was Katie’s idea, she’s such a smart girl.”

Katie grinned and said, “It was both of our ideas, actually.  We wanted to take an initial from each of our names, but we couldn’t decide whether to go with KA Laboratories or AK Laboratories.”

Alex continued where Katie left off, “So, we decided to go with our middle names instead.  Alexandria RACHEL Bexley and Katherine ROSE Walker.” Alex said proudly.

Joan smiled. “You’re both so great…to science and to each other.  You two…you really astonish me.  You’re going places…you really are.” Joan patted each of the girls on their shoulders and returned toward Conference Room B.

Finally alone, Alexandria started hyperventilating.

“Oh my god, Katie…feel my heart.” Alexandria said, grabbing Katie’s hand and pressing it firmly against her chest.

“It’s going just as fast as mine.” Katie said with a light, breathless giggle.  “I can’t believe we got it. Three years…”

“I know…” Alex said, “I’m…umm…a little concerned though.”

“I know…I know…” Katie said. They both, of course, were referring to Dante.

“Is there any way that we can..ya know…let Mrs. Romero go and then give Dante to Sabrina for intermittent confinement sessions over the full year?  That was the original plan all along.” Alex bargained.

Katie shook her head, “Absolutely not.  You heard the Board. They’re expecting to see Mrs. Romero and Dante next year.  We HAVE to get her to keep housing him in her rear.”

“But we’re not even ready to start!” Alex said, gritting her teeth.  “This was supposed to let them know what we were capable of doing!  Not what we’d already started, and now they think we’ve already started!  We don’t have the supplies!  We don’t have the infrastructure!  We don’t have the protocols!”

“All that will come.” Katie said confidently.  “We secured the funding, Alex.  The building space in North Carolina is all ready for us.  I can make the call before we even fly back to Connecticut…and everything else will fall into place.”

Alex nodded solemnly. “God…I’m having trouble keeping up with the lies, Katie.  We’ve lied to Mrs. Romero, we’ve lied to the Board, we’ve lied our ASSES off to Dante…pretty much from the very beginning and it's only gotten worse.”

“There’s just no other option if we want to keep going.” Katie added.

“You’re right, Katie.  You’re always right.” Alex grimly replied.

“We were just awarded the equivalent of nearly $10,000,000 to spend over three years on our dream…our vision.  I understand that we made a few superficial, short-sighted promises to Dante…but are those promises worth potentially losing $10,000,000?”

Katie and Alex heard the toilet in the adjacent restroom flush. Alex sighed.

“You don’t have to keep trying to convince me, Katie. I wasn’t being sarcastic when I said you’re always right.” Alex said, her arms crossed over her chest.  “When you’re right, you’re right.  And you’re absolutely right about this.  We can’t afford to take any chances here.”

Katie smiled with her mouth but frowned with her eyes.

“Look…you heard your mom. They want us to massively increase our participation pool. By this time next year, we’ll have as many as five more women.  The Board will probably still remember Mrs. Romero but there will be other women to focus on.  If we can just get her to extend out long enough for us to actually get some legitimate inmates and eager women, then we won’t need her anymore.”

“Right…” Alex said, rubbing her chin. “..and then what happens to Dante?”

Katie sighed, “I don’t know, Alex.  You know as well as I do that our Size Restoration progress has been riddled with problems…and plus, you heard the Board.  They’ve completely cut out any funding for research into Size Restoration.  Will Dante ever be normal-sized again?  Probably not…but does that mean he has to remain between Mrs. Romero’s buttocks forever? Not necessarily.  We’ll figure something out next year.”

Katie rubbed Alex’s hand in an attempt to comfort her. “Dante needs to stay between Mrs. Romero’s buttocks.”

Alex took a deep breath and put on her best chipper face.  “Yup, I know.”

The bathroom door opened and out stepped Mrs. Romero, carefully clutching the quarter-inch tall man that had just spent about an hour encased deep between her buttocks.

“Here’s your inmate, fresh and clean.” Mrs. Romero said, holding out her right hand to Katie. “And now it's my turn to get fresh and clean…and if you have my check, I’ll be on my way.”

Katie looked down at Dante.  He was on his hands and knees, centered in Mrs. Romero’s palm and staring up at her and Alex.  He looked much better than he did when he first emerged from Mrs. Romero’s rear. Dante looked confused, waiting for Katie to pick him up, but she didn’t.  Katie did not raise her hand to accept Dante.  Instead she said, “Thanks so much for your help, Mrs. Romero.”

“Yeah…” Alex continued, “We’re absolutely going to pay you, but we were hoping that maybe–”

“--We need you to keep him for a bit longer.” Katie blurted out.

Mrs. Romero closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

“Excuse me?” She said in the calmest voice she could muster.

“Mrs. Romero…” Alex started, “...the Board LOVED you.  They thought you were fantastic…and they were very impressed with the way you handled Dante.”

“Okay?” Mrs. Romero said impatiently.

“And they’re hoping that they’ll be able to see you and Dante at our follow-up presentation….next year.” Alex practically stammered.

“--NOPE!” Mrs. Romero exclaimed in disbelief, interrupting Alex. Mrs. Romero then proceeded to literally grab Alex’s hand, stuff little Dante into her palm, and gently close Alex’s fist around him before letting go.

Katie couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the squeaking coming from Dante.  Understanding something so small required dedicated concentration, and the stakes were so high right now.

“Shhh…” Alex said calmly, having read Katie’s mind.  The raven-haired beauty closed her fist gently around Dante so as to silence him for the moment.

“He needs to be confined for the next year, Mrs. Romero.” Katie pleaded, “This is so important.”

“I don’t understand.” Mrs. Romero said, crossing her arms over her chest.  “I thought the cute little blonde girl was going to do this.  What was her name? Sabrina? I even saw her picture in there before you removed it from the presentation and he would fit in her bottom no problem.”

“We can’t.” Alex said.

“She’s right, Mrs. Romero.” Katie added. “We didn’t plan on you having to help us anywhere beyond today, but the Board has met you..and they LOVE you.”

You may as well be the face of this experiment now.” Alex mused.

“Alex and I need you.” Katie pleaded, and then gestured down toward Alex’s hand.  “Dante needs you!”

Mrs. Romero thought for a moment, looking between Alex, Katie, and the hand that had slowly opened up like a clamshell to reveal the tiny criminal pearl inside.

“I’ve told you girls too many times now, I just want to get home and get a bath.  I’m exhausted.  I’ve worked over 12 hours, I’ve exercised in front of what I’m sure are some of the most powerful women in the country. I’m sweaty, I’m sore, I’m exhausted, and I stink! I wish you all luck but I’m finished, now please give me the check you promised me.”

“Listen to her, Katie!  We’re not doing this! No way!” Dante squeaked from Alex’s palm.

Katie’s eyes momentarily locked with Dante’s and she could see a fascinating mixture of horror, anger, and helplessness.  Her brown eyes raised up from Dante to Mrs. Romero.

“If you do this for us, we will pay you $41,000.”

Katie watched Mrs. Romero’s expression soften.

‘Got her..’ Katie thought.

“$41,000?!” Mrs. Romero gasped.

“No.” Alex said.  “$41,600 to be exact.”

“That’s right.” Katie added.  “Thanks to you, Mrs. Romero, our funding was approved unanimously by the Board!  Built into the budget are provisions for a new lab in North Carolina, funds for supplies, and salaries for Wardenesses.  If you agree to house Dante, we’ll be able to pay you a $46,000 annual salary.”

Mrs. Romero was quiet for a moment and looked deeply introspective.

“...really?”

“Yes!” Both girls exclaimed in unison.

Mrs. Romero’s eyes drifted down to Alex’s open hand.  She looked uncertain.

“I don’t want to go to North Carolina.” Mrs. Romero stated.

“You won’t have to!” Alex said.  “You and Dante can stay right here in Texas!  We won’t even require you to come to see us in our lab.  We’ll come to you for some periodic checkups.”

Mrs. Romero looked up at the ceiling and when her eyes came back down, Alex’s gently clenched fist was held straight out, her knuckles pointing down.

Katie and Alex both let out the biggest sigh of their lives when Mrs. Romero placed her open hand under Alex’s.  Alex opened her hand and allowed Dante to fall through onto Mrs. Romero’s palm.

“A fucking year?!” Dante exclaimed. “You said just for today!! I could barely handle an hour of that and you’re talking about a fucking YEAR?!”

Alex sharply responded, “For the presentation, yes! It was only an hour…but you had to figure there would be some follow-up interactions…just…god!  Just think of this as one, big, long follow-up interaction.”

“I’m not doing this!  Not with her, not with anyone!” Dante shouted furiously.

“You don’t have a choice, Dante.” Alex said, swallowing nervously.  “You’re…an inmate of the prison system.  You did horrible things and now you have to pay for them. You signed all the paperwork, agreeing to have your sentence carried out with–”

“--you’re a fucking liar! A no-good, morally bankrupt, god-damn liar! You lied to me!”  Dante’s tone began aggressive and deep as it could be, but his voice began to crack as he continued, eventually reaching a point where his emotions got the best of him and he was trying to speak through freely flowing tears.  “You held me in your bed and told me everything would be okay, you heartless sack of shit! You called me your teddy bear!”

Katie could see Alex’s eyes beginning to get misty, and she was about to step in and interrupt all the hurtful things that Dante was saying.

“Hey!” Mrs. Romero sharply spoke up, interrupting Dante.

“First of all, you need to watch your mouth.” the 41-year old Italian mother said firmly.  She raised him up until he was only a few inches from her enormous face.  Katie could literally see the spit particles flying out from between Mrs. Romero’s lips, plastering over Dante’s cowering, naked body.

“Secondly, you will NOT speak to her that way.  It's because of these gifted young ladies that you might just be able to see whatever degenerate family or household you came from in 7 years instead of 14 years!  I think you owe her an apology.”

“What?!” Dante shouted.  “But she’s a liar!”

“No…” Mrs. Romero said, “YOU are the liar. YOU are the thief.  YOU are the criminal, Dante.  I’m going to count to 3.”

Dante was frantic, “They’re both lying! They’ve made all of this up!”

“1…” Mrs. Romero started.

Dante was climbing over Mrs. Romero’s palm, dropping to his knees and pleading with her as if she were a Goddess.

“You have to see this, Mrs. Romero! They lied to you too!  They’re lying to everyone!”

“...2….” Mrs. Romero raised her eyebrows, her voice was much more stern.

Katie sighed in relief again, seeing Dante’s tiny little shoulders crumble.  He turned toward Alex, still on his knees and through choked up tears, Dante feeble voice quivered, “I’m sorry, Alex.”

Katie rubbed Alex’s shoulders as Alex rubbed her eyes into her sleeve.  “It’s okay, Dante.  I know emotions are high…and this is going to be tough for everyone.  But you can do it.  We can get through this.”

A folded slip of paper emerged from Katie’s breast pocket and she held it out to Mrs. Romero.  “Here is your check for $1,000…for helping us today.  We can discuss the required paperwork to get you on payroll after Katie and I get back to Connecticut.”

Katie was almost startled at the outburst of tears from Dante.  It must not have been easy for him to actually hear that they were flying back home…without him.

“Okay, dear.  And how long am I required to keep him in my bottom?” Mrs. Romero asked, lowering Dante to her waist so as to fainter his crying that much more.

Katie and Alex had a lot of work to do establishing protocols and setting up their lab operations.  Luckily enough, this specific question from Mrs. Romero had already come up in conversation between Katie and Alex.  They unanimously agreed that while the idea of working up to a daily confinement term of at least 12 hours, it might be a good idea to start gradually.

Katie replied, “We can start off with 3 hours of confinement per day.”

Alex blurted, “No, that’s not quite long enough, Katie.  It’ll have to be at least 12 hours.

Katie quietly pulled Alex aside for a moment.  “Alex, we talked about this.  You remember what we saw in the calculations.  I know you didn’t particularly believe the results of that particular analysis..but if we overshoot this, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

“I get that, Katie…I really do.  But we’re already so far out on the limb here with all these half-truths.  We really, REALLY need to get results, and we need to get them quickly.  What if my mom or one of the other board members surprises us with an impromptu inquiry?  What if your mom’s lead geneticist reaches out again for a technical discussion?  If Dr. Turner doesn’t think we’re far enough along based on what we’ve promised, it could go really bad for us.  I admit that it's risky…but I really think it will be okay. We need to hit the ground running.”

Katie nodded, “Okay, Alex.”

Alex tilted her head, “...okay?”

Katie smiled and gently pushed Alex on the shoulder.  “Yes, okay.  Maybe this time you’re the one that’s right.”

“Sorry about that, Mrs. Romero.” Katie said as the two girls returned to a visibly impatient Sofia Romero.  “12 hours of confinement within your rear per day will be best.  We recommend confining him between your buttocks while you sleep and then picking up the remaining hours later on throughout the day at your convenience.”

“This isn’t happening…” Dante whimpered.

“Is there anything else I have to do?” Mrs. Romero asked.

The girls shook their heads no.

“So, that's really it?” Mrs. Romero asked skeptically.

“That’s really it.” Katie said with a smile.  “One of us will fly out here sometime next month, after the holidays, to check up on you and make sure everything is going okay…and aside from that..”

Katie stretched out her right hand.  Mrs. Romero quickly swapped Dante from her right hand to her left so that she could accept the handshake.  She then shook Alex’s hand next.

“My contact info is on the check. Why don’t you reach out to us when you’re all settled.  No rush whatsoever.  It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Romero…and we can’t thank you enough.”

“My pleasure, girls.” Mrs. Romero said, “Oh, I suppose I should get him situated, hmm?”

“Probably best to get him started right away.” Alex agreed with a smile.

Mrs. Romero handed Dante to Alex as she unbuttoned her pants and lowered the back just enough to expose the saturated pale pink underwear and the top of her deep, dark crack.  Meanwhile, Dante was pleading one final time with Alex, hoping that she would change her mind.

“Okay, ready.” Mrs. Romero said, extending her right hand out to Alex.

The smell was already beginning to fill Conference Room A and both girls were doing their best not to breathe out of their noses.

“You’ll be okay, Dante.”

That was all Alex said before handing his screaming, flailing body back over to Mrs. Romero, who promptly wedged his tiny, nude body as deep between her cheeks as he could go.  Her underwear and pants came up quickly after, and no one would be able to tell that the 41-year old maid was stowing a tiny quarter-inch tall man between her huge bare buttocks.

~