They told Brooke that they were engaged. It was the only way she would agree to quit her job so she could spend all day with Andy, allowing Kimberly to move back in with her parents. She was one paycheck shy of being able to afford the used car she wanted, but the excitement of her dad marrying her best friend offset her disappointment.

Sunday loomed large on the calendar. Both families would go to church in the morning, then have lunch at Kimberly's house. Somehow, during or after lunch, they would tell Roy and Trina that they were in love. Andy had no clue how that was going to happen.

Saturday night he bathed in the bathroom sink while Brooke straightened her dirty blond hair. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked him as she trimmed his beard.

"How can you tell?" he joked. He hadn't been able to stomach any food, and in general he just didn't know what to do with himself, so he ended up pacing around the house all day, deep in thought. He still had a limp from his near-fatal encounter with Kimberly's breasts.

"You'll do fine. You've done this once before, right?"

He smarted at the oblique reference to Alecia. "Yeah."

She gathered his tiny, severed hairs and tossed them in the garbage next to the toilet. "Tell me how it happened."

He smiled. It was one of his favorite stories. "I was still in college. I was a junior, your mother was a sophomore. We'd been dating since the spring, and your grandpa invited me on the first hunt of the season, out on his lease. Somehow, in the middle of the day, sitting by ourselves in the deer blind, we got to talking about girls, how a good girl stands by her man and gives him the space he asks for and all that. And I just blurted out that I wanted to marry Alecia. I don't know what I was thinking, I hadn't even asked HER yet.

"So grandpa looks at me, and he's still holding his rifle, the spitting image out of every boy's nightmare of meeting his girlfriend's dad. He goes, 'For the long haul, huh?' in that gravelly voice of his." Brooke nodded, captivated even though she'd heard the story a dozen times.

"Before I know it, he aims his rifle and drops a 10-point buck a hundred yards away. Then he goes, 'Rutting son of a bitch,' and he looks at me with this strange smile and asks me if I'm serious about committing myself to one woman the rest of my life."

"What'd you say?"

"I don't remember. But he goes, 'It can't be helped who a girl falls in love with.' And he told me he was fine with me asking Alecia to marry me, but he'd have to run it by your grandma first."

Brooke chuckled. It got better with every telling. "When Mom told it, she left out the 'Rutting son of a bitch' line."

"You've only heard the G-rated version until now," he said. He stepped closer to the mirror to examine the work Brooke had done, running his fingers over his flaxen beard. He couldn't have done much better with a beard trimmer at full size. Brooke had been exceptional since taking over his daily care from Kimberly. Was it unusual for her to be so cooperative with his moving on romantically from her mother?

He turned to look her in the eyes. "Thank you for being so mature through all this, Brooke. You know, your mom was one of a kind. What Kimberly and I have, it's different. I'm not doing this to replace her. There will be some similarities in the way she fits into our family, but a lot of the things that Mom meant to us we'll have only memories of. It's okay if it hurts. Understand?"

"I do, Daddy." She leaned over and pecked him on top of the head. "I'm happy for you. You shouldn't worry about tomorrow. Whatever happens, it will be okay. Paul says submit your requests to God and God's peace will guard you."

You could have tipped Andy over with a feather. He'd never heard Brooke talk like that before. "Paul told you that? My friend from work?"

"No. Paul the apostle. In Philippians."

He marveled at his daughter. Would she ever stop throwing him curveballs? "So you've been reading the Bible."

"Yeah. Kim loaned hers to me. Is that okay?"

"Sure," he replied, still dazed. It was better than okay. It was fantastic.

The 50-foot teen (proportionally speaking) looked up from her small father at her reflection to see if she could do anything more with her hair. It looked fine, but she detected an assymmetry in her overloaded nightshirt. Her hands darted over her chest to adjust her hefty bosom. Kimberly had also loaned her 38F bras for her to keep wearing. She filled the cups now, but the strap was still moderately loose. She had to shorten it by folding it back on itself and securing it with a paperclip.

"I'm still here, sweetie."

"Sorry, Daddy." She cupped her large hand under his body and took him to the crib in the office. She was getting to be less clumsy with him, he noticed. That, or he was less sensitive at his increased size. Compared to when he was 2 inches tall, interactions with his daughter now felt almost routine. He wasn't the size of a bug anymore. Just yesterday he had put the voice amplifier away for good, because Brooke complained his artificially increased voice was hurting her ears.

"Can you bring me my phone?" he asked.

She left his cell phone next to him in the crib and turned out the light. He dialed Kimberly. The buttons on his phone were as big as his palm.

"Hey," she answered.

He filled with warmth at the sound of her voice. "Hey. How was your day?"

"Fine. Momma and I went to a baby shower, and I took Brandon to the skate park."

"Sounds droll," he commented.

"It was. I miss you."

"I miss you, too." He decided to lead off with some gladdening news. "You know, Brooke is quoting the Bible now because of you."

He heard her bolt upright. "She is?"

"Yeah. What did you do to make her pick up the Bible? She doesn't have a religious bone in her body."

"It wasn't anything I did. It was God's Spirit working in her. Have you considered reading with her?"

"You think I should?"

"Yes! It would encourage her. And when we're married, I'd love for us to read the Bible as a family."

Andy's brow furrowed. He knew religion was a big part of Kimberly's life and character, but it wasn't that big a deal to him. He believed there was a God, but he didn't know much about Him. He wondered if, in middle life, he could change and develop the kind of faith Kimberly had.

"IF we're married," he reminded her, refocusing on the task at hand. "Have you spoken to your parents?" He had been nudging her to hint to her parents that there was something between them, so it wouldn't come as a complete shock when they announced they were in love.

"No, they just know you're meeting us at church and coming over for lunch. They know I've been trying to get Brooke to come to church. The fact that you're coming, too, when you're still so small, ought to impress them."

He sighed. It was a weird feeling, being in this position again at his age, trying to curry favor with the parents of the woman he loved. Just thinking about it gave him the willies. "I hope so."

"I thought of a way we can tell them," she said.

"How?" He was all ears.

"We divide and conquer. You talk to my dad, I'll talk to my mom. Separately. While Brooke distracts Brandon."

Andy considered her proposal. It seemed more tactful than gathering everyone in one room and dropping the news in their laps. It also seemed he would get the easier job of the two. He suspected Roy would react better than Trina.

"You don't like it?" she said doubtfully.

"No, I do. I just… I'm realizing now that we're not going to come away with a definitive answer from your parents tomorrow. The best we can hope for is that they won't be upset. They're going to want to observe us together before they're sure of our intentions. That could take months."

"I know," she said soberly. "Do you think you can wait that long?"

The irony wasn't lost on him. Two Fridays ago he wasn't ready to go public with their relationship, and he had asked Kimberly to wait for him. Now that he was ready to start his new life with her, HE was being asked to wait for her parents' approval.

He gritted his teeth. "I'll wait as long as I have to."

They sat listening to each other breathe for a minute. The prospect of not being constantly in each other's presence for an extended period of time was daunting, and cast a pall over what should be a joyous occasion. But at least they could still talk on the phone.

"Are you alone in your room?" he asked.

"Of course."

"What are you wearing?"

She lowered her voice. "Panties and a tank top."

He closed his eyes and envisioned her lying on her stomach on her bed, bronzed legs kicking the air, tank top bunched at her hips, panties clinging to her succulent butt. His hand started to slide over his prick.

"What color are your panties?"

The families met outside the church auditorium, in the foyer. Andy sat on Brooke's shoulder, where his presence was more discreet and she had the use of both hands.

Kimberly was on the lookout for them and spotted them first. Her eyes met his briefly before she hugged her best friend, their heads touching over Brooke's other shoulder. They separated and greetings went around. Roy, who had seen Andy at a foot tall, was more impressed by Brooke's recent physical development, and did a poor job of hiding it. Trina appeared just as flummoxed greeting the doll-sized adult man who was riding his daughter like an amusement park ride.

It didn't get any less awkward as Brooke cought Brandon by the arm and pulled him into her, crushing his head against her full, firm breasts, which were much too obvious in her purple dress. Roy looked at his feet and scratched his balding pate to avoid staring.

"Lemme go, Brooke! Gross," the 12 year-old boy said, pushing himself away. He was undersized for his age and had yet to develop a man's fascination of the female form. "Hi, Mr. Speed."

"Hello, Brandon."

"Can I hold him, Brooke?" he asked.

"No, Brandon," Trina said. She looked around, as if she was embarrassed to be seen with the extravagantly busty teen and her 8 inch-tall father. Roy was turning towards the auditorium, trying to lead them inside.

"It's okay, just don't squeeze too hard," Andy said, trying to inject some levity into the situation. He wanted to be this kid's brother-in-law, so it wouldn't hurt to get on his good side, either.

Brooke pulled back her hair and bent at the knees. Brandon snatched him off her shoulder.

Trina shuddered. "Gently, Brandon."

"He's okay, see?" he said, showing Andy to her. Andy sat down and dangled his legs between Brandon's fingers, which were as wide as his thighs.

They walked into the auditorium, greeting people as they made their way towards their regular pew. Nobody paid attention to Andy, if they noticed him at all. Brandon sat between Trina and Kimberly, with Roy and Brooke sitting on the ends.

Andy stood up in Brandon's palm to see over the back of the pew in front of them. He smiled at Kimberly, and she smiled lovingly back. It had been 3.5 days since they'd seen each other, and they'd yet to say a proper hello. She held her hand with her wrist limp like she was the Queen of England receiving a visitor. He kissed fondly the painted blue nail of her middle finger, which he wouldn't have dreamed of doing in public before today.

"He's as small as your hand, Kim," Brandon whispered.

"You should have seen me a week ago. I was shorter than your sister's thumb," Andy said.

"Small enough to eat," Kimberly added with a wink.

Brandon compared the thumb on his other hand to Andy's present size. "Whoa."

The service started a minute later. After a few songs the communion bread and wine was passed out. The collection was taken up, then a few more songs, and then the sermon. It was mostly about the Book of James, but the preaching minister spent time in Colossians and Galatians, too. Brooke listened attentively and flipped the pages of Kimberly's Bible to find the verses the minister was citing.

After the service ended, the families moved in the general direction of their cars. "I have to take my dad now," Brooke said as they emerged into the summer sun.

"Can't he ride with us?" Brandon pleaded.

"He needs to ride in his car seat."

The boy wasn't about to let his new toy be taken from him so easily. "Mom, can I ride in their car?"

Trina looked at Brooke, who nodded. "Go ahead," she relented.

"Yes!" He closed his fist around Andy and skipped after Brooke across the parking lot.

Lunch was waiting for them in the oven, warm and ready to eat, when they got to the house. Andy devised to sit across the dining table from Kimberly so they could communicate via facial expression if necessary. He sat on the table between Brooke and Brandon, and ate off a saucer that held a square of lasagna that could have fed a tribe of people his size.

After Roy led everyone in prayer, they dug in. Brooke immediately steered the conversation towards the sermon they just heard. Roy and Kimberly batted her questions back and forth, with Trina occasionally entering the fray. Most of the talk went over Andy's head. He listened, but only for an opening to bring up Kimberly. From that point, he figured, it shouldn't be difficult to transition to speaking about his strong feelings for her. Before that, though, he had to get Roy one on one. Somehow. Connecting all these dots on the fly was proving itself to be the mental chore he dreaded. But it was necessary, because he didn't have the nerve to cut to the chase, not with the stakes this high.

Trina connected the first dot for him. "So, James is laying out what the Christian life looks like AFTER you accept Jesus?" Brooke was asking.

Roy responded: "Right. What he's describing isn't the legalism Paul condemns. They're really saying the same thing. James discusses works not as a means to salvation, but the fruit of salvation."

"It's like how Kim sacrificed a good portion of her summer to stay with your dad," Trina said, providing a tangible example. "She was baptized when she was 11, so there's no advantage to her to do something like that. It's not going help her score points with God. It's selfless. That's the kind of selflessness James says to treat widows and orphans with."

"Momma," Kimberly said, blushing.

Andy seized the opportunity. "Don't be so modest, Kim. You're the most selfless, terrific young woman I know. You came to us in our time of need. You've inspired me and Brooke to be better people."

Brooke smirked, and Kimberly glowed from his praise. All eyes at the table except Brandon's were on Roy and Trina's faces, trying to read their expressions.

Roy sat back in his chair and rubbed a hand over his mouth. Trina nodded and continued addressing Brooke's question.

"God freely gave His Son, and we're called to freely give to others, not out of obligation, but out of love. That's what James is writing about," she said. She looked at Roy to back her up, but he appeared lost in thought, his eyes settled on a point in space. "Right, Roy?"

He snapped out of it. "Yeah, yeah." He took her hand in his. "I couldn't say it any better." He looked at Brooke. "It's exciting to hear your passion about the scriptures. I wasn't exposed to all this until I met Trina, and I wanted to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could. The promises of God are too important to be uneducated or lukewarm about. You're welcome to come to church with us any time you want. You, too, Andrew."

"I will," Andy said, meaning it.

Brooke hunched her shoulders. "I'm going to college at the end of the month, so…"

"Well, whenever you're in town." He balled up his napkin and dropped it over his empty plate. Lunch was over.

"Brandon," Brooke said, remembering her part, "I heard you're into roller skating."

The boy made a face. "It's roller BLADING."

"Well, I brought my skates with me. Want to take a spin around the neighborhood?"

"Sure! Can Mr. Speed come, too?"

"No. Skating can be kinda violent. I don't want him to get squished."

"Yeah, that would put a damper on things," Andy snarked.

"You're going skating dressed like that?" Trina said, referring to Brooke's borderline dress.

"I brought a change of clothes," she replied, following Brandon out to the garage.

"Go slow, she's a little rusty," Andy called out.

Brooke looked over her shoulder at him. Do it, she mouthed.

"I'll help you clean up, Momma," Kimberly said when her friend and brother were gone.

"Thanks, Kim." She shared a bewildered look with Roy. They had the distinct feeling they were being set up, like they were unwitting players following someone else's script.

The women started clearing off the table. Kimberly picked up Andy's saucer, which held his virtually untouched lasagna. "You better get off the table, Mr. Speed, before I clear you off with the dirty dishes."

"Yes, ma'am." He limped to the edge of the table and jumped down to the empty seat next to Roy. Second dot connected.

"What happened to your leg?" Roy asked.

"Stress fracture, I think. Lost a battle with a bar of soap." A noble lie if there ever was one.

"Let's move to the living room," Roy suggested. He offered his palm, as he'd seen Brooke and Brandon do. Andy spared his would-be father-in-law the trouble and jumped to the floor. He walked ahead of him to the living room sofa, which was a cinch to climb.

Roy settled into his easy chair. "You seem pretty comfortable at this size, Andrew."

He sat in the middle of the couch cushion with his legs splayed out. "Thanks. It hasn't been that bad, all things considered."

"You mean, considering Alecia." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yeah." Andy glanced at the kitchen, where Kimberly and Trina were cleaning. The noise of dishes and glasses clinking and water running obscured their conversation.

"Looks like you left an impression on Mr. Speed," Trina was saying.

"He left an impression on me, too."

"How so?"

Kimberly put a clean dish in the cabinet. "When a person gets that small, that helpless, they can't hide anything from you. They depend on you for everything. You see what makes them tick."

"Did you see what makes Mr. Speed tick?"

Kimberly nodded. "Actually, I call him Andy now."

Meanwhile, in the living room: "You may not want to hear this now, Andrew, but some good can come of this. Brooke seems to be tackling the serious questions of life. And I see you taking an interest as well. Pain can be unbearable, but it can lead you to the eternal things that really matter."

"I agree. Some good has already come of it," Andy said.

"Like what, if you don't mind me asking?"

He drew a deep breath. "Like your daughter, Kim." Third dot connected. Things were moving fast. There was no turning back now.

Roy shifted uncomfortably. "What about her?"

"I love her."

"So you two got pretty close," Trina surmised. "I guess that's normal."

"No, Momma, it's not normal," Kimberly replied, taking her mother's soapy hand in her own. "I've never felt this way about a boy before."

Trina blinked. "He's not a boy, Kim. He's a 40 year-old man."

"Age is just a number."

"People say that, Kim, but—"

"But it's true, Momma. Our age differences, our size differences, I don't notice them. Neither does he."

Trina hissed, "What are you saying, that you're in LOVE with him?"

She jutted out her pretty chin. "I am, and so is he. In love with me, I mean. He's telling Dad now."

Trina glanced at the living room, where her husband's body had gone very still.

"I love her, too," Roy said cautiously.

"Not like I do," Andy replied. "It hit me about 2 weeks ago. I was in a dark place that I couldn't climb out of—that I didn't want to climb out of. Kimberly saved me. She saved my life. You have an amazing daughter, Roy. She would make the man she marries the happiest man in the world. There's nothing he wouldn't lack with a wife like her."

Roy tapped his hands on his knees, eyes affixed to the floor, listening. "What are you saying, Andrew?"

"I'm saying I know who I want to spend the rest of my life with."

The wheels turned behind those hooded eyelids. His next words were clipped, biting back on anger. "My 18 year-old daughter stays in your house while she's working at that… restaurant. She comes home, tells us she made a mistake. Credits you with helping her get her thinking straight. Then she goes to live in your house to help you while you're sick. And today you tell me that you want to marry her. How do you think that looks?"

"She feels the same way as I do."

Roy's lip curled into a snarl, defending his daughter. "She does? So after all that she did for you, you thank her by taking advantage of her teenage emotions?"

Andy should have been afraid, but he wasn't. He was at peace, so assured of his purpose he was. He spread his hands in front of him, a gesture of supplication. "If I really wanted to take advantage of her, would I come before you like this and make a fool of myself?"

Trina looked at her young daughter. "Kim, please tell me this is a ruse."

"I'm serious, Momma. Do you know why I came home this last time? It's because Andy asked to marry me. I told him yes."

"Oh!" Trina held the kitchen counter to steady herself. Kimberly rubbed her back between the shoulder blades.

"I couldn't live in the same house as the man I'm engaged to," she explained softly.

Trina's face looked like she'd eaten something sour. "How could you make that promise, Kim, to a man you hardly know, to a widower?!"

"Because I love him, Momma. When I'm with him, I feel cherished. I feel God's fullness, like there's no limit to the love that I can give him."

"You're too young. You don't know the meaning of what you're saying. This could be a phase you're going through. The Florence Nightingale Syndrome."

Kimberly was prepared for this objection. "If that's the case, then we'll fall out of love when he gets his height back. And our lives will take separate tracks."

Andy could hear Trina's voice rising and falling in the kitchen. She wasn't screaming, which was good. He plunged ahead.

"I know what a shock this comes as, Roy. It came as a shock to me, too. When something this good comes along, you don't shy away because of a little contact. You take it. I know one conversation with me isn't going to convince you that this is for real. I'm prepared to wait. I'll answer any question you ask me. I'll jump through whatever hoops you want me to jump through."

Roy pursed his lips. He looked at his wife in the kitchen. She looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. Kimberly must have told her the same thing Andy had been telling him. They planned this! he thought, scandalized.

"Tell me this first, Andrew. Did you sleep with her?"

"We've been intimate, but we haven't had sex."

Roy didn't look happy with his answer, but it was important to be honest and trust that the depth of his and Kimberly's love would ultimately win him over.

"I think you better leave. I need to talk to my family."

"Yes, sir." Without hesitation Andy jumped down from the couch. He walked across the living room, partly dragging his left leg behind him, and headed out of the house through the garage.

"Bye Kim, bye Trina. Thank you for lunch," he said on his way past the kitchen. He felt Trina's hard stare on his back. A rough afternoon was in store for Kimberly. It was very hard knowing that, and being unable to help her through it.

He walked out onto the hot, concrete driveway. He spotted Brooke down the block, stumbling after Brandon in her old, worn-out roller skates that she hadn't used in 3 years.

"Let's go home," he yelled when she got closer. He jumped out of the way when she tried to stop and ended up falling on her butt on the sidewalk.

"How did it go?" she asked, bending her legs to untie her skates.

"I don't know."

"You told them, right?"

"Of course."

Brandon glided up next to them. "Hey, where you going? We just got started!"

"Sorry, Brandon. We have to go. Hopefully I'll get to see you soon, Brandon," Andy said.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at the house. Somewhere inside, Kimberly was being interrogated by her parents. "You'll find out."

Brooke picked him up and strapped him into the car seat. She ruffled Brandon's hair. "See you later, bro."

And they drove away, unsure whether they would ever be coming back.

The house phone rang around mid-morning. Brooke raced to answer it. "It's for you, Dad." She put the handset next to him.

"Hello?" Andy said.

"Hi, Andrew. It's Roy." He sounded upbeat.

"Hello," Andy said again, in a cold sweat. Moment of truth.

"My class ends at 1. How would you and Brooke like to come out to the campus and meet me for lunch?"

"We'd love to." He didn't need to ask Brooke.

"Meet me at the faculty parking lot behind the quad. I'll have a parking pass for you." He hung up.

"What's going on?" Brooke asked.

"We're meeting him at the college for lunch," Andy said. It could only mean one thing: He still had a chance of marrying Kimberly. He couldn't believe it.

Brooke could. She raised her hands over her head and screamed with glee.