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Saturday, October 24

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     The weekend had finally arrived, and Jessie ended up sleeping in quite a bit. Marcus walked past her room several times that morning, but each time she was still asleep. I wonder if she was up late on her phone last night? he wondered, as it began to approach 11am, and still she slept. What if she’s sleeping in extra because she’s going through a growth spurt? That thought he didn’t take as kindly to, but he knew it was unavoidable. She still had several more years and therefore several more inches left to grow until she topped off at whatever adult height she was destined to be at. But at his size, it wasn’t like it would make much of a difference anyways. Right now he was hardly as tall as her hips; worst case scenario, he might end up eye level with her thigh given a few more years. Hardly that big of a deal, he told himself. 

     Eventually he passed by her room close to noon after watching some TV, and saw that she was finally awake. Odd that I didn’t hear her, must’ve been because of the TV, he thought. She was doing yoga again, except this time she was looking down to the floor to read guidelines on an app on her phone. Marcus realized he felt almost excited to see her up, an emotion that surprised him. It was like he had been anticipating her getting up all morning, and now was glad to see her back in the waking world. “Morning sweetie,” he said eagerly, smiling up at her.

     She hadn’t heard him walk up to her room, and looked up from her phone. “Good morning Daddy,” she beamed brightly, arching her back now as she assumed her next position.

     “You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?”

     Jessie shook her head, “No, coach told me the other day that it’s best to do it before I eat breakfast in the morning.”

     “Oh, interesting.” Was this disappointment he was feeling? With Jessie as the only important person in his life, and now with him home all day because of his job loss, he felt slightly bummed out that she’d relegate herself to her bedroom all the time. She IS a teen girl though, she probably wants to feel some kind of independence, he reminded himself. Or is she too young for those feelings yet? Either way, probably isn’t any harm in inviting her outside. “You know, you can do your routine out in the living room if you want,” he told her. “I guess it looks like you’re making it work in here, but there’s more open space out there.”

     “I heard you watching TV though, so I didn’t wanna interrupt you.”

     He shrugged it off, “That’s fine, I shouldn’t be watching TV all day anyways. I can just do some reading on my iPad.”

     “Mmmm, from one screen to the next, tsk tsk tsk,” she replied, with mock disapproval, before breaking out into a giggle as she straightened her back and stood up straight again.

     “Hey, shouldn’t I be the one chastising you?” he asked, a smile on his lips.

     “Not anymore,” she giggled, and strutted past him to accept his invitation to do her stretches in their main area.

*    *    *    *    *    *

     Marcus was perched on the couch armrest again, parallel to the cushions as Jessie sat cross-legged in front of him, her hair in her father’s hands. She had asked if he could braid her hair again, and always one to accept something to do for his daughter, he agreed to help her out. Marcus didn’t know why she’d want to do up her hair at the start of a weekend if she didn’t have any plans, it wasn’t like anyone was gonna see it, so she wouldn’t be able to show off her locks. But if she wanted to feel cute, even if just for herself, then he didn’t mind indulging her. If it makes her happy, it makes me happy, he had reminded himself. 

     “So uh, how are you enjoying your new clothes?” he asked after finishing up one of the braids and switching over to the right side of her hair, trying to strike up a conversation by remembering their little shopping trip the day before. He knew they weren’t reeeeally clothes, but it just came out that way, probably because it felt less awkward by phrasing it like he did. Maybe I shouldn’t ask her at all, he wondered. I’m sure most girls don’t discuss how well their underwear works with their fathers, and suddenly he worried that maybe she’d be weirded out be him asking. But I’m her only parent, she should feel comfortable and willing to talk to me about anything. I’m asking because I genuinely care, she knows that.

     “You mean my bras?” Jessie asked. “They’re not just clothes, they have a purpose.”

     “No I know that,” he insisted. “Right, sorry.”

     “I don’t know if I like them or not yet,” she continued. “I’m not wearing one right now.”

     Oh. “Well didn’t you try any on last night after we got home?”

     “Yeah, for a little while,” she sighed. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down to see who was texting her. “Hey, can I invite some friends over?”

     “Yeah, of course, anyone I know?”

     “Just Paris and a girl from my team, Harper. I don’t think you’ve met her before.” He knew who Paris was though. She was one of Jessie’s best friends actually, and he got along well with the girl’s parents too. Normally she and his daughter seemed to hang out at least once a week, but he realized that he hadn’t seen the girl in almost a month. Paris was aware of his DSD, Jessie had obviously told him right away. So then maybe that’s why she hasn’t been around for awhile. That or Jess didn’t think she should invite her. I’m glad to see Jess starting to hang out with her again though, Paris is a good kid. As he continued to lap bundles of her hair together, one over the other, he realized that that was probably why Jessie had asked him to braid her hair. 

     “Fine with me, do you know when they’re coming over?”

     “Umm…” she trailed off, still focusing on her phone while Marcus fixed up her hair. “Do you think they could stay the night?”

     Now that was something that really hadn’t happened in a while. He had seen some of her friends in the first days of his shrinking, back when the difference was hardly even noticeable. But Jessie hadn’t hosted any sleepovers since before then, back when things were normal. His initial diagnosis had come around the time school had started anyways, so between Jessie and her friends’ lives being busy again, and beginning to understand and prepare for the changes that would be coming in their household, he hadn’t even entertained the idea of having any of her friends sleep over, and neither had Jessie. But as the days went on, the two of them got more used to the new Marcus. With her question to her dad, it was clear that Jessie felt it was time to reintroduce some more of her old social life into their household again.

     “Sure Jess,” he decided. “I guess it’s been awhile since you’ve had a sleepover, I’m sure that’ll be fun for all of you. Does that change when they’ll be coming?” 

     “Yeah, I think the plan is for Harper's dad to pick me up with some other girl, and we’re gonna go over to their house, and Paris’ll meet us there, and then Mrs. Johnson will pick her, me, and Harper up and bring them here on her way home from some kind of event she’s at in downtown which ends tonight around 8 I think.”

     Marcus was confused; TMI. “Wait, so three people are coming here tonight? Who’s the other girl you mentioned?”

     Jessie sighed, exasperated that her dad couldn’t understand her. “No, the other girl’s just hanging out with Harper too, but she can’t come tonight so Paris’ mom is just bringing her and Harper over. And me.” Marcus chuckled and shook her head. Did all teenage girls feel the need to overcomplicate things, or was it just his daughter? He remembered when he was a kid growing up in a small town, so all his friends lived in the same neighborhood. People just came and went to whoever’s house whenever they could, it seemed so much simpler than Jessie’s social life growing up in the city.

     He brushed those thoughts aside, as he had just about finished up with styling her hair and was about to tell her when she sagged her shoulders, and reached her hand under her arm. “Why’s my armpit been itching all morning?” she huffed, impatiently scratching at it.

     “Oh I think I might know how to fix that,” Marcus murmured, and before she could register what he was about to do, he reached his small hands beneath her arms and tickled his tiny fingers against her skin, instantly causing her to contort her body with a smile as she broke out into a fit of giggles.

     “AHHH!” she squealed, and hurled forward on the couch to try and escape his grasp. Marcus was an expert father though, and jerked forward as soon as she did, continuing to assault her with a tickle that was made even more potent due to his smaller hands. She reflexively slammed her arms against her sides, a defense mechanism to quell the attack, trapping her dad’s hands and causing them to be unable to torture her any further. At the same time as her clamping her arms down though, she also stood up, hoping he wouldn’t be able to follow her if she raised herself up beyond his reach. The end product of her simultaneous and automatic trains of thought resulted in Marcus being lifted up off the couch, dangling a foot off the ground, but unable to release himself since his hands were trapped by his daughter’s strong biceps. He was hanging up against the backside of her body, in what almost looked like a helpless, contorted hug, as she realized her arms were holding up a little over a dozen pounds of weight behind her. She tried twisting her neck around, but his head was so small and close to her back that she couldn’t even see him, only feel her dad behind her. “Look who’s got the upper hand now, huh?” she chuckled, as she felt him instinctively kick his little legs against her own, as if it would somehow help his hands squeeze their way out of their tight grip.

     He felt a pang of anxiety over his helpless situation, but couldn’t help but share in her laugh, although his was a bit more awkward and embarrassed. “Can you let me down?” he asked, glancing downwards, longing to be back on the floor. 

     “Oh, you want back on the couch?” she asked with a playfully innocent tone, and backed up towards it, looking behind her as she began to bend her knees downwards as if she was about to sit down.

     “Hold on Jess, wait wait wait,” he said, realizing she was about to sit on him as she teasingly lowered herself closer and closer to the couch. “Stop, Jessie!” he exclaimed, just as she lifted her arms back up, releasing him and letting him fall the several inches down onto the couch.

     “There,” she said, spinning around to see him laying out on the couch, breathing a sigh of relief at his daughter’s mercy. She remembered her braids, and pulled them around to the front of her head to inspect them. “Oh, you’re done, thanks! Sorry about trapping you Daddy,” she added, giggling at her dad sprawled out below her. “Guess you shouldn’t try tickling me like that,” she smirked, and skipped on by to the kitchen to finally make herself some food while Marcus began to regain his composure.

 

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