===================
Monday, October 19
===================
Years of working a Monday-Friday job had led to Marcus going to bed around the same time as his daughter on Sunday nights. Back when he had a job for the news station, he would usually have to go to bed earlier than most adults for their jobs, because of how early his work started. Working for the 5am morning news would mean he had to wake up at 4am, so he had gotten used to being an early bird. Several weeks of “sick leave” had messed with his sleep schedule a bit, in addition to some bouts of sleeplessness from the first few days after his layoff. But luckily, he was starting to feel a bit better every day, and on Sunday night he had, out of habit, gone to bed at 9:00. So on Monday morning, after sleeping for a while longer than his body was used to on week-nights, he woke up, feeling fully rested. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed and stretching, he picked up his phone to check the time: 5:23. Marcus scoffed, surprised at how early it still was. Even after sleeping as long as I could, I’m still up early. Jess probably isn’t even up. Her school started at 8:00, and he doubted she needed three hours to get ready in the mornings, even accounting for the bus ride to school.
So Marcus figured his best course of action would be to make her breakfast for when she woke up. She probably just eats cereal for breakfast, he thought, trotting out of his room and heading into the kitchen. But I can do her one better and cook up an omelette. Or maybe she already eats eggs every day and some other breakfast would be a better surprise. Jeez, should I feel bad that I don’t know what my daughter tends to eat for breakfast on school days? He also wasn’t entirely sure how to even make an omelette. It’s kinda like two fried eggs on top of each other, but the whites and yolk are mixed together, and it’s kinda glued together on the sides like a calzone… Shit, maybe I’m in over my head. He hoped he could get away with using the small pan too. He wouldn’t be strong enough to use the big pan and quickly jolt it upwards to flip over the food in case any kind of that action was required. But he carefully set down his small laptop next to the stovetop and looked online to find a recipe that would teach him how to make one.
First he got some ham slices out of the fridge; despite Jessie being the only one in the house who ate them, usually putting them in her sandwiches for lunch, he was glad to find that they were on a relatively low shelf that he was able to reach. After chopping them up, he next got some cheese, spinach, butters, and a carton of eggs, placing them one by one on the counter near his laptop. I’ll eat the first one, he figured, as a test run. And also cuz she probably won’t wake up for a little while longer. Carefully following the instructions on the website, he whisked together salt and pepper with the eggs, poured it into the pan, added his ham, cheese, and spinach mix, and then folded it over, albeit a bit clumsily. But it was an omelette! He stood on his stool, beaming at his culinary creation, as he slid it off onto a plate. It doesn’t look super pretty, but it probably tastes great. The proud man took his breakfast to the table after grabbing a kiddie fork and knife. He sat down and took a bite, “Yep, tastes like omelette,” he murmured to himself. Hopefully Jess will like it. The spinach might’ve been a big risk.
Just as he was about to take a second bite, he heard some rustling, and then the creak of a bed, come from Jessie’s room across the house. The improvement to his senses was one of the few things that he was thankful for after having shrunk, and he rushed off his chair, preparing to make the second omelette for his daughter. As he mixed together the egg whites and yolk together again with his simple seasoning, he heard her door open, and a gradual flood of light from her room fill the hallway. He couldn’t see her, but the closing of another door told Marcus that she had probably gone to the bathroom. I wonder if she knows I’m up. Did I leave my door open? Or can she hear me right now? As he poured the eggs onto the pan, he realized he was feeling excited about the whole situation. Cooking breakfast for her wasn’t a big deal, but it would still be a kind surprise. And it’s the little things that can go a long way sometimes for people.
Rubbing her eyes as she noticed the kitchen lights were already on, Jessie slowly trudged down the hallway, and turned the corner to see her dad turned to her, smiling proudly as he held a hand on the handle of a frying pan. “Breakfast’s on me today,” he said, and her mouth fell open, before the corners of her lips curled upwards into a smile. She was still a bit too tired to react with the amount of enthusiasm someone would normally expect out of her, but she was still clearly happy.
“Reeeeally?” she said quietly, approaching her dad to see what he was cooking. She wrapped one of her arms around his body and embraced him. He returned the affection, doing his best to wrap his small arms around his torso, his head resting against her chest. Marcus and Jessie didn’t hug as much as they used to anymore due to their size difference, and when they did, it meant either Marcus hugging her thighs, or Jessie having to squat down. But anytime he had a slight height advantage like he did now with the stool, it meant being able to show his daughter the affection and love he used to take for granted. “Why are you up so early?” she asked, looking down at him as he withdrew from her and returned to his pan.
“I don’t need as much sleep as you do,” he explained, adding the inner ingredients on top of the solidifying egg. “So I woke up at 4am, out of habit from work, and then went back to sleep. And by the time I couldn’t sleep anymore, it was still only around 5:30. So I figured I’d make you some omelettes since I had nothing else to do, and I needed breakfast too anyways.” Spatula in hand, he turned and pointed to his own finished one on the table. “Which I’ll probably need help finishing by the way.”
Jessie pursed her lips in the kind of smile that comes from feeling a tinge of guilt, and went to sit down at the table. She turned to face her dad as he finished up with her food. “Thank you,” she murmured quietly, genuinely surprised at the gesture and grateful to have such a loving dad.
He finished up her omelette and slid it onto another plate, then taking it over the table and presenting it to her. She gladly took it, and he returned to his own spot at the table, across from her. They ate together in silence, enjoying the food and each others’ company.
* * * * * *
The front door opened, alerting Marcus to the fact that Jessie was home from school. He had been lying on the couch, but he quickly sat up upon hearing her arrive, switching screens on his laptop to make it look like he was being productive. He sighed and scolded himself internally, It’s just like when I was a kid and my mom came home from the store and I rushed to start working on her chores. Except in this situation he was the parent. Jess probably wouldn’t have even cared if she came home to see me on Twitter. She’s been nothing but supportive of me this past week. Hell, she’s the one who’s been telling me to relax more than I’ve wanted to. “Hey Daddy,” Jessie said cheerily as she came into the living room. Marcus smiled back at her, about to greet her, but was startled as he saw another girl enter behind his daughter. She was a slightly chubby, short hispanic girl from Jessie’s class that had been friends with Marcus’ daughter since last school year. Jessie herself wasn’t even very tall, but this new girl was only about as tall as his daughter’s chin, likely several inches under 5 feet by his guess. She had a timid expression on her face as she entered the room, but her eyes grew wide as she saw Marcus on the couch.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were bringing someone over,” he said nervously, fidgeting in his seat and blushing as he saw the young girl’s reaction to his shrunken size. "Is she one of your teammates?" She had never seen someone with his condition in person before, or at least not as small as he was. Normally Marcus would’ve greeted his daughter’s friends, but he felt safer on the couch. He already felt short, of course, but people always look shorter sitting down.
“Hi, I’m Camila,” the girl quietly said, still looking Marcus’ body up and down. She didn’t look excited, or mischievous, but curious more than anything. The only people shorter than her were usually children, and while Jessie had mentioned to Camila that her dad had DSD, Camila was still shocked to see him.
“She doesn't play volleyball, we just have some homework we’re gonna work on together for a class project,” Jessie explained. “We can stay in my room and be out of your way, she has to be home in a few hours anyways.”
Marcus was still surprised to see the newcomer. Now that he thought about it, she was the first stranger who had been in their house since Marcus had started shrinking. “Oh, OK. Yeah, that’s fine,” he mumbled, doing his best to not sound too startled. “Can you uh, text me when you have people coming over though? It’s just good to know.” I could’ve hidden in my room if I had known someone else would be here. Or maybe covered myself with a blanket and pretended to be asleep.
“I did,” Jessie replied, not missing a beat. “It’s from our last period class though, so I guess you didn’t get it yet. But Camila’s parents are both still at work right now so I figured it would be better if we came here, in case we needed help with something. What can I help her out with at my size? he thought, a bit cynical about the whole situation. Oh, she probably just means questions.
“Alright, I guess that’s fine,” he said, sighing as he got more comfortable in his seat.
“OK, thanks Daddy,” Jessie said, turning to head towards her room.
Camila smiled again. “Bye Mr. Tilden,” she said, politely waving as she followed Jessie. He had never met Camila before, or heard Jessie talk about her, but from the looks of it she was a bit of a shy girl. I suppose if someone has to be the first friend Jessie brings over now that I’m shrunken, it’s better for it to be someone who’s a bit shy instead of some of Jess’ other friend’s. As he closed out his “productive tab” and went back to wasting time on Twitter and checking emails, he reflected on some of Jessie’s other friends that she had brought over throughout the past few years. I certainly wouldn’t mind if Camila became Jess’ new best friend, she seems kind and polite, and keeps her distance. Wonder when I’ll feel comfortable with Jess hosting sleepovers again or having a bunch of people over for parties, I can’t restrict her from having a proper childhood just because of my new size anxiety.
Unfortunately for Marcus, those days were a lot closer than he was expecting.