In-Between - Chapters 27-30 free porn video

You will want to read this story in order for it to make sense. As much as I don't wish to send readers away, I do want you to know that if diapers, bottles, and all that entails for babies doesn't interest you, this story most likely will not be for you. This work is set in the 'DiaperDimension' that was created by PrincessPottyPants on some of the ABDL boards. Several other authors have taken their own spins on the dimension and I encourage you to read them if you like this work! *************************************************** Chapter 27: Serendipity *************************************************** THREE YEARS HAD passed since I joined Benson and Stein. I found myself a much different man than I had been before Beth's disappearance. On the positive side, joining their firm had been the best possible thing I could have done. Given the successes I had been having with the cases I'd been assigned, they were talking seriously about making me a third partner in the next year. Everything with my career had taken off like a rocket once I joined up with them! I'd led dozens of successful suits against companies, people, and the government on behalf of Littles, Mids, and even a few Bigs because their Littles had been wronged. My bonuses based on cuts from settlements and jury awards became bigger than my main salary, and I had invested in a house not far from where Judge Jones had used to live. I had paid it off in one year, and appreciated having a place away from the city where I could go and think in quiet. Though I sort of avoided that ability to think at the same time, because Beth's disappearance had merely been the start of the worst year of my life! It was a year that had very nearly broken me completely... By Thanksgiving of the year I should have been married, all four of my grandparents passed away! From cancer, a stroke, and then finally a car accident caused when Grandpa Frank had a sudden massive heart attack while manually driving his classic sports car. Their vehicle rolled out of control and off a Cliff, killing Grandma Suzy who was in the passenger seat. Dad and I had been devastated by all of the loss, but at least we had each other! Then Dad... Then... that next May Dad passed away. He was on his way home from work and a dumbass drunk Big overrode his self-driving controls, ran a red light, and smashed head-on into his car. Leaving me truly an orphan... I would honestly have taken being hugged by my overbearing Grandma Suzy just one more time! Fortunately for me, 'Aunt Ruth' had followed my news, and regularly invited me down to spend time with her and her husband. Occasionally her kids would join too, and I soon found myself a welcome adopted son more or less in their family. In the last eighteen months I had coped pretty much by being single- mindedly focused on the cases at hand. I had no life outside of work... "Hey Cameron, we have a new client coming in a half-hour to discuss taking their case. Any chance you can come join us?" Kendra asked. I looked up at her smiling form and again appreciated that she was an amazing person to work with. "Sure, I'm just about done here with my pre-trial motions here on the Weber case. Who is it?" "Honestly, Desiree took the call and David did the follow-up, so I don't remember." "Okay, I'll see if I can't grab a look at the notes in the system before I head in there." I got back to work, and soon I had typed a few last sentences on my project. After saving it, I looked up at the clock and realized time had gotten away from me. Noticing I now only had a few minutes, I took a quick hop into the restroom, and carried a cup of coffee to the conference room we met most of our clients. David and Kendra had set up a great office here, with our firm controlling all of the forty- second floor of the building. It let us have the conference room on a window side that overlooked the capital building and the nearby courthouse. I was known to sometimes come work there just to have a break and enjoy the view. I knew that was why both of their corner offices overlooked the same view on either end of the building! I placed my coffee down, and was about to sit down in the chair, when Kendra's voice became clear and I heard her talking to the man she was with. "We really are the best you can get for something like this..." I was grateful I had set my coffee down, because I would have dropped it otherwise! "Mr. Fehler?" "Ca... Cameron," he said nervously. Over the last few years my soul had broken, and it had all started with the day they had disappeared! "Where is she?!?!?!?" I shouted. Kendra looked taken aback. "Umm... You know this man?" "I'm supposed to marry his daughter! Where is Beth?!?" I asked in a hoarse voice as I rounded the table and prepared to confront him. Mr. Fehler clearly didn't know how to react, but as the tears reached both of our eyes, he wrapped me in a hug. "I'm sorry Cameron... We had to run... but I had no idea the damage was done... and... well..." The hug broke, and he said, "I'm sorry, but I guess let me tell the story... it's a long one." "Maybe we can all sit down?" David appeared and joined us, using a hand on my shoulder to steer me to the table. I nodded and sat back down with my coffee cup in front of me. I took a sip, the black bitterness helping calm me back down. In front of me sat the only link I had to the love of my life, and I needed to know what had happened to her! I managed to take a second sip and said, "Sorry about that... Umm... Full disclosure before Mr. Fehler speaks. I was engaged to his daughter who has been a lifelong friend of mine growing up when they just disappeared without a trace or a word on what happened." "Fair enough Cameron," Kendra said. "Mr. Fehler, what brings you here today?" David asked. He sighed. "I had no idea Cameron was working for you all. I hope that doesn't make for some sort of conflict of interest?" "We're not prosecutors," David said, "and I have a feeling his passion may make for a better case here. Tell us why you're here?" "A little over three years ago life was going really well for my family and I! Our daughter, Beth, was a Little by just two inches, but had managed to end up having to turn herself in at Emerson University to their Student Services, when it became apparent that she was going to be demerited out. She would have been forced into an adoption with no choices otherwise. I used every connection I had to help me get a hearing and the judge allowed for her to return home with me, but put in place some very strict monitoring and restrictions for a few years after her re-adoption to ensure I was properly caring for her case of Maturosis. In the process I had also divorced from my wife, a Mid, in the hopes that it would strengthen my case." He sighed. "I cared for Beth as kindly as I could with the requirements as long as the court ordered monitoring was in place. When the monitoring finally came to a close, I waited a few months and then began helping her to regain all that she had lost. In the process she reconnected with Cameron here, and their young love was something they finally admitted to each other." Kendra shot me a curious look - I had never mentioned Beth to her or David because I just couldn't talk about it. "Go on?" "Well, I decided that it was time to help her go the full route to emancipation, so I moved her to New Albany, a state that I knew had the loosest laws for emancipating an adopted Little. My ex-wife had moved there right after the divorce in the hopes that we would be able to do this at some point... It was nice for all of us to be reunited as a family again, and I even remarried her officially a year later. We worked hard to potty train Beth again, get her an associate's degree from a community college, and meet all of the emancipation requirements of the law. The June before Cameron's final year at Harlan, we visited him and she showed him her emancipation papers. That weekend he proposed, and they planned to be married in June after he graduated the next year." I took the tissue that Kendra offered me then, as no attempts at trying to be tough were going to work here. "You all were doing fine, what happened?" I asked hoarsely. He sighed. "My wife, Ashley, had retired from her job and was looking for something else to occupy her free time. She came across an ad looking for Mids to test products. The descriptions seemed harmless, and she signed both herself and Beth up since her height was just below that level. They'd both already tested things when..." "Do you have the ad still?" I managed to ask. He reached into an envelope and passed it over to me. I felt my blood freeze as I recognized the very same ad that had been in my own mailbox around the time they disappeared. Serendipity Industries... "This is a front for SafeFoods," I found myself saying without hesitation. "How do you know that from just looking at it?" Kendra asked. I sighed. "I received this very same ad years ago... about the time they disappeared, and remember looking into it later. It's one of their shell companies that they use to test items because people have figured out not to trust stuff from SafeFoods." Her dad nodded. "If they had said anything to me, I would have done the same research... Well... I did the same research later on." He wrung his hands and ran them through what remained along the sides of his large head. "They tested things for nearly a month before I found out about it. Apparently, it started innocently enough with some shampoo and body wash. From what I can tell those didn't do anything directly to them, but acted as catalysts later. Some deodorant, and lip gloss, and then some new tampons were next. Nothing of course gave them any sort of red flags..." I nodded, 'I doubt I would have seen any of those as dangerous...' "What happened next?" I asked. "Well, the day we disappeared they tried a new body lotion that they had been sent. They thought it smelled pretty good, and put that opinion down on the form they would have to return about it. I figure that I came home two hours after they had tried it, and found Beth laying catatonic having wet and messed herself on the living room floor, and my wife not much better upstairs. She just managed to tell me what she thought had happened before she too... well..." He cried then. "basically became an infant for all intents and purposes. Both of them! All they can do now is crawl with some effort, drool, and cry..." Hearing this brought to life my worst nightmare for the past few years. Everything I had ever considered in my darkest thoughts had basically been the truth all along. I felt my stomach twist in horror, my heart was wrenched open, and I quickly made a run down the hall to the bathroom and emptied my stomach out in the toilet! I sobbed for several minutes afterwards. 'Beth...' I felt a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" I turned and saw David looking at me with concern. I shook my head. "I'm about as not okay as you can get David... but let me rinse my mouth out and hopefully I can get back in there. You'd think after I said goodbye to her once, the second time couldn't be worse..." He patted me on the back as we re-entered, and Beth's dad looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry Cameron..." I sighed. "I know, it's not your fault. I'm sorry I freaked out here... To say I've been heartbroken and worried for all of these years since I got a 'We're sorry, your call cannot be completed' message on your phones would be an understatement..." "I know... I'm sorry, I wanted to let you know... but I also didn't want you to try and hold yourself back for her." "So, what happened after you found them?" I asked as calmly as I could. There was a part of me that now wanted to find a way to beat him to death for not telling me, but another part needed to demand to immediately see Beth anyway. He took a deep breath. "Well... I hit the practical side first. We still had some diapers for Beth that I dressed them both in. It was a squeeze for Ashley since they were the wrong size for her... but at least I knew it would protect a little. I carefully swaddled them on the floor of our bedroom, then ran to the store down the road and picked up some diapers in Ashley's size. I had just finished changing Ashley into a better fitting diaper, when the doorbell rang. People never visited us out in the country where we lived, so I went down cautiously and was surprised to see a van with a logo of Serendipity Industries. One of the men said, 'They're probably drooling by now, just break in and let's get them out of here...'" I gasped, understanding more of what happened there. "What did you do?" "Bluffed," he told me. "I opened the door and said, 'Hi, may I help you?' If not me maybe the sheriff officer who is on their way?" He smiled. "One of them was pretty sure I was bluffing, but they hightailed it out of there anyway. Understanding we were in danger I got them in the car with a few changes of clothes for everyone, the products, a few mementos, all of the diapers, and hightailed it out of there." "Why didn't you call me?" I asked. "I bet I could have helped..." He shook his head. "Honestly I left our phones and electronics at the house. I had some cash and a bag just in case we needed to get out if someone from Ames was looking for us still. I bought a new car the next town over and then kept driving..." He looked physically drained at that point. "We kept hopping from place to place for two years before I finally found an apartment and a daycare that I could trust to leave them. I don't know what to do anymore, but I do know that whoever this company is can't be allowed to get away with this!" "Can I see them?" I asked him softly. "I don't think Beth would want that Cameron..." he said softly. "But..." "You have no idea how hard she worked to grow up for you! The tears and screams when she missed going to the toilet and had a stinky pair of panties instead, before that the hard work to just be able to bring a spoon back to her face... I can't let you see her like this... It's worse than before! A lot worse..." I shook my head, but said, "I think she would want to see me, but I'll respect your wishes. What do you want to do?" "I want justice for her and my wife, and the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who have been abused by this company!" His body visibly shook while he clenched his hands. "I don't have much money remaining, but I'll pay you what I can..." "This will be pro bono," I found myself saying in unison with Kendra and David. I gave them both a small smile. "We're going to need them both examined, and I want to know exactly what it is they've done to them so we can prepare the best case." "I think we also need to move you all to a more secure housing arrangement if you're going to be a star witness in this trial... SafeFoods is not a safe company to deal with," Kendra said. "I'll get Desiree on it," David said as he hopped up. Soon David took Mr. Fehler to go get his wife and Beth to take them to a remote location that we owned for cases like this. Several security guards were stationed round the clock, and the actual house was one of the most physically secure places I knew of! I wanted to go meet them there and see Beth for myself, but a part of me knew he was telling me the truth... Kendra put her hand on my shoulder. "I don't have a problem with you staying on this case, but are you sure you want to?" I nodded. "If this company intentionally did this, or at the very least knowingly did this, I want their bank accounts emptied. I'd prefer their entire board and owners rot in prison, but I doubt that is possible." "Let's get to work then, huh?" *************************************************** Chapter 28: Swirling *************************************************** DAVID, KENDRA, AND I spent the next two months compiling everything we thought we needed to put together a case against Serendipity Industries and their parent company, SafeFoods, Inc. To my surprise we were able to begin gathering several other plaintiffs to quietly join the suit, and presumed we were moving towards a Class Action status for the case. David and Kendra focused on the clients, the witnesses, and most of the paperwork. I researched the science on what had been inside the products. Unfortunately, many of the cases lacked victims to examine, because similar vans that had come for Beth and Ashley, had come for them too - no one knew what happened to those victims at all! If it hadn't been for home security footage we wouldn't have even been able to fully link those cases with the Fehlers. In other cases, they had left the victims with loved ones at home, but claimed they had to take all of the products back per the legal agreement... Fortunately, Beth's dad had kept all of the products in a sealed Ziploc bag as one of the few things he took out of their house. I was able to get some help from the university that housed the Harlan School to analyze them. My chemistry background came into full use as I studied what had been given to them, what each unique chemical caused, and agonized over just how much damage had been inflicted with the horrific plot. Four years to the day that I had asked Beth to marry me, we filed the case in court. A summons was sent to both companies, and almost immediately the media picked up on the case. Things became a bit of a circus around the firm then as we dealt with national news networks requesting interviews, a countersuit from the company, and the initial late summer court date soon approached. I had asked Beth's dad a few times again if I could see her... but he kept refusing. "She wouldn't want you to see her like this Cameron..." "I was ready to say until death do us part," I told him. "Please? So, I can remind myself who and what I'm fighting for!" He finally agreed a week before the first court date, and I found myself driving carefully out to the safe house. I was let in by the security team and Mr. Fehler met me in the living room. "Cameron, are you sure you want to see her? I'd rather you remember her like she was..." "I have to... I... I love her!" I told him resolutely. His shoulders fell. "Very well then, come on upstairs to their nursery..." 'Nursery' felt like a stab to the gut, but I couldn't help but note the 'their' in the sentence. His wife was just as wronged in this case as Beth was. He opened a door up to a happy looking nursery with two large cribs, a changing table, a playpen, and a... and a pair of adults wearing baby clothes laying on their backs with toy gym things hanging over the top of them. I watched for a moment as Beth made a very uncoordinated effort to hit a suspended unicorn toy hanging on a string above her. She was distracted a second later by staring at herself in a mirror toy next to it, and then began attempting to kick her feet out. Both she and her mother looked to have put on forty or more pounds since I saw them last, 'Probably from the lack of exercise,' I knew. My blood froze as drool ran out the corner of Beth's mouth, forming some little bubbles with her spit, and we made eye contact. I stared into her eyes, and hoped something remained of the woman I loved. Anything... Even a glimmer of recognition... After she was regressed leaving Emerson, I could always see her as strong as ever inside her eyes. Now instead, all I saw was a blank stare. I started to hope when I saw her mouth began to change into a smile. I thought for just a second maybe it was the sign I needed that something was left! Right then her body tensed and, a second later, I realized she was pooping her diaper, and giggling about the sensation. I walked over to her and said, "Hi Beth..." She smiled, but it was the look of a baby looking at someone who looked friendly and was paying them attention. Not the look she gave me the last time we spoke via video chat... or the last time we passionately kissed. I sighed. "Beth, I don't know if there's anything left of you in there, but I want you to know I have always loved you, and will always love you no matter what. I will get you justice, my love, and somehow I'll find a way to cure you and your mom." I leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, and stood to walk back out. "Cameron, I have something for you before you leave..." her father told me. "Let me go get it, and then I'll change her after I show you out." I nodded. It was then that I looked at Beth's older gray-haired mom in nearly the same state on the other side of the room. She had managed to grab one of the toys hanging above her, and had it in her mouth where she began slobbering and sucking on it, leaving a glistening mess of slobber when she pulled it out a second later. With a sigh I turned from the room and closed the door. Mr. Fehler handed me a white envelope. It felt oddly heavy in one corner of it. I looked curiously at it. "What's this?" "Her engagement ring..." "But..." I tried to hand it to him. "No Cameron... The way she is, there's no way she can get married to you, obviously... I highly doubt we ever cure her and her mom, but... Cameron, if we do somehow manage to cure her... I don't know if she'll ever be able to legally stand on her own again." "She's still emancipated, right?" I asked. He shook his head. "I had to adopt both of them in case someone tried saying they weren't adopted to take them from me." I groaned. "That means even if..." "They'll both have to go through that emancipation process. I don't honestly know that Beth could do it again Cameron. My wife..." I found myself hugging him. "I'm sorry," I told him. "I am too," he sighed. "Take the ring. If we ever manage to get them out of it, you can ask her to marry you again." I nodded. "I'm going to hold you to that, sir," I told him. I soon found myself back in my car heading to the city. For the second time in my life, I had an engagement ring returned to me. I would have normally called Dad to talk about something like this... but he was gone. I pulled up Aunth Ruth's number... but couldn't quite bring myself to dial her. I feared bringing her in because I didn't want her to have to recuse herself if this case made it up to the Supreme Court at some point. Driving home I had never felt more alone in all of my life... WHEN WE WENT to the first court date, right away we hit our first road block. We'd filed in the District Court that the injury had taken place in - a standard practice. Their lawyers somehow convinced the judge, I presumed by bribery or blackmail, that it needed to be moved to the District Court in Ames instead. We decided it wasn't worth fighting the jurisdiction battle for a couple more years' time, and instead were at least fortunate that I had joined the bar association back there too when I graduated. We fast tracked applications for David and Kendra, but it seemed likely that we were going to be held up on David's because of him being a Mid. I remembered my application had taken a full six-months, so I wasn't holding my breath on his making it anytime soon. Kendra's was fortunately approved the week we began the trial there, otherwise it would have only been me presenting our case. The three of us found ourselves setting up at a table with all of our resources for the first hearing in Ames. Across from us their attorneys were doing the same. Just about five minutes before the hearing was to begin, Addison's mother, Aubry Harris, entered the courtroom and sat next to the attorneys for her company. She looked at us and glared. 'I wonder if she recognizes me?' I couldn't help but think. 'I'm sure she does.' I watched her lean across the railing and make a comment in her lawyer's ear. My hand brushed across the collar of my shirt, and I reassured myself that the necklace Addy had given me hung suspended with Beth's engagement ring on it. As far as I was concerned Addy's mom had taken both of the loves of my life away from me, and I was wearing them as a symbol of what I was fighting for! Before long the bailiff cried. "All Rise, District Court Fifty-Two is now in session, the Honorable Justice Lynn Taney presiding!" I watched as a tall woman with short, and obviously dyed blonde, hair approached the bench in her robe. From my research I knew she was fifty-seven, healthy, and had three Littles sitting at home with their nanny right then. "You may be seated," she said. The bailiff introduced our case. "The first case on today's docket is Case number 384459322 Fehler and Others vs. Serendipity Industries and SafeFoods, Inc." "Mrs. Stein, I believe you are the lead counsel for the plaintiffs?" "Yes, Your Honor, along with my co-counsel Cameron Sylvester. Also joining us is my law partner David Benson who is waiting for recognition from the Ames Bar Association." I heard a hiss from Addy's mom, and I guessed if she hadn't recognized me before, she certainly did now. "Mr. Johnson, you are the lead counsel for the defense?" "I am, Your Honor," he told her. I already knew that Henry Johnson was a piece of work. We'd actually faced each other in a couple of cases back in Hartford that I had come out the better on. "On behalf of my client we wish to request a summary dismissal for this farce of a lawsuit, there is no basis in fact for this slander." "Objection, Your Honor," I found myself saying. "We have evidence, witnesses, and hundreds of victims of a so-called 'Product Testing' scheme. There is clear criminal intent, or at the very least gross negligence, on the part of Serendipity Industries and SafeFoods." The judge gave me a glare that made me remember Aunt Ruth staring people down. I looked straight at her as well, and she said, "The motion is denied, it would be a serious miscarriage of justice to at least not hear the facts of this case Mr. Johnson." "Then Your Honor, we would like to request a continuance until we have further prepared?" I worried the judge would be fully in their pocket, but she shook her head. "No, I don't think that will be necessary. Let's begin these pre-trial motions..." We had debated long and hard about a jury trial or a non-jury trial. We couldn't help but worry that the judge might be more crooked, but ten jurors might be a stretch out of the twelve. In the end we flipped a coin and went for the jury trial. The not quite hour-long hearing dealt with a number of details and set the date for choosing our jurors in five days on the following Monday. The class action motion was presented, and she said she would rule on it at the next hearing. "We're going to go ahead and fly back home for the weekend Cameron; sure, you don't want to come back with us?" David asked me. I shook my head. "No, I never have done anything with selling our house here... I need to spend some time cleaning it out and getting it ready to go on the market. I'm also going to see some friends I haven't seen since I lost my dad." He grasped my shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything else!" "Will do, and why don't you both just plan to stay at my house here when you come back? There are two extra bedrooms not being used," I added. "We'll take you up on that," Kendra said. Right then all of our attention was dragged over to the defense attorneys who were being accosted by Aubry Harris. "What the Hell are you doing letting that Little get away with objecting to your motion? Why didn't you fight that objection?!?" I could hear her hiss. "Mrs. Harris, Mr. Sylvester is a fully credentialed attorney who is recognized by the Ames Bar Association..." "Watch your back," Kendra said as we walked out to the front of the courthouse together. "Same to you guys," I told her. I was just about to get inside the car I had rented when I heard. "Cameron!" I turned to see Addy's mom walking towards me. "What can I do for you Mrs. Harris?" "What can you do for me?" she snorted. "Drop this ridiculous lawsuit before I have you put into diapers like your client... Or should I say your fianc??" I gritted my teeth, but said, "So you're threatening me? Just to make sure you know that would be something I would have to bring up in court." I stared up at her imposing form, knowing if this got physical there wasn't much I could do. "Of course, I'm not threatening you Little Man. Just stating a fact that you are probably in danger of wetting your pants in court. I believe a case of Maturosis on the part of the plaintiff's counsel would probably not bode well for the suit?" "It probably wouldn't help, but that would be part of why I have partners who can take over if something were to happen to me, huh?" "This isn't going to end well for you if you keep pursuing this." "Kind of like how the three cases I've already won against SafeFoods in the last two years went?" She gritted her teeth then and I knew I really was getting under her skin. "You watch yourself!" "I would also remind you that the security cameras here are watching too," I said pointing directly to two that happened to be pointing at us." She huffed. "Well, at least my daughter had better sense than to marry a baby like you." With that she turned around and left. I was shaking as I got into my rental car and started the engine. I managed to put the coordinates into the GPS for my home and let the self-drive system navigate the garage and the streets. I took a moment to start uploading the video from the camera I was wearing as I dialed David. "You okay?" David asked on the video screen on my dash. I shook my head. "That may have been a close one. I'm uploading the confrontation to you, but you might also subpoena the courthouse parking cameras too if anything happens to me." "You think something will?" "I've never had someone look at me like that before... I'll be surprised if she doesn't try something." "Are you really sure that you don't want to fly home? We can still get you a seat on our flight?" I nodded. "I need to be here for a bit to take care of things. I should be safe enough..." "Watch your back Cameron," Kendra said over the video from beside him. "Always do..." In the time it took to drive out of the city and to my nearby hometown I thought about needing supplies in the empty house, and ended up detouring for some essentials I knew I would need at a grocery store. Soon after that the car was pulling up to the garage of my childhood home. I activated the garage door and pulled it manually inside, looking at all of the tools and miscellaneous items in the dusty garage with a sigh. When Dad died two years ago, I hadn't had the heart to clean out things then... We had just done that with both of my grandparents' houses in the previous year... That had sucked, but doing that with my own childhood home was going to be so much worse! I took the steps to my bedroom and was startled to see a screen lying on the bed. 'That wasn't there before?' I thought back to when I left after Dad's funeral. Just as I approached it to check it out the screen turned on and a vivid swirl of colors began swirling on the screen... *************************************************** Chapter 29: Tails *************************************************** IN MY HEAD I shouted 'NO!!!!!' as I flipped over the tablet onto its screen. I had seen just enough to realize there was a weird filter color with words that was somehow overlaid above the moving video, but didn't keep looking long enough to figure out what it was. "Shit!" I exclaimed. "That was close!" I found a pair of gloves in the medicine cabinet and placed the tablet inside a manilla envelope before calling the police. I called David and Kendra and let them know about it too, before meeting the police at the door a short while later. They looked kind of suspicious about it when the screen was black, but took it in for evidence anyways. There was absolutely no sign of forced entry in the house, which made me even more nervous! I paid a locksmith to come out and rekey my locks and add some additional physical locks onto each door. They were contracted to come back and put in an alarm system the next week. David and Kendra told me to expense it all when I got back... It was late that night by the time the dust finally settled and I found myself laying in my childhood bed. 'They gave it a solid attempt to use hypnosis on me...' I thought as I tried sleeping. 'I'm guessing they're hoping I'll pee my pants in court on Monday and they can get rid of me and the case with a Maturosis ruling...' I had no way of knowing how long ago the tablet had been planted though... I hadn't been inside the house now in about twenty months. My only hope was that there were fingerprints or some sort of digital fingerprint associated with whoever planted it inside my house. At some point in the evening, I must have finally dozed off, waking to my cell phone going off the next day. I looked over and saw it was Aunt Ruth. "Hi Aunt Ruth," I told her sleepily. "Hi, yourself," she said. "Umm... am I in trouble?" I asked sleepily. "A little... How come you didn't tell me that you are involved in that big case against SafeFoods on behalf of Beth?" I sighed and rubbed the sleet out of my eyes, glad this was an audio call only. "It's been in the news? I figured you already knew?" I paused. "Honestly I didn't want to create conflicts of interest if the verdict gets appealed to your court?" "That big, huh?" she asked. I sighed. "Big enough they tried getting me last night," I said and instantly wanted to take back those words. "What do you mean?" she asked like a mother worried about her kid. "I shouldn't have said anything..." I sighed. "I came home to my dad's house last night and narrowly evaded a hypnosis trap that was set for me." "You're okay?!?" she asked. "You're sure? Hypnosis doesn't always appear immediately?" "I'm sure... I'll tell you why some other time." I thought, 'Thanks Stacy.' "What exactly is this case?" "I'm not wanting to create a conflict..." I insisted. "If the case involves you it automatically probably reaches that anyway Cameron." She paused. "Besides, it's my call if I have a conflict of interest, no one else's." "Well..." I hedged. "I guess I'll give you the overview. A few months ago, now Beth's dad showed up at the office wanting to file a suit against Serendipity Industries. He didn't realize I worked at the firm... It was a bit rough," I admitted. "How rough?" "Well, I didn't kick his rear like I wanted to..." I shook my head. "Honestly in the end I would probably have mostly done the same thing he did other than finding a way to at least get in touch with me. Beth and her mom signed up for some sort of product testing service as a part-time job. That Thanksgiving she disappeared; they had just tested something that made them both... Well... they show no signs of cognition," I told her sadly. "I don't know if anyone can ever do anything for her or her mom. Her mom was actually the one who signed them both up to test stuff... With her larger body mass, she lasted just long enough to tell her dad what happened before she ended up in an infant state too." The tears I felt going down my face reminded me this nightmare was far from over. "We're suing Serendipity and their parent company SafeFoods for them and one-hundred-and-thirty other clients so far that have signed on. We turned in a motion to make the case a Class Action suit and will begin jury selection on Monday." "You think the attack last night?" "I'm sure it was them. Mrs. Harris confronted me by my car too. I have a video of the exchange that's already in David and Kendra's hands." "You have to be careful Cameron..." she told me worriedly. "I will... as much as I can." I wiped another tear away. "Honestly, with Beth like she is now, my whole family is gone... I sometimes wonder if there's anything more I can really lose." "I wish I could hug you right now... Hang in there kid!" she told me. "And your whole family is not gone, you know I'm there for you anytime you need something! And, I expect a call at least once a week so I know you're okay!" I smiled. "Yes Mom," I told her. I heard her suck in a breath. "You know I really do think of you as another one of my kids at this point, right?" "And honestly, you're as much of a mother as I've had since I was little. Thank you for caring about me," I told her. We hung up soon after and I couldn't help but thinking I wanted to tell her that I loved her as I did so... it was really quite true! I showered and got to work on our current case and also did some prep for several others. I spent an hour on video conference with David and Kendra about things before beginning to work around the house on making headway on keep vs. give away/throw away. I started in the last place I wanted to start, Dad's bedroom, so it would be available for David to sleep in. Kendra would get the larger bed in the guest room that my grandparents used to use. Going through his stuff was an emotional minefield, and I cried for about two hours straight as I'd frequently come across something that reminded me of him. His clothes were boxed up for charity since they were too big for me. I kept his watches, tie clasps, and other jewelry he had. Mom had left some jewelry that should have gone to my baby sister if she had lived... That made me cry again, but I couldn't throw that out. That all got carefully boxed to fly back with me as I knew there was a lot of value inside of her jewelry boxes. "Maybe someday I can give them to Beth..." There were some trinkets from my grandparents and their families that were of sentimental value that I also kept. By the end of the day, I'd managed to pack about twenty boxes, filled trash bags, and had emptied his room out of everything but the furniture. I found myself closing the door so I wouldn't have to look inside on my way to my bathroom to shower. I was meeting Megan and Meg at Amanda and Fred's for dinner, and didn't want to smell bad from all of the sweating I'd been doing. I'd last seen them when they came for Dad's funeral... Meg and I used to speak a couple times a month, but living on the other side of the country practically made it hard to keep up my friendships as well as I'd like. Losing Beth had only meant I'd closed myself off more too... Once I was dressed, I checked that everything was locked up tight, and then climbed inside of my rental car. I had sold Dad's car, since I couldn't legally drive it, within a month of his passing. I wished my own car was back with me though as the seats in this car were not nearly as comfortable! I set the navigation on the car's computer and headed towards Amanda and Fred's house, wondering what might have changed with them in the time I'd been gone. I was stopped at a stoplight with the car signaling to turn, when I looked back and noticed a blue car with a couple of large men in it. They seemed to be staring intently at my car, but I just assumed it was probably one of the annoyed groups of people who hated the rule- following self-driving vehicle. I knew many Bigs who complained about not being able to speed with more and more of them on the roads blocking them! The car navigated out to the area where their house was, and I jumped a bit when I realized that blue car was still behind me! I breathed a sigh of relief when the car went past me as I turned into their driveway, but couldn't help but think it might not have been a coincidence! I was soon buzzed in and parked in front of their large house. Meg and Megan were standing out there alongside Bella, who was dressed more like an adult than I'd ever seen her! As if their roles had been reversed, Meg was dressed in a puffy blue gingham romper that had a large butterfly embroidered on it. It was appropriate apparel for a year-old baby... not really for a twenty-eight-year-old. 'Did Megan go off the deep end?' I wondered. Meg ran up to me and squeezed me in a hug. "Cameron!!!" I squeezed her tightly, enjoying the physical contact with another human being. I pushed her back and asked. "So what's with the attire?" She blushed. "I came from daycare... Mo... Megan got a new job and I have to go there during the days." I looked at her. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "It was embarrassing at first... I got picked on a lot because I went dressed how I normally dress. I took some advice from a new friend there though and started dressing babyish and adorable... All of the sudden I was treated a lot better by the staff and other kids!" "Well, you do look adorable," I told her with a smirk. "Glad to know Megan hasn't lost her mind though..." She came up to me then and gave me her own hug. "It's good to see you Cameron! I promise I wouldn't be sending her there if I had another option... As it is, I have Mom watch her one of the days, so she's usually only at daycare four days." "Today just happened to be one of those," Meg said somewhat sourly. "I was running late, so we didn't have time to go get some other clothes." "How are you doing Bella?" I asked as she stood by. We'd never really grown to be close friends... she was so much older than I was, and I'd been there to see Stacy more. "Good," she said and also hugged me to my surprise. "It's good to have you back Cam," Meg told me. "Thanks," I said, "I should say 'hi' to Amanda and Fred." "Amanda's inside, Fred is out at the grill," Meg told me. "Let's go see them," I said and followed them inside. Amanda also enveloped me in a tight hug. "It's good to see you Cameron!" "You all as well... it's been a while!" We walked outside and the four of us sat down on one of their picnic benches after I greeted Fred with a handshake, and a brief conversation. "So how are you doing?" Meg asked me. "Really doing?" I sighed. "I saw Beth last week finally..." "How... how is she?" Meg asked. I shook my head. "Not good..." I found myself looking at Bella. "I think... she might be further gone than Bella was." Bella started a bit at that, but nodded. "I'm so lucky that I had Stacy on my side. It was horrible..." I nodded. "Yes you were... We all were..." "We were?" Meg asked. I looked for Fred and Amanda, but not seeing them I said quietly. "She injected me with nanites freshman year but never told me. She tweaked them before she left... If she hadn't, I would probably be in a world of hurt right now." "What happened?" Bella asked. "When I made it to my dad's house last night, I found a tablet sitting on my bed. It activated when it detected me... Nothing happened to me, probably in part because I flipped it over quickly, but I'm pretty sure it was one of those intensive hypnotic video setups." "You're sure it didn't get you?" Amanda said behind me, making me jump. "Yes... I happened to look at a clock just before I looked down, and again after I flipped it. The numbers hadn't changed over, so it was definitely less than a minute, but I'm sure it was only about three seconds..." "That should have been more than enough if it was one of the advanced types," Fred said, overhearing us and joining in with a plate of food he placed down on the table. "It probably would have been if it wasn't for some help Stacy gave me." Amanda's eyes widened. "You're the one she told about what she did before she left!" I shrugged. "Maybe?" "What did she tell you?" "Well... I don't think we should talk about it outside?" She nodded. "Inside later, we need to talk." Our table conversations moved onto more mundane matters, and Meg ended up being more than slightly embarrassed as she became a topic of conversation. Megan and Amanda seemed to be trying to outdo each other with stories of blowouts of their adopted daughters' diapers for some reason... We were just getting ready to eat dessert when a loud alarm sounded. Amanda shouted. "Get inside!" I followed them all inside as they ran, and noted that Amanda seemed panicked! The second we were all inside the door, I watched the special door turn into a solid piece and heard heavy locks slam closed. She was looking at a tablet. "Looks like they were just approaching the perimeter, they didn't make it to the wall even." I looked over and saw a video of a man I recognized. "They were following me," I found myself saying. "Who did?" Fred asked. "Those guys, they were in a blue car that tailed me leaving the city. I thought it was suspicious, but they passed me when I turned. "Well, this seems like a problem," Amanda said, "Let me call Dad." I ended up being at their house until far later that night than I planned as her dad worked with some police officers he trusted. "I don't see these guys in any of our files," the officer told him. "I do however think they probably work for some sort of private security group..." 'Probably for SafeFoods,' I thought to myself. When they left Amanda said to me. "Can you come talk to me in my workroom?" Once we were inside I watched her do something that I assumed scanned the room, and she asked. "What exactly did Stacy do with you?" I sighed. "She injected me with nanites to disable the effect of breastmilk freshman year when I accidentally had some of Addy's when we were making out." "Oh..." she said. "That was nice of her!" I nodded. "Not sure why she never did it for Meg, but I think since she seemed to be determined to just give up, she didn't want to be cruel to her if she did get adopted... Stacy seemed to think there was some value in not noticing using diapers." "Sounds like her," she agreed. "Did she do anything else to you?" I shrugged. "She said she did something that would block any of the hypnotic videos and sounds that were out there. Last night was the first time I'd really encountered one since she did that. I saw some sort of filter color at work, so I think it must have helped...?" She nodded. "Stacy did something like that to herself before she was kidnapped. What you saw is what she described it as." She looked thoughtful. "Didn't she tell you of anything else she did?" "Did she tell you about anything else she did?" She shook her head. "We can't talk privately over the dimensional communications. She did allude last year that someone here knew though. Meg didn't, Megan didn't, Bella didn't, Fred and I didn't... My dad doesn't know anything else either. That leaves you?" I shrugged. "She was trying for something to help with the abusive parents here. Something to increase the desire to be loving, instead of cruel? I've seen some reports that may be the case?" She nodded. "Some of the crueler medical procedures have finally been banned here. A few other things for rights protection to ensure Littles are treated as real babies in their treatment. Something that would be abusive to a baby or a child is now considered abusive towards Littles. Unfortunately, it seems like the adoption rate may have rapidly increased though. Fewer free Littles are going to decline their population in a hurry..." I nodded. "Sounds like it might have worked, but caused some side effects?" "Maybe..." she said. "You want to stay here while you're in town for the trial? You won't have to be in that empty house alone then?" I smiled at her. "I appreciate the offer, but I really need to get the house cleared out so I can sell it. Kendra and David should be returning Sunday night too and will stay with me." "If you change your mind...?" "I know where I can come," I told her with a smile. I was able to hang out with Meg and Megan for another half-hour before it was the former's bedtime, and I needed to get back home too. It was almost a familiar feeling as I stopped at a grocery store after being at their house. Unfortunately, I noted the blue car was back on my tail again! *************************************************** Chapter 30: Credibility *************************************************** THE NEXT DAY I was constantly looking over my shoulder and finding a couple of teams that seemed to alternate in following me. When David and Kendra came back on Sunday, they insisted on paying for some extra security for my house, and to travel around with us when we went to court each day. The teams following me did back off once we had a few brawny security guards traveling everywhere with us. Kendra had also decided it was a good idea for her not to leave me alone to go back to Crescent City, so that left David going back and forth on the weekends to check on the office. None of us were quite sure what the stalkers had planned, but it didn't seem like it would be good no matter what! We made it through the pre-trial motions, chose a fairly decent panel of jurors who weren't all Little babying maniacs, and were in our second day of testimony of the third week I'd been back. The first day we had called a few of the 'caregivers' and 'parents' as witnesses to testify on their perspective of what had happened. "Your Honor, we would like to call Doctor Katrina Welsh as our next witness," I said in my firm voice. Katrina was a chemist who had studied the contents of each of the items we had remaining in evidence, not only from Beth and her mom, but thirty others as well. I watched as she was sworn in, and stepped up to the plate for the first time in this trial since Kendra had taken yesterday's witnesses. "Doctor Welsh, would you please tell us your qualifications?" I began. "Certainly, I have a PhD in Biochemistry, with an emphasis in proteins and neurotransporters." "In lay terms, you study the chemistry of how our bodies make decisions and communicate between the brain and the body parts?" She nodded. "That's a good way to break it down." "You have in the past studied a specific Casein Protein that is involved in a specific process, correct?" "Yes, I was the lead researcher in a study we titled 'Pathway to Control' that looked at a phenomenon known to most Bigs with the affects our breastmilk has on Littles. Several studies had linked adopted mothers nursing their Littles as causing a severe reduction in signals to a Little's bladder or bowels to let them know they need to go. Long-term feeding of breastmilk to Littles seemed to even completely eradicate any ability to voluntarily control those functions on their own. Through our study we identified the specific protein that we dubbed Casein Protein E3. Further studies show that it essentially gums up the Pontine Mictruition Center of the brain, along with the spinal cord and nerve receptors of the bladder and anal sphincter." "So, you effectively in this study proved what everyone had always known was probably true about breastmilk?" "Objection Your Honor, Speculation!" The defense counsel said loudly. The judge looked down at me and said, "Sustained." "Your Honor?" I asked. "Asking her what has always been known is out of order. Continue on with your questions..." I kept my cool and said, "Now that we know about your focus, you had a chance to examine samples of the body lotions in exhibits thirteen through fort-three, correct?" "Yes sir," she said with a smile. "And what did you find?" "A true chemical hodgepodge... Standard ingredients based off of a petroleum base, Sodium, Citrus, and some elements for scent that are normal in such products. What wasn't normal though was a high concentration of the Casein Protein E3, as well as E8, J4, and a neurotoxin that is commonly found in stingrays" "A neurotoxin?" I asked. "Yes, I was quite surprised by it actually... The fact I found it in all of the lotion samples was not something I would have expected given I was told they were from dozens of separate sources?" "Objection Your Honor! The witness is speculating!" "Your Honor the witness is an expert in biochemistry, she is using her expert knowledge and opinions to render a valid series of scientific observations." "Sustained," the judge said coolly. "Stick with the chemistry." I was more annoyed at that point, but moved on. "This neurotoxin you identified, what effect would it have upon entering someone's bloodstream?" "Well, it was really a true cocktail of sorts within these samples. The neurotoxin in particular would most likely attack the person's nervous system, at the very least causing them to have severe coordination and motor control issues. In too high of a dose there is always the potential for a heart attack." "So, a person would probably not be able to walk very well?" "Or talk... or potentially even breathe," she added. "What would the other items affect?" "Well, with a dose in enough quantity I would expect the neuro- receptors to be gummed up by the E3 protein. It would be the equivalent damage as three years of nursing..." "Objection your honor, again, this is pure speculation. Not to mention breastfeeding has shown no negatives in study after study!" "Sustained!" the judge looked at me. "On what grounds? This isn't speculation, this is hard science being presented by a specialist in the field!" I argued. "My courtroom Mr. Sylvester, move on!" "Doctor Welsh if you had to predict the effects based on your knowledge of chemistry, what happened to the individuals who applied this lotion onto their bodies?" "I believe it likely they would collapse within a relatively short time, be unable to control their bodies, and likely suffer significant permanent motor function losses from the neurotoxin. It is also quite likely that two of the proteins would bind to centers in the brain for motor control, and another would be binding to the emotional area of the cortex. Based on studies with lab animals I believe it would also likely do significant damage to other portions of the brain, such as the hippocampus that controls memory. Those animal subjects were later autopsied and found to have literal holes in the tissue of their brains where healthy synapses should form." "In lay terms, this would essentially create a vegetable?" "Your Honor, Objection, the counsel is attempting to prejudice the jury against our clients!" "Sustained," the judge looked at me. "Mr. Sylvester, are you quite through here? If you're not, I want to warn you that I'm about to strike all of her testimony if you continue to push the bar." I debated for a moment about pushing it, but a glance to our table saw David and Kendra waving me off. "No more questions, Your Honor," I told her. I watched the defense begin to cross examine Doctor Welsh. Several times we raised our own objections, but we were overruled on all but one of them. "Court is in recess for ninety minutes for lunch!" The judge said. I groaned as we gathered our things and walked to a nearby deli. "What the hell is her problem?" I asked the two quietly as we sat at a table away from others. Kendra shook her head. "I'm not sure, but it's clear there's something more at play here. Cameron you need to be careful with this judge, I don't trust her..." "I agree," David said, "You sure you want to take the afternoon? She's way more combative with you than she was with Kendra?" "I want to at least get through Doctor Nickerson. She's a Big with a massive reputation that I'm surprised we got to help us out here." "You shouldn't be surprised," Kendra said, "And you have the wrong Doctor Nickerson." "Huh?" "You're thinking of Doctor Ivy Nickerson, the CEO of the hospitals in town here. Doctor Holly Nickerson is the one who did the examination. She's actually a Little herself." Kendra smiled. "Huh?" "Apparently she got into some sort of a scuffle with terrorists a few years back? She's from the other dimension?" David filled in. "She's adopted?" David nodded. "Yep, but some loopholes let her run the pediatric ward at University Hospitals General Campus." "She was quite the steal to have examined them. Flying her out to check out the patients in New Haven helps out with credibility locally." Kendra stated. "Won't they just dismiss her for being a Little?" I asked, confused. "I doubt it in this town... or State. She's made quite the name for herself since they let her start practicing medicine here." "Huh," I said, "I think I maybe remember a little bit of that news... If it's the attack I'm thinking of, it was completely crazy!" The steak and cheese sandwich I had was pretty tasty, and I was feeling nice and full going back to the courthouse. A quick trip to the restroom was made before we began the afternoon arguments. Kendra saw that Doctor Holly Nickerson was set to go, while David and I made sure we were organized at our table. Just before we heard 'All-rise' that afternoon I noticed a tall figure had joined the bench behind the wall of the defense team. Her beautiful red hair was as lovely as ever, and the grey scoop- necked dress was both classy, and flattering to her form. We made eye contact for one second, and then my attention went back to the judge who was just being announced. "Please call your next witness," she told us. "We would like to call Doctor Holly Nickerson," I said aloud. 'I sure hope that David prepped her...' I couldn't help but think. 'I should have been involved with that with her being a Little!' The short woman walked confidently up to the witness stand where a booster seat was already being provided. There were titters in the gallery and the jury box, so Judge Taney used her gavel and called. "Order!" Doctor Nickerson was dressed in a pantsuit with her white doctor's coat over the top. Once she was sworn in, I began with the typical questions. "Doctor Nickerson, to begin would you please state your qualifications for the court?" "Certainly!" she said with a smile. "I received my MD from Yale University, a university back in my home dimension. I completed an extended residency afterwards and focused there on general and pediatric procedures. Since arriving in this dimension I have become the head of the Pediatric department at University Hospitals General campus. I now specialize in nanite procedures, as well as trauma care for Pediatrics for Children and Littles who come to the hospital." "Objection, Your Honor! There is no way this Little is qualified to testify here!" To my surprise the gavel came down and she said, "Overruled, Doctor Nickerson here is a very competent doctor, I know this for a fact as she has performed surgery on one of my own Littles last year, saving her life. She's actually known as the best pediatric surgeon in the region, if not one of the best in the country. I doubt they could have found a more respected doctor," she said quite confidently. Holly Nickerson looked just as surprised by the defense, but smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Honor." "Continue on Mr. Sylvester," she told me. "You had a chance to examine thirteen patients mentioned in this suit so far?" She nodded. "I did. I was able to perform very thorough physical examinations, as well as scans, and a colleague of mine performed neuro examinations as well." "What were your findings?" "Overall?" I nodded. "All of them had significant motor deficiencies upon my initial examination. It became apparent that something had been done to them. All thirteen of the patients I examined seeming to be unable to follow conversations, answer questions verbally, or do more than struggle to crawl. Four of the patients were unable to even turn themselves over from their back to their stomach, or their stomach to their back. If I was to put an age on their behavior, I would put them at about the one to two-month level for motor skills." Videos of the victims were being shown by David remotely on a screen during her explanation. "Did they react to any stimuli?" She shrugged. "Not a lot. Three of the patients would follow a parent with their eyes as they moved about the room, but most of them didn't even do that. A light pinch did induce crying, so the pain receptors are functioning. I also observed crying for attention to the state of their diapers, and all of them also cried if they were hungry." "This isn't a natural occurrence?" I asked. She shrugged. "Not normally. Maybe if there had been a severe head trauma incident, or a case of a stroke, or a long loss of oxygen there could be some of these symptoms, but not all of them." "What else did you find?" "Well using some of our scanning technology," a screen pulled up then and a scan of a brain was shown. 'Victim A' was labeled, and I knew it was Beth's scan even without the smaller name listed. "We looked at scans of their brains and discovered some significant buildup of proteins on these centers of their brains. In this patient's case, it almost appears to be a hard casing that's formed blocking the brain from receiving signals." "Objection, Your Honor!" The defense suddenly said, "The Doctor is not a neurosurgeon!" I looked at the judge with curiosity as she seemed to wrestle with a decision. "Sustained!" "Your Honor?" I questioned. "You've already stated this witness is qualified?" "Not in neurosurgery, you need to call another witness for that." "Your Honor, move to strike the witness comment about blocking the brain from receiving signals?" "Your Honor, that's a hard fact that she's seeing on a scan that she is qualified to note!" I argued. "Sustained," she said, looking apologetic at Holly for some reason. "Move on Mr. Sylvester!" I debated arguing more, but ended up pulling back again and getting her observations on the damages that were visible outside of the brain... 'This is bullshit!' I couldn't help but think. Eventually I ended my questioning and stepped back and watched the defense go to work. They asked question after question and seemed flustered that Doctor Nickerson ably defended her observations. I guessed they were about done with their cross when I heard a fart. "Excuse me," Doctor Nickerson said with a blush. "Your Honor, would you please have the Bailiff check her diaper?" their counsel said. "What?" I found myself in stereo with my table and the judge. "I believe the Little Doctor just pooped herself?" "Umm... Please do so..." she said to the bailiff. I watched as her coat was pulled out of the way and the suit pants pulled back. By the face the bailiff made I knew the answer. "She is poopy," he said. "Any more questions?" The Judge asked the counsel. "Just a motion that her testimony be stricken from the record, Your Honor. Surely anyone who cannot maturely control their poopy pants has no credibility in this courtroom." "I don't think..." Doctor Nickerson tried to defend herself. "Your Honor Doctor Nickerson has a medical condition; she's allowed to ably practice medicine in-spite of this. Surely if she can perform life saving surgeries, her control shouldn't mean her testimony should be thrown out?" I argued. I turned and noticed that Aubry Harris was staring the judge down, and she was looking straight back at her. She turned to their attorney. "Very well, you have a point. The Jury is instructed to disregard the testimony of Doctor Nickerson which is hereby stricken from the record! Give the girl back to her mommy so she can be changed." "Your Honor this is outrageous! What are the Harris's blackmailing you with?!? I motion that you recuse yourself from this trial, it's clear that it's not going to be a fair one with you on the bench!" The eyes that stared at me told me that I'd gone too far. A quick glance at Kendra and David's faces revealed that they felt it too. In response though I stared down this judge who was the embodiment of everything unjust in this damn state! "Mr. Sylvester you are in contempt of court! I declare you unfit to be an adult at this time! Bailiff, seize him and diaper him before he has an accident in my courtroom! Have Little Protective Services see to his future care!" ******************************************************** Thanks for reading!!!! Please leave me a comment in the reviews to let me know you've read this, and what you thought! Thank you to those of you who have done so thus far! I'll continue posting about every other day until this work is fully on this site. There's a total of 65 chapters and an Epilogue to it.