Emmas Growth Spurt Ch 22

For Daniel, the next couple hours seemed to creep by like molasses. On the surface, he was interacting with Emma's parents, talking to Daisy about the problems surrounding Emma, and what to do about her, and how they should possibly contact the Institute again, or how they should possibly get the police involved, and what the capture of the drone meant, and on and on and on. Daniel wasn't really participating much in the conversation, though, even as he reacted externally by nodding or shaking his head. The truth was that ever since he had watched Emma walk sleepily to the barn for her nap, in that slow, lumbering gait that almost seemed to move in slow-motion, Daniel had yearned to be close to her...to smell her scent, to put his hands in her pretty red hair, to look at her gorgeous face, and appreciate her. He felt terribly guilty for his previous conversation with Daisy, and he desperately wanted to remind himself how in love he was with Emma, no matter how big she had become.

And yet, as he sat there, superficially listening to the avid, dramatic conversation around them (mostly between Maisy and Daisy), Daniel knew why he hadn't already excused himself to go join Emma in the barn. He WAS afraid of her; he knew enough now not to be fooled by that attractive, sleepy look that had hung heavily on her eyes, when she asked him if he wanted to take a nap with her. Even that tired, laconic sweetness in her face couldn't persuade him that it was safe to be around her. He knew that Daisy was right -- Emma didn't know her own strength, and could not be trusted with behaving herself whenever she felt any kind of strong emotion, whether good or bad. She had narrowly avoided hurting him quite badly just a little while before, and Daniel knew, deep down, that the only reason she hadn't was because he had gotten lucky. If she had squeezed his ankles -- or his neck -- a little harder, he knew that things would look a lot different right now.

"I'm not saying we get, like, a hundred cops to come up here and guard her or anything," Daisy was insisting, "I just think that it'd be totally stupid not to get them involved somehow. I mean...what are we gonna do? Wait for her to do something even worse?!"

"I'm just not sure, sweetie," Maisy answered, shaking her head slowly. "I know...that it's probably a good idea to at least, um...let them know that she's here. Just in case one of the neighbors sees something, or--"

"Or hears something," added Jim, still examining the drone, a troubled look on his face.

"Or hears something," Maisy repeated, "And gets...well, and gets scared."

"But that's not enough!" exclaimed Daisy emphatically, making a fist on the table. "Look, what I'm saying is...that Em isn't in her right mind AT ALL right now, and that...like, we have to get other people involved. People who are equipped...people who KNOW how to deal with this kind of thing."

"No one knows how to deal with this kind of thing," Daniel heard himself say. All three of them turned to look at him, and their attention, combined with the words he had just spoken, brought his mind out of the barn and into his current setting. He realized that Daisy's elbow had been touching his, but now that he had just shot her down with his deadpan words, she had moved it away.

"Trust me," Daniel said, looking around at them, now fully present, "No one knows how to handle this situation. At least, no one we've encountered so far. And I can absolutely tell you that getting the cops involved is a bad idea. I know Emma, and I know that she won't appreciate that one bit."

"Well who cares what she appreciates," Daisy countered, blinking at Daniel like she couldn't believe he was defending Emma. "She almost pulled your head off this morning, and you wanna try and tell me that we don't need some kind of a security --"

"Security...what, Daisy?" cut in Daniel. He wasn't accustomed to taking the more dominant role in conversation (especially with Daisy), but her vociferousness was beginning to irritate him. "Security detail?" he continued, raising his eyebrows. "With guns? Come on Daisy, you saw how emotionally fragile she is right now. How do you expect her to react if a bunch of cops show up, with, like...all these guns and everything?"

"Oh god, it would be just awful!" sighed Maisy, frowning and shaking her head.

"It'd make her feel terrible," continued Daniel, looking squarely at Daisy, who still looked stunned. "Or it'd make her really...really mad."

"Well...so what if she gets really mad?" mumbled Daisy, crossing her arms. "She can deal with it. It's not like she's gonna...gonna be able to do...to do anything about it."

An uncomfortable silence filled in the space after Daisy's words. She knew, and everyone else knew, that what she had just said wasn't true at all. The prospect of Emma "doing something about it" darkened the room.

"How about those nice doctors at the Institute?" asked Maisy, breaking the silence after some brief agony. "Maybe we could get back in touch with them and...and maybe see if they could come up here and have a look at her?"

"No," Daniel immediately answered. His one-word response wasn't energetic or emotional, but it made everyone once again turn to look at him. Maisy's eyebrows went up expectantly.

"Uhh...no," Daniel repeated, smiling a little as he chuckled and shook his head. "No that's...not an option."

"Well why not?" asked Daisy, confused.

"Yes, why not, Daniel?" asked Maisy. "Surely they'd have at least some idea of what's going on with her, and they...uhm, well, they might be able to help her."

Daniel's mind flashed back what seemed like ages before, when he had gotten the frantic call from Dr. Kline that Emma had become erratic and uncontrollable, demanding that she see him. That long, dark car ride to the Institute, sick with worry, and then seeing her standing there, waiting for him in those headlights, in her medical gown...that had been back when he could actually look straight into her belly button...and the way she had hugged him and sobbed with relief about how much she wanted to go home. And then, of course, he remembered how they had actually left the Institute, with Emma effortlessly shaking off the pleading force of that...8-foot giant man...and then the way she had savagely pointed at all the doctors assembled and shouted: "NONE of you can make me do ANYTHING!" Those words still echoed in Daniel's head. At the time, he had been focused on getting her back home, but the more he thought back to that moment, the more he had become convinced that coercive means were not going to work with her. And that had been back when she was...shorter than 9 feet tall. She was TWICE that height now.

"I just...uhm, I saw what it was like at the Institute," said Daniel simply, deciding that he didn't want to go into the whole thing with them right now. "And I don't think it was good for Emma. She was very...stressed out there. And I don't think the doctors helped. Besides, in the end, they didn't even learn what was wrong with her."

"Really?" asked Maisy, incredulous and discouraged. "Nothing? Not even one...idea!?"

"Not really, no," said Daniel, shaking his head. He hadn't alighted on the decision yet in his mind, but he could feel the momentum already building in his body. It had been a couple hours already. He hadn't heard anything from the barn...Emma must be sleeping now...and he was going to go see her...alone.

"Well it's a good bet powerful people know Em's here," came Jim's voice from the corner. "This is more advanced technology than I've ever seen...and for the size of the thing, to...it's gotta be some kind of government property."

"You mean...the government's spying on us!?" asked Daisy.

"Well, not on you, pumpkin," Jim remarked with wry humor.

"But...Daniel hasn't told anyone," said Masiy, casting her husband a concerned look, "So how could they know that she was here!?"

"No idea, Maise," answered Jim, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe they tracked his car...maybe they've been watching Em for a long time. Who knows?"

Daniel knew that all of this was important, but his mind was becoming increasingly drawn to the barn. He could feel himself tensing his body, preparing to stand.

"Well then it's only a matter of time before we get, like news reporters and...people like that knocking on our door," said Daisy, managing to seamlessly blend annoyance and excitement in her voice. "This is gonna be a nightmare."

"Honey, I think maybe you're jumping the gun a little here," said Maisy kindly. "Just because maybe the government's been monitoring Em doesn't mean that --"

"Oh mom, come on," Daisy interrupted, "You KNOW that someone's gonna leak that there's an 18-foot giantess living out in the country...I mean, I'm surprised that it hasn't leaked al...uh, where are you going?"

With some effort, Daniel had stood up, grimacing because of his sore ankles. His bruised neck was still throbbing as well, but it didn't matter right now.

"I'm going to go check on Emma in the barn," he answered simply.

Daisy's mouth hung open a little, and an uncomfortable silence weighed once again on the room. Daniel blinked and turned towards the door, satisfied that he wasn't going to have to explain himself any more than that. But as soon as he turned, he heard Daisy's voice again, now at a higher pitch. And hearing it made him annoyed...annoyed at her, but more than anything, annoyed at himself. He KNEW that Daisy was speaking sense, but it just didn't sound good to him. He wanted to go see Emma, and he was going to do it, regardless of any advice to the contrary.

"You're seriously going out there?!" Daisy disbelievingly. "Look at you! You can barely even walk without wincing -- you remember WHY, right!?"

"I'm...yes, I remember," replied Daniel shortly. "But she's asleep and...I just want to check on her, is all."

"Daniel..." said Daisy warningly, inclining her head doubtfully, trying to persuade him out of it with her eyes. But he just stared straight back at her, unblinking. In his mind, he was atoning for his conversation with Daisy earlier.

"Well...at least...let me go with you," Daisy suggested, backing away from her initial position. "So that you're not alone with her."

"Nope," answered Daniel quickly, making an effort to keep his voice bright and cheery. "I want to go alone...I wanna, you know...just have a little time to myself with her, just...watching her."

Daisy looked like she was going to respond, but she opened her mouth and then closed it again, sighing. Maisy used the brief lull as an opportunity to smile and say:

"Ok, Daniel, you go have your time with her. But...uhm, just please...uhh --"

"I'll be careful," Daniel said, smiling. He sympathized with the difficulty Maisy was having in telling her daughter's boyfriend to be careful around her.

"I'll be careful," Daniel said, smiling. He sympathized with the difficulty Maisy was having in telling her daughter's boyfriend to be careful around her. And then he turned around for good and limped out of the house, making a point not to look back as he did so. The pain in his legs wasn't so sharp anymore, even though it had graduated to a persistent dull ache that was almost as debilitating as the acute pain had been before. The fresh, sweet air of the late afternoon felt delicious on his face as he made his way slightly up the incline toward the barn. Everything was so still...the pastures, the air, the temperature...everything seemed lazily suspended in time, as it so often seemed in the country.

'It IS nice here,' Daniel thought, limping closer to the barn. 'And the air is so much cleaner...the pace of life is slower...you notice things you don't when you're in the city...the butterflies...you can actually hear the breeze in your ears...no sound of cars. It's nice...really...really nice.'

Daniel realized that he was distracting himself with these errant thoughts; and then he realized that he was distracting himself because he had grown nervous all of a sudden. He was at the entrance to the barn now, and from inside, he could hear the soft, heavy sounds of Emma breathing. She was definitely asleep. Daniel leaned into the barn, touching it with his right shoulder as he made to poke his head around the side of the entrance. But as he did so, he heard Emma exhale, and he FELT it through the wooden barn wall on his shoulder. Her exhale literally shook the whole barn, if only slightly...but it was enough that Daniel felt it go through his body.

A thrilling shiver ran down his spine. Daniel didn't know if it was in fear or awe or arousal or some combination of all three, but he felt himself stirring in his groin, in his stomach, as his heart picked up and beat faster. She was a force of nature. Her sleeping breath created its own wind, and rattled buildings. How had his sweet, unassuming little girlfriend grown into such a behemoth, such a powerful being!?

His desire to see her, though, surpassed the extent of his awe, and the urgency of his fear. He stepped around the side of the wood into the barn's main entrance, and saw Emma's gloriously nude body curled up in the fetal position, half-buried under soft golden heaps of hay, gently rising and falling in slow and steady rhythm with each breath she took. Two mellow golden sunbeams shined down in twin columns through the holes in the roof, serenely illuminating the rounded curve of Emma's hip, and the cozy, gorgeous softness of her sleeping face.

Daniel was spellbound. He walked straight up to her, not halting until he was standing less than two feet away from her face. Her expression was so peaceful, so tender, that Daniel felt himself becoming emotional just looking at her. When she was like this, she didn't have to deal with the reality of her condition -- she was just...at peace, soft, warm, and comfortable, far away from the worries of the world. Her lower jaw was slightly slackened, but her lips were still closed. Even at 18 feet tall, Daniel realized, Emma had the same sleeping facial expression she always had.

Her sweet exhaled breath made him stumble back on his heels, but Daniel was careful to ensure that his feet didn't make too much noise against the straw on the floor. He stepped forward again, closer to her still, digging in his heels a little to guard against the force of her next breath. He saw that her wavy red hair was slightly disheveled, lying about the hay in haphazard wisps. The rest of the hay seemed undisturbed, but Daniel could see that there was a visible path, in the shape of Emma's head, that went slightly up and to the right of where her head was currently resting. With a stab of delicate understanding, Daniel realized that, in her sleep, Emma had been adjusting the position of her head to the slow movement of the warm, golden sunbeam shining down through the roof. It was precious...she was like a cat.

Daniel stood there for minutes on end -- how long it actually was, he had no idea. The sheer tenderness of the extended moments called for nothing more than stillness, and calm, relaxed breathing. Daniel could almost feel their old relationship becoming rekindled in the warm serenity of the barn.

But then, he suddenly realized something...something odd that slowly broke him out of his reverie. Emma's body obviously appeared to grow larger with each gently inhaled breath, and then appeared to shrink accordingly as she exhaled the air out of her mighty lungs. But Daniel had suddenly realized, with a sudden start, that even though Emma had already exhaled out a few times, her body still appeared to be swelling. Daniel was confused -- how could she be inhaling and exhaling at the same time? And then it hit him: Emma wasn't inhaling...she was GROWING. He saw it, first in the gentle burgeoning of her bare hip, and then in the steady enlargement of her arm, which was halfway tucked under her sleeping form.

Daniel's eyes grew wide as they swept over her whole body...her whole frame was growing, there was no question about it...right in front of his eyes. He had never actually SEEN one of Emma's growth spurts in real time, but this spurt was so dramatic that there could be no doubt what was happening. Her head, her elegant neck, were all getting bigger...her broad shoulders expanded vertically, appearing to grow upward from her fetal position. Her breasts, which had been partially concealed underneath her body, popped gently out from underneath her as they too ballooned and expanded. The luscious curve of her torso was elongating in the still air, and her thighs were blooming into twin horizontal pillars even more impressive than they already were. Daniel's eyes bounced from Emma's toes to her fingers, all lazily curved amongst the hay on the dirt floor, and he could see them lengthening out across the floor. A slight rustling whispered into the air, getting stronger and more urgent with each passing moment. Daniel realized that it was the sound of the hay getting displaced, giving way to Emma's burgeoning body.

He didn't know what to do. Having just experienced an almost-impossibly tender moment, Daniel felt even more jarred than he would have been otherwise. She was still asleep, but as the seconds ticked by, and her steady growth continued, Daniel felt increasingly worried and disoriented. He felt like he had to do something, even if that just meant waking her up. But he didn't want to wake her up...the idea of her being conscious for this event didn't seem appealing. He thought of stepping quietly out and going back to the house; this seemed like the best idea so far...but the seconds kept passing and still he hadn't moved. He didn't want to leave her here alone like this. Strangely, it felt like abandonment. But she was getting huger and huger...and it felt to Daniel like his time was running out to act.

He saw her nostrils suddenly flare, and the skin on her face twitched. A cold shot went through him. Now was the time to run, but he didn't move.

"Mmmrrrrmmmmmmmm!"

Emma's deep, sleepy moan infused the air, ratting Daniel's eardrums, and causing dust on the barn rafters to levitate and diffuse through the air. Daniel felt overcome with awe at the utter power of such a simple sound from her. It was different than anything he had ever heard before -- her body's capacity for sound had quite clearly passed over a threshold into something new. Daniel's mind shot back to a dinosaur documentary he had seen often as a child...those giant plant-eating dinosaurs, grazing on the Jurassic plains...that's what it reminded him of.

And then Emma's whole body was moving amongst the hay, all slight and gentle movements, but motion that nonetheless changed the entire scene. Hay went everywhere as Emma moved her thighs back and forth against each other, flexed her hands, and eased back her shoulders as she tensed her entire body in a mighty stretch. Daniel was transfixed as he saw the muscles straining and trembling under her skin...and when she relaxed from the stretch, everything continued to get slowly bigger, bigger, and bigger. She was still growing. Daniel looked back at her face, and he felt his own body tense up instantly. She had opened her eyes, and was staring sleepily straight at him.

"Mmmmm, heyyyy Daniel," Emma murmured sleepily, blinking her eyes slowly at him, and then, for what seemed like a long time, she just lay there sideways, her eyes a bit unfocused as she continued to stare at him. Daniel started to think that she had gone back to sleep, but then she spoke again, shaking his body with her voice.

"Come to snuggle with me, hrrmmm?"

"I -- I was just uhh...coming to check on you," stammered Daniel quickly. He saw that Emma's eyes were becoming more and more focused, and once again, he felt a strong urge to run. But he was afraid that anything dramatic would cause her to wake up entirely, and so he instead chose to back steadily away, facing her the whole time. She was still growing...