Held in Mrs. Harrington's arms, Tanner caught a glimpse of Derrick, his new body leaning across the cashier's counter at the front of the store, flirting quite shamelessly with the young woman. He couldn't get over how big and strong his once younger brother now looked thanks to maturing himself with the Chronivac.
Tugging the stroller with her own kid in her wake, Mrs. Harrington handed Tanner over to Derrick. "He's all ready to go," said Tanner's high school teacher, oblivious to his true identity thanks to the drastic age reduction effected by the Chronivac.
Tanner hated the feel of the pull-ups as the padded garment hugged his body. "He's so cute," the cashier said in a squeal.
"Of course, he is," Derrick said. He winked at Tanner. "He takes after me."
The girl squealed again. Tanner thought she sounded terribly silly. "Could I get your number?"
Ha! That would get him. Tanner knew that their folks had never relented to let young Derrick get a phone.
"Sure," Derrick said smoothly, giving out the number to his brother's phone. "I'll be waiting."
"Hey," Tanner objected, as the girl jotted down the number.
"Let's go, little bro," Derrick said.
Outside the store, Tanner felt free to rip into Derrick. "What do you mean giving that girl my number?"
"She doesn't know that," Derrick said. "Besides, little boy like you doesn't have any use for a phone."
Tanner could think of one use. "We need to get home and change me back," he said.
"Sure, but I'm hungry," Derrick said. "How do you feel about stopping at McDonald's?"
Tanner was uncertain. Even in the pull-ups, he felt almost naked and vulnerable. But... the simple fact was that he was hungry.
A short while later Derrick carried him into a busy McDonald's. Tanner craned his head to look at the menu board behind a busy counter as customers and employees hurried to and fro in the restaurant. He heard some excited peals of laughter and turned his head toward the kid's play area in the restaurant. He saw several other kids. Some of them looked his size, but others were bigger kids. The sight made him clutch instinctively at his brother's big, protective form.
"Shall we get you a kid's Happy Meal?" Derrick asked.
"I always get the Quarter Pounder," Tanner said.
"That's too big for a little guy like you."
Derrick proceeded to order Tanner a Happy Meal with McNuggets. He got himself the Quarter Pounder.
Once they got their food, Derrick found them a bench and snagged a booster seat for his little brother. Tanner felt awkward and conspicuous sitting in the plastic cube that helped boost him to the tabletop. He ignored the awkwardness and began to eat, but he was soon shocked when he felt completely full after just two of the fried chicken nuggets.
"You finished?" Derrick, who had already finished his burger, asked Tanner.
"I guess so."
"Cool," Derrick said, snapping up the remaining nuggets, popping them into his mouth and finishing off the meal.
Tanner looked up in awe at Derrick, but was distracted by excited laughter coming from the play area.
Derrick noticed. "You want to visit the playground, buddy?"