Matthew, Emily's thirty-year-old husband and his twenty-seven year old brother John arrived all riled up from the law firm they worked at. Sometimes Matthew would invite John over for a good dinner, as this night was proving.
"And the guy had the nerve to ask me to respond with a lie," grumbled Matthew as he walked into the living room. It smelled off, and there was something coating the sofa oddly enough.
"Well, I hope you squeezed out as much money as you could from them," rounded John, who also started sniffing oddly.
"I... I did. Added an extra fifty on top just for the comment. Do you smell something... off?" asked Matthew.
"I do... there's something in the air. Did you change the air freshener?"
"That's probably it," dismissed Matthew who looked over at his brother and noticed how thin he seemed. Odd, he'd just finally filled out since graduating law school, the graduation of which was this Saturday. Wait a minute that didn't sound right.
"Oh you're home early," commented Emily as she appeared from the bathroom, a sponge and spray bottle in hand from having just cleaned the bathroom of the spice.
"Em, did you change the air filter in here?" questioned Matthew.
"No, but I did spill some kind of spice that got all over the house. I've been busy trying to clean up after it all afternoon since the tub installers came. So you're probably smelling that."
"Whatever it is, it smells really good," said John, who was visiting from college while Matthew was finishing law school.
"Now, Matt, you go and clean up while I take care of vacuuming in here," ordered Emily, and Matthew smirked and stood, leaning in for a quick kiss before promising to go and do just that. Sure, Em was a little older than he was, but they made it work as he was just starting law school. Wait a minute, hadn't he graduated law school? No... that didn't make sense as he'd just got back from class, didn't he. In any case he went to his room and changed out of his suit and tie, and put on a pair of jean shorts and a ratty old t-shirt he'd had since high school that he loved the feel of--even if it was a little tight on him now. Em was nagging him to get rid of it, but he wouldn't let her throw it away. As he changed he admired the amount of muscle he'd managed to put on since freshman year of college--careful trips to the gym and not pigging out on the meal plan had definitely helped him keep from adding the freshman fifteen. He grabbed a pair of his shorts and a t-shirt for Johnny as well and handed them off to his eighteen year old little brother so he could go and change as well. He breathed in the smell deeply in the hallway--man was that a good smell, it made him feel charged up.
"When's Marcus and Luke due home?" asked Matt as he came back into the living room, barefoot and ready to relax. He flapped the somewhat loose t-shirt and wondered if he should turn on the A/C. Wait, why was he asking after them? In fact who were Marcus and Luke? Matt couldn't remember but for some strange reason he was starting to think of them as his brothers. Needing to stretch out after practice, Matt cooled his heels on the coffee table as he sat down to watch his shows.
"They went for a swim, they should be back for dinner, and get your dirty feet off the coffee table. You might be going off to college next year, but that doesn't mean you can get my furniture all dirty," scolded Mom, and with a groan Matt obeyed. Wait? Mom?! Emily wasn't his Mom. His mom's name was... Emily. Yeah, that's right, his mom's name was Emily.
"In fact, why don't you empty out the vacuum and I'll get dinner going," suggested Mom in that tone of voice that Matt knew meant it was more than a suggestion.
"Fine," sighed Matt as he stood and bent over and emptied the dirt catcher from the vacuum. It really smelled of that spice that Mom had said she'd spilled. And it was a strong smell here. It took Matt longer to walk out and empty the container than he thought it would. He felt itchy all over his body, and he kept having to stop and scratch as he made his way to the trashcan, and when he did arrive at the container he thought it was a lot taller than he thought it should be. As he was about to dump the container he looked in and saw what looked to be a bay leaf--most likely from the spice jar that Mom had spilt, that looked almost too good to just throw away. Oddly compulsed, Matt reached in and grabbed the leaf and stuck it into his mouth and began to chew on it. He closed his eyes and basked in the taste, feeling really weird as he did, especially when he heard things drop to the ground around him. But it wasn't until he heard Johnny shout to him that Matt broke out of his stupor.
His big brother--big brother?--yes, big brother, Johnny who was just finishing elementary school, wearing clothes that were a little big on him, but Momma said he'd grow into, picked him up and took the leaf out of his mouth, scolding, "Where'd you get the idea to put that in your mouth?! And how did you get into my clothes?" Where Matt had been standing was now jean shorts he thought he'd been wearing--the belt was fastened--but had obviously pooled at his feet where the container with all the spice had spilled too. Curious, Matt looked at the rest of his clothes and found he was in his pull-ups still, though he was wearing one of daddy's old t-shirts. Daddy? Who was Daddy? Matt could hardly think of what daddy looked like, and yet he knew he had a daddy.
"Give it back!" protested Matt, straining to reach the bay leaf, but Johnny held it out of his reach for too long before popping it into his own mouth and swallowing, a smirk. And then, right before Matt's eyes he watched as something extremely weird happened as Johnny began to shrink--rapidly. As he did, he was unable to keep holding onto Matt, who ended up back on the ground and then on his butt as he was unable to stand for very long. Down, Johnny shrank, his underwear being the only thing to shrink with him, and puff up into big boy pull ups while the shirt and shorts remained the same size, until Johnny too was sitting on the ground just like him--but of course he would they were twins after all.
"I turn my back for five minutes, and you two create an absolute mess!" sighed Momma as she appeared above them, big and tall and comforting. She picked them up and sniffed their diapers each before hauling them back into the living room and putting them in the play pen.
"Well, at least you two only made one mess. Now stay put while Mommy cleans up. After that, then you'll get your din dins." hummed Momma as she laid them down in the play pen and then disappeared.
After what felt like forever, Momma returned, her front covered in the spice and her breasts sagging and ready for a feeding.
"There's my little angels... enjoy your nappies?" asked Momma as she lifted Johnny up and then Matty. She settled down on the couch and laid them on either side of her while she took her top off and her bra to reveal din din. Colors and shapes were beginning to blur for Matty as she brought him and his twin brother close to her. He could smell Momma and he found his way to her nipple and began to suckle, sweet warm milk beginning to fill him.
"Oh, my little darlings, just out of the hospital..." cooed Momma right before Matty fell asleep and the world went dark.
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When Lucas finally had drug Mark home, ready to accept their new role as Emily's sons, they were surprised to find her heavily pregnant when she opened the door. But then Mom had been pregnant recently, hadn't she?
"And where have you two been? It's past sunset and I nearly called the police waiting for you both! You had me sick with worry!" shouted Mom. Lucas was at first disoriented by how tall Mom was now. On the walk home they'd both reversed through puberty, and Mark had kept losing or tripping over his clothes--him becoming conspicuously younger faster and moreso than Lucas was.
"S--sorry..." began Lucas.
Mom bent down and scooped up Mark, taking him out of all but his oversized shirt. Mark had gotten really young in the last few minutes, and that was really starting to freak Lucas out. She then distracted him by shouting, "Sorry doesn't cut it mister. I've had dinner ready for nearly an hour. And you're both wet--don't tell me you dragged your little brother down to the quarry to swim again. You're supposed to be the responsible one, Lucas, looking out for little Mark. You know he can hardly swim and how dangerous it is."
All Lucas could do in the sight of Mom, who seemed to be literally growing with rage from his perspective as he likely lost a few more years and more of his grown up pride. So much so, that Lucas began to feel tears form at the edge of his eyes. No, he wasn't gonna cry like a baby.
Too late, he was already sniffling and hiccuping. Mom's demeanor changed entirely as she put Mark down on the table, as an adorable little toddler who stared wide-eyed at him. Mom then scooped him up too and balanced them both off her hip. His own pants and shoes forgotten behind him, like they had been for Mark.
"Oh, Lucas, honey..." she cooed as he buried his face in her shoulder and cried.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, but you have to be the responsible one. You're soon gonna have more little brothers to look after than Mark, and they're all gonna look up to you.
"R--really?" sniffled Lucas. He felt Mommy shift his weight as she sat down. He was definitely smaller now, but still a big boy as his underwear wasn't pull-ups anymore or even diapers like Markie's were now.
"Yes, here, lean and listen," urged mommy, as she placed him so he could put his ear against her tummy.
"Baby brothers in dere?" he asked, confused. He had known where babies came from before... but that knowledge along with everything from his old life was fading.
"Yep, and they're gonna look up to you, Lucas, so no more wandering off. You might be three now, but it's a big world out there, and it can wait for you to be a little bigger to explore it."
Lucas nodded his head. Mommy always knew how to explain things to him. She then picked him up and put him in his booster seat and then Markie into his high chair and put their plates of pre-cut food before them. Markie eagerly attacked his food as best his chubby one-year old fingers could allow him.
"Now, if only Daddy could get home for dinner on time..." sighed Emily as she waddled over to the kitchen window and opened it up--allowing the odor of the life spice to dissipate onto the breeze... and in search of a Daddy.