Not wanting Deanna to start wandering around the house in oversized clothing I made a wish that the clothes the girls wore would shrink to fit and that they wouldn’t notice. The wish completed I watched as the oversized T-shirt’s and shorts they wore shrank to fit their youthful bodies. The nine grown down women now hoped out of their chairs, completely unaware of the changes that had taken place.
As I carefully watched them I began to listen intently to what they talked about. While Diana was t exactly thrilled about being reduced to a child, it appeared others weren’t quite as upset about it. Hannah was overjoyed to be young again as she now performed cartwheels and jumped happily on the couch. “What’s with you Hannah,” Diana complained as the curly haired girl now performed a backflip. Hannah smiled impishly as she gazed at the sullen red haired child. “What,” she smirked. “When I was a kid I always loved being active. I was actually a gymnast until I hurt my knee when I was 12. I haven’t felt this energetic in years so I want to enjoy it, you should try too.”
“No thanks,” Diana grumbled crossing her arms. “I’d rather just grow back up and go home to my new husband.”
“More like grandpa,” Nancy giggled. “I mean seriously how old is he?”
Diana fidgeted slightly as she looked at the 8 year old Nancy. “What so he’s a little older than me,” she whined. “I mean he’s only 43, that’s not that big of an age difference.”
“Now it is,” Deanna said flatly causing the other girls to giggle. Diana glared at her friend, furrowing her brow as she looked at the young brunette. “You guys are just jealous,” she grumbled. “I’m the only one that’s actually found someone. I mean the rest of you can’t find anybody to share your lives with.”
“Hey,” Ariana complained. “I found you guys, that counts. And in case you haven’t noticed I kind of have bad luck with relationships. The last guy I was with ended up in jail for how he treated me. Still worry he’ll find me someday.” Ariana shivered, hugging herself as she thought of the abusive boyfriend that at one time terrified her. “To be honest I wish I could get a do over in life. I don’t think any of us thought our lives would turn out like this.”
“Know what you mean,” Stephanie sighed. “I mean I never thought I would be divorced before I was 30.”
“Try two divorces and 32,” Tracy grumbled. “I mean when I was growing up all I wanted was to start a family and find the man of my dreams. I was actually naive enough to buy into the whole happily ever after fairytale.”
“I didn’t even get that option,” Deana sighed. “My guy just knocked me up and left. My whole life changed because I picked the wrong guy. I was going to go to college on scholarship and instead I ended up with a baby.”
“A scholarship really,” Nancy said in shock. “What was the scholarship for?”
“Well I was a bit of an athlete in high school,” Deanna said proudly. “I was going to go on a track scholarship. When I was a kid I used to just run and run and never get tired.”
“So you and Hannah were athletes as kids,” Amanda exclaimed. “That’s so cool, I wish I had been more athletic. Instead I was just the pretty girl. Lot of good that did though, ended up with three losers hat just used me and left me for younger women.”
“Well if it helps,” Amanda smirked. “Right not your technically the youngest woman.” The girls giggled as they now began to reminisce about their childhoods. As I listened I began to realize a few things. Growing up the women had big dreams that were left unfulfilled. Each of everyone of them talked about how their decisions with relationships all turned out poorly eventually leading them to where they were now. All of them talked about how when they were kids the first time they each had dreams they wished they could of achieved, dreams that were derailed because when they grew up they made poor choices. Even Diana expressed some regrets about her choices. While Diana loved her new husband she realized why she had married him. Diana wanted someone to take care of her, someone to look out for her, she wanted more of a father figure than a husband.
“Diana,” Karen asked. “Why would you marry him then? I mean yeah you love him but is he really the right guy for you?” Diana sighed as she gazed at the women around her. “Probably not,” she sighed. “But then again I’ve always had issues with guys. My dad walked out on me when I was 7. Always blamed myself and I guess a part of me just missed being daddy’s girl. Would explain why I always gravitated towards older guys when I started dating.”
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully as the girls continued to talk, these girls had issues in their past that eventually led them to the choices they made in their relationships. Looking at my ring I smiled, maybe I could help them out in someway