As May draws to a close, semesters are ending as summer vacation begins. During this time, most of the attention is towards final graduations from high school and college. But there are other graduations going on from elementary/middle school as students complete one phase of their education and get ready for high school in fall.
Among those who'll be a high school freshman next semester is Polly White. She was kind of excited to finally start high school. She had heard a lot of interesting stories about high school from her adoptive sister, Marcy. But most of all, she was eager to finally be seen as a big girl. Well, she was a big girl, being considerably tall for her age, even for a polar bear Animalian. But now people were going to see her as someone else than Jeremy's little sister.
But still, Polly was really looking forward to summer vacation. She wondered where her family was thinking of going. Presumably someplace where they can all swim. As polar bears, they spend more time in the water than other bears. But before they can make any vacation plans, Mr. and Mrs. White told her that they had to see the doctor. Polly got a little frustrated over this. It's not like there's been a new variety of corona virus that can infect Animalians lately. She felt more than to not think she needed a checkup. Though when they met her brother and Heather at the hospital, Polly started getting inklings this was more than a standard checkup.
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The pediatrician's office was a bit too small for five polar bears and two Syntixisauruses, so he spoke with the assembled Whites and Greens in the waiting room. Fortunately, there weren't many other appointments that day. The pediatrician looked at the two families and said, "Thank you all for being able to come here today. Now, before you all fret too much, let me assure you that Polly is not in serious medical trouble yet."
"What do you mean 'yet'?" asked Mr. White.
"Well, as you know, Polly's conversion was...atypical from other Animalians," said the pediatrician, giving a meaningful look at Jeremy.
Jeremy sighed and said, "Look, I did do a few foolish things before out of stubbornness. I'm not proud of them, but I was hoping we'd finally moved on from that."
"You know, I didn't really hear about what Jeremy did," said Chilly, "All I heard was that he made Polly a bigger-than-average bear. I never heard exactly how or why."
"Well, Polly had an incurable metabolic disease," said Jeremy, "She had a defective gene that could produce a vital enzyme. Her only hope was gene therapy."
"So why not have her convert into an Animalian?" asked Marcy.
Jeremy sighed and said, "Because I was too prideful and I didn't want her to become a freak." The Whites gave him disapproving looks. "Look, I said I wasn't proud of what I did back then. I didn't develop an appreciation for Animalians until later."
"So what exactly did you do instead of letting Polly convert?" asked Mrs. White.
"I found that the best replacement gene was found in polar bears. So I devised a formula that ought to give Polly the one gene she needed without becoming a bear herself," said Jeremy, "It seemed to work at first. But it just made her change slowly than other Animalians."
"And made her big for her age, we get that," said Heather, "So why are we making a fuss about it now? She's been fine for over six years."
"Until she started puberty," said the pediatrician, "I'm sure you've notice she's...underdeveloped in certain areas."
Polly ducked down a little in embarrassment. She had started puberty, but she only had small bumps on her chest compare to more nascent cones her classmates had. And any curves further down were due more to pudge than puberty. "So I got a headstart on height and it's taking a while for the rest of my body to catch up," said Polly, "Lots of kids are late bloomers."
"Not Animalians," said the pediatrician, "Admittedly, there isn't a lot of documented data on the beginning of Animalian puberty, considering those born Animalians aren't quite old enough yet and children who become Animalians have a tendency to skip ahead. But what we've seen indicates that puberty announces itself very obviously."
"Ok, so Jeremy's treatment messed up her development a bit. It's not like it won't happen eventually," said Heather.
"Not as you might think," said the pediatrician, "We've been checking on Polly's blood for months now. Her growth hormone levels have nearly flatlined. It seems her conversion method has thrown her pituitary gland out of whack. By our estimates, she'll end up as, for lack of a better term, a giant dwarf."
"But...doesn't that mean average?" asked Polly.
"Hardly," said the pediatrician, "You'd be like someone with dwarfism on the scale of someone with gigantism. With the disadvantages of both."
"What kind of disadvantages?" asked Mr. White.
"Mainly skeletal," said the pediatrician, "Weaker bones with a distinct possibility of arthritis. There's also potential hearth problems and an inability to lose weight."
"So what are you suggesting for treatment?" asked Mrs. White.
"That's actually the easy part," said the pediatrician, "Another dose of the Animalian virus should fix things up and make her body like the average Animalian's."
"The average adult Animalian," said Jeremy meaningfully.
"Yes, I'm afraid there's no avoiding that particular side effect," said the pediatrician, "But isn't that a small price to pay in the long run."
"So why are you only suggesting it now?" asked Mr. White.
"Because it's easier to adjust to having an adult body while in high school than when you're still in middle school," said Marcy, "And Polly would have a whole summer to become accustomed to her new body before she starts high school."
"Precisely," said the pediatrician.
"But you're suggesting she skips through the rest of her childhood," said Jeremy.
"Only the last few parts of it," said Chilly, "Marcy was even younger when she got double-dosed."
"But she was intelligent for her age," said Mr. White.
"Yeah, but I would have felt so out of place in high school if I didn't have a body that reflected my maturity," said Marcy.
"Still, her teen years are important things to experience," said Mrs. White, "She shouldn't skip them like that."
"To be honest, I wouldn't have minded skipping my own puberty," said Heather, "Things get really awkward during that time period."
"But still-" started Jeremy.
"HEY!" The others stopped arguing and looked to Polly. "Don't you think I should get a say in this?" she asked, "I mean, it's my body."
"That is true," said the pediatrician, "Though we don't necessarily have to do the second dose right now. Polly is in healthy condition right now and doesn't show signs that could mean future bone problems. Though it would be easier and give more time for mental adjustments if it's done sooner than later."
"Does it have to be done at all?" asked Jeremy.
"Unless her pituitary gland kicks back into proper gear on its own (which seems very unlikely), her giant dwarfism will become more obvious with time, along the health risks also becoming apparent," said the pediatrician.
"And you're sure a second dose will fix all her problems?" asked Mr. White.
"It worked for the Piper clan rats, didn't it?" asked the pediatrician.
"Anyways, I think this should be more Polly's choice us choosing for her," said Marcy.
Everyone turned to look at Polly, expecting her answer on whether she wanted to grow up now or wait until later.