Growing Pains Novels & Stories

But then once the pain started, I knew Ronnie and Erick were right to be concerned. I wasn’t supposed to start hurting like this for another few weeks, which meant the baby was growing rapidly. I noticed I started to get a little plumper around my stomach area and my sides were swelling up. Now there’s a light purple bruise around my ribcage and it’s tender to the touch. Another painful sting coursed through my body and this time it nearly took me out; I groaned out in agony and rolled over to my side to try to ease the tension. It almost felt like an electronic shock that went down the side of my body.

I say, giving him a big kiss on the head and tickling him until he laughs and squirms in my arms. “Mama, it’s not,” he says, laughing but also a little worried. I stop tickling him and gather him close. “It’s not changing,” he says, determined, “tell me you were kidding.” “But it is changing, baby,” I say, wrapping him up close again. “You’re growing up, and all of our lives are changing a little bit. You’ll be seven soon,” I shake my head as I consider it, resting my chin atop his dark hair. “And then you’ll be eight, and nine, and fifteen, and twenty. And every day you’ll get handsomer and handsomer.”

"What?" "Yeah," he continued. "I was sick most of my life. I had 'osteogenesis imperfecta'. It's a term for brittle bones. I didn't really live a very normal childhood. I didn't always have this much muscle. Had to work my ass out at the gym and practiced bulking for a while before I could get to this." He explained.

She tried her best to explain to Little Karen, "Because Brother Lionel is waiting for you to grow up soon. When you grow up, you will see Brother Lionel again." "But I can't grow up." Little Karen did what her mother had told her, she would eat more at meals, but after a few days, she was still a child. She didn't grow up at all. If she couldn't grow up, then Brother Lionel would not come back to her side? When she thought that she would never grow up and Brother Lionel would never return to her side, Little Karen started wailing. "Little Karen, that's not true. You are growing up every day." Karen didn't expect her daughter to be so impatient, she wanted to grow up in just a few days.

Her grip was strong, steady, and unyielding as she pulled me upright. “Falling’s part of it,” she said. “You just make sure you get better at standing back up.” “How inspiring,” I muttered. The boy with the pad shuffled his feet. “Again?” he asked. “Again,” I said. We moved on to simple blocks—how to get my forearms in the way of a strike instead of my face—and a few basic steps forward and back. My body screamed. My pride bled. Something inside me—something that had been shackled and starved for years—started to stretch.

"The cost will increase." Of course it would. "How much?" I asked. He told me. I kept my face still and nodded like the number didn't just gut me. My children had been diagnosed with lupine dysregulation two years ago. A rare condition where the wolf matured too early, before the body could handle it. During episodes, their muscles seized and their bones ached as the wolf pushed against a body too small to hold it. I'd held them through episodes before — my son's body rigid in my arms, teeth clenched so hard I was afraid they'd crack. My daughter clawing at her own skin because the wolf underneath was trying to get out.

+ Kai Four months came and went in a blur of sleepless nights and loud footsteps. The quiet, grim stone fortress I grew up in did not exist anymore. The mansion was loud. It was chaotic. It was full of life. Lycan genetics push pups to grow at a terrifying speed. They were not helpless babies wrapped in white hospital blankets anymore. They were walking, running, and destroying everything in their path.

Why was it happening now? I winced again. This time it was my fingers. My nails were falling off. I screamed as longer claws forced themselves out. "Honey, you have to stop the car!" "I can't! The brakes aren't working!" Dad replied. I tried to pay attention to them, but I couldn't. The pain was unbearable. I never thought the growing of hair would hurt until now, when longer and thicker strands of hair were growing out of my hair follicles. "What do you mean the brakes aren't working?!" Mom panicked.

Kai watched everything with those intense eyes. At six months the triplets were developing rapidly. Too rapidly. They were already crawling and already trying to form words. Already showing the beginnings of a shift with their eyes flashing colours and their skin rippling occasionally. The healers expressed concerns about their accelerated growth. "This is beyond anything we have seen before. Their development is progressing at triple the normal rate." "Is it dangerous?" I asked. Fear gripped me. "We do not know. There is no precedent for children like this. We are monitoring them closely but we are in uncharted territory."

"Healthy. Adjusted. The accelerated development doesn't seem to be causing problems. He's just smart. Really smart." Phoenix walked to Grace. She picked him up. Spun him around. He laughed. Pure joy. Pure love. "Happy birthday, little brother," Grace said. "You're getting so big. So strong. Soon you'll be taller than me." "Not for few years," I said. "Maybe sooner than you think," Grace said. Looking at Phoenix with those ancient-young eyes. "He's growing fast. Learning fast. Becoming fast. He's going to be remarkable."