Growth Spurt
"Uncle Ironhide! Uncle Ironhide!"
"Uncle" Ironhide, as known to Annabelle, Will Lennox's daughter, looked up from the datapad he was reading that contained a story that Jazz wrote up with the twins that was most likely to send him into a strange stasis lock (from laughing so hard), and quickly saw Annabelle, almost 4 years old now, running toward him with her tennis shoes on. With a well practiced motion, he scooped her up and put her on his desk in the barn of the Lennox's home. There was even a large enough hallway from the barn to the house.
Ironhide smiled and chuckled, "What is, Annabelle?"
Annabelle smiled at him the way only sparklings knew how and said, "Can you take my measurements please? I think I grew!"
Ironhide frowned playfully and said, "I just took your measurements yesterday, and you think you grew?! That is something I need to see to believe."
Annabelle pouted, sniffed with a small whimper, and whined, "Pllleeeeeaaaasssseeee?"
Ironhide sighed and put her back down on the floor and pointed to the door to the hallway to the house, which has little nicks near the bottom to measure how fast Annabelle was growing. Annabelle gave a little 'yippee!' and raced over to the door. She put her back against it while Ironhide got out of his chair and walked over to her. Ironhide knelt down with chuckle and said, "Now, let's see how fast you're…grow…ing."
He frowned and rebooted his optic circuits. That's impossible! Annabelle can't grow that fast! In fact, she was a full inch taller than she was yesterday. Ironhide quickly gathered her up and walked to the kitchen, where Sarah was doing a crossword puzzle at the kitchen table. She looked up to see Ironhide at the kitchen door with Annabelle giggling like mad. She arch a brow as Ironhide knelt near the door. She could see Will in the background as he held a small camcorder in his hot little hand. /Ah, the communal family prank/, she thought with an inside grin.
Ironhide set her only daughter down and looked at Sarah with a bemused expression on his face and in his voice as he asked, "Sarah, how fast do Earth children grow?"
Sarah blinked as she realized what she heard was correct and said, "Not that fast. Why?"
Ironhide blinked in confusion and said, "Annabelle grew an inch since /yesterday/. If she keeps this up, she'll be my size by the time she's five!"
Will started laughing as Annabelle pulled off her shoes and revealed that they were filled with tissues. Sarah started laughing too, and Annabelle was grinning broadly at Ironhide as he realized he was pulled into another family prank. Finally, Sarah gasped, "I can't believe you forgot about communal family pranks, and that you didn't check her shoes!"
Ironhide turned to Will, seeing that he had the camcorder in his hand and said, "If you show that to anyone, I swear to you I won't babysit Annabelle for a /month/."