"So, how was your first day of school, you two?", Robert asked as he smiled at the two preschoolers that had walked through the front door.
Phillippe and Esme had just had their first day of preschool, and any concerns the two parents had about how they're children would get an education with the size had been answered a year prior since to their shock; Esme and Phillippe could be able to shrink and grow their size, a new form of human mutation that they had gained. Though it was to a limited sense, the two children could only really reduce themselves down to at the smallest around five and a half feet, and as big as they would be for normal five years old when scaled up to the size of their parents.
Phillippe grinned, "It was cool! We did crafts! Show him, Esme!", and Esme opened her backpack, took out two painted rocks and two weaved mini quilts.
"Phillippe had a bit of an accident with the paints as he just threw all sorts of colors on his!", Esme told her parents, and it was made clear that the wilder painted rock was his while hers only had pink hearts which she painted all over it.
Susan smiled lightly, "Wow, they look wonderful. They deserve a spot on the windowsill above the sink so we can see them when we wash our hands and all.".
Phillippe grinned, "And our quilts, we want to keep adding to them so we can give them to Uncle Link and Uncle Doc on Christmas!".
Esme nodded, "Can we do that, Mama?", and Susan glanced at Robert, "Well, we can call it a family project, won't we, Robert?".
"Oh, certainly, that's actually a brilliant idea you two.", Robert complemented as he took the rocks and went for the windowsill. There was a slight issue in the fact that the rocks were tiny compared to him and Susan as opposed to their children, but he still was able to keep an eye on them. "I'm sure Doc and Link will love your gifts. Certainly, better than what Doc probably would be wanting.", Robert muttered to himself that only Susan could really hear.
Susan snickered lightly, knowing that Doc loves to tinker with tons of scrap from televisions and computers. She smiles warmly at the twins, "Now, what do you want for dinner, imps?".
The twins looked at each other before grinning at their parents, "Pizza!". Robert smirked, "Now, how did we guess that was going to be the case?".
He shook his head as he kissed Susan. "Alright, since you two survived your first day of school and all, we'll get you some pizza as a reward.". Robert went for the door, "Which one of you two want to come with your old man to get it? Might be easier to have a someone in this family who can shrink and fit into the store.".
Esme and Phillippe glanced at each other, and played a game of Scissors, paper, and rock. Phillippe laughed, "You will beat me next time, sis.", before grinning at Robert, "Let's go, Papa!".
Susan chuckled warmly, "Come, Esme, let's pick the movie and book of the night.", and Esme nodded with a smile, "Yes, Mama!".
"Alright then, have fun, you two, we'll be back quick. Make sure to keep a tight hold on my wallet, Phillippe.", Robert said as the two waved before walking out of the house.
"Mama? Can I ask you a question? It's something Phillippe and I never asked, but, well," Esme rubbed her arm. Susan squeezed Esme's shoulder softly, "What is it, sweetie?".
"Well, Phillippe and I were just wondering why we're actually different from the other kids? I mean, the whole size thing and all that, you and Papa never really told us much of that story.", Esme admitted. Susan knew exactly what that meant; she and Robert were still hopefully waiting another few years before they would finally have to give at least a condensed series of events of their change and their world saving efforts.
Susan sighed heavily, "I cannot tell this story alone as your papa has to be here for it as well. So, can you promise to wait until after pizza? It isn't a story spoken over dinner, I'm afraid.".
Esme nodded her head like a good little girl. "Okay, Mama. It's just, some of the kids were asking why we were almost as tall as our teacher and all, and Philippe and I didn't know how to answer.", she tried to explain why she was even asking this question.
Susan blinked in surprise and nods, "Ah, I see.", seeing how it's quite obvious to any observer's eyes in the comparison of size between a teacher and all.
"I mean, the other kids thought it was kinda cool.", Esme rubbed her arm; their parents had warned the twins that bullying might be something they would have to deal with. But at least Susan could take comfort that at least that didn't happen on their first day.
Susan smiled, "That's a good thing to know, but remember, don't brag about it. Bragging is not bad per sec, but if you overdo it, you might not get friends that way. There's a fine line between telling stories and seeking for attention.".
"Yes, Mama.", Esme nodded as the two of them went over to look for some movies. It didn't take too long until the boys came back with the pizza. "We're back!", Phillippe ran in with a grin.
"Doesn't take too long when the pizzas are already ready, and it only takes us like two minutes to walk over there.", Robert chuckled as he walked in behind Phillippe.
Susan laughed lightly, "True.", noticing the piles of pizza boxes with several pizzas. Too bad the food growth problem isn't solved yet, but Doc says that he's getting close. "Robert, we have something to talk about with the twins after dinner. Turns out the other kids are confused and surprised about their 'small' size.".
"Yeah, Phillippe mentioned it to me while we were waiting.", Robert sighed as the two parents watched their children dig into the pizza. "Kinda makes you wish nowadays we could do what they can do. When was the last time we enjoyed a full pizza?".
Susan looked to be in thought, "I think that was a week before the incident.".
"Yeah.", Robert nodded. "I mean, there's nothing stopping us from eating a large one, but it might as well be like a tiny wafer or something." He then smiled. "Of course, Doc did tell me he's close to a breakthrough in terms of getting us a ray so we can finally start eating normal sized things again. Certainly, those two will love eating with their parents again."
Susan nodded, "That's true, and I bet Monger will be really relieved that the cost of food will be down once the ray works.".
"Yeah.", Robert chuckled as he gave her another kiss on the cheek. "So, we still got a few minutes before we have to tell these kids what they're wanting to hear, so how do you want to play it?".
Susan exhaled lightly, "Skip the embarrassing bits, that's for sure. Maybe rip off the band-aid at all once?".
"Yeah, I think we can manage that part. Besides, they'll find out the real truth one of these days either with just being smart and asking the question about your original wedding dress, or B.O.B. might accidently spill it, or Link in an effort to embarrass us.", Robert started to snicker as they both knew Link would totally do that once the two were old enough to know more older jokes.
Susan nodded with a chuckle, "That's true. Alright, we will tell them that way.".
It didn't take too long for the kids to finish their pizza. Sometimes they liked to gain a bit more height so they could eat it faster or if they wanted to hurry and go back outside to play. Susan was quietly regretting telling them that they could only play once they finished eating the few times that she told them before she gave that up.
"I love that pizza, thanks, Papa!", Esme ran up and hugged her father's leg.
Susan smiled as Robert ruffled his daughter's hair fondly, "You're very much welcome, sweetheart.", and Susan looked over at Phillippe who just finished gulping down some milk before heading over with a smile, "Yeah, it sure was good!".
Susan asked softly, "You're all full and good?", and the twins nodded in affirmation, and Susan sighed, "Let's go to the living room, imps. It's time for us to tell you two more details about...ah, the incident.".
The twins looked at each other, and back at Susan, "Okay, Mama.", sprinting over to the living room, heading for the couch. Susan felt Robert squeeze her shoulder softly, "It's gonna be okay, my queen.".
Susan smiled lightly at him, "I know, darling. This isn't what I imagined for this day, but you heard them. They need to know some of the things we've been through.", before nodding at him, "Come on, Robert.".
"I'm coming.", Robert picked up Esme as Phillippe ran towards the couch so he could claim the side first since he always liked sitting on the side just in case, he started to fall asleep. Robert sat down with Esme in his lap while Susan sat next to Phillippe so she could run her hands through his hair. "Alright, you two, so like we've both heard, you two were curious to know why exactly we're so big and why you're different compared to all your other classmates, right?" The two children nodded.
Susan glanced at Robert, and then looked at the twins, "Deep in outer space, there was once an element called Quantonium, and it was contained within a meteor. It came upon our planet, and the Quantonium, it found us, and we somehow were drawing in all this Quantonium from the meteor which got smaller and smaller while we slowly got bigger, and once we adapted to it, we grew up even faster, to the size you know us to be in.".
Phillippe blinked in thought, "Were you and Papa scared?", and Susan exhaled shakily, "More than you'd ever imagine...", remembering that moment that she thought she and Robert was dead.
"Yeah, your Mama is right, we were scared, at so many points. See, actually, things went like this. It was your Mama and I's wedding day; something we had waited for so long. She was running a bit late and, let me say this, it's usually bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the day of their wedding before she walks to the altar. Believe me, I'm taking that seriously now since I met your Mama on a little gazebo near the church. Next thing we know, the Quantonium meteor flew right at us and basically landed on top of the two of us.", Robert replied with a sigh.
Esme's mouth was wide open, "Did it hurt!?".
Robert chuckled, "Surprisingly, not really. Of course, the two of us awoke a few minutes later, I think, I'm still a little fuzzy with that moment. Anyways, the two of us were just a bit roughed up, but we thought we were fine, so your grandparents quickly whisked us back inside, and we start having the ceremony. We barely begun though when the Quantonium finally started to react to our bodies after we absorbed it." Robert's mind went back to how terrifying the whole situation was, especially the fear that Susan was having and how he felt so useless that he couldn't do much to help her during that moment.
"Yeah, we started growing and ended up wrecking the building because we got too big. Scared pretty much everyone off since two people growing to about fifty feet in height is a once in many lifetimes sort of thing. With things wrecked, the army moved in led by General Monger," Robert chuckled sheepishly; the two children had already met the General once or twice before in their lives. "And essentially, we were considered to be a bit too dangerous at the moment so they escorted us to this complex where we could be safe and get our condition treated. At the time, your Mama and I had just become huge, and we wanted to go back to normal as soon as we could." He then smirked as he looked at her, "Of course, we wouldn't trade this for the world now, am I right, my queen?".
Susan shook her head, "No, because if we never had been hit, we would never have you two, with your special abilities and looks. We love you very much, and we will always be here for you two, no matter what.", ruffling Phillipe's hair warmly, and kissing Esme on the temple.
"She's right, we saw it first as a ruining of our lives, instead, it turned out to be not only a different start for our lives, but for yours too.", Robert kissed Esme's cheek, and then reached out to pat Phillippe's leg. "So, where were we? Right, the government complex," he made sure not to say monster prison. "We were staying at is where we met your uncles as well since they were there too. Doc probably would've been able to help us the most, but the thing about Quantonium is that it's actually alive and it was already starting to come to like us; so, it didn't want to be separated from us. Of course, at the time, we didn't even know what it was. But...", he paused. "Someone else did.".
Susan could already tell that his mind was thinking about Gallaxhar and the trouble that the alien had caused. It was almost hard to believe that all those events were nearly five years old now.
Susan looked at the twins, and she bitterly chuckled, "His name was Gallaxhar, and he was the one who found out that I was pregnant, well, with some help of his stupid loyal computer. But on the other hand, he wanted you two...", giving out an angry sob as she remembered that time in the body extraction.
"He was an alien that came to Earth and wanted both our Quantonium and to take over the planet.", Robert quickly explained as he grabbed Susan's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze; assuring her that what they went through in the end would never happen again.
"He sounds like some of those bad guys we see in some of those cartoons.", Phillippe said.
"Yeah, he was a bit like those bad guys in those movies and shows you two have seen. Well, first, he had sent out this giant robot probe that was a scout for him. Essentially, the world couldn't stop the robot so, basically with little other option, Monger suggested that maybe we could do something to stop it. So, your Mama, I, your uncles and Butterflyosaurus, or Insectosaurus as we first knew her, went out to San Franscisco to stop it.", Robert replied.
Esme blinked, "How giant was this robot?", and Susan shrugged lightly, "Just a tad bigger than Butterflyosaurus.".
Phillippe widened his eyes, "Whoa, and you beat this robot?!".
"We managed to lead it away from the city and brought it to the coast north of the Golden Gate bridge," Robert smiled; the children both brightened up upon hearing that since they always loved seeing the bridge. "It chased after us because it discovered that we had 'stolen' the Quantonium." He used his fingers to quote 'stolen', "We soon tricked it and caused it to be stuck before your Mama and I discovered that we were like really strong, and we pushed it into the ocean. It wasn't through, but then we smashed through the eye of it before your Uncle B.O.B. shut it down. All we had to do was get inside and flip like a simple light switch.", Robert chuckled as he still thought how funny it was for something so destructive and advanced to be stopped that easy.
Phillippe snorted, "That's really stupid to have a switch in a huge robot.", and Susan laughed lightly, "Of course, there were other robots which was controlled by Gallaxhar's clones who were really dumb for the reason that they couldn't fight against their master.".
"Yeah, in some ways, you're right about him being like your cartoon villains.", Robert gave a warm chuckle. "Of course, it didn't feel like that at the time. We stopped the robot, and essentially, we were made heroes because of it. At the time, we thought it was just the one and that we save the world; your Mama and I were on Cloud 9 at that point. So much that we really started embracing the change that the Quantonium did to us, and we rushed to get married as a reward to ourselves. This wedding went without any problems like the last one, and in some ways, I think it was better than the one we were going to have originally, don't you think, Sue?".
Susan smiled warmly, "It was 100% wonderful, way much better than the original one.".
Robert nodded, "After that, the two of us had a little time to ourselves and mostly, that's how you two came to be. Of course, it takes parents time to find out if they're going to be Mamas and Papas, but we didn't have to wait as long for an answer.".
"Gallaxhar," Esme had a little trouble pronouncing his name there. "He came to Earth, right?" Both her parents nodded.
"Yes, he came for the Quantonium and kidnapped us onto his ship. He planned to take it from us to create his massive clone army that he would use to conquer the world. Actually," Robert rubbed his arm, "He stole mine. He had a machine that could remove it and for a very short time, I was back to my old self." He then smiled, "Of course, your uncles decided to come to the rescue, and he first saved me before we saved your Mama.".
Phillippe grinned, "Did Uncle Doc make a bomb?", knowing that sometimes in his science experiments, there tended to be explosions, but Doc is able to come out unscathed, perhaps sooty and talking gibberish for a minute before he comes back to himself.
"You know he did.", Susan gave a smile that brightened both the two entranced listeners who hung on every word of the magnificent tale their parents were recounting.
"As your Mama said, Gallaxhar was going to take her Quantonium too, but was unable because she was going to have you two. So instead, he planned on taking you two away for; well, we never really knew what he had planned there, but we can all agree, that we should never think too much into it. It didn't happen and you, and your Mama were all saved. Doc rigged the ship to explode, and I got back my Quantronium before we leapt out and landed on Butterflyosaurus. Gallaxhar had escaped his doomed ship but landed right by our house before we caught up with him and stopped him once and for all. After that, it was quickly traveling around the world to defeat the few clones and robots that he managed to have escaped before we were truly celebrated as heroes all over the world."
Both of the kids' jaws were dropped as they heard the end of the tale. Essentially, their parents were real life heroes like the ones that they watched on TV, except real and right in front of them!
Esme blinked thoughtfully, "So, we're famous, then?".
"Well, kind of.", Robert admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Probably more amongst adults and all, your classmates probably aren't as familiar with things.".
Phillippe frowned lightly, "I don't want to be famous.".
Robert patted his head, "No, I fully understand why. Being famous really isn't all it's cracked up to be. Personally, I'm not arguing with you there. Your mother and I certainly like being out of the limelight. Gives us more time with our two favorite imps.". He started to tickle Esme who laughed and giggled as she tried to get off her father's lap to get away from his tickling attack.
Susan smiled brightly, "Now, who's in for a movie and book night?", and Phillippe grinned, "I sure am!".
The two children ran upstairs to get whatever book they wanted their parents to read to them for bed when the movie was going to be over. Of course, it couldn't be a long one since they still had school in the morning.
"Well," Robert took a deep sigh of relief, "That went better than I thought. Those two were practically in love with every word we said.".
Susan nodded lightly, "Yeah, they sure did. Well, at least we told enough to keep them satisfied for the time being. Do you think Link will shut his mouth if I give him the mad look?".
Robert laughed upon hearing that, "Oh, completely. He's not dumb enough to get you mad on purpose like that. More or less, he'll tell them that everything we said was true. Of course, they're smart kids. They'll fully put things together eventually. The clothing embarrassment, the imprisonment, killing Gallaxhar. Still, I would say we pretty much told them the whole truth.".
Susan nodded, "I think you're right, Robert.", before smiling lightly, "We quite make the family, huh?".
"We certainly do, Sue.", Robert leaned over before giving his wife a slow kiss on the lips. "I will always cherish every single moment that you all are in my life."
Susan blushed lightly, "Me too...I love you, my prince.".
Some days, it almost seemed unreal to Susan and Robert of just how fast time had passed for them. One moment, they're telling fun stories about their adventures or reading to their twins before bedtime, then what practically felt like a blink of an eye, the two of them were having to hold back their tears as their children were walking up on stage for their graduation from high school.
Nineteen long years had passed since Robert and Susan had first been struck by the Quantonium asteroid. For the most part, things had been getting back to an old sense of normality with the two of them thanks to Doc and inadvertently Gallaxhar. For them, Doc, not too long after the twins were nearly done with pre-school, had finally figured out a way to shrink or grow items; based off the technology of the couple's captured suits. Despite their height, life had once more gone back in a way to the one they grew up with. Able to enjoy fully now all sorts of things that they had been unable to when they grew.
As for the world around them, the progress of technology was rapidly growing at much faster pace than it would have if not for Gallaxhar's failed invasion. In some ways, Susan's ideas of what she wished for the world were actually starting to slowly come to fruition, such as pollution being rapidly dealt with, thanks to B.O.B.
And of course, Monger with the couple's help has found names for the twins, Titania and Goliath. Esme loved the sound of her own giantess name, Titania as it makes sense, and as for Phillippe, he was surprised to be called Goliath since he read about the bible story of David vs Goliath, but strangely, it fits him.
The two young monsters were still growing though their rapid spurts had stopped, much like normal children. Esme now almost looked similar to her mother in many ways and was quite the stunning beauty in her own right. One of the most popular girls in class, but the total opposite of a Queen Bee and was the nicest girl to all her classmates.
As for Phillippe, he certainly had quite a nice-looking body; inheriting much of his father's muscles and all, though his personality had grown more in the direction of a somewhat shy and quiet type. Which made a bit of sense when he said he didn't want to be famous all those years ago when their folks had told them the story of how they first became Ginormica and Gigantor.
The two of them also eventually came to know the details their parents left out thanks to Link mentioning, when the twins were twelve, of how many reps he could do in the joint before the more difficult questions had to be answered.
Oh, of course, if anyone dares insult their parents, the twins are quite scary in their own right, but they all knew not to cross the line.
But for the most part, that issue nor bullying occurrences never ever really happened to them growing up. There were a few through the years, but one quick growth spurt to nearly twenty feet in height made sure that would never happen again.
Which led back to the present as Robert and Susan sat in the back of the crowd outside the high school; almost exactly on the same field the couple had their wedding do-over. The giant and giantess looked not a day older than they were when the twins were born, not even a slight blemish of a wrinkle. The two of them along with the family of three grandparents and three uncles were all watching the two enjoy one of their proudest moments of their young lives so far.
Susan sniffed lightly, "Look at them, they're so ready to graduate!", knowing that they have to wait for their names to be spoken for it's a M for their surname.
"Come on, my queen, keep it together. You're turning into your mother there.", Robert joked as he rubbed her back.
"Not her fault, Robert. Us Collins girls can be a bit too emotional.", Wendy laughed a bit as she was trying to keep her eyes dry, but her tears of joy really were just too much for her as usual.
Susan wiped her eyes lightly, "Sorry! This is such a big and happy day for all of us, especially for my babies! Oh, god, they aren't babies anymore...".
"No, they really aren't. God, how the time really has flown by, hasn't it?", Robert admitted as he still was partially shocked by how much time had passed. It really did feel like not too long ago when those two were so little and in constant need of their parents.
Susan nodded lightly in agreement, through during the times the twins were hanging out with their friends, the couple is forever passionate about their love-making sessions, but for some reason, Susan never got pregnant again...Maybe the Quantonium was waiting for the right moment again, or that it has sensed that the couple only wanted to focus on raising the twins before trying again...
Robert chuckled as he smirked, "I know that look all too well, love. You're thinking of ways to keep them out of the house tonight, aren't you?". He kissed her on the cheek as the announcer got to the Ls. There wasn't a huge number of students at the high school, so it wasn't going to be long.
Susan blushed widely, "Oh, shush, you! Do you think the ray would work on a regular house or two for the twins? I mean, they're already 18...".
"I don't see why not, Susan.", Doc answered. "But of course, you are aware that they can easily just live in a normal house since they somehow inherited a sort of mutation that allows them to shift their sizes as opposed to you two.".
Robert nodded, "Doc's right. And besides, I think Monger said that he has a surprise for our graduates.", before hearing the announcer call for the twins, "Oh, here they come!".
"Esme Jasmila Murphy.", The announcer said as their daughter, standing proud and tall at 6'7 which was the shortest she could go when shrinking down, walked up onto the stage before taking her diploma. Her family, excluding her parents since they didn't want to cause any damage with their voices, went wild.
"Phillippe Blaise Murphy.". Phillippe's 7'1 form walked onto the stage behind his little sister before he grabbed his diploma as well.
Susan smiled widely, "They look so mature and proud on that stage...Have they told you about the possibility of college? They haven't told me anything...".
Robert shook his head, "I think they're keeping their cards to their chest and all right now. Either that or they were just focused on finishing high school and will take the summer to think about what to do next. Kinda similar to what we did. I had no idea what to do the moment we graduated.".
Susan laughed lightly, "That sounds about right. They're our kids, alright.", listening to the announcer call out the final speech.
"Certainly are, especially Esme might have already found her prince already.", Robert smirked as Esme's head seemed to be glancing more towards a different direction rather than the stage; both parents knew exactly who she was trying to find.