Alejandra leaned against the edge of her cheap counter, the chill of the tile biting through her faded sweatpants, grounding her in the here and now. Her old phone lay face down beside the sink, the email still open behind its cracked screen protector:
Confirmación de Registro — Charity Jiménez. Nombre común: Patrona.
She mouthed the words to herself again, Patrona. It tasted like irony sucked from a lime wedge: bitter, sharp, but bright enough to make her throat prickle with something halfway between laughter and tears.
Patrona. Miss Stevens.
Not anymore.
She exhaled slowly, feeling the echo of that truth settle in her chest like a stone sinking to the bottom of a well. No more cleaning up after that family, no more slipping out the back door when guests came so no one had to explain la criada ilegal. No more pretending not to hear the quiet jokes about “cheap help” when they thought she was out of earshot.
She had filed the papers herself, fingers trembling but precise. Her own name, her old Mexican address, her official ID number, the one she’d hidden since she first crossed into Texas at thirteen. She used to show it only to Western Union clerks when wiring money home, a ghost of legality that meant nothing here.
But Mexico recognized it. Mexico recognized her. And now, by the same system that had caged so many littles and turned poor families into meat for the rich, she had turned the system back on itself.
Her heart drummed hard, not with guilt, no, not guilt, but with a raw, dangerous satisfaction she had never tasted before. She was tired of being the one bent over the toilet scrubbing someone else’s filth while they laid in bed and called her sweetheart in that fake voice.
Now she had her own little.
Charity Stevens, the untouchable ice princess of the house on the hill, was now Charity Jiménez, officially registered in Mexico, tied to Alejandra’s name forever, by Generitech’s own rules, by the global database, by the very paperwork the rich used to keep littles on leashes in glass tanks.
No. Patrona. Her little Patrona.
Alejandra almost laughed. The word was wrong on her tongue now, it flipped itself inside out. She was the guardian now. She was the roof, the wall, the hand.
She let her eyes drift back to the coffee table. There, in the nest of her old hoodie, Patrona lay curled like a feral kitten half-tamed. Not pacing. Not barking orders. Not Miss Stevens. Just a girl with nowhere to run, smaller than Alejandra’s forearm, breathing shallowly in the warmth of worn fleece.
The way she’d stepped so carefully into Alejandra’s palm earlier still ghosted across her skin, that hesitant weight, the pulse of trust or surrender or simply exhaustion.
For years, her life here had been survival. Work long hours. Take the pay they gave her. Say gracias and yes ma’am and never no. Sleep in basements and couches. Hold her breath every time a siren wailed too close.
And now… she had something no rich woman could buy back unless she allowed it. Control. Legal, binding control.
If Charity thought she would call Kira, she was wrong. There would be no call to Kira. Kira didn’t own Patrona. No one did but her. And even if the whole city tried to strip it away, she had the papers. The registry. The code that said: Property of Alejandra Jiménez.
She rinsed her mug at the sink, the cracked ceramic whispering against the enamel basin. Outside, the city throbbed: engines, laughter, a dog barking down the alley. Inside, it was still. She liked that. The quiet wrapped around her shoulders like a blanket stitched from a dozen old sorrows.
Patrona rustled in the hoodie’s folds, a faint squeak she’d once have ignored. Now it tugged at her attention like a string pulled gently tight. Alejandra turned, arms folded loosely across her chest, and let herself watch the little shape shift and settle again.
She felt no shame for it. Let the world be upside down for once. Let her be the keeper instead of the kept. Let her be the one they didn’t see coming.
Later, she might open the laptop and check the guardian dashboard. Might order a proper collar and registry tag from the Mexico City office. Might set up an official vet checkup. All things a good guardian does, and she would be a good guardian.
But today? Today she just wanted to watch this impossible truth breathe softly on her table, wrapped in her old hoodie, fully hers at last.
She scrubbed a hand across her tired face, then pushed away from the counter. Quiet steps back to the couch. One hand hovered near the hoodie lump, but she didn’t touch Patrona yet.
And for the first time since she’d crossed a border that didn’t want her, Alejandra believed she had crossed back into her own power.
I knew Al wouldn’t give Charity up, almost nobody would give up a little willingly.
it’d be hard to surrender one for sure, at least in the states. it’s more of a status symbol thing. idk if i’d want a little or not. I wouldn’t be able to afford one and that’s a lot of debt to take on.
I wouldn’t be able to afford or care for one since it would require a lot of physicality, and I’m unable to do that.
I always think the opposite. I got parlayed by getting hit on my motorcycle by a car. Would I become a little to fix that little cut in my spinal cord and get a healthy body back and it’s a Yes in a heartbeat. How bought you?
I mean, I don’t think getting Smallara fixes your body.I believe that there are disabled littles in the world of Smallara that both Generitech and Preema Tech watch over because they require constant care, and aside from their families, only those two companies can provide that.
Would I want to catch Smallara? Hell no!
If I believe right , I was told smallara doesn’t fix major injury’s like a missing leg or cancer but my spinal cord is only a small piece missing and the only reason its a problem is because the spinal cord is the only nerve that does not repair itself so I think that would fall under the smallara total body metamorphosis. Well I hope it does anyway so people in the smallara world have hope lol. Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to be healed if it took being a little?
As someone who has Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair, I don’t believe that Smallara is some miracle cure for every disease known to humanity.
Plus If I were a little. I’d lose my rights to vote, free speech, etc, and that just doesn’t seem like a fair trade-off for me.
being paralyzed I have been using titanium Tilite wheelchairs that are made in the same US state that I live in and they have been great. its been just short of 6 years since I got hit so insurance got me a M3 electric chair since im getting older and they want to save my shoulders.
I don’t know the extent of your Cerebral Palsy, but for my condition it’s more then not being able to walk, it effects a lot of other things so the rights I would lose are a trade off I would do because of the life I could live. I am a military brat so US freedoms is important to me but having my body back would be amazing.
Any ways bless you and I hope there is a cure all for all of us via AI since I am into Geek stuff lol.
I know the transformation doesn’t heal everything but to me if you are transforming to a new species I would think It would solve many human body weakness many animals don’t have. I like how this story has so much range we talk about the limits of smallara vs what we deal with in real life. I love the story and our community.
canoncially while not a cure all it does fix some things. Based on how smallara is rebuilding the body as a little organs and such work a bit differently and mutate. It coudl probably cure paralysis for some. It would also probably depend on what caused the paralysis.
Ironically my wife’s giant main coon kitty’s are expensive like littles and take a lot of care to keep them properly, and she is never giving them up lol.
wonder what she considers to be a good guardian
currently charity isn’t getting a proper little diet and is open to harm from bugs and other nasty small things, and don’t get me started about if she went to the bathroom lol.
That could be because Al didn’t have a chance to prepare anything for Charity, she had no idea she’d have a little twelve hours ago.
She could fix some of those issues today.
Well it woudl really vary from regiong to region country to country in some ways. There would be some universal ideals. However what is normalized in one region may not be normalized in another.
We see that in real life with cultural differences from country to country.
Al seems to not have considered the loss of income since she will no longer be needed at the Stevens mansion.
As much as she wants to keep Charity, I don’t think she can afford to. I feel she will eventually have to contact Kira or Sara and negotiate something. This could be her ticket to a better living, plus she has been sending money home to Mexico, I assume she has to keep her family as a consideration as well.
Could be interesting if some kind of deal with Kira or Sara involves Al being hired in some capacity that includes some type of control of Charity.
I believe that the American “rules” do not allow “selling” Littles, but do the Mexican rules allow it? If so, perhaps an auction could be set up.
Does Al have any claim to Charity’s assets at this point? If so that would be a game changer.
“I feel she will eventually have to contact Kira or Sara and negotiate something.”
Now that is an interesting twist. I wonder if Al somehow knows Sara wants Charity. surely Sara’s name’s come up once or twice while she’s been nearby
That’s a great point. I’m not sure if the Stevens family set up a will or trust fund before they shrunk, since now, legally speaking, they aren’t considered people in the eyes of the government, and now they have no legal claim to their assets.
Asuka did say there is a brother that has not caught the virus just yet. So he may have control of the funds at this time. But you would think that Charity would have some assets of her own (or had them 😝 ).
im guessing all accounts are under her brother but petty cash so Al is hosed lol
I woudln’t say she hasn’t considered it but it hasn’t brought up in the narrative yet. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. plus with her life in America so far. She is also used to having to find a way. As she is working as a undocumented immigrant. Probably not the first job she has lost and had to pivot to something else.
She also has other ways she makes money to supplement.
1) “Confirmación de Registro — Charity Jiménez. Nombre común: Patrona.” It’s done, and evidently Mexican Little registry is free (or at least cheap). Sara mentioned that other countries had more lax regulations than the us, I guess this is proof.
2.1) “Patrona. It tasted like irony sucked from a lime wedge: bitter, sharp, but bright enough to make her throat prickle with something halfway between laughter and tears” That’s why I love it too.
2.2) “Patrona. Miss Stevens. Not anymore.” That’s right Al, savour this feeling , Enjoy it.
3) “No more cleaning up after that family” Yeah, but also no more cash payments from that family, (Though Al could theoretically raid the house now.)
4) “And now, by the same system that had caged so many littles and turned poor families into meat for the rich, she had turned the system back on itself.” Not really, she’s using the system mostly as intended.
5) “She was tired of being the one bent over the toilet scrubbing someone else’s filth while they laid in bed and called her sweetheart in that fake voice. Now she had her own little.“ sounds like Charity’s fate may be similar with Al to how it’d be with Sara.
6) “Charity Jiménez, officially registered in Mexico, tied to Alejandra’s name forever, by Generitech’s own rules, by the global database, by the very paperwork the rich used to keep littles on leashes in glass tanks.” I do question the legality of registering an American Little to Mexico database, I wonder how “Global” the database is.
7) “The way she’d stepped so carefully into Alejandra’s palm earlier still ghosted across her skin, that hesitant weight, the pulse of trust or surrender or simply exhaustion” that would be a good feeling for her, seeing Charity;s spirit breaking like that.
8) “And now… she had something no rich woman could buy back unless she allowed it. Control. Legal, binding control” I am questioning the legality of that control, especially with other Laws she’s already broken, because we know a criminal records and guardianship don’t mix.
9) “If Charity thought she would call Kira, she was wrong. There would be no call to Kira. Kira didn’t own Patrona. No one did but her” I knew it! (That one doesn’t count as a prediction; that one was too obvious)
10) “Patrona rustled in the hoodie’s folds, a faint squeak she’d once have ignored” I like that Patrona is used in the descriptions other nicknames like “Body Hottie”, “Wexie”, and even “Jordy” only get used in dialogue, adding to their lack of legitimacy, but this shows how much Patrona has already cemented in Al’s mind.
11) “Alejandra turned, arms folded loosely across her chest, and let herself watch the little shape shift and settle again” Littles can shapeshift now? lol .
12) “Might order a proper collar and registry tag from the Mexico City office. Might set up an official vet checkup. All things a good guardian does, and she would be a good guardian.” Vet? I thought Littles went to regular hospitals.
Sorry for the late reply got called into work for the weekend to take care of things
1) Yeah the registry process in Mexico works different so its not 1 to 1 with how the U.S> works. This is done to give countries a bit of agency which adds a bit of realisim to the system Plus it makes thing narratively interesting. So Sara was not lying.
2) Its fitting for charity that is for sure.
2.2) She earned it with what she has had to endure.
3) That would be the downside but if shes not picky it shouldn’t be to hard to find work.
4) Well yes and no. She’s claiming a little found in one jurisdiction but claiming it in another. Based on U.S. law she would need to report it to the U.S. if one is following the letter of the law. However, the fact she isn’t is also adding a bit of realism as it would be impossible to fully manage and have oversight on that so you would rely somewhat on people being honest
5) Well i guess it depends by what you mean by How it would be with Sara in where you are referencing what similarities would occur. Its also interesting as time has passed since the reader has seen Sara. So what her life is like and what she is doing is ambiguous. As the story deals with people who don’t directly associate with her. ONly charity knows Sara and she isn’t friendly and has little frame of reference beyond what she sees at school and makes fun of.
6) Well its a called a global database as that’s the intent but at this point in the timeline its still early. Its talked about a bit more this week. Its also mentioned in a dayton series I’m working on which follows this series.
7) Especially with how horrible it would be working charity. I cant imagine she would be a great boss.
8) The legality questions are valid. My thought process when writing it was to make it where Alejandra is using the system for her benefit which fits her background as she has to scrap and fight to get things. However, if charity’s family wasn’t in ruin. They could challenge in court as their are some jurisdictional issues that could override alejandra’s claim if it could be proven that she wasn’t found in Mexico. However, Charity lacks the ability to do what her family would normally be able to which is also kind of information this story is providing.
9) Yeah i wasn’t hiding that one. Alejandra has no reason to call kira or trust that anything with Kira would end well for her.
10) I wanted to establish it more as a official name. i do think i still call her charity as well in the descriptions once the name is established. As Jordy is a nickname where Patrona is name.
11) i didn’t catch that when i read through it lol. That wording does it make it awkward when you thnk of it in that context. As i was thinking of it shifting the shape of her body as she’s moving to get comfortable. but it could be read as shes morphing into something else. Thats funny.
12) its talked about in the story. Its a cultural difference. The information is smallara prime is solely from Sara and her friends view and how it works in the united states. However, different countries and cultures have small differences. In Mexico littles are taken to vets. But mexico’s journey through this is different then americas.
Damn, weekend work sucks
1) No, I believed her. Mexico, having no guardian training, is the bit that’s throwing me off the most.
3) No, but there’d still be a risk for her.
4) Yeah, that’s what I mean by “mostly as intended”.
5) I just meant that Al and Sara both seem to want to put Charity to work in order to gain some power over her as payback for past mistreatment.
6) Yeah, I saw in today’s episode it’s a unified US and Mexico database, with hope for more countries to be added later.
7) agreed
8) I could see the Law fucking Al up if she gets caught, for a fer reasons. She used the system for her own benefit, but that doesn’t always go well for people.
9) Indeed, Kira could easily call ICE or SEA and ruin Alejandra’s life.
10) Yes, but they’re both used interchangeably. Jordan is only “Body-Hottie” or “Jordy” in the dialogue.
11) Yeah, it’s a bit funny
12) But she is in America, is she gonna trek down to Mexico to get Patrona checked-up at the vet?
1) I am guessing Mexico has online training someone would have to pass. Cheap and easy way to teach. Most companies and university’s have been using that way to teach for over 20 years at least.
5) Sara is the better alterative for New Boss because of her skill level and oversite by family and friends to keep her from going to far.
9) Being wealthy with a lot of connections has a lot of options to get what they want.
10) I like when she is called Patrona, it’s now her official little name after her change and reinforces her new little life.
11) if smallara world is similar to ours, she can go back to Mexico but cant get back to the states unless it’s done within the law because of new border measures to keep people from killing themselves or others, among other things.
12) I am not sure a vet would have the equipment for littles. They seem expensive.