Evan was finally sleeping deeper, breathing heavy, mouth slightly open, curled under a weighted blanket on the couch. One leg dangled, twitching now and then as if her body were still chasing some dream. Her phone buzzed once but went ignored.
Charity had been excused. Or at least… not summoned.
Jean’s invitation had come as a whisper: “Come with me, sweetheart. Let her rest. Just for a bit.”
Now they were in the kitchen.
Charity stood on the edge of the granite counter beside the sink, the same place where Jean often chopped vegetables or lined up vitamins. Everything towered, light switches, mugs hanging from hooks like ceramic planets, the refrigerator humming low and solid like a living wall.
Jean set down a small saucer with a treat on it: a strawberry quarter dipped in melted dark chocolate, the edge still glossy from being freshly made.
“Here,” she said simply, placing a folded napkin beside it. “You earned it.”
Charity stared at it. The scent hit her like warmth. Her mouth watered before she even leaned forward.
“Go on,” Jean added, with something close to a smile.
Charity stepped forward and took a careful bite. The sweetness bloomed across her tongue instantly, the berry sharp and the chocolate smooth, bitter and soft. Her eyes fluttered shut, just for a second. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up: shoulders slumping, knees softening, a quiet sigh of release.
It was a treat.
But it was more than that. It was recognition. A pause in the storm. A small, strange moment of kindness from the woman she used to call Mrs. Kingsley and avoid at charity galas.
Jean leaned on the counter, arms folded, watching her.
“You really are adapting,” she said softly. “It’s not just the posture or the habits. It’s… your presence. You move different now.”
Charity swallowed, wiping her lips with the napkin. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
Jean didn’t smile. She just looked thoughtful. “It’s a necessary thing.”
The kitchen was quiet for a moment, the ticking of the wall clock the only sound besides the hum of appliances.
“I didn’t expect this,” Jean admitted. “When Evan brought you home, I thought it would be chaos. But… you’ve adjusted. I don’t think she would’ve made it through this flu without you.”
Charity looked down at the saucer. A smear of chocolate marked its edge.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” she said quietly.
“No,” Jean agreed. “You didn’t.”
That honesty hit harder than denial would’ve.
“But you still rose to it,” she added. “And that’s something.”
Charity didn’t answer.
Jean took a breath, then bent down a little so her eyes met Charity’s directly. “Listen, I know you still carry pieces of who you were. And maybe… maybe that’s okay. Maybe you’re supposed to. But don’t mistake care for control.”
Charity tilted her head, unsure. “Aren’t they the same now?”
Jean exhaled slowly. “Not always. Control is what the world does to Littles. Care is what people choose to give them. You can hate the structure, but don’t throw away the hands that steady you inside it.”
Charity thought about that.
About Evan, asleep and sweating, holding her like a comfort object.
About Jean, handing her chocolate and speaking like a mother, not to a doll or pet, but to her.
She looked back up. “You’re not like the others.”
Jean shook her head, gently. “I am. Just… older. And I’ve seen what happens when we forget to leave room for dignity.”
Another pause.
Charity stepped back from the saucer. “Thank you,” she said, and surprised herself with how much she meant it.
Jean didn’t answer with words. She simply reached for a tiny glass, one clearly meant for Littles, and filled it with water from the filtered tap.
She placed it beside the saucer.
“Come back when you’re ready,” she said. “I think she’s going to be clingy when she wakes.”
Then she left the kitchen, footsteps fading.
Charity stood there alone on the counter.
The chocolate lingered on her lips.
And for a moment, her heart felt both heavier and lighter.
Charity stirred faintly beneath the heavy drape of flannel and denim as Evan shifted again on the couch. The girl let out a congested sigh, her nose twitching just before a muffled sniffle echoed under the blanket. Charity had just gotten used to the rhythm of Evan’s shallow breathing, humid, uneven, tinged with phlegm, when the giant teen stirred more insistently.
“Charizaaard…” came the hoarse murmur, a sleepy, pathetic whimper that curled into a needier tone as Evan’s arm fumbled under the blanket. “Where’d you go…”
Charity didn’t have time to answer before massive fingers found her and gently, though clumsily, dragged her back to the warmth of Evan’s chest. The blanket shifted above like a canopy of moving clouds, collapsing around her as Evan pulled her close, tucking her against the curve of her body with an arm draped across her like a weighted security bar. One of Evan’s knees bent slightly, creating a crooked ledge that tilted the world. Her skin was flushed and damp with fever, the cotton of her shirt clinging lightly beneath Charity’s legs.
The press was firm. Intentional. Evan might not have known much in her drowsy, virus-dulled state, but she knew she wanted her Little.
“You’re warm,” Evan breathed, her voice low and slurred by congestion. A moment later, her lips grazed the top of Charity’s head, peppering her hair with a soft, fever-drunken kiss. “Mmm. My good girl…”
The air was thick beneath the blanket, stifling with breath and body heat. Every time Evan exhaled, the gust brushed against Charity’s neck like a small storm. And yet—she stayed.
Not just because she had to.
But because… something had shifted.
She no longer flinched quite so hard at the kisses. Not when they came like this, half-delirious, clumsy, and uncoordinated. Not when Evan clearly just needed her. Not when the pressure of that arm around her felt more like comfort than a shackle.
Charity closed her eyes, letting her hand rest on the fabric over Evan’s ribs, rising and falling in slow, shallow waves.
This wasn’t where she belonged. Not really. Not if you went by birthright, or lineage, or the gleaming tower her family name used to stand on. But in this strange new life, this small one… something had changed.
Alejandra had taught her how to be patient. How to endure. How to listen even when it stung. And Evan, Evan had shown her what it meant to be wanted, even if that want came with expectations she hadn’t agreed to.
She hadn’t meant to grow attached.
But here she was.
Tucked into a giant girl’s fever slick embrace, buried under a blanket that smelled faintly of lavender detergent and Vicks VapoRub, feeling something dangerous creeping into her bones.
Care.
Real, aching, reluctant care.
Even as Evan snored softly and shifted again, tightening her hold, Charity didn’t struggle. She let herself be small. Be useful. Be there.
Because deep down, maybe she wanted to be.
And as she lay there, heart syncing with the shallow rhythm of Evan’s breath, she thought about all the things she used to be. All the things she was now. And how, in a twisted, infuriating way… this made her better.
Not happier. Not free.
But softer. Wiser. Kinder.
A better person, even if the world had turned her into a pet to do it.
The arm across her shifted again, pressing her more snugly into Evan’s side. It was just enough to keep her held without smothering.
“I got you,” Evan mumbled in her sleep.
And to her own horror, Charity whispered back:
“I know.”
Charity’s heart grew three sizes this day. To read her journey from spoiled bully rich girl to humble little is nothing short of amazing. Asuka has crafted a wonderful world with the Smallara universe.
well put
Thanks, I have been really happy with how Charity’s journey has went and the story told. I’m glad it translated well to you all as well.
Well…..damn……tears ….. literally tears after reading this damn it Asuka!!!!
Glad the payoff on Charity’s journey was worth it.
Tomorrow is end of charity story or Monday ?
Monday will be the final episode, then a break till November 10th. Then the next story is on deck.
Aw I’m enjoying Evan and Charity, hope we see them again in Madison World.
Any hints as to the next story?
Please let it be stepmonster 2
A) amazing writing Asuka. and of course the picture got me again lol
B) Charity is like Jordan. They are both better littles then humans. They will thrive as littles.
C) I know you said Jean wont be around but I hope you can sneak in some mother little daughter stuff in somewhere lol. in its a small world my moms name is Jean lol.
D) I think even more now that the little mom Evan will not make her little princess part of the community. There is to much of a bond and love between them. I think Evan by the time new chapters come back for Madison will start putting charity on her shoulder like Sara to make Charity part of her everyday life at school and shopping and stuff. More Sara influence lol. And Cindy will be a little and have no influence lol. If anything Madison will put Cindy of her shoulder to one up Evan like girls like to do lol.
A) thanks
B) Charity for sure is a better litlte then person
C) Well she will remain in her current role she exists as Evan’s mother. So its not like she wont be shown ever again. But she is not a featured character or wont be getting her own story or spinoff is more what I was getting at. She woudl be shown where appropriate.
D) Time will tell how that turns out. That is something that would be depicted in Madison’s World proper.
I might be biased but I think because you are a good person like most of us, you write good bonding or family making chapters.
1) “Her phone buzzed once but went ignored.” damn, she must be really sick
2) “Jean set down a small saucer with a treat on it: a strawberry quarter dipped in melted dark chocolate, the edge still glossy from being freshly made.” Fucking yum
3) “A small, strange moment of kindness from the woman she used to call Mrs. Kingsley and avoid at charity galas” for a minute I forgot that “Charity” wasn’t just a name and though Charity had been referring to her parties as “Galas”, lol
4) “Don’t mistake care for control,” Yeah, but don’t make the mistake the other way around either.
5) “You can hate the structure, but don’t throw away the hands that steady you inside it.” Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, even if it’s the one that beats you.
6) “You’re not like the others.” “I am. Just… older. And I’ve seen what happens when we forget to leave room for dignity.” No Jean, you are wildly different from most of them
7) “Thank you,” she said, and surprised herself with how much she meant it.” well, that just shows how much Jean deserved it
8) She simply reached for a tiny glass, one clearly meant for Littles, and filled it with water from the filtered tap.” The kinsly’s have Little cups, yay
9) “when the giant teen stirred more insistently.” Teen? So it’s definitely in 2022 now since Evan’s 13?
10) “peppering her hair with a soft, fever-drunken kiss. “Mmm. My good girl…” So cute
11) “She no longer flinched quite so hard at the kisses. Not when they came like this, half-delirious, clumsy, and uncoordinated. Not when Evan clearly just needed her. Not when the pressure of that arm around her felt more like comfort than a shackle.” The bond is strong with these two
12) “Alejandra had taught her how to be patient. How to endure. How to listen even when it stung. And Evan, Evan had shown her what it meant to be wanted, even if that want came with expectations she hadn’t agreed to.” both useful lessons, though taught in a cruel twist of fate,
13) feeling something dangerous creeping into her bones. Care. Real, aching, reluctant care” But Charity’s never done that before.
14) “And how, in a twisted, infuriating way… this made her better. Not happier. Not free. But softer. Wiser. Kinder.” Those are things that can just happen with growing up anyway.
1) to sick to social. Shes really down for the count.
2) Plus at charity’s size she would feel like she is getting more.
3) lol
4) In charity’s sense though its important for her to know that people can do things out of care that aren’t intended to be control even if perceptionally it coudl be viewed that way. KInd of like parent to a child. THe parent may do something out of care that feels controlling.
5) kind of a harsh interpretation but it could be taken that way. Charity is far from beaten. I dont even think Evan is has raised a hand to her.
6) only a small sample size of people have been depicted to be fair.
7) Jean quickly becoming a lethal favorite character.
8) lol, i thought you would like that touch. They don’t have alot but have some.
9) well theres not much difference between 12 and 13. But realistically i just typed teen out of habit as i rarely write someoen where i have to use tween. So i woudlnt use that to specifically derivive date and time.
10) She does care about her
11) Evan has pretty much been sincere with Charity from the start which helps. she hasn’t portrayed anything differently then it is. So its harder for Charity to deny feelings or emotions. Even removing the bond aspect.
12) They are, its ironic charity is becoming a better person as a little then when she was actually a person.
13) Charity and care have not traditionally gone hand and hand.
14) she was forced to see things from a different persepctive which is making her a better person.
it will be fun to see how the bond between Charity and Evan helps them in the stories to come because they could find there bond does things to help them nobody knew about.