Madison’s World Redux Season 3 Episode 43

“Are the Pizza Rolls cooled down enough for my dad?” Madison asked as she continued to pet him gently in her lap. 

“Yeah, they’re basically room temperature now,” Krysi said. 

She tossed one of the last Pizza Rolls toward Madison, who caught it with one hand. Madison took a bite first, breaking through the exterior and exposing the softer filling inside. 

Greg watched with quiet understanding. 

He knew what she was doing. 

It was humbling, knowing he could not even eat one of his favorite snacks without Madison helping him. The outer shell would have been too much for him to bite through cleanly on his own. Too thick. Too awkward. Too much food at once for his smaller body. 

It was the kind of helplessness he wondered if he would ever truly get used to. 

Madison set the opened Pizza Roll down near him on her lap. 

Before Smallara, he could eat ten of these without thinking about it. He remembered tossing them into the air fryer on weekend afternoons before a game, grabbing a cold beer or soda, and standing at the counter eating one too soon even though he knew it would burn his mouth. 

Now, looking at one Pizza Roll from this size, he could not imagine finishing the whole thing. 

He leaned forward and took a bite. 

Even to his Little tongue, the taste came flooding back. 

Sauce. 

Cheese. 

Pepperoni. 

Salt and heat and memory. 

For a moment, he forgot to feel embarrassed. 

Brooklyn noticed immediately. 

“Look how happy he looks,” she said, snickering. “It’s the little things. He looks exactly like Madison with an iced coffee.” 

Krysi laughed. “Oh my god, he does.” 

“It must be a family trait,” Brooklyn added. 

Madison’s face flushed. “I do not.” 

“You do.” 

“I do not. Shut up.” Madison reached for another Pizza Roll. “I love a good Starbucks. Sue me. It’s not like you’ve ever turned down pizza.” 

Brooklyn pointed at her. “Pizza is different.” 

“How?” 

“Because it has dignity.” 

Krysi nearly choked laughing. 

Madison rolled her eyes. “You are so annoying.” 

Greg listened to the familiar back and forth with a strange ache in his chest. He had heard this kind of banter hundreds of times over the years. Madison and her friends teasing each other in the kitchen, in the car, at sleepovers, sprawled across the living room like the world belonged to them. 

Only now, the voices were above and around him. 

His youngest daughter was a literal giant, and he was eating part of a Pizza Roll in her lap, careful not to get sauce on her clothes. If he spilled, he knew exactly what would happen. Madison would make a face, try not to be too mad because she was in a decent mood, and then he would spend the evening blotting at the stain with a tiny cloth until she was satisfied. 

No one liked stains on their clothes. 

Madison especially did not. 

Her clothes, shoes, jewelry, everything had to look practically brand new. 

Brooklyn glanced toward the stairs. “What is Evan doing? Did she get lost going to get your mom?” 

The room shifted slightly. 

Not a lot. 

Just enough. 

Greg looked up from the Pizza Roll. 

Krysi leaned back against the couch, another Pizza Roll between her fingers. “You know Evan. She likes giving Cindy the real Little experience Cindy always said people needed. Evan always felt Cindy was too hard on Charizard with all her methods.” 

Madison’s hand stilled against Greg’s back. 

“She didn’t give Charity enough respect,” Krysi added. “Greg was there. He probably gets it.” 

Greg did not answer right away. 

Ava’s expression changed too, her earlier playfulness fading around the edges. 

“Well,” Ava said, “Cindy was good at making people she didn’t like, or didn’t think were worth it, feel like trash.” 

The room quieted more. 

Ava looked down, then back toward Madison. 

“Look at what she thought of my family. Because my parents are immigrants, she always made these little comments. Not super obvious. Just subtle stuff. Like enough that if you called it out, she could act like you were being dramatic.” 

Greg felt the words settle heavily in the room. 

He wanted to deny it. 

He could not. 

Ava gave a small shrug, but it was not casual. “So yeah. It’s not surprising Evan likes giving Cindy a hard time.” 

Madison looked down at Greg, waiting. 

That was the hard part. 

They were all waiting. 

Not because they expected him to fix it. He could not. Not anymore. 

But because he was Cindy’s husband, and whatever he said still mattered in some small way. 

Greg set his hands on Madison’s lap and took a breath. 

“Cindy was, and still is, very opinionated,” he said carefully. “And sometimes she couldn’t see the other side. She looked at things from her point of view and assumed that was the correct one.” 

Ava watched him quietly. 

Greg continued, “But she was also loving. Caring. Kind, in her way. She did try to help people.” 

Brooklyn lifted an eyebrow but did not interrupt. 

Greg looked down. 

“It just came at a cost,” he said. “And some people would say the cost may not have been worth it.” 

The words hurt to say. 

Maybe because they were true. 

Madison’s fingers resumed their soft motion over his back, but her voice was quieter now. 

“Dad, I know you love Mom.” 

Greg looked up at her. 

“But she doesn’t even think she’s a Little,” Madison said. “She won’t admit it. She won’t even consider it. She’s never going to adjust. She’s not like you.” 

Greg opened his mouth, but before he could answer, they heard Madison’s bedroom door open upstairs. 

A second later, it closed. 

The sound carried through the house. 

Everyone went quiet. 

Even Brooklyn stopped moving on the couch. 

Footsteps approached the stairs. 

Evan was coming back. 

And she was bringing Cindy with her. 

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