Unbroken Bond 2 Unbroken Family Chapter One

"Austin Gabriel Swan! Where is my car?" Madison asked, ferociously, walking into the depths of Austin's dark cave. Her arms were crossed across her chest in a huff as her head turned and looked around in all directions of the cave. She knew he was there; he was merely playing a simple game of hide-and-go-seek. “Austin, if you don’t respond to my voice in the next three seconds then I swear that you will be grounded for a month! Do you hear me?”

Silence answered her. Madison scrunched her face, eyes narrowing into a vicious glare that looked like it could pierce through stone. “One.” Madison started. She looked around, arms still crossed as she inspected every inch of the cave. She saw Austin’s leaf sheets along with the combo animal-furred blanket and pillow spread across the floor with Teddy, who looked a little used and old, resting peacefully, on top of it. She also caught sight of Austin’s fish pile which appeared to have shrunk as the years went by; now it looked like there was only a good twenty fish left in the pile.

“Two.” Madison said, eyes darting to both sides of her head; still nothing. She didn’t even catch a glimpse of movement. He was resisting.

Madison smiled, threateningly. “Three.” The brunette waited a second or two in front of the exit of the cave, looking into the darkness, waiting for Austin to come and answer her. But there was once again, nothing.

Starting to drum her fingers against her arm, Madison let out another heavy sigh and turned her back away from the darkness. “Okay, Austin; have it your way. If you won’t tell me where my car is, then I guess I’ll just have to groun-.”

“How do you know it was me?” A voice in the shadows instantly questioned.

Madison grinned another menacing smile, shifting her neck just a little in order to see the tuft of dark hair just barely peeking out of the shadows. “There you are.” Madison said with an evil tone straining in her voice. The tuft of dark hair flinched at the woman’s voice. “Austin, come over here now.”

“But-!”

“Now, mister!”

Madison heard a loud grumble that could’ve easily been mistaken for the sound of a stomach growling, before she felt the earthquake-like tremors hit her feet. With a distressed look, Austin reluctantly came out from the shadows and toward his 5ft 7in tall mother.

“On your knees.” Madison ordered, pointing a finger to the ground when Austin was at an ‘okay’ distance away from her so he was close to her while not close enough to accidentally crush her.

Austin did as he was told and slowly got down on his knees which shot another tremor Madison’s way, but having gotten used to these tremors, Madison almost passed it off as if it were nothing. Madison looked up, angrily into Austin’s face, while Austin’s eyes were trying their best to avoid contact with his mother’s intimidating pupils.

“Well, Austin? Where’s my car?” Madison asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“And just how do you know that it was me who had any affiliation with your car?” Austin asked, a little frustrated that she was targeting him so quickly.

“Well, for one thing, when I went outside to where I parked the car, it was gone; there was glass inside the perimeter. Oh! And there was a giant footprint indented in the ground very close to it. Have any explanations for that?” Madison felt a sense of triumph overcome her, knowing that she was definitely winning this battle.

“Damn it.” Austin quietly growled. However, not quiet enough for Madison not to hear.

Pointing a finger up at Austin, Madison snapped, “Don’t you cuss around me, Young Man! Now, tell me right now, what happened to my car? If it’s a reasonable explanation, I’ll bring down your punishment.”

Austin was quiet for a few seconds before finally heaving out a sigh and saying, “Fine. I did it; but it was an accident, I swear!”

“Just show me what happened, Austin.” Madison said, dropping her hands to her sides.

Again, Austin was hesitant but after a while, the young giant slowly reached back into the shadows of his cave, grabbing something, and then bringing it back and carefully setting it down in front of Madison.

She couldn’t help but sigh, once seeing the car that she had once grown to love. “Oh, Austin; not again.” Madison said, looking at the car. It was a good bet to say that the car looked like it had had a giant safe from “Looney Tunes” dropped on top of it or a giant anval, as the entire front part of the car, including the hood, was completely crushed, now just about as thin as a door.

“I’m really sorry! Grace and I were playing hide-and-seek. It was my turn to hide. I didn’t see the car. I tried to fix it, but-!” Austin gasped out, but Madison quickly raised a hand, indicating Austin to be quiet.

Looking at the severely damaged car in front of her that her giant teenage son had stepped on, Madison only sighed again and said, “It’s fine, Austin. At least we still have your father’s car. Good thing he’s still at work so you couldn’t step on that one too.”

Austin started to get glassy eyes. “I-I’m so sorry, Mom.”

Madison noticed this right away and held up her hand again. “Now, you stop it.” Madison said in a strong tone of voice.

Austin started to raise a hand to his face to stop the incoming tears. “What?”

“Don’t you ‘What?’ me! You’re a big boy now; you’re almost seventeen! Big boys don’t cry over little things like this!” Madison said, pointing at the dead vehicle.

“But I destroyed your car! Aren’t you mad?”

“Well, of course I am; a little. But this is what you expect for having a giant as a son. Stuff like this happens. Don’t cry over spilled milk.” Madison said, smiling.

Austin looked away. “I don’t get it. Why do you call it ‘spilled milk’ for me as if it were nothing yet when Dad got in a car accident last year, you were furious with him?”

“Well, because your dad wasn’t looking and was being an idiot; he was talking on the phone while driving.” Madison explained.

“But that’s the exact same thing-!” Austin argued.

“Austin!” Madison yelled. “Your father doesn’t have an excuse for what he did. But you do. Now drop it. I’ll see if I can get Callie to come pick me up for work tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Austin said; still feeling pretty guilty for the trouble that he had caused.

“But, Austin, you have to look where you're going next time. Like I said before, you’re going to be turning seventeen in two weeks; you need to learn sooner or later.” The brunette said, taking her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and looking at her contacts list, searching for Callie’s number.

“Maybe I would have learned sooner if I wasn’t so big.” Austin said, looking at his giant hands that could easily pick up a semi without him even trying.

Madison looked up from her phone to look back at her son. “Look, Austin, we’ve had this talk before. You’re not a monster and you’re not a nuisance. You’re just different; everyone is.”

"I know, but it doesn't make me feel any better that I'm still treated differently from you guys; you . . . humans." Austin replied, twiddling his fingers.

"Austin, you are human. Just a little bigger."

"Oh, yeah." Austin scoffed. "About twenty times bigger. That makes me feel better."

Madison sighed, slapping her hand over her eyes. "Okay, okay. I see your point. If I ground you for a day, will you drop it?"

"Yes!" Austin instantly said.

"Alright. Austin, for the next 24 hours, you are not to leave this cave no matter what, understand? And you can't play with Grace unless I say you can, okay?"

Austin nodded. "Yes, Mom."

"Okay, I'll bring up your food when dinner is ready. Remember, stay in this cave!" Madison said, as she started to exit the cave with her cell phone pressed to her ear after dialing Callie's number.

"I understand. Thanks, Mom. I'll look next time, I promise."

"Sure thing." And with that, Madison turned around and walked out of the cave as she whispered to herself in a quiet voice for only her to hear, "Geez, newsflash today: a kid begging to be punished. Is he feeling too guilty or just masochistic?" Then after a couple minutes, she was out of Austin's sight.

Austin smiled after his mother. He knew that most kids his age probably wouldn't do what he just did, but it seemed like the right thing to do; he didn't want to be off the hook when he clearly did something that deserved to be given some kind of punishment. He wanted to feel like he was normal; like he was a human who wasn't treated indifferently for how big he was.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the loud squeal of a little girl. Looking down, he saw his little four year-old sister, Grace, scampering into the cave with a joyful smile shining on her face. Then, once nearing the giant teenager, Grace touched Austin's giant boulder-sized knee and said, "Found you! I win!"

Cracking a smirk, Austin reached out, pinching the back of Grace's dress and raising her up to his face. "Heh. I guess you did. Congratulations." Austin solemnly said.

"Austin, le' go!" Grace said, giggling as she made an attempt to reach up behind her to paw at Austin's huge fingers.

"Are you sure?" Austin asked.

Still laughing with over-enthusiasm, Grace nodded down at Austin. "Yeah! Le' go!"

Then with a shrug, Austin said, "If you insist." And with that, Austin released his grip on Grace, sending her falling.

"Wee!" Grace said with the biggest smile Austin had ever seen. But before Grace could fall to the ground, Austin instantly brought his other hand up, catching her in the center; her face meeting his squishy skin. Pushing against the soft skin, Grace looked up at her big, older brother. "Again! Again!"

But Austin shook his head with a smile. "Not today; I'm grounded. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

When she heard his answer, Grace grew a large pout, saying, "But I wanna do it now. I wanna pway with you now!"

"I'm sorry. But Mommy caught me destroying the car." Austin said, gesturing to the destroyed car he had stepped on. "If you want to play with me again today, you'll have to ask Mommy."

Grace let out a sigh that caused her shoulders to rise and eventually fall in disappointment. "Do I ha'f too?"

"'Fraid so." Austin said with a smug look on his face.

But Grace sat still in his hand, not making a motion that would indicate that she was going to ask her mother if Austin could play with her, which to the teen, surprised him a little that she didn't. "Austin?" She asked with curious eyes.

"Yes?"

"Why'd you bweak Mommy's ca'?" The four year old wondered.

Austin broke into a shallow smirk. "Well, because I wasn't looking but the main reason is because I'm big for my size and I accidentally stepped on it."

Grace didn't respond for a second or two before asking in a soft tone, "Austin, why'e you so big?"

A little caught off guard by the sudden question left Austin speechless. It made him sullen as he too wondered why he was so big compared to the rest of his family. Of course he already knew the answer to that: apparently he's from a species of giants. But the thing that continued to bug him was why he was the only one of his kind that he knew of. Were there others like him? And if so, where were they? Were they hiding from humans like his mom and dad had to do with him? Or was he was the only one because the 'giant' species was on the brink of extinction? All of these questions continued to live unanswered in his head for as long as he could remember but every time he tried to find an answer, he dismissed it as a stupid question that didn't mean anything to him.

So, turning to his little sister who had started grabbing handfuls of his squishy hand flesh in her tiny palms, Austin said, "Well, because I'm not human. I'm a giant."

"A giant?" The little girl said, tilting her head to the side as if in confusion even though she already knew full well what a giant was.

"That's right."

Grace was quiet before gasping and smiling up at him, exclaiming, "Can I be a giant too?!"

Once again, Austin was taken aback by not only Grace's question but her sudden enthusiasm. And with a shaken smile, said, "Sorry, but you can't."

"Why not? I wanna be a giant too!" Grace said, showing off her symbolic pouting face.

Austin shook his head, laughing gently to himself. "No, no you wouldn't. Grace, a giant is the last thing you ever want to be."

"Why?" Grace said, feeling a little heartbroken with his response.

"Well, for one thing, look at me. I'm just a good two feet away from being 100ft tall. I can barely walk out of this cave anymore without hitting my head on the ceiling." Austin said, pointing at the jagged cave roof.

"So?" Grace said, standing up in Austin's hand. "Tha's what cwouching's fo'." Then as an example, Grace bent her knees, now in a crouching stance.

"I guess." Austin said, smirking at his little sister's optimism. "But when you're big you have a lot more troubles like not seeing small things on the ground. I accidentally stepped on Mommy's car when I wasn't looking."

"Accidents happen!" Grace happily said, waving it off as if it were nothing.

"And you have to eat more than usual; at least ten times as much as you would; maybe twenty times depending on what the person was serving." Austin explained.

“Ma’be. But then you’d never be hungwy again.” Grace countered.

“Heh.” Austin scoffed. “Not in my case. For me, that’s what I have to eat, every day. I’m surprised our family isn’t already bankrupt.”

Grace's blue eyes bulged as if it they were going to pop out of her head. “Ev’ey day? By the way, what does ‘bankwupt’ mean?”

“Yes; every day and bankrupt means to have no money.” Austin said.

Grace sitting on the edge of Austin’s hand now, swung her legs back and forth. “But won’t you get tummy aches if you eat so muc’?”

Austin sighed again. “Not with my big stomach and besides, that’s not the point. The point is personally, I’d love to be as small as you, Grace. Being as big as me, a giant; is probably the hardest job a guy like me could have.” Austin said, standing up with frustration. However, forgetting about his height had instantly made contact with the ceiling of the cave, making more rocks fall.

“But . . . .” Grace started; both a little disappointed with Austin’s answer and a little scared from the rocks falling around her, said with moist eyes. “. . . . but being small is baring. I don’t wanna be small. I wanna be big wike you.”

Austin looked away from Grace’s about-to-cry face. “And tell me one thing that’s so great about being a giant, other than for the fact that you can see just about the next city over.”

Grace was quiet. She was really racking her brain for an answer, but at the moment, she just couldn’t put her finger on an answer. It was when Austin was about to say, “That’s what I thought”, when Grace thought of something.

“I . . . I woud hug you.”

“What?” Austin asked, incredulously, looking into his palm with deep interest.

“I-I woud get to hug you. You’d be able to caw'y me in your arms.” Grace said, now equipped with fragile tears slowly dripping from her face. If Austin had a nickel for every time Grace had cried for no real apparent reason, he’d be the richest perso- the richest giant in the country. Though, he was probably just exaggerating and he probably already was the richest giant in the country; at least, if there were any other giants out there.

“But, you can already hug me. And heck, I can carry you in my palm.”

“No! Not wike that!” Grace shouted.

“What? I don’t understa-.”

Grace standing up, said with more frustration than Austin had that entire day, “I wan’ you to hold me in yo’r arms just wike Mommy and Daddy do! I wanna hug you wif’ou’ hugging yo’r cheek o’ worr’ing about being crushed by you! I-I wanna hug al’ of you no’ a par’ of it!”

Austin felt dumbstruck after getting that little outburst from his little sister. He had never expected her, out of all people, to say those words to him. But Austin merely smiled and brought his extra index finger up to Grace, lightly touching and rubbing her head with it. “What big words you’re saying at such a young age. What have Mommy and Daddy been teaching you?”

Grace looked up through foggy eyes from the tears and wailed. “Austin! Is’ not faiwr'!” Grace said, quickly running over and hugging his giant thumb.

Smiling warmly down at his sister, Austin brought her close to his face, just close enough to give her a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Shh . . . I know it's not fair. But it's okay. I'll love you know matter what. Shh . . ."

* * *

"Yeah, I know, he literally asked me to ground him. It's strange, right?" Madison said through the phone to Callie.

Callie, on the other line, laughed. "That's Austin for ya. But it's actually not that strange; I remember one time when Kiki accidentally painted on the wall in our living room and Dave and I didn't do anything since we thought it was cute. But for some reason when Kiki realized that Dave and I had found out about her painting she started crying and walked herself to the 'Timeout Corner' all on her own. It took a little bit of explanation but it got cleared out on its own."

"Yeah. I remember you telling me about that one day. And how is Kiki? I haven't seen her in a while." Madison said, smiling at the remembrance of Callie's daughter, Kiki.

"She's doing great, thanks for asking." Callie chippered back. "And actually, I don't remember if I told you this or not, but Kiki's coming back from her art academy tomorrow."

"Oh, really? That's great!" The brunette squealed back. "You should bring her over for dinner; have her meet Grace and-." Madison stopped.

"Madison? You okay?" Callie said, clearly worried for her friend.

"Yeah." Madison said after a while. But after saying that, she questioned herself if she really was or not.

"Look, I know what you're thinking and I promise I won't introduce Kiki to Austin until you and Spencer are cool about it, okay? But I can assure you that if and when she does ever get to meet him, I'm positive she won't say a word; I'll make sure of it." Callie reassured her former college friend.

Listening to this brought a look of relief onto Madison's face. "Thanks, Callie. I just- no offence, but- I just don't think Kiki's ready yet, especially since she hasn't been home for so long."

"I understand." Callie agreed. "Did you still want to do dinner tomorrow or another time?"

Madison hesitated before reluctantly nodding through the phone. "Yeah, dinner tomorrow if just fine. What time does her plane come in?"

"Around 12:30 A.M.; 1:00 P.M. at the most."

"Okay. Why don't you come around 5-6:00 P.M.? That way she can unpack a little and rest at home before coming to eat." Madison suggested.

"Sounds good. She'll be excited to see you and Spencer; you were both so great to her when she was little. Thank you." Callie said.

"Anytime. Same goes for Austin and Grace. I'll talk to you later." Madison said with a grin before hanging up and snapping her cell phone shut.