LACTOGENESIS VII: 

THE NEIGHBOR 
 
 Christine quickly replaced the ice cream in the freezer, and hurried to 
the door. As she peered through the peephole, she felt a pang of 
embarrassment. Standing in the hallway was her neighbor Sherri, who had 
taken care of Chris's apartment while she was in the hospital. Chris's 
embarrassment stemmed from the fact that in the weeks since she'd been 
home, she had not once visited Sherri to thank her for the work she had 
done to keep the place up and for generally being the kind of neighbor 
most people wished they had. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a 
proper apology. It was several seconds before she realized she hadn't 
opened the door yet. 
 As the door swung open, Sherri held up a set of keys, which she 
jingled. "Just returning these," she said. "Sorry I've taken so long to 
get them back to you." 
 "Oh, Sherri, it's me who should apologize. Please, come in." 
 Chris stood aside to admit her neighbor, stammering out poorly chosen 
words of apology as she did so. "I'm really sorry I haven't been by to 
see you. I've been meaning to thank you for helping out while I was 
hurt. 
 The place really looked great, and I appreciate..." 
 Sherri simply waved one hand. "Listen, glad to do it. If I were laid up 
like you were, with no family around to help out, I know I'd want to 
have somebody keeping an eye on my place while I was gone. I just wanted 
to drop by to see how you were doing. You look...er...you look...uh, 
great." Chris suddenly realized that Sherri's gaze was riveted on her 
breasts. Chris had chosen a body suit and jeans that morning; the skin-
tight outfit accentuated her outrageous figure more than usual. Of 
course, Chris thought, she hasn't seen me for a while. God, I'll bet I 
really look different to her. Sherri, at 5'2", was a full five inches 
shorter than Chris, which made her staring at Chris's bosom all the more 
comical, like someone who had been hypnotized. Chris felt the 
awkwardness level in the room growing, so she decided to use a little 
levity. She passed one hand rapidly in front of Sherri's face, playfully 
shouting, "Hello? Hello?" Her breasts jiggled slightly as she did so. 
 Sherri shook her head slightly, tossing a mane of thick, reddish-orange 
hair. She blinked a pair of huge, gray-green, long-lashed eyes and then 
immediately covered them with her hand. "Jesus, I'm sorry," she said 
softly. "I can't believe I did that. It's just that you're so...so 
*different*..." 
 "Hey, no problem. Look, I had to do *something* to compete with you. 
 I couldn't let you get *all* the stares." They both laughed, and the 
tension in the room was broken. Chris hadn't exaggerated. Although 
Sherri was pushing 40, there was nothing in her smooth, lightly freckled 
face to betray her age. Her slight frame had thickened slightly over the 
years, but she still had a drop-dead hourglass shape and a chest that 
turned heads. In fact, Chris had had to borrow some tops from Sherri 
while she had retooled her wardrobe to her new dimensions. They had fit 
quite well. As she motioned for Sherri to be seated, Chris could see the 
questions in Sherri's eyes, and decided to save her further 
embarrassment by beating her to the punch. 
 "Little fringe benefit from the accident," she said simply. "They tell 
me my pituitary gland got kicked into overdrive. I had no idea that 
little thing could cause all this. If I'd've known this would happen, 
I'd've jumped in front of a bus years ago." 
 "Well, from the looks of things, maybe you'd better give me that guy's 
license number." More laughter. "Seriously, I can't get over what's 
happened to you. You look, well, fantastic! I gather you didn't have to 
take in any of the clothes I lent you. Even looks like you might have me 
by an inch or two. Who'd've thought I'd have the *second* biggest set in 
the building?" It was true. Until now, there had never been a problem 
getting Sherri's underwear mixed up with anyone else's in the laundry 
room. Anything with a tag that said "38D" had to be Sherri's. Chris 
smiled. She had always admired Sherri's slightly earthy, no-bullshit 
personality. Sherri was clearly envious of Chris's new bustline, and was 
making no bones about it. 
 "Speaking of clothes, before I forget, I want to give you those back," 
Chris said, as she rose and quickly strode toward her bedroom closet. 
She quickly returned with a small handful of hangers from which hung 
several blouses. "I meant to get them to you earlier, but I had to send 
a couple out to get some milk stains removed. They did a good job; you 
can't even tell..." She stopped herself. She hadn't meant to say "milk". 
The stains had happened before Chris had gotten conscious control over 
her ability to lactate. She'd gotten so used to having milk that she 
hadn't thought about how other people would react. Had she said too much 
already? 
 "That's OK. I thought you didn't like to drink..." Sherri stopped in 
mid-sentence. Her pale features became even paler and her big eyes 
widened to almost cartoon-character size. "You don't mean...you don't 
mean those actually *work*?" The way Sherri put that, Chris couldn't 
help herself. A quick, nervous spasm of laughter escaped her lips. 
 She recovered quickly. "Yeah. They sure do. Pretty wild, huh?" 
 Sherri was glancing around the floor, trying to find a place to fix her 
gaze. Her eyes were still wide as she said, "Well, that explains those 
funny rhythmical noises I've been hearing from in here. You're using a 
pump, aren't you?" 
 Chris cursed inwardly. The walls in this building are thinner than I 
thought, she said to herself. Maybe I'll have to do that in the kitchen 
from now on. She looked up at Sherri, trying to think of something witty 
to say. Suddenly she noticed how Sherri's demeanor had changed. Her 
hands were clasping and unclasping in her lap; she seemed to be 
fidgeting; her eyes were darting everywhere; and she actually looked a 
little flushed. It didn't quite look like embarrassment -- it looked 
like...My God, Chris thought. She looks like she's *excited*! I'd best 
tread softly here... 
 "Are you all right? Should we change the subject?" 
 "Oh, no! No!" Sherri burst out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said 
anything. It's just that..." She glanced down, afraid to meet Chris's 
eyes. "It's just that, I've always wanted to be able to do that. It's 
been a long-standing fantasy of mine. I've always been proud of these 
boobs of mine, and men have always appreciated them. I've just been 
wanting to give them, and myself, more..." She looked up. "Oh, boy, I've 
said too much. I'd better go..." She stood up quickly. 
 "No, wait. Sit down, hon," Chris said soothingly. "I'm not offended. 
Frankly, I'm intrigued, and flattered that you'd want to confide in me 
like that. You know, I haven't really talked to anybody about this 
except my doctor, and she's so *clinical* about it. Stay. Let's talk. 
I'd like to get this off my chest." 
 She realized the double entendre just as Sherri did. The two friends 
stared at each other for a few shocked moments, then dissolved in 
helpless laughter. Chris knew in that moment she had found a confidante, 
someone she could tell anything to.