Katie, Kellie, and the others watched as Marilyn now sat in Jason’s chair, smiling down at the small infant in her arms. Amazingly the elderly woman seemed happy as she gazed at the girl. “Well Morgan,” she whispered. “You certainly are an adorable child. Hopefully your not as fussy as your grandmother, Lisa never slept when she was an infant.”
“Hey not cool,” Lisa and teen Lisa exclaimed, as everyone else stifled a giggle. Marilyn paused as she gazed at her daughter and the auburn haired teen. “Lisa,” Marilyn asked. “Who is that girl? She looks exactly like you.”
Lisa, Ann, and Kellie fidgeted slightly as they gazed at one another, unsure of how to explain the two teens. Marilyn could see her daughters apprehension as she carefully studied not only teen Lisa but the teenage Katie as well. “Girls the truth,” Marilyn stated, narrowing her eyes. “Those two girls look exactly like Lisa and Katie. I’ve never seen them before today, which means they probably have something to do with Kellie so talk.”
Kellie sighed, looking back at her friends who looked between Kellie and Marilyn. “Okay mom it’s true,” she sighed. “Those two are with me, they’re my friends.”
Marilyn nodded as she gazed at the teen girls. “I see,” she said quietly. “Girls can you come closer please.”
Katie and teen Lisa nodded, slowly approaching the elderly woman, a woman who despite her age looked exactly like their deceased mother. “What are your names girls,” Marilyn asked.
“I’m Katie,” Katie said quietly. “Katie O’Toole and this is my twin sister Lisa.”
Marilyn’s eyes went wide as she quietly looked at the two teens. “Twins,” she asked quietly, to which the girls nodded. “I see, so technically that would make you family. That begs the question what brings you here and how do you know my daughter?”
“Kellie goes to school with us,” Katie said. “She just moved into our neighborhood.” Marilyn furrowed her brow as she curiously looked at the two girls before turning towards Kellie. “But you two are just children,” Marilyn whispered. “Kellie is an adult, how can she possibly go to school with you?”
“Um mom,” Kellie said sheepishly. “Here’s the thing, you see....when I said I was reborn in a different reality I meant I was literally reborn. You see, um, in our reality...I’m only 16.”
“What,” Marilyn exclaimed, incredibly confused by what her daughter was saying. “Is, is that even possible. I mean I’m looking at you right now, your an adult. How could you possibly be just a girl of 16 and yet look like an adult?”
“Magic,” Kellie said, holding up her ring. “This ring controls my age. Here I’ll prove it to you.” Kellie slowly removed her ring, placing it into her mothers hand. “Mom,” she said quietly. “What I want you to do is wish for me to return to my original age. When you do that the spell that made me an adult will end and I’ll become my real age again.”
Marilyn looked at the ring before looking at her daughter. Although she was unsure about what Kellie was saying she would abide her daughters wishes. Making the wish for Kellie to return to her true age she now gazed intently at her, her eyes growing wide as she watched Kellie transform.
Kellie felt the magic that had made her a 45 year old adult vanish. Looking at her hands and body she could feel herself growing younger once more. Retreating through her 40s and 30s she watched her body firm as her skin began to shine with youthful energy. Kellie shifted slightly as she reentered her 20s once more. The additional weight of adulthood was slowly vanishing, her stomach becoming flatter as her curves diminished. As she reentered college she noticed how loose her pants were becoming as she began to become thinner.
Marilyn now gawked at the young college age woman who was still steadily growing younger before her eyes. Marilyn would not of believed what she was seeing if it hadn’t transpired in front of her. As Kellie reentered her teens, Marilyn easily recognized the girl from her memories. Kellie now looked like she was ready to graduate from high school once more. Kellies curves had diminished greatly, giving her a lean teen look with perky breasts and a youthful face. As Kellie inched back further Marilyn sat in stunned silence, Kellie had returned to the 16 year old girl she remembered so fondly from the past. A pretty, youthful face with a light smattering of freckles on her cheeks stood in loose clothing before the elderly woman. Marilyn though back to when Kellie had been the honey haired girl she was now looking at. At the time the girl and her mother were close, Kellie was the responsible big sister at that time, looking out for her younger siblings and helping her mother out in anyway she could. “This is unbelievable,” she whispered.
“Yeah mom,” Kellie said. “”I know it’s hard to take in but, this is me. Don’t worry though I’m fine, in fact I’m really happy. Kind of have a second chance.”
“I understand,” Marilyn whispered. “And I’m happy for you, but that begs the question, how are this Lisa and Katie related to you. I mean are you still an O’Toole?”
“Not exactly,” Kellie said sheepishly. “My last name is Pendragon now. Also long story, Lisa and Katie though are O’Tooles and the thing is both of them have been anxious to meet you. Lisa, why don’t you show her.”
Marilyn tuned as she saw the teenage Lisa slowly approach her, reaching into her purse to pull out a picture. As the girl shyly handed Marilyna picture of her family, she gasped.
“That’s our parents,” Lisa said quietly. “Those are our parents Lynne and David. They passed away awhile ago and we’ve been living with our aunt ever since. We learned awhile ago that, well, you kind of look like her.”
Marilyn gazed at the old family photo teen Lisa had given her. The auburn haired woman in the picture was her. As she gazed at the smiling woman in her twenties with her two young girls, Marilyn could only agree with the girls assessment. “That’s incredible girls,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t of believed but your mother is me. At least that was me when I was that age.”
“That’s what we heard,” teen Katie said quietly. “Since then, me and Lisa wanted to see you.”
“I kind of pushed Katie into it,” teen Lisa said quickly. “I...um...you see, I...I really missed my mom. She, she died in a car crash when we were 10. Never realized just how much I would miss her when she was gone.”
Marilyn could only nod as she looked between the photo and the two teens standing quietly next to her. “Well girls,” she said quietly. “I’m glad you showed me this, hope I’ve reminded of your mother, I can’t imagine how difficult things must be for you two.”
Teen Lisa and Katie hugged the woman tightly, although she wasn’t their real mother it was the closest thing the two girls had been in quite sometime. “Yeah a lot,” Lisa sniffed. “Mom was an intimidating person no one messed with, guessing that’s kind of the same thing here.”
Marilyn gave a short laugh, wiping her eyes as she gazed at the two teens. “Yes I get that a lot,” she smiled. “But I do know that if she was like me then spin matter where she is I’m sure she is quite proud of the two of you.”
Katie and her sister Gloria had watched their grandmother interact with her daughters and the alternate versions of Lisa and Katie with great interest. Everything the girls knew, Marilyn was now aware of. As the elderly woman now smiled at her very extended family the two sisters looked down at Gloria’s ring. Hopefully with everything revealed things could finally begin to return to normal.