It had been a quiet few weeks for Gloria and her friends (despite Ann and Jackie's frequent mischief during date nights.) As February went to March, Gloria found herself helping Lisa and her dad ready the house for Lynne's arrival.
Lisa was becoming impatient as her due date grew closer. Lisa's birthday was coming towards the end of March. Lisa wasn't exactly thrilled about the prospect of turning 40 but was really annoying her was the idea of possibly sharing her birthday with her daughter. As silly as it sounded Lisa wanted that day for herself and didn't feel like sharing. With each passing day Lisa's birthday grew closer and she remained pregnant. Gloria actually caught her mom talking with her unborn daughter about coming out soon. The teen had to stifle a laugh as she watched Lisa try to bargain with her stomach, offering to buy the child her own car when she turned 16 if she would just come out now. Unfortunately Lynne seemed quite stubborn and appeared in no hurry. As Gloria now slept on the Friday before St. Patrick's Day the family now began to wonder if Lynne would ever be born.
"Gloria!"
Gloria was jolted out of bed as her father came rushing into her room. Blurry eyes she glanced at her alarm clock seeing it was only 4:30 in the morning. "Wha is it dad," she murmured, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Lisa's water just broke the babies coming."
Gloria gasped as she kept from her bed. "Okay, okay, okay," she exclaimed, frantically looking for something to wear. "I, um, need some clothes and I'll grab my phone and...what else am I forgeting?"
"Gloria," Jason stated, trying to remain calm. "Its early and this could take awhile. Stay here. Call Katie, Ann, and Lisa's parents. When Katie gets here you can come meet us."
Gloria tried to mount an arguement, this was her little sister after all. She wanted to be there just as badly as everyone else, they could call everyone from the hospital. "Gloria listen," Jason said softly, taking his daughters hand. "Look, I know you want to be there but this is important too. Lisa wants Katie there also. If she isn't shes going to be really hurt. Please, I'm trusting you to tell her and the rest of the family."
"Fine," Gloria huffed. "But she better not be born before we get there."
"I wouldnt worry about that," Jason smirked. "Never told Lisa this but labor can last a long time. Your mother was in labor with you for almost a day before you were born."
Gloria watched as her father led Lisa out to the car. She wished them luck as they left, Lisa giving her a weak smile as she left. Gloria was struck by the look on her stepmothers face, it was the first time she could see Lisa actually looking scared.
Showering and dressing Gloria made the necessary phone calls to her family. Everyone of course was excited saying they would meet at the hospital as soon as they could. Katie told her sister she would meet up with Gloria soon, she just needed to get someone to watch Morgan. This would give Gloria time to tell her school and her friends the news.
Around 6:30 Katie finally arrived at Gloria's home. After a quick talk the sisters got into Lisa's car as they drove to the hospital.
The trip was relatively quick taking maybe 20 minutes. As they entered the lobby Katie and Gloria quickly approached the front desk. "Excuse me," she said. "My mother was brought here, Lisa Turner. She's in labor."
"Lisa Turner is in room 405," the receptionist stated. Katie and Gloria thanked the woman as they headed towards the elevator. As they arrived on the fourth floor Katie and Gloria now began scanning the floor for Lisa's room. Thankfully for the two of them they immediately ran into Dr. Julia Harris, Claudia's sister.
"Katie, Gloria hi," she said happily giving the two a quick hug. "Hi Julia," Katie smiled. "Is everything okay with Lisa?"
"I checked on her and the baby as soon as they got here," Julia stated. "They're both fine so far. Lynne's heartbeat is strong and the labor is proceeding as planned. Unfortunately your mom isn't happy that your sister is taking her time coming out."
"Can we see them," Gloria asked.
"In a little while," Julia said. "Lisa's primary doctor is with her right now. Dont worry though, as soon as they finish up you two can go in. Right now just take a seat and relax, I'll keep you two posted."
Katie and Gloria sighed as they sank into a nearby sofa. "Cant believe today's the day," Gloria whispered. "Yeah I know," Katie sighed. "Its been a crazy few months. Be nice to finally get some good news."
"It hasn't been that bad," Gloria smirked. "I mean you had a birthday, got to see your mom again, even adopted a little girl. Those are good right?"
"Yes and no," Katie replied sheepishly, rubbing her neck. "Those are good things. Mind you my 21st birthday was pretty mellow but other things have been going on."
"What happened," Gloria groaned.
Katie sighed, anxiously looking around before leaning in to whisper to her sister. "I met my dad."
"What," Gloria yelled. Katie quickly tried to to quiet her sister as some of the doctors and nurses curiously glanced in their direction.
"Geez Glo," Katie hissed. "Want to say it any louder? Dont think they heard you up in Canada."
"Sorry," Gloria blushed. "Its just...your dad?! Katie how did that happen?"
Katie shrugged. "Kind of the same thing that happened with my mom. Only difference, he was raised by an evil witch."
Gloria groaned, the last thing she wanted to hear after everything that happened with Morgan LeFay was hearing another evil witch was trying to destroy her and her family. "Perfect," she grumbled. "So how are we going to handle this. Is she after our family like Morgan was?"
"I don't think so," Katie said. "For one Lilith, Circe, Baba Yaga dont have the spell to travel between the timelines. Secondly I think their more interested in taking on my mom than us."
Gloria's eyes bulged as she took in this information. Three of them. Three very powerful and three very witches were targeting Katie's mother and had made contact with her sister. The last time Katie had mentioned this it had led to Gloria's epilepsy and nearly killed a few of her friends. Gloria was dismissive about it the first time Katie gave her information about the other timeline, she wouldnt be so careless this time.
"Okay tell me everything," Gloria said firmly. "We need to be prepared."
"Gloria your overreacting," Katie said. "Look there really isn't much to say right now. They cant come here so everyone should be safe. My dad, Jack, he wants to get to know me. Him and my mom are the ones fighting. I honestly don't think we have too much to worry about."
"I want us to be careful Katie," Gloria stated. "The last time we had a conversation like this I didn't take it seriously. Look what happened. Me and Sasha almost died, Claudia got seriously hurt and everyone else got banged up pretty bad. I won't make the same mistake."
Katie grinned at her little sister before giving her a tight hug. "Thanks Glo," she whispered. "Look I'll keep you updated on everything okay?" Gloria nodded as the two looked over at Lisa's room.
The girls had been surprised at the amount of doctors and nurses entering and exiting Lisa's room. At first the girls saw nothing peculiar about it. After a few moments though they began to worry. People that walked out of the room appeared different somehow. Nurses either seemed older with grey hair or far too young to be working. As they watched a nurse walk out in baggy scrubs, looking more like a candy striper than a professional they began to become concerned.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing," Gloria asked.
Katie nodded, a grim look crossing her face. Before she could answer the girls heard Julia page them.
"Katie O'Toole, Gloria Turner please report to Room 412."
Curiously the girls now made their way down the hall, quickly finding the empty room. As they entered they saw Julia Harris nervously waiting for them. "Oh thank god," she sighed. "I've got a bit of a problem."
Katie gazed at Julia curiously, something seemed off about Julia. The womans coat seemed a tad to large on her frame. As Katie looked at her she gasped in surprise, Julia was now eye level with her. Glancing at her she could see she was still wearing her 3 inch heels.
Julia noticed the girls looks as she discarded her overly large heels. Julia appeared to have shrank 6 inches in height going from 5'11" to 5'5". "Yeah," she groaned. "I think your sister is shrinking me."
Katie and Gloria gaped at one another before groaning. It seemed like Lynne's magic was out of control once more.