Throwing on loose shirt and a pair of sweatpants that were more spacious for his larger package, Jeff made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He was curious to see what how the new changes to reality would be reflected. Rounding the corner, he saw his mother and sister sitting at the dining table.
His sister looked much less horsey than before and his mother decidedly more so. Both of them looked mostly human at first glance, at least until his mother turned to move a dish over to the table from the counter. Sticking out from the seat of her pants was a full-sized horse's tail, the same color brown as the hair on her head. Jeff could see the hairs of a similarly colored tail hanging below his sister's seat.
Each sported a pair of cream-colored horse ears, poking out of their locks and flicking at ambient sounds. His sister's ears flicked towards him. "Hey brother!"
"Hey sis," he replied, as his mother turned around with a cooking dish in her oven mitt-clad hands, giving Jeff a closer look at her as he sat down across from his sister.
His mother looked to be 6 feet tall now, a good bit more than earlier. Her overall frame was larger, with slender limbs. Her features appeared human with a hint of horse. Her lips were wider and plumper, her nose somewhat larger, and her face a bit longer in shape, which led to a tall neck. Her hair went farther down her longer neck than Jeff's did. A quick glance across the table revealed mirrored changes to his sister.
If she wasn't slouching, Jeff thought, she'd be closer to me in height already!
"Ready for some roasted carrots guys?" his mother asked them as she set the dish of carrots and other vegetables down on the table.
Normally, Jeff didn't care much for carrots, but now for some reason, the smell hit him and his mouth started watering heavily.
"Yeeiiigghhh!" said he and his sister excitedly, neither unable to hold back a whinny as they started loading up their plates.
His mother nickered quietly to herself, smiling in satisfaction with blocky teeth as her kids dug into her meal. She removed her oven mitts and spooned some vegetables onto her own plate and started eating too, revealing her now dark brown nails.
The three ate mostly in silence for the next few minutes. Jeff had never tasted carrots so good, they were covered in some type of sweet glaze with a hint of cinnamon, and his new chompers made quick work of them.
Finishing first, he stifled a burp and looked at his family, marveling at their altered features.
His mother seemed to notice his gaze.
"Is something wrong dear?" She said.
Jeff wondered if he should just be blunt...why not?
"Our...horse features..." he said delicately, "where do they come from again?"
His sister paused in devouring a particularly choice carrot to look at their mother.
"Oh," said his mother, "I've told you the story so many times. I thought you'd be sick of it by now."
"Just wanted to hear it again." Replied Jeff.
She cleared her throat, "Well, your father and I were trying really hard to have children. Nothing really seemed to be working. IVF, fertility drugs, surrogates, nothing took. Soooo....I enrolled in a genetic trial. Something about Horse DNA to increase fertility. It wasn't ideal, but we had run out of options."
"Obviously," she said, pointedly gesturing to Jeff and his sister, "it worked, but not how people expected. A few months in, everything seemed fine, but then my tail started coming in and my ears got pointed. Everything else followed and by the time you were born, Jeff, I looked like this."
She waved a hand across her features dramatically.
"We were a little put off by your...equipment, but everything else seemed normal and we were so happy to have a child." She smiled warmly at him, then looked at his sister. "We were hoping your changes would be limited like your brother's, but you just couldn't help but copy your mother could you?" Her eyes twinkled.
Jeff's sister rolled her eyes and resumed chowing down on her carrot.
"Honestly though, as odd as these features are, with your father gone, you're our best moneymaker now!" She beamed at him.
Jeff blushed awkwardly at this. Jesus, he thought, the Chronivac sure is thorough.
"Well," he said uncomfortably, "I'm feeling pretty tired, might call it a night."
"At 7:30?" said his mother, "are you feeling okay? That Elizabeth girl isn't sick or anything is she?"
"No no," said Jeff quickly, "I'm just tired. I had a lot of schoolwork to do."
"Well, okay then, but let me know if you start feeling worse. I sent Elizabeth home with their product for this week, but I'll need to take the other batches to some farms out of state who ordered. So I probably won't see you until late tomorrow night."
"Okay, I can cook tomorrow, goodnight." he said as he got up from the table.
"Night!" said his sister, still gnawing at her food.
"Goodnight honey." his mother called after him as he left. "Have a nice day tomorrow, don't let anyone get you down at school."
What does she mean by that? Thought Jeff.
As he walked towards the stairs, he passed the family photo again. His father had returned to his human self, but his mother and sister now had their horse features.
Shaking his head in continued wonder, he proceeded upstairs and got into bed. Despite just being an excuse to leave dinner, sleep took him quickly.