More time passed in the Cabin as Jess did her best to keep her secret. Despite her best efforts to avoid Joan she was still worried that she would give herself away. There were only so many times that she could make an excuse to use the bathroom when she heard her coming. Finally she was caught off guard, freezing in place as her mother slipped in the back door, wandering into the kitchen where she and Henry were having breakfast. Joan however seemed to have almost forgotten about the entire experience, brushing it off as if nothing had happened, much to Jess' surprise. Even still she remained on edge the entire time that Henry, Joan and herself shared the kitchen. The fur on her tail seemed to stand on end as Jess subconsciously pleaded with Joan not to mention anything to Henry. In the end, Jaon charitably departed without uttering a word about it.
Evenings had become something of a battle for Jess. She wasn’t sleeping as well as she used too, sharing the bed with Henry. Her choice of lover was once a treat to brush up against in the middle of the night, though now she was constantly worried that the wrong part of her would brush up against him. That he’d reach over and feel it there, that disgusting thing between her legs. She found herself constantly rolling over, pulling away from the man she just wanted to be closer too.
____________________________________________________________________
Jennifer sat alone in the siblings old room, having pulled up a chair, she sat in front of an antique dresser, brushing her lengthening hair in the mirror, admiring how pretty it was getting. Having been there for multiple months, it was noticeably longer, and fit Jennifer's feminine new persona well. Jenn cocked her head to the side as she tried out different stylings, sitting it behind her shoulders, then pulling it back in front. Holding it in a single bunch behind her as she flicked it to and fro.
Joan peered into Jenn's room, leaning against the doorway, her eyebrow arched curiously. She stood silently for a moment, watching Jen play around with her hair in a way that Jess used to when she was younger. But the pleasant thought of her youngest quickly turned to bitterness as she remembered where she was now. But things were different now; at least she had Jennifer. She’d worked hard to make sure of that.
“Knock Knock” Joan called from the doorway, leaning in and making her presence noticed.
Jenn spun, her hair falling from her grip as it whiplashed around. Her cheeks immediately turned bright red as her hands rocketed downwards, pinning themselves at her sides in an attempt to feign innocence.
“M-Mom!” She stammered, clearly embarrassed, though unsure of why it should matter. She relaxed a little as she realised she’d been caught doing much worse.
“I didn’t hear you… I was just… Uh… Well you saw.” She admitted nervously.
Joan laughed as she strolled closer to her daughter. “You know, I’ll let you in on a little secret, if you’re that embarrassed about posing in front of a mirror.” Joan leaned closer sarcastically. “You do know.... that this thing can be shut, right?” She points to the door, pushing it closed as she teased Jennifer.
“Yeah yeah….” Jenn replied, rolling her eyes as she turned back towards the mirror, making eye contact with Joan as she walked up behind her, placing her hands on the back of the chair.
“My my it is getting long though isn’t it?” Joan commented, looking her daughter over. Musing at how her equine ears twitched in response to her voice. “Here. Let me.” Joan said, holding her hand out expectantly, catching Jenn by surprise.
Jenn tentatively handed the brush over to her mother who gently took it from her hand, her fingers tickling her skin. She took the brush from Jen’s hand and casually began to run it through her hair. There was a silence for a moment before Joan spoke up again. “You know you’re going to have to learn to take better care of this hair… You will end up with knots, and then we’ll have to cut it.” She lectured, bringing back more memories.
“I know….” Jen mumbled in reply, her tail swishing behind her as her mother Brushed further.
“So how have you been doing. I feel like it’s been a while since we last spoke.”
“I’ve been good… Just taking things slow. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jess and Dad. They’ve both been really helpful with all of this.” Jennifer said, pointing to herself as if to outline the obvious.
“Oh I’m so glad to hear that.’ Joan said with a smile, immediately following it up with concern. “Speaking of Jess - How is she? I think she’s been avoiding me.”
“She’s fine?” Jennifer answered back, raising her brow. “At least, I think she is. I can’t say I’ve noticed. Why… Has something happened between you two?” Jenn’s mind raced, immediately thinking back to the last time that he had seen Jess. Wondering if he had missed something. She might have been slightly bigger, but that was nothing new. She was putting on weight by the week. But as far as he could tell, nothing else had changed. Her eyes now shot to her mother, looking her hybrid form up and down, racking her brain to see if anything else had changed. But nothing stood out.
Joan remained silent, taking her time to pick her words, letting the possibilities stir in Jennifer's mind. She watched the look on her daughter's face change as all the possibilities played out before she finally dropped another piece of information.
“Well.. I… It’s not really my place to say… I shouldn’t..” Joan looked at the ground, ashamed. Her voice trailing off as Jennifer cut in.
“I’m not a child, you can tell me!” Jennifer said hastily, her genuine concern for Jess was rapidly getting muddled with her desire to know exactly what had happened.
“You can’t tell Jess I told you. Or Henry!” Joan quickly retorted, her chest heaving as she braced herself against Jennifer's chair.
At this point Jennifer had forgotten all about her hair, instead investing completely in her Mother’s story. She waited with bated breath before finally Joan let out a sigh, giving in and spilling the beans.
“Well… It was late at night a few weeks ago… And I heard this odd noise coming from the stairs. A whisper quiet patter of footsteps. I thought it might have been someone else coming to find us, I had to warn them! So I got out of bed as quickly as I could, it didn’t even occur to me that I wasn’t wearing anything…”
Joan realised she had Jennifer's undivided attention. The girl was captivated by the story, nodding along as Joan delved deeper.
“I didn’t find a stranger of course. It was Jess, lumbering up the stairs, stark naked. I thought she had just changed. I didn’t think anything of it, I just wanted to help her. I ran straight over and embraced her. After all, I knew from experience that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed… But I was wrong.”
“What do you mean ‘you knew from experience’? What happened to her?!” Jennifer stammered, though in her heart she knew the answer already.
“She had a Penis, Jenn.” Joan said bluntly, causing Jenn’s heart to thump. “When I hugged her… The friction set her off. And then…. It set me off and I changed too. Thankfully you can’t see it too much with these loose pants, but my ass is a little different now.”
Jennifer sat in stunned silence for a moment, before mumbling to herself ‘A penis’.
Joan smiled to herself. “Yes dear. It’s like mine at the moment. Human. For now. I suppose it won’t be long though, then she’ll really have a hard time hiding it.” Joan teased, putting further suggestive thoughts into Jennifer's mind. “After all, while she might look like a cow, she’ll take on more bull-like features soon. She might end up bigger than you!” Joan joked, the cherry on top as Jennifer's brain worked overtime to process this information rationally, in some desperate attempt to not stay fixated on his sister's new appendage.