In the end, Dani only lasted another half hour before she caved in and cast her first spell to leave the pool. First off, she knew her parents would eventually force her out of the water anyway. Secondly, the smell of the pizza was irresistible, and she had not eaten anything since lunchtime.
Thankfully, her family, both old and new, accepted her back without too much fuss, treating her as if she had been there the whole time. Every now and then, she threw a suspicious glance towards Beth, but her new twin, or quadruplet, did not seem to notice. Once the pizza was all but gone, Kevin and Julie sent the girls to bed.
As they made their way upstairs, the family discovered just how thorough Beth's spell had been. Kat, Dani, and Patty's bedrooms had been merged into one huge room decorated in a colorful ocean theme suitable for young part-time mermaids. Four child-sized beds sat ready, each decorated with a different theme. Kat had cute pictures of jellyfish on her blankets, much to her delight. Those had been one of her favorite animals for a while. Meanwhile, Patty had dolphins, Beth had sea turtles, and Dani had seahorses. Their belongings and clothing also had been altered to fit their new lives.
Dani, of course, was less than thrilled to see they all had matching pajamas. The bottoms were covered in a fish-scale pattern. Cute.
Julie instructed them all to take a bath. Two at a time. "No reason not to save water," she said.
To Dani's shock, Patty and Beth started to strip out of their swim clothes right there. At her expression, Beth smiled. "We're sisters now. Plus, we're identical. Privacy is kind of useless at this point."
With that, the two naked sisters trooped off to the bathroom where Kevin was filling the tub.
"She's right, dear," Julie agreed. "You just have to get used to it."
Soon enough, the two returned, clean and damp in their new pajamas. Resigning herself, Dani also undressed. Next to her, Kat did the same while hiding an embarrassed blush of her own. It eased Dani's discomfort a little to see she was not the only one out of sorts. Then, they went off to their bath.
It felt kind of nostalgic, bathing together. They had not done so since they were very small, younger even than now. In silence, they washed themselves as quickly as they could before exiting the water to towel off and put on their sleepwear. By now, Dani no longer cared about the pajamas, only thankful to be dressed again.
With all four sisters finally ready to turn in, they all lay down. Kissing them goodnight, Julie cast a spell, causing them to fall asleep instantly.