Lauren stroked Jess’s hair gently as she sat beside her on the couch, a quiet hum of thought behind her calm expression. After a long pause, she finally said, “Sweetheart, I have to tell you something. Earlier, after you got home with baby Macy, I did try to fix things.”
Jess blinked, slowly lifting her head. “Fix what?”
“You,” Lauren said gently. “I tried to reverse the changes and return you to your 16-year-old self—your original self. Jeff.” Her voice lowered. “But… it didn’t work.”
Jess stared, her lip trembling slightly. “Why not?”
Lauren placed a hand on her daughter’s stomach, resting it lightly. “Likely, Because you're pregnant, honey. And this kind of change doesn’t work on someone who's carrying another life. It’s like… the body refuses to be rewritten while it’s nurturing someone else. You're too deeply connected now. I couldn’t change you back, even if I wanted to. Not until after the baby is born.”
Jess's breath caught. She instinctively cradled her bump—her unborn child. Something inside her twisted. A mix of fear, awe… and the strangest thing: affection.
Lauren studied her closely. “You’ve bonded, haven’t you?” she asked softly.
Jess nodded, her voice barely audible. “It feels real. Like it’s always been this way.”
“I know,” Lauren said, gently brushing Jess’s hair back. “That’s why I didn’t want to do more without talking to you first. But now… it’s time for Macy.”
Jess straightened slightly, glancing at the sleeping girl curled up in a bundle of pastel blankets.
“I’m going to give her back her awareness,” Lauren said, her voice steady. “Not her age—yet—but her mind. She needs to be able to understand what’s happening. To remember who she was and why this started in the first place.”
Jess nodded slowly. “She wanted to know if she liked being a girl…”
“Yes,” Lauren said. “And I made her unaware on purpose so she wouldn’t overthink it. But she deserves a choice now. It’s time for her to weigh in. Not as a toddler in a cute dress, but as Mason—Macy—with all of that context.”
Lauren stood, moved to Macy’s side, and placed a hand gently on the girl’s forehead. A soft glow pulsed beneath her palm.
Macy stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, soft and hazy—then sharp. The light in them changed. Awareness flooded back.
She blinked up at Jess, her brow furrowing in slow, dawning confusion. “Jess…?” she whispered in a child’s voice, but with all the weight and memory of a teenage boy behind it. “What…? What happened to us?”
Jess froze, her throat tightening. “Mace—Macy… you’re back.”
Macy looked down at her small hands, then at the outfit she was in. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks turned red. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “I’m… still a toddler. But I remember. I remember everything.”
Lauren sat nearby, calmly watching.
Macy looked to Jess. “Why… why do I feel like you're my mom?” Her expression was a swirl of conflict—recognition, panic, and a strange calm underneath.
Jess couldn’t hold back anymore. Her eyes shimmered. “Because for the last few hours… I have been.”
They stared at each other, the room hanging in delicate silence.
“I took care of you, fed you, calmed you when you cried,” Jess said softly, a strange smile tugging at her lips. “And it felt so right, Mace. I know you’re not really a baby, and I know you’re still figuring yourself out, but I… I love you. Like a mother. Even if it doesn’t make sense.”
Macy’s expression was unreadable. Slowly, she reached out with her tiny hand and rested it on Jess’s. “I think I need to understand this… but I don’t hate it,” she said, voice trembling. “It’s weird. But I don’t hate it.”
Lauren nodded, standing. “That’s all I needed to hear—for now. The rest… will come when you’re ready.”
Jess wrapped her arms around Macy protectively as Lauren stepped away, giving them space. A mother and her child… and something far more complex still taking shape beneath the surface.