Tabitha screamed as soon as she entered the room. She was a little shocked at the sight of a naked woman sitting on the bed with her son. “Brendon, who is this?”
“I’m Ricki,” Ricki said cheerfully. She was not in the least bit embarrassed by appearing naked before Tabitha. After all, she had appeared naked before Tabitha many times before. Only then she was male, of course.
Tabitha looked at Ricki in shock before looking back at her son. “Brendon, will you give me an explanation? Where is your stepfather?”
“Right here,” Ricki chirped in before Brendon could answer.
Tabitha shook her head violently at Ricki. “What? Would you please let my son answer?” She looked back to Brendon. “Well?”
Brendon slowly pointed to Ricki as he coughed again. “Right there,” he said.
Tabitha nearly fell on the floor. Her senses were being assaulted by what she thought were lies, and her mind could not comprehend why she was being lied to. “Brendon, please tell me the truth.”
“He is telling the truth,” Ricki said. “I was mixing some things up in the lab downstairs when I spilled them and they created this pink smoke. Then I came upstairs and turned into this,” she said, pointing up and down her body.
Brendon nodded as his mother looked at him again. “That’s what happened. Rick turned into that right before my eyes.” He coughed twice more.
“I don’t believe you,” Tabitha said. She shot a cold glance at Ricki. “Either of you.”
“I can prove it if you like,” Ricki said.
“Alright then,” Tabitha said, confident that she would get the truth now. “When were Rick and I married?”
“July 28, 1989,” Ricki responded. Tabitha’s jaw dropped a little. The date was exact.
But she shook it off and asked, “Where did Rick and I go on our honeymoon?”
Ricki responded, “We went to Hawaii. But we waited a year since I was involved in some heavy research and you were afraid to leave Brendon with someone else.”
Tabitha was about ready to cry. She was now starting to think that Ricki was, in fact, her husband. If Ricki answered one more question correctly, she would know for sure. “Back to our marriage, then,” she said, tears beginning to well, “What church were we married in?”
Ricki smiled. “Tabitha, dear, we both know that we didn’t get married in a church since it was the second marriage for both of us and we didn’t want to make it a big production. We eloped in the county municipal building.”
“Oh my God,” Tabitha said. This time she did fall on the floor. “It is you, Rick.”
“I told you so,” Ricki said. “We told you so.”
Tabitha tried to keep her composure. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. “Have you figured out how to change back?”
“No,” Ricki said. “I’m not going to change back.”
“What?!” Tabitha exploded, jumping to her feet. “Why not?” she demanded. “You have to change back.”
“Tabitha, dear,” Ricki said. “I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to change back. I’m still not sure why I changed. But even besides that, I like being a woman. I’m beautiful, gorgeous, and I probably as fit as I’ve ever been.”
Tabitha started to cry again. “But what about us? What about your job?”
“We can still be us,” Ricki said. “Just differently. As far as my job, I wouldn’t worry. My colleagues will probably try and figure out what happened and maybe then they’ll find a way to change me back. But I don’t care about that right now.” Ricki stood up and walked over to Tabitha. “I still love you.” She tried to give her wife a hug, but Tabitha backed away.
“Just give me some space, please,” Tabitha said.
Suddenly Brendon started to cough louder and more frequently. Both Ricki and Tabitha turned to look at him. “What’s wrong, Brendon?” Tabitha asked.
“I…don’t feel…so good,” he said in between coughs. He forgot about modesty and threw the bedsheets off his body. His coughing became constant. What was happening to him?