When Ricki, Tabitha and Brenda returned home, it was just about midnight. It truly had been a weird, strange, exhausting day for all of them. But Ricki still had something she needed to do. "I just want to go downstairs and see if I can jar all of that smoke," she said. "Better to have it ready than just hanging around."
"OK," Tabitha said. Ricki went down to the lab. Tabitha walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. "I need some caffeine."
Brenda chuckled. "You'd think you want to go to sleep, not stay awake."
"Well," Tabitha shook her head from side to side. "Yes and no." She smiled slightly. It was the same kind of seductive smile she had been flashing ever since her change. "Do you want any?" she asked.
"You know I don't drink coffee," Brenda replied. She gave Tabitha a weird look. It was one of surprise and disgust.
"Oh...right," said Tabitha.
The thoughts that were running through Brenda's mind grew more troubling. She needed some time alone. "I'm just going to go upstairs," she said, and turned around to walk away without giving Tabitha a chance to respond.
Brenda walked back into her room, closed the door, and flopped on the bed. She lay flat on her back, looking up at the blue ceiling. She looked around her room, her very much male room, and knew she was going to have to make some changes.
But the interior decoration of her room was not what was bothering her the most. She suddenly felt lost. It had started as soon as Greg transformed into Kelly. Suddenly, no one was paying much attention to her. It wasn't that she wanted everyone's attention all the time, or anything like that, but she felt as if she wasn't even being acknowledged. Even though she now felt so much closer to Tabitha and Ricki, she felt like she was very much alone. It seemed that Tabitha and Ricki would continue on like a normal married couple, much as it appeared Kelly and Brianna would. Where did she fit into this?
Her thoughts turned to Ray. She felt a strong desire for him. Just the very thought of him made her nipples hard with anticipation. The problem with that was, the more she thought about him, the more guilt she felt. She had not felt any guilt in transforming Greg, and certainly not in letting Kelly alter Brianna. Once the Greg's transformation occurred, the second was absolutely necessary. But did Ray have to be changed, too? She didn't see why he did.
She thought back to the moment in the security office when she "accidentally" fell out of her dress. Of course it was no accident. She was really trying to test him. Brenda thought back to what it was like to be male. She knew that if he had, as Brendon, had been in Ray's position at that time, that Brendon would have jumped onto the girl and immediately start to fuck her. Ray never came close to making such a move in that direction. He had plainly been more embarrassed than she had been. Even when she put his hand on her breasts, and held it there, she could still feel him trying to pull away.
Ray was different. He seemed...honorable. Classy. Overall good natured and well mannered. His character seemed to contradict the perception they had when they decided to start changing people. They had rationalized that they would be writing wrongs, essentially by eliminating the male gender. Who were they to play God?
A soft knock on the door shook Brenda from her thoughts. "Come in," she said without sitting up.
Tabitha entered through the door. "Hi," she said. She walked over to the bed and sat down on it. Brenda still did not change position. "Is there something wrong, dear?"
Brenda sighed. "Yes," she said. "I'm having doubts."
"About what?" Tabitha asked, looking more concerned.
"About Ray," Brenda answered. "I don't know if I should change him."
Tabitha attempted to reason. "It will be for the best. You know that, we already talked about it." She smiled as she spoke the last sentence. She hoped that her cheerful demeanor would shake Brenda out of the rut into which she had seemingly fallen. "I mean, you want to have sex with him. If you do, he'll change. There's no way around it."
Brenda sat up now and looked Tabitha squarely in the eyes. "But you don't know that for sure."
"Of course we do," Tabitha said. "That's what happened to you. And me. And Brianna, too."
"Yes, but something else happened all those times," Brenda said. "Didn't you notice that?"
"Notice what?" Tabitha asked. Obviously she didn't.
"Rick came into my room coughing," Brenda began her explanation. "He didn't cover his mouth the whole time. Then after he changed, and after I changed, and you were in the room, the same thing happened. I coughed, and I didn't cover my mouth then. And Kelly did the same thing before Brianna changed. She coughed a couple times, but I can't remember if she covered her mouth or not."
"So what's your point?" Tabitha asked. It was too late in the night for her to really be able to comprehend what Brenda had said.
"I'm saying that maybe the smoke is some kind of virus," Brenda said. "Not the sex. It's like the smoke is a collection of germs, it infects us, but these are the changes it yields," she said motioning over both of their bodies. "And remember how I felt after I walked into the smoke? How I didn't feel whole until afterward? Maybe that means that the smoke is necessary for a full and complete change to occur. I think I would know for sure if I had remembered to ask Kelly if she felt the way I did or the way Ricki did right after she transformed."
Tabitha realized that she made several legitimate points. Truth be told, it would just be easier to change everyone with the smoke rather than by sex. But what Brenda had said did not totally disprove that sex also caused the changes. She knew there would only be one way to know for sure.
She began to run her hands through Brenda's hair. Brenda seemed to take comfort in her touch. "You may be right. We'll just have to wait to know, I guess. But here's what I think you need to know. And this is something I've been trying to tell you for a long time." Brenda was eager to hear what Tabitha had to say. That was certainly a change from the last few years as Brendon. "You're going to have to decide what you want to do with Ray. It's all up to you. No one else can make that decision for you. But remember this: you have to deal with the consequences. If you have sex with him, and he does change, you're going to have to accept it and move on, no matter what you might feel inside. Because it was your choice. Our choices determine how we live our lives."
Brenda listened to every word Tabitha said. "Did you just quote 'Harry Potter 2?'" Both women laughed. "'Cause it sounded like it."
"It did, didn't it?" Tabitha agreed.
Brenda threw her legs off the bed and gave Tabitha a hug. "Thanks," she said. "I think I feel a little better."
Tabitha squeezed Brenda's head close to her body. "It's what mothers are for."
Brenda pulled herself out of Tabitha's grasp. She looked at her and said, "Are you really still my mother? It seems...I don't know what it seems like."
"Of course I'm still your mother," Tabitha said. "It doesn't matter that I look younger now and that you've changed sexes. I think you're still the same person inside. And you certainly came from my womb." Brenda's face turned beet red. So did Tabitha's. "Sorry if that made you uncomfortable."
"A little," Brenda admitted.
"I think we actually have a stronger bond now," Tabitha said. "I feel so much closer to you, and I think you feel the same way." Brenda nodded her head. "If anything I can be more than your mother now. We can be sisters, friends, it doesn't matter."
Brenda looked down for a moment. She looked back at Tabitha and asked, "Can we be lovers too?"
Tabitha was taken aback, but she could tell that Brenda was serious. Tabitha had to think for a minute, but she realized that the two had already shared sexual encounters. There was no point now in denying they happened. Besides, if Brenda felt this way about sex, and she knew she did, too, then Ricki certainly wouldn't care because she probably felt the same way. "Yes, we can be lovers."
Brenda's face relaxed into a smile. Her smile moved closer to Tabitha's lips and kissed them passionately. The two women stripped off their dresses and made love to each other on Brenda's bed. They acted slower than before, and both of them felt more pleasure than they had earlier in the night. And after such a long, strange day, both were thoroughly exhausted after having two climaxes.
A few minutes after they finished, Brenda rolled onto her side and quickly fell asleep. Tabitha got up from the bed, tucked her under the covers, picked up her dress and left the room. She looked back at her daughter, sleeping so peacefully, and quietly closed the door.
She went to her bedroom, where by this time, Ricki was already waiting. "Did you two have sex?" Ricki asked playfully.
"Yes," Tabitha said. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, of course not," Ricki said. "I think that's one of the aspects of our changes. We seem to be very cavalier toward sex now." She stopped for a moment before saying, "I think it's better this way."
Tabitha smiled. "She was feeling confused. I tried to comfort her, and I think I did a good job of it."
"Apparently," Ricki grinned, admiring Tabitha's naked body.
"Oh, you," Tabitha laughed. "Seriously, though. She was worried about what to do with Ray."
"What about him?" Ricki asked, her expression showing concern.
"She isn't sure if she wants to change him," Tabitha explained. "She also isn't so sure if sex causes the change." Before Ricki could ask why, Tabitha gave her all of the reasons Brenda had told her. "There might be a point to what she says."
Ricki studied Tabitha's words. "There might be," she said thoughtfully. "Only one way to know for sure, though."
"I know," Tabitha said, laying down on the bed. "I told her that. She knows it's her decision, and she'll have to live with it, no matter what. She understood." Ricki smiled and nodded her head. "What?" Tabitha asked.
"Nothing," she said. "Just that I think that alone proves these transformations are for the best." She started to take off her dress. "Brendon had stopped listening to you. I think, in a lot of instances, so had I. Now we both hear everything you say." Her dress fell to the floor and she laid down next to Tabitha. "Who's going to say that's not a good change?"
"Certainly not me," said Tabitha. "It's nice to be heard."
"Well, I'll admit this," Ricki said. "I am a little jealous of her right now."
"Why?" Tabitha asked.
"Because she got the new you one-on-one for the first time," Ricki said, whining slightly.
"Ooh, don't worry," Tabitha said. "I think I can manage one or two more for you." They made love. As soon as they finished, both quickly fell asleep. Tomorrow promised to be just as interesting as today.