It isn't long before your within sight of Colby's house. You're relieved. Now you can finally be yourself again. You're surprised when Colby suddenly stops short, an intense expression on his hardened face.
You and George some to a halt right behind him. You gently nudge Colby in the shoulder. "What's the matter, bud?"
He points to a car parked in the driveway. "My mom's home. And, judging by the light in my brother's window, he's home, too."
George looks between the two of you, not quite understanding the problem. "So... What do you do?"
Colby grimaces and turns to George. "Well, we can't just walk in as we are now. You two are your own dads, and I'm who-knows-who. There's no way we can get in without getting noticed. All of our normal shoes are in there."
You glance between your group of men and Colby's house. You have an idea. "I'll distract them"
Your two friends turn to you. Colby's frown deepens. "What?"
You hold up your hands. "Hear me out. I want to high school with your mom. I'll knock and the door and distract her and your brother. You go in, grab our shoes and change out here. I'll tell here I took you guys bowling or something."
Colby's brow furrows. "I don't like this. I could try to sneak in and grab our shoes. I might know how to put my brother in a sleeper hold if he catches me..."
George slaps Colby on the shoulder with a meaty, hairy hand. "Whoa whoa whoa! Nobody's putting anybody in a sleeper hold." He turns to you, a grin just barely visible under his beard. "I think you've got the right idea. You distract him, Army-guy here will get out shoes."
Colby sighs but eventually nods in agreement. "Fine. But if things go wrong, everybody's getting put onto a sleeper hold." He points at George, eyes narrowed. "Just try to stay out of sight."
George chuckles and pats his large gut. "Oh, don't you worry about me. I'll be back here."
You pull of the socks and hand them to George. "Hold onto these. When Colby comes back with your guys' shoes, change back and meet me at the house."
He takes the socks and nods, retreating to a safe spot by the road. You turn to Colby, but see he's already vanished. You take a moment to gather yourself before approaching the front door. You weren't really sure how to approach the situation. You could see brief memories of Colby's mother in high school. She was young, raven haired, fairly pretty. You can recall having a crush on her, but never following through with anything.
You take a deep breath and ring the doorbell. You hear a week buzzing sound. When nobody comes to the door after a moment you knock instead.
From inside you hear a voice call out. "Daniel! See who's at the door!"
"I'm busy, mom!"
"It'll take you two seconds! See who it is!"
There's a moment of silence before you hear the thumping of heavy footsteps approaching the door. It swings open to reveal Colby's older brother, Daniel. He's a big guy at 21 years old. His wide figure fills the doorway, his large stomach hanging over his beltline and his round face framed by somewhat greasy, longish black hair. He has a pair of black mutton chops and looks as if he hasn't shaved in a day or two.
He glowers at you underneath his thick, black brows. "Hello?"
You smile pleasantly back at him. "Hey! I was wonder if your mom was home. I'm a friend of hers from college."
Daniel sighs and shouts behind him. "Mom! Your boyfriend his here to see you!"
You vigorously shake your head. "No, no! I'm not her boyfriend." You were already married for crying out loud.
You see a very plump middle-aged woman appear in the doorway. Her black hair is obviously dyed, but you can see gray in her roots. She looks you up and down. You weren't who she was expecting. Her eyes brighten once again, though, once she recognizes you.
"Well, I'll be! What are you doing here?"
You shrug. "Well, my son is friends with your son, and I just took them out bowling. They should be back any minute. I figured we could use the time to do some... ah, catching up."
She smiles. "Oh, that would be just great. Come on in!"
She guides you in the doorway. Before long you're all seated in the kitchen sharing memories from high school. At your insistence, you've managed to keep Colby's brother in there with you. Glancing through the doorway leading to the living room, you see your shoes laying next to the couch, not far from Colby's. You also see the window open and Colby, still in the soldier's body, crawl in. You keep his family distracted with a humorous anecdote from high school. His mom laughs. His brother does not. Now you just need to distract them long enough for your friends to change back.
Colby's mom rests her head in her hands. "Oh, how times flies. I remember when you used to be on the football team."
You chuckle, absentmindedly patting your gut. "Yeah. Things sure do change."
She laughs. "Yeah. Are you still married to that blonde woman. What's her name?"
You nod, wanting to make sure she knew full well that you had a wife. You have been fully aware of the eyes Colby's mom was giving you since you had gotten there. "Yes! Yes, very married. I mean, happily. Happily married."
She nods back, letting slip a hint of disappointment. "Good. Good. Thing's didn't work out between Roger and I."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Oh, it's probably for the best. He always yelled too much, anyway. Still, without him I wouldn't have my boys. Where did you say you took Colby, again?"
"Bowling." You glance up at the kitchen clock, noting you'd been there for about half an hour. "And they should be here any minute."
You stare at the door, hoping it would open, revealing your two friends. There's the sound of a chair scraping across the linoleum. You look over to see Colby's mom has scooted her chair closer to yours. "You did come here a lot sooner than they did. Is there any reason you wanted to come and see me? I mean, we haven't talked in years. Now I find you on my doorstep, all by yourself, wanting to talk to me." She smiles at you, the strangest smile you've ever seen. "Just what's really going on?"
You nervously scoot your chair away from hers. You glance up and Daniel who's on his phone, ignoring the both of you. "Nothing. Nothing's going on. I just thought it would be nice to talk."
She scoots closer to you again. "Don't think I didn't notice the looks you gave me in high school. I never said anything because you were a grade lower than me. Sometimes I wonder, though, what would've happened if I'd ever gave those looks back to you. I never did tell you that you're quite handsome."
You try to scoot away, but your chair bumps into the wall. "Uh, in - in high school or now?"
She leans toward you. "Both."
The front door opens and you see Colby and George walk in. They're both in their normal forms again, Colby being short, round, and having a sad attempt at a mustache while George is tall, skinny, and having violently red hair. Colby calls out "I'm home!"
You leap to your feet, away from the amorous woman and stride toward the two teens. "Oh! Look!" you proclaim much too loudly. "The kids are home! Hello kids. Well, I better walk George home. Goodbye!" You grab George and shove him out the door ahead of you.
Once outside and on your way down the street, you finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh my god, Colby's mom needs a boyfriend!"
George looks at you curiously. "You alright?"
You nod. "I am now. What took you guys so long?"
"Those socks take time to work, you know. Besides, we had to change our clothes. Luckily, Colby thought to grab those along with our shoes."
You shake your head, trying to shake away the fresh memories. "Yeah, well, Colby's mom was trying to make a move on me. I'm happily married, thank you very much!"
George frowns at you, an odd expression for his young face. "No you're not. Your dad is married. You're not your dad, remember?"
"Right. Right. I know. You know what I meant."
George hands you your shoes and the magic socks. "I know the way home from here. Man, my parents aren't going to be happy with me staying out all night."
You put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"
He considers this for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I'll be fine." He points at your shoes. "You need to get changed as soon as you can."
You nod and pat him on the back. "Alright. I'll see you at school tomorrow."
The two of you go your separate ways. You soon pass the park where you showed your friends the socks that morning. It suddenly seemed so long ago. You stop and sit on the park bench, slipping on the magic socks, then put on your dad's shoes again. They were uncomfortable to walk in without socks and you didn't want to walk home in your teen shoes that in no way fit your huge feet. You would change when you got home. You stifle a yawn. You were exhausted, too much excitement for one day. You eventually arrive at your house. Without thinking, you walk in the front door.
You hear your dad's voice call from the living room. "Is that you, son?"
You stop dead in your tracks. You were still in your dad's body. You try to give a voiceless grunt as an answer.
"It's late. Your mom left some dinner for you in the 'fridge. Then it's straight to bed. You've got school in the morning."
You grunt again, going straight to your room. Dinner could wait. You were tired and needed to change. You lock the door to your room and flop onto your bed, still wearing your dad's shoes. Perhaps you would just rest your eyes for a moment before changing back. You were very tired. Your eyes close and soon you drift off, fast asleep, still wearing the magic socks and your dad's shoes.