Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 56 *

When I wake up the following morning, I lay there contemplating what my parents told me. I look at my palm and the infinity symbol is faint, but still there. I slowly rub my fingers over my palm. It had been a long day and by the time my parents landed their bombshells, I was very tired.

I could transform. Oh, my gosh. I could transform and have been doing it since I was a baby. And my alter appearance was Korean. I'm just going to assume that the image I transformed into during the ceremony when the magic wrapped us up in its shield was my other form. Was it my original form or was my current appearance my true form? The guys returned to their original form, maybe I'm really Korean?

That would make me not the daughter of my parents. My heart freezes at the thought. Wait. No, that can't be right, my DNA results say that I'm the genetic match of my parents. The witch said I was conceived in the woods here. Mom said she doesn't remember. Would my dad?

I look around and realize it's still early and my husbands are out cold. I smile at all their handsome sleeping faces and then extricate myself from the middle of them and put on my robe. I look back at the bed and see them all cuddle into each other, taking over the space I left. Adorbs.

My dad tended to be an early riser, I hoped he was up and about so I could talk to him privately. I check their room and see mom sleeping soundly. I smile. I love my mom and it would kill me if she wasn't my real mom. I return to searching for my father who is clearly awake.

I eventually find him up on the third floor sitting out on a porch overlooking the forest, watching the sun begin its rise over the forest. I look up and see what is left of the crescent moon slowly disappearing into the morning light. Tomorrow the moon would seem to disappear as it sits in front of the sun. The new moon. One more day before all hell breaks loose. I would have to make my choice then. Either go to the witch or wait for her to attack those I love.

It wasn't even a choice.

"Good morning, Daddy," I call to my dad, getting his attention.

"Well, hey there, pumpkin. Want to come sit with me?" He motions to the couch he's sitting on. I smile and go snuggle up against him. He wraps his arm around me and gives me a hug.

"My baby is now a married woman," He muses. "It makes me feel old."

I laugh, "You are not old."

"I feel it, though." He grins. We sit in companionable silence watching the forest wake up. "I'm worried about you," He whispers.

"What are you worried about?" I ask.

He takes my hand, the one with the symbol on it, and looks at it thoughtfully, "Every time this symbol showed up, you transformed. I was rather happy when you decided that you wouldn't change any more. I didn't have to hide you from people."

I could only nod. I understood. People would freak out if they saw your baby changing faces.....and skin color, eye shape, hair... you know, everything. "Yeah, it would have been hard to explain." I think about the symbol on my hand and the very young age I was at. Do toddlers even understand these things?

"How does a 2-year-old even understand that they shouldn't change their face?" I ask.

"You would sit in front of the mirror, laughing as you changed your features. When we couldn't do it, you were disappointed. I remember you said, 'change mama' pointing to her face and when your mother said "no change" pointing at her own face, you looked sad and then said, "No change," and then you stopped."

"That is just so weird. I can't do it at all now," I mutter.

"And we didn't even know why," he said. "You could do this amazing thing, and we never knew why."