The Transfiguratus Diem

4. Cupcake Wishes & Cups Of Herbal Tea

Carly made it home early that evening to see her mother and Waylon through the window. Her mother was just dishing up dinner and the two of them appeared to be laughing about something. Carly smiled, shook the memory of Harrison's cologne out of her head and went inside.

Carly's mother hugged her the moment she entered the house, not even giving Carly the chance to remove her boots at the threshold. "I made your favourite, so head upstairs and get some comfy clothes on. We can have ice-cream cake after."

It was a strange request, but still reeling from her intimate moment with Harrison, Carly agreed with a single nod. She shot upstairs to change into her full-length pyjamas, the farmhouse a little too cold for her usual sleeping shorts.

A tray full of lasagne and a slice or two of ice-cream cake later, Carly and her mom were finally alone, Waylon having excused himself for an early night. "You have met them." Lori said all of a sudden, breaking the silence. Carly hummed, seeking confirmation. "You have that look about you. You have met your soulmate."

Carly scoffed. "I hope not. I haven't met anyone I could imagine spending the rest of my life with." The two women shared a moment of laughter before falling silent again, but the silence wasn't awkward, it was just silence. "Mom."

"Yes honey."

Carly had never even thought of the question before, nor did she realise why she cared, but still the question came from her. Her eyes locked onto her mother's before she took a deep breath. "What does it feel like to be in a different body?"

Lori blinked twice as she processed the question. Her daughter once so against the idea of the changing, now suddenly asking about the phenomenon was enough to shock her into silence. Lori swallowed and thought back through the fifteen years. "At first it was strange, especially with it being the morning... You know what I mean." Lori's eyes flicked down and back up quickly.

"Ew."

Lori laughed at the disgusted look on her daughter's face. "You may not even switch with a man, my dear. You may never have to worry about... that."

Carly squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to talk or even think about that part of her stepfather. "Change of subject please, mom."

"I get to do everything around the house that I can never normally reach. I can clean the upper cupboards, and I don't get out of breath heading up the stairs. I don't have to worry about my asthma, or my bad shoulder... I can be different."

Carly looked at her mother with a tilt of her head. Never before had she ever seen her mom so peaceful when talking about her pain, or lack thereof. Carly thought of all her aches and pains, her broken wrist that ached when the weather changed, or the scars from her appendix surgery she always had an irrational fear of bursting. Her thoughts drifted to her teeth and how they felt right in her mouth as her tongue ran across them.

Lori watched the action and knew exactly what her daughter was thinking. "Yes, that was also strange. Getting used to the shape of his teeth and his god-awful eyesight. Also swallowing was different with his absence of tonsils." Lori smiled warmly as she spoke, her thoughts reaching back. "It really puts knowing someone in a whole new perspective."

"Is that why you both keep up oral health a lot more?" Lori nodded to confirm. "And you always stay extra careful?"

"Wouldn't want to switch back and find your arm hanging off like Tracy and her husband."

"That was one hell of a fight." Carly muttered, the two women pausing at the memory.

Tracy had been suffering for months at the hands of her husband before she turned twenty-one and changed. The woman who switched into Tracy's body didn't get the memo about Carl, who had stayed in his own body. She fought back, resulting in Tracy coming back to her body in the hospital three weeks later, a strange woman by her side. They married a month after Tracy's divorce was finalized.