=::= Dad's PoV =::=

After a couple awkward seconds I asked, "Krissy? Are you ok?"

My daughter was standing there as if she'd frozen in place, tray in one hand and a plate of food in the other. She was staring down at me with a confused look on her face, while her mouth opened and closed a couple times as if she didn't know what to say or how to react.

"Sorry," she finally responded. "Can you repeat that please dad?"

Now it was my turn to feel awkward and strange, "I was asking if you had an extra hair tie I could borrow?"

"It's the damndest thing," I added as I reached up with my left hand and grabbed a handful of hair. "You can see this right? It's not just my imagination? No idea what's going on, but it's like my hair's grown a whole bunch over the last hour or so."

That was only the start, but I really didn't want to talk about the rest of it. Maybe the weirdest was twenty minutes earlier, when my apron and trousers slipped down and pooled around my ankles. My pants had been feeling loose and long for a while before that, but actually having them fall right off was a shock.

Not as big as the shock I got when I went to pull them back up though. My legs had never looked so good in all my life, it was hard to believe they were even mine. Then I ended up having to tie the apron string extra tight around my inexplicably narrow waist, just to keep both my apron and pants from sliding down over my strangely-curved hips again.

Meanwhile my daughter was still staring at me, and as I watched she sort of wobbled on her feet slightly as if she was about to collapse. If the counter and hot-lamps weren't in between us I'd have dashed to her side to try and steady the poor girl.

"You mean this is real?!" she finally exclaimed. "I thought I was hallucinating! Dad it's not just your hair, look at yourself! You're... You're turning into a girl!"

"That's impossible," I insisted as I shook my head.

I did my best to ignore the way my long hair swished against my shoulders at the motion, or the slight jiggling sensation beneath my way-too-big t-shirt. I also tried not to think about how my heart suddenly started racing at my daughter's words, or why I felt a surge of excitement at such a preposterous idea.

The two of us stared at each other for another second or two before Krissy finally gave her head a quick shake. She put the last plate on her tray then dug into one of the pockets on her skirt and pulled out a black stretchy tie.

She held it out to me as she stated bluntly, "Dad you've got boobs. I have to get back to work but something really weird's going on here."

Another jolt of something that couldn't possibly be happiness shot through my body as I reached out and took the hair tie from her. I couldn't find any words, I didn't even manage to say thank you before she turned and hurried out into the dining room to deliver the order to her table.

It took me another second or two to start moving again after all that. I was still a bit numb though, after hearing my daughter confirm what I'd been trying to ignore and deny for the last sixty or seventy minutes.

I tucked my spatula into the slot on the side of the grill, then reached up and copied a motion I'd seen Krissy do countless times. I gathered up my impossibly long hair with one hand, then slipped the elasticized band over it with the other. Twist and repeat twice, and it left me with a messy ponytail that would keep the hair out of my face and off the grill.

Then as I lowered both hands back down I paused. Instead of reaching out for the spatula my hands wavered slightly as I held them both at chest level. My heart was pounding and I felt butterflies in my stomach, but I went ahead and did it. I took a deep breath then pressed my hands against my t-shirt.

"I don't believe it," I mumbled as my heart skipped a beat. "Krissy's right, I've got boobs."

Instead of my familiar flat shapeless chest, my hands had settled against two warm soft apple-sized mounds hiding beneath the white fabric of my shirt. My fingers wrapped around as I gave them a gentle squeeze, and several butterflies suddenly dropped from my stomach and started fluttering someplace a little lower down.

After that it was like I couldn't even think for a couple seconds. Thoughts had ceased, reason was absent, and the world made no sense. It was impossible, unbelievable, and the most confusing part of all was the way my heart seemed to be racing with joy while my lips curled up into a wide goofy smile.

Then it all came crashing down a few moments later, when the smell of burning food snapped me out of my daze.

"Shit!" I muttered as I quickly snatched up my spatula.

Sure enough all those distractions meant I'd managed to burn the entire next order. And of course it was a pricey one. Steak and eggs, a meat-lovers omelette, and an eggs benny poached medium on peameal. All in one order, and I had to start the whole thing over again.

In the meantime the ticket after that was nearly done, so I quickly scraped the burned food off the grill and into the bin before reaching over for more eggs.

That was another thing I'd sort of noticed then immediately put out of my mind. The grill seemed slightly larger than usual. The eggs, home-fries, tray of bacon slices, everything was just a little further away than it ought to be. Like my muscle memory was slightly skewed or something.

After I got the replacement meals started I served up the next ticket then gave it a once-over. Breaded chicken sandwich and home-fries. Bacon and eggs, sunny side up. Grand slam special, scrambled with ham and sausage. I tapped the bell once then turned back to the grill again, determined not to let anything else get spoiled today.

A few seconds later I heard the door open behind me as Maureen came to pick up the order. Then she made a 'hmph' sound as she started moving the plates onto her tray.

"Did you miss a ticket or something boss?" the older waitress asked. "I was expecting table seventeen, not twenty-two. Looking for a steak-n-egg, meaty-oh, and a benny?"

I sighed as I turned around, "Sorry Maureen it's my fault. Let them know it'll be a couple more minutes ok? Give them the discount, half off for making them wait so long."

Instead of responding Maureen was squinting as she stared at me in silence for the next couple seconds. At the same time it hit me just how strange an experience it was for me to be looking up at her. That was even more impossible than realizing my daughter had somehow become taller than me.

"That you boss?" she finally asked in an uncertain voice. "What the hell's going on back here?"

"Damned if I know," I replied with a shrug. The movement led to more strange but pleasant jiggling sensations, but I tried to ignore them. Then I added, "No time to worry about it now, ok? Let's just try and get through the rest of this shift without anything else going wrong."

"Right," Maureen nodded slowly as she stared for another second or two. Then she turned and headed back to the dining room to deliver the tray of food.

Meanwhile my attention returned once more to the grill, as I did my best not to think about what was happening to me. And I especially didn't think about why it seemed to be making me so damned happy, because that made even less sense than the actual changes.

I managed to get through the last thirty or forty minutes of the lunch rush without making any more mistakes, although that didn't mean it was entirely without incident. I had to tighten up my apron strings once more, and it was getting harder to ignore those two lumps on my chest. I didn't want to admit it, but it seemed like whatever'd been happening to me today it wasn't quite over yet.

At about half past two Maureen let me know the dining room was finally getting quiet. We were down to just four tables, so I told her to flip the sign and turn away any new arrivals. Then after clearing my last two tickets I started shutting things down in the kitchen.

I nearly tripped twice carrying a flat of unused eggs back to the fridge, my shoes were so big and loose I nearly left them behind with each step. I ended up having to just shuffle around in them as I returned the rest of the bacon strips and sausages to the fridge after the eggs were safely stored.

There were a half dozen slices of pemeal still out, but I kept those by the grill along with some bread and a few slices of cheese. That way after the customers were gone I could whip up some toasted cheese and bacon sandwiches for Krissy Maureen and myself. It was a bit of a tradition, I always liked to feed my staff after a busy day's work.

In the meantime I shuffled over to the dishwashing station to get a head start on the clean-up. I reached out to grab the next rack of dirty plates, and that's when it hit me once again. I couldn't reach as far or as high as before. I really was shorter, smaller than I used to be.

Standing next to the machine I tried to gauge my height, and by my best guess I'd lost about twenty-five centimetres from where I'd stood when I got to work nine hours earlier. I slowly shook my head as I pushed the first rack into the machine, then moved on to the next one.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later I was struggling to put stuff away on a shelf I had no trouble reaching that morning, when Maureen came into the back with a mug of coffee for me. She narrowed her eyes as she watched me stretching up on tiptoes, then finally shook her head.

"I still can't believe that's really you boss," she commented. "Anyways we're closed up now, last of the customers are gone and the doors are locked. Krissy's already started tidying up out front."

"Thanks Maureen," I smiled as I moved to accept the hot drink from her. It was perfect, double-double just how I liked it. After a deep sip I told her, "Let my girl know she can take it easy for a bit? I'll have lunch ready for the three of us in a couple minutes."

The older waitress nodded, "Will do. Then maybe we can figure out a way to fix whatever's going on with you?"

For some reason the thought of being 'fixed' turned my stomach. I had no idea what happened to me or how, but I hated the idea of going back to my normal self.

Maureen didn't seem to notice the scowl on my face though, she just turned and headed back out to the dining room without another word. That left me worrying about her eyesight again, as I returned to my grill and got started on the last three meals of the day.

A few minutes later I carried the three plates out myself, and joined my daughter and employee in the booth at the very back of the restaurant. We each had a big hearty toasted sandwich, a couple slices of peameal bacon and a slice of cheese in between thick-cut buttered toast. There was also a heap of home-fries on each plate, that was the last of what I'd had out on the grill before shutting down.

"So what do you think Krissy? How'd you like being a waitress?" I asked, before taking a big bite of my sandwich.

My daughter just stared at me for a few seconds, eyes wide. She finally shook her head and asked, "Dad how can you be so blasé about this? Look at you! You look like my cute little sister!"

I felt my cheeks heat up while I tried to grimace. Except it clearly came out as a happy smile instead, justing by my little girl's reaction. Her shock turned to confusion as she continued watching me.

"Dad?" she asked a few seconds later. "You look happy. Did you want this? Are you... Are you trans?"

I swallowed my food then tried to shake my head. I tried to deny it, tried to tell her I wasn't happy like this, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words.

After a long pause I sighed, "I admit there's times I've been envious of you hon? Watching your progress, seeing how happy it's made you to be true to yourself? I tried not to think too deeply about some of the other stuff. Like how relatable it was, how much of myself I saw in some of the things you shared with me. I was just happy to see you thrive, you know? But this..."

My voice trailed off for a few seconds, before I shrugged. "I've been trying to ignore this too. I don't know how it happened, I don't even know how much I've changed. I haven't really even looked at myself, I've been too busy working all morning."

"Go. Washroom, mirror, now!" she stated as she pointed towards the bathrooms.

I tried to protest, "But my lunch -"

"Will still be there when you get back!" she insisted.

My shoulders slumped and I got up out of the booth then headed for the washrooms, where I found myself standing outside the two doors wondering if I should use the mens room or the ladies. I decided it didn't matter, then ended up in the ladies room after all. I turned the corner and froze as soon as I saw the pretty girl in the mirror.

Petite, cute, attractive face, long black hair, bright green eyes, full pink lips, her curves were obvious even under the ugly oversized masc clothes she was wearing. Once again my heart was racing, while a wide happy smile settled on my face.

That lasted ten, maybe fifteen seconds before it all came crashing down. My gut lurched as I found myself asking the biggest question of all.

"Why me? Why not Krissy?"

Guilt replaced all the joy and excitement, and a heavy lump settled in my gut as I shuffled my way back out to the table. I slumped down into the booth again with Maureen and my girl and sighed.

"Krissy I'm sorry," I told her. "I don't know why this happened to me. It feels like some kind of miracle, but it must have been meant for you. You deserve this, not me."

Maureen finally spoke up, "You know I'm not much for religion boss, but I don't think miracles are about what's deserved. I think they're about what's needed. And listening to you a few minutes ago makes me think maybe this is something you needed, more than her?"

My daughter nodded slowly, "I think she's right dad. So tell me, since it seems like you're really a girl after all, have you ever thought about a new name for yourself?"

I gulped as my emotions churned. I was still carrying a lot of guilt, I couldn't shake the feeling that this should have gone to my little girl. But I also couldn't lie about how happy it made me feel.

After a gulp of my coffee I half-whispered, "Maia. When I was younger I thought about what it'd be like if I'd been born a girl, and that's the name I'd have picked."

"Hello Maia," Krissy greeted me in a soft voice and with a compassionate smile. "It's wonderful to finally meet the real you."

"Thanks hon," I mumbled as I reached up to wipe away a couple tears. Then I sighed, "I still feel like you should have got this gift instead of me. I remember when you came out, you told me about wishing for magic to turn you into a girl."

"And you said you wished that was real too!" she gasped. "I thought you were talking about wishing it for me, but..."

I grimaced, "I might have wished for it for the both of us. Now it seems like I got my magic, but I feel awful because you haven't got yours."

Krissy frowned, then her eyes widened as she exclaimed "No way!"

Maureen and I watched as she dug her hands into her apron pockets, then pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper in one hand and something small black and fuzzy in the other.

"One of my customers gave me this!" she stated as she flattened the note out on the table. "It was when that asshole made a scene, and two of the girls from that table chased him out the door? I told them what you said, that their meal was on the house and that you were grateful for their help and everything? After that one of them gave me this! I didn't think anything of it at the time, but it has to be true!"

She moved the note closer to me so I could see it, and despite the messy handwriting it was pretty easy to read. "Krissy, here's a little bit of magic just for you. You already know what it is and what it can do. The magic word is 'yap'. Just remember, once done it cannot be undone. Thank you for brunch. Kid Chaos."

Next to the note my girl placed a small plush fox toy. Its fur was black, except for a bit of light grey floof in its ears and a white tip at the end of its big fluffy tail. And its amber eyes seemed to sparkle in the light.

I frowned as I looked up at my daughter, "I don't understand? What does it mean?"

"I was too busy to really think about it when she gave it to me," she replied. Krissy looked and sounded excited as she picked up the plush toy again and said, "This plushie is my magic!"

Before I could ask again what she was talking about Krissy added, "Yap!"

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