Me and my sister just stared at each other for a good minute or two before either of us said anything.  Neither of us could believe it, but clearly the evidence was there - people don’t shrink to miniature size on a whim.  I mean, they don’t turn into near-identical copies of their sister either, but that’s besides the point.

Finally my sister breaks the silence by simply asking “How did you do that?”

“I….I don’t know.  I was scared of mom finding me, and I wished I was smaller so I could hide from her and then…yeah”

Immediately my sister’s shock became joy out of nowhere, as I suddenly was confronted by yet another hug from her.  What’s she so excited about?

“Maddie, I can’t believe it!  You just had your first case of accidental magic!” Celeste said, her eyes glimmering

“Accidental what?”

“Its the first time your magic takes over without you knowing.  It shows you’re magical, which means you’re a witch just like me!” The hug became even tighter.

“I already told you I was a witch, doofus” I said, lovingly giving my sister a soft noogie on her head.  It was the small things but being like this with Celeste again felt so good.

“So…um…” she said, finally letting go of the hug “How are we gonna break this to mom?”

“Oh shit!” I shout, my breath becoming heavy again “What…what if she’s not okay with me, sis?”  I notice I start shaking - since when was I so scared of what people thought about me?

“Maddie, she’s accepted me as a witch no questions asked after never witnessing magic in her life.  I think she’ll understand”

“Yeah, but you were a girl to begin with!”

“So?  Oh, come on!” she shouts, grabbing me by the wrist (surprisingly strong), dragging me down the stairs to mom in the kitchen, finishing the last touches of our lasagna.  God, why did Celeste have to do this - I’m not ready!

We reach the kitchen, and my mom immediately looks skeptical at my sister and I

“Uh…honey, did you use some sort of duplication spell or something?”

“No!” We both said in exasperated unison.  Probably not helping our case very much.

Her brow furrowed further.   She clearly recognized my sister, her golden brown hair long and wavy just like her mom’s.  But this lookalike girl had blonde hair, that was mostly fine and straight, which was what her…

Wait…no.

“Um…young lady, do you mind explaining yourself and who you are?”

I feel another tingle in my tummy from being called a ‘young lady’.  Is this what it’s like to feel happy and confident?

“Uh mom…it’s me…Matthew”.  I spit out the last word, hating the taste of it on my tongue, despite having used it for years without recourse. 

My mom raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying my answer, which only made me feel more scared.  However my sister (thank god) backed me up.  “She…she is Matthew, mom.  I was using a spell meant only for girls, but because I was so focused, I didn’t answer the door, and then because she came in, I got distracted, and the spell got botched but she got hit by it anyways, and…”

My mom gave a familiar chuckle at my sisters’ trademark ramble.  Clearly things were normal with her, at least. 

“Alright honey, so let me get this straight…you practiced a female-only spell , and because your brother disrupted you, he’s now a little girl?”

“Mom, I’m not a little girl!  But…yeah…”

Again my mom laughed. “Well that’s a heck of a story.  Why haven’t you changed him back yet though?” She said, setting her focus ahead onto me.

I tried talking the best I could with the lump in my throat.  Even when I opened my mouth to speak, tears started coming out of my eyes.  “Mom….I wanna stay like this!”

My mom looked stunned at me, then turned back to my sister “You didn’t make him want to be a girl, did you?”

“NO!” I shouted, louder than I expected.  Since when did I not have control over my emotions?  “No, she didn’t” I replied, quieter “I…she was actually trying to turn me back, but I stopped her….because…because I like being a girl better than being a boy.”  Man, even through my tears, my cheeks turn pink at saying that.  Being a girl feels so amazing.

A short silence afterwards is followed by my mom speaking “So does this mean you’re a transgender or something?”

“Yeah…I guess so…I’m a girl now.  For good…is that a problem?’ I said, sounding more confrontational than I wanted to come off as.

My mom’s face then broke into a smile, which immediately revealed how she felt.

“Not at all, sweetie.  Now I have TWO little girls to raise to become beautiful women someday!”

“Mom, I’m not a little girl!”

Her laugh became even stronger “Okay, now I KNOW you’re your sister’s twin!”.

My smile kept up, until she finished laughing, then turned to me a bit more seriously.  “So sweetie, is there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

“Uh yeah…I want…I want to be called Madeline now…”

“Aww, what a beautiful name!  Anything else?”

“Yeah…I’m also a witch just like sis!”

I’m pretty sure I heard the glass she was drying off crash to the floor after that.