"Wow," I said as looked around the room. "This is really nice."

Melissa agreed, "Better than the pictures on their website."

Susan walked over to the windows and commented, "Nice view, too."

It was a little after four in the afternoon on the thirty-first and we'd just checked in at the hotel downtown. The three of us all had our backpacks with our clothes and things for the night, and I was carrying an extra bag loaded with the drinks we brought while Susan had the snacks.

I didn't complain about having to carry the heavy stuff, it was kind of cool not being weak anymore.

We all dumped our packs on the big king-size bed as we explored the room, and when we found the mini-fridge I loaded it up with all our drinks. We had a bunch of vodka coolers, and a few cans of cola and a couple bottles of water. Our snacks included some bags of chips and a container of dip. Sue put the dip in the fridge as well.

The huge bed was on one side of the room, with a large low dresser across from it. Then beyond the bed was like a little living-room sitting area, with a sofa and a couple easy-chairs around a coffee table. Past that were the windows with the nice view. A big TV was positioned on the wall so it could be viewed from both the bed and the sofa and chairs. Finally there was a little breakfast table in the corner with a couple chairs around it.

The mini-fridge was against the wall next to the table, and there was one of those one-cup coffee brewing machines on top of that, along with an assortment of coffee pods and some cups and stuff.

From the windows we had an excellent view of the whole harbour and the island. We could even see the island airport off to the right.

"I think they do fireworks in the harbour?" Susan commented. "We should have a great view of them from here."

"Cool!" I grinned.

Melissa moved back to the bed and opened up her backpack, "We're meeting Sam and Troy in the lobby at five-thirty so we've got plenty of time, but I'm going to start getting ready just in case."

We were all just dressed casual for the drive downtown, the plan was we'd get changed and do our make-up and stuff here in the hotel room.

Susan agreed and we all started to get dressed up and stuff.

While we were doing that, Sue asked "So does your brother and his boyfriend know about Lily? Do they know about all the demon stuff?"

"Not exactly," Melissa replied. "Sam knows there's magic, he knows me and Mara are involved with an 'ancient sorceress'. Troy doesn't know anything."

Sue glanced at me then asked Melissa, "How do you think they'll handle it when they find out?"

Both Sue and Melissa were staring at me in the mirror now and I frowned "What? Why are you looking at me?"

Melissa reached out and stroked one of my very visible horns, which sent a shiver down my spine. "Because odds are you're going show off your horns and tail at some point tonight."

"Hey..." I leaned against the counter to steady myself, but I couldn't even really work up the outrage to protest or argue.

As much as I wanted to act indignant, it just came out as an embarrassed smirk as I finally had to admit "Yeah, you're probably right."

Since Lily taught me the 'magic camouflage' spell I'd been really good about keeping my demon bits invisible when we were out in public, but I was still dropping the spell the instant we were out of sight. Like just now, as soon as I was through the door of our hotel room I dismissed the spell.

My girlfriends both rolled their eyes, and Melissa sighed "Please try not to reveal them until after I've had a chance to warn my brother?"

Sue added, "I hope Sam's pretty laid-back. We're already going to have some explaining to do, about being a threesome."

"Yeah," Melissa sighed again. "It was only last month he found out about the magic, and me and Mara were getting closer. This is going to be another big adjustment for him to get used to."

She added, "And he's going to have a lot to talk about too. He came out to our parents over christmas and I need to hear all the details of how that went. So Mara, please try and be good? Don't dive into the demonic reveal until we're ready?"

I pouted but agreed, "Ok Melissa, I'll do my best."

When five-thirty rolled around the three of us were down in the lobby as planned. And as far as I was concerned, we looked fantastic.

Melissa was in a long black wool skirt with pink stripes above the hem, and a tight pink blouse with a deep scoop neck showing off her cleavage. Her hair was done up really nice and her make-up was gorgeous. Susan wore a beautiful dark-green dress that looked amazing on her. And her make-up was outstanding. I was wearing my favourite little black dress, it only came down to my knees but I couldn't really wear anything with long skirts because my tail would be too obvious sticking out and lifting up the hem. And as usual my make-up was dark and gothy but fun.

All three of us had low heels on, we knew we'd be doing some walking so we didn't want to wear anything too uncomfortable. And we had long coats to keep us warm while we were out getting from the hotel to the restaurant. Though Melissa assured us it wasn't too far away.

Sam and Troy were right on time, they emerged from one of the elevators and we spotted each other right away. They were both looking pretty snazzy too.

Sam was in dark blue slacks, a white button-down shirt and a blazer. The only thing missing was a tie. Instead he left the top button undone on his shirt and it gave him a sort of casual look. He was about an inch taller than Melissa, and I knew he was sort of skinny but strong, he had a bit of a wiry build. His outfit made him look slim rather than skinny, but kept the strong look. His short blonde hair was nicely styled, and he looked like he just shaved so his tanned skin was smooth.

Troy was a few inches shorter than Sam, and a bit heavier over-all. He was wearing black slacks and a black blazer, with a pastel-pink button-down shirt. And he wore a black tie with the outfit. His dark hair wasn't as neat but it made him look fun rather than serious or professional. He wore dark-rimmed glasses and he had a smile on his face.

I found myself staring as they approached us. Troy looked like the cute fun one, Sam was the cool casual one. And I couldn't deny that he was attractive, but at the same time I couldn't help remembering how he looked after Lily's demonstration. I wouldn't dare admit it to anyone, but I kind of preferred the petite vulnerable effeminate Sam. At least in terms of looks.

That thought led me down a rabbit-hole of suddenly questioning my sexuality. Like was I into 'Sammie' because he looked effeminate? That would make sense because I liked girls. Or was it something else? Maybe it was because he was vulnerable and I wanted to protect him. Whatever the answer, as 'Sammie' he was still a guy and that didn't seem to matter, I liked him regardless. Not that I didn't like him as his normal self of course, I just wasn't as attracted to him.

I finally pulled myself out of all that when the introductions and greetings started, and I pushed those thoughts aside as I gave both Sam and Troy friendly hugs. Then Melissa did the introductions between Susan and the two guys.

"So," Sam looked around at all of us, "I guess we've all got a lot to talk about? Me and Troy are interested to find out how you three happened. And Melissa, I'm sure you're dying to know the details of how things went down with mom and dad last week."

Melissa laughed, "Sam you don't know the half of it. The past month has been wild, the last two weeks have been especially crazy."

Troy suggested, "Why don't we head over to the restaurant? Then once we're comfortable we can dive into the heavy conversation."

Everyone agreed, and we slipped on our coats then headed out. It was about a twelve or fifteen minute walk to the restaurant. I kept my tail under my dress and coat which was fine, but my horns were unhappy by the time we got to the restaurant. I did my best to hide my discomfort.

During the walk, Sue talked with the guys and the three of them sort of covered the easy stuff. Sue told them what she was taking at university and how she met me at a party, Sam and Troy told her what they were taking at college and how they met at a party as well.

When we got to the restaurant we hung up our coats then got seated at a round table in the dining room. It wasn't as private as a booth, but the chairs were nice and the place wasn't loud and boisterous. Everyone was dressed up nicely, the five of us fit in pretty good in that respect.

I was still uncomfortable waiting for my invisible horns to warm up again, but at least my tail was happy. I had it wound round and resting on my lap under my dress skirt as I picked up my menu and started looking over the selections. Soon enough we'd ordered our drinks and everyone figured out what they wanted to eat, then we were ready to start the serious conversation stuff.

"So how'd it go last week?" Melissa asked her brother. "What happened with mom and dad?"

Troy grimaced slightly as Sam started sharing that story with the rest of us. Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Perry either had no clue Sam was gay or they were completely in denial about it. When Sam and Troy got there on xmas day everything went smoothly at first. They had a nice visit, did gifts, and had a nice xmas dinner. Then at the end of the night Mrs. Perry told them both that she had the 'guest room' all set up for Troy, and Sam's bedroom was just how he left it.

The 'guest room' of course was formerly Melissa's bedroom, but their parents were acting like Sam was an only child. He even said they'd taken down all the old photos of Melissa and wouldn't talk about her anymore even using her deadname. They were basically pretending Melissa didn't exist at all.

Sam continued his story with a grin, "So mom was acting all naive and innocent, expecting Troy and me to be in separate beds, separate rooms. And I put an arm around him and told our folks, No need for that mom, me and Troy can squeeze into my old bed. It's a little small compared to the bed we share at home, but we'll manage."

Melissa grimaced, Sue and I had sort of expectant smiles on our faces. I asked, "So how'd they react?"

"They both just sort of seized up," Sam laughed. "Like the last little fragment of their 'normal straight family' bullshit just shattered."

Troy was cringing but he added, "It was a little like their brains both crashed and had to reboot. I could almost picture the error messages scrolling past their eyes as they tried to reject the reality of the situation and fit it into their bigoted worldview."

Sue and I were both smiling, but Melissa looked serious as she asked "Ok but what happened? Did dad blow up? Did mom freak out?"

Sam had a sip of his beer and sighed, "Mom tried to act like I was joking? Like she told me it wasn't funny to joke about sin and all that bullshit. I told them it wasn't a joke, then gave Troy a big kiss and suggested we should probably grab our stuff and head home. Dad started into his whole 'no queers in my house' routine, and me and Troy left."

After another sip of his drink Sam added, "Oh and before we left, I told dad: For all his bullshit about being manly and strong, that my sister Melissa was the strongest and bravest person I knew, for having the guts to come out and live true to herself. And that if dad were a real man he'd recognize that."

"Holy shit," Melissa said with a grin.

Troy commented, "It was pretty impressive. And there wasn't any violence. Just the dad's angry posturing and the mom clutching at pearls and fretting about hell."

Sam concluded, "So I'm probably as disowned as you are Melissa? I wouldn't be surprised if they start acting like they don't have any kids at all."

Melissa sighed, "Sorry Sam. I know it's stupid but I kind of hoped they wouldn't turn on you as bad as they did me. You were always dad's favourite after all."

Her brother shook his head, "It's ok sis. I knew going into it what could happen. And you know, six or seven months ago if anyone asked, I'd probably have been content to just keep hiding my sexuality from them. I'd have found ways to avoid bringing Troy home, excuses to keep living half my life in secret. I never would have had the bravery to come out, if it wasn't for you."

"Aww," Melissa smiled and blushed. "I don't know that I deserve any credit though, I mean..."

Her voice trailed off, I figured she was about to mention Lily or me or her magic transition, but obviously Troy didn't know any of that. Yet.

Instead she frowned, "Uh-oh. So mom and dad might blame me for you coming out? And they already blame Mara for me coming out. Which means they might blame Mara for both of us."

Everyone looked at me, and I just shrugged and had a sip of my water. Then I grinned, "What can I say? I'm a bad influence."

PurpleCatGirl

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