=::= Bethany's PoV =::=

I grimaced slightly as I stuffed my phone into my backpack. I looked at my...girlfriend. That was going to take some getting used to. I looked at Tally and said, "They have someone there who's going to meet with you. She'll help you do the legal name-change stuff, and she can answer any other questions you have about the whole thing."

"Thanks Beth," she smiled. "I really appreciate all this, I mean it."

"It's ok," I smiled back at her. "Though you'll probably have to explain the whole 'accidental foxgirl' thing to my mom. She's not happy that I'm cutting classes to help you out."

The two of us were sitting at the back of a bus, on our way to QSAW. There weren't that many other people on the bus, but the ones who were there were all stealing glances at Tally and me. Mostly Tally. You'd think after two years people would be used to seeing foxgirls and catboys and whatever else there was out there.

My accidental foxgirl girlfriend grimaced, "Sorry if I got you in trouble Beth."

I shook my head, "You didn't make me cut classes, if anything I'm the one who dragged you out of school."

In a guilty voice she pointed out, "We wouldn't be doing this stuff if I didn't mess up the spell..."

"Don't worry about it," I shrugged. "So I know you said you already talked to your folks a few months ago, but how'd they actually take it yesterday?"

My new girlfriend hesitated, "It was a big shock? To me as well as them. Like um..."

She lowered her voice and leaned closer as she continued, "Like I told them I was trans, we discussed me using the spell when I finished grade twelve. If that's all that changed, maybe yesterday wouldn't have been as big of a shock? But the um, fox stuff? That was new."

I found myself staring at her yet again. "So your folks knew you wanted to be a girl, but not that you wanted to be a foxgirl?"

Tally's cheeks got brighter and she shook her head. "Like I said, I didn't mean to do this! I was just going to change my hair colour. I meant to wait till the end of next year to make myself a girl."

"So where'd the fox ears and tail come from?" I was having a hard time keeping a straight face, like the whole thing seemed a little ridiculous.

"I just think foxes are cool?" she mumbled as she looked down at the floor.

I couldn't help it, I started giggling. "Oh my Gods Tally! You're too much!"

She blushed and pouted, which was actually a lot cuter than I thought it would be. Which was something I never expected to think about my former boyfriend.

My giggling quickly tapered off and I felt my mood going serious again. "I'm sorry for laughing. It's just... Never mind. I know all this is probably been overwhelming for you. And you never did tell me how your folks were handling it."

Tally sighed, "It's a huge adjustment for them and for me. It was a shock, but I won't lie. I really like this. I'm already sort of used to my tail. And I'm getting used to the ears. And I'm happy about being me, about being Tally."

"I'm glad for that," I told her. Then I leaned closer and pulled her into a hug again, so she knew I wasn't just saying that.

She didn't have time to respond since it was our stop coming up. The two of us got up and moved to the door, then finally emerged from the bus. We could have taken another bus for the next part of the trek, but it was just as quick to walk from here so the two of us set off on foot.

When we arrived ten minutes later I led Tally inside, then greeted the twenty-something brunette at the reception desk. "Hi Dana. Me and Tally are here to see my mom?"

She smiled back, "Hello Beth. I'll let Maria know you're here."

There were two other people already here waiting, they were at either end of the row of chairs so me and Tally sat in the middle.

To my left was a nervous-looking blonde teen. She looked a few years older than me, like maybe eighteen or nineteen. She was wearing loose clothes and was staring at the floor to avoid catching anyone's eyes. She was kind of pretty, but wasn't wearing make-up. I didn't see a purse either. I decided she probably used the spell yesterday too, and like Tally she was very much unprepared.

On the right was an impatient-looking man in his forties. His outfit was sort of business-casual, and I couldn't help wondering what he was here for. I knew it was wrong to make judgements based on people's appearances, but he didn't look like the sort of person you'd expect to see in a queer support place.

"Is your mom going to be mad at us?" Tally asked in a whisper.

I shook my head, "I might get a lecture later on, but don't worry about that. It'll be fine."

Tally nodded slowly but I could tell she was anxious.

After a minute or so one of my mom's co-workers came out and led that nervous blonde into one of the offices in the back. Stacey smiled at me, and she sort of looked at Tally for a moment. Stacey was part fox too, but her hair and fur were red where Tally's was black. And Tally stared at her too.

Then the impatient guy went with another of mom's coworkers. Jessica smiled at me too, they all knew me and almost everyone here was really nice and friendly. Jess took the guy to another office to speak with him in private.

And finally mom came out of her office to get me and Tally. "Bethany? Tally? Come on into my office."

A minute later me and my friend were sitting in the comfy guest chairs, while mom sat in her big leather chair behind the desk.

I kept quiet while Tally went through her whole story again with my mom. She explained how she already came out to her folks a few months ago as trans, how she was planning to wait till after graduating next year. And how she was just going to change her hair colour yesterday but accidentally changed everything. And that since she did all that she didn't want to undo it.

Mom listened quietly, then asked "It's not really any of my business Tally but why would you use a powerful life-changing spell just to change your hair colour? You know they sell hair dye at the pharmacy? It's a lot less risky."

That was pretty much the same thing mom said to Jenny a few months back when she added the pink streak in her hair. Like, you could just buy pink dye and do the streak yourself in an hour at home, why risk messing with powerful magic for some tiny cosmetic thing like that.

Tally blushed, but she actually told mom the truth. I could have kicked her because odds were once mom knew she'd make a big stink about it.

"Uh, it's kind of a thing at school?" Tally explained. "Like you know how they say you shouldn't use that spell till you're sixteen? So it's like a rite of passage at school. When you turn sixteen, you use the spell. Almost everyone does something small but obvious, like hair colour's the main one. A few people have done their eyes instead. And a couple go way out, like do something really wild even though they know they're stuck with it for a month. But that's only happened two or three times I think."

Mom stared at Tally for a few seconds, then she face-palmed and let out a sigh. Finally she looked at me and asked, "Did you know about this Bethany? Is this why Jenny's got a permanent pink streak in her hair now?"

I cringed slightly, "I can't speak for Jenny. You'd have to ask her what her motivations were."

My non-answer earned me a Look from mom. After spending almost twenty years married to a lawyer, I learned all about evasive answers. And I knew for a fact my big sister still used some of her old tricks, so I figured I could get away with it now and then too.

Mom's attention returned to my girlfriend after a few moments. "I understand you've updated your information with the school already? So you need to get your government ID updated next?"

"Yes ma'am," Tally replied. "Beth said you could help with that?"

"We can," mom nodded. "Stacey's our resident legal liaison, and she's recently been certified by the province to handle ID matters. She's with someone right now, but as soon as she's finished with that client she'll be available to speak with you."

I leaned over and bumped my shoulder against Tally's then smiled and told her, "Stacey's the fox-lady."

"Oh," Tally's eyes widened slightly, she looked kind of excited at the prospect of meeting another foxgirl so soon.

Mom nodded, "Yes, Stacey is also our resident expert on that spell, especially in terms of demi-human issues and challenges. If you have questions or problems when it comes to the animal attributes, Stacey's the one to talk to."

The two of us ended up talking with mom for a while more, but it was mostly just sort of generic stuff. Mom didn't get into any of the stuff I thought she'd want to discuss with Tally. Like she didn't want to talk about Tally's family or about how this sudden change could affect her life or any of that serious stuff. The only sort of on-topic stuff mom touched on was generic stuff, like the fact that with Tally being sixteen she could get her legal name-change done without involving her parents, and how that process had been streamlined.

Places like QSAW were now registered and licensed to process that stuff, since it happened a lot nowadays thanks to Cindy's spell. And Stacey was the one who had the authorization to do it. Though mom mentioned Kara was also going through the certification process, so there'd be two people on staff who could do it.

I didn't know Kara that well. I was actually kind of scared of them, because of some stuff that happened when I was Liz. But I knew the tall strong enby was Jessica's partner, and they helped mom run QSAW.

At long last Stacey finished up with her other appointment. She popped her head into mom's office and smiled at Tally, "Hi there. I'm Stacey, I understand you used that spell yesterday and you need some help getting sorted out? Why don't you come with me and I'll take care of you."

Both me and Tally got to our feet but mom said "Beth? Tally needs to do this on her own. Why don't you stay here with me please?"

I saw the slightly panicked look on my girlfriend's face, neither of us realized we were going to be separated while we were here.

I protested, "But mom I promised I'd stay with her! I'm her moral support."

"Sorry Bethany," mom shook her head, and I could tell from her tone she wasn't going to change her mind.

I sighed and looked at Tally, "I'm sorry. It'll be ok though, Stacey's pretty cool."

"Ok Beth," Tally sighed. "See you in a bit."

The two foxgirls left, and Stacey closed mom's office door as she escorted my girlfriend away.

I sat down again and frowned at mom, "Ok, what's going on?"

Mom actually looked worried as she asked, "How are you handling this, Beth?"

I rolled my eyes, "Is that what this is is about? You think I'm going to freak out and go crazy again like I did with Sadie?"

"Of course not," mom replied, and I could hear the stress and compassion in her voice. "You didn't 'go crazy' hon, and you know I'd never say anything like that. I'm worried because I know you were just starting to get close to your friend. Having her come out as trans so suddenly like this... It would be upsetting to anybody."

I sighed and shrugged, "It's fine. I'm fine. And I'm not Liz anymore, ok? I'm me, and I can handle this. And yeah I was shocked at first? But... Tally asked if she could be my girlfriend? And I said yes. I'm going to give it a try."

She still had that worried look on her face as she watched me for a few more moments.

"Ok Beth," mom finally said. "I'm sorry I over-reacted. You know I worry about you, and I want you to be happy."

"I'm ok mom," I stated. "I'm more worried about Tally right now. I think she's still freaking out about the whole thing."

"You're a good friend to her," mom said. "And I'm sure she'll be fine once she's had time to get used to things."

Her voice got a little harder as she continued, "This is just one of the reasons why that spell isn't something people should take lightly. And this is why we don't like to see young people using it, especially without adult supervision."

I knew what was coming before she said it.

"So I hope I don't have to make it clear that I don't want you playing with that magic and doing something silly just because you hit your sixteenth birthday."

"But mom!" I protested, except I couldn't keep a straight face.

I broke into a grin and admitted, "Don't worry. I did the magic change thing a few years ago, I'm not going to do it again."

She watched me for another few seconds then relaxed, "I'm glad to hear that, Bethany. I suppose it's a good thing there's nearly a full month after your birthday before the next full moon."

"That doesn't sound right," I frowned. "I think it's only a week after my birthday."

Her eyes narrowed and I realized I walked right into her trap.

"So you're not going to use that spell for your birthday, but you know exactly when the first full moon is after you turn sixteen?"

I felt my cheeks colouring as I slouched down lower in my chair and murmured, "No comment."

Mom rolled her eyes, shook her head, and sighed.

It was the exasperated-mom hat-trick, one face-palm away from a full-house. I knew that was mixing metaphors from hockey and poker, but my sisters came up with those terms when they were younger and I was the one who's patience they were testing. And I'd never tell mom this, but it was a lot more fun being on this side of the equation.

Fortunately she decided ignore my birthday plans for now and returned to the subject of Tally and me.

"As I was saying Beth, I'm proud of you for looking out for your friend. I know this is all very new for both you and her, but I'd like you to keep in mind you can always talk with me if you need to. And if you're not comfortable discussing something with me, then you're welcome to speak with anyone else here. I know you like Stacey and Jessica, I'm sure they'd both be happy to help if you need it."

"Ok," I shrugged slightly. "I'm willing to give it a try because I like Tally, but I don't know if I'll still like her now that she's... Now that I know she's a girl. But I get that she was a girl before, I just didn't know it. So maybe I'll still like her now? The point is I'm giving it a try."

Mom gave me a warm smile, "Ok hon. I'll try not to worry so much."