=::= Tally's PoV =::=

The meeting with my parents went about as well as I expected. They didn't use my deadname and they didn't misgender me, but they both avoided using my real name and managed not to refer to me as a girl or their daughter.

Dad looked like he came close once or twice to almost getting it, but he never quite got there. And mom was angry or grouchy.

My mom also made it clear she still thought of me as a boy, regardless what I looked like or what I told her, or what Ms. Watson told her.

When it felt like we weren't getting anywhere, my girlfriend's mom suggested we take a break. Though I figured by 'we' she meant 'me'. She stayed in the meeting room with my folks while Kara took me to get a drink or something.

The enby guided me out of the meeting room, then down a short hallway and into the staff room. There were a few chairs around a table, and against the back wall was a little counter with a sink in the middle. There was a microwave in one corner and a coffee machine in the other, and a mini-fridge underneath.

I slumped sideways onto one of the chairs by the table while Kara opened the fridge and crouched down to have a look inside.

Kara and Ms. Watson probably assumed this room was far enough from the meeting room that I wouldn't be able to hear what was going on, but nobody closed the door when we left that room, and Kara didn't close the door on the staff room either. And my big pointy ears were pretty good at picking up even distant sounds.

I tried not to listen in, I tried instead to focus on the tall enby as they asked "Want a cola? Or we've got root beer and ginger-ale. There's also juice..."

"Could I just have some water please?" I asked. "Soda hurts my tongue, and juice is either too sweet or too acidic."

"Sure Tally," Kara replied. They pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. There was a bit of a smile on their face though as they apologized, "Sorry, I should have realized you wouldn't want soda. And you probably shouldn't have cola regardless, the caffein might be bad for you."

I blushed as I thanked them for the water.

"I know I can't have chocolate anymore," I commented. "There's a bunch of stuff like that I need to be more aware of now."

Kara grabbed themself a can of cola then they sat down across from me at the table.

"It's an adjustment," they said as they opened their drink. "Worth it though. It took me a while to get used to things back when I got my miracle, and that wasn't anywhere near as big a change as what you're dealing with."

After a sip of water I asked, "Did you use Cindy's spell too?"

There was a little flicker of something in Kara's expression, and too late I remembered Beth told me not to talk about Cindy with other people in the coven.

"Sorry," I said as I looked down at the table. "Never mind."

The enby warrior shook their head, "It's ok Tally. And no, I didn't use that spell. I got my miracle long before Cindy decided to change the world."

"Oh," I frowned slightly as I had some more water. I worked up a bit of courage then asked, "Did you know her?"

Kara nodded, "Yep. I knew her pretty well actually. She lived with me and Jess and Sam and Nikki for a few years."

My eyes widened and I found myself staring at the tall blonde. Between their tone and their expression I could tell they didn't like the famous sorceress, but they didn't seem to be mad at me for talking about her.

I decided to push my luck a little further. My voice was probably kind of soft and timid though as I asked, "You don't like her, huh? How come?"

Kara sighed and had a gulp of their cola. They stared at the tin for a few moments, then finally replied "First off, before she became Cindy, she hurt someone really important to me."

Their voice was quiet and they didn't sound angry. More like they were just repeating some facts. "I know Cindy carried a lot of guilt about what she did back then, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of that guilt led to her whole 'change the world' thing."

After another gulp of soda they continued, "Anyways, the thing that really got under my skin was her going ahead and doing that campaign of hers without any consultation or input from the coven or the Goddess. You probably haven't had all the history yet, but you know how there's bigots who hate us for being queer or gay or trans or demi-human? Well there's folks out there who hate us for being witches. People who'd kill us for that if they got the chance."

Kara's tone got cold and kind of scary as they stated, "I know because we had a run-in with them a few years back. They hunted us with guns and with magic. They went after almost all of us, they nearly killed Nikki and they managed to kill a girl named Becky. By showing the whole world that magic is real, Cindy maybe put the rest of us in more danger. She claimed people wouldn't connect her to us, but she lived with us for years and there's a record of that. So it's happened over and over. We've had cops, reporters, all kinds of folks. Even you figured out she was connected to the coven right?"

They shrugged, "So that's why I didn't like her. She hurt someone I love, then she put all of us in danger."

It took a few more seconds for all of that to sink in. Then I sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

Kara shook their head "Don't worry about it Tally. And for what it's worth, working here at QSAW I've seen how many countless people like you who's lives Cindy saved with that spell of hers. I'm not happy how she did things, but I can't fault her for what she accomplished. At the end of the day she did it for people like you and people like me."

I nodded slowly, "Yeah..."

After that we were both quiet for a few minutes, just sipping our drinks and stuff. Eventually Ms. Watson joined us in the staff room. She put the coffee machine on, then while it was doing its thing she sat down at the table with me and Kara.

"Your parents asked for a few minutes to discuss things alone," she told me. "Then I think we'll all go back in and see what they have to say, ok Tally?"

"Ok Ms. Watson," I replied quietly.

Thanks to my and Kara's conversation I hadn't been listening in on how things were going in the other room. Now I could hear my parents' voices as mom and dad were talking quietly, and I tried hard not to focus on what they were saying.

Fortunately Kara kept up the conversation in here which helped. "How'd it go after we left?"

Ms. Watson gave me a sad look as she replied, "I think we all knew from the start we weren't going to resolve anything today? Just having them here to meet with Tally is progress. And I think Mr. and Mrs. Lambert are beginning to understand just how great the divide is between their perspective and Tally's."

She looked at me again and added, "That's an important first step."

I nodded quietly and had some more of my water, but I didn't know what else to say.

When the coffee machine was ready Ms. Watson prepared three cups, then we all went back to the other room. Me and Kara sat down where we were before, while Ms. Watson gave two of the coffees to my parents then sat down at the end of the table with the last coffee in her hand.

My folks thanked her for the drinks, mom took a sip of hers while dad looked at me.

"Tally..." I was positive that was the first time he'd said my name. At least, the first time he said it to me anyways.

Dad seemed hesitant but he kept going, "I'm sorry your mom and I haven't paid as much attention to what you've been going through. And I'm sorry you don't feel safe at home. Your mom and I never meant for you to feel uncomfortable with us hon. We just... I suppose we just didn't understand what things were like for you. We thought it was a phase or something you'd grow out of or..."

His voice trailed off like he wasn't sure what else to say.

I didn't know either so I just nodded quietly again as I watched them both.

Mom had another sip of her coffee, then she tried next. "I'm sorry uh, Tally, for telling you not to come home until you fixed your name and other documents."

I nodded again, and all three of us were quiet for a bit.

Dad had some coffee as well, then he asked "Are you happy staying with the Watsons? How are you handling your school work?"

"I'm doing ok with school," I replied quietly. "I'm still friends with Steve, and me and Bethany are still friends too. Plus I've made friends with Beth's sister Jenny, and I'm friends with a grade-twelve fox-kin named Sienna. My classes are going ok, I'm doing fine with my assignments and homework and stuff. It's been pretty good the last few days, since I haven't had to worry about Dylan attacking me again."

I gulped and added, "And staying with Ms. Watson has been really nice. There's no yelling, nobody punches me or pushes me around. Ms. Watson got me new clothes that fit and stuff like that. I miss you but the Watsons have been really nice and they've been helping me a lot."

There was another pause, then dad asked "Do you want to come back home with us? Or... What do you want to do?"

That was the kind of question I'd been afraid of most.

On the one hand it might not matter what I said, like everyone else in the room was an adult. I was vaguely aware of stuff like custody and legal guardians and that kind of thing, but I really didn't want to think about it. And the past few days whenever that sort of topic came up I sort of zoned out and tried to ignore it.

On the other hand having dad ask me that basically put me on the spot, like he was asking me to choose between my family or some strangers who'd been very nice to me. And it felt like there wasn't any right answer, like no matter what I said it'd be wrong one way or another and somebody would be upset with me.

"Tally?" Ms. Watson said as I was still thinking it over. "Just say what's on your mind, ok? Be honest, and tell your parents how you feel and what you want to do."

"And there's no right or wrong answers," she added, which almost made me wonder if she knew some mind-reading magic or something. "So don't worry about that. Just be true to yourself."

I nodded slightly then looked back at mom and dad again.

I took a deep breath then told my parents, "I miss you both and I want to come home...but I can't. Because I want to live somewhere I feel safe and comfortable. I want to live somewhere that I'm accepted for who and what I am. Where I won't have to constantly worry about being deadnamed and misgendered, or afraid of being attacked and bullied. So right now, I want to stay with the Watsons."

When I was done I saw dad looked sad, but he didn't look surprised. And the little muscles in mom's jaw were moving, like she was clenching her jaw and trying not to let on she was angry.

"All right hon," dad responded. "I'm sorry you're making that choice, but your mom and I will respect it. Is there anything you need from home?"

"No thanks," I shook my head. "Not right now anyways."

Dad nodded and had another sip of his coffee as both him and mom continued to watch me.

After another minute or so my dad asked "Is there anything else we can do for you?"

I shook my head, but Ms. Watson spoke up.

"If I may make a suggestion? Before Dylan returns to school, I think it would help Tally a great deal if you spoke with your son and asked him not to deadname or misgender her. Or perhaps ask him to avoid her completely?"

Mom bristled again but she kept quiet.

Meanwhile dad agreed, "I'll speak with Dylan."

"Thanks dad," I said quietly.

We all agreed to meet like this again, maybe in a week or so, and that was the end of the meeting. It felt weird to see my parents leave like that while I'd be going home with Ms. Watson again. I really couldn't go with my folks though, I'd have been too scared and too uncomfortable.

After mom and dad were gone, Kara and Ms. Watson tidied up the coffee cups and stuff. The enby commented, "That could have gone better, but I suppose it also could have gone a lot worse."

Ms. Watson replied, "I sensed a lot of tension and animosity from Mrs. Lambert especially, but I'm not sure who it was directed at. I don't think she was that angry with you, Tally."

I grimaced slightly, "I think my mom's still cross about what happened a few years back, when Jenny broke Dylan's nose."

My girlfriend's mom stopped in her tracks and her eyes went wide.

"Oh my Goddess that was your brother?!" she gasped. She practically facepalmed as she sighed, "I knew we should have got Jessica to handle this. We'll have to do that next time. For now, let's just head home ok?"

I nodded quietly, we both said goodbye to Kara then headed out the back door to where the mini-van was parked.

PurpleCatGirl

This is a commissioned story, so updates only happen when patrons commission a new chapter. Patrons always get chapters one or two weeks before anyone else, so if you're eager to get caught-up join are Patreon and you'll get all the latest chapters and new stories! And if you'd like to help move this story along, think about sponsoring a chapter!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl