=::= Beth's PoV =::=

"Why not?" Jenny demanded. "I passed my test, I got my license! You let me drive before, why not now?"

My sister was using her exasperated-pouty voice, as if this was the single most unfair event to occur in the entire history of ever.

Needless to say, mom was unmoved. She replied calmly, "Because I said so. So please just leave it, all right Jenny? You can drive some other time, but we have more important things to focus on tonight."

Jen slouched back in the passenger seat with a grumpy sigh, while mom put the mini-van in gear and pulled out from the restaurant parking lot. Ever since she passed her driving test last week Jenny had practically begged to drive whenever we so much as looked at the van.

I could sort of sympathize with her, I remembered what it was like the first time I turned sixteen. Everyone was desperate to get their license, it was almost a rite of passage as a teen. Then as soon as you got your license all you wanted to do was drive. Didn't matter where, just get in the car and go.

I wasn't as eager to get behind the wheel this time around. It was nicer letting someone else deal with traffic and stuff. In fact, since joining mom's coven a couple weeks back I had something new to focus on. Forget about driving, I wanted to learn to teleport.

My girlfriend felt the same, we talked about it a couple days ago. She'd have been taking driving lessons over the summer if she still lived with her folks, but now she didn't care about that either. And where we were going right now, I was willing to bet almost everybody else would be using magic to get there. We were probably the only ones driving.

It was Monday night, June twenty-ninth, and we were on our way back to Samantha and Nicole's house. Tally and Jenny and I were going to our very first coven meeting, where we'd get introduced to all the other witches, even though I probably already knew most of them. This would be different though. We'd be introduced as witches, to our fellow witches.

We all just finished dinner, mom took us out to a family-style restaurant for a nice meal. Or mostly nice, at first they tried to seat us at a booth which wasn't tail-friendly. And when mom specified we wanted a table instead the waitress kind of gave my girlfriend a look that annoyed me.

Fortunately Tally didn't seem upset, and other than that everything worked out ok. The food was all right, but nobody ate too much. Mom said there'd be snacks and stuff at the meeting so we had small meals and didn't get dessert or anything.

All four of us were kind of quiet for the rest of the drive. And like usual, as soon as we were in the van I got my girlfriend's tail on my lap then started petting and stroking it. Tally didn't even seem that anxious tonight, like she'd calmed down a lot over the last few weeks. I knew she liked it when I pet her tail though, and I did too. And I couldn't help wondering what it actually felt like, to have a long fluffy tail and have someone pet and stroke it.

Ear scritches were another thing I was really curious about. I knew Tally loved them, but it was a lot harder to do that in a sort of casual way. That was the sort of thing we did when we were having private cuddles and nobody else was around to see.

The drive took about half an hour, till we pulled up and parked next to the big house by the winery and vineyard. The four of us emerged from the car and mom led the way up to the front door, but we could already see people mingling inside through all the big windows.

Just like when we were here a couple weeks ago, Samantha was there to open the door when we arrived. She said hello to all four of us as we came in, then offered us drinks and stuff.

A minute or two later me and Jenny had cans of cola while Tally had a bottle of water, and the three of us were left to mingle with everybody. We all more or less headed straight for Amanda and Sadie, while mom stayed with Samantha to talk with her.

Our older sisters and their girlfriends were at the opposite end of the house, hanging out in the family-room area. There was a tray of little tiny sandwiches that the four college students were gradually devouring in between sips of wine as they quietly talked.

"Hey kids," Sadie grinned as me and Tally and Jen joined them. "Pretty exciting seeing you here for the first time right? Your very first coven meeting?"

My girlfriend just nodded quietly, she was obviously anxious again with all the strangers around. At least she didn't seem overwhelmed.

Jenny shrugged, "So far it looks like any typical grown-up gathering. And we already know most of these people anyways."

Sadie responded quietly, "Typical boring grown-up meeting is pretty accurate. Most of the coven meetings are like this."

"If you think they're so boring then why even come?" I asked.

My big sister smirked, "We're just here for the little sandwiches and the free drinks obviously. Us poor college students will show up for anything if it's catered and the food's free."

Jenny and Tally both giggled, while I rolled my eyes.

Amanda added quietly, "I'm pretty sure most coven meetings these days are a lot smaller? Like most of us don't bother. Too busy with studies and stuff. We're all here because Samantha said it was important."

Ashley added, "Most meetings are optional? But when Sam or Nikki says attendance is mandatory, you better show up."

The three of us nodded quietly, then Jenny asked "No offence Brittany, but how come you're here? I thought you weren't part of the club?"

Amanda's girlfriend looked almost as uneasy as my girlfriend. She had a sip of her wine, and when she did I noted there was still no tattoo on her wrist so she definitely wasn't part of the coven.

"No idea," she replied quietly. "I hope they didn't call me in to curse me again for some reason."

Amanda rolled her eyes, "I keep telling you hon, they wouldn't do that. I'm sure whatever the reason, it's nothing bad. So try and relax ok?"

Brittany sighed, "What if they wanted to make an example out of me? Like a public hanging or something..."

"They won't," Amanda stated. "I promise."

I could tell my sister knew something. Amanda was usually very protective of her girlfriend, so if she was acting like this was no big deal it was because she already knew that. I kept quiet about it, I figured if Amanda was planning a surprise I didn't want to mess it up for her.

As the seven of us were talking, the one couple I didn't know came over to join our little group and introduce themselves. They were kind of an odd-looking pair, the blonde Tanya was almost as tall as Jenny, while the redhead Brandi was even shorter than me and Tally.

They seemed nice, but we didn't spend a lot of time talking with them. I found out they were a few years older than Amanda and Sadie, Brandi worked for a local TV station in their news studio and Tanya was big into sports.

That was about all the mingling we had time for before Samantha called the meeting to order.

A few people topped up their drinks and stuff then we all moved to sit around their dining table, which had been expanded so it was big enough to fit everybody.

I counted sixteen chairs around the table, though two of them were empty.

Samantha was at the head of the table, and beside her was an empty spot for her wife. That made me realize I hadn't seen Nicole yet this evening.

Down the side of the table to Samantha's right sat Jessica, mom, Ashley, Sadie, Amanda, and Brittany. And along the table to the left of Nicole's spot was Kara, Tanya, Brandi, then an empty seat, then Dana from QSAW, and finally Jenny. And me and Tally were sat at the end of the table opposite Samantha. I had Britt to my left, and my girlfriend had Jen to her right.

Once we were all in our places Samantha spoke up once again, "I think most of you already know Maria's two youngest daughters, Jennifer and Bethany Watson. And with them is Beth's friend Tally Lambert. The three of them were initiated four weeks ago, they're the newest members of our coven."

Me and Jenny waved slightly as everyone turned to look at us, while Tally shrank a bit into her seat under all the attention.

The high priestess continued, "Many of you also know Amanda's girlfriend Brittany Thompson, and some of you may wonder why Britt's here tonight. I'm pretty sure she's wondering that herself, right Britt?"

Amanda's girlfriend cringed slightly, "Yes ma'am."

Samantha smiled, "You can thank your girlfriend. Amanda spoke with myself and Nicole two weeks ago, and convinced us and the Goddess that this invitation was overdue. You already know most of our secrets anyways, and the past few years you've kept those secrets well. So if you wish, tonight you are invited to join us. I'll give you some time to think that over."

I couldn't help notice the look mom gave Amanda, and my older sister cringed almost as much as Brittany was.

"In the meantime," the leader continued, "We'll run through the introductions to ensure our four new attendees know everybody present."

I was pretty sure we already knew everyone but Samantha went through it anyways. Maybe for Tally's and Brittany's sake. The only new thing I learned was the empty seat between Brandi and Dana was for a girl named Becky. For a moment I thought maybe she just couldn't attend tonight, but then Sam said they always kept a seat for her out of respect. There were a few sad faces around the table when Samantha mentioned that.

Then Nicole finally made an appearance, and the reason she hadn't been around was suddenly obvious to me. And I realized I should have guessed it already, considering her condition four weeks ago.

She emerged from one of the second-floor rooms and came down the stairs dressed in a long black nightgown and slippers, and carrying a tiny sleeping bundle in her arms.

"Hi friends," Nikki said as she stood at the head of the table next to her wife. "I'm not going to stick around too long, but Sam and I wanted you all to meet the newest member of our family. This is Rebekah."

I found myself smiling at the sleeping baby. While I was adamant I didn't want another one myself, I couldn't help being caught up in how cute they were when they belonged to other people.

The two coven leaders were smiling happily, Jessica looked like a proud happy aunt, and just about everyone else was grinning too.

Then Samantha held the baby for a few minutes while Nicole had to do some 'work'. The petite coven leader addressed Brittany as she asked those same questions she asked me and Jen and Tally four weeks ago.

Britt nervously agreed, and that was that. A magic tattoo appeared on her wrist, then Nikki bid everyone a good night. She took the baby back upstairs with her and disappeared back where she came from.

That turned out to be the exciting part of the meeting, which wasn't saying much.

Next we had to listen to Kara remind everyone about the full moon tomorrow evening, and talk about how more people would be using 'that spell'. The enby stressed we should all be extra careful about doing any magic where it could be seen.

More than a few people glanced at Tally which made her cringe. My girlfriend was the only demi-human in the coven so far, and everybody would know she'd used Cindy's spell.

Then mom talked a little about QSAW, she mentioned the government stuff but there hadn't been any follow-up on that yet. I'd always suspected QSAW had divine backing but hearing mom report to the coven about it pretty much confirmed it. And it made me feel kind of nice, knowing that there was an actual Goddess supporting and helping queer people specifically. It made me wonder if She was queer Herself, but I wasn't sure if there was a non-blasphemous way to ask that.

Eventually the boring stuff came to an end, and we could go back to mingling and stealing snacks and stuff. I'd spotted a couple dessert platters that I wanted to raid. There was a whole tray of petit-fours nobody had touched yet and I had my eyes on a few of them.

Tally stayed next to me and the two of us made straight for the sweets, though Tally wasn't as interested in the little cakes as I was. Unfortunately my mouth was full of fondant when I realized Samantha was standing next to me.

She smiled, "Sorry to interrupt Bethany, but my wife asked me to pass this along."

The coven leader placed a folded slip of paper in my hand, and I tried talk around the cake and icing I'd been enjoying.

"Fang-hue ma'am."

My girlfriend moved closer as the coven leader headed away to talk with someone else. She glanced at me and whispered, "What is it? What did she give you?"

"Dunno yet," I replied after I swallowed. I unfolded the piece of paper and a moment later folded it back up again. "It's private Tally. I'm sorry, I need to look at this alone ok?"

She was curious, and I wasn't sure how much she already saw. Fortunately she didn't argue or ask, she just nodded and took a few steps back to give me some space.

I opened it up again and stared quietly at the brief note Nicole had written. It was my answer, to the question I asked when we were here at the start of the month.

"Bethany: After aiding the police in their investigation three years ago, Janice was placed in a foster home east of Toronto. She's attending college now, she just finished her first year working towards her Bachelor of Aviation Technology. She appears to be making the most of her new life, and to the best of our knowledge has not made any attempt to return to her past ways. It's probably not a good idea for you to contact her, but if you insist then we can figure out how best to do that. ~ Nikki"

I folded the note back up and stuffed it in my purse as I thought about the news. It was probably the best I could hope for, all things considered. Janice and I both made some serious mistakes, but I felt like she paid a much higher price. On the other hand it sounded like she'd moved on, she probably wouldn't want anything to do with me.

In the end I decided not to contact her, to just leave the past in the past. And I had Tally now, I didn't need to complicate things by trying to reach out to Janice.

As if she knew I was thinking about her, Tally gave me a questioning look. She was obviously curious what was going on, why I was getting notes from the coven leaders.

I smiled and closed the space between us. I put an arm around my girlfriend and whispered, "Let's go bug Amanda and Sadie about getting them to teach us how to teleport?"

"Ok," she replied with a grin.

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