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

My tall fuzzy ears twitched slightly as I heard Tally say goodbye to her mom, then a few seconds later came the sound of one of the kitchen chairs being pushed back into place under the table. And a moment after that my girlfriend came through the doorway to join me in the living-room.

I was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with my big floofy white tail wrapped around on my lap. The moment she sat down next to me I let my tail swish over onto her lap while I grabbed her long fluffy black tail and held it close as I started stroking and petting the soft fur.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

I was already pretty sure it was a good conversation. As much as I didn't want to eavesdrop our big ears were really good at picking up sounds. Especially since we could aim them around, and a lot of the time it felt like they had a mind of their own. So even though I'd been trying to focus on the show I was streaming on TV, one of my ears kept twisting over towards the kitchen to listen in on my girlfriend's call.

Tally shrugged, "Pretty good I guess? Mom and dad are doing ok, but mom said they're already feeling kind of lonely. Dylan left for college on Thursday and they probably won't see him again till Thanksgiving. I know it's only been like two days since he left, but mom's kind of sad that the house is empty now?"

"Why'd he go so early?" I asked. "There's still another whole week left before school starts. Or do they start earlier at college?"

My girlfriend shook her head, "Apparently he wanted to get settled into his dorm and meet people and stuff? That's what he told our parents anyways. Knowing him there's probably some big party planned for this weekend and he didn't want to miss it."

I grimaced, then asked "Have you talked to him much? Or seen him at all since June?"

"He was there the last two times I met with mom and dad," Tally replied. "I don't know if he's ok with me or not, but he acted nice those two times. But that was with our parents there, plus Jess and Kara were lurking nearby. I'm pretty sure Dylan's scared of Kara."

"Everyone's scared of Kara," I said with another grimace.

Tally stifled a giggle, "That's not true Beth. They're nice when you get to know them. They just act tough because that's their job, being coven champion and all."

"I guess," I mumbled.

I knew she was right about it being Kara's job, and to be honest the tall strong enby hadn't done or said anything threatening towards me in years. But I'd never forget seeing them with that sword in their hand, how I thought they were going to kill Janice, and how easily they overpowered and disarmed me.

The next minute or so both me and Tally were quiet. I was kind of lost in those thoughts and memories, and I didn't realize she was watching me till she finally spoke up again.

"Hey Beth?" she asked, "How long do you figure before your mom and Jenny get back?"

It took me a couple seconds to mentally change gears from the past to the present, "Oh uh, probably not for a while? Maybe not till dinner time. Jenny outgrew pretty much everything over the summer right? She practically needs a whole new wardrobe, ontop of all the other back to school stuff. I'm so glad I don't have to pay for all that, because it's going to cost a fortune. Why?"

My girlfriend shrugged, but it looked like she had something on her mind. Like she had something she wanted to talk about, and maybe wanted to do it while she knew we were alone.

Tally hesitated a few seconds before she finally spoke up, "There's actually a whole bunch of stuff I'm really curious about? A lot of little things I've noticed, or stuff you or Jenny or your older sisters have said. Even stuff at the coven meetings?"

By that point there was a cold heavy sensation growing in my stomach. I already knew what she was asking, even if she didn't exactly know it herself yet. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV then looked back at her and asked quietly, "Um, like what? What sort of things?"

After another brief hesitation she began listing them, "There's all the 'complicated family stuff' you and your sisters keep mentioning or hinting about. Or teasing each other about. Like how you were their cousin before, and how your mom adopted you and your sisters? Like what happened to their folks, what happened to your folks. There's the thing with your grandparents, even if they're queermisic you never talk about them or to them or anything. Not like how your mom encouraged me and my folks to keep talking."

She grimaced, "Then there's other weird stuff? Like um, there's obviously something going on between you and Sadie? No offence Beth, but it honestly comes across like you're flirting with her. Like at the coven meeting on Thursday, there was all this innuendo between you two and it's just really weird. I know you're not really sisters, but even between cousins that's kind of weird."

"There's even some weird stuff with you and the coven leaders?" my girlfriend added. "Like the first time we met them you were whispering things to Nicole, then when we joined the coven Samantha had a note for you? Then there's the whole thing with you being cursed by the Goddess?"

After all that she sighed and shrugged, "It's just, there's a lot of weird stuff right? And I guess after three months of this stuff I'm super curious to know what's it's all about. I don't want to force you or anything though, ok Beth? If you really don't want to talk about this stuff just say so ok? And I'll let it go. But if you can talk about it, I'd really love to know."

By that point the cold lump in my stomach had spread and I felt cold and anxious all over. She could probably tell too, my ears were droopy and my tail was tense.

I closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths as I thought it through, then finally nodded. "Ok Tally. I've thought about telling you for a while, but I guess I've been holding off because I'm afraid of what might happen. I'm afraid that once you know all my awful secrets, you won't want to be friends with me anymore."

She started to respond but I shook my head and cut her off, "I don't mean that in a selfish way? Of course I'd be sad, I don't want to lose you, but mostly I'm worried about you. Because you're living here, and I really don't want you to feel trapped. Like if you decide you don't want anything to do with me, but you have nowhere else to go? Except from the sound of it your parents have come a long way, and with Dylan away at college maybe it's safe for you back at home now? So yeah. If you hate me you're not stuck living with me."

"I won't hate you!" Tally insisted. "I don't care what secrets you tell me, nothing could make me hate you Beth."

I gave her a sad smile, "Thanks Tally, but wait till you know, ok? If you don't want to be friends anymore I'll understand. And um, before I tell you I have to ask you to swear to keep this secret ok? It's not just for my sake, but for my sisters too. Ok?"

"Of course," she nodded. "I swear it Beth, I'll never tell another soul."

I gave her a sad smile, "Thanks Tally. I'll be right back, I have to get something."

Before she could respond I got up off the sofa and ran into the library. I knew exactly where to find what I was looking for, I tucked it away in one of the books there back when it was my bedroom. A few seconds later I was back in the living-room, and I carefully placed the two newspaper clippings down on the coffee table.

"Have a look at those," I said in a quiet, nervous voice. "Especially the date."

I watched as she leaned forward, then she frowned as she studied the news report and the obituary.

"Is this your bio-mom?" she finally asked. "Or your sisters' bio-mom?"

"That was my sisters' mom," I replied. "Look at the date though Tally? When she died."

After a second she frowned, "Isn't that your birthday? September nineteenth? That's a weird coincidence."

"Yeah," I nodded. "September nineteenth, twenty-twenty-three. We're like, three weeks away from the third anniversary. And it's not a coincidence."

She sat up and frowned at me, "What do you mean?"

My stomach felt like it had a thousand butterflies in it, and half of them were sick while the other half were flying around in a panic. I gulped then half-whispered, "That was me. I used to be Elizabeth Watson. I was married, I had three children. I gave birth to Amanda and Jenny, while Sadie became my daughter thanks to magic. I worked as a real estate agent. This house used to belong to me, same with the mini-van Maria and Jenny took to go shopping."

Tally stared at me with wide eyes as she gasped, "What?! But...why? How?"

I sighed, "I wasn't a good mom. I was selfish, self-centred. And those grandparents out west? They're my biological parents. My mom and dad raised me to be homophobic. They pressured me to live up to their ideal. The whole 'suburban house-wife with a husband and two kids' thing. They raised me to be prejudiced and bigoted. When my youngest child came out as trans I had trouble accepting her, but Maria helped me understand. Jenny was twelve at the time and had no interest in either boys or girls, and I guess the fact that I didn't see her as gay meant my prejudice didn't really kick in for her?"

With a deeper sigh and a quieter voice I continued, "Then my husband came out as trans too. And she was definitely gay. She wanted to stay married, to be my wife, but I couldn't accept that. I told her if she transitioned she'd have to leave the house, leave the family. I thought I could bully her to continue living as a man, because she was desperate for the four of us to stay a family."

"What happened to her?" Tally asked nervously.

I glanced up at her, and honestly I was a little surprised she didn't have any stronger reactions yet. Like she was obviously shocked, but she wasn't freaking out. She didn't yell at me or run up to her bedroom, or out of the house. Meanwhile I was so tense and uptight and nervous I almost felt nauseous, it was all I could do to keep those emotions bottled up while we talked.

My cheeks were red with shame and guilt, and I lowered my eyes again as I quietly replied, "I told her there was just one way I'd let her stay part of the family if she insisted on transitioning. I didn't think she'd accept, I was positive she'd back down. But she didn't. She accepted my ultimatum. And with Maria's help, and the help of the Goddess, my husband became my third daughter. She became Sadie."

Tally's jaw almost hit the floor as her eyes went wide. It took her a couple seconds to recover from the shock, then she gulped "That's how come you and Sadie act like that to each other? You used to be married?"

"Yeah," I nodded. And despite all my churning emotions I had to fight not to smile. "It's honestly really weird, but we get on so much better now as sisters than we did as husband and wife. Not that we fought or argued all the time, but there was a lot of tension in our marriage. Sadie was a good dad but she was also a workaholic. She spent a lot of time at the office, she was more focused on her career than anything else. And I guess I encouraged that too, I thought I needed a successful husband for me to be seen as a successful wife."

That left a thoughtful frown on my girlfriend's face, while I sighed to myself again.

"So um," Tally said after a few seconds, "What happened? You died and got reincarnated or something?"

I shook my head then braced myself for the next painful confession, "I told you I was a bad mom right? Prejudiced and self-centred and stuff? I put my wants and desires ahead of the needs and safety of my children. I started to resent Sadie for getting everything she wanted while I had to go back to work and support the three of them. We argued, I made bad decisions and ignored warning signs... I kicked Sadie out of the house then didn't even notice when Amanda got kidnapped. The coven stepped in and saved the girls, thank the Goddess. But all I saw was them interfering in my life. Then Maria and Nicole and Kara came to talk to me. And I um..."

By that point the lump in my throat felt so big I could barely talk. I pushed through though, but in my rush to get to the end I skipped a few details. I covered the main points though.

"There was an argument, it got heated. I ended up with a gun in my hand and I shot Nicole. I tried to shoot Maria too, but Kara overpowered me. Thankfully Nicole was ok, that protection magic literally stopped the bullet. It left her bruised and sore though. The bottom line though was I tried to kill her, and I wanted to kill Maria too. So the Goddess cursed me. She faked my death, Elizabeth Watson drowned in the river. She made me a small young teen, smaller and younger than the other three girls. And she erased my memory, so I didn't know who I was. Then she sent me back here, to live with my family."

When I was done I sort of slumped a bit, all the mixed-up emotions left me feeling almost exhausted. My tail was on my lap and I hugged it to my chest as I stole a quick glance at Tally, to try and guess what she was thinking or how she felt. She was doing the same, slumped back and hugging her tail. She had a thoughtful frown on her face as she stared at those newspaper clippings on the table.

We were both silent again for a little while, and the more time that passed without either of us saying anything the more anxious I got. I was just starting to work up the courage to ask when she suddenly spoke up.

"How'd you get your memories back?" she asked. "You're obviously still cursed right? Kat said that's why you got smaller when you used her spell, because you tried to make yourself taller and the Goddess cursed you to be smaller?"

I grimaced but nodded, "Yeah. That's why I was always the smallest kid in class? Part of the curse I guess, was to make sure I could never bully or intimidate anyone. Using Cindy's spell to try making myself taller was cheating or something, so instead of getting a few inches taller I got shorter by the same margin. I'm just glad I hadn't been aiming for Jenny's height."

"And um," I continued quietly, "After about three months with like total amnesia I'd already figured out my family was involved in magic and Goddesses and all that stuff? I already figured out I'd been cursed and my memories were taken away. I kind of remembered some of that stuff in dreams? So I asked my mom if she could get my memories back. She asked the Goddess, and the Goddess was merciful."

"There was more to it than that, but it's hard to talk about," I added. "Stuff between me and mom."

Tally nodded slowly, "Right... So last question I guess? You said you were queermisic and prejudiced and all that? But you're not like that now. I mean, you and me are girlfriends. And your whole family is queer right?"

"Yeah," I sighed. That lump in my throat felt even bigger as I mumbled, "My bio-parents raised me like that. But a few months with no memories, in a loving home with three great sisters and a great adoptive mom kind of showed me what real love and caring was like. Not the fake all for appearances stuff I was originally brought up with. It's um, way more complicated but that's the short answer. Sorry Tally, that stuff's hard to talk about too."

She had that thoughtful look on her face again as she replied, "It's ok Beth, I get it. Sorry for making you remember all this difficult stuff. Thanks for telling me though, thanks for trusting me."

My emotions churned again as I glanced over at her once more. I whispered anxiously, "So um, what do you think about all this stuff? Are you... Do you still want to be friends with me?"

"We're still friends Beth," she stated quietly. "But I need some time to think about all this? It's a lot. I'm uh, going to go up to my room for a bit."

"Ok," I sighed. "Sorry if all this upset you."

"Nah it's ok," Tally shook her head. "It's just, I need time to think."

With that she picked up her phone then got up, and slowly walked out of the living-room. Her tail was hanging low and so were her ears, and she still had that thoughtful look on her face.

I listened to her footsteps all the way up the stairs, till she went into her room and closed the door. Then I slumped over on the sofa and curled up as small as I could get, with my tail hiding my face as I finally let all my churning emotions boil over. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I cried.

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