"Hi mom!" I grinned as I slipped into the passenger seat of her car. "How was the drive?"

She smiled, "Hello Mara. It was fine thanks. Are you ready for some lunch?"

"Yeah!"

It was Saturday, we were at the end of the first week of June, and the two of us were going to have some private mother-daughter time together. It was actually nearly a year since the last time the two of us spent any time alone together.

Melissa moved in with us at the start of July last year, and since then me and mom hadn't really had much time together for just the two of us. Not that either of us were unhappy about having Melissa join us, or at least I didn't think she was and I knew I wasn't. But I did kind of miss having mom to myself now and then, and I'd been looking forward to this visit since mom suggested it at my birthday last month.

It took me a few seconds to get my tail adjusted as I got comfortable in the seat, then once I was buckled up Mom backed out of the driveway. My demonic bits were invisible of course, but mom knew they were there. She didn't comment though as we set off away from Sue's house.

"So where are we going for lunch?" I asked. "And what else do you want to do?"

Mom replied, "I know you're not interested in fancy restaurants, so I thought we could go to that place with the pizza buffet? You still like that right?"

That put an even bigger smile on my face and I exclaimed "Yay! We haven't had that in forever!"

Amber and Susan would probably think it was too low-brow and it certainly wasn't gourmet anything, but I loved it. Cheap and cheerful, and they usually had like six different kinds of pizza at the buffet, so you could have a bit of everything. Plus they had pasta and a salad bar and stuff like that.

She smiled at my excitement, "I thought you'd enjoy that. It's been... Well, last time we went there was before you were Mara."

I grimaced slightly, "Yeah. You know it's almost been a year?"

"I know Mara," mom sighed slightly.

Her tone became kind of sad as she added "It was almost exactly a year ago today, we were looking through Uncle Albert's box of knick-knacks. The last time I saw... Last time I saw the old you was before I left for work that day."

I sighed as well, "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to bring you down."

"It's ok hon," she said as she shook her head. "It's been on my mind since the start of the month. Even though you're still here, that was a terrible week and I don't think I'll ever forget going through the motions of losing you."

We just pulled into the restaurant parking lot at that point, so rather than say anything I got out of the car then went around to the other side and gave my mom a big tight hug.

"I know it was rough," I said quietly as I held her. "And I'm really sorry for putting you through all that. And um... I'm sorry for all the rest of the craziness over the past year. Like the stuff with Lily, the stuff with Verothilas, the horns and tail, and everything else. I never wanted to upset you or hurt you."

Mom hugged me back and replied, "I know Mara. Let's hope the next year won't be anywhere near as exciting as the last one."

We finally let go of each other and went into the restaurant together. It was a little busy, but we got a table off to one side. Mom ordered a cola and I got a glass of water, then we hit up the buffet. A few minutes later we were back at our table. Mom had a salad and a little bowl of pasta alfredo, I had a big plate with like four different slices of pizza stacked up on it and a scoop of pasta marinara ontop of all that.

It was a little bit of heaven, and brought me right back to my childhood. Or at least, my mid-teens. Ok late teens. Actually now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure last time we had this was my eighteenth birthday.

Mom had a smile on her face as she watched me dig in. After a minute or two she teased, "Last year when you were trying to convince me it was really you, we should have just come here. I'd have known in a minute you were really my child just from the way you do that.

I giggled happily as I munched on a mouthful of Hawaiian pizza. I knew I probably looked childish or silly or whatever but I didn't care. I was reliving some of the best meals of my former life. Just me and my mom at the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet.

There was only one fairly significant difference. I blushed as I admitted, "Maybe I won't be able to eat quite as much pizza as I could last time we were here. I'll do my best though."

After that we were both quiet for a bit as we focused on the food. I filled up a lot quicker than I did last time, and it was a struggle just to get through what I had on my plate from the very first visit to the buffet. I had to give up on my plans for more pizza, and even had to pass on the build-your-own sundae bar.

Eventually some conversation resumed as my intake of food slowed down. Mom started it off with a question.

"How are Melissa and Susan doing?" she asked. "And how's school coming? Does the DLP have any big plans for the summer break?"

I shrugged, "Melissa and Susan are both good. College is ok. As usual Melissa's grades are at the top of the class and mine are..."

I blushed and shrugged, "Mine are where you'd expect. Except drama, I'm doing really good in that class. And I'm looking forward to summer break but we don't have any big plans yet. Not that I know of anyways?"

That wasn't entirely true, I knew Lily was probably going to keep working on freeing herself but I didn't want to mention that in a crowded restaurant. I wasn't sure if mom would want to discuss magic anyways. And Amber was planning to move in with us at the end of the month, but I wasn't sure if I should mention it since that was her news more than mine.

"Amber's doing good too," I added, even though she didn't ask about my small shy blushy brunette girlfriend. "She's supposed to graduate this month, but she's already signed up for more classes next year. She's also going to be working more shifts over the summer, so any vacation plans we do come up with will have to fit around her schedule."

Mom nodded, "She told me she was going to stay an extra year at college, so she could graduate with the rest of you. She also told me she's moving in with the three of you in a few weeks."

I blinked at her in surprise and asked, "When did you talk to Amber?"

Now it was her turn to blush as she admitted, "I dropped in on her at work today before I came to your house. She helped me pick out a few things... Carol's birthday's not far off and I thought I'd surprise her. After that the two of us spent a few minutes talking."

It took a few seconds for all that to sink in. I couldn't help grinning again as I asked, "What did you think of her? On-the-job Amber's really different from chilling-at-home Amber, right?"

She was still blushing slightly but she replied, "She's an attractive young woman, and she's very professional and knowledgable Mara. I'm sure she'll do very well at that job."

My grin shifted to a smirk and I leaned closer towards her and said quietly, "You know Amber has that same 'sex-sense' thing Melissa and Susan told you about at xmas?"

Mom's eyes widened and her face went bright red. She cleared her throat and had a gulp of her soda as she looked down at the last of her pasta.

After a few seconds she asked "You don't get that too, do you Mara?"

"Nah," I shook my head. I kept my voice down as I added, "That's a succubus thing."

She didn't know I had a similar but different thing, and since the cottage it was a lot clearer. I could even almost turn it off and on if I wanted, or at least I was way better at tuning it out. I hadn't been using it so far this afternoon but I sort of tuned in as I watched mom, then immediately tuned it out again.

Her head was still full of Amber-based thoughts after what we were just discussing, and I really didn't need to know what my mom wanted to do with my sexy brunette girlfriend.

After that, both of us focused on our meals again for a few awkward minutes.

"What do you want to do next?" I finally asked, as I sipped my water and picked at the last half slice on my plate. It was a meat-lovers pizza, smothered in pepperoni and ham and sausage, and I had serious doubts that I'd be able to finish it.

Mom replied, "I thought we could go somewhere quiet and have a little walk together. I know there's some parks around here. Or if you're too stuffed to walk, we could find a bench and just talk."

"Sounds good!"

A half hour later we were walking along a path in the same park me and my girlfriends brought Lily at the new moon. Mom and me were a little further south though, we weren't near the spot where we all did the ritual last month. Some of the paths ran through a long wide cleared area with big hydro pylons, but we followed a trail that went north alongside the river.

There were other people around, it was a nice June Saturday afternoon, but we were careful as we talked that nobody was near enough to overhear anything.

"At your birthday you said Lily was working to free herself soon," mom commented. "You said that would mean your girlfriends would also be freed. What will happen to the four of you? Is it safe, this thing Lily's working on?"

I nodded, "Lily's being very careful and taking things slowly. The stuff at the cottage was like the first step, kind of an experiment?"

I added quickly, "It was safe though! I mean, there were some really tiny dangers, that's why we went out of town to do it? But that was just a precaution or whatever. Anyways the important thing is, that's done and she figured out what she needed to know? So next time it'll be even more safe."

Mom frowned thoughtfully for a bit as we continued walking. After another minute or two she asked, "And what will happen to you and your friends when you're all free?"

"Melissa and Susan and Amber will be free from their contracts," I replied. "Or at least, that's what Lily said she's planning. It's all really preliminary? And actually, maybe I shouldn't be saying all this stuff to you. Like Lily hasn't got a schedule, she's not saying anything's guaranteed yet?"

That little frown was still on her face as mom guided us both over to a park bench. It was a peaceful spot under some shade, but with a view of the path and trees and stuff. The river was just barely visible too, through the trees on the far side of the path.

"And you're not going to become more of a demon?" mom finally asked. "You know I worry about you hon."

I nodded, "That's the only thing Lily's said for sure. She said she won't let me change any more. Even if I wanted it she said no."

"Mara why would you want that?" mom asked in a worried voice.

I blushed and grimaced, "I um... I was hoping I'd get wings. I want to fly."

She gave a look, then sighed "Well I'm happy to hear Lily and I are in agreement on not allowing that to happen."

A comment about how she and Lily are both my moms so it made sense they were on the same page nearly slipped out, but luckily I managed to catch myself before blurting out something I'd regret. This time anyways.

Instead I offered, "If you wanted to talk to her I could ask? I'm sure she'd come out and speak with you again. Then she could tell you herself that she won't let me change any more."

"That's ok Mara," mom said as she shook her head slightly. "I'm enjoying my visit with you, I don't want to interrupt that to speak with Lily."

She added a moment later, "I'll keep it in mind though, perhaps some other time Lily and I can have another conversation."

"Sure," I smiled.

We both finally got to our feet and continued our walk. And she was right, it was nice to just visit and spend time with her.

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