"So yeah," mom grimaced and sighed. "It turned out I married a shape-shifter."

Kelly looked back and forth between me and my mom, and it was obvious she was fighting to hold back some laughter.

"Sorry," my friend said as she stifled some giggles. "That just sounded exactly like the title of a light novel or something."

That actually set me off and I spent the next half minute giggling before I got under control, "Oh my gosh you're right! I think I've actually read that one too? It was 'My boyfriend turned out to be a shape-shifter and now she's even cuter than me!'"

Kelly and I both giggled some more while my mom just gave us both a bit of a look.

Once the two of us settled down mom asked, "Are there really books like that, or are you two just having a little fun at my expense?"

My cheeks went red yet again as I admitted, "There's a whole genre of stories like that. Two genres even? Light novels with long silly titles that basically give away the whole premise of the book? And um, gender-bender stories, where one way or another the protagonist changes from a guy to a girl."

"Or from a girl to a guy," Kelly added. "Or something in between. Or even back and forth? Or..."

Her voice trailed off as she noticed the way mom was looking at her, and suddenly Kelly was blushing as brightly as me.

"All right," mom decided, "I think that's all I need to know about that subject. Kelly, did you want to stay and join us for dinner tonight?"

My best friend hesitated, "I don't want to intrude, if you're doing something special for Melody's birthday?"

I looked at mom and asked "Are we? Is it even still my birthday anymore? Dad said shape-shifters can be any age they want, so I guess birthdays are irrelevant?"

"It's definitely still your birthday hon," mom replied. "Even if you and your dad can make yourselves look older or younger, that doesn't change your actual age. So your birthday will always be June seventeenth, no matter what you might look in the future."

"Ok mom. Thanks."

I couldn't help blushing a little at the thought of making myself look some other age. Even if I was always going to be Melody, that didn't mean I couldn't try being a younger version of myself. Or an older version. Or a taller version, or shorter. Suddenly it felt like there were a hundred possibilities that I could try, all while still being me.

Kelly looked back and forth between me and my mom, then shook her head. "Every now and then it suddenly hits me just how unbelievable this whole situation is, you know? Like one of my best friends turned into a girl overnight because it turns out she's a shape-shifter, and now you're all talking about changing your age and stuff like you were talking about changing your clothes."

I kept blushing, while mom grimaced slightly. "I've had twenty years to get used to it, Kelly. When I first found out, I promise I wasn't anywhere near as calm as I am now."

After a few seconds she added, "Anyways back to the subject of dinner. I was originally planning to take you out someplace nice hon, but if you're not up for that we could order in? I still have to go out and pick up the cake..."

Her expression shifted to a frown, "It'll have your old name on it. I don't know if they can change that at this point? I can call and find out though. Why don't you two think about what we're doing for dinner, while I call and see about getting the name on the cake changed."

Without waiting for a response mom got up and headed into the kitchen to find her phone.

Kelly looked at me and said softly, "You know, your mom is kind of awesome?"

"I know," I smiled. "She really is."

It took mom about ten minutes to get things sorted out on the phone, and by the time she came back to the living-room me and Kelly had decided ordering in was the best option.

Not that I was scared of going out, but I still had a lot of questions, and considering I didn't have any ID or anything, I was more comfortable hanging out at home. I figured I'd have a hundred more questions for dad when she came by tomorrow morning, I was already making a list of stuff in my head that I had to ask about.

"So we were thinking about ordering pizza?" I told mom. "Is that ok with you?"

Mom smiled, "It's not quite the fancy birthday dinner I had in mind, but if that's what you want then that's what we'll do. I have to go out in about half an hour to pick up the cake, so why don't you girls make yourselves comfortable? Watch TV or something, and we'll think about ordering dinner after I get back?"

It sent another wave of joy through me hearing mom refer to me and Kelly as 'you girls', and I had a wide smile on my face as I replied "Thanks mom. You're the best!"

She just grinned, then left me and Kelly to do our own thing for now while she went upstairs.

"Anything you want to watch?" I asked as I turned on the TV. I navigated to the streaming site to see if there was anything new or interesting.

At the same time Kelly's phone buzzed so she pulled it out and had a look.

"Huh," she said as she frowned at the screen. "Have you thought about what you're going to tell Craig? Because he's on his way over here."

I gulped, "Do you think he'll be cool with all this? Or will he freak out or something?"

Kelly was quiet for a few seconds before she responded, "He'll freak out. But eventually he'll be cool with it. We're all best friends right? You're still you, it's just going to take him a bit to figure that out."

"You're right," I sighed. Kelly and Craig and me were best friends, through thick and thin. Craig might freak at first, but once things settled down he'd be fine.

I was still anxious though, and I looked to Kelly and asked "You'll help right?"

"Of course," she stated. "In fact if you like, I'll answer the door when he gets here? I can even have a few words with him up front if that's ok with you?"

The relief was probably clear on my face as I sighed, "Thanks Kelly. That'd be great actually. I'll stay in here and you can sort of warn him or something?"

She grinned as she got to her feet, "You'll owe me a favour though, ok?"

"Anything," I nodded gratefully.

Kelly was already heading for the door before we heard the knock, then she hurried to answer it while I stayed out of sight in the living-room.

I heard the door open, then Craig asked "Yo Kelly! Where's -"

His voice cut off abruptly, then I heard the door close. I could just make out Kelly's voice but she was talking quietly. I picked up a couple words though. Trans, girl, and Melody.

"Seriously?!" Craig responded, and Kelly immediately shushed him as she talked a bit more.

After another few seconds I heard Kelly say, "Now stay calm, don't freak out, and don't forget, she/her pronouns and her name is Melody. Ok? C'mon."

My heart was racing a bit as Kelly came into the living-room first. A second later Craig walked in behind her, then he stopped in his tracks and stared at me.

"No fucking way!" he exclaimed loudly as his eyes went up and down over me.

I grimaced but waved, "Hey Craig. It's true, it's me."

"Bullshit," he stated. "I might not know much about trans stuff, but I know you can't do that overnight!"

That made me cringe, but I agreed with him "You're right. This is impossible, but it still happened. Have a seat, I'll explain as best I can ok?"

He looked from me to Kelly, but she nodded and motioned him to sit down. I could also hear my mom coming down the stairs at that point, I figured she heard his voice and was coming to see if everything was ok.

Craig sighed and slumped into the arm chair while Kelly sat down next to me on the sofa. And mom walked into the living-room before any of us could start talking.

Mom looked around then sighed slightly, "Hello Craig. Are you going to join us for dinner? We'll be ordering pizza later."

He looked back and forth between me and my mom then asked "Is this for real? Like I could see Kelly being in on some kind of elaborate gag, but not you."

"Yes, it's for real," mom replied. She sounded kind of resigned, and I could guess she wasn't happy that both Kelly and Craig were in on the secrets now. Not that she had anything against Craig, but she wasn't happy about Kelly finding out either. Mom added, "That's her, she's now my daughter, her name is Melody."

Craig stared at mom for a second then looked back at me again. He finally said, "Damn. How the fuck... Sorry I mean how the hell did that happen?"

Mom just sighed and said, "Melody I'm going to step out for a bit. I'll be back in about an hour ok? Please don't invite anyone else hon, please don't tell anyone else? We have to talk to your father about this in the morning."

"Ok mom," I replied. "I'm sorry."

Mom gave me a stressed smile, then she got her purse and picked up the clothes to be returned before she headed out.

All three of us said bye when she left, then Craig looked at me again and asked "Ok so what the fuck? How the fuck are you a hot chick? And can you change back or are you going to be stuck that way?"

"I absolutely hope I'm 'stuck' this way," I replied. "Sorry I was too scared to come out to you both sooner. I should have said something last night but I was afraid of how you'd respond. Anyways my point is, this is everything I ever wished for and more. I'm a girl, my name is Melody, and I'm so happy I can't even describe it. I never want to change back, ever."

Craig stared at me for a few seconds, "I don't know man. Your mom and Kelly might be convinced, but I still can't believe a guy would ever want to be a chick."

Both me and Kelly sighed, and I explained "I was never a guy Craig. I might have looked like a guy, and people thought I was. Maybe I even thought that too at first, until I figured it out? But I've always been a girl, and I've known that for a while."

He frowned, and I had a feeling he didn't really understand. Fortunately he didn't try and argue the point with me. Instead he asked, "So how'd this happen? Like whatever, guy, girl, I know you can't just do this overnight."

"Yeah," I grimaced. "This is where it gets even more complicated..."

I spent the next little while explaining to him about how I was a shape-shifter. I didn't go into as many details though, like I told him I got it from my dad but I didn't tell him how dad was a pretty young nurse now. I didn't even say dad was a woman now or that her name was Alison.

Not that I wanted to lie or keep secrets from my friend, but I was worried he'd make it even more complicated or weird, and anyways there was enough of that going on already.

When I finally finished Kelly spoke up, "Craig you have to swear to keep this secret ok? You're in on it because the three of us are best friends, but you can't tell anyone about Melody and her dad being shape-shifters."

Craig frowned as he looked from me to Kelly. "Yeah like anyone would believe it if I told them this stuff. And anyways, who would I tell? But fine, I get it's all secret."

He looked back at me again and his eyes flicked up and down over me. He wasn't even subtle about it as his gaze lingered at my crotch and my chest before he looked at my face again.

"So since you turned into a girl, does that mean you're into guys?" he asked with a hopeful look. "I mean, you're pretty fucking hot now, right? Like hot enough I'd -"

"Dude," Kelly glared at him. "Don't be gross ok?"

"Fine," he sighed as he rolled his eyes, but he let it drop.

The three of us talked some more after that. I told him that I didn't know what I was going to do about school or exams, but obviously I couldn't just show up at school and tell them I transitioned overnight. And I didn't know what I'd do about ID either, but I was going to talk to my dad about it, along with school and everything else.

Kelly asked about clothes, like where I got the outfit I was wearing today and stuff. So I told her how mom went out and got me a few things, and I'd have to go out again with mom at some point to get more. And maybe make-up and stuff like that too.

It felt like we were through all the difficult conversation and stuff by that point. There were still a few things that felt weird, or stuff that would take time for me to get used to.

Like Craig was obviously checking me out now and then, but he did that with Kelly too sometimes. For that matter even Kelly looked me over once or twice, though she was a lot more subtle about it. And I couldn't deny it felt kind of nice having both of them looking at me that way.

Mom got home not long after that, then we put in the order for pizza and wings.

It wasn't anything like I thought my eighteenth birthday would be, but it was pretty close to perfect as far as I was concerned.

PurpleCatGirl

If you're enjoying our work and you'd like to support us, please consider joining our patreon & get early access to new chapters! Patrons have already read chapter 13 and you could too!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl