The next morning, I immediately decide it’ll be best to skip school, as I look down at my paws right as I open my eyes. Guess today’s the first day that I wake up as a wolf, huh? It’s honestly kind of fun, except for the soreness in my tail where I slept on it. I’ll have to be aware of that in the future. I stretch and flop out of bed. Dad’s still on his trip, and will be until tomorrow, so at least I don’t have to be aware of that.

At the end of my bed, however, I see a new sight: a nightgown with a little hole for my tail. I put it on to find: it fits properly. Mama was probably thinking of me, getting it. I’m elated to discover how flow and nice it feels, as I walk into the kitchen. There, I see a face I haven’t seen since Christmas: Tony.

“Good morning, Mama,” he says to me as he notices me standing in the hallway, obviously too tired to see the subtle differences, or perhaps just not expecting anyone else. He squints his eye and goes back to eating the bacon on his plate.

“I’m not Mama, Tony,” I reply, figuring I’ll get this over with to prevent more awkwardness.

“Oh, uh, right,” he says, scratching his head, “cousin? Sorry.”

Mama enters the room, looks between the two of us, and nods to me as if to say ‘you want to tell him?’

The thing is, I don’t, particularly, but I suppose it’ll go easier than telling everyone at once at dinner, and make conversations. I sigh as I wave nervously to my older brother to get his attention. He waves back, slightly confused and more than a little groggy.

“Hey um, Tony,” I say, “it’s me, Wolf.”

“Wolf, as in my little brother Wolf?” he asks, looking to Mama as if to ask if I’m being serious.

“Yeah, I uh, I finally had my change,” I say, my tail flicking nervously from side to side. “It just went a bit differently than expected.”

“I can see that, yeah. Had it happen to one of my buddies at work when he was young, of course, he had it the other way,” Tony replied. “Don’t be shy, come give me a hug.”

I ran up to him and hugged him tight. He hugged me as tightly as he ever did, and both of us let go and started coughing after a few seconds. “Wolf, uh, you’re a lot stronger than you used to be. Nearly got me.”

“It’s Teresa now. Rob calls me Tess, though, so you can too,” I replied.

“Is it Rob who gave you that nickname?” Mama said, scowling, “I was gonna be the one to give you one! I’ll have to give that young man a piece of my mind.”

Tony laughed and turned back to me, putting his paw on my shoulder and smiling. “I know you’re a little nervous, Tess, I just want to say, I’ve got your back. You’ll always be my little sister.”

“Thanks Tony,” I say, smiling as I go to get some more bacon to cook.

The aroma fills the room, and I notice the delicate notes in it. It’s going to be nice to have a sense of smell all of the time. I put four pieces in the pan and let them sizzle until they were brown and crispy, just as I liked them best.

As I munched on the bacon, I noticed the beginning stages of a return to my old body, and rushed back to my room. It was easier changing back, or perhaps changing back and forth enough just got my body used to it. Either way, I was soon back to “normal”, sighing as I put my clothes for the day on. I pulled a baggy t-shirt and some jeans on, putting a hoodie on as well for good measure.

I tried to pull the hood up, but for some reason struggled with it. It just seemed like it wouldn’t fit over my head. I frowned as I went to investigate in the mirror. Oh my god–ears! I kept my ears! I was nearly jumping for joy as I ran out excitedly.

Tony noticed my energy, looked up to my head, and smiled. “You got your ears, huh?” he asked.

“Mhm!” I replied as I went to finish the bacon.

“How long have you been changing?” he asked.

“My first time was last month!” I replied.

“You’ve only been changing for a month? That explains why you were sick last month, I mean,” he replied.

“Yeah! Mom says that normally changes happen a lot slower, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, must be something about you being a late bloomer,” he replied, shrugging. “Well, I gotta go, little sis, work calls. Sis is okay, right?”

“Yep, sis, she/her, all that,” I replied, “thanks for bein’ so cool about this!”

“No problem, Tess,” he replied as he scratched my ears, “remember to keep me posted about college letters!”

“Will do!” I replied, beaming as he left the apartment.

I decided that now would be a good time to start helping Mama with the food. She’d already gotten groceries, it seemed, judging by the previous incursion I made into the refrigerator. However, as I went to get up and ask her, I noticed my phone buzzing. As I went to look, I noticed Lina’s number.

“Hello?” I asked as I picked up.

The line was silent on the other end, besides a nervous panting noise. Eventually, she hung up. Weird, might’ve been a butt dial. I go to Mama’s door to ask for instructions.

“Start on the pasta, that’s always the hard part and it’ll do you good to learn!” she replies.

Accordingly, I find the flour (semolina, she’d yelled at me for using all-purpose before) and the eggs. With the amount of pasta we’d be making, we’d need a full carton of eggs, and nearly the full bag of flour. I build a mound of flour, and make a divet in the middle with a bowl, and one by one crack the eggs on the counter side, pour them into the flour, then throw the shells away.

About twenty minutes of laborious mixing and kneading by hand later, I’ve got a nice ball of dough on the counter, and very sore arms. I’ll never understand how Mama does this so easily, probably wolf strength. I rest my arms for a few minutes, before I get another call.

It’s Lina again. I pick up and say, “Hello?”

“Hi, um, Tess? I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you didn’t make it into school today and I was worried something had happened,” she said, her breathing heavy and her voice anxious.

“I’m okay, Lina,” I said, “I promise.”

“Good. Um, see you later?”

“See you later,” I confirmed before I hung up.

Well, that was more pleasant than I expected. If anything, she didn’t seem super upset at me, or at least, more worried about me than she was upset. That was a good sign, I wasn’t keen on getting my ass beat. I walked back into the kitchen to roll the pasta and cut it.

We didn’t usually have the pasta 100% fresh for the day of, but Mama assured me that was okay, as long as it was made well. I cut the pasta dough into pieces, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and one by one, strung them through the machine thinner and thinner, until they were the right thickness and length for fettuccine.

It’s a very cathartic process, though the tedium does get to me. I decide it’s time to put on some 50’s pop stars. It wasn’t a bad morning/early afternoon, all things considered, I figure. Eventually, I put the pasta in a big baggie dusted with just a little bit of flour. Mama comes into the kitchen around the same time, and thanks me for my work, then starts chopping her vegetables for the stock.

It’s a good time to get lunch, I figure, so I head down to the gas station to get something cheap before I change again. Mark’s there, and he waves at me, smiling as he looks at the top of my head.

“What’d I tell you, huh, Wolf? Just a matter of time! Look at you, beautiful ears!”

“Thanks, Mark!” I reply as I get a hotdog from the warmer and a cola from the fridge.

“Any more word from those colleges?”

“Nah, you know how it is, March is when they get back to you.”

“Awww, for real? That’s gotta stink, lot of waiting,”

“Tell me about it,” I reply as I put the change down in cash and leave, “thanks Mark!”

“Have a good day, Wolf!” he says as I leave.

As I return home, I notice someone anxiously waiting outside the door to the restaurant. That someone, of course, being Lina. I wave to her from afar, hoping to not catch her by surprise. She waves back to me, and I notice her anxiety even from afar. Hopefully it’ll go better than last night.