Two stores and several shopping bags later Brooke and her mother finally arrived at the food court. The stores hadn’t been especially interesting, especially after the whole debacle in Dia’s Disaster, but they did at least offer enough items of sufficient quality to pad out her wardrobe a bit. She even managed to convince her mother to buy a few items for herself!

Unfortunately, Brooke wouldn’t be able to get a full, proper meal at the food court without raising quite a few eyebrows, so she and her mother settled on sharing a pizza. It wasn’t the best pizza, but it was cheap and plentiful, important qualities in an afternoon snack.

Of course, considering her mother needed a rest as much as she needed food, they were left with more than a bit of time to sit and chat. Which brought up the many, many, MANY questions Brooke had for her mother which had yet to receive anything close to a satisfactory answer. Not that she even wanted answers for all of them. She still wanted nothing to do with her mother’s love life after all… Though some tangentially related topics might be safe?

“So… mom… How do you know Dia? She seemed, uh… quite well informed about what was going on.” She really, really hoped this was safe.

Based on her mother’s giggle, she feared the worst. “Oh! Dia was actually the one who shared my writing with Amy back in the day, before I really knew who either of them was. Once I met Amy and the connection with our online personas came out it didn’t take long for Dia to get brought into the loop. I was actually going to have us stop by her shop while we were here just to say hi! I didn’t expect you’d also end up meeting a friend there though.”

That gave Brooke some pause. If Dia was friends with Ms. Zwavel that gave even more weight to the chance she was actually a witch… Or a demon? Or some other magical creature. She really needed to get some more information on what was real and what was fiction…

Actually, maybe her mother knew? She had to be a bit careful about how she phrased this… “So… is Miss Dia… you know?” Okay, that could have gone better.

She had no clue how to take her mother’s snort of laughter. “Yes dear, she’s a lesbian.”

That definitely could have gone better. Now it was Brooke’s turn to snort with laughter. “Yes, obviously! But that’s not what I meant. Why is that the first place your head went?”

Her mother blushed as she tried to force out a reply through her giggles. “Well we weren’t exactly being subtle, so I was expecting you to ask about it!”

“I was very specifically trying not to ask about it! I really, really don’t want to think about your… wait we’re both bi?” Oh god now she was thinking about it. Dammit.

Oh. That was a sad smile. Uh oh. “No dear, we’re not. I’m a lesbian.”

The giggle fit Brooke had been fighting with died off quickly at that. If her mother was a lesbian… “How… How’d you end up with Dad?”

Oh goddess, why had she asked that? Her mother’s smile was practically painted on. “Well, back when we got married, it wasn’t exactly safe or easy being a lesbian. I was lonely and hungry and didn’t have any family to rely on. Your father knew all the right things to say, and I ended up following my stomach, rather than my heart.”

Brooke swallowed, imagining just how desperate her mother must have been to fall in with a guy like her father… But she supposed she only knew what he was like years after she’d already agreed. She’d seen her father schmoozing with other wealthier people in town. She was sure he could have pretended to be the person her mother needed for years before dropping the act.

Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, the fake smile having faded into something more genuine, more strained yet so much more full of hope. “Hey now, none of that sweetie. It wasn’t easy, but if it’s what it took to get me here, now, with you? Getting to spend a wonderful day with my beautiful daughter? It was worth it. Better yet, it’s almost over. Amy has been trying to get me to divorce him for years, so the moment I said I was on board she was practically done the paperwork before I finished talking. We’re getting away from him. He can’t hurt either of us anymore.”

Both had misty eyes by the time she finished talking, and Brooke couldn’t resist standing up to give her a hug… Even if it was made slightly awkward by her mother still sitting in her chair. Not every hug has to be perfect though. The moment her mother returned the gesture she knew it was good enough.

They finished the rest of the pizza in relative silence, occasionally exchanging meaningless chatter as they both came down from the emotional high. By the time the pizza was gone, mostly thanks to Brooke’s endless appetite, they were both ready to continue…

Except for the fact Brooke was kind of tired of the mall. It was crowded, and noisy, and she was still stuck in her human form even if she was able to ignore it most of the time. She wanted to spend more time at the mall with her mom, she really did… but spending time together at home didn’t sound so bad either did it?

So, with some trepidation she gave the table a little tap. “Hey mom… I think I’m ready to head home, how about you?”

Her mother stood up with a stretch and a yawn. “I think I agree. Goodness I haven’t spent this long out and about in ages! I’d forgotten how tiring it is.”

She hadn’t even considered that side of things. Had her mother just been holding on, struggling through just to spend a bit more time with her daughter? She’d known, intellectually, that her father didn’t like her mother going out for anything but groceries, but hadn’t really processed what that meant for her.

Her troubled thoughts were interrupted by a finger booping her on the nose. “Now now no need to look so gloomy. We just went over this! It was all worth it, and things are better now. I already told you Amy took me to France, remember? Hardly a caged bird these days.”

Her mother was right of course, internalising things was just a bit harder than talking about them. Fortunately, they had a whole walk home to help remind her of just how much things had changed. Though she really could have done without her mother’s comments about how nice Ms. Zwavel was. The fact Brooke got so embarrassed, of course, being the primary reason the topic kept coming up.

By the time they got home Brooke was ready to bolt, and she may very well have if she hadn’t found the Zwavels waiting inside for them. The ominous grins certainly weren’t helping. The matching grin on her mother’s face as she passed by her daughter to join the duo only increased her concern.

“So… what’s this all-”

She didn’t even get to finish before Sarah declared their cruel scheme with demonic glee. “Fashion show!”

She stared at them all, not quite processing the statement. “What?”

Fortunately, Ms. Zwavel, who might someday be her second mom, which she really didn’t want to think about, but was also really hard not to think about after what her mother had told her, was willing to elaborate. “We’re quite excited to see what you got on your first shopping trip for clothes you actually want to wear, so we were hoping you’d do a little… fashion show. Let us get a look at it before I go and put in all the time and effort magicking it up you know?”

Oh, oh good. She was already familiar with the most important maternal tool of all: Guilt. With a sigh Brooke began walking towards the first floor bathroom. “Yeah yeah alright alright. Just don’t get your hopes up, you know the types of stores in the mall. Their selection mostly ranges from bland to dull with exceptional items occasionally reaching the vaunted heights of mildly interesting.”

Sarah, of course, saw this as an opportunity. “That’s fine! The clothes are just the accent, you’re the real work of art.”

Brooke just knew Sarah had just winked at her back, and refused to dignify her with a response. She was going to get through this little fashion show, change back into her demon form, and then lounge around for the rest of the night.

As she set down the bags she was sure it’d be fine… until she saw the considerably larger bag courtesy of Dia’s Disasters… Maybe they only needed to see MOST of her purchases.

The first dress was met with polite compliments. It was quite reserved, more the standard fair of the town and thus nothing particularly exciting. The second outfit was a little better. A long skirt and a soft sweater at least had some personality. The next two outfits were largely more of the same, and so, received more of the same.

It wasn’t until she came out in a skirt reaching only halfway down her thigh and a tank top that showed considerable cleavage that she finally got a real reaction. Of course that reaction was Sarah whistling and making cartoon sound effects. Brooke didn’t feel the need to dignify that with a response…

Especially considering the next outfit had her walking out in black short shorts with yellow accents, and a matching crop-top. She was a little embarrassed, but more than that, she felt good. She felt strong and confident, and most of all sexy. The look on Sarah’s face as she made absolutely zero effort to hide her wandering eyes certainly helped.

It was kind of funny, the sports gear she’d worn for running around in the backyard hadn’t covered much more, yet something about the very explicit intent behind the outfit had a dramatic impact on the appeal. Not that Sarah was probably much more able to resist staring at her while she’d been running around in the backyard.

With nothing else to show off besides the items from Dia’s Disasters she threw her hands out. “Ta-da! And that’s all folks! At least for me. Mum also got some new clothes! Why don’t we send her in for-”

“What about what you bought at Dia’s?” Her mother’s voice was so sweet and innocent you didn’t even need to see her face to know she looked like evil incarnate.

Of course, this caught Ms. Zwavel’s attention. “Oh good! I’m glad you managed to drop by! Was Dia in? I heard she was preparing something for you!”

Brooke’s mother giggled, holding up her own, very large bag from the store in question. “Oh yes, she practically forced it on me. I’ll show it to you later, but for now… I really am dying to know what Brooke got. It’s actually the only outfit we bought today that I didn’t get to see.”

Apparently that caught Sarah’s attention. “Oh? Well now I’m extra curious! Go on and get it on. The sooner you show us, the sooner you can drop the human look.”

Brooke groaned. That was a very compelling argument, especially considering she felt she had absolutely no chance of winning to begin with. So, with a dramatic sigh she returned to the bathroom.

It was a much more in depth process than the others, but Brooke was already itching to change back. It was with this itch motivating her that she stomped her way out of the bathroom and into the living room, head held high and chest puffed out. When she stopped she quirked her hip and slapped a hand on it, feeling her thigh shake with the force.

“Well? Is it everything you hoped for?”

Her mother was smiling, hands together pressed to her chest, while Ms. Zwavel was covering her mouth with her hands, even as the smile on her face was clear in her eyes. Sarah however was practically drooling. Her eyes were wide, flicking about as if they couldn’t quite decide on where to stop, while her mouth hung open in obvious disbelief. None of them said anything for so long that Brooke was genuinely starting to worry about them.

Finally Ms. Zwavel broke the silence, clapping her hands together with a wicked grin. “Oh that is absolutely magnificent. I’ll have to get that all enchanted right away. That said, why don’t you go and change so you can finally get out of that human disguise.”

Sarah seemed ready to protest, but Brooke didn’t need to be told twice. She was back in the bathroom stripping naked before another word could be uttered. The moment she was naked the human transformation ended, and she found herself groaning with relief. She stretched her arms and tail, sighing as the stiffness faded far more easily than it would have in any human limb.

Once she was dressed once more she dropped off her new clothes with Ms. Zwavel, and promptly deposited herself on the couch. The exhaustion of being out and about was finally catching up with her mind, even if it had little impact on her body.

There was still so much more she wanted to do with her mom, but she tried to relax. They’d have plenty of time to catch up on what they missed. Besides, lounging on the couch, eating snacks, and watching movies together were also things they’d missed out on. So it was that the remainder of the day was spent, chatting about nothing, eating even more than usual, and enjoying one another’s company.

darlingng01

Hope y'all don't mind my breezing over the end of the day. I feel like it's more important to keep the story moving than to specifically detail everything that happens. If I manage to finish this story I might do a bonus chapter from Sarah's perspective detailing the fashion show~<3

Also! I have bottom surgery on the 30th (feel free to congratulate me in the comments =P), so y'all might not be getting another chapter for a bit. I'm trying to get one more done beforehand but haven't gotten very far yet.