Scarlett woke up the next day and rolled out of bed. She could scarcely believe yesterday had actually happened. She made to reach for her phone, and remembered its explosive demise the day before, smiling at her mom’s protectiveness. After her morning rituals, freshly showered, she went downstairs, where her mom was taking her time eating breakfast.

 

“Morning hun,” she waved with a full mouth.

 

“Hey mom. Not going to work today?”

 

“Nuh. Taking a day off. We need groceries, and you can’t do school anyway.”

 

“True,” Scarlett said, and butter herself a piece of toast.

 

“Besides. You need a new phone.”

 

“You remembered,” Scarlett smiled as she stuffed the bagel into her face-hole. 

 

“Of course I remembered, I had to pick shards out of the ceiling.”

 

“Ooph.”

 

“I just did it because I love you, sweetie.”

 

“I know, mom.”

 

They finished breakfast on what felt like a lazy sunday morning. Scarlett got dressed while Hecate finished the rest of cleaning up the damage from the night before. The couch was going to have to go. The carpet was a mess of black hoofprints. By the time it was rolled up, Scarlett was dressed and ready to go. 

 

The day passed quickly. By the time it was almost four, they’d had a mother-daughter day, Scarlett had a new phone, and they got ice cream. On the way back to the house, Hecate got a phone call. 

 

“Hey. I wasn’t expecting to he--... You’re what? How did… Really? To-- Okay. I’ll have to… Yeah, no… It’s no problem. The girl from the other night… yeah. Okay.”

 

She put the phone down and looked at Scarlett with a blank expression. 

 

“Allyssa can still come over after school, but I’m afraid you’re not going shopping. We’re having someone… come over for dinner tonight.”

 

“Oh? Someone I know?”

 

Hecate shook her head and looked at the road again.

 

“No. It’s an old friend of mine. From work.”

 

Scarlett could tell her mom wasn’t in a great mood, all of a sudden and thought better than to ask further. Still, she was worried. Her mom didn’t often get like this. She usually bounced between her regular self and the occasional overprotective hellion. Sullen Hecate was a rare and unpleasant sight.

 

As they went up the driveway, they saw Allyssa park her bike by the garage. Scarlett jumped out of the car while it was almost stationary, and they ran into each other’s arms, only slightly bumping their foreheads into each other.

 

“Ow.”

 

“Hey you.”

 

“Hey Alli. How was school?”

 

“Fine. Boring.”

 

Allyssa paused, and gently kissed Scarlett on the nose.

 

“Empty, without you.”

 

“Eee,” Scarlett said.

 

“Do you still want to go shopping?”

 

“I do, but mom said we’re having someone over tonight, so… tomorrow?”

 

“Oh,” Allyssa said. The disappointment was clear on her face. Scarlett immediately felt a pang of guilt. Alli tried to look chipper, but failed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

 

Hecate walked past with her arms full of groceries.

 

“Nonsense, you’re staying over for dinner.”

 

“I… yes, ma’am.”

 

Normally, Hecate enjoyed that kind of response, but she seemed laser-focused on getting everything inside. 

 

“Is your mom okay?”

 

“Yeah, I think she’s just stressed about the guest coming over. Apparently it’s an old friend of hers?”

 

Allyssa raised her eyebrows as they made their way inside, but didn’t say anything. As they walked, the backs of their hands touched, and it seemed to be almost automatic that their fingers entwined. To Scarlett, Alli’s cool hands were like a cold drink on a hot day. To Allyssa, her girlfriend’s touch was like hot chocolate on a cold winter morning. They looked each other in the eye and, like they would many times after, fell for each other all over again.

 

Deciding that going up to Scarlett’s room was perhaps, for now, not the right time, with how stressed Hecate was, they settled in the living room, on the part of the couch that wasn’t crunchy. Once inside and comfortable, Scarlett became more Scarlett, horns and tail and deep red skin and was again nestled on Allyssa’s lap, and they put the TV on so as to raise the veneer of doing something other than looking into each other’s eyes and finding out just how long Allyssa could hold her breath while kissing. 

 

Allyssa, in between breathless bouts of affection, gently stroked Scarlett’s hair.

 

“How was your day?” 

 

“It was goo--... hhhhh”

 

Just as Scarlett had begun to answer the question, Alli, with an innocent expression on her face, ran a finger down the length of one of Scarlett’s horns. 

 

“Hmm? You were saying something?”

 

“Alli! Not fai-- aah”

 

Scarlett couldn’t keep a straight face as Allyssa grabbed her horn. Alli kept glancing over in the direction of the kitchen, but Hecate was too focused on cooking. Alli could tell by the muttered curses that could be heard even over the sound of the television. She turned her attention back to Scarlett.

 

“Do you want me to stop, Scarlett?”

 

She massaged the horn gently as she spoke. Scarlett just whimpered. Her legs seemed to lead a life of their own as she squirmed. 

 

“Nnn--...”

 

“Good girl,” Allyssa said with a wolfish grin, but she let up a bit anyway. Scarlett slumped on the sofa and panted. 

 

“Where… where did that come from, Alli?”

 

“I just… wanted to see how that fit. Did you… like it?”

 

“Ye.”

 

Allyssa kissed her on the forehead.

 

“Want to do that again some time.”

 

“Maybe not in the living room? What if my mom sees?”

 

Allyssa ran her nail along the horn again and Scarlett made a noise that was only barely muffled by the sound of the tv. 

 

“But that’s part of the fun.”

 

“Baaaaabe,” Scarlett whimpered.

 

“I’ll stop. Promise.” Another kiss. 

 

They actually ended up watching a part of the movie that was playing, for as much as they managed to stay focused on what they were watching. There was a lot of gentle touching as Allyssa gently caressed Scarlett’s neck, and occasionally they exchanged a kiss. Scarlett had almost dozed off when the doorbell rang. Hecate poked her head out from the kitchen.

 

“Will you get that, hun? I’ve got my hands full.”

 

“On it!” Scarlett said and jumped up, ready to run to the front door. 

 

“Scarlett!” Allyssa hissed. 

 

“What?”

 

Allyssa just pointed at her head. Right. The horns.

 

“And the tail.”

 

“Oops.”

 

Looking more human, she barely managed to remember making her skin less crimson before opening the front door. 

 

In front of her stood an imposing woman. Her features were androgynous, her jaw sharp enough to cut glass. She had laugh lines around her mouth, though she didn’t look like she smiled much. Her eyes were a deep, icy blue, the most striking part of a face framed by long, golden-blonde hair. She was wearing a tan coat over a white business suit.

 

“Hello,” Scarlett said, slightly intimidated. 

 

“Hello. You must be Scarlett. Can I come in?”

 

“I… Of course. Come in. Can eh… Can I take your coat?”

 

The woman smiled softly, but it made a world of difference. It made her features look a lot softer. 

 

“If you insist.” She handed her the coat. “Now, let’s see if I remember…” The woman paused for a second, then made her way directly to the kitchen. As Scarlett hung up the woman’s coat, she could hear voices from the kitchen.

 

“Hey, Cate.” That’s a name she’d never heard anyone call her mother before.

 

“I thought it was you. What name do you go by these days?”

 

“Don’t…” There was a weariness in the woman’s voice.

 

“I’m… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

Scarlett was a little taken aback at how quiet her mother sounded. Sullen Hecate. She took another second to ‘hang up the coat’ some more, but couldn’t keep stalling and joined them. Hecate stood with her back to the room at the sink, and the woman had her arms defensively crossed in front of her. The awkward silence was deafening.

 

“Do… can I…” Scarlett tried.

 

“Why don’t you get our guest comfortable at the dinner table, sweetie? I’ll be right there. Food’s almost done. Why don’t you introduce her to Alli?”

 

Scarlett nodded, and then realized Hecate couldn’t see her. “Okay mom.”

 

She walked past the woman and urged her to follow. She quickly pattered over the living room, where she grabbed a confused Alli by the hand and dragged her along. The woman was already sitting down. She looked like she was about to take an interview. 

 

“I… hi…” Scarlett said again. 

 

“Hello again, Scarlett. And your friend?”

 

Scarlett and Allyssa looked at each other, holding hands under the table.

 

“My girlfriend.” She grinned proudly. “This is Allyssa.” Allyssa smiled happily and waved. 

 

“Hi!”

 

“Allyssa this is…” Scarlett left the question hanging in the air.

 

“Hello Allyssa. I’m… I’m an old colleague of your mother’s. Right around the time she moved to this neighbourhood. Please, sit down,” she offered as if this wasn’t Scarlett’s own house. They obliged. 

 

“I’m in asset management.” She paused, and saw their looks. They were about as enthusiastic as you got from two teens who have just been told the words ‘asset management’. 

 

“In short, when two companies merge, it’s my job to make sure everything goes over smoothly. My company,” she motioned first at herself, then at the kitchen. “Acquired your mother’s. We’ve been working on getting everything fixed.”

 

Just then, Hecate came in with a large oven dish. It looked and smelled amazing. She’d clearly been working on getting this perfect for hours. 

 

“No work talk at the dinner table, please,” she said briskly, and handed everyone a plate. 

 

“How come you were in the neighbourhood?” She cut right to the chase as she poured herself a glass of water. Scarlett and Allyssa felt very much like wheels three and four on the world’s most awkward bicycle. 

 

“I wasn’t, Hecate. That’s why I’m here. This isn’t a courtesy call.”

 

“Oh?” Hecate’s eyebrows raised but her eyes stayed dull. That constant hint of… something, it wasn’t going away.

 

“The merger is almost done.”

 

“That’s not... I thought…” Hecate seemed taken aback, shocked.

 

“Six months. At most. And I’m not really needed anymore.”

 

“But I thought… You said…”

 

“I just repeated what they told me then. I just worked harder than they thought I could.”

 

“But that’s… I just…” Tears were welling up in Hecate’s eyes. 

 

Scarlett finally had enough. 

 

“I don’t want to be rude, ma’am, but what’s going on? Why is this merger so important it’s making my mom upset. Who are you?”

 

Hecate looked at the woman, and then at Scarlett, and then back at the woman.

 

“You’re sure? This isn’t… some cruel…”

 

“We… I don’t do that, Cate. You know that.”

 

“Yeah. I… I just can’t believe… Go ahead.”

 

The woman clasped her hands together and looked at Hecate and Scarlett. 

 

“Scarlett, my name is Gabrielle. I worked with your mother before she came here. From the old country.”

 

“O... Oh.”

 

The woman took a deep breath, and looked Scarlett right in the eyes.

 

“Scarlett, I’m your mother.”