Chapter 3 - A Suitable Crush

Friday, December 20 (evening)

It was a bizarre feeling to be the first one home this early. The house was so quiet, Kevin thought to himself. Typically when he arrived home, everyone was already here, and dinner was almost ready. He looked at the empty kitchen and had an idea that he should be the one to start dinner. He was in Jennifer’s body after all.

First though, he had to get out of this frumpy teacher attire.

In the master bedroom, he quickly shed the heels, blouse, skirt, and, with a huge sigh of relief, his bra. Wanting to wear something comfy, he knew just what to get. Opening his wife’s dresser drawer he pulled out her faded navy-blue sweatpants. He loved the way they looked on Jennifer. Then he found a T-shirt, socks and cross trainers to complete Jennifer’s typical casual after-work outfit.

Walking into the bathroom, he spun around and admired his — or rather his wife’s — ass in the mirror. Wiggling it back and forth, he couldn’t help but smile at how lucky he was to have this beautiful body in his life. Giving himself a light slap on his buttcheek, he flicked off the bathroom light and headed downstairs.

Kevin stood in front of the open fridge staring at the available ingredients. What did Jennifer have planned for dinner today, anyways? Could he make it? And was it something he wanted to make?

His indecision was broken when Ethan walked in.

“Hey Mom—I mean Dad,” he said.

“Hi… son,” Kevin replied.

Ethan rolled his eyes and grunted, annoyed at yet another reminder that he was stuck in his sister’s body. Sidling past Kevin, he reached into a fridge drawer and pulled out a nondescript plastic container, then grabbed a fork from a nearby drawer.

“Where’s your sister?” Kevin asked, pushing aside ingredients and random leftovers as he dug through the fridge.

“Out with friends… I mean… with my friends.” He popped open the container, and stuffed a bite of leftover lasagna into his mouth.

“Hey! What are you eating?” Kevin complained. “I’m going to be making dinner soon.”

He glanced up at Kevin with Sophia’s eyes, and let out an aggrieved huff that was entirely teenage girl. “Mom lets us snack when we get home.”

Kevin sighed as Ethan walked away, into the family room. Time to figure out dinner.

⁂

Ethan briefly turned around to watch his Dad putter around the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets and letting out a stream of curses that sounded increasingly squeaky in his mom’s voice. He noticed Dad had swapped into what Mom would wear when she got home from work, and Ethan was considering doing the same thing. The bra, fuzzy sweater and tight jeans that Sophia put him in this morning felt like a costume, a constant, annoying reminder of his predicament. He needed to be comfortable. He needed to be himself.

If Dad can change, he rationalized, then so could he.

After hearing a clatter of pots and pans crashing to the kitchen floor, Ethan decided to retreat upstairs before Dad asked for help.

Once he entered his room, he kicked off the boots, pulled off the sweater, then slid the jeans down his legs and kicked them into the corner of his room.

Browsing his closet, he pulled an old, worn T-shirt off the hanger and picked up his favorite pair of jeans off the floor. 

First he tried the jeans. They were certainly long enough, but no matter what he tried he couldn’t get them up over his sister’s hips. He grunted and pulled, but all that did was make the denim dig into his skin. Letting out an exasperated growl, he gave up on the jeans and kicked them into the same corner.

Then he tried the T-shirt. It fit. Until he looked down and saw the logo on the front stretching across his boobs. Maybe it’s not noticeable, he thought, walking to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Nope. It looked too revealing on Sophia’s body.

He returned to his room, yanking it up over his head and adding it to the quickly growing pile of clothing rejects. Nothing of his would fit on this body. Sure, Ethan was athletic, but he was taller and leaner than Sophia. Leon, however, was much more built before he left for college. Perhaps he could borrow his old clothes? It’s not as if Lily would mind.

He walked into Lily’s room, and immediately noticed both Lily’s and Sabrina’s bags sitting open, with his sister’s being almost entirely empty. Looking in the closet, all of Leon’s clothes had been pushed to one side, and in the middle proudly hung an array of new feminine tops and dresses.

Seeing this felt like a gut punch to Ethan. A reminder that Leon wasn’t here. That he was gone.

In the male section of the closet, he found what he was looking for—an extra-large T-Shirt from a concert that he and Leon went to last year. After unhooking his bra and sliding it off with his eyes closed, he slid the T-shirt over his head, relieved to not feel any tightness across his chest.

Next was the dresser. He looked through the drawers and found a pair of jeans. He slipped them on, and was happily surprised to find—although baggy in the legs—that they sat perfectly on his hips and were pretty comfy.

Before he went downstairs, a hoodie tucked away in the back of the closet caught his eye. He didn’t remember ever seeing Leon wearing it, but it sported the logo of his college. Ethan picked it off the hanger, pulling it over his head and threading his arms through it.

Upon looking at his reflection in the mirror on the back of Lily’s bedroom door, he felt more like himself. Sure, maybe he did look a little bit like a girl wearing her boyfriend’s clothes, but with his baggy clothes and his hair still tied back in the braid, he felt a lot more like himself.

⁂

After a pleasant afternoon with Lily showing Sabrina around her childhood town, the couple finally returned home. Lily opened the door for Sabrina and they both walked in. 

Dad was cooking in the kitchen, like Mom would usually do, mumbling to himself and surrounded by a haphazard mountain of dirty dishes. Turning towards the living room, Ethan was sprawled out on the couch watching some animated Christmas special.

“Where’s Sophia?” Lily asked, eager to see how her siblings’ day as each other had gone.

“Out at the mall,” Ethan replied absently, not taking his gaze off of the TV.

Sabrina cocked her head curiously at the boy-in-a-girl’s body on the couch. Ethan was slouched over, legs spread apart, drowning in a hoodie several sizes too big for him. A mischievous glint filled her eyes as she noticed Ethan’s attire. “Hey look Lil, less than a day, and she is already borrowing your clothes.”

“Brie, be nice,” she warned, nudging her girlfriend's side with her elbow.

Ethan, his concentration on the TV broken, looked up, a flush spreading across his cheeks. He scrambled to sit up straighter. “Oh, hey, Lily… and Sabrina. Sorry about, uh, this.” He gestured vaguely at his outfit. “I needed something comfortable. I promise I’ll put it all back and wash it when I’m done with it. I just… none of my stuff fits, and I didn’t think you’d mind if I borrowed some of yo— of Leon’s old clothes.”

Sabrina was about to make a snarky comment when her playful smirk softened, replaced by a look of sudden realization. Her eyes focused on the navy college hoodie Ethan was wearing, then glanced at Lily. “Wait a second, Lil… isn’t that your…?”

Lily’s eyes went wide. It wasn’t just any hoodie. No, it was the hoodie. The one she bought the day after her transformation, the one she wore constantly for the first month—big, baggy, anonymous, a shield against the sudden reality of her new feminine body. Her “dysphoria hoodie” as Sabrina had dubbed it. She had packed it just in case it got too cold during her trip home. Seeing her brother—in her sister’s body—wearing her hoodie brought back painful memories. 

“Your… what?” Ethan asked, confused. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Lily replied, her voice catching in her throat..

Ethan didn’t fully understand whatever sentimental value this hoodie had for Lily but, looking up at how awkward the two girls were acting, wanted no part of it. He suddenly pulled the hoodie off, the collar catching on his hair as the static pulled hairs out of his braid, adding to the awkwardness.

“It’s OK,” Lily said. “You’re my— brother. You can certainly borrow my clothes.” She looked at the T-shirt that Ethan had been wearing under the hoodie. “I remember that concert.”

“Yeah,” Ethan recalled. “We had a great time. It was great to hang out with my bro… umm. It was great to hang out with you.”

Lily composed herself. “I enjoyed hanging out with you too. You know I’m still here though, right Ethan? Just because I’m your sister now doesn’t mean we can’t hang out. We can still be… well, maybe not ‘bros’ anymore, but it doesn’t mean I want to be any less close to you.”

She knew it must be hard on her little brother. Even if they could reforge their relationship, it would never quite be the same thing as her being his older brother. She wasn’t that person anymore, even if she loved him as much as she always had.

Ethan didn’t say anything, just sat there with his head hung in sorrow and looking as if he was trying to hold back tears.

Lily touched his shoulder lightly, and gave it a little squeeze. “I’ll give you some quiet time, but I’ll be upstairs if you decide to chat.” Letting out a quiet sigh, she turned and walked upstairs, not seeing the subtle nod he made in response.

Sabrina lingered behind, a smirk on her face as she leaned in towards Ethan. “Just so you know, those are Lily’s jeans, not Leon’s,” Sabrina giggled, as Ethan’s eyes went wide. “But they look cute on you.”

Sabrina then turned and dashed upstairs to follow her girlfriend, leaving Ethan with his face turning as red as the fiery hair of the animated character singing on the TV screen.

⁂

Sophia immediately regretted going along with this outing. Granted, it was Ethan who agreed to it, but she wished she would’ve found a reason to bail on this. Sorry boys, can’t go shopping, too busy showering tonight. Standing between Matthew and Davis, she felt like a babysitter as they wandered through the mall. 

Ethan’s friends were exactly like she imagined. Loud, crass, and clueless about girls. How both of them managed to have girlfriends was beyond her.

“Dude, do you think Kiera will like this?” Matthew asked, holding up a plushie of avocado wearing sunglasses. It was smiling, with tiny button eyes and dangling legs with tennis shoes at the end of its feet.

She held her tongue. Be nice, she told herself. How could he be so unaware about the kinds of things that his girlfriend was into? Did he not pay attention to her on their dates? Look at how her room was decorated? Kiera was a junior varsity cheerleader, and this definitely wasn’t her style.“Does she like avocados?” Sophia asked.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What about stuffed animals?”

“Uhh… I dunno? Don’t all girls like stuffed animals?”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “You’ve been dating her for… how long now?”

“Since September.”

“For three months!” Sophia shook her head. There was no way this poor boy was going to figure this out without a hint. “Kiera is more interested in retro stuff. Not a novelty plushie.”

“See? That’s why we brought you, man,” he said, tossing the plushie back into the bin. “So, uhh… what’s retro stuff?”

OMG, he’s hopeless, Sophia lamented.

“Hey, Ethan,” Davis said, holding up a jarred candle. “What about this? Romantic, right?”

Sophia took the candle, pulled off the lid and sniffed. “Ew. This smells like someone poured gasoline into a pumpkin-spice latte. Why don’t you try that cherry-blossom lotion set over there? Trust me,” she said, putting the lid on the candle and handing it back to Davis.

Davis smiled. “Right on.”

“So why are you still single, man?” Matthew asked Sophia.

“Yeah, Ethan. You’re going to be varsity next year.” Davis added. “Plus you’re shredded. Girls love that shit.”

Sophia shrugged, examining her reflection in a glass display case. As weird as it felt to think about her brother this way—especially while wearing his body—he really was in pretty great shape. “I’m just waiting for the right one,” she replied dismissively.

“You need someone like my girl.” Matthew said. “She’s chill.”

“Kiera?” Sophia asked. Sure, Kiera was attractive. Really attractive. But she had no brains, Sophia thought, thinking back on her attempts to teach Kiera a routine during cheer camp that had nearly resulted in their best flyer breaking her ankle.

“Or like Ashley in history,” Davis said.

Sophia didn’t know who that was. “Who?”

“Ashley. She sits two desks in front of you. Brown hair, septum piercing, has those cute freckles? She’s totally hot, and she’s single. Way better than wasting your time pining over… you know who.”

“No, I don’t know who. Pining over who?” Sophia found herself asking. She didn’t really want to know about her brother's love life, but she had to admit that this conversation had piqued her interest in what Ethan’s friends thought of the girls at their school.

It was Davis’s turn to roll his eyes. “Abigail, dude. Everybody but your sister knows that you’ve been crushing on her best friend since freshman year.”

“Yeah, man. You can barely manage to say a word whenever she’s in the room,” added Matthew. “I feel second-hand embarrassment for you every time it happens.”

Sophia stopped dead in her tracks, the blood draining from her face. Abigail. She remembered Ethan trailing around behind her when she would come over to practice her cheer routines in sophomore year. At the time she had thought it was pretty cute, her little brother being tongue tied around Abigail. She hadn’t realized it had developed into something bigger.

“It’s a dangerous game to be crushing on your sister’s bestie,” Matthew said.

“My sister would agree with you,” Sophia replied.

“All this talk about girls is getting me hungry,” Davis said. “Let’s grab a bite to eat.”

Desperate to change the topic, Sophia agreed, and immediately started walking towards the food court. She would have to have a conversation with Ethan for him to stop crushing on her friends… again. Especially Abigail.

“Hey, wait up man!” said Matthew, dashing alongside Davis to catch up with Sophia.

⁂

“But seriously, Ethan,” Davis said, cheese stretching as he pulled out a slice out of the sausage pizza they had decided to share. “You can’t start your senior year single. You have seven months to get a girl.”

“What happens if I don’t?” Sophia asked.

“I dunno,” Davis said. “But we’re going to be entering the best year of high school. The last year of maximum freedom and minimum consequences before real life hits. You have to experience everything high school has to offer. That includes the drama, the dates, Homecoming, Prom, all that corny Hollywood shit they say we should be doing. It’s an investment in your future 'when I was your age' stories.

“Yeah,” added Matthew, waving a half-eaten slice of pizza in her direction, “And you can’t do any of that without a girlfriend.”

“I appreciate your… umm… concern,” Sophia replied. “But, I’ll get a girlfriend when I’m ready. It’s not a checklist item to be ticked off before graduation.”

“I bet you couldn’t even get a girl’s number even if you tried,” Matthew said in the middle of chewing his pizza.

Sophia scoffed. “That’s childish, and I have better things to do.”

“What are you, scared of girls?” asked Davis.

“I’m pretty sure I know more about girls than you two knuckleheads put together.”

“He totally is,” added Matthew. “You too chicken to take me up on my bet?”

“Doubling down on the immaturity, I see.”

“It’s what I do,” Matthew grinned. “Besides, since when did you turn away from a bet?”

“Since you started treating women like a bet.”

“Wow, you hit a nerve, Matt,” Davis said, nudging Matthew with his elbow.

“No,” Sophia replied. “It’s just that—women are more than a bet. What would your girlfriend think?”

“Kiera would think we’re trying to get our best friend Ethan to break out of his shell and finally get a girl of his own.”

Sophia sighed.

“You pick,” said Matthew, gesturing grandly with his hand to encompass the entire, bustling food court. “Any girl in this food court. Go up, introduce your dumbass, and try to get their number. Remember, Coach says you miss every shot you don’t take.”

Rolling her eyes, Sophia nevertheless found herself reluctantly glancing around the food court. Her eyes scanned the crowd—the families, the pre-teens, the other clusters of high schoolers. To her astonishment, she found her eyes resting on a familiar face—the girl with the rainbow streak in her blonde hair from English class. The one who had smirked at Sophia like she was in on some private joke. “Fine,” she said, getting up from the table, and nodding towards the rainbow-haired girl. “That girl over there.”

Matthew and Davis conspicuously turned in unison towards the direction Sophia was pointing.

“Charlotte from English?” Matthew asked. “She’s cold, dude. A regular ice queen. Are you sure you don’t want to try an easier target?”

“No. If I get Charlotte's number, you owe me lunch for a week when we get back from Christmas break.”

“Deal,” Matthew replied.

“Yeah, Ethan!” Davis cheered quietly as Sophia stood up from the table and walked towards the girl.

Charlotte was sitting at a table alone, scrolling through her phone, an empty frappuccino cup beside her. She looked utterly absorbed in her own world. Sophia approached her, trying to channel a confident, casual male swagger. She pulled out the chair opposite Charlotte and sat down without asking.

“Hey,” Sophia said, trying to keep it cool. “Charlotte, right?”

She looked up at Sophia. “It’s Ethan, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. We’re in English together.” Sophia said with a flirtatious smile.

“Riiiight.” Her eyes returned to her phone.

“I really liked your answer about Twelfth Night. About Cesario.”

“Oh, well, I think Shakespeare certainly had a grasp of today’s LGBTQ issues hundreds of years ago,” replied Charlotte, sounding disinterested and still staring down at her phone.

“Definitely,” Sophia replied. “I thought the same thing when I read it last year.”

Charlotte looked up, her eyebrow raised. “You read it last year?”

“Oh… I mean last week,” Sophia corrected, stumbling over the lie. “That’s, umm… that’s a really cute dragonfly necklace you’re wearing. It really goes great with your blouse.”

Charlotte fingered the pendant absently, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at Ethan. “Uh huh.”

Sophia realized her error right away. She was acting like a girl. Not Ethan. “Oh I mean. It looks cool.”

“Right.”

Sophia puffed out her chest. “So, any big Friday night plans?”

Charlotte looked at Sophia then glanced over Sophia’s shoulder and noticed Matthew and Davis staring in her direction. “Are you talking to me over a bet?”

Busted. “What?” Sophia responded quickly, her voice breaking. “No. I mean Yes. But that’s not why I really came over.”

“It isn’t? Then why did you come over, Ethan?”

“To talk about Cesario. I really did like your answer. You had the most insightful answer in class. You clearly read the play and understood it.”

“Oh? And what was my answer again?”

“About how Cesario was pretending to be a guy to gain…” Sophia stuttered in the sheer coincidence of that answer. “...acceptance.”

“It’s funny how art imitates life isn’t it?”

“I don’t uh… understand.”

“Are you pretending to be a guy, Ethan?”

“What?” Sophia replied abruptly. “No— it’s just that…”

“Listen, you can stop whatever game it is you’re playing with me. I know you’re not Ethan. So who are you?”

Sophia was taken aback, her eyes widening. “Umm.. how did you know?”

“I can practically smell the magic wafting off of you. It was distracting me during class. So are you going to tell me the truth? Who are you, really?”

“I’m Sophia. Ethan’s my brother.”

“That explains why your aura is so unstable.”

“Wait—are you a witch too? Do you think you could help me?”

“In training. And I dunno if I want to get involved in family drama. Or the affairs of another witch.”

“Please? My whole family would appreciate it.”

“Your whole family? Who did you piss off?”

“Does this mean you can help?”

“Listen. Sophia,” Charlotte said with friendly impatience as she gathered her things. “I gotta get going. My break is over, and I have to get back to work. She eyed the boys watching her from the other table. “So what was the bet for?”

“Lunch for a week.”

“If what?”

“If I got your number.”

“My number?” Charlotte held back a laugh. “Wow, you boys are desperate,” she said, pulling out a piece of paper. “Listen. I’m not looking to date anyone right now. But if you share your free lunch with me one of those days and want to legitimately talk about your desire to be a boy—” 

“Wait, no, you’ve got the wrong idea. This wasn’t my choice.”

“It never is,” Charlotte giggled. “Fine, then if you want to talk about whatever happened to you and your family…” She then wrote a phone number on the paper. “You can give me a call,” she said, handing the paper to Sophia. “Have a good weekend.” she said.

“Ummm… see you Monday, Charlotte,” Sophia said as she walked away. 

Sophia returned to the table flashing the paper.

“No way dude.” Davis said. “You actually got her number? I take back everything I said about you not having any game.”

Matthew snatched the paper from Sophia’s hand.

“Hey!” Sophia said in protest, as Matthew started dialing the number on the paper, turning on the speaker and setting the phone down on the table.

Charlotte answered on the second ring. “Well, hello Matthew.”

“Shit,” Matthew and Davis said in unison.

“I can see you both. Tell Ethan I said hi. And that he is awfully cute.”

The boys hung up the phone, their jaws dropped in amazement as Sophia took a sip from her Coke, a triumphant smirk upon her lips.

⁂

Jennifer pushed on the front door and was greeted with a savory and garlicky aroma. It smelled incredible. Kevin must’ve ordered pizza from the fancy place, she thought.

As she walked past the living room where Ethan’s eyes were glued to the TV and into the kitchen, she froze in the doorway.

Kevin was standing in front of the stove, sauteing garlic and onions. He was wearing a flower-print apron atop one of her ratty t-shirts, her old, faded navy blue sweatpants peeking out underneath. She hadn’t worn them in public in years, even though, she thought appreciatively as she tilted her head to the side, they hugged her ass perfectly. Was it weird to admire her own body this way? Certainly this body didn’t seem to think so.

“Kevin?” she asked in a voice that still felt alien to her.

He turned to her, a wide smile crossing his face as he continued stirring the pan with a wooden spoon. “Hey babe. Ethan’s watching TV, Sophia’s at the mall, Le– Lily and Sabrina the teenage witch are upstairs. I just started dinner, as I figured you’d be starving.”

“Wow. You made dinner? I thought you’d just get pizza.”

“Well, I thought about it, but I was home early. I’m never home early. Besides, I imagine Lily didn’t bring her girlfriend home just for us to get takeout.”

“You changed,” she said, her eyes flicking over his body.

“Yeah, I slipped into something comfy," he said, grabbing a nearby glass of wine and taking a sip. “You like it?” He spun around, only to look a bit embarrassed once he realized what he had just done.

“I do, it’s cute on you,” Jennifer said, pausing, her eyes once again scanning over Kevin. “On me? Sorry, this is all rather confusing.“

“No kidding,” Kevin replied. “I kept missing when kids called out Mrs. Richardson all day.”

“Right?” replied Jennifer, sighing wearily. “I kept looking around for you whenever somebody said ‘Kevin,’ only to realize it was me they were talking to.”

“You look tired. Why don’t you go take a quiet break upstairs, put on something comfy?”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes of course, go ahead,” he said, turning his attention back to the stove. “I’ve got this. I’ll call for you when it’s time for dinner.”

Jennifer headed upstairs. As she walked down the upstairs hallway, she decided to poke her head into Lily’s room. Lily was lying on her stomach, while Sabrina sat propped up against the headboard. Both had headphones in their ears, scrolling through their phones.

As if she could sense her presence, Sabrina pulled out her headphones and looked up at Jennifer. “Hello, Mrs. R.”

Sabrina. Jennifer still hadn’t forgiven her for the chaos she had put her family through. And as for Lily, who still listened to her music, oblivious of her presence? Well, she sighed, it was hard to not still think of her as Leon sometimes, despite the petite body she currently wore. Even now, she felt herself flashing back to all the times Leon had laid on his bed the same way, music turned up so loud she could hear it from the doorway.

Still, it was impossible to not notice how feminine Lily had acted earlier. The way she gestured, the way she walked, the way she wore her emotions on her sleeve. And so much smiling! Looking at her, her legs were crossed at the ankles, she couldn’t help but think about how girlish it was. Had she missed that before, when her son, her daughter, was just a child? Regret pooled in her chest, and she pushed that feeling down.

“Hi girls,” she said to them.

Lily rolled over and pulled out her headphones, a pensive look on her face. “Hi Mom.”

“Did you two have a good day today?”

“We did,” said Lily. “Got to show Sabrina around town, took her to my favorite sandwich shop.”

“What about you, Mrs. R?” asked Sabrina, leaning in curiously, not even trying to conceal the mischief in her voice.

Jennifer slumped. “I’m so exhausted,” she said, her shoulders sagging.

“I can see how everyone treating you like someone you’re not could wear a person out,” said Sabrina.

“Hey now,” said Lily, nudging Sabrina with her hip. “Be nice.” She looked over at her mom, her shoulders sagging. “Mom, you look ready to collapse. Go lay down, I’m sure we'll have plenty of time to talk at dinner.”

“Thanks sweetie,” replied Jennifer. Sweetie? Where had that come from? “I’ll— I’ll see you at dinner.”

When Jennifer got to her room, she shed off the shoes, shirt and slacks, collapsing onto the bed. After a few moments of laying still in blissful silence, she let out a deep grunt, rolling off the bed and trudging over to Kevin’s dresser. She put on one of Kevin’s vintage band t-shirts and a pair of gray sweat pants.

She turned around and was surprised to see Kevin at the door, a sympathetic look on his face. He was holding a beer in his hand.

“I got you a beer,” he said. “I figured you needed this after your long day.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the cold bottle. “But you know I don’t like beer. It’s too bitter for me.”

“But my body does.” he said. “Give it a try.”

“Ohh—kay,” she replied cautiously.

“Take all of the time you need. Dinner’s already started. Should be done in about twenty minutes.”

“Thank you again for taking care of that,” she said, smiling gratefully. “You know, a g— girl could get really used to this.”

“I’m not as sure I can get used to your job though, those kids are brutes,” Kevin said, though the smile on his face betrayed the sentiment. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

This hasn’t been the first time this exact scene has played out between them, Jennifer mused, but never with their roles reversed like this. Maybe it was a bit sexist for her to have always been in the other role, bringing him a beer and making dinner after a long day at work? After all, it’s not like her job was any easier than his was.

Still, the small kindness filled her with gratitude, and she wondered how long it had been since she had greeted her husband with a beer after work.

She took a sip of the beer, and as it hit her taste buds she closed her eyes and practically purred with enjoyment. “Oh wow. That does hit the spot.” Maybe this whole misadventure wouldn’t be so bad after all?