Private Mountain

by Erin Halfelven

Breakfast at Perky's and some surprises, but are the fairies done with poor Bobbi?

Chapter 2

A little after nine that morning, Eunice rapped sharply on Bobbi's door before opening it. "French toast shuttle leaves in twenty minutes," she said. "All birthday boys who want breakfast should be ready to leave by then."

Bobbi smiled as she woke up. A French toast breakfast at the local Perky's was one of her favorite treats. Or had been. She suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday and during the night and the change in her expression caused Eunice to pause on the way out the door.

"'S'matter?" she asked.

"Oh, Momma!" Bobbi choked out. "I...I..." How could she even begin? She glanced down at what she was wearing. The stretchy t-shirt and yellow shorts didn't look too odd but knowing they were boy's clothes made her the slightest bit itchy.

Eunice stood right there in the doorway. "What's wrong, Bobby? Tell me."

Bobbi swallowed hard. "Momma, did you ever wish you had a daughter?"

"What?" Eunice stared. "What did you say?" Thirteen today and the kid could still throw her curve balls.

Bobbi gestured vaguely. "I can't...I don't..Oh, Momma!" She leaped out of bed and ran for the bathroom, suddenly anxious to confirm that things hadn't changed again, that she hadn't just had some sort of extended hallucination or dream, that she wasn't about to make a total fool of herself over something that wasn't real.

Eunice watched Bobby disappear behind the bathroom door, still bemused. "It might have been nice to have had a daughter," she muttered. "But does this mean the kid's turning fruit? Oh, that's just going to tickle the hell out of Charles." She shook her head and sighed.

Some odd noises came from the bathroom. Eunice ignored them and turned to go, "I'll meet you down at the car. Don't take too long." She thought she heard Bobby call out an okay so she left to get the A/C in the car running.

In the bathroom, Bobbi again sat to do her business, sniffling a little. It was all true, though her appearance had changed very little she no longer had the original equipment of a boy. "I'm really a girl," she whispered. "But how long is this going to last? Maybe I'll change back." She didn't really think so but she could hope, couldn't she?

"If I change back, things will be twice as mixed up if I've told anyone about it. And it will be so embarrassing, more than twice as much." She blushed just thinking about it. "But if I'm stuck like this...for the rest of my life...well, it really doesn't matter how soon I tell anyone does it?"She nodded in affirmation. "I've just got to keep the secret."

She automatically patted herself dry, pulled up the yellow shorts, then checked to see that her mother had left the bedroom before stepping out. "I'll have to wear my regular boy clothes or she'll ask questions," Bobbi thought. She sighed, repulsed by the idea; it was going to feel like crossdressing and wasn't that a weird thought

Looking through her underwear, Bobby's underwear, she found a pair of briefs that had gone through the wash with a red towel or something. They were now definitely pink and she'd never worn them since their unfortunate accident. Giggling a little at the absurdity of it, she stripped off the shorts and put on the pink underpants. They fit a bit tightly but even that felt a bit better; just knowing they were something a boy wouldn't wear somehow made it better.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, a gesture she didn't realize she copied her mother in. "This is going to be hard." In the t-shirt drawer, she found a similarly pink, slightly small undershirt. Tight enough that it actually helped skoosh down her little nubbin breasts so they didn't show so much through the big yellow shirt she put on over the pink one. "Momma won't know I'm wearing two shirts," she told herself since the top one was very loose and hung quite far down.

She stopped to look at herself in the mirror. With just the overlarge t-shirt showing and her bare legs, she thought she looked rather cute. "Oh! Stop that!" she warned herself quietly. "I'm not supposed to be cute, I'm supposed to look like a boy!"

After some searching, she found a pair of jeans she liked. They seemed a bit snug in the seat and thighs and loose in the waist. Her parents had never let Bobby wear the trendy extra-loose, baggy jeans. She examined her rear in the mirror. "It is bigger," she decided. "Maybe no one will notice." She sighed.

She looked at herself in the mirror again, turning this way and that. "I look like a girl wearing boy's clothes," she whimpered. "This isn't going to work."

Taking up a brush, she began to fuss with her hair. Nothing she did seemed to restore her appearance to what it had been only yesterday though she couldn't really say what precisely had changed that much. "Everyone is going to know," she pouted. The expression caught her attention in the mirror and she spent a few moments trying on different pouts and frowns.

Finally she giggled at a particularly devastating one. "Gotta try that one on Gomo," she noted. "What am I saying? Oh, cr-crud!"

"Bobby!" her mother's voice called from downstairs. "You didn't go back to bed, did you?"

"No, Momma," Bobbi called in a high voice. "Just getting my shoes." Quickly slipping her feet into a pair of pale blue shower sandals, she hurried down to the garage.

* * *

Eunice smiled at Bobby as he slid into the seat beside her. "Took you long enough," she accused.

"I'm sorry, Momma," said Bobbi.

Eunice's eyebrows went up. "Wanna go to the mall after breakfast? You can spend your birthday money."

"Sure!" Bobbi chirped before she thought about it. Then she froze up. There were a lot of things she'd like to buy and the birthday bounty this year was three hundred dollars but she'd have to spend the money on things Bobby would have wanted. And what she needed was clothes. She felt as if her head were about to spin.

* * *

The local Perky's didn't have a big crowd for breakfast during the middle of the week so they were able to get a seat right away. "Enjoy your breakfast, girls,"said the hostess as she lay the menus down and huried away.

Bobbi froze. His mother grinned at him, "You need a haircut."

Bobbi nodded cautiously and buried her face in the menu. That had never happened to Bobby, why did it have to happen now, she wondered. I don't want a haircut, she told herself but if I'm going to look like a boy I really should get one I guess. Foo!

Eunice chuckled. Bobby's expression had been priceless. "I want a mushroom omelet," she said out loud.

A waiter hurried toward them. "Good morning, ladies," he said. Eunice grinned and Bobbi cringed. "Um, have you decided?" the waiter asked, sensing that he had said something wrong. His name tag read, "Ken" in big red letters.

"I'll have the mushroom omelet, side of fruit and coffee," Eunice said.

"Cinnamon French toast and fruit," Bobbi mumbled, not looking up.

"How do you want your eggs?" ken asked.

"Scrambled." How could she look at him, she wondered. He thinks I'm a girl. Well, I am, but he thinks he knows I'm a girl. I think.

"Anything to drink, miss?" Ken pressed on, thinking Bobbi was just being shy. He smiled to look less threatening.

Eunice snorted. Then shook her head. Bobby's hair wasn't that long.

Bobbi glanced up at the waiter. He had dimples. Transfixed, she stared at him.

"Miss? Anything to drink?"

"Orange juice." Why did the waiter have to be so good looking? Had she ever seen a waiter who was so cute before? Would she have ever noticed before?

"Large or small?"

"Huh? Oh, large, yes, please," Bobbi babbled, aware that her voice didn't quite sound like it usually did. She blushed.

"It's...Bobby's birthday today," said Eunice, wondering a bit why neither of them had tried to convice the waiter of Bobby's true sex.

"Oh ho!" Ken smiled and his dimples gleamed. "Well, there just might be a cupcake with a candle on it for the birthday girl." Now why did the kid flinch at that? She must be really shy. "How old are you today, hon?"

"Thirteen," said Bobbi in a tiny voice.

Eunice laughed.

Ken smiled. "You're a teenager now. Well don't worry, you'll live through it. I did." He winked and Bobbi thought she might faint though she wasn't sure exactly what she was most embarrassed about.

After Ken left to get their drinks, Eunice asked quietly. "Why didn't you tell him you were a boy?"

Bobbi shook her head. "Too embarrassing."

Eunice chuckled. "You think that was embarrassing, he's going to flirt with you every time he comes to the table now. It's your thirteenth birthday, he'll want to show you that he thinks you're all grownup."

"Grownup? I may throw up!" squeaked Bobbi.

"Don't. You'll get us thrown out of Perky's." She laughed again. "It's pretty funny, hon. Well, to me. But with what you're wearing and how long you're hair is, he probably can't tell. And maybe he heard the hostess call us, ladies. Plus, I think he thinks you're cute."

"Momma!"

"Well, you would make a cute girl,"Eunice said judiciously. "And you did ask me this morning if I'd ever wanted to have a daughter."
Bobbi blushed.

"I think I'd like that," Eunice continued. "Goodness knows it gets tiresome being outnumbered in the house." She watched Bobby as she talked, thinking, he really does look very girlish today. What is it? "Did you pluck your eyebrows?" she asked suddenly.

Startled, Bobbi shook her head. "No, ma'am. Does it hurt?"

Eunice frowned. "A bit."

Ken returned with OJ and coffee. "Here you go," he said unnecessarily. "And here's a cupcake with pink frosting for the birthday girl. Sorry I couldn't fit 13 candles on it but this candle is really candy so you can just eat it." He winked at Bobbi again.

"Thank you," she said politely, blushing.

When he'd left again, Eunice asked, "Were you flirting back?"

"No!" squeaked Bobbi.

"It sort of looked like you might be," Eunice commented.

"Well, I wasn't. I don't even know how. N-not that I'd want to with, with him."

"Honey, are you gay?"

Bobbi shook her head, appalled.

"You can tell me, I'm your mother. If you're gay it won't kill me." It might your father, she added silently.

"I'm not gay, Momma," Bobbi said, sounding very sure. If I were gay this would be easier, maybe. But I'm not gay, I think I like boys and since I'm a girl that means I'm not gay. She bit her lip to keep from saying any of that out loud.

Eunice's cell phone rang at that moment. "Charlie," she said after looking at the number. "Hi, hon?" she said into the phone.

Bobbi kept quiet. She felt a very real fear about her father finding out that she had been changed into a girl. Charles Meehan was definitely a man's man and he wanted his boy to be very much like him. He wanted this fiercely enough to have communicated it to Bobby in a hundred subtle and not so subtle ways. Shooting lessons, fishing trips, baseball, football even hockey games.

"Yeah, we're having breakfast at Perky's." She nodded. "Okay, hon. Sure. Bobby?"

Bobbi looked up.

"Wanna go to Don Diego's for dinner tonight?"

Bobbi nodded, knowing it was her dad's favorite Mexican place. No better than other's for simple Mexican food but they also did a good steak which Charles Meehan preferred. "Is Daddy going to wear his black mask and cape?" she asked, innocently.

Eunice grinned. "She wants to know if you're going to carve a 'Z' into your steak?" Eunice rolled her eyes and laughed, "No, I meant Bobby. Sorry, no. Yeah, we'll be home and ready to go by 6:30. Okay, hon." She put the phone away, looking a bit puzzled.

Bobbi sat transfixed wondering if Dad had noticed Mom's accidental pronoun, or even if Mom had noticed. It certainly had sounded as if they both had.

"What were we talking about?" Eunice asked.

Before Bobbi could answer, Ken arrived with the food. "Cinnamon French toast for the birthday girl," he said. "With fruit and scrambled eggs on the side." He put an enormous platter with six slices of thick French toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon in front of Bobbi. A smaller plate holding the eggs and several slices of melon with strawberries went to the side.

"Hey!" Bobbi protested. "This isn't the special! I can't eat all of this!"

Ken laughed as he served Eunice from the tray. "Do your best, hon. I'm only charging for the special but the chef felt generous since it's your birthday."

Embarrassed, Bobbi mumbled thanks while Eunice chuckled. "I'll help eat a piece or two," offerred Eunice.

Ken put the boat with the syrup selections handy and asked, "Anything else, ladies?"

Bobbi shook her head, blushing. "More coffee in a while," said Eunice, taking a sip.

"You got it," said Ken. "Have a good breakfast, princess," he added to Bobbi as he left.

Neither said anything for a moment then Eunice commented, "Well, you've got him convinced but for the life of me, I'm not sure how."

* * *

"You did what to a thirteen-year-old?" asked Maeve.

Cullain Toomey winced. His queen didn't seem too happy this evening, for it was evening in the Timeless Isle, as contradictory as that sounded. Around them, the beautiful and terrible Fair Ones lounged and took their ease sipping nameless nectars in a glossy green glade. The Queen, the most beautiful and terrible of them all, sat on her mother-of-pearl covered throne in a little bower made of flowering thorn bushes. She looked ravishing, or at least, possibly recently ravished.

"I delivered your curse to the latest descendant of Alasdair Powers to fulfill the condition of having the first full moon of summer on his birthday. As Your Majesty required." Toomey kept his tones formally polite, as befit a Royal Messenger reporting to his monarch.

"Yes, but you hadn't told me this cursed one was only thirteen," complained the Queen. Most unfairly, thought Toomey. After all, Queen Maeve had the power to command the winds to tell her all the secrets of the world. That she didn't know some particular fact was hardly his fault.

"I could take the curse back, I suppose," observed Toomey.

"No, that would never do. We aren't in the business of removing curses. But this boy, now girl, cannot have committed the peculiarly masculine crimes for which the curse was originally pronounced, can he? He'd have to be pretty precocious to be breaking hearts, insulting ladies and deflowering maidens at his age."

"I suppose not," admitted Toomey. "But you didn't specify that Your Majesty's future victims had to be guilty of something when you first cursed the ancestor. Is Bobby Meehan the youngest to be so cursed?"

"I doubt it," said Maeve, "but it doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Toomey shrugged, carefully. "No. Is life supposed to be fair?" It wouldn't do to seem to be contradicting Her Majesty, the Queen of Whimsy. Being contrary could be a capital crime in the Court of Queen Maeve.

"Oh, don't be boring," Maeve warned--another capital crime in the Timeless Isle. "We shall make it up to him...her."

"Your wish is my command, of course, Your Majesty."

"Grant Bobbi Meehan a boon, a Fairy Boon, that she might not be unhappy in her cursed state."

"Would you care to be more specific, Your Majesty?" Toomey risked being accused of being boring again in the pursuit of his duty.

"She shall have Luck and Beauty and Love, one wish for each. What more could a mortal girl want?"

Toomey mulled that over for a bit, a very generous boon it seemed. "And what if she solves the curse, undoing it?"

"Then she will undo her wishes, too!" Maeve snapped. "Now go away, you tiresome little man."

Toomey left quickly, he had dodged the mistletoe again. He sighed, while it was only a step from anywhere in the world to the Land of Faerie, the magic didn't work the same way in reverse and he had a long walk ahead of him again.