Introduction: This is another story that fits into Part 2 of the Cynthia Chronicles. Chronologically, it takes place a little more than a year after the ending of Adam and the Three Wishes. There are some interesting parallels to that story; however, there are significant differences.

If you are not familiar with the series, you should read An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years, Parts 1 & 2, Charli and the Man Cave and Adam and the Three Wishes. Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling and Randi and the College Professor take place about seven years after this story.

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This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

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Howard and the Completed Pass
 

Part 4

Chapter 7

"Dr. Bettencourt, I would like you to meet Howard Hansen and Barrett Hamilton. Mr. Hansen is buying the duplex down the street."

"It's so nice to meet you Doctor," Howard said as he shook the gentleman of undetermined age's hand. He reminded Howard of a cleaner cut Willie Nelson. "What are you a doctor of?"

"Just about anything you can think of. I could fix that knee of yours, if you wanted. I can fix just about anything else, too."

"Well, I might just have to call on you some day. Say, how did you know I had a bad knee?"

"I recognized you from the sports pages. You played for the Boston Patriots."

"That's the New England Patriots these days. They changed their name quite a while ago."

"New England, Boston, it doesn't really matter. I can fix your knee though. It will be like new."

Both Howard and Barrett recognized Cindy Brewer from the pictures of her in the Sports Illustrated Magazine from a few years before. They both realized that the pictures didn't do her justice. Her mother's beauty was something they hadn't expected.

"So you're the guy that the Patriots wanted to draft," Howard said after he was introduced to Cindy's husband, Don.

"Yeah, I'm the one. I kicked for my high school and college teams because they needed me. Cindy and I have goals that don't include professional sports. Cindy's starting medical school, and I'm starting law school. As far as sports are concerned, I'd rather play soccer, but that would have to be secondary, too.

"Cindy, take a look at this ring."

Cindy, her father and another gentleman had been talking to Esmeralda about something, probably the proposed offer that Howard had made for the house. Cindy took Howard's hand as she was introduced. She held it for a long time. Her eyes sparkled. For some reason Howard felt a warmth flow over him. He couldn't figure out why, but he felt a peace and calm he hadn't felt in years. She was so beautiful, but it went beyond that. If she'd asked, he would have told her anything she wanted to know.

Howard and Barrett eventually met everyone in attendance. They found out that all of the Brewers' children were adopted. That wasn't too hard to figure out as Don and his brother Jorge were obviously Hispanic, Lucy was Oriental, and the precocious Charli had Mediterranean heritage. Then there were Cindy's little sisters Randi and Martha. Howard and Barrett were surprised that Randi was only 13. She could have easily passed for 20. Martha, a very cute redhead, was only six, but she had the same bubbly outgoing personality her sisters had. Cindy's two brothers weren't there due to being at summer camp.

Mrs. Lewis was a stunning platinum blonde, and there was no doubt that that was her natural color. The same could be said about her figure. She had a spectacular figure, and both the figure and hair coloring had been passed on to her daughters. Howard felt the same warmth when she took his hand that he'd felt when Cindy had taken his earlier on.

The Schmedlaps' older son's were married and lived out of state, and Bobbie, who both Howard and Barrett would have loved to meet, was playing in a tournament in the western US. She'd established a six stroke lead at the halfway point, and according to Amos Schmedlap had padded her lead by three more strokes half way through the third round.

Dr. Bettencourt's large dog had been romping with the cats and kittens. A third adult cat had been sitting at the edge of the activity. He seemed to be following things very closely.

"Whose cat is that sitting over there taking everything in?" Barrett asked.

"That's Phantom's friend, Fred. He's the cat Phantom goes hunting with."

"So, you name stray cats?"

"No," Terri said, "that's his name. All cats have names. They just don't always tell us what they are. I named Phantom when he was a little kitten. He was fine with it."

"You are kidding aren't you?"

"Not really.

"Wolf, there's a large hambone in the refrigerator for you. Get Phantom to open the backdoor for you."

Barrett watched, both confused and astounded, as the large dog followed by Phantom headed for the rear door of the house. Phantom paused for a moment, and the door swung open before the two pets bounded into the house only to return a moment later with Wolf carrying a large bone.

"I have to admit that was quite a trick," Barrett said shaking his head. "Who has the remote control?"

"That wasn't any trick," Dr. Bettencourt said as he approached. "Phantom is very good at getting into any locked room. He's been doing it since he was a kitten.

"Wolf, drop that bone for a minute and come up here and introduce yourself to these two nice people."

"Sure boss."

By this time Howard had joined Barrett and watched something unfold that he'd only read about. His heart was racing like it used to just before the opening kickoff of a football game.

"Howard, Barrett, I'm Wolf. I guess His Wisdom and I have been together for five or six hundred years, but who's counting.

"You have to be kidding," Barrett said deferring from the stronger language due to there being children in the area. When he looked up he realized the entire group was silently watching their reaction.

"I don't believe it, but it's true. You really do exist," Howard said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Barrett said turning to his friend.

"Your Wisdom, I think it's time for you to shed your disguise so that my friend can see what I'm talking about."

"Certainly." With a slight shimmer, Dr. Bettencourt morphed into the robe wearing wizard.

"It didn't take you very long to figure things out," The Wizard said with a smile.

"The wolf was the clincher. I know now it was all very deliberate. I felt something strange was going on the other night. Then all this other stuff has been going on. It's all been very convenient: the jobs, the house, all of it."

"Actually, we had nothing to do with the jobs," Terri said. "I've just known since the night of the dinner at our house."

"Known what?" Barrett asked rather strongly. 'I have the strangest feeling I'm hallucinating, but this all seems too real.

"Speaking of the wolf, who's the ventriloquist? And since when is it legal to keep a wolf, and how did you change your clothes so fast?"

"Bear, I know this may be hard for you to believe, but this gentleman is a wizard, a very powerful wizard, and I'd be willing to bet that several, if not all of these beautiful ladies are witches. I'm sure Terri is, as is Esmeralda. I think Cindy is, too, and that means her mother and sisters are probably witches. I'm not sure about the Brewers; however, since all their children are adopted, I'm guessing that either Charli or Lucy is a witch, and I think it's Charli.

"Am I right so far?"

"Absolutely," The Wizard said.

"This is absolutely crazy. That's what's absolute about this. I mean, how do you know about these people?"

"I think the best thing to do right now is to have another beer and enjoy the barbecue that appears to be ready. I'm not exactly sure what this is all about, but I'm sure these nice people will explain it to us. The Wizard, especially, doesn't reveal himself unless he has a good reason.

"It looks like you have a friend," Howard said looking down at Barrett's feet.

Barrett looked down to see a large cat sitting at his feet. It was the cat that had been sitting at the perimeter of things when they first arrived at the Matthews' back yard. The cat looked up at him and gave a rather loud meow that seemed to have a question mark. He then twisted around Barrett's legs before sitting down again and starring up at him.

"He wants you to pick him up," Phantom said very clearly. "His name's Fred. He can't talk - yet. He'd like you to pick him up and scratch his head. You're the first person he's tried to get close to, but he thinks you might do."

Barrett obliged Fred, picking him up and supporting him with his forearm. He absentmindedly scratched his head, and an immediate purr could be heard. "Okay, I know I'm going insane, but I'm real hungry. So if I'm going to have this crazy dream, I might as well be well fed while having it."

Howard was driving them back to Barrett's apartment. Barrett may have had a bit too much to drink. "So, what do you think of our new friends?" Howard asked.

"That's the craziest thing I've ever seen. They are witches, and he really is a wizard, and that wolf and that cat can really talk. I guess I have to believe it. I just never thought that magic was real, but I guess I have to.

"So why us: why are we being welcomed into this group? What do we have to offer them? There must be some reason that they came out of the closet, so to speak. I don't think the general public is aware of this group of magic people."

"You're right, there. They are known only to those whom they want to be known to."

"How come you're so familiar with this wizard? You seem to know a lot about him," Barrett said as he closed the apartment door.

"Why don't you sit down? We have a lot to talk about, Howard said as he got a glass of ice water. "You want some water?"

"Sure, I'll probably need to hydrate. So what's on your mind?"

"You mentioned something about them coming out of the closet. Well, I think it's time that I did the same."

"What do you mean? I know you're not gay. At least, I don't think you are."

"No, I'm not gay. I'm transgendered. I thought that might have been obvious from our conversation the other day."

"You have to be kidding."

"Nope, I'm serious, dead serious. I just happen to be an athletic, reasonably good looking guy who deep inside happens to be a woman."

"You mean you want to take hormones, and have sex change surgery and all that stuff?"

"Yes and no; I would if it were reasonably possible; however, I would never want to look like John Lithgow playing Roberta Muldoon in 'The World According to Garp'. That just wouldn't do. I don't think I'll ever find a woman would be willing to live with a transgendered ex-football player as a husband. There's another thing. I'm pretty sure that I'm a lesbian. Changing my sex to match my gender won't change my sexual orientation. So, I've decided that I'll continue to do what I've always wanted to do, and that is do the type of work I'll be doing here in Hartford.

"Esmeralda brought a contract for me to sign, and it has been accepted. In a few weeks, I will own that house. If you don't want to live there, I'll understand; however, I wish you'd stay."

"Of course I'll stay. You're the only friend I have. Well, I imagine I'll develop friends from work, but they're a different type of friend."

"Thank you, you've made me very happy. Now I want to show you something on my computer."

Howard turned on his laptop and waited a short while before it booted up. "This is one of the web sites I frequently go to. I've listed some of my favorite stories over here in the 'Favorites' column. Many of these are about The Wizard and a special shop he has." Howard proceeded to give a short description of the SRU universe which apparently was their universe. They just hadn't known it.

"You mean he turns men and boys into women and girls?" Barrett asked.

"Yes, and many variations of that: he also turns women into men, not that often, though. Legend has him doing all sorts of things. Many have him turning people into vacuous bimbos. I have a feeling that may not be a frequent occurrence; at least I hope not."

"Suppose he was to turn you into a woman, what would you want to look like? We might as well carry this fantasy out to its extreme."

"I think we discussed that the other day. Remember when we were looking at those young women on the computer? So many of them are so pretty and obviously female, and I said something to the effect that if you averaged all their features, I would be more than happy with that. I don't think I could go wrong. The thing is I don't want to lose what I have. I have a great job coming up, a wonderful house where we can be neighbors, and I am reasonably wealthy. If The Wizard changed me, assuming he could, history would have to change. Howard Hansen would have never played in the super bowl. I would never have this ring. I wouldn't have a multimillion dollar portfolio that will continue to have millions pumped into it over the next two and one-half years. And, I probably would have never met you. Being a lesbian, I sure we would never have had as good a relationship that we do now if we had met. I don't think I want to give that up.

"Holy Shit, where'd that come from?"

They looked at his computer screen. Across it in bold letters was "HOWARD, SEE ME TOMORROW AT THE TAX OFFICE IN WEST HARTFORD. TERRI WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET THERE - THE WIZARD".

Chapter 8

Tragedy Strikes in Aircraft Accident in Long Island Sound.

New Haven, CT. Searchers today found the body of ex professional football player Howard Hansen in about 100 ft of water off the harbor at New Haven, CT.

Hansen and his fiancée, Lisa Fischer, were taking a sightseeing flight to celebrate their engagement when their plane struck a flock sea gulls. The pilot was apparently severely injured by one of the birds penetrating the cockpit and he was never able to recover to fly the airplane. Searchers are still hunting for the pilot's remains.

Miss Fischer, ex model and beauty contestant, is said to be resting comfortably in a hospital in Hartford. Doctors say that although her injuries were severe, she is expected to make a full recovery.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, this is really weird," Barrett said. He was standing at the foot of a hospital bed which at the moment contained what appeared to be a bruised and battered, but very attractive young woman. The hospital gown and blankets couldn't hide what was a rather nice bust line and figure. Her right knee was at the moment immobilized.

"Dr. Bettencourt said my knee will be as good as new. In fact, it is new, just as the rest of me is new. I haven't had much chance to enjoy this, but I'm sure I will in just a little while.

"So is everything moved in?" Lisa asked.

"Yep, Terri has been supervising. There is a lot of personal stuff you'll still have to unpack. Man, er, girl, you sure have a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes."

"The Wizard with Cindy and Terri's help changed everything. I'm going to have a lot to learn about many things. It seems I'm pregnant."

"What!"

"I'm pregnant with Howard's child, or I should say children."

"How in the hell did that happen?"

"I learned quite a bit when I visited The Wizard that Sunday morning; quite a bit.

The shop was there just like Terri said it would be. The old sign was hanging by a bracket attached to one side of the doorway. He pushed the door open and heard the bell jingle just like he expected it to. 'At least the writers got that right', he thought to himself as he looked around. 'It's not nearly as messy as I thought it would be.'

"That's because Randi keeps straightening things up. It's a wonder I can find anything," The Wizard shouted from the back room. "I'll be right out. I have a teleconference going with headquarters."

Howard heard some mumbling going on and noticed Wolf was sound asleep. His legs were twitching as if he might have been having a good dream.

"Well, here you are; so I guess the question is do you want to go through with it?"

"I think you know what that answer is, and I suspect you've known what it was for a long time. You do understand my concerns. I really do want what you can do for me, but I don't want to lose everything that I've acquired."

"That can be arraigned; however, there may be a small price."

"I suspected that. I'm hoping that the trickery I've read about is not usually the way you do things."

"When someone has selfish motives, I've been known to do some interesting things. In the long run it's been to their benefit.

"Now, as far as you're concerned, this is what we have in mind. You have good genetics, and we certainly wouldn't want to lose that, and there's this thing that is very important to us. Terri caught it right away. It seems that there was magic in your mother's line, and you have inherited that. We are willing to take the genetic traits of those women you admired and average them out. You will be very attractive. There are two other things. Several of those models have the magic trait, and one of them is a witch. I think you and Barrett have admired her. She happens to be Terri's great, great aunt."

"Oh my gosh, Simoné. No wonder Terri looks so much like her."

"Simoné has agreed to let us duplicate her magic genes for your use. Damn, I wish that girl would find a good husband. She'll probably reach menopause in another 400 years."

"My God, how old is she?"

"Actually, I believe she's around 170 plus or minus a few. Don't tell her I told you. You can ask Bev when she gets here. She'll be one of your trainers. She's Terri's great, great, grandmother and Simoné's sister. Everyone will help you. I don't do much pre-programming for witches. It's not necessary.

"Now there's this other thing, and I want you to think about it carefully. We reviewed all of those young ladies you have pictures of. You have pictures of close to a thousand of them. In our research, we found that ten of those girls were pregnant. Six of them intended to keep their babies. Four of them were married; however, four of those women chose to abort their babies. Instead of allowing that to happen, we did a little time travel thing and rescued the embryos. We hope you'd agree to let us implant two of them in you. We will replace one half the chromosomes with yours including the X chromosome, so in effect the children are yours. One would be a boy and one a girl. What do you say?"

"Go for it," he said without a moment's hesitation. "I had always wanted brothers and sisters, but that never happened. I will be happy to raise those children and others in a happy family environment. I had always known that I wanted to have children, and now you will make it possible. This is the least I can do to thank you for what I hope you will do for me.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Barrett asked as Lisa Looked through the Condo. He'd brought her home from the hospital just a few minutes before.

"I'm fine. I told you all those bruises and cuts and scabs were just cosmetic. His Wisdom did that, and Terri helped maintain the illusion. My knee is totally uninjured. I'll just maintain the illusion for a while.

"The reading of the will is tomorrow afternoon. It's going to go through without a question. 'Howard' knew I was pregnant with his child, and he willed everything to me. I guess I'll have to tear up at the right moments. I seem to be better able to do that now."

Barrett watched the six foot tall, gorgeous titian haired woman walk confidently through her house. She expressed a grace he had never seen from Howard, but of course Howard was dead.

Barrett felt lost. He was jealous of her beauty. She had almost everything. Well, she didn't have a husband, and most likely never would. They were still friends; that was for sure; however, it wasn't the same. Lisa was a lesbian. It would be many years before that would come out as she'd had had a pretty torrid romance with Howard Hansen. "Howard was able to reach me like no other man was ever able to do. I think it was because he wasn't afraid to show his feminine side to me."

According to all the lore, Lisa was an orphan like Howard had been. Like Howard she'd used her physical attributes to get her a jump start; however, she'd always wanted to work in the culinary arts, and she like Howard had determined that at least at the beginning she wanted to be the diva of kitchen design. She and Howard had met at the CIA, and they were inseparable right up until his death. They were going to work for the same company. Now, it would be just Lisa Fischer. Howard's life insurance policy made up for the lost salary he'd been collecting. Lisa was the sole beneficiary.

They often ate together. Sometimes Barrett would fix dinner, and sometimes Lisa would. Frequently on weekends they would have dinner with the Matthews. Lisa was starting to show, and absolutely reveled in her pregnancy. She positively glowed.

Barrett's job was great. He wished that he'd been able to start out with such a great organization. He was miserable. He found comfort with Fred, the cat. Fred had moved in as soon as Barrett and Lisa had. He was very matter of fact about it. The maintenance man had put in pet doors the same day they had moved in. The little calico cat and her kittens had moved in with Lisa. It turned out her name was Linda.

It seemed that Lisa was involved more and more with her magic lessons. Bev or Terri always had Lisa working with some sort of spell or other. Randi Lewis, that beautiful and precocious thirteen year old, and her sister-in-law Charli were next door almost as often.

Then there were the other cats. A little black cat named Silky was usually with Randi. Charli's cat was probably the biggest domestic cat he'd ever seen. He was very friendly, and for that Barrett was thankful. He'd have hated to be on his wrong side. A very pretty little Siamese-like cat was with Cindy when she showed up. He'd finally been able to meet Bobbie Anderson and her husband. Bobbie's cat was Chloe, a platinum gray cat.

Barrett thought back to The Wizard's wolf talking. He was sure the cats were talking, too. After all, he'd heard Phantom talk. They must all be talking, but he just didn't understand it. Whether or not Fred talked, he was a very nice cat. For a supposedly feral cat he certainly seemed to have adjusted to the domestic life very easily. Fred would bump his head up against Barrett, and then curl up in his lap and go to sleep. He was a good friend.

There were certain things about pregnancy that Lisa had read about. They were common knowledge, but until one had experienced them, you just didn't understand. Her already ample bosom had increased at least a cup size. She complained to Terri about how tight her bras had become, and Terri took her to one of the better department stores to get her properly fitted. She had to get up two or three times a night to pee. Her back ached, and she'd never been happier in her life. Lisa looked at least two months further along than she actually was. Her twins were doing very well.

She didn't want to ignore Barrett, but she had so much going on. Her work at the restaurant supply company was going great. She had a half dozen jobs designing kitchens for the wives of the insurance moguls. She also had all the commercial jobs she could handle. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. The magic kept her very busy. She had so much to learn.

Then there was that fateful Saturday. A lot of things seemed to happen on Saturdays. She'd thought about asking Barrett to go out to lunch with her. They needed some personal time as she realized she'd probably been neglecting him. About the time she was getting ready to call him she heard the garage door open. She looked out to see Barrett driving off. Well she'd call him when he returned. She didn't like to call people on their cell phones when they were driving.

It was about an hour later when she looked up from sorting the laundry to see her little cat approaching. "Hi, Linda, what have you been up to this morning?" she said looking down at the pretty, well fed cat.

"Phantom took us out for a lesson on learning what birds we should catch and what birds to leave alone. It's difficult to resist catching the wrong ones, but I can see why it's important. The babies are napping on your bed. I imagine they'll be out for a couple of hours. Where'd Barrett go? I thought you were going to have lunch with him."

"I don't know. I try very hard not to pry into his private life.

"I think I just heard him pull into the garage. I'll check on him after a while."

After about an hour Lisa called Barrett's number. He didn't answer. She called again; still no answer. She knew she'd heard the door close and somebody walking around earlier. But it had been quiet for quite a while. She did something that she'd promised not to do since her change. She sent out a mental search for Barrett. She couldn't find him anywhere. This was not good. She knew Barrett had seemed a bit depressed lately. Suddenly, she thought the worst.

She rushed out the front door and crossed the porch to Barrett's door. She rang the chime, but there was no response. She waited until she could wait no more and walked in. Fred didn't appear like he usually did when she came over.

"Bear?" she called out. ”Fred?" All was quiet. She checked the kitchen, and the only noise was the hum of the refrigerator. She climbed the stairs as quickly as her pregnant body would let her. This side of the duplex was a mirror image of the other side. She walked back to the partially open door to the master bedroom. As she approached the door, Fred walked out and then looked back over his shoulder towards the bed.

"I'm afraid Barrett's gone."

Lisa looked in to see a body sprawled across the bedspread.

Well, Howard did it. I don't think there was any doubt. Poor Barrett has been having a serious problem with all that's been going. He definitely felt left out and lost. And now, we have a body.