The Wedding

By Dawn Natelle

All right, it is a boring Friday night and while I do have the next installment of The River ready to post on Monday, I thought I would post something tonight. I wrote this in 2000, so it is probably the oldest story I have completed. I winced editing it for publication here ... it is really silly in places. But I thought a few of you folks might be amused by it, so without further ado.

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The Wedding

by Dawn Natelle

"I can't believe you spent over $1000 on that silly piece of paper," Mike told his friend as he watched him chalking a pentagram onto the garage floor.

"Hey, if it doesn't work I'll deduct is as a business expense ... a story that didn't work out," Ken replied as he finished lighting the last candle at the edge of the carefully drawn star.

Ken was a freelance magazine reporter in his late 20s. Mike worked as a bicycle courier, but had maintained the friendship the two had developed in public school.

"Expensive gamble if you ask me. You could have spent the grand renting a limo and having a weekend in Vegas to blow the rest. That'd be a fun story."

"Vegas ... that's travel pages stuff," Ken replied with a sneer. "But this, actually conjuring up a demon, that would be something to write about. I've been researching my sources for years now, and I figure there's about a 50-50 chance this is for real."

"Grow up, Ken," Mike said. "You always were weird for science fiction stuff. No way this will work. It can't."

"Well, let's just try it," Ken said as he turned down the lights. He began to read the words on the paper. As he did the air in the room became very still, and the edges of their vision, where the candlelight melted into the darkness, turned blurry and somehow slippery. It reminded Mike of the one experience with LSD, and he was about to swallow his pride and admit being afraid when he suddenly noticed a small puff of smoke at the center of the star. The smoke swirled and whirled and grew. But not much. It stabilized as a small tornado spinning at the center of the pentagram, no more than 18 inches high. Then it slowly solidified into the shape of a tiny creature of the same height.

It stood on two legs, although it had a long tail that hung to the ground and seemed to play a part in its balance. It was fire-engine red, with a skin that seemed to be composed of tiny lizard scales. The head was somewhat humanoid, although much too wide for its height, and was topped by two curling rams’ horns. The eyes were wrong, though, looking like the circular disks on a fish. The little creature hopped about in agitation.

"That's your demon? Pretty puny, and ugly as sin, too," Mike snorted, causing the little fellow to look menacing at him. It moved as close to the edge of the star as it could, and seemed frustrated as the bounds of the pentagram held it back.

"Careful, Mike," Ken warned. "Size is no indication of power, and this fellow does have powers. I didn't want to call up one of the bigger demons in case I couldn't hold him. Some are so big that they could knock down the garage. A piece of debris could fall and disrupt the pentagram. I'm not looking to write a story about how a demon was set free to wreak havoc on the world."

"He's a real demon, then?" Mike asked.

"Seems like it. Let's talk to him. The papers said he would be able to learn English just from hearing it spoken."

"I understand you, human. Why have you called me forth," the demon said in a deeper voice than one would expect from such a small creature.

"To do my bidding, demon lord," Ken said, reading from the paper. "Fulfill my wish and you shall be returned to your home. Fail, and you will wander lifelessly through the etosis for eternity."

"I will do what I can," the demon said. "But you cannot ask me for more than I am capable of."

"What are your limitations?"

"I have but one power," the tiny creature said. "I can transform people into the opposite sex."

"So you could make someone into a woman," Mike said. "That's kinda neat. Could you change somebody into a real babe, and make her fall madly in love with me?" The demon looked at Mike, showing that he had heard, but refused to reply to the one who had insulted him, and who was not in the position of power at the head of the pentagram.

"Answer him," Ken ordered, "in this and any other questions he might ask."

For a moment the demon seemed to try to refuse, but some force made him speak. However, he showed his insolence by giving the reply to Ken, and ignoring Mike.

"I can only transform those people present at the pentagram, only with their consent, and I cannot make any person feel any differently about any other person than he currently feels."

"What's the use of that," Mike protested. "I certainly don't want to be a woman, and ... you certainly don't?" he asked his friend.

"Hey, it would make a great story," Ken admitted. "Men have dressed up as women for articles before, but no one has ever really changed. I mean, even men having a sex change operation can never experience everything in life the way a natural woman does."

"So you want to be a woman? Weird!"

"Certainly not permanently," Ken said.

"Can the changes be made temporarily, demon?"

"Yes. In fact, they must be for a fixed period of time ... either a week, three months, or a year. Only if, at the end of that time should you decide to forego the change back does it become permanent. And both of you must change, or neither. I cannot perform the magic selectively."

"Well I don't want to do it," Mike announced flatly.

"Aw, come on," Ken urged. "If you don't I miss the chance for a great story. You must have wondered what it feels like to be a woman. Who knows, maybe living as one for a little while will help out your love life. You certainly haven't been scoring with the babes lately. Think of it as undercover work, finding out what really turns women on. You'll never have trouble satisfying a woman after this."

"A week as a woman would be kind of interesting," Mike admitted. "I've always wondered what boobs feel like from the inside. But what would happen to our jobs when we don't show up for a week?"

"Longer for me ... I think I'd need at least the three months to get enough research for a good article ... maybe even a book," Ken said. "Can we be changed for different lengths of time?"

"You can," the demon said. "However, you must remember that the time interval selected results in the level of physical beauty you receive. One week would be spent in the body of an unattractive woman, either ugly, grossly overweight, or both. The three-month option would be spent in the body of an average woman, neither ugly or exceptionally attractive. But a change for a full year can be spent in a gorgeous young woman ... the girl of your fantasies." The demon paused for a moment, then blurted out "and, in response to the question of the other, while you are gone, others will inhabit your bodies and they will act much as you would. Co-workers will not notice a difference, and when you return to your original bodies you will acquire memories of all they said and did during that period. You will also remember your time as a woman ... in effect having two parallel sets of memories."

"What do you think Mike? Can we do it?"

"No way I'm going to be fat and ugly ... even just for a week. I want to be the gorgeous one," Mike replied.

"Well, three months is fine for me," Ken said. Before turning to the demon, he glanced at the paper and read the final invocation.

"Cast your spells and return to your underworld home." The demon turned and faced Mike for the first time.

"All is done as requested. However, I have added a little surprise for you for that rude remark about my appearance when I first arrived." With that the creature turned back into smoke and slowly disappeared. The paper in Ken's hand vanished in a flash of flame. Mike turned to look at Ken, then everything faded away.

Mike regained consciousness slowly. He realized that he was standing in front of a mirror, combing his hair. Or her hair, for it was clear that Mike was now female. The face reflected back from the mirror was that of a fashion model, crowned by a fabulous wreath of ash blonde hair that no longer needed combing. She looked down and was astonished at the large breasts that projected from her chest. They were huge, the size of small melons, but firm and showing very little sag. Below was a slim waist with only the slightest hint of roundness in the belly. The pair of nylon briefs stretched tightly across her hips left no doubt that her sex was female. She reached down and rubbed the crotch, as though still able to feel a penis.

She looked about. She was in a dressing room, and a pile of clothing was laid out at the side of the vanity. It included a very long white dress, along with various other bits of clothing. On top was a brassiere. She picked it up, marveling at the massive cups. No girl she had ever dated in the past had ever worn anything like this. Even her overweight mother's bras hadn't been so huge. She noticed a tiny label that read 34F for the size. 34F, she wondered. She hadn't realized that there even was a size F. DDD was the biggest she had ever heard of. Her Mom had been DD, and she had never dated a woman bigger than D. And the boobs now on her chest looked a hell of a lot bigger than 34.

Just then the door opened and a young woman entered, wearing a pale yellow dress that swept the floor.

"Uh, Mike?" she asked softly.

"Ken ... is that you?"

"Yeah ... it worked Mike, it really worked! We're women now," she came over and gave the other girl a hug. "Wow, you're taller than me now," Mike said. "You used to be five inches shorter. Now I'm way shorter."

"Get used to it," Ken said kicking off the shoes she had been wearing. "I'm short ... about 5'4" without these heels, judging by all the people out there. You're really short."

"What do you mean ... all those people out where," Mike asked. "Aren't we alone."

"No and it's killing me," Ken said. "I'm dying to see what my new body looks like without this weird dress on. You're lucky. You aren't dressed yet. You look gorgeous. And those breasts ... I'd have a hard-on now, if I had anything left to get a hard on with."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I miss mine, too. Can you help me with this thing," Mike handed her the bra.

"I never did have much luck with those things, and that one looks like it belongs on a battleship."

"Well, these torpedoes fit inside nicely," Ken said as she helped Mike slip the bra on, and then fastened the six hooks at the back.

"You didn't say what's happening out there," Mike noted, as Ken continued helping her work through the pile of clothes. "Is it a party or something? That's a fancy dress you have on."

"Wait till you see the one you are wearing," Ken said with a smile as Mike struggled into nylon stockings for the first time. She reached over and held up the dress. "It looks like a ... a wedding dress," Mike said with a gulp of fear.

"That's right, honey," Ken giggled. "You're getting married."

"Oh my God," Mike said in a whisper.

"Who to? This must be the trick the demon said he was going to play on me."

"No, or at least it isn't all the trick. When I was out in the hall I overheard some ladies gossiping. Apparently you are getting married because you have to."

"Because I have to?" Mike was confused for a second, then caught on to the meaning of the word and looked down at his slightly rounded belly. "That's right. Three months on," Ken said, with a smile.

"You'll be having a baby in six months. I wish I could still be here to see it happen."

"Be here ... oh, you're only a woman for three months. But I have a whole year," she wailed.

"I'm going to get married, and have a baby, before I can change back."

"'Fraid so chum. I wasn't out there long enough to hear who the groom was though. They hustled me in here to help get you ready. I'm your maid of honour, I guess. I did find out that we have different names. You're Susan, and I'm Kara," Ken said.

"Married ... pregnant," Mike repeated catatonically as she let Ken slip the wedding dress on her and begin to fasten it. "I can't believe this is happening.

"Are you ready yet?" Another girl, wearing a pale blue dress similar to Ken's poked her head in the door.

"Ready in a minute," Ken said, handing Mike a pair of white shoes with four-inch heels.

"We have to stop this, Ken," Mike finally said when the girl had left.

"I can't get married and have a baby. Especially not to a man I don't even know. And I can't wear shoes like this."

"You can put off wearing the shoes and you can put off getting married. But that isn't going to stop you from being pregnant."

"I could have an abortion," Mike said hopefully.

"Could you?" Both Ken and Mike were opposed to abortions, although not fanatical about it. Ken wondered whether the current situation would change her friend's mind.

"No, not really," Mike said. "Although I certainly can see why a woman thinks that way. But I couldn't do it."

"Well listen," Ken said. "I'll go out and at least find out who the groom is. Maybe it is someone you know. Meanwhile, you practice walking in those shoes. Look, they make you nearly as tall as me." Then Ken slipped on her yellow shoes and walked out of the room, wobbling ever so slightly herself on her three inch heels. When she returned, five minutes later, Mike was getting a degree of expertise at navigating in heels. She looked up to notice a very pale face on her friend.

"What's wrong," Mike stumbled over to Ken and took her hands. "I met the groom. It was me."

"What?"

"You are marrying me ... the male me. And you ... the male Mike ... is best man," Ken said in a rush.

"You know, it's still strange to have to look up to talk to a man, and really weird when the man you are talking to has your face ... or at least the face you have been looking at in the mirror for years."

"Wow," Mike gasped. "That is so weird. But ... in a way it's better. I don't feel so bad about marrying you."

"Except it isn't me ... at least not for the next three months. It will be a stranger."

"The demon said whoever is in the body now will act just like you would, and you've been my friend for 20 years. I trust you ... and anyone who will act like you. I was afraid the demon would have hooked me up with a wife beater, or a criminal, or a lawyer, or something vile like that." Ken smiled at Mike's little lawyer joke.

"So you want to go through with it?"

"Yeah, why not. It's only for a year. And since you'll be back in his body in three months, you'll get a really good book chapter on what I find childbirth feels like."

"That's right," Ken said. "I will be there for it after all."

The wedding went by in a blur. Mike said her vows at the church in front of friends she knew, sitting on the side of the groom, and strange people that knew her sitting on the side of the bride. She kissed a man for the first time in her life, and found that it wasn't as bad as she had imagined. It was hard to refuse a man when his eyes showed as much love as Ken's (the male version) did. Not to mention the pressure of 300 people sitting behind waiting for you to do it. In the end her momentary hesitation just heightened a beautiful moment.

She signed the register, remembering at the last minute to sign Susan Angela Martin, the name the minister had called her. She was surprised to see that her signature was much different than she would have expected ... more feminine and flowing. Kara/Ken surprised her by quickly signing as witness. She must have somehow discovered what her last name was.

Then there were the photos, with Mike standing next to parents and siblings she didn't know. Feminine emotions seemed to take over though, and she cried in all the right places, which seemed to be every few moments. The reception and dinner followed.

She danced with her new husband, but the weirdest part was dancing with the best man. She found herself dancing with her own former and future body. Mike (he) had deliberately picked a slow dance, and ground his body as closely into Mike's (she) massive bosom. She smiled at the thought, knowing it was exactly the kind of thing she would do, and accommodated by pressing back as they danced to give him thrill.

It was strange not leading in the dances, and stranger still to be dancing with someone so much taller. Her head didn't even reach his shoulder. She had been 6'2". Now, even with four inch heels, she was close to a foot shorter than he was. Some of the children at the party were closer to her height than she was to most of the adults.

Luckily Ken (he) wasn't so tall. At 5'9" her head nestled nicely under his chin. And Ken (she) looked better dancing with Mike (he) than she had. They weren't dating, but were both good friends and had come to the wedding as a couple.

hen Ken (she) and Mike (he) caught the bride's bouquet and garter respectively, much was said about what a fine couple they would make, only partly in jest.

Soon it was time to go, and Mike soon found herself in a very sticky situation. She was alone in a honeymoon suite with someone who looked just like her best friend, but wasn't really. She was thankful that Ken wasn't a pushy person. He sensed her timidity, and took things very slowly, even though they were not newcomers at this. (Mike was pregnant, after all).

It wasn't until after they had finished the complimentary bottle of Champaign that he even made an attempt to unclip Mike's dress. Mike had downed several drinks at the reception, wine at the meal, and now the Champaign, and it was fairly clear to her that she was now completely drunk.

She considered refusing to allow Ken to undress her, perhaps to even slap him across the face for attempting to rush things along. Then she could run to the bathroom crying. Crying was such a handy tool to a woman ... and then he would feel so ashamed he wouldn't touch her for the rest of the night.

But by the time she had all that worked out in her mind, she realized that she was completely naked, and so was Ken. How had that happened, she wondered through her alcoholic haze. Then he put his hand on one of her massive breasts. She wanted to push it away, and then she didn't.

It felt so gooood there. It was as though there was a nerve directly from her nipple to her groin and lights were flashing and sirens whistling all the way along it. She laid back in the bed and let nature take its course.

It was the next morning that she felt the full force of the female orgasm. That night she had been so drunk, but in the morning she hadn't even the slightest hangover, and apparently Ken didn't either.

She discovered multiple orgasms, and they were incredible, especially since even a single orgasm was far better than a male one. And she was surprised that she found herself comfortable making love to a man, especially since that man was Ken.

She knew it would have been harder, perhaps impossible, with someone she hadn't known and loved (in a platonic way) for so many years. She was even able, on the last day of the honeymoon, to perform oral sex on him.

She loved the female power she had over him. Ken was a gentle, somewhat passive man, and Mike took advantage of him in little ways. She liked being able to stroke a particular spot on his inner thigh while they were swimming, and then laughing as he refused to come out of the pool until his erection subsided.

She compensated an hour later in the motel room, duplicating the trick, but allowing him an easier way to release the erection. A week later they were back from their trip. Ken started his freelance reporting with an overnight assignment, and she had to go to work again.

She was a receptionist at large law firm. She quickly realized that she had been hired for her rather impressive body, and not her brains, and no one seemed to think it odd that the stacked bimbo at the front had to be completely retrained on the switchboard after two weeks vacation.

That night she learned that Kara/Ken hadn't made out as well. She apparently had a job as a bank teller, and found that without any experience and training she had been completely helpless, finally quitting near the end of the first day.

Luckily she had excellent typing and research skills from her male days as a journalist, and was able to latch on to a secretarial job a few days later.

"You know what is weird," she told Susan/Mike that first night.

"On the night of your wedding Mike ... the other one ... and I kinda got drunk, and ... well ... did it."

"You didn't!"

"Sure did. We decided that you two shouldn't be having all the fun. And I wanted to experience sex as a woman, so ... well, the thing is we are still seeing each other."

"That's great ... I mean, everyone at the reception was saying what a great couple you made."

"Yeah but ... I need to ask your permission."

"My permission ... what for ... I'm not your father!"

"You don't understand. In a year ... a bit less, actually ... you'll be going back into that body. And I'll have left this one months before, so you'll basically be dating the me you see now. I just want to know if that's okay with you. I mean, I can break up with him now and it will be a lot easier than it will be for you to break up with her in a year.

A year makes it pretty serious, you know, and for the last nine months of that time we won't have any control over things. She might be living with him by then ... heck they could even be married and he could have her pregnant by then. I don't want to leave you with a paternity suit. Mike thought a bit.

"I don't know. Look at the alternatives. You split up, and he goes on the rebound and picks up someone else. Maybe someone really sleazy. Neither of us would have any control over that situation either. And heck, you look pretty attractive. I think I could deal with living with you as a girl friend ... maybe even as a wife."

"God, this sounds so weird. I'm a woman, being proposed to by another woman that wants to be my husband. Anyway, if you want to see what the package looks like ..." With that she started taking her clothes off. For a moment Mike was about to stop her, and then backed off. After all, women see each other naked all the time, she thought.

In a few seconds Ken was completely nude. She was 5'4" tall, a full five inches taller than Mike, with a far less voluptuous figure. She had firm C cup breasts riding high on a rather muscular physique.

Apparently Ken (she) lifted weights, and seemed to be in better shape than Ken (he) was. Playfully, Mike acted like a slave buyer, feeling the muscle tone on the supple, smooth body, and finally cupping a hand over Ken's breast.

Ken retaliated at that point by slipping a hand up under Mike's sweater and cupping her massive breast in return. The nipple-groin connection fired off on all cylinders, and Mike moaned with delight. That was enough for Ken, who swept the smaller woman up off her feet and carried her into the bedroom, where she disrobed her and the two explored each other's bodies for over an hour.

"You know, that was nice," Mike said later, "but I enjoy it even more with the other Ken."

"I know what you mean," Ken said. "Me too, although I'm sure I'm going to enjoy playing with those big boobs even more when I'm back in my male body."

"That's right," Mike said. "In almost three months you'll be the guy with the big dick doing me every night."

"Maybe not every night," Ken said. "After all, you're going to be six months pregnant by then."

"Oh yeah. Hey, do you think this is all going to make us gay. Bi or something? I mean, I really get turned on by making love to guys now ... at least to the other Ken; I've never thought about any other guy. We've been friends for a long time ... but I never thought we'd be that kind of friend after this is all over."

"I don't think we will," Ken said. "I mean, I think we enjoy making sex with men now because it isn't homosexual. It's natural. We were able to do what we just did because we weren't brought up as women, and don't have the same taboos that others have. Even then I still felt a bit strange making love to another person of the same sex."

"Yeah, I don't think I would get off with making love to the other Ken if I was in a man's body. It's the way that he gets turned on looking at me, and what happens when he touches my breasts that really fires me up."

"Exactly. I bet if we had been gay men before, we would be gay women now ... getting turned on only by other women. It's something completely separate from the body ... a part of the mind."

"Neat," Mike said. "You want to spend the night. Ken ... my Ken ... isn't coming home tonight."

"Can't. I've got a date with Mike ... my Mike," she said with a grin. "We're going out to a club. You can come along if you want ... as long as you know when to get lost ... if you know what I mean. Unless you want to experiment with the threesome. I know my Mike has the hots for your body ... he'd jump at the chance.

Mike shuddered. "No way. No wonder he has the hots for me ... I'm his fantasy woman. It's just that the demon's curse made his fantasy woman into his best friend's wife. But I can't imagine making love to my old body. It was hard enough just having to slow dance with him. Anything more is just too weird for me. And don't you go trying to set something up with my Ken either. He's all mine."

"A bit jealous, aren't we," Ken laughed. "Don't worry. Besides, in a few months I'll be that Ken. It's nice to know my wife-to-be feels that way. I promise not to set up anything stranger than all this already is."

"Good. After all, do you realize that you just suggested that your future-wife could cheat on you with your best friend?"

Ken had to stop for a moment and work it out. "You're right. Let's leave that alone. So what are we going to wear tonight? This might be the last time you go out in public without maternity stuff. You are going to start to show pretty soon." She ran her hand over the slight rounding of Mike's belly.

Life settled into a pattern over the next three months. Ken (she) and Mike (she) were inseparable pals, and they often dated with the men. Midway through the three months, when Mike was just shy of five months pregnancy, she first felt the baby kick. It was the female Ken that was first able to feel it, with the less sensitive male hands of Mike's husband not able to feel the slight movements for several more days.

At the end of those three months Ken rolled over in the morning and announced that he was back. It took her several minutes to realize what he was talking about, and then it hit her. Kara/Ken was no more. She was simply Kara, and the Ken that she had slept with was also gone.

It was nearly the same as two of her closest friends dying, and Ken was unable to understand why Mike wasn't as happy with the change as he was. But over the next few days Mike picked up considerably. She found that Ken was pretty much the same guy as before, except he now had the memories of the time he was Kara. And she was surprised to find that then new Kara was only slightly less important as a girl friend.

She found she needed someone other than Ken to talk to at times, and Kara was always willing to listen. And Kara had memories of most of the past three months ... for instance she remembered the night she and Mike had made love, but not all the strange talk that followed it.

During the following three months there were many times that Kara was there for Mike during the rough spots of her pregnancy. She commiserated when Mike's breasts swelled to H cups from their original F. Ken had thought it was rather neat.

She helped Mike buy maternity clothes that looked attractive on her increasing girth, which was only slightly less unnatural feeling when Mike learned that she was carrying twins. And Kara went to the prenatal classes right along with Ken, as a secondary coach. When the time came, both of them were in the delivery room with Mike.

Kara calmed her down as Ken got wrapped up in the miracle that was taking place. Of course, he was the only other one in the room that knew how special this birth was ... the first time a man would ever give birth to a child ... and he had a hard time not interviewing Mike as it happened.

The babies were born after nine hours of labour, via a natural childbirth (with epidermals). They were twin girls, born four minutes apart. Mike was completely exhausted by the ordeal, but when her daughters were first brought into her and placed on her enormous breasts, and suckled their first mother's milk, a strange, contented smile appeared on her face. It was as though she knew something then that she wouldn't tell the others.

After the birth everything went well. Kara moved in with them, insisting that she was going to be a part time nurse to the children when she wasn't working. She also announced that she was marrying her Mike in three months, and asked Susan to be her maid of honour. Susan/ Mike agreed, and was thrilled with the decision, although Ken seemed a little taken aback.

They talked about it in bed that night. "You seemed so pleased when Kara said she was marrying the other Mike," Ken said.

"I am," she said. "But he'll be marrying her ... like, days before you switch back."

"I'm not going to switch back."

"What?"

"I've decided not to switch back," she said. "I've got too much to lose here, and not enough reasons to change. There are the kids. I love them incredibly, and even if I was father to Kara's kids, I know it wouldn't be the same. I felt those two growing inside me. I felt them being born, and suckling on my breasts. I can't imagine anything to compare to that as a man."

"Yeah, I guess not. It make's me kinda wish I had chosen to spend a year as a woman so I could have experienced it."

"Don't be silly," she giggled. "If you had experienced it, you'd do the same as me, and have stayed female. And you're the other reason I'm staying. I don't want to lose you. We were best friends for 20 years, but the past year as your wife, especially the months since you changed back have brought our relationship miles ahead of what it could ever have been. They say the best marriage is when a couple can be lovers and best friends. Well, we are pretty good as lovers, and we have a far longer track record as best friends than any other couple in history."

"So Mike is ..."

"Mike. I'm Susan now. Try not to call me Mike anymore. I used to like it, but since the kids were born, I feel like Susan and Mike ... well, Mike is my best girlfriend's fiancee."

"You are sure about this? You have over two months to make up your mind."

"I can't imagine what it would be like to switch now. Someone else would be mother to my kids. Someone else would be sleeping with my husband. I'd only be their unrelated uncle and his best friend. It isn't enough. Heck, I'd even have to go back to that job as a courier. I'm not as smart as you, or Kara. Mike isn't either. But with this body I can hold down a good paying job. Mike can't. If he doesn't marry Kara he's stupid. She's been with her new company for less than a year and they already promoted her from secretary to office manager. Mike and I are going to have to be content with being the secondary wage-earner in our families, and that's a lot easier to take for a woman than it is for a man."

"Great, Mike ... I mean, Susan. I hope you feel the same way when the change time comes," Ken said.

"I've been worried about what would happen when the change came. I don't want to lose you either, even though someone else would be taking your place. I understand now why you were so upset when I stopped being Kara. The new Kara is still close to you, but it isn't the same as when I was Kara. "

"And you went from being my girlfriend to my husband. I'd be going from being your wife to being your buddy. Not exactly the same kind of jump. Why are you laughing?"

"I just remembered that night when we conjured up the demon. You were the one that didn't want to try being a woman, and I had to talk you into it. Now you want to stay female. I just think it's funny."

She started to laugh as well. "You're right. I wonder if this is what the demon had in mind with his little prank? I certainly don't feel as upset with him as I did the day I found out about it."

They lived together in comfort from that day on. Susan found she enjoyed being a mother, and got pregnant four more times over the next 17 years, giving birth to another six children (triplets once). She quit her job after the third childbirth to become a full time mother.

Ken was able to afford his family of eight children, since he found he was able to make a substantial income as a fantasy novelist. The only other point of interest with the family came when the eldest twins began to talk. Two little girls were inseparable friends, without the sibling rivalry that could have occurred. What was really usual was that from the age they learned to talk they insisted in calling each other Mike and Ken, instead of their real names.

End