The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

Early morning sunlight filtered through the window and landed on my closed eyelids. There was a weight pressed up to me, a warm presence beside me.

I didn't want to open my eyes. Didn't want to explore whatever new situation I was in. Was I at the home I shared with Murphy? Was I in Lara's penthouse? Was I male, was I female, was Murphy herself or was she still in the porn star body?

Did it even happen, or was it some crazy dream? Maybe I'd had too much pizza?

Was Susan alive?

Hell, was Martin alive?

Was Molly back to herself? Or was she still caught up in Mab's schemes?

And Lara?

I didn't feel the weight of The Mantle. Which…might be a good or a bad thing, considering. I was hungry…but I couldn't tell if it was from Hunger, with a big H, or hunger, as in I wanted a tasty sausage, egg, and cheese croissant.

Did I have to open my eyes? I realized I was in a Schrodinger's Cat situation. I was neither Harry nor Lara at the moment, but both and neither.

I sighed. Was it a feminine or masculine sigh?

Are you there?

I waited for a bit, but Molly didn't answer.

Well, it was time. I'd never shirked a fight, never dodged a bullet, never ran from the rain. It was time to step boldly into my future, no matter what curveball reality, and Mac, might have thrown.

I opened my eyes.

The curtains Murphy and I had picked out at Macy's hung over the window in the corner. I was in our home.

"Yes!" I said, sitting up. Male voice, male arms, male chest and…I glanced down under the covers. Yep, Harry Jr. nestled gently in my pajama pants.

"Jesus, Harry. What time is it?" Murphy rolled over, her eyes bleary with sleep.

I glanced at the clock. "Six-thirty. And I'm a man again!"

She nodded, then snuggled back under the covers. "Good for you."

"Oh!" I pulled the covers down, exposing Murphy's head. Her sandy blonde, sleep mussed hair looked up at me.

"What the bloody fuck, Dresden. I'm not ready to be awake yet."

"You're you!"

"Yep, last time I checked."

"I mean, you aren't porn-star you; you're the you I love!"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

I frowned. "Please don't tell me everything that has happened in the last few weeks has been a dream. That is NOT going to play well."

She grinned up at me, then lifted her left hand so I could see the white-gold wedding ring around her finger. "Not on your life, buster."

"Oh!" I looked down at my finger and noticed the same thing. "We're married! Yes!"

She nodded then leaned up to kiss me properly on the mouth like a wife should when she's doing her wifely duties being a wife. I kissed her back, sensually, enjoying the play of our tongues.

She pulled away. "You need to brush your teeth, husband."

I chuckled. "Wow, Mac really came through."

"In so many ways."

"I wonder if that means Susan is alive?"

I heard someone in the house, and I looked down at Murphy whose eyes widened. She reached over into the nightstand and pulled her pistol, cocking it.

Our door opened, and with my heart pounding—

"Daddy?" Maggie said, rubbing her eyes. She had a hand in Mouse's fur. "Can I hab some Cheerios?"

"Maggie!" I said, getting up and picking up my daughter. I spun her around in a circle, and Mouse huffed at us, wagging his tail.

Maggie giggled. "Daddy! You're gonna make me throw up!"

I chuckled. "Of course, you can have Cheerios." I set her down and took her hand. "Murphy's going to sleep a little longer, so let's go into the kitchen and see what we can do."

"Okay."

I held my daughter's hand as we walked through the house.

Things had changed. Instead of my Star Wars poster, and the quaint but tasteful wall hangings that Murphy had hung, there were pictures of all of us; Murphy, me, Mouse, Mister, and Maggie. Maggie took up most of the wall space; apparently, someone was in love with taking her picture. I didn't blame them.

I dug through the cupboards and found a box of Cheerios. Pouring some into a bowl, I tossed a few at Mouse, who caught them in the air, barking to catch some more.

"What are we going to do today, Daddy?" Maggie said.

"What do you want to do, sweetheard?" I poured some milk over the cereal, then set it in front of my daughter with a spoon.

"That's not my spoon, Daddy." She giggled.

"No?" I went through the drawers and pulled out the spoon half of the salad tong.

"Oh!" I set it down, theatrically. "There you go."

"Daddy…" she giggled again. "I can't even put that in my mouth!"

"Well, where is your spoon, then, babygirl?"

She walked over to the drawer, opened it, and pulled out a pink princess spoon. "This one, Daddy."

"Wow, you are one smart little girl. Almost as smart as Mouse."

Mouse woofed, wagging his tail.

"Daddy, I'm wayyyy smarter than Mouse. I can read up to first-grade level now."

I smiled, ruffling her hair as I put on a pot of coffee.

I read at the table while Maggie ate her Cheerios, and Mouse sat looking at us with soulful eyes. A short while later, Murphy came out of the bedroom, with sleep-bedraggled hair and poured a cup of coffee.

"I see we now have a cherub living with us." She kissed me on the forehead as she sat down next to me.

"That a problem?" I said.

"No, just a surprise. You know I adore Maggie."

Maggie, as if on cue, came around and gave Murphy a big hug. "Morning, Auntie."

"Morning, sweetheart. Has your father given you any protein, or have you just been eating cereal?"

"Just cereal."

Murphy shot me a glare.

"What? I'm sure Cheerios has protein."

She passed me the box. "Where. Look at the ingredients and tell me which of those is protein."

"Whole grain Oats, Sugar, Oat Bran…" I began reading…"Oh, here it is. Tripotassium Phosphate." I set the box back down, proudly. "See? Totally protein."

Murphy rolled her eyes and sighed. She got up and pulled down a pan and started scrambling some eggs.

"So, how are you feeling?" I asked her as she stirred the eggs.

She smiled. "I kinda wondered what today would bring actually."

"Like if I'd even be here or not?"

She nodded. "And if it's really you."

I got up and went to her, wrapping my arms around her small form from behind. I kissed her neck. "I'm totally me."

She nodded. "I can tell."

"How?" I released her. "I mean…how are we different?"

She shrugged. "It's the sense of humor. What you just said about protein. If Lara were still inside you, she would not have made that joke."

"Wow, so you're saying my sarcasm is my most endearing part of my charm?"

"It's not that endearing at all, actually. But it's part of what makes you, well, you. Lara wasn't so adept at the sarcasm."

I nodded. "Well, I'm definitely me or as me as I think I should be." As I thought about it, it raised a whole lot of issues. "Which is…kinda weird actually, and maybe not so good."

"Don't do that, Dresden." She plopped some eggs in three dishes and handed one to each of us as we sat down to breakfast.

"Do what, exactly?"

"I see that look in your eyes. And yes, maybe there's some things about this situation that have been kept from you, and you really shouldn't know. And maybe if you start digging at those parts, you don't know things might start to unravel. And maybe if they unravel things might change, and for the love of GOD —"

"Or, more specifically, Mac. I'm never going to get used to that."

She giggled. "For the Love of Mac, don't dig at it."

"I wonder if that makes him the BigMac in the sky?"

Maggie giggled at that, and Murphy threw some of her eggs at me.

"Hey! That's perfectly good protein, I'll have you know."

"Auntie, your not sposed to throw your food!"

"That's right, darling, but when your father is being silly, it's perfectly appropriate."

Both of the women in my life giggled and laughed, and for the first time I felt like I could breathe again, I could enjoy again, just be and not have the constant stress of who the next monster might be, what thing might destroy the earth, or the Universe, or all of reality as we know it. I had a family.

After finishing up breakfast, Maggie and Mouse went to go play out in the backyard (we now apparently had a swing set). Murphy and I sat on the porch and drank coffee, watching them.

"So, what else do you think has changed?" Murphy said.

"Like you said, I've been a little afraid to start digging."

She nodded.

I remembered the sound of Lara screaming and how it gradually ascended upwards as she shrank and transformed into a sprite. I wondered if she were here somewhere…what had her name been? Gem…something.

"I wonder if your association with the sprites will be the same," Murphy said.

"Jesus, I was just thinking the same thing."

"She was not happy with you. It's funny how people are, isn't it? She caused all this, yet she still needs someone to blame."

"Actually, she only capitalized on an opportunity that I gave her because of our little Tantric accident."

Murphy blushed. "True."

"And that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been wearing this—" I put my hands up to the collar…that wasn't there.

I felt my neck, a bit frantic, but there was no collar. But, that couldn't be right, because I'd literally been reading an iPad earlier and it hadn't gone up in smoke. Come to think of it…

"Oh my God."

"Don't you mean Ma—"

"Murphy!" I stood up, hands scrabbling at my neck. I ran into the house looking for my staff, my shield bracelet, my blasting rod…anything that was magical.

It wasn't there. It was gone. All gone.

I opened the door to the basement and dashed down the stairs.

Items from a lifetime of living with a child lay strewn about in boxes-A washing machine, dryer, Christmas ornaments, a sled, several pairs of skis (one broken), and other types of sporting goods.

But none of my potions, my summoning circle, my alchemical ingredients. They weren't just gone; it was like they'd ceased to exist.

Murphy came downstairs, followed by Maggie and Mouse.

Murphy looked just as startled as I did. "Where's all your stuff, Harry?"

Maggie frowned. "What stuff, Auntie?"

That didn't make sense. I knelt down. "Maggie, baby, tell me something. Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"We went to the park, and I played ring around the Rosie?"

"No, I mean the place we went to with the Woman in White, and meeting Mac, and Molly and all those other people."

"No?"

I stared at Murphy. "You remember that, though, right?"

She nodded. "Of course. It was one of the best moments of my life."

I held out my hand, gathered my will, closing my eyes. "Forzare!"

Nothing happened.

"Oh, no, no no no no, this can't be happening!" I shook it off, closing my eyes again. "Infriga!"

No icicles. The temperature didn't even drop a fraction of a degree.

I put my hands on my head, staring at the equipment and boxes around me, inhaling but afraid to exhale.

"How can this be?" I said.

Murphy slid her arms around me, hugging my middle as I stood there in shock, horror, and disbelief.

"Magic is gone!" I said. "Oh my God, what am I going to do?"

Maggie looked up at me with those huge eyes and tugged at my shirt. "You still have me, Daddy."

I stared at her.

I had her.

I had Murphy. I had Mouse, and somewhere in the house, I'm sure Mister slept under something. I had a life, a family.

I picked up my daughter. She wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly, as Murphy hugged my middle. I put my arm around my wife as I held my daughter, standing in the basement of our house.

Grasshopper, please tell me you can hear this. I sent, or felt like I sent.

No answer came back.

Magic was...

... gone...

{The end?}

Author's note.

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