Bobbie Schmedlap, Cindy’s best friend, is quick to diagnose Cindy’s problem. As we have seen before, Bobbie can detect physical problems in some people, and she quickly diagnoses Cindy’s ‘problem’. She is happy for her friend, but Cindy is not happy at all about the pending event. She is having serious doubts about her role, and the nightmare of the night before was an expression of that doubt. Now is the time for her mother to be there. Bobbie and Maddy help, too.

If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy and how she arrived where she is now, you should probably read them. Start with “An Incremental Journey”, “Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend”, and “Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver”. “Cynthia and the Christmas Gift” takes place several years after this story. Read it for enjoyment, if you like. It is not a plot spoiler.

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening and The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time. In fact, this just might be the time.

Once again, Holly has taken time out of her busy and hectic schedule to correct my many and grievous errors. Thank you so much!

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.

“Cindy, you look terrible. Is anything wrong?” Bobbie Schmedlap was Cindy’s best friend, and lived in the next group of houses. She and Cindy had known each other for several years; however, they had not become good friends until a little over two years before. They had a lot in common in that they had both been born on the XY side of the human race, but were both now possessors of two X chromosomes. The changes had involved considerable magic; however, it was magic for which both girls were very thankful.

Bobbie looked at Cindy rather closely through squinted eyes, “Oh, Cindy, it’s going to happen tonight. I’m so happy for you.” They were waiting for their school bus along with a small group of children who lived in the neighborhood and shared the bus stop. Cindy and Bobbie were in eighth grade. They hadn’t always lived close to each other. In fact, before The Wizard and his magic had happened, Bobbie and her family were only a few months from being homeless. With The Wizard’s help, justice was achieved, and the Schmedlap family now lived in a very nice house close to the Lewis’s.

“What are you talking about?” Cindy was obviously not in a good mood.

“Tonight’s the night you become a woman. I’ll bet you thought it was never going to happen. You’re getting your period. Wow, it’s about time!”

“Look, I’d really rather not talk about it. I had a real shitty night last night. I had horrible nightmares, and awful cramps. Mom gave me some Midol, and it helped a bit. If this is what I’m going to have to go through every month, I’m not sure I want it.”

Bobbie thought back to her journey into womanhood. Five months before, she had had her first period, and it was really almost a non-event. She had felt a little bloating and talked to her mother about it. There had been ample discussions and they were well prepared. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience, but it was a confirmation of her womanhood, and she figuratively welcomed it with open arms. Her period started, she accepted it and took care of it. Her mother was there for counsel and hygienic advice. It probably helped that she was the daughter her mother hadn’t expected to have, but had wanted so much.

Now it was Cindy’s turn, and obviously, things were not going as smoothly as they had for Bobbie.

“Cindy, it’s going to be okay. You know the first few times can be a bit difficult, but once your systems get adjusted, things should settle down.” Cindy grumbled something unintelligible, and Bobbie thought it best not to pursue the matter any further; at least, not until Cindy felt a bit better.

They had most of their classes together, and they were excellent students. Bobbie would privately complain in half jest that it wasn’t fair because Cindy actually had a master’s degree in business. It was just that that had been in a previous life. Bobbie had to work hard for her good grades, and it wasn’t exactly a snap for Cindy. Cindy’s problem was life in general. She had so much to learn about people and how to interact with them. That had been her major failing before, as Al. Now that she was a young girl, soon to be a woman, she no longer had the gender identity problem that had plagued her most of her previous life. Still there were problems. There were the little rituals she had still to learn. Bobbie helped her greatly; however, Cindy continued to have a problem with coming on too strong with others and acting too adult-like, almost patronizing at times, with others. Bobbie had to keep reminding her to back off.

Bobbie also had some problems adjusting to her femininity. She was an outstanding athlete and could out perform most of the boys in her age group. She was faster than most of them, and could hit a baseball just as far. Her arm wasn’t quite as strong as some, but she was a quick accurate thrower. She had started playing golf at ten and was already regularly shooting in the low 80’s from the women’s tees. In fact, she had broken 80 several times. She was deadly around the greens. She was also feeling attraction to some of the boys, and had to be careful not to hurt any feelings due to her athletic prowess.

Cindy had grumbled her way through the day, but was silent on their ride home on the bus. Bobbie would have gladly ridden her bike to school except on the bad weather days; however the narrow roads and traffic in their area made the long bike ride to school too dangerous. At least, that was what her parents felt.

Bobbie said goodbye as they got off the bus and proceeded down the road to her driveway. She would get a snack and do her homework, and check with Cindy later. Sometimes, she would go to Cindy’s in the evening, or Cindy would come to her house, and the three of them, Cindy, Bobbie and Maddy would get a lesson from The Wizard. Bobbie’s powers had been strengthening since her menarche and she was able to do some minor spells. She knew it frustrated Cindy that her powers were developing faster than Cindy’s

They had learned much over the last three years about the magic they had, and they knew they would learn much more. Maddy was probably more advanced in some ways than either of the girls. She was very adept at levitating small objects and keeping them aloft for long periods. There was a payback, though, and that was that keeping things aloft for extended periods was fatiguing. Bobbie explained it this way. Even though Maddy was not physically touching an article, it was still Maddy’s energy that kept it aloft. It was just more efficient than using electro-chemical muscle power. Her mind was operating like a lens to focus the energy stored in her cells. There might be a time later on when they might be able to direct and focus energy from other sources. That would come after much training and practice.

Maddy used her power to other advantages. She never had fleas or other parasites. If one showed up, Maddy would just banish it. Then she discovered that she could hold the offending creature off, but hold it in place at the same time. She would pump a little more energy into it and it would literally cook as if it were being microwaved. Maddy didn’t think much past that at the present; however, that ability might prove to be very valuable.

“Bobbie, Cindy’s mother wants to talk to her for a minute,” her mother called up the stairs to her.

‘Whoops!’ “Mom, Cindy’s not here. She got off the bus with me, but I thought she went home. I don’t think she’s feeling very well. She has PMS something awful and she’s not herself. She’s going to start tonight and it’s her first time. Let me see if I can locate her.”

Bobbie called Cindy’s cell phone, but it went to voice mail immediately. The phone was obviously turned off. Cindy couldn’t have gone far so Bobbie thought she would go look for her. She had an idea where she might be.

She put her shoes back on; she loved to go barefoot, and came downstairs to find her mother getting ready for a dinner out with Bobbie’s father. It was their anniversary, and Bobbie knew it was a special time for them. The whole family had been ‘down’ for quite a while after her father’s injury, and it had been especially hard for him.

Amos Schmedlap had been an All American baseball player in college and he had also been an excellent student, majoring in mechanical engineering. He had been a late round draft pick by Boston; however, he didn’t feel that a career in baseball was the way to go. Maybe if he had been drafted in an earlier round and had been offered a substantial bonus, things might have been different. However, there were several determining factors that made him opt for an engineering and construction career, and most of them involved Sally and their soon to be first child.

They had married between their junior and senior years. It hadn’t been planned, they had really wanted to wait a few years, but Sally became pregnant almost immediately after their marriage. The rigors of traveling with a minor league team were not conducive to a good family life, and Amos opted to go to work for a construction company immediately after graduation.

Anyway, her father had his health back thanks to The Wizard’s kindness. Bobbie hadn’t realized it then, but the spinal injury had seriously affected her parents’ love making. That was in the past now. Sometimes they were like college kids, and Bobbie was glad, in a way, that her parents’ bedroom was far removed from the upstairs rooms occupied by her and her brothers.

“Mom, call Mrs. Lewis and ask her to have Maddy look for Cindy. I think I know where Cindy is, but Maddy can help.

“So, are you and Daddy going to the ‘Pepper Pot’?”

“Yes, and don’t wait up for us. I think your father is feeling a bit ‘frisky’, if his call a while ago is any indication.” She paused for a moment. There were some thoughts running around; things that had been teasing her for the last year. “What would you think about having a little brother or sister?”

“MOM!” The exclamation was there, and then receded. “Do you really mean it? I would love to have a little brother or sister. I want to have my own children someday, and you could teach me so much.

“Look, we need to find Cindy. We can talk about babies tomorrow.”

Sally picked up the phone. She still had a little smile thinking about what might transpire later that evening. “Marissa, Bobbie wanted you to ask Maddy if she knew where Cindy was. I know that she can read her thoughts and Bobbie thought Maddy might be able to locate her.”

“Just a minute, Sally. I should have thought of that. Those two are inseparable. I’ll have to find Maddy. She’s probably napping on Cindy’s bed. Though, it is about her dinner time. Let me check. I’ll be right back.” Sally and Bobbie waited for what seemed like a very long time, although it was probably not much more than a minute, or a bit more.

“Maddy says Cindy isn’t talking, but she thinks she’s down by the beaver pond.

“I didn’t realize she was feeling so bad. I think I will take Maddy with me and see if I can do something. Cindy needs to know that we understand how she’s feeling. Ask Bobbie to meet me down there. We need to give her some support.”

The sun was still well above the horizon in the late spring afternoon. It was warm and humid, and the gentle breeze did little to dispel the clinging heat. A family of wood ducks was paddling on the far side of the pond where Cindy had nearly drowned four years before. They had wanted to come ashore, but Cindy was purposelessly tossing small pebbles into the gently moving water, and the ducks were waiting out of her range. She would understand better what she was going through later on, but right now, she was miserable. It wasn’t just the PMS. That was just the crest of the hormonal wave bearing down on her in a sea of doubt that she was wallowing in.

Maddy gently nudged Cindy’s arm before climbing into her lap.

“What are you doing here, Maddy?”

“I wanted to be with you. We wanted to be with you.”

Cindy turned to see her Mother, and her best friend standing there. There were tears in her mother’s eyes, and Bobbie might have had a few, too.

“Go away, leave me alone.”

“Why would we want to leave you alone? This is a difficult time for many of us, and we need to be here with you. I should have realized how difficult this was being for you.”

“You don’t get it, either of you. I’m a fraud, a fake, a travesty.”

“Cindy, you’re talking like an adult again. I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Bobbie was trying to make light of something she probably didn’t really understand.

“Oh, shut up!”

“Baby, what’s the matter? It can’t be that bad. What are you talking about?”

“I am a total fraud. It was easy being a little girl. I didn’t have to think about things. I had all these new friends, but I hadn’t been a little girl. I had been, was, this obese, disgusting person who had no life. I have all those memories that she had before I took over, but they aren’t my memories. I’m a fake. Everything about me is a fake. I don’t have a fucking clue about what being a woman is about.

Maddy pushed her head against Cindy’s incipient breast, and then not knowing what else to do, looked up to Marissa and Bobbie.

Marissa motioned to Bobbie to sit next to Cindy. She pulled her own skirt under her as she sat on her other side, wrapping her arm around Cindy’s shoulder, pulling her to her. “Cindy, no one ever said being a woman was easy, and let me tell you, becoming one isn’t easy either. No matter what anyone tells you about it, until you have experienced it, you can’t know what it’s about.

“Maybe you didn’t have all the benefits of really experiencing early girlhood, but I know you are ready for the rest of this adventure. In spite of what any young girl is told, experience is the only true teacher. It will be the same way when you have your first lover, your first pregnancy, your first baby: no one can tell you everything in such a way that you will know exactly what to expect.

“There are just some things you are going to have to accept. Your hormones are flowing at a rate they have never done before, and won’t again until your first months of pregnancy. Hormones are powerful drugs, and they will drastically affect your perception of things. You will learn to deal with it, as will your friends and future mate. Your father learned to deal with it, too. I don’t think many mothers prepare their sons on how to deal with hormonal women. Your father is very understanding.

“No woman understands fully what to expect. She can’t.

“Now, I don’t want to hear anything more about you being a fraud. You are a beautiful, sensitive girl soon to be a woman. There is not one person out there who thinks any other way. It is never the same for any woman. Your experience is uniquely yours; however, I can tell you without question that you are a going to be a woman in every way. That other person is part of your history. You are not him. He is part of you. We told you before that you are our daughter, and always will be.

“It will get better for you, and I think the worst is over. The first time is almost always rougher. Be brave. We have to be tough. Most men just don’t get it.

Cindy turned to her mother. All three women had tears streaming down their faces. If Maddy could have cried, she would have, too. Instead, Maddy gently purred and snuggled into her best friend’s arms, spreading her healing warmth the best she could.

“Come on, dinner will be ready in a while and you need to fix your makeup. Your dad and brother are watching Christine, and I need to feed that hungry little darling before the rest of us eat.”

“Would you just hold me for a moment? I’m scared. I’m scared I’m going to screw it up.”

“Darling, you’re not going to screw it up. We won’t let you, and The Wizard won’t let you. You are just going to do this a day at a time, just like the rest of us did.”

“Mmmmmm, did you see that rather handsome tom over by the shed,” Maddy mused. “He was stalking some quail.”

“Oh gosh, Maddy, not you too?” Cindy exclaimed as she hugged her dear friend to her. “I think we will need to keep each other company tonight.”

Well, life goes on. Cindy didn’t get to experience early girlhood; however, the future is entirely hers. The next few months will hasten her physical maturity. What could go wrong?