Any marriage is an adventure. But I being a non magically talented person I married into a magical talented family. After three blissful full years I was not prepared for our adventure on steroids. This all started on the high Holy Day of October 31.

WE NEED TO TALK
By Misha Nova
Edited by Rasufelle

“WE NEED TO TALK,” I growled sweetly under my breath. I intended this to be the challenge to end all challenges.

My mother in law, who I was addressing, looked at me with mild amusement in her sparkling green eyes.

“My dear one what ever about, you look upset.”

“Where did they go, they're not where they are supposed to be, and if someone hurts them I will be most displeased.”

“You think I would leave it lying around where it would get cold and lonely? certainly not. I put them someplace safe and warm.”

“And where is that Morgana? I thought you liked me. Now you go and do this!! Do you have even the slightest idea just how disturbing this is to me?”

To bring everyone up to speed: I married into a magic wielding family. It is a bit unusual for a gifted person to take a non gifted spouse, but on special occasions, when the person is worthy and able to wrap their head around the daily and flagrant violation of the laws of physics, the marriage is sanctioned by the ruling council.

Samantha and I have been married now for three joyful years. I was well accepted in the Talented community even with my oddity of being a stay at home husband. It was the most economical way for us to manage our money, as I can do my consulting work as an herbalist at home and keep our expenditures tightly reined in. I cooked, cleaned, prepared concoctions, canned, et cetera. I was like a male version of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Samantha was our outside person, specializing in home security work and magical protection. She was a former Army Ranger so this came naturally to her.

Our only personal problems were we were, respectively, the wrong gender, and no matter how much we blurred the lines at home the two of us were not comfortable in our own hides. This had nothing to do with our skill sets, as our skills grew out of our personalities and how we interacted with the world. But, both of us just put on our adult underpants and got on with our life.

The guilty occasion was the annual All Hallows Eve party; part party, and part religious event. This year's theme was storybook characters, all with a magically assisted twist. The two of us were cosplaying Snow White but flipping gender, me playing Snow White and Samantha being Prince Charming. It only took a small costume embellishment to pull this off and everyone at the party got the joke, adding to the festive atmosphere.

That is, until I entered the bathroom to tinkle. As I dispelled the illusion of my huge skirt, I was hit by a wave of magically induced mana. This disoriented me, and I had to grope so that I could get into the privy area. That was when I found my little man had deserted the ship, leaving only what Snow White would be equipped with.

I should explain: stunts like this, and more, occur at our parties, but it is frowned upon to go this far with non-talented guests.

I am accosting my mother in law because she is suspect number one, having been going on as of late that Sam and I were born in the wrong gendered bodies.

A second wave of magical driven mana rippled through the party room like a smooth wave on a tropical beach. I felt it as my stomach went wonky and my vision blurred. The next thing I am aware of I am in one of the private dining alcoves just off the main floor being attended to by a very handsome man who was talking to my mother in law.

“What were you thinking? Have you been tippling the Scotch again? The last time you did that your first husband spent several days on a farm being the bull.”

“Hey tall dark and handsome, no harm no fowl, he thought it was the best vacation he ever had.”

Even through the red haze of my teapot tempest I found that funny. Trying to sit up in a corset was a pain, especially when you needed to be assisted by someone you are mad at and you are giggling like a loon. It took several attempts, and some additional help by several people, to accomplish. Looking in the face of my rescuer I was taken back by a set of beautiful eyes which I was very familiar with.

“Samantha? Is that you in there? Are you OK?”

“Am I Ok? No, far from it. I needed to use the gentleman's room and when I sat to pee I found that I had inherited something of yours.”

By then my mother in law was laughing so hard tears were running down her face. Both Sam and I looked at Morgana and in unison spoke.

“We need to talk.”

At that time I did not know if I wanted to yell at her or strangle her. Then the High Priestess entered our enclave to find out what was going on, finding the two of us facing Morgana. All Morgana could utter was, ”The looks on their faces were priceless”.

I yelled at the top of my voice, “Why did you do this Morgana?!” Samantha only looked at his mother with a scowl.

The high Priestess Dianna quietly answered using her calming voice. ”Because the two of you were in such pain, there needed to be an intervention. And I need to be honest, I approved of this, with the blessings of a unanimous vote of the council.”

The two of us felt the wind going out of our sails. Sam answered quietly and with gravity in her, er, his voice. “Does this mean what I think it means my lady? That is one of the few blessings that requires an unanimous vote. “

“Yes it does Samuel, my Prince Charming. So, the responsibility is yours to educate Michelle, your very talented spouse, in the responsibilities that come with that blessing. And all of the blessings that come with it!”

Sam looked at me with a deeply compassionate and guilty look.

"Sam, from the time you were small, trying to find a comfortable place for your personality was a losing battle. You never were able to be yourself and just relax. When you met Michelle, I knew you had discovered a soul mate, someone whose ragged edges matched yours. The only thing the two of you were missing has now been rectified. All I ask of the two of you is to give it a year before you make any final decisions. Then you may exercise your free will, and return to your former state.“

Diana sighed deeply, indicating a proclamation was to follow. “Now, will the two of you please get on with your evening. Reality can only be bent so far and all still seem to be as it should. I am not trying to be harsh, but the two of you were already living lives of quiet desperation trying to capture what was just gifted to you.”

With that Diana made a subtle but stated swishing of her costume skirt, and departed. Morgana, looking quite pleased with herself, informed me that our costumes were rigged to perform this switch, and that too was approved by the council.

“The two of you have to adjust to your new circumstances. This dance and party is set up to help that process. So, do get on about the evening, mana is wasting.” Then she too departed back to the dance floor, leaving the two of us contemplating the situation we found ourselves in.

When we embraced there was a thrilling shock that ran through my entire body. At first I thought it was a sexual one, until there were several more jolts exchanged between the two of us. Sam steadied me, then guided me to the nearest seat that lined the outside wall of the area we were in.

“Wow I forgot about that!" Sam exclaimed. "Are you OK love?”

“Sam... what was that, and how could you forget something like that?”

“Easy Michelle, that effect only happens between two talented people when their energies come to a balance. You, my dear, have been granted an amazing boon. You have had your talent opened and energized for you by the council!! You will need training, but that will be easy enough for us to manage.”

“How is this possible, is there some ancestor of mine that was talented or what?”

“Michelle, I think it is a combination of things that we can only guess at, but from the strength of the reaction you must be very powerfully imbued. That could be a cascade from my earlier female form.” Then a shocked look clouded my now very handsome husband's face. “Oh my goddess... then... the 'harm none' clause would follow through in our case too, meaning...”

There was a very long pause before Sam continued. “That would mean that no life could be harmed in this process no matter what! Oh Goddess, I hadn't had the chance to tell you beforehand, but I just found out I was pregnant! Meaning, you are now with our first child!!!”

The next sound that was heard was me yelling across the party floor.

“Morgana mother, WE NEED TO TALK!”