Introduction: This story is the fourth and final story in a series within a series. The overall series is the “Cynthia Chronicles”. This story is directly connected to “Simoné and the Second Time Around”, “Marti and the Doppelganger”, and Marti and the Doppelganger – a Follow Up”. Several of the stories in the Cynthia Chronicles left some unanswered questions. In “Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling” two of the antagonists are regressed to childhood. Now we will learn what happened to them. In “Randi and the College Professor” Randi and Frank Deere adopt Betty, a bit of a rogue witch. Betty was regressed to early childhood, but she kept her powers. As it turns out, Betty was a real blessing. We also learn a bit more about Cindy’s first born who is the first new wizard in probably close to a thousand years. Then there is a question that has been floated about. What about death?

Marianne and Emily were obviously meant for each other. They are gradually let in on the friendly conspiracy that had been going on for a while. They will soon be a happily married couple living in the same neighborhood as Jim and Terri Matthews, Lisa and Rosemary Fischer-Hamilton, and Tamesha and Wanda. What could possibly go wrong? -->
 

That time came more quickly than Marianne expected. There was no doubt in her mind that her relationship with Emily was rock solid and there was no way they were going to live separately. Emily moved in with Marianne a week later. There was a bit more room there, but it was only temporary. A real estate agent friend of Emily’s was already looking for the ideal home for them. They already knew they wanted to have a family.

The denouement as far as trying to explain why Marianne had not connected with Emily earlier came only two weeks after their first night together. They were doing a bit of shopping for some essential items at one of the anchor stores at the local mall. They were really just enjoying being together. As they entered the main mall, they caught the eyes of several of the shoppers, as they were holding hands. In most of Europe, no one would have batted an eye as this was common behavior among women friends. It had nothing to do with homosexuality or lesbianism. That was not the case in the good ol’ US of A.

“What a strange looking little shop,” Emily exclaimed. “Let’s go in. We don’t really have to be anywhere.”

“Oh my god,” Marianne said under her breath as she saw the old sign. The old plate glass window was just like she thought it should be. She hoped it was shatter proof.

The tinkling of the bell only confirmed what she already knew. They were greeted by Wolf and Padrona who had been resting by the old, shabby chic counter.

“Yikes!” escaped from Emily.

“Don’t worry, Em. They’re okay; at least I hope they are.”

“Hi, I’m Wolf and this is my wife, Padrona. We’d love to have you meet the kids, but they’re in Africa helping capture some poachers.”

“Could we have a snack?” Padrona asked. “They’re in that jar, but we can’t open it because we don’t have opposable thumbs.”

“Give them all they want,” a voice said from a room beyond a beaded curtain, “They’ve been pretty good.”

Marianne immediately recognized Dr. Brewer’s voice. That wasn’t really much of a surprise.

Emily had opened the jar, and was handing out snacks. “Are you really a wolf?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ve been with the boss for six or seven hundred years.”

“Emily, I would like to introduce you to some friends of mine,” Marianne said as she took her lover’s hand and led her to the back room.

“The gentleman on the left is The Wizard, also known to a few as Dr. Aloysius Bettencourt. That beautiful blonde is Dr. Cynthia Brewer, and that gorgeous redhead is Dr. Bobbie Anderson, Cynthia’s best friend. Folks, this is the love of my life, Emily Warren. I’ve loved her for quite a while, and we’ve finally been able to realize our love for each other.”

“Oh my,” Emily said, obviously in a bit of awe.

“Emily, it’s so nice to see you again,” Bobbie said.

The remark went over Emily’s head, but Marianne caught it immediately. She looked at Cindy who winked back at her. Obviously, something was going on.

“Bobbie Anderson,” Emily said with sudden recognition. “I watched you win all those tournaments. I was so infatuated with you, but you were already taken. Then I started seeing this beautiful woman playing soccer on the sports channel, and suddenly she was working in my office. Now we’re finally together. I couldn’t be happier.”

“Things do work out, don’t they, Emily,” The Wizard said. “Why don’t we have some refreshments and talk about old times.”

Now Marianne knew for sure something was going on. Emily hadn’t batted an eye when Wolf and Padrona talked to her. It was almost like they were old friends. It was obvious that the two knew Emily, but Emily didn’t remember them.

Emily took a drink of her iced tea and started looking around the room. She looked at the skeleton by the rest room, and giggled. “I knocked that down. That was funny. Then Bobbie said “Osteo Erectus” and it put itself back together. The Wizard made a warm bed for me over there. I was so cold. Bobbie found me in an alley. She started to warm me up a little. She was so pretty, and she smelled so good. Her boyfriend was with her. He carried me here.”

Marianne realized that Emily was releasing old memories. She wasn’t really speaking to anyone in particular.

“I had run away from that awful place. They were so cruel and they let the other boys beat me up. They just watched and laughed. I snuck out and hopped a train in Erie. I was so cold and so hungry. A hobo shared his food with me in Albany. He let me sleep with him in his bed roll. He didn’t molest me or anything. He just kept me warm. For some reason I had to come here. This wasn’t home. I grew up in Seattle. I didn’t really grow up there. I was only ten when my parents were killed in an auto accident. I wasn’t with them when it happened. I went to live with my aunt in Pennsylvania, but she hated me. I don’t know why. She put me in that horrible place in Erie.

“Then I came here and Bobbie found me. The Wizard knew about the real me, and he fixed that right away. Then he found a couple who adopted me. I love them so much, and they are so happy I finally found Marianne. We’re going to visit them next weekend. They’re in Hartford.”

Obviously, Emily was back. “Well, hello everyone. That was certainly strange having that all come out now. Your Wisdom, you told me that would happen when the time was right. I guess this was that time. It’s so nice to see all of you again.”

She looked at Marianne who had a huge smile on her face. “Did you know about this; what happened to me?”

“Not until now, it seems I have a little bit more to tell you, too.”

“Maybe, I can help,” The Wizard said.

“Emily, you know we can change things on a small scale, sometimes more in serious cases. I am going to give you a brief memory of the last three years when things were a bit different.”

Suddenly, Emily ‘knew’. She remembered the tall, muscular, good looking ex-football player who had joined her office staff. He’d known about her early on, but was always so nice to her. Once people knew she was gay, they would often just turn off everything but the business professional attitude. It was strictly impersonal. Marion was different. He always had a smile for her and a pleasant greeting. They would share a cup of coffee. Some of the other female office members did, but it didn’t mean much. When her car was in the shop due to an accident, he drove out of his way to pick her up and drive her home. He never came close to making a pass at her. Now she understood. “Marion.”

“I loved you then, Emily, but I respected you too much to push things. This is the real me. It always has been. Thankfully, I found these wonderful people who really understood me.”

“There was one more who understood, Marianne. We’re going to have lunch with her. I’ve moved the store a few miles to West Hartford. It’s not a great location; however, it’s very convenient.”

The Wizard hung a sign that said “Closed for lunch – Will be back, whenever” and the group walked to the other end of the small strip mall. They stopped at a small restaurant where the sign said “Closed for Private Luncheon”. The Wizard held the door open for the others.

The first words uttered came simultaneously from Marianne and Emily’s mouths, “Terri Matthews, what are you doing here?”

“Well, Jim and I wanted to congratulate Marianne and Emily for finally getting together. It took a bit longer than we thought it would, but I think things are working out just fine.”

“You know? How do you know?” Marianne spluttered.

“Marianne, I’ve known since the first day I met you. If things had gone bad for you, I would never have allowed you to do anything serious. I knew how you felt about Emily right away.”

“Have you been reading my mind?”

“A little bit. I knew who you were the first day we met. I don’t have to read minds to find that out. I did a little surface check, but after that you were off limits. I just watched you closely, and when you came out to me, I was so relieved because I knew things were going to work out. I just made sure you visited the right people.

“So you are …?”

“A witch, just like Cindy and Bobbie, and the owners of this fine establishment whom I will introduce to you now.”

Marianne and Emily turned to see a very tall auburn haired woman accompanied by a considerably shorter dark blonde. They were both quite attractive. The taller of the two was visibly pregnant. “Marianne and Emily, may I present Lisa and Rosemary Fischer-Hamilton. They are the owners of this fine establishment, and have offered to fix a nice lunch for us.”

“Rosemary, I remember you,” Emily exclaimed. “You spent a week at our office two years ago fixing that IT problem. You’re running a restaurant, now?”

“No, this is Lisa’s. I just help out. I’m still in IT with Jim Matthews, Terri’s husband. I just help out on special occasions like today.”

It didn’t take long before Emily and Marianne learned exactly how much they had in common with the other women. Other than not being magic, all of them had similar origins. All of them had been born in the wrong bodies. They were a very special group.

After a very satisfying and over the top lunch, Terri rapped her glass to get the attention of everyone. “Folks, we have some other things to take care of before Emily and Marianne have to get back to Bridgeport. They are not aware of it, but both are being offered promotions to the home office. We would love to have them move to Hartford, and this is from both a company position and from the hopes of our little group.

“Emily, Underwriting, as you know, has a position opening for the Assistant Director of the Eastern Region. The position is yours if you want it. The official letter will be in your mail box tomorrow.”

“But …,” Emily spluttered.

“Emily, you weren’t listening. You have nothing to worry about. We knew you wouldn’t accept the position if Marianne couldn’t make the move.

“We also have a position open for a Senior Loss Control Consultant. John Renniger is retiring in six months. I already have approval for Marianne to take that position.

“Now we want to show something to you.

“Lisa, are Amy and her sister expecting us?”

“Yes, the babies are taking a nap, and the rest are out at the playground. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

Terri led the two somewhat unsuspecting women to a door in the dry storage pantry. She led them through the door, and they were suddenly somewhere else; not in the space next to the restaurant.

“This is Lisa and Rosemary’s home. Watch out for the toys on the floor. They have quite a brood. Amy and Sally help out with the baby sitting, but Amy’s more involved with learning to be a chef, so Sally’s taking over the baby-sitting chores. The oldest children are going to school; however, since this is a weekend, all the little ones are home. Our oldest two are out there in the playground, and our youngest is at home down the street. Jim is watching him at the moment. As soon as you go back to Bridgeport, I’ll come back here to help Jim and the others.”

“I thought I knew where I was,” Marianne exclaimed. “I had dinner with you and Jim when you were interviewing me for the job. This is such a nice area. I do have a question, though. How do you work that thing with the doors between here and the restaurant? That is rather disorientating to say the least.”

“That’s a little trick that Cindy’s sister figured out many years ago. Randi is somewhat of a genius both in magic and in the sciences. She figured out how to eliminate space between two points on earth. She started out with a pet door, and graduated to just about any door. We’re about a half mile from the restaurant. She installed the door to expedite going between the restaurant and here. The thing is, no one has figured out how she does it. The Wizard does something similar, but even he hasn’t figured out how Randi does it.

“One of the reasons we are here is that I want to show you something.” Terri led the two awestruck women outside.

“That construction will be the Day Care Center. We are keeping it architecturally compatible with everything else around here. Marianne, you know what our home is like. It, like Lisa and Rosemary’s are converted duplexes. It really works out very well. Eventually, we will convert most of the duplexes as the need arises.

“Let’s take a look at the one down the street. It should be completed in about six months.”

Emily and Marianne made some suggestions to alter the plans in certain areas. The home was ready for them a month before they married. Cindy and Terri were Maids of Honor at the wedding. After returning from a very pleasant honeymoon, Emily and Marianne settled into a life as wife and wife.

About two weeks after they returned from their honeymoon cruise, they received a call from Cindy. “Hey, I was wondering if you two might be up to having some visitors tomorrow night.”

“Certainly,” Emily answered. “We’re having Lisa and Rosemary over for dinner, but we always have room for more.”

“How about if The Wizard and I came for dessert? I know you’ve met Wanda and Tamesha. They would like to come for dessert, too.”

“Oh, I love them. They greeted us a few weeks ago. We didn’t realize they lived here when we had dinner at their restaurant. They treated us like royalty. The owner was so nice, and he had nothing but praise for them. Their children are delights.”

“Okay, we’ll be there after dinner.”

Emily and Marianne knew something was up, but weren’t sure what it was. Shortly after dinner, Cindy and The Wizard showed up at the front door with Tamesha and Wanda. Tamesha was carrying their youngest. The rest were under the care of Wolf and Padrona. They were excellent short term baby sitters. Not having apposable thumbs made some of the normal babysitting chores, such as changing diapers, impossible.

“The reason we wanted to talk to you,” The Wizard said, “is to discuss a proposition. This crème brulée is excellent, by the way.”

“We can’t take credit for that,” Marianne said. “Lisa brought it, and I agree, it is excellent.”

“Your Wisdom,” Cindy interjected.

“Oh yes, what I wanted to ask, although I’m pretty sure I know what the answer is, have you given some thoughts about increasing the size of your family?”

“We have,” Emily said. “We’ve been talking to some adoption agencies and fertility clinics. We’re just not convinced they’re the best way to go. We are only attracted to women in a sexual way; in particular, each other. Neither of us desires a sexual relationship with a man, even if it is to procreate.”

“I have a proposition for you. We have been saving unwanted embryos. It takes some work; however, each is ready for implantation. All you have to do is give the word, and I can have you ready to accept the embryo and implant it at the same time. I will even alter the “Y” chromosome in some cases to an “X” chromosome if the need arises.”

“I don’t think I understand,” Marianne said. “Why would you do that?”

“There is a point very early in the embryonic development when many of us can detect gender; however, sometimes something happens that the gender and sex don’t match. It’s relatively easy to fix that in a few minutes for male to female. Fortunately, the female to male mismatch doesn’t happen very often. We have to go back to the point of conception, and select the correct sperm. That’s very difficult, but we do it.”

“So, the embryos are not genetically related to us,” Marianne said rather firmly.

“No, they are not; however, I can make some phenotypical adjustments so there is a strong familial resemblance.”

“I know we want children, and quite frankly, if I can bear a child, that would be far preferable to adoption,” Emily said while looking at Marianne.

“Actually, I think what you suggest is quite a nice surprise, I’m certainly willing,” Marianne agreed. “Maybe I am hoping for too much, but is there any way we could bear our own children?”

“Actually, there is, The Wizard said. “Lisa and Rosemary, and Wanda and Tamesha have taken advantage of it. You haven’t met Myrna Moskowitz yet, but she is one of the world’s best geneticists. She has developed a method of taking the genetic material from one egg and combining it with the genetic material from another egg. She has taught me the details on how to make this work. The children in that case will always be female, and there is a 25 percent chance that they might be magic.”

“I don’t think I understand,” Marianne sounded a bit puzzled.

“When we fixed your past situations, I was able to make you half magic. We can’t do any more than that.

“Marianne, somewhere out there is a red-headed witch who allowed me to use her magic gene in your transition. We also found a donor for Emily.”

“We’ve been talking this over for a while, as you know. Emily and I have no particular preference as far as our children’s genders are concerned. If we have boys, it will have to be the first way you suggested. Let’s use Dr. Mankowitz’ way to even out the boy/girl ratio.

“What do you think, Emily?”

“I’m all for it. Who’s first?”

This story is far from over. You might remember that both Wanda and Penny were emancipated from their parents. Penny’s parents were a lost cause as we found out in the last story; however, things are going to work out a bit differently with Wanda and Tamesha. Tamesha’s parents never had a problem with her sexuality. Wanda was a bit of a shock to them, they accepted her immediately. Wanda’s parents however, are a different matter.