“Hi, Mom, Well I know you said to cool it but.” She pulls out a zip lock bag with what turns out to be a home pregnancy test. It shows positive.

Shocked I don't know what to say, “OH, my god. I'm going to be a grandma.” I smile ear to ear.

Composing myself. “Anymore these are pretty accurate” indicating the home test. I ask the normal questions, We figure the baby is due Aug 21st.

“Have you told Kelsey yet?”

“No, I am going to wait till Christmas.”

Smiling, “ She will be so excited. Let's see how the little one is doing.”

No one dressed in such a definitively girly way could possibly be a boy, could they?

In the fall Earl started preschool. The hoped for socialization with age-mates failed to materialize. He steadfastly refused to play with the girls or do anything that might earn him the much dreaded label of ‘sissy’. At the same time he didn’t enjoy typical boy activities and play. While he half-heartedly played with the boys, he did so angrily which usually degenerated into violence. The violence discouraged the boys from wanting to play with him and Earl wound up in time outs. As had become his normal, he never smiled or laughed and it seemed as if his face was frozen in a demi-frown. He would answer questions and even asked questions, but for the most part he was intensely quiet. By the end of the second week, he’d earned the enmity of the other boys and the frustrations of the teachers and aides. They did discover that he seemed happiest, at least relatively compared to his normal anger, if he was allowed to be alone. At least while alone he stayed out of trouble. With no one willing to play with him, when they went outside for free time play, Earl simply ran around the playground. As the weeks passed, he incorporated jumping and tumbling over the outdoor toys developing a style of kiddie-parkour. The teachers were concerned as he leapt and tumbled about the playground but he never cried or complained when he landed hard. They were more concerned some of the other boys would try to copy him but Earl’s dour demeanor kept others from following his lead.

Part Eleven

Blue Impact ran into the equipment chamber just as Energia finished cooling the thermite charges below the combustion point. There was some damage, but she thought that most of the equipment would be fit for study. The place was half full of smoke and completely full of odd odors, but an air current from somewhere was already moving all that out.

"Hopefully there's enough left to tell us how to reverse the effects on Stone's test subjects," said Energia.

"Did you see Stone?"

"The only person here ran down that way!"

Getting Dark Again

First visit to beauty salon, buying a special dress, and a night on the town.

Once Joan and I finished our little talk, I kind of started to look for Ben. Once more I had to wade through the crowds of people, somewhere dancing and others where chatting, boys flirted with girls and girls flirted with boys. All in all, it was your average dance. Finally a few minutes of searching, I found Ben by the refreshment table. He offered me a small smile as he passed me the paper cup.

“Have a nice talk with Joan?” He asked as he raised his paper cup to his lips and closing his eyes he took a small sip of the punch.

The House

By Dawn Natelle

The penultimate chapter: Dawn

Chapter 37 – Preparations

Part Ten

Blue Impact was actually dozing at her private work carrel in the main room of the old bakery when she was woken by fulminous swearing. From Gadgetive.

"What's going on?" she said, shaking her head to try and clear it more quickly as she hurried to the lounge area.

"There's a seismic disturbance at the Adirondack Anomaly!" she yelled.

"What?!"

A Short, light Interlude