98. Delighted

Mom and I talked a while more, we made plans for her to come visit right after new years so I could work some magic for her. After that she'd be packing up the car with the stuff in storage, then driving out east by herself.

It was something like two thousand kilometers, she'd be on the road three days at least. Then she'd be getting herself established out there alone. I was worried she'd be lonely, and I think she was too. At least at first, until she started making friends and getting to know people out there.

While mom and I talked in the kitchen the others stayed in the living-room and watched a movie. By the time the movie was over, mom was ready to leave. And dad was ready to stay, she had an overnight bag that she'd left on the floor next to the sofa.

Mom and dad hugged but I could tell there was still some tension. They were trying though, which made me feel a little better. Both of them knew full well it was their final time together like this. I had no doubt I'd be doing some magic for Elise very soon, and that would be the last anyone ever saw of her old self.

With all the goodbyes out of the way mom made her way out to the car. I stood by the window and waved as she pulled out, then she was gone.

Kelly and Keira sort of gave me an expectant look. Elise looked like a child waiting for the candy store to open. She wasn't exactly buzzing but her excitement was pretty obvious.

I looked at the three redheads and said "Ok. Now I need some alone-time with Elise. I'm going to take her upstairs because we'll want a little more privacy for this conversation."

"Keira," I added, "I don't want to rush you but after I bring Elise back downstairs do you think you could start moving stuff out of your old room? Elise will be staying with us for a few weeks, and we've already got Kaitlyn in the guest-room."

"Sure Tegan, that's no problem." she smiled. Both the twins were smiling in fact, I'm sure they knew what I was up to with Elise.

Kaitlyn looked like she had a lot of questions or comments, but she kept them to herself for now. I wasn't sure if the twins said anything before-hand or if it was her desire to be 'good' that was keeping her quiet for now. I was grateful either way that she wasn't saying anything to upset my dad.

"C'mon," I smiled to Elise. "And bring your stuff."

She had a wide grin as she picked up her bag and followed me up the stairs.

I led her into the master bedroom and we both sat down on the edge of the bed.

"So this is it," I said, as I watched her expression. "Doing this for real, permanently and forever."

"Yes!" she grinned. Now she was buzzing with excitement. "I've been looking forward to this moment for almost two months Tegan. Since you did that temporary spell for me back in October."

I asked, "You have some clothes to change into afterwards?"

She nodded, "Not a lot. I wasn't sure on sizes, I followed your advice and got some stretchy things. I figure I'll need to go shopping afterwards anyways so I didn't go crazy ahead of time."

"We can go tomorrow if you like," I suggested. "We have to get clothes for Kaitlyn, so may as well do it all at once."

Elise asked, "Do I want to know that story?"

I shrugged, "Short version, she was an absolutely vile evil bastard. She was the twins' grandfather, a six-hundred year old fae. She was part of a conspiracy that led to several deaths, she was an enemy of my clann and myself. We either had to kill her, or neutralize her as a danger. This was Keira's idea. I made her a fifteen-year-old human girl and Keira did something to encourage her to be less evil. Now we're going to get someone to look after her, and hopefully she'll eventually be reformed."

"Uh... Wow." Elise looked like she didn't know what else to say.

I nodded, "Yeah. It's a lot. She won't bother you, so don't be scared of her. She's nothing more than a teenage girl now, who's basically been grounded. Anyways enough about her, it's time for you."

Elise grinned again, "I'm ready right now."

I asked, "Any last-minute adjustments, or are you good with what we did last time?"

"No, that was absolutely perfect Tegan." She sounded like she didn't want to wait another minute. "So what do we do?"

"You just sit there and relax," I said as I stood up. "I'll stand here. I'm going to take a minute because I'm a little nervous. Then we'll do it."

She nodded, watching me. "And this is permanent? This won't wear off?"

"It won't wear off," I confirmed. "It can't be dispelled, and there's really no way back from this. Like I said, it's forever."

Elise continued waiting impatiently while I took a couple deep breaths. It shouldn't have been a big deal but I think I was almost as excited as she was.

One of the reasons for my nerves was the knowledge I'd never see my 'dad' again after this. Kind of like what happened to me three years ago. The person I thought I was vanished one Friday evening, never to be seen again. At least with Elise, we all knew it was going to happen, it wasn't a surprise.

Finally I was ready, I looked to her and said "Ok this is it. Just relax."

She closed her eyes but she had a huge smile on her face.

I focused on the stuff she told me back in October, on the form I'd given her briefly back then. I raised my hand towards her and cast the other spell, the permanent one.

Her body was surrounded in shimmering light for a few seconds, and when it faded she was herself again.

"All done," I said quietly.

Elise opened her eyes and practically leaped off the bed to hug me as she let out a happy squeal of excitement. Her clothes now hung off her smaller frame and she nearly tripped over her pants in the rush to thank me.

I held her for a few seconds then pulled back. "You get changed in here ok? I'll wait for you in the hall, then we'll head downstairs together and I'll introduce you to the others."

"Ok Tegan! Thank you!" she was almost bubbling with joy again. It reminded me of when I did the temporary spell in October. She was giddy again, and I wondered how long it would take her to calm down this time.

She didn't leave me waiting very long, it was only a couple minutes before she emerged from the bedroom in a new outfit. Her clothes were pretty close to my own, which emphasized the similarities between the two of us. She was wearing charcoal-grey leggings, and an oversized black top. And she had cute fuzzy pink slippers on her feet.

I smiled, "Ok let's go meet the family."

Elise was almost bouncing again as we went downstairs together. The two of us stood just inside the living-room door and I announced, "Kelly, Keira, and Kaitlyn? This is my cousin, Elise."

All three of them stared, but the twins at least responded politely. They both stood up to greet her, though they didn't do the stereo thing.

Kelly spoke first, "Hello Elise! You look amazing!"

"Hi Elise, you look great!" Keira added.

Before, as my adoptive parent, there was no resemblance between us at all. Now she and I clearly looked related.

Her overall shape or build was quite similar to mine, though Elise wasn't as small as me. She stood a couple inches taller than myself, which was still about half a foot shorter than she'd been before. She was busty like me, but her boobs weren't as large. There were similarities in our faces too. The shape of her eyes, nose, and lips was very close to my own.

Her hair was now jet-black and styled in a short cute pixie-cut. Her eyes were still blue, but they were much brighter than before. Her lips were full, and a nice healthy pink. And her skin was still fair, but now it was clear, smooth, and free of any blemishes. And in terms of age, she looked the same age as me. We both looked like nineteen-year-olds.

"Thanks!" Elise replied, grinning happily as she looked up at the twins.

If she was anything like me I figured she was feeling that flutter in her stomach now. Nothing drives home the reality of being suddenly smaller quite like having to look way up at someone you saw eye-to-eye with ten minutes ago.

Kelly sat back down while Keira moved past us, "I'll go clear out some of my stuff. Maybe not everything yet, because I don't know where to put it all, but I'll move the personal stuff. We might share a closet for a while Elise, I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head, and I was pretty sure at that point she was so happy she'd have agreed to sleep on the floor if someone suggested it.

I shooed Kaitlyn off the sofa so me and Elise could sit down next to Kelly. The teen moved back to the recliner for now.

As I relaxed in between my new cousin and one of my girlfriends I mentioned, "Tomorrow I'm going to take Elise and Kaitlyn shopping, since they both need clothes."

"Do you want me and Keira to come too?" Kelly asked.

I shrugged "You're welcome to come along, but you don't have to. I think I can manage one anxious teen and one hyper cousin."

Both Elise and Kaitlyn blushed, and I had to fight to suppress a smirk.

Kelly smiled as well but said, "We'll see. I'm sure we can fit all five of us in the car, though we might have to pack you three smols in the back seat while Keira and I sit up front."

That brought another blush to the pair of them, but I just grinned. I was used to it.

Elise turned out to be way too excited and giddy to sit still for very long. When Keira came back downstairs we left the three redheads to relax in the living-room while they put on another movie.

My cousin and I wound up in the kitchen, with her sitting, standing, pacing, and just generally fidgeting while I fussed about putting away the leftovers from lunch and thought about what to make us all for dinner later.

In the meantime, she and I talked some more. She started telling me about her plans for college, which reminded me about the letter. I quickly grabbed it and handed it over to her.

She ripped it open and looked, then half-shouted "Yes!" accompanied by an excited fist-pump.

"You got accepted?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Elise exclaimed happily.

She was even more giddy and hyper after that as she went on about her plans and the course she'd be taking. It was a three-year program in Environmental Technology, and she sounded really happy about it. It was a far cry from accounting, and it was something positive, something useful.

It involved a lot of work outdoors, working with nature. Her dream was to land a job with the Natural Resources ministry, working on wildlife preservation or something like that after she'd graduated.

She also mentioned that she'd already emailed me loads of information, but I hadn't had a chance to look at any of it yet.

Eventually I got dinner ready and the five of us sat down at the dining table for a proper meal. Elise got into the hard lemonade again, but I warned her not to over-do it.

I honestly thought by now I'd be used to weird stuff, that nothing would phase me anymore. I was wrong. Having to tell my dad, "Go easy on the booze. Remember, you're now a nineteen-year-old girl now who's never had alcohol before," felt just as weird as it sounded.

Over dinner we wound up making plans for tomorrow. In the morning I'd use magic to update all dad's ID, then I'd have to get in touch with a contact in the 'shadow economy' to get it all made legal and real.

We also talked about our plans for Kaitlyn. The twins would speak with their mother tomorrow, and hopefully some time in the next few days the three of us would take the teen out to the west coast and hand her over to Kelsey.

Kaitlyn got very quiet and looked upset about that. She actually looked scared at the prospect. I tried not to let it bother me, even though I wasn't sure it was a good idea either. It's what Kelly and Keira wanted to do, so that's what we were doing.

And we really didn't want Kaitlyn to say here with us any longer than necessary.

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