Scott had second thoughts. What if he made the babies older, and they stayed babies mentally, but something happened and the babies got out of the house? They could end up in a mental institution. And if he did make them older, how could he fake up birth certificates and all the records they'd need? On the other hand, if they were just newborns, he knew that Aunt Sharon could set that up.
Scott decided he could make one change. There was no reason to do it, but no reason not to either, and a lot of parents wished they could do this. "Aunt Sharon, do you have a baby tag, or a bracelet of some kind? The things they make babies wear at the hospital so they can tell them apart."
"What do you want that for?" she asked.
"I want to try something."
"Um, sure. I think I have some." She had brought quite a lot of things in preparation for the birth, and nestled among them was a sandwich bag containing several plastic strips. Some were pink and some blue. "I didn't need these today, they were just in with my other stuff."
Scott said "Thanks!" and took out a pink strip. He held it to the medallion as he put the medallion around the neck of one of the babies. "This is only worn by girl babies. And if you use the medallion on something worn by one sex...."
The baby's form seemed to shift slightly. The transformation was pretty quick, and it was obvious that the baby had become a girl. She still looked exactly like the other baby in every way down to the birthmark.
Then Scott stored away the medallion for safekeeping.
In the upcoming years, the medallion got used only occasionally. A couple times for deaging, one time to help Scott's dad recover from a broken bone instantly.
It also got lost twice. Once the house was robbed; the police had recovered the stolen items, and luckily, the medallion still was among them. But they were puzzled as to where the robber had gone--all they found was the robber's clothes, his dog, and an identical dog that had gotten entangled in the robber's clothes somehow.
The other time was when Scott had moved out and taken the medallion and the babies with him. He had noticed only at the last minute that it was peeking out of the trash, where it had accidentally fallen.
Scott married a wonderful woman named Vicki, who he told about the medallion. It was hard for her to disbelieve it when shown its effects. Scott and Vicki occasionally used the medallion in private, but were careful not to do anything that couldn't be reversed. Vicki would joke that she didn't want her husband to get pregnant again.
And eventually, the two babies, Scott and Sally, were teenagers. Despite being the opposite sex they were almost like twins, liked a lot of the same things, cut their hair similar ways, and were very close, not to mention being near twins of their "father"--especially since the older Scott showed little sign of aging.
Scott (Senior) heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," he said.
Scott and Sally opened the door.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Scott (Senior)
"We want to know!" said Scott. "Whenever we ask you about our mother it's always some kind of 'I'll tell you someday' thing. I know you're hiding something, Dad. I think we're old enough to know any strange family secrets."
"Yeah," said Sally. "Maybe he's an immortal from Highlander."
Scott (Senior) sighed. He'd have to do it someday. "Let me tell you the whole thing. It started with this item called the Medallion of Zulo. It's all going to sound unbelievable." He walked over to a dresser and took out an old, cheap-looking, medallion. "But it's easy to prove, because I have the medallion right here. Here's the story...."
"That's ridiculous," said Sally.
"It would be too weird if it was true," said Scott.
Scott (Senior) tossed the medallion at them. "If you don't believe me, try it. I'll trust you with it. But no pregnancies, please?"
Scott caught the medallion and he and Sally went to Scott's room. It was easy to see if the whole thing was the truth. "So what should we use it for, Sally?" he asked.
