"Are you okay?" the question was asked again. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Jonni peered about. The voice from out of the darkness belonged to her best friend, Karyn. Jonni would know that voice anywhere, no matter what her own face or form happened to be at the time. Karyn is back to her old self and that's half the battle, I guess.
"As okay as a guy can be like this," Jonni smirked in the darkness, resigned amusement in her voice.
"You sound better anyway," Karyn flicked on a small lamp and got up from her spot, a chair in one shadowy corner of the small room. She walked over to Jonni, but hesistantly, stopping before she got too close to the bed, "You gave us all a good scare."
"Sorry," Jonni shrugged and then struggled into a more upright sitting position. Karyn rushed to help rearrange the pillows supporting her back, but when their hands touched, she stepped back once more.
"You don't have to apologize," Karyn smiled ruefully, wishing someone else had stayed behind with Jonni, "It's not your fault, any of this. DeMorrell is to blame."
"I know," Jonni nodded, wondering if that were actually true anymore. After talking to Liam and her father, Gary, she had begun to wonder if her grandfather wasn't at least partially to blame for bringing the stone and its terrible power into their lives.
Karyn got brave and sat down on the bed, but near the foot, as far from Jonni as she could get without going back to her chair, "Do you want anything? Something to drink? Water? Maybe something to eat?"
"No," Jonni made a face. The idea of eating right now almost made her ill, "I just want to talk. It's been forever since I saw you last."
"Yeah," Karyn said sadly, "There's been a lot going on, obviously."
"Obviously," Jonni yawned and stretched her arms, trying to wake up. For a minute or two she fussed with the covers, her dress, her bra, her hair, and most anything else within arms reach, trying to get comfortable.
Karyn stared in curiosity, still dumbfounded that the beautiful pregnant woman a few years older than herself was actually Jon Gibson deep down inside. She didn't look like Jon. She didn't sound like Jon, smell like Jon, move like Jon. Nothing about Jonni Gibson conformed to her old memories except for perhaps a certain look in her eyes or the use of particular words and phrases. How much of the old Jon was still left after so many changes in so short a time? DeMorrell had kept her a captive, fucked her, gotten her pregnant, was going to marry her. Jon was a woman now, wasn't she?
Karyn and Jon had had something going, nothing serious, nothing physical, not yet. Karyn had been pretty sure Jon was still a virgin, and once or twice they joked about getting married. The idea of marrying Jon one day, being his wife, having his children had certainly crossed Karyn's more than once or twice, but they had never quite found their way to one another, never acted on their unspoken feelings. Now they might never be able to. Jon was already learning what it meant to have a baby, first hand and all without her. She couldn't help it, but Karyn was curious, especially with everything going on with Nora. There was so much she wanted to ask her old/new friend, but where to begin? How to ask her anything so personal without offending her?
Karyn decided to start small, "Can I - - can I feel it? The baby, your belly, I mean?"
"Huh? Um, well," Jonni seemed to think for a moment, one restless hand smoothing the covers over the belly in question. She seemed embarassed, but finally shrugged in acquiescence, "Sure, I guess so. Why not?"
Jonni somewhat reluctantly flipped away the covers and lifted up the hem of her maternity dress until her gravid belly was exposed. She was sure her friend could see the ridiculous set of granny panties she was wearing, but didn't care. I've already been through so much, why should this matter? Karyn shyly reached out, placed a gentle palm on the incredibly pronounced bulge of her pregnancy. She was surprised by how hard it felt. She had thought it would be soft, pillowy, but instead it was firm and smooth, tensing and relaxing at very slow, extended intervals. Her eyes met Jonni's, "Is that the baby moving?"
"No, just some little fake contractions, I get them sometimes," Jonni flashed her old friend a nervous, self-conscious look, "I still have another month or so to go - - I think, I hope. The baby isn't moving much right now. Here, try this."
Jonni placed her hand on Karyn's and directed it further over to one side to a distinct bulge in the roundness just above her pelvis, "No, here. This is the head, I think."
The baby shifted a little, rolling over, its head still pressed tight against the side of her womb. Jonni smiled in spite of herself when she felt it. Her eyes met Karyn's, "There. Feel that?"
"Yes," Karyn murmurred, followed by a little trill of laughter, "My god, it's just so - - so, I dunno, amazing? You're handling all this really well."
"I don't have much choice," Jonni sounded resigned to her fate, "Half of the world seems to get by okay living as women. I just never imagined I'd be one of them, especially not a knocked up one on top of it."
"You're so brave, Jon," Karyn made to pull her hand free, but Jonni held it in place. Hearing her old name spoken by that familiar voice had stirred up feelings she had once thought she would have to abandon for the sake of her own sanity.
"No, I - - I like holding your hand. I always wanted to," Jonni dropped her eyes, ashamed and embarassed, "before."
"Jon, we can't be - - I mean, I don't," Karyn struggled to find the right words, decided against her better judgement that being blunt might be best in this situation, "You're pregnant, having a baby, and soon. I'm your friend. I'll be glad to help you all I can, but I'm not gay and - - "
"And you're getting married," Jonni finished for her, anger in her voice.
"It's not my fault! I didn't ask for it!" Karyn said, tears in her eyes, "Neither did Liam! It was a total shock to both of us. The stone did it. It twists things up, you know that!"
"Yeah, I know," Jonni nodded her head, the anger gone, "Just that, finding out was like a nightmare come true. If anyone was going to marry you, I had always dreamed it would be me."
"Oh, Jonni!" Karyn leaned forward and impulsively planted a deep kiss on the other woman's lips, declarations of her own sexuality momentarily forgotten.
"Wow," Jonni breathed after Karyn released her, joking, "Maybe if you had done that months ago we wouldn't be in this fix!"
"Har-har," Karyn said, very deadpan, and rolled her eyes.
"Here, help me up," Jonni held out her hands with a pregnant woman's typically imperious self-assurance that she would be assisted and obeyed, "We need to talk to everyone else. The stone might have gotten us into this mess, but its also the only thing that can get us out of it."
"Yeah," Karyn said with reluctance, "About that - - "
Jonni didn't like the way Karyn had trailed off, "About what, Karyn? What happened? Where's the stone?!"
"Liam and your dad aren't here right now," Karyn said in a rush, "They left me to watch the twins and you while they went to the hospital."
"What the hell!" Jonni struggled to get out of bed with or without Karyn's help, "Tell me what happened!"
"Your granddad - - that Nora girl?" Karyn grimaced a little, not sure how Jonni would take the news considering her own big day was obviously not too far in the future, "She went into labor!"
"Oh my God! Poor Granddad!" Jonni gratefully accepted one of Karyn's hands and pulled herself to her feet, "We have to help her. Quick, give me the stone!"
"I - - I don't have it!" Karyn squeaked.
"Don't have it?! Why the fuck not?!" Jonni shrieked.
"We all freaked out when you fainted. It was total chaos for a minute, but we talked a little after we got you into bed. Since you were out like a light we figured the best person to hang onto the stone until you woke up was..."
