Jon spoke up to where her mother could hear her. "Mom," she said, surprised at her new, feminine voice, "I don't think I should go to school today."
"You sound odd," her mother continued. "Are you feeling alright?"
Jon paused. "Umm...no..."
The doorknob turned. The door swung open. Jon's mother looked around the room, wondering where her son had got to. Jon sighed a tiny sigh and spoke. "Mom...I'm over here." She flew up into plain sight.
"Oh, my," her mother said. "I guess you caught something at school yesterday. Well, other people have had much worse. We'll just have to adapt."
Jon's mind reeled, but she remembered that everyone but herself and Karyn remembered this as perfectly normal. Her mother continued. "I'll go down to the specialty shop this afternoon and find you some things to wear. In the meantime, you'll just have to borrow something from Chrissie's collection, since you're certainly not going to school naked."
Jon shuddered. Chrissie was her little sister, and "collection" referred to the large number of dolls that covered the floor in her room. She didn't want to wear anything from that, but her mother was right. She was most definitely -not- going to school with nothing on.
In a moment, her mother returned, holding a white shirt, a plain blue skirt, and some underwear and socks. Jon had never bothered to look at Chrissie's collection, but it surprised her that the dolls came with bras and panties. "I thought it'd be best to start with something simple," she said, "since you'll still be getting used to the idea of being a girl. Now put it on."
Jon hesitated.
"Come now," Jon's mother said. "You know very well that you're not going to catch it again. You can only catch it once, and this was your once. You're going to have to be a girl now, so you'd better get used to the idea. Put it on."
Jon had a thought, and was about to start back to her pants pocket to get the stone, but her mother gently siezed her and dressed her in the doll clothes.
"There, you see?" she said. "That wasn't so bad, was it? Now come downstairs and get some breakfast." So saying, she took Jon by the hand and led her to the kitchen.
Breakfast went by quickly. Jon's mother cut her some small slices of fruit, which she ate, and borrowed one of Chrissie's doll teacups for Jon's morning coffee.
"Now let's see," said her mother. "If you're going to be a girl now, we'll have to come up with a better name for you. Joan? No, I never liked that one. Let's call you Jennifer. Yes, Jennifer Stephanie will do. I'll call the school while you're on the bus and let them know about the change."
Jennifer winced again. It was obvious that her mother expected her to just give in to being a girl. Of course, as far as her mother knew, there was no other option. If she could just get to the stone, she could fix everything, but with her mother watching she'd never be able to get back up to her room.
"Oh my," her mother said, "the bus is here. Hurry! I'll get the door. And don't you even think about trying to fly back here. You're not missing school for something this minor."
Jennifer hung her head as she flew out the door. She'd just have to wait until after school.
Karyn was standing at the bus stop when Jennifer flitted up. "I wonder where Jon is?" she muttered.
"I'm right here," Jennifer replied. Karyn yelped and whirled around, tail puffed. She gawked. "Jon?"
"It's Jennifer, now. My mom was adamant about that. She thinks I have to just get used to being a girl."
"Oh, my," Karyn said. "You make a very cute girl, you know that? I especially like the outfit."
"Please don't tell me that," Jennifer said. "This is bad enough with just my mom doing that."
"Oh," Karyn said. "Sorry. So what's your plan?"
Jennifer shrugged. "I'm planning to use the stone to fix this, but my mom's going to be on the lookout for me, so I can't just sneak back to the house. I'm gonna have to wait until after school, I guess. I left it in my the pocket of my pajamas, which are still on my bed."
"Alright," Karyn replied. "If you need any help with anything until then, I'd be happy to assist."
The bus pulled up and they got on.
Jennifer's mother hummed to herself. She'd always wanted an older daughter, but she'd never said anything because she didn't want Jon to think he'd somehow disappointed her by being born a boy. But now that Jon was Jennifer, everything was going to be even better. She set about cleaning Jennifer's room in preparation for any rearranging they'd have to do now that Jennifer was only half a foot tall. She pulled open one of the dresser drawers. "This'll never do," she muttered, looking at the boy's clothes inside, which were far too big now. "I promised her I'd get her some things to wear, and she won't be needing this stuff any more." She piled all Jennifer's clean clothing into a laundry basket, threw in the dirty stuff from the closet, and grabbed the pajamas off the bed. She washed them before stuffing them in a bag to take to Goodwill later in the morning.
