The two Gibsons returned home and each went into their own shower. As Jon was just finishing getting dressed in his room, however, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.
"Can I come in?" It was his mom.
Jon quickly pulled his head through the neck of a T-shirt and called "Yeah, come in!"
She was in a plain T-shirt and pajama bottoms. Same as Jon was wearing. It was almost normal, if you ignored the very abnormal arms that sprouted from the sleeves.
Jon sighed.
"Hey, kiddo, let's have a talk." She guided Jon to the bed, where they both sat down. "Why didn't you want to stay out at the park with your friends?"
Jon almost laughed. "They're not exactly my friends."
"They seemed pretty friendly to me."
"That's because you don't know them."
Linda cocked her head. "Well, it seems to me, you don't really know them either."
"What?"
"Look, boys like that, they respect confidence," Linda said, "and I think you have sort of an instinct to hide when they're around. But you don't have to. You're not a bad athlete, Jon, you just need to practice. I saw you tonight, your form is already miles better now than it was this afternoon. It's not going to get better unless you keep tossing the ball, and I'm not always going to be around. I've got other things. Whenever you have time to practice, you should be taking advantage of it. If you're trying, and you just be yourself, they'll welcome you in."
The emphasis on playing football was odd, but through it, Jon could hear the underlying message his mom was getting at, and it was a very "mom" message. This was going to take some adjusting. Jon could only hope that things wouldn't change too much more.
"Oh, and I wanted to get something off my chest," she added, looking away from Jon a little. "Look, you know I love your father, right? I'd never do anything to hurt him. You and Zoe and Mikey and him are my entire world."
Jon did not like where this was going.
"But since this afternoon, I've been getting this strange feeling. Like, I almost wish I was married to someone more like Bethany Black. But that's ridiculous, right?"
Jon saw a flash, but he couldn't figure out where it had come from. The stone was still in his room! Where was it?
"Look, Jon, I just want you to help keep me honest. I love you, and I love your father, and if you ever see me doing anything I shouldn't, you let me know."
Jon just nodded dumbly. Where was the stone?
Wait.
What was the wish????
"Anyway," Linda got up, "dinner's going to be in about twenty minutes. Be downstairs?"
"Yeah, Mom," Jon said, watching as Linda closed the door behind her.
Jon spent the next twenty minutes tearing his room apart, looking for an invisible stone that he had wished he'd be unable to find.
