It's not easy to take a baby to school, especially when you're a transformed boy. On the other hand, it becomes easier when the baby is a transformed wishing item. Wish to clean it, wish to keep it safe, wish to get people to allow it in places where it wouldn't normally be allowed. Jon didn't dare wish it wouldn't cry since there were a lot of bad ways that wish could happen, but he did wish that everyone in class was supportive of the idea of him bringing a baby and wouldn't blame him or it for any disturbances. And of course there's the wish for people not to notice all the weirdness, including the whole weirdness of him giving birth in the first place.
Jon was at lunch with Karyn. The baby was at lunch too; Jon's shirt was pulled up and it was sucking Jon's left breast while Jon stroked it and said soothing words to it.
"You're becoming quite the mother," said Karyn. "And she's certainly grown."
"I guess I am," replied Jon. "I need to keep Petra with me as much as I can anyway, so we have a lot of time with each other. I talk to her, even if she can't talk back yet. You know, as far as she knows I'm her mother. She knows me, she smiles at me and makes noises. She doesn't know that she's just this magic item I have. But I'm going to try to change the mother part. A mother is a woman. I need to feed Petra but I've got a lot more than that. Female sex organs, no hair on my chest. I don't need any of that. I have to do some research... figure out how to modify this whole spell thing. It's all strange anyway."
"Jon, it's been strange for the past two months."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, think of any story you ever heard about magic. You have rings, magic lamps, magic beans. Very basic items. Whoever heard of a magic pregnancy belly? You don't see magic toothpaste tubes or magic lawnmowers. I know Grandpa said he ruined a spell, but it all seems very unlikely."
Meanwhile, the intruder from over two months ago was having his own problems. It was Jon's cousin Mike, the son of his mother's brother. Nobody really liked him. Mikey didn't like him because nobody wanted to call two people by the same name, so Mikey would be doomed to have the -ey on his name for some time. Jon, on the other hand, didn't like him because he was something of a bully.
Mike, of course, knew about their grandfather's artifacts. Which was more than Jon knew. And it was Mike who had decided on a plan to get a stone of his own and cause some trouble. It was easy--just sneak out of the house, take a bus across town, sneak into Jon's house, and get his own stone. If he was caught, well, he was known to the family. He could bluff for long enough that he could get his hands on the stone. And once he did get it it would be easy to make everyone forget he ever sneaked out in the first place.
At first, it was easy. He could have just taken the thing, but he wanted to embarrass Jon a bit. So instead he got his own stone, and Jon got a chance to become pregnant with the stone. Needless to say, he had made a number of wishes on his own copy of the stone to make sure Jon didn't fix the problem. Otherwise "I wish I knew how to word my wish" would have been far too easy.
This unnecessarily convoluted plan was Mike's own undoing. He should have just taken the stone. But instead he wished himself up a copy. He should have known better; if it was possible to make new wishing stones that way, the world would soon be knee deep in them. Or at least, the Incas would have had one for every important person in their society.
It was five days later that a man who looked just like his grandfather appeared in his room. His shoes were a bit muddy, but of course there was no trail, since he hadn't entered by the door. "You've been very naughty," he said.
"Grandpa? What the fuck?"
"Grandpa? I don't think so," replied the intruder. "You stole my stone, and I want it back."
"I didn't steal your stone," he replied. "I made this one."
"You what? You performed a magic ritual like that, Michelle? At your age?"
"I wished for an exact copy of Jon's!" he said. "And my name's not Michelle. Um, Grandpa, why are you calling me that? You're not going to..." Mike tried to sound as apologetic as he could, since his grandfather was pretty much threatening to turn him into a girl. Then he realized that something had bothered him for the past few minutes... "Grandpa, your eyes are blue!"
His "grandfather" grinned. Then he whispered a few words. The world was covered by a deep red color and everything had stopped moving. Everything except his grandfather.
"Let me explain," he said, as he walked towards Mike. He continued to explain as he felt in Mike's pocket and took the stone while Mike was helpless. "The stone can't make another stone. If it was that easy, everyone would have one. When you wished for an exact copy, it took one that already exists. I'm not from your universe, you see. I'm from a parallel universe. Looks like some things are different here. Your grandfather's eyes aren't blue. You're not Michelle. But some things are the same. My universe has its own stone, and when you wished for a copy of the stone, it just took mine. Why do you think that there was no change in reality? If you had made the stone, there would have been a reality change that explained why you have a stone, like a second letter."
The color began to fade, and Mike felt himself able to move again. But moving was like shoveling snow. It took a lot of effort, and by the time he could reach for the stone his "grandfather" had disappeared into thin air with the stone. Then movement was normal, but it was too late. He examined his own body....
