"Well, her car's gone, and she's not answering her phone," Rick Sr. said, putting away his phone. This wasn't like his wife, he thought anxiously, just leaving without so much as a word. There was no indicator that anything bad had happened to her, but it was still quite worrying.
"I still think she's already at church," his son replied, glancing around the house for clues to his mother's whereabouts. "It would explain why she's not answering. It would not be proper to take a phone call in a church." The younger Rick noticed the pink gem resting on the coffee table. Sighing, he picked up the gem and deposited it into the pocket of his slacks. It was uncharacteristically careless of his mother to simply leave things lying around.
"Services don't start for another fifteen minutes, and she would at least step out to answer her phone if her husband was calling," Rick Sr. replied. "Strange... Alright, Rick, I'm going to keep looking around for where you mother might have gone off to. How about you head to church without me, and if your mom's there just give me a call."
"Very well, that sounds wonderful. I'll see you shortly." Rick Jr. exited the living room, stopping by his father to give him a quick peck on the cheek, and then headed out the driveway, where his car now sat alone. While the son thought nothing of the second action, the father was a bit perplexed by the affectionate gesture. Even as a small child Rick Jr. had never been terribly gregarious, and giving his father a kiss on the cheek at his age was completely unheard of. Rick Sr. shrugged it off, rationalizing that since his son had apparently abruptly turned over a new leaf, a few displays of affections may very well be a part of that.
His son, meanwhile, had started up his car and started making the drive to church. Preoccupied between driving and wondering what had happened to his mother, Rick paid no mind as his dress shirt began to change, turning a pastel blue color and reforming into a woman's blouse with frills running down the front.
Rick noticed his radio had been set to some god awful rock station, and quickly began searching around for something more suitable. Each time his finger pressed another button his nails seemed to lengthen, develop a bit of a sheen, and by the time he had settled upon a smooth jazz station they were around an inch in length and perfectly manicured. His hands had shrunk to match his fingernails, becoming smaller and dainty. The rest of his body soon followed, shrinking down to a much more petite form and losing its body hair.
Rick's body began to age, quickly clearing adolescence and into adulthood, though not quite reaching his mother's age. After all, the gem's power was grant understanding, and while Cheryl had all the worries and woes of an mature woman, her situation and mindset were not unique to her precise age. Of course, these sort of thoughts never crossed Rick's mind, just as it never crossed his mind that the legs of his slacks had merged together and had crawled up his legs until they formed a knee length skirt, navy blue and tasteful in design. The gem now lay in Rick's purse, a small black bag that now lay by his side, along with the appropriate accouterments.
Rick's legs did not remain bare for long, however, as his socks began stretching into a pare of nude pantyhose, nothing gaudy but still fashionable. While he had previously worked the petals by stomping on either the brake or the accelerator, he now merely pivoted and pressed with the toes, a method much more suited for his new footwear, a pair of blue three inch pumps.
Rick's undergarments were similarly undergoing a dramatic shift in wardrobe, his boxers and undershirt shrinking into a white brassiere and pair of panties, modest without being ungainly. His torso soon changed to utilize his new bra, the mass draining from his stomach and ribcage to inflate to mounds upon his chest, and soon two b cup breasts had formed on Rick's chest. His hips and posterior similarly expanded to maternal proportions, giving Rick a rather fetching, if not overly voluptuous, figure.
Stopping at a red light, Rick noticed his hair was now hanging a little past his shoulders in the rear view mirror, though his concern over this was not based upon the fact that it had been notably shorter until a few moments ago, but that it appeared a bit disheveled, disorganized. Turning into a nearby parking lot, Rick pulled a comb from his purse and began brushing out and generally neatening his hair, pulling back into a neat bun once he was finished. Looking back in the mirror, Rick was satisfied with the state of his hair, but noticed he had neglected to put on any makeup. Pulling out the tools to remedy this, Rick set about applying makeup to his lips, eyelids, and face. Nothing too overt, but still a subtle accentuation of his face's good features, which Rick failed to notice were just coming into being. While he failed to notice how much more feminine his features were, Rick did notice a few hints of wrinkles on his face, and took measures to conceal them as best he could.
Finally satisfied, Rick took his car out of park and exited the parking lot, failing to notice a young woman in her own car doing something like Rick had just finished doing, albeit much more liberally. Rick turned out into the street, his ears suddenly sporting a pair of earrings made of Lapis lazuli, with a matching necklace around a neck that showed no trace of an Adam's apple.
The final changes came as Rick turned into the parking lot of the church, his shrunken genitals inverting themselves beneath his skirt and panties, forming into a fully functioning vagina, ovaries, and womb. The woman who used to be Rick Hines Jr. checked in the mirror one last time to make sure she was presentable, before stepping out of the car and making her way into the church just as services began, now understanding who Cherly Hines used to be in every possible way.
