Muriel shook her head in dazed wonderment. She hadn't even brought the issue up to Jenny, yet the girl had just called her her mother...she couldn't help but smile at the thought, but it was still...scary. She hardly felt like she was ready or able to really be a parent...
She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts list, selected one, and waited for the other end to pick up. "Hi, Mom," she said, her voice trembling a little. "No, I'm all right, I just...I've had quite the last few days, is all."
She gulped. "Well, to tell you the truth..." She laughed. "Um, I've kind of wound up with a kid."
She couldn't resist further laughter. "No, not Don. God no! Not going back to him. I'm not pregnant, I've just...sort of come into custody of a little girl. Yeah, a rescue...no, she's fine, absolutely fine, it's just that..."
The insect-woman sighed. "Well, she doesn't remember who her parents are, and nobody at all matching her description has been reported missing. The orphanage is full, and I didn't want to just leave her at the station..."
"Well, I didn't plan on adopting her, Mom. But she's kind of latched onto me, and I've spoken with some...other law-enforcement folks, and they think it's best if I...officially take custody. And...honestly, I could never just stick her back in the system..."
Muriel nodded to the speaker on the other end of the line. "Yes, I know, but I will be getting some support with this. Yes, mother, I know. Remember, I'm hardly bigger on accepting charity than you are, but...not something I can really afford to press the point on, not on my salary."
She smiled. "Her name's Jenny. She didn't know her name, so we were going with 'Jane Doe,' but she liked Jenny better. Oh, Mom, she's just the sweetest thing...I don't think I've ever seen a more innocent little girl in my life. And she's just lovely, too. White hair, actually. Yeah, really. Well, yes, of course she's a transformee, but she's hardly changed at all, as far as I can tell. No, a couple little things, but nothing major. If it weren't for the hair, you'd never know it to look at her."
She laughed. "I suppose I do sound a little gushing, don't I? Seriously, though...you've just got to meet her, Mom. You'll love her."
She frowned. "Yeah...that's why I called. I mean, I can tell she wants this...she even called me 'mummy' just now...yeah. And I...really, I think I want it just as much. But...oh God, Mom, I have no idea how to do this. I've...I guess I've just been winging it so far, and that's worked, but I don't know the first thing about actually being a mother."
She smiled. "That's what you've said before...even so, anything at all that you can tell me...I don't want to do a bad job of this. I know, I know, 'nobody ever thinks they're ready...' I just figure I ought to at least see what I can find out ahead of time."
She nodded. "Well, did you have plans for tomorrow? Right, evening's fine...just not too late, I don't want her up too late, she's got school in the morning. Yeah, just started Friday, actually. Okay, seven sounds fine. Need me to bring anything?"
Max looked at herself in the mirror again. The bra was a strange sight, but it really didn't seem too out-of-place on the chest of a cat-girl with six breasts. To her relief, it didn't look so much like a harness as she'd expected, though it was still definitely odd. But then, so was she...
"I...will I have to buy more of them?" she asked. If she had to keep buying $100 pieces of underwear, she'd eat right through her summer-job savings...
The gynoid nodded. "Now and again, yes, but not very often. And we've been in contact with the major manufacturers...hopefully, by the time those wear out, they should be available cheaper in mass quantities. Now, you'd said you were looking for simpler designs...let's have you try these on, and tell me how they fit."
She provided a small pile of clothes which Max proceeded to try on, still feeling a little embarrassed. The saleslady's measurements were nicely accurate, though, and the cat-girl found that the clothes fit her well, snug where it felt like it should be and comfortably loose everywhere else.
There was underwear and pants with holes in the back for her tail, which was much more comfortable than the awkward way she'd had to kink it up out the waistband before. Max felt a little bad when she thought how steeply discounted this stuff must be...but she needed it, and she was sure the saleslady wouldn't go so far as to run herself out of business or anything.
The only problem was...it almost seemed like it all fit too well. While the motion of her breasts was greatly reduced, the bra kept them supported up and away from her chest. It was, at least, less immediately obvious that she had more than the regular number, but the lower pairs still tented her shirt out past the line between her top pair and her waist. And the proper fit of the pants around the waist only emphasized her hips. And the way her altered legs and paw-like feet gave her such a distinctive stance...
In a nutshell, none of this did anything to hide her figure. Which wasn't exactly bombshell-caliber, but was definitely a nice build for a pretty young woman...something that Max was trying not to think of herself as being.
But...that wasn't the fault of the saleslady, or the clothes...she almost wanted to ask for something baggier, something designed to hide all this, but she already felt bad about imposing on the lady's store just because she needed new clothes...
"Um...you can keep the old ones, 'f you want," she murmured. "I guess...I won't be needing them..."
The mannequin-like gynoid smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sure I can find someone who will appreciate them."
"So...let me know if I'm bugging you," Tim said. "But...you can smell things you couldn't before?"
Jon shrugged. "Not exactly," she said. "It's...it's more that I can separate different scents better. Like, I can tell what spices are in the food at the food court, as well as just being able to tell the general smell of it..."
Recognition dawned on Tim's face. "Oh, got it!" he said. "It's the opposite of what I have. The range is the same, but the resolution's finer."
She stared at him, trying to keep from laughing. "You are such a nerd. But yeah, I guess that's a good way to put it."
He grinned. "And proud of it. You could do industrial espionage, you know. Find out what KFC's eleven herbs and spices really are?"
She laughed. "Please, an obvious marketing stunt like that? It's probably just grocery-store seasoned salt."
"Are you guys seriously making small talk about fast food?" Karyn chuckled, wheeling up next to them. "Tell me there's some contextual excuse for this."
Jon smiled. "We were talking about special abilities from our changes. Tim has better sight, I have better smell. So...I plead conversational drift, I guess."
The cecaelia-girl nodded, grinning. "Okay, you're excused."
Tim looked curious. "So...can you do anything?" he asked.
Karyn thought for a minute. "Huh...aside from breathing underwater? Not a whole lot...I can change my pattern, I guess," she said. "Watch."
She held up a tentacle. As Jon and Tim watched, the mottled blue-green pattern on the skin shifted into a green-gray pebbly look. "Cool," the drow-boy said.
Karyn nodded. "It only extends to the octopus parts, though, and I hardly have any real need for camouflage in my life. Still, it's fun to play around with. Actually, I was showing the guy in the store, and we were trying to pick out some things that went well with different patterns."
Jon smiled. "Nice. Hey, speaking of the store, where's Max?"
