Mrs. Gordon came into her son-turned-daughter's bedroom to find the little squirrel-girl huddled up on the bed, not even having bothered to change into her pajamas or get underneath the covers. She frowned; what was Lilly doing in bed of her own accord? Usually it was...not really a fight, but certainly something she had to prompt her through. "Are you alright, Lilly?" she asked. "Why aren't you dressed for bed?"
Lilly glanced up at her mother, then quickly glanced back down again, feeling too embarassed to say anything. But her mom was persistent, and sat down on the bed next to her, gently stroking her fur. "Honey," she said, "if there's something wrong, you can tell me, you know."
The squirrel-girl blushed madly under her fur. "I, um..." she stammered, "my, um...my nipples...um, I was gettin' ready for bed an' they were all hard an' sore..." She couldn't even look her mom in the eye...why did all this stuff have to be happening to her!?
Her mother breathed deeply, but it wasn't a sigh; she was a little encouraged by that. Mrs. Gordon put an arm around her daughter and sat her up, holding her to her side. "Is that so?" she said. "And they were just like that, you didn't scrape them or anything?" Lilly shook her head. Her mother nodded. "I see. Well, honey, that's probably a sign that they're getting ready to grow in. I know it's kind of uncomfortable, but it's nothing to worry about."
Lilly's eyes widened. "Th-then...they are!? Growin', like into...?"
"Into breasts like a grown-up woman has, yes," Mrs. Gordon said. "But not for a long time yet, sweetie. This is just the first sign when it's only begun to start."
Lilly bit her lip, her pronounced incisors coming almost to the top of her chin. "B-but I don't wanna have those!" she said. "If...if it's prob'ly, then maybe not?" It was bad enough having to be a little girl, but if she started growing up into a lady...
Her mother sighed. "Maybe not," she said. "Maybe not right now, anyway. But Lilly, honey, as long as you're a girl, it's something that's going to happen sooner or later, whether you want it to or not. Your body's just designed to do that." She squeezed her a little more tightly. "But I understand," she said. "It was kind of scary for me, too, you know."
Lilly gasped. "F'r you? But you're s'poseta be a girl!"
Mrs. Gordon chuckled. "That's right, but it's still a little scary, having your body suddenly start to change in so many ways and having to get used to it even while it's still changing. Even when they tell you what to expect, it's unnerving." She thought back on her own youth - back when she was just a little child jealous of the older girls, she'd never have considered being an early bloomer to be a problem, but when she was suddenly a head taller than her classmates and filling out in some places while she was still a gawky preadolescent in others...whew. She shook her head in embarrassed recollection.
Lilly found it hard to believe that her own mom, such a pretty lady, could've been scared about growing up, if she turned out so nice, but she remembered, vaguely, that when she'd started to go through this kind of stuff as a boy, it had been pretty weird then, too. But still... "I don't wanna grow up into a lady!" she protested, starting to feel a little aggravated. "I don't wanna hafta be all...all..."
Her mother shushed her gently. "Remember what we talked about?" she said. "You might not be able to change back for a long time, honey. And if you don't change back before your body is ready to really start growing up, then it's not something you can just stop from happening. It'll probably be better for you if you let yourself accept that you might have to grow up as a girl, Lilly. That doesn't mean you have to act all girly, if you don't want to, but getting mad at your body for doing what it was made to do isn't going to help anything." She hugged the little squirrel-girl. "I know you're scared about what's going to happen to you," she said, "and I don't blame you, but remember that your daddy and I love you no matter what you are. Okay?"
Lilly hesitated for a moment. The very idea that she might have to go through this even if she changed back afterwards...how was she supposed to just get used to that idea? But...she knew her mom cared for her, and she would never give her bad advice...but how could that be good advice? And even if she didn't have to act all girly if she didn't want to, what if she started wanting to!? But...but...her mom was looking out for her, and her dad was trying to help her, and they both said they loved her, and they weren't mad about her forgetting things...was it possible that even if she didn't want this, even if she was stuck going through it anyway, that it would be alright? She didn't know, but...
"...'kay," she murmured. Her mother smiled and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Good girl," she said. "Now you should get into your pajamas and into bed. Did you brush your teeth?"
"Uh-huh!" Lilly replied. Then she frowned. "Uh, um...Mom? 'Bout my...I, um...I got f-four of 'em..."
Her mother eyed her curiously, then ran a gentle hand over her chest. Lilly squirmed as her mother brushed against her nipples, which were still sore. "Well, so you do," her mother said. "Are they sore too, then?"
The squirrel-girl nodded, blushing again. "D-does that mean they're g-gonna...?"
Her mother nodded. "Probably, sweetie."
"But...but it's not s'poseta be like that!" she stammered. "You don't got four of 'em, Mom!"
Mrs. Gordon smiled. "No, I don't," she said. "But there are other changed people that do have four, or sometimes even more, so you're not alone. By the time you grow up, I don't think anybody will think that's weird. Now come on, time to get ready for bed, you've got school tomorrow."
-- Elsewhere =-
"Don't you think it's possible you're pushing her a little too hard?"
The Woman turned to look at the moon-goddess. "Nonsense," she said. "I'm not pushing her at all, no more than I do any other girl her age. This isn't outside their norms, you know. Actually, for many of the animal-changed, it's perfectly average."
"Well, yes, but she's still so new to all this..." Selene said, frowning slightly. "It's been so long since you've taken even a personal form, let alone actually incarnated...sometimes I think you forget how constrained by time their sense of perspective is."
The Woman shrugged. "I suppose so. On the other hand, I think you might be overestimating their fragility, having both taken a personal form and incarnated. It's possible that from your current perspective you don't quite realize how resilient they really are. A genus doesn't get two and a half million years under their belts by being frail, not on that world. And she's a child, as well; they're more resilient yet."
Selene nodded. "That's true, I suppose. Though I don't quite understand why you've taken an interest in this girl. Why her, out of so many like her?"
Her companion smiled enigmatically. "Ah, now, I am allowed to have my secrets. Why have you taken a fancy to that angel of yours? I have my reasons." Selene nodded, conceding the point, but she thought the smile looked a bit on the sentimental side; perhaps it was something of an emotional attachment? It could be difficult to maintain attachments in a mortal sense without to some degree confining oneself to a mortal way of thinking, but it certainly wasn't impossible.
"Anyway, I'm surprised you haven't taken a more active hand in things down there," she said. "You know, with that first rash of changes and so many men becoming women, I almost suspected you had."
The Woman laughed, a low, warm, liquid laugh. "If I were in charge of it," she said, "there wouldn't be so many graceless novitiates running around down there trying to figure out womanhood on their own. Nor would He have stolen away nearly as many of my daughters...but then, that's how it goes sometimes."
"Oh, you know perfectly well he had nothing to do with it," Selene laughed. "Honestly. Sometimes I begin to understand why they picture you two as being in opposition instead of being counterparts."
"Yes, well, they picture a lot of things there," She said. "They used to think I had vast oceans and steaming tropics, you know."
"I still think you should give them a try," the Moon-goddess said. "You haven't seen even a temperate rainforest; there's a fertility to them that would suit you perfectly."
The Woman sighed. "Oh, perhaps...but that would require life, and life just..."
"...changes everything," Selene finished. "I know. Even my little Artemis can be a handful; a whole planet..."
"Which is why we've hardly even heard from your older sister in four billion of her years. I won't deny that the idea is captivating, but it's such a commitment..."
Selene laughed. "See, now, they think you're the one that's supposed to be into commitment these days. Of course, before that, they thought you were the fickle one...He would have a fit if He knew what some of them think a Man is these days."
The Woman joined in the laughter. "Oh, don't get me started," she said. "The way they try to sort each and every idea into one of two categories..."
Selene nodded, amused.
