Mr Gordon smiled to his wife. It was true... he did want to know about magic too. "You know me all to well, dear" he said thoughtfully. "Magic... 'is' interesting. If it is... real."
"Jon's demonstration was very convincing." Abby thought.
Leslie took out another of his matches and stared at it. "It... makes no sense. Combustion is a chemical process. This is a safety match. It 'can't' catch fire, unless another material was added from the scratching surface," he said looking at it.
Abby tilted her head. "Well, look at it scientifically. How would 'you' explain it what you saw?"
Leslie looked at the match and stared at it. How could he explain in reasonable scientific terms, what he saw? What 'is' magic, from the scientific point of view. "I... I don't know," He said. Though he certainly had the beginnings of a few ideas...
"Jon said it's because the match 'wants' to be alight," she said looking at the match.
Leslie nodded. "But again- that makes no sense. A thing can't 'want' something. We're personifying a match and claiming it holds a wish to burn? If it had any desire, why would it be to harm itself?"
"I think you're over thinking it honey," said Abby patting his head. "There there, it's okay. You can't know every mystery that suddenly appears."
Mr Gordon blushed a bit feeling quite foolish now, and hugged his wife, being careful of her pregnant belly.. "I guess... I'm starting to feel a bit.. well... God, it wasn't like this with Stacy," he said. "She never used 'the eyes', on me. Is Lilly doing it on purpose? Acting like such a little... girl?"
"Well, she is a little girl, but... I don't think she's aware of how precious she looks, even when using those baby browns," said Abby thoughtfully. "It is a little strange. I never thought I could find a half-human-animal... pretty," said Abby very confused by that thought. Sure she was aware of pictures of them in various story books and fairy tales- but to have one living and breathing, and that it was her son turned daughter... well... it was certainly strange- yet she also felt very proud of her.
"I guess I am going to miss something from this. It was nice teaching... Billy all I knew. Lilly wants to learn magic, not the sciences like his old man," he said. Sure- maybe he was just a little... jealous. Magic was so much more tantalising a prospect then the science of his world. Whenever Billy had a question, Leslie would seek an answer to satisfy the child when he was growing up. Sometimes children came up with such strange questions based on what they observed in the world with their fresh eyes... but... would Lilly no longer be interested? Will she do as girls do, and simply drift away from her father?
Mrs Gordon shook her head. "Leslie... Lilly is very much 'daddy's little girl'," she said. "She adores you for everything. I think... a lot of what she does, is to make you proud of her too. Who knows? Maybe you could learn magic in your own way too."
Leslie gave that some thought. "The only method I know, is the scientific approach," he said looking at the match on the table once more. The beginnings of an idea was starting to form in his mind. A theory, that was certainly extraordinarily wild... yet at the same time, helped him consider the possibility of magic. "I will... have to... organise a new laboratory. To experiment with the forces of 'magic'... but I will have to test the possibilities.
Jon was so glad that they said yes. It was a first step...
"You seem trustworthy Jon," said Leslie with a rather assertive voice. "Lilly is... very precious to me- to all of us," he said with a glance to his wife. It was difficult for him to trust what was a stranger, with the education and association to his little daughter. Yet he did recognise an opportunity not just for Lilly... but for the work they carried out in seeking a cure.
Abby nodded. "Jon, feel free to come by our house any time... wont you stay for dinner? It would be nice to know our child's new teacher." She said with a smile as she got to cooking a little food for everyone. it wasn't anything fancy, just some rice and meat. However Abby made it more interesting with her spices.
"Please have a seat- uh-" Leslie paused biting his lip mid holding the chair in his attempt to be polite to their guest.
"Oh- don't worry, I'll just stand here, if that's okay." Smiled jon with a faint blush. She didn't like drawing attention to her slug foot like this.
Leslie nodded, and put the chair away. Conversation was a little awkward to start with, until they brought out a few soft drinks and juices. They were mindful to keep sugar away from Lilly though. (they had fix up a lot of knocked out bookcases, from the last time)
"So... um... when are you due?" asked Jon.
"Another month," said Abby. "It feels like it's been forever."
"Boy or a girl?" Asked Jon curiously.
"We don't know. we like to be surprised," smiled Leslie.
"What do you hope for Lilly? A little brother or sister?"
Lilly looked down in thought at that. "Uh... I dunno. I already had a little sis- um- and now i'm a-" for a moment the twin tails furled to the side, crossing each other at the tips, as Lilly felt the weird confusion when her old life mixed in with her new one. She was seeing this from both being the little sister, and having an older brother, and having a little sister, and being the older brother! So... which was better? At the moment she was going to be the older sister to... a human boy or girl? Wasn't that also going to be weird? What if the baby didn't like her? Yet at the same time... she felt as if she didn't have anything to worry on that. She didn't know why she felt that... just that she knew, they will share a bond.
"I'm happy... if the baby's happy," said Lilly. "I jus' wanna be the best big sister I can be," she said smiling. "An' we got a T-rex older brother so... we know we'll be fine."
After dinner, Jon looked around at the living room as he continued to get to know the family. What drew his attention was a family picture on the wall. It showed Abby and Leslie, Sitting on a park bench with their arms around each other... and at each side their two children. A teenage boy, and a little girl. If she didn't know from what Lilly had said, she would have sworn she 'started' as that child- as Stacy, as opposed to Billy... He looked like any other teenager she might have known in school- with a cocky grin, holding a football.
Given her charges new size, she wouldn't be surprised if that meant Lilly had to wear her sibling's clothes sometimes. How awkward was that!
The family all seemed so cheerful in the shot, enjoying a warm sunny day... A day that could never be until she fixed everything. "You have a nice family," said the slug girl smiling.
"Um- thanks," she said softly. Lilly glanced up realising her new magic teacher saw the picture. Jon was looking at the teenage boy she used to be... but was still treating her like a little girl. What was stranger was how... glad she was. There was no point pretending... not any more. A mature boy would have known the difference between big important things, and little things... like what was going on with the other children. But in her mind, they were all big things. It was hard to work out the difference. "An'... I promise. Ill do everythin' I can to be w-w-worthy."
Jon smiled. She knew the girl was still finding her way in the world, and had a good feeling about this new apprentice. Though she had to admit to some concern. From what she gathered, Lilly had experienced some magical fights, involving the magic girls... and worked in her own way, to try and help them. She placed herself in great harm, to help her friends... it was incredibly brave. Not many would do such a thing. Most people just left it to someone else as it was 'their job'... is a magic girl just 'a job'?
Her apprentice wanted to help people. A noble, and wonderful idea... but Jon realised, she had to temper this. She had to teach the child patiently, and allow her to mature. The whole thing was becoming a larger undertaking, then she could ever realise.
"Jon?" Asked Lilly as she saw the slug girl was wrapped in her own thoughts.
"Hm?"
"Well.. um..." she looked embarrassed at something.
"What is it?" Asked the slug girl moving her slug body a little lower to her level.
"Could... I ride on your foot-thing?" She asked hopefully with her big eyes again.
Jon laughed. Maturity was certainly going to have to wait. "alright, hop on."
The squirrel girl giggled as she sat on the slug part of Jon's body, looking gleefully as she raised her arms, balancing her tails along the side. This was a lot difference from the dinosaur ride she got from her brother, but she enjoyed it with childish glee.
Abby and Leslie watched the two play, and Abby quickly took a picture on her camera.
