Suddenly Katie got an idea. "Zoe, I think I figured something out. It's a little strange, but I think it's better than what we have now. Could you tell me what you think?"
He nodded.
"Mikey's my age, which is to say, a bit over 17. And Mikey used to be 8, almost 9. And we can't change Mikey back to 8 because the wish that made her 17 can't be reversed."
"Yeah, J--- Katie."
"Funny how the numbers work out," continued Katie. Mikey's original age is just about half of what it is now. Twice Mikey's age just about is what it is now. How can we keep Mikey's age what it is, and still halve it, at the same time?"
"Don't keep me in suspense," said her brother.
"I think I'm going to have to write it down," said Katie. "It's going to be too long to say. You got a pencil?" Zoe shook his head; Katie turned back to the house, heading for the kitchen.
Once back inside, Katie got a pencil and pad from a kitchen cabinet and was about to scribble a wish, until Mikey suddenly yelled out "It hurts!" They could hear their parents hurrying to get out of bed to find out what's wrong--a crying child, even transformed, isn't something to ignore.
Meanwhile, Katie finished the wish, which read as follows: "I wish that once Mikey gives birth, Mikey will turn into 8 1/2 year old twins, both with Mikey's mind. They are identical except one is male and one is female. Their age stays 17 because they are 17 years old total. Reality is that Mikey is one boy who suddenly transformed, but nobody thinks this is weird. Our family remembers everything. They have enough clothes and school supplies for both of them. Also, the other wishes are satisfied like this."
After that, Katie had written a list. "Zoe, we need to figure this out."
"No we don't," said Zoe. "Mikey can't be changed magically, remember?"
"There's got to be some way around... You did it, think of something! Anyway, look at these other ones. Got any ideas?"
Eventually they did figure out a way around each one:
The wish that gave Mikey a male voice was still true because one of the twins had an 8 year old version of a male voice.
The wish that gave Mikey a female body was still true because the other twin had a female body.
The succubus head was easier than it seemed at first. Since succubi didn't really exist, it's easy to redefine them and make a succubus head just be a normal female head.
The "no changes from this body" wish was fixed by wishing that it applied only to Mikey's body as it is right now. Once Mikey gives birth, he'll have a somewhat different body--it would no longer be this body, and can be changed.
Basically, nothing more needed to be done if the wish was clever enough. The only change that would be made would be turning Mikey into twins. "I wonder if they'll get along?" said Katie.
"Who?" replied Zoe. "You mean the new twins?"
"Right. I hope so," said Katie. "It's bad enough that this family is suddenly getting big. I can just see them arguing over whether the girl has to wear pink. Or over who has to feed the baby. Which I guess will have to be using bottles."
Katie's father--now her mother--stepped into the kitchen. She was wearing a jacket and had to explain "We've got to get Mikey to the hospital. I think he's in labor. It could take a while, maybe even a day. We'll probably have to come back before then. Take care of yourselves in the meantime, okay?"
"Yes, Mom," said Katie.
