What could Karyn do? If only she could make a wish, she could fix this problem. But the stone was back at the cabin. She couldn't make wishes without it.
Wait a minute. Yes, she could. "Jon!" she exclaimed. "I want you to agree to this wish! Please!"
Amid Jon's cries of pain, he gritted his teeth and said "What? We don't have the stone!"
The baby's head was fully out now. Karyn was at least glad she had imagined Jon with the baby in the proper position to come out, because she had no medical knowledge whatsoever.
"We don't need the stone! In the cabin I wished I could make body modifications without the stone!"
"How? You needed permission to do that."
"Stupid!" yelled Karyn. "The stone made the wish come true by giving me the ability to make those wishes. Giving someone an ability is modifying their body! And you gave blanket permission for modifying bodies in the cabin! Now just agree to this wish!"
The baby was almost out. Jon was still screaming, and Karyn hoped she could make this wish in time. "Stone: I wish Jon's body was only pregnant, not giving birth!"
Then she saw the baby was completely out and said "Wait..." as Jon said "I agree!" Too late... Jon confirmed the wish too late. The baby was already out when the wish happened. So Jon, already no longer pregnant but with a baby near him, had turned pregnant again. But at least she didn't have to worry about the afterbirth or cutting the cord.
Karyn hurried for the cabin. It had been foolish to leave the stone behind; she or Jon should always keep it, just for emergencies. They could go to the mall after getting the stone. Karyn pressed the gas pedal hard, driving back to the cabin at over 60 miles per hour on the back road.
Jon held the baby protectively to his chest, while inside him another baby kicked.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Karyn.
"It's a girl" said Jon. "And try not to go so fast, okay? I'm in a little trouble here. What if you stop suddenly and I squash the baby? What if the cops catch you for speeding? This is a road out in the country, they have speed traps in places like this."
Which was in fact true. Karyn started to slow down, but it was too late. She could hear a siren whistling in the distance and coming closer, and soon she saw the patrol car approaching her.
The speeding ticket wasn't really the problem, but the other dangers. First, they had a newborn baby, but Karyn was a man and Jon was pregnant and couldn't possibly have just given birth (without magic, anyway). The cop might think they kidnapped some poor newborn. Second, Karyn's driver's license might be bad. Even assuming the stone shifted reality enough that the license matched her new body, she didn't know what name was on it. And the police station was probably outside the stone's range. If the cop looked up the license by calling the computer at the police station, Karyn would be in trouble.
And there was no stone to give them help. All there was was the ability to make body modification wishes. But then, she had an idea. "Jon, agree to this wish, okay? Stone: I wish...."
