Commutationem – The Exchange
Introduction:
Magic talisman changes a man and woman.
I was depressed about it, but at 5’6” and 140 pounds with glasses, I was hardly the sort to impress the women. There were a few who would hang out with me, at least casually, but again, nothing serious. I reached the point where I almost didn’t even expect anything. Why should I? I had been through my optimist stage, and got shot down more times than I could count.
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t the slickest guy possible. I was more likely to step on my own dick than to impress one of the women, and it was hardly long enough for that to happen. I turned pessimist, expecting the worst, but still hanging out as much as the women would let me. As long as I spent more time listening than talking – easy for me – they found me much more tolerable.
I had more than a few women cry on my shoulder when they got shit on by men who were jerks. That never translated into wanting anything more than a shoulder to cry on though. I was starting to think my lot in life was to be the guy who the women thought of as a friend, but never as anything more. Then one day I met Sheri.
Sheri was a bout 5’4” and 120 pounds, mousy blonde hair, kind of a cute face, and not a bad shape, but nothing that would make the guys turn around and stare at her. She had smallish boobs, and didn’t dress to be sexy – no short skirts, no bare midriff, no super short shorts – just jeans and tee shirts, with athletic shoes, and always a bra, padded as I learned.
Sheri was sweet and had a nice smile. She was smart, probably smarter than me, and even though guys asked her out, she never seemed to have any interest. She turned them down nicely and sweetly, but she always turned them down. I wondered if she was lesbian, as did some of the women I hung with. Sheri never seemed to pursue women either.
I heard a few guys remarking bitterly that they thought Sheri was a guy dressed as a woman, but why would she stick to jeans and tees if that were the case. You’d think at least some of the time she’d go for skirts and dresses and wear makeup, and she didn’t do any of those. She was kind of an enigma among the group that hung out.
I wanted to hang with the women as much as I could. It might be that they’d never date me or sleep with me, but at least I’d have their company. Because I listened more and didn’t try to dominate the conversation, nor go on at length bragging, I guess I blended in pretty well. One evening, one of the women turned to me and said, “No offense, but you’re just like one of the girls.”
I had a few of the women who tried to fix me up with men, but I had no interest in that. After a time, it seemed like Sheri and I were among the last to leave our little gatherings. We talked more one on one and I found she was a staunch feminist, though she said she did like guys. She just never found one who seriously interested her.
After we’d talked several times, I got up my courage, often lacking, and asked her for a date. When I did, her face, which was usually smiling, got solemn. Not angry nor disgusted, just solemn. She was silent for a few seconds, and looked me squarely in the eyes.
“Michael, you’re sweet, but I’m not sure you’re right for me.”
“Maybe we could find out?”
She sat and looked at me for a few seconds. This was pretty unusual. Women tended to shoot me down very quickly. Most of them were kind, but I still got shot down. Finally Sheri smiled and had a little half laugh.
“Fine. We’ll give this a try. No promises or expectations – either way.”
We were already beyond my expectations. I agreed and we set a day and time to go to dinner and see a movie.
Come the day, I wore a pair of dockers, a shirt with buttons, and a pair of leather shoes. She let me pick her up at her place and drive us. She wore slacks and a top with buttons and a pair of flats, so I guess we were both trying to step up our game a little bit. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Not the most expensive place, but better than a hamburger joint or a cafeteria.
Sheri insisted on paying half the tab. I tried to get her to let me treat, but she would have none of it.
“If you want me to go out with you, you play by my rules. Too many guys seem to think that paying for the woman means they’re entitled to something.”
“I didn’t expect…”
“And we’re just making that clear.”
Sheri also paid for her own movie ticket. I tried to put my arm around her and she leaned forward, away from my arm, so I put it back on the armrest. I suggested we go dancing after the movie, and she said she was tired. I drove her back to her place, figuring the date was a bust. I walked her to her door, being pretty sure I’d get a quick send off.
“I’m tired, and we aren’t at the point where I’m likely to invite you in, but I did have a good time.”
“I really enjoyed myself, Sheri. Maybe we could do this again some time?”
“Maybe we could. You have my number.”
With that, she leaned forward, gave me a very quick kiss on the lips, turned and went in her place, locking the door behind her. I was stunned, not only had I been on a date with this woman, but she kissed me. I floated back to my car and was almost in some kind of dream world driving back to my place. I had trouble falling asleep, and all my dreams were of Sheri.
We still mostly hung with the group, but went on dates about once a week, usually some combination of dinner, movie, and dancing. When we were with the group, I saw the women begin to look at me a little differently. I wasn’t just the nerd who hung out with them, I was a guy. Sheri was subtle but occasionally hugged or kissed me, to stake her claim, so to speak.
We gradually progressed from a cursory kiss to some serious makeout sessions and heavy petting. Sheri never let me get too far, but as long as I only touched her on the outside of her clothes, she seemed fine with it. I was so happy to have something resembling a girlfriend that I wasn’t going to push it. I certainly wanted to do more than just touch her body while she was fully clothed, but I’d take what I could get.
One night we were kissing and stroking each other on the sofa at her place. Her roommate came in with her boyfriend, just looked at us, laughed and they went in her bedroom and closed the door. We quickly heard giggling and moans from the bedroom, and I could only imagine what was going on in there. We stopped for a minute, listening to that, and Sheri took my hands and looked at me.
“Are you ready to go a little farther?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
She got up, took my hand and led me into her bedroom. I wasn’t sure what she was willing to do, or even how to do it, but I sure wasn’t going to turn it down. She closed the door and locked it, then walked me over to her bed and sat down. I sat down beside her, unsure as to what I should do next, but I took a chance and leaned forward and kissed her.
We lay down on the bed on our sides, facing each other. She gave me a big smile and kissed me. We kissed and I stroked her back until she took one of my hands and placed it on her breast. I’d touched her breast through her clothes before, but she only let me do that briefly until now. She took a hand and began unbuttoning her top.
After she had her top unbuttoned, she opened it and moved my hand onto her pink bra. I couldn’t believe she was letting me do this, as she unbuttoned my shirt. She took my shirt off me, and I took her top off her. I kept kissing her while touching her breast through her bra and stroking the bare skin on her back. After a bit of this, she pulled away slightly.
“Do you think you can unhook my bra?”
We sat up and she looked me in the eyes, smiling as I reached around her with both hands and fumbled a bit getting her bra unfastened. Needless to say, I’d never done that before, so I was a little clumsy, but she sat patiently as I finally managed to get it unhooked. I stroked her back, where her bra straps had been. She smiled and kissed me and rolled her shoulders forward so the bra started to come off.
“Take it off me.”
I paused to take my hands and ease the bra down her arms and completely off her. As I did, I got my first look at her a-cup boobs. They were small, but very nice with pronounced areolas, and her nipples seemed to be standing at attention. As I sat there admiring her tits, she took my right hand and placed it on her left breast.
I immediately gently grabbed her other breast with my other hand and began caressing the breasts and nipples as I kissed her. She moaned through our kisses as I teased her boobs and her very hard nipples. She panted and moaned as I worked her boobs over, until she stopped and looked at me.
“Kiss them, please.”
She leaned back on the bed and I leaned forward and put my lips on one nipple as I continued to play with the other one. I nibbled and sucked on it as she moaned and writhed under me. After a few minutes she had me switch breasts, and kiss the other one while stroking the first one. I was in heaven kissing and touching Sheri’s breasts.
I kept at it until she began moaning, gasping, and rocking back and forth as she held my head tight to her boob. I could feel her muscles rippling under me. After a minute, she eased her grip on my head and pulled me up to kiss her again.
“Michael, that was wonderful.”
“Sheri, you are wonderful. You’re the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met. I can’t believe all this.”
“I think you’ve earned a bonus. Unzip my slacks.”
I could hardly believe my ears, but wasn’t going to let this pass. I unfastened her belt, then undid the button at the top before unzipping the slacks. I saw a pair of pink panties and gingerly reached out to touch them. When she made no objection, I kept touching them, getting further down into her pants until I could feel some wetness on her panties. I stopped and looked at her. Sheri smiled at me.
“Take them off.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant the slacks only or the panties too. She lifted her hips as I slid the slacks down her legs. She still had her hips lifted, so I slid the panties down too. As I did she dropped her hips back onto the bed and lifted her feet so I could slide the slacks and panties completely off her. As I pulled them off, she spread her legs, revealing her pretty little pussy.
She had not shaved it completely, but had trimmed the hair and shaved it to leave a cute little patch above her twat. Her pussy lips spread slightly and looked so inviting I reached up and stroked them. Sheri moaned and squirmed so I kept going stroking up and down those pussy lips, which seemed to open wider, the more I stroked.
I stroked and gradually found my finger slipping into her twat as I stroked. She seemed to enjoy that, so I began putting my finger farther into her, back and forth and she began pumping her hips to meet my finger. Finally, she grabbed my hand to stop me.
“Take off your pants and get up here.”
I was so nervous, I could hardly unfasten my own pants, but got them off, pulled off my jockey shorts, and kicked off my shoes and socks. She pulled me up to lie down on top of her. I could feel her nipples scraping across my bare chest, as she kissed me. She lifted up on my hips, so I raised them off her, and she reached between my legs, grabbed my prick and eased it into her pussy.
I could feel the head slip between her labia. She was wet but tight, and she pumped her hips to take me slowly farther and farther in. The feeling was amazing. I’d jerked myself off before, but this was so far above that. I was in heaven as I managed to get all the way in her. I looked at her as I rested with my prick deep inside her. Sheri looked at me, smiled, and kissed me.
I began slowly easing my prick in and out of her, savoring every stroke. Her pussy gripped me tightly as I did. I kissed her and played with one boob, while most of my weight was on the other elbow and my hips. Sheri moaned and kissed me back, pulled my head to her with one hand, while her other hand grabbed my ass. She moved her hips in synch with me.
Sheri wrapped her legs around my hips and her arms around my shoulders. She leaned back and I could feel her pussy tighten around my dick. I felt her stomach muscles rippling as she leaned back and moaned. I came inside her, throbbing and pulsing and collapsed on her almost insensible. As my senses came back I lifted up on my elbows to take my upper body weight off her.
As she came off her reverie, she looked at me and kissed me deeply still holding me tight with her arms and legs. As she loosened her grip, my rapidly softening dick slipped out of her and we rolled onto our sides, and lie facing each other, kissing and touching and caressing. I could hardly believe what we’d done. It felt like nothing I’d ever experienced.
“Sheri, I love you.”
“I’ll bet you say that to all the women you screw.”
“Since you’re the only one I’ve ever been with, I guess you’re right.”
“Not bad for your first time.”
“It’s easier when you’re with the right person, and you’re the exact right person for me.”
“Michael, keep that up and you’ll have trouble getting rid of me.”
“What makes you think I want to get rid of you. You’re the best thing in my life.”
We lie there kissing and petting and fondling each other for a long time. Then Sheri looked concerned.
“Michael, would you do something for me?”
“Of course. Whatever you want.”
“It’s a little weird and I’m not sure whether anything will happen or what might happen.”
“I trust you.”
Sheri sat up in bed, and so did I.
“Wait here. I’m going to get something.”
She walked over to a dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a strange object. It appeared to be some sort of dull silvery metal with strange diagrams on it. It was like an elongated dish with a large flat area, and short legs. She also got a little cone that she placed in a small indentation in the middle of the object, sat back down on the bed with the dish between us.
The two ends of the dish were pointed at each of us, and she lit the cone which was an incense of some sort. It began burning and put out a scent that I could not identify. Sheri crossed her legs and had me do likewise. We held hands as she sang a little wordless melody. The smell of the incense was making me a little dizzy or maybe giddy.
We rocked back and forth together as Sheri sang and between the incense and he singing and the rocking, almost put me in a sort of trance. We did this for several minutes before she spoke a single word.
“Commutationem.”
When she said that, the incense turned into a small ball of flame, quickly disappearing. I felt something shoot through my body. We were still holding hands as the room began spinning. It almost felt and looked like I was disembodied. As we spun around I saw the entire room spin, or maybe we spun around the room. We spun faster and faster and I began to feel dizzy.
My eyes crossed and I was barely able to see as the spinning slowed gradually and we came back to a stop. When my vision and senses cleared, I was sitting on the bed, but I was looking at myself. I wasn’t looking into a mirror. I sat on the bed holding hands with and looking at my own self.
“What’s going on?”
My voice sounded funny – higher pitched – not like me at all. I shook my head and hair swung across my face. My hair is short, not long enough to come across my face that way. I looked down at my body, and I saw breasts. I looked down further and saw no penis. I had been a guy, holding hands with Sheri, but now I was a woman, holding hands with a man who looked exactly like me.
“Oh my God, Michael. It did something, and that’s what it did.”
“Sheri? Is that you? And why do you look like me?”
“For the same reason that you look like me. You are me, and I am you. Our souls switched bodies.”
“I’m you? I’m a woman?”
“You are Michael’s soul in Sheri’s body. I am Sheri’s soul in Michael’s body.”
“How could that have happened?”
“Michael, and it seems funny to call you that, when you are me – I was given this object which I was told was magic. I was told that it only worked with a man and a woman, during the full moon, at midnight, with the incense, the song, and the incantation, and only if the man’s semen was in my body. I wasn’t told exactly what it did.”
“We have to undo it.”
“I felt a burning in my pussy when the incense flared. I think it consumed the semen and the incense.”
“You mean we have to…”
“We have to make love again. There has to be semen in the woman’s body for it to work.”
“I… don’t know if…”
“Do you want to change back, Michael? That’s part of what has to happen.”
“I feel weird, letting a guy…”
“You’re in a woman’s body – my body. You aren’t a guy screwing a guy.”
“Yes, but…”
“It’s the same thing we did a few minutes ago, but with you as the woman and me as the man.”
I looked over at what used to be myself. I saw a very concerned and earnest face, and as I looked down, I saw a penis which was getting harder.
“You said you want to change back. That is part of what we have to do. If you don’t want to do that, you will stay a woman. Is that what you want?”
I was torn. I wanted to change back, I just didn’t think I wanted a guy to stick a dick in me, even if I was a woman now. I just didn’t think I had any choice.
“And then we’ll change back?”
“It’s getting farther from midnight. I can’t be sure. But if we don’t at least try, you’ll be a woman for at least a full day, maybe more.”
“Maybe more? Why more?”
“Tonight was the peak of the full moon. Tomorrow night the moon will look full, but it won’t be the peak full moon. And we’ll still have to make love even then for it to work.”
“I could be stuck as a woman for a month?”
“I don’t know for sure, but you might.”
“Oh my God.”
“Look, earlier you made me feel good and I made you feel good. We’ll be switching sides, but I’ll do my best to make you feel good when we do this, and I know something about the female body.”
I sat there, uncertain as to what to do. She – he leaned forward and kissed me. He let go of my hands and stroked my face, then slowly ran his hands down my body until he got to my boobs. It felt like electric shocks ran through my body as his hands tweaked my nipples, which instantly became very hard. He pulled on the tits and I moaned.
He picked up the metal object and placed it on an adjacent table. Then he kissed me, held me and we lay down together on the bed. I had to close my eyes through this. I knew I was in a woman’s body, and that the man doing this was Sheri in my body. I was not emotionally ready to have a man make love to me. I tried to imagine that something else was happening, though I wasn’t sure what else.
He spent quite a while petting my boobs, tweaking the nipples, and generally sending me off into another world. I guess intellectually I understood that a woman’s breasts were sensitive, but until now, I had no idea just how sensitive they were. After a bit, he rolled me onto my back and fastened his mouth on one breast as his hand wandered down to my pussy.
As he touched my clit and my slit, I moaned and arched my back. I felt a heat rising through my entire body as he sucked on and nibbled my boob, while playing with my clit with two fingers and plunging another finger deep into my pussy. It felt like some strange erotic dream come to life with me as the star of it all.
My hips fucked his fingers as I held his head tight to my breast. The heat continued to build through my body until with a rush it hit me and I could feel my pussy grab his finger as I lost control of my body and felt contractions and waves of pleasure running all the way through me. I moaned so loud that I was sure not only did the roommate hear me, but probably so did everyone within a block.
As that died down, he ranged himself over me, kissed me sweetly and I could feel his dick begin to spread the lips of my twat. My mind rebelled at that since it was one thing to be touched and another thing to have a guy stick a dick in me. He eased it slowly forward into my very wet cunt as I lay there. I realized that while part of my mind hated it, my pussy, my body, and the rest of my mind were all quite happy about this.
Almost involuntarily my hips began to move with him, pushing his dick deep inside me, stretching out my twat and filling me up. I had felt in heaven with him caressing me earlier and this went even beyond that. He began fucking me and I eagerly fucked him back. Part of me may have hated it, but the rest of me didn’t want it to ever end.
I felt the heat rising in my body as I came to my second orgasm as a woman. As I was coming down off that, I felt him stick his dick as far into my pussy as it could go, and he came inside me. I was as utterly torn as a person can be. I’d now had my first night of sex ever, first as a man and now as a woman. I totally loved fucking Sheri when I was a man, but also loved having her – him fuck me as a woman.
We lay there for a minute recovering from our respective orgasms, when he kissed me, and rolled us on our sides.
“God, Michael. I want to do this with you forever.”
“My – mind is Michael, but my body is Sheri.”
“Regardless, this has been wonderful.”
“Be even more wonderful if I can get back into my own body.”
He smiled, kissed me and got up to get more of the incense. I sat back up on the bed, as he placed the object back there with a new cone of incense, and sat down across from me. I felt weird and somehow vulnerable sitting there as a naked woman in front of a naked man, but this was exactly what we’d done before, except with me as the naked man.
He lit the incense, took my hands and began singing the wordless song. We swayed as he sang and the smoke from the incense rose. After a few minutes of singing, he spoke.
“Commutationem.”
I waited for the incense to flare up, but it didn’t. Instead of having the room spin around, we just sat there on the bed holding hands over this metal object.
“What? Why didn’t it work?”
“I was afraid of this. I was told midnight and it’s now almost one in the morning.”
“You mean I’m stuck like this?’
“For at least a day. We can try again tomorrow night.”
“And I suppose you’ll fuck me again then.”
“It’s part of what the spell requires. Besides, you seemed to enjoy it while we were doing it.”
“It felt okay.”
“Felt okay? If that’s what you do when something feels okay, I wonder what you’d do during great sex. You probably wake up half the town instead of just the immediate neighborhood.”
I squirmed and was embarrassed. He put the metal object back on the table beside the bed. He pulled me close to him, which felt both wonderful and uncomfortable at the same time. We lay back down on the bed, as he stroked my head and kissed me.
“We need to stick close together. You don’t know enough about Sheri’s life and I don’t know enough about Michael’s.”
“I… think I need to go back to my place.”
“This is your place. You are Sheri, until we can undo this, just like I’m Michael.”
“What… do we do then?”
“Let’s get some sleep. We’ll hang out together tomorrow and try again tomorrow night at midnight.”
“But you said it might not work then either.”
“It might not. Do you want to just live as a woman for a month without trying?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Let’s get some rest, and see what comes tomorrow.”
He kissed me and pulled me over so my head rested on his chest, and stroked my head as I cried myself to sleep.
I woke up the next morning, Saturday, with a warm body spooning against me and felt a sense of peace and satisfaction, until I realized that one hand from that body was cupping my boob, that I had boobs, and that there was a hard penis pressing up against my ass. Memories of last night came flooding back into my mind. I tried to stifle a sob as we lay there.
He rolled me over so I was facing him, looked at me and ran his hand over my face and hair. Then he bent forward and sweetly kissed me. The kiss was simultaneously comforting and disturbing. I was starkly aware that I was a woman lying naked in bed with a naked man, albeit my former self. He kissed me sweetly again and my body began responding to him and opening up to him even as part of me rebelled.
“I love you, and I’m sorry this happened to you, but I want to love you and be good to you until we can change it all back.”
“I loved being with you when I was a man, and I love being with you now. I just feel there’s something wrong with it.”
“It isn’t gay. You aren’t a man with a man doing this to you. You’re a woman with a man. And I really do care for you.”
I wept a little and he began kissing me and petting me, first on the head, then the shoulder and arm, and moving to my boobs. My body responded to him and I felt my nipples harden and I moaned. He slowly made love to me, only bringing me to orgasm once before coming in me. We lay there kissing after and I began feeling more in love than I’d even felt in my life, even as I knew it was with a man.
We got out of bed and took a shower together, playing and teasing in the shower. He helped me pick out some clothes – only fair since he bought them and knew them far better than I, and knew where to find everything.
“I usually wear pretty dull panties and bra, but please wear something sexier for me. I may not have long to enjoy this side of it and I want to get the most out of it.”
He put me in a lacy red bra and panties, with a nice pair of jeans and a tee. He helped me brush my hair, since I’m not used to dealing with longer hair.
“I don’t usually wear a lot of makeup, but a little doesn’t hurt.”
He put a little base and eye liner on me, with a subtle shade of lipstick. I stared into the mirror and loved the way I looked. We went to what had been my place so he could change his clothes. I showed him where things were, just as he’d shown me where things were in my place. Somehow we got sidetracked while he was changing clothes and made love again.
I thought about it and realized that I’d now made love three times as a woman, and only once as a man. What bothered me was that I was really beginning to enjoy being a woman. When I realized that, it scared the shit out of me and I had to sit down for a few minutes. He sat down beside me and held me tight which helped, even as it increased the cognitive dissonance.
As we left his room – my room – the roommate saw us, smiled, and winked.
“I wasn’t sure you had it in you, boy.”
He turned to the roommate, looked and smiled before replying.
“I guess you just never really knew me then.”
He turned, kissed me, and held me tight as we left. We hung out for the day, trying to be around people, but still be able to talk privately. He said there was no guarantee it would work tonight, so it might be a month before the next full moon before we could change back. We decided we’d better share stories of our lives as we’d lived them so he would know more about being Michael, and I’d know more about being Sheri.
I didn’t understand it, but I threw myself into being Sheri and being Michael’s lover. Some of our friends and classmates saw us and seemed very happy for us. Along the way, we connected with some of the women we’d both been hanging with. They teased us a bit before telling us that we made a cute couple and that they thought we were perfect for each other.
Late in the day, we went back to Sheri’s place – or my place as I was beginning to think of it. I wanted to change back to Michael, but I desperately did not want to lose what we’d found with each other. If I again became Michael, and he became Sheri, would that wreck things? What was more important to me, changing back or keeping the love of this person? I just wasn’t sure.
Late that evening, we made sweet love, then tried the magic again, with the incense, the song, and the incantation. It did not work, and we stayed as we were. On one level, I was disappointed, and he could see that clearly.
“I’m sorry I got you into this. I was never really sure what it would do, and never believed it would do anything.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“I got you into this and I won’t abandon you. It doesn’t matter if it’s one month or however long it takes.”
“I appreciate it.”
“I do care for you. I care deeply.”
“And I love you too.”
“I’m going to do more research and see what else I can find about that spell and that talisman. We need to know what it takes to reverse the spell.”
“We need to find that out.”
“What if we can’t reverse it?”
“I don’t want to think about that for now.”
We looked at our course schedules for the semester. It had just started and we were both in our sophomore years, so we were still taking a lot of core courses. Some of what Sheri had signed up for, I’d already taken, and some of what I’d signed up for she – he had already taken. It was early in the semester so we made some changes to take more of the same courses. It made it easier once we changed back, assuming we could.
Sheri had been on birth control pills, so I had to be sure to take those religiously. With everything else going on, we didn’t want to make a baby – not yet certainly. As we went through the month, we continued to be lovers, generally spending the night at my place. That was part of the weirdness, I was starting to think of myself as Sheri.
I occasionally did some light flirting with guys and noticed Michael flirting with women. We seemed to be settling into being who our bodies were. The next full moon came around and it was time to see if we could return to being who we had once been. I was no longer completely sure I wanted to, and I could tell Michael felt the same way.
A part of each of us did want that, so we had a lovely evening out, dinner and dancing, before coming back to my place, and making love. We spent a while continuing to kiss and touch until it neared midnight, when we set up the talisman, put the incense on it lit it and sat, holding hands. Michael sang the song and precisely at midnight, he evoked the spell.
“Commutationem.”
Nothing happened as we sat there. I wept a bit, though I wasn’t completely sure if it was tears of regret or tears of joy. Michael wiped away my tears and kissed me.
“My aunt told me she wasn’t sure it would work in reverse on the same two people. She wasn’t sure it would work twice on the same person at all.”
“Then I’m stuck as a woman, and you’re stuck as a man.”
“It looks like it.”
“Where do we go from here?”
He leaned forward and kissed me then hugged me tight.
“I meant it when I said I’d be with you. I got you into this and won’t leave you unless you tell me to. I love you and want to stay with you.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s move in together. Let’s make plans to get married.”
A month later, I met Aunt Hannah, and we returned the artifact to her. I addressed her by name, hugged and kissed her. She turned to Michael to speak.
“You chose well.”
She had to know what had happened. Michael certainly told her. I found myself wondering what she meant, and wondering whether Sheri knew what would happen before we invoked the spell. I can never ask Michael. What would I do if he knew and didn’t tell me?
**********************
Five years later, we’re married, have graduated college, have good jobs, and a beautiful little baby. I’ll be returning to work soon, and sit now with my baby girl at my breast, nursing, and it almost seems like a dream. Was I ever really a man? Was that just some fantasy concocted by a young feminist woman unhappy with dealing with misogynistic men? Even if it were true, would I be this happy if I’d changed back? If I could change back now, would I even want to? At night, when I lie in bed with Michael, I’m happier than I ever imagined being.
