It was almost exactly five o'clock when I pulled up into the short driveway in front of our parents' house. Wes' beat-up old Mini was already there, but he'd left us more than enough room to park our Rebel alongside.
Our folks lived in Eastbourne, which was about a thirty minute drive from Brighton. They'd only been out this way a few years, since Shirley and I left home. It was a nice place though, a cosy little row-house not far from the sea, and easy walking distance to a pretty park with a pond and some football pitches and tennis courts.
I opened our denim jacket and let Cara out from where the raven was nestled against my boobs, then slipped off my helmet and sighed.
"This is it," I half-whispered, while my ears drooped and my tails hung down low. "Time to go see mom and dad."
Yuki sent me a wave of supportive thoughts as she spoke up from headspace, "You can do it Aster! It's going to be fine!"
"Thanks," I smiled as I turned and started for the house.
Even Cara was acting supportive and helpful, in her own special way. By which I mean, she didn't hop up ontop of my head for once. Instead she swooped out in front of me, then landed on the front step to stand next to my feet when I stopped at the door.
I paused to make sure my hair was perfect, which was ridiculously easy when you could shape-shift. No need for a mirror or a comb, all I had to do was concentrate for a half second. Although I almost regretted that being so easy, since I could have used another distraction or delay.
"You're stalling again," my favourite little arctic kitsune commented. "I promise it's going to be ok. Shirley and Wes are already here, just like we planned. They'll be telling the folks what to expect, and Shirl's going to show them the selfie you sent when we were still in Scotland. So it's not like you're going to be a complete stranger to them."
I sighed, "I know Yuki. I'm still worried though. What if..."
"Enough procrastination," Cara stated. She hopped forward and tapped on the door a couple times with her beak, loud enough to sound like knocking.
My eyes went wide in surprise and my tails tucked down between my legs. I didn't even have a chance to comment though, as I heard footsteps inside almost immediately. The door swung open a moment later, and I found myself looking up at my mom, while she stared wide-eyed down at me.
"Oh my word," mom mumbled. "Is it true? Is that really you hon?"
I blushed and tried not to cringe as I nodded, "Hi mum. Yeah it's me. Turns out that vacation did me a lot more good than I ever expected."
"Oh um," I hesitated a moment before gesturing downwards, "Did Shirley warn you about my raven friend? Her name is Cara. She's sort of living with me now?"
That left a confused look on our mom's face as she stared down at the large black bird, "Your sister implied that you had a girlfriend named Cara, that you'd be bringing to dinner. She didn't mention anything about a bird."
"I didn't think you could keep a raven as a pet?" she added as she looked at me again. "And I'm pretty sure it's illegal to take an animal out of the wild."
Naturally our bird friend took that opportunity to speak up, "I am nobody's pet. Indeed if we had had this conversation last week I would have informed you that Aster was my service fox."
"I should also point out that I have not slept with your daughters," the raven announced, and while she didn't use the word 'yet' it almost felt like it was implied. Especially when she added, "Although they are quite aesthetically pleasing to look at. Even more so when they're not hidden beneath layers of unnecessary clothing."
With that she hopped in the door past our shocked mother, then disappeared deeper into the house as she said something about checking on the roast.
"So um, that was Cara?" I said nervously, while my cheeks felt like they were on fire. My tails remained firmly between my legs and my ears drooped down low. "She's a bit much sometimes, but she's nice once you get to know her."
It took mom another ten or twelve seconds before she finally got over the shock, "My youngest child's got fuzzy ears and furry tails, and she's befriended a talking raven..."
"Yeah," I started to say, when my ears flicked as I heard dad let out a shocked gasp from the living-room.
I cringed and ducked inside past mom as I said, "I need to go make sure she's not causing dad any trouble."
It was only a short dash past our mom then a turn to the left. I stopped in the doorway and quickly scanned the room for Cara, but there was no sign of her. Shirley and Wes were sitting on the sofa, dad was in his leather recliner, and there was a match playing on the TV. I realized that's probably what dad was reacting to, it looked like Manchester City just scored another goal which put Brighton and Hove Albion down by two.
While I was looking at the TV my dad ended up staring in shock at me.
"I don't believe it," he mumbled. "Your sister was serious..."
Shirley nodded, "It's the truth dad. This is Aster, that's what she looks like now."
"Hi dad," I greeted him. Then I looked to my sister and her boyfriend and added, "Hi Shirl, hi Wes. Did either of you see Cara come in here?"
My sister shook her head, "No. Why, what happened? Where is she?"
"She's probably in the kitchen Aster," Yuki pointed out. "She wanted to check on the roast, remember?"
"The kitchen," I sighed as I turned and hurried further down the hall.
One of my ears twisted back as I heard mom finally close the front door, then she followed me towards the kitchen. And that's where we found Cara, but the bird girl was no longer in her raven form.
"Ah there you are Aster," the tall naked beauty commented. "If you'd like me to get dressed then I'll need my clothing please."
"What?!" mom gasped as she stopped in the kitchen doorway and stared.
I quickly shrugged my backpack off my shoulders then opened it up and dug Cara's clothes out, "Here you go. There's your shoes too."
"Thank you Aster," she replied.
Then she calmly began to dress right there in front of the cooker, while my mom stared in disbelief. Meanwhile I turned to face mom, rather than stare at my tall dark and gorgeous companion.
I gave mom an apologetic look then said over my shoulder, "Cara you didn't have to rush in here to check the roast. My mother knows how to cook, and dinner tonight is probably going to be amazing."
"Oh I'm quite certain of that," Cara replied calmly. "I was never worried about your mother's cooking skills Aster. I just wanted to ensure that tonight's dinner wasn't one of my friends or relatives."
I nearly choked as that hit me. I had no idea how our raven friend would react if she'd been served roast chicken or goose or something like that. Even Yuki was anxious inside our headspace, with her tails all twitching in worry while the two of us both imagined what kind of fuss that might have led to.
Fortunately we weren't about to find out. Mom stated, "It's mutton."
"Indeed," Cara replied. "It's just some mammal, and it smells delicious. I'm eagerly awaiting the opportunity to try some."
She continued, "In the meantime I don't suppose you have any whisky? Scotch preferably. I think I'd like a drink before dinner."
At that point I face-palmed and stifled a quiet groan. So far absolutely nothing had gone as planned. In fact it felt like the evening was already a disaster, thanks almost entirely to our raven girl.
"Actually I think this is going kind of good?" Yuki commented. Her tails were swishing around and she had a smile on her face as she elaborated, "Cara provided enough of a distraction to get you past the most awkward parts. And even if nobody saw her shift her form, mom still got to see a talking bird. And she knows Cara changed forms."
I sighed and responded internally, "Maybe... I guess we should go and meet dad properly. And do some introductions, assuming Cara's ready to behave."
"Big assumption," the little arctic kitsune giggled.
I couldn't help smiling at that as I agreed, "Yeah, true!"
Yuki turned out to be right about Cara's antics, because just a couple minutes later we were all sitting in the living room with drinks in hand. Mom and Shirley and I all had glasses of wine, while dad and Wes had beer. And the raven girl got her wish, she had a tumbler with a measure of whisky on ice.
"Cara, this is my mother Louise and my father Daniel," I finally began the proper introductions. Then I addressed my parents, "Mom, dad, this is my new friend and colleague Cara. She's a raven from up in the Highlands around Cairngorm National Park, but sometimes she's a mostly-human young woman too."
Our bird-girl colleague had a sip of her whisky then politely greeted my folks, "Hello sir, ma'am. Thank you for the drink, and for inviting me into your home."
After a gulp of her wine mom replied, "Hello Cara. Um, how is it you can talk? And turn into a human?"
Cara replied calmly, "All ravens can talk. Although only a few of us know how to speak English. As for the transformation, that's simple magic. Transformation isn't even my forte though, you should see what Aster can do when she sets her mind to it."
Dad frowned as he looked at me, "Magic? You can do magic?"
"They sure can!" Wes stated with a wide smile. "Who do you think blacked out all of Brighton last night?"
I cringed, while Shirley gave her boyfriend a little smack to try and shut him up. We'd all agreed not to tell my parents about Yuki yet, since we didn't think our parents could handle learning about plurality on top of all the other shocks we had in store for them. Like talking ravens and shape-shifting and magic water and working for Gaia.
Now both Cara and Wes had already slipped up and referred to us with plural pronouns in front of my parents, but fortunately neither of them seemed to notice. Or if they did, they didn't comment on it.
Instead dad frowned at me, "You caused the blackout? How's that even possible?"
"It's a long story," I sighed. "And it started back on the night of the twenty-first, when we spent the night camping next to Loch Morlich..."
It felt wrong recounting the story without ever mentioning Yuki's name, but the little arctic kitsune didn't mind. We'd been keeping her secret from our parents all along, so in a way this was no different. I felt bad about it though, and despite feeling critical of Wes and Cara earlier I came close to talking about her more than once as I repeated our story of what happened that night and the following day.
At one point we all moved from the living-room into the dining room, and I put the story on hold while our folks got the roast out of the cooker and everything. Soon enough we had a lovely spread of food laid out on the dining table, and I resumed my tale while everyone started in on dinner.
Mom had outdone herself again, the roast was perfect. Same with the sides, mom made one of the best Yorkshire puddings outside of Yorkshire. And the mashed potatoes were perfect, same with the roasted veg and the home-made gravy. She'd even made the mint-sauce from scratch.
The story-telling slowed down while we ate, and by the time everyone had their fill I'd only gotten as far as dinner with Shirley and Wes that first evening after the long drive south from the Highlands.
Then my sister and her boyfriend joined in the telling, giving their impressions and how surprised they were to see me and meet my talking raven friend.
That's when I gave mom and dad the first demonstration of my shape-shifting abilities. I started off with the first trick I learned, by turning my tall fuzzy vulpine ears into a pair of boring normal human ears.
"This is how I can still wear my motorcycle helmet when I ride," I explained. Then I made a face and had my ears go back to normal, "It feels weird though so I don't like to do that unless I have to. My normal ears feel much more natural and comfortable."
Dad frowned, "And these are your 'normal' and 'natural' ears? The furry ones ontop of your head?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Like I said right at the start dad, this is the real me. This is my real body, this is how I've always felt inside. Well, except for the tails. Three's a good start but there should be nine of them. Hopefully I'll get there before long."
Wes smiled, "Maybe you need to make another run up to Scotland? Take another dip in the magic lake. Or that pond at the top of the mountain."
"Don't give them any ideas Wes," my sister stated as she gave her boyfriend a nudge.
Her expression shifted to a frown as she added, "Are you slouching or something? Sit up straight."
"I am!" he insisted, although he did shift a bit in his chair to straighten his back.
Shirley continued frowning at him as she commented, "You must be slouching, you're sitting lower than me."
A moment later her eyes widened as she gasped, "Holy hell Wes! What if it's working? I think you're getting smaller!"
Wes's eyebrows shot up as he looked at her, while everyone else was staring at him. And sure enough we could all see something was going on. Even seated, Shirley looked to be a half dozen centimetres taller than her boyfriend, instead of the other way round.
After another couple seconds Wes finally responded, "Or you're getting taller. Maybe it's working on you?"
"What's working?" dad asked warily. "What are you talking about?"
Shirley looked to dad and admitted, "Aster brought a bottle of that water back from Scotland. She gave it to Wes and I when we were at her place earlier. We split it between the two of us, and -"
She was interrupted as Wes sneezed loudly, and just like that his body was very different. In fact for a moment I thought he'd become a small fox-kin like me or Yuki.
He was definitely about the same size as me, which meant all his clothes were suddenly hanging off his small frame. His hair was different too, it had lightened up to an off-white cream colour. And he now had two pointed fuzzy cream-coloured ears ontop of his head, that almost looked vulpine. Not quite though. His tail definitely wasn't fox-like either. Instead of a big floof he had a furry cream-coloured tail that stood upwards and curled in towards his back.
"What the heck?!" Wes gasped as he jumped up out of his chair, while his curly tail started wagging up a storm behind him.
In addition to being smol he also looked and sounded younger. Or maybe it wasn't that he'd become younger, but his voice had gone up a bit in pitch while his face now appeared smooth and hairless, with no trace of the five o'clock shadow he'd worn a few seconds earlier.
Before anyone had a chance to react to any of that, Shirley let out a surprised yelp as she scrambled to her feet too. A moment later a long black furry tail spilled out of the back of her slacks, while two black triangular ears emerged from the top of her head.
Where Wes was struggling to keep his clothes from falling off, Shirley's outfit was now a couple sizes too small. She wasn't just taller either, from what I could see her body had become more athletic, with lithe muscles accentuating her feminine curves.
At that point mom looked like she might be about to faint, while dad was just staring wide-eyed and slack jawed. Not that I could blame them, I was probably almost as surprised. My sister had become a tall strong wolf-girl, while her boyfriend had transformed into a cute little dog-kin.
For the next few seconds everyone was silent, as it all slowly sank in.
Then Cara looked to my mom and asked, "I don't suppose there's anything for dessert?"