It should go without saying that Callie was present when Jersey delivered her twins.
Naturally the obstetrician and attendant nurses assumed the six-foot-something wolfgirl had to be the sire, and she had no desire to correct their misconception for dozens of reasons, not the least of which was that fact that Genie both could not show up on official documentation and also that admitting an early-thirties-ish woman had knocked up the very young teen would create far too many difficult and troublesome questions.
Weirdly enough, the presidential administration’s draconian rescissionism enforcing ‘biological sex’ actually ended-up working in Callie’s favour after the wolf stated her desire to be the official parent of the little cow’s twins. In order to take over as legal sire ⸻ which everyone at the birthing hospital thought was incredibly brave and very romantic given the obviously-challenged Jersey’s assumed intellectual situation ⸻ Callie was required to prove that she was the ‘only possible father’ of the little darlings, which was only even attemptable precisely because the federal government considered her to be ‘male’ for that incredibly-specific instance. If she had instead wanted to register as a same-sex parent she would’ve needed to provide evidence that the eggs had been artificially implanted, which wasn’t something the amazon was willing to burn any amount of wish-magic on.
As she submitted her DNA for the paternity test, Callie fully expected that she would need Genie to ‘encourage’ the Veil to massage the results to match expected values, but to her incredible surprise her Voluntary Declaration of Parentage was accepted as-is on the basis that the wolfgirl was clearly the genetic donor responsible for Jersey’s pregnancy. Of course, the report did note a few ‘anomalies’ that had required a lengthier sequencing than usual, but the conclusion supported the claim that for all intents and purposes Callie was the biological co-parent of little Melia and Mes Brambell.
When she confronted Genie over the results of the test, the djinn was thoroughly amused by Callie’s insistence that she had lied about impregnating Jersey, or had otherwise interfered in the sequencing process.
“Either way,” the wolfgirl growled authoritatively, “the children are mine.”
“If you’ll allow me to be pedantic for a moment,” Genie interjected with an unperturbed smile, “legal custody notwithstanding, they’re actually both of ours.”
Through a combination of Jersey’s wish and her incredible fecundity, Melia and Mes were in fact fraternal twins, one of which had been sired by Genie and the other by Callie. The result of the test was a strange coincidence derived from the djinn and the werewolf having remarkably similar DNA profiles, which would’ve required a full sequencing to uncover the difference between them ⸻ and that was, generally speaking, far too much work for a simple paternity test. If one of the sisters had received a Y chromosome from Callie their distinction would’ve been more-definitive as Genie lacked the ability to pass on anything other than an X to her offspring, but the discussion was entirely academic due to the wolfgirl’s ‘unique estrogen sensitivity’ preventing her from donating anything other than X chromosomes as well. Unless someone went to the exhaustive effort of fully sequencing both twins as well as the djinn and werewolf, there would be no way to tell which sire was which ⸻ and that was all assuming the Veil would even let any researcher near the full genetic sequence of the two magical beings.
As far as Jersey was concerned, it was a meaningless question in the first place.
“So then our little girls have three parents,” she said with a firmness that brooked no argument. “Myself, Momma Callie, and Auntie Genie.”
To both magical creatures it was an agreeable resolution, and the establishment of Callie as the official sire allowed Genie to break her link to the little darlings without ejecting the wolfgirl from inclusion in the last of Jersey’s wishes.
Perhaps due to their mistress-familiar pact, the younger sister recovered much more quickly from her delivery than her doctor would’ve credibly believed, and with zero postpartum complications and no lasting indicators that she’d given birth at all, save for her increased milk production of course. In fact, Callie seemed far-more affected than the little cow herself as she suffered a bout of severe exhaustion that required her to take a week off from school; she spent the majority of it in her wolf form hibernating in Jersey’s room, waking only occasionally to cuddle with her daughters or to eat a light meal.
“It’s likely sympathetic magic akin to whatever kept alive the man she attacked,” Genie explained later, once the wolf had reawakened and exhibited a voracious appetite. “By utilizing Callie’s mana and the regenerative abilities of her fluffier body, Jersey seems to have ‘shifted’ the physical burden of her recovery onto her familiar.”
“Is that dangerous?” the little cow asked, a concerned pout on her adorable features.
“Not at all, except in the incredibly unlikely event that the two of you happen to suffer critical injuries at exactly the same time,” the djinn theorized. “Of course, this is largely supposition based on my own experiences with magic and magical beings, so there might be other effects that we’re not currently aware of. For the present, however, I think it’s safe to assume that this is a substantial boon as far as Jersey’s health is concerned, though I would caution you to take proper preventative measures against things like the plague or bodily injury ⸻ that is, unless you enjoy looking after a very sleepy wolf.”
“I didn’t really mind,” Jersey replied affably, shooting Callie a grin. “Having my own full-body pillow was actually very comfortable.”
“It was honestly kind of nice,” the wolfgirl agreed while stifling a yawn. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept that well in my life, though I did have some really randy dreams.”
“... No, you didn’t,” the little cow blushed, reaching out to pat the other girl gently on the thigh. “Those were actually your more-lucid moments.”
“Ah,” she mumbled, turning a fetching shade of pink. “I wondered why most of them involved consuming so much dairy.”
“Speaking of which,” Kelly added pleasantly, “Candi texted me earlier to say that she found the correct-sized bells in storage, so we’ll be able to send you the milker next time Genie pops over for a visit.”
As Callie understood it, the younger Andersen sister required daily attention from either Kelly or Genie, and the fact that the elder sibling was no longer allowed to magically travel ‘across the pond’ since she’d become Jersey and her mate’s legal guardian meant that the djinn was ‘forced’ to spend much-more time with Candi than was typical of when she was working granting wishes. Of course Kelly denied that it was a ‘problem’ in any respect of the word, but did admit that between Dornollë’s ‘extra attention’ and the bun the werewolf had put in her oven, the Andersen family would likely be that much larger by the time Jersey’s wishes had finished.
“And Candi’s been knocked-up by the mage of the household several times,” their mum teased, shooting a meaningful look at Genie, “so at this point she’s predisposed to triplets in a way that hardly any other woman is.”
“Surely I can’t take all the credit for the football team we have running around the house,” the djinn grinned back, obliquely implying the depth of sisterly love that the curvy twins shared.
“No, but certainly the lion’s share of it,” the blonde lawyer accused.
“Is that going to be a problem?” Callie interjected, a worried frown creasing the corners of her mouth. “I mean, like, is it going to be weird for them to have a werewolf half-sister?”
“We don’t make the distinction between ‘halves’ in our home,” Kelly assured her, waiving away her concern. “We’ll likely need to tell her about ‘Cousin Callie’ if she ends up with her own little ‘beast mode,’ but that’s a bridge to cross when we come to it.”
“I almost hope that’s sooner rather than later,” Jersey giggled as she placed a pat between Xena’s own fluffy triangle ears. “Looking after a pint-sized wolf-puppy sounds adorable.”
“Until she starts shredding the furniture with her claws, yes,” Genie chuckled, sharing in her mirth. “And that's something you'll have to think about for Mes and Melia as well. I don't know if one or both of them might take after their sire, but you could have your own pair of puppies to deal with.”
“Then we’ll just have to adjust,” Callie rejoined confidently. “I doubt there’s any parenting books on raising werewolves, but I’m not letting that stop me from ensuring my daughters and their sisters grow up well.”
“Oh?” Jersey hummed happily, teasing her wolf. “And who’s the lucky girl having these sisters of theirs?”
“Kelly said sorceresses all have large families,” the amazon mumbled abashedly, pretending to find Xena’s ruff so interesting that she couldn’t focus her gaze on anything else. “That means you’ll have a lot more kids, right? I’m just thinking about our future.” Get faster updates on novelping dot com.
The wolfgirl trailed off as she felt the eyes of all three women on her, and even Xena seemed to stare at her knowingly. Mercifully she was spared further teasing by the arrival of breakfast, followed by the twins’s desires for their own meals, and Callie was grateful to lose her lingering embarrassment as she concentrated on bottle-feeding little Melia. It was a surreal experience to be sure given that she’d never believed she would ever be a parent, much less sire to two wonderful creatures she shared with the most-important person in her life, but she found even the somewhat odious chores surrounding newborns to be weirdly-fulfilling reminders of the place she held in the growing family’s lives.
Still, the specifics of that latter point weighed heavily on her conscience.
“I don’t know what I should do,” the wolfgirl complained to Xena that afternoon as she deliberated over her future. “Like, obviously I want to be a good mom, but what does that mean when it comes to Jersey?”
Perhaps echoing her own thoughts on the matter, the snow dog fixed Callie with a look that suggested she was one of the dafter girls she’d ever met.
“That’s easy for you to say,” she whinged, taking Xena’s unflattering opinion in stride. “Romance is a little more complicated for us two-legged creatures. Like, would she even want to think about dating now that she has two little potatoes to look after?”
The dog’s answer was more circumspect in that regard, and Callie shot her a smug smile as payment for her earlier quip. It was all well and good to say, ‘of course you should just go out with her,’ but the reality of trying to take up space in the other girl’s life when it was already filled-up with her two blessed angels felt incredibly selfish, and not even a Husky could deny that.
“I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking when I gave them my name,” the wolfgirl sighed, raking her fingers through her hair in a nervous gesture. “Was that too presumptuous of me? I mean, it gives Jersey a little more freedom to do whatever it is she’d like, but it’s stupid to even suggest that she wouldn’t want to raise Melia and Mes ⸻ she’s been dying to have kids her whole life.”
And that was precisely why Callie had felt she’d misstepped. Claiming official parentage mandated that Jersey would need to stay close to the wolf, and while it provided a certain amount of economic security that the highschool dropout would never be able to achieve on her own, it nevertheless forced an external assumption of what the co-parents’ relationship to each other might be. As someone who hated when others tried to assume control over her life, the amazon believed she’d done the other girl a disservice in the same breath that she’d offered her a helping hand.
Xena, for her part, seemed to think that Jersey could do a lot worse than the considerate wolfgirl, but she limited her argument to a short series of Husky grumbles.
“Being ‘better than nothing’ isn’t exactly reassuring,” Callie huffed, pushing back against the fluffy girl’s insinuations. “Like, Jersey is super fucking hot, right? If she wanted to, she could easily get anyone to fall in love with her ⸻ especially someone who’s already successful with like a career and everything, not just a ‘teenager with big dreams’ or whatever.”
Perhaps pointing out the wolfgirl’s tendency to overthink her relationships, the snow dog allowed her a dismissive yawn and then dropped her chin onto the taller girl’s lap. Staring at her with her big puppy eyes, she seemed to believe that headpats were far more important than raking herself over coals.
“It’s just a lot of pressure to put the two of us under,” she explained as she put her hand between Xena’s fluffy triangles, gently stroking her fur. “I don’t want her to feel like she’s legally or socially bound to accept a relationship with me, y’know? If she wants to be together, I want it to be for us and not only because she wants Mes and her sister to have a standardized, nuclear family.” Stopping the pets for a brief moment, she sought her four-legged companion’s honest opinion. “Right? Like, am I crazy for wanting a romance as opposed to an obligate parental cooperation?”
If she could’ve shrugged, Xena would’ve certainly attempted the gesture, mirroring the wolfgirl’s own perplexed hesitation.
“I should’ve said something before she had the twins,” Callie sighed, her shoulders weighed down by the contemplative melancholy of what-ifs. “How would that even go? ‘Hey, I know the super-hot, magical wish-granting djinn knocked you up and all, but I’ve been in love with you for years and I want to raise a bunch of pups with you’.” Grumbling, she turned her eyeline back to her fuzzy buddy. “It sounds insane, doesn’t it? Or if not crazy then at least desperate ⸻ and I don’t want her to think I’m some kind of creepy loser.”
Even though she now inhabited a body she felt she could be proud of, it was hard to see herself as a worthy mate for the little cow. Sure, she was unreasonably attractive and all that, but there was no guarantee that she could safeguard their future together or find a way to provide for the growing family. Perhaps to some extent she could count on a little boost from either Kelly or Genie, but the possibility that she could fuck it all up weighed heavily on her mind ⸻ and that was assuming Jersey even wanted to be in a relationship with her in the first place.
Callie wasn’t the only sire to her little ones, after all, and the djinn was apparently a capable and attentive parent in her own right; granted, all the wish magic would be used-up fairly soon and Genie’s bottle would need to pass on to someone else, but what was stopping Jersey from using the last of her requests to ensure that the magical being could stick around to help her raise Mes and Melia?
Lost in the uncharitable apprehension of her thoughts, Callie wasn’t surprised at all to hear the other voice enter her mind, speaking patient encouragements.
You’ve persevered through much worse, it gently reminded her. That tenacity is terribly attractive, and it’s one of your many excellent qualities. You’ll make a wonderful mum, and she knows that, too ⸻ why else would she have let you claim responsibility for the children she’s waited so many years for?
An obvious conclusion, she still hesitated to take the last step towards admitting that the voice was correct. It was an absurd struggle; she had a fairly good idea whose considerate thoughts it was that spoke to her, but paradoxically it made everything that much-more difficult as she fretted over whether she was tricking herself into hearing what she wanted.
Still, it wasn’t as if she could do nothing; there would never be a way forward as long as she stood frozen in place.
“Alright,” she sighed, holding her adorable companion’s gaze, “you win. I’ll stop dragging my feet.”
Proud of herself for yet another successful argument with her stubborn owner, Xena fixed her with the pouty stare she used whenever she thought she deserved a treat; happy to reward her faithful and fuzzy therapist, the wolfgirl relented.
Wracking her brain for hours over what the ‘perfect’ confession should look like, Callie ultimately came to the conclusion that she would never discover a ‘correct’ answer to such an impossible question. Their lives had changed so dramatically over such a relatively short amount of time, and their goals and responsibilities pulled them in very different directions ⸻ but those paths didn’t have to be incompatible.
Melia proved invaluable for bolstering the wolf’s determination. As she rocked her little darling to sleep, her maternal protectiveness encouraged her to do whatever it took to make her little potato happy, both now and in the future; maybe the twins would’ve been fine with any home situation as long as it was a stable one, but Callie nevertheless wanted to provide her daughters with the unified affection of their mum and sire. She knew that as they grew and eventually made friends it would be obvious that they stood out in a number of ways, but she didn’t want her children to have to wonder why their parents weren’t ‘together’ the way almost everyone else’s mums and dads were.
Once their tiny sweethearts had finally drifted off to sleep, Callie convinced her co-parent to accompany her on a walk.
Of course Jersey suspected that something was up when the amazon elected to leave Xena at home, but the little cow voiced no complaint as the taller girl took her by the hand, leading her at a relaxed pace through the neighbourhood. After chatting about the twins and their unremarkable but very cute noises and wiggling, a comfortable silence built between the two as they walked, content to simply enjoy each other’s company. Once twilight had descended into the early Fall night, Jersey pressed tight to Callie’s side, squishing the other girl’s arm between the deep valley of her chest; an adorable acceptance of intimacy, the soft and squishy hug delighted both her sense of romance and her passionate desire for the other girl’s body.
Promising the prowling wolf inside her that she’d satisfy her eros if everything went well, she stubbornly pressed down on the growing hunger that rumbled in her chest.
Eventually the couple came to a little overlook in the nearby park, surrounding themselves with as much greenery as their city allowed. Holding tight to Jersey, the amazon stared out at the view, taking in none of it as fought against her pessimistic apprehension.
“Well?” the minicow asked with an amused smile on her face, staring expectantly up at her much-taller companion.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Callie choked out a weak reply. “Well what?” she returned stupidly, her body humming with nervous energy.
“It’s just that you’ve been so focused on our little bundles of wrinkles lately,” she started, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, “so I assumed you must have something important to talk about if you were willing to take me somewhere that you can’t keep an eye on them.”
“I don’t know how guarded you think you are around others,” Jersey smiled softly, “but you wear your heart on your sleeve around me ⸻ or at least, that’s how it seems from my perspective.”
“Or the familiar contract is letting you cheat a little,” the amazon supposed, offering her a wry half-smile.
“That’s likely part of it,” she hedged, “but I prefer to think that my wolf has learned to be a little more open with her feelings.”
“I’m trying to be, anyway,” Callie sighed, a familiar ache in her heart at the other girl’s possessive words. “That is why we’re here, too, obviously. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about our children and what their future might look like … especially in such dangerous and uncertain times as these.”
“And?” Jersey prompted, turning to face the wolfgirl directly. “I know that we certainly have a number of reasons to worry, but this feels like a much more specific apprehension.”
Allowing herself a steadying breath, the wolf took both of her lover’s hands in her own, communicating sincerity in her firm grip. Confronting the reality of her feelings and the world around her was an enormous weight to grapple with, but there was meaning to be found in the struggle ⸻ and, perhaps, a more hopeful future.
“Even if we use the last of your wish for our daughters’ sake,” Callie began in a shaky voice, slowly finding her courage as she talked, “there’s a hundred-thousand horrible things waiting for them. Between the plague, the incompetence and violence of this administration, and the background erosion of our world, they’ll be faced with uncaring external forces every day. While I plan to do everything I can to fight back against what threatens them, there’s so much that will be entirely beyond my control.”
On some level, she almost wished that her children did inherit her lycanthropy; she had no idea how manageable the condition would be without the benefit of their own familiar contract, but the physical durability provided by wolfier forms would certainly go a long way to mitigating the suffering they would be forced to contend with. Still, it wasn’t that she wanted to prepare her children for violence: she wanted to create a better future, one where they wouldn’t have to join that fight.
“If the only thing we can ever be sure of is their life spent in our presence," she continued, a fierce determination smouldering in her eyes, “then I want to shape their home into the safest bastion of love and protection that I possibly can. Whatever trials they face elsewhere, I want to ensure that their worries stay external … ⸻ and I think part of that stability extends to how well their mums get along, too.”
“I’m following,” the little cow smiled, the slightest tremble in her tiny hands.
It both amused and frustrated the wolf that for all her own physical power, she still relied on the quiet strength of her lover; resolute in her desire to repay that kindness, she pressed forward despite her misgivings.
“So what I’m trying to say,” Callie murmured, fumbling with her lines, “is that I want us to be more than just co-parents. I want our daughters to grow up in a loving family in every sense of the word.”
The slight pink of the other girl’s cheeks deepened. “Are you asking me if I fancy being ‘Jersey Brambell’?” she giggled, an adorable edge to her wry mirth.
“I’m not … not saying that,” the wolf mumbled, finding it incredibly difficult to hold her little cow’s eyeline. “Just, like, I thought we should probably start with dating, first.”
Rising up as far as she could, Jersey wrapped her arms around the taller girl's neck, drawing her down to meet her. “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” she hummed happily, seeking a kiss.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t ever kissed before, but something about the taste of the other girl’s mouth was different, spiced with a hesitation born from intimacy rather than distance. Even sex had lacked that vulnerability, existing as an almost-compulsory act between two gorgeous girls sharing the same space, a surface-level connection that was only to be expected; lacking the absolution of existing as a beast beholden to its desires, the honest expression of Callie’s feelings filled her with a sense of guilt, as though her affection somehow demanded something more sacred and better-hidden than what she’d already taken from the other girl.
At the very least, she possessed enough self-awareness to understand how ridiculous she was being, and she didn’t require the voice of the little cow in her thoughts to assure her that she was allowed to enjoy their mutual interest, not when she could feel it in the warmth of the smaller girl’s embrace.
“I do have to mention,” her girlfriend said with a teasing grin as their lips broke apart, “that this is quite possibly the daftest and most roundabout confession I’ve ever been witness to. We could have saved a lot of time if you were clearer with your intentions from the start.”
“And what should I have said?” Callie grumbled, turning pink. “I didn’t want to selfishly thrust my feelings on you, not now that we were given a chance to remake our entire lives … ⸻ I wanted you to have the freedom to be whatever you wanted to be.”
“But I am what I want to be,” Jersey returned easily. “I’m fit enough to catch the eye of the hottest girl in school, I’m mother to her two adorable pups, and we still have our entire adult lives ahead of us. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it was your concern for our children that got you to admit your feelings, since you’ve always been more willing to act for the sake of someone else’s happiness than for your own, but this is what I’ve wanted all along.” Despite her gentle ribbing, the smaller girl’s big cow eyes turned damp, at odds with her wide grin. “All of this is literally my greatest wish come true.”
“I’m glad,” she said with a crooked smile, hands resting on her mate’s hips. “That makes two of us.”
Ridding herself of her unwarranted self-reproach, she wrapped her fingers around her lover’s trim waist, indulging in another sample of her girlfriend’s passion; even sweeter than it had been before, she was sure that she would still crave it for the rest of her life, and she was grateful that the other girl had been so willing to supply it.
“Well, now that we’ve gotten that settled,” Jersey said sheepishly, eyeing the taller girl meaningfully as she bit her lower lip, “I was wondering if we might be able to head back.”
“Is it that cold?” Callie asked with genuine concern, worried that she’d imposed too much on the other girl.
“Not exactly, no,” the minicow answered abashedly, a needy edge to her delicate soprano, “but I was hoping that my wolf will warm me up once we’re home…?”
She grinned excitedly, showing fangs. “I’d be delighted.”
Overcome by a thirst both feral and chivalrous, she took her girlfriend up into her arms, lifting the other girl as though she weighed nothing at all, the romantic gesture provoking a startled ‘moo’ of surprise from her mate. Squeezing her lover securely against her chest, she offered her a reassuring kiss before ferrying her home at a quickened pace, the familiar carrying her mistress as a knight might a princess, promising all the adoration and devotion that bond implied.
Purring contentedly as she held her mate so close, the amazon’s heart burned with fierce passion, longing to pour out her affection into her beloved. Returning to their den she satisfied that consuming ardour for only a brief moment, leaving her with a lingering ache that reignited at every sense of her lover: the delicate scent of her hair, the enticing curves of her figure, the soft touch of her skin, the beautiful sound of her voice as she encouraged her wolf’s ravenous affection in a mewling refrain of gasps and needy demands. As warm and radiant as the sun, the little cow emptied the enraptured monster of her desires, the two eventually collapsing together in the secure comfort of their nest.
Drawing her girlfriend into a possessive embrace, she marveled at the soothing piece of herself the other girl had left embedded in her core, filling a decades-old void that was meant to harbour self-care; once as absent from her being as familial love, her lover had corrected both flaws with with the same tender touch. Grateful to her mate, she vowed to repay that graciousness in whatever way she could; for the moment she contented herself with fluffy snuggles, wrapping the other girl in the strength of her arms and the promise of her love.