"All done," I mumbled after sending off the last text. "I just hope we're not too late. And that my dad actually reads these, and takes them seriously."
I'd sent dad a few more urgent texts, warning him not to make any promises or enter into any pacts or magical contracts. Either with his friend Mr. Allaway or anyone else. Even though I'd only been aware of the magical realm for two days I'd already learned enough to know that now he was part of that magical world he was probably vulnerable to all sorts of supernatural hazards that he wouldn't know anything about.
I also told him we could come back tonight and get Mrs. Brennan to reverse her spell, if that's what he wanted. I asked him to text back soon though, since I wasn't sure how long Mr. and Mrs. Brennan would be willing to sit around waiting for an answer.
And finally my last text was an apology. I told him I was sorry he got enspelled and transformed, and explained that I didn't know Mrs. Brennan was going to do that or that it was even an option. And I explained that all I wanted was to pack up my stuff and leave in peace, I didn't want to fight or argue.
"While we're waiting I've got some more questions for you mom," Nia stated. "Apart from packing up some of Kiki's things and turning Mr. Moodie into a trow, did we actually achieve what we wanted in the first place? I mean, are Kiki and I going to be safe from her father in the future? Or do we have to worry about some potential encounter with her fuath father later on?"
That left me with a related question, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. I asked anyways though, "Ma'am? Did you do anything else to my dad while Nia and I were in my room? Because he seemed really angry when we went upstairs. Same with Mr. Allaway, he seemed pretty unhappy too. But by the time we came back down my dad was watching TV again, and Mr. Allaway was gone."
Mrs. Brennan shook her head, "I didn't use any additional magic on your father dear. I did however threaten to do so, and I'm told I can be rather frightening when I put my mind to it. So I made it quite clear to your father and Seumas Allaway that should either of them attempt to harm Nia or yourself, I would do some truly terrible things to the both of them."
"At that point Seumas did what most bullies do when properly challenged," she continued. "He fled. Out to his car then off to wherever he lurks these days. And your father did more or less the same. He got himself a beverage then retreated to his living-room sofa, where he presumably did his best to ignore us entirely."
I nodded slowly, "Thank you ma'am. I'm glad you didn't have to use any more magic on my dad."
Nia frowned, "I'm glad too, but I can't help worrying about Seumas. If he's such a creep then I have trouble believing he'd give up that easily. What if he's just biding his time, waiting until you go back home before he tries something else?"
Her mother hesitated slightly, "That is certainly a concern. Especially now that he knows what you look like, and presumably he could learn from Mr. Moodie where to find you. What would you have me do though, Nia? Thus far he's taken no direct action against either you or I, or your pet. Nor has he even threatened to do so."
"Yeah ok," my mistress sighed. "I guess we can't go around punishing people for stuff they 'might do some time in the future'. That'd make us no better than them, really."
Mrs. Brennan agreed before pointing out, "If you're truly worried then you know there's nowhere safer than to return home with your father and I. Mr. Allaway is not welcome in Kenrei's Cove anymore, and he's expressly forbidden from entering Gruffudd's Grove. And while Mr. Moodie could cross over, he has neither power nor allies in the magical realm."
Nia rolled her eyes, "We're not quitting college and running home to hide with you."
"I didn't think you would," her mom replied. "Your next best option then is to work on your magic, my dear. You and Kiki both, you should be spending a few hours every day training and exercising. And strengthening your bond. So that should any unforeseen dangers arise, you're both able to stand your ground and defend yourselves."
The 'strengthening our bond' thing got me blushing again, but before either Nia or I could respond my phone started ringing. That startled me a little, even though I'd been waiting to hear back from my dad. I'd been expecting him to text though, so the ringing caught me off-guard.
"It's my dad," I said after checking the call display.
Then I swiped to answer, but I had it on speaker mode since I didn't think holding it to the side of my head would help much. Even if my disguised form had human ears, I was positive I actually heard things through my phantom mouse ears ontop of my head.
"Hello?" I said, while everyone else in the car kept quiet and listened in.
Dad sort of half demanded, "That you boy? Ain't used to hearing that voice."
Even through the phone he still sounded angry, but luckily he didn't seem as enraged as he was before. Instead he sounded a little drunk to me, like he'd probably been sitting there drinking non-stop since we left. I also noticed his voice seemed deeper, maybe a bit more guttural. I figured that was probably due to him being so much bigger now. And maybe it was also a little because of him being part trow or troll or whatever. Kind of like how my voice was small and high-pitched now, thanks to being a tiny mousegirl.
On the other hand I could still recognize dad's voice, like it was different but not that different. Just like how he was still recognizable as my dad, just a bigger and slightly more monstrous version of himself. As for the misgendering, I decided to just ignore it for now. I didn't want to get into another argument with him, I was hoping to try and help him.
"Yeah it's me," I replied nervously. "I'm Kiki, your daughter."
He made a noise that almost sounded like an animal grunt, but I couldn't tell if that was meant to be an acknowledgement or if it was more dismissive, like he was scoffing at me.
Meanwhile dad grumbled, "Tried texting but my fingers are too damn big for the itty bitty little keys. Damn claws don't help neither."
Then he demanded, "It's true? What you said in your text, about that old hag turning me back?"
"Uh dad you're on speaker," I grimaced. "Sorry. But yeah, Mrs. Brennan said she might be able to turn you back to normal. If you want?"
He half shouted at that, "If I want?! The hell do you think about me, that I like being a damned monster?! The hell I'm gonna do for clothes? Or work?! The fuck am I'm sposed'a do about these damn teeth? Like tusks for fuck sake! Makes it hard to talk! I can't even drink my god damn beer right!"
I was cringing a bit by the end of all that, but I also kind of noticed something. And I was positive Mrs. Brennan would have caught it too. Just like when she asked me if I wanted to stay a mousekin, my dad was mostly talking about practical stuff. Clothes and work and having to get used to his teeth being weird. And while he sounded angry and grumpy, so far he hadn't actually said yes he wanted to be turned back to normal.
So I asked again, "I know it's a lot to deal with dad, but like I said in my text Mrs. Brennan could try and fix you. You uh, you have to want it though? She said if you're already starting to enjoy your new form it'll be a lot harder to turn you back."
That led to some angry cursing over the phone. Then my dad demanded, "That's your excuse? You like being a weak pathetic li'l girlie?! Guess I didn't do a good enough job toughening you up. Must'a gone too easy on you. You think I was tough, you should'a seen how my old man raised me!"
"That explains a great deal," Mrs. Brennan whispered softly. She didn't elaborate though, and I knew better than to ask since I was supposed to be talking with my dad.
I decided to ignore all that and instead asked again, "Dad we're all sitting in the mini-van waiting to see if you want us to come back or not. Do you want Mrs. Brennan to try and fix you? Or not?"
He managed to ignore the question yet again, and instead changed the subject completely. "What the hell's with them warnings about Jim?! Why are you trying to scare me off him? He's the one who told me truth about them pointy-eared freaks you're with!"
"Dad you're still on speaker," I reminded him. "If you keep insulting them they're probably not going to want to help you after all."
Then I added, "I wasn't just talking about Mr. Allaway in my text. It's important that you're careful not to make any kind of deals or pacts or contracts, with anyone. Especially not fae. And yes that means Mr. Allaway, along with the Brennans and any other fae you meet."
"I'm super new to this stuff too so I don't know all the details yet," I continued. "You're part of the supernatural world now, ok? Same with me. That means there's a bunch of new rules and dangers, stuff that neither of us know about. So we need to be careful. That's all I'm saying."
My dad grunted again then pointed out, "Jim warned me about them folks. Told me that old witch is a known criminal. Sounds like they already got their hooks in you, boy. Now you're trying to suck me in too? Not falling for it."
I sighed as my shoulders slumped, "Please dad? I don't want you to get hurt, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. If you don't want our help that's fine, just don't let Mr. Allaway trick you into making any contracts."
Dad grunted once more then grumbled, "I've heard enough, I'm not falling for their tricks. You come home right now. Or never come back again."
I looked at Nia to see if she had any suggestions or ideas, hoping there was something else I could say or do. Unfortunately she didn't, she just gave me a sad look and shook her head.
"Alright dad," I finally sighed. "I'm sorry for everything that happened. I'm not coming back, so I hope you'll leave me in peace. Please stay safe though, ok? Don't do any deals or pacts or anything like that. I don't just mean with Jim, I mean anyone. Goodbye dad."
"Fuck you," my dad grumbled into his phone. A moment later the call disconnected.
Hearing that I let out another long deep sigh, then ended up leaning against Nia as she wrapped her arms around me.
My mistress gave me a gentle squeeze then pointed out, "You did everything you could Kiki. If he doesn't want our help and won't listen to your warnings, there's nothing else we can do for him. I'm proud of you though cutie. You're a very good person."
"Thanks," I mumbled softly.
After a few quiet seconds Mrs. Brennan commented, "Well. As it seems Mr. Moodie doesn't require any further assistance after all, I think perhaps it's time we returned home. Tadhg, Sara? Shall we be on our way?"
Nobody raised any objections, so we all climbed out of the van. Nia and her parents exchanged some hugs, and her mother reminded her that she and I needed to spend time practicing magic every day. Mrs. Brennan also said something about visiting again in a month or so, but I missed whatever else she said as Sara had something to tell me.
The catgirl familiar stepped closer and said, "Sorry things didn't work out with your dad. Don't give up on him though. It's been a big crazy weekend for both of you, he might just need some time. In the meantime trust your mistress, and don't let her go too easy on you. Eabha knows what she's talking about when she says to keep practicing, keep training."
"I get it," I nodded slowly. "Thanks Sara. I'm sure I'll see you again soon."
She shrugged, "Next month from the sound of it. See you around mousie."
I responded with a wan smile, "See you later. Kitty."
Sara smirked, then addressed my mistress. "When you're done with the mini-van you can just drop it and the keys off at the rental place. It's the one on Joseph Street, they have an after-hours slot where you put the keys if you don't want to talk to anyone."
"Ok thank you," Nia replied. Then she told her parents, "Goodnight mom, dad. See you both soon."
Mr. and Mrs. Brennan turned and set off north along the footpath. And with a flick of her tail Sara headed off after them, back towards the swamp and the crossroads.
Nia watched them go for a couple seconds, then turned to me and said, "Let's get out of here."
I nodded and pulled myself up into the passenger seat while she climbed in behind the wheel. It took me a moment to get my tail sorted out, then I closed the door and pulled on my seatbelt. And a few seconds later we were heading back towards the apartment building.
"Hey cutie?" my mistress asked in a weary tone. "I think I could use a drink. How do you feel about stopping at Kimcaf on the way home?"
"Or if you're up for it we could do Jacks instead," she added.
One-Eyed Jacks was a pub, and it was even closer to Nia's place than the cafe. It was kind of fun sometimes, but I wasn't feeling it tonight. So I replied, "Between the two I think I'd prefer Kimble's, if that's ok? I don't think I could handle a crowded noisy pub right now."
She nodded, "Yeah, same actually."
Less than ten minutes later we were parked and inside Kimcaf, and fortunately the place wasn't very busy. Nia ordered a large Irish coffee, but when I asked for my usual small pumpkin spice latte the girl behind the counter did a little double-take. She sort of stared at me for a second before asking if I had a big brother, which got my cheeks heating up. I mumbled a quiet no, while my mistress just smiled.
Then when we got our drinks the two of us sat down at a table at the back, so we could talk in private.
"It's hard to believe we were just in here two nights ago," Nia commented after a sip of her hot drink.
I grimaced, "Yeah. It's what, a little over forty-eight hours since then? It feels like a week. And we're not even done yet. We still have to get my stuff out of the van and up to your apartment. And I guess we still need to get more furniture on Tuesday."
"Our apartment cutie," she corrected me. "It's not just my place, you live there too."
I nodded slowly, "Yeah. It's probably going to take me a bit to get used to that."
Nia just smiled, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gently pulled me into a side-cuddle. The two of us sat like that for a while, quietly enjoying each other's company along with our drinks.
After a few minutes she commented softly, "You feel pretty tense. Are you still worrying about your dad?"
"Yeah," I frowned. "I'm scared he might try something after all? Maybe not today, maybe even not this week, but eventually. I'm also a little worried for him, like how he's dealing with his transformation. And if he'll be safe from his fae friend."
She sighed, "I'm sorry cutie. I'm sure everything will be ok, but I get why you're stressed."
After another sip of her drink she leaned closer and suggested, "How about we finish up our coffees and head home? Then I'll see what I can do to take your mind off all that stressful stuff for a while."
I glanced up at her and asked, "How are you going to do that?"
My mistress flashed me a naughty smile and whispered, "Strengthening our bond, of course."