LIGHTNOVELONLINE 4. Changing Course
Dad looked tired and grumpy when he shuffled into the kitchen at half past seven in the morning, still dressed in his pyjamas. He ignored mom and me, or maybe he didn't even notice us at first. Instead he went straight to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug.
It wasn't till after he had a sip or two of that as he stood there next to the counter, when he finally seemed to realize the two of us were there. He frowned, "Don't tell me you two were up all night?"
"Yeah," I shrugged. "Phoebe only left an hour or two ago."
After a sip of her own coffee mom added, "And after she left Violet and I had some things we needed to discuss."
Dad was still frowning as he stared at the two of us. He hadn't moved yet from where he was standing, and I couldn't begin to guess what was on his mind.
"Come and sit with us David," mom finally told him. "There's some things we need to tell you. It's important."
After another sip of his coffee dad shook his head, "I need to get ready for work. I'm already late this morning, slept in after being kept up late because of that mess last night."
"Then be late," mom stated in a firm voice. "Or call off sick today. This is more important."
Dad quietly drank some more of his coffee, then finally started for the door as he said "We can talk tonight. I have to get ready for work."
"David Andersen you do not turn your back on your family!" mom suddenly snapped, startling both me and dad. She continued, "Get your ass back here, sit down, and listen up. Your daughter and I have some important things to tell you."
We'd had a long night and I was tired, but I still got happy tingles when mom called me her daughter. And when she used my real name.
Meanwhile dad sort of hesitated at the kitchen door, and for a second I thought he was going to ignore mom and keep going back upstairs to get dressed. Then he turned around, and I cringed slightly as I waited for him to start arguing.
Instead dad's shoulders slumped and he apologized, "Sorry Kim."
He moved to join us at the kitchen table, where he took his usual seat next to mom. Dad set his mug down as he frowned, then reached over and picked up one of the plastic cards I had arranged on the table in front of me.
"Violet Cynthia Andersen," he read my full name off my new drivers license. "How in the world did you get new ID overnight?"
"And where did you get those clothes?" he added as he finally looked at me.
I felt my cheeks heating up slightly but I smiled. My ill-fitting track pants and t-shirt were gone, replaced by a cute pale yellow top and some tight dark green leggings. Under the clothes I was wearing a simple but comfortable matching bra and panties. And my old huge green hoodie had shrank a bit and changed colour. It was still big and comfy, but now it was pink. I wasn't wearing it at the moment though, it was draped over the back of my chair.
"Phoebe did it," I replied happily. "She basically did the same thing to my clothes and ID and everything, that she did to me? So everything fits now, my whole wardrobe is cute and pretty and perfect."
I gestured at the cards and things on the table in front of me and added, "And all the paperwork is done too! Drivers license, health card, student card, birth certificate, even my bank card and everything else? And she turned my wallet into a cute purse."
A thoughtful frown settled on dad's face. He reached out and put my drivers license back down in front of me, then had another sip of his coffee. After a few more seconds he sighed, "This is impossible."
Mom ignored him, she picked up her tablet and switched to one of her browser tabs we'd been looking at an hour ago. She held the tablet up for him to see the screen, then without pulling any punches or giving him any warning she jumped right in.
"We need to move," mom stated. "Violet and I spent some time this morning looking at our options, and we agreed this town looks promising? It's less than fifty kilometres north-west of the city, and it has all the amenities and conveniences we're used to."
She continued before dad had a chance to protest, "I know it's not ideal for you David. The commute won't be fun, but it's doable. At least until you can find something closer. Or something in the town itself maybe? The most important thing is there's a large conservation area just outside the town, and there's a protected forest just north of town. There's even a provincial nature reserve nearby, less than ten kilometres away."
Mom added, "Violet and I spent time looking at real estate websites, we've found some potential properties that should work for us? We've bookmarked three options, and we're planning on driving up there today to take a closer look at them. I'd like you to come too, but I'm prepared to make the decision on my own today if you want to ignore the situation and look the other way."
She wrapped things up with one last surprise announcement, "I know this is short notice but I want the move to be over and done with as fast as possible. Four weeks or less, if we can manage it."
By the time mom finally finished talking I was cringing while dad had a confused and angry scowl on his face.
"Why the hell do you want to move?" he demanded. "And why of all places do you want to move to the middle of nowhere?"
"Because our daughter needs ready access to nature in order to thrive," mom stated. "The empty lot next door is not enough, no matter how many wildflowers she fills it with. Nor is a polluted creek that runs past the city's public golf course."
"And you'd already know all this if you hadn't walked out on the conversation last night David," she added in a kind of snippy tone.
Dad protested "It was two o'clock in the morning Kim! I was tired, I had to get some sleep. And I have to go to work today, I'm already going to be late as it is!"
"Anyways," he added as he frowned at me, "Why in the hell does our child 'need' to be near nature? What's that even supposed to mean?"
My blush and cringe were both at full strength as I replied quietly, "I'm um, part forest nymph? When Phoebe granted my wish to be a girl, she also granted Cynthia's last request. Which was for someone to take her place, and carry on her legacy."
"Phoebe didn't make me a full nymph," I added quickly. "Otherwise I'd pretty much have to go live in the woods forever, like Cynthia did? I'm still half human, which means I can still have a mostly normal life. But I need to spend time with my plants on a regular basis. To um, recharge and stuff."
Dad stared at me, then looked at mom again. He shook his head, "Part nymph? This is crazy. None of this makes any sense."
He gestured at mom's tablet, "And we can't afford to move regardless. Certainly not in four weeks. Not to mention what's involved in selling this place."
I was still cringing, while mom remained calm. It was actually almost scary how calm she was, but I kind of understood where she was coming from. And a moment later she spelled it out for dad too.
"David you and I witnessed a miracle last night when our daughter's body transformed before our eyes," mom stated in a firm no-nonsense voice. "Then our home was visited by an actual Goddess, someone we learned about in ancient history. After you went to bed I witnessed two more miracles. The first was when Miss Archer changed our daughter's entire wardrobe with the wave of her hand. And the second was when she updated Violet's ID and all her other documents."
After pausing for a deep breath mom continued, "An actual living Goddess told me what my child needs to ensure a long happy healthy life. And she offered us some additional assistance, because she understands that these things aren't easy and the whole situation was unexpected. I love you David, but I need you to understand that I'm not going to ignore our daughter's needs, and I'm certainly not going to ignore the Goddess of the Hunt either. So Violet and I are going to look at houses today, and in four weeks or less the two of us are going to move. We'd like to have you with us, you're welcome to accompany us. But if you choose to remain here on your own, that won't stop us."
By the time she was finished mom was frowning at dad, like from her expression it felt like she was almost challenging him to doubt or deny or dismiss what she'd said. And his frown had been replaced mostly by shock or surprise, like he really didn't expect mom to be so adamant about this stuff. And the fact that she basically just told him she was prepared to leave him probably freaked him out a little too.
After that all three of us were quiet for the next little while. My parents both sipped their coffee and I had a gulp of warm cola from the can I'd opened about four or five hours earlier. That was back when Phoebe was still here with us, and it sort of reminded me just how much had happened in such a short amount of time.
The past eight hours had been like a whirlwind of surprises and revelations, and I still hadn't even fully processed all of it. From the midnight storm that blew in when I wanted to plant some seeds to being turned into a cute purple-haired girl, to having an actual goddess drop in on us, to finding out I wasn't even fully human anymore, it was one unbelievable thing after another.
At least the weather was nicer today. The rain finally ended around four in the morning, now we had bright sunshine outside.
Eventually dad broke the silence, "So these properties you've picked out... Why have you picked these three? They're at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. This first one looks beautiful, but it's well out of our price range. And the last one's like a shack compared to our home here. The second house is the only one that's comparable to our place, both in price and size."
Mom replied calmly, "That's why I wanted to have a look at the middle one, because it's a lot like this house. If the three of us are moving together and we don't ask Miss Archer for additional help then that's a good baseline to start from. The third property is where Violet and I would start our search if you decide you don't want to remain with us. And the first one is the dream property, if we're all going and Miss Archer can give us some extra help."
I kept quiet for that part of the conversation, mostly because it made me uncomfortable. I really didn't want my folks to split up because of me and I knew moving was going to be an expensive hassle no matter how we did it. I didn't have much of an opinion on the houses yet either, but ironically the one I was least interested in was the one that was most similar to our current place.
It was in a new-ish subdivision just like our existing house, with large nearly-identical buildings on small lots so they were all packed together. It might have been a good-sized modern home, but from the look of it the outside was bland and dull.
The third option was a little bungalow in the older part of town, where the houses were small but the lots were larger. The pictures showed several mature trees and a big backyard which appealed to me. And it was only a short walk to the 'downtown' section of Main Street, which seemed convenient.
The first option was an older farmhouse on a large plot of land, but the house itself was recently refurbished and updated inside. The downstairs was a big open-concept space, the upstairs had a few big bedrooms, and it was all tastefully decorated and had the latest features. It was just outside town and surrounded by farmland, but it was the furthest away from the conservation area. And you basically needed a car to get anywhere, it was impractical to even walk into town.
So before I voiced any opinions I wanted to see them all first. Mostly from the outside, to get a feel for the locations. And I wanted to visit the conservation area and the nearby forest, to see if either of them called to me the way Cynthia's meadow did when I was a little kid.
Dad stared at mom's tablet for another minute or so as he quietly finished his coffee, then he finally looked over at me. He hesitated slightly before asking, "What about your exams, uh, Violet? Didn't you say you had to write one this morning?"
It was the first time dad addressed me by my real name, and despite the way he hesitated and stumbled over saying it I still felt a little stir of happiness.
I suppressed the smile though as I replied, "Phoebe updated my ID and all my records, but people won't recognize me. Like you said last night, teachers will still be expecting the other me, they don't know my real name. Even if it's already updated in their computers."
"So um," I added with a grimace, "I can't really finish my exams. Not right now."
Mom chimed in, "I'm going to call the school as soon as the office opens. I'll let them know we've had a family emergency and our child can't finish her exams. There's alternate arrangements we can make, Violet can write them over the summer. It'll be at a different school and overseen by different teachers, so they'll only have her computer records to go on. And thanks to Miss Archer, those are already in her new name."
"I see," dad frowned slightly. He looked off into the distance for a few moments as he seemed to be thinking things over.
After a half minute or so he got to his feet and said, "I'm going back upstairs to shower and get dressed. Kim, after you've spoken with the school would you please call the office and let them know I'm off sick today too? If the three of us have to move then I'd like to have some say in where we're going, I'd like to come and see these properties you're looking at."
This time I couldn't hide my smile, as some happy relief passed over me.
Mom smiled as well, "Of course David. Maybe we can stop and get breakfast on our way to visit the town and look at those properties."
"Thanks Kim," dad responded. "And yeah, going out for breakfast sounds like a nice idea. And maybe while we're out you two can tell me more about Miss Archer, and everything else I missed after I went to bed."
