Watson Sessions - #1 (Patreon)

*** Since the 'Taste of...' trilogy, the Watson family somehow became an important part of the Welland universe. 'A Taste of Regret' left the family with a lot of, well, regrets. And some of that carried on into and through the 'Brotherhood...' arc. 

This series isn't necessarily meant to be taken as a story, it's not as polished and it doesn't follow a typical narrative path. It's more like another look at some of those events from a slightly different angle, and explores the impact those events had on Maria, and perhaps a few other members of the family. 

It's all being told from the perspective of Julie, a social worker / therapist and old colleague of Maria's.

Please note, this series contains *Spoilers* for the 'Taste of...' trilogy and for the 'Brotherhood' story.

The first Session takes place on Tuesday September 26th. That's exactly one week after Maria, Nikki, and Kara confronted Liz & James, and puts it before the final scene of 'A Taste of Regret'. ***

Julie smiled, "Come on in, Maria. It's good to see you again! Have a seat, make yourself comfortable."

She watched as the brunette sat down on the sofa across from her. Maria looked like she was stressed and embarrassed, and trying to hide both. They hadn't seen each other in five or six years, but she and Maria went back almost two decades. They'd first met when they were both attending university, then after graduation they worked together for a while at a clinic in Niagara Falls. 

Eventually they parted ways, and now Julie had her own fairly successful clinic here. She'd heard rumours that Maria was winding down her own practice, but hadn't heard anything concrete about it.

"Thanks Julie. It's nice to see you too." Maria added "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

Julie gave her a warm smile, "Well from your email it sounded like you really needed to talk to someone. When I saw your name in my inbox, I thought it was going to be a social call. I was surprised when I realized you wanted to book some time. So, what would you like to talk about?"

Maria hesitated. "I have a bit of an unusual request, Julie. I know you're already bound by client confidentiality laws, and I've read and signed all the same paperwork for you that my own clients sign with me. Nonetheless, I have to ask you for a verbal oath. I need you to swear that everything we discuss in these sessions will be kept strictly between you and I."

Julie felt her eyebrows creeping upwards, but she nodded. "That's an odd request Maria, but ok. I swear it. I'm curious to know why you needed that?"

"Thanks Julie. It'll make more sense eventually," Maria replied. "Next point. I need you to believe what I'm going to tell you, because I want you to focus on the right things. I don't want you to worry that I'm delusional or losing touch with reality, when that's not my problem." 

Julie was wearing her best 'professionally detached curiosity' expression as she nodded for Maria to continue.

Maria took a deep breath, then explained "I'm a witch. Just over two years ago I joined a local coven. We worship a Goddess, and we can work actual magic. Like this."

Before Julie could comment, Maria made a gesture with her hand and a glowing ball of... glow, appeared floating in the air in front of her. It was about the size of a grapefruit and it just sort of hovered there, giving off a warm white light like a big frosted lightbulb. Except it was just floating there on its own, and it just appeared out of nothing.

"Wha...?" Julie stared, shocked. What she was seeing was impossible.

Maria said quietly, "That's just a harmless light spell. It's one of the most harmless spells I know. I can do some incredible things, Julie. And I can do some terrible things." After a sigh, she added softly "I've done some terrible things. Well, one thing..."

Julie blinked slowly, forcing her eyes off the glowing floating orb. She looked up at Maria, "What have you done?"

The brunette sighed again, "It started in June last year. My brother and I weren't very close, but he invited me over for a family dinner. His youngest child had just come out to him and his wife as trans, and for some reason my brother thought he could get me to talk her out of it." 

She scowled slightly, then continued "He was insisting on making Jenny wait till she was eighteen before letting her start her transition. She was twelve at the time. My brother and I got into an argument, and in the end I lost my temper and over-reacted. I..." Her voice trailed off and she went quiet.

"What did you do, Maria?" Julie prompted.

After another sigh, Maria admitted "I used magic. I turned my older brother into a twelve-year-old girl. I told him, since he didn't believe dysphoria was a big deal, he could try it out for himself."

Julie hesitated. Her first reaction of course was to question that, or ask why Maria believed that could happen. Her eyes flicked to the 'light spell' then back to Maria. She asked nervously, "You can do that?"

"Yes," Maria nodded slowly. "That and more."

"Ok," Julie had about a hundred questions in her mind, but none of them would be helpful for her client. "What happened after that?"

Maria sighed again as she described how she felt guilty about it, she had second-thoughts, but there was nothing she could do. She needed a day or two to recover and recharge before she'd be able to fix it. Then she explained that after a few days, she heard from her sister-in-law that her brother was getting used to being a young girl. Instead of hating it and being desperate to be made normal again, he was adapting to the new shape. He'd already chosen a new name and wanted to change pronouns.

"I thought he'd feel like a trans man. I was sure he'd be depressed, dysphoric... Desperate to be returned to normal." 

Julie could hear the shock and disbelief in Maria's voice even now, over a year later. 

She continued, "I spoke to someone else in the coven, and found out that was a side-effect of the spell I'd used. It basically changes a person's internal self-image to match whatever you turn them into with the spell. I was told it can take less than a week, for someone to become fully adapted to their new shape."

After another sigh, Maria kept talking. "I went straight back to my brother's house to fix things, but he was reluctant to be changed back. He didn't say it, but he... She was obviously upset at the prospect. Liz, my sister-in-law, she was impatient to have her husband restored. I felt guilty for what I'd done, but also torn. I needed to fix things for my brother and my sister-in-law. But at the same time, I could see the look in that little girl's eyes. She was afraid to admit it, but I knew she didn't really want me to turn her back into a man."

Julie nodded, "Go on?"

There was another deep sigh. "I changed my brother back to normal. And I got both of them to agree to let me use my magic on Jenny, to give her the body she wanted. With my brother back to normal I thought in three or four days everything would be fine. Because that's how long it took him to adapt to the different body? But it didn't work like that. A week or two later he told me he was trans and wanted me to use magic to change him again. He didn't want to be a child, but he did want to be a woman."

"Oh." Julie blinked a few times. She hadn't expected to hear that. 

Maria nodded, "Yeah. I told my brother and Liz to talk it over and figure out what sort of solution would work for both of them. Liz accepted Jenny's transition. So did their older daughter, Amanda. Jenny was twelve and Amanda was fifteen at the time, almost sixteen. Anyways, Liz really didn't want her husband to transition. She basically told him if he did, they'd be divorced and he'd be forced to leave their home, forced to leave his family."

Julie sighed, "Unfortunately that's not uncommon when a spouse comes out as trans. As I'm sure you know."

"Yes," Maria agreed. "So, I suppose Liz and my brother argued or debated, and she made a suggestion that apparently she was positive he'd reject. She offered to let him remain with the family, if his transition included regressing his age again. Liz suggested making him the same age as their older daughter. Actually she suggested making him Amanda's twin sister. She only made the suggestion because she was certain he'd reject it. Except my brother accepted. He didn't want to leave his family, and I suppose nearly-sixteen was old enough that he wouldn't feel like a child. So he accepted his wife's terms."

There was another deep breath, and another deep sigh. Maria continued, "At the end of July last year, myself and someone else from the coven visited my brother's house. Our Goddess was invoked, and reality was changed. My brother became my niece, and picked the name Sadie. Amanda got a twin sister, and Jenny got another older sister. Liz lost her husband and gained a new teenage daughter."

Julie was quiet for a few moments as she took all that in. Finally she asked, "How did they all take it? His...her family?"

"Jenny accepted Sadie pretty much immediately. She thought it was neat." Maria replied. "Amanda was pretty good about accepting Sadie as a girl, using the right name and pronouns. But it took her a couple months to accept Sadie as her sister. And Liz..." She sighed. "It was about six months before she let Sadie call her 'mom'. She was very slow to accept that she had three daughters."

Maria added, "I should point out, Liz agreed up front to the situation. It was her suggestion in the first place, and she agreed to it. She agreed to have her husband become her daughter, she shouldn't have been so reluctant to accept the girl when that was the deal right from the start. It wasn't a surprise someone sprung on her."

Julie could hear the anger in Maria's voice. She was making an effort to keep her tone level and calm, but it was clear she had some strong emotions on this point.

"Ok Maria," she nodded. "That was fourteen months ago. What's happened since then? What brings you here to talk to me about this now?"

Maria grimaced, "A few things."

She continued with her story, "About five months ago, at the end of April, start of May, Sadie met with me to ask for some help on an unrelated subject. While we talked, she asked me about last summer. She confirmed that she wasn't trans before then. She'd never had dysphoria before, she'd never... She never wanted to be a girl, until I used that spell in June."

Maria sighed deeply again. "I'd known since last July when she told me she was trans that it was my fault. I'd known since then that my spell was to blame, but I kept that to myself. Until Sadie flat out asked if it was my fault."

Julie nodded quietly. It was obvious in Maria's voice and body language now, she was carrying a tremendous amount of guilt about this. 

"My mistake basically ended my brother's life," Maria sighed. "My mistake cost Liz her husband, and cost Amanda and Jenny their father."

"And how did Sadie react, when you told her this?" Julie asked.

Maria smiled sadly and shrugged. "She didn't care. She was just asking out of curiosity. She even thanked me for doing it, and said it was a blessing. She said she was perfectly happy in her new life. She said she thought it was a worthwhile exchange, because it meant Jenny got to magically transition at age twelve, and being a teen girl meant Sadie was in a position to get me to help another friend of hers."

Julie nodded slowly, "You're still feeling guilty though. Despite your brother... your niece... Despite Sadie telling you she's happy and grateful."

"Yes," Maria sighed. "I don't know if I'll ever get over the guilt. And I know Sadie's happy in her new life. She wouldn't want to go back to who she was before, even if it were possible. She's Sadie, she's been Sadie since July last year. Amanda and Jenny love her, she's in grade twelve now, and she has a girlfriend. She's got hopes and dreams and ambitions, as Sadie. My brother's hopes and dreams are gone though."

"So, has something happened more recently Maria?" Julie asked. "Something's changed, that's brought this guilt out again?"

The brunette nodded, "Yes. Last spring, Sadie wrote what I told her in her diary. About how it was all my fault, but she didn't care, she was happy. Two weeks ago, Liz found Sadie's diary and found out about my mistake. Liz accused me of murdering her husband and lying to cover it up. She forbid me from talking to her or her children again, forbid me from visiting them. Then she kicked Sadie out of her home. Sadie ended up staying with me. From there, things just got worse."

Julie sighed, "What happened, Maria?"

"The short version is, Amanda and Jenny both sided with Sadie. They argued with their mother, they wanted her to let Sadie come home. Liz got angry with the two of them. And I believe she felt cheated, lied to, taken advantage of. She became callous and bitter. I think she had a lot of bottled-up emotions about losing her husband, and they all started coming out at once. At the same time, Liz was seeing someone who turned out to be involved with organized crime. She made a comment to him, about wanting to get rid of her two oldest daughters. He took her literally."

Julie saw Maria suppress a shudder, then the woman said "Last Monday night, Amanda and her boyfriend were attacked. The boyfriend was shot, nearly killed. Amanda was drugged and kidnapped. There were other men searching for Sadie. They planned to sell the twins overseas. Thank the Goddess, I was able to get help from the coven. I got Jenny and Sadie and Sadie's girlfriend to safety, and the coven rescued Amanda."

She sighed, "With the girls all safe, a few of us went to confront Liz. The man was with her when we met Liz. He threatened us with a gun, and he was...dealt with. Then Liz picked up the gun. She shot one of my friends, and tried to shoot me too but she was stopped. Then she was dealt with as well."

"What happened to her?" Julie asked, caught up in the story now. "And what happened to your friend?"

Maria sighed once again. "My friend's ok. We all have magical protection. As for my sister-in-law... Officially, Elizabeth Watson died a week ago today. She lost control of her car, it wound up in the river and she drowned. The funeral was on Saturday. Unofficially, she was transformed into a thirteen-year-old girl, and most of her memory has been temporarily erased. She rejoined her family on Saturday after the funeral, as 'cousin Beth'." 

After a moment she added, "I've been named legal guardian of all four girls. The seventeen-year-old twins, Sadie and Amanda, and the thirteen-year-olds Jenny and Beth. I moved in with them the day after their mother 'died', and Sadie came back home as well of course."

"I see," Julie sighed. "What was the 'official' fate of your brother?"

"Officially, he died when the girls were young." Maria replied softly. "It was about a decade ago. When Amanda and Sadie were about six and Jenny was a toddler. There was some made-up medical reason. That's all lies of course. Amanda and Jenny both know their father was with them until he became Sadie last summer."

"I see," Julie nodded slowly. "And now you're feeling guilty about the whole situation?"

Maria stared down at the carpet, "Officially there's two death certificates because of me. Two graves. My brother and now his wife. Jenny and Amanda have lost both parents because of me. Amanda was kidnapped, drugged, her boyfriend nearly murdered in front of her. My brother's life basically ended, and now same with his wife. At least Sadie still has her memories, even if she's not him any more. Beth hasn't even got that. And all of this is my fault. All because I lost my temper and used magic to prove a point with my brother."

For a few moments, Julie wasn't sure what to say. After a longish pause, she asked, "How are the girls managing now? The first two, Amanda and Jenny?"

"Jenny is taking it hardest," Maria replied softly. "She was still close to her mother, Liz hadn't turned on her yet. Jenny honestly believed her mother would change her mind about Amanda and Sadie, and allow them to come home again. Now she's understandably upset. She knows her mother isn't really dead, but she's having a hard time accepting that 'Beth' is the same person."

After a moment Maria added, "I don't blame her. Beth's personality and affect are so different from Liz, it's hard to believe they're the same person." 

"Amanda is managing a little better. Someone in the coven used magic to help her boyfriend, he's on the mend now and we visited him in hospital on Friday. I think Amanda understands that things had to change for Liz, and she's doing her best to be patient and see how things turn out."

"As for Sadie," Maria continued, "Her focus has always been her family. She's always wanted the four of them to stay together. She went through hell when Liz was pushing her and her sisters apart. She's doing better now, knowing that they're all back together again and she knows I would never try and separate any of them."

"How is Liz doing? Or Beth, I mean?" Julie asked.

Maria shook her head, "I don't know yet. She's very quiet, shy, timid, nervous. I know most of her memories are gone, hidden. I'm told they'll return to her when she's older. For now, I think she's feeling a little lost. Perhaps like an outsider, trying to adapt into a new family?"

After a moment Maria added, "She's a small girl, and younger than the others. I was told that was all deliberate. To ensure she'd have no sway over the other three. She's old enough to attend grade nine with Jenny, but she's six months younger than Jenny. Sadie and Amanda are about average for their age, Jenny's actually a bit big for her age, and Beth is a bit small. So she's the youngest, the smallest, the shyest, and quietest. It's a tremendous change for her."

Julie nodded quietly, "I see."

There was another lull in the conversation, as both women were silent. Julie knew Maria obviously had a lot of guilt to work through, and there was still some anger as well, with her sister-in-law. 

After a few more moments, she asked "How are you managing with the new arrangements? Being legal guardian to all four girls?"

"It's a huge adjustment, of course." Maria replied. "I've put my apartment up for sale, moved in to what used to be my brother and sister-in-law's bedroom. Meanwhile we've converted a room on the ground floor to a bedroom for Beth." She sighed again. "It hasn't even been a week yet of course. And it's only been three days since Beth returned. We're all still adjusting."

Julie nodded again. "How do you feel, about being responsible for the four girls?"

Maria shrugged, "I'm their closest family. My parents both passed away years ago, and I only had the one brother. Liz was an only child. Her parents are still alive but they more or less disowned the family last year, after Jenny came out as trans, and Sadie 'came out' as gay." Maria sighed again. "I'm sure that contributed to how things turned out for Liz. Sadie's positive Liz was homophobic, and I wonder if she wasn't a bit transphobic as well, based on her parents and how they probably raised her. At least she put that aside for Jenny."

"That doesn't really answer my question though, Maria." Julie pointed out. "You're clearly doing the responsible thing, taking custody of the girls. And it sounds like you're the logical choice, being their closest relative. How do you feel though? Are you doing this because you want to, or is it out of a sense of guilt and responsibility?"

Maria grimaced slightly. Finally she replied, "It's a bit of both. I'm in over my head, I've got no idea how to raise children. The whole situation is my fault, because of what I did to my brother. Everything that's happened to that family since then, it all stems from my mistake last summer. So it's my responsibility to see that they stay together. And of course I want them all to be happy and salvage what we can of their childhoods, I want them to do well, have a good life. But it's my fault. They're my responsibility."

Julie nodded slowly. It was pretty much what she was expecting. 

"For what it's worth Maria, I think you're making the most of a difficult situation. I think you've still got a lot of things to process and work through, but it sounds to me like you're aware of that. And it sounds like you're putting the needs of the children first, which is admirable of course. As long as your own needs aren't neglected."

"Thanks Julie," Maria said, still grimacing slightly.

It was nearly the end of their time together for today, and Maria made a gesture, finally dispelling the light spell that had been floating in the air between them for nearly the full session.

Julie watched as the ball of light flickered and vanished. She shook her head slowly, still having a hard time accepting the magical aspects of what they'd discussed. She stood up to walk Maria out, saying "I'll see you again in two weeks, Maria."