Watson Sessions - #4 (Patreon)

*** Maria's fourth session takes place on Tuesday December 5th, which fits in between chapters 34 & 35 of the Brotherhood story.

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

"Hello Maria, it's good to see you again," Julie smiled. "Come in, have a seat."

Maria looked uptight again, as she settled into the sofa once more. She sounded uptight too, as she replied "Hi Julie."

Julie let her professional smile fade slightly as she asked, "I trust the danger has passed? You and your girls are safe now?"

"Yes," Maria nodded. "The immediate danger was taken care of back on November sixteenth. And it was probably eliminated for good last week."

Her smile faltered completely now. "The sixteenth? That was the day of that terrorist attack..."

Maria sighed, nodding. She had a slightly distant, troubled look on her face as she admitted "Yes. That was the girls' school. Those men were targeting Sadie, Amanda, and Ashley."

"Oh no," Julie shook her head. "They're ok though? The news said none of the students were hurt."

"My girls weren't hurt. It was very frightening for them of course, but two other young women from the coven saved them. Unfortunately one of those young woman was captured." Maria sighed, "Anyways, the point is that danger is over and I think we'll be ok now going forward. It wasn't... We didn't escape unscathed."

"What happened?" Julie asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Maria replied, "Just in brief. A young woman in the coven was killed. She was nineteen years old, and attending university at Western. She was murdered. And the young woman who was lost while saving my girls, she was held prisoner, tortured and interrogated for ten or eleven days. She's safe now, she was rescued last week." 

Maria sighed and added, "Closer to home, Amanda made some poor decisions that could have put the rest of us in danger, and she was punished for her mistake."

Julie was silent for a few moments as all of that sank in. She finally asked, "What happened to Amanda? Is she ok?"

"She's all right. It's an adjustment, though." Maria sighed again. "Her boyfriend pressured her into telling him that she was a witch, that she'd joined the coven. On its own that wouldn't have been so bad, but then he started talking about it in public, and in front of Jenny and Beth. And he threatened to expose us, if he didn't get what he wanted."

"I see," Julie frowned. "I take it something was done to stop him?"

Maria nodded. "When he tried to expose us, our Goddess cursed him. She uh, turned him into a girl." She sighed once more, staring at the floor. "Amanda felt sorry for him, tried to intervene, and made things worse for herself. She contacted one of the coven leaders and questioned the Goddess's judgement, asked if there was a way to circumvent Her decision to get her boyfriend back."

Julie was still processing what happened to the girl's boyfriend, but now she felt some anxiety as she asked, "What happened to Amanda?"

"The Goddess decided to give Amanda what she wanted, but not how she wanted it." Maria shook her head slightly. "Amanda wanted her boyfriend back, so she could give him a second chance. So she could get back together with him. Instead, the Goddess left Brittany stuck as a girl, and changed Amanda's sexuality, made her gay."

That was the last thing Julie expected to hear. She sat in silence for a few moments, just staring at Maria. Finally she asked, "How did Amanda take it? Is she all right?"

"Like I said, it's an adjustment," Maria replied, frowning. "Amanda didn't even realize it at first. Then she tried to deny it, she thought maybe it was a mistake, or maybe it'd wear off. I'd been told what happened though. After a couple days she came to talk to me about it. I had to tell her what had been done to her, and why. She was upset. I was upset too. She's just a kid who made a mistake. Both of them are just kids who made some mistakes. It's... I hated to see her hurt like that."

After a pause, Maria added "Amanda and Brittany are helping each other adjust. In Britt's case, the Goddess changed all of reality so everyone else only ever knew her as a girl. Even her parents, they believe they've always had a daughter. But Brittany knows she used to be a boy, she remembers her real past. She's having to adjust to life now as a girl."

Julie asked, "Are she/her pronouns appropriate? If Brittany is still thinking of herself as a boy?"

Maria nodded, "She's accepted her new name and gender, but the rest of her life is still a challenge for her. Like I said though, she and Amanda have been helping each other adjust."

"I see," Julie nodded. She frowned as a thought struck her, "Maria, is it safe for you to be telling me all of this? I mean, your niece was cursed for telling her boyfriend, but this is our fourth session where we've been discussing magic and your coven and Goddess."

The brunette sighed, "You recall at the start of our first session, I asked you to swear an oath of secrecy? Now you know why. As long as you don't break that oath, both of us will be fine."

"Oh. Of course," Julie nodded slowly. She remembered the oath, but it suddenly felt a lot more ominous. It had gone from a peculiar oddity, to something that had potentially life-changing consequences if she ever broke it.

She pushed those thoughts aside, and returned to the topic at hand, "I take it the situation with Amanda and her friend is another one of those instances where you're not happy with what your Goddess has done?"

"Correct," Maria nodded. "They're both just kids that made mistakes. I know Brittany had to be stopped from revealing our secrets, but there are ways of doing that without changing the poor girl's entire life around. And in Amanda's case, it feels like the sort of thing that might have been handled by grounding her a week or two."

She added, "The timing played a big part in their punishments. If we weren't under threat, the Goddess would probably have been much more lenient. There might not have been any punishment at all, in fact. As it was, the situation came up less than a week after an assassination attempt on one of our coven leaders, and right after some disruptive attacks on several coven members' families. So the Goddess was on edge, we all were."

Julie asked, "Have you tried speaking with someone in the coven about your concerns? Or can you talk to this Goddess yourself?"

Maria sighed, staring down at the carpet. "I told the coven leaders of my concerns. I think they shared some of them, or at least, they seemed bothered by some of the things I mentioned. I could ask to speak with the Goddess directly. I've spoken with Her a few times in the past. But... I'm afraid of Her, Julie. I'm scared of saying the wrong thing and getting Her angry with me."

"Does that happen often?" Julie asked. "Does she get angry with others in the coven?"

"No, not that I've seen," Maria shook her head. "Actually there's someone in the coven who I know was cursed by the Goddess in the past, but I've seen her actually snark and mouth off to the Goddess. It gets her in trouble with the others, but I haven't seen the Goddess act offended or upset."

She sighed and added, "I know it's not rational, but I'm afraid of Her. I... I'm the only one in our family who's never been changed or affected by magic. Beth was changed as part of a curse, now Amanda's been cursed. Jenny and Sadie were both changed willingly. In fact, I might be the only person in the whole coven who hasn't been changed or affected by magic in some way."

Julie was surprised, asking "How many are there, in the coven?"

"Thirteen," Maria replied. Then she sighed, "No, just twelve now, since we lost Becky."

Julie was quiet for a few moments, then asked "So Amanda is adapting to her situation. How are the other three girls managing? Are they aware of what happened with Amanda? And how have all of them handled the threat over the past six weeks? How have you managed, looking after them during all this?"

Maria frowned slightly, then grimaced. "So much has happened, so much has changed, I don't know where to begin."

She took a deep breath then said, "I mentioned that some families were targeted. I don't want to go into specifics, but the way families were affected basically turned people's parents against them. Ashley was the only one in the coven who still lived with her parents, and she was forced to flee. She ended up staying with us for the month of November."

Julie asked, "Was your family affected, Maria?"

"No," she shook her head. "Not every family was affected, and I can't explain why without going into details I'd rather not share." 

She continued, "Ashley was able to move back home again a few days ago, but her relationship with her parents will probably never be the same again. I'm still concerned for her emotional well-being, but if things go badly she can always come and stay with us again."

"I see." Julie considered, then asked "I imagine that was challenging for you? I know you've said in the past, you felt like you were in over your head looking after four teens. How did you handle a fifth?"

Maria grimaced slightly, "It wasn't too bad. Ashley's seventeen, and fairly self-sufficient. She didn't require a lot of 'mothering' from me. Of course, Sadie was able to provide emotional support for her while she was staying with us. Towards the end of her time with us she needed a little more care and attention, she was getting homesick and missed her parents."

After a brief hesitation, she added "It was still difficult at first, finding space for her. We wound up converting another room on the main floor into a temporary bedroom for her. It used to be a study. Like Bethany's bedroom used to be a library."

Julie could tell Maria was holding back about something. She asked, "Were there any other issues, with her moving in?"

That brought another grimace to Maria's face, and she nodded slightly "Yes. Before we decided to put her in the study, Sadie offered to let Ashley stay with her, in her bedroom. That led to Sadie and I having a rather uncomfortable conversation." She was blushing slightly now.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Maria hesitated for a moment. "I told Sadie I wasn't comfortable with she and her girlfriend 'moving in together'. For one thing they're both seventeen and I didn't want to know what sorts of things they get up to together, but I felt it wasn't appropriate for me to encourage it by putting them in the same bedroom." She paused, then added "And I told her I was also concerned, because of the situation with Sadie's age."

"How did Sadie respond?" Julie asked.

Maria was still blushing as she answered, "On the first point, she was straightforward and honest with me. Perhaps a little too straightforward and honest. The bottom line though was she assured me I didn't have to worry about anything inappropriate. As for the second point, we talked it over and my concerns were put to rest. Sadie may have the memories and experiences of someone much older, but in terms of maturity, emotional maturity, she's definitely a teen." 

She added, "Ashley knows about Sadie's past. Sadie shared that information with her back in September, when the crisis with Liz was unfolding."

Julie nodded slowly, taking all that in. After a few moments, she asked "How did the two younger girls handle everything, with the threats and the danger?"

"We managed to keep Jenny and Bethany sheltered from things for a while," Maria replied. "There were some difficult questions, and I'm sure they found the answers confusing or inadequate, but they seemed to accept things. Until the attack on the school, back on the sixteenth. Jenny and Beth were there with their sisters when those men threatened the older girls. When the two other witches intervened, Jenny and Beth were teleported to safety. After that, there was no point trying to keep secrets from them."

"You can teleport?" Julie asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes," Maria nodded. "It's not an easy spell, the teens aren't strong enough yet to teleport themselves. But I can, most of the coven can. If the teens keep up their training, they'll probably be able to do it as well in another few weeks."

Julie shook her head slowly, "Wow." After a moment she focused again, "So how did Jenny and Beth handle that?"

Maria sighed, "Jenny already knew about magic, and knew I was a witch. She was a little upset that we'd kept her in the dark about her sisters, but I think she understood the need for secrecy. And I told her she'd have the opportunity to learn magic too when she's old enough. She accepted that. As for Bethany..."

There was another pause, then Maria said "A few days after the attack, Sadie sat down with Beth for a long conversation. I don't know all the details of what they discussed. Sadie told me prior to that, Bethany had already figured out some things, or had suspicions. She's a very quiet girl, Sadie explained that meant she was always watching and listening. Between that and her amnesia, she had so many questions. Apparently she's been studying all of us, studying everything I suppose, trying to make some sense of her life?"

Maria sighed again. "So Sadie and Bethany had a long conversation, and Sadie told her what she wanted to know. Bethany now knows that she used to be Liz, she used to be Amanda and Jenny's mother. She knows that Sadie used to be their father. She knows she and Sadie used to be married. She knows Sadie and Amanda and I are witches, that Sadie and Amanda are learning magic. And like Jenny, Beth will have the opportunity to learn as well, when she's older."

"I see," Julie nodded slowly. "How did that play out? How did Beth handle all those revelations?"

Maria shrugged slightly, "To be honest, there was very little change in her demeanour. At least, at first I didn't really notice any difference in her? She's still quiet, shy, soft-spoken. That was about two weeks ago though. And I have seen some improvements since then. Beth seems happier, a little more self-assured. She's still quiet, shy, and soft-spoken, but she seems less timid."

After a pause she added, "The whole situation did make something clear to me though, something I'd overlooked. It reminded me that Sadie and Bethany were once husband and wife. They were married for almost seventeen years. Their relationship has obviously completely changed over the past year and a half. There's no romantic inclinations of course, but Sadie has always loved Beth, the same way she loves Amanda and Jenny."

Julie nodded again, "I wondered about that. Obviously when a spouse transitions, the relationship between them usually changes quite a bit. Though going from husband and wife to mother and daughter is a new one on me. And then becoming siblings..."

Maria smiled, "I told Sadie once, their family situation isn't exactly the sort of thing we see in the psychology textbooks."

"Indeed," Julie agreed. "So, you've got through the danger, you've told me how the four girls fared through it all. How about yourself, Maria? How have you managed through all of this?"

Maria sighed, then shrugged. "I survived."

After a pause, she elaborated "It's been an ordeal. I've probably had more stress and anxiety over the past month or two, than the rest of my life combined. Every time something happened to the coven, I was terrified for my girls. And it kept happening, one thing after another. Finding out about the danger in the first place. Then the assassination attempt on one of the coven leaders. The damage they did to peoples' families. Ashley fleeing her home and coming to stay with us. Then Becky was murdered. The attack on the high-school."

She sighed again, "I was at work when that happened. Sadie texted me for help, but I missed her text. I was distracted by a situation at the office, dealing with a teen who'd escaped an abusive home and police who'd come to try and take them back to their parents." 

She shook her head. "After weeks of anxiety and stress, worrying about what might happen to the girls, when the moment came and they were actually in danger, I was distracted with work and couldn't help them. Thank the Goddess the other two young women were available to help."

"You're feeling guilty that you weren't there for your girls when they needed you?" Julie asked.

"Yes," Maria nodded. "I wanted to be there for them. But in all honesty, I probably wouldn't have been much help. I'm not exactly the strongest witch in the coven. I fully expect my girls to surpass me in a few months, if they keep at their training. If I'd gone rushing over there, I think I might have just got in the way. I might have even made things worse." She sighed, "Cindy and Zoe may well have been the best choice."

She added, "Of course we all felt awful when we realized we'd lost Zoe. And I feel horrible to even say this, but the truth is I'm glad it was her rather than one of my girls. I haven't had a chance to talk with Zoe in depth about what happened to her, but from what I've heard, I don't think any of my girls would have lasted the way she did. And I'm not sure if I'd be able to cope at all, if that had happened to one of mine."

Maria sighed deeply, "And losing Zoe... That pushed Cindy to take steps that nobody else was prepared, or even able to take. She single-handedly eliminated the immediate threat that afternoon."

Julie was silent for a few moments as that sank in. She remembered the news reports of course. Three men were involved at the high-school, and all three died that afternoon. 

Before she could comment, Maria spoke up again.

"When I finally did find out what was happening at the school, Jenny and Beth were already in a safe location. Amanda, Sadie, and Ashley were also safe. They'd escaped with Brittany, and the four were in Britt's car, en route to the same safe place. I teleported myself there to look after the younger two. Jenny was in a panic but Bethany took it all in stride."

After a half minute or so of silence, Julie asked "Zoe's the one you said earlier was tortured?"

"Yes," Maria nodded with a sigh. "She was held for ten or eleven days, till Cindy rescued her last week."

"And this Cindy, I take it she's a powerful witch? Is she one of the leaders you've mentioned?"

Maria smiled "Not at all. She just turned nineteen, though she looks sixteen at most. She's definitely not one of the leaders. She is one of the most powerful though."

Julie frowned, "She's the one you told me about before, who was cursed?"

"Yes," Maria's smile faded. "Three years ago she was cursed. Now she's one of the strongest witches in the coven."

Julie nodded quietly as she took all that in.

Eventually Maria said, "Anyways, all that is behind us now. We're all trying to move forward, focus on the present, and hopefully return to a fairly normal life."

"A good attitude to have, I think." Julie nodded. "And we're nearly out of time."

She hesitated briefly, then mentioned "You know I do family counselling too Maria. Do you think any of the girls might like to speak with me, about any of these experiences they've had over the past year and a half?"

Maria sighed slightly, "Honestly I've been thinking about that since our first session, but I've been reluctant to discuss it with them... I'll try and speak to them about it this week, and let you know."