The Nurturing Heart, Part Two

Jenny comes stumbling into the kitchen at the same time you do, her eyes wide and frantic. "Ash, Dad's having some sort of seizure or something! Is this what's supposed to happen?!"

"I don't know!" You clutch your head in a panic as the room starts to shake, glasses clattering around in the cabinet as the chairs and appliances rattle in their places. "Last time everything just sort of poofed!"

"Poofed?!" Your friend jumps aside as a mirror slips from the wall, shattering to the ground by her feet. "What the fuck is poofed?!"

"Poofed, you know! It poofed!"

Jenny balls her fists and stamps her feet, eyes screwed shut as she shrieks at you. "Stop saying 'poofed'!"

You nearly respond, almost certainly to stupidly say 'poofed' again, only to yelp instead when the windows burst out and a powerful wind surges into the kitchen. Within moments you and Jenny are huddled together in a corner, desperately trying to take shelter as the gust pulls open all of the doors and drawers it rumbles past. Glasses, utensils, and even the contents of the refrigerator are whipped out to swirl through the air by the thundering wind. The two of you can only cower closer together as the the walls buckle and the ceiling shudders, more and more flying objects joining the makeshift cyclone that fills the Park's overtaxed kitchen.

Jenny has her eyes shut, her scream all but swallowed up by the howling storm, but you can't keep your eyes off of it. Because within the cacophony of household items that swirl around the room, you're starting to see objects you know weren't there before.

There, that's a carton of orange juice flying past. Before, the only liquids you'd spotted were a single bottle of expensive-looking sparkling water and what appeared to be every single liquor known to humanity. There goes a stream of socks and underthings that are literally folding themselves mid air. Is that a fucking Elmo's Potty Time DVD?! You are one hundred percent confident that anyone trying to bring that into this house would have burst into flame faster than a vampire deepthroating a crucifix.

You give Jenny an urgent shake, coaxing the other girl to crack open one eye in time to see the airborne objects zip back to their original locations. The two of you shakily stand, Jenny gasping in wonder as glasses and dishes settle themselves back into the cabinets, paintings pick themselves back up to hang neatly on the walls and food tucks itself away into the refrigerator. Even the shards of the broken mirror lift up from the ground, merging together good as new before popping back nicely into the frame.

The magical wind, now a gentle breeze, pleasantly drifts out the windows before they softly shut once again, leaving behind a kitchen with only two flabbergasted girls to give any sign that anything had ever been amiss.

Jenny spends a moment catching her breath. "Oh my god. Was that...what was that? That was the spell?"

"I guess so..." You distractedly pull down your muscle shirt, the billowy garment having been blown over your large rack by the raging winds.

"Why would it do that? Why would it make a hurricane in my kitchen and then just put everything back the same?"

"Not all the same. Look." You point over towards the kitchen table, a wicker basket full of clothes sitting neatly atop it. "That laundry basket wasn't there before, was it?"

Jenny shakes her head, walking over to lift a neatly folded top. "Definitely not. My mom wouldn't fold clothes if her life depended on it." The girl pauses for a moment, eyes furrowing as she pulls a much smaller shirt out of the basket. "Uh? This isn't mine..."

"I'll bet those crayons aren't yours either?"

Your friend barely has time to take in the loose crayons and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood coloring book strewn across the kitchen counter before she gasps, pointing towards something. "The Christmas card!"

Before your eyes, the sad little family non-portrait rattles about its stand for a moment, then zips through the air to attach itself to the refrigerator via the giraffe-shaped magnet that pops into existence. The two of you watch in stunned silence as the three solo images of the Parks drift from their original positions to merge into each other, the enchanted whorl of color shimmering and twisting before unfolding into a drastically re-imagined scene.

You follow Jenny as she slowly approaches the refrigerator, breath caught in her throat and eyes locked to the mystically reforged Christmas card. What was once a stark portrait of a family divided is now a bright image of the front of the Park household, Jenny standing between her parents at the center. All three sport oversized and outrageously tacky mistletoe green sweaters, but to your eyes the biggest change is the genuine smiles plastered on all three of their faces. Actually, wait. You squint your eyes, trying to place what exactly is different about Jenny's parents.

Jenny's mom is still gorgeous, and swapping out her drunken scowl for a sincere smile leaves her radiating wholesome beauty and good cheer. Something is up with her body, but it's kinda hard to tell with that giant sweater on. Hrm. Your musings are derailed when you glance over at Jenny's dad. Whoa! Before he'd looked like the glowering mob boss in some sort of hard boiled mafia movie. But now, with the benefit of his easy grin and having lost several pounds of fat while gaining a significant amount of muscle, he's just a straight up goddamn daddy.

You put an arm around Jenny's shoulder as she reaches out, tracing her fingers over the scene of familial bliss. "I've gotta warn you, Jenny: Having loving parents is not all roses. You're going to get away with way less shit now."

Jenny laughs at that, eyes starting to glisten as a grin spreads across her face. She opens her mouth to respond, only for her words to die on her lips as identical twin boys maybe two or three years younger than you appear before her father, also clad in Park Family Christmas sweaters and making a show of trying to smile as widely as possible.

You step back with a gasp as the previously barren refrigerator blossoms with bric-a-brac and sundry, report cards and newspaper clippings about soccer games and childish sketches on construction paper blooming across its surface in a show of busy family life. Jenny doesn't see any of that, locked entirely onto the Christmas card as a not quite teenage girl with a cute bob cut appears to her image's right and a preschooler proudly showing off her missing bottom front teeth appears to her image's left. You were convinced that was it until a peacefully sleeping infant swaddled in his own Park Family sweater appears in Mr. Park's strong arms, and as a final flourish a large and astonishingly patient cat in a Santa hat pops into the twelve year old's arms.

Ohh, that's what's different about Mrs Park's body.

You're only now noticing that all of the people in the portrait have reindeer names printed across their sweaters. The younger girls are Dasher and Dancer, Dad and Mom are Prancer and Vixen respectively, the twins are Comet and Cupid while Jenny herself is marked as Rudolph. You had to squint to be sure, but the sleeping infant is Donner. And while her oversized sweater made it a little tough to tell at first, the way Mrs Park has a hand resting on her midsection and the word 'BLITZEN' marked across her tummy makes it clear that the Park Family Eight aren't far off from being the Park Family Nine.

Jenny just stares are her absurdly expanded family, jaw slack and eyes wide. Her mouth moves silently for a few moments, trying to find some response well before her brain has had time to reboot itself. When she finally comes up with something, you have to admit that while it isn't exactly eloquent, it's certainly succinct. "What. The fuck."

Any response you might have had is interrupted by a delighted giggle that wars with a separate gasp of shock. "Jenny! Don't swear!"

You both whirl around to find the two younger girls from the photo in living flesh. The middle schooler claps her hands over the five or six year old's ears as she chortles with glee at her oldest sister's curse, her coloring book going ignored as she revels in the naughtiness of it all. The serious young girl scowls down at the tittering preschooler, then gives the gobsmacked Jenny a reproachful look. "If Charlie cusses and Mom or Dad hear you'll get in trouble! I'll get in trouble! We'll get in trouble!"

The girl seems to notice you for the first time, eyes suddenly pleading. "You won't tell, right Ashley?"

Jenny still seems frozen by the sudden appearance slash existence of her sisters, so you're going to have to deal with this solo for the moment. You knew witchcraft was a dangerous job when you took it. 'Charlie' must be the 'Charlotte' noted by one of the columns on the day-to-day activities calendar that appeared on the fridge, so that can only mean this one is - "Don't worry Hannah, I can totally keep a secret."

Jenny's magically generated little sister Hannah grins in relief at that, shuffling her feet in youthful embarrassment over getting attention from one of her big sister's friends. Aww, she's cute. You want to muss up her hair. You very nearly do when a jangle of keys and a mellifluous voice heralds the appearance of yet another beneficiary of your magical meddling. "Okay girls, I'm off to pick up Daddy and the boys from soccer!"

It's Mrs. Park, and even compared to Hannah and Charlie literally being willed into existence she is easily the most changed person in the room.

Mrs. Park was always a beautiful woman, though you could tell that in the previous iteration of reality her looks had begun to spoil. Perfectly-formed features, close to infinite money and access to the best surgeons in the world can only do so much to counteract the degrading effects of age, hard-drinking and a heart as black as coal. But now, she is the totality of all that is flourishingly female.

Without the **** efforts to mask her age, she somehow seems more mature and significantly more youthful than before: graceful maiden and nurturing mother and total goddamn sex-bomb all at once. She clips her flowing, inky black hair back with an elegant hairclip as she smiles at her daughters, taking a moment to smooth out her simple yet fashionable sundress. Her sundress which, it must be said, is filled to the fucking brim with Woman.

She used to have an archetypal model's body, all long legs and lissome elegance. And she still does, sort of. Now, however, the effects of being pregnant seven times swirled together with the influence of your milky magic have taken their delightful toll.

She's definitely a bit softer all over, not even close to chubby but trading svelte grace for ripe, inviting plushness. Her formerly willowy hips are now beautifully rounded, the sort of passage a baby could do a twelve point turn out of with no problems. She's _very _pregnant, probably eight months or so working backwards from the flat tummy she sported in the Christmas card, her bulging belly and wonderfully ample rear straining at her dress. And her breasts, Good Lord her breasts. She's actually putting some stress lines into her dress with that heavy, fulsome rack, the teasing little taste of cushy cleavage the cherry atop this sundae of fertile perfection.

Your tits are still bigger, though, you note with an internal smirk.

Mrs. Park gives a pleased coo as she notices the laundry basket. "Oh, you folded the laundry!" She gives Jenny a loving kiss on the forehead, your friend taking in her altered mother with an expression that is rapidly melting away from shocked into something much softer. "Thank you Darling; would you terribly mind watching your sisters for a few hours?"

Jenny shakes her head. "Um, no Mom; that's totally fine."

Jenny's Mom gives her another kiss, smiling again when she notices you seemingly for the first time. "Oh! Hello Ashley! My, you're looking so fit!"

You look down in spite of yourself. Huh. Most people wouldn't have bothered looking past the boobs, but the pale stomach and arms displayed by your airy choice in apparel are indeed quite toned. Are you sort of a gym rat now? Guess the GYM+GOTH on your muscle shirt isn't just a snappy brand name. You impulsively decide to lift your arms and flex a bit, Mrs. Park and Hannah applauding your impromptu gun show with aplomb. Mrs. Park sighs musically, reaching down to pat her own swollen belly. "I feel so bloated lately. This one is definitely doing her best to make Momma fat."

You make a disagreeing noise at that. "No, Mrs. Park, you look so good!"

Hannah nods in agreement as Jenny joins in. "Yeah Mom, you're...you look beautiful."

Mrs Park puts her hand to her heart at that before drawing you all up in a big hug. God, you just want to sit in her lap and be fed cookies all day. At length she starts to release, only for Jenny to pull her back into a tight embrace. Mrs Park makes a deeply pleased noise at that, though she seems a little bemused. "What's up, ladybug?"

Jenny gasps at that, then shakes her head as her voice catches a little. "Nothing, I, I just...I love you, you know?"

Mrs Park's face crinkles with emotion at that, drawing her oldest and formerly only daughter in even closer. "I love you too, Jenny..." she murmurs, Jenny sniffing back tears as she beams up at her reborn mother. Eventually Mrs Park gives Jenny a squeeze and releases her, wiping a gleaning drop from her eye before waving goodbye. "Alright girls, I'll be back before dinner! Be good!"

Charlie and Hannah chorus a goodbye to their mother as Jenny watches her go, eyes still glistening. You slip your hand into hers and give it a squeeze, your friend immediately turning to throw herself into your arms with a happy sob. "Thank you so much Ash..." Jenny sniffs, body quaking with emotion. You aren't far off from tears yourself, to be honest.

Still. There's a question you gotta ask. "Seven kids though?!"

Jenny's look of overwhelmed joy immediately shifts to one of abject bewilderment. "I know right?!"

Hannah calls up from the kitchen counter, her voice as serious and knowing as only that of a middle schooler with grown-up gossip to share can be. "Mom said that Daddy was too much for his vasectomy again and that they might as well not bother."

You boggle at the matter-of-fact pre-teen. "Again?"

Hannah looks around in wildly unsubtle subtlety before pointing meaningfully at Charlie, the unaware preschooler hopping down from her seat to wander over and pull at the hem of Jenny's polo. "Can we watch a movie, Jenny?"

Jenny stares down at her two younger sisters for a moment, wonder and disbelief warring across her features. Then she shakes away her shock and crouches down, bopping the giggling Charlie on the noise. "Well what do you want to watch?"

"I wanna watch Ponyo!"

Hannah sighs and rolls her eyes, Jenny and you simultaneously blinking at the uncanny sight of a mini Jennifer Park perfectly landing two classic Jennifer Park moves. "You always want to watch that!"

Charlie starts to puff out her cheeks in protest before Jenny waves her sisters off with a laugh. "Okay, okay; how about we watch Ponyo now, and Hannah can pick the next one. Fair?"

Charlie is already on board, but Hannah seems to be mulling over a further protest. After a moment, she glances hopefully over at you. "Um, is Ashley going to watch too?"

You shrug amiably. "I guess so?"

Hannah grins at that, a bit of impish malice creeping into her otherwise angelic features. "The twins are going to be so jealous that I got to hang out with you..."

You **** back a laugh at that, twisting around to make some joke to Jenny. But your friend has already started off towards the much cozier looking living room, holding Charlie's hand as the two sisters chatter and laugh. Wow. This is a huge change for her, right? But she's already taken to her drastically altered family as if she grew up with them. Which she sort of did. Right? Buh.

Magic continues to be both fucking awesome and fucking confusing. But you aren't surprised, really. Jennifer Park is a goddamn badass, and there was never any doubt that she would be the most badass big sister ever. Sure, maybe you overshot things a little and turned her parents into absolute baby machines.

But on the whole? You're putting this down as a big win for your budding career as a witch.