The right girl, but she needs some work

With Fiona's blessing you get some advice from a few of your wives. Most are busy organizing the supplies and horses for the coming trip or chatting with Deacon Lorrick, Sir Galren and Lady Emira, getting them properly introduced so that they will work well together once they go north. Generally the whole house is buzzing, so it's easy for you to sneak a few minutes here or there with different catgirls, hustling candidates to meet Fiona so she can have the final say.

Your goal was to find one or two catgirls, shy, short and pregnant, for the deacon. Slightly pregnant would be best, so you focus on girls who are about three months in and just starting to show. Fiona is a very caring catgirl, so your first choice is to pair her with an even shier girl - Jenine. She and Fiona met back before Fiona went to live with the deacon, so you expect it to be an easy match.

Jenine didn't even know she was pregnant back when Fiona left, so when Fiona sees her old acquaintance holding a developing tummy she lets out a gasp. But Jenine's reaction is quite odd. She almost shrinks in on herself and stares at the floor. Fiona is almost glowing with happiness and she hops up as quickly as a heavily pregnant girl can. "Oh Jenine! Wow, you look amazing." But Jenine seems to curl in on herself even more and you hear a little sob.

Fiona stops and looks at you, worried. Since Fiona is the least shy of the two you decide to take the lead. You put an arm around Jenine and she clings to you and starts sobbing. She lets you lead her over to the couch where she cuddles up against you. Fiona sits on her other side, gently touching Jenine's shoulder.

"Come on," you say once the tears stop. "What's wrong?"

"I tried so hard," she moans. "I didn't want you to see me like this Fiona."

"What? Why?"

"I'm ugly," she sobs. "I was ugly before with this rough fur, but now I've got babies who are going to have to suffer with this too. It's even thicker and rougher now that I'm pregnant." She goes back to crying on your shoulder.

Fiona tries to comfort her, but it's obvious why Fiona is the last person Jenine wanted to see. Fiona has fur that is almost the exact opposite of Jenine's thick, coarse coat of chestnut brown fur. There are actually quite a number of brown furred catgirls and most have the coarse form of the fur. It was only later that you discovered which exact mixtures of cat fur produced a fine, silky chestnut fur like the coat your first chestnut furred catgirl, Kyelle, received.

While you've been thinking about fur colors and coat thicknesses Fiona has continued to try telling Jenine that she's not ugly, but it's just not helping. You lift Jenine's chin and try a different approach. "Do other chestnut catgirls feel the same way?"

At first she shakes her head and tries to take it all on herself, but you get the feeling you're on to something. With a little gentle prodding she finally sighs and says, "Most of us feel out of place. Like we aren't supposed to be this way. When we get up sometimes our arm or leg is stuck to our body. Our mane is always a mess, no matter how much we bathe or comb. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Well... it feels wrong to complain about it. I mean, how many other catgirls never even made it? And, and, you didn't make this fur. I must have hated it my whole life."

You pet her ears gently while you think. This has obviously been going on for a while, but you haven't noticed. Partly that's your fault - distractions in the form of plots and your many wives. But this is also surely because the chestnut catgirls have actively kept this as a secret amongst themselves, never even speaking about it to other catgirls. Racking your memory, you realize that the coarse furred girls have actually avoided 'seeking out company', almost like they've convinced themselves they're all cursed.

You really should have noticed and you start to work out a plan for dealing with the situation. It won't do for your catgirls to feel this way. The only silver lining is that by fluke all the early chestnut furred girls with coarse coats failed to get pregnant. Not one of them has given birth yet. You let a spark of magic flow through Jenine, just enough to make her skin tingle. "Hmmmm. I wish one of you had come to me earlier."

She looks up, confused, teary-eyed, but hopeful. You let the tingling concentrate in her belly for a moment, then you say, "Yes, it's not right. I should have noticed, the disease seems to have affected you differently than other catgirls. I can't explain why," you start building a more complex spell, "but this isn't what you once were. I can already tell that your babies won't have the same coarseness in their coats. Here, let me explore a little more..."

By now both Jenine and Fiona are holding their breath. You aren't actually feeling around looking for an answer, your drawing on your many hours of body manipulation to develop a new look that will please Jenine. Soft fur is a must, but you need something special that no other catgirl has. That way there's an excuse for why the disease affected catgirls like her differently.

Finally you come up with an answer. "Would you mind if I tried a little experiment on you Jenine?" you ask.

"Of course. If you're saying that might change..." she gestures at her body with her free hand. Fiona has Jenine's other hand in a **** grip.

You focus, planting the seeds of change in Jenine's body and sending them out to each of her follicles. It takes a little while, and once you're sure it worked it takes even longer as you have to go back and alter the three babies growing inside Jenine's womb so they match their mother. But the spell, so far as you can tell, has been a success.

Lucky that you picked a storeroom for this meeting. You tell Jenine and Fiona to wait, then head outside and ask that a few other specific catgirls bring combs. A few minutes later three catgirls with the same coarse, chestnut fur as Jenine show up, grooming supplies in hand. You give them a warm smile and lead them inside. "Feeling any different yet, Jenine?" you ask.

"I don't think so," she says, but she sounds a little hopeful.

"I think there's a bit more brown fur sticking to my coat," says Fiona.

"Okay then. Olivia, Gloria, Cennara, would you mind indulging me for a bit? I'm trying to help, but Jenine needs some serious combing." They look confused, but also interested. They're even more interested when Jenine explains that you know about the fur and you're trying to help. Fiona also grabs a comb, but the three newcomers are eager now and it's actually hard for Fiona to find a good spot to comb with the three of them attacking Jenine's fur.

"Oh, oh that tickles!" says Jenine, squirming under the combined ****. Her tail is batting back and forth and you think that shy as she is she's just overwhelmed by all the attention. After five or so minutes of intense combing there's a giant pile of fur off to one side and a far lighter Jenine panting and recovering on the couch.

You grab a mirror from one of the shelves and show her what she looks like now. The other three are already aware of how Jenine has changed and they're eagerly running their fingers through her soft, silky chestnut fur. When you hold up the mirror Jenine starts bawling, but it's tears of joy. She's covered in sleek, silky chestnut fur - the only difference between her and the current smooth furred chestnut catgirls is a distinctive tuft of extra long fur that hangs over and between her breasts, almost like a fine fuzzy necklace.

You ask how she feels and Jenine chokes on her words several times before saying, "I feel so good. I feel perfect. I feel... like me."

"Can you do this for all of us?" asks Olivia, eyes wide.

"It might take a day or two, but yes. And I will - this is what you were meant to be, after all. It's really the fault of the spell I used to heal you - I don't know why it locked in that part of the disease." You're immediately smothered with hugs from all of them. Once you send off Olivia, Gloria and Cennara to spread the word you ask Jenine, "So, if you feel perfect now, does that mean you feel like the perfect girl to help Fiona?"

Jenine grins like a kid in a candy store and hugs Fiona. "What do you need? I want to help - just you being here today helped me so much - anything, anything!"

Fiona laughs and kisses Jenine. "So I've got this very difficult husband. No matter what I try he just won't show any interest in marrying another catgirl..."