Succubi - Ch.22 - Nervous (Patreon)

I took a deep breath and tried to force myself to calm down as the car pulled up the long driveway. It didn't help though, and as soon as Melissa parked us next to Carol's jeep my heart was racing.

It was Saturday afternoon, the first of February, and me and my girlfriends were visiting mom and Carol for the first time since xmas. Mom's birthday was coming up on Tuesday so we were here to celebrate. Plus I kind of missed her, it was over a month since our last visit.

At the same time though, I was about as nervous as I could get. This would be the first time seeing my mom since that intuition thing started happening, and I was borderline terrified of finding out what my mom really thought of me. And Carol too. I was glad it didn't work on Lily and my girlfriends, but I knew it was going to work on mom and I was scared of learning she secretly hated me or thought I was a burden or something like that.

Melissa and Sue both opened their doors to get out, while I just sat motionless in the back seat.

"Come on Mara," Melissa told me. "I know you're scared but it's going to be fine. You know your mom loves you."

Susan added, "And if you do pick up anything that bothers you, just try to remember everyone has stray thoughts about stuff ok? It doesn't mean anything. Like Melissa said, your mom loves you."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm still scared though."

Melissa looked back at me with a warm smile, "I know. But you're going to be brave, and everything's going to be ok. Now come on, let's get inside before your mom starts wondering what happened to us."

I nodded, and the three of us finally emerged from the car. We grabbed our backpacks then hurried to the side-door to get inside out of the cold. 

As soon as we opened the door Farah came running. There were a few barks then she realized who we were and got even more excited, eager for pets and scritches and attention. At the same time I heard mom and Carol coming, they'd both been in the den. I figured we had just a couple seconds before they stepped into view.

As usual I hid my demon bits when we left the apartment, and normally I'd have dispelled the magic as soon as we were inside. Instead I kept them hidden for now. I wasn't sure if that would make a difference to what my mom thought of me, but I figured it might help.

Farah moved from me to Melissa just as mom emerged from the den, with Carol right behind her. Mom was smiling as she greeted us, "Hello girls! How was the drive?"

Melissa replied, "It was fine Ms. Carter. Traffic and weather were both ok."

Once I had my coat and boots off, mom stepped closer and gave me a hug. And as much as I tried to ignore it, I found myself flooded with that intuition mind-reading thing.

Mom noticed my horns and tail were missing. She wondered if I got used to not having them after all. She noticed I looked a little off and she worried that's because I was hiding the demonic stuff for her benefit and it was making me feel bad or uncomfortable. She was also just worried about me overall. She was afraid I might become more demonic. She was afraid if other people found out about the horns and tail, it would put me in danger. She worried government types would want to lock me up or study me. She worried religious types would want to hurt me. 

Basically everything I got from her came down to she loved me and worried about me and worried about my safety. She wasn't angry with me, and she didn't hate me. 

When she let go of me a couple seconds later I almost had tears in my eyes, from relief and happiness. 

Then as mom went to greet Melissa and Susan, Carol stepped up and said hello to me. I greeted her back, and at the same time I got the whole intuition thing from her too.

It felt like Carol was a spiritual person, but not exactly religious. She did believe in angels and demons, but she didn't think I was evil or corrupted or anything like that. She mostly thought I was a typical college kid. She also thought I was kind of slow or dense, but in a 'lovable goofball' kind of way. And finally, she knew my mom absolutely loved me, and she loved my mom. So she was determined not to let the fact that I was part demon bother her.

I almost felt overwhelmed after getting all that from mom and Carol. I wasn't nervous or anxious anymore, but I was sort of blown away by all the information I got from the two of them. And it still sort of freaked me out, especially because I was specifically trying not to get anything from them at all. I figured I'd have to ask Lily about that, like if I could learn to control it better. 

Me and my girlfriends took our stuff up to our room, then we came back down and gave mom her gifts. We all brought cards for my mom as well as a couple bottles of her favourite wine. 

Mom thanked us and gave each of us a hug, then everyone settled back in the den for a bit for some conversation and drinks. Mom and Carol already had glasses of wine going, me and Melissa and Sue all got vodka coolers. And as usual Farah flopped onto her bed next to mom's chair, while Pumpkin and Spice shared a cushion next to the fireplace.

As soon as we were comfy mom asked, "Mara have you found a way to be comfortable without the uh, horns and tail? Or are you suffering so Carol and I won't be upset?"

"Neither," I replied with a smile. "Lily taught me a different spell, so they're still here but they're sort of invisible. It's pretty cool because I can still feel them so I don't get that dysphoria dysmorphia thing, but at the same time nobody can see anything unusual going on."

I added, "The only problem is they show up on some special kinds of camera. Like I was on a date at the Science Centre last month and they had this really cool thermal camera that showed heat? And even though I had the horns and tail hidden with magic, they showed up on the screen."

Mom seemed pleased at first, but when I told her about the thermal camera stuff she got worried and asked "Did anyone see them?"

"I don't think so? I mean, my date saw them and it freaked her out but we worked it out and everything's ok now."

Mom sort of glanced at Melissa and Susan then looked back at me. "Who were you on a date with? You mean someone other than your girlfriends?"

I blushed, "Yeah. Her name's Amber... It's a long story. I met her at college, she's in the art program too but doing drawing and illustration and stuff?"

There was a sort of wary tone in her voice as mom asked, "Is she going to be joining the three of you?"

That made me grimace slightly, "I actually don't know? I guess it's possible, but right now I have no idea."

Mom looked a little stressed about that, and Carol asked "Melissa, Susan, do you two know this Amber?"

Susan smiled and replied, "I almost grew up with her, but we lost touch a few years ago. She lives just around the corner from my house. Her mom actually looked after me sometimes when I was younger and my dad was away for work."

"I've met her a few times," Melissa said. "She's been joining me and Mara for lunch, and she's come over to the apartment a couple times."

I added, "I don't think she's going to move in with us? At least, I haven't gotten that kind of vibe from her. And like Sue said, she lives just around the corner from the house, so once we've all moved in there we'll basically be neighbours."

"You're moving to Susan's house?" mom asked, confused. "I thought it was damaged? Or have you got it fixed up?"

The three of us spent the next hour or so telling mom and Carol about the renovations and stuff, and that Melissa's brother's boyfriend's dad was doing the work for us. We were actually planning to visit the house next weekend to meet with Mr. Goranov, he wanted us to come over and see how things were going. He also had some stuff he needed us to decide on, like we needed to pick paint colours for the different rooms and pick appliances and stuff like that for the kitchen and everything.

Finally when it got closer to dinner time I went into the kitchen to start cooking. Mom bought the food but I enjoyed doing the work, and anyways we were celebrating her birthday so it wasn't fair to expect her to cook it. And since I was alone in the kitchen I finally let my horns and tail appear. 

Dinner wouldn't be anything too fancy, just chicken parmesan and a bit of pasta and some roasted vegetables. It wasn't that hard to make either, mostly because the sauce came from a jar so I didn't have to make it from scratch. 

A few minutes after I got started on the prep work mom came into the kitchen too. 

She paused when she saw my demon bits were visible, but she didn't comment about that. Instead she just sat down at the table and said, "I wanted to speak with you alone Mara, I hope you don't mind if we talk while you're working?"

"It's ok," I replied. "What did you want to talk about? Is everything ok?"

Mom nodded, "I think so. I'm still curious about this new friend of yours, Amber. I take it she knows about Lily? Is she going to become like Melissa and Susan?"

I hesitated, "I don't want to say stuff that might be secret? She does know about Lily, and she might make a deal, but maybe not. And if she does, I don't know if it'll be like Melissa and Susan."

Mom thought that over then nodded, "Ok Mara. Thank you for being honest, and I'm sorry if I put you on the spot with my questions."

After a few moments she changed the subject, "I have some news for you, and I wanted to tell you myself. Carol officially moved in with me last week. She's already moved all her clothes and things here, and she'll be getting rid of her apartment next week."

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her with a wide smile, "Ooh that's exciting! Congratulations!"

"Thank you Mara," mom replied with a smile of her own. She blushed slightly as she commented, "I'm glad you aren't upset. I didn't think you would be, but I worried..."

"If I wasn't handling raw chicken I'd come over and hug you," I replied with a grin. "I think it's great news and I'm happy for you and Carol!"

As I got back to work breading the chicken I asked, "So after the whole xmas thing, was Carol ok? Like I guess she didn't get too weirded out about the demon and succubus stuff?"

Mom sighed, "She and I had a few long conversations after that. We were both a little shocked Mara. But we worked it out, and by new years Carol and I were both ready to accept you and your girlfriends for who you are."

"Awww," I smiled. "Thanks mom. You don't know how happy that makes me!"

She grimaced slightly then admitted, "As shocking as that whole revelation was at xmas, I can't overlook everything Lily has done for all of us. Without her I'd have lost you. I'd still be working at the restaurant. And I never would have met Carol. And I know you and Melissa are both much happier now. I don't know Susan as well, but I trust the three of you when you say she's happy too."

This time I quickly washed my hands and dried them off, then I moved over to mom and gave her a big hug.

"Thanks mom! I know it's weird and strange and everything, but I'm glad you're not upset with me or Lily."

Mom hugged me back as she warned, "I'm still not entirely used to it. And I do hope you aren't going to keep changing Mara. And I'm going to keep worrying about you hon. But whatever happens, you'll always be my child and I love you."

That got me all emotional, but in a good way. I replied happily, "I love you too mom!"

After that my mood was up the whole rest of the weekend. Dinner was good, then we had cake for dessert. Everyone enjoyed the food, except Melissa who wasn't eating because she did her succubus thing the night before. But she sat with us and drank a cooler and she did taste a little bit of the birthday cake.

In the morning I made french toast for breakfast for everyone, along with some bacon and home fries. And finally me and my girlfriends packed up and headed home around noon. 

All in all it was a good visit, and I felt a lot more relaxed about my mom and Carol than I was at the start of the weekend.