As Luck Would Have it

Betsy wondered if her father was having any luck with the curse-removing potion. Now that it was spring, she came home to a line around the house and her father was chasing them away. “How much are you charging to break curses?”

“Two. Mother wants it to be affordable. I\'m hiring two more salesmen to sell this potion. It has to be given to the person to be treated by a witch. It doesn’t work on curses affecting the soul and I haven’t tested timed cursed. I hate telling parents that I don’t know. I don’t want to give them false hope.”

Alex came to the kitchen. “Danny, can we just talk?\"

“I won’t discuss business.”

“My problem doesn’t concern business.”

“What is it?”

“I want to return to the man that I was.”

“Alex, I don’t have any sex change potion. You, of all people, should know that. I thought you liked being a woman.”

“Permanent is scary,” Alex said.

“I’ll work on your potion then I’ll join you in bed. It probably won’t be done for a few days. You can think about it. I also want to see the house you’re building.”

“You haven’t had dinner.”

“I’ll eat before I make the potion. Alex, I get so tired for working from dawn to way pass dusk.”

“Your mother can help more.”

“She gets the orders and checks the math. She files all the records so we have paperwork for the tax records. I know I stretch myself thin. The men on the line can help you get all your orders on your carpets in the morning.”

Betsy served herself dinner. “Pop, you said it would be easier in a factory.”

“It should be.”

“I have nine people doing what I did and I’m still working as hard as before.”

“We’re selling much more potion.”

“The demand is incredible.”

“I have to make a vat of the curse remove potion,” her father said. “That stuff goes too fast on two dollars an bottle.”

“Raise it to three until the demand drops down,” Betsy suggested.

“I need salesmen.”

“You can’t have any of mine.”

“You’re fully staffed and I’m glad.”

“I have locations that take thirty bottles of the male stamina potions twice a week. Pop, are you still ordering from our herb supplier?”

“Mom is doing that. You should get a large shipment each week.”

“I’ll look for it. Pop, do you ever plan to retire?”

“I like what I do.”

“I couse ase a vacation.”

“Alex could run the factory,” her father suggested.

“I had Mattie help me, but Alex is just as capable. I hope to have my men trained so I could trust them. Mom might have to work on the floor when I take a vacation.”

Betsy looked at her notes regarding her earlier potion then looked at her father’s notes on his short-term sex change potion. Her father’s potion only affected outside appearance. His potion was safe enough that a pregnant woman could take it, look fully male and not miscarry.

Alex deserved to be truly male; she shouldn’t settle for an illusion. Betsy needed to do more research; this would take time. After circling a couple spells and writing several pages of notes, she went up to bed.

“Any luck,” asked Alex.

“It’ll take time,” said Betsy. “I don’t want to poison you or have you looking like a freak. You’re a beautiful woman now. I’m the freak. Can you move the fat in my breasts to around my middle?”

“Fat in the middle isn’t healthy,” said Alex.

“Can you do it?” asked Betsy.

“Of course,” said Alex. “I healed Frank. Moving some fat around is nothing. After I\'m done, you’ll be able to go around in your shirtsleeves at work.”

“Please, do it.”

Alex bowed slightly with her left hand and head. “I’m at your service.” She then placed her hands on Betsy fairly slender waist. The roll of fat grew a bit bigger. “Don’t you ever ask me to move fat from a healthy location to an unhealthy location. A doctor wouldn’t do it. They have a hypercritic oath.”

“Fat is fat.”

“Each inch of fat around the waist is an year off your life,” said Alex.

“That’s an old wives’ tale.” Betsy removed her shirt and the binding around her chest. The binding was much looser than it was this morning. She looked down at her now flat chest. “I don’t have much hair, but over time I’ll grow more.”

“I hope you’re happy.”

Betsy kissed Alex’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful. I know you don’t feel beautiful right now. I’ll make you your potion. Beauty comes from the inside.”

“Then why did you make me get rid of the fat in your breasts?”

“They were annoying to bind. I was binding them so tight that the sweat was bothering me. This was a comfort issue. As a healer, I thought you would understand.”

“If you make that potion, will you become a man?”

“I’m a man.” Betsy felt her chest. “I look in the mirror and I can see changes no one else seems to notice. I looked at my legs in the bath and the muscle tone was different and the hair was thicker and darker.”

“So it’s appearance.”

“I have to see Mary Jane for another shot tomorrow morning. I’m behind schedule. Henry told me that his insurance company knows that my magic caused Helen’s death. I need to get my medication.”

“You’re very handsome.” Alex moved her hand down Betsy’s body.

“I feel like I’m going through puberty a second time. I want to be a real man.”

“You’ll be one day.” Alex kissed her.

“When you look at me, do you see a man or a woman?”

“I have always seen a man. You have to accept yourself.”

“I feel trapped.”

“You shouldn’t feel that way.” Alex kissed her and put her hand on Betsy’s lap. “I love your body the way it is.”

“It’s just that each day it seems to change. It hasn’t been that long since I had Cynthia.” Betsy put her arms tightly around Alex. “I have almost as much body hair as Henry. Mary Jane put extra male hormone in my shot. I didn’t grow body hair like this on the pills. I barely had a few whiskers.”

“Ask her.”

“She won’t admit it. She told me to just wear a fancy hat. She knew what she had done. She knew my body would express it much faster than a mundane’s. I wouldn’t see her if I wasn’t afraid of a judge’s order.”

“I’ll go with you. I’m a healer. Maybe she’ll explain herself.”

In the morning and after another math lesson, Alex accompanied Betsy to Mary Jane’s office. “Mary Jane, this is my associate, Alex Gardener.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mary Jane said. “Mr. Logan, how long has it been?”

“Three months. My body responds well to magic. I had male sexual characteristics within a week of getting my last shot. What was the meaning of that?”

“I thought you wanted to look like a man.”

“I do. You have no right to do something like that to me without asking. I thought I was going to grow a dick, too.”

“I have nothing that can make a woman into a man. I asked around. Use an illusion spell when you use the urinal.”

“So I’m supposed to have the body of a man without the sex organs.”

“No, I’ll look around some more. Do you mind if I examine you?”

“I just came here for my shot. Alex is going to show me the house that she’s building us.”

“Can we just talk a moment?”

“I\'m here.”

“I’ll make up your shot and join you in my office.”

After Betsy walked to the office, she took off her coat and scarf. She looked at the small mirror at her face. Her beard was growing in thick. She looked at the dark hair on her arms. Betsy sat on the chair facing her desk and looked at all the books on anatomy and biology.

“What are you thinking?” asked Mary Jane.

“You knew what you did to me. You put it in a shot so I couldn’t stop it from happening. If I wasn’t a nice person, I would have your license.”

“You aren’t a nice person. You aren’t going to sue me because the publicity would hurt you more than it would hurt me.”

“Why did you do it?”

“I had hoped that your magic would express the hormones faster than a mundane but I had no idea.”

“I have been shaving every day since the day after you gave me that shot. Only a day after I got the shot, I started to grow a beard. Each day, the hair on my body seems to get thicker and darker. I’m building bulk in my muscles. I have the definition of a working man.”

“Mr. Logan, can you remove your clothes? I like to examine you.”

“You just want to gawk at my body. It gives you delight to know that you made a woman into a man. I have straight muscular legs. There isn’t a trace of feminine fat on my body. You knew what you were doing.”

“I did it for you.”

“You laughed at me when you gave me that shot. I hate you.”

“Remove your clothes. I need to give your shot.”

“I don’t want to drop my pants.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have a dick. I need one to use a public restroom. How dare you make me into a freak?” Betsy turned away from Mary Jand drd dropped her pants. “You did this to me.”

Mary Jane found the fleshiest part of her rump. “You have the fat deposits of a man. You’re starting to get a beer belly.”

“I don’t drink beer.”

“Fat on the waist is the easiest to shed. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Step on my scale. Undress to your underwear. I want to see what the shot is doing to you.”

Betsy removed everything but her briefs. She stepped on the scale. “One hundred fifty-five for a man of fivn thn that is far from fat.”

“Your weight is fine. You have very good muscle tone. However, men are more prone to heart problems so you have to watch out for high fat foods and remember to exercise and keep stress to a minimum. Get off the scale.”

Betsy stepped down. “May I dress?”

Mary Jane checked Betsy’s blood pressure and pulse. “You aren’t taking any other potion but mine.”

“No, ma’am.” Betsy lit a cigarette.

“Smoking will destroy your lungs. More men die from lung cancer than women.”

“If it wasn’t for the stress that you caused me, I wouldn’t have started smoking.”

“You were smoking your last visit. I’m not as stupid as you think. No scar tissue from a double mastectomy.”

“Alex is a healer. She pulled the fat from my breasts and put it into my waist, yesterday. I don’t have a beer belly; the fat hasn’t had time to be used as fuel. She then made the skin smooth over my pecks.”

“You’re a very healthy young man. Try to quit smoking your lungs will thank you.”

“Except that I’m dickless. I would have put socks in my briefs if I knew you wanted me to undress.”

“I can’t help you with that. I won’t ask you to strip again. Your body reacted to that shot much better than I expected. You’re a very attractive man. My husband wouldn’t mind having your muscle tone. How do you feel when you look in the mirror?”

“That I’m becoming someone else. Betsy is becoming a distant memory. You stole my life.”

“I gave you a new life. You can’t tell me that you want to return to being boring, unhappy Betsy.”

“How dare you make this choice for me?”

“Mr. Logan, admit that you like the changes in your body.”

“That isn’t the point. Alex and Will saw me as man even when I was dressed as a woman. Henry found me attractive because I acted like a man. It wasn’t your right to do this.”

“Take your potion to reverse it and see me in the morning and I’ll make you a shot that has no male hormone in it and only will cause early menopause if that is what you want. I can make it so that it reduces the level of naturally occurring male hormone so your body is stable and free of sex hormones.”

“You knew about the insurance company knowing the cause of Helen Martin’s death and I wouldn’t refuse a shot especially after I complained about boxes flying at my new factory.”

“Go back to being a woman. I’ll have tew sew shot ready by morning.”

“I like being a man. You did this to me knowing that I would accept it. You deliberately changed a rather masculine woman into a man.”

“Are you going to sue me or you going to try to find a way to become permanently male?”

“I’ll remain a man. I’m a man to my employees. I can’t go back.”

“If you find a way to be a whole man, see me immediately afterwards. I might have to check your hormone levels. Men make both male and female hormones.”

“Alex told me that.”

“I’ll try to find a potion that will lower the levels of female hormones in a man. Good luck, Mr. Logan.”

Betsy threw her cigarette butt on the floor and crushed it under her shoe. “It’s Daniel. May I dress or do you want to admire my pecks a little longer?”

“You have very nice body.”

“And you’re thinking that it’s a shame that I’m not a real man.” Betsy dressed. “You must have had other women with my problem.”

“I would have solved it by giving them a complete hysterectomy.”

“It wouldn’t have been my first choice.”

“I have only suggested that one woman have a hysterectomy for a hyicalical magic. She decided that she rather try to avoid situations that aggravate her magic. You were dressing as a man. Another woman would have done all she could to make herself look feminine. Mr. Logan, you wanted this. Don’t blame me.” Mary Jane said Mr. Logan like it was a dagger.

“I’ll be back in three months unless I find a way to grow a dick before then.”

“Alex did a good job on your chest.”

“Thanks.” Betsy put her arms around Alex. “Let fly your carpet to your house. I hate that woman. She knew what she did to me. She acted like I wanted it. She implied if I was truly angry that I would have returned to her office the moment that I knew that my body was changing.”

“Did she ask you to strip?”

“Yes. I kept on my briefs. She gloated about how well my body reacted to the hormones in the shot. Although she knew there was nothing there, I felt better not showing her. I wished I were a whole whenwhen she was gawking at my body. I would have been great if I could have pissed all over her. Next time, I see her I’ll use an illusion spell to give me a cock if I don’t have one by then. I’ll not have that woman mock me.”

“Locate a spell.” Alex put her hand on Betsy’s hand.

“Can’t you just create me one?”

“I can’t. You don’t have that information in your cells.”

“Could you read it from a man and give it to me?”

“That could be dangerous. That addition information made me the way that I was. I need a way to lose one of your female chromosomes and replace it with a male one. Then, I can read it and give you male organs.”

Betsy was detracted as she thought about finding a permanent sex change spell. She smiled as she saw the partial completed two-bedroom house. “Electricity and running water. All the modern conveniences. It’ll have gas heat and a stove.” Alex showed her the line.

“I’m impressed.”

“It should be finished in a few weeks. Then, we can have the fun job of decorating it.”

Betsy worked on the potion most of the next three nights. The fourth night she stayed up all night. She felt she had The The potion would create the right genetic material and express it. It would be as permanent as if one was born that way. She had to combine two unrelated spells but she hoped she got the proportions right. She had to order the ingredients from three different suppliers and then get some mice to test it on. Combining potions could be very dangerous and it would be a long time before a human being could take it.