A.N.D. - Through the Looking Glass

She’d had it. “I don’t care what you want, Wolf, you have to use his ID!”

“But...”

“We’ve. Been. Over. This,” Virginia snapped through gritted teeth. “When we do taxes, the government will want to know where Dad is. And we can’t tell them. They will also want to know where you come from. And we can’t tell them. But if you use Dad’s Social Security number and birth certificate, we can get an ID card with your picture on it and the government will just think that Dad got a new job.”

“But I don’t look like him!”

“The government doesn’t care, it just want its money! And employers won’t care so long as you fill out all the forms correctly. Now tell me the number!” She snapped the order in her best Mommy-was-an-Evil-Queen imperial tone, and Wolf sulkily repeated her father’s Social Security number, followed by their address (with zip code), phone number, Tony’s college and degree, and a few particulars about some of his more menial jobs. Virginia wasn’t going to dare risk listing her father’s good business jobs-someone from them might take action.

Not that they took any when Dad lost everything, she thought bitterly.

“I don’t want people calling me Tony,” Wolf complained. “I’ll bite them if they do!”

“Write Wolf in quotes after Anthony and tell them it’s what you prefer to be called,” Virginia said, patting his arm. “It’ll all work out.”

“I still have three wishes, you know. Why get so cross and crabby, my little lambchop? We have magic on our side!”

“Because you can’t get everything in this world by wishing!”

It was mid-morning by the time they had argued to a truce, and Virginia was hungry again. It seemed like she was getting hungrier and hungrier every day, with Wolf’s baby turning her into a more bottomless pit than he was. She idly wondered, as she dug a cup of yogurt out of the fridge, if she’d be hunting right by his side in her ninth month to feed the baby.

Well, at least Wolf stopped trying to save her from her yogurt. Virginia peeled the foil off the top and dug in a spoon, looking down as she churned the fruit up from the bottom.

She didn’t even have time to feel the nausea. One minute she was looking at yogurt swirling, and then next she was losing breakfast and what felt like half of last night’s dinner down the garbage disposal. Every time she came up for air and looked at the innocent yogurt cup, she’d retch again. Wolf finally had to throw it away before she could regain her composure.

“So that’s what morning sickness is like,” she told her worried Wolf as he wiped her face with a wet paper towel and chafed her hands.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he fussed. “Maybe we shouldn’t go job hunting today. You should rest.”

“Wolf, we’re almost out of money! We have to get work.” He was still dithering, so Virginia stood decisively up. “Look, it’s all over. I’ll be okay after this.”

It wasn’t over. She wasn’t okay. The plan had been for them to try to find restaurant work together, but every time his poor ‘Ginia saw or smelled food she ended up either on her knees in the bushes or hanging over trash cans. It didn’t take long before Wolf refused to put his succulent sweetie through more of that torment and took her to the relatively fresher-smelling park, finding a bench far away from the hot dog venders.

At first she’d protested, but every bout of nausea left her weaker, so now she was content to just lean against him and slowly drink the ginger ale they were letting get good and flat.

I almost wish I was home. Back in Wolfton. The plaintive thought startled Wolf.

No you don’t, you couldn’t wait to get away! You were bored and the wolf girls picked on you. He gently squeezed Virginia by the shoulders and kissed the top of her head. If you hadn’t left, you wouldn’t have met the love of your life.

But she’s so sick! There were lots of half wolves and quarter wolves at home.

Yeah, ‘cause we had nowhere else to be. Everyone thought we were freaks and our parents were perverts.

But the women there would know if there was something really wrong with Virginia.

The subject of his reverie returned his kiss, and Wolf nobly overlooked the way her breath smelled. Yours hasn’t been much better, what with the dragon dung bean and all. You’re getting addicted to mouthwash.

“You’re so serious. What’s on your mind?” she asked softly.

He answered without thinking. “I was just wi-” He slammed a hand over his mouth before the fatal word came out, afraid to even breathe lest he see a wisp of green vapor. Finally he cautiously said, “I’m worried about you. I’m worried if it’s the cub making you so sick.” No green smoke. What a relief!

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what a normal pregnancy is like.” She smiled weakly. “There are books about it, you know.”

He tried to return her smile, even as a tempting but alarming thought clamored for attention. “Virginia... do you want me to wi-no, not wi-, to, um, use the magic bean to make you not be sick anymore?”

Her expression went instantly from confused to horrified. “No! Don’t ever use one of those wishes on me! What if it went wrong and I ended up like the Murrays or something? Promise me, Wolf! Promise me you won’t use a wish to change me-ever!”

“I promise,” Wolf told her with another squeeze and kiss, rubbing his hand along her arm to calm her back down. “I promise.”

That was close. Not that he’d wish anything bad for his Virginia, but that was far too close. It was dangerous to keep wishes lying around; first you’d foolishly use a figure of speech and waste a wish, then you’d waste another wish fixing the first, and then you had to use yet another one to make the unintended consequences of both wishes go away. His unused wishes hung over him with more menace than the Fourth Kingdom shoot-on-sight laws.

At least being shot was quick and merciful.

Cripes! He could feel the bean twisting in his gut, awakened by his half wish. With a sudden burst of clarity he realized that it was probably working on him, secretly trying to force him to use up his remaining three wishes. Magic did that when it was ignored. He’d carried the bean for three weeks now, which was probably two weeks and six days longer than anyone else ever had. Magic would sleep, magic would wait, magic would endure-but it would not bear being ignored. That’s why you had to bury or destroy magic things when you were through with them-to keep them from working on you, calling you back to work for them if you couldn’t make them work for you.

Better to use those wishes soon, before he did say something stupid. But how? On what? If they used them now, they might need those wishes later, and what then?

A distracted wolf was a dead wolf, so a part of his mind was still paying attention to the people around him. That part noted the family that settled on the park bench opposite them, listened for a few seconds to their excited chatter about the city, labeled them tourists, and promptly forgot them as nonthreatening.

Then they all pulled out bags of fast food and started eating.

Wolf swept Virginia into the bushes just in time. Poor little lamb! He held her until the convulsions were over, then went to fetch the remains of her soda so she could wash out her mouth. Virginia took a sip, spat it out, and collapsed against him, trembling.

“Wanaaady,” she whimpered softly.

Wolf kissed the top of her head comfortingly. “What was that?”

“I want my daddy!” Virginia burst into sloppy tears.

Wolf was so startled he blurted out the first thing that crossed his mind. “Why would anyone want Tony when you’ve got me?”

Virginia cried harder, and pushed him away when he tried to hug her. “I’m sick and I’m scared and he was always there to take care of me.”

“Tony took care of you?” His imagination boggled. From everything Wolf had seen in their journeys, Tony was the one who needed taking care of. A great deal of taking care of. “Gini-sweetie-you have me to take care of you. Haven’t I always?”

“I know, I know.” She pushed him again, turned back to him, flapped her hands uselessly, and then finally buried her face in them. “I know. I... he was always there for me, even if he wasn’t much good. Even when he lost everything, he was there. Not like...”

“Oh.” Wolf gathered her back into his arms, rocking her soothingly. “Nobody’s left you. Not this time. He’s just on the other side of the mirror.”

“I just wish I could talk to him,” Virginia told his shirt.

Wolf stroked her hair and thought quickly. That might work. There didn’t look like any loopholes, and it would make his mate happy.

“I wish you could find a way to communicate with your father while the two of you are apart,” he said cautiously.

Virginia sniffled and watched the green smoke dissipate in the afternoon breeze. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Wolf rocked her for a few more minutes, then asked “Are you ready to go back? Or at least get out of the bushes?”

“Yeah.”

She was too weak to walk all the way back home and too proud to let him simply carry her. So they walked slowly, stopping at every empty bench, with Wolf worrying every step of the way.

He had to find work. She’d explained it all to him. He didn’t understand everything, but he’d grasped the basic concepts. You had to have something called “insurance” to see doctors here, and you got it along with money when you got work. Virginia needed a doctor right now, so he needed to find work right away.

“What are you doing?” Virginia asked as he picked nervously at the wrinkled ribbon as they stopped to rest again. “You only made one wish, not two.” She gave him a distrustful look. “You aren’t going to wish on me, are you? You promised!”

“I’m trying something.” He tried to keep his doubt out of his voice. “If it works, we’ll be able to get you to a doctor. If it doesn’t... well, we’ll have one wish left.”

“Wolf...”

Wolf looked at the twisted place at the ribbon where the knot had been, and took a huge breath for courage. Please, please-if there are any powers that look kindly on wolfs and heroines, don’t let me mess this up! “I wish that we will meet someone today who will offer us...” He thought furiously, trying to leave as few loopholes as possible. “... offer us both jobs that we will enjoy and will pay us enough money and give Virginia insurance so she can see a doctor right away.”

The green stuff vapored around them both, as if it was trying to see into their hearts and minds before it drifted away across the park.

“What if the doctor says there’s something wrong with the baby? Like it having a tail?”

His succulent sweetie might be having a very bad day, but that was just plain rude! “What’s wrong with having a tail?”

“Nothing... if you’re not from around here and don’t mind answering questions about where you’re from.”

“Oh.” Wolf shrugged. “Let’s worry about that later. We still have one wish left.”