It was very hard for Jim to explain things to his relatives. First he tried asking Rick to use the ring to imitate a guy--he had only tried it on females so far, but it turned out that pictures of guys did work. Unfortunately, Rick wasn't that good at impersonation. Ultimately, he had to demonstrate it in front of his family with Rick's help. It was hard to deny that magic exists when someone changes sex right in front of you.
So Jim's family didn't wonder why he was missing for three months. Finally, in the fall, it came time for the birth--Jim really hoped he'd give birth before the fall semester of college started.
Jim went to the clinic when he first felt labor pains. Knowing nothing about it, Jim was told to go home, because it was false labor. The next time Jim went, it was for real. Many, many, hours later, Jim gave birth to a baby boy, named Rick, of course (but he'd probably get called Ricky for a while). The baby looked about as much like the adult Rick as was possible for a baby to look like--it had a minor birthmark that matched Rick's, and if Rick had compared its fingers to his he would have seen the same fingerprints.
And as soon as the afterbirth came out... Jim transformed back to himself. Right on the delivery table.
The doctor was shocked.
"Magic," was all Jim could say. And obviously, it was. Jim ended up being listed as the father on the birth certificate, with no mother--which was very much not normally done.
"You've broken several rules of physics and biology," said the doctor. "Breaking a few rules about birth certificates isn't going to be a problem. I'm going to wait a few days before filing this in case your magic, whatever it is, means I need to change it."
And the birth was over. Jim took the baby home, not sure how to proceed.
Mon Jun 18 17:53:43 2007