During the time that Selina napped with Sorcha, Melody and I watched a movie with Jess and Carmen and my sister gave me a few more brief girl lessons. We allowed the pair to sleep for an hour before waking them, so they didn’t sleep too much that they wouldn’t be able to do so when they went to bed that night, and most of the remainder of the day was spent just hanging out. While it seemed that Selina was still a ‘Momma’s girl’ she did seem to relax with the others and her new environment a little more as the evening progressed.

We tried to ease Selina into her new living situation but there were little things that made it clear just how difficult her past had been. She all but scrambled for a place to hide when a scene in a movie we were watching inched uncomfortably close to child abuse and triggered her. I held her and whispered that she was safe and I was there for a while to reassure her that everything was okay while Carmen switched the channel to one that played only cartoons since it was something we could all watch, and it made Sorcha happy too.

Just before dinner, Aislinn had finished her work with the Brownies Jack and Jill for the day. The club had been open downstairs for an hour and a half by that point and they had spent the past two hours tidying up all the dorm rooms and doing laundry. Dr. Diaz got home from working at her practice at around the same time and both mothers settled in with us for the evening to spend some time with their respective daughters and us other kids. From my time living above the club so far, I liked and respected both of them, they could be damn stern and scary sometimes but they obviously adored their girls and wanted them safe and happy.

When we all started getting hungry for dinner, the pair took our orders to get our meals from the kitchen down in the club. Poor Selina was like a deer in the headlights as she first looked to me for permission and then had trouble figuring out what she wanted. She was so used to eating whatever she could scrounge up that choosing what she actually wanted to eat seemed a foreign concept to her.

Dr. Diaz, bless her heart, settled that by suggesting that Selina order the appetizer platter so she could try a bunch of different things to find out what her new taste buds liked. We already knew from breakfast and lunch that, like most Fey, she couldn’t stomach much meat so it seemed like a good idea. It turned out well too, as Selina eagerly tried everything on the platter. She couldn’t finish it all, but between Carmen, Melody, Sorcha, and me needing to eat more for our Salamanders, we were able to help her out.

After dinner, Sorcha was snuggled up in her mother’s lap as the elder Selkie brushed and braided her hair, a little bit of mother-daughter time as they watched cartoons. After seeing Selina watching the pair with need-filled eyes, I ran to my room to grab my brush and a hair tie so I could do the same for her. While she sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch, I sat behind her and carefully brushed her hair and then used my limited experience with Jessica’s hair and my nimble fingers to carefully braid it.

She seemed so happy as I worked, except for a few times when I had caught a tangle and pulled a bit too hard. I could feel her flinching and stiffening before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. That was more than just flinching from a yanked tangle and I wasn’t the only one to notice it, but none of us wanted to make her talk about her past since it seemed that the only parts of it that were still intact in her mind were the traumatic ones. So, each time it happened I apologized in as soothing a voice as I could. I had asked the first time if she wanted me to stop but she quickly shook her head and said, “No,” so desperately that I just had to hold her from behind for a moment and assure her that she was safe with us and everything would be alright.

By nine-thirty Lou had emerged from playing videogames in his room to try to be social and Selina was practically curled up in my lap as she and Sorcha were engrossed in the cartoons playing on the television. Aislinn had said that Sorcha could stay up until ten to watch along with her and, from the way that Selina was starting to droop in front of me, I was probably going to get her in bed at the same time. Despite having a nap, she hadn’t gotten very much sleep the night before and she had gone through a pretty big change when I ‘Manifested’ her. I couldn’t even be sure when the last time she had gotten a full night of sleep was, with her living on the streets.

To my surprise, at quarter to ten, Cindy came upstairs with a covered tray that was producing a tantalizing scent. ~It’s a slow night, so I thought that I would make you kids a treat and spend my break up here,~ the Mermaid told us as she placed the tray on one of the tables and went into the fridge to produce a large jug of milk. ~Lou, could you be a dear and fetch some glasses from the cupboard?~

I had a hard time not laughing at the thought of the werewolf ‘fetching’ and soon all of us ‘kids’ were at the table with glasses of milk and a platter of what turned out to be chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. They were warm, gooey, and so delicious and once Selina had taken her first bite she burst into tears. “Is everything okay, Selina?” Dr. Diaz asked gently before I could manage to swallow my mouthful of goodness enough to do it myself.

For a moment she could only nod as she brushed away tears with her sleeve. “I… I just never…” I had thought she was going to say something about never thinking she was going to be welcome or have a family, and I figured that was probably part of it too as she finished, “I’ve… never had homemade cookies before.”

While I wasn’t terribly surprised by her admission, I was definitely pissed off. Never had homemade cookies? Sure, Dad wasn’t Betty Crocker or anything, and his job kept him busy, but even he had tried to do things like that for me and Jess when he had the time. “You have as many as you like,” I told her gently as I got out of my chair to wrap her in a hug. “In ten minutes it’s time for bed though, you have a busy day tomorrow. I’ll be right back, I need to talk to Cindy, Dr. Diaz, and Aislinn for a minute.”

I made my way over to the couches with Carmen’s mother where Cindy was having a quick coffee and rather than chatting with the other women they were all watching Selina with a sad look as she savored each bite of her cookie as if it might be her last. ~That poor girl, she’s had it so hard. It’s all over her surface thoughts and projecting every time that she gets surprised by something. I’m glad that you found her and brought her here, Crystal. She needs a loving family more than anyone I’ve ever seen,~ the Mermaid sent me with a sad shake of her head as I approached.

“Yeah, I almost want to find the jackasses who put her through all of that and change them too. Something that reflects the monsters they are inside.” I took a deep breath to calm myself and got to the point, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper, “I was wondering how you are with cakes, Cindy? Yesterday was technically Selina’s ‘birth’ day and I’m willing to bet that she’s never been able to celebrate it without being pressured to be someone she wasn’t so I want to do something for her tomorrow when we get back from shopping. I’d pay you, of course…”

~No you won’t,~ the Mermaid countered quickly. ~I wouldn’t hear of it, that girl is family and so are you, Crystal. Brock and I make cakes for everyone’s birthdays and I think this is a great idea. She’s getting the biggest and girliest cake that I can come up with.~

“Aye, and I think we have some streamers, balloons, and some other decorations left from Sorcha and Carmen’s last birthday parties. Jill, Jack, and I can put off cleaning up here after we’re done downstairs for long enough to decorate the common room. It wouldn’t be the first time,” Aislinn offered in a low voice.

“I’ll talk to Carmen before bed and maybe while you and your mother take Selina shopping she, and the other kids can go get her some stuffed animals or things for her room as birthday gifts.” Dr. Diaz added in a whisper of her own.

“Good idea, Isabella,” Aislinn agreed with a quick nod. “I’ll see if there’s anything that Sorcha might want to get her when I tuck her in.”

“Thanks, everyone, you’re all awesome,” I said before hugging the three in turn and going back to the table with Selina and the others. Those cookies were so good and just perfect with that glass of milk, but what really warmed me up inside was how happy Selina looked as she enjoyed each bite and started to relax a bit around other members of our strange family. Aislinn and I gave her and Sorcha an extra ten minutes before leading the pair to their rooms to wash up for bed.

Once Selina was done washing up as best she could, I had her get undressed and into bed and then tenderly tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, Selina. I love you, Sweetie. I’m just down the hall if you need me but remember that you’ll need to put on the nightshirt at the end of your bed if you leave your room, even if it’s just to see me. Oh, and try to knock first and give me a moment to answer, in case I’m not asleep and busy with something.”

“Good night, Momma, I love you.” She got up and half-crushed me in a hug before settling back into the blankets and closing her eyes.

I awoke the next morning wrapped up in Melody’s arms while Selina was snuggled up close to me on the other side in the sleep shirt that Jess had loaned her from her old clothes. Melody and I had returned to my room after Selina was asleep in her bed so that I could return the favor from earlier in the day. I was inexperienced in pleasing a woman but Melody had been loving and patient and I was a quick study, especially since I wanted to make her feel like she had made me feel earlier. I loved her and I found that her pleasure was as important to me as my own when we were together.

I had managed to bring Melody to orgasm several times once I became comfortable and more confident in what I was doing and she had recovered enough before we fell asleep to give me a few of my own so that I could fall asleep satisfied. I smiled at the memory as I snuggled into her arms and reached out to gently stroke Selina’s cheek. She had come in sometime in the middle of the night after another nightmare and her knock hadn’t woken me or Melody but I had stirred as she attempted to join me in the bed and then froze in uncertainty when she noticed Melody with me.

Melody had stirred as well and poor Selina wasn’t sure what to do. She needed her momma but at the same time seeing me in bed with someone, and the realization of what we were probably doing before falling asleep had her frozen. She may have seemed somewhat childlike as she tried to find herself and adjust to her new form and situation, and maybe a bit naïve at times about some things, but she was thirteen and she wasn’t stupid.

So, Melody and I explained our budding relationship to her and assured her that it was okay to come and snuggle if she needed me, so long as she was wearing something so it wouldn’t get weird(er). She was okay with that, probably for the same reason I was, because as much as I hated wearing clothes the thought of being naked around my Mom (or new daughter) while doing something as intimate as cuddling made me feel awkward and a bit squicky. It was bizarre enough having a hot mother who looked close to my age without adding the whole naked snuggling thing and I felt similar about Selina since we had imprinted.

Had it been anyone else sharing my bed I probably would have gotten out of bed to throw something on, taken Selina back to her room, and comforted her there until she fell back to sleep but this was Melody and I was quickly coming to believe that we were soulmates. Selina would need to get used to the idea that Melody might just end up being another parent-type figure in her life. So, I just made sure that Melody and I were properly covered with my sheets and that Selina laid atop those sheets still in her sleepshirt when she curled up with us under the comforter. Us trying to get dressed with her in the room would have just made things uncomfortable, especially for Selina and Melody, given the situation.

Melody had rolled over to turn off the alarm and, noticing that Selina was still asleep she gave me a quick kiss and a whispered, “I love you,” before throwing on her shirt and panties, snatching up the rest of her clothes, and dashing for the door and across the hall to her room after closing the door behind her.

I smiled as I watched her leave and then turned to gently shake Selina’s shoulder. “Selina, it’s time to get up. We have a lot to do today. You need to get showered and dressed.” It took a few minutes but I finally got the sleepyhead up and moving and then once she was on her way back to her room to shower I left for my own.

I was a little horny, but not near as bad as I had been recently after last night. My showerhead helped to relieve that dull aching emptiness as I showered and by the time I was cleaned, dressed, and ready to head downstairs for breakfast I was feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Mom and Pandora had already headed downstairs with most of the others, and Melody was waiting for me in the hall but Jessica and Selina were in the latter’s room. My sister had seemingly helped Selina with choosing some of her old clothes to wear and was standing behind her and blow-drying her hair when I looked in.

“Thank you... umm… Aunt Jess,” Selina said a little nervously when my sister was done drying and then braiding her hair.

“No problem, Kiddo. Now let’s go have some breakfast,” my sister said with a grin as she gently pushed the Astrae out into the hall.

Jimmy arrived about halfway through breakfast, a doorbell announcing the arrival of a visitor outside of business hours. Once he was let in, Jimmy was ushered to a table to have breakfast with us, and with the way he just went along with it, I assumed that this wasn’t the first time he had visited and had a meal in the club during off-hours. He was certainly welcomed eagerly enough. After breakfast though, Mom led us to a clean and unoccupied booth so we could have some privacy while Jimmy did his thing. He had brought along a large briefcase and his laptop case and assured me that it had everything that he would need for a home intake.

Selina was nervous once we explained who he was and what his job was and clutched my arm, her eyes wide with fear, as if afraid that he was going to take her away from me and send her back to her human parents. Jimmy seemed to know better than to reach out for her and kept his tone even and calm as he said, “It’s okay, Selina. I’ve been told about your somewhat unorthodox Manifestation and relationship with Crystal. I’m only here to make sure that you have a legal identity, can get the resources that you might need, and be certain that Crystal is prepared for everything that raising you entails.”

“You mean…” Selina began hesitantly.

“Yes, you can stay here with her,” he finished, offering a reassuring smile. “This is an unusual situation but Crystal will be eighteen in a few weeks. So, as long as she is willing, mature, and financially and mentally prepared to care for you then I have no problem pre-dating some adoption and custody papers for her birthday and placing you legally in Tiffani’s care until then. I know these people, and they’re going to make sure that both you and Crystal get the care you need, we just need to work out the details and a cover story that looks good on paper.”

“I’m not going to abandon her,” I told Jimmy seriously. I’ve got over eighty thousand in the bank and I’ll have a job after my birthday, I hope.”

Mom quickly nodded. “Crystal will be ready to start working at the club by then. Part-time shifts until she finishes school to ease her in and so she’ll have time for homework and personal time. When she’s done school she can work full time and she’ll have the same deal that all of our girls have: Seventy percent of all of her tips and ‘service’ fees and room and board for her and any dependents.”

Damn, I didn’t know much about the adult entertainment industry, but that sounded like a pretty sweet deal to me, especially when it included seldom having to wear clothes and all the sex a Nymph could want. No wonder Rhissa could afford that nice little convertible of hers. I was still mentally seeing dollar signs when Jimmy asked, “And what do you plan to do about school for Selina?”

“We plan to home school her until next year when she can start high school in September. She needs time to adjust to her new self and Crystal should be able to afford to send her to St. Michelle’s with the money she’ll likely be making here,” my mother explained.

Jimmy nodded thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. “That would be satisfactory. I think we can stick close to the truth on her background by filing an incident report. We’ll say she’s a member of a newly discovered species and not much is known about her kind yet. She was being attacked when Crystal and the others ran across her and she suffered memory loss as a result and seemingly imprinted on Crystal in her confusion. Carmilla ‘happened upon you’ and witnessed everything so she could sign as a witness. I don’t think anyone would dare go against her word on the matter, so then I can file the documents and applications for the intake and new identity at the same time.”

I liked this plan and smiled in relief. “Thanks, Jimmy, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Crystal. You and I have a lot of paperwork to do, consider it penance for your little mistake and try to be more careful next time,” he replied. His tone was good-humored and kindly though. I liked Jimmy and as sexy as he was, if he wasn’t gay and I wasn’t still technically underage, I would fuck his brains out in a heartbeat.

We spent the next hour and a bit filling out and signing paperwork, my hand was so cramped by the time we were done and Carmilla and Mom had signed their parts as well. T’s had been crossed and I’s dotted though and everything was ready to go. The hardest part had been the paperwork for the PDA to apply for the new identity stuff for her, like a birth certificate and social insurance number and all that. The PDA registration card was simple by comparison; Jimmy only needed to take a picture and add our address and the details we had come up with and he promised to drop that off for her tonight at the club after work.

So, Selina Tiffani Cummings was now a real girl with a birthday of December 21st since she was technically a Jane Doe with no memory and that was the day we had come across her. The paperwork marked her as thirteen years old and my Mom as her guardian until I was eighteen and could be formally recognized. To keep in theme with our story, a lot of her information such as her abilities, dietary requirements, and such were marked as either n/a or unknown though we did use the species name that I had come up with and made a note on it. I guess that was my right since I was the one to formally ‘discover’ her.

Selina clung to me in happy excitement as Jimmy told us that once he filed the papers at the office in an hour or two it would all be official. I wasn’t really sure if I should be happy or scared as it sunk in that she was staying and I was going to be her parent. I was happy for her and I couldn’t help but care about her but I was so scared of failing her. Once we had thanked Jimmy and saw him off at the door, Mom sent us upstairs to our rooms to get ready for our shopping trip.

After pulling on my leather jacket and favorite boots and casting the illusion over the pointy ends of my ears, I stepped out into the hallway and made my way to the common room where Jess, Melody, Carmen, and Lou were waiting with a glamoured Selina and trying to let her get to know them all a bit better. Selina was wearing a pair of my sister’s old fleece-lined boots and a poofy pink jacket over her clothes for cold weather along with a scarf, a warm knit beanie to keep her ears warm, and there was a pair of pink and white gloves in her pocket.

My Astrae daughter, damn that was going to be hard to get used to mentally, looked me over with some confusion when I arrived. “Momma, Nana Tiffani said that it’s really cold outside. Aren’t you gonna be cold when we’re outside the car?”

“I’m a Snow Nymph, Selina, I don’t get cold,” I offered with a shrug. Other than my unzipped leather jacket and boots, my outerwear only really consisted of a pair of thin leggings with a slight silvery sheen to them and a powder blue peasant blouse with white snowflake patterns. The latter showed quite a bit of cleavage, was cinched tightly at the waist with white laces, and flared outward in loose pleats over my hips. “I should probably zip up my jacket and get some gloves and stuff for camouflage while we’re out though.”

“Yeah, you’re going to get a lot of attention out there if you don’t at least look like you’re trying to bundle up against the cold when you’re outside,” Lou agreed while giving me an appreciative once over with his eyes.

I made a mental note to get some cold weather camouflage while we were out and to try to get my Christmas gifts for my sister, Melody, and Selina if I could as well. Not to mention a birthday gift for Selina’s surprise party later in the afternoon. Melody chose that moment to reveal, “Jess and I are probably going to hang out and finish our Christmas shopping with Lou and Carmen while you girls are off doing your thing. Lou managed to convince Genevieve to let us take her car.” I smiled as I realized that Carmen and Melody must have let Lou and Jess in on the plan, and they did need to finish their shopping anyway.

“Yeah, Mom was cool about it,” Lou told me with a lupine grin. “She wants me to try to get to know you all a bit better since you’re living here now and since you and I have the car thing in common, she figured that this would be a good chance to get to know Jessica and Melody better too.”

“What about Sorcha?” I asked, feeling bad that we were all going off and leaving out the little Selkie.

“Rhissa and Krysti are going to keep her entertained and Krysti is going to see if she can start teaching Sorcha to use the ability that Ashe sensed in her. Krysti should be able to help since Kitsune are as sensitive to and talented with Divine magic as you Muses are. And since Kitsunes love to play games, she may be able to teach Sorcha and entertain her at the same time,” Carmen explained. Then she added with a subtle wink, “I think they were going to take her to that big toy store that she likes too if she behaves.”

“Okay, well you four be careful, I know that Melody will protect you if something happens but Jess is probably gonna get a lot of attention going around looking like me.” I couldn’t help but feel a little worried for them all. Melody was tough and street smart but she was still learning to do the bodyguard thing without resorting to brute strength or blowing shit up with that enormous hand cannon of hers.

“Don’t worry, Sis, I’ll be going low-profile,” my sister promised. “I’m going to make myself look as average as I can manage and I’ll wear some of my old stuff. With a more subdued look and some baggy winter clothes, I should blend right in. Speaking of, we should all get ready to go. Have fun with Mom and my new niece, Sis.”

Slightly less worried, I nodded and led Selina to the elevator so we could head down to the garage where Mom, Aunt Merry, and Annika were waiting for us. Mom had dispelled the illusion that made her hair appear aquamarine and was wearing an illusion to make her ears look normal. With that done Mom, Selina, and I looked similar enough to be sisters since Mom looked around twenty-ish, I appeared around sixteen or maybe seventeen, and Selina looked like a tween, though one who had just hit puberty in a big way.

It was a little weird if I’m being honest, but such is life when you’re a Fey or one of their close cousin species like we were. Krysti was right, people never really consider the bad things about eternal youth. Looking eternally young could make things extremely awkweird for your kids, for one thing. It was kind of weird for me to call Tiffani Mom sometimes because she didn’t look all that much older than me. I imagined that it could be just as weird for her too, and I was getting a preview of that with Selina calling me ‘Momma’ all of the time.

I was going to have to remember to call Mom Tiffani while we were out today and before we left I was sure to tell Selina to call me Crystal while we were out among the normies. She looked a bit uncertain about it, her lip quivering and her eyes watering a bit and I once again cursed her human parents for her fear of rejection. I knew that that was her real problem, she wasn’t stupid since she had picked up Aunt Merry’s lessons quick enough and had shown herself to be observant in other ways. I just needed to be gentle with her while I helped her to build herself and her confidence up a bit.

I tried to give her a reassuring smile and quietly assured her, “You can still call me Momma while we were at home, on the phone, or not surrounded by normies if that’s what makes you comfortable, Sweetie. We need to keep a low profile when in non-Paranormal public places. We look too close in age for normies to think I’m anything more than an older sister. It’s the same with Mom, so we’ll need to call her Tiffani as well. If we’re not careful then people could start to suspect we’re not normal and we could all be in danger. None of us want to put you in danger, Selina.”

“O-Okay, Momma,” she replied before frowning and looking down at her feet. “Sorry, I’ll try harder…”

Mom cupped Selina’s chin in her hand and gently lifted it so that she was looking at us. “If you are a Fey offshoot as we suspect then you are likely as bound to the truth as the rest of us, Selina. You cannot lie directly so you might have to think in selective truths while we are out. I know that you see Crystal as your mother, that is your truth, and it is likely making it difficult for you to call her anything else but her name is Crystal. That is true as well, so you will just be using her name instead of the title that connects you.”

“You may be required to speak the truth, but you are not required to speak, young one. If anyone asks you something and you are uncertain about how to answer without revealing something best-kept secret, just remain silent and one of us will speak for you,” Aunt Merry quickly added. “I will help to teach you more on using selective truths at another time but for today that should suffice.”

Selina nodded slowly, a determined expression scrunching up her young face as she committed all of the advice to memory. With that brief lesson concluded, we were as ready to go as we were going to get. I had been looking forward to taking the Charger but we ended up taking the club’s truck instead since Annika would have been pretty cramped in my car. Hell, at almost seven feet tall she barely had room in the driver’s seat of the truck. Yeah, she was driving and Aunt Merry sat in the front on the passenger’s side while Mom, Selina, and I all sat in the back. Apparently, our pair of bodyguards thought that it was safer that way. Oh well, at least we were on our way.