Introduction:
This series will take place between The Dark Moon (Book 3 of The Parker Harris Series) and The Shimmering Pool (Book 1 of The Crispin Sinclair Chronicles). It would be best to read the Parker Harris Series first before reading any of the flash fiction so the story isn't spoiled for you. The first book, Cascades of Moonlight is FREE
AMAZON LINK :
The
Parker Harris Flash Fiction Series
The Shifting
Potion
“It’s that time of the month again.”
Jackie’s words made Mitchell cringe. He covered his ears and started making
‘la,la,la’ noises to drown her out. She smacked his arm and said, “Full moon,
ding dong. Not the other thing.”
“I know. Why do you think I was blocking
it from my mind?” He placed his arms around her waist and pulled her closer
until their noses touched. “Two nights without you in my arms is torture. And
Quinn is very grouchy when Parker is gone too. He’s a terrible snuggler.”
Jackie laughed as she pushed up on her toes to give him a kiss.
“You’ll have plenty to keep you company. Amytha
runs Quinn ragged. She’s six going on seventeen. And then there’s Charisma who
is always needing help with Crispin. Besides, this is a monthly gig, nothing
new.”
Parker and Jackie had made shifting a girl’s
weekend away the year after they got married to Quinn and Mitchell
respectively. When the full moon came, they whisked away to Quinn’s old cabin
for the weekend. At night, they shifted and ran through the woods. During the
day, they shared margaritas and bonded over girl talk.
For the rest of their lives they’d be
shifting once a month until they could both learn to control it. It had been a
work in progress, but they were getting somewhere. During the past month,
Parker stalled her shift for an entire night. Neither of them had told the guys
because they didn’t want to get their hopes up until they were sure they could
both control it for the entire cycle.
“What do you two talk about anyway? How
irresistible I am?” Mitchell’s ego had not subsided any with marriage.
Rolling her eyes, Jackie gushed, “Yes. We
can’t find anything else to talk about other than how adorable and wonderful
and – “
“Drop dead gorgeous. I figured.” Jackie
laughed and kissed him again. She didn’t need to argue with him, it was futile
and he wasn’t wrong.
***
Parker arrived at the cabin with Quinn
beside her. She arranged to get there a little earlier than Jackie because she
had a surprise she wanted to put together. “Don’t forget we promised Amytha she
could go to the zoo since she did so well on her spelling test last week. And
invite Crispin to go with you guys. He loves the tigers. Oh and – “ Her list of
honey-do items was interrupted by Quinn’s lips smashing against hers.
“I have this parenting thing under
control. Three balanced meals a day. I feed her ice cream, cookies and any
chocolate she wants just before bed every night. Also, we only play with knives
in the kitchen and we jump up and down with them only, never run.”
“Ha ha.” Parker had complete faith in
Quinn, he was a better father than she could’ve ever imagined. They only
adopted Amytha a year ago but you’d have thought they’d had her forever. “I
hate being away from her for even a minute.”
“She’ll be fine. And in two days you’ll be
back home and we’ll have our usual welcome home dinner waiting.” Quinn’s lips
brushed against Parker’s. “I love you.” Placing his arms around her waist, his
hands dropped down to cup her butt as he lifted her up in the air. She wrapped
her legs around his waist and grinned as they continued their kiss.
“Get a room!” Mitchell and Jackie said in
unison as they came into the cabin.
Parker’s feet dropped back to floor.
“Sorry.” The men arranged the bags while Parker pulled Jackie to the side.
Whispering softly, she said, “Charisma gave me a potion to use. We’re going to
test it tonight on you to see if it can control your shifting. It’s supposed to
relax your body to the point it doesn’t shift. If it works on you tonight, we
can start using it each month.”
Jackie whispered back, “Why me? Shouldn’t
we try it on you since you’ve been successful with not shifting.”
“That’s the point. You haven’t been so if
it works on you, then it will work on both of us. I didn’t tell Quinn or
Mitchell because I don’t want to get their hopes up.”
Saying goodbye was always a long process
between the couples. They’d kiss and repeat the ‘I love you’s’ until one gender
finally said goodbye. On this night, the females let go first pushing them out
the door.
***
“You drink this and according to Chari it
works in less than thirty minutes. I’m going to set up this video camera to
record in case I can’t restrict my shifting tonight. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. The worst that
could happen is it doesn’t work and I shift.” An hour later they were still
staring at each other. The full moon had emerged from behind the clouds but
neither of them had shifted. It seemed the potion worked.
“You know what this means for me?” Jackie
asked, her voice breaking with the fear of saying what she felt out loud.
Parker shook her head. “It means Mitchell and I can consider adoption now.”
Before Parker could ask, Jackie elaborated. “Before, I was scared. I know you
do motherhood well, but with the shift in the way I didn’t want to take on the
extra responsibility. Now, we have a chance to be normal parents.”
“Well, supernatural abilities aside, none
of us have ever been normal.” They laughed for a few moments enjoying the
peacefulness of the full moon without pain.
Now all they would need to do was try
again the next night to be sure before they filled the guys in. Parker gave
Jackie a thumbs up and together they shed a tear with the hope they could put
their painful shifting days in the past and regain as much of a normal life as
possible.
Stay Tuned for more entries in the Series... Feel free to leave comments below with any questions you've had about the Fab Four and I will do my best to answer them in the series.
©Author Amy K McClung
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