Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

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The Legal Stuff: Emerald Princess © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 

Epilogue

WHEN I WOKE, I had spent some time playing with Caireen in my Castle nursery and felt rested. Mom was opening my door, and I rubbed my eyes, “Good nap?” She asked me quietly.

I shrugged, “I guess… Are we there?”

She nodded and unbuckled me from the car seat. She wrapped me in a blanket instead of putting a coat on me, and I took the chance to look around as she carried me inside.

It was a beautiful modern log cabin with large windows! The clearing around it was covered in fresh white snow, and the trees beyond it also seemed to have a fresh dusting. There were tall windows overlooking a valley of lights below us. ‘This could be a postcard!’ I thought to myself. Dad carried a sleeping Lily in his arms behind us. At the same time, Hannah’s dad worked an electronic key box that contained the rental key inside. He unlocked the door just as I began shivering from the cold, revealing a substantial open floor living space as he turned on the lights.

“Whoa, this is awesome!” Hannah said quietly.

I agreed! A big fireplace was against the back wall of the living room. Beside it were huge windows that I guessed would have a great view during the daytime. A set of couches facing the fireplace created a cozy living space. A colossal elk head was mounted above the fireplace giving it the rustic cabin feel. Another more open area led to more windows, and a tall Christmas tree joined other decorations the owners must have put out for us. On the opposite side of the house was a huge dining room table that could easily seat six more people than we had with us. The kitchen looked about as state of the art as it could, with multiple ovens, two stovetops mounted on an island, and two large commercial refrigerators.

“Wow…” Mom said, “I’m not sure I’ll want to go home!”

Dad laughed, “Let’s go upstairs and check out the rooms.”

Upstairs it turned out there were two large main bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. Both bathrooms featured whirlpool tubs and separate showers! A slightly smaller bedroom also had its own bathroom attached, but it had a simple bathtub with a shower. We opened a fourth door, and Mom seemed unsurprised to see a crib and a set of bunk beds inside. I sighed, knowing the crib was where I’d be sleeping while my ‘big-girl’ baby sister would be sleeping in the lower bunk.

Mom sat me down on the ground while Dad sat Lily on a changing table. “She needs to be changed for bed anyway, but her Pull-Up is wet,” he whispered.

Mom said, “Thanks,” and sat me down on the ground. I watched as she dug into an oversized purse she had carried upstairs. Her hands pulled out a regular diaper and quickly changed Lily into a set of footed pajamas. She didn’t stir as Mom tucked her into the bottom bunk and nudged me to walk out the door with her hand on my head. She closed the door partially behind us and turned off the lights.

“She’s still in diapers at night?” I asked.

“Normally just Pull-Ups then too, but I don’t want her to leak and make a mess in someone else’s bed?”

I nodded, “It’s so weird having a baby sister that’s potty-trained… and I’m not!”

Mom picked me up and squeezed me, “I’m so glad to hold you again - I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too, Mom,” I squeezed her back.

Dad brought up our luggage, followed by Hannah’s parents and Hannah bringing hers. Mom felt my diaper, “Feels like someone else needs a change too?”

I nodded, “Probably.”

“You want to take a bath and then call it a night?” Mom asked me.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“About ten?” Mom replied.

“I guess. It was a long day,” I admitted.

“Then I’m guessing you normally nurse from Hannah before bed?”

I blushed, “Yes…?”

She hugged me, “It’s okay; you and Hannah look beautiful together when you nurse. I’m just going to miss feeding you a bottle and watching you go to sleep in my arms.”

Hannah was standing there and said, “I could pump tonight, and you could feed her a bottle still…?” she offered.

Mom looked at me for a moment, “You don’t mind?” she looked at both of us.

I shrugged, “If Hannah’s okay, I am too?”

“I’ll warm up one of her bottles for you when you’re finished with her bath.”

Hannah made Mom’s night then, as she got to smother me in a bath and then sat down on the sofa with me downstairs. Mom had dressed me in one of my warm footed sleepers and soon had me cradled comfortably in her arms. Then, after a flash of green, Hannah brought one of my bottles and handed it to my mom.

“It’s the right temperature?” Mom questioned.

“A little trick I can do,” Hannah told her. “Normally, I use it in the cafeteria for her there.”

Mom nodded, and I watched her tilt the bottle toward my face and bring the soft nipple to my mouth. I smiled and looked into her eyes for a moment as I began nursing and Mom sang a lullaby. My eyes quickly grew heavy, and I was out before I finished the bottle.

 

I WOKE UP in Caireen’s castle that night and spent a day playing in my playhouse. I was glad that it was still summer temperatures there as I only had on my diaper and a short dress that day. Caireen spent a little time teaching me some refinements to some spells but mostly had been letting me play and let off stress since we’d completed our war with Camulus. The castle was already beginning to mostly look back to normal. We talked about me removing the rubble from the outer walls or fixing them for a little bit that night. Over the next few weeks, we would rebuild the valley walls. I added some ornate touches that made them really inspiring to look at. We decided to just clear and remove the one from around the castle area to restore the typical beauty of the grounds. The moat was also cleared, and all you could see was the beautiful meadowy grass I had first seen when I arrived.

The best part was that the butterflies returned!

When Mom picked me up out of my crib that next morning, I was disoriented. “Mom!” I said with a smile.

She hugged me, “I’m glad to see you in the morning too!”

Lily apparently had gotten up earlier. Somehow, I was told I’d slept through her having a massive fit over the wet diaper she was wearing when she woke up. Mom had changed me into a long-sleeved onesie and jeans before looking at my hair. “Why is your hair this short?”

“Oh… I forgot to change it back last night… The company wanted me to look more my age with my hair for the shoot.”

Mom smiled, “You do look more like a baby your age should.”

I could see something in her eyes, “You want me to leave it alone for today?”

“I don’t want to embarrass you?”

I shrugged, “I just spent two weeks pretending to be younger and eating baby food and Hannah’s milk only; the hair isn’t that big of a deal?”

She smiled, and I knew I was making the right choice leaving it for now. “Okay, Hannah probably needs you right now… Let me drop you off with her, and I’ll help her mom with breakfast.”

Hannah looked at me when Mom passed me over; having been through a shower herself, it seemed since her hair was still wet. “Didn’t feel like changing your hair back yet?” She asked.

I shrugged, “I think my Mom has been missing me. She didn’t want to ask me, but I could tell she’d rather me look like this right now.”

Hannah laughed, “We had such a hard time getting you to accept being a baby, and now look at you?”

I laughed too, “Okay, Mommy, enough making fun of me, hungwy!”

She laughed and carried me down to the living area and the same couch Mom had given me my bottle the night before. I could tell she was still a bit sheepish about feeding me openly there, but her need overrode her embarrassment. When I was done, she burped me and got a large belch for her trouble.

“My goodness, someone has wigglys in their tummy in there!” Hannah’s mom said from across the room, successfully making me blush again!

We spent that day going into town and picking up groceries and supplies to make meals for our two families for the next week. Mom pretty much held me any chance she got, seconded by Hannah’s mom, who seemed to also be growing attached to me! Meanwhile, Lily was basking in attention from Hannah. Hannah was a big help to Mom, keeping Lily on the straight and narrow with her potty training. She only had one accident that day while we were out and seemed to mostly be ready for regular panties!

Meanwhile, I was going through the new diapers I’d been given at the photoshoot at my usual pace!

On our second day there, we traveled to a local ski resort. I talked to Hannah first and then to Mom as she put a new diaper on me that morning.

“Mom?”

“Yes, Sweetie?”

“Umm… I wanted to see if you would mind me doing something different today?”

“What’s that?” She asked as she sat me on the ground.

“This,” I said, and changed myself into the teenage girl form I’d done before, but with a more mature version of ski pants than I was actually wearing.

“What?!?” She asked, “But…?”

Dad came in right then and asked, “Who… Sofia?”

I smiled, “It’s not real… It’s like I’m a tiny body controlling a mech suit or something, but I think I could ski better this way? Hannah and I can spend some normal teenage time together?”

Mom looked shocked, “You still need your diapers, right?”

I nodded, “Caireen will let me use magic to change them now in certain situations.”

“Problem is we rented two kids’ ski sets…?” Dad said. “We haven’t bought lift tickets yet, though…?”

“Did you already pick up the skis?” I asked.

“No, we needed to measure you and Lily…?”

“How old are kids up to?” I asked after a moment of thinking.

“Ten or twelve?”

I thought for a moment and shrank my projection down to four foot two, made my breasts almost non-existent and changed my hair into a pair of braided pigtails. “I’m ten now?” I suggested.

Mom looked at me and shook her head, “I guess you are.”

Hannah came in right then, “Oh… I guess it’s not a baby I’m taking care of today?” She smiled, “Cute look… Why not eighteen, though?”

“Dad already paid for the ski rentals?”

She laughed, “I guess I can hang out with my kid sister all day today.”

We spent the next couple of days on the slopes, with me enjoying not being a total baby! I even spent a couple evenings hanging out as my eighteen-year-old self. But, unfortunately, it was clear everyone was much more comfortable with me being my ‘normal’ self.

Christmas Eve, Santa Claus was set up at the ski resort with real reindeer all around him. We waited in line for way too long, with Lily and I dressed in velvet Christmas dresses and thick white tights. Finally, after what seemed forever to us, Lily was on his lap, telling him what she wanted for Christmas. Once she had her picture taken, I was added to Santa’s lap and joined her for a photo before being left alone.

“What do you want for Christmas, little girl?” he cooed.

I looked at him, “I think I actually have everything I’ve ever wished for. Thank you, Santa,” I told him with a smile and posed for my picture. There had been a shocked expression on the poor guy’s face in the picture Mom bought, but my face was the happiest it had ever been!

Christmas Day, after a diaper change, Lily and I helped pass out presents from under the tree to everyone. Lily and I obviously had larger piles than everyone else! Per our family tradition, Lily was the youngest and was supposed to open one first, “Go ahead, Lily,” Mom told her, “You’re the youngest; you get to go first!”

“Nuh-uh, I big girl, Sofia baby!”

I blushed, “Umm…?” I was going to argue, but Mom said, “Oh my, you’re right, Lily! I forgot Sofia is the littlest baby now! You’re right; she should go first!”

I just shrugged and began opening my presents. Inside the wrapped gifts were many of the games and toys I actually might play with. I also discovered some older kids’ toys, like the Lego sets I’d put on the list. Hannah must have made an extensive list of baby items because there were also many toddler toys, bath toys, stuffed animals, clothes, and even a new crib mobile in my gifts. I definitely had not picked out any of those! Some practical things like more bibs, pacifiers, and bottles were inside too. They got me the piccolo I had asked for, and I was ecstatic that I could play it! Everyone else kind of groaned at the high pitch. Still, I loved having the ability to do something I had loved before my emergence again! I knew I would have to try out for the band at Bechtel in the spring.

I had one final gift from my parents: a silver locket with a picture of my parents, Lily, and myself on one side and Hannah and me with her parents on the other.

Hannah wasn’t immune from gifts relating to baby me. Her Mom had picked out a bunch of new nursing bras and one of those baby sling carriers we’d used on assignment.

As I looked around at all of my gifts, and given my hugs, and said my thanks, I couldn’t help but note Christmas was more fun as a baby than it was as a teenager! I’d dreamed of getting dresses for countless Christmases before. The cute matching purple velvet dresses Lily, and I played in for the rest of the day made it one of my favorite days ever!

A bit over a week later, we hugged our parents and Lily and said our goodbyes until the summer break, when we hoped to come home. I sat comfortably in the sling carrier, nursing on my pacifier, thinking of how Hannah and I had celebrated New Year’s in a slightly more mature fashion. While I would forever be her baby, we’d also established that we could have a romantic relationship. After all, we were stuck with each other… It was a bit of a magical hassle, but it led to a magical night!

“Hi, Sofia!” Someone said as we walked in.

“See, you’re all they ever notice!” Hannah pouted and hugged me on our way to our room. Hopefully, we’d actually get an entire semester of school this time!

 

Finis
 
 

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