In Their Shoes – Chapter 18

The small talk died the moment the sounds of the front door opening made its way through the house to the dining room. Corey nervously looked around at everyone in the room with her as Tyler squeezed her hand. Across the table sat Noire and Corbin, similarly holding hands and glancing around. Corey and Noire made eye contact, their mature gazes locking as they gave a slight nod as though each were silently confirming the other was ready.

Vanessa and Brooke walked in the room hand in hand. The former, looking stressed and anxious, while the latter was entirely surprised, until anger filled her face. She spun on her heels, glaring up at her boyfriend while holding back comments and anger. Still, Vanessa led her into the room, and after a moment her anger faded to a mere pout that pushed her lips together and out.

Corey was struck with the pain of seeing her former girlfriend again. She knew Brooke was Vanessa’s now, but it still stung to actually see it. Over the phone the day before, she’d been able to push the troubled thoughts aside, focusing on Vanessa’s pleasure. Now that they were all together, however, the sight made her sick. Once again, Tyler squeezed her hand, and Corey came back down to reality, focusing on what needed to be done. She squeezed his hand back and gave him a smile, even as she let go of his hand. Tyler imperceptibly stiffened, standing up and heading to the entryway of the dining room, quickly joined by Corbin.

“Well, we’re heading out. We’ve got to get going to the bar–” both of the men’s wives frowned at this, “– in time for that wet t-shirt competition!” At this point both Corey and Noire were scowling, but their husbands just laughed and walked out of the room, enjoying their joke as much as they’d be enjoying their beers – and not being present for what would ensue.

Vanessa led Brooke by the hand to a pair of seats and together they sat down. Vanessa had positioned himself at the head of the table, with Noire and Brooke on either side, with Corey across the table at the opposite end. Corey watched as immediately both girls beside him leaned toward him, desperate to give him any attention, love, or anything else that he might need.

Feeling left out, Corey got up and walked over to Vanessa, bending over to give him a hug. “Glad you’re back,” she murmured in his ear, breasts smothering his face. Before anyone else could react, she got up and went to the kitchen to grab the food. Quickly, a full meal materialized on the table, complete with the place settings needed to enjoy it.

Still, no one touched the food before them. Instead, Brooke seemed to be simmering with a slowly building anger that had returned, and Noire was trying her best to be disinterested in the whole affair despite nearly constantly giving side glances at Vanessa. Corey sighed, shaking her head as she took her seat. This was falling apart, and something had to be done. Corey and Vanessa looked up at the same time, locking eyes.

“Well, alright!” Corey announced, “Let’s get this started!”

“What? Is this some kind of stupid intervention or something?” Brooke spat out, glaring around the table. Her attention landed on Noire. “And who are you, even?”

Noire painted black lips stretched into a wide grin, her long dark nails glinting in the light as she gestured toward Brooke. “I’m the owner of the sex shop you bought that little red outfit from. The sex shop your boyfriend keeps visiting, and where he–“

“Noire.” Corey put all the maternal authority she could into the single name, and to her surprise, Noire actually shut up and slunk down in her chair slightly. Brooke looked pleased, as though she won the engagement with the gothic woman until Corey turned her gaze on her and she also shrank back in her seat. “Now that introductions are out of the way, let’s get to why we’re all here.”

Vanessa took a sigh, shaking his head. “Brooke… I’ve got a lot I need to come clean with you about. They’re… involved, and they’ve agreed to help me explain it all.” Noire and Corey both nodded. “I’m… I’m not Corey.”

Brooke paused, looking confused before intensely glaring at her boyfriend. “If this is a joke, I don’t get it.”

“He’s not Corey,” Corey said, barely loud enough to be heard. She glanced at Noire, who only gave the slightest of nods to prompt her to continue. “I’m Corey. The person you’ve known for the last few months is my mother, Vanessa. About four months ago, we both made dumb wishes on some shooting stars and somehow–“

“What? Somehow what? You two swapped bodies? Like one of those cheesy movies where everyone learns a lesson by the end? Stop fucking lying to me.” Brooke folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Vanessa. “Let’s just get out of here, your mom is crazy.”

Vanessa didn’t move, as though he didn’t register the words at all. His lowered head stayed focused on the food in front of him. For a long moment, while Brooke got more exasperated and frustrated, he just sat there quietly. Finally, when he spoke, his voice was rough and shaky. “No, Brooke… It’s true.” Immediately her protests silenced, replaced with a glare, as though daring him to spin more of what she considered lies.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that all of a sudden I was willing to have sex? You were going to wait for marriage with Corey, weren’t you? Or how about how my attitude changed? You said noticed I went to a sex shop all those months ago… Would the Corey you knew have ever gone to one?”

Brooke wavered, her gaze flickering between Corey and Vanessa. “It’s still impossible… No one just switches bodies…” Finally, her head snapped forward to stare at Noire. “Whether or not this is true, why is she here?”

Vanessa froze, looking pleadingly to Corey for help. She gave a slight shake of her head, and gestured at Vanessa, trying to prompt him to explain his own mess. Before he could summon the courage to speak, however, Noire chimed in on her own.

“Why, me?” she said, dragging out the two syllables. “Why am I here? Well, I already know about their situation with being in the wrong bodies. But also…” Noire sucked in a breath, her grin wide.

“I’ve been fucking Noire!” Vanessa cried out. Corey sighed, shooting Noire a glare. The smirk back from her seemed to say something along the lines of ‘he needed the push’, and Corey struggled to disagree with that. She looked over at Brooke, who seemed to be shaking slightly. “Noire and I… have been seeing each other,” Vanessa reiterated, softer. “Since before you and I started being intimate, I’d been with Noire.”

“You… You bastard…”

“Brooke, let me finish.” Brooke was standing, hands shaking by her side as various emotions rolled through her. Still, she fell silent, waiting. “After the swap, I had new emotions. New feelings. It turns out, a 19-year-old guy is horny all the time, and I wasn’t used to that. I was also angry, a lot. I felt trapped in this body, and I felt I deserved things, especially after my marriage to Tyler was failing.

“So, I made a mistake. Despite having Noire, despite having you, that wasn’t enough. So I… I did something horrible. I was so angry at Corey for sleeping with Tyler, in what I still thought of as my body, that I… I…”

The room fell silent. Vanessa simply stared off at nothing in particular. Corey could tell Brooke’s patience was fading fast, and stepped in. “He forced himself on me,” she said, quietly. “It was terrible and painful and frightening, and we were both feeling a lot of emotions. We made a couple more wishes that night, and we think that’s why all three of us are pregnant with his kids, why we love him so much.”

The seconds ticked by, everyone silent and watching Brooke. Her eyes were wide, nearly bugging out of her head. She chewed her lower lip as though this were a problem, or a puzzle, that she could work through and solve. Her attention shifted to each other person in the room, as her breathing picked up. “You’re all fucking crazy…” she mumbled, taking a step back away from the table. “This is fucking insane, you all know that right?” Her hand clutched her swollen belly, as tears began to form at the edges of her eyes.

Corey stood up, taking a step toward Brooke out of instinct for the girl she’d loved. Brooke’s head whipped to stare at her, shaking slightly from side to side. From the folds of her dress the glowering redhead revealed her other hand, brandishing a table knife in the direction of Corey.

In a flash, Vanessa and Noire were both standing, though Noire made it around both the end of the table and Vanessa before anyone could react, grabbing and twisting Brooke’s wrist until the knife tumbled to the floor. The mature woman stood tall, holding the redhead’s arm until she jerked it out of her grasp, leaving Brooke cowering beneath her.

And then, she was gone. Brooke sprinted away from Noire, rushing past Corey as she slipped out into the backyard. The door slammed shut, echoing through the silent house. Corey, Noire, and Vanessa all looked at each other, frozen in the moment. After a few seconds had passed, everyone sprang into action, heading for the back door.

Corey spun around, cutting everyone off. “She doesn’t need all of us ambushing her,” she said as clarity hit her. She looked at Vanessa, in tears and shook up, then over to Noire. “Take care of him?” she asked, hoping she would. The relief was palpable when Noire nodded. “I’ll go talk to Brooke. I think… I think it’s about time me and her figured things out.”

Before anyone could say anything or stop her, Corey hurried out of the house, shutting the back door behind her. Immediately, the sounds of a girl sobbing caught her ear, and she quickly rushed to where Brooke was curled up against the side of the building. Slowly – both to avoid any surprises and due to her tired body – Corey lowered herself to the ground, sitting just within arm’s reach of Brooke.

The two stared at each other, Corey with compassion while Brooke’s gaze was filled with anger, hate, and most of all, suspicion. The silence surrounding them felt thick, as active and pervasive as any words could be. Still, Corey let the silence flow between them, intentionally giving control over the encounter to Brooke. She looked up at the stars, watching them twinkle, thinking about how all of this started.

“Why would you have wished to be your mom, Corey?” Corey looked over at Brooke as she hugged her knees and stared off across the yard. “I thought we had something special. I… I gave up myself to you because I thought we had something together.”

Corey sighed, turning her attention back to the evening sky. “I loved you. I… I mean, I still love you, but it’s different now, obviously. I didn’t want to be my mom, like, that’d be crazy, right?” Corey chuckled, glancing down at her full chest. “I mean, how many guys wake up and say ‘Yeah, being a guy? Nah, put my mom’s tits on me and call it a day.’”

Corey looked back over at Brooke, who only managed to look pissed off for a few seconds before laughing at the dumb joke. Corey smiled, leaning against the side of the garage they were sitting by. “Actually though, why did you swap? What did you wish for?”

“I wished I could bring my parents together again, make them love each other again.” Corey’s voice turned serious. “I was thinking about you and me, how happy we were together. I just wanted them to be happy like that.”

Brooke sighed. “You always just wanted everyone happy. You’re a good guy, Corey… Or, rather, you’re a good girl?” She made a weird face. “That just sounds wrong, now.” 

The pair laughed again, for a brief moment. “So you believe us?”

“Well, I guess I have to, don’t I?” Brooke struggled to get to her feet, working around the heavy weight hanging off her front. “I mean, it sounds fucking crazy. But… I love him. And you. But… differently, you know?” Corey nodded, watching Brooke pace. “If I want to stick around, I need to accept what’s going on. So… you’re Corey. And I’ve been fucking my boyfriend’s mom in his body for the last few months… And that my boyfriend’s mom has knocked me, a stranger, and her son in her body up?” Brooke collapsed against the garage wall and sunk back down, sitting directly beside Corey.

Corey immediately wrapped her arm around Brooke, and the younger woman snuggled close. “It’s a lot to be told all of a sudden, and it isn’t fair to you. None of it is.” Brooke looked up, as though surprised. “If you walked away, I’d completely understand. But…”

“But I can’t,” Brooke whispered. “I love him too much, despite everything.”

Corey nodded. “So do I. So does Noire. So, if you’ll have us, messy baggage and all… I think we’re forming a sort of family here.” A gentle finger poked at the taut belly on Brooke’s front. “Vanessa has kind of accepted me as his mom, now. Plus, with the kids coming, something tells me I’m going to be a mom full time. So, if you wanted to think of me as a mom, I’d love to help you out with everything going forward…”

Brooke looked up at Corey’s eyes, giving a soft chuckle. “You want me to call you mom? Get you to hold my hand when I go into labor?” Brooke chuckled again, resting her head on Corey’s chest. “Yeah… I think that’d be nice,” she whispered as tears dripped across Corey’s breasts, beading and running along her scar. For a few minutes, the pair sat quietly. Crickets came out, chirping and creating a soft song of the night. “I made a wish too. Four months ago.” Corey paused, listening to Brooke unburden herself. “You know we were holding off on sex. I… I never told you, I mean, how do you tell someone you love this? But I was asexual, and I felt like I was failing you. I made a wish that night, wishing that I’d be able to want sex and want you like that. It worked, too well. I feel like I’ve been turned into some cock-crazy slut.”

Corey hesitated, but it seemed like Brooke was done speaking. “Well… he does have a great cock.”

Brooke recoiled, looking mortified at Corey before laughing as hard as she could. As she wound down her laughter, she hugged tight to Corey’s front, kissing his cheek. “I’ve missed you, Corey. I’ve missed you without even knowing you were gone. I’m definitely in love with your mom, but I need you close by too. This feels better than just being angry and horny and pent up all the time.”

Corey nodded, stroking back Brooke’s fiery hair and smiling. “I’m here, hun. We’re all going to be together. You might even come to like Noire, eventually.”

The eye roll and snort made it clear that Brooke thought that wasn’t very likely. She sighed. “I guess I have to accept that you both have sex with your mom then, huh? So what’s that like?”

“What do you mean, what’s that like? You’ve had sex with him, right?”

“Well, yeah, but like, what do you do? I’m curious if it’s the same stuff we do, or all different, or whatever. Like, does that Noire person peg him or something?”

Corey snorted, covering her mouth to try and keep in the laughter. While she didn’t know if that was the case, it was hilarious for her to picture Vanessa – as a strong, manly guy that acted all dominant – getting bent over by Noire. But as she thought about it, there wasn’t anything wrong with that, and Corey slowly became interested in what the two of them actually did. “You know,” she mumbled, “I think I have a solution that will satisfy all of our curiosities. Hey Brooke… are you able to stay the night tonight?”