Aka Amy

"So the good news is I'm not fired," Tess announced as soon as she stepped through the door into the apartment. She headed straight for the bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothes behind her as she added "Not yet anyways."

"That's definitely good news," I responded from the sofa where I was relaxing with a sleeping cat on my lap.

Tess called out from our room, "The bad news is I'm not allowed to take on any new clients until further notice. All I can do is keep seeing the existing ones, until Bev decides what to do with me."

"And we're having a staff meeting Monday afternoon," she added when she emerged in nothing but panties and a tight t-shirt, leaving her long shapely legs on full display.

"Although that just means Emma will be there," she continued as she headed for the fridge to get herself a drink, "Along with me and Rosa and Bev. I have no idea what Beverly's planning or even what she's thinking after today, only that what happened this morning was a huge shock for her."

My girlfriend had a gulp of her wine then finally slumped onto the sofa next to me. She sighed, "I hope Hannah's ok after all that. I don't even know if I'll ever see her again, if she'll be back for another appointment next Friday or not. Assuming I don't get fired or suspended before then."

I slipped an arm around her and leaned up against her as I replied, "I think Hannah will be ok. The impression I got of Sonya is that she cares for her daughter, she just didn't know anything about what being trans really meant. Her problem boiled down to ignorance, rather than bigotry. As long as she's willing to learn I think everything will work out ok for your client."

"That's good to know," Tess smiled. "Thanks Amy."

I smiled back, "You're welcome love."

After another sip of wine she asked, "I don't suppose you're keeping tabs on Hannah? So you can tell how she's doing?"

I rolled my eyes, "She's prayed to me like seventeen times this afternoon. Not that anything's wrong, she's just really happy and keeps invoking my name so she can thank me."

"At least that's good news, right?" Tess responded with a sympathetic smile. "I mean, better that she's happy than sad or scared or anything like that."

"Yeah of course," I agreed. "Honestly it's kind of nice, the second-hand euphoria keeps coming through in her prayers."

Then I gave her a gentle squeeze and asked, "So apart from the uncertainties with work, how are you doing love? You performed your second miracle today, you made a trans girl incredibly happy. I hope you feel good about that?"

My girlfriend smiled and hugged me back, "Yeah of course, I'm glad Hannah's happy. And what you said about her mother reinforced the impression I got as well? That sets my mind at ease, at least as far as her immediate family."

"I'm probably going to be stressed about work all weekend long," she added with a grimace. "Until I know for sure what Bev's thinking, or what decisions she's going to make on Monday."

I frowned, "If she bans the use of magic in the clinic, can you still help people if you do it away from work?"

Tess shrugged, "That opens up a bunch of different problems. I shouldn't be contacting or seeing clients outside the clinic. Especially not under-aged ones like Hannah. And ordinarily if I did accidentally come across a client somewhere, I wouldn't go out of my way to greet them or anything."

"If they said hi I'd respond," she added, "But otherwise it's a privacy thing? Some people don't want their friends or coworkers or family to know they're seeing a therapist. If I bumped into one of those people and struck up a conversation with them someplace, that could lead to some awkward questions or situations for them."

I nodded slowly, "Understood. I guess there's no point in us worrying about it right now. Just wait and see what Bev says next week, then we'll figure things out once we know what's going on."

"Yeah," she responded. After another gulp of wine she added, "That's easier said than done, cutie."

I gave her a sympathetic smile, "I know Tess. Maybe we can find something to take your mind off work for a while? What do you want to do for dinner?"

It only took her a moment to decide, "Let's order Chinese tonight. Let's get enough that we'll have leftovers to last us through tomorrow too. I don't want to worry about going anywhere or doing anything. The balcony is about the furthest I want to roam right now."

"Ok love, that sounds like a good plan. Do you want to order dinner or would you like me to take care of it?" I asked.

She let me handle it, so I picked up my phone and put in an order for all our favourite dishes plus a few extras. I figured that would give us a good feast tonight, and there'd be plenty of left-overs to keep us fed all the way until Sunday morning.

"Forty-five to sixty minutes and we'll have more food than we know what to do with," I told her after I set my phone back on the coffee table.

Tess leaned in and gave me a kiss, "Thanks cutie."

"I'll get the door too when they get here," I added with a smile. "Unless you want to give the driver a good view of your lovely legs and tush."

"Yeah no you're getting the door," she replied with a little laugh.

I joked, "That's assuming Siggy will let me. I've been stuck on the sofa like this for two hours already, trapped under a comfy sleeping kitty."

As if on cue the little torty sat up and stretched, then calmly moved from my lap onto Theresa's. They curled up there and went right back to sleep again. My girlfriend and I exchanged a look, then Tess rolled her eyes and shook her head. Neither of us bothered to comment, but we were both smiling at the cat's behaviour.

And needless to say, when dinner arrived I got up to take care of it. I set out all the food on our coffee table and got us both some plates cutlery and napkins. I also refilled my girlfriend's drink, and got myself a glass of wine as well.

As we both loaded up our plates our little furry felon struck again. A piece of chicken vanished from my plate immediately before a torty-coloured blur dashed away to the relative safety of our kitchen.

"You could just ask you know," I stated as I sat back and started eating.

It sounded like their mouth was full when Siggy mumbled a reply, "Where's the fun in that?"

My girlfriend suppressed a giggle, while I slowly shook my head. Then the two of us enjoyed our dinner together, and we only had to deal with two more cases of feline food theft during the meal.

• • • • •

"I've already told you everything I know about the subject," my angel responded. She added, "I'm sorry my Goddess, I don't have any additional information."

I shook my head, "That's fine Raven, I was just curious."

After a brief hesitation she suggested, "You could try and speak with May Hawthorne again? She might have more information about how the status quo actually manifests, due to the experiences with her daughter."

"Maybe," I frowned. "It's bound to be a sore spot with her though. I don't want to upset her by asking a bunch of painful questions."

It was late Monday afternoon and I'd asked my angel over to see if she could answer a question I had regarding the status quo. I was wondering if there'd be any warning signs that I was running into dangerous territory, and Siggy didn't know that much about it.

I wasn't especially concerned either way, mostly it was just to help me get my mind off my girlfriend and her work situation. I hadn't heard anything from her since she left for the clinic in the morning, and as much as I wanted to believe that meant everything was ok I couldn't help worrying.

On the other hand Tess and I had a pretty good weekend, despite things getting off to a stressful start Friday evening.

The two of us didn't even leave the apartment until Sunday morning, when I took her out for brunch. She didn't feel up to going hiking, but we did go for a walk around a large park and green space towards the south end of town.

"Thanks anyways," I told Raven. Then I asked, "Can I offer you a drink?"

Before she could reply we both heard the front door open, and the two of us turned to look.

"Well I'm still not fired," Tess stated as she all but stormed into the apartment. She looked and sounded stressed, and as soon as she was in the door she marched straight over to the fridge to get herself a large glass of wine.

I responded, "That sounds like it should be good news, but you're not acting like it's good news."

My girlfriend had a couple gulps then topped her glass back up again before putting the wine back in the fridge.

She stood there next to the counter with her glass in hand as she replied, "My career is still up in the air until further notice. I'm basically on probation, meaning I can't accept any new clients. All I'm allowed to do is see my existing clients, and that's only so they're not stuck without a therapist. Or so they don't have to find someone new at the last minute."

I frowned, "Why don't you come over here and join me love? Then you can tell me all about it."

"All right," she sighed as she finally came into the living-room area. She sat down on the sofa next to me then glanced over at the love-seat and commented, "Hi Raven. Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you. I'm just stressed and grumpy right now."

"No apology necessary," my angel replied.

At the same time the ball of fur on my lap unwound itself into a small cat. They quietly moved off of me and onto my girlfriend's lap instead, then flopped over onto their side in a blatant bid for pets and attention.

My girlfriend fell for the trap and started rubbing the torty's tummy as she added, "Hello to you as well Siggy."

The only reply she received to that was a loud purr.

Meanwhile I gave Tess a compassionate look as I asked, "So what happened? I take it the staff meeting didn't go well?"

She shook her head, "I ended up getting into an argument with my boss. And honestly I think the only reason she didn't fire me on the spot was she actually mostly agreed with what I was saying? Except she couldn't just take my side, because she's the boss and she's my supervisor. So if there's legal fallout it's going to impact her and her clinic."

Raven asked, "What sort of legal fallout? I didn't think there were any laws regarding performing miracles or magic."

"Not exactly," Tess responded with a frown. "Bev said she spent the weekend reviewing the different rules and regulations that we have to operate under, but what happens next is partially out of our hands."

After gulping down the rest of her wine she explained, "So first off, we're waiting to see if Hannah's parents file an official complaint. If they do that I'm basically fired and my career is over. My preliminary licence will probably be revoked, I won't be able to work as a therapist in this province. And it's possible other provinces would ban me as well. So like I said, my career would be over only a month after it began."

"If the Greers don't file a complaint then I'll probably be ok in terms of my job," she continued. "But Bev has a bunch of new rules I'll have to abide by. The biggest one, the thing we got into a argument over, is I would be forbidden from performing, offering, or even mentioning miracles or magic to any under-aged client, ever. Period."

Tess added, "While I'm on probation I'm not allowed to do that for adult clients either. She said there's a possibility she'd allow me to do miracles for adult trans clients in the future, after she's confirmed some legal and regulatory details. But for anyone under the age of eighteen, the answer is no, never."

There was some growing anger in her voice as she stated, "Beverly knows that queer teens can face huge challenges. Bigger than queer adults, simply because as teens they're often stuck with unsupportive or bigoted families. Those are the ones who need the most help, and it's absolutely inexcusable that they're the group she's outright forbidding me from even mentioning this to."

"On what grounds?" I asked. I already had a good idea what the answer would be, but I figured I'd ask just in case.

"Because children are chattel," my girlfriend replied bitterly. "Until the age of eighteen they are little more than property in the eyes of the law. Their parents or guardians have the final say on everything. And by helping someone like Hannah with divine magic, I've left our clinic open to legal and regulatory action like having my and my supervisor's licences revoked. Or if not revoked, they could be suspended or restricted in some way. Which like I said earlier, would end my career and probably mess up Bev's as well."

My angel asked, "I don't suppose you could bypass those restrictions by getting parental permission?"

Tess shook her head, "I asked, Bev said no. She doesn't want to take any chances, since there's no legal precedent or any studies or anything about magic in a clinical environment."

"Ok love," I sighed. "I'm sorry this has you so stressed. For what it's worth I'm fairly confident Hannah's parents aren't going to complain. She's been praying all weekend long and it sounds like her mom and dad are both listening to her and starting to educate themselves. If you want, I could take a closer look to confirm that? But Hannah seems to believe things are going to work out well for her."

"Thanks Amy," she gave me a weak smile. "That's a relief anyways. Not so much about the complaint stuff, I mean I'm glad things are working out for Hannah. I'm happy she's going to be ok."

I smiled, "Me too. So for now maybe you can try and put up with the restrictions your boss has set? And keep doing what you can to help your other clients."

"Yeah. Ok Amy, you're right. Sorry for being so dramatic about all this," she apologized.

I leaned closer and gave her kiss then said, "It's fine Tess, and completely understandable. The arbitrary rules upset me too, and maybe we'll figure out a way around them. Or maybe we can convince Bev to lighten up a bit? But for now, it's not the end of the world."