Ted's Dolls 50: Kate

Ted's Dolls was meant to be an anthology series of doll transformations. But the continuity has become very important. Please read them in the suggested order as found in this gallery on deviantArt or as listed on my Patreon.

Kate Leskovich is Emily’s father thanks to magic. It’s too long to explain here. Read her first appearance in Ted’s Dolls Interlude 6, Part 2.

“It’s been five weeks now, Emily,” Dr. Morova said.

“Has it?”

“Yes. You say you’ll finally see Kate this weekend?”

“Yes. Ted came looking for me just before school started. He received information from an unknown wizard. They’re meeting at his parent’s home tomorrow. Kate will also be there.”

“That’s wonderful. Ted did invite me. But, I have other plans that I can’t break. And while as a person, I’d love to see you meet your parent for the first time, as your doctor, it is probably best that I only hear about the meeting from you on Monday.”

“I don’t expect there to be a problem. I’m also interested in seeing Ted’s family for the first time.”

“You sound a lot better today than a week ago or even Wednesday.”

“I had a long talk with Jemma Wednesday night.”

“Oh?”

“I know you know. She saw you Tuesday.”

“Yes, but I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

“Of course. She’s very glad she met you. I’m wondering if I can have my life back without pursuing a reunion with Richard. My mind can tell me a thousand times he wasn’t my Richard when he gave me to Stockton. But, my heart only understands the betrayal I felt in the moment. He’s kind. Jemma is a good person. Maybe I’ll leave them be. As Jemma pointed out, she’s been dating him now longer than I did.”

“That’s very reasonable. But, I wonder if you really feel that way.”

“Probably not. But, I could feel that way. Eventually. I hope.”

* * *

As Ted steered onto his home street, Paris said, “Isn’t that your uncle’s car?”

“Yes, I’m glad to see it. It means Nana will be here when I meet my mystery guest.”

“He canceled two weeks ago?”

He pulled the car into the driveway and to the side so as not to block his uncle’s car.

“Yeah. It gave me more time to make sure Nana could be here,” he said. “You okay, Emily?”

“Which part?”

“What do you mean?”

“You probably think I’m focused on meeting Kate. But, I’m far more nervous about you and the other wizard handling Heddy’s uncle.”

“Oh. I’ll ensure you aren’t there when we do that if that’s what you want.”

“No, I want to be there,” she said. There was little malice in her voice, almost too little. “But, yeah, I’m about to meet my father. It’s a little weird considering the man who raised me left my mother and disowned me.”

“He didn’t like me either,” Ted said.

“That actually makes it easier. Anyone who could hate you without knowing you is the problem. Not me.”

“You’re never the problem,” Paris said.

“Tell that to Vivian.”

“Let’s not talk about Vivian until the mystery guest is long gone.”

They entered the house.

Nana sat in her favorite living room chair as usual. Uncle Henry got up and shook Ted’s hand. Paris glided past him to avoid him hugging her. She gave Cat a hug.

Patricia looked at Emily standing in the doorway. “Come in, dear.”

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Arthur said. “You’ll learn how to do that when you have the time. I’m Arthur, Ted’s father. And I welcome you into my family, Ionescu or not.”

She took his outstretched hand and hugged him.

“Oh. You’re okay, Emily.”

“Am I?”

“You will be.”

“I am shocked, Dad.”

“I’m not always a stick in the mud, Ted.”

Cat rushed over to Emily. “Please, come meet Nana. She has wanted to meet you for a while, now.” She half dragged Emily to the chair Nana sat in. Also managing to avoid her uncle.

“You look just like Henrietta, Kate’s mother,” Nana said.

“Pleased to meet you, Nana,” Emily said.

“You can call me Gertie.”

The entire Ionescu family were looking at Nana in shock. She didn’t like when anyone called her Gertie.

“Kate and I used to be thick as thieves and I spent many, many hours in the company of Mrs. Leskovich. She always called me Gertie. I would love to see her face saying my name again.”

“Okay, Gertie.”

The open door rattled as it was knocked upon. “May I enter?” The woman standing there couldn’t be older than her early forties.

“It is an honor to welcome another member of the Leskovich family to our humble home,” Ted said stepping toward the door.

“I am honored to be welcomed into the home of the Ionescu family.”

“See, dear, it’s just stuffy and stupid.”

“Is that Gertrude?” Kate said after giving Ted a hug and nodding to the others as she rushed to the chair where Nana sat. “You got old?”

“You did too. That’s not how you really look.”

“It’s how I’ve always looked. Since I was fifty-two or so.” It was only then she noticed the young lady standing next to Nana. “Emily?”

“Father?”

The three of them laughed. “She looks just like your mother.”

“Like a picture in my photo albums. I wish I’d thought to bring them. Can we hug?”

“I’d love to,” Emily said.

* * *

Emily, Kate, and Nana went into the study next to the living room. A smaller room for an intimate conversation. Sitting in an overstuffed chair, reading from a tablet was a woman in her mid-thirties. As they entered, she set it aside and stood.

“Tilly?” Kate said.

“In the flesh.”

“Isn’t that the name of your sister, Gertie?”

“She calls you Gertie?”

“She’s Kate’s daughter, Emily. And she is the spitting image of Henrietta.”

“Oh, she is. And yes, I am Gertrude’s sister. She doesn’t even let me say, Gertie. I let her say Tilly.”

“No one wants to say Matilda, Tilly. And it’s not like you said much at all the last couple decades.”

“Why are you here and not in your garden?” Kate said.

“It’s my garden,” Nana said.

“She told me all about Emily and then she restores me to tell me you were meeting your daughter for the first time and there was intrigue involving yet another wizard family. I’m convinced this is all a hoax just so everyone can see me.”

“Ted didn’t get to see you?” Emily said.

“He will.”

“That’s also an ulterior motive of hers.”

“It’s not ulterior if it’s the main motive.”

“What?” Kate said.

“She wants Ted to change her tomorrow. That way the spell is his, not mine. She thinks I’m dying.”

“Everyone is dying,” Emily said.”

“Exactly,” Tilly said.

As the older women reminisced about times long gone, Emily just sat there listening to stories about Kate’s past. The stories they told were purposefully geared toward featuring Kate or someone in Kate’s immediate family. After an hour, Tilly stood up.

“I suppose I should go say hello to Ted. Is his girlfriend with him?”

“Yes. Paris is here.”

“I was fishing for her name.”

“I could tell.”

“I’ll go with you,” Nana said. “These two should talk alone.”

“Thanks,” Kate said.

When they were gone, Kate continued, “I’ve heard you were a dragon.”

“And a cat and a few other animals.”

“Mundane animals are easy. How did you manage to fly?”

“Probably by not knowing it should be difficult.”

“Ted and I discussed that. You shouldn’t be able to do what he can. But you did.”

“I can do other things you and he can’t do.”

“Like?”

“I turned a guy into a woman.”

“Thankfully I’m still young or I would have had a heart attack. You changed someone’s gender? Did they want you to?”

“They didn’t explicitly ask. But, they weren’t upset afterward.”

“They didn’t say anything when it happened.”

“She was asleep when I cast the spell this morning. I didn’t talk to her till breakfast in the cafeteria.”

“If you hadn’t run into her in the cafeteria, you would be here and they wouldn’t have any idea how to find you?”

“I have my phone.”

“Any idea if you created a working womb?”

“I never thought about that. So, it probably happened,” Emily said. “I keep expecting an enforcement team to show up because I’m doing magic that is forbidden to my bloodline.”

“Magic isn’t forbidden.”

“Wizards act like it is,” Emily said. “Ted’s explanation about keeping bloodlines strong is a bit weak on logic.”

“It is. I don’t know. Maybe there was some secret pact, long ago. Maybe we’ll never know.”

They sat quietly for a moment as Kate thought Emily was deep in thought

“Have you been a man?” Kate said, trying to change the subject a bit.

“No. I haven’t tried that.I’m generally just me, except when I go to my psychiatric appointments.”

“You’re seeing Heddy, right? I don’t really know her all that well. I knew her father, the kindest, gentlest man.”

“Yeah. I see her three times a week. The nice thing about it is I get to fly there.”

“Fly?”

“Dragon. I don’t have a car. And public transit is like two transfers to get to her office.”

“Can you show me?”

Emily changed into her dragon form. “What do you think?” The dragon said.

“That’s so cool!” A youthful voice shouted. Libby ran into the room.

The Dragon flapped its wings and hovered as well as it could a foot out of reach of the grasping child.

“And who might you be?” Kate said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said to the dragon. “Hi, I’m Libby. Can you turn into a dragon?”

“I’ve never tried.”

Emily returned to human form. “Hello, Libby. You just startled me. I tend to be a little skittish these days.”

“I’m sorry. Where did you’re clothes go?”

“I haven’t tried to figure that out.”

“Libby, we don’t mind that you’re here. But what is your father going to say if he finds you here?”

“He’ll say I’m supposed to leave you alone.”

“And were you supposed to be listening to our conversation?”

“No. But, it’s the only way I learn about magic. They don’t like to explain stuff to me.”

“You’re still young, Libby. You’ll be taught when you’re older.”

“That’s what Ted says.”

“Libby, nobody likes it when adults tell them ‘wait until you’re older.’ Sometimes you do have to wait,” Emily said. “And sometimes you just go for it.”

“Emily?”

“Life is short. Besides, you’ve already done magic, haven’t you, Libby?”

“A few times.”

“You have?” Kate said.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Libby said. “How did you know?”

“You remind me of myself a few months ago. You have power but you have nowhere to go with it. You want to turn everyone into a doll all the time, don’t you?”

“I should leave,” Libby said.

“I feel like I should too,” Kate said. “You’re frightening her.”

“I didn’t mean to. Did I? I’m sorry. You need to relax. You can cast spells. You can also run. You don’t run all the time, do you?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t have to cast spells all the time either.”

“Okay. Thanks, Emily. That helped.” She gave Emily a hug.

Emily only backed away slightly before giving Libby a hug back. Libby skipped out of the room.

“I should call Heddy. I may have made progress for myself.”

“You’re still jumped when she hugged you.”

“I know. I’m working on it.”

“What progress did you make?”

“When I first changed myself, I wanted to do it all the time. Then I wanted to do it to everyone and anyone who was willing. Just like Libby. She probably casts her spell whenever she gets a chance.”

“And you turn into a dragon when you can.”

“Who wouldn’t? But, as I was telling Libby the magic will be there. I now realize I needed to learn that too.”

“Sometimes I regret never having raised any children. But, I did sire a good one.”

“Hopefully.”

“So, you have magic questions? If you’ve flown, I have no idea what I can tell you.”

“Do you practice?”

“I love to spend an afternoon as a fish in a small glass bowl.”

* * *

When Emily and Kate returned to the living room, there were conversations here and there among those in attendance.

“When will our mystery guest arrive?” Kate said.

“Around four, about an hour from now.”

“Is it in this room?” Emily said.

“It?”

“The doll.”

“Oh, no. It’s in the safe. It doesn’t come out until he gets here,” Ted said.

“Good. I really don’t want to be in the same country as the doll,” Emily said. “I’ll stay but I don’t want to be around the doll much.”

“That won’t be a problem. It’s wrapped up tighter than a drum.”

“Emily, dear,” Nana said. “I have a request that might upset you.”

“Are you going to ask me about restoring the other dolls? I’m not restoring them. Please don’t ask.”

“How did you know she was going to ask that?” Ted said.

Emily shrugged.

“Let’s not make this more awkward,” Ted said. “Perhaps you and Cat could go to the backyard until the mystery man arrives.”

“I would love to get a chance to know you,” Cat said. “The backyard is this way.”

There was an enclosed patio out back. A seating area further back was under a pergola. Cat led Emily to the pergola and sat in one of the chairs. Emily paced.

“Are you okay?”

“If I say I’m fine will you believe me?”

“Probably not.”

She sat in a chair next to Cat’s chair. “I’m getting by. I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen soon.”

“You’ve been through something I can’t imagine and I’m sure I know less than a percent of the details.”

“You really don’t want the details.”

“I’ll listen. But, no, I probably don’t want the details.”

“Let’s talk about you. What’s Ted’s sister all about when she isn’t living in Ted’s shadow?”

“Wow, that cuts hard.”

“It does?”

“Well, a little. I suppose I am living in his shadow. I’ve been the center of certain parties that are thrown where a lot of dolls attend,” Cat said. “I can talk about dolls, right?”

“I don’t care. Ted stopped renting dolls. I suppose he did it for me and Jane. I don’t really care if other people spend time as dolls. As long as there’s always consent.”

“Of course. I’m kind of dating the most gorgeous guy in the school, now. It started because I’m the wizard. And everyone has told me to make sure he likes me for me. I’ll probably let him take me to the prom. See how that goes.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the right choice for you. Tell me about Libby.”

“What about her?”

“She casts spells already.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Oh. Never mind I must have misunderstood something.”

“No, I’m just in denial. I’m always the last to find out about everything. Ted says I need to study more.”

“Well, he’s usually right.”

“And that’s the real shadow I live under.”

* * *

At the knock on the door, Arthur answered it. The man at the door wasn’t anyone he had ever met.

“Arthur Ionescu, I am Walter Crenshaw of the Tortossa family. I seek permission to enter your abode.”

“The Ionescu family welcomes a member of the Tortossa family with slight suspicion, but full hospitality nonetheless.”

“I accept you suspicion as the only cautious thing to do.” They shook hands.

Arthur stepped aside. Walter was tall, almost as tall as Ted. He was in his early forties.

“You must be Ted,” he said offering to shake hands. They did.

“I’m not familiar with the Tortossa family.”

“You should study your books more,” Nana said.

“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t know you would be here Mrs. Ionescu,” Walter said, kneeling down to put his eyes at Nana’s level.

“I’m only slightly more familiar with your family, Mr. Crenshaw. Our families have not met in decades that I’m aware of.”

“I believe that is true. Like your magic, my family’s magic is not of general use, such as Miss Leskovich’s abilities or the Morova family. I am honored by your presence on this meeting of families.”

“I am cautiously optimistic as well, Mr. Crenshaw,” Kate said. “What is the Tortossa family known for, or unknown for I suppose?”

“Amusing. Yes. It sounds like powerful magic. I can telekinetically move things short distances. But, the spells take far too much time to cast and it drains members of my family rather quickly. But, from learning about Ted’s recent exploits, I wonder if I have just not practiced enough to make myself more capable.”

“Perhaps,” Ted said. “My abilities have increased a lot after added practice.”

“Enough about that. I am remiss in my introductions. This lovely lady, you are Paris Chaplain, aren’t you? I saw your father a few months ago in Bulgaria. How is he?”

“You would know better than I would,” Paris said. “I haven’t seen him since last summer.”

“Priscilla did joke about not being sure what country they were in. They must travel a lot.”

“That is all they do. I didn’t even know they were in the Balkans. Although they usually Winter in Greece or Crete. Bulgaria isn’t very far from there.”

“I love Crete,” Walter said. “Any word about Randall?”

“When you said my name, I was hoping you might know something.”

“I told your father I had heard Randall was making a film for a rich person but not which rich person. Digging a little bit, that person turns out to be Stockton Perry.”

Emily walked into the room then. Her face went white at Stockton’s name. She turned around as if to leave. “Oh, please, don’t leave. A thousand pardons for saying that evil man’s name on this occasion,” Walter said.

“His name can’t hurt me.”

“No, Miss Scarborough. Still, I am sorry to have mentioned him in front of you. I merely though Miss Chaplain needed to know what I knew about Randall.”

“It was news to me. Thank you.”

“I obviously knew you were looking for him. I hope this little tidbit will reduce the general suspicion of me a tiny bit for some of you.”

“Perhaps a tiny bit,” Ted said. “If you’ll excuse me. I’ll go fetch the reason we’re here.”

“Fetch?”

“He isn’t subdued somewhere?”

“His subdual is absolute. Excuse me.”

Patricia left the room before Ted did. Cat was holding Emily as she inched into the room. As Ted passed them he said to Emily, “You don’t have to stay.”

“I do.”

Paris saw that Patricia looked upset and as Cat was taking care of Emily, she followed her to her bedroom. “Mrs. Ionescu? Patricia?”

Patricia snipped back, “I’d rather not discuss it, Paris.”

“Why are you upset?”

“It’s not my place.”

“What?”

“That man was evil. But does he deserve to turned into a piece of wood forever? Who are we to determine his fate?”

“I have an answer. Sadly, this answer is only good enough. I could ask you what was his justification for doing the evil things he did to Emily and Jane. But, that’s not the point. He must be stopped. Morally, he must be stopped. And there is no one else to stop him.

“I’m sure if anyone found out what Ted has done and if there would be consequences for his actions, Ted would face those consequences. He would even say he would do the same thing in the exact same way a second time if necessary. The same can’t be said for the evil man.

“In the end, this doesn’t justify anything. But, we should be able to sleep knowing Ted is different from the evil man, knowing that good men will stand in the way of evil man, regardless of the consequences, is the bright side in all of this.”

“That’s… that’s reassuring. And it all still feels wrong.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. Except, when there is no right, a second wrong may suffice.”

“Thank you. I only feel a little ill about all this, now.”

“There’s a lot to feel ill about in all of this. I’ll let you be.” Paris headed back to the living room.

While Ted was gone, Mr. Crenshaw had the look of a man thinking a mile a minute. When Ted returned with a small box, Walter’s assumptions were confirmed. “You’ve turned him into a doll.”

“An artist’s posing mannequin,” he said, setting the box down on the table. “Take a look.” He lifted the lid a crack. A bundle of dense cloth was wrapped around several layers of bubble wrap The posing mannequin was inside it. Its cylindrical head was featureless. “He can’t see or sense much of anything but the few vibrations that pass through the box and all that wrapping. I recommend leaving him in the closed box.” He closed the box.

“I was hoping to interrogate him.”

“Not happening here. Not my problem,” Ted said.

“You are following the letter of our deal. I would ask that you help with the spirit. I understand Morova is dangerous. Is there any way we could setup an environment where you might be willing to release him for a short period of time.”

“It’s possible, I suppose. The only issue is we really don’t know how his powers work. Does he need line of sight? Or does he just need to know where you are?”

“We could find that out from his niece, Heddy. You managed to get Miss Scarborough to be her patient. Miss Morova could tell us his limitations.”

“Do you often go around telling people the full extent and vulnerabilities of your abilities?”

“True.”

Emily’s eyes were locked onto the box. Her face was inscrutable.

“Are you sure you want to stay?” Cat whispered.

“I’m fine.”

“If I propose something to you and it is reasonable, would you help?” Walter said.

“I am open to future negotiations.”

“I suppose that’s more than I can ask. I’ve changed my mind. I wasn’t going to ask. But, I’m curious. Why do you trust me to take him out of your control?”

“I don’t have to trust you. You don’t have anyone who can restore him. Everyone who could is right here: me, my father, my uncle, Nana, and Cat. If you’re foolish enough to put the doll on a shelf in a room, it’s your brain he might find.”

“Fair. I suppose our business is done.”

“Why all the secrecy when you first contacted me?”

“Mr. Crenshaw was gathering information on you, on all of us,” Paris said returning to the room. “What I want to know is how you gave us real time information up in the national park?

“You know or know of Leslie Pauluva, correct?”

“Seer,” Nana said. “Rather powerful one as I understand it.”

“Yes. Just like Ted is not the only Ionescu, Leslie is not the only Pauluva. And, I’ll offer one other fact. Leslie might not share things he learns as part of his work for someone with a third party. But, he will often talk about what he sees freely with his sister, Sofia, regardless of whom he may have been working for at the time. His sister happens to be on my payroll.”

“How do you know she doesn’t do the same thing back to Leslie?”

“I’m sure she does. But, it’s hard to keep secrets from a Seer under normal circumstances.”

Walter got up, leaving the box on the table. “I’m sorry we could not meet under better circumstances,” he said to Emily. “I feel you are one to watch. I hope I haven’t made a poor showing in your eyes.”

“We’ll see,” she said.

In turn, he spoke to everyone there repeating his hope that they feel favorably about meeting him. He took the box and left.

Kate stood and said to Emily, “Maybe you’d like to lie down in the next room. We could talk some more.”

“Okay.” She followed her father into the next room.

“Where did my mother go?” Ted said to Paris.

“She’s having a crisis of morality versus practicality.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Arthur said.

“Nobody likes what we had to do,” said Ted.

* * *

Emily closed the door behind her. She was staring at it for a moment before she turned around.

“You liked what they had to do,” Kate said.

“Yeah. I know I shouldn’t. But, I’m dancing with abandon on the inside.”

“At least all of that is over and done with.”

Emily tried to wipe an angry look off her face before it was noticed.

“It is over, isn’t it? Are you planning something?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Don’t do anything dangerous.”

“I can promise I won’t do anything dangerous. But, I won’t have closure until I spend the night in my dorm room with Jane sleeping in the bed across the room from mine. So far, only chapter one of this saga is over and done with.”

“How many more chapters are there?”

“At least two, closure on Richard is still pending. And closure on Jane is two. Sometimes I just feel like I’m skating by. I attend my classes. I do the homework. My grades are good. But, I couldn’t tell you anything about what was on the last few tests I took. It isn’t sticking because I’m still trapped between what was and what will be.”

Kate instinctively put her arm around Emily. Emily leaned into the hug. “I wish I could say everything will be fine. Everything could end up sucking a lot. But, I will say you will move on eventually. There are several people helping us to find Jane and get her back. As for Richard, he will make it to see Heddy eventually. Something is bound to happen there sooner than later. And he’s just one guy. Odds are you’ll date other guys. Or, in your case, you’ll be the guy, perhaps.”

Emily laughed. “Only if I take after my father.”

“I am quite take after worthy.”

“I’m still finding that out.”

“That’s fine. I’m in no hurry.”

* * *

Sunday afternoon, after returning to campus with Ted and Paris, Emily went to the dorm. She was used to Freddy having an open door policy so she just turned the handle on his door and entered.

On the bed, Joel scrambled to cover himself. Vivian just laughed. “Hi, Emily.” She reached leisurely for something to cover herself with.

Joel said, “You didn’t lock the door? We’ve been naked for hours. Anyone could have walked in.”

“Anyone did,” Emily said. “I take it you’ve been exploring your new self.”

“Since last night.”

“Well done, Joel. You know, you don’t have to be shy. I’ve seen you naked.”

“You have?”

“I was the last doll you guys rented before you started renting each other.”

“Oh, right. I knew that. Still, I prefer not to be flashing my parts for no reason.”

“Fair. So, how did this hook up happen?”

Vivian and Joel told the story like an old married couple. As they did, the PicMeNow came up and they showed the app to Emily.

“One hundred seventy thousand likes? Why?”

“The dress,” Vivian said. “The designer replied he was happy to see it again.”

“The dress?” Joel said. “The model. Emily knows how to make a hot looking woman.”

“I could change you too, Joel.”

“No thanks. What brings you by?”

“I was just checking up on Vivian to see if she’s still happy now. Did you make her happy, Joel?”

“More than happy,” Vivian said.

Joel blushed. “Do you want me to leave?”

“You don’t have to. There’s nothing really secret going on here.”

“So? Vivian? Do you want to change back?”

“No. I’m good.”

“Cool. I’m glad I stopped by. I was feeling a bit down earlier.”

“You were? I thought you were seeing your actual father today?”

“I did. And that went well. There was other business involved though that lessened the joy of meeting her.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I do. But not here while Joel is so uncomfortable. Get dressed and I’ll take you to dinner. Both of you. You’ve probably forgotten to eat today.”

“I am hungry.”

“I’ll order you guys dessert and skip out after paying the bill so you can kind of have a dinner date together.”

“We aren’t a couple.”

“I never said you were a couple.”