"You know, Steve, I can't believe how much like a woman you look," he said," and not only that but a remarkably attractive one too" "Yes, it amazes me too George," I responded," and thanks for what I guess is a compliment" "Are you sure that you'll be able to go back to being completely a man..you know, afterwards?" he asked after a pause. "Yes, I'm pretty certain, George, don't worry, anyway remember I still am a man under all this," I commented. A Mother's Love - Part 10 by Alys

"Brr..brr.......brr..brr," came from the earpiece of the phone.

There was the slightest click as the phone was answered.

"Hello, Adventure Travel, Jules speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hi Jules," I said," how are you?"

"Steve! I was wondering what had happened when I didn't hear from since Saturday morning. Is everything OK?" my work colleague asked.

"Yes, it's fine," I responded and gave her a quick resume of the three days since I last contacted her. She was pleased that Mary had agreed to see me and expressed her surprise at my forthcoming 'date' with Jonathan.

"And Mary agreed with this?" she asked.

"Well she was surprised," I replied," but she thought I should do it to preserve my assumed identity as her 'sister'"

"What about Bekka?" asked Jules, "how will you go to dinner with this doctor and also feed her"

"Listen to this," I responded.

"To what?" asked Jules quite faintly as I had began to move the phone towards the machine that was humming on the desk next to me"

"What do you think that is?" I asked, when I had returned the phone to my face after a few seconds.

"No idea, a bread machine, turning the dough?" Jules suggested.

"No, it's an electric breast pump," I said, laughing, feeling the rhythm of sucking and releasing on me as the machine slowly deposited droplets of Bekka's life giving liquid into the collecting bottle.

"Well good luck and rather you than me with that machine," Jules responded chuckling.

"It's not as bad as all that once you're used to it," I said," anyway I promised Susan that I would make a few phone calls while I was up here, can you patch me into the phone network?"

"Sure," she replied and then we made our farewells and she wished me luck.

I listened to my phone messages while finishing pumping. The timer on the machine pinged and it turned itself off. I looked at the nearly full bottle attached to the machine and felt satisfied with the results.

I had been surprised, too, when Mary insisted I should take up the offer of dinner with Jonathan. It had been so nice to see her yesterday morning, with Bekka, and she had been in such positive frame of mind, having decided to accept the medical intervention. I didn't feel I could refuse her, although I wasn't much looking forward to my 'date'.

Jonathan had sounded a little surprised when I had phoned him to confirm my acceptance of his offer. He had then further surprised me by suggesting that we meet tonight. I had rushed into Mothercare and bought the breast pump, which Andrea and myself had experimented with yesterday. To our delight Bekka had been perfectly content being fed with my milk from a bottle.

"Are you ready to change?" asked Andrea, popping her head around the door to the study.

I gave a thumbs up as I finished my last phone call to France, managing to massage the ego of an hotelier whose payments were a couple of days late.

I quickly showered, washed and conditioned my hair and then Andrea helped me colour my natural mousy brown into a rich chestnut brown. She did my makeup to give me an sophisticated look. By the time we had finished this it was time for me to give Bekka a feed so, with the bottle that Andrea was going to give her later, she would last the night.

It was relaxing to sit with Bekka feeding her while I listened to some more Mozart on the radio. I still couldn't believe that I was about to go on a 'date' with an attractive man, but I felt that I owed him so much after he had succeeded in talking Mary round.

Less than an hour later, after dressing in an elegant black off the shoulder dress, I was giving Bekka a little kiss on the forehead as Andrea held her.

"Good luck Stevie," she said, reverting to the female version of my name, as she had done more often during the last few days.

"Thanks Andrea I think I'll need it, and thanks again for helping me get ready," I responded.

"It's been fun," Andrea replied," you know it's funny this reminds me of sending Mary out on her first date, so I'd better say to you what I said to her"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Don't be late home!" she replied, laughing.

"I have no intention of being late," I stated as I got into the car with George, who was taking me to see Mary.

The traffic into the centre of Manchester was heavy and George drove in silence as he concentrated on navigating. After a while he took a quick glance at me.

"You know, Steve, I can't believe how much like a woman you look," he said," and not only that but a remarkably attractive one too"

"Yes, it amazes me too George," I responded," and thanks for what I guess is a compliment"

"Are you sure that you'll be able to go back to being completely a man..you know, afterwards?" he asked after a pause.

"Yes, I'm pretty certain, George, don't worry, anyway remember I still am a man under all this," I commented.

We eventually made it to the hospital and after parking the car made our way to Mary's ward. On the way I noticed that I was getting a lot of looks, mainly from men, but also from some women. It felt strange to be getting so much attention. I wondered what Mary would say.

As we walked into her room, no longer needing the face masks after she had began to respond to the new drug protocol, she was watching a film on her bed TV and looked half asleep. I was pleased that even after two days of treatment that there was a little colour back in her face. The noise of the programme had masked the sound of our entry and so we had reached the foot of her bed before she noticed our presence.

"Hi Mary," I said in my best Stevie voice.

She turned at the interruption and her mouth fell open as she looked at me. She lay there apparently shocked by my appearance.

"Oh my god," she eventually said when her powers of speech returned," I can't believe it's you"

"Do you like the outfit?" I asked, giving her a twirl.

"It is amazing," she said," when I asked you to show me what you were going to wear, before you went to dinner, I thought you would look OK, but never THIS good!"

"That's what I said," stated George," I can't believe how good she....he....whatever, how good Steve..Stevie looks"

"It's just like wearing fancy dress, anyway I'd better go I said I'd meet Jonathan in the cafe in five minutes," I said.

"OK, have fun, and Stevie," she said with a smile on her face gesturing for me to come closer.

"Yes?" I asked, and sat down next to her, she moved her head close to me.

"Don't let him get past first base on your first date," she whispered with a broad grin on her face.

I stared at her in complete incomprehension and then I realised what she was referring to and then I suddenly blushed deeply.

"You are a baaaaaaaad girl," I said laughing having overcome my embarrassment, " he's not even going to get on the plate so no need to worry"

I gave Mary a kiss and then left her and George together.

If I had received a lot of attention when I was walking with George in the hospital I now garnered many times more as I made my way to the café. I found it very disconcerting. Everyone I went past looked at me, some stared and a few ogled. I was feeling very nervous when I finally found a haven of a table in the corner. A waitress came over.

"Would you like to order something Miss?" she asked.

"I'm not eating thanks," I replied.

"Something to drink?" she suggested.

"Well yes, that's an idea," I said as I considered how stressed I felt," could I have a small white wine, medium dry"

Within a few minutes I was sipping my glass of Chardonnay and letting the alcohol infuse into my system, as I tried to stay calm preparing for the ordeal ahead.

"Starting early?" asked a familiar voice, interrupting my reverie. I looked up to see the smiling but clearly tired face of my evening's escort.

"Hello Jonathan," I said smiling," you look like you've been giving the NHS* it's money's worth.

"And you dear lady," he responded," look like a million dollars"

"You flatter me, Dr Brown," I said," now are we going to have something to eat soon, I'm very peckish"

I finished my wine and he lead me out to his car in the doctors' car park. I was surprised to see a rather battered Volkswagon Golf.

"No Mercedes or BMW?" I asked jokingly," doctoring not paying these days?"

"I'm very sorry madam but the butler has taken the 'Roller'** to the ga-rage, I hope that this will suffice?"

"Well I can only hope that the food will be of a higher standard," I replied with a pretended haughtiness in my voice.

The journey through Manchester seemed to be over in seconds as we chatted amiably about his work and mine but it was a quarter of an hour later when Jonathan pulled up outside the very expensive looking Italian restaurant.

The restaurant looked very busy and there was a queue of people waiting in the bar for a table but as Jonathan has prebooked we were soon sitting in a secluded corner. The service was quick and after ordering we sat with full glasses of a fine Soave.

"So Stephanie, and I hope you will excuse me calling you that since that dress is a lot more Stephanie than Stevie," he said looking into my eyes, " can I be so bold as to ask whether there is a man in your life at the moment?"

I averted my gaze from his.

"Well...no, I guess there isn't", I replied a bit hesitantly," I mean I don't have a boyfriend"

"I find that hard to believe, someone with your looks," he continued.

"What about you?" I asked, trying to divert his attention from my fictional love life.

"No there seems to be no women that want to be involved with a hard working public servant like me," he replied smiling.

I smiled back.

"That I don't believe, don't all doctors have marks on their bed posts, I heard that you're only in it for the attractive nurses," I suggested, while being sure that someone as ruggedly handsome as Jonathan wouldn't be short of female company.

"Then it is my misfortune to be working on wards where all the attractive nurses are already married," he continued with the same light hearted tone.

Our banter was interrupted by the arrival of our Lasagne Pesce al Forno. While we ate our delicious meals our conversation moved onto anecdotes from our different workplaces. Jonathan amused me terribly with a series of humorous patient and doctor stories, the majority of which sounded more apocryphal than not. I related one or two funny holiday booking mix-ups.

Too soon we were drinking our coffee and the evening, that had been so pleasant, was nearing its end.

"One thing that puzzles me Jonathan," I said as I stirred soya milk into my Irish coffee.

"What's that Stephanie?" he asked.

"How come with your wealthy background you are working in the NHS in Manchester and not in the States or in private practice?" I asked.

"Yes, that's a good question and a number of my friends who are at Harrow*** with me are doing that. It was something that I thought I would be doing too when I was younger." he replied.

"So what changed things then?" I asked.

"The death of my brother and uncle," he responded, with the suggestion of a tear in his eye.

"Oh yes, you told me, I am sorry," I said quietly and instinctively put my hand on his arm.

"Their deaths were so tragic, painful and unnecessary that I decided that I would one day like to work to fight the devastation caused by HIV and AIDS," Jonathan said while putting his hand over mine. The contact felt so pleasant that I didn't remove my hand.

"How can you do that?" I asked.

"That's why I'm working in Manchester, I'm getting experience here before taking up a post, in two months, in The Royal Free Hospital in London at their Centre for HIV Medicine," he said.

"The Royal Free, that's just down the road from where I work," I blurted out without thinking of the implications.

"Yes, I know," said Jonathan smiling again.

His obvious pleasure at knowing that he would soon be working near to me in London gave me firstly a feeling of joy and then, as the caffeine overcame some of the mental dullness of the wine, feelings of uncertainty and disquiet. What was I doing encouraging him, I wouldn't ever go out with him again and he wouldn't want to spend time with me if he knew who I really was.

"Oh dear, is that the time, I need to get back now, sorry Jonathan, I have to be up for Bekka in the morning" I said sitting up and withdrawing my hand.

"Oh yes, of course, how selfish of me, I'll get the bill"

The drive back to Mary's parents' home was lightened by Jonathan telling me about the people and places in the area that we were passing though. A short while later he pulled up outside the house and opening my car door accompanied me to the door. I turned and faced him.

"This has been a lovely evening Jonathan, thank you very much," I said a little huskily in my tiredness.

"It has been my pleasure, Stephanie, I have really enjoyed spending time with you," he said tenderly

We looked at each other and there seemed to be an electric charge between us. He took a pace towards me and in an instant we were embracing and kissing gently and longingly. His soft caress on my bare shoulder sent tingles of pleasure through my body. I touched his handsome face with my fingers. Jonathan's right hand gently touched my breast as my body began respond.

The feeling of something begin to strain my panties was like cold water thrown on my face. I pushed him away gently.

"I'd better go now," I said

"I'd like to go out with you again," he said.

The impossibility of that struck me and I knew what I had to say to him. I opened the door in case I needed to make a quick getaway.

"Jonathan you are a wonderful man and you have given me a lovely experience tonight. I hope you have enjoyed it too. I'm sorry, there is something that I have to tell you and you will not want to see me again. There is no easy way to say this, I'm not a woman, I'm really a man," I eased into the house ready to shut the door in case he became aggressive.

"I already know," Jonathan said, smiling.

I stood and stared at him in utter disbelief.

*NHS = National Health Service which runs the vast majority of hospitals in the UK.
**Roller = Rolls Royce car, very expensive.
***Harrow = exclusive private school