“Seems I really need to… control myself more,” Rikkie admitted as she began backing out the doorway, still watching Lana. “I had better leave and let you dress. Otherwise… I’ll be wanting to do… more of that.” Lana, feeling guilty, softly said, “I’m sorry.” Rikkie pushed the door open a tad more, “Don’t be girl! I enjoyed it.”   BOYFRIEND AND GIRLFRIEND - Part 7 by Lana Lund edited by Sephrena Miller
Rikkie/Enrique Lopez		Lana/Joey Martinez

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Lana was slightly dazed as she stepped through the door. Rikkie was wearing blue denim skirt with a pearly white chamois top. Practically anything Rikkie wore just accented her beauty! Her make-up was light and fresh. Her hair was pulled back on the sides and clipped with a barrette. She just looked so beautiful and happy to see Lana. Rikkie smiled back at her as she shut the door and led Lana to the dining room.

Lana stood before the Lopez family as Joey looking very uncomfortable and very nervous.

Joey didn’t know what to expect when he had been invited to come over to the Lopez home, but he had hoped that this evening would be just like so many other evenings had been at the Lopez home: a night for Lana to be herself, openly and freely. Joey had packed into his gym bag he had brought along most of what he would need to transform from Joey to Lana.

“Go ahead make yourself comfortable Lana,” Mrs. Lopez breaking the tension. “Your hair, it’s very pretty too. That’s a nice style and it suits you.”

Lana flushed her cheeks some.

Just then Nina entered the room and immediately hugged her former boyfriend.

“Nice to see you again Lana. Nice hair too by the way!”

Joey didn’t know what to do, where to sit, or if to remain standing. He fidgeted noticeably.

“Relax Lana!” Rikkie pleaded, “No one here is gonna hurt ya girl.”

Nina chimed in “Did you bring anything to change into sweetie?”

The combination of seeing both Rikkie and Nina for the first time in weeks coupled with the fact that she was being revealed to yet another person Mrs. Lopez had paralyzed him.

"Ummm… yeah. I did,” she stammered while tapping her gym bag.

“Good lets go get you dressed and then we can have a little dinner and have our talk.” Nina comforted him reassuringly.

Rikkie grabbed a hold of Joey’s right arm and began to lead him up the stairs to her bedroom. Joey didn’t resist and felt like a sheep being led to a slaughter with a tenseness and excitement that gripped him. Rikkie opened her bedroom door and as Joey stepped in, she rubbed her cheek along Joey’s neck, sending shivers down his spine! Goosebumps prickled up on his arms. Rikkie then gently bit and kissed the spot.

Joey turned, very surprised.

“W-what was that for?” he asked.

Rikkie merely grinned like a feline with her prey and answered, “Just a snack!”

Joey rolled his eyes. “I am not a food!”

Rikkie laughed, “You are to me! Go ahead and change in here and meet us back downstairs when you’re ready.”

Joey’s tension melted as the two just stood there, staring at one another. Each was lost in the other’s eyes. Lana, reasserting herself, then pulled Rikkie in closer and kissed her gently. After a few savoring moments of locked lips and tongues gently probing inside of each other’s mouth, Rikkie broke contact, pulling back a bit. Looking down at the floor and then back up at Lana, her breathing slowed down. Rikkie’s face then returned back to a more normal color.

“Seems I really need to… control myself more,” Rikkie admitted as she began backing out the doorway, still watching Lana. “I had better leave and let you dress. Otherwise… I’ll be wanting to do… more of that.”

Lana, feeling guilty, softly said, “I’m sorry.”

Rikkie pushed the door open a tad more, “Don’t be girl! I enjoyed it.”

Rikkie then pulled the door shut. Joey heard Rikkie’s dulled footsteps on the carpeted stairs until it became quiet. Joey then set the gym bag on Rikkie’s pink and white flowered blanketed bed and unzipped it.
 

~*~
 
A half an hour later, Lana emerged from Rikkie’s bedroom with that familiar smile that Lana always had when visiting the Lopez home. The hugs that Lana got from Nina and Rikkie removed any tension that she had been feeling as Lana fell into her familiar role at the Lopez’s that of one of the girls!

Mrs. Lopez had prepared a wonderful meal with fresh tortillas, asparagus, corn muffins, and an onion, beef, and bean spread for the tortillas, along with a tossed salad! The conversation was light and breezy and the girls talked while they ate for an hour.

“Mrs. Lopez, that was a terrific dinner, just like my Mom cooks,” Lana said.

“Thank you Lana. Why don’t you and Rikkie go have a seat in the living room while Nina and I clean up? We’ll join you in just a bit for our talk.” Mrs. Lopez said.

“Mrs. Lopez I wasn’t raised that way. I want to help and do my share.” Lana replied.

Nina added, “Mama, she’s one of us. She knows just what to do.”

As they began to clear the table Mrs. Lopez said something that Lana had been longing to hear her whole life, “Thank you Miha. You’re such a sweet girl!”

Lana’s knees almost buckled as she had gotten the recognition and affirmation as a sweet girl from a Mom, not her Mom- not yet, but it gave her hope.

After washing and putting away the dishes, the group retired to the living room. The setting sun dazzled beams of light through the windows in the Lopez’s living room as Mrs. Lopez and Nina on the smaller couch, and Rikkie beside Lana on the larger. Rikkie slowly bumped her leg against Lana’s while they all stared at one another.

Lana felt very welcomed, but there loomed an ominous cloud that came to a head with the long moment of awkward silence amongst the girls. Lana noticed Mrs. Lopez studying her reflectively. Rikkie’s eyes shot from Lana to her Mom and back again several times. As Mrs. Lopez began to speak, Rikkie took Lana’s hand supportively.

“There is very little doubt that you are a beautiful girl Lana. I see in you, so much of what I have seen in my younger daughter for all of her life. I see a true and joyful young girl that is about to become a woman.”

Mrs. Lopez spoke slowly with heartfelt conviction. “I also recognize the sorrow in your eyes and I see the unhappiness with the way you have to live your life Lana. It’s something I know all too well, and Rikkie does too. Not being allowed to be you and hiding all the time. It's not healthy and it hurts. I see it in Rikkie every day.”

Tears began to form around the edges of Lana’s eyes.

“I know your pain and I think that we can help you feel better and educate you.”

Mrs. Lopez was speaking with the voice of experience. Rikkie slid closer and put her arm around her best friend Lana to comfort her. Nina’s eye welled up as she also moved to support her girlfriend too.

“Lana, what I am going to explain to you is for your benefit. As much as I would really love to help you, I cannot do for you what I am doing for my Rikkie. You are not my child and I do not want to run afoul with your parents nor the police. But, I will not stand by and see you go through what my little Rikkie went through some years earlier either. There is information and help, but it is limited and largely hidden.”

“It took me a long time and a lot of effort to get Enrique the help he needed to become Rikkie. Even now, Rikkie limits her outing herself until she graduates. That’s to protect her and give her a chance to move to another city where she hasn’t been known as Enrique and can start her life afresh. For now, she hides in plain sight while in school. That also means no sports for her where others can see what she is like under her clothing — her continued disguise as a boy. Though, lately, she has feminized her appearance with her hair being long.”

“Rikkie first knew she was a girl when she was 3 years old and resisted wearing boy clothes. No matter how many times I dressed her in boy clothing, I would come back and see her throwing temper tantrums and stripping it off of herself. She would throw a fit until I put some of Nina’s clothes on her and let her play with Nina’s dolls.”

“She would follow me around the house carrying Lucky, her rabbit doll, holding it to her watching me do housework. It wasn’t long before she began to help me. Every attempt I made to try and interest Enrique into boy’s games and toys, she seemed to know what I was trying to do and resisted me. She was so very insistent that she was a girl.”

“Mooooomm!” Rikkie drawled out in a pathetic, embarrassed whine.

Mrs. Lopez smiled and continued.

"That isn't to say I couldn't get her to wear them at all. She had to attend school as a boy and accepted being a girl at home for the meantime. That was, until she started getting sick often. At that point we had to get doctors involved."

“After several psychologist and doctor visits, Dr. Yarsborough at Oceanside General Hospital had finally reached a decision. Enrique’s body was somewhat feminine already. He had not developed out like most other boys - his puberty was delayed. Endocrinology tests revealed Enrique had very low levels of testosterone, the male hormone. There were also very low levels of estrogen present as well. It was, as he described, as if Enrique’s body was shutting down producing sex hormones. This was monitored for over a year and the levels kept dropping and got dangerously low. That was when Enrique had gotten really sick, you remember.”

Lana nodded, remembering Nina having told her back then. Rikkie gave Lana a gentle hand squeeze.

“Dr. Yarsborough felt there was something involved at the genetic levels and is still studying Enrique, but it is kept quiet and confidential because of Enrique’s age. The decision was made that Enrique did have to be started on a sex hormone since his body wasn’t producing any. The problem was in getting the legal and medical documentation stating its necessity and that Enrique was really Rikkie. It was one long nightmare I have no wish to repeat and a lot of arguing with doctors.”

“We had to have many doctors interview and watch Rikkie during the observation study while Dr. Yarsborough was monitoring the hormones weekly for her. Apparently, a lot of medical professionals are needed when a doctor makes a decision like this for a child to ensure it is the right one. And my little Rikkie, true to herself, was so much a natural girl, that the doctors did reach a consensus rather quickly, assuring Dr. Yarsborough’s decision to proceed with female hormones, as per Rikkie’s wish and determination to be a girl, was indeed, the correct one.”

“Legally, we are leaving Rikkie as Enrique on identification for school purposes until she has her operation in a few months. This will remove the male parts and create a female look to their best of their ability. Dr. Yarsborough explained that female hormones can have an adverse effect on male sex organs if left exposed to it for too long. It’s been four years and Rikkie’s male parts, the testicles, are showing signs of lump development. It can lead to cancer, so the surgery is a must. The female hormones have already done their work on Rikkie and developed her out as much as she will ever be as a young girl, so the surgery will just finish the process.”

“We will then proceed to change Enrique’s documentation over to Rikkie and take Rikkie out of this school and transfer her to a new one to finish her schooling out at under her newly changed legal name and sex.”

Lana’s eyes widened. She did not know that this was going to happen so soon! Mrs. Lopez paused and watched Lana’s reaction. Rikkie pulled Lana closer to her and hugged her.

“But… how will I see you Rikkie? Are you moving?”

Rikkie whispered into her ear, “No hon. I’m staying here still. I’m just going to be driven to and from the new school.”

Nina watched the two and how they were interacting as well. She knew they loved each other a whole lot and that there was a long hard road ahead for the both of them. The question was what was Lana going to decide or do?
 

~*~
 
“Lana?” Mrs. Lopez asked a second time. Lana had drifted for a moment with her mind awash in what Mrs. Lopez had told her.

“Yes? I’m sorry Mrs. Lopez. I was thinking.”

“The decision to do what you want to do is not easy. There are a lot of doctors and psychologists you will have to see to help you decide if what you want is right for you. The medicines and surgery are much later. I, however, do know your Papa. I do not think he will approve what you want to do.”

Lana wistfully sighed. “No…” she breathed out.

Mrs. Lopez stood up, and went over to sit beside Lana and hold her. Lana just rested against her as she thought and thought about what to do. Rikkie sat back and watched her Mama comfort Lana.

Mrs. Lopez patted Lana softly and let her go. “What I will do for you is to give you the doctors names that Rikkie had seen and see what they can do for you.”

Lana frowned. “How will I pay for seeing them?”

Mrs. Lopez, in a lower tone, said, “That, my Miha, we will have to work on. Whether you get a job, or get assistance from the doctors is one thing. But do know this. You are under age and they will have to notify your parents.”

Lana sat up straight, eyeing Mrs. Lopez with fear. “I cannot do that then, Mrs. Lopez. Papa will get angry. He would blow his top. He might even try to kill me. I love my Papa, but on this, being a girl, for the person whom he prizes as his son, he would become a demon and try to reclaim his son back. I have never been a boy and I never really enjoyed pretending to be one, just for him. But I know the consequences for disrupting his image of my being his son. I will have to find some other way then - some way where he cannot be told.”

Mrs. Lopez understood Lana’s fear. She knew Mr. Martinez to be a prideful man and it wouldn’t be beneath him to beat Joey should he find out. Lana was not in exactly an understanding family. She herself accepted her child as what she professed and behaved to be. But, she knew herself to be an exception to the vast majority of families, those that didn’t understand or else listened to the hate those churches spat out and worse, believed the garbage!

"Lana, I tell you what. I will pay for you to go see Dr. Myers, Rikkie's Psychologist. Talk to her and let her help direct you. She knows a lot of the doctors that deal with this kind of situation and may know those who can help you or how to proceed. At the very least, an initial consultation she would not need to inform your parents. Beyond that, I am pretty sure she would have to. It wouldn't hurt to at least get the information, now would it? Fair enough?"

Lana smiled and tried to rebuff her offer. "I couldn't ask that of you Mrs. Lopez. It's..."

Mrs. Lopez cut her off. "I insist. You need the help. And direction."

Lana begged, "At least let me work off the cost - somehow. Please?"

Mrs. Lopez smiled. "Ok Miha. I'll think of something you can do later then. It's a deal."

“Oh. But promise me one thing Lana,” Mrs. Lopez continued in a more motherly manner, “Promise me that no matter what, before you do anything, you will tell me and keep me informed. I understand about your family, but you need guidance on your journey to become yourself, and I will at least help guide you. Keep me informed so that I can help you the best that I can.”

“I will Mrs. Lopez,” Lana smiled weakly.

Nina interjected, “But, in the meantime, you can still dress over here during the week and be you while we find out what you need to do.”

Rikkie lifted Lana’s chin up to look into her eyes. “Being a girl isn’t just the body girlfriend! It’s what’s inside you, your nature, letting her out and just being you! And you won’t be doing this alone. I am your girlfriend!”

Mrs. Lopez then spoke. “Trust us.”

There was no two ways around it. Lana had to trust someone. It would be better that she trusted those that loved her. The conversation with the Lopez’s had convinced her that she did have a future! There was hope for her, or at least something to be hopeful about. She was convinced that there was a place in this world for Lana!

“I’ll write down Dr. Meyers information for you Miha,” Mrs. Lopez stated as she stood up, “I'll call her tomorrow and ask for an appointment. After school hours for the appointment I presume?"

"That would be fine Mrs. Lopez. I'll come up with a cover for whenever the appointment is."

Mrs. Lopez finished, "Meanwhile, you girls can watch the television set for an hour and half while I get the information for Lana and finish the laundry. Have fun.”

“Thanks Mama!” Nina cheerily said as she got up and walked over to the couch Lana and Rikkie were on.

Lana leaned back on the couch and Rikkie leaned in with her and Nina joined them on the sofa as they chatted and watched television.

There was a lot of thinking to do!
 

~*~
 
To Be Continued...
 
 

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