Synopsis:  Andrew’s time in the hospital may have been short, but it was enough to put him on the right track, thanks to the help of a very understanding nurse. Now with the help of Janice and those around her, Jessica is finally free to come forth! Life is never that easy though, and there will be struggles ahead. His parents will make sure of that. Can he overcome the struggle and become the person that he always believed he was? Time will tell.

The ride to my new home really didn’t take that long. Janice and I talked most of the way about how I was feeling, but to be honest I was dealing with mixed emotions. Everything was somehow messed up. Having received that terrible package from my father had thrown me through a loop; I really didn’t know how to deal with the fact that my own father had such hatred towards me. Even with all he’d done to me, I still loved him. Was I crazy for feeling this way?  Then there was my mother. She never really hurt me, other than the odd nasty comment. No, she had never laid a hand on me, but she never protected me either. I didn’t know what to make of her. Was she that blind to the truth? Didn’t she see that what was happening was getting out of control, or was it the truth that she simply didn’t really care what happened to me?

When it came to my father it was simple. He hated everything about me, so he did the only thing that he could do to try and change me. In the end he failed. At least I understood what he was doing, and why. With my mother there was no rhyme or reason to her actions. Janice said that if I were her son, she would have taken me and left. I believed her, because I knew she placed her family first. Maybe if I’d had a mother like her, my life would have been a lot better. I used to envy the relationship that Megan had with Janice. It made me jealous, because I wanted that kind of relationship with my mother. Instead for the most part I was left to fend for myself, living in a world that was unforgiving and refused to accept anything or anyone different.

I wanted to be happy and find a place that would accept me for the person that I really was, but after years of hiding the truth from everyone, I was still very defensive. It had become a big part of my life. Now I had to let go of many of those defenses if I was going to move forward and become Jessica. I was so scared that everything would come crashing down like in my dreams, and I’d find myself back home with my parents. I guess that being forced to live a life that is not my own is what scares me the most.

It was around 1 pm when Janice and I arrived at her home. Megan was still at school and wouldn’t be home till around 4 pm, so it was just Janice and I at home for the moment. I had been to Megan’s house plenty of times over the years, but this time things were different. It would also be my home for the foreseeable future, until they figured out what to do with me. Even that scared me. There really aren’t many foster care homes out there that want a transsexual, or even know how to deal with the issues that I would have to live with.  For the time being though, I was safe.

“You’ve been pretty quiet Andrew, is something wrong?” Janice asked.

“I was just thinking, all I have are the clothes that I’m wearing, Janice.”

“We’ll sort that out later, Andrew. The clothes you’re wearing are fine for now.”

Janice led me over to the guest room and said that it was mine for as long as I needed it, then asked me if I was hungry. I was very hungry, as we had left the hospital before dinner was served. The two of us went into the kitchen and she took some chicken out of the fridge, and then turned to me,

“I hope you don’t mind leftovers?”

“Whatever you have is fine Janice, I’m not fussy.”

“Andrew we really need to have a talk.”Janice said as she joined me at the table.

“What do you what to talk about, Janice?”

She looked me in the eye. “Well honey, you have some serious choices that need to be made. The only one that can make these choices is you. I can advise you and support you, but in the end it’s your life and you need to be happy. Anthony knows about you and so does Megan. They accept the fact that you want to be a girl, so there really is no reason for you to hide anymore. If you want to be Jessica while you are here, none of us will mind. In fact, I think it’s probably best for you right now.

I thought about what Janice was saying, I didn’t have to hide anymore. I could just be myself for a change.  

Nervously, I looked over at Janice. “Will you help me?”

Jake Roberts made his way into the bank and walked up to the teller. He closed his account, and fifteen minutes later he left with his life savings. He had been on his way home to pick up a few things and noticed the police car parked out front of his home, so he pulled into a neighbor’s driveway, turned around and drove off in the opposite direction. As he drove off he was cursing. Things were not going well; he thought that the little present that he had sent his son would have been enough to keep his mouth shut. He could see now that he was going to have to take it up a notch.  

Jake picked up his cell phone and made a call to his brother James, it only took a few minutes before he answered,

“What’s up, Jake?”

“James, I need you to do me a favor. The police are looking for me, and I need another car. It’s got to be something with 4 wheel drive.”

It was 3 pm when Jake arrived at the address where James said that he would meet him and true to his word, there waiting for Jake was a four wheel drive Subaru. Jake climbed in beside his brother James.

“So, do you want to tell me what’s going on Jake?” asked James

“Andrew tied to kill himself and ended up at the hospital. Because they found bruises on him, they’re trying to charge me with child abuse. Yes, I beat him, but it was for his own good. You know how the boy is, James. God, how many times did our dad beat us and it wasn’t abuse, it was to teach us a lesson. This is no different.”

James looked over at his brother “What are you going to do now?  “

“I’ll do whatever I have to do, James. There’s no way that I’m going back to jail.”

“There’s always the hunting camp.” James suggested, with a smile. “It’s remote and well hidden. If you can get theboyalone up there, then you can talk some sense into him.”

You could see that Jake was thinking, and then he turned to his brother “That might just work. Once he’s released from the hospital, though, I have no idea where they’re going to send him.” Jake said, frustrated

James looked over at Jake. “There is always Brian. I am sure that he could figure something out, that is, if you want to deal with him?”

Jake thought about what his brother said. Yes, Brian could help, but whenever you dealt with Brian there was a price to pay. Still, he knew all the right people, and it would take him very little time to find Andrew. Jake looked over at James. “Make the arrangements with Brian and tell him to give me a call.”

Meanwhile, back at the Roberts residence, Sarah had an unexpected visitor. Detective Johnston had arrived and was looking for her husband. The note left with the package came back clean and since it had been printed, it didn’t really give them anything to work with other then a signature that didn’t match Jake’s.

Mason was just hoping to catch a break and have Jake slip up so he could take him into custody. When he talked to Sarah, she told him that he never came home after being released from jail, and she had no idea where he was. Mason believed her because she really didn’t have any reason to lie to him.

Unfortunately, Sarah Roberts wasn’t the one that the district attorney was after. They wanted Jake, much more then they wanted her. Mason, on the other hand would have loved to arrest both of them and lock them up, but it wasn’t up to him. He would gladly make the arrests, but after that it was up to the courts. Just because someone is arrested and it goes to court, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be justice.  It was something he had seen every day. People committing crimes and they were obviously guilty, but somehow they ended up walking free, or getting little time in jail, and to hell with the victims.

There were times that he had thought about handing in his badge and going into business for himself. There was so much corruption that reached even into the police department, the people he was supposed to trust to watch his back. How can you trust someone that is on the take? Obviously, he couldn’t. There were only a few people within the force that he really trusted. That was just the way things were today.

Mason left the Robert’s house, and then he started checking out most of Jake’s known hangouts. He came up empty, as no one had seen him, or they weren’t talking.

After dinner, Janice and I went upstairs to Megan’s room to find something to wear. I was really excited. I had dressed up before in private but this was different. There was no reason for me to hide it from anyone. Before, there had always been the fear of being caught by my parents. Knowing Dad, there would have been hell to pay, and as far as Mom goes, she would have encouraged him. Either way I would have been in big trouble. Now here I was, standing next to Janice, going though Megan’s closet trying to find the perfect outfit for Jessica’s debut. It only took me a few minutes and I found what I was looking for. It was a nice baby blue sundress that I had loved ever since Megan bought it. I looked over at Janice,”

“Do you think she will mind?” I said, as I held the dress up to show Janice.

“Megan won’t mind at all, honey. You will need a little ‘up top’ to pull it off though! I think I may have just the thing though.” Janice said with a smile.”

Janice dug around on the top shelf of the closet and eventually found what she was looking for and pulled down a small box and handed it to me.  When I opened it I found what looked like two breasts.

Janice smiled. “These are helpers, a lot of girls use them until they start growing their own. They should do the job for now! It would be better though if we went out and got you a pair of your own, but these will work for now. We will need to get you

something a bit more realistic.”

For the next half hour, I washed my hair, and then Janice did her best to cut and style it so that it would look good, but still left enough that I could easily go back to being Andrew if I chose. As for myself, given a choice I knew I wouldn’t be choosing to go back to that existence, but she said that short steps were best for now.

Janice left me for a few minutes so that I could get dressed. The dress fit perfectly, which surprised me because I had always thought that girls had wider hips. I wasn’t complaining. I liked the fact that it fit me like a glove. When Janice came back in and took a look for herself she was also surprised that it fit me so well.

The final step was makeup, and as I was seated in front of Megan’s vanity, I was dying to see the results. Janice had covered the mirror, saying she didn’t want me to see how I looked until she was finished. So I sat there and waited. She finally said that she was finished, and when she pulled the towel off the mirror, I was completely in shock! In the mirror looking back at me was a beautiful teenage girl.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I knew that Andrew was gone for good.  I liked what I saw, and I felt that I had found the real me. In time, I would have the body to match, but even if I had to live with the body that I have now, I would be happy as long as I could just be the real me.

Janice looked over at me. “How does it feel, honey?”

I smiled back at Janice.“This is the real me, Janice, and I don’t want to go back”

“I have to say, Andrew, you do look the part.” Janice said with a smile.

“Andrew is a mask that I have had to wear. This is the real me, and my name is Jessica.”

“It’s nice to finely meet you, Jessica.”Janice said with a big smile.

After that Janice gave me some space, and went downstairs to get some work done while I spent some time in my new bedroom. The room had been used mostly by Anthony, Megan’s father, who used it mainly as a music studio. I wasn’t surprised to find his guitar and keyboard still there. It had been awhile since I last played either instrument. I had taken lessons in school and my teacher said that I had a gift when it came to music. With all of the workouts and stuff at home, I just didn’t have the time to really sit down and practice. I walked over to the keyboard and took a seat and hit the power button.  It made a buzzing noise as it came to life. I started playing a few of the keys and doing an exercise that my teacher had giving us.

I was surprised how fast it came back to me. After a few tries, I tried playing a song by Martina McBride called Concrete Angel. It was a song that really hit home for me. I had always liked it, but watching the video always brought me to tears. It was such an emotional song. It took me a few attempts to get it right but eventually I started playing and singing the lyrics to the song. By the time I reached the end of the song, I was completely oblivious to the fact that I had gained an audience. Megan and Jennifer had made it home from school, and had pretty much snuck up on me while I was lost in the song.

When I turned around I found both of them there. When they saw me they both came running over, and before I knew what was happening, I was being hugged to death by the both of them.

“God, Andrew is that really you?” asked Megan

I nodded. “Yes Megan, this is the real me. My name is Jessica, now.”

Jennifer smiled, “You look so beautiful, Jessica. That dress really suits you!”

“Yeah Jessica, it fits you like a glove and it’s definitely your color.” Megan said. She looked at me with a serious expression. “You know, Jessica, we’re really very sorry about what happened. Jennifer and I were complete idiots, and we would understand if you didn’t want to be friends again.”

I looked over at the both of them and could see that they were telling the truth. Deep down I knew that there was no possible way that I could be mad at either one of them. I just smiled at them.

”Let’s just leave that in the past, please?”

Over the next couple of hours, the three of us got to know one another again. It was like nothing had happened, but things were different now. I was no longer the odd one out I was one of them now and they treated me as such and held back nothing from me. It felt nice to finely be accepted for the person that I really was, a teenage girl. I seriously doubted that just because I was free to live my life as I wanted that everything was going to turn out perfect. Whatever happened, I knew that I didn’t have to deal with it alone anymore.

Meanwhile, across town Jake had booked himself into a hotel using a fake name. Jake and his brother James had been drinking most of the afternoon, waiting for Brian to call.  It was around 4:30 pm when Jake’s cell phone finally rings.

After Jake checked the number, he knew that it was Brian. He hit the answer button on the phone.

“Hi Brian, thanks for calling.”

“Hi Jake, what’s up?” asked Brian

“I need your help Brian I’m up on charges for child abuse. I need to find out where they have my son, so I can talk some sense into him.”

“You know the people that I work for Jake; they’re going to expect something from you in return.”

“I know, Brian, but I don’t want to go to jail! I just need to have Andrew tell them that it wasn’t me abusing him”

“I’ll make a few calls Jake, but I’m promising nothing.” Brian said, ending the call.

“How did it go?” asked James

Jake frowned, “I think he’ll help, but I feel like I’ve just sold my soul to the devil.”

“That’s because you just did, Jake. Welcome to the family.” James said with a grin.