~o~O~o~

 

 

Insert standard disclaimer here: The one that reminds everyone that this is a work of fiction. No one is real and any resemblance to someone who is real is just the reader's imagination. This is also a Fan Fiction set in the Whately Story Universe. No Canon characters were permanently harmed in the making of this story. I hope. :)

 

Note: Updated with djkauf's fixes to my randomly bad spelling and punctuation. Thanks to djkauf!

 

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** Chapter 22 **

 

 

Everyone in the room kind of has that deer in the headlights look and I know that I do when I look at my mom. “The President!?” I ask with an incredulous whisper.

 

She just smiles and nods her head like she knew about it.  Since she looks so relieved, I wonder why everyone else looks so nervous.  Major Thole, 1st Sergeant Griebler, Dr. Edmundson and Dr. Johansson break off to have a whispered conversation amongst themselves, while Colonel Thompson and Mr. Grier do the same.

 

Fey and Sir Wallace appear relaxed and unconcerned about the situation.  I guess that they knew about it too. I turn to Fey. “Do you think that he is talking to the President about me?” I ask with a whisper.

 

Fey nods her head and smiles. “Probably, and about me too, I imagine.” She says with a conspiratorial whisper.

 

I am a little confused as to why the President would be asking about her too and I guess it shows on my face. 

“Remember, I’m Seramis and I healed you through the game?” Fey asks.

 

Oh yeah.  The light bulb finally flickers on inside my head.  Holy crap, Mr. Reilly wasn’t kidding when he said, “this investigation is being taken very seriously,” at the start of this meeting. Fortunately for my nerves and probably everyone else’s, Mr. Reilly’s chat with the President doesn’t take very long. 

 

All of the side conversations come to a halt and everyone is very attentive when Mr. Reilly returns to the room and walks back to the front of the room with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

“Yes, that was ‘The President’ and yes, he was calling about this investigation.” Mr. Reilly pauses and looks around the room.  Everyone looks so serious now. “He and his National Security Advisor have read the reports and once I filled him in on what we just learned from this meeting, he is now very anxious to read the updates.  Dr. Edmundson, Major Thole.” He nods to each of them as he singles them out. “The President has congratulated you and your staff here for conducting such a thorough and innovative investigation.”  Then, he turns to me. “Brianna, he has also expressed his pleasure in learning that you are in good health and appear to be adapting so quickly to your situation.  He understands that this wasn’t your fault and he wants to make sure that you and your family is treated ‘right’ as he put it.”

 

I’m a little shocked by that.  I mean, if just a few days ago, someone told me that the President knew my name, I would’ve told them that they, “needed to get off whatever crack pipe they have been smoking.” That thought almost makes me miss what Mr. Reilly says next.

 

“To that end, the President and his advisors have requested that we get Brianna to the new DOD testing facility at Langley Air Force Base for a more complete medical examination first thing Monday morning.” Mr. Reilly says.

 

I turn to my mom. “Langley? Where’s that ?”  I ask, whispering. She just shrugs her shoulders and looks to Mr. Reilly.

 

“Sorry, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.” Mr. Reilly says, catching our confused expressions and my whispered quesion.

 

My mom looks concerned at first and she sighs with resignation. “Oh, I guess that I can buy some plane tickets tonight, but how can I get Brianna on a flight without an ID for her?”

 

Mr. Reilly smiles at her. “That’s not going to be a problem, Mrs. Peters.  You and Brianna will fly on-board a private DARPA jet with me, Fey and Sir Wallace on Sunday.  We will have to drop Fey and Sir Wallace off at Fey’s school in New Hampshire, so I will need to talk with my pilot to figure out an exact departure time.”

 

My mom seems surprised by the news and almost reluctant to accept the help. “That’s certainly a surprise, Mr. Reilly, but are you sure that’s necessary?”

 

Mr. Reilly nods his head. “Positive.  The President and his advisers all agree that in light of our findings and Brianna’s experiences, that it would be best if we got Brianna to a facility that could better test your daughter’s abilities while keeping an eye on her health.  We are all concerned about how her mutant abilities might interact with the nanites and with her magical Sidhe nature.”

 

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.  It just seems to be so sudden. I was hoping that I could get Brianna home for a few days to allow for things to settle down some.” My mom says, sounding a little disappointed.

 

Mr. Reilly pauses for a second. “Hmm, I guess I didn’t really consider that, but I don’t think that there is a whole lot more that we can get done today.  Does anyone here think that there would be a problem if Brianna spent the evening at home with her family?”

 

Dr. Edmundson looks at Major Thole, and then back to Mr. Reilly. “No sir. I don’t think that we have any problems with that, but I would like to see about turning off Brianna’s command level access to the Land Warrior systems before she departs the facility.”

 

Oh man, I was kind of hoping that they would forget about that. I really wanted to play around in there.  All that stuff looked so interesting to me.

 

Mr. Reilly looks at Dr. Edmundson. “I also believe that it would be beneficial if you were able to join us at Langley, Dr. Edmundson.”

 

Dr. Edmundson smiles with relief.  “I was just going to make the suggestion that either Dr. Johansson or I join you sir.” He turns and smiles at me before turning back to address Mr. Reilly. “Brianna is my patient and I would be loath to entrust her care to anyone else.”

 

I feel slightly relieved to know that he will be there too.

 

Sir Wallace is the next one who surprises me. “If it is decided that Brianna can go home for the evening, I would recommend that Fey join her, just in case there is something of a magical nature that needs addressing.” He says with that cool British accent that makes him sound so authoritative.

 

Mr. Reilly looks to his daughter with concern. “Fey? Is that okay with you?”

 

“I think that it would be nice to not have to spend the night in a hotel.” Fey says with a pleased smile as she grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze.  She looks past me to my mom. “Is that okay with you, Mrs. Peters?”

 

My mom looks at me for a second and I give her my best pleading look before she smiles and nods at Fey before turns back to Mr. Reilly. “That sounds like a good idea, Mr. Reilly.”

 

“Okay then, Brianna.  While I work out some details with your mother and Fey, why don’t you check with Dr. Edmundson and Major Thole so they can see about your access levels.  Once they give the go-ahead, I don’t see why we can’t get you home to see your family this evening.” Mr. Reilly says with a encouraging smile.

 

I return his smile as I stand up to join Dr. Edmundson. “Sure Mr. Reilly.  That sounds great.  I can’t wait to get home!”

 

I follow Dr. Edmundson and Major Thole down to Major Thole’s office.  He has a terminal sitting on his desk.  He passes his ID card over a built in reader and that opens up his PC to allow him to enter his login information.  Once there, he and Dr. Edmundson look over the system a little. “I’m not sure what ID you are using, Brianna.  Can you access your C3 system and see if you can find out what your user ID might be?” Dr. Edmundson asks.

 

“Sure, Dr. Edmundson. Hold on a sec while I try.” I say while I mentally open up the C3 thing again.  Once again a window opens up with the three states bordering New Mexico.  Tons of information starts to flood in again as the map starts to expand to over the entire United States.  Okay, this is cool and all, but Dr. Edmundson needs to know what user ID I am using to access the system.  Hmm, I think there is a ‘who’ command in UNIX.  I try that and another window opens up and just starts to scroll by with thousands of users until I stop it.  TMI...okay, so, who am i?

 

>DARPA_TST_USER    pts/5   Feb 17 15:25   ( node:whisper.darpa.us.mil )

 

“I think that I am logged in as ‘DARPA_TST_USER’ and there is something about a node whisper.darpa.us.mil in there, too” I tell them.

 

“Okay, thanks Brianna.” Dr. Edmundson says as Major Thole starts to type that into his console.  I glance over and can see the screen.  It all looks pretty technical to me.  There are a lot of acronyms and check-boxes for tons of stuff on the screen.  “Jake, hold on for a sec before we shut everything off. I want to think about it for a second or two.”

 

“Sure thing, Dr. Edmundson. What are you thinking?” Major Thole asks as he turns around to look back at Dr. Edmundson.

 

“It is interesting that she is showing up as a node on the system, but as I understand it, her current access gives her full command authority in the system. However; I am thinking that while we need to limit her access, we will still need to be able to have her test things.  Can you edit her user ID and give her read-only access to the system?”

 

“Sure.” Major Thole says as he clicks the mouse a few times to enable and disable a few check boxes on his screen.  “Anything else?” He asks, turning to look back at Dr. Edmundson.

 

Dr. Edmundson ponders his question for a second. “Hmmm, limit the access times to normal business hours too.  Say, 0800 through 1700 hrs and force a password reset.”

 

“Sounds good, okay, done.” Major Thole says after a few more clicks.

 

Dr. Edmundson turns to me. “Okay Brianna, can you try logging off and then logging back in?”

 

I nod my head yes as I think to myself to log off.  The C3 window closes down and when I think about it starting again, it opens up, but instead of the map, I now have a login window that is showing me the ‘DARPA_TST_USER’ automatically plugged in for my User ID and a bunch of asterisks for the password.  I mentally hit enter to log in, I get a message that asks me to change my password.

 

“It is asking me to change my password now.” I say with a frown.  Darn it.  I was hoping that their user ID change thing wouldn’t work for me due to some super-mutant computer hacking power, or something.

 

“Excellent, try changing it to something that would be hard to guess, but easy for you to remember and make sure it has some numbers in there too.” Dr. Edmundson says.

 

I just try my usual ‘whisper7734!’ and I can’t stop myself from smiling when the map pops back up for me.  7734 is kind of a nerd thing, but I like it and I figure that the special character at the end will help keep people from using the standard dictionary attack approach to cracking a password. Not that I expect anyone to ever want to try and crack my password.  I don’t have anything that anyone would ever consider interesting.

 

“Okay, Dr. Edmundson. It looks like I am back in, but I don’t notice any differences.”

 

“I think that Jake, I mean Major Thole here, is more familiar with how the system should work than I am. Do you have any ideas on how we can test her access now?” Dr. Edmundson asks.

 

Major Thole nods and turns to look at me. “Try opening up one of the soldiers here and issuing them an order.”

 

I grin when I spot PFC Killian on my map of the area.  “Okay, I’m going to try and tell PFC Killian to go clean the bathrooms, umm, with a toothbrush.”

 

Major Thole grins at me. “I think you’ve watched too many movies.”

 

>User not authorized for Command authority. Please contact your system administrator.

 

I frown at Major Thole before sighing. “Darn.  It won’t let me.  It’s telling me that I’m not authorized…”

 

I’m not really that bummed about the security changes since I never knew that I could have done anything before the changes, but it would have been funny to see PFC Killian scrubbing the toilets.  Not that I have anything against him either.

 

“Excellent!  We can always re-enable some command authority later down the road if we need to do further testing” Dr. Edmundson says with a smile. “I know, it is kinda cool Brianna, but I think that some folks would be a tad upset if you accidentally started to fire off some missiles.  However, on the plus side for you, I think that means that you can now go home for the evening.”

 

I bounce out of my chair with excitement and I immediately find myself blushing when I feel myself bounce a little more on top than I am used too.  “Th-Thanks Dr. Edmundson and Major Thole.” I say, feeling a little self-conscious all of a sudden. “Is there anything else you need from me before I hunt down my mom?”

 

“Nothing from me.”  Major Thole says, smiling happily. “I’m just glad that you’re doing so well.”

 

I’m a little surprised by his admission.  I didn’t expect that from the Army dude.

 

“Same here, Brianna.  Just remember to grab a few urine sample jars before you leave.” Dr. Edmundson says.

 

Oh joy.  I was kind of hoping that everyone would forget about those things.

 

**

 

It doesn’t take me too long to find my mom. Like, maybe half a second when scan for and spot her cell phone in the lobby.  Okay, it was really 0.234 seconds. I am pretty darn happy to be getting out of here.  I can’t stop myself from smiling, even after I notice people smiling back at me and giving me second and third looks as I walk down the halls of the lab.

 

As I turn the corner and enter into the lobby, I see my mom sitting with Fey while Brenda talks excitedly to them both.  Next to Fey is a large rolling suitcase, while my mom has our suitcases beside her all ready to go. Brenda appears to be acting a little more awkward towards Fey.  It’s like she doesn’t quite know how to treat her.  Even though I am still 30 meters from them and Brenda isn’t yelling, I can somehow hear her clearly.

 

“I wish that I could go with you to Virginia.  I just love the ocean and I hear that there are tons of good stores there.” Brenda says with a wistful expression.

 

“I wish that you could go with us too, Brenda.  I will have to give you a call when we get back.  I am so looking forward to taking my newest daughter shopping and I would love to have you join us!” My mom says, excitedly.  

 

I am so wishing that I did not just over-hear that statement.  I am doomed.  Fey has seen me, but her smile lets me know that she is finding the current conversation and my reaction to it to be very amusing.  I am not looking forward to when my mom decides that it is time to include me with her and Lindsay’s regular salon make-over trips. 

 

I decide that yelling to my mom might be a good way to halt the current conversation’s direction. “Hey Mom!  I’m all ready to go!”

 

Surprisingly, that actually ends up working, but I stumble a bit at the sound of my voice at full girl volume. When I am whispering or talking normally, the sound of my voice almost sounds the same as before.  I can hear a pitch difference, but it’s not as noticeable. There is absolutely no getting around the fact that I sound like a girl when I yell.  That makes me wonder why I sound like a girl when I ‘talk’ in my head too.  Like, when I was on the phone with my dad; why didn’t I sound like my old self?  Maybe my virtual time as a girl changed my internal voice to match?  All these thoughts are just confusing me and aren’t solving anything.  Wind, reed, bend, remember?

 

“Ooops, looks like it is time for us to get a going. I’ll call you as soon as we get back.” My mom says as she and Brenda exchange a quick hug.  “Thanks for all of your help and support the last few days Brenda!  I couldn’t have done it without you.”

 

“No problem Jennifer.” Brenda says as she turns to me with what looks like a mischievous grin. “...and I am so looking forward to going shopping with you when you get back from Virginia, Brianna!”  I was wrong.  It wasn’t just a ‘mischievous’ grin...it was the grin of the devil.

 

“Oh yeah, I am so looking forward to my first official visit to the testosterone free zone known as Victoria’s Secrets.” I say with as much false enthusiasm in my voice as I can manage. 

 

That doesn’t work. She ups the ante by faking a bubbly school girl when she excitedly claps her hands and bounces up and down to help punctuate her masterful performance “Oh my gawd, Brianna!  VS is my fav! I am like, so excited! I didn’t know that you liked that store too! I can’t wait!” She squeals before she, my mom and even Fey burst into laughter as I just stand there with what I am sure is a shocked expression on my face.

 

“Mooommm!” I say as pathetically as I can manage, hoping to get a little bit of support and sympathy for my lonely male ego. I get none, but at the same time my male ego gets a boost when I start to imagine Brenda in a Victoria’s Secrets store.  My mom breaks that line of thought.

 

“Hey, you had it coming when you tried to use the sarcasm on her.” My mom says without any sympathy what-so-ever. 

 

Darn it. “Hmmpphh.” I say, admitting defeat and hoping that will end the torture.

 

Brenda isn’t done with me yet though. “Oh don’t worry, Brianna.” She says while surprising me with a quick hug. “I was just playing with you. I wouldn’t take you into any shop that you wouldn’t feel comfortable with.”

 

I feel confused and a little awkward when she releases me. I am so surprised by her spontaneous hug, that I don’t even try to hug her back. “Umm, thanks and sorry. I’m still getting used to this girl stuff.” I say in an embarrassed mumble as I struggle to contain the blush caused by the tingly feeling caused by my boobs being squished against her body. Well, at least it is only a blush instead of a painful tent in my pants. While I wish that the later was the case, right now, the blush is much easier to explain and handle.  My boobs, that identification is causing me some stress though. I don’t know why, but they keep surprising me with their presence. Okay, wind, damn it!

 

Mr. Reilly stops us before we can leave by telling my mom that he will give her a call as soon as he gets the flight plan worked out with the pilot.  He looks a little awkward with Fey. I think that he wants to give her a hug before we go, but instead he just says, “Have fun, Fey and thanks for doing this for me.  I will have to make it up to you later.”

 

She smiles at him, “That’s okay, Mr. Reilly.  I understand.  It is kind of nice being away from school this weekend and I’m just glad that I could help you and Brianna.”

 

My mom hands me a heavy dark green wool sweater. “I’m sorry about not having a warmer jacket for you to wear, but we haven’t had a chance to find one made out of natural fibers.” My mom says as I pull the sweater over my head.  “I should’ve gone out and got the car started while we were waiting, but it should warm up fast enough once we get going.”

 

“That’s okay, mom. I’m sure that I will be fine.” I tell her, feeling a little over protected. It is just a little cold out. I’m not going to freeze to death from the short walk to the car. 

 

I see her strapping my suitcase to hers. “Mom, I can take my own suitcase. I’m not that much of a girl.” 

 

My mom’s eyes narrow a bit. Oops.  I think that I just stepped on my own foot there, but my mom just gives me the “we will talk about this later” look as she snaps the last strap into place a little more forcefully then she needed too. “Come on, Brianna, let’s get you home before they change their minds.” She turns to Fey with a concerned expression. “Fey, are you going to be okay with the light jacket that you are wearing?”

 

Fey smiles at her. “Oh, yes, Mrs. Peters, I will be fine.  If I start to get cold, I can just use a touch of magic to warm myself.”  

 

My mom frowns a little at that. I can see that she has defaulted into the standard parent mode and is worried about Fey catching a cold. As we walk outside, I notice that the sun is just beginning to set, so it will probably be dark in another hour. It just feels so good to smell the fresh air, even if it is a little cold. I can’t help myself when I pause for a second to take in a large breath of air before I slowly release it with a smile as I feel the waning sun-light on my face.

 

As we approach my mom’s car, she pops her trunk and unlocks the doors using her remote.  I ‘see’ the frequency and commands in my head.  That’s cool.  I wonder if I can mimic the commands.  “Hey mom, can you lock the doors?  I wanna try something.”

 

She looks at me a little curiously. “Sure?”  She says as she pushes the lock button on her remote.

 

I ‘see’ that command getting transmitted as her doors re-lock.  As soon as that happens, I mentally ‘say’ the unlock command using the same frequency that her remote used and I am rewarded by hearing the doors unlock.

 

Okay, that was kind of cool. Not like having laser eyeballs, but still cool. “Sweet!  Now you never have to worry about accidently locking your keys in the car again.”

 

“Okay, that is kind of neat, Brianna, but can you and Fey get into the car while I get the suitcases into the trunk?” My mom asks patiently.

 

“Sure mom, but lemme help. It is my job as the...umm.” I start to say before I remember my new gender. 

 

“Well, Fey’s suitcase looks kinda heavy; can I at least try to help you?” I ask.  I know that I could’ve lifted her suitcase before my change. It might have been a little hard, but I have no doubts that I could have handled it.  My mom looks torn. I think she can feel my confusion and self-doubt.

 

She ends up smiling at me while Fey looks on with interest. “Sure honey. Why don’t you give it a try and if you need help, I can jump in.”

 

I reach for Fey’s suitcase and find that I can easily lift it.  Maybe even easier then I could have before my change.  I gasp with surprise as I jerk Fey’s suitcase off the ground and almost trip as I over-compensate while my mom jumps forward to grab the suitcase in case I drop it.  I don’t.

 

I turn to the two of them and smile. “Well, that was surprising.  I expected it to be heavier.  It feels like you have stuff in here, but did you really pack any clothes Fey?” I ask as I grab it with both hands and give it a gentle shake.  The shake test confirms that her suitcase has stuff in it. I am confused as to why her suitcase is so much lighter than I expected it to be.

 

“Oh yeah, it’s full. I packed it even more than I would for a regular trip since I knew that I didn’t have to worry about the fifty pound weight limit.” Fey says with a smirk.

 

I maneuver her suitcase into the trunk. “Well, it doesn’t feel that heavy.  It feels like it only weighs around 15 pounds or so.”

 

Fey just shakes her head and grins. “Oh, it is and I didn’t even lighten it up with a spell like I normally do. I guess that you are just stronger then you think.  Girrrl Power!” She shakes her fist in the air as a mock cheer.

 

I’m not sure how to handle that. On one hand, being stronger then I look is good, but the “Girrrl Power” thing is a little alarming.  “Yeah, girrrl power...” I say, without much enthusiasm as I finish loading the suitcases into the trunk.  On the plus side, I did get to do my normal guy duty with the heavy lifting.  That thought makes me feel a little better about this “girrrl power” thing.

 

Since Fey is the guest, I let her have the front seat.  That proves to be a wise decision since my mom decides to start talking as soon as we get out of the parking lot.  She and Fey pretty much carry the entire conversation.  I only have to add a few strategic “yeses” and “no’s” to maintain my usual role in the conversation. This is good, because I am a bit distracted by my radio super powers. 

 

I detect so many different frequencies, but most of them appear to be scrambled or just plain boring to listen too.  I am surprised when I discover that I can listen to my favorite FM radio station and I am even more shocked when I discover that I can even watch the regular broadcast TV stations, all from within the comfort of my own head. 

 

I briefly stop my channel surfing when I see a news flash about some terrorist attempt to hijack or blow up a plane over the Atlantic. The interesting part was how some unknown super-hero was able to stop the terrorists and save the day.  I expected them to announce who the super-hero was, but they just showed the standard shadow person cutout with a big red question mark over them and claimed that no one knew who the hero was.  I find that hard to believe since anyone powerful enough to stop a hijacking had to have been a known hero.  They just end the story promising more information with their late night news broadcast.  Almost a waste of two minutes, but I guess they need to attract viewers to their late night news show somehow.

 

I am able to save my mom from getting a ticket when I detect a police band radio broadcasting on the road ahead.  She wasn’t really speeding that much, but still, it is kind of cool. I’m a little curious about what I am using for an antenna.  It would be pretty freaky if I grew some insect looking antenna out of my forehead, but if I ended up with those anime girl ear antennas, that might not be so bad.

 

I can see my super hero job interview now. “Hi, I’m Brianna! Super Radio Girrrrl!  I can open locked car doors with a single thought and warn speeding motorists of impending tickets! Oh, and do you need help with your luggage?”  Oh yeah, I’m super all right.

 

My mom decides that she has had enough of my usual conversational habits and interrupts the news broadcast. “Brianna? Are you even paying attention to what Fey and I are talking about?”

 

Ut oh, now there is a loaded question.  I quickly rewind the last few minutes of conversation and play it back to myself in 5 seconds.  “Umm, yeah. You were asking Fey what she wanted for dinner and she said that ‘anything’ was good.”

 

“Whatever you are playing with inside your head young lady, you need to stop right now and pay attention to the conversation.  We have a guest in the car and it is not polite to just sit there and ignore everything like you usually do.” My mom says, angrily. 

 

I wonder why she is yelling at me about that. Like she said, I’m just doing what I normally do when we are in the car.

 

“That’s okay, Mrs. Peters and I completely understand.” Fey says trying to diffuse the situation.

 

My mom nods at her, but ignores her at the same time. “Thanks Fey, but I think that Brianna would benefit from participating in this conversion.”

 

“Mrs. Peters, could you do me a favor, well, two?” Fey asks.

 

My mom glances at Fey for second before her eyes return to the road. “Sure, what is it Fey?”

 

“One, hi, I’m Nikki Reilly.  Fey is just my codename and it gets a little tiring hearing it all the time.” 

 

I was wondering when my mom would get to find out.

 

My mom smiles at Nikki. “Okay, pleased to meet you, Nikki.  My name is Jennifer and I just have to ask...”

 

Nikki grins and politely interrupts her. “Yes, he’s my dad, but please don’t let anyone from the labs know that.”

 

My mom nods her agreement. “Okay, what was your second favor?”

 

Nikki pauses for a few seconds in thought.  “Hmmm, can you pull over just ahead?  I want you to try something.”

 

My mom glances at her dubiously, but she slows down while looking for a place to pull over. “Ookkaay.”  She brings the car to a stop, turns on her flashers and looks to Nikki.

 

“Thanks, Mrs. Peters.  Can you try closing your eyes and ‘feeling’ me with your senses?”

 

“Okay, I’ll try.” My mom says without much conviction as she closes her eyes and appears to concentrate.  I watch as her look of concentration fades.  I’m guessing that she is somehow feeling Nikki with her empathy.

 

“Good job, Mrs. Peters!  Now, do I feel like a boy or a girl to you?” Nikki asks.

 

My mom frowns a little. “Well, it is kind of hard to say.  I feel a strong feminine identity in you that is very bright, oh wait, it has faded and I think that you feel like a girl to me, but...no, I’m not sure. I think that you feel more like a girl to me.  Why?”

 

“Okay, now try looking the same way at Brianna.” Nikki says.

 

My mom turns halfway in her seat and I feel a gentle, but loving presence inside my head.  That must be my mom.

 

“Okay, now, does Brianna feel like a boy or a girl, Mrs. Peters?” Nikki asks.

 

“A boy.” My mom says in a whisper without any hesitation.

“Exactly! Brianna may look and sound like a girl, but inside she is still Brian and still thinks like a boy.  Why did Brian change her name?”

 

It doesn’t take my mom too long to put two and two together. “Because of how other people were reacting to her boy name,” she says.

 

“Yes, not because ‘she’ thought of ‘herself’ as a girl with a boy’s name. Instead, it was because ‘he’ thought of ‘himself’ as a girl with a boy’s name and he could see that everyone else felt uncomfortable every time they used his name.” Nikki explains. 

 

My mom closes her eyes again and I see a tear start to leak out of the corner of her eye.

 

That makes me feel bad.  I don’t want to be the reason that my mom feels bad. “It’s okay, mom.  I’ll try harder.” I say as I feel my eyes starting to get a little moist.  I guess that was the exact wrong thing to say because she really begins to cry. “Mom....please don’t cry. I’ll pay attention the conversation like you want me too.”  That makes things even worse, because she completely breaks down.  I reach forward and touch her shoulder. “Mom?”

 

She turns to me with tears streaming down her face and pulls me into a slightly awkward hug due to front seat and back seat geometry.  “Oh Brian, I’m so so sorry for trying to force you into being a girl. I should have known better.”

 

Oh great, that makes me start to cry now too. “It’s okay mom.” I say as I start to feel my nose begin clog up from all the tears again. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who is a freak for playing a girl in that stupid video game.”  That works, sort of. 

 

She releases me and I can feel her looking at my face, but I’m too ashamed of myself to look at her. “Brianna Nicole Peters.  Look at me!”  Crap. How in the heck can she go from crying to pissed so fast? 

 

I look up at her face and I see determination in her eyes, “You are not a freak for playing a girl and it is not your fault that this happened to you.  It’s my fault for not looking at you and seeing who you are.  I should’ve understood part of what you are going through the moment that you realized that you might be able to be a Mom someday.”

 

“But Mom...” I say, trying to interrupt her so I can tell her that I shouldn’t have been such a wuss about it.

 

“No Brianna.  It is my fault. Until Fey, sorry.” She glances to Nikki before returning to me. “Nikki, forced me to really look at how you felt, I had no idea how hard it is for you to be a boy trapped in a girl’s body.  The things that I take for granted and don’t even give a second thought about, are very much not normal for you. I promise that from this moment on, I will do my best to not try and force you to be someone that you’re not.” She says as she starts to tear up again. 

 

I can’t help myself. “Oh Mom, I’m sorry.  I didn’t...”

 

That’s as far as I get with that before she crushes me with another hug and cries. “I don’t ever want to have to worry about losing you again!  You are Brian James Peters who is now Brianna Nicole Peters and there is nothing in the world that can ever make me stop loving you for who you are.  Don’t you ever forget that!” She fiercely whispers in my ear.

 

“Not even if I never want to go to the salon with you?” I ask, feeling a bit mischievous and hoping that the humor will help break the tension.

 

My mom groans while I catch Fey grinning. “Oh Brianna, not even that, but I do hope that you will change your mind.” She says with a fleeting smile as she tries to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her hand. 

 

Nikki chooses that moment to hand us both some tissues from her purse. “Well, I don’t know about you two, but I totally need to get some more emergency tissues now.” She mock complains as she blots her eyes to remove her tears.  Just that simple gesture causes us all to look at each other and start giggling.

 

“Oh god, I am such a wreck!” My mom says as she sits back in her seat with her head pushed up against her head rest.  She takes a deep breath. “Okay, I feel better.  How about you two?”

 

“Yep!” Nikki says, giving my mom a thumbs up.

 

“Yepper and I’m starting to get hungry again.” I say with a laugh.  I am starting to wonder where I am putting all the food that I am eating.

 

“Okay then, let’s get this show on the road again.  We got miles to drive and dinner to cook!” My mom says as she turns off her flashers and merges back onto the road.

 

We spend the rest of the drive planning everything from dinner to what we want to do after dinner and how we are going to handle the sleeping arrangements tonight.  Fey gets the choice of sleeping on the sleeper sofa or using an air mattress in my room.  I am pleasantly surprised when she chooses the latter.  I offer to let her have my bed while I use the air mattress, but she will have nothing to do with kicking me out of my own bed.

 

It’s kind of funny in a way. I always wanted to have a girl sleep in my bed. I just never thought that I would be the girl.  Oh yeah, and that I would have a hot girl sleeping in my bedroom, but she would be using an air mattress.

 

The sun has almost completely set when we finally pull into our house’s attached two car garage.  I caught the garage door signal, but being able to open and close the garage door with a thought is not exactly something to brag about. Dad’s car is also in the garage, but there is a strange car in the driveway. I am guessing that it is Barb and Barry’s rental car. 

 

My mom stops the engine and pushes the button to close the garage door, but before we get out she turns to me. “Well, we’re home.  Are you ready?”

 

“I think so.” I say with a nod, but not feeling at all ready anymore.

 

She unlocks the doors and as we all start to get out of the car my mom turns to me. “Don’t worry about the suitcases right now.  You or your dad can get them later.”

 

“Okay, mom.” I say, glad that she included me, but feeling a little nervous about seeing my dad and Lindsay.  I mean, my mom says that they saw me in the hospital bed earlier this morning when they dropped off my clothes, but that’s not the same thing.  I know that Barb and Barry will be there too, but for some reason I’m not as worried about them.  Maybe it’s because I hardly know them or something? 

 

What if my dad disowns me or my sister calls me a mutant freak?  I know, probably not even close to something I need to worry about, but I’m still more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  I would ask where I have heard that saying before, but I so don’t care right now.

 

My mom is just coming around the front of the car when the door from garage to the house opens. I stop in my tracks and nervously watch as my dad appears at the top of the steps that lead down from the house.  He turns and looks behind him. “Wait right there, Lindsay.  You’ll get your chance soon enough. Remember what we talked about?”

 

I hear my sister’s voice reply. “Yes Dad, I remember.”  She sounds so serious instead of her usual bratty self.  What did they talk about?

 

My dad turns back and takes the three of us in with a glance. He looks a little confused at the sight of Nikki, but Nikki helps him out by grabbing my hand pulling me forward until I hesitantly stop just in front of her.

 

“Hi, Dad.” I say, hesitantly.  I catch myself biting my lip as he spends a few seconds just looking at me before he breaks into a big smile.

 

“Oh my god, Brianna.  I, I...just don’t know what to say right now, except that I am so glad that you are home!” He says as he steps forward and lifts me off the floor with a hug.

 

I can smell his cologne and the familiar scent makes me feel so safe and protected. I’m really home and everything is going to be okay. It takes a little while, but I start to feel a little embarrassed by all the attention in front of Nikki.  “Dad, can you set me down now? You’re starting to crush me here.”

 

“Oh sure thing, sorry about that.” He says with a grin as he sets me down and follows that up by brushing aside my new bangs and giving me a quick kiss on my forehead.  I’m not 100% sure that he would have done that if I was still a boy, but it felt good so I decide to let it go.

 

My dad looks past me and to Nikki. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friend here?”

 

“Oh, sorry, Dad.  Dad, this is Nikki. Nikki, this is my dad.” I say while mentally kicking myself for such a lame introduction.

 

Fortunately, my dad covers for me by shaking her hand. “Hi Nikki, David Peters, thanks for your help and I am glad that you could join us here tonight. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.” He says as he glances at my mom. 

 

 “Thanks, Mr. Peters. I’m glad I could help and not have to spend the night in a yucky hotel.” Nikki says with a laugh that seems to brighten the dingy garage with its sound.

 

I smile as my dad blushes from the combined effects of Nikki’s laugh and his first time being exposed to her glamour.

 

“Yes, well, we are glad to be of service, my lady.” My dad says, stumbling a bit on that last part. “Now where did that come from?” I hear him mumble to himself as Nikki blushes in response.  I think that she’s a little embarrassed now too.

 

He recovers, turns and clears his throat, “Okay, Lindsay, you can come on in now.”

 

I have to force myself to not freak out as my targeting system screams at me when my sister rushes into the garage and throws herself at me.  She almost knocks me off my feet when she slams into me and wraps me with a hug and starts crying. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!  I was so worried about you!”

 

I’m not sure how to respond to this.  I never in a million years expected my sister to react like this.  I didn’t think that she cared.  I get over my surprise and return her hug. “Sorry, Lindsay. I didn’t mean to cause this much of a mess.” I say to her with a slight sniffle as she relaxes into just a hug versus the crushing hug she started out with. 

 

She gets her sniffles under control and steps back to really look at me.  I am dismayed to discover that my sister is now taller than me.  My ever so helpful computer supplies me with the exact measurement of 165.1 cm. Okay, in English?

 

>5’ 5”

 

Crap!  I was 5’ 5”.  How tall am I now?

 

>162.56 cm

 

Oh come on!  English!

 

>5’ 4”

 

Shit, I lost an inch!  My little sister is now officially my bigger sister.  She doesn’t even seem to register the fact that she is now taller than I am. 

 

Lindsay finally breaks, no shatters my line of thought. “Oh my god Bri-Brianna, You’re so beautiful!”  She says, gushing with excitement.

 

I think that she almost called me Brian there, but it is the last part that really gets my attention. That was so not what I was expecting, but she has just been a bundle of surprises since she burst into the garage.  I can feel myself starting to blush when I feel Nikki touch my arm. That helps to draw Lindsay’s attention away from me and as her eyes are drawn to Nikki, I can see her expression change from a “wow” expression to a “deer caught in the headlights” expression. 

 

“Thank you Nikki!” I think to myself with fervent thanks for her raw beauty and glamour.

 

Lindsay just gapes at Nikki, until Nikki snaps her out her stupor. “Hi. I’m Nikki. You must be Brianna’s sister, Lindsay.” Nikki says with a warm smile that finally breaks the spell. 

 

Lindsay blushes. “Oh, sorry, Nikki. I couldn’t help myself. It is nice to finally meet you.” She says before she looks back to me.  “And sorry, umm, Brianna. I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that.”

 

She surprises me with her empathy.

 

“Well, let’s get inside where it is more comfortable.  There are other people in there who want to say hi to you, Brianna.” My dad says with a grin.

 

“Okay, sure.  That sounds good to me.  I’m hungry!” I say, patting my belly. 

 

“Well, that is one thing that hasn’t changed.” My mom says, smiling fondly at me as everyone laughs.

 

Dad leads the way, followed by Mom, me, Nikki and Lindsay.  "Okay, Barb! I think that we are ready to start serving dinner." My dad yells as we walk down the hall and enter the living room. 

 

"Okay, Barry and I will get started on that as soon as we..." I hear Barb start to say from the general direction of the kitchen.  That draws my gaze left and toward the kitchen.  I am a little confused when my room scanning thing spots an unidentified male and a female shaped object standing to my right and in the living room when Barb and Barry are in the kitchen. I'm not sure what Barb says after that because the male object in the living room sounds like my friend, John.

 

"Brian? Which one are you?"

 

My head snaps from left to right and I see John and Lisa standing in the living room.  Lisa is nervously holding John’s hand and her face mirrors John’s confusion. 

 

I so do not want to be here!  I just want to go away where no one can see me!  My vision freaks out on me again.  This time, I don’t just see glowing black and white lines, but I also see blue, red, green and yellow lines too. They kind of remind me of magic in GEO and with that realization; the lines begin to form into a familiar looking pattern. I feel a strange resonance begin to build inside me while I see the shadows in the living room begin to move toward me.