The alarm went off about the time that Nikki felt the morning light brushing across her eyelids. She slapped the alarm absently and stretched. A deep groan escaped her lips. Nikki stopped mid stretch and looked at her arms.

Episode 4

Nikki's phone went off as she climbed back into her bug.

"Hello?"

"Where are you? You were supposed to wait at the store for me to pick you up."

It was Aunt Mary.

"I'm sorry." Nikki rolled her eyes. "I wasn't feeling well, so I left early and went by the hospital to see how Vic was doing."

"I started to panic when I couldn't find you at the store." Aunt Mary growled. "Get home now."

"Okay, you don't have to bite my head off." Nikki growled back.

Aunt Mary was her father when he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It was too hard trying to explain to people that the woman was actually Nick/Nikki's father.

"Just come home."

"On my way." Nikki hung up. She grabbed a handful of nuts and popped them into her mouth. She kept nuts in the car to help curb her constant hunger after transitioning. She was smart enough to have grabbed an apple and some sugar peas before going to work at the store.

Nikki and her father had grown closer in the past few years. When Nick first started transitioning a few years ago, he was very upset with his father. How could his father pass on such a horrible gene to his son?

One summer day a few months after Nikki had transitioned a few times, Nikki's father woke up on the wrong side of the bed and Aunt Mary took Nikki shopping. The two spent the day talking, shopping and enjoying each other's company. Nikki's Aunt took her to a department store and had the makeup women show Nikki how to apply the various hues of powders and creams. Aunt Mary also spoke to her at length about the joys of being a woman and how Gendermorphs had the best of both worlds.

Not only did Nikki get a new wardrobe out of it, she got the stuff to section her room off into a boy's side and girl's side as well as some history on her father and some embarrassing as well as funny stories that had happened to him during his early years of transitioning. The gendermorph gene had skipped his parent's generation. So when he woke up as a teenage girl, one morning, it was quite a lot to deal with it for him and his parents.

Sometimes the two, father/son Aunt/niece were in sync, waking up on the wrong side of the bed together, other times they were at odds, but over the rest of the summer, the two transformed Nick's bedroom into one that he and Nikki could both feel comfortable in.

Nikki pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. Aunt Mary sounded like she was in a foul mood, but hopefully she would calm down by the time Nikki got home.

"I'm home." Nikki announced as her heels clicked in the foyer of the house.

"You were supposed to let your father - er - Aunt Mary pick you up." Nikki's mom greeted harshly.

"I forgot." Nikki crossed her arms under her breasts defensively. "I was having a rough day, so Mrs. York told me that I could go home. I stopped by the hospital to see Vic."

Nikki's mother's voice changed, losing some of its coldness. "How is he doing?"

"Fine. He has a chest tube." Nikki grimaced.

Her mother nodded, "That is pretty standard for a chest wound. "Mary came home upset not being able to locate you."

"I'm sorry." Nikki stated.

"You might want to go apologize to her."

Nikki nodded.

"Dinner will be ready in a bit." Nikki heard her mother announce as she carried her backpack up stairs to her room.

Once in her room, she slipped off her heels and tossed them into the closet. Aunt Mary was probably out back gardening. She liked to get her hands in the dirt more than her male counterpart.

Nikki slipped out of her skirt and white button down blouse. She had worn them a few times at work and they could use a good washing. She sniffed at the blouse; it had the faint scent of the store's locker room. She peeled off the nylons and set them aside. Nikki slipped into a purple tank-top and white yoga pants before collapsing on her pink bed. She looked over at the blue side. It was a nice color of blue, but Nikki felt more comfortable with pink.

It wasn't as if Nikki was a different person, it was just that Nikki had different tastes than Nick. Sometimes a recessive trait became more dominant when a Gendermorph transitioned. Nick was partial to the color blue, usually a bold royal blue. Nikki on the other hand liked blue, usually a baby blue or turquoise however, Nikki really preferred pink to blue.

Nikki padded down stairs, slipped on her pink flip-flops and exited the sliding glass door to the patio. Sure enough, Mary was kneeling down at the edge of a flower bed, pulling weeds from around her tulips and daffodils.

Nikki pulled out a chair from the patio table and sat down. "I'm sorry I gave you a scare." She stated.

Mary didn't look up but just continued pulling weeds.

"I truly forgot what mom had told me this morning." She continued. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Least of all your safety." Aunt Mary huffed. "Nikki, you really don't understand how much more vulnerable we are as women. When we transition, we lose some of our muscle mass. We aren't as strong as we are as men. "

"I know." Nikki had heard the lecture before.

"Did you read that article about that Gendermorph up North who was raped?"

"Yes." Nikki nodded. Her father had emailed it to her a few weeks ago. A Gendermorph in female form was raped and beaten. If a Gendermorph gets pregnant as a woman, she stays that way until the baby is born. No amount of stress or orgasms could transition her into a man. Most even were unable to transition until they were done breast feeding. Something in the body just wouldn't allow the transition during that time. "Aunt Mary, you sent me to self defense classes last year."

"It doesn't help if there are too many and they are stronger than you." She stated. "Your friend was shot in the parking lot last night for heaven's sake."

"I know, I was there."

"Do they know why he was singled out?"

Nikki shook her head. "He said that he didn't know either." it was a partial lie, but she needed to put Aunt Mary at ease.

"Are you working tomorrow?"

"No." Nikki stated. "Sarah would like me to join her for a girls' night. It has been a while since we've been able to hang out and do girl things."

"If it is okay with your mother."

"Thanks." Nikki smiled. "Aunt Mary?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Usually I can't wait to get back to being Nick, but I think I want to stay Nikki for a little while."

"That would be nice."

"The problem is that I've been stressing out a lot lately." She sighed. "How can I keep from waking up on the wrong side of the bed tomorrow?"

Aunt Mary stopped pulling weeds and shrugged. "We really don't have much control over our triggers."

"I know. I was just hoping there was a way to counter act the trigger so that I can stay Nikki for a little while."

"Well.... In woman form, I find long soaks in a bubble bath and a good book relaxing." She explained. "In male form, I either work out, go to the shooting range or play some Mario kart."

Nikki smiled. Her father wasn't much good at the wii game, but he enjoyed it anyway.

Aunt Mary got to her feet put her gloves off to the side and started for the house. "I'm going to get washed up. Dinner should be about ready and I am still eating like a horse."

"So, did you meet that new, cute surfer guy at school?" Alicia asked at the dinner table.

Nikki could feel her face heating up. Alicia snickered.

"A new boy at school?" their mother asked absently.

"He's very cute." Alicia exaggerated. "Half of the girls were drooling as he walked by."
"He's in Jazz and Show band." Nikki stated.

"Ooooh." Alicia teased. "Could you concentrate on the music?"

"He plays Tenor. I was asked to play with him so that he can learn the music."

Alicia sighed. "I should have learned to play the sax."

Alicia had never been musically inclined. After three years of piano lessons, she could barely play basic pieces.

Nikki lost track of her sister's nattering about her day and about Landon. She was lost in her own world thinking of the blonde surfer. Just because he was tan and had long sun bleached hair didn't mean that he was a surfer.

Nikki blinked back to what was going on.

"You are going to Sarah's tomorrow?" her mother was asking.

"Yes. T.J. and I are joining her for a girls' night."

"Be home by midnight."

"Yes mother." She nodded. "Oh, before I forget. I picked up a gig."

"Oh?" Aunt Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Someone at the mall asked me to play for their grandmother's birthday."

"When?" her mother asked.

"Sunday after next at the Azalea old folk's home."

"Piano?" Aunt Mary asked.

Nikki nodded.

All four girls made quick work of the dishes and clean up. Mary and her mother retired to the sofa to watch chick flicks. Alicia disappeared to her room.

Nikki found herself sitting on her bed staring in her closet, wondering what she should wear to catch Landon's attention. She stood up and started going through her closet. A lot of the clothes hadn't been worn in a while. She wasn't Nikki very often and when she was, she didn't stay that way for long so her wardrobe was a little dated. She needed something that looked nice; feminine but not too revealing or anything that looked like she was trying.

She ended up pulling an ankle length flowing white skirt which she paired with a Barbie pink blouse. Her bolo denim jacket would help make it more casual. She pulled out some white strappy sandals which had a slight wedge to them. She set the outfit off to the side and pulled her satin nightgown out of her drawer and began drawing a bubble bath.

While the tub was filling, Nikki pulled some of Alicia's headbands out of her drawer and began playing with her hair, her hair was short, so she never really played with head bands before, but this pink one would look good with her outfit.

Nikki slipped into the fragrant bubble bath and could almost feel the muscles in her body relax.

She was just starting to close her eyes when the bathroom opened. "Hey, that's my headband." Alicia stated.

"I want to borrow it tomorrow." Nikki asked.

"A pink headband?" Alicia questioned.

"It'll look good with my outfit."

"Surfer guy?" Alicia asked.

"If you must know, his name is Landon."

Alicia snickered. "Just make sure I get it back."

"Do you have any pink nail polish?" Nikki could feel her face getting very hot and it wasn't from the bath.

"What shade?"

"Something similar to the head band?"

Alicia smirked as she nodded. "Yeah, I'll give it to you after you get out of here. Don't be in here all night. I want to take a shower tonight." She left the bathroom.

Nikki closed her eyes and relaxed in the water and tried to think happy thoughts. It was unnerving how they all seemed to involve a tall tan blonde guy.

The water began to get cool. Nikki pulled the plug and waited as the water drained away. She then stood up and rinsed off in a quick shower before drying and slipping into her silky smooth nightgown. The softness of the clothes were definitely a perk of being a women she decided.

"Tell you what." Alicia proposed as Nikki exited the bathroom. "I'll paint your toes if you'll paint mine."

"I guess." Nikki nodded. "I can't promise to be any good."

"I'll show you."

Nikki found it kind of nice spending time with her sister. This was something that they had never done before. Spending sister time talking about school, guys, and clothes. It was kind of nice.

Nikki wiggled her toes and smiled at the pink color. It was so girly. Would Landon even notice? Would she like it if he did?

Nikki felt relaxed as she wormed her way under her pink comforter.

The alarm went off about the time that Nikki felt the morning light brushing across her eyelids. She slapped the alarm absently and stretched. A deep groan escaped her lips. Nikki stopped mid stretch and looked at her arms.

"Shit!" Nick's deep voice sounded. "Shit, shit, shit!" Nick threw the comforter off of him. "Mom!" he bellowed. "I woke up on the wrong side of the bed again."