Al Martin sat in his chair staring at the bare tree in the corner. Despite it being December 24th, the living room, and the rest of the house, was without a single decoration.

Al took a sip of his scotch. “I can't even hang one damn ornament.” There wouldn't have even been a tree except that with all that had happened in the last year he'd forgotten that he and Mary had ordered a tree last Christmas. Even the smell of fresh cut pine didn't help his mood.

“Why bother.” He said to the empty house. “Mary always took care of decorating the house.” Truthfully, Mary had taken care of everything. Decorating, cooking, cleaning, raising kids. Al had been the “breadwinner”. Over 42 years he been very good at it. Their lives had reflected his work, three kids through college, a nice house on a large lot, a nice car every other year, vacations around the world, and a generous donation to several charities. People always said they had a “perfect” life.

OK, so Mary got cancer and wasted away for almost a decade. How could that ruin a “perfect” life? How bad could it be watching the love of your life die before your eyes? Come on, it's only Mary.

Now Al was alone. The kids were scattered to the four winds, wrapped up in their own families. Seven grand-kids. Damn, that was nice. Mary love the idea of being a grandmother, he always groused about being too young even though he was as happy. And proud.

And the five feet of snow, with more coming down every hour, was keeping them away.

Oh, they called, they'd helped as much as they could, but life goes on. They all wanted to be with him tonight. But it was December in Maine.

*-*-*

'Damn, I must have fallen asleep.' Al thought as he opened his eyes. Except he wasn't in his living room, he wasn't in his chair. And if what he could see of his body, he wasn't 'he'.

“Hello Al.”

He looked up and saw a beautiful young woman. “Hello.”

“I guess you might want some answers.”

“Please.” He noticed how melodic his voice was now, the “mouth full of gravel” was gone.

“Well, where to begin... why are you female? Remember when you were young? The times you thought you should have been born female? You were right.”

“I stopped thinking that, after I met Mary.”

“Yes, you did. You subsumed your nature for her. Sometimes love isn’t always a good thing for everyone concerned. You spend forty years being someone you shouldn't be. And ten of those caring for Mary to the exclusion of everything else.”

“Yes, but it was worth it. It made Mary happy, even at the end.”

“it did. Which is part of the reason you're here now. It has been decided to give you what should have been yours all along. Welcome to womanhood Allison.”

“Thank you but what about the family? What will happen to them?”

“Simple, you're the fourth daughter, the baby. You have your entire life ahead of you now. A nice long, happy life.”

“Wait, will I remember? Will I remember Mary?”

“Better than that. Merry Christmas Allison. You will be happy.”

*-*-*

Allison Martin woke up. Someone was kissing her. Oh, right, she kissed back.

“Good morning my love.” Her partner, love, wife in all but certificate, said between kisses. “Merry Christmas Allison.”

Allison kissed her back. “Merry Christmas to you too, Mary.”

The End