"Ladies and gentlemen," the posh English accent announced over the airplane’s tannoy, "I'd like to thank you for flying Soixante-Trois airlines, and on behalf of the company, I'd like to wish you all a safe stay in Paris and a very Merry Christmas!"

"Joyeux Noel!" Jessica said to the passengers as they disembarked the plane, barely giving the attractive young stewardess in her tight blue skirt and high-heeled shoes a second look as they stepped out into the cold December air. Once all the passengers were safely disembarked, Jessica marched her tired body to the flight debriefing, before changing from her uniform back into her slinky- but warm- long-sleeved pencil dress. The flight from Munich had been long and demanding, but as Jessica stepped through the door of her apartment, she had a smile on her face.

The brightly-decorated Christmas tree added a festive air to the small dwelling, and the smell of freshly baked mince pies made Jessica's stomach rumble, but what lit up the apartment the most for the young American woman was the dark-haired Scottish girl in the plaid dress that greeted her with a long, deep kiss the second she returned home.

"How was Germany?" Paige asked as she and Jessica collapsed heavily onto the apartment's sofa. "Run into Elsa at all?"

"Nah," Jessica sighed. "I was in Munich, she's moved to Berlin... Kinda miss the crazy girl."

"She seemed like real fun," Paige said. "But with her gone, we get her room all to ourselves... And her double bed..." Jessica smiled wickedly and gave her lover another kiss.

"Has Hiromi adjusted to life without you yet?" Jessica laughed.

"Already moved on," Paige giggled. "Remember Karla, the other black-haired girl from our training group?"

"What, does that bedroom have a 'your hair must be darker than this shade to enter' sign outside it or something?" Jessica teased, making Paige giggle some more.

"What they do is up to them," Paige laughs. "What we do is up to us... And I may or may not be wearing that body stocking you got me last month underneath this dress..." Grinning evilly, Paige grabbed Jessica's hand and slowly guided it underneath the short hem of her dress, leading it ever upwards...

"Hi guys!" A thick Northern-Irish accent called from the front door, interrupting the two lovers before their hearts had even had a chance to beat faster.

"Hi Anna-Jade," Jessica said to the ginger-haired woman. "How was Dublin?"

"Wet and cold!" Anna-Jade replied as she sat down in a chair opposite Jessica and Paige. "How was Munich?"

"Also wet, also cold," Jessica said, laughing along with her two newest housemates. "I know I shouldn't, but I envy Zoe... 71 degree weather three days before Christmas..."

"That's 21 Celsius for those of us in the developed world," Paige said, earning herself a playful shove from her lover.

"Sure, you'll get onto red route before you know it," Anna-Jade laughed. "Do I smell mince pies?"

"They're just cooling," Paige said. "Help yourself whenever you want."

"You are an absolute star," Anna-Jade beamed. "I knew I picked the right apartment to move into!"

"Just don't eat too many," Jessica teased, "or you'll need a winch to get into your corset!" Jessica and Paige giggled as Anna-Jade blew them a playful raspberry before disappearing into the kitchen to tuck into the sweet treats Paige had made.

"Speaking of corsets," Jessica whispered, "I've been DYING to get out of mine all day..." Paige grinned wickedly as she and her lover skipped up to their bedroom, where before too long, Jessica's corset had found its way to the floor, along with Paige's body stocking and every other item of clothing the girls were wearing...

After a hearty meal, Jessica, Paige, Anna-Jade and Natalie (who had recently returned from her flight to Amsterdam) amused themselves by watching seasonal television programmes whilst waiting for their two other flat mates to return from their journey to Qatar. Marie and Zoe eventually returned to the apartment just before 9pm, but it was immediately apparent from the younger woman's face that all was not well.

"Zoe?" Natalie asked as she stared at the pale, sweat-drenched face of her secret lover. "You okay?"

"Non," Zoe muttered, before running into her bedroom to get changed.

"She was throwing up for the entire last hour of the flight," Marie sighed as she sat down with her four flat mates.

"Is she not used to the warm weather?" Anna-Jade asked, her concern for her newest friend plastered over her face.

"We grew up in Nice, on the Riviera," Marie shrugged. "It gets a lot hotter there in summer than it was in Doha today."

"Maybe she just picked up a bug..." Paige mused, glancing over at Natalie and not being surprised to find the English girl lost in her own thoughts.

"Well she'll need to shake it off quick," Marie said sternly. "Getting cover on grey route over Christmas is damned near impossible. And don't any of you say you'll do it!"

"Prison time from a backwards country just for being who I am?" Anna-Jade snorted. "Screw them AND their laws!"

"Has she got any Istanbul flights coming up?" Jessica asked. "I'll happily do those..."

"Nope," Marie sighed. "Dubai and Abu Dhabi now until the new year..."

"She's been in there a while," Natalie sighed, staring at the door behind which his lover rested. "Someone should go and check on her..."

"Oh give me a break, I've only just sat down," Marie moaned. "She's twenty, she can take care of herself..."

"FINE then," Natalie flounced in a playful, overdramatic fashion. "I'll go and check on her."

"You were the one who suggested it," Paige teased, though as Natalie waked past the Scottish girl, she mouthed a silent 'thank you'. If Zoe was as ill as Marie had hinted, the last thing Natalie needed to do was rouse suspicions about the true nature of their relationship.

"Zoe?" Natalie whispered as she entered the darkened room. "Zo, you okay?"

"Natalie...?" Zoe moaned from underneath her bed covers. "I'm sick..."

"I know, I know," Natalie said, sitting on the edge of Zoe's bed and gently stroking the shivering girl's hair. "Do- do you want me to get you anything?"

"Just stay, please..." Zoe moaned.

"You know if I stay in here too long, Marie will get suspicious," Natalie sighed. "Zo... Are- are you having difficulty, you know, at work?" Zoe moaned a low, pained moan and coughed repeatedly before answering Natalie's question.

"All I ever wanted to be was a stewardess, like Marie," Zoe groaned. "She makes it look so easy, so glamorous... So do all of you... But it's hard, it's painful..."

"You used to spend most of your days balancing on the ends of your toes," Natalie reminded the former ballerina with a chuckle.

"Ballet was a walk on the park compared to this," Zoe sighed. "I hate people..."

"You used to be a TEACHER," Natalie laughed. "Kinda have to deal with people in that job!"

"I taught KIDS," Zoe retorted. "Kids who pay attention to every word, kids who aren't fat woman-hating shits who grab your ass every time you walk past them in a skirt designed to superglue your knees together..."

"Blue and black route skirts aren't exactly loose, you know..." Natalie said.

"Exactly my point," Zoe moaned, before rolling over and retching into her nearby bucket.

"Have you told Marie about this?" Natalie asked in her softest voice.

"And admit to my sister that I'm a failure?" Zoe said, her eyes welling with tears.

"No one thinks you're a failure, least of all Marie," Natalie said, stroking Zoe's hair as the French girl threw up one more time. "I still lo-" Natalie froze as she heard the bedroom door open, before looking up to see Marie stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light from the living room.

"How is she?" Marie asked, making Natalie breathe an inwardly sigh of relief as she realised that the older woman hadn't heard her incomplete declaration of love for Zoe.

"Still able to speak for herself," Zoe moaned. "Barely."

"You know you can't afford to take too much time off sick whilst you're on probation," Marie cautioned her younger sister, who tiredly rolled her eyes in response.

"I can't afford to throw up on passengers either," Zoe whispered.

"We can sit you in the back of the plane, away from the passengers," Marie said, but all Zoe could do was moan.

"It's still a seven hour flight," the ill girl said, rolling over in her bed to disguise her tears from her sister.

"Marie," Natalie said quietly. "She's clearly not up for a flight and won't be for a while."

"I'm thinking of her career," Marie hissed back.

"Try thinking of HER for once," Natalie retorted, shaking her head as she left the two sisters alone in their room.

"How is she?" Paige asked as Natalie collapsed down on the sofa with a long, loud sigh.

"REALLY sick," Natalie replied. "And she's only going to get worse with Marie bollocking her..."

"I'm sure she's told me before she once danced when she had the flu," Jessica said. "Doing pirouettes with a blocked head is surely worse than being on a flight?"

"For seven hours?” Natalie sighed, shaking her head.

"You're worrying too much about her," Paige advised. "I mean, we all know how much you love her, do you think you're being a bit overprotective?" An awkward silence fell over the room as Paige finished her sentence.

"Um," Anna-Jade said, "I, um, I didn't know that you loved her..."

"Well thank you very much Miss Robertson!" Natalie snapped at the dark-haired Scottish girl, who grimaced as she realised her faux pas. "Yes, Zoe and I have been seeing each other for almost six months. And no, Marie doesn't know, and yes, I'd prefer if it stayed that way."

"You want me to lie to a supervisor?" Anna-Jade asked with a panicked voice.

"This has nothing to do with work," Natalie said. "Who I see and who Zoe sees is none of the company's business, or any of Marie's business."

"But still," Anna-Jade asked, "how have you kept it a secret for so long? I mean, you live under the same roof as Marie..."

"It's not been easy," Natalie sighed. "And I've not been able to see her nearly as much as I'd have liked..."

"I had no idea Zoe went for T-girls," Anna-Jade mused as the information started to sink in.

"Hey, don't forget that unlike you, I'm NOT transitioning and I have no intention of doing," Natalie told the ginger-haired girl. "In bed, I'm 100% male. Everywhere else... I am what I am."

"And you two have known all this time?" Anna-Jade asked Jessica and Paige, who nodded in response.

"Even been on double dates with them," Paige said. "Something that's much more fun when there are no men getting in the way!" Jessica and Paige giggled, but quickly stopped when Marie stepped out of her room. Natalie looked over at Anna-Jade, worried that her secret would soon be revealed, but when it became clear that the Irish girl would hold her tongue, Natalie relaxed.

"Well, she's not going into work on Wednesday," Marie sighed. "Don't know how she expects to progress in her career if she keeps taking sick days..."

"This is only her second since she started," Paige argued. "Okay, it's two in six weeks, but if you're too ill to work, you're too ill to work, right?" A stern glare from Marie silenced Paige, and to escape the awkward silence, the rest of the apartment quickly decided to turn in for an early night.

The following morning, as their alarm went off at 7am, Jessica wrapped her arms around Paige, burying her face in the Scottish girl's jet-black hair.

"Please don't go..." Jessica moaned. "Tell them you've caught Zoe's flu or something..."

"Yeah, like I'd get away with that with Marie in the flat," Paige giggled, unwrapping herself from Jessica's embrace. "Can you lace me in, please?"

"As if you need to ask," Jessica laughed, wrapping a tight corset around Paige's already-slim waist and gently tightening the laces as the two lovers talked.

"Do you think Anna-Jade will spill?" Paige asked. "You know, about Nat and Zoe?"

"No way," Jessica said, tying Paige's corset laces into a bow before watching, enthralled, as Paige applied her make-up, transforming her from the androgynous creature she'd been through the night into the vision of femininity Jessica had fallen in love with.

"Did you say you're doing London today?" Jessica asked as Paige pulled on her padded bra and black stockings with the ease of someone who'd worn women's undergarments all their life.

"Yep," Paige said with a smile. "Easy one today and tomorrow, then Berlin on Christmas Day..."

"Ugh," Jessica moaned. "Can't believe we both have to work on the 25th..."

"It IS the busiest time of the year for travel," Paige giggled. "You're lucky you've got today off..."

"That'll be spent ferrying buckets of puke between Zoe's room and the bathroom," Jessica moaned. "Who're you on with today?" Jessica frowned as Paige hesitated before answering.

"It's Annabelle, isn't it?" Jessica asked, moaning as Paige nodded.

"I don't get why you don't like her," Paige mused. "I mean, you're both American, right? You're both T-girls, and she seems friendly enough..."

"Trust me," Jessica said. "That girl is a black widow. She knows what she wants, and she knows EXACTLY how to get it."

"Well then," Paige said, pulling on her slinky pencil dress and high heeled pumps, "lucky for you that you've already got everything you want, right?" Paige gave Jessica a long, lingering kiss before departing, leaving the blonde American girl to stew as thoughts of Paige's colleague for the flight flooded her mind.

Ever since she'd first met Annabelle during the most recent training period, Jessica had disliked the girl, as she was everything Jessica was- only better. Jessica had tried to persuade herself that her feelings were mere jealousy, that she should rise above it, but everything Annabelle said or did infuriated Jessica, from her attention-grabbing supermodel's strut to her flawless 'Southern Belle' accent that left men- and some women- weak at the knees. Jessica was a beauty, to be sure... But Annabelle was a beauty QUEEN, to whom Jessica would always be first alternative.

Sighing with frustration, Jessica rose from her bed and, after a quick shower, dressed in a plain red jumper and tight black skirt before knocking on Zoe's door.

"Zoe?" Jessica asked. "You awake?"

"Come in," Zoe moaned, wincing from the light that flooded into the room as Jessica opened the door.

"Feeling any better?" Jessica asked softly.

"Not really," Zoe moaned. "Not throwing up any more..."

"Well that's something, at least!" Jessica joked, sitting on the edge of Zoe's bed. "You do look a little better."

"I really..." Zoe sighed. "...Really don't want to go back to work tomorrow..."

"Is it really THAT bad?" Jessica asked.

"The hours are long, the passengers are morons, and the uniform..." Zoe moaned. "You wouldn't get it. I know that to girls like you, it's a dream to be able to be who you want to be AND get paid for it, but to me... A skirt is just a skirt, you know?"

"I do kinda get it," Jessica said sympathetically. "Natalie did tell me there'd be days when the 'novelty would wear off'... Guess it's worse when the novelty was never there to begin with. Especially when your previous job saw you wearing skin-tight leotards all day!"

"I would give anything to just pull on a leotard and teach a class right now," Zoe sighed. "But, I've got this job now, might as well make the most of it..."

"Do you need me to bring you anything?" Jessica asked. "Water, I can make you some soup if you'd like..."

"Water would be good, please," Zoe croaked. "Where's Paige off to today?"

"London," Jessica said.

"Lucky her," Zoe sighed.

"What, cold, rainy and dismal English weather?" Jessica giggled, handing Zoe her water.

"No, there and back in a few hours," Zoe moaned.

"Yeah, less time in the air," Jessica chuckled. "Especially considering who she's flying with..."

"Jacques?" Zoe asked.

"Worse," Jessica sighed.

"If you need anything at all, our expert team of stewardesses will be only too happy to oblige," Rachel announced to the seated passengers. "Your stewardesses for this flight are Paige," Paige bobbed a quick curtsey as Rachel gestured to her, "Eleanor," the petite ginger-haired Irish girl bobbed a curtsey at her supervisor's mention, "and Annabelle." With a wide grin on her face, the tall, blonde American woman bobbed a curtsey, acknowledging the wolf whistles her slender frame received.

"Take off will be in five minutes," Rachel continued. "Flight duration will be 1 hour and 10 minutes. Again, I'd like to thank you for choosing Soixante-Trois airlines, and I hope you all have a comfortable and enjoyable flight to my hometown of London!" Rachel grinned as she finished her pre-flight checks and took her seat next to Eleanor, whilst Paige sat down next to Annabelle.

"Not often you get four girls who all have English as their first language on a flight, even to Britain," Eleanor mused.

"Paige's first language is English?" Rachel teased, making the Scottish girl stick her tongue out at her.

"Now girls, no need to be nasty," Annabelle said in her soft Southern voice as the plane taxied along the runway. "Paige's accent is just darling, wouldn't you agree?"

"An Englishwoman, an Irishwoman and a Scottish woman all get on a plane, and the American woman tries to broker peace between them all," Eleanor giggled. The four girls exchanged jokes as the plane rose through the clouds, with Eleanor and Rachel teasing Paige whilst Annabelle watched with detached amusement.

"Showtime, girls!" Rachel said as the 'fasten seatbelts' light extinguished. Paige smoothed her skirt as she stood up and followed Annabelle into the plane's galley, whilst Eleanor and Rachel started seeing to their passengers.

"Can you get the water boiling?" Paige asked as she prepared her drinks trolley.

"Sure, sweetheart," Annabelle replied. Paige giggled nervously at the use of the overfamiliar term as she watched Annabelle perform her tasks with the same cool detachment with which she interacted with her colleagues.

"Annabelle..." Paige asked hesitantly.

"What is it, honey?" Annabelle asked, making Paige giggle nervously again.

"It's-" Paige stammered. "It's nothing that can't wait. Looks like I'm up," Paige pointed a red-tipped finger at the call light in the galley, before pushing her trolley out to the waiting passenger.

"How can I help you, sir?" Paige asked the smartly-dressed gentleman.

"Well for starters, you could get that pretty American girl instead," the man snorted in a Midlands accent. "No offence, but you are a little 'obvious'.

"I don't know what you mean, sir," Paige said, making an extra effort to feminise her voice and her face.

"Look, everyone knows that this airline hires trannies," the man sighed. "I wouldn't be on the plane if I had a problem with it, but I'd prefer not to be served by... Well, by you." Paige smiled a sweet smile and nodded- it was far from the first time she'd been 'made' on a flight, but this would be the first time she would be rejected in favour of ANOTHER T-girl...

"Of course, sir," Paige said. "If you would prefer Annabelle to serve your drinks, I'll go and fetch her immediately."

"Thank you," the Englishman said politely, returning to his reading as Paige pushed her trolley back into the galley.

"Turns out you've got an admirer," Paige giggled, taking off her jacket and hat. "Looks like I'll be doing the brewing today."

"Sure thing, honey," Annabelle said, putting her own hat back on her head and pushing Paige's trolley out into the plane with a wiggle in her hips- hips Paige found herself paying a LOT of attention to as they disappeared into the fuselage of the plane.

On the return flight to Paris, Paige spent the entirety of the flight in the kitchen, realising that it wasn't her that the passengers REALLY wanted to see pushing the trolley- and Paige didn't blame them one bit. As she arrived back at the apartment, Paige greeted Jessica with a long kiss, as always... But try as she might, she could shake Annabelle out of her mind.

"How's Zoe?" Paige asked in an effort to distract herself and stop thinking about the aloof American girl.

"A LITTLE better," Jessica sighed. "She spent most of the afternoon on the sofa watching Nickelodeon UK, now she's back in bed... She's stopped throwing up, which is something."

"Tell Natalie she can borrow my nurse's uniform if she wants," Paige joked, giggling along with Jessica. "What's for dinner?"

"A guest!" Jessica said.

"Are we FINALLY going to meet Anna-Jade's new boyfriend?" Paige asked.

"'Finally', yes," Jessica giggled. "I'm just hoping he's all she makes him out to be... I'm guessing he won't mind coming into a house with four T-girls if he's dating one." Jessica paused, steeling herself before asking her next question.

"...How was the flight?" The American woman asked in a quiet voice.

"Okay," Paige sighed. "Got 'made' again..."

"Oh for god's sake, how can anyone 'make' you?" Jessica asked, giving Paige a kiss on her forehead.

"Think they were just playing the odds," Paige sighed. "Rachel's obviously never going to be a T-girl, nor's Ellie, and Annabelle..."

"What about Annabelle?" Jessica asked suspiciously.

"Umm, nothing," Paige sighed. "Need some help in the kitchen?"

"I've got it in hand," Jessica said. "What about Annabelle?"

"Just- just forget it, okay?" Paige said defensively. "I mis-spoke... You have to admit, she is more feminine than me..."

"Can you check in on Zoe, see if she wants any dinner?" Jessica asked, returning to the kitchen with a frown on her face.

"Sure," Paige whispered in near-shock at Jessica's outburst.

Before long, Natalie had returned from her flight to Zurich and helped Paige set the folding dining table for their evening meal. Zoe was still unable to face solid food, and Marie hadn't returned from her flight to St Petersburg, so the table was set for 5 places- but Natalie kept a space saved just in case Zoe changed her mind.

"So," Natalie- who had changed into a casual long-sleeved minidress- asked. "Who d'you reckon Anna-Jade's fella is?"

"You're expecting me to know?" Paige giggled. "Didn't even know she was seeing anyone until about two weeks ago..."

"She WASN'T," Natalie laughed. "Those hormones they started her on must work fast..."

"Pretty sure that's not how they work," Jessica giggled. "What's keeping her so long?" As if on cue, the front door to the apartment opened, revealing Anna-Jade and her boyfriend- whose identity caused the jaws of everyone present to drop.

"Jessica, Natalie, Paige," Anna-Jade said in a giddy voice. "Allow me to introduce my boyfriend. This is-"

"Jacques Lacroix," Jessica said in a dull, unimpressed voice as Natalie and Paige leaned forward onto the table, resting their faces in the palms of their hands.

"Mademoiselles," Jacques cooed in his trademark oily voice. "What a pleasure to finally see the inside of your apartment!"

"Do- do you all know each other?" Anna-Jade asked, bemused by the reactions of her housemates.

"I've flown with these three lovely ladies several times," Jacques oozed, his accent making Anna-Jade giggle uncontrollably.

"Careful now, you'll make me jealous!" the Irish girl teased. "Isn't Zoe joining us?"

"She's still laid up," Natalie said as she began to dish up the meal Jessica had prepared.

"And here I was, promised an evening in the company of five beautiful women," Jacques sighed, before giving Anna-Jade a light kiss. "Four beautiful women is enough for Jacques."

"Not what I heard," Jessica mumbled under her breath.

"Did you say something, Jessica?" Anna-Jade asked, growing increasingly confused- and concerned- by her housemates' hostility toward her boyfriend.

"Only that the food's getting cold," Jessica replied. "Go on, get stuck in!"

"Did you cook this?" Anna-Jade asked, breathing in the aroma of the food. "I can barely microwave a packet of soup..."

"How lucky for you that you have a gourmet chef for a boyfriend!" Jacques teased, making Anna-Jade giggle once again.

"Airline pilot, Olympic-level skier, now a gourmet chef- is there anything you can't do?" Anna-Jade asked.

"Is there any ONE he WON'T do?" Paige whispered under her breath, making Jessica giggle whilst taking a sip of her wine.

"I can also do the Heimlich, if you need," Jacques offered as Jessica cleared her throat.

"No, no, I'm fine," Jessica croaked.

"Are you sure?" Jacques asked. "Any time you need me to wrap my hands around your body-"

"I'm REALLY fine," Jessica said, taking a deep breath and wincing at the quizzical, borderline offended stare Anna-Jade shot in her direction. For the next half-hour, Jacques regaled the women of the apartment with tales of his adventures and of his supposed physical prowess, impressing Anna-Jade whilst revolting the other three girls. After Jacques excused himself to use the toilet, the Irish girl turned to her flat mates with a look of fury in her eyes.

"What is WITH you three?" Anna-Jade hissed at the three women.

"Nothing's 'with' us," Natalie replied. "Your oil slick of a boyfriend, on the other hand..."

"Don't. Even. Give me. That," Anna-Jade spat. "Just because I'm into men and you're all into girls- or T-girls, or whatever-"

"'Men' isn't the problem," Paige said. "Jacques, on the other hand, is."

"I guarantee," Jessica said. "If you go into the locker room on any day- ANY day- and pick ten stewardesses at random, Jacques will have tried it on with all of them and will probably have bedded at least one, maybe two."

"Hands up anyone at the table who Jacques has tried it on with?" Natalie said, making Anna-Jade's face fall as her hand rose along with Jessica and Paige's.

"Well- I'm just lucky," Anna-Jade said, the confidence draining from her voice. "I'm the one he REALLY wants..."

"For the next month," Jessica said, before wincing under another withering stare from her ginger-haired flatmate. "Anna... We just don't want to see you get hurt. If you stay with Jacques... He WILL hurt you."

"Ah, the envy, I know it so well," Jacques said, sitting down next to Anna-Jade and giving the upset girl a kiss.

"We're REALLY not envious," Jessica said, linking her fingers with Paige on the table for Jacques to see.

"And you know I've told you where you can shove it more than once," Natalie said.

"Indeed," Jacques replied with a smug voice. "I wonder if Marie would want to know what you've been 'shoving' into her sister?" Natalie's face fell, before screwing into an angry scowl directed straight at Anna-Jade.

"You know-" Natalie hissed. "I actually RECOMMENDED you as a flatmate to the other girls?"

"I- I'm sorry, okay?" Anna-Jade said. "I thought I could trust him... I DO trust him."

"And I thought I could trust YOU!" Natalie shouted. Within seconds, the dinner table had descended into a three-way slanging match between Jacques, Anna-Jade and Natalie, leaving the other two girls tired and nonplussed.

"Merry Christmas, Paige," Jessica sighed.

"Joyeux Noel," Paige sighed in return. "Voulez-vous coucher?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Jessica giggled. Silently, Paige and Jessica slipped off to their bedroom, quickly climbing under their bedsheets as the argument in the living room blazed on.

"Putain de merde," Zoe moaned as she stepped out of her room, her illness-induced headache only exacerbated by the noise of the argument. "What are you arg- oh dieu, what the fuck is HE doing here?"

"Ah, Mademoiselle Renou," Jacques oozed. "Or should I say, Mademoiselle Briggs's 'bit on the side'?" Zoe grunted and her face fell as Jacques stared at her with a smug, triumphant grin.

"Va te faire foutre," Zoe spat at the co-pilot, before going back into her room.

"Well, this was delightful," Natalie sighed, standing up from the table. "We should do this again some time. Preferably when hell freezes over."

"How did that connard find out about us?" Zoe moaned as her English lover entered her bedroom.

"Anna-Jade found out," Natalie sighed apologetically. "She blabbed to 'le connard'..."

"Ugh," Zoe moaned. "I mean, I like Anna-Jade, but..."

"Just... Just get some sleep, get yourself better," Natalie said, gently stroking her lover's hair as she laid back on her pillow. "I'm on the sofa tonight so I'll have to wait for Anna-Jade and 'le connard' to get to bed first..."

Much to Natalie's relief, when she returned to the lounge, Anna-Jade and Jacques were nowhere to be found. Natalie sighed as she removed her earrings and her dress and lowered herself onto the sofa, quickly falling into a deep sleep. Less than an hour later, however, Natalie was woken by a repeated shaking of her temporary bed sheets. The English girl opened her tired eyes, staring into the face of Marie, who was holding a blindingly bright smartphone screen in her face.

"What bloody time is it?" Natalie asked as she tried to focus on the phone's screen.

"Time for you to explain this,” Marie said in a dark, angry voice.

"Can it wait until morning?" Natalie sighed, not even bothering to read Marie's message.

"'Marie'," the older woman read from her screen, translating from French to English. "'You might be interested to know that your sister and Natalie Briggs are having regular sex.' Is there truth to this?"

"Yes," Natalie mumbled. "Now- and I mean this in the nicest, most respectful way possible- please fuck off and let me get some sleep."

"Not until you explain this!" Marie snarled, whipping Natalie's sheet off of her.

"What's to explain?" Natalie sighed. "You yourself said: Zoe's twenty, she can take care of herself, that means she can make her own choices."

"Zoe!" Marie barked. "Get out here!" With a deep frown on her face, Zoe stumbled out of her room.

"Ce qui la baise, Marie?" Zoe moaned. "I am trying to sleep..."

"How long have you and Natalie been an item?" Marie asked, her eyes full of fury. Zoe reeled in shock, before a nod from Natalie made her realise that there was no sense in lying.

"Since about a month after she moved in," Zoe said candidly. "Amazed it took you this long to figure it out, in truth."

"Why was I not told about this?" Marie demanded.

"When did you ever consult with me about any of your boyfriends?" Zoe asked, returning to her room.

"Oh non non non," Marie said. "You DON'T turn your back on me!"

"And why not?" Zoe snapped. "Because you're my big sister? My supervisor?"

"Because you lied to me," Marie said, her voice full of hurt. "We're supposed to be able to tell each other anything!"

"Would you have approved if I'd told you about me and Natalie?" Zoe asked.

"Would it have made a difference?" Marie countered, making Zoe shake her head in response. "Then where was the danger in telling me?"

"Now be honest," Natalie said. "Am I REALLY the partner you'd have picked for your baby sister?"

"I wouldn't have presumed to pick for her," Marie said, smiling at Zoe. "She's twenty, she can take care of herself. What I'm most upset is that you went behind my back. No- I'm upset that you feel you HAD to go behind my back."

"Can I sleep in with Zoe tonight then instead of out here on the sofa?" Natalie asked with her trademark cheeky grin.

"One step at a time," Marie said, following her sister into their bedroom and shutting the door.

The following morning, Natalie woke up feeling renewed, after first convincing herself that Marie's 'acceptance' hadn't been just a dream. She entered the sisters' bedroom, allowing Marie to lace her into her corset, before barging into her and Anna-Jade's bedroom, abruptly waking the Irish girl and her French boyfriend.

"Morning Jacques, you grease-stained little fuck!" Natalie said in her natural, masculine Manchester accent. "You'll be happy to hear that Marie got your text message. Maybe not as happy to hear that Zoe and I now have her blessing and will officially be a public couple from now on." Natalie pulled on a black dress and a pair of stilettos for her commute, before leaving the bedroom without another word.

"You- you actually sent the message?" Anna-Jade asked her boyfriend incredulously.

"You heard the way she talked to me last night," Jacques shrugged, before wrapping his arms back around the ginger-haired girl, who found herself involuntarily squirming underneath Jacques's touch.

"Seriously, call in sick," Paige moaned as Jessica pulled a tight, smart top over her corset-enhanced figure and zipped up a smart pencil skirt around her legs.

"Deja vu, any?" Jessica giggled. "You didn't yesterday, so I'm not today!"

"Ugh, fine," Paige sighed, collapsing back onto her bed. "Just- just have fun in Ireland, okay?"

"Sure I will," Jessica said, before giving Paige a kiss and heading to the living room, where she was greeted by Natalie, Anna-Jade and Marie.

"Zoe's still sick," Marie told the three stewardesses with a tired sigh. "So it's just you three blue routers today!"

"What happened to all the worry about her career?" Natalie teased in her regular feminine voice, earning a chuckle from Marie.

"She's sick," Marie said. "That means she's not well enough to work. That's just the way it is."

"Looks like it's the three amigoettes today then," Jessica giggled, leading Natalie and Anna-Jade out of the apartment to the nearby tram stop.

Jessica had a smile on her face as she stripped off her top and skirt and wiggled into her regulation blue uniform, savouring the sensation of the soft fabric caressing her body as though it were the first time she had ever worn it. Jessica's face turned into a frown, however, when she went to leave the locker room and ran straight into Annabelle.

"Hey honey," Annabelle said in her sweet Southern accent, barely giving Jessica a second look as she passed her.

"'Hey honey'," Jessica mocked once she was sure Annabelle was out of earshot.

"What IS your problem with her?" Anna-Jade asked Jessica as they headed to their flight. "Between her and Jacques, I'm beginning to think the only person you get on with at this company is Paige..."

"Ugh, she's just so phoney," Jessica spat. "All this 'sweetie' and 'honey' and this fake shyness... I bet you she entered beauty pageants when she was younger."

"Umm, you DO know she's, well, 'like us', right?" Anna-Jade asked. "Would kinda make it hard for her to win any beauty pageants... Is she even transitioning?"

"Haven't asked, don't know, don't care," Jessica replied.

"I'm sure if you get to know her a little better you'll become best of friends," Anna-Jade said with a warm smile. "I mean, you're the only Americans on blue route, kinda sad that you don't like her."

"She knows how to get in touch with me," Jessica sighed as the two stewardesses boarded their airplane and began their pre-flight checks.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Paige laughed as Zoe stumbled out of her bedroom wrapped in her bed sheet, her normally full, luscious brown hair hanging lankly off her head.

"My head is full of gunk, not sleep," Zoe moaned, collapsing on the sofa, still wrapped in her sheet.

"How about your stomach?" Paige asked. "Can do some breakfast if you're feeling up to it..."

"Some coffee would be good, please," Zoe sighed, sitting up to watch Paige disappear into the kitchen. As the Scottish girl returned with her beverage, Zoe couldn't help but stare at the overtly feminine figure Paige was presenting with her dark, hosed legs and flared knee-length dress.

"Paige..." Zoe asked, her strength returning with every sip of the hot brown liquid, "why do you always, you know, be a girl on your days off? Jessica isn't around, it's just me and Marie, there's no need to... Well..."

"Because I AM a girl," Paige giggled. "Have you never asked Natalie this before?"

"Oh yeah, plenty," Zoe replied. "I kinda get it with her, she's always had this 'rebel' in her..." Paige couldn't help but giggle as Zoe smiled at the thought of her no-longer secret lover. "But with you and Jessica... Neither of you are having a sex change, neither of you ever lived as a girl before starting for the company..."

"Neither of us are having a sex change YET," Paige corrected Zoe, making the French girl's eyes go wide.

"You- you're thinking about it?" Zoe asked.

"Jess and I are booked in to see a counsellor," Paige said. "We want to do this properly, make sure it's what we REALLY want... Then again, neither of us have even told our parents yet about, well, 'Paige and Jess'."

"They might be more accepting than you think," Zoe said. "I mean, I thought my sister would hate the thought of me going out with a 'special' girl..." Zoe curled up in a coughing fit as a drop of coffee went down the wrong way, prompting Paige to rush over to the ailing French girl.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Zoe croaked in a hoarse voice. "Just give me a sec..."

"God, you really haven't had it easy, have you?" Paige sighed, frowning as Zoe shook her head.

"What did you say you did before working for the airline?" Zoe asked the pale Scottish girl.

"Lifeguard at a pool, why?" Paige said.

"Ever miss it?" Zoe asked.

"A few times," Paige said, before a warm smile spread across her face. "I know what'll make you feel better..."

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked as Paige disappeared into her bedroom, only to re-emerge moments later with her black hair slicked back on her head and her body wrapped in the soft pink tights and black leotard she'd bought the previous month as part of hers, Jessica's and Natalie's surprise for Zoe following her last day of work as a dance instructor. Zoe giggled as Paige gracelessly pirouetted across the floor, before lowering herself into an almost full split in front of the French girl's sofa.

"Oh dieu," Zoe giggled as Paige attempted- and failed- to pull off the ballet steps she'd seen Zoe dance dozens of times.

"I'm not sure what hurts most," Zoe laughed. "My chest or watching you dance!"

"instruct me then, if I'm THAT bad," Paige retorted, making Zoe smile as she gathered her sheet and returned to her room, emerging later dressed in the pink dancing gear she'd worn for many months before starting work for Soixante-Trois airlines. For the next sixty minutes, she put Paige through her paces, teaching her as though she was one of her thirteen-year old students, and at the end of the hour, Zoe felt reinvigorated.

"Better?" Paige asked, collapsing down on the sofa in her dancewear.

"A bit," Zoe laughed. "Miss my students more than ever now..."

"Is it really too late to go back?" Paige asked.

"The pay cut would be HUGE," Zoe sighed.

"But you'd be HAPPY," Paige argued. Zoe opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the front door of the apartment opening.

"I'm back," Marie announced, carrying several bags of groceries. "Most places were sold out, but I've got all we need for le reveillon, Paige, can you-" Marie paused, her jaw dropping with shock when she saw Paige and Zoe sat on the sofa in their dancewear.

"...Should I ask?" Marie asked, sighing when Zoe and Paige burst into a fit of giggles. Before long, Jessica, Natalie and Anna-Jade had returned from their flights and changed into their poshest dresses for the reveillon, the traditional French pre-Christmas dinner. Paige's and Marie's cooking was appreciated by all six girls, who ate with gusto before returning to their bedrooms for one final Christmas tradition before turning in for the night.

"Joyeux Noel!" Marie and Zoe yelled down their telephone, wide smiles on both faces.

"Marie! Zoe!" The girls' mother exclaimed. "Joyeux Noel!"

"How's dad, was he at work today?" Marie asked in French, relieved to finally be speaking her native language.

"He's fine," Mrs. Renou replied. "Should be back for la reveillon soon, I'll make sure he calls you back. Such a shame you both have to work tomorrow, were you both at work today?"

"No, Marie was on a free day, I was ill again," Zoe said.

"Oh Zoe," Mrs. Renou sighed. "You never used to get so ill when you were a child..."

"I think my body just needs time to adjust," Zoe laughed.

"Your body needs time at home, with the love and care of your parents!" Mrs. Renou retorted. "Do either of you have boyfriends yet?" Zoe's eyes went wide as she looked at her sister, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"No, no boyfriends," Marie said, putting an unintentional emphasis on 'boy'.

"Well as long as you're both happy and you're both taking care of each other, that's all that matters!"

"Always," Marie said, smiling warmly at her younger sister.

"Hi ma!" Natalie yelled into the phone. "Merry Christmas!"

"Matthew!" Mrs. Briggs replied. "So good to hear your voice, even if it is THAT voice!"

"Well, if you insist," Natalie laughed, coughing and returning to her natural masculine voice. "Though this is one of your Christmas presents, okay?"

"Fine," Mrs. Briggs laughed. "How's life in Paris?"

"Going really, really well," Natalie said. "I'm just calling to wish you Merry Christmas and to say that I have a girlfriend. My love to dad and the girls, bye!"

"Wait!" Mrs. Briggs yelled, making Natalie smirk evilly. "You have a girlfriend? But I thought..."

"Thought what?" Natalie asked with fake innocence.

"Thought that you were, you know, gay..." Natalie's mother replied.

"What, as in a lesbian?" Natalie asked, making her mother snort with frustration.

"Well, but-" Mrs. Briggs stuttered. "Is she, you know, a girl 'like you'?"

"She works for the same airline I do," Natalie replied, knowing full well that she wasn't truly answering her mother's question.

"Does she have, you know..." Mrs. Briggs asked.

"I'm not answering unless you ACTUALLY ask it," Natalie said smugly.

"Does she have lady parts?" Mrs. Briggs asked, audibly distressed at having to word her question in that manner.

"Yes, yes, she does," Natalie laughed. "Would it really matter if she didn't?"

"Well-" Mrs. Briggs replied, before sighing. "As long as you're happy and you're living comfortably that's all that matters I guess, no matter how you choose to dress yourself. Merry Christmas Matthew, Natalie or whatever you choose to call yourself."

"Merry Christmas ma," Natalie laughed. "Love you, my love to Ellen and Sasha."

"I love you too," Mrs. Briggs said before hanging up the phone. Natalie rested her body back on her bed with a contented sigh, before looking sadly at the ginger-haired girl on the adjacent bed.

"Your mum's awesome," Anna-Jade sighed sadly.

"Are you not going to at least call?" Natalie asked softly, wincing as Anna-Jade shook her head.

"No point," the Irish girl mumbled. "When I spoke to them last month to tell them I was transitioning... Disaster doesn't even begin to cover it."

"You're still their child," Natalie said. "Whether son or daughter... They should love you for who they are, not who they think you should be."

"If only it was that easy," Anna-Jade moaned. "As far as they're concerned, I lived life as a man for almost 26 years, so why can't I handle it for another 26?"

"What crap," Natalie snorted. "Um, no offence..."

"Believe me, I'd go a lot stronger than 'crap'," Anna-Jade chuckled. "They're devout Catholics so they actually believe I can be 'cured' through prayer, actually suggested that when I called them..."

"As a devout atheist, you know my opinion there," Natalie replied.

"All too well," Anna-Jade sighed, picking up her phone and looking at it wistfully.

"Oh for nothing's sake, just call them!" Natalie said.

"...Maybe at the new year," Anna-Jade sighed, placing her phone back on her bedside table.

"Hi Mom!" Jessica said into her phone in her natural masculine voice. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas Jesse!" Mrs. Tyler said into the phone. "What time is it over there?"

"Just gone 9pm," Jessica replied. "Can't stay on long, working tomorrow..."

"Oh no," Mrs. Tyler moaned. "They make you work Christmas Day?"

"Well, people need to fly home on Christmas Day," Jessica laughed. "You know how busy airports are on Thanksgiving, same thing over here, but at Christmas."

"Well, you just take care," Mrs. Tyler said. "Now, when are you coming home to see us? And when you come, are you going to bring that girlfriend of yours?"

"I'll come home soon, I promise," Jessica laughed. "As for Paige..." Jessica and Paige both grinned as the American girl switched the speakerphone on on the handset.

"Hello Mrs. Tyler!" Paige said into the phone.

"Is that Paige?" Jessica's mother asks. "You'd better be taking good care of my son!" Paige smiled as she looked into the fully made-up eyes of her lover.

"Aye, very good care," Paige said. "Um, how's the weather where you are?"

"Cold and wet," Mrs. Tyler replied. "I suppose you must get a lot of White Christmases in Scotland!"

"Not as many as we'd like," Paige laughed. "Umm..." Sensing that the conversation was going awkwardly, Jessica interjected.

"How are Aaron and Hayley?" Jessica asked of her younger siblings.

"They're doing well," Mrs. Tyler replied. "Hayley's settling in well at High School, Aaron's made the school soccer team three years in a row. Oh, sorry Paige, school FOOTBALL team."

"No, I don't mind, not a big football or soccer or whatever fan anyway!" Paige giggled.

"Next time I'm in Germany I'll see if I can pick him up a world cup souvenir," Jessica laughed.

"I'll let you go now, don't want to waste your money on the phone bill," Mrs. Tyler said. "Merry Christmas, I love you, and please, come home soon!"

"I will, I promise," Jessica said. "I love you, Merry Christmas!" Jessica smiled as she clicked off her telephone, before gripping Paige's hand for support as she dialled a long, international number on hers.

"Hello?" A middle-aged Scottish voice called over the phone's speaker.

"Hi mum!" Paige said in her own natural masculine voice. "Merry Christmas!"

"Paul!" Mrs. Robertson cooed with delight. "About time you called!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Paige laughed, taking extra care not to accidentally slip into her feminine voice. "Is dad there?"

"Aye," Mrs. Robertson replied. "So are Nina and Trisha, only one person missing this Christmas..."

"I'm sorry, but you know I have to work tomorrow..." Paige sighed.

"I know, I know," Paige's mother laughed. "I don't mind you missing Christmas so much as long as you come home at some point in the next few weeks! They do give you time off in your job, right?"

"Yes," Paige grimaced, "though I kinda promised Jessica I'd go and visit her parents with her..."

"Oh that's okay," Mrs. Robertson said. "She can come and visit your parents with you! I hope she's treating you well, not distracting you from your work..."

"Aye, everything's great on the Jessica front!" Paige said as Jessica silently giggled next to her.

"And I hope you're both spoiling each other for Christmas!" Mrs. Robertson laughed. "Has she found out about your 'dark secret' yet?" Paige cringed, whilst Jessica's eyes went wide at the mention of Paige's 'dark secret'.

"Umm, no," Paige said hesitantly, making her mother laugh almost uncontrollably.

"Oh no," Mrs. Robertson giggled. "She's there, isn't she?"

"Umm, hi Mrs. Robertson," Jessica said, chuckling at how much more comfortable she felt when speaking in her feminine voice. "No, Pai- Paul hasn't told me about he-his dark secret..."

"It's NOTHING, really..." Paige sighed as the two most important women in her life teased her about her secret.

"'Nothing' that dominated every birthday and Christmas over the space of about ten years!" Mrs. Robertson laughed as Paige grew more and more embarrassed.

"My credit's running low," Paige lied to spare herself further embarrassment. "Merry Christmas, love to you, dad, Nina and Trisha."

"Our love to you too," Mrs. Robertson said. "Fly safe!" Paige clicked off her phone and cringed as Jessica stared intently at her.

"I'm assuming the 'dark secret' ISN'T the fact that you're sat here wearing a pair of shiny pantyhose and a dress," Jessica giggled, making Paige moan frustratedly.

"It- it's nothing, okay? It's silly..." Paige sighed.

"If it's something you enjoy, I want to enjoy it too!" Jessica laughed.

"You wouldn't, trust me," Paige laughed, before turning around as Jessica grabbed both of her hands.

"Want to know a secret?" Jessica giggled. "Not a 'dark' one, but still a secret anyway?"

"Go on," Paige replied.

"I phoned your parents and found out all about your 'dark secret'," Jessica explained, handing Paige a carefully-wrapped present. Smiling excitedly, Paige opened the gift, finding inside it an officially licensed Harry Potter school uniform, complete with skirt, wand and Gryffindor tie.

"Merrado Christmasium," Jessica laughed.

"That's not how they say it in the books," Paige giggled, waving the wand around as though she were casting spells.

"I know, I've read them," Jessica said, tying the tie around Paige's neck. "Maybe not once a year, every year like you, but that's not to say I don't know my way around a few spells..."

"Ever since I read Philosopher's Stone I've been obsessed," Paige laughed. "Used to be the only thing that could keep my mind off of being a girl, I used to pretend I was Ron Weasley's little brother... Then over the years I started pretending I was Ginny Weasley's twin sister... Even wrote fan fiction of it once, that's how sad I am..."

"It's not sad at all!" Jessica giggled, giving Paige a tight hug. "Though don't the Weasleys have ginger hair rather than black hair?"

"Aye," Paige giggled embarrassedly. "That's um, kinda another 'dark secret'... Pain in the arse when I was working as a lifeguard, I'd have to re-dye it every week..."

"Lucky for you, I find pale skin and dark hair to be the sexiest combination in existence!" Jessica laughed, wrapping her arms around Paige's neck and giving her a long, deep kiss.

After the six girls in the apartment had exchanged their presents- most of Paige's being Harry Potter themed after Jessica revealed that she'd shared her 'dark secret' with the other four women- before retiring to bed ahead of a full day's work. As Paige and Jessica laid in bed, their bodies glistening following an intense lovemaking session, their thoughts were on their families back home, and the daughters their parents didn't know they had.

"You- you were planning on going home to Scotland during your leave in February, weren't you?" Jessica asked her lover as the two girls cuddled up together.

"Originally," Paige said. "I'd much rather go to America. I've never been there before, the weather's bound to be better-"

"Don't count on it," Jessica interrupted.

"And..." Paige sighed. "If I go to Scotland, I'd have to go back as Paul, if I go to America... You'd be taking me home as your girlfriend, I'd actually be expected to 'be Paige'. I know that sounds daft..."

"It's why I want us to go to Scotland!" Jessica giggled. "And it's why I haven't been home once since I moved to France..."

"Sounds like when we talk to that counsellor next month, there's only going to be one outcome," Paige sighed.

"You don't sound too happy about that," Jessica mused.

"Oh no, it's-" Paige stammered, before taking a deep breath. "I- I can live without being a girl. It'd be difficult. It'd hurt, but... I reckon I could go back to the way I was. I CAN'T live without my family."

"I know how you feel," Jessica sighed, cuddling Paige tighter. "I WANT to be a woman... But I don't NEED to be. But... But... Why should we deny ourselves what we want?"

"Christmas is a time for giving," Paige sighed. "A time for getting, a time for forgiving and for forgetting..."

"Umm, what are you trying to say?" Jessica asked.

"Oh- nothing, just a song lyric," Paige sighed. "But maybe I'm trying to say we shouldn't deny ourselves what we truly want? Natalie and Zoe certainly haven't, and I always dreamed that one day I'd walk into my parents' home as Paige and be accepted as their daughter..."

"Walk in, or fly in on a broomstick?" Jessica teased, prompting Paige to give her a playful dig in the ribs.

"Get some sleep," Paige laughed. "Let's just get tomorrow over and done with, THEN we can think about who's taking who home as which gender..."

The following morning, all six smartly-dressed women arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport with smiles on their faces, ready for the challenge ahead.

"Tell me," Jessica asked as she swapped her tight pencil dress- a Christmas gift from Marie- for her tight blue uniform, "how come Annabelle gets today off and we-"

"One more word about Annabelle and I'm setting up a swear box!" Natalie laughed, removing her dangly Christmas tree earrings (a gift from Jessica) and replacing them with the regulation gold studs.

"Maybe I should be jealous about Annabelle?" Paige teased as she pulled on her blue pencil skirt and swapped her Christmas tree-patterned tights (a gift from Zoe) for her uniform seamed black stockings.

"No jealousy!" Zoe insisted, taking as deep a breath as her corset would allow before pulling on her uniform white bodysuit and removing her ballerina-themed charm bracelet (her Christmas gift from Anna-Jade).

"Maybe I'll ask Annabelle when I fly with her today?" Anna-Jade giggled, touching up her nails with a bottle of red polish she'd received from Natalie for Christmas.

"Enough gossip!" Marie giggled, fixing her hair with one of the decorative clips Paige had bought her for Christmas. "Girls, we have a job to do. Zo... Are you sure you're okay to fly?"

"I'll be fine," Zoe said with a smile on her face as she zipped herself into her ankle-length grey hobble skirt. "Abu Dhabi, here I come!" All six girls cheered as they left the locker room, with Paige, Jessica, Marie and Anna-Jade heading straight to their flights whilst Natalie and Zoe lingered behind, eventually heading to one of the staff toilets.

"This is SUCH a bad idea," Zoe giggled as she shut the door behind her. "We can't even 'do' anything, it'd take ages to get this bodysuit and skirt off and on again..."

"No, but we can do THIS," Natalie said, kissing Zoe deeply. "Merry Christmas, beautiful." Natalie and Zoe kissed again, even deeper, but broke off when they heard a loud cough from behind them. Both girls gasped as they looked up, straight into the accusing eyes of Rachel- Natalie's supervisor...