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Viewing Note: This story should be viewed with the Edwardian Script ITC font installed on your Windows platform in the c:/Windows/Fonts directory. Microsoft Word installs this font automatically.

Photo Credit: Used with her permission....“Let Me In”  © by simpledrama .
 

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Chapter 1
 
Warsop, early January; 2004

“Drew!” Dave whispered upon seeing their door slowly open and a head peer into the darkened room.

“Dad? Mum ok?” Drew quietly asked as his dad emerged from their bedroom and faced him in the hallway.

“Shhhh … she’s sleeping comfortably. I couldn’t sleep and heard you about.”

Dave quietly led his son downstairs before speaking again. “Going for a ride I see.”

“Got a few things to think about and the weather looked okay. Dad … why did Mum have to get cancer?” Drew asked, keeping his voice low lest he disturb his mum.

“I don’t know,” Dave hesitated then slowly replied.

“She’ll get better, won’t she?”

(sigh) “I don’t know that either … we just have to let the doctors do their thing.” Again Dave hesitated before replying.

Seeing a tear escape Drew’s eye, Dave put his arms around his son and added, “I feel the same way ... but for now we need to try and keep things as normal as possible. Your ol’ mum made that clear enough last night!”

Dave accompanied Drew out to the garage to get his bike ready and followed him outside. After ensuring that his son took one of the pills Dr. Sanwari prescribed, he watched Drew push off.

As he started to pedal past their parked van, Dave called out, “You just keep alert and have a good ride!”

When Drew turned out of the close and onto the main road, he was glad he had dressed for the weather. Even though the roads were clear and little snow remained on the ground, the day was overcast and quite cool. He was wearing long-legged bib-tights with a lightweight vest as a second layer of protection against the elements. As a final layer, he wore the windproof Team Apollinaris jacket his mum sent him in happier times. It was the first time that he wore anything that reminded him of her, since ‘that phone call’ in which she initially tried to make the family believe she was leaving. That seemed long ago. Now she was home … back with the family … and dying.

“Why Mum…WHY???”

Unlike the usual training rides that Drew undertook whenever he had to sort himself out, focusing on his cycling wasn’t working out. After passing through Church Warsop, he approached a wooded area close to the road and with memories of his mum overpowering his young mind he decided he could go no further. The Wunderkind quickly pulled off the road and came to a stop under the overhanging limbs of a large tree. Standing astride the bike’s cross-bar and tightly gripping the handle-bars, Drew closed his eyes and leaned forward until his head rested on the back of his gloved hands after which he then promptly broke down with uncontrolled heavy sobs. Even though his mum was dying, she was steadfastly adamant that both Jules and he were to go to America in two weeks. They weren’t going to miss the opportunity on account of her! Drew was equally convinced that he wasn’t going to see her again if he left.

Eventually, he sat up, emotionally drained and fully aware of the cool temperatures on his tear stained face. As he went to wipe his eyes with the back of a gloved hand, he realized that they too, were soaked with his tears. Once he was able to collect himself and re-focus enough to continue his ride, he set off, but at a much more sedate pace. After continuing a few more kilometres up the road, Drew pulled into a small pub near a roundabout, to plan the direction that his ride would take. As he considered his options, his thoughts were once again dominated by his mum. He was eventually brought out from his reverie by a girl’s voice. Turning towards the sound, he saw a young girl accompanied by her mother.

“… ‘Cuse me? You’re Gaby Bond … aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Drew replied with what he hoped was a pleasant-sounding voice.

“I told you, Mum!” the girl turned towards her distant mother and excitedly called out. As she turned back to face Drew, she blurted out, “I raced with you last year at Manchester!”

“You remember me? There were quite a lot of cyclists there,” Drew mentioned as the girl’s mother walked up to the two.

“Uh huh ... can I get your autograph?” the girl eagerly asked.

“You’ve been such an inspiration to my daughter. You sparked Loraine’s interest in cycling ... you and your mum,” explained the older woman as her daughter offered Drew a pen and a small notebook. He blushed a deep red upon hearing the mother’s words. Having heard the girl’s mother mention her daughter’s name, he proceeded to write...

“To Loraine — a competitor I shall have to watch

Gaby Bond”

Drew handed the pen and notebook back to the girl, then accepted an appreciative hug and ‘thank you’ before resuming his ride. As he watched Loraine and her mother depart, Drew made the decision to turn around. Instead of completing his usual training ride, he doubled back through Church Warsop, heading for home at a more satisfying 35kph.

“I’m back!” Drew announced as he entered the house.

“Shhhh… your mum’s still sleeping! You weren’t gone that long ... bike okay?” Dave asked in hushed tones.

“It’s fine. It’s just that I couldn’t stop thinking of Mum. At times I found it hard to keep riding,” Drew mournfully replied.

“Sorry. Why don’t you go upstairs and shower while I wipe your bike down? You might feel better,” Dave suggested.

I already did the bike ... but thanks for offering,” Drew replied as he removed his shoes and started for the stairs.

After he finished his shower, Drew started to get dressed. Instinctively he pulled out a pair of panties and a camisole, preferring the soft fabric against his sensitive skin. He was about to put on the camisole, when he caught sight of himself in the full-length mirror on the back of his bedroom door. Taking a good look at himself, he had to be honest and acknowledge that it was a very pretty, young teenage girl that was looking back at him.

Once dressed, he sat silently on the side of his bed, staring into space – his thoughts now turned to his Mum and his pending trip to America. Sometime later, Drew found his way into the kitchen where he silently acknowledged Jules with a nod and then grabbed a cup of tea and sat down at the table, beside her.

“You okay, Drew? I thought I heard you crying when I passed your room,” Jules whispered.

“I was … I can’t stop thinking of Mum. I don’t want to leave her … not now,” he quietly admitted as Jules put her arm behind his back and pulled him close.

“I know … (sniff) I feel the same … but as long as Dad agrees, what can we do?” Jules comforted and then abruptly added, “Now look what you did … you got me going! Pass me a tissue.”

“There … that should do it! Thank you very much,” Dave stated as he closed the front door and re-entered the kitchen. When he sat down and resumed drinking his tea, he briefly contemplated the envelope in his hand and then handed it to his son.

“I just signed for it … but ... I think you should do the honours. It’s from Dr. Sanwari,” Dave quietly stated.

Drew hesitated and then took the offered letter. After momentarily staring at the envelope, he took a deep breath and slowly handed it back to Dave.

“You open it? I can’t.” Before Dave could reach for it, Jules grabbed it out of Drew’s outstretched hand.

“Well, I’m not going to wait all day for you two to decide who’ll open it ... so I will!”

She had it opened and in her hands before either Dave or Drew could make an effort to get it back. After a few tense minutes, Jules looked up from reading the contents and with a blank look, simply handed it back to her younger brother.

“Here, sis … you better read it,” Jules quietly mentioned as she returned the letter.

Along with her Dad’s questioning glance and her own disbelief, she added, “According to this … I’ve always had a sister!”

“Ummm ... blah, blah, blah ... yeah ... we know ... blah, blah, blah.” As he got near the last of the letter, Drew raised his head and nervously looked at his dad and sister. Finally reading aloud, he stated, “It’s just like she said …”

Casting his eyes back down to the letter, he read, “From our testing, we have concluded that Drew was born biologically more female than male. As she is now entering puberty, it is expected she will continue to physically develop as a normal female…“ Drew’s voice faded as he handed the letter to his dad.

After reading it over carefully – a few times, Dave put the letter down then told both kids that their interpretation of the letter was correct.

“By the names on this letter … it appears Dr. Sanwari’s sent your blood work to some very highly regarded people in the medical profession and by signing this letter … they all agreed with his initial findings.”

Following an uneasy silence, Dave picked up the letter and re-read the section where the doctor stated tests also showed Drew was completely androgen insensitive, thereby ruling out any possibility of life as a man.

With a deep sigh, he handed the letter back to Drew and then added, “You’ve got some heavy thinking to do … it’s your life … but if you want to talk about it … I’m here.”

“Thanks, Dad … but … this says that I don’t really have a choice … do I?” Drew’s voice was almost inaudible as he took the proffered letter and rose from the table.

As they listened to Drew’s footsteps slowly go upstairs, followed by the gentle closing of his bedroom door, Jules silently got up and walked over to where her dad was still sitting and gave him a hug.

“Think she’ll mind if I join her ... talk things over?”

“I think we best give Drew some time to think things out before we sit down with him ... her,” Dave softly replied as he felt his eyes getting moist. He gave Jules a final hug as rose from his chair and started to go up the stairs, mumbling an excuse so Jules wouldn’t see his tears.

“Gotta go check on your mum.”

“Dad?” Drew called out as he heard the familiar and unmistakable sounds of his father’s footstep’s passing his door.

Dave opened the door and poked his head in, saying that he’d be back after he checked on Jenny. Moments later, he opened Drew’s door wider and entered his son’s room and found him sitting on the edge of his bed with the letter beside him.

“How’s Mum?” Drew whispered.

“Still sleeping, but she seems okay … you had something else on your mind … didn’t you?”

Nodding his head, Drew whispered, “You knew…”

Following a heavy sigh, Dave shook his head side-to-side while quietly responding, “The results? No ... but I’m not blind either … despite what you may have thought all this time. I saw my youngest daughter long before Dr. Sanwari did. His results only explained what we’ve all seen over the last year.”

After a short silence between the two, he softly added, “I love you ... sweetheart.”

Drew leapt up off the bed, into Dave’s opened arms. As he felt his dad’s strong arms close around him, he whispered a tearful “Thank you” into his dad’s ear.

“I guess I should tell Mad ... an’ Uncle John ... an Auntie Carol.”

“Probably a good idea. When do you want to do this?”

“Now … while I still have the nerve? I think Mad should know before we go back to school tomorrow,” Drew softly suggested.

“Let me call… okay? See if today’s okay with everyone. By the way … if your mother’s still sleeping by the time they get here, I’ll tell her later … agreed?” Dave pointed out.

“Okay,” Drew reluctantly nodded and then gave his father another hug.

Dave made the requested phone call when he went back downstairs.

Moments later there was a knock on Drew’s door and when he looked up, he saw Jules poke her head around the semi-closed door.

“Ummm … Drew? … Sis? Can I come in and talk?” Jules timidly asked.

After he silently motioned for her to come in, Jules entered the room. Sitting on the edge of the bed beside her brother, the two talked in sombre hushed tones.

“I’m sorry about the letter. Does this mean you’re … Gaby … for real … now? Jules quietly asked.

“Yeah ... I guess I am,” Gaby whispered.

“I’m sorry,” sniffed a wet-eyed Jules.

“You already said that,” Gaby quietly deadpanned as she leaned against her big sister.

“I … just … all those times I encouraged my brother to become ‘Gaby’ … going along with Maddy … even getting Charlie and Anna to go along with it ... I just ... feel bad. It feels like I’ve somehow helped cause all this …forgive me?” Jules softly allowed.

“Jules! Don’t be daft! You didn’t cause any of this to happen! It’s wot it is ... there’s no miracle cure an’ you can’t do anything about it,” an astonished Gaby exclaimed.

“I know …(sniff) but I can’t help how I feel … (sniff). Forgive me?”

“I don’t know why I have to, but if it’ll help … I forgive you!” Gaby softly replied.

“Besides ... I know I should be angry ‘bout it ... I’m not. I can’t explain it, sis ... but ... I’m really okay with it,” Gaby quietly confided.

As Jules looked at her sister, she suddenly threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. Gaby soon felt her sister’s tears on her bare neck, despite the crew-neck sweatshirt she was wearing. They silently continued to hold the hug until they heard Dave coming back up the stairs.

“John said they could be here in about a half hour … will you be ready?” Dave asked as he appeared in the doorway to Drew’s bedroom.

Gaby quickly nodded her approval with the timing. Seeing Jules had been crying, Dave thought it better if he just left the two girls alone after delivering his message.

“C’mon, sis … I think you need some repair work,” Gaby suggested.

“What about you?”

“I think Drew has to be there for this meeting,” Gaby softly admitted. “There’ll be plenty of other times … I promise.”

Later, Carol and John arrived at the Bond’s fully prepared to hear the worse about Jenny.

“C’mon in! Glad you could come,” Dave warmly greeted his guests.

“How’s Jen?” Carol asked as she entered the house.

“She’s fine for the moment. Right now, she’s upstairs resting,” Dave solemnly explained.

“I assume then that she won’t be joining us?” John ventured.

“No. She’s not got anything near the energy she once had ... but I’ll fill her in later. You two just go on through to the lounge … Drew’s already in there. Jules and I’ll bring in the tea.”

“This isn’t about her, then?” Carol asked.

Dave shook his head before quietly replying.

“More about Drew, actually.”

Later after everyone was settled in with a cuppa, Dave gave the floor to Drew to start the proceedings.

“It’s your show, kiddo...”

As Drew began to stand up, he noticed someone was missing.

“Where’s Maddy? I was kinda hoping she’d be here.”

“I’m sorry Drew. When your dad asked us to come over, he didn’t specifically mention that Maddy should be here … and so ... well … I let her go shopping with Bernie and her mum … to find some new clothes for your trip.”

“S’okay Auntie Carol ... I’ll tell her later,” Drew replied with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He turned to let Dave pass him Dr. Sanwari’s letter before he continued.

“I dunno if Maddy ever mentioned it … but last September…”

Drew went on to explain the times he passed out after cycling and the subsequent visits to Dr. Sanwari. During his explanation of past events, he made sure he didn’t forget to mention the great quantities of blood taken for the now infamous battery of tests. He ended his background explanation with Dr. Sanwari’s initial guess as to the problem and showed his aunt and uncle the large brown iron supplement pills that he was directed to take daily. When he finished, Drew didn’t see any sign of the shock or concern he expected but rather, only their blank expressions.

“Here’s the letter I got today from Dr. Sanwari. It says exactly what he told us earlier … but it’s also signed by a bunch of other doctors that he umm ... anonymously ... sent my blood to … so they could do their own tests.”

With a shrug of his shoulder, Drew continued as he handed the letter to his Uncle.

“Dad says those other doctors are pretty important, so I guess I had the best look me over.”

After John and Carol both read the letter, they raised their heads to look at their nephew. Now that it had sunk in, Drew saw the reaction he initially expected.

“Ever since Dad first took me to see Dr. Sanwari for my blackouts, I’ve been thinking about what he guessed might be happening to me. At first it was kinda hard to get my head around everything ... but now that I had time to think about things ... everything I felt ... fits an’ now that it’s official, like ... I feel like a weight’s been lifted from me ... an’ it was time to let everyone know…” Drew said matter-of-fact-ly.

“One question ... what about school and your trip?” Carol said with some concern as she rose from her seat to give her niece a hug.

“I figure that for the next couple of weeks it’ll have to be ‘Gaby’ pretending to be ‘Drew’ at school. As far as the trip is concerned … I guess it depends a lot on the Walters girls,” she calmly explained after Carol sat back down.

Before Drew could finish Dave sought to clarify Gaby’s last statement.

“Back when Britney and her sister were here, it took a lot of convincing to get them to believe I had a son. I bet the American authorities involved in the exchange program were under the impression I had two daughters as well. Do they still feel that way? … We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Then looking at Drew, Dave added, “As for what happens after the trip … well … we’ve got eight weeks to decide on what to do and how best to do it.”

“You want us to call you ‘Gaby’ from now on?” Carol asked.

“At least when it’s just family,” Dave put in.

“Not everyone knows about ‘Gaby’... yet,” Gaby added.

“How do you feel about this?” John asked.

“John! What kind of question is that to ask your niece?” hissed Carol as she slapped John’s arm. “Didn’t you read the letter? It’s not as if she had a choice. She was born a girl!”

“No, Auntie Carol … it’s okay. Uncle John? I think I’d hafta say ... relieved. For a long time, I’ve been bothered by what I saw happening to me an’ how I felt about it ... an’ now that I know why...” Gaby softly replied.

“Uh … Gaby? What about Maddy?” Carol had just asked the ultimate question.

“She’s always told me that she loves me ... whether I’m Drew or Gaby. I really hope she meant that ‘cuz I still feel the same way about her,” Gaby replied.

“I think the question now is … how do you and Uncle John feel about her having a relationship with another girl ... me?” Gaby threw the question of their relationship right back at her Aunt and Uncle.

“We’re quite used to seeing both of you together for some time … so I think I can say … for both of us … we’re quite comfortable with it,” John answered as Carol smiled at Gaby and nodded in agreement.

“We’ve already come to the conclusion that there’s something going on between you two … and if that’s how the two of you feel … we’ll not stand in your way,” Carol added.

Gaby ran over and gave both of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, followed by a wet-eyed, “Thank you!”

“How do you feel, Jules … you okay with a sister?” Carol playfully asked the quiet sibling.

Jules looked up at Gaby from her seat and tried very hard to suppress a huge grin. In a calm, disinterested voice, she proclaimed, “I guess so.”

Gaby walked over and bent down to give her a tight hug and whispered in her ear, “An’ I love you, too … sis!”

“I love you, li’l sis…” Jules whispered her reply, her eyes quickly becoming moist as she again held her sister.

“Well, Gaby … I think if you come over to our place with me now … there’s a few things in Maddy’s room that you’ll most likely be needing,” Carol hinted as she visually answered the teen’s inquisitive look by discreetly looking down at her own breasts.

Gaby took the hint and the pair left together while John remained to talk to Dave. A short while later, they returned with Gaby carrying the bag of all her purged clothes, including her school uniform, as well as her breast forms and gaff.

“Pet? Frank’s already given me a few days off to help your mum … at least until Gran can get here, so do you want me to call Mr. Woods and try to set up a meeting with him tomorrow to explain about you … and your mum?” Dave asked.

“I thought no one was to know about Mum other than us?” Gaby replied.

“In this case, I should think that at least Mr. Woods and Mrs. Johnston should know ... as well as the escorts for your trip … just in case anything happens and you need to go to hospital … or your...” Dave suddenly turned away while his voice abruptly trailed off. Both Gaby and Carol quickly wrapped him in an understanding hug.

“Dave … it might not be the right time to ask … but...” Carol paused as a lump formed in her throat.

“...What I wanted to ask … was that if you have to call Jules and Gaby back … please have them send Maddy as well?”

“Of course, Carol … that goes without saying. I’ll mention it to Mr. Woods if I see him tomorrow,” Dave quietly replied.

“Dad? … Remember … as far as school’s concerned … I’ll have to pretend to be ‘Drew’ … at least until I get back from the States.

“I know, sweetheart … hopefully by that time things will have settled to a point where we can think clearly about the future … for both you and your mum,” Dave lamented.

The next morning, Dave waited until just after eight when he thought Mr. Woods would be in his office, before phoning and requesting a meeting. As suggested in the letter, he also phoned Dr. Sanwari and set up an appointment for Gaby to get a prescription for oestrogen pills while she was away in America.

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To Be Continued...