CHAPTER 20 - There is an intimate relation between curing and caring.

They kept Ellen for a couple of days in the maternity ward. George could only visit in the evenings as he spent the days at the police headquarters being debriefed by the feds. By the time they were done with him and he hurried to the hospital, he never found the time to go shopping for male clothes. He showed up every day for his interrogation in a freshly washed and ironed maids’ outfit.

During those sessions, he learned some really interesting things. The dirt bag who had hidden the drugs in his bag was singing like the proverbial canary. It turned out that he was actually working for Mr. Brown, George’s old boss. He had set him up as a test case. If he got through customs, Leon had planned to use the statue gambit to open a smuggling route.

Then the feds gave George some really good news. If he agreed to testify against the two; all charges against him would be dropped and his record will be expunged.

@ @ @ @

Ellen used the time to rest and bond with her new daughter. She knew being a working mother was going to be exhausting. Ellen, without George’s input, decided to name their daughter Ariel Georgina. Ariel after her maternal grandmother and Georgina for her husband. She gave the name Heather some serious thought. In the end, she thought that would be just rubbing salt in an open wound.

Finally, the day arrived to take Ellen home. George, still wearing his maids’ uniform, got his wife and Ariel into Ellen’s car that he had been driving the last several days and drove them home. With Beth’s help they got Ellen settled in her bed, with the baby crib set up next to Ellen’s side.

For the first time, George noticed his daughter had blue eyes, not brown like her parents. It was bizarre. Something he would have to ask about later.

Finally, George was able to relax and was happy to finally abandon the maid’s outfit. After checking that Ellen and the baby were settled, he bashfully got undressed in their walk-in closet and slipped into the bathroom to take a shower.

A deliriously happy Ellen laid in bed and waited patiently for him to finish his bathing ablutions. It was déjà vu all over again. Just like the last night he had shared their marital bed. Ellen laid in bed and thought gleefully how nice it was to be home, surrounded by her family. In her excitement, she failed to recognize his bashfulness, and yelled to him after she heard the water turned off. "It’s great being home as a family, I can’t believe how wonderful things have worked out for us. Get your ass in here!"

He returned with two towels wrapped around him. One covering his genitals, the other around his chest. "Speak for yourself. The worst you have to deal with is a possible case of Postpartum depression. While I am dealing with a pair of unmanly breasts on my chest. I feel like I am starring in a Greek tragedy. I am neither fish nor fowl; neither a man nor a woman. I guess the term non-binary would best describe my current situation."

Dropping both towels, he stood there buck naked. "Look at me!"

Ellen briefly looked at him, then looked down to avoid his gaze. Realizing she had been looking at a body that with one or two minor exceptions could be mistaken for a high school coed.

George broke Ellen out of her reverie with a tersely worded question, "Well, what do you think of your husband?"

Trying to lighten the mood she replied with a gleefully grin, "Ducky I must say you’ve got a nice set of bitch tits, I’m a little jealous."

A very somber George wailed, "Oh, my Gawd Ellen! This is not a laughing matter! If I stay like this for much longer, I'm sure you'll get sick of your sissy husband and go off and find yourself someone manlier."

"You idiot! There are some major challenges ahead of us. Yet, you’re all the man I could ever want. If I was going to ditch you for some stud, I would have done that while you were incarcerated." She closed her eyes and just shook her head. "God, that sounds so camp!"

Ellen turned deadly solemn. "Look, babe, I went out with big hairy muscular types at Uni, and got fed up with their posturing. To the point, one of them even physically went after me."

George looked up in surprise. "You’ve never mentioned that. Did he….you know?"

"No nothing like that. I got slapped around a little, a couple of black eyes and a bloody nose. No big deal really. I didn’t see a reason to bring it up. For that type of man, the more they realize that a woman is their intellectual better the more they have to show off their superior physical prowess." Ellen thought to herself, ‘George would never try anything like that. I would kick his butt to hell and back.’ She smiled at her husband and said. "You aren’t threatened by the fact I am smarter and stronger than you. That is why I selected you."

Coming back to the present, she continued, "Dating guys with more muscles than brains got pretty tedious, quite honestly. Then I met you. And you were everything opposite from my normal date. You made me laugh. You look after me, without being patronizing. You ask for my opinion on everything. Your judgement is always spot-on. I trust you instinctively. And I know you would never hurt me. And top of all that, you're almost my intellectual equal. I know that you're my soulmate, I couldn’t love you more. Even in your current physical state; hell, maybe partly because of it!"

A tear of joy started down his cheek. Ellen gave out a sigh of relief and tried to console her husband. "Try and relax dear, we are going to do what we should have done the day we crossed the border. We will get you to a doctor tomorrow and see where you stand. I am sure things will work out for the best. Look on the bright side. What’s the worst thing that can happen? I end up with a husband who I can share my wardrobe with. You will always have me and Ariel. We will love you no matter what functioning body parts you have or don’t have. There are always other things we can do."

Ellen slept exhausted, George not so well, he had nothing to sleep in. Ellen offered him one of her nightgowns, which he declined. For months he had become accustomed to sleeping in his bra and panties under his footed PJ’s. There was no way he was going to ask to borrow one of Ellen’s bras and panties. So being stubborn, he slept in the nude. Determined that tomorrow he would get a set of men’s pajamas. To keep warm, he cuddled close to his wife. Being new to the fatherhood business, every slight noise the baby made had him instantly awake to check on her.

The next morning, after feeding Ariel, Ellen made a few phone calls for her husband. She was just starting to feel the effects of Postpartum depression. The joy of her daughter was being overwhelmed with the realization of how hard her life as a working woman was going to be. Then she realized how she could deal with her issue, ‘Now that I am on my home court, poor Gorge doesn’t stand a chance. He may want to live with me as a man, but it’s Heather that I need to help with the housework and the baby.’

After numerous calls and referrals, she eventually she got an appointment for that afternoon for Mr. Trousdale with the best GP in town. Ellen started with a GP, not knowing what medical specialty her husband would require.

@ @ @ @

Getting ready to leave was a madhouse. It was their first-time taking Ariel out. It took forever to gather all the necessary accoutrements needed for the baby’s first day out of the house. Once everything was gathered and stacked by the front door, they moved on to the next problem.

What to have George wear. He took a shower while Ellen laid out all his old left behind clothes. He tried them all on, the pants wouldn’t get past his wide hips, his shirts were ridiculously tight around the chest. It quickly became apparent with all the changes in his body, none of his old clothes came close to being suitable.

In disgust, he gave up and threw everything on the floor. He stood naked staring at his refection in the mirror. Out of frustration, he put a hand under each breast and lifted, feeling the weight of each mammary.

"My Lord Ellen, look at me. I swear these things have gotten bigger, over the last few days. They are huge, what do you think?"

"Relax dear, you cannot be objective at this moment. They are not that large. You certainly wouldn't be getting a job at Hooters anytime soon. I will admit they are far more than the budding breasts one might see on a girl just entering puberty. I do agree that your aureoles seem to have had grown. They are now wide brown circles from which large nipples seem to have sprouted almost over night. Don’t fixate on them, lets take this one problem at a time."

He complained, "That’s easily for you to say, I can’t hide them or even cover them. There is no way my shirts can button with these outsized monstrosities hanging from my chest.

"Until I can get them removed, what do I do in the meantime?"

Ellen had already concluded that George was going to have to have to dress en femme for the appointment. Trying to hide her intuitive assessment, she said, "A sports bra might help contain them, if you want to go that way. We could stop by the mall and find out what Victoria's Secret is really about?

George wasn’t amused.

Ellen walked to her bureau and opened a drawer. She threw him a bra, stockings and then panties. To George's astonishment, the bra and panty set had more lace than his grandmother's curtains. His face was as red as a bottle of wine.

"Ellen, you can’t be serious!" he questioned. "A bra and Panties!"

Ellen smiled and responded, "Stockings are probably new to you. Slip them on first."

He raised his eyebrows in query. "Why stockings and not pantyhose?"

George scowled he didn’t appreciate Ellen’s teasing.

It wasn’t her intention to offend him, she was just trying to lighten the mood.

"I am sorry honey. The real reason is it will give the doctor easy access to your naughty bits. He will most assuredly need to exam your genitals. Wearing the nylons, all he will have to is pull down your underpants."

Then handing him the other pieces of her unmentionables, she directed, "Put these on, Ducky. The bra is one I purchased to hold my breasts swollen with milk. I hope they aren’t too tight on you."

The implication that his breasts were larger than his wife’s pregnancy boobs sent shivers through his soul. "Ellen please!"

"I mean it, George. You need a bra to keep your girls in check, it would be indecent to go out into public braless. The panties are tight control top. Because you also will need something to hold your dangly bits out of the way. I know from experience even though they are tight control panties, they are easily discarded. Making it easy to go potty and at other more intimate times."

"But Ellen, they’re so feminine."

"Don’t be a dope. The panties are part of the matching set they go with your bra. Who do you think will be looking at your underpants?"

He started to blubber. "I can’t believe how friggin nonchalant you are about my condition. I suppose now you are going to tell me you have a dress in your closet that will go perfectly with the lingerie. Don’t you understand I didn't want this anymore? I thought once I came home things would go back to the way they were."

Ellen sat down and pulled him down beside her and put her arm around him. "It's okay, George. It was always okay. I'm going to help you. We’ll get through this together."

George started to protest, "Damn it I’m a man! I am tired of wearing dresses, I want to look like a man for a change. I refuse to let the past dictate my future!"

"Sorry dear we will attack that problem later; after we find out what’s up with your medical condition. We can’t do that until we get you to the doctor. For now, let’s find you something to wear for your appointment. Out of necessity for now, the best we can hope for is an androgynous look."

They went through every outfit Ellen owned. It seemed that George was larger on top and around the hips then pre-pregnancy Ellen. A fact Ellen found amusing, until she pointed out to George that he also had a smaller waist.

After George vetoed one of Ellen’s maternity dresses, they finally found an old gray sweat suit of Ellen’s that George could get into. Despite its pink piping, it was androgynous enough to let George leave the house with his pride intact.

@ @ @ @

Ellen and George with the baby in tow, spent several hours at the doctor's office. They related the entire story to the astonished medical professional. He did a comprehensive physical and ordered several tests. Ellen was there the entire time with Ariel in her lap.

In the end the doctor admitted, "I'll be honest with you. This is uncharted territory for me and well outside my sphere of knowledge so I'm going to refer you to a specialist for a deeper investigation." With a serious expression on his face he added, "it's unlikely, but there is the possibility that George might be a hermaphrodite. His female half was dormant for most of his life and it was brought only out by the intake of female hormones."

The only question the doctor had was whether to send George to an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, or a psychiatrist. His attempt at humor was not appreciated.

The doctor told George that it would really help if he could bring in a sample of what his Mexican friends had been feeding him. It would give them an idea of where to begin.

George couldn’t go back to the hotel looking the way he was now. So, Ellen went alone and talked to the gals. At first, they were reluctant to help, but after she explained that the doctor needed to know what senorita Heather had been taking and Ellen gave her word that the authorities would not be told of their involvement, Claudia eventually went to her locker and returned with a bottle of small pills.

Claudia also confessed, they stopped for a while after Heather confronted them, but then continued to feed the pills to Heather even after they promised to stop. "After all she is just a child and didn’t know what’s good for her."

A week later, George and Ellen entered an endocrinologist's office to see what could be done for George. He painstakingly went through the entire explanation again. Ellen turned over the pills she had picked up. This doctor again started with a complete physical and ordered a whole new battery of tests. To George’s mortification, he even had to go through the indignity of a mammogram. He vehemently complained to Ellen, who quieted him by reminding him that it was rare but men did get breast cancer.

When they were done, George wasn’t sure he had any blood left. The worst part was when the doctor milked George's prostate to test for sperm motility. It wasn’t anywhere as enjoyable as the times Ellen did it. They were told the doctor would call when the results came back. They went home and tried to live their lives as normal as possible.