CHAPTER 21 - The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Ellen initially had planned on returning to work as soon as possible. With all that had happened, she decided to take an extra month’s maternity leave. In addition to recovering from her delivery, she wanted a chance to get reacquainted with George and help him through his emotional crisis. As a starting point, they turned off all of their electrical devices so they wouldn’t be disturbed and retired to the bedroom. The first two days, they never left except to pop into the kitchen to grab a snack or take care of the baby. And of course for bathroom breaks.

Surprisingly, only a small portion of the time was consumed by being intimate, other than spooning in bed. The majority of time they spent just talking. There was so much she wanted to share with George about her business. At first, he was reluctant to talk about his experiences as a lowly housekeeper. He was content to let Ellen wax eloquent about her enterprise. He used his fiscal background to make a few helpful suggestions. After all he was still an accountant, even if he was out of practice.

The issue of what to wear while holding these sessions was initially a real problem for George. During their ponderings that went long into the nights, Ellen kept to long nighties. She offered some to George, advocating their comfortableness. George passed, insisting on something more unisex. He wore sweats and, for variety, gym shorts. For modesty's sake, he added one of Ellen’s white cotton camisoles.

They had both had changed and grown during their forced separation. They bared their souls and opened up about all the things they had experienced. They discussed their triumphs and failures even their calamity of dates with men. George grudgingly laid out the nauseating details about Heather’s dinner date. Ellen confessed that, with George gone and she was trying to get her company up and running, she had accepted a series of outings with a man representing himself as a prospective investor. She assured George nothing had happened, at least nothing more than he had shared with his date. That is a passionate good night’s kiss. Ellen stopped seeing him when she realized the only thing, he was interested in was banking his seed in her.

They vacillated between wanting to laugh, cry or celebrate. It was like they had just found each other all over again. A new and stronger friendship was forged in those days. Ellen was determined to never let anything get between them again.

Ellen had three days left before she was to return to work and was looking forward to kicking back and recharging her batteries, when they had an unexpected visitor.

They were relaxing in the master suite and were taken aback when the doorbell rang. Which was followed by a loud pounding on the door. Ellen was only wearing her terrycloth bathrobe. George was in the bathroom leaving his morning deposit. Which meant it was up to Ellen to see who was interrupting their alone time. She pulled the robe tight and strolled to the front door to see who was knocking so persistently. Looking through the glass she saw it was the federal prosecutor assigned to George's case, Fred Thompson.

Ellen answered the door. For modesty sake she again pulled the robe closed and invited him in.

Without any preliminaries he explained, "I tried to call but I couldn’t get through so I stopped by. We have to talk. Mr. Brown’s lawyer, wants to depose your husband on Friday at the courthouse. I need to talk to him to prepare him. These things can be very stressful. He needs to be prepared because their lawyer will go after him and his credibility."

Ellen called for George to come to the living room. George hopped off the pot and pulled up the sweatpants he was wearing. With a chill in the air, he grabbed one of Ellen’s sweatshirts fresh out of the dryer, that had I LOVE PINK stitched across the front. His feet were cold so he slipped on Ellen’s old pair of fuzzy bunny slippers that were laying on carpet in the bedroom. Not knowing why, he was being summand to the living room. He walked in and saw who was there, he about died from embarrassment at the outfit he had on.

Mr. Thompson played it cool and acted like what he saw was an everyday occurrence. He merely explained he would like to see George appropriately dressed the next day in his office to go over the type of questions he could expect on Friday.

George asked what was going on. Fred gave George the executive summary, leaving Ellen to fill in the details.

After Thompson left, the two realized there was a significant decision ahead of them. One that could have long range implications. What was George going to wear. Because of their desire to relax and avoid difficult decisions that George’s unique dimensions caused; they had put off shopping.

George insisted he was a man and would only wear male clothes from this day forward. Ellen thought it was unreasonable to find anything that would make George appear as a man. Ellen nodded to his chest to point out the two obvious problems with that decision. To avoid an argument, Ellen agreed to help with concealing his budding breasts by binding them with an elastic bandage.

George was getting dressed the next day in hopes of finding gender neutral clothes suitable for a business meeting. Ellen bound his chest. Even at that, George had a difficult time finding a shirt he could button because of the excessive mass on his chest. Eventually, he found an old one that he managed to get buttoned. He complained that he found Ellen’s solution uncomfortable. Ellen ignored his grumbles and moved ahead to put his hair up in a manly ponytail.

After looking at himself in the mirror, George deceived himself that his appearance made him look like he had well developed pecs and not breasts. Ellen gave in to his male pride and didn’t say she thought he looked ridiculous. She went along with it, hoping for the best. Ellen kept her opinion to herself. They left with George wearing one of his old dress shirts, a pair of sweat pants and a ratty old pair of sneakers.

Ellen drove them to a men’s store that specialized in men’s suits, promoting that they tailored them to fit while you waited. Walking in, George got strange looks from all of the staff. Their attitudes changed when George selected an extremely expensive charcoal grey double-breasted suit. The salesman and store tailor worked with George and did the best they could. George was hoping for a metrosexual look, but failed miserably. His slender waist and womanly hips made the tailor's job a real challenge.

While they waited, Ellen ran next store and got a pair of men’s loafers and socks in George’s size. Returning she went through the stores selection of dress shirts that were intended for big and tall. She hoped they would camouflage his chest. She picked a classic blue collared dress shirt and a patterned tie.

After a few hours of cooling their heels in the waiting room, the store’s tailor brought out the suit. George ducked into a changing room and put everything on. It all fit and he walked out to show his wife, whose reaction was less than enthusiastic. When he turned to see why looking at a floor length mirror, he was less than delighted with his appearance.

Standing in front of the mirror, he looked over at Ellen and feigned a smile. He asked Ellen hopefully, "Honey what do you think?" The reflection he saw was definitely on the feminine side of androgynous. He had hoped that the first time in over a year he would feel like he was getting his manhood back. Now he wasn’t so sure that was possible, but it was better than being in a dress and wearing makeup.

Ellen’s response was, "Let’s get out of here and go home it has been a stressful day."

He went home and spent the evening polishing his black loafers. When he was done, Ellen approached from behind, "Honey we need to do something about your hair, it’s a mess. First, I will shampoo it, then I'm just going to trim off the split ends for you. Your hair will be much healthier looking without those, alright?"

"Fine, do what you think best." George replied. He had not had a barber near his hair for over 18 months, so this was a treat for him. His hair was longer than most men. He planned on getting it cut a bit shorter, but had more pressing issues at this moment. He'd think about what he'd like it to look like and then visit a barber shop when he had the time.

Ellen brushed his hair out after washing. She was shaken to realize his hair was so long, the ends landed in clusters on his shoulders. Aside from the unmanly length his hair looked lovely. It was thick and rich, chestnut brown. There were no signs of balding. She snipped and clipped and used the blow dryer, then snipped and clipped some more. To the point it was now just touching his shoulders. In her opinion, he no longer looked like a homeless bag lady.

Finally satisfied, she announced, "There we go. Much better, now," Ellen spoke with a professional air while finishing up on his hair.

She put it in a manly ponytail and they all went off to bed.

He was up early the next morning, nervous about the success of his first outing in over a year as George Trousdale. Ellen had to drive him to the courthouse, as he hadn’t gotten a driver license to replace the one confiscated when he was arrested.

George was on pins and needles and squirmed with unease as he waited in the halls. Eventually they met Fred outside his office and walked to an unused conference room. Ellen wasn’t allowed in the room as Fred Thompson planned on drilling George the way he expected Leon’s lawyers to do.

Ellen said her goodbyes at the door. "Now off you go." she said, playfully slapping his bottom.

"I’m ready." He said, in a trembling voice. Ellen watched her husband disappear as the door closed behind him.

Ellen paced the halls for a good 40 minutes, finally the door opened. She expected George to come out first. Rather it was Fred with a concerned expression on his face.

"Where’s my husband?"

"He’s inside trying to compose himself."

"Why want happened?"

Fred lamented, "Mrs. Trousdale, we need to talk before he joins us. We have a big problem. It’s your husband. The first time I questioned his memory, he broke down and cried like a disgraced televangelist. Because of his non-disclosure agreement with the Mexican government he can’t talk in public about his time in Mexico, that would explain his feminine appearance. Let me be blunt, with his mannerisms and body language your husband comes across as at best an effeminate man, at worst a total flaming faggot. I am not being judgmental, but that will affect his credibility in front of a jury. It would almost be better if he came in a dress and simply presented himself as a man transitioning, that at least would be politically correct."

Ellen snapped, "I don’t think is a viable option. Is there anything else we can do?"

"He could butch up," replied Fred seriously.

Ellen knew she would have to have a very difficult discussion with George tonight.

When she had it with him, it didn’t go well. It ended with him locking himself in the bathroom. He was delusional, and insisted he did fine and was ready to go on.

@ @ @ @

The next day, George returned again dressed in his suit and tie. George sat a long table crossed his legs in a feminine manner and tried to relax. He was deposed by Mr. Brown’s lawyer, with a grinning Leon sitting next to his attorney. When asked, George stated confidently that he could identify the man who sat next to him at the Mexico City airport.

The lawyer’s strategy quickly became apparent. He intended to actively attack George’s credibility based on his effeminate appearance and mannerisms. Leon didn’t say anything he just sat there with a smirk on his face.

Leon’s attorney started with a bit of sarcasm. "Mr. Trousdale let’s be honest. When Mr. Brown sent you to Mexico you were a tenor and now you appear to be more of a soprano. How long have you been living as a woman?"

Leon giggled and had to cover his mouth with his hand.

George glared at his old boss. Being under oath, he had to tell the truth. "Let’s say a little less than two years. I don’t remember the exact date."

"How did you achieve this metamorphosis going from a man to a woman?"

"I am not sure what you are asking."

"I will be brutally blunt. Have you been taking female hormones?"

George look down at his hands unable to speak, his mouth was dry. The judge said, "Mr. Trousdale answer the question."

With trepidation he replied, "Yes sir, but not intentionally."

"Mr. Trousdale, that is a yes or no question. "Said Leon’s attorney. The judge ordered George to only answer the questions asked.

"Yes, I have."

"Where those drugs prescribed by a doctor?"

"No sir."

"Tell us please where those drugs came from, remember you are under oath."

"From Mexico."

"So, let me understand this, you went to Mexico and came home over a year later. During that time, you have been taking drugs not prescribed for you. Tell this court how long have you wanted to be a woman."

"I don’t want to be a female!" Said George emphatically.

The lawyer snickered and looking at George said, "Excuse me, looking at you it appears that ship has sailed."

The judge reprimanded the lawyer for editorializing.

George pleaded, "I’m telling the truth you have to believe me!"

With emphasis on the word sir he went on. "No SIR we don’t! Did you continue to take illegal female hormones after you crossed to this side of the border?"

George hesitated but finally answered, "Yes sir."

"Where did you get those drugs?"

"Unwilling to incriminate his maid roommates he answered, "I refuse to answer invoking my connotational rights against self-incrimination."

Afterwards, the prosecutor pulled George and Ellen into a private room for a heart-to-heart talk. He was concerned that George’s unmanly appearance and feminine idiosyncrasies could affect his credibility in front of a jury. Ellen and the prosecutor huddled privately for a few minutes, leaving George to wonder what was going on. He was very concerned. The government had a confession from the thug in Mexico, but unfortunately, he had never met Mr. Brown, the arrangements were all done by email. George is the only person that could tie Mr. Brown to the drugs. Without his successful testimony, Leon would walk.

Ellen and George were told they could go home. With their heads down, they tuned out the rest of the world and became lost in their thoughts as they stood waiting for the elevator. Suddenly Ellen jumped, someone had pinched her butt. She whirled around to find out who had done it. Standing there was Leon. He smugly glared at Ellen, "Sweetheart give me a call when you tire of your wimp and want a real man."

Ellen feigned a look around and snapped back, "Why do you know one? I currently don’t see one here."

George flinched at her remark but kept quiet. The bell sounded and the two entered the lift, Ellen glared at Leon and dared him to follow. She closed the doors leaving him standing there without his smug expression. Ellen was fuming and rubbed the spot on her backside. She turned to her husband and said, "I want that chauvinist reprobate to be put away for life. We have to find a way to make you the most credible witness ever."