CHAPTER 33 - Happiness can be a dangerous thing; it can make you greedy for more.

The next morning, Ellen had to wake Heather up because she had been worn out from the night’s activities. It was a rush getting ready for their flight. Ellen had kept their destination a guarded secret. Heather asked, "Where are we going?"

As they waited in line to check into the airline. Ellen relented, "Honey trust me, you’ll love it. It will be two bodacious babes on the beaches of Bali for seven days and nights."

Their suitcases consisted of one carry on. Heather questioned the scarcity of luggage. Ellen smiled and answered, "It contains your honeymoon trousseau. There is everything we’ll need. Three Bikinis, flip flops, night wear and makeup."

When Heather looked skeptical Ellen added, "I have my gold card. We can buy anything else we might need."

The flight was long even in first class. After the inflight dinner, Ellen suggested to her new wife that they might join the mile-high club. Heather’s conservative nature forced her to decline the offer.

At their hotel, they were shown to the honeymoon suit. There room overlooked the placid Indian Ocean, and yards of pristine white beaches.

The beaches were clothing optional and Ellen was determined to take advantage of that. Ellen unpacked the three bikinis that would be barely legal in the States. Her spouse was going to look scrumptious in them with his small firm tits and bubble butt. Obviously, Heather couldn’t join her nude, so Ellen worked on him to at least go topless. That proved to be a bridge too far. Hence the bikinis. She had made it a point to pack two nylon chiffon peignoir night gowns for the honeymoon. One in pink, the other in blue. The first night, Ellen arm wrestled Heather for the right to choose which color for the night. Needless to say, Ellen got her choice.

The two newlyweds had seven glorious days. Ellen came back with an all over tan, while Heather had unmistakable bikini tan lines.

Both newlyweds walked off the plane with smiles on their faces. Ellen once again got her wish and the very exclusive mile high club had two new members. Both brides were anxious to pick up Ariel Georgina. Arriving at Nancy’s home, they were delighted to see their daughter was well and happy.

Heather held the baby in his arms as they headed for the door. The baby had just started talking. Ellen turned to her daughter and told her to say goodbye. Ariel waved at Nancy and got out Bye Bye. Then turning to face Derrick she said bye Da Da.

Heather about dropped the baby.

In the car, Heather asked Ellen, "What do you think that was all about?"

"Honey, she’s a baby. Derrick is the only male figure in her life. I am sure it is just a case of transference. I wouldn’t read anything into it."

On Heather's first day back at work post honeymoon, his morning was interrupted by Ellen’s lawyer. Entering his office, he explained that because of Heathers unusual … background from a legal standpoint, Ellen needed to protect her company. He closed Heather's office door and laid out a large stack of papers on the desk. The first was written in legalese that appeared to Heather to be the equivalent of a prenuptial agreement. When translated into English it said that if he and Ellen ever separated, Heather had no rights to her company other than those given specifically to him.

Which came next, Ellen was selling Heather 24% of the company to Heather for a dollar. He explained that since Nancy had 25% Ellen would retain 51% of the company and would always have controlling interest.

The next form was an application for Heather to formally adopt Ariel so if something happened to Ellen, Heather would be her legal guardian.

Then, as an afterthought, he signed a $100,000 life insurance policy paid for by the company with Ariel being the primary beneficiary. At the bottom of the pile was a living will and a medical power of attorney with Ellen assigned as the healthcare agent to make medical decisions when the principal became incapacitated or too ill to make decisions on their own. The lawyer had Heather sign the forms as both George Trousdale and Heather Newman.

@ @ @ @

Post honeymoon, much to Ellen’s chagrin, his reluctance to wear dresses continued unabated.

Heather developed into a loving partner, he was calmer and gentler and loved to just cuddle and kiss. Over time, lesbian sex lost its allure to Ellen, sex became an afterthought. Ellen loved the new him but was having difficulty dealing with his monthly mood swings. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn he was on a woman’s cycle.

As a happy home maker, he initially felt trapped. He suffered the mental trauma of being forced to live a women's life. It required a drastic realignment of the way he viewed his life. He came to accept the fact he was no longer fully male. So, he gave up on any hopes of turning back the clock on his sexuality. He saw the best way he could support his family was as a homemaker. Therefore, he decided he would be the greatest wife, mother, and the best damn domestic engineer he could be.

Life settled into a comfortable routine. Both Heather and Ellen appeared to be deliriously happy. Monday through Friday, Heather happily took care of his family, went to work as a bookkeeper, got the baby to child care, cooked dinner, and did routine housecleaning chores. Unfortunately, Heather never developed into a good cook, resulting in a lot of fast food dinners and eating out. As Heather would say to Ellen when she complained about his cooking skills, "Nobody’s perfect."

Ellen could not have been happier though. She had a beautiful heathy child and a loving wife to take care of the old homestead and to keep her bed warn at night. Her business continued to thrive, she even had some of the Hollywood and sport types seek out her services. As the money poured in, Ellen moved her family into a new home, in a gated community in the exclusive Rancho Palos Verdes estates. She had the best security system available put into their home.

It was more house than they needed. Five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, two with whirlpool bathtubs, a formal dining room, a family and video room. The new house was a challenge for Heather to keep clean. She had to really hustle to get home from her day job, exchange her business suit for something more practical to clean in.

As a joke, Ellen had Heather's old maid’s uniform from the motel cleaned and it always hung in Heather's closet. Heather would move it to the back, Ellen would move it back to the front. It was a little game they played.

As if the house wasn’t grand enough, Ellen had an Olympic sized swimming pool and tennis courts added. Heather got a lot of use out of the pool, but didn’t play tennis.

Ellen took tennis lessons and she had a standing Saturday morning game scheduled with Derrick. During the matches, Nancy and Heather would sit in the shade drinking Bloody Marys and watching them as Ariel played in her sandbox nearby. After the athletes had showered, the four adults and Ariel would all go for brunch. The weekend afternoons for Heather were devoted to doing household chores and running errands while everyone else retreated to the video room or hung out by the pool.

The Newman family saw a lot of Nancy and Derrick. They had a standing invitation to join them at all holidays and every Sunday for dinner. Much to Heather's horror Ariel had gone from calling Derrick, Da Da to daddy. The one saving grace was when they were alone. The baby religiously called him Mommy and Ellen mother. When Ariel would look at him and hold out her little arms and called for her Mommy his heart melted. He made a promise to himself when Ariel was old enough to understand he would tell her the whole story.

Once warm Sunny afternoon, after Ellen and Derrick’s tennis game the entire gang set out for brunch at Ellen’s club. The baby had been secured in her car seat in the rear of the minivan, Ellen was in the front seat while Derrick drove. Nancy had gotten in and was sitting next to the baby. Ellen turned to Heather as she was about to climb in and asked, "Honey, I forgot my purse. Could you run back in a get it for me? I think I left it on the kitchen counter."

While Heather was gone, Nancy and Ellen had a discussion about how Ellen managed to keep her huge house so spotless Nancy said. "We have been friends for a long time. I can’t see how you find the time to clean, your home is always spotless." Ellen smiled and answered, "Easy Heather and I share the work." Nancy was curious, "How do you divide up the chores?"

"Simple, we split it 50-50. She does all the domestic chores, such as the child care, cooking and cleaning. For my share I bring home the bacon and pay someone to take care of the yard. That seems fair to me."

Nancy gave Ellen a surprised look. "Is she happy with that arrangement?"

Ellen shrugged. This was something that she never thought about.

Ellen tried to explain her position, "In all honesty, she has never complained. I have never asked. I do know she would love me to be more demonstrative in my appreciation. I try and avoid doing that though. I don’t want to spoil the help! Hell, the next thing you know she will be asking for weekends and holidays off and expecting me to help around the house. Let me tell you that isn’t going to happen. I had eight years as the housewife, now it is his turn."

Ellen went on, "The house is mine, just as Heather is my wife. She does what a good wife should. I have learned as an executive no one should be rewarded for just doing their job. I don’t want to sound heartless he already gets room and board and I am so generous I gave her a car and a no limit credit card. She can buy anything she wants. She lives a pretty good life. Heather has it made, a beautiful bedroom her private bath. Her closet is full of designer clothes. I mostly ignored her while she is working so she can get on with her house hold chores. As far I am concerned, it is a win, win situation." Beamed Ellen.

In response to Ellen’s request, Heather hurried back into the house not wanting to keep everyone waiting. He grabbed for his wife’s purse, but in his haste managed to knock it over. The contents scattered across the floor. He bent to scoop them up. He found what was to be expected, lipstick, a compact, a wallet, a lacy hanky, comb, two tampons, as he started to stand up, he noticed something under the counter. He picked it up and was astonished. It was a half empty wheel of birth control pills. This was the second time. He couldn’t help but wonder why his wife needed birth control. This time he was going to confront her with the evidence.

He threw them angerly into the purse and headed out to the waiting van.

He climbed in and stared straight ahead. At the restaurant, he was mute. Ellen spent her time feeding the baby, chatting with Nancy, and flirting with Derrek. As they got up to leave, Ellen noticed Heather hadn’t touched her meal. On the way out, she asked Heather to join her in the powder room. Once the door was closed Ellen asked, "Alright, tell me what’s your problem."

"I found birth control pills in your purse," he replied stiffly.

Ellen shrugged indifferently. "So?"

Heather looked at her angrily. "Would you care to explain? Since I not only shoot blanks, hell I can’t even get a round in the chamber. In most cases I can’t even cock the hammer. Why would you need to worry about getting pregnant?"

"You know Heather, you really should have been a blonde. You fit the stereotype so well. For your edification, woman use oral contraceptive for other things than birth control.

Everyone knows birth control pills can keep you from getting pregnant. The pill also has other benefits. One survey found that more than half of women who take birth control pills do so for reasons other than avoiding pregnancy. They make your periods more regular. With the pill, you'll know when you'll have your period. With traditional birth control pills, you'll take three weeks of hormone-containing active pills, followed by one week of inactive pills. You'll get your period the week you switch to the inactive pills."

Heather fell all over himself apologizing for his unsounded suspicions. The ride home was a frigid one for Heather.

@ @ @ @

It had been so long since there had been any threat that everyone had let their guard down. On a foggy Sunday morning, Heather was in his minivan on the way to the grocery store to get what was needed for the evening meal. He had grown weary of the morning feminine routine he took every opportunity to skip the makeup and hair ritual. He left the house with no makeup on and his hair in a low manly position. He wore cutoff jeans with his wallet in the rear pocket, white tennis shoes and an oversized loose-fitting blouse that hid his breasts. He was as manly as he could get.

He pulled up to a stoplight and happen to glance to his right as a pickup truck pulled up next to him. The guy driving was staring intently at Heather. It made Heather uncomfortable so he looked away. When the light change Heather accelerated. Half of a block further on, Heather noticed something out her side window. It was the same vehicle, matching her speed exactly. The driver lifted a gun and pointed it at Heather. Heather stomped on the gas trying to get away just as the side window shattered. Heather ducked and lost control of the minivan as the first bullet struck him in the hip. The last thing he remembered was excruciating pain and the ear-splitting explosions of gunfire before he lost control of his car and was knocked unconscious.