[Mid June]

“That’s it… I’m done with school,” announced Kym as she returned home after her last exam.

“How did it go?” I asked more out of need than anything else. Her body language told me that she thought that she’d done well.

"Good. No… very good. I did all the questions in less than two hours. That gave me plenty of time to read the question again and then my answer just like you told me to."

“And?”

"I'd wandered a bit off-topic with one but I soon corrected that. Had to write it all out again though."

“Good for you. How did Lydia do?”

“She’s happy. Physics was always her weakest subject. I think that she passed as well.”

“It is more than passing you know?”

“Yeah. The whole GPA thing.”

“GPA’s are worthless here. It is all down to your exam results.”

“All I know is that it is over and I can relax.”

“When is Lydia coming over?”

Kym smiled at me.
“You know me too well Dad.”

“Someone has to look out for my daughter you know.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and disappeared upstairs.

I called out to her.
“Don’t forget that we are seeing your consultant tomorrow.”

“I won’t forget,” came her reply just as she slammed her bedroom door.

Kym had blossomed since we’d escaped the horrors of the rural town in Alabama where we’d lived until a year before. I’d been working nearby aircraft factory when my marriage went to pot. My dear wife decided that she needed more from life and had started playing the field. Her world had come crashing down when she was arrested for solicitation.

Our divorce was messy especially as she'd turned to drink and drugs. The sex was just to pay for her habit. Finding out that her son was wanting to be her daughter was the last straw. It had pushed her over the edge and was rightly sent to jail for one year for a vicious drunken assault on a Police Officer. That was followed by nine months of mandatory rehab.

Our son was by now living as Kym full time. Small towns in the deep south are not the most tolerant of places so we got out as fast as we could. Getting out meant for us that I returned to the land of my birth, England with my daughter. I obtained a job at an engineering company that was located not far from the big BAE plant in Preston. I was an aerospace engineer so it made sense to stick to what I know until Kym… until she setup home on her own or as it seemed likely, with Lydia.

Now that Kym had finished school, she could get on with dealing with her gender issues. Since coming to the UK, she’d been even more determined to become a woman. Her girlfriend Lydia was right behind her. Lydia had only ever known Kym but they’d become inseparable.

We had a small ‘coming out’ party planned for the weekend. It was just going to be Kym, me, Lydia and her mother Sharon and her parents. Both of the girls were now legally adults. As such, Kym was legally beyond the clutches of her mother. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Kym was due to take her UK Citizenship test in July. Then she could renounce her allegiance to Uncle Sam and be done with the country of her birth. I’d never taken US Citizenship thanks to my skills, getting a Green Card had been relatively easy. Being married for several years to a local before moving to the US also helped.

Now that the girls had time on their hands and were officially free from school, they didn’t hide their relationship from the world. We all knew the risks that it entailed but young love seems oblivious to them. Sharon and I were determined to be there for our children whatever nasties came their way.

It didn’t take long for their affair to be all over the local social media feeds. As long as it remained local, then we were pretty safe.

---

The girls were enjoying being openly in love with each other. Sharon and I took a step back and did nothing that would embarrass our daughters. We’d taken a trip up to the dales and had a long talk as we walked up Scafell Pike about the future. I made it clear that I’d like to have a relationship with her but only after our daughters were married and off to university.

Sharon was a bit taken aback by my directness about us, but she soon understood that our children came first. When we reached the summit, she gave me a long kiss.

“What was that for?”

She grinned.
“A taste of things to come perhaps?”

When we returned home, we were confronted by our offspring.

“Well? Are you two going out together?” asked Kym.

I looked at Sharon who laughed.

“Not yet so don’t ask when. The two of you are our top priority. Got it?” said Sharon in a way that made it clear that there was no room for any discussion let alone argument.
There was an uneasy silence in the room.

“Look kids, our job is to look after you until you fly the nest. You are about to fledge so just let us be parents for the short time we have left. Yes, you are both adults but you are still living under our roofs so we call the shots, ok?” I said hoping that Sharon was on my side with my laying down of the law.

Grudgingly both Kym and Lydia agreed that we were the bosses.

“Good. Now, what are you two going to do next?” asked Sharon.

“What do you mean Mum?” asked Lydia.

“What I mean, marriage and university or university and marriage?”

“Oh!” remarked Kym.

“Yes, oh!” I said.

Kym looked at Lydia who nodded.

“We’d like to get married first if that is possible,” said Kym.

“Even if it means taking a gap year,” added Lydia.

I smiled at Sharon. She returned one to me.

“Good. Then we are all speaking from the same song sheet.”

---

Now that the air had been cleared, Sharon and I gave them some space to think about getting married. Both of them knew that we were there should they need help. They kept their distance for almost two weeks.

Sharon and I had regular phone calls just to discuss progress or from our point of view, the lack of it. Lydia and Kym were keeping things very close to their chests so to speak.

We didn’t press them too hard because they were in a form of limbo until their exam results were released. They went everywhere together as if they were glued together. I wasn’t surprised given how hard they had worked to keep their romance a secret while they were still at school.

The level of social media chatter about their relationship went down as the weeks went by. This pleased me no end.

The day of the release of their ‘A’ level results was very nervy in both households. The postman came to ours just before ten in the morning. Kym took the envelope and sat in the kitchen with her phone gripped tightly in her hand. She’d sent a text to Lydia stating that hers had arrived. Now she had to wait for Lydia to get hers delivered. They wanted to open them at the same time.

I’d taken the day off work just in case. Sharon was unable to get away but was ready to be on the end of the phone. Now we waited.

The silence was killing me. Back when I did my ‘A’ levels, the results were posted up on the door to the school and the postal notification would arrive a few days later. Once the initial scrum to see who had failed miserably had died down, a steady stream of former pupils would arrive once they’d got out of bed. Now, it was so competitive.

Kym had one eye on social media. The level of chatter steadily grew as the clock ticked around 11:00. 11:05. 11:10. Then at 11:12, Kym's phone rang.

“Yes. My envelope is here in front of me.”

“No, I have not opened it. Dad is here with me.”

“Ok… Go,” said Kym.

She rapidly tore the envelope open.

“A, A* and a B. you?”

“Dad, Lydia got an A*, B and an A.”

“Well done both of you,” I called out loudly.
“Lydia, be sure to call your mother.”

I left them to talk sweet nothings for a few minutes.

In many ways, I envied them. Then again, I didn’t. The phoney war was over. Now it was dog eat dog when fighting for university places.

---

Just before three that afternoon, the front doorbell rang. I wondered who it could be. Kym had disappeared to meet up with Lydia and a few of the not-in crowd from school at a local café, and I didn't think that we were expecting any deliveries.

I opened the door, and my jaw hit the floor.

"Where is my son! I want him now, and I'm taking him back to Alabama with me today."

She didn't even wait for an invitation to come in. Before I knew it, she was inside searching for her son. Her son did not exist any longer. Kym was her legal name, and that was that.

“Charlene… Not nice to see you. Please don’t come in.”

Useless words, but they had to be said.

"Well! Where is he? I have a court order signed by Judge Lambert that grants me sole custody of our son. If you don’t comply, I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping.”

She saw that I wasn’t listening.

“Are you listening to me? Listen to me when I’m talking!”

"No, Charlene, I'm not listening. Your court order is useless here. Oh, and our child is legally an adult. You get to be one when you turn eighteen, you know?"

"Rubbish. You always lied to me. That's what drove me to drink. I'm clean now, and I want our son back."

“He’s not here.”

“When will he be back? I have two tickets on the flight to JFK for tonight.”

"Charlene. Do you not get it? Our child is over eighteen. They don't have to go anywhere they don't want to, and that applies to you taking them back to the backwoods of Alabama."

"I want him to tell me that to my face, otherwise he's coming with me."

Charlene dashed past me and went upstairs. I knew that disaster was about to happen, so I ducked out of the front door and called Kym.

'Come on, answer' I said to myself as the phone started ringing.

Eventually, it was answered, by Kym.

“Kym, don’t come home. Your mother has turned up.”

“Yes, I’m serious. Stay with Lydia and stay the hell away from here!”

“Ok, I’ll speak soon.”

Charlene came bounding down the stairs. Her ample breasts, bouncing away like two systems in a state of chaos.

“Where is his bedroom? All I see is a young girls room?”

“Charlene, I’m going to have to ask you to leave right now.”

“I’m going nowhere until I get answers!”

"If that is the case, then go into the kitchen and sit down. There are some things that you need to understand."

"What is there to understand? Judge Lambert issued a court order granting me sole custody of my son."

I took a deep breath before saying,
“He does not exist anymore. I no … We no longer have a son.”

“What? Are you saying that he’s dead?”

"No, Charlene. I'm not saying that. Benji is now Kym, my daughter."

“You pervert! You paedo! What have you done to my baby?”

“I have done nothing to Kym. She’s a transexual.”

Charlene glared at me.

I knew that look. I'd seen it many times before. Mostly that look was followed by a tirade of abuse, both verbal and physical.

“Don’t give me that look of bewilderment, Charlene. I know that you know what the word ‘transexual’ means. You spent god only knows how many hours picketing the State House to stop them from using female bathrooms.”

I grabbed a photo of Kym and Lydia. It had been taken when we all went on a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach at Easter.

"This is what your daughter looks like," I said, handing it to her.

“Who is that?” asked Charlene pointing at Lydia.

“That is Lydia. They are going to get married.”

“No, they aren’t. I have to give my permission!”

“Sorry Charlene, Kym is now eighteen years old and is an adult under the laws of this country.”

Charlene glared at me.

“You have zero say in what Kym is going to do with her life.”

“Benjamin is my son, and I demand to see him!"

“Charlene… Please get it through your thick head that Kym is her name. She changed it legally just after we came here. Then it is up to Kym. If she wants to see you, then fine. If not, then you can go back to Hicksville on the next flight. She knows that you are here."

“Where is he? I demand to see him!”

"Stop right there, Charlene. Kym has chosen to be live as and be identified as a woman. She not he. I fully support her decision, by the way. She told me about her desires while you were in jail. I'm surprised that the court thought that you were suitable to be a parent again. Oh wait! If it was Judge Lambert, who signed the order, then it does not surprise me, after all, he is your cousin, isn't he?"

"That's not the point! I demand to see my son, and I'm going to take him with me back home."

I shook my head.

"I'm afraid not. You received some bad legal advice. Once you were sentenced to jail, I went to the federal court and obtained sole custody of our son. Federal court trumps a county or a district court does it not?”

I went into the front room and found a copy of the court order giving me custody of our son.

“Here you are. I’d advise you to get on your way before I call the Police.”

Charlene went even redder in the face.

Just then, the front door opened and in walked Kym, Lydia and her mother, Sharon.

“Who’s this then? Your bit on the side?”

“Charlene, please shut up. This is Lydia and her mother, Sharon. Sharon is not my bit on the side, as you so crudely put it. We are not married. I was not like you in that I didn't have affairs with married people. How many marriages did you destroy? Four, or was it five?"

"Do you know about my son?" asked Charlene, who was still glaring at Sharon.

"I do, and I have known for months. I want my daughter to be happy, and Kym does that."

“Benjamin is his name. Benjamin Dale Justin.”

"Sorry, Mom. I changed my name legally months ago," said Kym.

“I bet you had a fun time convincing a judge that you were a woman?”

"Charlene… Stop right there. If you are not going to be civil to us, then you are to leave this instant."

“I’m not going anywhere without my son!”

"I've had enough of this. Mom, you are worse than when you were drunk all the time," said Kym.

"Don't you talk to me like that? I'm still your mother!"

“No, you are not!" said Kym, almost shouting.
"You ceased to be that when you allowed your boyfriend Rudi Graham to try to rape me while you were passed out, downstairs!"

A silence fell over my kitchen.

“Lies, all lies.”

"Not lies. The truth. You were so drunk that he went and did the same to you after he failed with me."

“Where was I when all this was happening?” I asked Kym.

"You had come back here for your Mum's funeral."

Things started to fall into place. Charlene would only have had a man come to the house if I wasn’t around to mess things up for her.

That was it… She had to go.

“Charlene, I think you should leave right now. It is clear that Kym wants nothing whatsoever to do with you now and in the future.”

Charlene glared back at me.

“Sharon, can you find something for the girls to eat while I take this unwelcome visitor to the airport and make sure that she gets on the flight back home.”

"My pleasure, love," she replied smiling.

“Love! I knew it. You are having an affair!”

“Charlene, we aren’t married, and besides, the term 'Love' is a term of endearment in this part of the world. It does not mean that were are lovers or even in a relationship. Didn’t you learn anything when we lived here?”

Then I added,
"Don't answer that. Charlene, we are leaving right now."

I grabbed her arm with one hand, my wallet and car keys with the other. I literally frogmarched her out of the house and into my car. For once, she shut up.

“Where is your ticket?”

Charlene started to say something but stopped herself. Instead, she opened her handbag and pulled out a ticket.

One glance at it told me that she'd been lying. Her flight to Atlanta was not until the next day, and that it was from London.

"Put your seatbelt on. There is a long drive ahead of us."

“Where are you taking me?”

“To a hotel near Heathrow. Then I’m going to put you on that flight tomorrow. After that, I never want to see you again. Understand?”

She didn’t reply but nodded her head.

“Good.”

---

"I'm back," I shouted out as I arrived home. Charlene was on the flight to Atlanta, and I could have done with a stiff drink or three.

There was silence in the house. Kym must be at Lydia’s home.

I could have gone to her home but, to be honest, I was exhausted. I'd not slept much that night. I was making sure that Charlene didn't do a runner. I just didn't trust her even though I had her passport and ticket in my possession. To my eternal relief, once we'd gotten into our hotel room, she sat silently and drank most of a half-bottle of scotch. Then she passed out. I felt both ashamed and sad at what the person I had once loved had become. I'd put her under the shower for almost ten minutes that morning just to wake her up.

Charlene didn't say much but, she let me get her checked in for the flight and then into the queue for security. I stood back and watched her go through the scanner. That was it. I could do no more. Just to cap it all, my drive north had not been enjoyable. Heavy summer rains made the roads more like swimming pools than anything else.

---

I must have fallen asleep because it was just starting to get dark when a noise disturbed me. Someone was coming through the front door.

“Kym? Is that you?”

“No, it is me.”

I relaxed. The voice belonged to Sharon.

“There you are,” she said quietly as she walked into the front room.

"Hello," I said, still half asleep.

“You look like shit.”

“I feel like it.”

“Has she gone?”

"I think so. I watched her go through airport security. That's all I could do."

Sharon came and sat beside me. She put her arm around me and gave me a big hug.

“Where’s Kym?” I said, suddenly aware that Sharon was alone.

"She's with Lydia. Lydia has not let her go since she told us about the attempted rape.”
“She’s in good hands.”

"Thanks, Sharon. To have her come visiting was the last thing that we needed."

“Shhhhh. Just relax.”

Then she kissed me gently. Gradually, I relaxed and fell asleep again.

---

"Morning, sleepy," came a voice from my side.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in my bedroom. Sharon was lying beside me.
“How… How did I get here?”

Sharon laughed.
“The kids helped me carry you upstairs.”

"How is Kym?" I asked as I tried to sit up but, Sharon forced me back down onto my back.

"She is fine. Lydia has been caring for her. They are even closer than ever if you ask me."

Once again, I tried to get up. Sharon was most insistent that I didn’t move.

“I have to go to work!”

"No, you don't. I called in and told your boss that you have just had a surprise visit from your ex. He told me to tell you that you don't have to go to work until Monday."

I made a mental note to thank Jerry on Monday. He’d gone through what was compared to mine, the divorce from hell.

“Just relax and let me look after you. That is what Doctor Sharon is ordering.”

I looked at her and smiled.

“Thank you.”

Then she leaned over and kissed me.

“It is our time, isn’t it?” she whispered in my ear.

“Sharon… There is something that you need to know about me.”

“Shut up and relax. I know about how Kym found out about your secret. She told me last night. It all made sense.”

“What all made sense?”

“The close bond that you and Kym have.”

“But?”

“Close your eyes and relax. I want to get to know 'her', but in your own time."

“Are you sure?”

"I said so, didn't I? When they are off at university, it will be the perfect time for us to get to know each other a lot better."

I didn’t reply right away.

"I'm not like Charlene, you know. She is a right POS. You deserve someone far better than her in your life, and I'd like to volunteer."

Those were the last words I heard as I fell asleep again.

---

Sharon was still there when I woke up again.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Lots.”

"Good. Kym and Lydia are in the kitchen cooking up something great to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm famished."

I smiled back at her, thinking that Sharon was a good woman and one that I'd be proud of having in my bed on a nightly basis.

“You certainly know a way to someone’s heart.”

“You can blame our children for bringing us together.”

“That’s true, so very true.”

Sharon let me get up to take a shower but only for a minute. Then she joined me. That was something that Charlene would never have done.
It seemed that both of our lives had come together in a way that I’d never thought possible when we left the USA.

[the end]
[authors note]
All you need to legally change your name in the UK is to sign what is called a legal instrument called a ‘Deed Poll’. Much simpler, and cheaper than going before a court.