John was barely seventeen when his father died at Pearl Harbor. Even if he wanted to join the war he was slightly built. He had the courage and the brains, and he never backed down from a challenge. His mom had come to the United States after WWI with her family. His grandfather was a metallurgist during its infancy and John was his protégé. While not the best student in school, he excelled with his grandfather at his workbench and lab. His grandparents were from Luxembourg and was only putting to writing their language. His mother, grandmother, and grandfather knew the Luxembourg language and German, French, and the king’s English before coming to the States.

John had graduated from high school in 1943 and was exempt from the draft. He and his grandfather filled a need in manufacturing. His grandfather worked with two other men in developing an O-ring for the flying fortress. The flying fortress was an exceptional machine in every way but carrying out its mission and coming back in one piece. No one metal sufficed for strength, heat, and endurance. It would be an alloy of several metals that would fit the bill.

John already knew that Grandpa was working on the solution when he was specially called to help. It was then that the military saw the eighteen-year-old grandson. He had enough European blood that he could pass as a European. He knew German or Luxembourgish, well enough to hide in their presence.

He passed basic training; he was always in good shape. He would land behind enemy lines and become a spy. Not only radioing German movements but working in a manufacturing company to gain vital information. His cover, he was to be a young German of 18; who had fled southwest Germany when his father’s factory was bombed, because it was so close to a fuel depot. His image was that of a young man slow in thought and ability, yet able to do things repetitively without losing his focus.. But a willing worker and knowledgeable around steel and other metals as his last name of Kupfer, Copper in English, foretold.

His story of fleeing his home was documented; by various sightings between there and Luxembourg, it appeared as though he was fleeing to France, but lost his way and ended in Luxembourg. He was parachuted west of Wasserbillig, Luxembourg, and near Langspur and Trier, Germany. Luxembourg was already occupied by Germany.

Sixteen kilometers from where he landed, he was found by the underground resistance. Their job was usually sneaking people and information out or disrupting German activity. The Kolblig family found him.

Laora their middle child, a young adult herself, looked at Jean Kupfer with the penetrating eyes of an x-ray and was skeptical that this sapling of a man could hold up to the work of his assignment. Laora had been at medical school when the war started. Though she had been at a university in Germany, none of her sympathies lay there. How could a young man who looked more frail than many women be up to the tasks at hand? “Metal worker hah.”

Those in the resistance were slow to accept or trust anyone they didn’t know. Joseph Kolblig and his eldest Michel likewise were skeptical; they liked Laora's idea of making him submissive.

The young man was not used to drinking, be it two glasses of wine or liters of warm beer was a bit much as it dimmed his senses for what lay ahead. Though his hair did not bother most European women as much, Laora and her mother Marie shaved the little hair they found on Jean elsewhere. They had wrapped his scrotum around his penis and sutured them together to look like a vagina slit with a place to pee. The stitches would heal keeping the skin together.

The sedation that went with the surgery wore off the next morning, and to Jean’s surprise, he was, she was to be Jeanette Kupfer. Laora was powerfully persuasive to the new woman. “I am not risking the well-being of our family and Luxembourg on you. You will be what you call a Tomboy who has learned from her father and grandfather. You have a serious job to do. No one cares about your gender.”

Jeanette once healed would be presented as a seventeen-year-old high school girl who knew how to work with metal. She would need to think in European terms of Celsius, grams, and centimeters.

Jeanette went to work with Laora; they’d go in town to be picked up and taken in a darkened bus, to the factory. Jeanette was questioned when she was picked up. Laora spoke first. Fraulein Gertrude wanted to hear Jeanette. The timid, and slow-thinking girl surfaced, but when asked about metal and its tools she brightened up to Gertrude’s liking. The vestment Jeanette wore under her dress nor her bloomers were of little interest to Gertrude except that they wouldn’t burn. “Put this on, it gives some protection from burns. Gloves for working with metal were also supplied; do not lose either.”

She was taken to a production line of heated metal to be put onto stamping machines, to form pots, plates for weapons, or the doors of a Volkswagen. Her job was not to think but to do what she was told. It would take days and then weeks for others to notice her ability and to rise in the workshop.

Riding on the bus to and fro, Laora knew Jeanette had drawn the attention of some men. Laora said, “Don’t seek attention nor draw away; instead learn who can be of help. Stay away from the trash”

Using Jean’s radio hidden in the woods, Jeanette sent information from her ‘bird nest’. From ‘bird nest to storm’ went weekly information, sent on Mondays, but the bird’s nest could call between ten and midnight when possible, as needed.

She was once found by a feldwebel, a German Sergeant. She had to give the soldier a kiss and massage in his groin, but the soldier was too busy looking for a male radio caller.

That night she won the respect of Laora, who comforted her as an older sister might for what she had suffered.

The factory was to be closed for three days, which usually meant it was being retooled. Retooling of Jeanette’s life was also in order. Her penis was to be cut off with a hole in the place where it and his scrotum had been.

Laora told her afterward, “The men at the factory are getting too close and affectionate with you. I can’t have you being made out. Hopefully, when you will lose some of your male juices it will soften your body and voice.”

Jeanette had awoken after the fateful had been accomplished; her anger and resentment with Laora would burn and simmer for some time. But all that was distracted by bombs that had landed no more than fifteen kilometers away. Even the village and homes shook.

Laora and Jeanette didn’t know what they would see if the bus came the next morning. It did and their factory had been hit by bombs. Not destroyed, but heavily damaged, they would need to make two assembly lines where there were four and rebuild the others. Jeanette was moved to where they were making parts for engines. What part for what kind of an engine she did not know at first. However, the stresses and specifics implied the special needs of the engines.

The 'bird nest' needed to know what could wear out faster but have the look of nickel. There was a way to make a lesser-grade metal that would fool the untrained eye.

It was another night that Jeanette was kept behind to clean some of the machines. It was a task for women with smaller hands, and more discerning eyes. But it was known as a time when guards and soldiers took advantage of young women.

Jeanette had not amply stretched her new vagina, and Karl was a more than anxious man to have his appetite served. He forced himself upon her, but later in the evening he and Jeanette found less painful ways to soothe him. Jeannette was surprised as well as felt guilty about how wonderful the last two times felt.

It was 1944 and those who had been fighting Germans in Africa were in Italy, the war had turned, but nothing was sure. WWI had stopped with a truce and Germany stayed whole. They hoped this war would reach a more dramatic conclusion.

In Luxembourg, Jean became Jeanette, which had started as a cover to seal John’s male identity. By now time and with his identity had changed. Without Laora’s help, Jean’s work would be much more difficult. She was successful despite the scrambled feelings, identity, and thinking. She had been given nice fabrics by both my Karl and others at the production work. Pierre a friend in the village began to show interest in Jeanette.

The bird nest once shared information of a German pheasant in the gardens of Kassel. And while there is a place called Kassel, Germany. The message was of someone who infiltrated military security in London. It was news Jeanette had pilfered from a courier pigeon before she sent the message to London.

No one at the factory was above suspicion, but Jeanette was still seen as too timid and slow to pull such a feat. Only the German’s disparate counterattack from December 1944 to January 1945 was in the Ardennes region of Luxembourg and Belgium. If successful it could have had great consequences, including the delay of the end of the war. The loss of life and resupply of German resources.

Jeanette Kupfer had to sacrifice her identity in the present to continue her work as a spy. One day at the secret factory Laora and Jeanette were taken into custody and separately interrogated. They were to be killed and disposed of or decided to be of value. Both survived the interrogation and were transported deeper into Germany.

It was now Jeanette who contacted the underground and brought the both of them as women used to run messages, information, and once in a while a British or American pilot to safety.

After the Battle of the Bulge was turned back in January, enemy lines and the war were uglier than usual. Comforting a soldier or doing a favor to gain information was neither sweet nor conventional. Jeanette was once left for dead as the bedroom exploded and the fleeing officer ran for his life.

Jeanette could have been comfortable in finally dying, but the officer was a courier, and his attaché case was pinned under some rubble. Hurt, possibly dying she leveraged the leather case from its confinement. Barely able to walk, she used a leaking pipe to drink water, rags to stop her bleeding, and discarded food for substances.

When does one speak German, or when to trust a stranger? It had been at least a week maybe two since she had been taken from the factory near Trier, Germany. It had actually been seventeen days and they had initially been taken to Mainz, it was at or near Frankfurt they both escaped. Where Jeanette had been, had turned to rubble; she initially escaped to was south a different direction from Laora.

It took a day to get to the battle lines and a terrifying night to cross over. Her courier satchel had taken two bullets and protected her from flying debris. It was St. Bridget’s Feast Day according to a nun working as a nurse, who greeted Jeanette in her bed. It wasn’t much more than a poor mattress in a glorified closet. Was Jeanette a feared spy and German courier or someone related to Jean Kupfer who brought valuable information? It gave roads and directions known to Germans, thought of lesser value to the Allies.

Trier was now safely in the hands of the Allies. Medical people had little time or interest to care if Jeanette could in reality be Jean Claude Kupfer, an American spy undercover. It was only after two Richie Boys' special interest that Jeanette’s identity was affirmed. Word would be sent to America and his family.

Jeanette enjoyed her recuperation and finding her new life as a woman. Jeanette prayed to St. Brigid, who was said to have sensitivity to the needs of women and a miraculous power to heal and help special needs.

Once back in the village, where Jeanette met Laora. Laora and Pierre had since grown close. Jeannette was surprised that she had hurt feelings toward Pierre. A young man, Thierry from Luxembourg, an engineer worked and helped rebuild a factory. He had a malformed hand that had kept in out of the war. But he was an accomplished engineer. He had developed feelings for Jeanette.

Thierry asked Jeannette, “Would you be willing to go with me to a concert? It will be in the valley of Luxembourg City.” It was during one of their regular visits that Jeannette told Thierry that she had been a boy, and what had happened,

Thierry stopped talking to Jeanette, despite only a few knew of her past. The repeated efforts of Laora and the strong feelings he had for Jeannette brought a thawing of his anger. It would take two years for Thierry to love and trust her again. What Thierry hadn’t told her, he was pretty sure he had been shooting blanks.

Thierry after a year asked Jeannette to marry him, A year after their wedding they decided to adopt. There was a two-year-old boy Eliot and Olivia who was two weeks old. The nurse at the hospital seated Jeannette and began to open her blouse before Jeannette realized Nurse Madeline began talking her into nursing her new daughter. Madi explained that with a few attempts; she would be able to nurse her daughter. It was the third time when Jeannette felt her breast give some milk.

Jeannette was delighted she was bonding with her daughter in a way she hadn’t expected. Thierry was a good husband, father, and provider. Jeannette after being scarred by German guards like Karl; had to learn genuine love and to overcome the ghosts of her early life as a woman. But she has overcome; she loves being a Mom, Thierry, and growing as a woman. Brushing her daughter’s hair, and changing diapers without flinching. She treasures raising Eliot a boy who doesn’t know his limits. Who surprises her with a sensitivity and kindness any mother would be proud of. Thierry being an engineer, has allowed her to experience things in life previously beyond her.

Thierry would work hard and long hours, like much of the company. It was retooling and moving back into commercial production. Jeannette found herself covering where she had hoped Thierry could be. She had learned to please him, including massages when he was too exhausted to do more. It was three years before they afforded themselves a vacation in southern France.

When Olivia was five she took sick and could have died. Sitting next to Olivia’s bed in prayer for ten days and meeting doctors for even a moment to understand her daughter’s illness. Olivia was now five and dependent upon her mommy. It was the eleventh day when Olivia’s body was cool because the fever had broken. Laora had come to help again; she was impressed with Jeannette. But Laora mentioned that they needed another child or two. They had finally gotten ahead enough to afford another child.

Around the country they knew of had more children where one or both parents died due to illness or accidents. Thierry and I had talked about adopting another girl. We had gone as far as talking to Olivia and Eliot. Eliot said he was happy with how we are; Olivia asked, “Can we get a girl a year or two younger than me?”

Thierry said, “I was thinking the same and there happens to be a girl named Anna; she will be four years old in five days.” Jeannette gave a hard stare to Thierry, “Were you going to tell me?

He said, “You were out shopping with my Mom and the children, but Laora had stopped so I took her. She promised Anna was the right girl. We can go to the orphanage or ask Laora to bring her into the room. Which would you prefer?”

Jeannette bubbled over in anticipation. She turned to Olivia and Eliot what do you two think?”

Olivia said, “Don’t understand; could she celebrate her birthday here?” Eliot said, “It wouldn’t be fair for her to outside the door and be sent to the orphanage. That would feel like she was rejected.”

“Thierry invite her in,” Jeannette said.

Anna was a girl with long curly hair. Olivia smiled and asked, “Anna do you want to be my sister? I’m Olivia.”

Anna said, “Mommies and Dads decide.” She looked to Thierry and then Laora.

Jeannette said, “I’m Eliot and Olivia’s mommies; Anna, we’d love you to come live with us.”

Anna asked, “Can I call you Mommy?” Jeanette broke into tears and opened her arms. Anna ran to her and Olivia and Eliot ran to them. Thierry made it the first family hug.

Laora calmly asked, “Do you forgive me?”

In the coming days, Jeannette had to relax as Anna had separation anxiety issues. Her parents had died suddenly and the known grandparents were unable or willing to take care of her.

Wednesdays and Saturdays were again market day at the town square. Thierry loved the strong coffee and fresh baked goods. Jeannette would shop for good vegetables, eggs, wine, and cheese. The fellowship with other women talking about concerns and lighter talk was as valuable as the shopping. Jeannette was initially embarrassed by the talk of men and sex.

Laora would tease Jeannette, are you such a saintly nun, other feelings fell to the side upon saying ‘I do’?

Jenn, as she had become known, “It is having two girls and not always knowing if I want to hug or to spank them. My love feels so inadequate and I wonder what kind of mother I make.”

“Jeannette, you are a wonderful Mom; consider how far you have come. Your journey is awe-inspiring,” Laora affirmed. “Your work for Luxembourg has earned the people’s honor and thanks. You’ve been received as a citizen. You and Thierry make a beautiful couple and a great family… I love having you close and being friends forever.”

Jeannette covets Laora’s being a close friend. Jeannette has the gifts of an engineer and metallurgist. While she treasures being a mom and wife, she feels little importance by others.

Thierry has learned to take time to make their lovemaking so Jeanette experiences an orgasm.