An Anomoly: 3

 

A suitor and a trip to the doctor's office keep Stevie on edge. Once again, I am
a wordy writer, so only read if words are something you enjoy. Also, if you complain
that you don't understand a character's motivation while also admitting you skipped
parts of the story, then... never mind.

I hope you're all remaining well. These are such stressful times. God bless.

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Author's Note: Thank you again for the comments and reviews. If you find yourself liking
this story, please consider leaving me a review?
There is nothing better than reading a review. ~Clara.
 
This version of An Anomoly: 3 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

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Chapter 3
 

Stevie held up his phone to display a text. "I got this and I don't know how to respond."

Katie took the phone and read the text. 'HI STEVIE. IT'S TONY THE PIZZA GUY. HOPE YOU'RE DOING GOOD. JUST WONDERING IF MAYBE YOU MIGHT WANT TO DO SOMETHING THIS WEEKEND. LET ME KNOW.'

"What should I do?" Stevie asked her.

"What do you want to do?" Katie asked as supportively as possible. "You realize that this boy thinks you're a girl, right? So, if you go out with him, then he'll think he's going out with a girl. Now, that's fine, if that's what you want, but you need to figure out... if that IS... what you want. Is it?"

Stevie sat on his canopied bed in his peach, panda pajamas looking as weak and vulnerable as any girl that Katie had ever seen. "I don't know. It's just... no one's ever asked me out before. Who knows if anyone will ever ask again." He looked at his phone. "What if I told him I was a boy?"

She sat next to him and held his hand. "That might be best, but is telling him in a text the best way to do that?"

Stevie shrugged.

"How about this?" Katie suggested. "What if you were to say you wanted to meet him for coffee or something like that? You know, something in the afternoon, maybe on Saturday. Then you could sit face to face and have a real conversation and explain everything. Do you think that would work?"

Stevie nodded, but Kate could tell that he was disappointed by her rational response.

"Can I ask an obvious question?" she said.

He nodded, again.

"Do you want to go out with this boy?"

"Are you asking me if I'm gay?"

Katie let go of his hand and wrapped both of her arms around him in a hug, pulling his head into her breast. "Stevie... 'gay' is just a word for someone who loves someone else. I can see how scared you are and I just want to help if I can. So, in a perfect world, if there were no labels, and this boy were to ask you out... would that be something that you would want him to do?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "I'm being honest, Katie... I've never really thought about guys OR girls. He does make me feel a little special, though. I kind of like that."

"Oh, Stevie, you ARE special, honey. You're smart, you're kind, you're a great cook, the girls adore you... look what you've done to this place since you've gotten here. Honey, you're practically Mary Poppins."

He nodded and stood up. Over in the corner of the room, the tall, free standing mirror that had been in his mother's room now stood alone, not matching the rest of the bedroom set. He walked over to it and turned the mirror so it faced him and he looked at himself.

"Do you know why I like my hair this way, Katie?"

"Why, honey?"

He looked at himself for a moment, his hair brushed straight back, with no part, just full and rich. "I know it's stupid for a guy to grow his hair out like this and then brush it this way, but... when I look like this... like a girl... at least I look like... something. Like... someone. Without that, I just look... weird and young. I don't even look like a boy anymore, Katie. Even with shorter hair. I just look... weird."

"You never looked weird, Stevie," Katie said, sounding very sad, but also unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah... I did... I do." He turned and faced his sister, again. "Why don't I look like a man, Katie? I don't understand it."

"I'm hoping the doctor might be able to help us with that, Stevie."

He nodded, finally understanding why his sister was so eager for him to get an appointment. "What if she can't?"

"Stevie..." Katie sighed. "... I don't know the answer to that. Let's talk to her first and go from there." She took his hand and had him sit beside her again. "Now... what about this boy, Tony? Maybe, under the circumstances, the best thing is to say you're too busy right now and ask for a rain check until you have the opportunity to get your head together. What do you think?"

The young man's lower lip quivered and his eyes glistened with a few tears as he nodded and held up his phone and typed out 'SORRY. I CAN'T RIGHT NOW. REALLY BUSY. RAIN CHECK?' and hit 'send.' "Well, that's that. I doubt that I'll ever hear from him again."

"Stevie..."

He shook his head. "I'm really tired all of a sudden, Katie." He let out a long, sad sigh. "Thanks for your help."

She hugged him, but he didn't reciprocate. "I love you, Stevie."

He nodded.

She kissed his forehead.

"Night." She stood and left the room, closing the door behind her. She listened for a moment, but couldn't hear anything inside, so she went back to her room.

"Everything alright?" Derrick asked, glancing away from Sports Center.

Katie shook her head and gave him a thumb nail summary of what she'd just learned.

"Wow," Derrick said, shutting off the TV. "First, let me say that 'Tony The Pizza Guy' is a great name. I mean he could be a character on 'The Sopranos.' But, regarding Stevie going out with him... I mean... why not?"

Katie blinked at her husband. "Because Stevie doesn't know if he's gay or not."

"What!?" He sat up straighter. "Babe, I walked into this house tonight and found Stevie in the kitchen wearing a dress with bows in his hair. How can he not know he's gay!?"

"Shhh," she warned, concerned that Stevie might hear. "That wasn't a dress. It was just a coverup."

"With lace around the bottom."

"Ok, yeah, but I gave it to him."

"And why, exactly are you dressing him up that way if you don't think he's gay?"

Katie sighed and shook her head. "Look, Derrick, there are no clothes that fit him in this house that aren't women's clothes and let's face it - Stevie can't be out in the pool without something covering up those little girl boobies of his, so he needs a woman's swimsuit. Right?"

"Ok, I'll give you that."

"Alright, then I needed to make sure he had a cover up, too, because the sun was bright today and he's already gotten tan lines from the sun - and those aren't going away any time soon. So... I gave him what I had. And besides... I'm really afraid that he may NEED to start wearing women's clothes full time, Derrick. I mean, have you noticed how his butt looks in that swimsuit?" She shook her head. "I can't believe that I didn't notice his problems before. What kind of a sister have I been to that boy?"

"Hey," Derrick put his arm around her shoulders, "you're a great sister. Come on. Who could have anticipated that he could have possibly had problems like he does?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "A great sister would have noticed."

Derrick kissed her and said, "Come on. You're just beating yourself up, now. Let's get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you."

She let put a sigh very similar to the sigh Stevie had let out earlier. "Ok."

In his room, Stevie laid on his side and looked at the screen of his phone as 'Tony The Pizza Guy' replied, 'SURE. NO PROB. MOVING SUCKS. I GET IT. I'LL TEXT AGAIN NEXT WEEK. IF I GET TO BE A PEST TELL ME TO GET LOST. LOL. JK. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.'

Feeling relieved that he wasn't outright rejecting him, Stevie text back, 'THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING. PLEASE DO TEXT ME AGAIN NEXT WEEK. MAYBE I'LL HAVE THINGS FIGURED OUT BY THEN. YOU HAVE A GOOD NIGHT TOO.'

Katie woke well before her alarm, her work-related-anxiety combined with her mother-abandoning-her-children-anxiety making it impossible to sleep. She slipped into the shower with a shower cap on and used the warm stream of water to refresh herself and prepare herself for her first day back. She dried off and did her hair and makeup, then went back into the bedroom where Derrick was just stirring.

"Morning," he muttered through dry lips and bleary eyes.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Up and at 'em, I see."

"Yeah. Lots of nervous energy, I guess. I figured I needed a few extra minutes to get the girls fed before I leave, too."

Derrick stood and spoke through a yawn. "I bet Stevie can handle the girls."

"Yeah, but it's his first day doing it himself," Katie kissed his stubble covered face and started dressing for work. "I'll see you downstairs."

Derrick mumbled something as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Katie checked her look in the mirror. White silk blouse. Grey silk suit jacket with matching straight skirt. Two inch heeled black pumps. A classic, nearly sexless, office look for a woman. She shook her head at the plain-Jane way she had to dress for work. Oh, well. It's all part of the job. Some women she worked with pulled this look off better than she did, others not as well, but all in all, they all kind of blended in together, which was kind of the point. 'The Woman In The Gray Flannel Suit' kind of thing.

Oh, who cared. Time to get her butt in gear.

She hustled down the hall and into the nursery where she found an empty crib with it's blankets neatly folded at the foot of the mattress and a new trash bag in the diaper pail.

Hmmm.

She peeked into Stevie's room. Bed neatly made and not a thing out of place.

Next came Olivia's room, which, until two days earlier had been a mine field of toys and clothes that needed to be put away, but now was, as it had been the previous night, perfectly organized and everything had been put in its place.

"Mary Poppins strikes again," she chuckled to herself, then headed down the stairs.

"Hi, mommy!" Olivia smiled as she sat at the table, a small bowl of Cheerios and berries in front of her. She was still in her nightgown, but her hair was brushed and her face scrubbed.

"Hi," Stevie said from the kitchen island, Alice nestled in his arm, a bottle in her mouth. "I made you a kind of a yogurt parfait for breakfast," he smiled, indicating a drinking glass with berries and yogurt in it. "I mixed some blueberries and strawberries with some plain yogurt in the blender and then layered them in the glass for you. I made one for Derrick, too, but I know he'll want some Eggo's too. Alice should be done by the time he comes down."

Katie shook her head. "I take it back. You're better than Mary Poppins. How can you possibly get all of this done so early?"

He smiled and looked at the baby in his arms. "This is easy. Grandma was a lot more work than you guys."

Ohh. A shot to the gut for Katie. Of course she was. Grandma was a tough old bird when she was healthy. She must have been impossible as she got sicker.

"Thank you for this," Katie smiled. "I'll eat this, then I'll pump before I leave. Remember that I'll be by at noonish to take you for your bloodwork. I'll text when I'm on the way. Make sure you're ready and the girls are, too."

"I will be," he nodded, looking a bit trepidations about the needle.

"I don't mean to harp on it, but it's my first day back and I don't want to come across as unreliable right off the bat." Katie pulled a tall stool up to the island and spoke quietly. "So... did you hear back from Tony?"

Stevie nodded. "He said he understood that moving sucked and he'd text again in a week and that I should tell him if he's being a pest."

Katie smiled. "Well, that's great. That gives you some time to think, right?"

Stevie blushed and nodded again. "Yeah... To think... I really do need to think."

As Katie was scraping the last of the yogurt out of her glass, Derrick entered the kitchen with a great deal of bravado. "GOOD MORNING, LADIES!" He said. "And how is my big girl?" He said to Olivia, kissing her cheek.

"I'm good, daddy," she smiled at his demeanor.

"And how's my beautiful wife?" He asked kissing Katie's cheek.

"What's gotten into you?" Katie laughed.

"I just found out that I Jerry has tickets to see The Red Sox play The Yankees at Fenway Park on Saturday, my dear, and one of those tickets has my name on it. Saturday afternoon - at Fenway! Box seats! My life just got better by two thirds! That's what got into me."

Katie applauded. "Well, congratulations! That's great."

"It is great," her husband smiled, walking around the island taking the baby's little hand in his and kissing it. "And how is my littlest girl?" He asked.

"She was hungry, that's for sure," Stevie said.

"But you took care of her, just like you take care of all of us," Derrick smiled down at his brother-in-law.

"Look what Stevie made you for breakfast," Katie said, pointing to Derrick's yogurt parfait. "I just finished mine. It was delicious."

Stevie put down the bottle, threw a clean cloth diaper over his shoulder and moved Alice to his shoulder to bring up some wind. "If you want to start on your yogurt, I'll make you your Eggo."

"No Eggo this morning," Derrick said with a smile as he rubbed his stomach. "All of this good food is going to make me fat." Then he leaned in and kissed Stevie on the cheek. "You're too good to us, Stevie. Thank you."

Stevie looked at Katie as if to say 'Say something.'

"Umm," Katie said, "you realize that you just kissed your brother-in-law for the second time, right?"

Derrick nodded. He looked at Stevie. "That's ok, isn't it?"

Stevie looked at Katie who shrugged at him.

"I guess," Stevie finally said.

Derrick tasted the parfait. "Great. Mmmm this yogurt thing is delicious. Thanks. I'll bring the glass back after work. Gotta run. Bye, girls." He hurried out the door.

Kate grabbed the pump that she kept by the cabinets and prepared to pump.

"He knows I'm not a girl, right?" Stevie asked, taking Katie's glass to rinse it.

"I don't know, Stevie. I just don't know. Right now, he's in a Red Sox stupor, so... who knows what he knows, right now." She sat and plugged in the device. "Besides, you just told him it was ok. To tell you the truth, I think it's sweet that he's accepting you as one of the family so quickly."

After pumping and a slightly tear-filled goodbye, Katie headed out the door and back to work for the first time in several months.

"Come on," Stevie said to Olivia with enthusiasm, let's get the kitchen cleaned up and then, after we get Alice down for her nap, you and I can look for something for each of us to wear for our trip with mommy later. Ok?"

"Ok!" Olivia said, climbing down and following her Auntie Stevie to the sink where Stevie set up a chair so Olivia could stand on it and 'help' wash, rinse and dry the dishes, cups and utensils.

Soon, Alice was settled into a bouncer and Stevie was in Olivia's room with his oldest niece, discussing what she should wear. "Now, we're just taking a ride, and you'll probably stay in the car while I run into the building to have my blood taken, but it's mommy's first day back to work, so you want to look nice for her when she comes to pick you up, right? So let's find something that looks nice, but isn't too fancy, ok?"

"Ok." The child set her mind to the challenge and began pulling out outfits, all dresses, and explaining why each would be perfect, finally settling on a very pretty, green dress with roses printed on it. It had a three inch silk ribbon border around the hem of the skirt and a one inch velvet collar with a perfect little bow that sat dead center. It really was the perfect compromise between casual and dressy. Olivia even chose a lovely little pair of shoes to go with the dress. Nothing too fancy, either. A pair of black flats with a bow across each toe-box. Just dressy enough to go with the dress. She even asked if she could wear a green hair band which was just a little too light to actually 'match' the dress, but was certainly close enough.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" Stevie praised her, and he really was. Actually, he was pretty proud of himself, too. He'd given her the opportunity to think her way through picking out the proper clothes and, yes it had taken a while, but she had done it and done it well. A big achievement for a little girl.

"Now, let's see if we can find something for me to wear," Stevie suggested.

This was a much bigger problem.

Of course, Olivia had very firm ideas on this subject, but all of her ideas for Auntie Stevie involved Auntie Stevie in skirts or dresses. There was one dress on which she was particularly fixated that had big red flowers in it, which, of course, Auntie Stevie had to veto.

They looked through all the drawers and all the closets and could not find any jeans. They did find some slacks, but they were either very stylized, and therefore very short or very flared, or they were made from material that left no doubt that they were meant to be worn by a woman. Flowered patterns were most common, but some plaids and geometric patterns were dead giveaways as well.

Finally, Stevie settled on a pair of linen shorts that he thought may have belonged to his mother. They were a pale shade of olive green, and they hung a lot looser than men's shorts typically hung, but at least they didn't scream 'women's department.'

He paired them with a simple dark blue tank top which also hung loosely and he looked in the mirror. Not too bad. Definitely not manly, but still androgynous.

He rummaged around a little and found a pair of simple sandals to complete his ensemble.

"What do you think?" He asked Olivia.

The girl shrugged. "I liked the yellow dress a lot better."

"I know, honey, but I can't wear a dress," Stevie explained.

"But why not?" she whined.

"Because I'm not a girl," he explained.

"Yes, you are," she pouted.

"No, I'm not, honey. I promise, I'm not," he laughed.

"Well, you should be," the child said, dejected.

"Oh, don't be like that. Come on, I look ok, right?"

She nodded.

"Am I pretty?"

She nodded again.

"Ok. Let's get something pretty for Alice. You can pick it out. Not too fancy, though."

It only took a few moments for Olivia to pick out Alice's dress. It was a white dress with red flowers and a matching diaper-covering panty. She chose it because the red flowers matched the roses on her own dress. At was at that point that Stevie realized why Olivia had been so focused on the dress with red flowers that she'd wanted him to wear. It was because it would have 'matched' hers too.

"Oh, this is perfect, Livy. You are a very good big sister. Let's get her dressed and ready for mommy."

As they changed the infant's diaper and prepared her for their trip to the clinic, Stevie said, "I'm sorry my outfit doesn't match yours."

"That dress would. You could still wear that."

"Honey... boys don't wear dresses."

Olivia let out a huge sigh. "That's stupid. Why do you have to be a boy?"

Well, there was a the question of the day. "I just am, Livy. I'm sorry."

Olivia looked very sad and that bothered Stevie, so he thought for a moment and then he came up with an idea. "Hey! Tell you what. Why don't we get mommy's iPad and I'll look up a video on how to do a fancy braid in your hair to surprise mommy? How would that be?"

Olivia thought that would be a great idea, so she scurried down the hallway to her mother's room and was back moments later with Katie's ipad in her hand. They spent a few moments looking at tutorials on YouTube until they found one that not only met Olivia's approval, but Stevie figured he could handle. It was called, 'French Braids Made Easy.'

Stevie started by separating a quarter of the hair at the front right of Livy's head and braiding that, then repeating that on the front left. Then the hair on the back of her head was combed straight back and the two braids were swept back, connected at the back of her head and then hung side by side back there. Very neat. Very pretty.

"Do you like it?" Stevie asked, rather proud of himself.

"Yes! I love it!" Olivia declared.

"I'm glad."

"Now do yours," Olivia said.

"Oh, I don't think I could do that to my own hair," Stevie laughed, but Olivia immediately looked sad.

"Please... We won't match unless you do. You wouldn't wear the dress that matched mine. Please make your hair match mine. Please!"

Stevie wanted more than anything to say 'no,' but it was a pretty simple request. He doubted he could do it, anyway, but he'd try. "Ok. I'll try, but if it comes out looking bad, I'll have to brush it out. Ok?"

"Ok."

It was twelve fifteen when Katie turned onto her street. Her first morning back had been fine, but hectic and she didn't want to be late getting back to work after lunch. She'd sent a text to Stevie telling him that she'd be at the house in two minutes about two minutes earlier. She'd hoped that he and the girls would be ready for her, but it was his first day dealing with the girls all by himself, so...

Then the unexpected occurred.

Before she even pulled into the driveway, Stevie was very casually walking down the walkway with Alice in her carrier and holding Olivia by the hand. They were all dressed as if they were going on an outing and both Olivia and Stevie had their hair up in braids. Olivia's thin hair looked casual and playful, but Stevie's thick, dark hair made for thick, dark, formal looking braids that made him look very dressed up, even though he was wearing a pair of dressy shorts and a nice tank top.

"Hi," Katie said, sounding a bit shocked, as Stevie first helped Olivia into the van, then began securing Alice's carrier to the car seat. "You all look lovely."

"Say thank you to mommy, Livy." Stevie instructed.

"Thank you, mommy."

"I'll be right there to buckle you in."

Within a minute or two, the girls were secured and Stevie was in the passenger seat.

"Why are they all dressed up?" Katie asked.

"I wanted them to look pretty for you," Stevie smiled. "Livy picked out their outfits."

"Did you, Livy?" Katie asked, looking into the rear view mirror.

"I did, mommy." The child was very proud.

"Oh, what a good girl you are."

"And your hairdo?" Katie asked, smirking a little.

Stevie sighed. "I did Livy's and she wanted mine to match, so... Laugh if you want, but it was easier than wearing the dress with the red flowers on it that she wanted me to wear."

"Oh?" Katie did laugh at that. "I think I would have liked to have seen that."

"She would have looked pretty," Olivia said from her seat.

"I'm sure SHE would have," Katie smiled at her brother.

"You're not helping." Stevie shook his head.

The blood work took just moments and soon they were back home and saying goodbye to Katie.

"Let me bring home dinner," Kate said before she left.

"Absolutely not," Stevie smiled. "Livy and I have already talked about how we're going to make Auntie Stevie's eggplant parmigiana tonight, haven't we, Livy."

Olivia nodded. "And we're making brownies."

"And we're making brownies." Stevie smiled at his niece and then at his sister.

"Ok," Katie shook her head. "You make an awfully good mommy."

"I'm trying," Stevie smiled as he stepped away from the minivan, one child holding onto his right hand, the other hanging from his left in a carrier. He looked far too young to be a mommy, but he definitely looked like a very competent babysitter.

Even though Wednesday was just her second day back at the office, as she got ready to leave that morning it seemed like everyone had gotten into a pretty good routine already. Nothing seemed to faze Stevie in the household. He seemed to love to cook and clean and the girls both seemed to adore him almost as much as he adored them. It almost seemed like homemaking was his calling.

He even enjoyed sitting on the floor and watching Olivia's TV shows with her in the evening, both of them in their cute pjs.

Thursday did present a bump in the road, though.

Katie arranged for the afternoon off to go to see Dr Jane O'Leary with Stevie. This seemed necessary not only because Stevie had never gotten a license, but also because she was concerned about him being alone when the doctor gave him the bad news - and she had to assume that whatever news the doctor gave him, it was going to be bad.

Derrick arranged to swap shifts with a colleague so that he could watch the girls that day, but he did warn everyone not to expect a home-cooked meal like they got from Stevie. Besides, no matter what, he would have to run out at four thirty to be on traffic duty at five.

Despite his prowess in the home, though, Thursday morning was difficult for Stevie. He got the girls up and fed and had Katie's breakfast ready when she came down, but Stevie himself looked a bit of a mess. His hair was brushed straight back, but not very well, and his eyes were puffy and red from having not slept and possible having cried a bit.

Rather than just sit at the island, Katie went around to where her brother stood feeding Alice and spoke quietly so as not to upset Olivia. "Are you worried about going to see the doctor today?"

Without looking up from the baby, Stevie nodded.

"Why?"

"Because there's something wrong with me, Katie, and I don't think I want to know what it is. I had more of those pains I told you about last night and I'm scared and I don't want to go see the doctor."

Kate sighed. What he said was completely irrational, yet made perfect sense. "Stevie... Jane's a good doctor and a good friend. She'll be able to stop those pains, I'm sure, and maybe even help you develop more, then isn't that what you want?"

He looked at his sister with a defensive expression. "Why? Is there something so terrible about the way I am?"

"No, of course not, but don't you want to be as healthy as possible?"

Now, it was Stevie's turn to sigh. "I guess. I don't know... I guess I'm just scared. What if it's something really bad?"

"It won't be, honey. I promise."

He shook his head. "Ok, but... remember when Grandma went to see her doctor and she knew things weren't going to go well and she me me promise that I would make sure she came home? That I wouldn't let them put her in a hospital or a nursing home?"

"Yeah."

"Well... You promise I'm coming back here, right?"

"Well, yeah, honey, of course. If there's something wrong, I'm sure that it isn't so serious that they'll need to put you into a hospital."

He pondered that as he swayed and bounced gently with the baby in his arms.

"So you'll be ready when I come by at noon, right?" Katie checked before walking away.

He sulked a bit, then finally nodded.

When she arrived at noon, he was waiting, wearing the same shorts he'd worn to have his blood drawn, but a different tank top, this one a pale yellow, making him look even smaller and more vulnerable. His hair wasn't braided this time, but he had managed to brush it more nicely and he presented a better picture than he had at breakfast.

It was a quiet ride to the medical arts building, as was the ride in elevator to the third floor where Jane O'Leary had her suite of offices.

Katie walked to the reception window with Stevie in tow and gave his name to the receptionist.

"Oh, yes," the receptionist said, "the doctor would like Steven to go up to the ultrasound clinic on the fifth floor before seeing her today."

This meant nothing to Stevie, but Katie balked. "Ultrasound clinic. Why on earth would Stevie need to have an ultrasound done?"

The woman seemed nonplussed by the question. "I'm sure I don't know, but those are the doctor's instructions."

Kate took Stevie by the arm and led him back to the elevator. "I've never heard of a man needing an ultrasound," she muttered.

"What?" Stevie asked, bothered by her unease.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "It's just that an ultrasound is typically something a woman has when she's pregnant. I just never heard of a man having an ultrasound before."

As they waited for the elevator to return, Stevie fiddled with his phone. "Google says that an ultrasound can be used to diagnose issues with blood flow and gall bladder things. You think maybe that's why I have to have this done?"

"Oh... probably," Katie relaxed a little. "I guess that makes sense."

The people in the ultrasound clinic were very welcoming and efficient. They invited Stevie into an exam room and had him change into a hospital gown, telling him to get comfortable on the reclining chair when he was ready. They also gave Katie permission to stay with him.

When the technician came in and smeared the jelly all over Stevie's belly, Katie became curious. "So... what exactly are you trying to find?"

"Well," the tech said, smiling, but sounding evasive, "Dr O'Leary requested an abdominal scan of your brother. We'll send a video and a complete set of photos to her so she can see everything that we..." she stopped and stared at her screen, then turned it slightly as if to keep Katie and Stevie from seeing it. Her eyes narrowed and she began moving the wand in her hand more slowly.

Then the tech looked out into the hallway and caught the attention of another tech, waving her in as well. The second woman came in and looked at the screen as well and, just like the first tech, her face seemed to become a screwed up ball of concern and confusion.

"What do you see?" Katie finally asked.

"Well, that's for the doctor to determine," Tech Number One said, "but we just want to be sure that we give her the best pictures we can."

Kate stood and started to come around to take a look.

"No, ma'm, please," Tech Two said. "The doctor will go over everything with your sister..."

"Her brother," Tech One interrupted.

"... your brother... when you see her."

Reluctantly, Kate sat back down.

It was a frustrating half hour of waiting while the two techs spoke spoke quietly and made faces at the screen until finally Tech One grabbed some wipes and cleaned off Stevie's belly and told him he could get dressed. By then, Katie was more anxious and frustrated by the techs than ever and her attitude was upsetting to Stevie. So, it was two very concerned siblings who finally met with Dr Jane O'Leary in an exam room on the third floor of the medical arts building, two and a half hours after their scheduled appointment. By then, nurses had weighed, measured and taken Stevie's blood pressure and temperature.

"Hi," Jane said, a professional smile plastered on her face as she entered. "I'm sorry things have taken so long, but when I saw Steve's bloodwork, I felt that the ultrasound was necessary and, as it turns out, it was."

"It's 'Stevie,'" Katie said, peeved, "and I have to say, Jane, those techs upstairs were pretty darned rude. They wouldn't tell us anything and..."

"Ok, hold your horses, Katie," Jane said with a mix a friendliness and professional detachment. "First off, Steve... I'm sorry... Stevie... is an adult, so anything they find is confidential and unless he specifically asked them to share it with you, then, by law, they couldn't. Secondly... I doubt they had any idea how to explain what they saw to you."

"What?" Suddenly Kate was very scared. What the heck had they seen?

"To tell you the truth, I'd never seen anything quite like it either." She looked at Stevie and said, "You, my friend, are an anomaly. I've read about this condition, but I'd never seen it until now. That's why I had the ultrasound done. Frankly, ever since I saw your blood work results, I have been on the phone pretty much non-stop trying to figure you out. You are truly a conundrum. Stand up and let me take a look at you."

She wasted no time, first checking Stevie's groin and then his chest before remarking, "You may want to consider a training bra for his comfort, Katie. These must be sensitive, aren't they, Stevie?" She smiled and seemed to almost teasing him.

Stevie failed to see the humor in her glib words. "So... I'm sick."

The doctor sighed. "Not sick, per se, but yes, you do have a rather unusual health issue."

"Well, what is it?" Katie asked, impatient for answers.

"The name for your condition is Persistent Müllerian Duct Syndrome, or 'PMDS.' It's a fairly uncommon condition, but the way in which it has manifested itself in you, Stevie, is really quite unusual." She made a few notes on her computer, then looked at the very nervous patient. "Like I said: An Anomaly."

Stevie just looked scared, but Katie pushed forward. "Ok, so you gave us a label. What exactly is PMDS?"

"Well, as you may have guessed, it is a sexual development syndrome. See... all human fetuses begin as female, but then some become male. Sometimes, though, when those fetuses become male, they retain female characteristics. Typically, those are little things like feminine hips, or lower testosterone production, but sometimes those characteristics are... more... pronounced... more... important."

"Like those little breasts that Stevie is growing?" Katie asked, causing Stevie to slowly fold his arms tightly about himself in embarrassment.

Dr Jane crossed her legs and spoke quietly. "Those are a small part of it, yes, as are Stevie's undescended testicles."

Stevie's eyes shot open and he glanced at Katie who seemed to be in no way surprised by the doctor's remark.

"The biggest problems are not visible, I'm afraid. Let me ask you this, Stevie... have you ever experienced abdominal cramping?"

"Like... pains here... below my stomach?"

"Yes," the doctor said.

"Sometimes... yes." He admitted.

The doctor nodded. "See... inside Stevie there are female organs that his body is trying to use, but the male exterior structure of his body won't allow it."

"Oh, dear God," Katie gasped. "You don't mean that Stevie has a uterus, do you?"

The doctor nodded. "And Fallopian tubes, and everything else that a woman has and they are struggling to be of service to him. Think of it this way - Stevie has a body that is both male and female and they have been at war with each other. For the first part of his life, the male parts were winning and that's why Stevie's primary sexual
characteristics are male. That's why Stevie has a penis and why you and the rest of your family assumed he was a boy. But deep inside Stevie, his female parts have been conspiring to take over for, well I would suspect, the last eight to ten years or so."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute," Katie finally stopped her friend and physician. She looked at Stevie and then back at the doctor. "Are you telling me that Stevie is actually a girl? I mean... a woman?"

"Well, that remains to be seen," the doctor says. "Stevie needs to make a decision about that. Stevie, you can decide to start taking massive doses of testosterone which would encourage your testicles to develop and drop, your body hair to grow, and then we can schedule a radical hysterectomy to remove all of your female organs, which is a pretty massive surgery - or - you can begin taking massive doses of estrogen which would encourage your breasts to further develop, your reproductive cycle to begin and we'd schedule an appointment with a surgeon who specializes in restructuring your male sex organ into a female sex organ, which, to be honest, is a less drastic surgery, but may be more traumatic psychologically."

"Oh, dear God," Katie said, turning to the window and completely missing her brothers first expulsion of vomit onto the floor of the examination room.

The doctor grabbed a small plastic pan from a nearby counter top and caught most of the second expulsion in it. She rubbed his back and said. "It's ok, Stevie, it's ok. I know this is a lot to take in, but we need to talk about it."

Finally realizing what was happening behind her, Katie turned and assisted in comforting Stevie. "Oh, baby, calm down. It's going to be alright."

"Alright!?" Stevie gasped between spews. "You promised me that everything would be alright, but it's not! It's never going to be alright! It can't be alright! How can it be alright when I'm some kind of a freak!?"

"Now, Steven, please calm down..." Dr O'Leary tried to get a handle on the situation.

"Calm down!" He screamed. "You want me to decide if I want to be a man of a woman!? That's nuts! You want me to chose how I want to be carved up and put back together like some kind of Frankenstein's monster! I don't want to do that! I can't do that! I just want to be left be alone!"

The doctor took a breath and looked at Katie. "Give him a minute."

Katie nodded, but couldn't help but ask, "What would be the harm in not doing anything, Jane?"

The doctor shook her head. "You can't ignore those internal organs, Katie. Eventually, one of two things is going to happen. Either they will atrophy and need to be removed anyway, or they will eventually start their monthly cycle and they'll be no outlet for that waste, so one will need to be created - or the organ will need to be sterilized. There is no non-surgical option here, I'm afraid, and the fact that Steven has gone so long without medical treatment makes delaying a decision extremely dangerous. Those pains that he is feeling are warnings, not unlike the tremors before a volcano erupts. I suggest that you take a day or two, but you need to make a decision by the beginning of next week so that something can be scheduled soon. Judging by the look of his breasts, it won't be long before his body tries to kick start his first cycle."

Katie looked at her brother's tear stained face and just wanted to hug him forever.

'Katie, I just want to go home. Please. I just want to go home," he begged.

Kate looked at the doctor with resignation on her face and sighed. "Well... Jane... oh, God, this is unbelievable... we'll be in touch by Monday... I guess... Thank you, Jane."

The doctor nodded. "Call me any time, Katie. Day or night. Really. I know I threw a lot at you, but Steven needs to make a decision soon."

"Stevie," Katie said, then choked on her words as she stifled and tried to be strong, then repeated. "It's Stevie."

Between information pamphlets that Jane gave them, websites she had the staff print out for them, nurses making sure that Stevie was ok, lists of councilors, psychologists, surgeons, urologists, etc, etc, etc, it was well past six o'clock when Katie and Stevie got home that evening and Katie dreaded what awaited her in her kitchen. Not an understanding Derrick who would be be welcoming and loving. No, that was too much to ask. He'd texted her at four and told her he had to leave at four thirty no matter what because he absolutely had to report to his duty at five. What she dreaded was the person he'd called to babysit until she got home.

Her mother-in-law.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," the heavy-set woman said with a smirk, her arms folded and her entire body setting in judgement over everything around her. "You do know that Derrick expected you at three, don't you."

Katie sighed, exhausted, and put her pocketbook and keys on the table. "Hi, Karen. Yeah, I know, but that's not how things worked out. Thanks for coming over. This is my brother, Stevie..."

Stevie didn't acknowledge the woman's presence at all. He simply blew straight through the kitchen and up the stairs to his room.

"Your 'brother,' you say?" she snickered. "I just don't get it. Boys these days acting like girls... you know, in a few years, we're all going to have to pay a steep price for all this nonsense. We'll have a generation of girly boys who don't know how to be men traipsing about like girls and not being able to..."

"Please, Karen," Katie held up her hands, her palms facing her motherin -law in surrender, "it has been a long, hard and exhausting day. I honestly cannot take another confrontation. I'm sorry if that seems rude, but..." She took a deep breath to regroup and calm down. "Thank you so much for watching the girls. I really do appreciate it, but we got some very tough news at the doctor's today and I need to deal with Stevie right now. Ok?"

Karen looked up the stairs to where Stevie had recently disappeared and shook her head. "He looked healthy enough to me. You know, this is all because of the Liberal Democrat agenda. They are undermining traditional society and..."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Karen, I'm sorry, but please just stop. Stevie may look healthy but, there's more to it than just how he looks and I cannot listen to this Tucker Carlson fear mongering nonsense right now. Please... I'll explain another time. Ok? I really need to check on the girls and make sure Stevie's ok."

Her nose was obviously out of joint, but Derrick's mother chose to leave without engaging in a fight. She would certainly tell Derrick how rude his wife had been to her, though. These low class people, like Katie and her family, were all the same. You went out of your way to help them and this was the thanks they gave you. It's like they always say - no good deed goes unpunished.

"Alright, then... I'll get out from under your feet." She said sounding like a martyr.

Kate knew that this was going to be an issue later, but at that particular moment, all she wanted was for her mother-in-law to leave. "Thank you, again, Karen. You've been a huge help."

The woman grunted something on the way out the door.

Katie knew that what she was about to do wasn't a solution, but so what. She reached up into the top shelf of the corner cabinet and pulled down the bottle of Jack Daniels that was kept there for cookouts and the few parties they had throughout the year. She took a juice glass and poured much less than a finger of Jack into in, replaced the cap, put the bottle back, then downed the burning fluid in one gulp.

Then

Finally

Alone

In the privacy of her own quiet kitchen

She let out a torrent of silent tears for her brother. She shook and sobbed and despaired and hated herself for letting things get to this point and she prayed and prayed and prayed that he'd be ok and she did all of this without making a sound. Not a single sound.

Derrick was on a traffic patrol that evening, a duty he didn't love, but one he took on that evening to accommodate his wife's need to take Stevie to the doctor. He was surprised that he'd not heard anything from Katie about the doctor's visit, but he'd hear plenty eventually, he was sure. He felt bad for the kid, being so small and... well... Whatever was wrong with him, Jane would figure it out.

Just then, a ten year old Toyota Corolla took a right turn at a red light with a clearly posted 'No Turn On Red' sign visible on the light pole.

Derrick turned on the blue lights and pulled up behind the car and noticed the triangular plastic sign on its roof, but he couldn't read it from behind the vehicle.

He typed the plate number into his computer - no problems, nothing outstanding, fully insured. He got out of the patrol car and approached the vehicle with care, as he always did.

"Evening, officer," the kid driving said, nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

"License and registration," Derrick said, sternly.

"Yes, sir," the kid said and held out both documents.

Derrick took a quick look at the license and registration. Everything seemed in order. "You took a right turn on red back there and it's not allowed in that intersection, Anthony," he told the kid.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, Officer. I didn't know that. I guess I didn't see a sign."

"It's clearly posted, Anthony. Let me just check on your license and registration and if everything is ok we'll get you going again in a few minutes, alright?"

"Yeah, ok, officer," the boy nodded. "I'm really sorry. I'm sure everything's ok with my license."

The kid was scared, but no more so than any other good kid who got pulled over because he made a stupid mistake. Chances were that everything would check out and Derrick would be sending him on his way. He was on his way back to his squad car when he noticed the sign on top of the kid's car again and realized it read 'North Side Pizza.'

It took a few moments to run the license and registration and everything came back clear. The kid didn't have so much as a parking ticket on his record. Chances were that this was his first encounter with a cop ever.

Derrick returned to the window and handed him the registration, then leaned over and looked at the boy's license and said, "Anthony, huh?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you work at North Side Pizza?"

"Yes, sir."

"Tell me, Anthony..." Derrick sounded very imposing, as if he was questioning the boy in connection with a crime, "do you ever call yourself 'Tony The Pizza Guy'?"

The boy blinked and stuttered. "No sir... well... but... no... I mean... I kind of called myself that to this girl the other day, but that was only because I met her when I delivered her pizza. It's not like an alias or anything."

By now, Derrick was chuckling. "Relax, Tony. Let me ask you... What are you doing Sunday afternoon?"

By the time Katie had the strength to make it up stairs, more than an hour had passed. She peeked in on Olivia first and she was asleep, so was Alice. Stevie was on top of his bed, still in his clothes and looked like a mess, but at least he was asleep. That was a plus. If he was asleep, he wasn't crying.

She went down the hall to her room and took a hot shower. This was all so surreal. How could it possibly be real? Her brother had female parts? Who had ever heard of something like that? Geez, leave it to Stevie to have something this weird happen to him! To her, the obvious solution was to have him become her sister. After all, he already looked more like a girl than a boy. But then again, imagine what it would be like for her to go to the doctor one day and have the doctor tell her that she would have to make a choice between living a life as a big hairy woman or growing a penis and living as a man. It would be earth shaking. God, the poor baby. No wonder he was a mess.

After her shower, she brushed her hair dry and sat on her bed. She called up a couple of the sites she'd been given by Jane, but it was just too much to even think about right now. She turned on the TV in the their room and half-watched a bit of a costume drama on PBS, but it didn't hold her attention. She thought about texting Derrick, but, Lord, how did you text him something like this!? Finally, she found herself watching a Disney musical cartoon that she's watched at least twenty times with Livy. It wasn't all that interesting at the moment, but it was comforting to hear the songs and have the warm colors flashing around her.

She knew that she was going to be drifting off soon, so she got up and checked on the girls once more. Alice was still asleep in her crib. Katie stared at the perfect little child for a good long while and kept thinking over and over again, 'Please, God, keep her healthy. Please, God, don't ever let something like this happen to her.' She could remember looking at Stevie when he was that little, too. He looked so perfect, then. Who could have ever expected something like this was in his future.

Eventually, she tore herself away from her youngest child and walked past Stevie's room to Olivia's where her heart stopped at the sight of an empty bed. She looked about the room frantically for a moment before running to the attached lavatory - no one there, either.

"Oh, God, Livy," she whispered. In four years, not once had Olivia ever gotten out of bed and wandered away.

She turned on the room light and looked in the closet and under the bed - no Olivia.

Her heart raced as she bolted out of the room. She turned on the hallway light and looked down the stairwell, hoping against hope that her daughter's body wouldn't be balled up at the bottom. Thank God it wasn't.

She took a breath and, leaving the hall light on, cracked open the door to Stevie's room and peeked in. Stevie was still on top of the bed clothes and still in his street clothes, but he had a small, blue 'Frozen' blanket with the images of Elsa and Anna emblazoned on it covering his shoulders - AND sitting beside Stevie in the shadows was the tiny form of Olivia who looked at her mother and held a finger to her lips and made a very quiet 'shh' sound.

Kate took a deep breath and gained control of herself once again. Once she'd steadied herself, she tiptoed into the room and, with a smile that she struggled to maintain, she whispered, "What are you doing in here, Livy? It's very late."

"Auntie Stevie was crying in her sleep," she explained. "I'm making her feel better."

'Auntie Stevie.' Well... that may have been more appropriate than anyone had ever anticipated. Katie sniffled a little. "You're a very sweet girl, baby. Auntie Stevie really needs your love right now."

"Why is Auntie Stevie so sad?"

"Auntie Stevie had a very hard day, Livy. I think Auntie Stevie is going to have a lot of hard days for a while. Auntie Stevie is going to need you to give her a lot of love, ok?"

"Ok, mommy." Olivia cuddled up next to Stevie's shoulders and put her little arm over him in a protective gesture and she closed her eyes. How could Katie do anything but leave her there to take care of Stevie? God knew that if anyone needed to feel her little embrace upon waking, it was Stevie. So, she tiptoed out of the room and gently shut the door behind her.
 
 
To Be Continued...