An Anomoly: 5 Final

 

The final part of Stevie's story. I hope you enjoy this installment. Once again,
thank you all for your kindness and support throughout the posting of this
story. I truly do appreciate it! Now, on to the story!

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Author's Note: I am always taken by your kind words and comments. You truly do amaze me with what you think of my humble words. But if you are so inclined, please do leave me a review? I promise I don't bite.~Clara.
 
This version of An Anomoly: 5 Final 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 5
 

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. His always soft facial features looking back, but this time those features were slightly more emphasized be the use of makeup. His hair, thick and dark and long, that he was always kind of proud of, betrayed him now and made him look so very female. Then his breasts caught his sight. The way they now were more visible in the way that his top hung loosely from his shoulders.

Sure, the person in the mirror wore a skirt, a tank top and sneakers and made some meaningless attempts to look androgynous, but those attempts just succeeded in making the girl in the mirror cuter and more girlish. That was unquestionably a girl in the mirror. He'd been denying it, but his reflection was staring back at him and saying, "Try on that pretty dress."

He looked at Kate and nodded, then took the dress into the changing room.

In his bra and panties, his reflection seemed to tell him that his fate was already decided. He just didn't know quite how to deal with that information.

He unzipped the dress and stepped into it. It had a soft nylon lining that felt cool against his skin. He pulled the spaghetti straps over his arms, noticing that his bra straps were now exposed. That would be a problem, wouldn't it? Girls weren't supposed to have their bra straps showing, right? On the back, towards both sides of the top of the dress, there were small areas of that were smocked, which he realized would allow the dress to cling to his chest more fashionably. It seemed to have a high waistline, then hang loosely, but the dress only came to his mid thigh - much shorter than the knee length skirt he'd been wearing, but longer than some of the shorts he'd worn around the house.

That was when the abdominal pain cut through his body. He gasped, but held back any noise to avoid having Katie come in while he has doubled over in pain. He shivered, bent forward and clenched his hands into fists to try to divert the pain away from his midsection. This was worse than the previous pains. This pain was searing. Cutting. Torturous. He panted and took shallow gulps of breath until the pain passed. Finally, he let out a long, hissing breath and felt as if he'd regained control of himself.

He reached behind himself and managed to pull the zipper up a couple of inches, but that was all. How did girls dress themselves? Were they all that much more flexible then men that they could pull a tiny zipper like that up their backs?

After a few moments of struggling, he opened the door and asked Katie to assist with the zipper.

When the zipper was closed, the dress fit snugly up above and hung nicely, if a bit too short, down below.

"That's pretty, Auntie," Olivia said. "Come look!" She grabbed Stevie's hand and pulled him to the mirrors. "I told you you'd look pretty in dresses."

The doubt was gone. The androgyny was gone. The tomboy was gone. What remained was a very pretty, young girl. Not yet a woman. A girl on her way to womanhood. It made Stevie quiver a little.

It also made his eyes watery and he didn't know why. He tried to wipe them clear, but that just made it worse, because it forced some of that water to flow out as tears.

"Are you ok?" Katie asked, very concerned.

He nodded and sniffled.

"I didn't mean to make you cry, Stevie..." she started to say, but he cut her off.

"I'm not crying. I'm just..." he took a deep, steadying breath and spoke more calmly. "...What about my bra straps? Grandma used to always shake her head and comment on girls wearing dresses that showed off their bra straps."

Katie blinked at her brother in amazement. "Is that way you were crying? Because your bra straps are showing?"

"No," he said with a tone that indicated that her question was foolish, but he made no attempt to explain why he had become so teary.

"Well," Katie chuckled, "one of your new bras is designed so that the straps can be removed easily, so you could wear that with this. Of course, the dress is lined, so someone with a bust as small as yours could probably get by without a bra if you wanted."

"I think I need the bra," Stevie said, swaying from side to side, just a bit, and taking a critical look at the dress' deep neckline. "See, I have a little cleavage, now, but without the bra, I'll go back to being a flat chested boy."

Katie nearly pointed out that, although Stevie's breasts were small, he was far from flat chested. Instead, she adjusted the dress on him and said, "I agree with Livy. You look really pretty in this."

"See!" Olivia jumped in. "I told you!"

Stevie smiled and took the child's hand. "Thank you, Livy. I needed that."

That evening, after the girls were in bed, Katie and Stevie talked about his future. He was still very tentative about making a decision, but he found the prospect of being a woman less frightening and less foreign than he had a day or two earlier. Katie suggested that perhaps it was time to take a step in how he referred to himself.

"Change your pronouns, I mean," she explained. "Be a 'she.' A 'her.' That might help."

Stevie shook his head. "No. Not until I'm sure. If I then decided to stay a guy, I'd just look like an idiot for having changed for a while."

Katie just shook her head and smiled. What weird thing to have to deal with.

Derrick got home just as Katie and Stevie were shutting off an old movie and were about to head to bed. He was far from drunk, but he'd had a few beers and was very happy and relaxed.

"How was the game?" Katie asked.

"Awesome!" Derrick said with a huge smile, as he locked the back door behind him. "Six to two Sox. Great pitching and two home runs in the same inning! Can you believe it!? Two! The Yankees are headed back to New York with their tails between their legs, I'll tell you, that, my good wife!" He kissed Katie on the lips. "And my good sister-in-law!" He kissed Stevie's hand, then bowed in a mock courtly manner.

"Brother-in-law," Katie insisted.

"Oh, please,"Derrick scoffed. "Look at her. She's almost as pretty as you are. That skirt is cute on her and... did your breasts grow?"

Stevie looked down at where his new bra forced his breasts to protrude a bit more than before and laughed at his loose lipped brother-in-law.

Katie was not amused, though. "DERRICK!"

"What?" He looked at his wife, confused by her shock. "I'm only asking because they look bigger."

"Since when is it polite to ask someone a question like that!?" She asked, keeping her voice down, but keeping her anger in it.

Derrick blinked at his wife, "Wait... are you mad at me?"

Katie folded her arms. "Yes. That was rude."

Derrick looked at Stevie. "Are you mad at me?"

Stevie smiled and shook his head. "No. I probably would have noticed, too."

Derrick looked back to his wife. "My dear... I sincerely apologize for offending you," he gave that same courtly bow, again, "however my remarks seem to have not offended the charming and lovely Miss Stevie." He nodded to Stevie, who was amused by his play acting. "I think that my best choice of action at this point may well be to put myself to bed before I say anything else to irritate my good wife."

"That's the first intelligent thing you've said since you came home," Katie scolded.

Derrick nodded, then hugged his wife and kissed her cheek. "Good night, my love. See you in the morning."

"Good night," Katie huffed. "I'm glad you enjoyed the game."

"I did, I did," he smiled, then turned to Stevie and winked. "Good night, Stevie. You look more lovely everyday." He hugged Stevie and kissed his forehead in a very big-brotherly way. Then he bounded up the stairs, two at a time, as he always did.

"You were kind of hard on him, weren't you?" Stevie asked.

Katie looked at him and shook her head. "I honestly have no idea how to deal with some of this, Stevie. I ask about pronouns, you say no. Derrick uses the wrong sex and you're fine with it. He calls out the most female change you've gone through and you're fine with it. Is it just ME that can't say anything right?"

"No, no," Stevie said and hugged her. "I'm not trying to be difficult, Katie, I'm really not, but you just... you want me to make a decision and formalize everything and... I just can't, Katie. It's such a big thing to do. Derrick was just being casual and relaxed and being kind of funny about everything. It didn't bother me."

Katie nodded. "I get it. I'm coming on too strong, but... Stevie... it's because I love you and you need to make a decision."

He nodded. "I will... but not right now."

Katie heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright. Let's call it a night. We'll talk again in the morning."

Stevie went to his room and changed into the pjs he was wearing to bed. They were just a pair of loose fitting shorts and a matching sleeveless tee shirt. He was in the lavatory, washing his face, when the pain cut through his abdomen again. This time it was more painful than ever before and it felt like he was being torn in two. He wanted to scream to release the pain, but that would have brought help and that help would have demanded that he go to the hospital and he couldn't handle that. Not right now. He just wasn't ready for that. Not yet. So, he gripped the edge of the sink and fought against the pain. He controlled his breathing as best he could and he let himself weep until the pain began to subside. Then he slowed his breathing until it had returned to normal.

Just as he thought everything was over, he heard a tiny voice ask, "Are you ok, auntie?"

Stevie turned and saw Olivia standing in the doorway of the lavatory wearing her Pocahontas nightgown.

"Livy... what are you doing here? You should be in bed."

"I heard you crying," she said, looking sad and concerned. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Livy. I just had a pain in my tummy. It must have been something I ate. I'm sorry if I woke you. Come on, honey. I'll take you back to bed."

"No," she said, quietly. "I'll sleep with you. You need me."

Stevie smiled and took his niece's hand. "Maybe I do."

When Katie woke up on Sunday morning, she was surprised that Derrick was already up and out of the bedroom. Afraid that he might have been angry about the previous night, Katie sent him a text. 'WHERE ARE YOU?'

'DOWN STAIRS WITH ALICE. I'M FEEDING HER A BOTTLE.' Came the reply.

That was odd. 'WHERE'S STEVIE?'

'STILL ASLEEP.'

'LIVY?'

'WITH STEVIE.'

Huh. Of course she was. She'd need to speak to Stevie about this bunking up together stuff. She didn't want to see it become a habit.

She got up and got changed, did her hair and makeup and headed towards Stevie's room and the nursery. When she peeked into his bedroom, Stevie was asleep on his side and Olivia was sitting up against the headboard.

Katie tiptoed into the room and whispered, "Hi, honey. What are you doing in here?"

"Mommy," the little girl seemed concerned, "I think Auntie Stevie is sick. She's had a tummy ache all night. She groans and rubs her belly a lot."

"Really?" Katie sat lightly on the bed. "And you've been taking care of auntie all night?"

Olivia nodded, a very serious expression on her face.

"You must be exhausted. Maybe you should go get some sleep and I'll watch over auntie until she wakes up."

Olivia looked at Stevie and thought for a moment. "You'll stay here till she's awake?"

"Of course I will, honey. I promise. I'll just tuck you in and then come right back. Then I'll stay right here."

She thought that through and finally nodded. "Ok."

Seeing as the sun was out and Derrick was already downstairs, Olivia agreeing to going to bed meant that she really had been awake worrying about Stevie for a good chunk of the night. This was not a good thing. A four year old should not be loosing sleep worrying about an adult.

After tucking Olivia into bed, Katie came back into the room and sat in a chair beside her brother's bed. She sent Derrick a text to tell him what was happening and that she'd be down as soon as she knew Stevie was ok.

It wasn't long before Stevie rolled over and saw that the sun was shining into his room.

"Oh, shoot," he muttered, pulling down the covers and was about to hurry to get ready, but Katie jumped up and pushed him gently back down, then sat beside him on the bed.

"Hold on, now, Stevie," she said, putting her arm around his shoulder. "We need to have a chat."

"But it's late," he said, in a rushed voice. "I have to get to the girls."

"Derrick has Alice and I just put Livy to bed in her own bed."

"To bed?" Stevie rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "It's morning."

"And she spent the night in here worrying about you because she said you were in pain all night. Is that true?"

Stevie sighed. "A little... for a while. Livy heard me in the bathroom. I'm sorry."

Katie shook her head. "Stevie... this can't go on. Dr O'Leary told you..."

"I know. I know..." he said, defeated. "I'll call her office tomorrow morning. Ok?"

Katie was taken a bit aback by this, but glad to hear that her brother was being somewhat mature. "And tell her what?" She asked calmly and cautiously.

"That I'm having these pains more frequently," Stevie said, "and they're getting more intense. And that... I think... my body wants me to be... a woman."

Katie had hoped that when Stevie reached this conclusion that he'd be happy, but he just seemed so defeated, now. "Is that what you want?"

He shrugged. "I don't know... what difference does it make?"

Katie shook her head. Had she been pushing him too hard? "It makes a lot of difference, Stevie. I mean... do you think you'll be happy as a girl?"

He shrugged again. "I'm miserable as a guy, Katie. Being a girl can't be any worse, and I need this pain to stop."

Katie checked her watch and saw that it was already after ten o'clock. "Stevie... I don't even know what to say to that, but... I want the pain to stop, too. I wish I'd known that it had gotten this bad. I would have come to sit with you. I can't help you if you don't tell me you need help."

Stevie just nodded, feeling a bit guilty about Olivia losing sleep the previous night. "I'm sorry. She was just so sweet and concerned... I didn't think she be here all night. It won't happen again."

Katie nodded. "Ok, well... let's get you dressed and ready. Remember, your new friends, Pat and Elise are coming by to meet me and Derrick. She's coming by around noon, so go take a shower and get dressed and let's have a nice day. Ok?"

"Ok."

When noon rolled around, Stevie was out on the patio with Katie and Olivia, while Derrick prepared his massive grill for his afternoon of chef-man-ship, if that was in fact a term. Actually, Derrick loved being the grill master, but his work schedule made that difficult. So he was excited about this opportunity.

Stevie was wearing his new dress and looked very lovely. Katie was dressed in a pretty sun dress and she and Stevie had dressed the girls up nicely, too.

"I think I might be underdressed to be in the company such gorgeous ladies," Derrick said with a smile and a wink. He was wearing khaki shorts and a gray polo shirt.

Katie gave him a sweet kiss. "I think you look very handsome," she smiled. "I always think you're the best looking man in any group of people."

"Oh, aren't you nice," he laughed, "but I don't look nearly as nice as you all do."

"Hello!" A voice called from the gate in the fence that surrounded the yard. "Can we come in this way?"

"Of course!" Katie called. She turned to Stevie and said, "Is this your friend?"

Stevie looked past her and nodded. "Yes. That's Pat." He waved to the approaching mother and daughter. "Hi, Pat. This is my sister, Katie, and my brother-in-law, Derrick."

Everyone said their hellos and Katie took Pat aside to get acquainted. Stevie took Olivia and Elise over to the sandbox beside the pool and engaged them in some games in the sand.

"I have to admit," Pat smiled, looking towards the sandbox, "your sister is surprisingly bright for a girl her age."

"She's older than she looks," Katie nodded. "She's just a late bloomer. But, yes... she is very bright."

"And she tells me that she's a kind of au pair around here for you."

That made Katie snicker a bit. "No, not really. I mean, she's my sister, not my employee. She has no where else to go right now, and we're happy that she's living here and... yes, she is helping me out, but honestly, she's doing twenty times more than I ever asked her to do."

"Boy, your daughter is certainly smitten with her, isn't she?" Pat laughed as she watched Olivia stop playing to hug Stevie.

"She is," Katie laughed, "but I couldn't ask for a better role model for my little girl."

"So," Pat smiled and took a sip of the wine that Katie had served her, "would it be ok with you if we were to set up play dates for Olivia and Elise on weekdays while you're working? I know that Stevie has other responsibilities here as well, but Elise has always been rather standoffish with other children and she seems to get along well with Livy, and, to be very honest, even though Stevie is a lot younger than I am, it's nice to have a conversation with an adult - or at least a person who knows about things other than Sesame Street characters and My Little Pony names - every now and then."

"Of course!" Katie laughed, knowing full well what Pat was talking about, having been in the same situation not long ago.

With that settled, the two women turned their conversation to choices of kindergartens, stores with good quality clothes for little girls, activities for children, their husbands, their jobs, music, movies, books, etc., and the girls played happily with Stevie.

Then, unexpectedly, the front doorbell rang.

"Huh," Katie said, as she stood. "I wonder who that is. I'll be right back."

She walked back into the house and to the front door. She opened it and found a neatly dressed young man carrying two small bouquets of flowers that were obviously purchased at a grocery store. The young man looked vaguely familiar, but Katie couldn't place him.

"Hello..." she said, leaving the welcome hanging like a question.

"Hi," the young man said with a big smile. "Oh... these are for you," he smiled even more broadly as he handed one of the bouquets to Kate.

She accepted the flowers with a look of confusion on her face. "For me? Well, thank you, I guess..." She stared at the young man trying to figure out who he was, but nothing came to her. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but... you are...?"

It took a moment for the young man to realize that she wanted him to identify himself. "Oh... I'm Tony. You know... Tony the pizza guy? I drove your sister here last week? On my scooter?" Each of his sentences were statements of fact, but they came out sounding like questions as he hoped that each would act as a prompt to guide the lady at the door to understand who he was and why he was there.

"Oh, Tony!" Katie finally made the connection. "I'm sorry, you caught me off guard. Ummm... is Stevie expecting you?"

Suddenly, the boy's smile faded a bit. "Oh... well... I hope so. I mean... your husband... the police officer, right? He invited me to come to lunch today."

"He did, did he?" She tried to put all of this together. "And just where did you meet my husband?"

"Well, he pulled me over the other night and..."

Katie shook her head. Why would Derrick do something like this? "I'm sorry, Tony, I just wasn't expecting you. Here, step inside. Let me just touch base with my husband for a moment, ok?"

"Oh," Tony felt very much on the spot, now, "look... if this isn't a good time, I can just leave..."

'No, no," Katie gave him her hostess smile. "Let me just talk to my husband for a moment, ok? Oh, and thank you for the flowers. That's very thoughtful of you."

Tony nodded and waited in the foyer of the house. He heard Katie leave through a sliding, patio door, then a few moments later, heard that door open and close again. Then he heard hushed voices in another room.

"What are you thinking, inviting that boy over and not telling anyone about it?"

"Ok, I'm sorry," a man's voice said, quietly. "I completely forget about inviting him or I would have mentioned it. It was just a passing moment and I took the opportunity to invite him. I thought it would help Stevie to have someone the same age here."

"Yeah, but, Derrick, with everything that Stevie's going through right now, do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Well, maybe not, but in fairness to me, I didn't know anything about what the doctor said until the next night. Had I known that..."

"Well, it's too late to do anything about that, now. The boy is here. I think you need to talk to him."

"I will," the man's voice said, then the police officer who'd pulled him over the other night walked into view with a big smile on his face. "Hey! Tony The Pizza Guy! How are you?"

"I'm ok," Tony nodded, but he looked defeated. "Look, I think I should probably get going. So, if you could just give these to Stevie..."

Derrick was going to let the kid down easily, but he just looked so sad. "Oh, hey, no... you can give those to Stevie yourself."

"Well, it seems like this might not be a great time..." Tony started to say, but Derrick waved him off.

"Nah... it's the perfect time." He winked at the young man. "Come on. Let's go surprise Stevie."

He put his arm around the young man and led him through the house, past Katie, who shook her head in disbelief at her husband's ability to just keep moving forward, regardless of how bizarre the situation was about to become.

They exited to the patio and Derrick led Tony straight to the sandbox. "Stevie, look whose here!" He said as if this was all just a coincidence. "You remember Tony, don't you?"

Stevie actually froze, seated on the edge of the sandbox with the two little girls around her.

"Hi," Tony said, with a small wave and a big smile. He'd been hoping to get together with Stevie and was really looking forward to that afternoon and, boy did she look different than the last time he saw her. She was wearing a really pretty dress, and he was pretty sure she had on some makeup, and... her boobs were nearly unnoticeable last time, but in this dress... wow. She looked hot!

Stevie looked from Tony to Derrick to Tony to Katie and back to Tony again trying to make sense if the situation. Finally, he muttered, "Hi."

Derrick nudged Tony and then pointed at the bouquet in the boy's hand. "Oh," Tony sputtered, "these are for you." He held the flowers forward.

Stevie stood, wiping sand from his hands and the skirt of his dress. "For me...? Thank you... They're very pretty." He sniffed the flowers and smiled self consciously. "No one's ever given me flowers before."

Tony shrugged. "I thought I should bring something." He smiled. "I... I brought some for your sister, too. I hope you don't mind."

Not sure how to respond to that, Stevie just looked at Katie, who reached out and said, "Here, let me put those into some water for you. Tony, why don't you join Stevie here and entertain the girls a bit. Dinner will be ready soon." Then she looked at Derrick. "Come help me get a couple of vases down, will you?"

Derrick knew that tone. He was in trouble. Not a lot of trouble, that was a whole different tone, but a little trouble, and he was going to hear about it in no uncertain terms.

On the way into the house, Katie excused herself from Pat, assuring her that she'd be back in just a couple of moments.

Once in the kitchen, Derrick immediately opened the pantry cabinet and reached up for two vases.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katie snapped. "Stevie is as confused as a person can get and you go and throw an infatuated boy into the mix!? Not very bright, if you ask me."

"Again," Derrick sighed, placing the vases on the counter and closing the pantry cabinet doors, "when I asked Tony to dinner, I had no idea that Stevie was a genetic female..."

"He's not just a genetic..."

"...and even if I had... Katie, look out there. Stevie and Tony are talking. When was the last time you saw Stevie talking to anyone her age?"

Katie shook her head. "How old is that boy, anyway?"

"Nineteen," Derrick smiled. "He's a senior in high school. Going to college, locally, in the fall."

Katie shook her head some more. "I would just rather not have piled on more this week, Derrick. Stevie is..."

"Laughing," Derrick pointed to the sandbox where Tony was showing off a little for Stevie and the girls. "See. Everything is fine. Tony's a nice kid, he's nuts for Stevie, Stevie is laughing and happy... Life is good, Katie. Don't be mad at me; just enjoy the moment."

Katie looked at the scene in the sandbox and smiled. "He does look happy, doesn't he?"

"'She, Katie. You need to get past that 'he' stuff. She does look happy, though. I think she may have her first boyfriend, though."

Katie nodded. "What if she turns out to be a lesbian, though."

Derrick shrugged. "I pull over a lot of nice young women, too."

Katie snickered and elbowed her husband in the side.

Out in the sandbox, Olivia stood and whispered, not very quietly, to Stevie, "Is Tony your boyfriend?"

Stevie blushed and said, "We only met the other day. We're just friends."

Tony waved Olivia over to him and whispered, not very quietly, to her. "I really like your Auntie Stevie and I want to be her boyfriend. If you could tell her to like me more, it might help."

Olivia looked at Stevie and said, "Auntie, you should like Tony more. He's nice and funny and he brought you flowers."

Stevie laughed at the little girl. "Oh, is that what you think?"

"I think so, too," Elise said, with a smile. She leaned up and said to Stevie in a loud whisper, "He's really handsome, too."

"Oh, you think so?" Stevie laughed even harder, partially from embarrassment and partially from amusement.

"Out of the mouths of babes!" Tony smiled. "What more could you ask for?"

"We're not babies!" Olivia said to Tony.

"No, no, you're certainly not," Tony smiled. "You are very beautiful young women."

That made the little girls giggle.

Soon they were back to playing in the sand and Stevie and Tony were talking and getting to know each other.

"You're twenty!?" Tony said, shocked. "Honestly, when I first saw you asleep on the porch, I thought you were like twelve, but after I woke you and we were talking, I figured you were seventeen or so. I never expected you were older than me, though."

"You we're going to ask out a twelve year old?" Stevie asked, teasing.

"No, of course, not. I didn't find you attractive until you woke up and we started talking. I just..." he smiled and looked at Stevie more closely. "You know, you look older and much prettier today. You look nice in a dress."

Stevie blushed a bit more. "Thank you. I've never really worn dresses before. It's kind of new for me."

"You should wear them more often," Tony smiled so sweetly. "You make them look nice."

"Come on everyone!" Derrick called out. "Soup's on!"

"Yay!" Olivia shouted, grabbing Elise's hand and heading towards the patio table.

"We're having soup?" Tony asked, confused after watching Derrick grill steaks for the last half hour.

"No," Stevie laughed. "That's just Derrick's way of calling us to the table."

Tony nodded and followed Stevie to the table.

Dinner conversation was pleasant with everyone getting to know each other. Pat was a gifted conversationalist and Tony was charming enough to hold his own with the older people. Stevie joined in here and there, but mostly dealt with the little girls and their meals. The meal was delicious, Derrick was very proud of his work.

After dinner, Tony suggested that he and Stevie take a walk.

"Sure, I'd like that," Stevie answered, hoping for a little private time in which to explain some things to Tony. Not tell him outright that he had a penis, but rather just to tell him that there were some medical issues that he needed to deal with before he could have a relationship with anyone.

Unfortunately, a private walk was not to be. When they headed down the block, Tony and Stevie were accompanied by two four year olds who were bouncing around them and an infant in a stroller. So, instead of discussing a lot of personal things, Stevie and Tony just chatted about the neighborhood and commented on the properties they were passing.

"That's a very impressive house, isn't it?"

"I don't like that color yellow on a house. It looks like a big yield sign."

"What a great place for kids to play. The yard is so nice and flat."

They were walking for about twenty minutes or more when the first abdominal pain slammed into Stevie.

"Ugg," he groaned and grabbed his middle, doubling over as the pain sliced through him like a machete.

"Are you ok?" Tony asked, putting a hand on Stevie's back to keep him from falling.

"I'm..." Stevie started to say, but another pain slammed into him. "I get these pains, sometimes and sometimes, they hit me really hard."

"Wow," Tony said with concern. "Maybe we should head back to your sister's house, huh?"

Stevie nodded and smiled through the pain. "Yeah. I guess."

They reversed their direction and headed back towards the house, but another bolt of pain wracked Stevie's midsection. "Ahh!" He gasped, bending nearly to the ground.

Now, the children, particularly Olivia, were starting to become alarmed. "Auntie? Are you ok? Is it your tummy again?"

"I'm fine, sweetie," Stevie assured his niece. "Yes, it's just a bad tummy ache."

"I don't mean to be indelicate," Tony said with as much tact as possible, "but is this a 'ladies' thing? Like... monthly cramps or something?"

Stevie shook his head. "I have this... disorder. I was going to tell you about it on our walk, but..." he looked at the little girls.

Tony nodded that he understood. "Maybe you should call home and have someone come pick you up."

"No," Stevie took a deep, steadying breath and started walking, again. "Let's just head home."

"Ok."

They had walked about a half block when suddenly Tony, who had been watching Stevie closely, noticed that Stevie's face had gone very pale. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I don't know," Stevie said, as he stopped walking. "I feel... funny."

"Funny, how?"

It was hard to breath. There was a feeling of being very lightheaded. There were dark purple clouds forming at the edges of sight. There was ringing in the ears. The world felt distant and odd.

"Stevie!? Stevie!?" Tony spoke, trying hard to keep his own panic in check so as not scare the girls. "Stevie, take out your phone. Stevie, unlock your phone for me. Come on, Stevie... unlock your phone. Stevie, I don't have your sister's number. Come on, Stevie."

Stevie couldn't think straight, but this seemed like a good idea. He pulled his phone from the diaper bag that hung on the stroller and looked at the screen, but it was hard to see through the gathering dark purple clouds that were growing in his sight.

"Enter your code," Stevie," Tony said with a level tone.

Stevie nodded and entered the six numbers that unlocked the phone just as his vision disappeared and nothingness enveloped him.

There was just black silence for a long time.
 
~^~
 

And then there were sounds. Odd sounds. Strange voices talking. People moving around. An annoying beeping. Then there was touching. People touching her arms. People shifting her in some way. Then there were smells. Awful smells. Hospital smells. Smells that she'd smelled when her grandmother died. Smells she'd smelled when her mother died. Smells of... a hospital.

No!

No, she could not be in a hospital! People died in hospitals! That's what hospitals were for!

She had to wake up. She had to wake up! SHE HAD TO WAKE UP!

She struggled against the foggy unconsciousness that held her down. It may have been minutes or hours or days, but as her struggles became stronger, her senses began to find their roots in reality again until, finally, she opened her eyes and lifted her head and tried, but failed to sit up.

The room was empty and clinical. She looked around, no one was with her. Maybe she was already dead! She looked out the window that made the entire wall of her 'room.' There were people going about their jobs out in the hallway and at the desk area that made up the center of the ward. No, she probably wasn't dead. This wasn't what she envisioned Hell would look like and it certainly wasn't heaven. She was just... alone.

"Hello!?" She called out, but her first attempt didn't go well. Her throat was dry and her voice was broken. She cleared her throat and called out louder. "Hello!?"

This time, her voice carried better and a woman at the counter that surrounded the desks turned and smiled, then walked into his room. "Well, hello! Welcome back to the land of the living. You gave us quite a scare, you know, young lady."

'Young lady?' That was odd, wasn't it. Certainly, a nurse would have seen that she had a penis and was more male than female, wouldn't she have?

"How do you feel?" The nurse asked.

Stevie blinked. "I don't know. Why am I here?"

The nurse seemed amused by the question. "Because you're a very sick girl," she said. "You passed out and the ambulance brought you here on Sunday."

'Sick girl.' What had happened? Wait! Sunday! The walk with Tony!

"The girls!" Stevie screamed.

"What?" The nurse finally seemed concerned. Stevie's scream had startled her.

"Livy! Alice! Elise! Where are they? Are they ok?"

"Shh, honey, Shh... lay back. I don't know what you're talking about. Are those your friends?"

"No," Stevie was near panic, "my nieces and another little girl I was watching! Are they ok?"

"I'm sure they are, sweetheart. Now, you just lay back and relax. The doctor will be in soon to talk to you."

Stevie nodded. "Is my sister here?"

"Pretty lady, about so tall, with brown hair?" The nurse asked and Stevie nodded. "She's been here nearly everyday. It's only five in the morning, now. She's probably at home in bed. I'm sure she'll be in later."

"Everyday!?" Stevie was trying to get a grip on things. "What day is it today?"

"It's Thursday, sweetheart. You've been here since Sunday afternoon."

"Four days!?" Stevie gasped. "I've been unconscious for four days?"

"Nearly," the nurse smiled. "Like I said, it's still early. I will notify the doctor and then I'll call your sister and tell her that you're awake. Ok?"

Stevie nodded and fell back onto the pillows. She didn't know why, but she looked at the ceiling and started to cry. Maybe it was because she'd left Olivia and Alice alone. Maybe it was because she'd not been home to take care of Katie, Derrick and the girls for the last few days... she didn't know, but she felt scared and guilty and lost and she cried.

The nurse's phone call didn't wake Katie. She'd been laying awake in bed, only dozing from time to time. It had been like that every night since Sunday.

"Hello!" She nearly shouted into the phone when it rang.

"Hi," a calm voice said, "this is Tracy, one of the nurses at Saint Vincent's Hospital. I believe we met the other day."

"Yes, I remember, Tracy," Katie said as Derrick sat up next to his wife.

"Well, I'm just calling to let you know that Stevie just woke up and seems to be doing fine."

"Oh, thank God," Katie said and then her body started to quake with emotions. "Have you spoken to her and told her what the doctor said?"

"No, ma'am," the nurse said. "That is something that either you or her doctor should do."

"Yes, of course," Katie sputtered as she shook and held back tears. "Have you notified Doctor O'Leary?"

"Yes, ma'am. The doctor said that she'll be here within the hour to see her patient."

Katie nodded and said, "Ok. Thank you for calling. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She ended the call and saw that Derrick was already pulling on a pair of pants and using his phone. "I'm calling my mom," he said. "I already told her that Stevie was in the hospital. She'll come stay with the girls so we can go be with her."

"But you have to work," Katie said.

He waved that thought away. "Family first, Katie. I'm calling out. I'm going with you. There's no way that I'm letting you drive on your own. You're way too emotional right now."

By the time Katie was ready to leave, Derrick's mother had arrived, dressed in a housecoat and pajamas, and Derrick already had his pickup truck in the driveway, ready to go.

"Thank you, Karen," Katie said, "I'm sorry we woke you."

The older, pudgier woman was cool to her daughter-in-law. "What's wrong with your brother, anyway?"

Katie sighed as she gathered her purse and keys. "Well, it's a lot to go into, but... he has a developmental issue and, well, suffice it to say Stevie is not really... male... and that's causing a lot of physical problems for him."

Karen let out a noise that could only be described as a judgmental scoff. "I could tell that he wasn't really a man when he pranced through here the other day."

"Alright, we don't need that right now, mom," Derrick said from the doorway. "I appreciate you getting out of bed and coming over, mom, but you need to understand that Stevie is as much my sister as she as Katie's and you need to be respectful of her."

"Her?" Karen chuckled.

"Yes, her, and we will discuss this later. Not now. Come on, Katie, let's go."

Katie walked out the door and Derrick kissed his mother goodbye. "Thanks, mom. Be nice."

It took twenty minutes to get to the hospital and as they arrived on the fifth floor, where Stevie's room was located, and they ran right into Dr Jane O'Leary.

"I'm glad you're here," Katie's doctor and longtime friend said. "There's no telling how someone may react to something like this kind of announcement.

"That's why we hurried," Derrick said. "We wanted to be here to hold her hands and let her know we're here for her."

The doctor nodded. "Ready?"

They nodded and headed into Stevie's room.

"Hi," Stevie said as they entered. "Are Livy and Alice ok? And Elise? I'm so sorry! I just couldn't make it home."

Katie hugged Stevie. "They're fine, baby. Tony called us. We were there in plenty of time to take care of the girls. Pat took them until we got home that night."

"Oh, Tony," Stevie suddenly remembered the boy who'd come to visit. "He must think I'm some kind of a freak."

"Yeah," Derrick half laughed. "That's probably why he calls us three times a day to see if you're ok."

"Really?" Stevie was shocked.

"Really," Katie said, with a little laugh. "He's been very concerned. You really scared him. I sent him a text on the way here so he'd know you're awake."

The doctor cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "If I might interrupt... Stevie, we need to talk."

Stevie looked at the doctor and swallowed hard. "I think I might know what you're going to say."

"Oh?" The doctor raised an eyebrow. "What am I going to say?"

"I'm a girl, now... aren't I?"

The doctor cracked a little grin at the simplistic way that Stevie had put it. "Well... yes and no. See, Stevie, your body has made a decision that from here on out, you are going to have consider yourself to be a female unless you want to undergo some pretty dangerous surgery and then spend the rest of your life injecting yourself with hormones that won't really make you much more manly than you currently are. Right now, we have had to make a small incision in your lower abdomen and insert a tube to allow your female organs to release its monthly fluids and waste. Do you understand what I mean? Your body has begun to menstruate and the pain you were feeling and the way that your body shut down was due to a very large amount of internal bleeding. Honestly, if this was forty years ago or if you hadn't been with someone who was able to call for help, you most likely would be dead right now. So, yes... you're body has made the decision to be female, but I want you to think of that as a good thing. After all, Katie and I are both female and we're doing fine. And in your case, being female isn't the opposite of being a man, it's the opposite of being dead."

Stevie barely blinked. "Ok."

That was it. Just 'ok.'

"You're ok with being a woman?" Katie asked.

"Sure," Stevie gave a weak smile. "I mean, I think I was going to pick being a girl, anyway, but... I guess I kinda knew that my body had already made its choice. I'll be a girl. That's fine."

Derrick let out a relieved, nervous laugh, then leaned down and kissed Stevie's cheek. "You're very brave, Stevie."

Stevie shrugged. "You are what you're supposed to be. Right? That's all I'm doing - becoming what I'm meant to be."

"Ok," Jane said, relieved that the patient was accepting things so well. "There are a series of surgeries that we need to discuss. None are as radical as you would have faced in a female to male surgery, and usually they require a lot of psychological preparation, but your physical issues will certainly be taken into consideration. We'll move forward as quickly as we can. That can all wait for a few hours, though. Right now, I think it would be best if you got some rest and talked things over with your family."

"Can I come in?" A young man's voice came from the doorway. "I know it's too early for visiting hours, but I wanted to make sure she was ok."

Stevie looked up and saw Tony standing in the doorway. The boy looked concerned, but when he and Stevie made eye contact, both of them smiled.

"Hi..." Tony said.

"Hi..." Stevie returned.

"Jane?" Katie turned to her friend. "Can we give the kids a few minutes alone?"

The doctor looked at the two young people and smiled. "Yeah, I suppose so. Stevie, we'll talk again later. Young man, make sure she doesn't get too tired. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tony said, very seriously.

As they exited the room, Derrick stopped and whispered into Tony's ear. "You're a good kid, Tony The Pizza Guy, but..." he looked back at Stevie, then whispered again, "... be understanding. Ok?"

Tony looked at the older man, confused. "Yeah. Ok. Of course."
 
~^~
 

"Stevie!" Derrick yelled up the stairs.

"Yes?" Stevie leaned over the railing a looked down at her brother-inlaw.

"Katie says that she left the Christmas dress you and she picked out for Alice on the foot of our bed."

"Yes, I found it," Stevie smiled. "We'll all be down in a minute."

"Of course you did," Derrick laughed. "I told her you had it all under control. Don't be long, though. The guests are all arriving."

"Ok," Stevie smiled, then turned and hustled back into the nursery to finish getting Alice ready.

"Her dress is just like mine, but smaller," Olivia said.

"That's right," Stevie smiled. "And your dresses match your mom's. They're mother/daughter dresses. You're going to look so pretty in all the Christmas pictures!"

That made the little girl smile.

"Are you excited about Santa coming tonight?" Stevie asked.

Olivia nodded. "Elise and I asked for matching dresses and Princess crowns."

"Ooh, I hope Santa can get that for you. There. Look, Alice is all dressed. Doesn't she look pretty? Let's go downstairs."

They went down to meet the guests. Pat and Elise were there, so was Pat's husband, who Stevie had become acquainted with over the past few months. Some of Derrick's police officer buddies and their
spouses/dates, Derrick's parents, some of Katie's friends from her office and their significant others, and of course, Tony, who had become a semi-permanent fixture in their house since the early summer, were all in attendance too.

"Well look at these beautiful ladies," Jane O'Leary said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Then she looked at Stevie in his pretty, green, velvet dress, hair done beautifully in thick French braids that matched little Olivia's style, and smiled. "Are you feeling well, Stevie."

Stevie smiled. "I feel great, Doctor. Thank you."

"I'm glad," the doctor smiled and kissed Stevie's cheek. "You've dealt with all of this very well. You still have a long way to go, but you have an excellent attitude and that helps a lot. Are you feeling any soreness down below?"

Before Stevie could answer, Tony arrived and looked at Olivia and made a dramatic gasping noise. "Oh, my goodness! Is that really my very good friend Olivia!? How could that little scruffy girl I know look this pretty!?"

Olivia put her hands on her hips and looked playfully angry. "I'm not scruffy!"

"No, you are not," Stevie laughed.

"Here, let me take Alice. Katie wanted to show her off to her office friends," the doctor said. "Why don't you come with me, Livy. I'm sure that your mommy wants everyone to see how nice you all look together."

Stevie handed over the infant with a kiss on the baby's head. Then she warned Olivia to be a good girl all night or Santa wouldn't be happy. Then they went to find Katie with the doctor.

Tony hugged his girlfriend and looked at how pretty she looked that night. "You look amazing!" He smiled.

Stevie blushed a little. "You always say that."

"Because you always do," he laughed. "So... have you made any Christmas wishes?"

"After the year I've had, what more could I ask for?" Stevie said. "I'm finally healthy and I have you. What more is there?"

"How about this?" Tony asked as he held a small jewelry box out to Stevie. I wasn't a ring box. It was a flatter box and about three inches square.

Stevie looked at it and took the box tentatively. "What's this?"

"Open it," Tony smiled.

Stevie opened the box carefully to reveal a small, gold pin with a small gold flower that had a little Diamond chip in the center of it. "Tony, it's beautiful." Stevie said, very taken aback by the item.

"It was my great aunt's. She left it to me. I'm hoping you'll think of it as a pre-engagement ring kind of thing. You know... kind of a symbol of our commitment." He took the pin out of the box and pinned it to the bodice of Stevie's dress.

"Thank you," Stevie smiled. "I love it."

"Good," Tony said, then he kissed her cheek, "because I love you. Merry Christmas."

"I love you, too," Stevie smiled and looked at the pin. "Merry Christmas."

Because of the little ones, they had dinner a bit earlier than usual and Derrick took that opportunity to make a toast. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, a big smile plastered on his face, "I'd just like to take a moment to acknowledge some of our reasons for being joyous at this time of year. First - we have each other and thank the Lord for that."

"Hear, hear!" A few people shouted out, holding their champagne glasses a bit higher.

"And then, for me, there is my family. My mom and dad are happy and healthy," he raised his glass towards them, "and then there are my girls - My wife, Katie, my daughters Olivia and Alice, and of course, my sister-in-law, Stevie, who - we just learned today - will be starting at the community college in January to earn some prerequisite credits to prepare her to attend State in the fall as an elementary education major."

"Ooo," came from supportive voices and Pat rubbed Stevie's shoulder in support. She had been working with Stevie to make sure she had the credits she needed to go to a four year college in the fall and become a teacher.

"So..." Derrick headed towards his conclusion, "... it has been a year of gains and losses, but I thank you all for the love and support that you have given to my family and me through it all. To all of us: Merry Christmas and a happy new year!"

"Merry Christmas!" came the happy response.

"Are you ready to start your classes?" Pat asked Stevie. "It's been a while since you've been in a classroom."

Stevie shrugged. "I figure I'm starting a whole new life. It's a good time to get things started at college, too."

Pat smiled and held up her glass of champagne. "To a new life!"

Stevie clinked her red cup of Diet Coke against her friend's crystal flute. "To a new life!"
 
The End