CHAPTER 19 - Women are like police, they can have all the evidence in the world but they still insist on a confession.

He inquired if he could come in. His intentions of looking for George were laughingly obvious. Ellen invited him in and led him to the kitchen table where she asked if he would like a cup of coffee. She began the process of brewing a pot. While her back was turned, he stood and asked if he could use the bathroom. Again, she was sure he was looking for evidence of a man in the house.

Testing him, Ellen knew the door on the newly installed bathroom stuck. A carpenter had been called to fix it. She answered him. "Sure, there is one in the hall across from the nursery, second door on your left. Sadly, it is unusable at the moment, the lock is broken and I can’t get the door open. The only working toilet is off my bedroom. Head of the stairs.

He replied, "Let me take a look at the one here, I bet I can get it open."

Ellen smiled as she answered, "Knock yourself out."

Several minutes later, she could hear him putting his shoulder to the door, forcing it open.

Returning with two steaming hot cups of coffee, she snuck a glance down the hall and watched him leave the powder room as the toilet flushed. He took the time to poke his head into the nursery. Satisfied there was no sign of her husband, he returned to the kitchen.

When he returned, Ellen sat at the table with him. To throw him off balance Ellen commented, "God help you if you left the toilet seat up. Also, I didn’t hear the water running. I don’t mean to pry but is it the FBIs normal practice not to wash their hands after using the facilities?"

He self-consciously wiped his hands on his trousers, then tried to regain control over the interrogation. With a smile on his face, his palms face down on the table, he leaned forward invading her private space and went on the offensive.

"Mrs. Trousdale. Can I call you Ellen?" he asked and then carried on without waiting for an answer. "I have to say I thought you would have slipped up by now. We are positive you know your husband’s whereabouts. We are tired of playing games with you. Talk to me now or I am going to charge you with obstruction of justice."

Ellen got an impending feeling of doom. But had a backbone of steel. No one threatened her. She remained silent as he questioned Ellen on her whereabouts last night. At first, she refused to answer then finally she said she went to a spa whose name she couldn’t remember. He next asked if she knew her husband’s location. He finally said, "The government needs to find him." Her answer was, "Tsk, tsk, when are you going to leave me alone? I have not seen George in months! Truth be told, I don’t think he will ever come home again."

"I don’t believe you!"

At which Ellen said, "So despite my denials and flashing a badge at me, you expect me to suddenly break down and tell you."

The agent had a ray of hope when Ellen said, "Do you have a piece of paper and a pen"?

Nodding yes, he thought he had finally gotten through to her. He handed her a piece of paper from his notebook and his lucky gold cross pen.

She wrote something on the paper, folded it in half and slid it back across the table to the agent.

He opened the paper and wrinkled his forehead, "What’s this?"

"It’s the phone number of my lawyer, if you have any other questions call him. Now please either arrest me or leave my house."

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably before he put the paper in his pocket and came to his feet. Ellen walked him to the front door and sarcastically waved him goodbye.

The next evening about 8 PM, she took two cups of coffee out to the men in the sedan parked across the street from her house, and told them, "If they ever needed to use the bathroom you are welcome in her home., all they had to do was ask." Needless to say, they were shocked. It was also the last time Ellen noticed anyone watching her home.

The next day, Beth stopped by to check on Ellen. The two women had become as close as sisters. Ellen couldn’t help herself and gave Beth a blow by blow narrative of her surprising encounter with George.

Beth was embarrassed by her description of their bedroom gymnastics. But as two best friends, nothing was off the table between them.

@ @ @ @

The weeks crept by at a snail’s pace. Ellen’s pregnancy was not an easy one. She only went into the office a few hours a day now. Despite her absence, the business continued to thrive. Nancy had become like a sister and did a marvelous job, making Ellen a lot of money. As a thankyou, Ellen went so far as to have her attorney draw up the papers and officially made Nancy a partner with twenty-five percent of the business.

Ellen followed her doctor’s instructions to the letter, not wanting to risk her or the baby’s heath. Despite her best efforts, she still suffered from hypertension and severe headaches. It got so bad that she was forced to only work from home where she was for all intents and purposes bed ridden. Venturing out only when absolutely necessary, Beth was a godsend, stopping by every day to check on her and provide her with fresh groceries and home cooked meals.

One morning, Ellen felt something wasn’t right. She had a scheduled appointment with her OB-GYN at noon. She agonized over the decision and finally decided to tough it out. She took a cab, not feeling like driving to her appointment. Her doctor was immediately concerned at the baby’s vital signs and recommended they induce her labor right now, even though she was only at 37 weeks. She was excited at the thought of ending her pregnancy early, as long as it didn’t put the baby at risk. The doctor called an ambulance and had Ellen transported to a hospital. Where she breezed through check-in.

Entrenched firmly in a private room, she called Beth and asked her to go get George and bring him to the hospital. Beth asked if that was wise. Ellen, being in no mood for a debate, replied, "Think about it, Beth, if anyone questioned his presence, he could simply identify himself as family say he is my I don’t know my sister-in-law."

@ @ @ @

Heather had just finished her third room of the day and was surprised to see his sister standing in the hall next to his laundry cart. He rushed to her side and mumbled, "What are you doing here?" Not waiting for an answer, he quickly scanned the area looking for anyone who could be the authorities. He asked, "Were you followed?"

Her emotions getting the better of her, she got within an inch of his face to spit out, "Hell if I know. You have to come with me right now. It’s Ellen, she’s in the hospital."

Heather felt light headed, his head spinning, he thought he might faint.

Beth rushed to him and grabbed his arm as he started to sway. She held him up. In a moment, the dizzy spell passed and he could focus again. He leaned up against the wall, trying to hold back the faintness.

"I don’t know what all is happening right now. Come on, my car is right outside. Let’s get to the hospital to find out how your family is doing."

Beth was close to panicking and neglected to pass on to her brother the cover story Ellen had cooked up. George was a nervous wreck during the short drive to the hospital. He was out the door before the car had come to a full stop. George, still wearing his maid’s uniform and in his Heather persona, rushed to the front desk, followed closely by Beth to find out where Ellen was. They were told she was about to be moved to the delivery room.

This crazed maid stood at the desk and demanded to join her. The nurse said she was sorry; it was the hospital’s official policy that only direct family members were allowed.

George was in no mood for bureaucratic nonsense. He tried to convince them he was her husband, that got an unbelieving skepticism from the staff. George made a real scene, screaming at the top of his lungs, in a feminine contralto voice that he wasn’t a woman but a man named George Trousdale, Ellen’s husband.

The attending physician called for someone from the Psychiatric Department to come down to handle this obviously deranged woman who was insisting she was a man and a patient’s husband. When a doctor arrived, he tried to calm down the delusional woman. Finally, George took matters in his own hands he lifted his skirt up and pulled down his panties, and pulled out his genitals and held them in his hand for the world to see.

With the evidence clearly on display the hospital grudgingly agreed he was in fact a male. But still would not let the unbalanced individual into a delivery room. George lost his patience and tried to force his way into the room. He raced through the maze of corridors pursued by a posse of doctors and orderlies.

He was finally stopped at his wife’s door. Embarrassingly, it was a petite blond nurse that stopped him dead in his tracks by grabbing him by his hair and spinning him around. He was thrashing about attempting to break free of her grip when security arrived and he was quickly subdued. The situation was finally saved by Ellen who was alerted by the commotion outside her room.

Demanding to know what was going on, she confirmed that, despite appearances to the contrary, the female looking person in the maids’ uniform was indeed her husband George. When the staff was still skeptical, she said the only thing she could think of to expedite the situation. She announced to the gathered horde that George was transitioning. He was currently going through his real-life test, living and working as a woman. The hospital authorities, seeing how he was dressed and fearing a discrimination lawsuit, did not question Ellen’s statement. The hospital authorities made a note in Ellen’s chart that her significant other was a transsexual. George was allowed into the room and rushed to his wife’s side.

Once the commotion had died down, the attention returned to Ellen. She was rushed to the delivery room. It was not an easy delivery; Ellen was in labor for almost 5 hours with George by her side the entire time. Ellen finally gave birth to a healthy seven and one-half pound girl. After asking to hold her child, Ellen wanted to talk to her husband. Beth stepped forward and told her that George had been taken away by the police. Beth wasn’t sure what he was charged with. All she saw was him being pushed into a police car in handcuffs. An exhausted Ellen let out a blood curdling cry of despair. She was immediately sedated.

The next morning, she woke up in a private room that looked more like a florist shop. Every spare inch held a bouquet of flowers. A nurse had collected all the cards and handed them to the new mother. A quick glance saw over half of the flowers were from Derrick. To her surprise, her husband, still dressed like Heather, was sitting next to the bed holding their daughter in his arms. Ellen blinked her eyes to clear her vision and shook her head to wake up. "George, I was told the police arrested you. What’s going on? Please tell me you didn’t break out of jail again!"

George laughed, "How did you guess, it was a piece of cake this time. They sent me to the woman’s wing. I seduced a male guard, knocked him unconscious and swapped clothes with him. This time dressed as a man, I simply walked out the front door.

Ellen was almost apoplectic. George took pity on her all things considered and told her, "No in all seriousness, not this time, I didn’t have to. I was taken to police headquarters where there was an FBI agent waiting for me. He had some pretty unflattering things to say about you. As it turns out, he is the one that has been visiting with Beth for months. He really is a nice guy; I think he has a thing for Beth. He sat me down and explained the authorities were actively looking for me; but not to arrest me. It seems the guy who set me up with the narcotics had been caught. He confessed that he was paid to plant the drugs on the guy wearing a coat with a Carlson logo on it. He has a rap page as a drug dealer. They want me to testify against him, hoping to get him to flip on his boss. I told them I would gladly do that."

She addressed the elephant in the room, by asking, "What about the Mexican government? Regardless of the fact you were innocent you still broke out of jail."

"It seems they aren’t anxious to admit to the world they sentenced an innocent American to jail for ten years. The fact that I just walked out of one of their prisons was a real embarrassment. They have agreed to drop all charges. As long as I promise to stay out of Mexico and sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Mexican government concerning my imprisonment. It was made clear to me I can never tell anyone about how I escaped.

"It’s ironic that we broke out of jail and I was the subject of a national manhunt by the police. But it took the police to free me from my prison of femininity."

Handing the baby to his wife he finished his tale with, "The best news is I can stop running from the law. For the first time in over a year, no one is looking for me."

At that point, the baby reached out for him.

Ellen chuckled, "It seems there one person looking for her daddy."

"George, that is unbelievably good news, but why are you still in your maid’s uniform?"

"Lucky for me you still keep the spare house key under the door mat. I went home and couldn’t find anything there that fits me. By the way I love the new four-poster bed you got. The flowery potpourri scent in the bedroom was a tad overwhelming, it was a bit off putting trying to sleep among it. Not wanting to be away from you and the baby any longer than I had to, I washed this outfit and rushed back here. I figured that, once I got you and the baby home, I will go shopping. This will be decent until then."

Ellen studied her husband closely and noticed when he turned to face her. he was wearing a light shade of lipstick and what had to be a coating of mascara. Surprised she said, "Alright that makes sense. However, that doesn’t explain why you’re wearing lipstick. I figured you would jump at the chance to dump all the feminine trappings."

A little embarrassed he answered, "I thought if I have to dress like a woman there would be less questions if I looked presentable. Hope I didn’t overdo it. I can wash it off if it makes you more comfortable."

"No, you look nice. Leave it on."

Looking at his lipstick she asked, " It looks familiar. What shade is it? I think I would like to get some just like it."

Embarrassed George focused on his hands before answering, "It’s called Mango. Actually, it’s yours, I saw it laying on your vanity. I don’t know what came over me. I saw it there and just had to try it on."

When he couldn't think of any words to justify his actions, he just hung his head lowering his eyes demurely.

Ellen just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease George so she mockingly said, "What a wonderful surprise my husband and I have the same taste in lipstick. But it looks better on you than me. Keep it as a gift."

Ellen thought of something. "Heather, I would like a few magazines to read while I am here. Could I ask you to run to the gift shop to get them for me?"

Heather checked her wallet and confessed, he only had two dollars. Ellen apologized, "I’m sorry I should have thought about that. Get me my purse, please."

He handed her purse to her, she took out her debit card and handed it to Heather and told her the password. "Honey, take this and keep it, until I can get you some money of your own. There are sufficient funds in that account to tide you over."