"Good book, Vicky?"

"Oh, hi sister. Gee, that still sounds weird. It's OK so far, but I just started it."

"Kind of like me, then?"

"What?"

"Being Polly is OK so far, but I've just started."

"So I suppose Sheila can read you like a book, then?"

"She prefers reading in braille."

"You do have some interesting bumps since the last time I saw you."

"A gift from a friend."

"You have some kind of friends, Polly."

"Sure do. You've met Little Rose?"

"Sure. She's the one who got you the job, right?"

"Right. She had something like my problem when she was younger, so she decided not to wait for the Boob Fairy to visit and bought her own."

"What? Not another one one defecting to the other side!"

"No, silly. She was flat."

"Not any more!"

"Which is why she doesn't need these bumps any longer."

"It's a good thing you're my sister because if I was talking about boobs with my brother it would be just too much!"

"I think they look just right on me."

"But the kids can't get you into the pool."

"Too right. They look good under a dress but they aren't very realistic up close."

"Poor baby."

"I'll live."

"You gonna come home like this or what?"

"I wish. Mom and Dad seem to be cool right now, but what would happen if Polly did come home to live?"

"You wouldn't get to sleep with Sheila, dummy."

"Precocious little twerp, aren't you? I don't think Pete could sleep with Sheila in their house either."

"Even if they know you guys are boinking each other?"

"Please. A refined woman does not boink! Have some cooth, kid."

"Is that on the dinner menu tonight?"

"I think it's fricassee of sister."

"Speaking of eating, does Sheila do it to you?"

"Jesus Christ! I go away for a couple of months and my kid sister turns into a potty-mouthed porn queen!"

"Sort of like having your brother turn into a sister?"

"A refined woman does not speak of such things to an underage potty mouthed sister. Wait till you grow up and find out for yourself."

"I intend to. You really like being a girl?"

"No. I dress like this just to piss people off."

"It ain't working. The people around here think you're the next best thing to an angel."

"That would be awkward. How could I wear a bra if I had wings on my back?"

"Good question. I guess they hadn't invented bras back when those old artists were drawing angels in long white robes. Swaddling clothes?"

"Nah, those were for infants. Bad news, anyway. They wrapped the kid up in the morning and left him to poop and piss all day long while they worked in the fields or whatever. Infections killed a lot of kids that way."

"Yucch. I guess I'll use pampers when the time comes."

"Don't tell that to any environmentalists. Paper diapers are clogging the landfills."

"Jeez - where do you learn all this stuff?"

"By reading. Books, manuals, newspapers, cereal boxes - whatever has print on it."

"They write books telling you how to turn a guy into a girl?"

"Not quite that blatant, little sis. There are a lot of books from people who are like me, though. I think I'm pretty lucky because so many of the others went through hell in their childhood and can't find peace even after the change."

"That's sad."

"I've always felt like I was as much a girl as a boy, but it wasn't so godawful strong that I just had to do something about it before I went crazy."

"And you aren't crazy now?"

"No more than you, twerp."

"You sound like my brother!"

"I know him well, he knows you're a twerp."

"Does not!"

"Do too!"

"Does not!"

"Do too!"

"I guess you haven't changed that much. We haven't done that in a long time."

"Comes with growing up, I think."

"You into fashion magazines?"

"Not much. Sheila is my fashion consultant."

"When do you get to wear anything but that uniform?"

"On my day off."

"When's that? I want to see."

"This week it's Tuesday and Thursday, although I've gotten so involved in the place I don't always go anywhere on my day off. Little Rose and I have been taking people on hikes because we love to hike and why not do something nice for the guests? This week we're going to the Bigelow Hot Springs."

"What? Not with Sheila?"

"If we have the same day off we borrow Little Rose's car and go out together. Alone, before you ask."

"So can we go with you to those springs?"

"You're a guest, and all the guests are invited."

"Mom and Dad too?"

"We have to get used to each other again sometime…"

"I kind of like having a big sister to talk to. A big brother isn't the same."

"That's for sure!"

"Not that you were all that bad as a brother, but…"

"Don't say it! I'd rather just bask in the glow of a compliment from my little sister."

"Don't get used to it, sister!"

 

"You're looking lost, Vicky."

"Oh, hi Sheila. I guess I am."

"Not a good idea here in the woods."

"Not that kind of lost."

"The kind of sister and brother lost, I take it."

"I don't get it. Don't you dare tell Pete, but I liked having a big brother. Why did he want to be a big sister?"

"Kid, if I could answer that question I'd be rich. You see any diamonds on my hands?"

"You got a rock on your ring finger."

"Cubic zirconium. About as valuable as my opinion. You can pay more for a lousy cup of coffee at one of those fancy places with a machine that gargles while it brews."

"At least your opinion won't keep me up all night."

"Wanna bet? You aren't the only one confused. Try falling in love with a guy who wants to be a girl. Try being a girl who gets turned on by a guy who wants to be a girl. You're lucky you only have a sister to deal with, not a lover."

"How do you… I mean…"

"What do we do in bed? Anything we want and that's all I'm saying on the subject."

"What about your parents?"

"They know we're sleeping together."

"And they haven't sent you to a nunnery or whatever you Baptists do with wayward women?"

"Honey, if you knew some of the stupid things I've done you'd realize that loving Polly is pretty mild. I'll tell you someday but not tonight."

"You know they whisper about you at family things."

"Hell, they used bullhorns when it was happening, but you were too young to notice."

"What are you going to do when you have to go home and go to college?"

"Lay in my lonely bed and wish Polly was there with me."

"Jeez - you writing a romance novel or what?"

"Or what. After living together all summer I don't want to live separately, but what else can we do? Starving students don't get much choice, do they? And we're going to blow a lot of what we made this summer on some real engagement rings."

"What will happen when she has to be Pete again?"

"Polly says Pete is going to wear the ring and to hell with what anybody thinks."

"Think Pete will wave his hands about hoping somebody notices the diamond?"

"Wouldn't that be a kick? Actually, we were thinking a pink topaz for me and a blue kyanite for Polly. Think anybody will get the joke?"

"Not unless you tell them. I never heard of kyanite."

"A semi-precious stone that can be blue or orange. Not too common but available. We don't want to spend a fortune on rings, but we do want something special. We want to hit the jewelers in Bend on Thursday and see what we can get."

"I never thought I'd get to see my sister get engaged."

"I'm kinda surprised to be getting engaged myself. Like I said, I screwed up big time as a kid and for a long time thought nobody would want me."

"What? Sheila, I just hope I can get to be as nice a person as you are. Don't put yourself down!"

"Better to emulate your big sister, or your big brother for that matter. Personally, I wish I could be as happy being a female as Polly seems to be."

"She does have the place swooning over her, but they say pretty nice things about you as well. I've been hanging with the kids here and they know what's what with the people who work here."

"Hooked into the gossip network already?"

"Of course!"

"Just give Polly a chance, OK? She's pretty special and I want to be on good terms with your family."

"Don't worry, they love you. Sure they worry about you both being so young, but if you subtract my parents' anniversary from their birthdays, they weren't much older than you guys when they got hitched."

"Did you try subtracting the wedding date from Pete's birthday?"

"I never thought of that. Hold on a minute."

Pulling out her cell phone, Vicky found the list of important dates on her calendar and checked.

"Ten months. Darn, can't use that for blackmail."

"With that, my almost-sister-in-law, I have to get going. Rose is expecting me and I want to learn all the things she can teach me about how to run a real, live resort.