A Mother's Love (fan-fiction) Volume 3.03 by **Sigh**, with assistance from Angharad Copyright© 2020 plaintivesigh All Rights Reserved.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS - or, PREVIOUSLY ON "A MOTHER'S LOVE",

All goes well, until ... complications!
**Steve's very prominent breasts and his breastfeeding his daughter produce uncomfortable public circumstances; he begins dressing as a woman for work, which eases the discomfort because he passes pretty well. TOO well ...
**Mary comes down with cancer; she leaves Steve and the children to stay with her mother because she feels she's a burden AND because she doesn't like to see her husband becoming more female; she stops HIV treatment and progresses to full-blown AIDS.
**Steve, who goes by Stephanie when dressed as a woman, meets a new Doctor who then talks to Mary and convinces her to restart treatment for both the AIDS and cancer; the AIDS holds in check and her cancer goes into remission!
**BUT on two or three occasions now, the new Dr. (Jonathan Brown) has kissed Stephanie - sending her into totally unexpected and unsettling throes of infatuation! (Mary is unaware of this)
**Despite all of this, Steve and Mary's life returns to some normalcy; in addition to daughter Bekka, the couple now have a young infant son, so Steve's breastfeeding (and time spent as Stephanie) must continue. Mary announces that Steve needs to wean baby Hugh off breast milk - and that Steve should get a bilateral mastectomy ASAP! Problem: the surgeon REFUSES.

YESTERDAY'S CHAPTER
Mary learns of the surgeon's refusal; blames Steve/Stephanie, and takes off to her mother's with both children in tow. She leaves an ultimatum: return to being a man full time now, or their marriage is essentially over. Steve/Stephanie is broken over this.

Now without further ado, here is today's continuation ...

After a restless night spent alone in the house, I awoke and prepared for the workday. I intended initially to go to the office in my male persona, which optimally meant minimizing my bosom; however, I required my nursing bra with extra padding as I was leaking milk from my tight, unsuckled breasts. For some reason I could not find the electric breast pump I used when needing relief from the pressure (or to build up a refrigerated supply of milk for Hugh).

To have a full female shape protruding from a man’s shirt and jacket would be unacceptable in public, I reasoned. Therefore it was Stephanie that stepped out the front door and into the car.

“So as you can see, I need to change back to working as Steven, for all of those reasons,” I said.

Susan Williams, the proprietor of Adventure Travel, sat and listened. She appeared stymied. “Let me look at something,” she finally muttered, tapping some keys on her laptop. “Ah, here. You’ve been presenting as Steffi here at the office constantly for almost the past year. In that time, many of our clients came to know you only as a female agent; in fact, two of the women’s groups assigned to you had specifically requested a woman to handle their travel affairs. And now, what you’re asking for may destroy those client relationships.”

“But Susan – you knew that my situation was temporary. That I’d be eventually be returning as Steve.”

“Perhaps in the beginning. But frankly, you’ve remained Stephanie for so long that I almost figured that you had decided to be her from now on.”

“Susan – I have to change back.”

“Are you sure you really want that? Look at you. You’re immensely good looking; haven’t you noticed how some guys in the office will twist their necks to get a gander as you walk by? You are naturally feminine in your speech, your actions, and what we call deportment. The ladies practically consider you a girlfriend, and they let you in on all the juicy gossip. Will you be able to be happy if you’re never Steffi again?”

“I … I …” Why was I struggling to answer? “I … honestly, I don’t know.”

“I won’t oppose your decision, whichever it is. Be advised, this office is under significant financial pressure; agents who lose clients will be at risk. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I sighed, feeling a little more burdened. My move back to Steve full-time was supposed to simplify things, not complicate them.

As I parked back at my house that evening, I felt horrid in almost every way. Hopping up the entry steps, my swollen breasts jiggled and reminded me that some of the misery was physical. Thank God I’m home, now Hugh can relieve me -

“Bollocks!” I spat, remembering that of course Hugh was gone with Bekka and Mary at my in-laws. Well, I’ll use the pump then. Wait – I couldn’t find it this morning! Where is it?

I searched the place from stem to stern; no breast pump was found. Did Mary take it with her, to force-wean ME from the breastfeedings as well? Multiple calls and texts to Mary’s number continued to go unanswered.

I tried to express milk using my fingers; it was messy and inefficient – after 10 minutes I experienced no relief. I was now having occasional fleeting sharp pains from the tight mammaries. I cannot go all night this way. Perhaps the chemist?

It was now after 8 pm; there were some late night chemists within driving range, but calls placed to them found that none had a breast pump. The attendant at Lloyd’s was especially helpful, searching the store until he came back on with the news that they’d sold their last one earlier today.

I gently cradled my painful bosom with one arm whilst dialing with my free hand. I do NOT want to visit the A&E … but perhaps they have a spare pump?

A call to the nearest hospital emergency department brought hope. “Yes, love, we have a pump here; can you get to us easily enough?”

“I’ll have to put my top and bra on, but carefully as I’m really hurting.”

“Wait one bit, ma’am; you said your name was Stephanie Jones?”

“Well, I’m registered as Steven Jones with the NHS. It’s a long story.”

“That’s all right, Stephanie – we deal with the transgendered quite often.” The nurse’s voice then suddenly got distant, as if she’d pulled the phone away from her face. I could make out a few words still: “Are you sure … you do know her? …”

I opened my mouth to tell the nurse that I wasn’t transgender; then thought better of it and just sighed. This was no time to quibble; I needed relief.

“Ms. Jones, hang on. One of our staff was leaving his shift, and he’s volunteered to bring the pump by your place. Please verify your address.”

“Oh thank you so much! Will they be by soon?”

“He’s leaving right now. Come out here if this doesn’t help. Goodbye.”

My current state of dress was topless, with a large towel draped over my breasts and lightly pressed against the nipples. I tossed the towel in the dirty hamper and reapplied the nursing bra, pulling a loose button-up sweater on over it; I attached enough buttons to be modest, then sat awaiting the doorbell.

I didn’t wait for long. A ring came through, and I stepped quickly to the entry. “Is this the worker from the A&E? With the pump?” I spoke through the door.

“Well, essentially, yes,” came the answer.

I opened the door. “Please come –“ no further words were spoken, as my tongue was frozen in surprise. I instantly recognized the hospital “staff” person.

“Hello, Stephanie,” smiled Dr. Jonathan Maurice Brown.

NOTICE TO READERS:

This is a fan-fiction story continuation of Alys's unfinished story, "A Mother's Love." As I have stated in my blog, Alys has given her permission for this work. This is not meant to alter or detract at all from her superb original story, merely to build upon it and achieve a resolution for these wonderful characters.

The setting of this story is Great Britain, and superstar Big Closet author Angharad graciously consented to help me retain a British "feel" for the narrative and dialogue. She is a godsend/lifesaver. I have now had the privilege of working with multiple stars here to bring my humble little indulgent tales to be published in BC. What a giving, loving community.

If you aren't familiar with Alys's story, I have typed a brief summary to set the stage (see the Brief Synopsis at the top). If you want to read Alys's part of this tale (all chapters are super quick reads and great stories!), then look into:
A Mother's Love - Prequel
A Mother's Love - Volume 1 (11 parts)
A Mother's Love - Volume 3 (2 parts)

To be continued tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Hugz - **Sigh**