I woke the next morning still thinking that it was amazing that I was just accepted by everyone as Jo and thought about my performance at the TV interview, which I quickly rewatched. There was no side of Joey that remained, the way I looked, talked and gestured just came across as ‘Girl’ no matter how hard I looked, Jo had taken over my life.

After the surreal experience of the tv interview it was back to reality the following day. It was overcast, grey and miserable, not ideal for being on hands and knees scraping away at damp earth, but the team were enthusiastic and kept on working until interrupted by a sharp heavy downpour which caused us all to run for shelter.

Instead just wasting time, waiting, I took several photos of the soaked team passing the time in the site hut and the views through the windows of the rain bouncing in the puddles already forming. I thought that the scenes of us all hiding in the huts waiting for the rain to stop would be a good subject for my vlog. Rather than showing the glamorous exciting side of an archaeologists life highlighting the discoveries, which I normally tried to do, it would let people know the difficulties and hardship that we also had to endure.

When the downpour finally ended we all went back to our stations to start again. Whilst the rain had held us up and created poor conditions for us to work in, we were surprised to find that it had helped us too. It had washed and loosened a lot of the debris and detritus showing the quality of the ruin walls already exposed, and turning the ground within the building into a slurry, which fortunately we we able to pump out. More photos were taken for my vlog of us all trying to clear up the site before getting back down to remove more soil layers.

When all the slurry had gone, the pump filters were checked and several small items were found, rings, brooches, dress pins, and general domestic items. We were obviously now very near the building floor level where it would be expected to find such things. Sections of stone floor slabs were soon exposed and cleared and we now had the basic structure of our first building on full view. This really lifted the spirits of the team who were a bit down after the torrential rain, and reignited their enthusiasm.

As I was still a bit damp and dirty from working on the muddy site, rather than filming my vlog on site as I normally did, I went home had a long shower to freshen me up, and warm me up. After drying myself off and dusting with talc, I got dressed casually in leggings and a chunky wool roll-neck top , brewed a pot of tea and sat down to do my daily report. Within minutes of posting it, I was getting comments back thanking me for showing the harsher realities of life on a dig, mainly from other archaeologists. It was different to what I normally did, but seemed to go down well with the general public too.

I had just finished when I heard someone at the door and went to answer it. I was taken aback to see Josie there, particularly when she suddenly grabbed me in a bear hug and somehow pushed me back into the house holding back her tears.”

"What’s the matter Josie, come in and sit down and tell me what is going on.”

"It’s that bitch of a mother of Jack’s. We got back from France, and it was like the Spanish Inquisition, ‘Where have you been’, ‘Who have you seen?’, ‘What have you done?’, ‘Have you made wedding arrangements without involving me?’, ‘Are you trying to drive a wedge between my son and I?’, ‘Who do you think you are?’. It wasn’t just out of interest, she is trying to control everything I do. She just can’t bear to not to be at the centre of things, dictating everything she thinks I should be doing.”

"Calm down Josie, One thing at a time. let me get you a coffee first, or do you want something stronger?”

"Coffee will be fine for now, just give me a minute to compose myself while you make it.”

"What does Jack think about all this? Does he know how you feel about living with his family.”

"I’ve told him that I cannot live with his mother anymore, he has to decide between his mother and the family wealth, or me, it is up to him to make a move now. I also told him that if the watcher she had used to spy on me a few weeks ago is seen anywhere near me that it will all be over between us, and if we decide to go ahead and get married that she will have no say in any of the arrangements, and may not even be welcome at the wedding.”

"Look, this is your house as well as mine, you have to stay here while this is all sorted. Let me get your room tidied while you go and have a soak in the bath or a shower to help you relax, then we will talk a bit more.”

While she was in the shower, I quickly tidied up her room, which I had been using as a bit of a storage area, and changed the bedding.

"Have you got any stuff to hang up and put away?”

"No, I left everything there, I just grabbed my coat and bag and hurried out. It is just as well that I still have most of my stuff left here. There’s nothing that I will desperately need still over there.”

I left her to get dressed as I raided the freezer for something for dinner for us, Shepherds Pie and Green Beans, put in a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to get quickly chilled and set the dinner table, ready for when she had sorted herself out.

"How were things in France, were you and Jack ok with Mum and Dad?”

"It was brilliant, we were so relaxed and where it is located is so romantic. Jack got on well with Mum and Dad and it was a shame that we had to come back. I could have just stayed there.”

"What are you going to do now, have you made any plans yet?”

"It depends on Jack. If he is not willing to move out of the family home and get somewhere with me, I will probably go back over to France, Mum and Dad will be glad to see me. The house is liveable in now, although the renovations are still only half done. I can help them out until the baby starts getting in the way and slowing me down.”

"What about money, I am working as you now, so you obviously cannot get a job or claim welfare benefits?”

"Hopefully it will not come to that, Jack will come to his senses and we will sort something out.”

"Just ask if you need any help, although my salary is not wonderful, I got a bit of a fee for the TV appearance and the Museum video and can spare you some to tide you over. The TV people want me to do a lot more shows, so that should keep us going for a while. So there are no worries on that front.”

"Thanks, Jo, I know that we have always been close as sister and brother, but I think we will be even closer now as sisters.”

We continued to sit and talk until the early hours until we both needed to get to our beds, about my job that Josie could have had, about Maggie and her friends, Susie, Karen and Jen, about Mum and Dad, and a lot about Jack. It was obvious that she was still deeply in love with him, it was just his mother that was the problem.

I slept really well, helped by the wine we had drunk whilst chatting, and wandered into the kitchen in my nightie to get breakfast as was my habit. An hour later as I was just about to get ready for work, Josie made an appearance.”

"God, you look rough, did you not sleep very well?”

"Not really, I tossed and turned most of the night, my mind was all over the place.”

"Will you be ok if I go off to work? If you are worried, I can take the day off.”

“No you are ok, just get on with things you normally would, I need to go back to bed anyway and try to get a bit more sleep.”

"Until we get our stories straight, try not to let Maggie over the road see you, she is ok , but misses nothing and is a bit lonely. If she sees you at the window, she is likely to pop over to ask how you, or I, are feeling.”

When I arrived home again after work, I was staggered to see Maggie sitting happily chatting with Josie.

"I saw the car in the drive all day and thought I saw someone moving around inside, so I popped over to make sure that everything was ok. Your cousin Josie has told me all about her troubles with her fiancé and that she is staying with you until things are sorted out.” Maggie rambled on whilst Josie just looked embarrassed and sheepish.

“Everything will be ok Maggie, thanks for checking up. As you know about her problems, you will realise that she is hiding away here, it will be best if nobody else knows about her, can we keep this between ourselves, please.”

“It is so confusing, you two look so alike and have the same name.”

"Yes, twins run in the family, Joey and me, Mum and my Auntie Kate, Josie’s mother. Josephine has been a traditional family name for several generations now, it is confusing, even for us, especially when we are all together at family gatherings.” I gabbled trying to get my thoughts together. Luckily, Maggie said that she had to get back home, and left us before we dug even deeper holes for ourselves.

"What on earth were you thinking about Josie, letting her see you and inviting her in, if she starts gossiping to people, the whole house of cards will come tumbling down, and my career will be over.”

"When she came over and knocked on the door, I was still a bit drowsy, I didn’t sleep particularly well last night, and just automatically went to see who was there. Without being rude, I couldn’t really stop her coming in. She has been ok though, we just talked about Jack and his Mum, and the baby, and by then I had woken up fully and was careful about what I told her.”

"What is done, is done, we will just have to live with it, stick to the story and see what happens. Because of my vlogs and video and TV appearances, I have to stick with the looks I have got, but just to save confusion can you try to look a bit different so that people know which of us they are talking to, change your hair and makeup just so that we are not almost identical.”

By the time that she had set lots of curls and waves into her hair, cut the front into a fringe and went a lot heavier with the eyeliner and mascara, we were not so alike, still having a family resemblance but easily identifiable as to which was which, she was a bit ‘wild child’ whereas I was more wholesome English-Rose type.

Later I heard her answer her phone, and it was obvious that she was talking to Jack. I discreetly left her alone, going into the kitchen, where I could still hear her conversation.

"Look Jack, I told you that I cannot live in the same house as your mother, either we find a place of our own where we can live our lives without her interfering or that’s it all over. I know that it is asking a lot of you, but honestly if we don’t do that, any marriage we have will not last long, she would always be there being irritating, and separation will be even more painful then than it would be if we just called it off now.”

Her tone softened after he replied. "So it is agreed then, I will make arrangements for us to go back to France to stay for a few months with Mum and Dad. It will not be possible for a few weeks though, you know that they are having all the windows redone and the terrace relaid, their place will be in chaos for a while. I will just stay here with Jo, out of your mother’s way ”

I decided that this was going to lead to a lot of sweet-nothings so went over to see Maggie to give her a bit of space and privacy.

"Thanks for looking over at Josie earlier, she was a bit fraught earlier this morning but it calmed her down having you as a shoulder to cry on for a while.”

"My pleasure, she seems a nice girl, it’s a pity about her future mother-in-law, family squabbles never do any good. She needs to get it out of the way now, these things tend to come to light at weddings when everyone is a bit emotionally-charged, and it would ruin what should be a perfect day.”

"I think she has sorted things out with Jack, but she will be staying here a while longer, so don’t be surprised to see her around, but like I said before, please do not mention it to anyone else.

“ I fully understand, trust me.”

“By the way, I have heard from Anglia East about filming our next visit. It may not be as exciting as Seahenge, but they and the Council want to do a feature on ‘Grime’s Graves’ * the Neolithic flint mine over at Lynford. The programme will be mainly background history of the site rather than a lot of discussions with the team, but there will still be opportunities for you all to get your say. Can you see if you can get everybody together for next Saturday when it is closed to the public?”

"I will keep an eye on Josie for you while you are at work, I know that I am a bit of a gossip, but I promise that her being here is just between the three of us. I am sure that the girls will jump at the chance of another tv appearance, and if they have anything arranged it will all be dropped, but I will check and let you know.”

Back at home, Josie was looking a lot happier and back to her old self.

"I take it that all is now sweetness and light with Jack?”

"‘Of course, he is going to tell his mother that she has to back off, that we are going to France for a while, and that if she cannot control herself that we are going to stay there.”

"Good luck with that is all that I would say. I know that she is a total bitch, but he is still her son and she is used to getting her own way, so don’t push him too far, after all, family is family.”

"I’ve been thinking, I cannot hide away in here for the next few weeks, will there be any problems if I go over to see Susie and spend some time catching up. Besides, I am sure that she will give me a different slant on your conversion from Joey to Jo than you have, and I need a bit of light relief.”

"Good idea, it may help you get your mind together. Keep away from the salon though, the girls in there know me from my time working there as Jo, and it will only confuse things.”

"I still can’t believe how convincing you are and that people just accept you as Jo. Just think, I could have had the sister I always wanted all those years as we grew up. As a brother you were ok , probably better than most, but a sister, especially a twin sister, would have been more fun, we could have done a lot more things together.” she said with a wry smile.

Back at the site the next morning, the team had already been hard at it by the time I arrived. The first building we had been working on was now completely exposed and appeared to be a dwelling place, probably for the site supervisor, as it appeared to be rather small, plain and unadorned. Nevertheless it at least showed what the public would recognise as a home, rather than just a line of stones in the ground, and formed the basis of my next vlog, along with the various artefacts we had found there. However it was an incentive to draft in more students and volunteers to attack a nearby building seen through the aerial scans, which was large enough to be either communal areas for the small garrison that would be there to protect the complex, or a large storeroom. The site was now developing nicely.

"Hi Emma, hi Jane, what are you two up to now?”

"Now that the first house is finished for the time being, we are joining the team down at the pier. Between tides they have exposed some of the pier props, and they seem to be well preserved by the mud, but when the tide comes in most of the work is undone and they get covered in silt again."

“Is there nothing that can be done to keep the waters away while you find out a bit more?”

We are getting one of those temporary coffer dams brought in to hold the waters back until we can see exactly what we have. Today is a Spring Tide, so for the next fortnight before the next one we have a working window that the coffer dam can cope with.”

“That sounds like a good story for the vlog, you two find out what more you can and I will come back in two or three days to film what is going on and interview you. When it is worth doing properly, I will get the Anglia East film crew to come back too, I will try to get you involved with that as well.”

I left the pair of them looking very happy, and went back to the museum to complete my vlog, and passed Jacqui in the corridor outside her office.

"Hi Jo, we are not seeing much of you in here nowadays between your work on site and your programme and vlogs about Seahenge. How are you getting on, are you still happy with what you are doing?”

"I am really enjoying it, but I am getting pulled in different directions and could do with a bit of help occasionally."

"If you know anyone who would be prepared to work on a casual ‘as-and-when’ basis, let me know, I am sure that we can arrange something.”

When I arrived home there was no sign of Josie, so I got cleaned up, changed into casual pants and top and was just starting to prepare dinner when my phone buzzed at me.

"Hi Sis, it’s Josie. I am out with Susie and having a good time with her, chatting and catching up. We fancy going up to The Golden Lion up in Lynn for a meal, do you want to join us?”

"Love to, I haven’t spoken to Susie for a few days, it will be good to get together. Give me time to get ready and get up to Lynn, I will see you in about an hour.” Knowing that it was a decent hotel rather than just a pub, I changed into a smart ivory shift dress and 3"heels and was soon walking in to join them. Josie had kept to her ‘wild child’ look and although we looked related there was no mistaking which one was which.”

"Hi Jo, glad you could join us, I had no idea how well this would work out when I started on you, but you have turned out a letter better than I expected, you are more like Josie than she herself is looking at the moment.” Susie greeted me with a big hug.

Susie and Josie had done most of their catch up earlier on, so dinner conversation was more about me, the dig, my video and tv appearances, and how I found life as a girl. Sitting in the lounge afterwards we were twice interrupted by people coming over to me, asking “Are you the history girl from the TV, can I take a selfie with you.” It really amused the others, seeing my embarrassment and It got even worse when we were approached by a group of lads who came over to chat us up, but they soon backed off when Josie and Susie flashed their engagement rings at them.”

"I didn’t know you were engaged, you never said anything or wear your ring when I was working with you in the salon.” I asked Susie, a bit surprised that she would keep something like that secret.

"I’m not, but I always wear the ring when I go out anywhere, it is a good put down token when I am getting unwelcome attention, and it is easily taken off and put in the bag if I fancy someone.” she smiled as she told us.

It was a good relaxing night out for all of us, particularly Josie, it diverted her from all her brooding about Jack and his Mum.

At university i had been out many times with Josie, Susie and their friends but this time, as Jo, I was a lot more at ease and comfortable in their company. Living as a girl was becoming almost normal and unremarkable for me now and at times my previous life as Joey just locked itself away in the back of my mind.

When we were back at home, I told Josie about needing an assistant on a casual basis.

"Are you up for it? It would let you get on the site for a few weeks and give you something to keep you busy and mentally stimulated. You are still fit enough to work, the baby is not really showing yet and it will give you something interesting to do instead of sitting around all day.”

"Will it not cause bother for you, after all you are working as me with my social security number and tax records and all that?”

"I’ll sort something out, it is just casual employment, so I am sure that there are some loopholes we can use.”

"Great then that is agreed, it will be good to put all that expensive education to some use.”

“The job should’ve been yours so you deserve a bit of involvement. I will have a think about how best you can help me. The Johnson twins are back together as a team, just like when we were younger.

To be continued.

*. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/grimes-grav...