"Dad..." I said in my practised feminine voice. "I- there's something I want to tell you..."

"Yes, I can see that," dad replied, still in a state of shock at my appearance.

"I- I'm transgendered," I said confidently as Ophelia walked through from the kitchen, a mixture of shock and pride on her face. "I want to be a woman. I feel like a woman inside. I want to live the rest of my life as a woman." What felt like an eternity passed as dad tried to process what he had just been told.

CHAPTER 60
Ashley had been right, and there was no chance of a proper knees-up for the newly engaged, so we settled for a proper night in for the New Year. Work came back to haunt us, but in the end it was a relief getting back out of the house and seeing what damage the usual winter floods had done.

We were lucky that year, no wet feet in the King’s Arms, and the first few days of the year were spent setting out priorities for maintenance and refurbishment. Susie had somehow managed to find a source of Bolinder spares and reconditioned engines in Birmingham, and then added to her not-so-little coup by negotiating an incredibly cheap contract for traditional enamel ware with an artists’ studio in Camden.

The junior staff members were discussing the situation as I walked in. “But this hallway was completely empty. There’s no way everyone was locked up.” It looks like I got here just in time, as Ms. Rahman’s comment was exactly what I was expecting. I was glad that the situation didn’t get a chance to escalate among the junior staff, so I can set matters straight without resistance.