Take me out of the ballgame –

Chapter 1 -- Off Season

"Show me, please!" Susan demanded. The two young children had ridden down a short distance from their homes to a creek and just barely away from the prying eyes that kept her from knowing the truth. Her curiosity had reached its zenith weeks ago after hearing all the talk of her parents about the reasons for his absence. Victor, unaware of her condition, tied up his horse leisurely. She tied up hers quickly ready to assault him if Victor didn't comply. She folded her arms and glared at him. "Geesh, Victor, you've been gone for two months and I wanna see what they did to you!"

"It's not right. You're a girl and I am a boy. Besides, I am still healing and need to be careful." he stated firmly. He turned his back to her reaching up to unpack his horse's satchel and grab his lunch. Susan came up behind him and pulled down his shorts just as he reached in to grab his lunch bag. He dropped it right away and began to reach down to pull up his shorts taken back by her sudden violation. Susan was faster still and had already dropped to her knees and quickly pulled down his underwear. The expression on her face as she gazed upon his sex said it all.

Astonished by how he different he looked, she stammered, "You ... you look just like me now." Victor read the confusion in her face and started to cry. Realizing what she had done to hurt his pride, she stood up to hug him. He pushed her away at first. "I'm sorry, Victor. Really I am." He tried to run away and he fell over being tripped by his pulled down shorts.

She knelt down and hugged him again. Trying to comfort him, she pleaded, "I was just curious. Honestly, I thought you would be, you know, normal by now." She lied. She knew from his parent’s talks that he was more like a girl now. His crying quickly turned to uncontrollable sobbing. She was, after all, like a sister to him now, she thought. Months of pent up emotions were spilling onto the ground and running down the sand into the creek from his eyes.

That didn't help her sense of confusion, nor his as he grunted out between sobs, "What am I now?" Months earlier, things were much different between them just four months prior ...

Victor opened the front door and stared at the roofs of the cabins. They called them cabins, but it was more of a hodgepodge of houses made out of mud, wood, and mobile homes. Nothing consistent in how they looked. Frost on some of the red slated roofs were being turned into steam in the morning sun. The air was nippy, but still. He heard his mom come around the corner and she commented, "It ought to be the last frost before the spring flowers come out, I would think."

"You think so?" Victor jumped up and down on his heels ignoring the chattering of his teeth as he closed the door.

"Yes, Dear. And I can see you know what that means?" his mother responded.

"Baseball tryouts in a few weeks." came the excited comeback. He heard his dad yawning and turned to see him stretching his arms. He saw his dad hug his mom and the two of them kissed.

"You know, Victor, you shouldn't be too hopeful. You are still on the small side." his dad, Alex, quipped.

Victor hung his head down for a moment. Then a smile came over his face and he exclaimed, "I can use that to my advantage, Dad. I have a smaller strike zone and I am a fast runner." His dad chucked and nodded in agreement. "Do you mind if I go play at Susan's this morning after my chores? She has that new baking oven she got for her birthday. She wants to make some cakes."

After getting his coat on her son and a quick swat of his butt, Victor went out to do his chores. In the still of the morning, he looked over to the old windmill. Horses grunted in the paddock as they inched over to the water barrel to get a drink. Maybe, he thought, he and Susan could go riding later on in the day. He loved living here. He could ride horses, go down to the creek when it was flowing and play for hours with her. And school was easy. Both of them were home schooled now. The bus took too long to get them to school and came back too late for them to have any time to do chores. They were, even at seven and eight years of age, needed to do work on the ranch.

Victor walked up to an old rickety door that hung from the entrance to the barn. With all of his might, he pushed it aside and breathed in the pungent odor of hay. Grabbing a set of pruning shears from a hook, he soon found himself cursing that he forgot to put on his gloves as the hay scratched his hands. With all of his might, he cut the bailing strings and watched the hay bale fall apart. He put the pruning shears back and put on the coarse gloves embracing the feel of the hard fabric roughness versus the scratchy hay. Carefully, he took chunks of hay and walked them over to the paddock and placed them in a wooden bin for the horses to eat. He watched them stir conscious that sometimes they took to eating right away and sometimes just stood their ground. A mare named Lucy raised her tail and plopped poo on the ground. When she was done, she meandered over to the fresh hay and began to eat.

When he was finished, he returned the gloves and looked at an old rusted out bus on the side of the barn. All that remained of its last mission was the word church on the side. The name had long since disappeared. The ranch had been a church retreat years ago, but when silver was discovered in the hills, the church sold off the back part of the ranch to a mining company and sold the rest of the ranch to people from Phoenix who wanted an inexpensive summer getaway for them and their kids. According to his parents, the church built a gorgeous new building in Las Cruces near the university and acquired a nicer retreat in the mountains to the east of Las Cruces.

Victor climbed the rail fence to pet Henry. He was his favorite horse. Looking past him, he noticed the windsock for the air strip briefly flap. It was accompanied by the squeak of a the windmill with a gurgle of water being shot into the barrel of water the horses drank from. Henry poked his head down to the fresh water and lapped up some water.

Feeling cold, Victor jumped off the rail fence and scurried to the adobe home where Susan and her family lived where it was warm. Her dad and his dad ran the ranch all year long. But, the families for the ranch only showed up during summer to escape the searing heat of Phoenix. Some drove and others would fly in. They all belonged to the same church in Phoenix and had heard through the grapevine that the property was being sold. Many of them third and fourth generation Arizonians who, in years past, would flee to San Alex or up in the mountains of Arizona to escape the brutal summers. His dad said one day, they would turn the village into a summer retreat for profit, but, now, it was run on a shoe string. Both his dad and Susan's dad moved onto the ranch renting out their homes in Silver City to students.

Victor rang the doorbell and soon disappeared into Susan's place leaving his family's woe's behind him. The family often had long talks about what they would do and whom they would see over the dinner table. They were down to one car and it was becoming apparent that they needed to do something about improving that. The homeowners were reluctant to pay more fees. Money was tight. And now with his mom pregnant, Victor worried if he would have a chance to play baseball in the valley league. It was a twenty mile drive to the ballpark. It was fun playing with Susan, but he wanted to have more friends to play with, even if it was once or twice a week. And, maybe some of them could come out and see him, play in the community pool, and even go horseback riding.

His mom and dad were custodians of the cabins around them. Susan's mom and dad did maintenance of the facilities during the off season, and during the summer, they were concierges along with Victor's parents. On occasion, they might see someone for Christmas come up, but their little cabin village wasn't known for reliable snow meaning more, often than not, there was no white Christmas. Plus, the cabins were by that time winterized. Situated about 4,500 feet, however, they could expect a cool summer often in the high to mid 80s during the summer. So, every summer, the kids from Phoenix would exit to the mountains of New Mexico to get away from the summer heat. This was far cheaper that going to San Alex and far less crowded too.

After his chores were done, he went in to play with with Susan. A little while later, she opened the door to the oven, pulled out the cake, put it on a small table, and then hugged Victor. They sat down and ate the small cake together.

After she finished, she whispered into his ear, "Hey, let's play doctor."

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

[Author’s Note: Some readers may recognize the similarity between this story and a K. T. Leone story. The beginning plot device in how the character has an accident is similar, but only because it inspired me to write a story about an accident in a totally different way than she did. I wish she were alive to see what I did with the premise of how Victor loses his penis and testicles. She was a gifted author. ]

Chapter 2 -- Injured Reserve

The squeaks of the old truck echoed against the barn. Victor, finishing his chore of adding to the manure pile, turned around to see his dad exit the house and jog over to the old clunker. Its muffler belched out a bunch of black smoke as it chugged to a halt. His dad opened the passenger door and began to put on gloves he had stuffed in his back pocket. Jerry, the old gas station owner waddled around the back end of the truck shouting something about his helping, but Victor's dad waved him off. With all of his might, his dad lifted the awkward metal contraption out from the truck while Jerry grabbed a trolley off the back end of his overloaded rusty old clunker. Victor's dad tilted the huge contraption and Jerry slid the trolley's platform underneath the beast.

Dusting off straw and horse gunk of his pants, Victor cautiously approached the two men as they worked. He could see that the object his dad extracted had some sort of thick metal pole with a lever at the top. A curved pipe attached to it and away from the lever pointed down to two big wooden bowls. A smaller wooden bowl on top was offset from a larger wooden bowl beneath it. "What is that, Dad?"

"An old fashion water pump. Remember, when we dug a new well for the village in November and set up the water tower?" Victor nodded. "We're putting this over the old well hole allowing the residents to get water from another source in case the new well clogs or a power outage from a summer storm." Victor jumped up on Jerry's tailgate, sat down, and watched his dad and Jerry work. His dad grunted as he finished removing the old mechanical pump coming out of the old well by pulling on its wires. As he pulled the wires, he continued his explanation, "The bosses think it will look cool. I have to agree. Plus, it means we don't have a hole that kids can fall down in the middle of the compound."

Jerry chided Victor with a soft nudge, "Like your new brother or sister, sport." He then reached in to grab measuring tape and sauntered the few steps back to the well site. The two men measured and made marks in the dirt. Then they rolled the pump to the side to give themselves room to work. Jerry set up some sawhorses and a table with a chop saw.

"Victor, don't you have schoolwork to do?" as he came over to grab a pad to write on.

With pride in his voice, Victor announced, "Nope, finished it all Dad. In fact, I finished the third grade this morning before I did my chores. Mom's real pleased."

Jerry came back over again and gave him a high five. Victor grabbed the ends of the tailgate and swayed his shoulders as he grinned at his dad. "So, can I just watch, please?"

His dad patted him on the shoulder and ruffled his hair, "As long as you don't get in the way. By the way, someone is due for a haircut." He placed some tools back into the truck and then grabbed some stakes and string. He handed the pad to Jerry, "Looks like a perfect five four three. Nice and square." Jerry smiled.

The rest of the morning, Jerry and his dad worked on the pump installing it over the old well. First, they staked out where the new platform was going. Then they started to assemble its parts. Victor loved hearing the pop pop of the nailer. He was intrigued with the shrill metallic sound of the chop saw too. "Measure twice, cut once." Jerry kept saying. Victor was especially proud to be asked to ferry wood from Jerry's truck. Of course, Jerry or his dad had already carried the heavy concrete blocks that became the feet of the platform, but the rest was easy since they were aligned using his dad's math and plan. On several occasions, one or the other men had to duck from getting hit by the two by four Victor took off the truck. But, it was worth it to see Victor have so much fun being part of the man team.

Finally, standing on the new platform, his dad and Jerry lowered a new plastic pipe they had assembled down into the narrow pit underneath the platform. Once they were convinced it was at the water's depth of twenty feet, they fixed it to the platform. The two men rolled the pump onto the platform and attached it to the water pump next. Jerry then tested it by pouring water from a plastic container into the top of the new pump. As he swung the handle up and down, water soon came out of the curved pipe and fell into the first bowl and then cascaded down into the next bowl. The two men gave echoed each other as they shouted together, "All right!"

Victor's mom shouted out the front door to come get their lunches. She had made them turkey sandwiches made with her homemade bread, a pitcher of iced tea, and some potato salad. As they sat on the platform eating lunch, Victor asked, "Why did you pour water into it, Mr. Jerry?"

Jerry spit out a wad of tobacco and laughed. "Son, that is called priming the pump. Y'all don't do that and the well gonna be dry as a bone when you crank this sucker. Remember that." He gingerly moved up and down the pump arm and more water gushed out.

Reading the confusion in his son's face, his dad added, "That is so they can create a vacuum all the way down the water down below. Otherwise, all you will pump is air."

Jerry laughed and took in another wad of tobacco. "Ain't'cha about to play little league, Victor?"

"Tryouts are tomorrow!" Victor answer excitedly.

"Damn!" exclaimed his dad. "I knew I forgot something!"

Victor looked worried. "Dad?"

"Sorry son, but your mom has to go to the baby doctor tomorrow and we have to pick up stuff in Deming since Sam's away."

"But Dad?" he whined.

"Victor Maria Martin. Don't you give me any more lip. I'll call them and work something out."

Jerry looked down. Three names. That means bad things. He became concerned. "Is Mom really that bad?"

He sighed heavily. "Not yet we think, the baby and ... you know ..." He was searching for words a little boy could understand.

"Woman's trouble." Jerry motioned a circle around his belly to the young lad. Alex nodded in agreement even though it answered nothing.

After a moments of reflection, "But dad, you promised to take me! Isn't there any way, please?" whined Victor again.

"Sorry son ..." Before he could finish, Jerry stopped him.

"I can take him Alex. Hell, it's tough on the kid being all here by himself. I'll take him in. I gotta take in some scrap and then get more supplies anyways to build more of these suckers." He chuckled at his own pun and slapped his knee. “These suckers! I kill myself with my corny jokes!” Alex chuckled too. Victor didn't get it.

"But, how will we get him back. You won't have any room once you're loaded up with supplies. And our van will be full too with all the stuff we have to pick up in Deming."

"Cal and his wife can bring him back. He's the league's head umpire and marketing guru. Why, Hell, the league wouldn't exist without him. I'll pick up Victor, stop by your neighbor to deliver one of these water pumps, and take Victor to the tryouts." The two men shook hands and Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

About this time, Susan came out from her place to see what the morning's commotion was all about. As the men packed up Jerry's truck, Victor showed Susan how the pump worked as if he had done all the work himself. Soon, because it was a warm day, each was taking turns sticking their head underneath the spigot while the other one worked the pump. Victor's dad shouted, "Don't you dare drown, I don't know how I would explain that to your mother." So, they just splash each other.

Victor cried out after Susan had gotten him a good one, "Dad, can I have a squirt gun?" She roared with laughter. Victor smiled back at her.

"Too late, you already are a little squirt!" his dad joked. Feeling they had milked out of the new pump all the fun they could have, the two kids skipped off laughing on the way to Susan's because she had a new coloring book and some puzzles.

Jerry commented, "They seem to get along well."

"They sure do. I guess they realize that until summer comes, they need each other."

"That will change soon when she starts growing into a woman."

"Yeah, we won't even get that far I fear. It has sometimes been a contest between us and her parents as to which one of us leaves here first. Well, until recently. I think they have decided to leave after this summer. Sam's off this week getting training for working in the oil fields around Roswell. He said he'll apply for a position in the fall. They haven't told Susan. Like us, they don't have an extra car or I could ask them to take Victor instead. I just don't know how to tell Victor he'll be alone come the fall."

"Of course, he'll be an older brother by then. Maybe he can help his mom take care of the baby."

"That's what we're praying for. Sally has had three miscarriages since having him. That is why we need to see the doctor tomorrow. We just can't put it off. Part of the reason he wants to play baseball is that he still knows a few of his schoolmates in Silver City. I think we can allow him that this year, but next year, we won't be able to afford it. We may have to send him off to spend the summer with his aunt Vicki in Wisconsin. Although, we need him here to help run the village store and work the barn. Good thing he loves horses."

"I understand. Why did you come work here anyway if you knew it was going to be like this?"

"We rent out our Silver City home to college students. We figure if we can pay off the mortgage with the rent, we can move back in five years. So, even though they don't pay a lot here, we are earning so much extra money because we don't have to pay room and board. And, it is fully furnished so we can rent our home fully furnished too. The village also picks up our health, food, and utilities tab. By the way, thanks for helping me install the pump. I really appreciate it. And, you did a great job in making it." Alex gave Jerry a hug.

As Jerry drove off, Susan and Victor rushed out onto her porch and waved goodbye. Then the two headed over to the barn to go for a horseback ride. One of their favorite things to do together.

The next day, soon after Victor was picked up by Jerry, a scream filled the air of a dust cloud and was quickly drowned out by the noise of metal hitting metal. Afterwards, the air was filled with silence afterwards except for the occasional sound of creaks coming from the heavily damaged trucks that had merged together. The mining truck and Jerry's truck came to rest in a deep ditch which had become their final resting place.

At that moment, at a Walmart in Deming, Alex Martin loaded the family van with the crib and the other items their bosses had donated to them including stuff for the village store. Of course, after they were done with the furniture, it was expected that they would be put in the common room for residents that needed it on their summer trips. But, at least for them, they would have the benefit of new furniture for their precious child.

The only thing left was the doctor's visit. Today, they would hear what sex their baby was. Or not. They had spent the better part of the week debating the merits of finding out. Giggling to herself, Sally waited for Alex to open her door. He gave her a kiss as she exited. They loved growing their family.

The glop of clear fluid on her belly caused Alex to chuckle. "It seems like you are using amniotic fluid on the outside to look inside."

"Guess you could say that." Doctor Alvarez kept moving a plastic paddle across his wife's belly looking at the baby. The sweep of a screen that showed their baby was occasional punctuated by a colored blip that showed the doctor some information. She would occasion mark a part of the screen and move on. "Looks like a July 4th due date is no longer the case. June 14th is more likely now. You just went from Independence Day to Flag Day." She chuckled. "Come on little one. Give us a look."

A knock on the door was normal in this office, but the doctor missed the look on her face. "Doctor. There is an urgent call from the hospital on line 2. I think you need to take it now." The tone in the secretary's voice caused her to turn and see the look on her employee's face. The exchange of glances was discernible to them, but not to the happy couple.

"Thanks Cindy." She picked up the phone and punched line two with one hand. "Hello ... Mildred, hey, what's up that you called with such urgency here ... Yes, as a matter of fact. I am just finishing up with my last patients of the day, the Martins, so I can come over right away and ... Oh my ... Airlifted you say ... when did it happen ... I know I am on call, but it's not my specialty ... Sure, I know Dr. Smith is doing required continuing education this afternoon ... had to miss it because of poor planning ... Too bad he doesn't have privileges here ... Yes, I concur. He would be the best for this. Is he agreeable? Yes, good! Well then, tell the higher ups I would agree to grant him temporary privileges. That would make him the most qualified then." She moved uneasily in her rolling chair half looking at the monitor and half glancing at her anxious patients who didn't seem interested in what she was saying. "... Well, yes, I can talk to them about using him if you want me to instead. I'll get there right away ... How long before the patient is stabilized? ... An hour. Okay, thank you." She hung up and paused for a moment. She took a look at the monitor, clicked a photo, and began to shut things down.

Baffled, Alex asked, "Did you see the sex of our baby?"

"Yes. Let's hold off on that for the moment. Alex, Sally, there is no easy way to say this ..."

"Our baby's dead!" Sally's complexion grew pale.

"No ... of course not. Your baby is fine." She looked at her patient and made a quick assessment of Sally’s emotional stability. "Sorry, Sally. Knowing how much you hate shots, I hate to tell you I have to give you a special shot to help you and the baby. Just standard stuff. That's all. While I get the shot, you two discuss whether you want to know the baby's sex." As an afterthought, as she exited the room, she said, "Sorry about the shot."

Later, at the hospital, Dr. Alvarez said, "The mom's sedated now. I have briefed Alex here on Victor's condition, Dr. Smith."

Dr. Smith turned towards Mr. Martin. "Here is the short and quick of the matter. Your boy is sedated and stable. He has had fluids and a blood transfusion. His wounds presently are packed off. But we need to do surgery on them right away to save what we can. When the mining truck hit, there was some sort of mechanical pump between your son's legs and it damaged his penis badly."

Alex ventured, "But, he was wearing a cup. How is that possible?"

Dr. Smith took a breath. He was a baseball fan too. "I bet it was a cup from twenty years ago?"

"Yes, I wore it when I was his age. It was a kid's size too. I thought it would protect him."

Dr. Smith took his time and explained it to Victor's dad. "It is made of hard plastic. And when a baseball is headed to you at 100 miles per hour, it most certainly does protect you. There was no way you could have known about this. So, please don't blame yourself. I am really impressed with your looking out for him. However, in an accident such as this, a perfect storm happened and it was moved aside after the seams of his old uniform ripped, which meant the cup did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Here, please put your foot up on this chair, and I will show you how it happened."

Alex complied and Dr. Smith tapped his calf with a light karate chop. "So, did that hurt?"

"No, of course not."

Dr. Smith tapped his shin with the same light karate chop. "Ouch. That did hurt."

"When the truck was hit from the side, your son's cup somehow shifted to the side. That allowed a hard surface to be in between the heavy metal and your son's thigh." He pointed to the outline of a bruise on Victors's thigh which matched the outline of the cup. The unconscious boy shifted on the bed. Normally, the soft tissue would have just been bruised. But, with the cup acting as a hard surface, like your shin, the metal parts of the pump damaged your son's penis and testicles." The two stared at the bandaged area between his legs.

"Alex, I have known you for a long time. I was your son's obstetrician too. Trust me when I say Dr. Smith here is an expert in penis reconstruction. Listen to him."

"That is not quite the whole story. In Colorado, where I practice genital surgery almost daily, what I am is an expert in creating a penis where there was none before. I create a pretty good penis for transgender men. And I also create a pretty good vagina for transgender women. That means I know what to save and how to save skin for you son. If I can't restore his testicles or his erectile tissues, I can at least give a good foundation to have a healthy and adequate penis reconstruction after puberty."

"So, he won't have a penis now?"

"Not if you want it done right later. Believe it or not, I think the best way to help him get his penis back is to give him a vagina. It will save the most skin possible for a future phalloplasty. Phalloplasty is what we call the reconstruction surgery for a penis."

"Are you sure we can't give him a penis now?" Alex grimaced at the question as he asked it.

"Yes, I could. But, what ever I do now will not grow with him. Ironically, if I construct a vagina with the remaining skin, the skin will grow and stretch with his body as he grows bigger. If I were to create a penis instead, he will have little more than an eight year old's penis when he turns 14 or 15. Maybe even smaller. Either way we go, he is going to have a tough time."

Dr. Smith could read the confusion in Alex's eyes. "Look, do you remember getting a ton of erections when you went through puberty?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever remember a time where maybe your penis felt like about to have the skin seperate from your hood? Some men do, others don't."

"Oh yeah. It happened to me. My doctor just chuckled and gave me some cream." He looked at Dr. Alvarez and blushed.

"That is normal. During your growing years, it is common to get very hard erections that help stretch the skin around the shaft of your penis. If it doesn't, you might get what is called a micro penis by your friends. The same thing will happen to Victor as he doesn't have a decent amount of erectile tissue left. As he grows older, a reconstructed penis made today will remain the same size, even with hormone replacement therapy. By the time he hits his adult size, he will be able to have reconstructive surgery. Only, by that time, it could be far more invasive in terms of where we get the skin from in order to give him a decent size penis that functions well enough to be satisfying for sexual intercourse."

Cupping his hand, he poked his finger into it. In another context, it would have been an obscene gesture. "If I build a vagina with the left over skin, then he can poke and dilate the skin on a regular basis as he grows. Then when he is older, there will be a much better chance of enough skin to rebuild a realistic penis, one which can penetrate a woman during intercourse with greater sensitivity, without, maybe, having to do skin grafts at all. By creating a pocket, we can inflate the remaining skin. If you create an external sealed pocket with a penis now, it won't grow with him."

Alex nodded. "It is easier to build a mountain if can you sink a hole first."

Dr. Smith left the worst for last. "Finally, there is another reason to go this route. Your insurance is Zelophehad Health Co-Op. That is a Christian medical sharing company."

"Which means?"

"That means you only get one shot to correct your son's penis now. Your insurance will not cover continuing transgender, or, in this case, same gender long term care. There is an additional benefit in that since you live in a rural area, it means that you won't have to deal with visits to the doctor every month until he hits the age of twelve or so. Additionally, once it heals, you will only need to do regular doctor visits until he hits the age of puberty. And then, you can just go on HRT until we are ready to reconstruct his penis. My guess is that would give you about seven years before you need to switch insurance companies."

After letting that sink in, he added, in a serious tone, "Whatever I do now, your insurance will cover it because of the emergency aspect of what happened. But, if you decide to follow my advice later, say in a month, they won't pay for a neovagina. It's now or never."

Alex stared out the window for what seemed like an eternity. "Now." came the plaintive response.

After signing the papers, he watched his son get wheeled down the hallway to surgery. Surgery would take about four hours according to the doctors, so he headed down to the admission office to fill out more paperwork. Coming out of the elevator he saw his mother walking down the corridor, he exclaimed, "Mom! What are you doing here, Mom?"

Turning around, she seemed rattled to see her son. "Oh, sorry Alex, they messed up my bill again. I have to go straighten things out. So, what are you doing here? Are you here to help me?"

The next few minutes were spent in updating her on everyone and what had happened. "Jerry's dead. And little Victoria ... I mean ... Victor is hurt. Can I help?"

"Yes, Mom. Can you come with me to help explain to Sally what has happened? They sedated her because they don't want her to lose the baby. They have already ordered bed rest for her. God bless Dr. Alvarez. She and her staff knew what to do. But, now I have to tell Sally the truth."

Outside the operating room, Dr. Alvarez talked to Dr. Smith. "So, you're headed off to Brazil after this?"

"Yes, to do research on a new surgical treatment for women. But, I have made a plan to stop by on the way back and see the boy."

"He should still be here. I heard his dad arranging with his grandmother to take him in for the month or so he needs to be close to me. That way I can look in on him and hasten his healing."

"Good. In a body that small, it won't take much to go wrong. I would be building a very big vagina in an adult. But, in a child ... if it doesn't work, what I am learning in Brazil ought to help cure that if it becomes a problem."

"If anyone can pull it off, it is you. I've seen your work. You are very talented. Well then, good luck and Bon Voyage. I'll take care of him on this end. And, thank you for agreeing to do this. It was extraordinarily kind of you."

In a waiting room at the hospital, Alex and his mom held hands and prayed. “I am sorry Sally couldn't hear the whole truth."

His mom squeezed his hand. "She's going to be okay."

"He’s still a boy Mom. He’s still a boy." He leaned back against his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "That's all that matters. He's still a boy.”

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 3 -- Rain Delay

As a late winter storm howled through the state bringing much needed rain and snow, Victor looked out the hospital window as his dad explained to him all that had happened. It all seemed so strange, just like the storm that raged outside. "No Dad, I really don't remember anything. I just remember waking up a few hours ago and they told me you needed to tell me something."

Alex struggled with the words as he held his son's hand. "Maybe that is a blessing. Anyway, the doctor and I have explained it to you as best we can. I know at eight this doesn't make sense, but giving you a girl's anatomy was the only option we had. You're still a boy. Got it?"

"Yes, Dad. I am still a boy."

"Just keep repeating that to yourself. And when you are fourteen, we can make it right, okay?" Victor saw his dad was very choked up. With all the stuff stuck in him keeping him in the hospital bed at the moment, he had yet to see what his dad was talking about..

"Okay dad, I am still a boy." Victor smiled at his dad. A few minutes later, Victor fell asleep. Alex went downstairs to where they were finishing up with Sally's blood panels.

"He's asleep Honey. And we need to get going before the roads turn too bad."

Dr. Alvarez came in the waiting room. "I know you all have to head out back home. There's no way around it, Sally, I am prescribing bed rest for you until the baby is born. Alex, here are the medications I want her to take daily. I am counting on you. I want a twice daily text with her blood pressure taken with the automatic device I gave you. I have taught you how to use it. Next, Victor can stay with his grandmother while he recovers, which means I can visit him and check his progress as he heals from the accident. Sally, you'll be back down here towards the third week in May. I plan to induce you just after Memorial Day. How does May 28th sound to you?"

"The 28th will be fine. Will it be strange for you to have a male patient for a while?" Sally chuckled.

"No, not at all. I did a rotation in neurology as well as general practice. Since the MRI was non-conclusive, I want him here so you can give birth to a healthy baby. The moment he has a headache, will get him right back in here ASAP. Your mother-in-law is just minutes from my office and the hospital. I want you to rest easy, so I am going to be a mother hen to him, okay."

Sally hugged her and said thanks. Soon after they got back to the village, Alex settled her into bed, gave her a sleeping pill, and sneaked into the barn. He climbed up to the hay loft. He swung open the doors and looked at his cell phone. Maybe it was the puddles of water that helped, but he was pleased to find the bars on his phone went from one to three. "Hello Sis! I need to talk to someone. Got a moment?"

"Sure Alex." On the other end of the line, she could hear his tone of voice and knew something was up. As cold as it was outside, she knew she needed to endure it for him. He heard her door close on his end. "Okay, it's just us now. What's wrong?"

Alex began to unload on her the horror of the last week. "I feel like a total skank. I've ruined Victor's life by turning him into a girl, sent him off to grandma's abandoning him when he needs us the most, and I feel very guilty for putting the baby ahead of his needs which ought to be just as important. On top of that, I haven't told Sally the whole truth about him."

"Tell me all about it. I'm here to listen to my favorite brother."

He chuckled. "Your only brother."

Their conversation lasted until Vicki couldn't take the cold anymore, but both felt the warmth of sibling love.

In Deming, after a visit to the lawyer, Mr. Jenson, to sign documents that Alex and Sally arranged, Grandma Martin wheeled Victor out of the hospital to her car. When they got to her place, she helped him walk into what was his aunt's old room.

"Thank you Grandma." Victor looked over his aunt's old room. He had only been here once before years ago. He never explored the house. It was weird. He had spent loads of time with her. Grandma liked to come up and stay with them in Silver City or at the village. He wondered if it was because he wanted to keep his aunt's room the same. Little had changed since she left, got married, and moved away. Had he been older, he might have seen there was some unfinished business here. To eight year old eyes, posters on the wall, a makeup table, a bed with stuffed toys on it, a small bookcase with romance novels, and a tambourine hanging from her bed's headboard post didn't seem out of place for a girl's room. Maybe if he saw there wasn't any dust anywhere in the room, it might have caused him to ask questions instead.

"Sorry Victor, I haven't gotten around to changing the room. I turned your dad's into a sewing room since he was the oldest and left first." She picked up a photo of her late husband on Vicki's desk. "I'll have to tell Alex that he looking more and more like his dad every day." She put the photo back down and examined the cheese hat that Vicki brought back from her first visit to Wisconsin.

"Who do I look like, Grandma?"

She studied his face for a moment. A smile came over her face. "Hard to say. I see a little of your mother, but a lot of your aunt Vicki. Of course, so did your dad when he was your age. But, you lean more towards Vicki." Her voice trailed off as she said, Yes, come to think of it, you really do have Vicki's features."

She stared at the photo of her late husband again. Victor could see a tear in her eye. "When did grandpa die, Grandma?"

Startled out of her reflection, she replied, "Oh, the day after your aunt's senior prom. Back in ..." She looked perplexed. "Anyway, it was a sudden heart attack at work. He was a security guard. Thankfully, he left a small life insurance policy for me. It paid off the house and the car."

"Grandma, could you help me do one more thing?"

"Sure, Victor, what is it?"

"I need to pee and ..." Victor blushed. He was still unsure how to do things in the bathroom.

She patted him on the shoulder. "You were a bit shy to ask back at the hospital. I've been there too."

"How Grandma?"

"When you have had an episiotomy twice, it's nice to have a little help avoiding tender areas."`

The following morning found Victor sleeping in till eight. This time, thanks to his grandmother's instructions the night before, he was able to go to the bathroom and then shower all by himself. He still avoided looking at his sex. It hurt too much. The trauma that his body felt, even though he was young, was profound. He ached something fierce between his legs at times. The bruises on his face, arms, shoulders, and the rest of the body persisted. One might think he had been in one hell of a fight. The doctor had prescribed pain medication. But, it was up to his grandmother to give it to him and make sure he wasn't given too much.

"Grandma, can I have a pain pill please." he asked as he came into the kitchen.

"Sure, Vicki." At first he didn't hear her slip of the tongue. After all, he was named after his aunt who was his mom's bridesmaid. And, it wasn't that uncommon for his grandmother to mistakenly call him by her name before. She usually corrected herself. What he hadn't noticed was that she was correcting herself less and less.

She reached up to a cupboard and brought down a pill bottle. "What is your pain level. One to ten?"

"Six." he answered sliding into a kitchen chair carefully. He started swinging his feet to distract himself from the pain in his crotch. Why that helped was beyond him.

"I think you are supposed to take this with something to eat. Would my little Vicki like some scrambled eggs?" This time, he couldn't help but notice that she called him by a girl's name.

Not sure how to address this faux pas, Victor politely responded, "Yes, please. But my name is Victor not Vicki."

She grimaced and didn't even seem to hear what he said. "These child proof lids will be the death of me." After finally getting the pill bottle open, she took out a pill. She poured a glass of water and handed him a pill and the water. "Here you go Victor." she said with a smile. Victor smiled back thinking she heard his complaint.

After breakfast, he enjoyed helping his grandmother clear the table and do the dishes. Doing chores was something familiar. Although her counters were the same height back home in the Village, she didn't have a stool. "Oh Honey, you're getting your blouse wet. Here, let me get you an apron." She reached for one and dropped it over his head and then reached the cords around him tying a nice little bow. It was an ordinary apron, which was okay. But, as he took it off later, he saw that he had it on backwards. It said 'Daddy's Princess.' His grandmother mentioned while they were doing dishies that it was a gift to his aunt Vicki as a little girl from her late father. She had pulled it out of storage when she heard he would be living with her.

True to her word, Dr. Alvarez stopped by to see him almost every other day. After the first week, she cleaned out the neovagina. From that point on, he would have to have a dilation three times a day for the next several months. After his birthday, he could start doing it himself she said. The next morning, as he sat on the bed with a sheet draped over his naked bottom, his grandmother said, "Her instructions say three times daily. She showed me how yesterday. Let's get started."

"But Grandma ..." he said turning a bright red.

"Stop it. It's not like I going to see I haven't seen as a mom over the years." she giggled. He shifted in the bed studying a boy band poster that his aunt had up on the wall. The Backstreet Boys was a band he had never heard of before. It kept his mind off of what his grandmother was doing.

Victor slowly began to cry again as he felt the insertion begin. It still hurt. His dignity at being invaded by his grandmother once again hurt more. It was nice that she didn't seem to like it either. And knowing that during the ensuing days and weeks, she would be doing this three times a day was an even worse punishment. He found himself concentrating on what the doctor said. 'It's like blowing up a balloon, except it is inside of you. To get you back close to where you were before, you are going to have to do some things you don't like at all. Promise me that you will do it, no matter how much it disgusts you.' All this so he could have his penis back. Oh why did he wrap his legs around that water pump. He was just being helpful. He concluded that the doctor was being helpful too.

After the first two weeks, things seemed to go smoothly. Things changed on a Saturday, "Come on Vicki, time to go to church." he heard her shout through the bathroom door. Victor came out of the shower and wrapped a towel around himself. He was still afraid to look at himself in the mirror. He came into his room to be greeted with, "Morning Vicki, I laid out your clothes. Here is a panty and a panty liner the doctor says you are going to need and a pretty dress. Hurry up, we have to be at church in an hour."

"Grandma, please, It's only Saturday. There is no church today. Remember, you had me take out the garbage last night."

She yawned and said, "Oh, it is? Anyway, you still need to get dressed."

"But Grandma, I am not a girl. This is a dress!"

"Vicki, stop lying. I've seen you naked. You're a girl. You were a girl when I gave birth to you." Beep! The smoke alarm's piercing tone filled the home with an urgent call to action. Racing to the kitchen, they saw eggs on the stove top burning. "Oh how did I let this happen!" While she turned off the burner. Having seen this happen at Thanksgiving at their place, Victor sprang into action and opened the back door to let fresh air in. He then went into the living room and opened the front door for cross ventilation. The call of the alarm was unrelenting. It took a few minutes of chaos, but soon the alarm quieted yielding to the occasional chirp.

The crisis over, Victor looked up to his grandma who was staring at him. "Honey, girls wrap a towel around themselves hiding their breasts." She tore the towel from him leaving him naked and redid it around him tucking in the towel just next to his armpit. "There, that's better, Vicki. You are such a sweet girl. I am glad you are home. Do you know what happened to your brother?"

The confusion in his grandmother's face was evident as she looked down the hallway towards the bedroom doors. "Grandma, I am not Vicki!"

Her mood changed instantly. She slapped his face. "Stop lying Vicki! Now you go get dressed and no more boy clothes for you! I put them away and brought back in yours. You will start dressing like a girl again. Do you hear me young lady!" Victor was stunned. His grandmother's voice was stern. He had never heard her like this before. She followed him to his room. Slowly, he slipped on the panties. Of course, they fit him like a glove. They did feel nice. The dress, now that was a different matter. With her arms folded and stern look, it was evident that he had to put on the dress. He examined the dress. It had a zipper in the back. He zipped it down. Now, he had to figure out how to put it on. The dress suddenly went out of his hands. "Arms up young lady." He closed his eyes and lifted his arms. She dropped the dress over him. He felt it slip down over his body and then she zipped him up.

Her mood changed once again as if a dime had been flipped. "Now, isn't that better. You are such a pretty girl. Now get your shoes on." She handed him black shiny shoes that were open like the Crocs he wore around the house. He sat down and slipped them on. His feet swam a bit in them."Buckle them up young lady." Came her next instruction. He found the tongue of a strap and threaded it through the buckle until it as a tight as it would allow him to make it. He poked the prong into the hole and finished buckling. It helped him that the gear he put on horses had taught him how to buckle things.

"Come with me." He followed her into the living room. She took a hair brush and said, "Sit down please." He did and she shook her head. "You forgot to smooth out your dress before you sat down." She began to brush his hair. "How ever did you get it this short?" As tears filled his eyes, he quietly sat there wondering why she was acting this way. It was scary.

"Hello. Hello. Mrs. Martin?" Alex turned to look at the front door. He could see Dr. Alvarez at the door looking at him through the screen door.

"Yes, who is it?" his grandmother asked.

A kind voice came through the screen door. "It's Dr. Alveraz. I just wanted to stop by and see how our patient is doing."

"Please come in. Vicki is doing just fine. I got her to stop wearing those stupid jeans you said might be uncomfortable on her. Why she borrowed them from her brother, I will never know." Dr. Alvarez came in and looked as stunned as did Victor. They stared at each other each not really knowing what to say.

She nodded as if to say something to Victor, "May I exam Vicki alone, please?"

"Okay. I have to go clean up the kitchen anyway." She got up and handed Victor the brush. "You keep brushing. Oh dear, I'll get us something to drink. What would you girls like?"

"Waters please." Dr. Alvarez waited until she entered the kitchen and then quietly turned to Victor and asked, "What's going on? And why are you in a dress?"

"She thinks I'm Aunt Vicki. She's been mistaking me for her for the last two weeks. And today, she thinks I really am her. She wants to take me to church too." Both of them heard coughing from the kitchen. Dr. Alvarez and Victor went to the kitchen.

"Are you not feeling well, Mrs. Martin?" She saw her hunched over holding onto a chair with one hand. She held a napkin to her mouth with the other.

"No, I feel like I am burning up." Dr. Alvarez pulled out a thermometer out of her purse and scanned her forehead.

"99.5 degrees. I think you could have a cold or maybe just bad allergies. Why don't you go lie down. I'll bring you something. Vicki, would you please help her?" Dr. Alvarez then leaned down and whispered into Victor's ear. "I'm humoring your grandmother. I know you are Victor. Just play along." Victor winced. "Trust me." With that, Victor led his grandmother to her bedroom where she climbed into bed.

A few minutes later, Dr. Alvarez came into the room with a fresh cup of hot tea and lemon. "Mrs. Martin, here this will help with the sniffles. Vicki and I are going to check things in the house. You just sleep, okay?"

Out in the living room, Victor said, "What's the matter with Grandma? And why does she think I am Vicki?"

"I think she's suffering from dementia, Victor. She's seventy-three years old. The cold could be making it worse. I gave her a sedative so she'll sleep." She didn't want to tell Victor that the stress of taking care of him may be the prime reason for it to get worse. The bags under her eyes showed she had gotten little sleep over the last two weeks as well as the hypnic jerks she exhibited over Dr. Alvarez's visits to see Victor. Probably from worry about taking care of Victor.

"Can I just go home? I'm really scared." He kicked at the floor.

"Not now. Your mom is in danger of going hypertensive. And you will likely give your mom the same cold if that is what your grandmother has. No, it's best you stay here. I'll get the staff to help out. They're good eggs."

Victor tugged at the dress. "I'm a boy you know. I shouldn't be in a dress. Should I?" He didn't want to say, but with his injury, the dress actually felt way better than wearing his jeans. It was the first time in weeks he had felt comfortable. Wearing it almost made the pain tolerable.

"I know you are a boy." she laughed. "I delivered you, remember?" Victor shook his head no. "Oh dear, you don't remember. They never do." She put her hands on her hips and said, "Just because you were a baby back then is no excuse, now is it?." Now he giggled. Her voice tender, she added, "I'm sorry. Your dad made a difficult choice. But, he wants the best outcome for you in the future. So, in the meantime ..."

"I've got girl like bits and have to see a doctor that takes care of real girl bits. I know. You and Dad told me all about it before he left."

"Do you mind? That's not so bad, is it? I mean, I don't get to see many boys in my line of work. Maybe I get tired of seeing only girls."

"So, you still think I'm a boy even with these girl bits wearing a dress, right?"

"Of course I do. Those girl bits don't define who you are. And you had no choice when it came to the dress."

Victor shook his head in disgust. "Still, I wish I could go home. I miss my mom and dad. I miss playing with Susan."

"I wish you could too. I want to explain to you why you have to stay here. Something I couldn't say with your dad in the room. Your mom had trouble when she was pregnant with you. Her blood pressure went too high at the end. I just barely got it under control for a ..." She stopped short of saying vaginal. " ... normal birth without having to induce her. The problem is that once that happens for some patients, like your mom, it happens earlier in the next pregnancy. That is what has happened to your mom."

"Is she going to be okay?" She could see the worry in his eyes.

"We're going to do everything possible so she is okay. In the meantime, I think we need to figure out how to deal with your grandmother's dementia. I am sticking around to help make things safe for you. Just be patient." She then pulled out her cell phone and went just outside the front door to make some phone calls.`

After about fifteen minutes, she came back in from the front door and called to him, "Victor?"

He came out from the kitchen and looked up at her anxiously. "Victor, I'll be back in a couple of hours. I think you will be fine until then. I'll see what I can arrange for you, okay? In the meantime, don't change your clothes. Right now, we need to keep your grandmother calm. If she wakes up and finds you in boy clothes, she might punish you and do something stupid. Yes, I know it's wrong. Just fetch her what she needs and don't argue with her. Promise me no matter what, until I come back, you are a girl named Vicki, okay?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do."

"Promise?"

"Okay, that means cross your heart and hope to die. You are a girl named Vicki no matter what happens. Even if the mailman shows up at the front door."

He frowned. "Okay. I am a girl named Vicki no matter what happens or who shows up."

From the front door, Victor watched her get in car and leave. Across the street, he saw a girl about his age wave at him. Instinctively, he smiled and waved back. Embarrassed by his response, he stole back into the house and closed the door. As he sat in the living room waiting for something to happen, he heard a knock on the door. Cautiously, he opened it and said, "Hello."

"Hola, I saw you wave to me. Are you new here? My name's Aurelia." Outside the door stood a smiling girl with beautiful olive skin and a pretty face. Unlike his Basque ancestry where he had dark brown eyes, brown hair, and light skin, she was clearly Hispanic. Not knowing who she was or if she knew his grandmother, he remembered Dr. Alvarez's clear instruction to him. He was a girl until she got back. He thought he could play it safe though. "I'm sorry. My name is Vicki. I am not supposed to come out and play. I was in an accident a couple of weeks ago and ..."

He saw her hand go to her mouth. "Oh my, I can see the bruises on your neck and face. Did they have to cut your nice hair too. We can sit and just talk if you like. All my friends aren't home and I just want something to do. And making a new friend would be lovely." She stared at me for a moment with pleading eyes. "Please?" It brought back the memory of Susan on his doorstep two and a half years earlier asking him to play with him on their weekend trips to the village. Back then, when his dad was working there part time as a construction worker, he didn't feel any shame in rebuffing her. But, later, when they moved there after the end of his first year at school, it didn't take him long to realize what a jerk he had been to Susan.

He opened the door further and came through the screen door leaving the door wide open so he could hear if his grandmother called out. "As long as we don't play, I don't see anything wrong with my just sitting out front with you. My grandmother isn't feeling well and the doctor is coming back soon. We'll have to talk quietly." There were a couple of white metal chairs next to the living room window seated around a small white metal table with an ashtray that hadn't seen use for ages. He motioned to them, "We can sit here if you want?"

Remembering his grandmother's comment about smoothing of his dress, he carefully smoothed out his dress with both hands before sitting down. Aurelia jumped the gun and asked, "I'm in the third grade, how about you?" She moved her chair to be in front of his and sat down facing him.

He realized that during the last two weeks, he had no one to talk to or play with. His heart ached for Susan. He didn't know yet that she was sent to see her cousin in Las Cruces and stay with her until he got well enough to return. It was a lonely vacuum for him though. Even if she was a girl, it was so refreshing to be with her. With a little excitement in his voice, he responded, "Me too. Although I finished my school year already." She looked baffled, so he added. "I'm home schooled along with my next door neighbor, Susan. We live far out in the country near Buckhorn. This is a big city for me these days. My dad grew up here in this house. We used to live in Silver City and my grandma visited us there all the time because our car is no good. My mom is having baby and I may have to stay here until the baby is born. That's in June. So, they are trying to figure out what to do with me because my mom can't take care of me."

"What do you like to play with your neighbor Susan?" She assumed they were good friends and played often.

Victor's body became very expressive with his hand gestures as he talked, "We play all the time. I miss her. She is a good friend. We even go horseback riding together. It's my favorite time with Susan. I love it. My horse is named Henry. Hers is named Thunder. My horse is nice and gentle. He likes to eat carrots from my hand. My dad says I have to be careful what I feed him or his hooves could become 'de animated' or something bad. So, I can only feed him a carrot or an apple once a day. My dad's real good with horses and knows a lot about them." He giggled. "Then we also like to do things like bake stuff together, or do coloring books, or even do puzzles. It's just us, so we like to do pretend games too."

Victor caught himself and realized that he was talking too much about himself, so he quickly added, "How about you?" As if to silence himself, he pressed his legs together and grabbed hold of the front edge of the chair's seat.

Aurelia giggled and said, "Oh, I have lots of friends. They all live around here. Usually, on a Saturday, I am over playing at their house or they are playing at mine. But, today they are all at a birthday party for a stupid girl I don't like and she doesn't like me."

"Is she, like, you know, mean?" Victor posed a question the way Susan would ask.

"Yea, well, she is new to our school and everyone thinks she is great." Aurelia rolled her eyes and shook her head. "On her first day, she dumped my food tray and everyone laughed at me while she acted all innocent. She got away with it too." Victor could see tears in her eyes. Susan would cry too sometimes. He found if he reached out his hand and put it on hers, she felt better. He wondered if that would work on Aurelia too. So, he began to reach out, but instead of his putting his hand on hers, he found himself tilting forward in the chair. Then the curved legs rolled which thrust him forward and, instead of falling, he found he was embracing her with a hug.

Aurelia was delighted and hugged back. Victor felt strangely warm. Aurelia grinned then said, "Thank you! I really needed that. I like you Vicki. Your sweet."

Fishing for something to say, Victor stammered, "I llike youu tooo. you remind me a lot of Susan."

Aurelia asked, "Do you think Susan would like me?"

"Oh, I know she would. Maybe when my mom has her baby, you could come visit us." He released her from the hug. "We also play Crazy 8s. Do you know how to play?"

"Sure do, I play it all the time with my friends at school." Victor noticed a far away look in her eye when she said that.

"Wait here, I'll get a deck of cards. Would you like a soda?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

While getting a few root beers from the fridge and a deck of cards, Victor remembered how jealous he was that the girls at his old school would hug each other. 'Well,' he thought, 'this is at least something he could enjoy if he had to be a girl.' They scooted around the table out front and began to play cards.

The two chatted away about their short lives as though they had lived a hundred years and needed to catch up on everything. "How you ever played dress up with Susan?"

"Susan only has the one dress. We wear jeans all the time because we do chores around the village. So, no, we haven't yet."

"And this is your only dress?"

"Well, yes and no. My grandmother pulled out a whole bunch of my aunt Vickie's old stuff because all I showed up with was jeans. She wanted me to have something nice for church."

"So, you said you were in an accident?"

"Yes. I don't remember much. I was knocked out much of the time and I was put in a coma for a few days because I had some sort of cushion with my head. Most of what the doctor's said went in one ear and out the other. I thought if your brain was swell, then they would want to keep you awake." Aurelia threw down an eight changing suits to hearts and the game proceeded on.

Both of them heard a call, "Aurelia!" They looked over to the other side of the street and a woman was standing in her doorway was looking around. Then she saw them waving back. She waved and came on over to the short wall in front of the sidewalk. "There you are. I see you found a new friend. Hi, my name is Mrs. Gonzalez. What's yours?"

"Hi Mrs. Gonzalez, my name is Vicki." Victor blushed. He had to play this role and it looked like he was getting in deeper.

"Mommy, can I please, please, please stay here a little longer. Pretty please? Vicki is real nice." Aurelia whinned. Victor found himself smiling at that compliment.

"No, honey. You have that science project for school due on Monday. And you promised you would work on it today so tomorrow we could do something fun."

Aurelia turned to Victor and asked, "Would you like to come with us tomorrow?"

He knew this was going to go too far. "Frankly, I don't know anything until the doctor comes back. I'll let you know. I may have to leave and go home since my grandmother isn't feeling well." That, he hoped, bought him a temporary out.

He waved goodbye to them as he gathered up the cards and the soda cans. He took them into the kitchen and noticed he had left the door open from after the eggs burning.

Closing the back door, he softly pounded the kitchen counter, whisper yelling, "I am not a girl! So why am I acting like one?" Then he caught his reflection in the kitchen mirror. He began to cry because he could see that he looked like the old photo of aunt Vickie next to the mirror.

No wonder his grandmother was confused. He was too.

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 4 -- Free Agent

Principal Torres answered the knock at her door with a sense of curiosity. It was at her home, not her office, which made this particular meeting clandestine. No surveillance cameras captured the comings and goings of her guests. No audio recording were to be made, that was an in between the lines request. She figured no notes were to be taken. In fact, she didn't even know that phones were turned off before arriving so not even Google would be able to track her guests movements. "Please come in Maria and you must be Mr. Fred Jenson, esquire." Mr. Jenson and Dr. Alavarez came in and Principal Torres closed the door behind them.

"We need to talk to you in private, where we can't be overheard. And what is said now between us can never be repeated out of this home because of HIPPA, legal confidentiality, and because we are trying to insure that CPS doesn't need to get involved. Either of us could lose our licenses to practice if this got out."

Torres sat down and looked at the two. "That bad? Good thing I kicked Paul out with the kids so it was just us."

"Yes, Ynez. Here's the low down. I have a patient who is pregnant and is on bed rest. She is due in mid-june, but I am likely to induce at the end of May. Her son was in an accident a couple of weeks ago, not his fault by the way, and he lost his privates. They had to be reconstructed into a neovagina so when he is a mature adult teenager he can have a reconstructed penis built from the skin we saved. His paternal grandmother took him in to help her son as well as have more time with her grandson. Fred here drafted up the paperwork which allows her to make decisions for this boy in the absence of the parents who live about 30 miles north of Silver City. He is also representing their interests in dealing with the mining company whose vehicle hit the one the boy was in. It made sense at the time to arrange this too since the grandmother lives here and I have to examine him once a week. Maybe more in order to make sure his remaining tissues don't go necrotic or get infected. However, in the two weeks of caring for him, his grandmother, and has shown signs of dementia, thinks her grandson is now her daughter due, I believe, due to extreme sleep deprivation. I believe it is from worry for the child. I need to find a way to take the load off of her so she can return to normal. Well, as normal as possible."

"What's the grandmother's name?"

"Rosemary Martin. She lives two houses down from your school, Monument Elementary, on Yellow Rose Avenue."

"The street and the last name's familiar. Does she have a daughter by any chance named Vicki?"

"Yes, Vicki Martin."

Fred added, "It's Van Buren now."

"Oh my, yes. I think Vicki and I went to school together. I had a thing for a close friend of her older brother Alex. We used to double date. She was a year behind me in high school. When I became principal of the school, I saw the home and remembered coming to their house with Eduardo to pick up Alex and his date. This must be his son. Why can't you send the boy to her?"

Fred said, "Because she lives in Wisconsin with kids of her own now. They can't meet his medical needs. And she can't come easily down and help until the first week in June when her oldest is free to look after the youngest. That is why we are here in this undisclosed meeting that never happened, wink wink. I want to figure out what we can do for the poor boy and the grandmother before more drastic measures are needed, like CPS."

"So, where do I come in?"

"Fred here has a solution to float by you. I think it will work. The boy needs proper supervision. We think if he temporarily comes to school, he can be safely monitored during the day. I have called my friends at the senior center and they will allow Rosemary to stay with them for the day so she doesn't get into trouble. I've talked to my staff, and they will check on them in the evening making sure everyone is safe and she is getting enough sleep. If things go south, we will know right away and can take more drastic intervention. But, if they stabilize, everyone is a winner."

"Where does he go to school now?"

Fred answered. "He is home-schooled. And, ironically, because he was all gung ho about playing little league, he had finished the third grade before the accident."

Torres shook her head. "Well, I can't place him in fourth grade this late into the year. It would have to be third. I think I can have a quiet word with Mrs. Herrera, but you didn't hear that. She will help and be trustworthy. But, if what you say is true, I am wondering if for this short time he should come as a girl. Would that be possible?"

Fred and Dr. Alvarez spoke at the same time. He asked "Why?" She said, "Maybe."

Torres got right to the heart of the matter. "Sooner or later the boys will wonder why he avoids using the urinal. And, then they will see his feet in a stall pointed away from the toilet and never towards it. Given their nature, it will take only one to put two and two together. Once outed, I will have to explain him to the parents which means everything comes out into the open. Since, as you say, he has a neovagina now, he can easily pass for a girl and none the wiser. So, why not?"

It took only an hour, but the three hatched a plan that would in theory work. The fly in the ointment was Victor. Would he go along with their plan?

After a quick stop at the store, she returned to the Martin household. "What took you so long?" said a mildly frustrated Victor. "She's been asleep the whole time."

"Good. Help me with these groceries please." In the kitchen, she began putting away frozen foods. "Victor, these are microwavable meals. They should get you started. I'll have Cindy, one of my staff, come over and help your grandma get the rest on Monday. This way, you won't have to worry about kitchen fires."

"When can I get out of this dress, please?"

"I really ..."

"Please, the neighbor girl already knocked on the door asking me if I would like to play with her." He avoided telling her the rest of the story.

"Oh my, what did you say?"

"My grandma's sick and I have to wait for her doctor to come back."

"Good answer. Victor, can I ask you a question about your Mom?"

"Ah ... sure."

"How did she feel after her last miscarriage?"

Victor remembered his ruined seventh birthday party. It was bad enough that his birthday was during summer, but to spend it at the hospital worried about his mom was worse. He didn't get a birthday party for his eighth birthday either because they had to work the village. It was rough having a July birthday. He hung his head low. "Pretty bad. Mom was real sad for almost a month. That's when the job at the village opened up full time. We moved and I lost all of my friends. Dad said it seemed to cheer her up."

"I know. I have treated her for depression before. You see, your mom is in danger of losing this baby if she gets too excited or stressed. So, do you want that to happen again? Because I don't."

"No, of course not."

"Another good answer. You're a smart kid. This is an important concept for someone so young. Part of being a good man, like your wonderful father is ... yes, I respect him greatly ... is protecting your family. I won't tell you what sex the baby is, but I will tell you that as an older brother, making sure she or he is safe for the next several months is vital to your mom, your dad, your family, and to you."

Victor fidgeted while she talked. "But, I'm a boy. Why do I have to dress like this?"

"Victor. Here are the facts. Your grandmother clearly can't take care of you twenty-four hours seven days a week. The strain has already worsened her dementia. On the other hand, if you go home, the strain of finding out what happened to you could cause your mom to lose the baby. I can't contact CPS and ask for a foster family because they can't handle your special needs given their workloads. Lastly, you need to be looked at by me often. So, I've talked to a few people and we have a workable solution that will get you through the next month or so. Okay?"

Victor mumbled a weak okay.

"A few doors down the street is an elementary school. Your dad's attorney is going to take you there Monday morning to be registered there on a temporary basis. You will still be in third grade. And, here is the good news, she will be giving you fourth grade homework to do. You will have to take tests and everything. But, the grades won't count against you if you take them seriously and not make a fuss over the work you are given. Your job is just to blend in and not call attention to yourself."

Victor perked up a little. "I guess that is okay. I'll have other boys to play with."

"Maybe. Here is the problem. You have to sit to use the bathroom now. How long before the boys figure out that you don't have a penis anymore."

"I can control myself. I'll just go when they aren't in there."

"And when they ask why and they find out?"

"I could tell them about the accident."

"So the boys will now want to see you naked in the bathroom because you look like a girl naked."

"It's not fair. I thought you said my bits didn't define me?" Memory of his examining Susan's bits flashed through his mind when they played doctor. He blushed knowing the doctor was right. He just didn't want to let on he understood what she was saying.

"No, it's not fair. If it were just you, your bits wouldn't define you. However, people will define you by your bits if you are in a group. So, sometimes you will have to let them in order to keep the peace. Just know, when your dad said yes to your surgery, we felt it wouldn't be a problem because you are home-schooled plus you live in the boonies where no one can ask you to take your clothes off. Here, they will."

Victor looked at her with a horrible realization of what she was really saying. "You mean boys won't care that I am a boy too."

"No, they won't. They will want to exploit your body, play with it, see what a girl looks like. They could even try to abuse the hole we created for you. Believe it or not, spending a month or two as a girl will let you better appreciate how you could be misused in the future. This may well be a blessing in disguise. Learning this lesson early will protect you for the next eight years."

She reached down and gave him a hug, "Look Victor, Cindy and I will be here tomorrow to teach you how to act like a girl. Remember, your little brother or sister is counting on you. I'm counting on you too. I need to get to the bottom of what is happening to your grandmother too."

They both heard his grandmother coming down the hallway. "Vicki, you look so pretty in that dress. Hello Dr. Alvarez."

Victor looked at his grandma and then at the doctor. He took a deep breath. "Thank you Grandma, but I don't feel pretty." He found himself going up to her and hugging her. "I love you Grandma." She bent down and kissed him on the head. For the second time that day, he felt a warmth that radiated through his body. He let go and she went into the kitchen and he heard her running the water in the sink.

As Dr. Alvarez went to check on his grandmother, he presented his final argument to her, "But what about my seeing girls in the girls bathroom."

"Truth is Victor, you look like them now. You won't be seeing anything you don't have right now. Frankly, if you have any curiosity about girls your age, just look in the mirror." He stood there stunned by the suggestion. He couldn't argue with it at all. In fact, he realized he would someday do just that.

The phone rang and he answered it, "Martin's residence. May I ask who is calling please?"

"Victor, you did that so well. Your mom is so proud of you."

Victor brightened, "Hi mom. I love you and miss you. Daddy too!"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes mommy, I am. I still have a lot of bruises that are healing. And the cushion I had hasn't come back."

"That's concussion sweetie. I sure miss you." She laughed at his use of the word cushion.

"How are you mommy? Do you feel the baby yet? Daddy says that he can see the baby move in your belly."

He heard a good laugh. "Well, he or she kicked me today. I am going to have to have a word with the baby when he or she comes out."

"Did I kick you?"

"Sure did."

"Sorry mommy, I didn't mean to hurt you. Howse Susan doing? Tell her I miss her too."

"She is in Truth and Consequences staying with her cousins. She'll come back when you come back. Can I talk to the doctor now, please?"

He put the phone down and went into the kitchen. "Dr. Alvarez, Mommy wants to talk to you."

Dr. Alvarez picked up the phone, "Hi Sally. How are you feeling?"

"Just fine. My blood pressure seems stable. But, I would love Victor to come home if possible."

"Well, your mother-in-law may have a cold which means Victor will have it next. There is also the fact we have to keep an eye on him. If he has any headaches, we need him to come to the hospital right away. No, I think his being here for a month won't hurt. Plus, you know darn good and well you would start taking care of him and what that means. So just relax and enjoy this quiet time your mother-in-law is giving you and Alex. Just remember, I am scheduled to induce you just after he comes back anyway. On the flip side, I think he is doing his grandmother a lot of good. They get along really well."

After the call, Dr. Alvarez and Victor helped his grandmother get back in bed. "I have a few pills for you I picked up from the pharmacy. I also picked up a CPAP machine for you. This is to allow you to sleep better Mrs. Martin. I am going to check you now. Why don't you go out front and wait for me Vicki." Victor went up front to wait on the Doctor to come back.

After she came back, Dr. Alvarez explained to Victor, "Cindy is coming over in a little while. She is going to check out what clothes you have in your closet. She is also going to look over the house and give you a list of chores that need to be done. Those things you can't do and your grandmother can't do by herself, she will help with. Tomorrow afternoon, Cindy and I are going to take you over to Walmart and my office. That way we can fill in any blanks in your wardrobe and personal needs. And then Monday will be your first day of school."

"Okay. I guess."

"By the way, how loudly does your grandmother snore?"

"Pretty loudly."

"Thanks, that confirms my suspicions. I have to leave now. You should be fine, I have put your grandmother on a CPAP machine and I think that will do wonders for her. So, if you hear a machine in her room, don't panic."

Victor smiled, reached out and hugged her. "Thank you. I felt so scared." She lightly ran her fingers through his hair. Then, without thinking, he took her hand and they walked to the door. He opened it and said, "See you tomorrow."

To their surprise, Aurelia was standing outside with her mother about the knock on the door. "Hi Vicki, my mom and I would like to know if you would like to come with us tomorrow to Las Cruces. We are going shopping for swimming suits."

Her mother then added, "Oh hi Dr. Alvarez, how are you?"

"Just fine Maria. Vicki told me she met someone earlier. Was it Aurelia here?"

"Yes. She was hoping that Vicki could join her. We're going shopping in Las Cruces for summer clothes too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Cindy is taking Vicki over to Walmart tomorrow to get her things for school since she will start going to Monument on Monday."

"You're going to my school?!" Aurelia reached in and grabbed Victor's hand and pulled him outside. She gave him a hug. He found himself hugging back.

"Yes, it is so his grandmother can rest during the day. And it means she has kids her own age to be around and doesn't get into mischief. Mrs. Martin is too old to take care of an injured girl. So, Principal Torres is putting her in Mrs. Herrera's third grade class on Monday."

"You'll be in my class too? Awesome!" Victor shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Aurelia added, "We can walk together to school. We'll have so much fun, you and I."

Victor, feeling a little overtaken by her enthusiasm, said shyly, "That would be wonderful."

"Mama, can I please show Vicki my room?"

A wry smile came over Dr. Alvarez's face. "Maria, there are two nice chairs here. Why don't we sit here for a while talking and let them get to know each other."

Speaking to the two girls, she said, "Okay, but the doctor's time is valuable. How about, thirty minutes"

"I think that will be perfect. Just what the doctor ordered." The two women giggled at the doctor's joke.

Victor took Aurelia's hand and they walked across the street. He had been in Susan's room a hundred times. But, she didn't much care for his room. It was bland according to her. That was true. His parents wanted to be able to move him around at anytime because their house was also the bunk house for the summer staff. However, Susan's parents liked to spoil their little girl. Their place was just a three room mobile home with an exterior roof built above it. Victor wondered if her room would be like Susan's. Aurelia's house reminded him of his home in Silver City. Both were a single story with concrete block that was stuccoed over. He liked the rough look of the exterior wall. The wood posts holding up a little roof over the front door was painted a dark brown. He noticed as they entered the paint was peeling. The door was also brown and needed painting. When they entered the home, she commented, "My older sister. Mercedes, is at high school rehearsing a play she is in. She's fourteen."

Aurelia kept guiding her to her room past photos on the wall. Some were ancient black and white photos showing little splash of a rusted color. The people looked almost fake and painted in. They wore full dresses and suits that looked heavy and from a time in which everyone must have been begging to take them off they were so hot. Aurelia's room was bright and cheerful. The walls were pink and she had blinds and curtains on her window. The furniture was a yellowed white enamel that looked like it was handed down to her. Off in the corner sat a familiar sight. It was a collection of Barbie dolls. Ken was driving a Malibu car that had seen better days. She released his hand and he went to the dolls. "Do you like them?" she asked.

Victor found himself giggling. "Susan and I play pretend games with her dolls. Ken and Barbie have a fight. Ken and Barbie have a baby. Ken and Barbie go horseback riding. Barbie is a princess who has eaten an evil apple and needs Ken to kiss her." He picked up a Barbie Doll wearing a tutu and with a practiced silly voice said, "I am going to be a ballerina and go to school in Paris at a dance academy if only Ken would find that pendant for time travel."

"Oh, that sounds fun. I've never heard that story before."

"Susan's parents have a hard drive that their friends sent them of television programs. There’s a television series she likes to watch about a girl who is transported in time and who is a ballerina."

"Do you watch it with her?"

"No, my parents don't want me watching much television. They tell me that living where I am, I will have to use my imagination." He looked around him at the room. "You have a pretty room. I like the curtains. They look like clouds. And are the sheets from the Little Mermaid movie?"

"Yes, they are." She grinned at her friend's likeing her room. It had been a while since someone had. "Thank you. I like my room. The morning sun wakes me up. I hardly ever have to set my alarm except in the winter. What time do you get up?"

"It depends. I get up at five during the summer. I have chores to do. I have to feed the horses. I have to clean the common bathrooms. Make sure they have toilet paper. Then I have to sweep and get the village store ready for the day. Then I have breakfast. Afterwards, I clean out the stalls and shovel horse poop into a pile. Dad uses a tractor to take it out to a field away from the village and tills it into the soil. He says with the new water tower we have he wants to plant pecan trees there. During the rest of the year, I get up at seven, have breakfast, and then take care of the horses and cleaning their stalls. After all that, I sit down and do my school work with Susan. Her mother or my mother watch over us and make sure we are doing our work. In the afternoon, Susan and I get to play. If we have done a really good job at school, we get to ride our horses to the creek and around the village. I love riding Henry."

"What's the village?"

"It's a summer retreat for a bunch of very rich software developers living in Phoenix. They want to use it to give their children a break from the summer heat of Arizona and after they grow up, Dad says they plan to turn the village into a summer camp. They are talking about naming it this summer. We just built a pool, so I can go swimming this summer. I was supposed to be taking swimming lessons in Silver City." He stopped short of telling her that it would be after little league. "I guess I will have to take them at the village now because the doctor says I can't go swimming until the middle of June because of all my injuries."

He looked over to her desk and saw a poster leaning up against the wall. It had clouds on top and a pond at the bottom. On one side it had rain and the other it had squiggly lines going up from the pond. "Is that your science project? Was it on the water cycle?"

"Yes! You had to do one too?"

"I had to do one last year. This year, I had to diagram a volcano. My dad took me a field trip up north to one. We visited this park that had different kinds of rock that a volcano leaves and an old volcano you can drive up to see. When we got to the top, we saw the caldera. I didn't even know New Mexico had volcanoes. Afterwards, we went up to Colorado to see some horses that daddy wanted to buy."

"What's it like being home-schooled?"

"I was in first grade and kindergarten. There, the teacher told us what to do. But, in home school, my Mom and Dad tell me what to do. Along with Mrs. King, Susan's mom. Most of the time, Susan and I study together. She's in second grand and I am in third. So, I help her with her homework after finishing mine."

"That's awfully nice of you."

"She's more like a sister than just a friend. We doing everything together."

There was a knock on Aurelia's door. "Aurelia, Honey, it's time for Vicki to go home."

When he crossed the street, he found Dr. Alvarez waiting for him. "Did you have a good time?"

"Oh yes. She is very nice."

"Good. Being a girl for a month or so isn't going to be that bad, will it?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I am still a boy. But, it is nice to have a friend again." He gave her a hug and waived goodbye.

He could hear the machine in his grandmother's room and wondered what it looked like as he clean the kitchen. It wasn't needing much cleaning, but between being bored and having become accustomed to doing chores, it was a sensible way to pass the time. After he finished, he sat in the living room wating for Cindy. Looking across the street, he ached to be with Aurelia. After a while,, he saw a car drive up and a young woman get out. He opened the door for her, "Hi Victor, I'm Cindy. May I come in?"

She came in with a few packages from Walmart. "I need to put these away." The two headed off to the kitchen. "I guess I will call you Vicki from here on out, but I want to make sure you know I am doing it because I don't want to reveal your secret by mistake. Okay?" Victor nodded. "Where's your room. I want to check out what clothes you will need to buy tomorrow." Victor took her hand and guided her to his aunt's room. She let go and went to his dresser. "Looks like you have enough underwear. But, its old. Best to get you new panties. Let's see. You have t-shirts, oh, no, they're camisoles. Guess a few new ones will help." Going to his closet, she remarked, "Like that dress you are wearing, these are certainly dated. You need to blend into the student population. So, we'll help you there."

"Cindy?"

"Yes."

Victor repeated a question he heard his dad ask his mom on occasion when she went shopping. "Where is all the money for this coming from?"

She stopped and looked at him. "I don't suppose it will hurt to tell you. Your lawyer. I heard that the driver that hit you was found to have beyond the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. And since he was driving a company truck, that means your lawyer is going to sue them for a lot. He wants you to look good for some sort of questioning that the other side will do."

"But, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Nobody said you did. Don't stress over it. The doctor says your lawyer is a good guy and knows what he is doing. The mine owners hate him. Okay, tomorrow, we are going to get you school suplies, clothes, pierced ears, and a make over with a friend of mine."

Victor eased himself up onto his bed. The soreness of his body was exerting itself against him today. "I'm still a boy. I don't know about getting my ears pierced."

"We know. The reason for the makeover is your grandmother and the school. Dr. Alvarez also feels that if you change your hairstyle and looks, your grandmother might benefit and you will benefit by looking more like a girl at school. At your age, usually it is just girls who have pierced ears. I am certified to pierce ears because I used to work in a tattoo parlor. The good doctor was certified too because certain of her patients like special piercings." She looked at him with a goofy grin. "Don't worry. We are doing just the ears. Besides, when you take out the ear rings at the end of May, the holes will close up by August. It will be as though you never had them pierced."

"Okay."

"But, Vicki, I bet you will have a blast if you just sit back and enjoy it. You are going to get so pampered. You will get all cleaned up and pretty."

Victor thought back to all the fun he had at the village. "I don't mind getting dirty. I love riding my horse, Henry. I get all dirty and smelly. I miss him. I miss Susan too."

"I bet you don't miss the chores." She looked at his sour face. "No, you really miss the chores too, don't you?"

"My dad makes them fun. After creating a manure pile, he lets me ride the tractor with him. And after, I do my chores during the week, he and I go out with Susan to fly kites. Or, he'll take us to the shooting range and teach us how to shoot a rifle. Sometimes, he drives Susan and me to Buckhorn for ice cream from the gas station. He and Jerry will talk about sports and other stuff. Since he got this job, I get to see my dad almost all the time I want. My dad is cool. I don't think he will want to do that with me as a girl."

"Chin up, it will be at least a month before you can go riding again. You have to let yourself heal. You'll be back to being a boy soon. By the way, I have some not so nice news for you. Your grandmother confessed during her examination that she threw away your 'disgusting and smelly clothes' this morning."

"Oh now that means I have no clothes!"

"No. You are just stuck wearing your aunt's old clothes, I guess, until we can get you boy clothes to replace them. In the meantime, if there is any change in your grandmother's condition, you are to call Dr. Alvarez first. If she doesn't pick up, leave a message telling her what is happening. Then call me if you don't get her and do the same. Our numbers are next to the phone."

Cindy stuck around and helped him microwave his dinner. His grandmother was sleeping deeply, so they decided to leave her alone for the night.

With the lights off in the room, he stared at the ceiling thinking about the day. It really hadn't been so bad. Meeting Aurelia was really nice. He could tell she was kind hearted. But, who was this girl that hurt her at school. That part wasn't fun. No, if he was going to have to be a girl, he would make sure he did what he could to be Aurelia's friend. He didn't like being the oddball in first grade.

As he turned his head on the pillow and looked toward the dimly lit Back Street Boys Poster, his last fleeting thought before he entered the land of nod was, "Why did I call Mom Mommy?"

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 5 -- On Strike

Victor slept well. There was no snoring from the other side of the house as there had been for the last two weeks. He could even enjoy the sounds of the morning dove outside his window. He found the aura of peace enhanced by the fine dust particles filtering through the sunlight coming through a slit in the blinds. Now it truly was Sunday. He wondered if all that happened yesterday was really a dream. A quick feel of the nightie dispelled that notion. The clock said seven thirty. He stretched and stepped out of bed.

The need to go the bathroom felt urgent, so donning his slippers he headed off to the bathroom. Having to sit was becoming less of a conscious thought. And, for once, he understood why his mother's concern about keeping toilet paper in the ladies room. He never had to wipe after peeing before the accident. Taking a shower, he blushed as he felt his new equipment. He jumped when washing the new folds finding them sensitive in a pleasurable way. The soreness had dissipated over the last week. After the shower, he wrapped the towel around him like his grandmother had shown him the day before. He looked at his face in the mirror. There was a little bit of boy and a little bit of girl in the mirror. He stepped back and moved aside the towel. Looking down at himself in the mirror for the first time since the accident, except for a faded greenish bruise, he could see two folds of skin where his penis had been. That was too much to take in, so he dropped the towel back in place. A moment later, he pushed aside the towel again to look. 'It's pretty.' he thought. His maleness immediately responded, 'what am I thinking!'

Returning to his aunt's room, the morning sun was still filtering onto the carpet. A noticeable area of the carpet showed that it had been cooked by the sun over the years. Back to his task of getting dressed, he realized he didn't want to wear dirty clothes, so he pawed through the closet to find something to wear. He saw a white dress with roses all over it. It had thin straps to hold it up. He pulled it out and put it on the bed. Then, grabbing a fresh panty from the drawer, he search for the panty liner his grandmother had put on it the day before. He found a thin cardboard box in the adjacent drawer with elegant lettering had some pads in it wrapped in some sort of thin green translucent paper. He ripped it open and took out the panty liner. Examining it, he saw on the back a strip on shiney paper and pulled it. Flatting out the panty like the back of the package showed, he was able to afix the pad to the panty as the instructions on the box showed. He then slipped it on. Again, he was amazed at comfortable it felt. Although the pad wasn't as secure as what his grandmother had done for him the days before, it seemed secure. Grabbing the dress, he found no zipper. He mistook the buttons for the front of the dress though. But, reaching from beneath the dress, he found he could wiggle into it with the buttons undone.

He checked himself in the mirror on the back of his aunt's door. He put on his slippers and headed to the kitchen where he had a bowl of cereal and milk. He washed up his spoon, bowl, and glass. After putting them on the rack, he sat there wondering what to do. Part of him wanted to run across the street and see if Aurelia was home. Part of him wanted to hide. Part of him couldn't wait to go to school. All these warring factions kept him distracted until, around eight, his grandmother came into the kitchen.

"Morning Grandma." He went up to her and gave her a hug. He was liking the warm feelings he was getting from giving hugs. This was something he never did back home. Mostly because they were always dirty. His parent's were affectionate. Just not into dirt.

"Morning Victor. Boy, did I get a really good nights rest. I really needed that sleep." She looked at him and was shocked. "I dreamed you were Vicki." Looking at what he was wearing, she slowly exclaimed, "What happened yesterday?"

Victor stood there shocked. He didn't know what to say. "Umm ... Grandma, yesterday you said I was Vicki, put me in a dress, and threw out all my clothes before I woke up. We didn't realize until later that the garbage company took them away."

"Oh dear!" She put her hand to her mouth. "It's okay Grandma. Dr. Alvarez took good care of you. Can I make you breakfast please? Cindy showed me how last night." he said excitedly. She nodded yes and sat down stunned into silence by her Swiss cheese memories of the previous day.

Victor placed a breakfast sandwich from the freezer in the microwave and started it. He then got a glass and filled it with orange juice. Once things were done, he brought her breakfast."You know, Victor, you have that dress on backwards."

He sat down. "I do?"

"Why don't you take it off and get back into your regular clothes."

"I can't. Sorry. Remember, I just said you threw my clothes out yesterday."

Piercing through her hazy memory of the day before, it hit her that he was telling the truth. "I did! Oh my word! What else did I do?"

"Grandma, I have to make a quick call and then I'll be back to tell you."

"Hello, Dr. Alvarez, my Grandma woke up back in her right mind. Cindy said to call you with any updates." He listened to her response on the other end. Smiling, he said, "Okay, Thank you. See you soon."

Giggling when he came back into the kitchen, Victor stated, "Well, I guess it is best to start from the beginning." For the next few minutes, Victor related the whole story up to and including Cindy's visit and finding out his clothes were thrown away.

His grandmother shook her head. "I can't believe that I was that far out of it." She looked at the content child smiling at her. "I'd be furious if it were me. Why are you so cheerful?"

Victor was giddy. "It's okay Grandma. I got to make a new friend yesterday. Her name is Aurelia. She lives across the street."

"Aurelia. Is that her name? I've seen her coming home from school. Never talked to her. Is she nice?"

"Oh yes, very nice."

She gave him the searching eye, "Are you attracted to her?"

"No. I just enjoyed being with someone my own age. Nothing against you Grandma, but reading and sitting around here isn't much fun." She nodded in agreement. A knock came at the door.

"I'll get it Grandma." Victor scurried to the front door and greeted Dr. Alvarez. "Please come in."

Victor gave her a quick hug. "Good morning Vicki. I see you've got your dress on backwards." She smiled and came on in.

"Grandma's in the kitchen." Victor closed the door behind him.

Stepping into the kitchen, Dr. Alvarez greeted her patient cheerfully, "I hear you are feeling much better. So, I guess we need to talk about things."

"I'm so sorry. I have no idea what came over me. Thank you so much for intervening! How can I ever repay you?"

"It's my job. Anyway, Mrs. Martin, dementia is a problem for older adults. Add to that sleep deprivation, and you find yourself becoming another person, like yesterday. I think we need to do a sleep study on you. Recent research has indicated that lack of sleep accelerates dementia. Although it is just beginning in you, which isn't unexpected at the age of seventy-three. It does mean that if you don't correct your sleeping patterns soon, it will get worse faster."

"Lack of sleep did this to me?"

"More than likely. You have been fretting over the boy, haven't you?"

"Umm ...."

"Be honest."

"Well, yes. It's just so unnatural what’s been done to him. It just seems wrong. I've been sitting up at night trying to figure out what to do with him too."

They heard a knock at the door. His grandmother entreated Victor, "Go check to see who it is, please?"

Victor paused at the front door. Thinking fast, he pulled his dress up and, with a quick twist, reversed it just in case. After smoothing out his dress, he opened the door. Aurelia sweetly asked, "Hi Vicki, I see you're up, can I come in please?"

"Oh, just a moment, I need to see if the doctor is done examining my grandmother in the kitchen."

"Kitchen? Why not her bedroom?"

He shrugged, "I wish I knew. I'm not a doctor. Be right back."

"It's Aurelia Dr. Alvarez. She wants to come in." Something about the way he said that made her pause.

Turning to Mrs. Martin, "While she plays with Aurelia, would you mind calling Victor Vicki? It's important to him. I'll explain later."

"Oh, is this the girl he met?"

"Yes, Grandma. I really like her. I think she wants to play with me and ..."

"Okay, take her back to your room. In the closet are all of your aunt's old toys. I kept them there in case your cousin Olivia every visited. Sad thing is she is fifteen years old now. I don't think she'll ever play with them."

With a note of enthusiasm, he replied, "Yes Grandma, thank you." He raced up and gave her a hug. "Your the best!" As he left the kitchen, he announced, "It's like playing with Susan again." The doctor and Grandma looked at him at then at each other with a curious expression.

"Come on in, Aurelia." As they passed the kitchen, Victor guided Aurelia in briefly and introduced his grandmother to her.

"Run along ... Vicki. You have a couple of hours." Dr. Alvarez and she continued their conversation in hushed tones after they left.

"Oh my, what a nice room." Aurelia said as she looked around the room.

"Yes, my aunt had good taste." he said not knowing if his aunt really did or not. Victor headed to the closet and separated the clothes. He could see the box he was told about. "Here it is. My grandmother said it was here."

Sliding it out, he pulled it to in front of the bed. "She says all my aunt's old toys are here. Can you help me lift it onto the bed, please?"

Aurelia and Victor picked it up and put it on the bed. Victor thanked her and began sifting through it to see what toys were there. While, he was checking to see what was in the box, Aurelia headed to the closet. She started studying the dresses. Victor stopped what he was doing and watched her. She carefully studied each dress, blouse, and skirt. "What do you think?"

Aurelia put her hands on her hips and stated, "Your aunt had interesting taste, but these clothes are really hers. You should have your own style."

Victor chuckled and went back to looking through the box. He could tell she cared a great deal about fashion. He found a jig saw puzzle of a horse and pulled it out setting it aside. "I don't know what my style is. I don't think much about fashion."

Vicki came over to look into the box to see what else was there. "You should. You're a pretty girl."

Victor sighed heavily, "The only one here who is pretty is you. I'm ugly."

"You think I am pretty?" she asked innocently.

Victor's answer was just as innocent. "Yeah. You make a much better girl than I do."

She pouted and inquired, "Did they have to cut your hair when you had the accident?"

"It'll grow back." Victor asserted not wanting to say that it wasn't cut at all.

"It must hurt that they had to cut off something you must love."

Victor bit his lip to keep from laughing, he choked out, "More than you will ever know." He also appreciated her attempts at sympathy. She had a kind heart even if she was bossy when it came to fashion.

"We girls put so much effort in having beautiful hair. Boys will never know!" She continued dramatically. "It's hard to look pretty." Victor pulled up a set of Barbies and Kens. "But it must be especially difficult for you being so naturally pretty."

"I dunno about my hair. I kept it somewhat short because of all the chores I had to do in the barn. When you live out in the country, you never think of looking pretty. There's no one around to care how you look. Except the horses of course. And they only care if you are nice to them." He stopped searching and tried to take her attention off of him. "Of course, if I lived here all the time, I would want to look as pretty as you do."

She loved the compliment and grinned. "You are so lucky! I would love to have a horse. How tall is your horse?"

"Thirteen hands. He's a Morgan. That's a breed of horse. He has a luscious black coat. Thunder is a Quarter-Horse with three white socks and a blaze on his nose. She is twelve hands.” He said proudly, “But, Henry can pull a buggy too. And, before the end of summer, he pulls a carriage in a small parade celebrating the end of summer. I think Henry really likes me most of all. His ears follow me even when other people ride him or my dad is around."

Missing the importance of the ears following Victor, Aurelia asked, "That is an odd way to measure a horse. Hands? I bet you look pretty on your horse. Do you have any pictures?"

Victor turned and placed one hand on top of the other in parallel fashion stepping them up like they were part of a wall. "Like this, except they are a grown man's hand. There are no pictures. No phones either. I carry a walkie-talkie to communicate with my dad or mom. When I ride, I wear a cowboy hat, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt to keep the sun off of me. Luckily, because there isn't any chaparral up where we live, I don't have to wear chaps when I ride. They can get real hot. I know because I wear them for the parade at the end of summer."

"Why do you wear a cowboy hat instead of a cowgirl hat?"

Victor shrugged his shoulders. "That's all we have in the tack room. Nothing fancy. Not even my mom or Susan wears a cowgirl hat when they ride. Truthfully, I am supposed to wear one of the helmets, but I don't like them. I have to wear them during the summer though. All the kids do. Of course, I don't get much of a chance to ride in the summer. I am mostly working at the village store or the laundry room to help keep things swept and clean or I will help fold laundry. This summer I will be working at the new pool too."

"Do you play much with the kids when they are there?"

"Not as much as I like. They think I am beneath them because I am the help. I take their horses and wash them down after they ride them. They hate doing that, but I love it. Horses are great big teddy bears."

"Doesn't that bother you? They sound mean."

"A little, I guess. But, last summer, there was usually one or two kids that liked to play with me and Susan. Plus, there are the students they hire to help out during the summer too from the college in Silver City. They bunk in our house. During the most of the year, my grandmother can stay in one of those rooms. So, it all works out.” With a note of excitement, he added, “Of course, this year one of the rooms is being turned into a nursery for the new baby."

"How do you do you live like that?"

"Don't have much choice. And, it's not so bad. Really, I love living there. Would you like to do this jig saw puzzle? It is a jig saw of an Appaloosa. They are really handsome horses. They were bred by the Nez Perce Indians. They are kind horses too. That is what my dad says. He wants to buy several for our stables. So, in the fall, he and I are going up to the Dakotas to pick them up and bring them home."

Aurelia looked around,"Where can we do the puzzle?"

Victor suggested, "I guess on the floor."

Aurelia shook her head looking at the shag carpet, "I don't think so. The floor is too puffy."

"Let me go ask." Victor stole into the hallway and approached the kitchen. He could hear them talking.

Victor stood outside the door of the kitchen and listened for a moment. "After her dad died, Vicki became distant and depressed. She developed a fixation on going to Wisconsin. Her dad was a huge Green Bay Packers fan. She left the summer after he died. Came back only once and went back. I haven't seen her for years since her wedding. Alex gave her away. It was a backyard affair. We hardly talk and I don't know why. I send her kids Christmas and Birthday cards. Gifts too. I talk to them all on the phone on their special days. We're civil. I have offered to fly up, but they don't have any place for me to stay. Not like I do with Alex. I know she loves me. She tells me she loves me, but, she is still so distant."

"There's no telling with family sometimes why they don't get along, is there?"

"Well, I just wish I knew what I did wrong. I wish she would just tell me and get it over with. It's this not knowing."

Feeling the time was right, Victor poked his head into the doorway. "Grandma, I found a neat jig saw puzzle, but there isn't a good place to put it together."

"There is a big tray in the closet too. Your aunt used to put it on the bed and put puzzles together with her friends when she was your age."

On an impulse, Victor ran up to her and hugged her, "Thanks Grandma. I love you. You're the best. Maybe you could help us?"

She caressed his face and tweaked his nose in a gesture his dad had used on him a hundred times. "Thanks Sweetie. I love you too. I'll think about it." He answered with a giggle and another kiss on her cheek.

On the way back to his aunt's room, he realized that he really did love spending time with her. Her long visits at the village were magical. He hated to see her leave, but she was getting older and had doctor's visits. Still, this one was even more magical. In his aunt's room, he rummaged through the closet till he found the tray. Together, they took the box of toys off the bed and put the tray at foot of the bed, Victor was faced with a different problem. He had never sat on a bed in a dress before. He let Aurelia climb on to the bed in her dress first so he could see how she would handle it. She sat on the edge of the bed with her feet on the railing, crossed her legs with her crossed leg on top being the one closest to the tray, She then turned and leaned slightly into the center of the bed. Victor mimicked her. They turned the pieces onto the tray turning the cardboard puzzle pieces over to reveal the photo underneath.

"Here is a side piece."

"Here's another."

After a few minutes, they were giggling and working on the puzzle. In the hallway, Rosemary Martin listened to them play. It was music to her ears. It was why she enjoyed being at the village. She would go have coffee with Mrs. King and listen to Victor play with Susan. She was sad that she had to still work when Vicki had her kids. She couldn't afford to travel to Wisconsin and see them. And Vicki couldn't come down to see her. Victor and the new baby were the only grandchildren she could enjoy on her meager retirement income. But, there was something different in the sounds coming from the bedroom. Victor sounded happy.

"Hi girls."

"Come help us Grandma! Please?"

"Yes, Mrs. Martin, help us!" Pulling up Vicki's desk chair, she sat there enjoying helping finish the puzzle. She couldn't remember if her Vicki ever invited her to sit down and help.

After a while, Victor asked, "Has Dr. Alvarez left?"

She found a piece of the horse's tail and found a place for it. "Yes. She said she would see you later at her office to get your ears pierced."

"Oh, I wish I could get my ears pierced. My Mom says I have to wait unitl I am nine."

With the three of them working the puzzle, it was nearly done when Victor heard a knock at the door. "Is Cindy here?"

Glancing at the clock, she said, "She's not due for another half-hour. Let me go check." Rosemary got up out of her chair and went to her door. "Hello, are you Vicki's grandmother."

"You must be Aurelia's mother. She is such a nice girl. Please, come on in. Hi, I'm Rosemary."

"Maria. I hope she's not intruding or being a nuisance?"

"Oh no. They are having fun putting together a jig saw puzzle. Come on." Rosemary waived to her to come follow her.

Seeing her mother in the door to Victor's room, she jumped at the chance. "Hi Mom! Can I get my ears pierced too? Please?"

"What brought all this on?" her mom said.

"Vicki is getting her ears pierced. Her hair is so short that we want to make sure she doesn't get teased at school tomorrow."

Her mom gave Rosemary a blank stare. Aurelia saved the day. "She lost her hair in the accident Mom."

Victor didn't care. He sat there and watched the women wage war on ear piercing and hair length. It was no big deal to him. He was told that in short order, after he returned to the village, his ears would heal over and no one would be the wiser. He just wanted to make sure he was treated as a girl and no one found out he was really a boy.

"How sad. So, you are taking him to Walmart to get them pierced?"

"No, Dr. Alvarez does ear piercing. She told me she paid for her college degree in the beginning by doing all sorts of piercing." Rosemary said. She winked and added with a whisper in Maria's ear, "Including intimate ones too it seems." Maria smirked.

"Please Mom, can I?"

Mrs. Gonzalez admonished her daughter once again, "You know how often I have said you had to wait until you turned nine."

It was clear to Aurelia that long ago that she wasn't going to win this argument. "Oh, okay."

Rosemary looked at Maria and winked. In unspoken looks and furtive eyebrow movements, a plan was hatched.

"Really?" Maria asked. Rosemary nodded yes. With a sly grin on her face, she turned to her daughter and announced, "But, I think we can make an exception today if you want to get them pierced with Vicki." Aurelia couldn't believe her ears. "We can do your shopping next week, can't we?"

Aurelia jumped off the bed and went to hug her mother shouting, "Yippie!" In the dance that followed, she got Victor to join much to the amusement of the ladies.

Rosemary said, "Just let me make a quick phone call to let Dr. Alvarez know. Would it be possible for Aurelia to help Vicki pick out some clothes too at Walmart? Vicki really doesn't know that much about clothes. And I am too old to know what girls want to wear these days."

Victor watched with amazement as the excitement in the room increased. It made him feel good somehow to know that he was the cause of all of this. Aurelia exclaimed, "I would love to help you! Can I?" Victor just smiled and nodded yes. The two hugged.

Victor soon found himself in the backseat of a car with Aurelia holding his hand and talking his ear off. She shared her knowledge of clothes as if she had been a designer of haute couture in Paris. In the front of the car sat her mom and his grandmother chatting away too. At Dr. Alvarez's office, Cindy placed the clamp on his ear lobe. He quietly endured the pain of the piercings by Dr. Alvarez. She chose simple loops to go in his ears. As he looked in the mirror, Aurelia went on about how pretty they will both look.

He nodded in agreement and then watched her get her own. Afterward the two friends headed over to the Salon. Cindy had arranged for a private session with a friend of hers. Because of the uniqueness of their relationship, it was decided that Aurelia would receive a makeover too. It seemed to Victor that Calista, the hairdresser, talked to Aurelia for ages. It was decided that she would get blunt bangs over her eyes and to leave her long flowing hair alone. But, in a twist, she would get colored a rusty color.

The result was stunning. Her bangs highlighted her face and drew attention to her delicate features. The color was lively. Not a flat shade like she had done it herself. It was rich with eddies of color that softened her face too while looking like it was her natural color. And, best of all, it meant that her favorite pink lip gloss stood out. The over all effect was so pretty that Victor giggled and said she should be in the fashion magazines on the table.

Calista studied Victor's brown hair. She pulled up a Celine Dion video with her having very short blond hair on her laptop. She froze the frame on Celine and carefully noted that she could do his hair in her style. She would dye his hair blond and then carefully pluck his eyebrows into a soft feminine shape. He thought about it for a moment about the blonde hair and then said, trying to sound like a girl, "There is this poster of the Backstreet Boys in my aunt's room. One of the guys has a really cute hairstyle."

"Aaron or Nick?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's parted down the middle of his head and looks long, but stops at his ears."

"That's Nick. Yes, that could work very well for you too. Let's see. I'll have to give you a perm so your hair is fuller and dye it blond. But, yes, that is a great choice."

The effect was magically by the time she was done. Victor was shown that if he combed it one way, he looked more like a boy. And if he did it like Nick did, he actually looked like a girl. "So, don't comb it like you're a boy." Calista winked at him. The unspoken observation was pregnant with meaning. She had been told who he really was. She then showed him how to comb it without needing a mirror so it looked more feminine.

Next, she set about plucking his eyebrows. By the time she was done, they had a soft curve and looked quite girly. About that time, a woman entered the salon and introduced herself to the girls as Allison. She was there to do their nails. It didn't take long, but she had their nails done too. She gave them each some lip gloss to go home with.

As Victor looked in the mirror, with his nails done a soft shell pink, the lip gloss they put on him a soft shell pink, his hooped ear studs, and his blond hair, he looked all girl in his aunt's dress. The only problem was that his shoes didn't match. They were the shoes of a cowgirl or a cowboy at the village. Simply ugly.

By the time the girls were done, it was lunch time and everyone was hungry. It was decided they all should go to a little Italian eatery around the corner.

Aurelia and Victor had kid plates of spaghetti and meatballs. His grandmother, Cindy, and Maria had small salads and bowls of minestrone soup.

Victor could tell his grandmother was tiring. Cindy saw it too. "I can run her home and be right back. One of the advantages of living in a small town." So, while they finished some gelato, Cindy ran his grandmother back home.

When Cindy got back, she followed the girls and Mrs. Gonzalez to the Walmart in her car. It wasn’t far either. At the Walmart, Cindy pulled out a Visa debit card and told the girls they have a $700 budget for shopping for Vicki. "Okay Aurelia, we have to be practical. She needs panties, socks, shoes, shorts, skirts, blouses, and dresses. A purse. One rain coat."

The women set to work. Mrs. Gonzalez grabbed a cart. The first stop was the shoe aisle. They found Vicki a pair of sport sandals with a rainbow on top of pink straps. Then they got her a dressier sandal with flowers on the straps. Then they found a pair of tennis shoes with stars on them that she could wear to school daily. To top it all off, they found on sale a pair of white patent summer dress shoes with a little heel.

Sixty dollars in, they found the underwear aisle. Victor found himself blushing. Aurelia pick up a bra and put it up against him. "You and me will be wearing one of these soon. Mercedes already is." She whispered, "She's got big boobs. She just started to wear C cups."

"Aurelia!" Her mom tore the bra from her hands and issued a strong retort. "This is not the time or the place to discuss this."

"Sorry, Mommy." She turned and winked at Victor who once again blushed.

One hundred and thirty dollars in, loaded up with underwear, socks, and shoes, they came to the girls section of the Walmart. Victor looked longingly at the boys section across the wide aisle. For him, it was a world away. And a simpler one at that. Over there, the only adventure in fashion choice was what Marvel hero or DC character he wanted to grace his t-shirt. Everything else was a miniature version of what his dad wore everyday. A polo shirt or a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a belt. A jacket to keep him warm.

The world on the side he now found himself on was an alien world filled with wonderful color, style, and other things that made little sense to his eight year old mind. For example, The jeans they were looking at were orange, or green, or a soft blue. They could flair at the bottom or have the knees look already worn out. He watched them fumbled through something called leggings to find him something to wear when it got cold at night or he just needed to wear them under shorts. It seemed obvious to him that if it is cold, you wear jeans. If the sun shines and it is warm, you wear jeans. If it is raining, you wear jeans. If it is Sunday, you wear slacks to church, which are nothing more than a nice pair of jeans.

He was thrown in and out of the changing room so often that he concluded that he could tack a nap in there and let them just hand him clothes. But, no, he was to give his opinion. What did he like and didn't like. Aurelia prodded him more than once to venture an opinion.

For about the first half, of the journey in this foreign land, his non-committal responses were aggravating to the threesome of feminine guides. But, soon, as his mind began to comprehend that his lack of interest would keep him there all day, he began to exert a form of choice verbally.

"I like that color. I've always liked blue."

"It's a boy color." said Aurelia.

"Still. I like it. This one too. I think it goes with my blond hair."

Walking around a circular rack, he pulled out a blue smock with flecks of grey. "I like this." he smiled and said. "Is it my size?" While the girls found one in his size, he found a similar top. It was a smocked bodice blouse that had nice long sleeves with sheer fabric wrapped around the sleeve. "Do they have it in my size too?" he asked putting the girls to work.

Looking elsewhere, he found a tye-dye blouse with straps and with a kind of shoulder wrap that traversed his front and back. It was a melange of yellow, pink, and blue.

Soon, everyone was following him. At the end of his shopping, he pulled out a navy blue dress and a lighter version with unicorns on it. Cindy was very impressed and said that they had only spent $550.

They headed over to the jewlery section. They got a few trinkets he could wear and a purse to carry stuff at school. Next to the aisle was some backpacks. In the moments that they were looking at the backpacks, Victor spots a rather nice necklace at the end of the jewlery aisle.

He had an idea. He picked up two that were the same. "Cindy, can I buy one for me and one for Aurelia as friendship necklaces, please?" Aurelia smiled and hugged him. He then suggested they get a dress in common for Tuesday. Aurelia and her mom raced over and got a copy of one of the dresses he had chosen.

Cindy said, "You know, Maria, we are just going to get him some school supplies now. If you girls want to head home, I am sure that we won't be much longer. So, the girls can still play if they want later."

"I like that idea. Aurelia has to clean her room."

"Can I help Vicki put her clothes away?"

As they walked away, Victor heard, "Only if you finish cleaning your room."

After they arrived back at his grandma's, Cindy said to Victor, "I have time to dilate you. I will be doing it twice a day for you. One other thing, Dr. Alvarez has scheduled a follow up on Friday with Dr. Smith. He says he has a surprise for you. So, don't plan anything for the weekend. You may not need to dilate ever again. Then I will help you put it all away."

He hugged her and said, "Thank you."

On the way to his room, Victor realized that all the photos of his family hadn't been updated in years. He wondered why. His grandmother was resting according to doctor's orders. After being dilated, they arranged his backpack with school supplies. They then unpacked all the clothes and began putting them away. All in all, shopping wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. After Cindy left, he pulled out a calendar they purchased and marked the day after Memorial Day as 'Oh Baby!' And then he marked 'Oh Boy! on the day after the last day of school.' The day he would be a boy again and the day he could go home again. While hanging the calendar up, he flipped up the month of April and stared at the dates he had highlighted. He couldn't understand why, but the last day of school gave him the sniffles.

He knew from the way Aurelia's mother spoke, he wouldn't see her for a while. With his grandmother asleep, he went to the phone and called his mother. It was a hard call. He could only tell her so much. He kept it simple. He had met a new friend. He also let on that dad's lawyer had worked it out so he could attend school, but wouldn't be graded. "It's okay Mom. I am bored. And, I will be able to spend time with kids my own age. Dr. Alvarez says it will give Grandma a much needed break. Plus, it will help you stay in bed, right? Dr. Alvarez says that is what a man does for his family."

He called home and got his dad, "Hi dad! I love you.

"Hey son, I hear your going to school tomorrow?"

"Then you have heard everything?"

"Sure have, I think it is a great idea. Keeps you out of trouble ahd gives your grandmother a break. Do you want to talk to your mom?"

"Hello my sweet little Victor. I guess you're dad is right having you stay there. I just miss you something awful."

"I've counted the days on the calendar I put up in my room. It will be only fifty-five days until I'll be back, Mom."

"You put up a calendar for that?"

"Yup, we went shopping today for school supplies and I got one."

"You sure about going to school? You've already passed third grade. Still, I think they could be right. You only have Susan to play with here." He heard his dad in the background say that she shouldn't worry so. "Just try and find a boy your age you can play with too."

"I will. I love you Mom."

"I love you too." He hung up. When he turned around, he saw his grandmother smiling at him.

"You don't like lying to her, do you?" He shook his head no.

"You know, when I had your dad, and it was about two months before he was born, your grandfather had to explain to me over and over again how a thermostat worked. I knew how one worked before I was pregnant, but, when your pregnant, all the blood in your body rushes to your baby first and then to your head. That is where your mom is right now. She won't be able to understand what happened to you fully because she is getting ready to have a baby. Your dad knows this, I know this, Dr. Alvarez knows this, and Cindy knows this. And we are counting on you to know this."

"So, I did the right thing?"

"Yes, Victor. You did the right thing. I am not going to tell you lying is a good thing. But, your mother is a bad place right now. Anything could tip it so she loses the baby. So, you are doing the right thing now being Vicki here and just Victor for her. Just so you know, Dr. Alvarez called and told your dad what happened. He is going to help you keep being Vicki a secret."

Victor gave his grandmother a hug. "Thank you Grandma. That makes me feel better." She patted him on the head.

Victor walked back into his aunt's room and closed the door. He looked long and hard at himself in her full length mirror. He looked like a girl. He was certain that if his mother walked by him right now, she wouldn't know who he was. Then his heart skipped a beat wondering if his mom would want to keep him now. Would she accept him being a girl? Is this why those dates on his calendar caused his tears? Maybe those dates were because he knew he was saying goodbye to Aurelia and would have to tell Aurelia who he really was? Or was it, as he thought more about it, the day he would have to say goodbye to Vicki, the girl in the mirror?

"I'm really a boy. So, why," he thought, "do I like being the person in the mirror?"

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 6 -- Try Outs.

Victor awoke early. He could hear the CPAP machine working its magic. This was going to be his first day at school, he thought. Checking the time, he couldn't believe it was six in the morning. He threw on his new robe. It was nice to have pajamas again, even if they were Hello Kittys. Taking his shower, he toweled off. He couldn't really see anything, so he wiped the steam off the mirror so he could step back and see what he looked like. It was so different than before. Oddly, he found the folds where his wee wee once had been looked normal, less traumatic. Shaking away the thought, he brushed his teeth. It was getting easier to wrap the towel around him and he noticed another odd reaction. He felt more secure doing it that way.

He picked up his PJs and robe. Put on his slippers and headed to his room. He made his bed. He folded his PJs. He put a panty liner in a blue panty, took off his towel, and slipped it on. After folding his towel, he looked over his two options set aside for the day by his grandmother the night before. "I know I gotta say girl today!" he mumbled. "But how girly?" He was conflicted. The navy blue dress was less girly. But, the one with the unicorns would erase any doubt. Closing his eyes, he did the only sensible thing he could think of.

The unicorns won the day. Putting on the dress the way he had been taught was much easier. He reached back and zipped up the dress. This chore took him a minute or two as he learned to navigate female clothing. Next, he sat down and put on the plain white socks. The shoes were nicely practical and the stars on the side were a definite girl's choice. Then he stood up and checked himself in the mirror. Grabbing a hair bush, he did what Calista taught him to do. He realized that his blond hair really made the dress look nice. Then he did his treatment of his ear stud. Honestly, he thought, as he applied the alcohol treatments to his earlobes, unless someone knew he was a boy, no one he could think of could ever accuse him of being a boy. The last thing he put on was his friendship necklace. He wanted it clear at the school who he was friends with in no uncertain terms.

Pulling the desk chair into the center of the room, he practiced sitting down and standing up. He did it from the side to as though he were sitting at a desk chair like the one he had back at school in Silver City. The mirror showed him one irritating fact. He had to watch flashing his underwear. Finally, he just sat and looked at himself in his aunt's mirror. After a painful moment, he wished his hair was longer. 'Maybe,' he thought, 'I could change. I wonder how I would look in the other dresses.' Grabbing a hold of himself, he dismissed that notion. He made his choice, he would stay with it.

Having done what he needed to do, he went up front with his new backpack and made himself some breakfast. The sound of the microwave beeping must have awakened his grandmother. "Morning Sugar."

"Sugar?"

"Yeah, because you look so sweet in that dress. I wish I could send a photo of it to your mom." He didn't know why, but he blushed and smiled. 'Why,' he thought, 'doesn't that offend me?' His grandmother reassured him, "More importantly, they aren't going to think you are anything but a girl."

"Thanks Grandma." he said cautiously.

"You're welcome, Sweetie." With that, she got a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table with Victor.

Victor picked up a dog eared Zane Grey novel he brought in from his bedroom, 'The Last Trail.' "You like those books?"

"I found it in the box with aunt Vicki's other toys."

"She was big into Zane Grey because her dad was. He loved old west books. He liked to take trips up to Lincoln County with her and visit the locations that Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett traveled. The two were thick as thieves until she hit her teenage years."

"What happened?"

"Nothing really. She discovered boys. Mind you, she still doted on her dad. And he doted on her. No boy who crossed our doorstep had a chance if Manuel said no. He was the most fascinating man I ever knew. He immigrated with his parents at the end of World War Two from the Basque region of Spain and France. Didn't speak a word of English at first. My parents could understand him, but I couldn't when he spoke Basque. He refused to learn Spanish because of General Franco. How he and his folks hated that man. Mine hated him too, come to think of it. They were proud of their Basque roots. He worked as a border patrol officer in El Paso for a few years ferrying drugs and other contraband to secure facilities. Became a long haul trucker because of the movie Convoy. After marrying me, he worked securty for several businesses around here that supported truckers so he could stay close to family."

Looking at Victor, she realized something for the first time. "Vicki, you're an introvert as a girl. Not the outgoing Victor who is all over the place talking with everyone."

"Grandma, what's an introvert?"

"Somebody who likes to be in the background. I saw it yesterday. You let us girls do all the talking in the car going over to get your ears pierced. Cindy told me that Aurelia did all the talking at Walmart and I saw it at the the beauty salon and lunch too."

Victor shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. I'm not a girl, so I didn't think I could add anything to what was said."

"You should. You can always add something without losing who you are. And, frankly, at your age, being a girl isn't that far from being a boy. It isn't until the hormones kick in that you'll start noticing the real differences and the gaps really widen."

Victor gave her a hug. "I'll think about it. I'm going to go watch for Aurelia. She said she leaves home about ten till to go to school." As he left the kitchen, he felt a twinge knowing that he wasn't destined to get hormones until the doctors said so.

Victor stepped outside into a cool spring morning. The air was dry and the chairs weren't even wet with dew. He sat down and watched for Aurelia. His mind drifted to what those differences the hormones would have on him and, say, on Aurelia. The thought that hormones would drive a wedge between him and his friend made him sad. After a bit, he saw her door open. He got up and went up to his grandmother's short wall. Aurelia waived and scooted across the street with her science project under her arm. "Morning Vicki. You look pretty today. And you wore your friendship necklace too! How do you feel about wearing a dress? This is your third day now."

Victor was taken back. "I really look pretty?" She nodded yes and he blushed. "It is all so new to me." Victor reached out and gave her a hug. "Thank you for your help. I see you wore your necklace too. I'll be seeing you soon. Let me know what everyone says about your pierced ears and new hairdo. I wished I looked as pretty as you do." As he watched her walk away, it occurred to him he was closer to her as a girl than he ever was with Susan. It was if a wall had come down. And, he thought, that wasn't such a bad thing.

Victor went back in and helped his grandmother clean up. Then they did his dilation. Soon, another knock came at the door. "Hi. Are you Mr. Jenson?"

"Sure am. Are you Vicki?" He winked at Victor.

Sitting down in the living room, he said to Rosemary, "I have a form from the state. It simple states that you are changing the sex of Victor here from male to female. Once you sign it, he will legally be a girl. I can show it to Mrs. Torres, the principal, and then my friend at the county seat will hold onto it and grant me a temporary birth certificate for Victor with the name Vicki on it. After school ends in May, we tear everything up and it never happened."

"You sure nothing will go wrong?"

"Even if it does, his parents can change it back at anytime. It's not that big a deal. But, it does make it legal for him to be in the girl's bathroom and not the boys." She signed it and he notarized it. Placing everything he needed in a briefcase, he announced, "Let's go for a walk Vicki and Mrs. Martin. The school is so close I don't see the point to drive down."

Victor, now Vicki legally, tossed on her backpack, and they headed the short walk down to the school. She took the hands of Mr. Jenson and her grandmother. Her grandmother carried a bag with Vicki's emergency supplies and medications for the nurse. In the bag were a change of clothes, a couple pairs of panties, a box of pads, and a list of instructions from Dr. Alavarez for the school nurse.

The door to the school loomed large. Mr. Jenson pressed the button on the door for access to the building. A moment later, they heard a buzz indicating the door was being opened. He pulled the door open as soon as he heard the buzzing sound. He held the door open for Vicki and her grandmother. Crossing the threshold, she felt both crushed and elated. It was strange to her that she could feel both emotions at once. They came into a foyer with a shiny tile floor. The office was to the right. They could see in through windows built into the wall sectioning off the office from the foyer. The door to the office opened and a pleasant looking woman a little older than the age of Vicki's mother stood there smiling. She was in a brownish pantsuit with a nice beige vest. Her hair had a shock of white which framed her forehead. The way she looked at Vicki was with an understanding eye, as if she knew who Vicki was.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Yes," said Mr. Jenson, "we have a new student for you. I brought her paperwork. This is her grandmother, by the way. She's Vicki's temporary guardian."

"Hi, I am Rosemary Martin. My two kids went here years ago. My grand ... daughter here has to stay with me for a couple of months and we were hoping to have her attend class here, if that would be possible?"

"I think we can work something out. Please, come into my office. What grade is she in?"

Jenson responded quickly, "Third. She is in third grade." He handed her Vicki's paperwork. She sat down and went through the well organized file. Her smirk didn't betray why it was so well organized. She turned to her computer and did some surprisingly quick data entry.

"I think we can assign her to Mrs. Herrera's class. She is a very nice teacher." She reached over and picked up her phone. "Selina, can you check to see when is Christine's zero hour? ... Ten o'clock. Can you tell her to come in to the office on her break, I have a new student for her class."

In a flash, Vicki was signed up and placed into the school's system. Her next visit was with the nurse. While Jenson waited in the office talking with Principal Torres, Vicki and her grandmother went into the nurse's office to discuss her needs. "Pain meds, extra clothes, panty liners, and instructions from her doctor. Looks like everything I need, Mrs. Martin." She stopped and briefly and examined the fading bruises on her face and neck. "Vicki, if you have any needs, just ask your teacher for a hall pass to come up here. I understand you leak a little pee sometimes?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you for understanding."

"That is a good reason to use my bathroom too. So, I would like you to feel free to use it for the time being until you are more confident. You can still use the girls bathroom if you want, but, if you are leaking, you might need to change your panty liner and it is just easier if you come here where no one will know. Okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am." She held back a tear thinking about being found out.

"Now, by doctor's orders you are excused from P.E. and from recess. During recess, you can just relax and sit on the outside bench if you wish or come up here and sit in my office if you like. During P.E., you can come up here and study in the office." The Martins and the nurse stepped out of the office and saw Mrs. Herrera coming in.

"Hello Mrs. Herrera. I have a new student for you." the nurse said. "When you introduce her to the class, make sure they know that she had some blunt force trauma in an accident. It will be a couple of weeks before she can play normally again. And without further adieu, this is Victoria Maria Martin."

Her grandmother looked down and her and nudged her. Vicki shyly said, "Good morning Mrs. Herrera."

Rosemary introduced herself just as Mr. Jenson and Mrs. Torres came out into the office. "I don't know if you remember me, Mrs. Herrera? My daughter, Vicki's aunt, was in your fifth grade class your first year of teaching. Her name was Victoria Maria Martin too."

"Oh, yes, I most certainly do. How is your nice husband? It was unique to have a dad pick up their daughter after school."

"Yes, Manuel was very protective. Two doors down from the school and he thought she was going to get lost. Working nights gave him that privilege of picking her up from school. Sadly, he passed away when she was a senior in High School. One of the reasons, I think, she never went to college."

"That's too bad. She was one of my best and brightest students as I remember. So, this is her niece and your granddaughter."

It was then that Vicki brought up Aurelia. "Mrs. Herrera, can I sit next to Aurelia Gonzalez, please?"

"I think that can be arranged." She thought about what she just said. Principal Torres told her early that morning before class that the girls had become close friends and to place them together.

Rosemary mentioned, "Vicki will be walked home by Aurelia's mother most days, Mrs. Gonzalez. I already put her down on the form as being permissible."

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Martin. I will most certainly let her pick up Vicki then. So you have made friends with her already. She is a delightful girl." She was glad to hear it. It confirmed that Aurelia had a friend in her class. Lately, she had been worried about Aurelia.

"Aurelia says there is a new girl in the class who doesn't like her and has turned her friends against her."

"Really?! Thank you for telling me." Her comment explained so much to her.

As they exited the office, Vicki took Mrs. Herrera's and walked down the hallway to her new class. During this time, she began to size up her new teacher. She had greying hair and was a little stocky. Her hair wasn't long. It might have been at one time, but it was more like her grandmothers. Her face showed some wrinkles that had formed around her natural smile. Her brown eyes twinkled when she looked down at Vicki. Around her wrist was a wide red rubber band that had D.A.R.E. etched in with a bold white.

The other thing she observed is that she had an easy gate. Most adults made Vicki hurry when she had to follow them. But, she made following her easy. As they turned a corner, she stopped. "Now, young lady, if you need to use the restroom, this is our closest one. I have been made aware of your special needs, so this is where you and the other girls will go."

Vicki blushed, "Thank you, Mrs. Herrera." Vicki's politeness impressed her teacher. Most of her students weren't as polite.

"Let's take a quick detour." She walked them back a few paces back into the hallway they were just in. "See that double door down there?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"That is the cafeteria." She produced a lanyard and a name card was attached. "This is your school I.D., Vicki. You are to carry it at all times. When you go into the cafeteria, they will scan it and the funds for your lunch will come out of the account your grandmother just set up in the office." She placed it around her neck.

Vicki fingered the plastic card hung around her neck, "What if I lose it?" She turned it over and saw in bold letters, Vicki. Under them were smaller ones, Martin.

"Just tell them your name. They will look you up on the computer. But, if you do lose it, tell me right away and we will get you a new one. The badge also lets you check out books in the library."

With a note of excitement, she asked, "Where's the library?"

She guided Vicki back into the hallway were the girls restroom was. "It is down at the end of this hallway, next to the fifth graders. We will be going there on Wednesday. Do you like to read?"

"Yes Ma'am." she said perking up. "My parents don't like me to watch television, so I read what is in the village library. Mostly Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, and The Magic Treehouse."

"That's wonderful. I am going to be reading Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' this week to the class."

"I like him. I've read 'James and the Giant Peach' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'"

"Have you seen the movies?"

"Not yet. We only watch movies during the summer when we set them up for the villagers in the common room. I'm usually help with cleaning up something, so I only get to see about one movie a week."

"That is not so bad. I would rather you read the books."

Vicki giggled. "You sound like my mom. She loves it when I read."

"Do you miss her?" Vicki nodded yes tearfully. Mrs. Herrera patted her on the shoulder to reassure her.

"Well, here is our classroom. You ready?" She walked in with Mrs. Herrera and was startled to see no one there.

"Where is everybody?"

"In art class. They will be back in about ten minutes. You see, they give teachers a break during the day by letting the students go to a music or an art class so the teachers can have some time to relax from teaching. Sometimes as a treat, they let the teacher meet a new student." She winked at Vicki.

She walked over to a set of lockers on the side wall and pointed to one. "Here is your locker, Vicki, number twenty-four. When you first come in, you will put your backpack in there." Vickie dutifully did so. "Nicely done." She looked up at Mrs. Herrera and felt loved.

She then led Vicki to a table with chairs around it. "I just put this seat here a little while ago. Your seat here is right next to Aurelia. Now, I am trusting you both not to disrupt the class, or I will have to seperate you two." she said sternly, but with a twinkle in her eye.

Vicki took her seat. She was careful to sweep her dress underneath her first and slide her legs under the table. "Yes Ma'am. I promise. Thank you very much. It was very kind of you." she said politely. Mrs. Herrera sized up pretty quickly that she had a polite and intelligent student.

"Now, when they come back, I am not expecting you to know what we are talking about or to answer any questions. Not for a few days anyway. Okay? And, when they come back, I will be introducing you." Vicki quietly acknowledged she understood.

Mrs. Herrera then went and sat at her desk, opened a notebook, and began checking things for the next class. Vicki looked around the room. There were cork-boards with sheets of papers pinned on them, a big long white wipe-board. Over the teacher's desk, she saw a computer projector. On one side of the room were a set of windows. She could see out to the parking lot and the street. She figured that it must be the street in the very front of the school since there was a parking lot.

"Vicki?" She was startled out of looking around the room.

"Yes, Mrs. Herrera?"

"Being that it is late in the year, I'm going to let Aurelia know she can sit with you during recess. She is an active girl and I don't think she will mind."

"That would be lovely, Mrs. Herrera. Thank you again for your kindness." Again, the politeness of Vicki astounded her. She knew she was just a temporary student, but she wished she could teach her next year in fourth grade as she rotated with her students.

The door jerked as it opened to the classroom, Mrs. Garcia ushered in the students who filed in. Aurelia, seeing Vicki, rushed past the others. Vicki got up and the two hugged. "Now ladies." came a gentle reprimand from Mrs. Herrera. "Sorry, Mrs. Herrera." came a unified response. They joined the rest of the students and sat in their places. Everyone noticed the new student. Quite a few realized they had their ears pierced with the same looped studs.

"Class, we have a new student today. Everyone say hello to Vicki."

A discordant "Hello Vicki" rumbled through the classroom.

"Vicki has joined us because she is staying with her grandmother due to her injuries. She was in an accident recently and they had to cut her out of the vehicle. They also, I have heard, had to cut off her hair in order to get her out of the car. Vicki, why don't you stand for us please?"

"Yes, Mrs. Herrera." she stood obediently.

"What is your full name, Vicki?"

"I am Victor ... I mean Victoria Maria Martin. Vicki for short." The class giggled. “I am named after an uncle who was killed in the bombing of Guernica in 1937.”

"Now, now. Vicki has an aunt by the name of Victoria Maria Martin. I know because I taught her during my first year teaching here at Monument. I hear the family took to calling Vicki here Victor when she was younger because of the confusion. However, she doesn't like that so her name is Vicki, not Victor. Vicki, is here with us till the end of the school year. Then she is going up north back to her home. Where is home, Vicki?"

"Near a small town call Buckhorn. I live on a kind of big ranch we call the village."

"Tell us what you like to do when you are home."

Excitedly, "I love to ride my horse around the trails that surround our home. My horse's name is Henry. He is a handsome Morgan horse. He is my friend and I love him. I have to feed him, give him baths, and take care of him too. He's a teddy bear." The girls in the class all giggled and were smiling dreaming of owning a horse themselves. That is, all but one. One boy asked, "Do you barrel ride?"

"No, but I want to learn to do dressage. My daddy says Henry has to be trained for English saddle for that. And I will have to learn English saddle too. And we don't have the proper tack for English. But, Henry is so pretty." The boy laughed at her suggestion. "Boys can be pretty too!" she admonished the boy and sat down like a lady.

Mrs. Herrera asked the students to say their names. The list was long and she was clearly having trouble associating names with faces. But, the one who was frowning was named Miranda. When the students had finished, Aurelia leaned over and said, "Miranda is the one who didn't ask me to her birthday party." Vicki nodded to indicate she understood.

The class then began to discuss geography. "Now we are basically done with what you need to learn for third grade. Next year, you will learn new things about New Mexico. Has anyone here heard of biomes?" Mrs. Herrera swept the map of New Mexico on the wall with her pointer.

Nobody raised their hands, but Vicki finally did. "You have?" She was impressed. Biomes had just been added to the fourth grade curriculum.

Vicki demurely answered, "Yes, Ma'am. New Mexico has four different biomes. Forest, grasslands, desert, and aquatic. It is the fifth largests state in the United States. It has six of seven life zones. Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonaran, Transition, Canadian, Hud-sonian, and Artic-Alpine."

"Very good. Where did you learn that?"

"My daddy took me to Carlsbad Caverns to see the bats and visit the caves. We stopped at a Guadalupe Peak in Texas at a national park and he bought me a book on New Mexico." The look that Miranda gave Vicki for knowing that could chill an active volcano.

Soon, they all were in line for lunch. Aurelia was showing Vicki all the ropes. The other students were enjoying meeting her too. They talked about Aurelia's pretty hair and pierced ears. Vicki was quickly becoming the new curiosity as they talked about how Calista gave her a feminine cut too. Miranda felt left out and pouted in her seat. She was no longer the new attraction in town. Vicki held on to Aurelia and the two sat at a table near the fifth grade students. As lunch ended, Vicki and Aurelia volunteered to stay behind and clean the tables. Mrs. Herrera led the others out to recess. As all the third graders left, the two girls enjoyed working together cleaning the tables. Miranda was the last to leave for recess. Before she left, one of the boys from the other table of students looked at Vicki and said, "Victor, is that you?"

"Excuse me," she said as she pushed past him. "My name is Vicki!" she added curtly and continued to wipe down tables.

"Remember me, Todd. From Sally Ride Elementary school in Silver City?" Aurelia was carrying some trays to the far end of the cafeteria to be washed, so she couldn't rely on her for support. Vicki did remember him, he was one of the boys who played football with his friends during recess. He and his friends would watch. Sometimes, they were invited to play. Vicki wasn't because she was too small.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's been a long time." She didn't realize that she had just affirmed she was the boy whom he had remembered. She headed for to a garbage can to throw away trash from the table. As she walked away, she heard him say to Miranda as she was leaving, "But, he's a boy, not a girl. Why is he calling himself Vicki now? And why is he in a dress? You sure he's a girl?"

The last thing Vicki saw as Miranda left the room was a smirk on her face as she shrugged her shoulders in response to his question. Which only spelled trouble for Vicki. Thankfully, she heard his fifth grade teacher call him out to recess.

After they were done, the two headed down the hall to the restroom. Aurelia asked, "What did that bully say to you?"

"He asked if he knew me."

"Stay away from him, he is mean. Came here last year and everyone stays away from him."

Vicki stopped before going into the girl's room with Aurelia. "I have to use the nurse's bathroom. Aurelia. Don't tell anyone, but, because of the accident, I leak a little. I wear a pad and have to replace it."

After doing their duties, they met up on a bench outside. The two watched everyone play. Aurelia pointed out who was who running around. At one point, Todd came running by to get a drink of water. Just then, a breeze came and blew up Vicki's dress. As Todd drank water, he could see her panties and realized she was wearing a thick square pad, which only confirmed to him that Vicki was a boy after all. He concluded she was hiding her penis.

The day went pretty much uneventfully afterwards. Vicki sat quietly in class and gave her full attention to the teacher. Much of the material she knew from her studies. And, on a few occasions delighted her teacher by being one of the few students to answer a question correctly. During a community bathroom break, it was noted that she went up to the nurses office to user her bathroom.

When the day ended, Aurelia and Vicki were greeted by Aurelia's mother. Looking around at the other students who were leaving or just waiting to be picked up, Vicki caught sight of Miranda talking to Todd. Chills went down her spine. Was her secret out even before she started school. Was she destined to go home in disgrace in the next few days. She held onto Aurelia's hand even tighter.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just think that Miranda doesn't like the new kid." she said pointing to herself.

Aurelia turned to look back at Miranda who was now sitting down waiting for her mother to show up. She looked happy. "Looks like it is just going to be us. I was hoping things would be a bit different."

"So was I." Vicki said feeling angst. Then her mood brightened. "But, at least we have each other." The two played the rest of the day and forgot all their troubles. Vicki felt more joy playing with Aurelia than she ever had with Susan.

Before she went to bed, she finally told her grandmother all about Todd and Miranda. Her grandmother listened patiently and asked a few questions. "Honey, the solution is simple. You just use the girls room tomorrow. Trust me, girls have ways of finding out you are for real. I think it will backfire on them in the end. And they, not you, will be the outcasts."

Her grandmother walked her to her bedroom. "But, I'm not for real."

"Yes you are. Physically, I can't tell you from another girl right now."

"You sure?"

She helped Vicki into bed and pulled the sheets over her tucking her in. "You can bet on it." She bent over her and gave her a kiss. "Look, trust me. All you need to do is to use the girl's room. The girls will know." she said confidently. She then reached over and took one of the dolls her daughter had growing up and handed it to Vicki. Without thinking, Vicki took the doll and held on to the doll tightly. "Thank you Grandma, I love you." She turned to her side, and closed her eyes.

"I love you too, Sweetie. Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite."

As her grandmother turned off the light, Vicki felt something stir in her. As her thoughts came to a peaceful conclusion for the day, she realized, "I feel hope."

All thoughts of the storm that was coming the next day disappeared in the sleeping eye of her peaceful slumber. But would she have knowing how the storm around her had formed that afternoon in numerous phone calls orchestrated by Miranda after talking with Todd?

Instead, she dreamed that Henry was now a magical unicorn.

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 7 -- Two Player Suspension

"Wake up sleepy head." She shook Vicki gently and she opened her eyes. She smiled up at her grandmother.

"Morning Grandma. Did I over sleep?"

"No, Sweetie. I have to dilate you and then I need to talk to you."

"About what, Grandma?"

"Storms. There many kinds of storms. Bad ones and good ones. And, if you listen carefully to me today, you are going to have a good storm."

The two talked for about a half an hour and then spent another half an hour doing pretend play both in the bathroom and in her room.

Vicki's grandmother answered the door about seven forty-five. "Hello Aurelia, we are running late. Please come in and follow me." Aurelia dutifully followed her down the hallway to Vicki's room. Just then, Vicki popped out of the bathroom door and scurried into her room wearing nothing but a towel. "You just finished?! Oh dear! Come on Aurelia, let's help her get dressed quickly."

Rosemary went to the dresser and said, "Aurelia, go find your friendship dress in her closet. I have to get her panty lined while she dries off." Vicki took off her towel and started to dry off in front of Aurelia. Aurelia had never seen her naked, but there was nothing she hadn't seen before. She grabbed the dress, which was the same as hers, and held onto it while Vicki dried off. The only thing that Aurelia saw was a perfectly normal looking girl in the all together.

Rosemary handed her granddaughter panties with a liner and Vicki began to slip it on. Picking up her wall clock, she went on to say, "No wonder you are running late. You wall clock battery died. I will have to fix that later."

After watching Vicki slip her panties on, she handed her the dress. "Thank you. I'm sorry I am running late, Aurelia. Please forgive me."

Aurelia smiled back, "No problem. We won't be late. I always go early. The bell doesn't ring until eight twenty anyway."

"Then I can get a quick bite to eat before we go?" Vicki asked with pleading eyes.

"What would you like for me to bring for lunch?"

"A happy meal from Mcd's would be okay."

"Are you coming for lunch, Mrs. Martin?"

"Yes, they told me I could come spend lunch with Vicki."

"That's true. My mom comes once in a while too."

The two giggled as she ate her breakfast quickly. They were out the door and went into the school at eight ten with more than enough time to get to their class and sit down.

Miranda spit out, "Nice to see that you made it in time with your boyfriend, Aurelia." Aurelia looked very confused. "Right, Victor?" Vicki shrugged her shoulders. There was a definite cooling between both the two girls and the rest of the girls in the class. A few of the girls looked disgusted with Vicki. A few were indifferent. And, Vicki could sense a few were scared. The boys, for the most part didn't seem interested in the girls and their petty games. Most of the boys were talking video games or sports. Lucas, the boy who asked her about barrel riding the day before, turned and asked Vicki, "Do know of a place where I can learn to ride horseback? I would like to be a rodeo rider."

"No, but I will ask my daddy." Vicki was happy to see the boys weren't against her yet.

Mrs. Herrera could sense the cool attitude of the girls in the room. But, one thing was perfectly clear. Miranda had a very haughty attitude. There were two mandatory bathroom breaks during the day. And one was before Art, Music, or P.E. . Today was to be before music. P.E. was another, but that was in the mornings on Wednesday. The fifth graders had P.E. on Tuesday and Thursday because they were older, so they often shared the bathrooms at the same time.

As Mrs. Herrera commanded the class to line up to use the restrooms, she held Aurelia back to ask her about the classes' attitude that morning. "Aurelia, what is going on here?"

"I don't know Mrs. Herrera."

"Is this about Vicki? Is Miranda at the root of all of this?" Aurelia was afraid to say anything, but her silence told Mrs. Herrera everything she needed to know.

"Please, Aurelia, tell me what is going on?"

In line, Vicki could hear the hushed tones in the hallway. She was allowed to be near the head of the line in the girls 3rd grade line. Across from her was the head of the 5th grade line. Behind her, Miranda spied on Vicki with an evil smile. It unnerved Vicki. Although she may need to change pads, it was time, as her grandmother told her, to use the girls room for real to dispel any notion that she wasn't a girl. She could tell her grandma was right. Best get this out of the way. She turned into the bathroom when it was her turn and went into an empty stall and swung the bolt closed to lock it. Lifting her dress, she pulled her panties down to just past her knees. Then she lifted her dress again and sat down to pee. Securing as best she could her dress around her belly button, she leaned slightly forward. From her old habits she spread her legs a little wider than a girl would. She mistook the commotion outside the stall door for being normal. She relaxed and began to pee. Oh sweet relief.

Suddenly, she saw the blade of a plastic knife, the kind she used in the cafeteria, slip thru the gap in the stall door, lift the tongue of the hinged chrome part that secured the lock and the door swung open just as fast. She froze. There was Todd, the fifth grader and Aurelia's nemesis, Miranda. Standing back from the open stall door pointing between her legs. Two older girls looked between her legs at where they were pointing. Todd announced confidently as he looked at them instead of Vicki, "See, Victor's a boy. I told you! That pad I saw yesterday was hiding his dick!" Vicki let out a shriek as it dawned on her what was happening. She was still too disoriented to shut her legs as she should have.

One of the girls, who looked between her legs, scowled with disgust. Then she looked at Vicki's hurt face which further angered her. She hauled off and slapped Todd as hard as she could. Miranda then looked down towards Vicki's legs and gasped. "Oh my God, you are a girl!" Todd, the toad, turned after the slap to look at her sex too. He was stunned. Just then, Vicki heard the voice of an adult. It was Principal Torres. "What the hell is going on here! Why are you in here Todd?" By this time, Vicki, who was feeling stunned in the beginning, stopped peeing, closed her legs, and began to cry. She heard one of the older girls say to Principal Torres, "Todd and Miranda have been telling everyone that Vicki is really a boy. He said if we came in here and let him open her stall door, he could prove it Principal Torres. But all we saw was a girl."

"And that justifies you letting him do this? Mariana and Olivia, I will have a talk with you later, but right now Todd, Miranda, in my office now!" When the scene had cleared, Principal Torres came to her stall door, "Vicki, I am so sorry. When you are done, come to the office please and we'll get a statement from you, okay?"

Through tears, Vicki said, "Yy-es, Ma-a'a-am." Two days at school and it seemed like her world was falling apart already. She got up and locked back up the stall door.

As she was finishing, she heard a voice through the stall door. "Vicki, are you okay?" It was Aurelia. "Mrs. Herrera heard what happened and thought you needed a friend. Vicki wiped, stood up, pulled up her panties, opened the door, and tumbled into Aurelia's arms sobbing. Aurelia just held her friend. "What happened?"

Before she could recount her story, she thought of the words her grandmother said to her that morning, "Storms have a way of destroying things without a good foundation. Because you really are a girl on the outside now, what ever they do to you will backfire on them. Trust me. But, whatever they do, don't let it destroy you too." That seemed to calm and take the sting out of what just happened. She collected herself.

The next few minutes were a blur. But, before she knew it, her grandmother was with her in the office comforting her. She whispered in her ear. "I wasn't thinking it would be this. I expected just the girls would get you to drop your panties and Miranda would get her comeuppance that way." Vicki nodded.

Principal Torres came over and tenderly asked, "Is there anything I can get you girls. A water, Kleenex, or a blanket?"

"No thank you Ma'am." Vicki smiled weakly back at her.

"Here, come with me into to one of the conference rooms. I have called Mr. Jenson. He is on his way." She guided them to a small conference room with a window. Mrs. Torres could see across the way that a police officer was talking to whom she thought must be Miranda and the boy Todd.

On the other side of the door, she was right. Todd and Miranda sat in front of a New Mexico state patrol officer in near total silence. His black uniform was classic. He looked like something out of the Shawshank Redemption movie. It was a uniform that screamed the 40s and hadn't been updated for years. The two children had their arms folded. It was clear that they were not happy to be where they were. Every so often, the would exchange glances with each other that weren't at all friendly. The officer stood there with a clipboard filing out forms. The odd question was asked by the officer. It was either answered by the child or by the school secretary.

"We have to wait for the parents to show up before I can proceed further." he said to the secretary. "We'll need to interview them separately too."

"We'll arrange for everything you need. Mrs. Torres is with her granddaughter now, so you can talk to her."

He nodded his head. "Best begin with them first then." The officer came into the room where Vicki and her grandmother were holding hands. Principal Torres came in as did Mrs. Herrera. Aurelia came in right after them. Vicki beckoned Aurelia over and she sat down on one side while her grandmother sat silently on the other. Vicki was asked to tell the officer what happened. There wasn't much to tell, but she kept it simple and just told what happened that morning.

When asked if Vicki knew this boy from her previous school. "He was in several grades in front of me. I didn't wear a dress back then. I liked playing with the boys. He must have just figured I was one." It was then that her grandmother took over. "A word of explanation. Vicki is short for Victoria. Because she is named after her aunt ... whom her brother and I used to call Vicki or Victoria ... anyway, the family began to call Victoria here, Victor for short so we wouldn't confuse her with her aunt Victoria. But, lately, Victor ... Vicki ... put her foot down and said she wanted to be called Vicki instead." She stroked Vicki's short hair and said, "I guess our little girl is growing up."

"Why not use her middle name?"

Vicki and her grandmother said in unison, "Maria?" That part was true. For the basque and the Hispanic community, Maria is a common middle name for a boy. His name was Victor Maria Martin. And Maria being one of the common names in a classroom meant it wouldn't help. Aurelia’s mother just chuckled.

"Gotcha." said the officer. "I can understand their confusion. But, making it physical was the wrong thing to do since that turned it into a sexual assault. It's only because the two girls they duped confronted them on their behavior that they got off. If he had been a boy, they would be in trouble too."

Principal Torres shook her head and said to the officer, "They are getting in school suspension for three days. Miranda will get alternative school for the rest of the year, and Todd is going to be expelled. At least, that is what the book says." There was a tap on the door. Principal Torres stuck her head out the door for a moment and then came back in. "Both their parents are here. You can interview them now. And, I will join you." That last part was said firmly, but the Martins were clueless as to why.

In the secret meeting at her house, this contingency was discussed. The hint that Vicki might have thought she was a boy at one time would be dropped. However, it would be made clear that a physical assault, even if they felt it was justified, would not fly with her or the school board. In this case, both Mrs. Herrera and Principal Torres had positive proof of bullying behavior on the part of Miranda prior to the bathroom assault. And, this wasn't Todd's only infraction over the last year and a half. Vicki didn't know it yet, but she was safer now than she was before.

After Principal Torres left the room, Mrs. Gonzalez showed up and came in the room. Mrs. Herrera ask Aurelia, "Is this the kind of bullying you have been receiving from Miranda since she got here?" For the next ten minutes, Aurelia related all the times she was being abused by Miranda in order to make Aurelia look bad to the other girls. Vicki held her hand as she cried recounting her side of the story. As bad as what just happened to her, Vicki came to understand that Aurelia had it far worse than Vicki.

"All right then, you two. If you want, you can be excused from school today. Go home and play. I am going to have a discussion with just the girls today about bullying. And I think it would be best if you both weren't there. Do you agree Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Gonzalez?"

Alex stared at the home he grew up in with a smile. His mom's car was still parked under the carport. When she didn't answer, he used his key to enter. "Mom, are you home?" As he explored, memories flooded back of his younger days. Walking to school with his sister. Walking his sister home until he moved on to Middle School. Watching over her in High School. He loved his little sister. A picture of his dad and him building the short concrete block wall that defined the distinction between his home and the sidewalk caused him to rub muscles that once were sore. Another muscle twinge in his back reminded him of the trees in the back yard were planted by him and his dad. And, smelling coffee in the kitchen brought to mind the barbecue he and his dad built together. It hadn't been used in years. The last memory of his dad was coming to pick him up at work in the morning and finding him lying dead on the floor in his guard shack. It brought a tear to his eye. The doctors said it happened just before he arrived. The paramedics couldn't save him. It haunted him to this day having to go tell his Mom at work that the love of her life was no more. Then there was that ghastly trip to the High School to pick up his sister. The look on her face after he had to tell her that the man who loved her so much was no longer with us was more than a young man should have to endure. He became the man of the house far too young. Working a construction job to earn money for college then became his career to support his young family. Thank God, he thought, he had his Sally to get him through those tough times. Her dad, a Baptist preacher, taught him the skills of a carpenter when he came over to spend time with her. He loved that generous man.

As he entered his room, he stroked the door he installed before he moved up to Silver City to work on expansions to the college. How fast he went from a kid to being a responsible adult. He stood in his old room which his mom started to turn it into sewing room after he left. He flashed back to how he surprised her on Mother's Day, weeks after his dad died, "Here Mom, I bought you an industrial sewing machine. I built you cabinets and cubby holes for your sewing gear. I set it up so you can do tayloring work at home in your spare time for extra money. I wish I could help you with more money, but at least you have tools that can help." His mom was a proud woman who wouldn't ask for help. His sister and he had talked about it. He turned to her room, which was now his son's, and recalled his words to his sister shortly after the funeral. "Vicki, I know she must have sold Dad's Green Bay Packer's memorabilia to pay for his funeral and just living expenses. Don't ever bring it up to her or hold it against her, please. I know it makes you very angry. But Dad didn't leave her much. Bringing it up will only hurt her pride more if she knows how you feel." He set down some books for his little Victor to enjoy. Well, his little Vicki now.

He locked the front door and checked it as he exited. He thought he would wait out front since he was early. If his mom didn't show, he would walk down to his old school and have lunch with his darling child before heading back to the village. At the same time he locked the door, the girls were walking home. The two girls held on to each other with a somber focus on each others pain. As they approached Vicki's house, she saw her dad's van out front. She looked up at her grandmother who winked at her. Just then, she saw him as he turned from exiting the front door. He turned and saw them and made a mad dash to the front wall. "Princess!" he cried.

"Daddy!" With happy tears in her eyes, she broke away form Aurelia and ran to him. Still feeling her injuries, she ran not at her usual speed. Alex more than made up for it as he swept her up into his loving arms. "Daddy, I love you." she sobbed into his ear. "What are you doing here?" If she had but looked in the far back of their van, she would have seen something would have given her a clue. It was another crib.

"Why, I came by to have lunch with my little princess at her new school." Holding her up on his forearm and shifting her to his side, he continued, "And you must be Aurelia?"

"Yes, Mr. Martin." He reached out and shook Aurelia's little hand.

"Hi, I am Maria Gonzalez, Aurelia's mom."

"Call me Alex, please." He said to Maria. "I am so pleased to meet you all at last. But, shouldn't you two girls be in school?"

"Alex, I guess you haven't heard what happened?" said his mother.

The girls filled in Alex on the events that morning and the bullying of Miranda and the treachery of Todd the toad. "I guess you want to spend some time with your daughter." Maria said dismissively.

"Yes and no. I can see the girls need each other right now. So, I could pick up pizza and when can have a picnic at Water Tower Park." He put Vicki back on the ground and ventured to Mrs. Gonzalez, "I think the girls would love that, don't you?"

His mom replied, "Oh, I love that idea too. But Vicki is still supposed to take it easy."

He mentioned, "Then they'll just enjoy the swing sets. Its a goregeous day. Why not?" A horn honked behind them. They turned to see Fred Jensen in his car.

"I just dropped off Vicki's birth certificate to Torres for the record. She needed it to handle this silly business. I don't think Miranda or Todd will be bothering either of these girls for the rest of the school year."

"That's good news!" said Mrs. Gonzalez. "I think those two have done enough damage to our girls."

Alex went over to him and shook his hand. "Thanks Fred. Any news from Silver Station Mining?"

"Just the usual. I've dealt with them before. It never looks good when a child is injured. They are probably going to make a low ball offer in the beginning. I'll see if I can get them to double it and settle out of court. In the meantime, spend some time with that cute girl of yours." he winked.

"I will." Alex couldn't help but grin. Turning back to the gang, he asked, "Well, the offer still stands. Pizza, park, and play before I have to get back to the Village? I can go get the pizza, drinks, etc. Vicki can come with me to pick it up. Then we can all meet up at Water Tower Park for lunch. That way I get a little alone time with my girl and then they can spend the rest of the day together."

"Why don't I come with you Alex and Maria can drive all back after lunch?"

Aurelia tugged at her mother's arm. "Can we Mommy? Please!"

Mrs. Gonzalez capitulated with a big grin on her face. "Okay, okay! We'll leave in about fifteen minutes. See you at Water Tower Park, right? By the covered play area and the picnic benches. We'll park on Santa Cruz."

The drive to the pizza place had Vicki behind her grandmother in the front seat. "How you holding up, Victor? I take it you don't mind being a girl for the time being?"

"It's fine, Dad. Aurelia isn't as bossy as Susan. She thinks it is the girls job to order the man around. Aurelia likes to have fun." Alex and his mom laughed.

"Susan gets that from her mom. Her mom bosses her husband around pretty good. But, they do love each other."

"Well, I do miss Susan. But, I really miss Henry. How is my boy, Daddy?"

"Your boy? Yes, I guess he is. He really loves you. He misses you right now. No one has been riding him since the accident. I have to change the subject. I need to tell you both. I don't think your mom is easily going to accept what has happened to you Vicki."

"Why Daddy?"

"She will come around. But, we have to be careful right now. When you were born, she suffered from depression for a long time. We are going to have to surround her with love. I don't know how she is going to handle finding you are more like her now than like your dad. Nevertheless, enjoy this time with Aurelia and school. Your mom will be none the wiser."

Rosemary asked, "How is she going to handle the baby then being all alone out in the boonies?"

"I don't know Mom. I suspect that she isn't going to do well. Her folks are on a mission trip to Senegal. They won't be back for another year and a half. Her sister is the wife of a pastor in Virginia with kids of her own. Vicki says she is going to see about coming down this summer with her youngest to help at the village." Rosemary winced a little at hearing this news. Her Vicki hadn't confided this information to her mom. It stung more than she let on.

"At least we have a month or so to work it out." She said to ease her son's worry.

"Daddy. It's okay. When I come back, I'll just be a boy again. After all, this is pretend time, isn't it? We will just wait until Mom is feeling better to tell her all about me." She sat back in her seat and said proudly, "After all, what I am doing is going to help save my brother or sister."

They arrived at the park with a ton of pizza, several bottles of soda, cups, ice and napkins. The gang met them and took everything to a picnic table. Alex and his mom held back so they could have a private chat.

"Mom, he doesn't seem to be bothered by this. Is he fighting it at all?" He was concerned by how well he was acting as a girl.

"No, but I suspect it is because he is so lonely living where he is. The fight went out of him the moment he found out he was going to school and he had found a friend. He is so used to playing with Susan that I think he finds Aurelia an absolute joy to be around. And for him, there is something more rewarding. He believes it is making us happy by being pretending to be a girl. And, I am letting him."

"Well, I hope this isn't too much for him. I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that he is safe and well under your care." He gave his mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "It is making my job easier to care for his mom. Just one last thing, it would be a good idea if I could tell Sally he was playing with a boy." She nodded. "And it is even more important now. Dr. Alvarez did a follow up at her Silver City office a week ago. We are having twins. We still don't know the sex of the twins. But, Vicki being Vicki is keeping her mom safe from losing them."

"How come you didn't find out sooner?"

"We should have gone in earlier for pre-natal care."

The feast was fantastic. Then they watched the girls play on the swing sets for a time. Alex enjoy pushing his daughter and Aurelia. Sadly, it came time for him to leave. Hugging him for all she was worth, "I love you Daddy. Thank you for today." All thoughts of what happened that morning were dissipated and erased in his embrace. They returned soon to their homes.

Principal Torres called both the ladies and told them that it would be safe to come to school the next morning. She also said that it was official that Miranda would give an apology, but would be attending an alternative school for the remainder of the year. Todd the toad had been expelled. His father, who was extremely frustrated with his behavior over the years, went and enrolled him in a local military academy hoping the discipline would correct his bad behavior. He was not to contact anyone from the school for the next four years. If he violated his parole, he would find himself in alien territory at a military school in Roswell.

The next morning, at the beginning of class, Mrs. Herrera spoke to the class, "Now most of you heard what happened yesterday. The girls and I discussed what bullying is and how it works yesterday afternoon while the boys were in a special art class. I want to clear up the rumors. You all learned when I introduced Vicki that Vicki's aunt had the same name before she got married, Victoria Maria Martin. You learned the family called her aunt Victoria or Vicki. When her niece was born, she was named Victoria Maria Martin also. So as to keep confusion in the family down, they came to call Vicki here, Victor. Apparently a fifth grader here, who had attended school with her in Silver City, thought that meant Vicki was a boy and decided to out him along with one of your classmates. That classmate has voluntarily come here to make a public apology to the class."

It must have hurt Miranda to her core to stand in front of the class knowing that after her apology, she would be attending an alternative school for the rest of the school year. Even then, she wouldn't be allowed to mingle with her friends until late summer when school started up again. The chief object of her latest disgraceful behavior sat uneasily in her chair. Next to her was a girl whom she had targeted for ridicule and scorn. Vicki felt for her as she uttered her prepared words. Aurelia was conflicted.

"I know these are prepared words, but they do not show how really sorry I am for hurting both Aurelia and Vicki. I thought the way to be popular was to tear down others. And, in taking it too far, my mother pointed out that I only tore myself down." At this point she began to cry. "If it means anything to you both, I have to get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror for who I really am. I am truly sorry." With that, she burst into tears.

Tears rolled down Vicki's face as well as Aurelia's. Miranda had been thoroughly humiliated and brought down. Slowly, Vicki got up and went to Miranda. Vicki opened her arms. Miranda briefly flinched expecting to get hit, but quickly ascertained that all Vicki wanted to do was give her a hug. The girls fell into each others arms. Vicki said, "I won't be here when you get back. I just want you to know I forgive you."

"Why would you?" she sobbed. "After the way I treated you."

"My daddy says you don't break a horse to be mean to it. You break them so they can see how much you love them and want them to be part of your life." Vicki pulled back and looked her in the eye, "I forgive you. And, I am sorry I won't get to know you because I am going home after my mom has her baby."

Vicki turned and looked at Aurelia. With tears in her eyes, she came forward and joined the hug. Three sobbing girls called to the rest of the class. In a matter of moments, the boys in the class could only see a puddle of girls wrapped together in a sobbing mass. Principal Torres walked in to collect Miranda. Mrs. Herrera motioned to let them alone. Principal Torres put her arm around Mrs. Herrera. They too tearfully smiled at each other seeing the girls let bygones be bygones.

That afternoon, the girls sat in front of Vicki's place playing crazy eights, when one of the girls from their class walked by. "Hi Luna, want to join us?"

"Sure."

As she came in, Vicki got up. "I'm going to grab a chair from the kitchen. Be right back."

Luna sat down in the seat vacated by Vicki. "Boy did us girls get a big lecture on bullying. I'm sorry for having hurt you." she said sorrowfully.

Aurelia gave her a quick hug. "It's okay." Vicki came out with an additional chair. The three girls played for a while until Luna had to go home.

After Luna left, they went to play in Aurelia's room before dinner time. Vicki was shocked when her sister Mercedes stormed into her room half naked wearing jeans and her hair wrapped up in a towel. "Aurelia, did you run off with the hair dryer again? You're supposed to leave in the bathroom, not take it to your room and leave it there." Mercedes glanced at Vicki. "Are you the one they picked on at school?"

Vicki nodded yes. She was stunned. Here she was, just barely being a girl, and she was looking at another girl and her boobs. Vicki turned her attention to the Barbie doll she was dressing. "I'm glad things have gotten better for you sis. Girls can be such bitches to each other at times." She grabbed the hair dryer as her mother walked by.

"Mercedes! Why are you walking around half naked?"

"Chill, Mom. Dad's still at work. Nobody here but us girls." She headed to the bathroom while her mother shook her head and went on with what she was doing.

Aurelia laughed. "Mercedes is rather proud of her boobs. I can't wait to have them. Lola has already started to grow them. How about you? Do you wonder too what they will feel like?"

"I guess so." Vicki answered nonchalantly. But, it stirred inside her a genuine curiosity about what it would be like.

When Vicki got back home, she found Cindy talking to her grandmother. "Here is a replacement prescription of Estrace in patch form. It should last your three months and won't give you the upset the pills did. Plus, you won't have to break the pill in half and take it without any food. Let us know if you find the other bottle and the pill breaker. But, we are hoping the patches should help delay the onset of dementia too. Hey Vicki, ready for your treatment?"

During the treatment, Vicki asked. "Is Grandma okay?"

"Oh she is fine. It is just a little hormone supplement the doctor gave her. As women age, they sometimes need a little extra girl hormone in order to keep their body healthy. We don't need a whole lot of hormones in our body. So, a little goes a long way for your grandmother. Actually, her dosage isn't much different than what you would be needing for a girl your age."

"So, she is okay?"

"Yup. Anyway, you are excused from school on Friday. Dr. Smith will be back in town and he is going to do a follow up surgery on you in the office. And, it looks like you won't need to do dilation but once a week or so until you grow up."

After dinner, Vicki did her chores while her grandmother took a nap. She cleaned the kitchen, then the living room. When she pushed the couch aside so she could sweep underneath it, she spotted an orange plastic bottle in a plastic zip lock bag. It said Estrace and gibberish on it. It was filled with pills. Also in the bag was the pill spliter. She thought about telling her grandmother right away. But then she thought about Mercedes boobs' and how interesting they looked. Maybe she should try the pills.

She carefully stashed the pills in her room in her aunt's closet. 'Maybe,' she wondered, 'if these pills would help her act more like a girl too.' She went to take a shower to get the dirt off of her from the park. But, this time, she wiped the mirror and looked at her chest. Lola did stand out. She had seen her bumps during class. 'Well, if I looked like I was growing boobs, no one would have attacked me.' she said to herself. 'One bottle of pills won't do much, would it?'

Going back to her room to get dressed for bed, she pulled out the bottle, unscrewed the cap. That was easy to do since the cap was not in the child proof mode. The pills were an oval blue. She took out one pill and put it into the pill spliter. She tried to cut the pill. It was hard. She placed it on the ground and pushed it down with her foot. It snapped. She found two half pills in the chamber now. She put the spliter with its pills and the bottle away.

As she dressed for bed in her Hello Kitty pajamas, she turned her side to the mirror and took one of her socks, rolled it into a ball and stuck it in under her pajama top on top just over her nipple. It didn't look real. A wave of regret enveloped her for a moment and she felt like crying. "No, I am a boy." she said sadly. "Boys don't want boobs. Right?"

Later that night, after her grandmother tucked her in for the night and they said 'I love you' to each other,' Vicki said to the doll her grandmother gave her. "This will be just our little secret, okay? But, it might be fun to have boobs like a real girl. Aurelia is going to be a real girl and have them. Then, when they get boobs, all the cool friends I am making now won’t want me around anymore."

She closed her eyes. “Of course, they won’t need to open a door to learn I’m not a real girl. They’ll look at my chest and know I am not real.”

A few tears dropped on her pillow as she fell asleep.

Copyright © 2020 by AuP reviner

Chapter 8 -- A Bye Game

The phone rang at the Martin's. Alex picked up the phone. "Hello?" He covered the mouthpiece and whispered to Sally, "It's the camp manager calling for an update." Sally went back to reading her book.

"Yes ma'am. The nursery is nearly done. The new eighty kilowatt solar farm will be installed next week on the south-west corner." Sally adjusted the blanket in her lap and rubbed her growing belly. Looking out the window. She saw Sam working on the Community Pool. He was working on a propane tank. "And we finished the new community pool this week. We are installing the new pool heaters today."

Listening to the voice on the other end, he smiled. "Yes. Everything is ahead of schedule. And we took care of the old well." With a tear in his eye, he added, "The new water pump looks fantastic. Plus, we will have finished the twenty new cabins at the north east end section by the first of May. That will include their solar panels too. .... No, the septic tanks and cesspools were already installed last November. ... Well water is supplied by electricity hooked up to the camp grid. Only one meter, yes. I convinced the co-op it made better sense since the solar works year around and will offset the cost of electricity for the tenants during the summer." He smiled at her next question. "Yes, those pre-fab kits will make it very easy to meet our goals. It helps that we got the pads poured last October. We plan on two cabins going up a day. We ought to be done by the middle of April. We think it will save $75,000 under your budget for labor and after negotiating with a furniture store in Deming, we will come in $25,000 under your budget for furnishings. They will arrive the first part of May just as we finish detailing the last cabin." He hung up the phone. The inquisition was over.

"Honey, I am going to have to go down to Deming today to get some things for the new nursery and place a purchase order for the cabin furniture. Debra said she and Sam will keep you company. Be kind to Debra. She misses Susan."

"Check on Victor please."

"I will."

"Darling?" As he gathered his stuff to leave, she pleaded, "Maybe you could bring him up for the week? Since it is spring break."

He hid his anxious expression from her. "We'll see. But, with all this construction, it is just as well we keep it short. I don't want him getting hurt again."

"I miss him." He leaned over and gave her a hug and kiss.

"So do I. But, you know as well as I do, you would start doing things for him out of sense of guilt. He is happy going to school. And, he loves my Mom very much. She is taking good care of him. Otherwise, he would be very bored getting into mischief." She shifted in her chair because of the burden she was carrying. She looked back out the window and resigned herself to the truth of what Alex said. She knew he was right.

Later, down in Deming, Dr. Smith watched Vicki being wheeled into the sterile and practical outpatient surgery room. Dr. Alvarez was holding her hand and would observe the procedure. Vicki's bottom had already been numbed down. Her legs were already secured in stirrups. And everything was covered but her genitals. He greeted her warmly with, "Hey there little lady. How are we this morning? You don't remember me, but I did your surgery when you were first brought in."

It was hard for her to tell much about him because of his mask. "Pleased to meet you sir. I am fine. A bit nervous. Thank you. What are you going to do to me today?"

"Well, what I am going to do is a brand new technique. Since you have already been surgically altered by me, it won't take long. I am inserting a tube in your vagina that has what can be best described as a fish skin wrapped around it. It is going to be a tight tube and it will allow the fish skin to merge into your vaginal skin giving it strength and more. After a week or so, it will be replaced with a silicon tube that will remain in you for two months. When it is removed, you won't have to dilate again. Your vagina will be like a regular girl's vagina."

The last thing he said, "Your vagina will be like a regular girls," caused a warm feeling to radiate through her body. Dr. Alvarez noted her physical response and filed it away. Just one more piece of the puzzle.

The nurse fixed the gurney legs into place and Dr. Smith started working. Vicki asked something that was bothering her, "Will this mean I grow boobs too?"

Dr. Smith thought about what she said and the way she said it. He knew she was curious at the very least. He stood up from his chair so he could look directly at her. This wasn't the kind of question you answer while putting a spéculum in a vagina. She couldn't see a smile through the mask he was wearing, but she could hear it in his voice. "Should I gather from your question you are worried about being discovered?" Vicki nodded her head. "No worries, my dear girl. First, for that to happen you will need to start taking hormones. And that won't be until you are at least eleven. Although, we are going to give you a estrogen based cream in order to keep your vagina healthy until you are wanting me to build you a new penis." 'Or not,' he thought. She leaned back to look at the ceiling doing her best to hide her disappointment from everyone in the room. She was beginning to want them. He continued before sitting down. "Is it because you see girls in your grade growing breasts now?"

"Yes." she said meekly with little change in her expression.

"Well, part of that is the culture of this area. Many of the beautiful Hispanic girls in your class have a diet that includes lard. Once they hit around one-hundred and ten pounds, their bodies start secreting estrogen regardless of their age. There is also a genetic factor. So, I would expect a few girls in your grade would be budding right now. But, given your genetic makeup and knowing your family history, I think you would, if you were a genetic girl, start budding about eleven and a half years old." That is about three years from now. He sat back down and started to go back to his work.

Vicki sighed and realized he was probably right. And, if he is, then she at least she could tell the girls at school that she would be a late bloomer and she envied them. Oddly enough, Dr. Smith could feel her relaxing and took that as a sign whatever needed to be said was said.

As he continued his work, he remarked, "Now, you won't be able to swim until the end of May. At the end of a week, a second device is going to be put in to stay in to act more like braces on your teeth. It will be there to help the vaginal walls to integrate. Once that happens, they will be secure until changes are made in the future."

Much wasn't said until the end of the procedure. As Dr. Alvarez saw him finish, she commented, "So this is what they are doing in Brazil? Amazing."

"Yup. It is an incredible breakthrough. I was able to construct a seven inch canal thanks to there being no uterus. Vicki's canal is fixed in size now too. This means as the body grows, the canal won't. I'll discuss with you latter how to deal with that as she grows older."

After Vicki was wheeled to recovery, Dr. Smith turned to Dr. Alvarez and said sympathetically, "Thank you for letting me do this for the child. I promise, you will be next."

She shook her head. "Thank you. I understand. It's the nature of triage. She needed it more. Sad that some of us have narrowing vaginas no matter how often we dilate. I figured it must be the stress of my job."

"Could be. I don't know. I just know that you aren't going to be able to marry that lawyer friend of yours if you can't have sex." he said solemnly. She winced at the thought of how she had rebuffed his advances lately.

"Don't worry. If I have to fly to Brazil, I will. This has given me so much hope! Hardly seems fair since you gave me a beautiful vagina so many years ago." She gave him a hug.

"Do you think Vicki is transgender?" he volunteered.

"I have had my suspicions for some time now. When her mom came in for examinations, Victor had to stay in the waiting room play area. I noted he played with the girl toys. Could it be because of Susan? Just a hunch. I have suspected Victor wouldn't find out who he really wants to be until just around puberty."

She put her arm in his and walked out with him to talk to Vicki's grandmother and father.

A little while later, the patient's startled father exclaimed, "So, what you are saying is that Victor's penis will be grown in the lab from tissue you collected and that what is in him now is becoming a real vagina?"

"Yes, a few weeks back, I found I had little to work with, so I collected as much viable tissue as I could and preserved it. That included erectile tissue as well as what was left of his testicles. I sent it off to a research lab in Georgia where they will store it until he hits fourteen. At that time, it will be shipped to one of two institutions where they will start growing the tissue in the lab into his future penis. It may be able to restore nearly all of his function. The nerve business is another story, but even that is looking better and better."

Alex pondered, "Wow! Will he be able to father children?"

"I can't promise, but it looks increasingly possible that some time in the near future we will be able to grow sperm for him in the lab from the testicular tissues I was able to preserve."

"But why create the vaginal canal then? I don't get it?"

Dr. Alvarez added, "From an ethical point of view, we as physicians have to do no harm first. We felt leaving a healthy genital structure would work best in the short term because of your health insurance issues. By using the latest techniques, we have made it easier and safer for Vicki to function sexually in the future. However, we knew the psychological impact of having to dilate is very concerning at her young age. With that in mind, I knew Dr. Smith was headed to Brazil to learn this technique. He knew by removing that need, it will be better for her to adjust when it is time for her to decide which sex she wants to be. In addition, by making the canal the appropriate length now, we have given Vicki a working set of genitals that will not need surgery in six years if she remains female. She is going to need to be on HRT for the rest of her life anyway. By the way, that means she can get wet and lubricate too for sex when she starts puberty. Victor or Vicki will now have options. And, should she decide to remain female, she might have a uterus built from her stem cells that would allow her to bear children. Along the lines of what Dr. Smith said about growing tissues in the lab, they are developing techniques to create eggs from stem cells too as well as grow a uterus. This could mean that Vicki can be a mother too of her own children."

Alex asked, "When is this all going to be possible?"

"We figure in the next ten to fifteen years, it might be commonplace. About the time Vicki graduates from college I would think." Dr. Smith continued, "In the meantime, Vicki will have to have a special insert remain in her vagina for over two months. Normally, this would be for six months in an adult. But, because she is a child with her body still growing, it won't take long for everything to set."

Alex seemed worried. "What should I tell her mom in the meantime?"

Dr. Alvarez answered, "Tell her I said that Victor has a busted tailbone we didn't catch in the initial accident. It has been fixed, but he will need to stay here during spring break if only because his bum really hurts."

The months flew by with Vicki enjoying school, making new friends, and deepening her friendship with Aurelia. At the end of May, her mother gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl.

"Will I get to see you again?" Aurelia was crying.

Vicki was crying to. She loved her friend. "I hope so. I'll try to come and visit as often as I can." Vicki gave Aurelia a tearful hug. Her dad put her suitcases into the van.

"You don't look the same in jeans, I hate to tell you." Aurelia said as she saw Vicki climb into her seat.

"I know. I still aren't sure when you can visit and learn to ride horses. I'll write and call soon." Her dad closed Vicki's door.

He turned to Aurelia and said "I promise Aurelia. We will get in touch. It is just with the babies right now and my wife being so tired, we can't promise anything right away. But, I do know we will see you again when my sister arrives in a week."

Maria commented, "Aurelia, having a baby is really tough. Having two is even harder. Be patient." They stepped back and waved along with Alex's mom.

The cloud of dust they left behind seemed to call into question how Vicki or Victor would be received when they got home.

Soon after their horseback ride where Susan stripped off his shorts and underwear during their horseback ride, Victor related the whole story to Susan. It ended with his homecoming. Nothing had been said about his transformation yet to his mom. He was in limbo. His long blond hair covered his piercings. That and a little makeup had fooled her. Some explanation was made that his hairstyle was so he would look cool at school. His dad hid all of Vicki's clothes in the barn. Back in the house, Victor's mom was too fixated on the babies to really care at the moment about the changes she saw in her boy.

The year before, they tore down the old pool which was a plastic pool surrounded by wood decking. Next to it was a bathhouse and a girls and boys changing room. After tearing it down, Alex and Same went to work on building the new facility. After hiring a crew of workers, they built a beautiful new pool with a nice deep end off the main part of the pool. At twelve feet deep, it could handle the three foot and eight foot diving boards. There were lanes in the main area so kids could swim laps and have competitions. There was a slight bend with an area shallow enough for toddlers which slowly descended into the main pool area which was four foot deep. Both Susan and Victor could bounce off the pool bottom to stay afloat near the toddler area of the pool.

Surrounding the pool were chairs, lounges, tables, and hardware for maintaining the pool. On the western end of the pool was a shaded area where one could get out of the sun attached to a full women’s restroom and men’s restroom. And attached to it to the north was a shack with a kitchen and counter where a cook could make food for the people using the pool. It was a very well thought out design.

After returning the horses to the stables, Victor and Susan walked over to look at the pool since it had just been filled and made ready for the summer crowd.

He sighed, "Guess we will be working here this summer."

Susan chided him as she stuck her hand in the water, "C'mon Victor. The pool's heated. You and me can go swimming now. Your mom is nursing the twins. And this is our last chance to try it before everyone gets here."

"But, we don't have our swimsuits!" Victor complained.

"We'll skinny dip and stay out of the deep end. No one will see us because no one is here. And, now that I have seen you, it won't matter, will it?"

"No, I guess not." He took off his boots, socks, and shirt. After carefully folding them, he then took off his jeans. Susan glanced at his panties again.

"Why panties?"

"They fit better and they feel nice." He folded up the rest of his clothes. Standing there naked he turned and saw Susan naked too. She was right. They both looked the same. Most boys would die to see a girl naked. But, now he didn't need to look any further than his own mirror. And, in the last few months, he had explored his new equipment. There was nothing she had that he didn't have to play with too.

Susan ran and jumped in the pool. After coming up from the water, she waved to Victor to join her. Smiling, he held his nose and slipped into the water. They processed over to area where there feet could more easily touch the floor of the pool.

They had been playing only for about twenty minutes when they failed to hear the noise of tires coming up and parking next to the pool area. Splashing around, they didn't even notice a woman exiting the car, walking past her Arizona plates, and coming into the pool area to inspect the work that had been done. But, they did hear her firm and loud voice cry out, "Children, what are you doing in the pool without a lifeguard?"

Turning around, they both recognized the figure. She was the camp manager, Mrs. Lincoln. "Susan? Victor I think? What are you doing in the pool. You know you can't swim here without a lifeguard being present! Please get out now!" She was exhausted after her five hour drive and this was pretty much the last thing she needed to find out.

Susan meekly started to get out first covering her privates. "My Lord, were the two of you skinny dipping?" As Victor exited, he was also covering his privates. "Boys should not be swimming naked with girls young man." A brief breeze caused Victor to sneeze. As a reflex, he covered his mouth with his hands and exposed himself. The look on Mrs. Lincoln's face was nothing less than astonishment. "My word! You're a girl ..."

Trying to defend himself, he corrected her thinking that would help, "My name's Victoria, Mrs. Lincoln."

It only made it worse. "How come you have been parading around as a boy? Where's your dad?" she said indignantly.

Victor mumbled, "Working on the manure pile Mrs. Lincoln." Vicki reached into the towel bin and handed one to Susan before getting one herself hoping that would help.

Angrily, she pursed her lips and then declared, "You girls get dressed and go home. I need to talk to your dad pronto, Victoria."

As she stormed out, there stood Susan's dad. He heard the commotion while working on one of the nursery door. "Helen, we need to talk first in private before you do that. Girls," he said loudly,"get dressed and go to our place to play."

"What is so all fired important that we need to talk about, Sam?" Her voice conveyed a real sense of annoyance with his trespass.

Sam realized he had to confront her with the harsh truth. "Victor was in a bad accident in March. His privates were tore apart and had to be reconstructed into female parts."

It was clear that knocked her down a peg or two, however she persisted. "But still, he is a boy. Why didn't they reconstruct a penis for him?" Now her voice was perplexed.

"Because there was so much damage they could only save the skin for future use. Instead, after saving what they could, they built a vagina for him. In the meantime, he is a girl until they can build him a penis after he hits puberty."

She was having real trouble processing this turn of events and shifted the blame once again. "I am surprised that his parents allowed this. There must have been another choice."

Sam patiently applied the pressure appealing to her true motivations. "However you look at it, Alex chose life. Sally almost lost her babies and had to be bed ridden just with the news of the accident. Alex made a quick decision to give Victor options for the future without his Sally to help guide him. Then Victor, now Vicki, because of problems found he had to live as a girl going to school in Deming so that Sally could rest and have her beautiful babies not knowing what had happened. Sally would have lost the babies for sure had she found out about how awful the accident was. The fact that Victor accepted that he had to live as a girl to protect his mother and his elderly grandmother showed he was pretty brave during the whole time thinking of others and not himself."

It seemed the whole of her anger was ruble. She was beginning to see reason rather than emotion. "Oh. But now ... um ... I don't know quite how to handle this then. Or even understand it. Everyone coming this summer knows Victor the boy. Maybe they can send him away."

Sam wasn't amused. "Is that your answer then? Sweep the child under the rug? Do what every other Christian does, shoot the wounded?"

The accusation stung deeply. She fell back to her final defense. "You're getting a little testy. I can fire you, you know."

Sam wasn't rattled in the least. "I am leaving in August to work in the oil fields and taking my family with me. Or, if you want to fire me, I can walk right now and it won't hurt me a bit. But that precious child ought to mean more to you than my job. 'When you have done unto the least of these, you have done it unto me.' Isn't that what the bible says? That precious child there needs our guidance and covering. Victor is now a man made eunuch who will never know an erection or be able to father a child. To excuse the pun, Victor is in a no mans land all alone. Sending Victor away so you can feel better about summer camp isn't very Christian. Well, in a sense, maybe Victor has become Miriam to his brother and sister. Who knows what God has planned for Vicki to be right now that man has changed him to her. All I have ever seen her do is bring healing to those her life touches. That includes my daughter who felt abandoned and alone when she first came here thinking a boy would never want to be her friend. And you have commented to me bitterly about the Christian way Victor only responded with kindness versus the awful demeaning way he was treated by the camp kids who treated him like a slave to take care of their horses for them last summer. Are we going to be so selfish in how we treat her given how she has kindly treated those who have mistreated her?" He turned and started to walk away.

Feeling convicted by his defense of Vicki, she grunted out, "Okay, Sam, stop. Please!" Sam turned to look back at her. She hung her head low responding to the clarity of his reasoning. "You're right. Maybe she is a Miriam." Swallowing her pride, she continued, "No, you are right. She is a Miriam. Very well then, how can I help her?"

"Well, for one thing, Alex hasn't been able to tell Sally what really happened yet to their son. He is waiting for his sister to arrive from Wisconsin to help him. But, I think there is a far better choice to help her deal with what happened to her son."

"Who?"

"You. You are the closest thing to a friend, besides her dad, the pastor, whose advice carries weight. The way she talks about you says she knows you to be a woman of God. She idolizes you. If she is going to accept what happened to Victor calmly and gain a compassionate and understanding heart for his plight, I think you would help do that for her. I know turning him into a girl was wrong on some levels to the way we think about life ought to be. And, I can tell you from personal experience that Alex has worried and fretted over this for months now. But, when you get down to it, Victor, no Vicki, is such a sweet child. She loves her baby brother and sister. She is kind and giving. She is helpful and reliable. She puts others before her all the time. And she is alone in this and very scared. She is brave and my little heroine."

She turned and looked back to the children who had just dried off and were getting dressed. Her eyes open to the truth, she saw for the first time how scared Vicki was. She called out, "Vicki, when you are done, come and talk to me for a moment please." Turning back to Sam, "Thank you for setting me straight. And thank you for staying until the end of summer when you could leave now. I don't know what we will do with out you. You and Alex have done a fantastic job this last year bringing the village into our vision for it. I think you will find there is going to be a bonus coming your way soon."

Winking at her, he commented. "Thank you. I am certain the wife will appreciate the bonus as will I. And good luck with Vicki and thank you for helping her and Alex." She nodded.

Vicki approached her cautiously, her lips trembling, she said, "Yes, Mrs. Lincoln?"

"Vicki, I don't want you to be scared. We are not sending you away and you are not in trouble. Nor is your dad. Mr. Sam told me what happened and I am so sorry. I was cruel to you and beg your forgiveness."

"Thank you Mrs. Lincoln." she said tearfully. Susan came up and held her hand.

She exercised her composure as best as possible feeling the enormity of what she needed to do now. "Would you rather be a boy this summer or a girl?"

"A girl, please. If I am a boy, the boys will try to get me to undress and show them what I look like now. That would be wrong. Some might do to me what this one boy did at school and open up the stall while I was peeing."

Shocked to hear that, she inquired, "Did that really happen?"

"Yes Ma'am. He knew me as a boy from Silver City and wanted to prove to everyone I wasn't a girl."

"Oh my. We can't have that happen again, can we? Well, a girl you shall be. Do you have any dresses to wear by any chance?"

With a little pride in her voice, she proclaimed, "Yes I do. I have a whole wardrobe. But it is in the barn until my daddy can explain to my mommy what happened to me."

"Come along girls, I need to talk to Vicki's dad."

As they walked along, Susan stated, "Oh goody, now we can play dress up to." Vicki squeezed her hand. Along the way, Mrs. Lincoln asked her more about what happened to her.

Alex dusted himself off and parked the tractor. He went into the barn to wash up and missed seeing three figures walking across the grounds. While washing his arms and hands thoroughly, he heard, "Vicki, Susan, please wait outside the barn door. And remember to act like ladies." Startled by this command he turned to see Helen standing before him with a serious look on her face. "Alex, I am so sorry to hear what happened to Victor, but I need to talk to you about what is best for Vicki. Can you spare a moment?"

Drying off his hands and arms with a towel, he rested against the sink cabinet. "What a pleasant surprise to see you so soon. Yes, of course. How ..."

"Sam told me most of the story. And then Vicki told me the rest on the way over here. Do you know why Sally trusts me so much?"

Caught off guard by her last question, he stammered, "Uhhh, nooot realllly."

"I'm a pastor's daughter too. We see eye to eye. I have held her hand and talked to her about her grief from losing babies to miscarriage. We have prayed together for her to have more children. Have you named the babies yet?"

"She delivered them two days ago and Dr. Alvarez is coming over this afternoon to get our final choices and register them with the state. But, yes, we have named them. We plan to reveal the names tonight at a cookout. You are most welcome to come, by the way."

"That would be lovely. Thank you. Okay, would you mind if I told her about what has happened to Victor and tell her why I think she should be allowed to remain Vicki."

"Yeah sure, but, don't you have ... you know?"

"Religious objections. Sure I do. But, this a child we are talking about. And I don't see a good reason to wound her anymore than what has happened. Victor's future as a father and as a man was stolen from him. However, right now, I can't imagine what it would feel like to have those whom I loved and trusted reject me over something I had no control over and when my future needs wise people around me to guide me."

Alex sighed deeply. "Thank you for seeing that. I have been so worried about Vicki and Sally."

"I can see that. Now, if you don't mind, I think it is my job to help you tell Sally. She trusts me and my judgment. And if this is handled wrong, Vicki will be further scarred. May I?"

A tear fell from Alex's eye as if a prayer had been answered. "Yes, would you please?"

"Of course I would." Looking back towards the barn doors, she called out, "Susan, Vicki, come back in please!"

Taking command further, she turned and pointed to Alex. "Alex, find her wardrobe and find her best dress, shoes, etc. Take her over to Susan's and have her get dressed and all prettied up. Then come and find me and Sam. I need to go over with him some details about ..." she looked briefly at Susan wondering if she knew, "... about August if you know what I mean."

He glanced at Susan and then nodded to Helen about the unspoken plans for Sam and his family. "Very well, Helen. I will. Thank you so much."

A little while later, Alex approached a laughing Sam and Helen. Obviously, the two were happy despite her learning he was leaving at the end of August. "Alex, is your precious little angel ready?"

"Yes. Well, the girls are having a blast choosing which dress to wear. Vicki can't make up her mind."

Helen giggled, "Just like a girl. Shall we go. Sam is going to wait outside for your signal and then get Vicki."

The three headed to the bunk house where Sam sat in the big swing outside the front door. Alex led Helen in to find Sally nursing one of the twins in the living room.

"Awe, is this the new baby girl?" Sally nodded yes, "She is so cute. Don't you just love babies? And now you have two of them. I am so happy for you. I came early to help."

"Helen, it is so good to see you. Thank you for all those prayers. See, God has really blessed me, hasn't he?" The baby released from her nipple. "I waited so long." She swaddled her and placed her in the crib along side her brother.

"Yes he has. Are you comfortable, because Alex needs to talk to you about Victor. I know the full story and I want you to know that I fully support what Alex did and think it was handled very wisely. What is important for you to know is that the trauma of finding out the truth would have cost you these two precious lives. But, it is time to tell you the full story." Sally shot a worried look at Alex.

"I'm sorry honey. Dr. Alvarez was worried you would lose the babies if you you learned the full truth of how badly Victor was injured."

Sally sputtered out, "But, I spoke to him all this time on the phone. He didn't seem injured?."

Helen spoke up and with a motherly tone said, "Sally, it was what was injured that would have upset you."

Sounding anxious, she went on, "I've seen him. Except for the long blond hair, he seems normal. He is not blind. He seems to hear okay. A little quieter maybe, but quite whole." She continued with a hint of worry in her voice. "He isn't going to die is he? Does he have cancer?"

"No, Honey." Alex began to unfold the truth to his stunned wife. Helen patiently listened and held Sally's hand constantly comforting her with a squeeze and saying it was for the best.

Trying to absorb the reality, she asked, "So my little man is now a girl?" Sally's face was as wet as monsoon storm in July and her skin was as pale as on a moonlit night during a full moon.

Helen, holding her boy baby now and rocking him, said, "Yes. She is. Vicki is brave and courageous. But, she is still a very young child who needs you now more than ever."

"I don't think I can face her now. I don't want to lose my boy. Do I have to?" she said trembling.

Helen put the baby boy back in the crib, took her hand, and looked her in the eye. "It is is what you dad would tell you to do if he were here. The child needs you now more than ever. I've met your dad. Harlon would never let you reject a child who, through no fault of his own, had something like this happen to him. What if he had sever burns and didn't look the same with a horribly disfigured face?"

"I would still love him. But, isn't this different?"

"How?"

"I mean sex organs ..."

"Can be disfigured too, just like major burns."

Slowly, it hit her. "Yes, what is the difference between a disfigured face or a disfigured ..." She stopped to think.

Helen gave her a moment before saying, "Exactly. The way we know what our privates look like is by the clothes we wear. I think it is time you met your very pretty Vicki. Listen carefully. If you accept the clothes as soon as possible, that means you don't reject her because of the injury, and you heal the child who is very scared right now. Now is the best and only time." Helen signaled Alex who opened the door and signaled Sam.

As they chatted on for awhile about Vicki and what she had gone through, the front door tentatively opened and a little blond head with a cute headband and set of golden earrings poked through the door. "Mom?"

Tearfully, Sally said, "Vict ... Vicki? How is my little angel?"

Vicki slowly eased into the room. "Scared Mommy." She brushed her dress and put her hands together in front of her afraid to look at her mom.

"Why honey?" came a tearful response.

More tearfully than before, Vicki plaintively quivered, "That ... you ... won't want me anymore?" Sally could clearly see her little girl was shaking and scared.

"Oh honey, you look so pretty. Come here and give mommy a hug!" The two fell into each others arms. Sally pushed her back gently to get a good look at her first born, "I wish I had bought you that dress. It is so lovely. And those unicorns on your dress, they are so cute. Blue is really a good color on you. And, oh my, you have had your ears pierced. Are those are unicorns too?" She slid her fingers through Vicki's hair. She started to examine her like she had been doing with her newborns making sure they were perfect. She was so girly now. But, when she looked into her eyes, she saw the child she had always known and loved looking back at her. This gentle creature was as much her child as the boy that once stood in her place.

Sally reached out and gave her another hug. Vicki could feel her mother shaking too. "I love you so much, Vicki. Thank you for protecting me and your siblings. Oh my brave sweet gentle little girl. What did I ever do to deserve such a wonderfully kind child as you?"

The emotional eight year old child responded to her mother's loving and accepting embrace sobbing out the only thing she could think of saying, "I love you Mommy."

Copyright © 2021 by AuP reviner

Chapter 9 -- Training Camp

"It's like she has absorbed Susan, Aurelia, and every girl she knew at school. Now she is absorbing Olivia." Alex hugged his sister as they stood watching the conveyor belt at El Paso International Airport's Baggage Claim. "She is becoming more girly every day."

"That's not so bad, is it?" she quibbled as they both watched her daughter Olivia and his daughter Vicki chatting and giggling away in the bank of seats that bordered the baggage claim area. "I mean, look at her, she is happy." They turned back to the conveyor as the bell rang announcing the arrival of luggage.

"Yes, you know, she really is so much happier than Victor was. And he was happy. Anyway, it is so good to see you. I have missed my darling sister. Thank you so much for coming. You haven't changed a bit." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Liar! Although, you have become more handsome. You look so much like dad now. Do you think he would have been proud of us?"

"I know he would be proud of you. You have raised a charming daughter. Who, by the way, will be a counselor at The Village. Her first summer job working in the nursery with Vicki and Susan. And, she will be there with Vicki helping us take care of our family's latest additions, Stacy Helen Martin and Harlon Alexander Martin."

"And, I get to take care of Mom." she sputtered out indignity.

"She needs you." She could hear her brother pleading in the way he said it. It was Alex, she knew, who had taken care of their mother for all these years. Not her. That was unfair to him and she knew it.

"I know." her voice dripping with resignation.

The ride back to Deming was filled with lots of catching up. The only stop they made was to visit the roadrunner statue along Interstate 10 out of Las Cruces.

Pulling up to the home she hadn't seen for eighteen years, aunt Vicki was tense. In stark contrast, Vicki junior was thrilled. Senior had avoided coming here feeling her her dad had been forgotten. Junior was excited because she was with family. Upon entering the house, Senior said, "Hi mom!" They exchanged an awkward hug. As Vicki junior gave her grandmother a hug, Vicki Senior announced, "And this is Olivia."

"Hi Grandma." She gave her grandmother a wonderful hug and kiss. "Thank you for all the letters, cards and phone calls over the years. It is so good to finally meet you in person." She cast an angry glance back at her mom who turned away feeling embarrassed.

A knock soon came at the door then squeals of giggling. Aurelia came over to see her best friend and was pleasantly surprised to find her in a dress. Then all the young girls crossed the street while the adults sat down for a long overdue reunion and a serious discussion about the future of the oldest one there.

Across the street, in Aurelia's room, Olivia shook her head as she watched the two girls playing with dolls. "I used to be just like you two." she observed. Then she joined them and was having fun when Mercedes came into the room half naked.

"Aurelia, quit taking my hair dryer!" announced a perturbed sister. Olivia took note that Vicki gave only an unconcerned glance at the topless girl.

Since the girls were being poor hostesses, Olivia took matters into her own hands. "Hi, I am Olivia Martin Jackson, Vicki's cousin."

"Oh, hi. Sorry, I am Mercedes. I heard Vicki's family was coming out from Wisconsin. Must be a shock to be here."

"Sure is. I have never seen the desert southwest. Although, it is less of a shock since I get to dump my bratty ten year old little brother Jason. Now, what's fun to do around here other than drying one's hair after a shower. Any cute boys?"

Mercedes laughed and motioned her to follow and they went off to her room.

"Why do you keep doing that to your sister?"

"Because I like to annoy her." The two girls continued to play. After a bit, they heard laughter coming down the hallway.

Aurelia chuckled, "See, I told you they would get along." She then rubbed her chest. "I can't wait to grow boobs. When do you think you'll grow them?"

Vicki sighed heavily after finishing dressing Ken. "I'll have to wait. I asked and my doctor. He says I won't start getting them until I am eleven." Sounding exasperated, she exclaimed to her close friend, "Three whole years."

"Bummer. Your cousin doesn't have big boobs." Vicki shot a questioning look at Aurelia. "My mom says that if you look at the girls in a family you will know how big the breasts will be for your friends."

"Yeah, mine will be pretty small. But, still, they will be pretty nice to have." Vicki said smiling at the thought of going that direction in her life.

"You mean that?" The voice asking it sounded incredulous. Vicki turned to see Mercedes and her cousin Olivia standing there in the hallway. She then realized the two teenage girls heard the whole conversation and that by the expression on her cousin's face that it was Olivia who asked. Mercedes, was fully dressed now, was sticking her tongue out at her sister. Vicki blushed not knowing what to say to her cousin. Did she just say that not to be discovered? No, she though, she really wanted them.

Mercedes saved the day. "Be grateful Vicki. Big tits can be a pain in butt. I am not looking forward to being a double-D like mom."

Aurelia, shocked by her sister's comment thinking she really meant it, asked worriedly, "Do you really feel pain in your butt when your boobs get hit?"

On the other side of the street, Alex brought his sister a root beer. She chuckled. "You know I am allowed to drink the real thing now."

"It's my Vicki's favorite. At least while she was staying with Mom." The realization that she had a same named niece was the intoxication that came with the drink causing her to grin from ear to ear.

"So you think Vicki looks a little bit like me?" she asked her brother in passing.

Her mom responded wistfully, "A lot like you dear. She even acts like you did at the same age."

The two didn't know it, but the ice was beginning to break and in the next few minutes it would really break for good. Rosemary began to cry softly, "Alex, Vicki, we need to talk about what is going to happen to me before I lose all my senses to dementia."

"Mommmm." Alex protested.

"No, Alex. It is important. I want to be cremated like your dear sainted father and my ashes placed next to his. They are in a vault buried in Mountain View Cemetery."

"Next to the airport, right?" he asked.

"Yes, Mountain View Cemetery. The company your dad worked for gave that one to me for free. But, he is in a big vault and there is more than enough room for my ashes too. So, you are to bury me with him. When you do, I want you take out the suitcase there. He won't need it anymore since I will be there with him." She continued to cry and mopped her face with some tissues.

Vicki gave her mother an astonished look. "You mean the purple suitcase that used to be next to his desk?"

"The very same. I knew he would be lonely without us. I didn't even know if I was going to be able to keep the house at the time meaning we couldn't visit him. I felt so numb. So, I put his suitcase next to him in the burial vault so he would have something to remind him of home and I could go one without him." She drifted off as she cried like the two kids hadn't see her do in a long time. She quieted down and seemed to be deep in thought. The countenance of her daughter melted into confusion and repentance.

"I thought you sold that stuff off to pay for his funeral." she said softly with a mixture of bitter and apologetic tears rolling down her face now.

"No, dear, the company paid for the funeral. He died on the job and it was their policy to pay for burials if that happened. Sort of a get out of a lawsuit policy a lawyer told me. What I did was trade the casket they offered for a cremation. But I found out I was still stuck with a burial plot and a vault for the casket. I wouldn't get anything for the vault per cemetery policy. So, I buried your dad with his precious memorabilia so he won't have something he considered precious. It was so he wouldn't feel alone until we were reunited. I miss him so very much." Her mother broke down into gentle sobs. It was the first time she saw her mother cry over her dad.

Vicki began to see her mother really did love her dad. She realized that in the fog of her own grief, her mother's grief wasn't good enough. All these years, Vicki conflated her mother's coldness back then with a false narrative that she didn't love him. For the first time, she could see the stoic wall she had presented was a band aid hiding a still broken heart.

Rosemary turned to Alex, "And I have to thank my wonderful son for making me a sewing room so I could earn money on the side too. You have no idea how scared I was back then. I was numb with fear. I don't know what I would have done with out your kindness." She looked around the room. "Sometimes I felt so lonely in this house. Over the years, I hove gone into Vicki's room to just sit there. It lets me remember all the good times we had as a family. And lately, I had the marvelous two plus months with your little Vicki, Alex. We would do puzzles together and so many things. Vicki is so very special. You do things with her. You hear me, Alex. I know you lost Victor. But, it is as though things were set right. Like little Vicki was meant to be."

"Mom?"

"Yes Vicki."

"Would you show me my room through your eyes, please?" Years of a bitter ice cold wall between the two broke out in a refreshing cool springtime rain in the next few hours.

A day later, Vicki sat in a cold conference room with Mr. Jensen at her side, a camera in front of her giving her testimony of the accident. Vicki felt so small with all the big mean men asking her questions. Holding Mr. Jensen's hand gave her strength. She was dressed in simple summer dress with conservative earrings. A hint of perfume. Nails polished and she was wearing her lucky friendship necklace that reminded her that she wasn't alone. The deposition lasted only two hours because she was a minor. She spoke of how sad she was that she wouldn't be able to have children. She lamented how much she missed playing baseball with her friends in Silver City. She complained of how painful it was and how frightened she was at being attacked by a boy and a mean girl at school. She talked about how scared she was now at being discovered and being rejected at the camp. The part of her testimony that caught her lawyers attention was her description of the surgery to give her a proper vagina that wouldn't need to be dilated. She cried as she described how degrading it was to be dilated and how Dr. Smith put her needs ahead of another patient.

Afterward, as he was packing up at the conference table and the opposition lawyers had left, Mr. Jensen asked her about it. "Oh yes, it was very nice of Dr. Smith. He told me he had a patient who needed it more because she was having problems."

He nodded and said, "That was very nice of him."

Without prompting, Vicki added, "And Dr. Alvarez too. I think she was the patient who needed it."

This caught Fred's attention more than Vicki realized. She didn't understand the importance of his next question, but he did. "What makes you say that?"

He squeezed her hand in appreciation as she declared, "The way she looked at him with tears in her eyes. She didn't think I saw them. He looked at her with a nod and told it would be okay."

Mr. Jensen looked away towards the door and her waiting father who had just appeared in the doorway. "Well, that does explain a lot. Thank you. Go to your dad now." He joined her and told Alex, "She did awesome. I think they will settle out of court now." As he went back to his office from the conference room, for the first time Jensen started to understand Dr. Alvarez's reluctance to become more intimate with him. The confusing signals she had been sending now filtered out to one he loved. He made a mental note to become more supportive.

Soon afterwards, the start of summer at the camp begin. The families arrived and settled into their various cabins. All in all, there were about seventy children this year ranging in ages from newborn to seventeen. There were seven counselors excluding Olivia who was now the Nursery supervisor under Sally with Vicki and Susan as her helpers. The community has an community stage and circle too. With the families assembled, there was a welcome meeting and an established once a week meeting thereafter with the heads of the families until the end of summer.

Helen stood stoically at the center of the stage waiting for everyone to settle down. Bluetooth speakers were set up on the sides of the stage so everyone could hear.

"Hello, test, hello test. Can everyone please be quiet. I have some announcements about this week and for the rest of the summer. First, those of you who are doing merit badges for Scouting, see me afterwards. I am a merit badge counselor for horsemanship, leather work, cooking, and swimming. Plus a few more. Okay, this year there is a change in the use of horses. Last year, the son of one of our staff here used to get horses ready for a ride and then expected was expected to cool down and take care of the horse after their rides. Well, he wasn't told that was the job of each rider, was he? That was not nice. This year, you operate do your own horse maintenance. And, we have given that unhappy boy the summer off. He won't be around to help you anymore."

Walking to the other side of the stage, she announced. "This year, we have a nursery for children under the age of two. It is going to be staffed by Sally Martin." There followed applause. "And family from Wisconsin?" Sally nodded yes. "I would like to introduce Vicki and Olivia Jackson." More applause followed. "And Debra and her daughter Susan you ought to know already. The nursery is next to the pool and is there so you ladies can take a break from child care and enjoy your family or just take a relaxing break at our pool. We have plenty of activities planned for the summer, so if you have any questions, come to the community room behind me and check out what we have available. Be sure to sign up for the activities you would like to participate in."

Helen came over and sat down with the group. "Well, Sally, I think that should give Vicki some privacy."

Back in Appleton, Wisconsin, Stew Jackson walked out on his porch with Jason, his ten year old son. "Dad, have you told mom yet?"

"No Jason, I will tonight."

"You accepted the job." Jason said fatalistically.

"Yes. We're moving to Deming. I am going to be one of the new managers there at their Wal-mart. It will include a pay increase." He put his arm around his son's shoulders. "I know it will mean losing friends and a whole different way of living. But, your mom needs to be there for her mom."

"What's Grandma Martin like? Is she really as cold as mom says she is?"

"No son. I have tried to tell her that and she just says I don't know her like she knows her. I have stayed out of her family squabbles for a long time, but no longer. Your Uncle Alex says your grandmother has dementia. And, well, I need to sit down and talk to you about your cousin Victor." His son gave him a curious look.

A thousand miles away, outside of Dr. Alvarez's office, Fred paced back and forth waiting for his lunch date. Maria exited her side door and greeted him. "My, don't we look handsome today." She looked up and down Fred. He was in a polo shirt and dress slacks. Not his usual suit and tie which he wore to work or court.

"Ready for a nice quiet lunch?" They headed out to a local hangout. Fred had arranged for a quiet spot where the two could talk without interruption.

"Maria, during the deposition, Vicki said something. I need you to be honest."

"I can't violate client privacy." she said defensively.

"Not hers. Yours. Is the reason you keep pushing me away is that you can't be intimate due to ..." He blushed and struggled to find the words, which was unusual for a a lawyer. "... female trouble?" Now she struggled to find the words to respond. He put his hand on hers. With a tear in his eye, he went on, "Because if it is, I am okay with that. I love you. Sex would be a bonus with a sexy doctor, sure. But, it's just the thought of not having you in my life at all that really hurts." A tear fell from his face and dropped onto her hand.

Maria broke down in tears. She had never known love like this. She was scared. Finally screwing up the courage to confront her biggest fear, she asked him, "Do you know what I am?"

He grinned, "A beautiful woman who used to be an ugly boy."

Startled, she stammered, "You knew?"

"I may be a hick lawyer, but I know how to use Classmates.com. I was curious about how you looked in High School." He chuckled and squeezed her hand.

Maria asked impatiently, "And how did I look?"

"I plead the fifth. But, what I do see now is a major improvement!" With that, he leaned in for a kiss. The good doctor responded by taking her medicine cheerfully.

At that moment, miles away, Stew ushered in the crew to pack up the house in Wisconsin. Leaning up against the wall, Jason asked, "I miss Grandpa and Grandma too. Why did they move and where?"

"They couldn't take the climate anymore. They've moved to to Apache Junction, AZ."

"Couldn't we move to Arizona instead?" he fumed. "My cousin is now a girl. And I don't know anyone there."

Ignoring his son's angst, he unfolded a truth to him, "No, it is your Grandma Martin's turn. We've ignored her long enough. Plus, we will only be four and half hours apart by car for them to visit us. It is a win win. And, you'll be going to the same elementary school as Vicki did. She can tell you all about the boys there."

Searching for holes in his dad's vision for them, "Why can't we visit them in Deming instead?"

"They live in a 55 year old community now. We can only visit for a very short time according to the rules."

Stew patted him on the shoulder. "Son, we will still get to see them lots of times. Don't worry."

"And what about Mom?"

"She had already quit her job to take care of your mom. She wasn't coming back for at least a year." Stew wasn't going to let that happen. He didn't like making unilateral decisions, but this one he would because he knew in his heart it was the right thing to do.

Around the corner from the Martin home in Deming, Mrs. Charlene Farmer heard her phone ring. "Hello, is the mother of Lucas?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"My name is Sally Martin. Your son was in the same class with my daughter Vicki and he expressed an interest in learning to ride horses."

"Yes, Vicki?! Isn't your daughter that unfortunate girl that got exposed in the girl's bathroom at school. Sorry didn't mean to pry. The poor girl."

"Sadly, yes. The boy and girl who orchestrated the whole ugly thing got expelled too. It hurt Vicki deeply. But, she does speak highly of your son Lucas. He sounds like a very nice boy."

"Oh he is. He is a very polite boy. And he does want to learn to ride." Lucas looked up from his Louis L'Armour book with a questioning look.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that we are going to be offering free riding lessons and before we arrange them, I need to get a group of students together."

"Where is here, here?"

"A ranch near Buckhorn. We run a summer camp for families who belong to a software company out of Phoenix. They are looking for ways for the camp to provide income during the off season. Anyway, Vicki mentioned your son's interest and wanted to give him a chance to try horseback riding."

"That is very sweet of her to remember. Lucas does, but I don't get it. Why is it free?"

Well, long story short, we are going to do what they call alpha testing, or what I might call bored executives wanting to mess with the system because they make way too much money and wish to ignore spending time with their families which is why they set up the camp in the first place."

Lucas' mom got the giggles. "When?"

"Not sure. They are still in the planning phases. My job right now is to get them a list of potential students."

"Well, provided we get a little warning, I will say yes."

Later, as Sally brushed Vicki's hair, the two chatted. Vicki was pleased to hear that Lucas would be getting lessons. "So, your grandmother enjoyed doing this with you?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"How did it make you feel."

"Weird at first. But then I got used to it."

"And now, with my doing it."

"Nice."

"Just nice? Nothing more."

Vicki thought for a moment. "It's like when you make cinnamon rolls nice on Saturday mornings."

"You mean you look forward to it?"

Vicki giggled. "Yeah, like that." She became a little more serious, "Mom, I gotta a big problem?"

"What's that dear?"

"I only have boy swimsuits. I can't go swimming. I have nothing to wear!"

"Yeah, that is a problem. You, realize that means we will have to go shopping?"

Vicki smiled big. "Yeah. Can we do it with Aurelia. I love shopping with her too."

Astonished by the response, Sally replied, "Of course Aurelia can come. But, look, little lady. You used to hate shopping."

"I don't remember that."

"Don't lie to me, you did. I had to drag you out kicking and screaming to go shopping."

"Well, I like to now."

"What changed?"

With a coy smile, Vicki dropped the bombshell. "I dunno. Maybe the clothes got interesting."

Sally hugged her little girl and kissed her on the head as she finished brushing her hair. She lead Vicki to her bedroom. "You're too funny. I love you."

Turning around just before she got to her room, Vicki hugged her mom goodnight. "Mom, if I am so funny why are there tears in your eyes?"

"Just because. I don't know. I just wonder if it is wrong to love you so much when I still love Victor. It doesn't seem fair to him."

Vicki thought about what her mom said after being released from her hug. Before climbing into bed, Vicki raced back and hugged her mother again, this time with all of her might. She sputtered out, "He understands, Mommy. Victor understands and he still loves you too." After she let go to head back into her room, she didn't see her mom going down the hallway in tears as she climbed into bed.

A week later, Mrs. Lincoln watched Vicki changing a little girl's diaper. "You will make a good mom, Vicki."

"Thank you Mrs. Lincoln. I like working in the nursery."

"Better than all the kids who dumped their horses on you last year I bet?"

"I liked that. But, yeah, they weren't very nice to me."

Alex and Fred came into the nursery quietly. They waved to Mrs. Lincoln. Alex said in a low voice to Vicki, "Howse my little princess?"

"Fine dad. Hi Mr. Jensen!" She gave each man a hug.

Fred smiled and said quietly, "We have reached a settlement with the company and their insurance provider, Vicki. It may not mean much to you now, but you will have your hormones and medical care taken care for the rest of your life. Included is four years of counseling. Plus a moderate income to help offset the damage to your future. In addition, you and your family will have an initial payment that will allow you all to purchase a home for the inconvenience also caused to your parents for having lost biological grandchildren."

Mrs. Lincoln responded, "I hope that doesn't mean we are going to lose you too in addition to Sam?"

Vicki chimed in, "Yeah Dad, I like living here."

Alex chuckled. "I don't want to move, really, Helen. I love this job. I suppose we could pay off the home in Silver City, but that would still leave a whole bunch of money. I guess we could invest it."

An idea hit Helen, "You know Alex, we have been in negotiations with the adjoining five acres north of the entrance, you could buy that and build a home there. We could even guarantee a buy out should you ever move. That way you could have a place all your own, but still work here. We could even purchase the kits for you."

Fred, ever the negotiator, chimed in. "Alex. You could pay off your home and have a nice one here to live in too. That's a win win."

The three adults went off to work out the details. Fred also arranged at that meeting for Vicki to began therapy sessions once a month with Mrs. Gillian, a therapist in Las Cruces that specialized in gender identity disorders.

Later that day, Mrs. Lincoln came into the nursery and pulled up a chair next to Vicki. She handed Vicki a root beer which brought a smile to the little girl.

"I've had a talk with your mom and we discussed some things. They may not mean much to you at nine years of age, but in the future they will."

"What about Mrs. Lincoln?"

"God's covenant with man after the fall was that if he would multiply and fill the earth, God would send him a savior. That has certainly happened. There are billions of people on the earth now. And there is a savior, Jesus Christ."

Vicki gave her a look that said what she was saying was beyond Vicki. "Do you know what I mean?" Mrs. Lincoln asked.

"No. Not really."

"It means in you and others like you that chain is broken because of what has happened to you. Maybe broken forever. The special signature that your body would contribute to the diversity of the world's population will not be able to be shared with another person as God had intended."

She had Vicki's attention, but not her understanding yet. She changed her discourse to one more appropriate for a little girl. "And that means you will have to adopt a child instead of fathering one." Vicki heard one of the babies let out a small cry. Mrs. Lincoln smiled at Vicki's reaction of concern for the baby as Vicki checked it in its crib. After Vicki returned, she pressed on with her discussion. "You like these babies here, don't you?"

"Oh yes, Mrs. Lincoln, I love them. This has been so much fun. Especially taking care of my baby brother and sister. They are so cute." Vicki giggled. "And Dad says it gives my Mom a much needed rest."

"I am so glad you do love them. I have seen how much you do for others. I just want to let you know that if you continue your path to grow up into a godly woman full of grace, I will do what I can to find you a baby to call your own. That is my promise to you. My covenant. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"That is very kind of you Mrs. Lincoln. Thank you. But, how are you going to do that?"

Mrs. Lincoln patted her on the head, "I have connections." Olivia came back into the room with a load of freshly cleaned laundry and the two girls started to fold sheets for the cribs.

Back at her grandmothers in Deming, the doorbell rang. Vicki senior answered the door and was shocked to see her husband standing before her.

He boldly announced after a hug and a kiss, "I have rented our home. Moved our stuff here. Found a house to rent just around the corner. And I am the new store manager for Wal-Mart for this district."

Vicki senior was thrilled. Later, she confessed to Stew, "I didn't know how to tell you we needed to move here. Or if you even would."

Summer passed by quickly, and soon, it was time for Sam, Debra, and Susan to leave.

Sam and Alex finished loading the U-Haul. They hugged only to be interrupted by bawling children. Susan and Vicki seemed inconsolable. It didn't matter to Susan that she was moving closer to family. Her uncles and cousins had also moved to Roswell to become part of the oil crews as well. Susan didn't understand that her dad's welding experience was in high demand and would earn him three times what he made at the Village. She was losing a sister, a friend, and a willing accomplice in her adventures.

Vicki was losing half of the team that taught her how to be a girl. Between Aurelia and Susan, Vicki had learned how to think, walk, talk, and act like a girl in the last five months. But, it was more than that. Susan was her last memory of Victor too. It was Susan who gave Victor his boy creds before March playing doctor up in the barn loft. And, in a sense, it was Susan that defined the difference between Victor the boy and Susan the girl every time they played. She was his and her journey of the last four years of this nine year old girl.

The adults and the children could not see that in a real sense, Susan had to leave so Vicki could find out who she really was. This alone time would be the vacuum that sealed Vicki or Victor's future. This lead to a visit to Mrs. Gillian in Las Cruces.

"Hey Sweetie." Mrs. Gillian smiled at the lumbering child in an effort to cheer her up. Her head, shoulders, and everything slumped as she came in. Vicki plunked herself down on the soft chair in front of Mrs. Gillian. This was their third meeting.

"What, no hug? Sniff, sniff." Mrs Gillian feigned being hurt.

"I don't feel like it." she grumbled.

"I'd ask you to tell me how you feel, but I think I can tell."

"She was like a sister to me."

"You love Susan, don't you?" Vicki nodded yes.

"Have you talked to her since she left?"

"Almost every day. But, she spends lots of time with her cousins and the phone calls are getting shorter. It is like she is forgetting me."

"That is only natural. You don't have anyone to play with. Maybe you should spend a few days with your grandmother and Aurelia."

"Yeah. I wish I could do that. But she is back in school and I have to home school."

"I've talked to your dad. He says you two have a trip to make to the Dakotas next week to get some horses. I bet when you get back, there is going to be a new family and a girl your age."

Vicki perked up. "Really?"

Suddenly, she heard her dad's voice behind her. "And, it seems that your aunt Vicki wants and Jason for the next year to home school with us. He is having a hard time adjusting to living in Deming. It would be just for the school year. Then you would return to regular schooling after the first of the year, so that means he will be staying with us. Come outside, I have something to show you." The ladies followed him out in front of Mrs. Gillian's office. There was a huge white Ford pickup truck hauling a huge horse trailer.

"Vicki, my dad loved to go on adventures with my sister. I would like to do the same with you. The company gave me this truck and trailer."

"Adventures, Dad?"

"Yes, he traveled all over New Mexico with her. Very much like we have over the years. But, we never had such a great vehicle as this to do it with. We can travel almost anywhere we want. We can attend horse shows. I can give horsemanship lessons in Deming over the weekend." Looking over his treasure, he breathlessly exclaimed, "I don't have to leave you at home anymore or ask someone else to give you a ride." He picked up Vicki and held her. She could see a tear in his eye. "Vicki, I want to show you the world before you go off into it on your own." He tenderly caressed her face and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She hugged him back.

Alex and Vicki returned home. When they walked back in, Helen was drinking a cup of coffee cheerfully arguing with Sally about where the best place was to get Mexican food in the area. "Hey stranger. You have been working so hard on the cabins, I haven't seen you for a few days. How did the session go at the therapist."

"Excellent."

"Where is Vicki?"

"Feeding the horses."

"Well," said Helen proudly. "Should we tell Sally about Sam's replacement, our new camp manager and the big surprise you just brought home?"

Alex sat down with them. "Jim and Sarah Haskell are arriving with their nine year old girl Brenda and there twelve year old boy Mike the first week in October from New Hampshire. I talked to him already. He used to work at one of the ski resorts up there. I know he said something about working the Wildcats. Anyway, they have had it with New Hampshire property taxes. And, they want to travel during the off season and explore the southwest."

"Wonderful news. Vicki will have a girlfriend. So who is the new camp manager, Helen?"

"Yes. I am getting too old for this job and I certainly don’t need the money. I will still spend summers here, but I am a grandmother, Sally. I want to travel or maybe do missions. Alex has done such a good job that I convinced the board to hire him be the new camp manager."

Alex just smiled and basked in the glow of Sally's smile. "And, it means you just got a company truck too." Helen added.

"What! No way!"

"Yup. It's out front. Along with the new trailer. I traded in our old van too. We will be getting a new van tomorrow. So, this means Vicki and I can get some Appaloosas in the Dakotas."

A few days later, Vicki climbed into the truck. She smoothed out her skirt, made sure she had her purse, and checked herself in the mirror. Then she buckled up. While she did all that, she asked, "Daddy, if your daddy spent a lot of time with Aunt Vicki, why didn't you feel left out?"

Alex arranged the maps and went over his checklist. As he was doing that, he said, "Maybe in the beginning I did, but, your grandma is right. My dad really did love your aunt and me equally. In actual fact, I think that is where I learned how to be a good man and a good father by watching how he treated her. Once I realized that, I never felt left out. Oddly enough, I felt very much included when your aunt Vicki would tell me about their adventures. Daddy always gave me a wink when he went and did something special with her as if to say this was our time too. So, I started to wink back to let him know I understood that was what Daddy's do."

Looking up at him with a sweet smile, she inquired, "Daddy, would you mind very much if I remain being a girl forever?" Surprised by her sudden change of subject, he looked back at the house to Sally holding the babies. He winked at Sally giving her an air kiss. Sally smiled and winked back sending back an air kiss of her own. Then, as he started the truck, he smiled and reached over drawing Vicki close to him and gave her a long kiss on her forehead after which he nuzzled his nose in her hair. Then he tweaked her nose. She giggled knowing that was his answer. She felt warm, safe, and loved.

Putting the truck in drive, he exclaimed, "Come on Vicki, let's go get us some horses." With that, Father and daughter headed off on an adventure to the Dakotas in their brand new truck and trailer not looking back to where they had been, but very much looking forward to where the future was taking them.

To be continued in the "Vicki Chronicles" ...

Copyright © 2021 by AuP reviner

[ Many of my readers know I draw inspiration for a story, or a chapter in a story, from a song I am listening to. This story was born from a very moving video. I suggest watching it all the way through despite it being in French. It's message will melt the coldest of hearts. Enjoy --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrTd8VeP64 -- AuP ]