Kyle was shaking with relief. He simply nodded.
“Does anyone else know?” Rebecca asked.
“Only Sally. I told her today.”
“How come?” His father asked.
“I never realised it, but she fancied me rotten. A guy asked her to the Summer Ball, but she was waiting for me to ask her. She fronted me about it and told me how she felt about me. I just told her the truth.”
“How did she react?”
Kyle smiled.
“I went round to her house and she turned me into a girl. We spent the afternoon shopping in Oxford.”
Jake smiled and shook his head.
“Kyle, wasn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“I don’t think so. I looked the part and pretended to be a Swedish exchange student. The guy in the shoe shop even fancied me,” he said, going red.
“How did you feel?” his mother asked.
“When, as a girl? Wonderful. As if I was alive for the first time.”
Jake nodded. He didn’t really understand what his son was going through, but he knew that this was not a problem that he could solve.
“Kyle, we need to make an appointment with Dr Hillier. I have a feeling that the road you are going to travel will be long and difficult. So, perhaps it is best to start as soon as possible,” he said.
Kyle nodded.
“I’m sorry Dad, Mum. I didn’t ask for this,” he said.
“We know that, but you’ve got it and we’ll deal with it as a family, okay?”
Kyle looked at his father, and cried at the depth of this tough old businessman’s love.
“Thanks, Dad, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“You’ve told us now, so it’s our joint problem, okay?”
Kyle nodded.
His parents gave him a hug and left him alone. He sat on his bed feeling drained.
His mobile rang, and he answered it.
It was Sally. She informed him that he was now the proud owner of a realistic pair of silicone breast forms, at forty-two pounds. He had won the bid.
“When will they arrive?”
“In a couple of days, I suppose.”
“I told my parents,” he said.
“No! When?”
“Just now. Dad noticed a trace of nail varnish on my nails, and the fact they are all pointy and girly, forever observant. He thought I was gay. Mum did too.”
“Oh, well done you. How did they take it?”
“As you thought they would. I can’t believe how lucky I am. I’ve been reading about transsexuals who are thrown out by their parents, and have a really rotten time. I think they are making an appointment to see a doctor this week.”
“That quick? Shit, Kyle, this is wicked!”
“Yeah, it’s terrifying.”
“So, you’re going to be a real girl?”
“I’ll never be that, but I’ll try to be the next best thing.”
“Don’t you believe it. You are more a girl than so many real girls I know!”
Kyle smiled.
“Does this mean you want your clothes at your place?”
“I hadn’t thought about it. I suppose so.”
“Can I come over now? I can bring them and chat to your parents.”
“If you want.”
She was gone. Ten minutes later her Mini pulled up on the drive, and Sally was ringing the doorbell.
Rebecca let her in, so the family went into the sitting room. Sally was carrying the clothes in some carrier bags.
Kyle felt embarrassed as they discussed his ‘condition’. Sally had been researching the whole subject on the Internet, and had printed off pages of stuff about sex changes. Jake put on his spectacles, and seemed very interested.
Rebecca looked at the bags.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“These are the clothes that we bought Kayla this afternoon.”
“Kayla?” Rebecca asked.
“That’s the name we decided on. Kayla Olsen, from Stockholm. We thought we’d be safer that way.”
“Olsen, that’s Mama’s maiden name,” Rebecca said.
“I know. That’s why I chose it,” said Kyle.
Jake looked up.
“In my experience, the bigger the lie, the more shit you land in. Keep things simple and as close to the truth as you can,” he said, and went back to his reading.
Sally flushed and grinned sheepishly at Kyle.
Rebecca asked to see the clothes, so Sally passed over the bags. She took out the bras and panties, looking a little shocked.
Kyle blushed and felt really embarrassed.
Jake looked up, over the top of his spectacles.
“You said you passed for a girl. Well, if you don’t mind, would you show us?”
Kyle suddenly felt afraid, but Sally grinned and took his hand, dragging him upstairs. Rebecca brought the bags, leaving Jake reading the Internet material.
Rebecca sat on her son’s bed and watched Sally transform Kyle into the daughter she never thought she’d have. They even replaced the nail varnish and applied the new makeup.
Wearing a new top and a denim skirt they’d bought, Kyle slipped his new shoes on. He was shaking and felt about as nervous as he could remember. Yet he also felt more of a girl, simply because his mother was watching.
With his hair brushed out, looking simply radiant, he turned towards his mother and smiled.
Rebecca was lost for words, but the tears that rolled down both cheeks, spoke volumes.
“You are beautiful!” she said at last, hugging her new daughter.
They went downstairs, arm in arm, with a grinning Sally bring up the rear.
Jake looked up as they entered the sitting room. He was rather afraid of the possible result of his suggestion. However, he felt that it needed getting out of the way, if the barriers were to be broken down with Kyle.
Nothing had prepared him for what he saw.
The girl who came into the room with Rebecca looked so like her, he was quite shocked to realise that Kyle resembled his mother so closely.
There was nothing about Kyle, that he could see, that suggested he was a boy. His demeanour, gestures and mannerisms were all feminine and graceful. Kyle’s whole deportment had changed, and he couldn’t help but notice that the smile was genuine and reflected a deep contentment.
He experienced a deep and sudden sense of loss, as he realised that the Kyle he had known would never really be the same. Yet, this creature, who was still his child, seemed more alive and vibrant than Kyle had ever been.
Jake stood up, taking off his glasses.
“Give us a twirl then, girl,” he said. Kyle grinned and held both arms out to his side, spinning three-sixty degrees.
Jake swallowed. He knew this was his youngest son, yet every sense in his body told him he was looking at a girl. As a seasoned manager, with more than thirty years experience, he thought that he had seen just about everything there was to see. He had dealt with many individuals whose gender was in that grey area somewhere between male and female.
He fully expected his son to fall in this category. He was amazed and pleased that, as far as appearances and mannerisms were concerned, Kyle was most definitely a very normal looking girl. No, not just normal, but stunningly pretty.
“Kayla, welcome to our family!” he said, opening his arms.
Kyle started to cry and smile at the same time, as he accepted his fathers embrace.
Rebecca was crying too, as was Sally.
After Sally left, Kyle had a long and rather deep session with his parents. The emotions of the whole situation were exhausted. Therefore, everyone was able to look at things with clearer vision.
Jake observed that Rebecca was more than accepting the situation, and there seemed to be an unusually swift bonding process occurring between her and her new ‘daughter’.
He was still at a loss to know what he should be feeling. The visual impact of Kyle as a girl disturbed him deeply, and yet at the same time, it was unequivocal. His sense of propriety was dented by Kyle’s ‘condition’, and yet as a father, he acknowledged that there was no doubt that Kyle had been dealt a bad hand, and was beginning to put that right.