Urban

Gradual Change – Part 1

Added 2021-08-30 12:07:17 +0000 UTC

Halloween Special - CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | Gradual Change Appendix

Original story by Lajien

Edited By - Julia Miller

Note - Lajien who is one of the Patreon here, what to share this wonderful story with us, so please share your kind thoughts on what do you feel about this story I know you will love it. Thank you...

Summary - This is a story about a 10-year-old named Ryan, whose world gets turned upside down when a genetic disorder is discovered. How will Ryan cope with the news of what this life-changing disorder means for his future? How will his family and those around him deal with it? Will this destroy his life or bring him a wonderful new future? Find out the answer to these questions and more as we explore Ryan’s life.

The Houston’s are a family of four. The parents have two sons. Heather is the mom who works as a lawyer; her golden blonde hair was a mess as she just woke up around 6:00am. She needed to wake her sons and make sure they get ready for school. First, she walked to her youngest’s room, 10-year-old Ryan Allen Houston.

While she didn’t discriminate between her children, Ryan was her baby. In fact, he was the baby of the family. Not only was he the youngest, but his 15-year-old brother George and his dad treated him as a baby. Ryan didn’t like being babied, but he learned to accept it.

Walking to Ryan’s room, Heather opened the door and stepped in. She was greeted by the sight of Ryan sleeping with his thumb in his mouth. Shaking her head, Heather smiled, thinking how cute her baby looked while sleeping.

Walking over to the bed, Heather kissed his cheek before starting to shake him awake.

“Ryan, wake up, time to get up,” Heather said in a sing-song tone.

Looking at her child’s messy hair. She ran her fingers through it, pushing the shoulder-length locks out of his eyes.

She was happy that Ryan decided to let his hair grow. At first, she was surprised that Ryan wanted to keep his hair long. Now, however, she was glad because he simply looked cute with long hair.

Stirring in his sleep, Ryan opened his eyes for a moment before burying his head in the pillow.

“Ten more minutes, please,” Ryan pleaded, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“Oh, but we can’t have that now,” Heather said with a smirk.

Immediately, Heather sat on the bed, flipped Ryan on his back, and starting to tickle him. She knew the best way to wake Ryan was by tickling him. She knew that Ryan was extremely sensitive to tickling and would do anything to stop the torture.

She earned a loud squeal and giggles from Ryan as he struggled to escape. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for him to tap out.

“I’m up, I'm up,” he pleaded. “No more tickling, please.” He was out of breath.

“I can see that,” Heather replied with a smile. She couldn’t blame Ryan for not wanting to wake up, though.

It was just last week when Heather received an urgent call from Ryan’s school. It was the school nurse, asking her to come and pick him up. She said he had a high fever and was really sick.

Of course, Heather immediately left her office, headed to the school. The rest of that day, Ryan lay in the bed with his momma by his side.

He was still a bit sleepy, but he had to go to school today. All students all around the country between the ages of 8 to 14 were taking a blood test his school will do it today. It was a test for some kind of genetic disorder. If it wasn’t for the blood test, Heather wouldn’t have sent Ryan to school today.

“Go take a shower really quick and get dressed,” Heather told Ryan.

Ryan nodded and slip out of bed before walking to his own bathroom. It was good that everyone got his own bathroom; it saved a lot of time. Especially with her children, seeing that both George and Ryan love to take their time showering.

Unlike many boys, her boys were rather clean and neat. After all, it was something she and Jeff drilled in the children's minds. Cleanliness was not the only thing the children took from their parents.

George is the star of the freshman football team, also the captain. He was a great defender, fast, flexible, and lightning-quick; he stood at 5’10” with wide shoulders and muscle mass. His teammates nicknamed him ‘Rock Solid’ because of how hard it was for anyone to slip past him. He was clearly taking after Jeff with the potential to be even taller than his dad.

Ryan was a great swimmer; in the water, there was no match for him. It seemed to be unfair in a competition, where he always earned first place. Kids his age could barely catch up to him. A fact knew very well to Heather since she was a swimmer herself.

Walking out of Ryan’s room, Heather headed to George’s room. Opening the door after knocking, she could see that George was already up and in the shower. As usual, there’s nothing that seemed messy in George’s room; not even a pair of socks could be found on the floor.

While George was popular in his school, he didn’t have a girlfriend yet. It was something that confused Heather. She knew her son was a much better catch than many of the other boys in that school. He was obviously into girls, which made Heather more confused. She did discuss the matter with his dad, who just chuckled and assured her that there was no problem with George.

Seeing that she didn’t need to wake George up, Heather decided to head downstairs to enjoy a cup of coffee with Jeff. In the kitchen, Jeff was enjoying a cup of coffee and reading news on his phone. Pouring herself a cup, Heather sat down beside Jeff.

“How was the case yesterday?” Jeff asked, looking at Heather.

Heather had been working on a case where a father had abused his son several times, beating him till he almost died. She was hired by the boy’s uncle to make sure the boy’s dad would not get away with it. She ended up fighting a very good lawyer; still, the man was charged with child abuse and sent to jail.

At the beginning of her career, Heather took it slowly, implementing herself in the world of law, but as she grew in confidence, her persuasive words in the courtroom were enough to make it hard for anyone to argue against her. She loved to see the doomed face of criminals when they were confident they would get away with their crime, only to be charged with the harshest of punishments.

She also knew the right people everywhere to get cases in the right hands. Being very successful, Heather got her own office in her firm.

“How do you think it went?” Heather asked with a playful smirk plastered over her face.

“How many years?” Jeff asked. He knew that no criminal could get out of the clutches of his wife. Criminals were scared of her more than she was scared of them. Her will was made of iron; she was never an easy lady. This and her strong, imposing look made it clear she was not someone to be messed with.

“Life with no chance of parole,” Heather said proudly. Clearly, she was happy about putting these guys behind bars. “He was charged with child abuse, 6 counts of attempted murder, and infringement of private ownership,” Heather bragged, making Jeff chuckle.

He was rather happy about it; getting rid of someone like that made the world a better place. In his eyes, the people his wife put behind bars were the scum of the earth. Getting rid of them made the world a much safer place.

“Jeff,” Heather called, looking a bit sad. Jeff just hummed, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. “I know we talked about this, but can’t we try to have a daughter?” It was a dream for Heather to always have a daughter. While she was blessed with two wonderful sons that she loved from the bottom of her heart. Still, Heather wanted a daughter.

She always feels a tinge of jealousy every time she drops Ryan at school and sees mothers arriving with their daughters. She would feel jealous when she sees mothers shopping for clothes with their daughters.

“Babe, we talked about this,” Jeff said, holding her hand. “Even if we try, we may not get a girl. Let’s assume we had a girl; what would happen if you or she died while giving birth? You know how hard it was on you when Ryan was born, not to mention we almost lost him,” Jeff said, stating the facts. The idea that Ryan may not be with them now made him shudder.

The first couple of months of Ryan’s life were terrifying times. They almost lost Ryan; all the doctors were sure that Ryan will die. Heather was first to ignore what the doctors said; she couldn’t accept the fact that Ryan will die. She was right to ignore them, Ryan lived, and he’s now a healthy, happy 10-year-old boy.

“How about adopting a girl? We don’t lack money; we can afford to adopt a girl,” Jeff suggested trying to find a middle solution for the problem. It’s not like Heather is the only one who wanted to have a daughter. Jeff also wanted to have a daughter, a little princess, to spoil and protect.

Shaking her head, Heather replied, “No, I want to have my own daughter, a daughter that I have given birth to.”

With a sigh, Jeff started rubbing the back of his head with frustration. That’s when an idea came to him. It was a mere possibility, but it can happen. If it happens, then they would have their own daughter, a biological daughter just like Heather wanted. “I have an idea,” Jeff announced, making Heather look at him with curiosity.

Emerging from the shower, Ryan got dried and walked back into his room. In his bathrobe, Ryan walked to his closet to get dressed. There’s one mirror in his room which was hanged at the door of his closet. Passing in front of his mirror, Ryan looked at his reflection, confused.

His shoulder-length honey blonde hair made him look like a girl more than a boy. He didn’t even know why he insisted on keeping his hair long; he just liked it that way. Of course, he didn’t like being mistaken for a girl at a restaurant while having dinner with his family.

Ignoring his thoughts, Ryan opened his closet and retrieved his uniform, a pair of boxer briefs, and a cotton undershirt tank top. Putting on his boxers and undershirt, Ryan started to get dressed in his uniform. It consists of a white button-down shirt, black slacks for the winter and shorts for the summer, a black necktie, and a blazer jacket.

While Heather says he looks cute in his uniform, Ryan actually didn’t like it that much. The school he attends is rather new in their area. The school is known for its program that only takes highly intelligent, gifted students. With their uniforms, students from Ryan’s school stand out. Even other private schools in their area don’t have that kind of uniform. Some of them don’t even have a uniform.

Heather and Jeff wanted to enroll George at the same school; however, seeing that the school doesn’t have a football team, George stayed in his private school after finishing middle school. They only cared about the future of their children. Seeing that the school had offered Ryan a private coach. While Ryan was grateful for that, he still didn’t like to stand out.

Getting dressed in his uniform, Ryan grabbed his black easy-fasten boots. He then grabbed an orange wrist rubber band. Walking downstairs into the kitchen, Ryan took his seat.

For a moment, Heather looked at Ryan when an idea came to her; she immediately shook her head, dismissing the idea as fast as it crossed her mind. She didn’t even want to think about or even the possibility of it happening.

“Morning, mom,” Ryan said, kissing his mom as she put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him.

“Enjoy,” Heather said, kissing Ryan's cheek. She just loved seeing him wearing his uniform even though he didn’t like it.

“Coach Damien called yesterday,” Jeff said, catching Ryan’s attention. Coach Damien was the name of Ryan’s private coach the school hired. Ryan can tell the coach was not pleased since Ryan didn’t attend the school most of last week, thus missing more than one training day. The coach, however, was a good person that only called to check on Ryan’s health, and not once did he mention the training. “He’s wondering if you’re ready for the upcoming tournament or not.”

Coach Damien was checking on Ryan’s health; they all knew that Ryan will take first place once again. Those poor kids never stood a chance against him, to begin with.

“Come on, dad, is that even a question? Of course, he’s ready,” George said, coming into the kitchen. Ruffling Ryan’s hair, George took a seat beside him. “He’s always ready, right bud?” George said, making Ryan grin and nod. Even with 5 years between them, both George and Ryan were always close. George was always the protective big brother; he would never allow anyone to mess with his little brother.

When Heather was pregnant with Ryan, they asked George if he wanted to have a sister or a brother; his answer was both.

As a child, George was obedient and well-behaved; he, however, was very energetic. Very energetic that he couldn’t stay in one place for an hour. When Ryan was born, things became a bit different. He was so obsessed with Ryan that he would stay for hours beside his crib, not moving from his place. As they grow up, Ryan started to look up to George and admire him, and George always wanted to impress his little brother.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Jeff said, smiling widely. “We should go to dinner tonight to celebrate George winning the match today.”

It was a habit for the family to go to dinner after every match George wins. It was pretty much after every match since his team hasn’t lost a match in a long time.

“Of course, it’s a good idea; for now, why don’t you boys finish your breakfast? You don’t want to be late for school,” Heather said as both George and Ryan started to eat her heavenly-tasting food.