Gradual Change – Part 7

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It was exactly eight in the morning when Heather’s alarm went off. The calm classical music was relaxing in the morning. She sat up on her bed and stretched her arms before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. In the shower, she couldn’t help but think about today. Deep down, she knew that their life was about to dramatically change. She knew that it would affect Ryan the most, but whatever happened, she couldn’t afford to lose her baby.

Whatever happens, they will see it through as a family. Emerging from the shower, Heather could see that Jeff was up and reading something on his phone. “Good morning,” Heather said, walking over to Jeff, both sharing a passionate kiss.

“Good morning, babe,” Jeff replied, breaking the kiss. “Are you taking Ryan to see Lynn?” Heather nodded sadly. She was dreading this visit so much, but she couldn’t do anything. She had to do this.

Sensing her fear, Jeff reached out and squeezed her hand. “Whatever happens, it will be ok.  We are a family, and we will go through whatever happens together,” Jeff said, reassuring Heather. He was worried himself.  He loved his sons more than anything in the world and would hate to see one of them suffering for any reason. “Anyway, I am going to shower quickly and get ready for the run,” Jeff said, heading towards the bathroom to take a shower.

Heather walked over to George’s room to wake him up. George was asleep with half of his covers tossed off, and most of his stomach was left uncovered. Heather was able to see a glimpse of his abs; he was indeed well built. With the many hours he spent working out and lifting weights, it was normal. He had put in a lot of hard work to get to that point.

George, however, didn’t like to show off that much, especially in front of the cheer squad. These girls were ready to chase after him to the end of the world. Seeing he didn’t have a steady girlfriend, all the girls thought they had a good chance. They had been begging Heather to give them George’s number, but they never succeeded.  Heather just shook her head, thinking how many girls would be drooling seeing this sight in front of them?

Leaning down, Heather brushed some of George's short curly locks from his forehead and gave him a soft kiss there. “George, it’s time to wake up,” Heather said, shaking him softly. George didn’t wake up; instead, he just rolled to the other side of the bed. “If you don’t get up, I am going to share your number in the cheerleading chat group; I have to say they are dying to have it,” Heather said teasingly.

George’s eyes opened suddenly as he sat upright on the bed immediately. “No, mom, anything but that,” pleaded George. He had been trying his best to avoid the cheer squad girls; he simply couldn't let his mom share his number with them. If she did, he would never hear the end of it, and he was not into any of those girls since the only girl he wanted was Nancy.

“That’s more like it,” Heather said with a smirk. “Take a shower and get dressed.  I am going to wake up Ryan,” Heather instructed before leaving the room with a smile on her face. She couldn’t help but see how much George looked like his father. She felt bad for Nancy since she knew that Nancy was into her son, and she couldn’t blame her. It was this impossibly handsome look that made her fall in love with Jeff.

She just hoped that George would gather up his courage and ask her out. She hoped that George would realize how much he and Nancy were simply meant for each other. She only hoped that George wouldn’t break the poor girl’s heart. Knowing her son, however, she knew he wouldn’t.

Heather always felt grateful for having two magnificent kids that she loved from all her heart. Even though she always wanted to have a girl, she was happy with her sons. On the way to Ryan's room, she passed a large glass display case made solely for trophies that both Ryan and George earned. Heather and Jeff quickly discovered that the shelves in the boys' room were not large enough for their trophies, so they had a display case made for them.

Looking in the display case, she saw the first-place medal with Ryan’s name on it. She remembered this medal very well; after all, Ryan won it this year. Two months ago, to be precise, she remembered how the school’s swim team almost lost the relay race, but Ryan swam from behind to win it all on his own. With a sigh, Heather walked to Ryan’s room. Opening the door, she was greeted with a cute sight.  Ryan was hugging a pillow while sucking on his thumb.

Heather wondered if Ryan knew what he was doing while asleep. She couldn’t help but return to her room and retrieve her phone. She walked back to his room and was glad that Ryan was in the same position. With a smile on her face, she started taking pictures of him. Feeling satisfied with the number of pictures she had taken, Heather put down her phone and went to wake Ryan up.

Leaning down over her sleeping angel, Heather kissed his cheek before starting to shake him awake. Unlike yesterday Ryan woke up immediately.  He already felt better than two days ago.

“Good morning, sweetie,” Heather said, giving Ryan a hug which he returned. Heather had completely forgotten that she wanted to speak to Ryan yesterday. Something was bothering him, unfortunately, but she had so many things on her mind that she had forgotten to ask him.

“Honey,” Heather said as Ryan broke the hug. Ryan’s cute grey-blue eyes met hers. He had a quizzical look on his face. “Yesterday at the restaurant, did anything happen? Something that bothered you?” Heather’s question was direct; she was used to Ryan telling her about anything that bothered him. She didn’t want this to change; if Ryan can’t trust his parents, then who will he trust?

Ryan looked down, remembering the events of yesterday in the restroom. “Mom?” Ryan looked up as his eyes met his mom’s.

“Yes, baby?”

“Am I still a boy?” It was a question; Ryan wanted to know the answer. He could tell that some of the neighbors, if not all of them, thought that he was a tomboy instead of a boy. The neighbors just minded their own business, and Ryan was already a well-behaved and a well-mannered kid. Besides, they figured his parents allowed their child to make their own choices.

This question surprised Heather. It made her wonder if Ryan heard anything yesterday? If so, how much did he hear?  He certainly didn’t show it.  She wanted to answer yes, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.  Ryan took after her in many ways. Being brave and never one to back down if he thought he was right were two of them.  Ryan would only make a statement if he was sure of himself.  Heather knew that, but she didn’t know that Ryan had stopped correcting everyone when they thought he was a girl. He wasn’t sure if he was a boy anymore.  This also stopped Heather from giving him a confident answer.

“Why? Don’t you feel that you are a boy?” Heather asked, not giving Ryan the answer that he was still a boy.  She wanted to answer him with confidence yes; she just couldn’t bring herself to do so.  It broke her heart, knowing how much Ryan wanted to be a boy, and she couldn’t give him the answer he so desperately wanted to hear.

“Recently, I don’t feel like I am still a boy.  I don’t look like a boy anymore.  Even in the locker room, Coach Monica thought I was a girl when changing for the first swimming class this year,” Ryan said as tears started to leave his eyes. It was the first time that he felt like crying, except yesterday, of course.

“Sweetheart, sometimes girls are born and get mistaken for a boy.  Once they start to grow up, they will start to grow up like girls….” Heather was about to complete her sentence, but Ryan interrupted her.  What his mom said scared him but it kind of made sense to him.

“Does that mean I am a girl?” Ryan let his imagination run wild, picturing himself as a girl. Wearing dresses, skirts, and pretty shoes with heels, he started to see himself wearing a girl’s school uniform. He hated that uniform more than his own. Thinking about school made him imagine himself now changing in the girl’s locker room. This thought made him shudder.

“Hold on there, sweetheart, don’t jump to any conclusions.  Besides, I haven't finished talking yet,” Heather said, tickling Ryan slightly to make him move away giggling. Smiling a bit, Heather decided to finish talking. “Look, sweetheart, sometimes as boys start to grow, they start to look a bit like girls, but as they grow up, they start to look more like boys again. There are boys whose bodies keep growing like girls, and eventually, they have to choose which gender they would live as for the rest of their lives. There’s also the transsexual syndrome; they told you about it in school yesterday, right?”

Ryan nodded, answering her last question. “Then what am I? Am I a girl or a boy? If I am a boy, would this problem be fixed? Or would I still look like a girl until I have to choose?” Ryan asked, looking at Heather for an answer.

At that moment, Heather thought, having a smart kid has its downside as well. Ryan was able to understand that there was an issue with his body and looks.  Though he still didn’t get the answer he was hoping for, and Heather didn’t have it either. “I will be honest with you, sweetie, I don’t know, but your aunt Lynn will be able to help you; we are going to see her today after we return home from the run. Whatever happens in the clinic and whatever Lynn finds stays in the clinic.  I want you to stop thinking about it and just enjoy your day with Oli and Connor,” Heather explained, hoping that Ryan would do as she says.

Her mother’s intuition was never wrong, and it was warning her that a big change was coming. She hoped she would be wrong just this once, but she had never been wrong in 15 years. Even when Ryan was born and the doctors said he would die, her intuition told her that Ryan would live. When George was 10 and was falsely accused of stealing, her intuition told her that her son was innocent.  She stood by his side and proved that he was innocent, even if no one believed him.  She just prayed she was wrong this time.

A couple of minutes later, Heather left the room and went to get ready for today’s run. They all wore a similar style outfit for their running. They liked to show that they are a family. Everyone had a favorite color, which was probably the only way George and Ryan differed from their parents. Yet all of them wore blue, which wasn’t anyone’s favorite color.

In less than 20 minutes, the family was in front of their home and ready to go running. They took their usual route running through the nearby park. Then they kept going until they reached their favorite coffee shop, where they usually had breakfast after the run. Entering the coffee shop, they were immediately greeted by a beautiful 16-year-old brown-haired girl.

“Good morning, it’s nice to see you again,” the girl said, not taking her eyes off George, who tried to ignore her stares. “You didn’t come last week; I was wondering what happened,” said the girl as she guided them to a table.

“Thank you for your concern, Jessi honey, Ryan was sick the whole week,” Heather replied, noticing that Jessica was checking out her son. She couldn’t blame her, though; George was just too good-looking for the girls not to be checking him out. Heather, however, knew that Jessica, like many other girls, didn’t stand a chance; George only had Nancy on his mind.

“Aww, cutie, are you ok now?” Jessica said in a baby tone that made Ryan blush a bit. While they came to this coffee shop regularly, Jessica already knew Ryan since she’s a high school student in Ryan’s school; she was also Steven's big sister. She liked Ryan; he was smart, funny, and she was happy to see her brother being a friend with someone, especially Ryan.

Her dad owned the coffee shop, and since there were not many customers during the early weekend morning, she and her dad ran the coffee shop for the morning shift. While the coffee shop had more than one branch, her dad would rather manage this coffee shop on his own. He also made breakfast, which everyone liked.

“Yes, I am ok now,” Ryan said, looking around the still empty coffee shop. “Is Steven not here?” Ryan asked, not seeing Steven. He knew that Steven sometimes helped around a bit, even if they didn’t let him do any real work. He liked Steven, even if they weren’t very close, like the rest of his friends. It was mainly because Steven was the quiet type even at school during the breaks; he was mostly alone.

“Oh, Steven is helping mom a bit around the salon today; he will be here tomorrow, though,” Jessica said. Ryan was disappointed they would be leaving tomorrow to spend Christmas at his grandparent’s house.  Besides, he was worried about tomorrow; for the first time, Ryan realized that today may be his last day as a boy.

“So, the regular breakfast or something else today?” Jessica asked.

“The regular for Ryan and me, but instead of orange juice can you get him a white mocha, like mine,” Heather said as everyone looked at her in shock. Heather never allowed Ryan to drink coffee, saying that he was too young for it. He loved the coffee, especially white mocha.

While Heather was the one behind Ryan’s love for coffee, she still strictly forbid him from drinking coffee. She, however, felt that today could be an exception; who knew what today would bring.  Besides, one cup of coffee won’t hurt.

Jessica left after taking their orders. Heather and Ryan always ordered the same breakfast eggs and Bacon with French toast and some sliced fruits covered in strands of chocolate. Jeff surmised that Ryan was a small version of Heather, perhaps a completely small version of her.

Jeff was afraid of what might come, but he was also getting excited about having a daughter. He always told himself that if he ever had a daughter, he would treat her like a princess. Heather was not the only one who dreamt about having a baby girl. Sitting there, he let his imagination run wild. Imagining Ryan as his daughter, the prettiest and sweetest girl he had ever seen. Then he started to imagine his daughter starting to date.

Jeff immediately shook his head; if he ever had a daughter, he wouldn’t let any boy even think about dating her because he would chase them away. His daughter, his baby girl, and she’s not for other boys.