Chapter 7: Reconciling

I left Mom sleeping in her room and walked back to my room feeling like I was floating on clouds. I had to marvel at how my life had changed in less than a week. I’d thought that going from being an independent adult male to being a 16-year-old teenage female would have been a difficult and onerous process. Not that I assumed life would be easy as Anna, but at least on the sexual adventures front, I had completely revolutionized my life. Before this week I’d been with a single lover for a long time and had a fairly vanilla sex life. As Anna, in the span of a few days I had made already love to two wonderful women, flirted with my hot trainer, and had public oral sex with my ex-boyfriend. Of course, not every experience had been perfect. The massage from Peter and nearly getting raped by a stranger being prime examples of great physical experiences but traumatic mentally. All in all, I was really enjoying myself and while I still thought fondly of my past life and missed my wife and parents, I just couldn’t imagine going back to that boring old life anymore.

The hot tub and massage from last night seemed to have done its magic. I was feeling far better than I expected, with a little muscle soreness from the workout but not enough to make me not want to go to the gym today. Not to mention, I had a hot date with my trainer to get my BMI measured. I was planning on wearing tights, even though I knew he’d need access to the bare skin of my thighs to get a good reading. I chose to wear the skimpiest thong I had, one that I knew had a high likelihood of getting transparent as I sweated through the workout and especially when Matt used those muscular hands of his to measure me.

I was definitely feeling a little giddy with excitement as I finished getting ready with a sensible workout bra and t-shirt. I wanted to tease him not injure myself. I also made sure to slather on plenty of sunscreen, I didn’t want to repeat my experience from the past few days. Thankfully, I’d gotten lessons on makeup from Mom last night, so I was able to apply a light coating that wouldn’t run as I worked out and finished up by tying my hair in a simple ponytail.

Once I was done getting ready, I set out for the gym. Rather than run my route from yesterday, I had mapped out an alternate 5 mile one that ended at the gym. This way I wouldn’t have to run on a treadmill, something with which I have always struggled. How people could spend an hour running in place is something I have never been able to wrap my head around.

I made excellent time getting to the gym. If anything, I was a touch faster today, probably due to the incentive of spending quality time with Matt. Once inside I made a beeline for the front desk to ask about Matt, only to have all my plans come crashing down. It turned out that Matt had an emergency which took him out of the state for the next few days. He’d asked the front desk to give me his number so that he could offer me some guidelines on how to work out until he got back.

I was a little heartbroken that he wasn’t around but at least it gave me the opportunity to get his direct cell phone number, so it wasn’t a total loss. I texted him to ask him if everything was ok and immediately got a reply to let me know that he was fine, but his Father had broken his hip due to a fall. They were in Colorado, so he’d decided to spend a few days with his parents to help them out before returning. I asked him who was watching Ron, hoping he’d say that he needed help. Unfortunately, that plan of mine was also dashed, it turned out that he’d taken the little pup with him since his sitter couldn’t watch Ron for multiple days and he didn’t have any other options. Finally, he gave me a chance. I immediately offered my services for any dog-sitting needs that might arise, at least over the summer. He asked me if was sore and when I replied in the negative, he suggested that I focus on cardio for today and the day after while repeating yesterday’s workout tomorrow. This would cover the duration that he was away, and we’d start our proper workouts once he was back.

I texted with him for a bit longer while I set up to do my cardio, but not having Matt around had deflated me a little. So, I decided to leave early and just repeat my 5-mile run back which would easily take care of any cardio requirements. I headed back home and really enjoyed my run back when a little kid on a bike decided he wanted to race with me. I was easily able to keep pace with him as I rounded the final corner to the house. I put on a burst of speed that caught the kid off-guard as I ran past him. I was grinning as we approached the house and I realized that I was in a good place, I had someone I wanted to visit at the gym, at the mall, and at home. Grinning, until I saw Peter’s car pulling in ahead of me.

I instinctively slowed down, when I saw Peter look up and wave at me, which was a very bad move. The little kid had put his head down to try and peddle furiously to keep up with me and completely missed the fact that I wasn’t racing with him anymore and crashed right into my back. The last thing I remember was seeing the ground rush up at me before I blacked out.

I was back in the dark space, once more a spectator watching images of my body, I mean Anna lying on the ground. She/I was lying on the ground with a small pool of blood around my head. The little kid was luckily wearing a lot of protective gear and he looked scared but otherwise okay. I saw Peter rushing over, completely distraught screaming for Mom. I saw him take off his suit jacket to cushion my head before calling 9-1-1. I saw Mom come out and then run over, tears running down her face as she tried to wake me up. Peter stopped her from shaking me since he was worried about worsening any possible head trauma I might have suffered. I saw the paramedics arrive only to realize that I’d bled to death. Apparently when I landed my head hit the edge of the sidewalk causing massive head trauma that killed me almost instantly on impact.

I looked around me and noticed that there was a second screen showing me images from my past life. My wife waking up next to me and starting to cry when she realized that my body was cold. Apparently, when I had switched over to Anna’s body, my old body had died of a heart attack.

I was being presented with two paths forward and I could only choose one. With either decision came the knowledge that one path would forever close behind me. Not just for me but for the people involved with that individual. Only one of my bodies could continue living.

I switched between both screens for a long time in the darkness. In one case, I knew everything about the person. I had lived with the body for my entire 38 years. His current situation was completely by my choosing. On the other hand, was this alternate life, one completely out of the ordinary. I had barely familiarized myself with the body I was occupying, not to mention the people involved with it. I struggled to make the decision, shedding tears of frustration and anger, cursing whoever was behind the whole nefarious scheme but in the end I had made my choice. It was the choice I had known all along I would make.

I woke up in a dark hospital room, wearing only a thin gown. I was surprised to see Peter slumped in a chair next to me. He was gently holding my arm while he slept. I could see that he was still wearing the same clothes as he’d been wearing when I had the accident. Mom was nowhere to be seen but knowing Jane I knew that she must be around.

Yes, in the end, I chose to continue my life as Anna. I think it was because of two things, first, Anna was young and intelligent. She had her entire life ahead of her, and in her I once again had the choice to be whoever I chose. Second, while I had only been in her body for a few days, I had felt more alive in those few days than I had in years as my previous self. Despite the obstacles of being a woman, I had completely enjoyed being Anna.

In fact, I think subconsciously I had realized that I was a bit of a slut who wanted to have multiple partners. It might be because I still primarily thought of myself as a guy in a hot woman’s body and just didn’t have the hang-ups that normal women would have. For example, I was seriously tempted by the offer from my movie theater voyeur yesterday. When I looked back at the event from his perspective, he was acting on his primal desire and given his offer, he had probably thought that I was willing to go all the way with him. Whether I would or not is a story for another day.

Back in the hospital room, Peter felt me wake up. He opened his eyes to see me looking at him in confusion. He then surprised me by bursting out into tears while having a big smile on his face. He held my hand to his head as he cried for a bit before finally calming down. He looked up and gave me a big smile and said, “I am so happy to see you awake kiddo. It’s been torturing me that the last time we interacted I was such an asshole to you. I am so sorry Anna. I’d forgotten myself. I know it might be too late to ask for forgiveness, but I still want to let you know how sorry I am.”

I wanted to steel myself and tell him to go take a hike and send Mom in while he was leaving, but I remembered the images and the genuine anguish on Peter’s face as I lay in the pool of blood and how tenderly he’d been holding my hand when I woke up earlier. “I won’t easily forgive you for what happened Peter, but I am willing to try and start over. You have the Summer to convince me that you have truly changed. However, if I feel for one second that you are faking it, then once I leave for school you and I will have nothing to do with each other ever again.”

He looked shocked and sad when he heard my words but shook his head and gave me a sad smile. “It’s a deal, honey. If I disappoint you again, then I’ll leave without your having to tell me. Just please don’t lock me out of your life. Jane told me that you guys spoke yesterday, so you know that you are the only person I have left in my life that I cherish.”

“I won’t Peter, not as long as you hold up your side of the bargain. Speaking of which, where is Mom? What happened to me?”

“It’s finals week, so she had to make a trip to drop of her exams. Let me text her and let her know that you woke up. She did not want to leave but the hospital staff convinced her that you were out of danger and just sleeping. She should be back shortly. You were run over by a little kid on a bike. He said you guys were racing. Apparently, he didn’t see you slowing down, and he ran into you.” Peter said shaking his head. “I wanted to strangle the little brat, but he was petrified and clearly didn’t mean any harm. By the way, you have a list of injuries as long as your arm,” and then he went on to list all my injuries. Essentially, I had a cut on my head, sprained both my hands trying to brace myself as I fell, my back and legs were completely bruised by the bicycle striking me. I was recommended total bed rest for the next few weeks while I recovered and would be completely dependent on Mom and Peter for all my needs for at least a week since the hospital had put a temporary cast on both hands to prevent me from trying to use them. Apparently, they didn’t want me texting anyone.

Peter was running through the list of injuries when the door burst open and I saw Mom rushing inside. She gave me a light hug while crying. My hands were restrained so I couldn’t return her hug, but I told her I was fine and shed tears along with her. I saw Peter excuse himself; he had a big smile on his face as he left miming to me that he was going to use the restroom. I think he just wanted to give me and Mom some privacy. When she heard the door close, Mom quickly turned and saw that we were alone. She turned back to me and without any preamble kissed me hard, conveying all her pent-up emotions through her lips and tongue. “You are the most important person in my life. When I saw you laying on the ground in that pool of blood, I wanted to kill myself. I thought I had lost you right after we spent one of the best nights of my life together. I hadn’t even had a chance to acknowledge the lovely emotions you brought in me before I thought I had lost you.”

I kissed her back before she could say anything else and said, “Mom I love you, both as a daughter and as a woman. Please don’t cry. Look I’m fine, a little beat up, but fine. So please smile for me.”

She gave me a big smile and just held on to me. We lay like that just breathing in each other’s scent before I said, “Peter just told me the list of injuries I have. I guess I’m going to need your help to do anything for a while.”

“Yeah, you are. Oh, and honey, I don’t know if Peter’s had a chance to talk to you but please don’t be upset with him. He was so upset when you got hurt. He really seems sad that you guys don’t share the same relation as before.”

I nodded and told her that we had indeed had a chance to chat and that we were going to work on improving our relationship.

I was feeling tired and soon passed out. When I woke up again, there was a doctor in the room finishing a checkup. He told me that I was fine, but that it was hospital policy to keep people who had suffered head injuries overnight in case there were any complications. Mom kept me company through the night giving Peter a chance to go home and get cleaned up before he came to get us the next day.

All my carefully laid out plans had gone by the wayside. Apparently, my phone was a casualty of the accident. I was holding it when I fell, and it was shattered beyond repair. Not that I could have used it even if it was fine since they had taped up my hands for exactly that reason. I wished I could tell Liz what happened, but my only way of getting in touch with her was through my phone. I made Mom promise to call Victoria’s Secret to let Liz know that I hadn’t bailed on our mall date.

I was discharged the next morning. I found out that the doctor had cut away all my clothes, which meant that the sexy thongs I had worn to tease Matt were now sitting in the hospital trash. Peter had brought me one of my loose gowns, the same stuff he had disparaged just a few days ago, and a change of underwear. I blushed when I thought of him going through my panties again. I found it humorous that apart from me Peter was the next person who’d checked out my new undergarments the most. I’m sure that tested his resolve to be a better parent. He handed the clothes directly to Mom and left us alone. I’d been bathed when I was unconscious the day before and was only wearing a hospital gown, so Mom’s job was pretty simple. With my head injury, she decided to forego the bra and helped me slip on some comfy panties before helping me put on the gown. I could tell that Mom was tempted by my naked body, but seeing the multiple bruises brought tears to her eyes and cooled any sexual tension.

We drove home in comfortable silence with me gritting my teeth every time we went over a bump. Both of them were watching me like hawks and I think it was the slowest drive I have ever had. I had quite a hard time going from the hospital entrance to our car, so Peter carried me all the way from the car to my bedroom. I think we both were contrasting this occasion to the last time we were together like this when he held me to him as he jumped into the pool. To Peter’s credit, all he did was smile at me, while I blushed prettily back, remembering how his cock felt pressed up against me. Mom and Peter fussed around in my room for a bit before I finally shooed them out saying I was tired.

The reality was that I was grieving. In choosing Anna, I had killed off my old self. The last time I had the excuse of ignorance, this time I had no such barrier behind which I could hide. While it sounds silly, I felt a bit like a murderer. I cried myself to sleep, still working on convincing myself that I had made the right decision.

I woke up with a full bladder and automatically moved towards the bathroom only to feel every bone in my body protest. Groaning in pain, I called out to Mom. After yelling for a few minutes, I saw Peter coming into my room to find out what I needed. I asked him where Mom was, only to find out that she’d just stepped out to get groceries. I asked him to call her back if possible since I needed to use the restroom. Without protest, he called her multiple times only to go to voicemail. She was probably driving and didn’t see the missed calls. I was starting to get desperate when Peter said in a quiet tone, “Kiddo I know this might sound odd, but if you can trust me, then I can try and help you out.”

I looked over at him warily, wondering if he had any alternative motives. In the end, my bladder won over common sense and I nodded to him. He helped me get off the bed carefully and supported me into the bathroom. In front of the toilet, he had me stand up then he squatted in front of me. He looked up at me and said “Thank you.”

I knew what he was thanking me for and just smiled. He raised my gown just enough to be able to grab hold of both sides of my panties and lowered them to the floor, all the while looking at the floor. At no point did he stop to cop a cheap feel, nor did he try to see my naked legs or pussy. He then stood up and raised the gown from behind before helping me sit and then stepped out to give me some privacy. I sat there for a bit after being done wondering if I could trust him to wipe me clean. I felt like it was a little bit too much, too soon. Peter actually voiced the same concern when I called him back in. Hearing him worry about the same thing led me to trust him more instead of less.

I gave him a smile and in a tiny voice, just asked him to clean me as best as possible. I could see that he was quite surprised by my statement. I saw his hands shake as he approached me with the tissue paper. He was careful to look me in the eye as he used one hand to lift my gown over my legs while his other hand pressed the tissue against my pussy. He was very careful to minimize contact while making sure to clean the right way, going from bottom to top, but no matter how careful he was, I could still feel his warm skin rubbing against my tender thighs. It was actually the second time his hands were separated from my pussy by just a thin piece of cloth (or paper). I felt moisture building up again only this time it had nothing to do with pee. I hadn’t had enough of the contact and when he was done, I told him that I normally wipe twice and asked him to get a second piece of tissue to clean me up further. He didn’t doubt my words and grabbed more tissue. This time when his hands were approaching me, he looked down to make sure he didn’t brush past any injured skin and got his first look at my exposed pussy. He hadn’t lowered my gown from the previous round of cleaning, so there was nothing blocking his view when he looked at me. He quickly averted his gaze, but his face had gone red and I could tell that he’d seen everything. Rather than getting annoyed it made me even wetter to see Peter behaving like a teenager around me. He took his time cleaning me this time, pushing the fabric through my lips, tracing every bump and crevice almost as if he was trying to build a mental map of my cunt for future reference. I was panting lightly by the time he finished with the second round of cleaning.

While bending awkwardly at his waist, he helped me stand up. I was wondering what he was doing, but he just squatted and began lifting my panties back in place. He looked up at me the whole time he raised it up, rubbing my thighs a bit more than the last time but still in a very controlled manner. He stood up with a sad smile on his face, I understood his dilemma. He was sporting a giant boner and had been trying to hide it. I guess he realized that there was no way it would go down fast enough to help me back to the bed and had resigned himself to getting yelled at.

I looked at the man in front of me. He had hung his head in shame and instead of being angry at him, I felt sorry. After all, I had teased him by making him dry me twice. I gently leaned against him and said, “It’s okay Peter. I’m not mad. Can you help me back to the bed though? I am feeling a little light-headed.”

He got a concerned look, and rather than help me walk back. He just picked me up and walked back to the bed to lay me down. “Ah, my hero.” I teased him and he went red again. His erection was still pressing up impressively against his shorts, making my mouth water. I wondered if I could deep throat Peter like I had Ethan. Probably end up choking, but at least I’d die happy, I thought. Peter gently kissed me on the forehead and told me to get some rest.

This set the pattern for the next few days. I would wake up briefly to eat and use the restroom, although that was the only time Peter helped me. Finals were over and Mom had a short break before she had to go back to finish up the grading. I was taking a pretty heavy dose of pain killers to help me heal.

As if I wasn’t in enough pain, right as my injuries were healing and I was feeling a little better, I started my first period. As the old saying goes, “When it rains, it pours.” Mom was the one who pointed it out to me since I hadn’t even realized when it had started. In a sense, my incapacitation helped me since Anna had been having periods for years by now. Without the use of my hands, Mom had to do everything, giving me the time I needed to pick up this critical skill. I also found out that Anna had been on birth control for the past year to help regulate her periods, which was something I found out when Mom brought over the strip of pills wondering why I had missed several days.

A small relief in the midst of all the pain was Mom getting me in touch with Liz to let her know that I had been injured. I told Mom how I met Liz and she was looking forward to meeting my sexy friend in person. Liz naturally was very concerned that I’d gone missing and wanted to come to see me the second she found out, but Mom told her that I was advised not to have any guests for at least the next week. So, Liz had to sit tight and wait till I healed.

My next encounter with Peter ended up being planned by Mom. During my next visit to the hospital, while I was being attended to by a nurse, Mom was conversing with the doctor. Apparently, the doctor had recommended visiting a therapist periodically to get a massage to help deal with some of the swellings. Mom being the practical person she was, turned to our in-house masseur and requested that Peter work with me on a daily basis.

So, that same evening, after being allowed to finally take my first shower in nearly a week, I hobbled my way out of the bathroom clad in only panties and a robe to get my massage. Mom had found Peter’s old massage table from someplace and set it up in my room. The lights were on so that Peter could focus on helping me heal. Mom was waiting for me and took the robe from me to lay it on the bed.

She still winced each time she saw how battered my body appeared. We’d both been very reserved aside from the kiss we’d shared the day of the accident and since I was feeling a little needy, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I held Mom by her waist and leaned into her to kiss her full lips. She had complete access to my body and gently played with my naked tits. We kissed for a while, her fondling my boobs until we heard a light knock on the door, that caused her to jump away from me. Peter was waiting for me to be ready before coming in, and I guess he was wondering what mother and daughter were up to. If only he knew, I thought with a smile.

Mom covered me with a large towel after I lay on the massage table and kissed me on my neck. As she was leaving, she made a cryptic comment, “Even with these injuries, if I were Peter, I wouldn’t be able to resist ravishing you, baby.” I moaned in response and wiggled my butt at her, she spanked it and giggled before heading out to call Peter in. Mom had made me horny and wet and then left me at the mercy of my pervy father. It almost made me question her motives, but I didn’t think that she was setting me up for Peter. So, instead of worrying, I just tried to relax as much as I could.

Against all odds, Peter was a thorough professional. He spent most of the time understanding where I was injured and used heating pads to help soothe my injuries. He told me that this soon after an accident, any deep tissue work could actually do more harm than good. He also made sure to keep me covered the whole time on exposing the areas where he was working on. In the end, we decided not to work on my legs since they were still quite badly bruised. Peter grabbed a blanket and covered me before helping me back to bed. I was impressed by the restraint he showed, especially since he knew my state of undress.

After that Peter’s short massages became part of my daily care routine. After that first day, it would just be Peter and me in the room. He gradually increased the range of areas he was willing to work on, but his primary focus was still using heating pads to help reduce the swellings.

Mom had to go back to college. The end of finals might mean holidays for the students, but a large workload for the professors. Mom would prepare all my meals for me before leaving in the morning. Peter would come home over the lunch break to join me for lunch and the three of us would eat a quiet meal together in either my room or the master bedroom.

An unforeseen consequence of the accident was that when they were home, both my parents were now hovering outside my bedroom. It meant that aside from some quick kisses and gropes, I’d had almost no chance to be with Mom. Even worse, while my hands were no longer bandaged, my wrists still hurt, so I couldn’t use them to apply any pressure. All of this meant that a week after the accident, I was horny enough to consider sticking anything remotely phallic shaped inside me to try and cum.

After the accident I was having difficulty sleeping, waking up with nightmares, where I was either actively killing my old self, or I would see my wife and my parents crying at my funeral. I had hidden this as much as possible from my (Anna’s) parents since I couldn’t begin to explain the source of my angst. One day after breakfast, I’d fallen asleep and going through another nightmare when Peter walked into my room and saw me thrashing about and crying in my sleep. I woke up to him sitting next to me gently rubbing my back. The emotional toll finally got to me and when I saw the concern in his eyes, I just buried my face in his legs and broke down. I told him I was having nightmares after the accident, withholding the source. He didn’t try to psychoanalyze me. Instead, he just held me and spoke about random things, telling me stories from his childhood growing up on a farm in central California. We spent that entire lunch break, me lying in his lap taking support from him and him running his hands over my hair and my back calming me.

That day proved to be the turning point between the two of us. While previously I endured and accepted his presence, now I found myself looking forward to spending lunch together just the two of us. We even found that we shared a common interest, running. It was Peter who had pushed me toward athletics when I was a kid. Mom had been happy when I took up running again and though my times were nice, Peter, on the other hand, was ecstatic. We promised to start running together on the weekends once I was fully fit. I even noticed Mom and Peter interacting a little more intimately as a consequence. While I didn’t think that there was any chance of them prolonging their marriage, maybe they could remain friends.

A week after the accident, we finally felt that I was strong enough to walk up and down the stairs. This was a major moment for me since I had been going insane stuck in my room.

During lunch, Peter and I were sitting at the dining table when I broached this subject with him. I could see him thinking about it. In the past, I would have immediately concluded that he was fantasizing about me in a bikini, but we’d been through enough by now that I knew he was wondering if there could be any issues. “I don’t see why not. Just don’t stay out too long today and keep hydrating while out there.”

“Thanks, Peter ... I mean Dad.” I smiled at him. It had taken him a day to lose my respect and a week to earn it back. He got a big smile when I said it. “When you say it in that tone you can call me whatever you like kiddo. Peter or Dad, it doesn’t matter to me.” Then he came over and gave me a big hug. “I’ve got to head out soon, did you need me to set up anything outside?” He asked.

“Actually, I did need some help.” I stuttered.

“Sure. What’s up?” He asked.

“Umm this is going to sound weird, but I need you to help me tie my bikini,” I said blushing.

He looked a little surprised and just nodded. We proceeded up, him walking behind me in case I needed any support. I invited him into the room rather than making him wait outside. I considered for a bit which bikini to wear and finally settled on the white one again. Dad and I had a history with this one and I thought it appropriate to reuse it. I went into the bathroom while Peter waited outside. Standing naked in there I realized I had a slightly bigger issue than I had originally envisioned. I couldn’t do any of the ties on the bikini, neither on the bottom nor the top.