Chapter 7

The weekend was over too soon, and late Sunday night I came home with a tender pussy and a full heart. Rick was going out of town for two days to pick up another truck in Ohio, but he said I'd see him Wednesday.

I had a long talk with Kim on the phone, and we had lunch Monday and Tuesday. She said she was happy for me. Work was the same as usual; deliver the parts, get a signature or a check and come back to the store.

Things started warming up in March and when April began, the weather was really nice. Rick and I had been to the cabin for the weekend several times, and each time the sex and the sense of connection and bonding improved. He could finish a sentence for me sometimes, and I could tell what he was thinking just by the look on his face. Our being a couple soon became general knowledge around the shop and at Rick's business. If I was in the area I'd stop by for lunch, and Rick told me he was always teased by his guys after I left.

Rick talked to me twice about quitting my job, and I came close to agreeing with him. Rick paid for almost anything I wanted when I was with him, and about the only bills I paid were rent and utilities. The institute was putting $5000.00 a month into my account, and my expenses were generally less than $1000.00. I put the extra in some Certificates of Deposit and stashed them in my safety deposit box at the bank. It came in really handy at the end of the month.

We took a long weekend getaway at the end of April and flew to Florida. The hotel was pretty nice, he said. I didn't see much of it but the ceiling in room 2204 for the first three days. I was with Rick at my house one evening after we got back, snuggling and smooching before bed. I was pretty close to being naked, and Rick was playing alphabet soup in my pussy. My cell phone trilled and I reached for it, putting it on speaker by accident.

A raspy wail of "Daddee!" came from the phone and I quickly thumbed the speaker off. Rick had heard, though, because he stopped what he was doing and stared at me. I sat up and shifted my feet to the floor, then held the phone close to my ear.

"What's wrong, Amber?" I asked.

"We've got to come live with you!" she cried.

"Who is 'we'?" I asked, thinking of Jeanette.

"Harlan and me," she bawled.

"Who is Harlan?"

"My husband!" she yelled.

"You're married?" I exclaimed. "You're only sixteen!"

"I'm pregnant!" she cried, and then broke down in tears.

I couldn't understand a word she was saying, and I guess Harlan decided to take charge.

There was some rustling on the phone and then a male voice said, "Mr. McCarthy?"

"Yes?" I answered.

There was a long pause, and I imagined Harlan having a hard time reconciling the tone of my voice with the word 'mister'.

"Umm, we have to leave here on account of Amber's Mom. Amber's gonna have a baby, my baby, and Mrs. Mac is keeping us apart. She threatened me with jail."

I said, "Harlan, how old are you?"

"Nineteen, ma'am."

Okay, Amber had kept my secret and Harlan probably thought I was crazy.

"What do you need, Harlan? Airfare, gas money?"

"Oh no!" he said. "We don't need money, we just need a place to stay. If you say it's okay for us to stay with you until I get a job, we'll start driving in the morning."

"Let me talk to Amber, okay?"

"Nice meeting you, Mr. McCarthy," Harlan said, and then I heard more rustling of the phone.

"Daddy, it's me," Amber said, apparently calmed down.

"Amber," I said, "just how pregnant are you?"

"Nine weeks," she said. "Harlan is the daddy."

"When did you get married?"

"Mom signed for me and made us go before the Justice of the Peace last week."

"Right after your birthday," I said.

"Yup," she agreed.

I didn't want to ask about Jeanette or love or Emily; Rick was putting on his pants and I needed to get off the phone as soon as possible.

"You can stay with me as long as you like," I said. "Drive safe."

I heard a little squeal of happiness and then "Bye! See you in a few days!"

Rick had his pants on and was buckling his belt. "Daddy?" he said.

"It's a long story," I replied.

"I have the time," he said.

"Can we sit down?" I said. "I need a drink."

I got into the cupboard and took down our bottle of Jack Daniels, poured a stiff one, drank it and then poured another. Thus fortified, I returned to the living room after a detour to the bedroom to put on some jammies. For some reason I didn't feel comfortable naked around him just then.

While I'd been putting on jammies he'd been at the Jack, and he added two bottles of beer to the table in front of us.

"I've been putting this off," I said. "I was going to tell you everything, but I was waiting for the right time."

"Why did Amber call you 'Daddy'?" he asked.

I said, "Last May, I was a man; by June, I was like you see me now."

"My God!" he exclaimed. "How did it happen?"

I took a deep breath and tried to explain. "I got a package addressed to someone else and ate the snacks that were in it. I didn't know that the snacks were intended to start a transition process known as crossing over."

"From who to where or what?" Rick asked, puzzled.

Softly, I answered, "From a man to a woman."

"Why would this other person do that?"

"I guess because he was unhappy with the way he was," I said. Rick didn't reply to that, so I told him everything. How Kim and Craig had come to the house and saved my life, Dr. Steuben and the Institute, what little I remembered of the time I spent there, and how awkward I felt at first about the results. I also told him some of the things I liked about being a woman.

Rick asked quietly, "Were you unhappy as a man?"

"No," I said, "but I ate the damn things and it started and they couldn't stop it without hurting me so I let them finish it. I don't regret what I did because I like the way I am now and I love you!"

"Did you really have a dick like mine?" he asked.

"Not anywhere near as nice as yours," I smiled. "Not nearly as large, either," I added, thinking humor might deflect some of his anger. His features remained unmoved.

He finished getting dressed and walked to the door. "I need some time to think. I'll call you." I heard the door shut but I couldn't see.

I sat on the couch with tears streaming down my face. My conscience told me I should have said something to him before now, and now it was too late. One of the weekends at the cabin would have been perfect, or the week we'd spent in Florida.

"Stupid Bitch!" I screamed, and curled into a ball on the couch. Dawn was lightening the sky when I finally slept.

I didn't hear from him for a week, and when he called he left a message on my house phone. He said he had some thinking to do, and as soon as he decided what to do, he'd let me know. Every call I made to him was answered by Swede or another guy in the shop, and each time I drove out to his shop he wasn't there. I was absent from work so much I got fired, although Andy said if I got my shit together I could come back. Amber and Harlan arrived the day before my birthday, the only bright note of my week.

Amber wasn't showing unless you looked at her bare belly, and even then it was just a slight bump. Harlan was a handsome young man with broad shoulders and a pleasant smile who doted on Amber's every whim. He'd graduated from high school and was working as a machinist's apprentice when he'd gone to a party and met Amber. Things escalated over a couple of months and Amber got pregnant. The thing I liked most about him was his attitude. He hadn't felt obligated to marry Amber; he'd considered it a privilege. I never asked her about Jeanette, and she never volunteered any information. I thought it best to keep quiet.

Harlan found work almost immediately in St. Joseph, a small town east of Champaign on I-74. It was on second shift, 3 to 11 pm, but the pay was very good. Amber and he settled into my spare bedroom, and I considered finding a larger place to rent. They weren't too noisy when they made love, but I have to say their frequency was way above average. I exercised or ran in the mornings, trying to give them some time alone, and I learned Amber was a pretty fair cook. She handled almost all the household stuff, and we did the shopping together. She said she felt badly about spilling my secret, but I told her it would have had to come out sooner or later anyway.