The door opened and a little girl in a bright red winter coat ran straight towards Nell. So she knelt down and her little sister came into her arms.

“Nell!” Emily squealed as they hugged. “You’re wearing scarlet ribbons, too!”

“Of course,” affirmed Nell, kissing her sister on the cheek. Glancing at the door, Nell saw their father’s face turn an ashen white. She stood to greet him, holding Emily by the hand.

“Good evening, Daddy!” said Nell. “Remember me? You’ve seen me wearing this before.”

Mouth agape, Steven dropped his briefcase to the floor. He recalled how his son had modeled the same dress and shoes for him a year ago. Since Marie had passed away, even looking his son in the eye had been painful for him as a father.

“Lionel? Is that you?”

“Tonight, you should just call me Nell.”

“Mommy sent her!” Emily beamed, holding tightly to her new sister. “She’s an angel!”

‘Penny for your thoughts?’

‘Oh, just thinking about my past. It’s strange how one decision can change your whole life.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, the fact that my transitioning cut me off from almost all the people I loved.’

‘Some people can’t accept things as they are. They want everything to be as they want and not as they should be.’

‘So you think of me as?’

The question hung in the air for a moment and then he held my hand again.

‘You know the answer to that. I think of you as the prettiest woman in the room.’

 
This was getting so difficult. “No, nothing can be done,” I replied. I hesitated, and then it came out in a rush “The fact is I don't have a womb.”

Michael was looking so confused, trying to get his head around what I was saying.

“So you had it removed. Did you have cancer?”

“No Michael. Oh god, this is so difficult. The fact is I never did have a womb, I wasn't born with one. I was born in the wrong body.” There. It was out and finally the implications of what I was saying was dawning on Michael.

“You mean you're, you're?”

“Yes Michael, I'm a transgendered woman, and I'm so, so sorry I didn't tell you before but I didn't want to lose you. I was looking for the right time and somehow it never came.”

His hands slowly slipped away from mine as I knew that they would.

 
"Actually, he left because of you..." the unorthodox tenant spoke. "He saw nothing of me, because I am nothing to him."

Susie shook her head in disbelief.

"I will never forget what got you here today, 'Susan'. Nor will I ever let you forget."

"I knew you were just in my head... I knew I was going nuts..."

"Yes, yes. For I have a permanent vacancy up there just like I do in here, your humble home. Change is all well and good, but certain things can never be forgotten and some people will never learn how to let go."

Susie searched around her cabinet, dampening her miscellaneous bits and bobs with her falling tears. "This ends here!" She reached for something sharp...

"Go on. Do it. You will remain, I will remain, and together we will haunt these halls. Forever."

 
He took a long slow breath, “This isn’t just to celebrate the play. Did you know it was my idea to do a Goth take on Romeo and Juliet? And I worked so hard to convince you to take Performing Arts and take the role of Juliet, not just because I thought you’d enjoy it, but because I wanted you there with me. I thought that even if you didn’t get the part I would get to kiss you at least once.”

“You did all that just to kiss me?” I asked, completely stunned.

“Yeah I did, though I was hoping you would get the part too,” he replied, wringing his hands nervously. “I convinced Thomas to have opening night on Valentine’s Day because I wanted to plan this.”

I just stared at him a moment, my mouth agape. “You’ve been planning all this for months just to get me to kiss you and be here with you tonight? This is a date isn’t it?! I know you haven’t been dating for months, but surely there’s girls you’re interested in, I’m just your friend and roommate.”

He shook his head and took my hands in his. “I haven’t gone out with any girls in four months. I’ve had girls asking but I’m not interested in them. There are no other girls for me. The only girl I want is you. We get along great, we like a lot of the same things, and living with you the past year and a half and spending so much time with you I’ve come to realize that you’re the one I want. I want this to be a date and I hope that you do too. Jade, I love you. If you don’t feel the same we can still be friends and roommates, we’ll just have a nice dinner and call it a night.”

I could feel tears beginning to sting my eyes and worried that my make-up might run and give me raccoon eyes.

 
Aubrey’s eyebrows knitted together in mild confusion. “Mr. Brisbane … I can’t go back to work for you. Even if you forgave my lapse in professionalism, I’m still …” she choked for a minute, “… I’m still in love. With you. I can’t put those feelings back in the box. And that means I can’t objectively be your aide.”

“Oh no, my dear. I quite agree. I will not employ you again. I am generous to my employees, and in return I require the highest standards of ethics. No, that is not what I will require of you.”

Aubrey cocked her head. “Then, what …?”

“Two things. Firstly, I want you to do what Jace tells you to do when you end this visit. I’ve talked to him. He will explain in detail.

“Secondly. I require your solemn promise — promise me — that you will never, ever leave me again. I never want to experience the emptiness of soul I had when I thought you were gone forever. Legal papers ensuring your promise are being drawn up as we speak. Do not refuse me, dear. I’m a cutthroat lawyer, after all — I can make your life very uncomfortable if you do.” Grant said the last part with a wink towards her, ensuring that he meant no true malevolence.

She was still in a fog. “You want me to sign a legal contract?”

“Forgive my obtuseness. Aubrey — I’m asking you to marry me, please.”

 
"Nicole?"

"Nnn?" She sounded so sweet, I just wanted to get in bed with her and cuddle; but I was way too sweaty.

I wasn't too sweaty to sit next to her on the bed. "Nicole? If you get up, you can eat Sunday dinner..."

She rolled over and looked at me. "Oh no..."

"What?"

She smiled lazily, "You did not..."

"You have been dating the wrong guys if you don't get this kind of treatment," I smirked.

She forced herself upright, the covers falling off and exposing her nude body, and hugged me.

 
But she cried anyway.

It was beautiful, post op she’s no different than any other girl I’ve ever been with…but at the same time she’s completely different. It’s slower for both of us. She needs to adjust…and we’re both shy and self conscious and even when we fit together it’s slow and tender. And there’s no ego…we both nuzzle and kiss and touch and tell each other where…and what we need.

It might not be all manly but I cry…Her and me finally together, and seeing Valerie come alive in a way I’ve never seen. Like this, like us together completed something hidden inside her and the light inside her face, in her eyes just blows me away.

This funny, odd, kooky, off beat, brazen and shy nerdy girl…

She’s the most precious and beautiful thing in the world to me.

 
Laughing I took a seat. “What, how in the hell am I supposed to pick? I think deciding whether to remain a girl should come first, we can work on the rest afterwards.”

“So why did you choose to be Erin?” Tabitha took a seat next to me.

Covering my mouth in a yawn, I shrugged. “It’s not any one thing really. Can’t say I was unhappy as Eric, the problem was I wasn’t particularly happy. The list told me many things, of the choices I had made in my life. As Erin, I made some of the same choices but also different ones. Some of them changed my outlook on life in ways I didn’t understand until now. What I did realize, was that turning back to Eric didn’t make me happy.”

“So you did it for yourself?” Tabitha leaned over, looking me in the eye.

“I did, but was it wrong that my happiness is also tied to others as well?”