On Vacation - An X-Change Novella Ch. 02

"The cab ride to the airport."

"Interesting. You know, you could have told the cab driver to turn around. You had the option of going back, maybe spend a few more hours on the beach. Have one last meal with Daniel and his family. Souvenir shopping. I would have thought the flight home would have been the worst moment. Once you were airborne, it was over. Out of options. Done. So, why was the cab ride the worst?"

"It was before I left the voice text. It was possible that Danny could have woken up alone, wondering what happened to me. I was gone with no explanation. What I did I know was painful, but during that cab ride, before I had a chance to tell him what happened, it would have been cruel."

"So, the worst moment was believing that you were hurting Daniel."

I had started quietly crying again. I just nodded. She then pulled out an iPhone from her pocket.

This is the phone you had in Hawaii. Why don't we look at the pictures together?

"There aren't that many. I'm not much of a photographer and most of the time we were too busy to stop and take pictures.

"Show me anyway."

I scrolled through about a dozen pictures from the big island, and another ten or so from Maui.

"And here's one of Danny on horseback and...huh, where did this picture come from?"

It was a picture of Danny and Jaci that was taken by the professional photographer at the restaurant. After taking some standard couple shots, she had asked us to do a goofy pose. Something that the two of us would have fun with. It was a full shot, head to toes. There we were with awkward angles to our legs and arms, obviously laughing. The photographer had caught us making full eye contact. Despite the absurd body language and funny expressions, you could see the bond between that very handsome man and his beautiful date.

"Daniel's mother asked for pictures from the trip. The photographer had sent a full set of the pictures to him, and he forwarded them to her. Barbara texted that one to your phone with a message that read "This one is my favorite. So glad you had a good time." I guess she thought you had the full set as well.

Listen, you are my patient. Daniel is my client. You should know that he has been here since Hawaii. He dropped off your luggage for us to do with whatever we felt would be best."

"How was he?"

"Subdued. I would say he was hurting. He misses his friend Jason. He misses his girlfriend Jaci."

"Yeah, but who does he miss more?"

"Peter and Peri are two people who share memories. That's not true for you."

"You will be there with me Rebecca?"

"Every step of the way Jaci."

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I hit send.

The text had read "I'm ready. Sorry it took so long. Will explain what has been going on. Meet you at 6, same rooftop bar. J"

The reply came back twenty seconds later. "Can't wait. See you then. D"

I intentionally arrived ten minutes late. I looked out from the indoor section and spotted him as expected at the same spot along the bar. I waited till a group of people were walking out together and walked with them to shield me from his direct view. I actually walked past him while he sipped on his beer. I stood behind him wearing the LBD, the only dressy outfit that he had not yet seen on me. I had around my neck a strand of puka shells, and the amethyst tennis bracelet on my wrist.

"Danny, I may have done something very stupid."

He turned around and his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out in complete surprise.

"Jaci? Jaci? Omigod Jaci!"

For the first time in my life I saw him start crying. He was silent but tears kept flowing down his cheeks. Then he reached for me and pulled me into a tight hug which felt like he never wanted to let me go.

"Omigod, oh my darling. Is it really you? Are you really here?"

"I'm here baby. I'm really here. I'm not going anywhere. This time I had the permanent process done."

"What? How?"

"Rebecca and Peter comped it. I'm going to volunteer as a counselor for their future patients, probably for the next fifty years. But I'm here Danny.

I know that I hurt you. I'm so sorry. It has been terrible for me as well. It's just...Danny, I love you. As strange as it sounds, I think it was love at first sight. I just couldn't express it in any way till I became Jaci. This doesn't obligate you in any way. I would rather be Jaci and get to tell you one time how I feel, then to stay Jason and keep them bottled up."

Now I was crying. What a sight the two of us must have been on that rooftop. Danny was slowly getting himself back under control while I was a sobbing mess.

"Jaci. I may have done something real stupid too."

He put his hand in his jacket pocket and began to lower himself to the floor. I felt the world spinning. This was becoming the single most surreal moment of my life. He now faced me on one knee and was holding up a diamond ring.

"Jaci, I love you too. I have never felt more alive than our time together, and not just those two weeks. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up today. I only know that I have missed you so much since that morning in Hawaii that it has hurt to just breathe. I love you so much, please marry me."

I must have had the same exact expression on my face that Danny had a few minutes before. I quickly looked around and saw everyone staring. I pulled him into a standing position and pushed him to the rooftop's fence, as far as we could get from all those eyes.

"How did you know? When? What did you do Daniel?"

"I didn't know anything. I was stunned when you showed up, but baby, I hoped. Every night I dreamed of you. Every day I thought about us together. About ten days ago, I bought this ring. I didn't think I would ever see you again, but buying it made me feel better. Buying it brought me some peace. I've been carrying it with me ever since."

"Danny, Danny. Think about this. I love you, but this is an impossible big step. This isn't vacation. This isn't even going out, having fun. This is our lives Danny. This is truly no turning back.

Danny, I'm not a real girl. I never wanted to be a princess. Doing girly things doesn't come naturally to me. I haven't dreamed of my wedding day since I was 9 years old. I don't know how to be a fiancé much less a wife."

"Then you will need a Maid of Honor."

I turned and a few feet away was Rebecca, who was standing next to Peter and a very elegant woman who I assumed was Abby. Once again I was stunned.

"Rebecca, how are you and Peter here?"

"Jaci, first of all, I told you I would be with you every step of the way. Secondly, you are still part of our research. We're still tracking your phone. We figured that you and Danny would get together, so we actually had people watching you. When you left your place wearing that little black dress, we all hopped into Peter's car.

We're here to tell you that you are no longer a research subject. We do expect you to counsel our patients as agreed. So, you are no longer my patient. We are now friends. You are a real girl. You are a princess because you found a knight in shining armor.

Now Jaci, I realize that you have had to make some very big decisions the last couple of months, but I'm afraid the man asked you a question and you owe him an answer."

I just stood there. My makeup was ruined. My ankles hurt from standing in heels for so long. All I could focus on was a hand holding a ring. I realized I was smiling.

"Daniel Armstrong, I Jacquelyn Carole Dixon accept your proposal of matrimony."

"Jacquelyn Carole Dixon?"

"Yep. That's what my driver's license says. Soon to be Jacquelyn Carole Armstrong. Yes Danny, I will marry you. I love you more than words can say."

I put the ring on my third finger of my left hand and began to kiss Danny like the world would end any second. The entire bar burst out into applause. The next thing I know we were surrounded by strangers. Woman came up and hugged and kissed me. Men were shaking Danny's hand and slapping his back. The waitress brought over two bottles of Dom Perignon courtesy of Peter and Abby. We didn't stop toasting and drinking for thirty minutes.

Abby pulled me aside.

"My dear, if you find you're having difficulties with your parents accepting your decision, Peter would be proud to give you away and I would gladly accept Matron of Honor. By the way, I can get us a VIP room at Unleashed for your Bachelorette party."

"Abby, thanks but I'm only attracted to Danny."

"I know my dear, but a firm backside is a firm backside. If you time it well, Peri can come."

"I'm not sure who would come. Obviously, I don't have any female to female friends. You, Rebecca, my sister if she isn't all freaked out, maybe Angela I guess."

"Angela?"

"A friend. Well, I guess we will have to discuss a different friendship. Abby, I think we probably are going to need a long engagement. I have to deal with work, although I'm sure Rebecca and Peter can help me there. I have to deal with my family. On top of all the normal things couples do to prepare, I have to learn how to be a real woman and not just a vacation girlfriend."

"Jaci, this will be a stressful but happy time. We all can help you but most of all you have the love of your life. I know a thing or two about having a true love and going through overwhelming changes. You will be fine."

She then gave me a hug that I could only describe as maternal. Reality hit me. I'm a woman, and I'm going to be marrying the man I love. I chugged a half glass of champagne, grabbed Danny's arm and spun him around and planted on him a big sloppy smooch.

"Hey Danny, did you valet the car or did you park in the lot?"

"It's in the lot, do you want to get out of here?"

"Yeah, I have another surprise for you."

"Jaci, you didn't. You didn't go commando again."

I just nodded.

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Epilogue

If you've come this far I guess you want to know what happened with Danny and me.

We had sex in his car. We both hadn't been laid since Hawaii. We then went back to his apartment and had sex till 2AM. We then woke up, had scrambled eggs and had sex for the rest of the day.

Even though it was a Sunday, Peter called my boss and invited him to X-Change for Monday morning. He also called my company's CEO and had him come by as well. Peter sat down with both of them and explained what the company did. Then he called me into his office and introduced me as the former Jason Dixon. I was too good a programmer to fire, so we all worked out a plan to get me situated at work. It was weird for about a week, but nerds have a small attention span.

My family was a different matter. Danny flew them in and put them up at the Edgewater on the pretense of a surprise party to celebrate a promotion I had received. Once my parents and siblings were together with Danny, he brought in Rebecca to do the heavy lifting. When she was done explaining everything, they were all rightfully in shock. Danny took over.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, I can only imagine how difficult this is for you. Your son Jason is gone, but your child is not. My parents told me that I wasn't always an easy person to deal with. Sometimes there had to be some hard decisions. They based how those outcomes should be on two criteria. Will I be happy, and will I be loved. Career, fame, money, power, or even just being treated well all paled when it came down to love and happiness. Jaci is happy, and we're in love. It doesn't matter if this isn't the plan. At some point, it must have been your hope that your son would meet someone. And then it would have been some kind of adjustment as you met that person and had to figure out whether to accept that person into your family. Yes, this is a bigger adjustment than you were prepared to deal with, but it is really a very similar decision. There's really nothing left to say except to ask you, are you ready to meet your daughter and your sister?"

I walked into the room and at first no one moved. My mother had started crying, but slowly rose from her chair. She walked up to me and embraced me. My sister joined her and when the crying subsided she asked me where I got my dress. My brother came over and asked "Can I still call you Jace?" I replied "Can I still call you dipshit?" Everyone then turned to my father.

"I remember that summer after your freshman year, you had Danny stay with us for a week. Throughout high school, you had been such a nerd, no real friends or at least friends that I thought you could count on. I instantly liked Danny. I saw there was a bond between the two of you.

You know Dr. Fleming, I'm going to guess that this won't be an isolated case. I think that when two people have as strong a connection as they had, they will find a way to make that connection work. Look everyone, it is going to take me awhile to really get used to this. But you're right Danny, what else can a parent want then their child finding love and happiness."

He didn't embrace me, but he came over, held both my hands, gave me a small kiss on the cheek and said "You've really grown into a beautiful woman Jaci."

As for the rest of the family, around 60% accepted their invites.

That Sunday after the rooftop bar, the day Danny and I barely left the bed, I was cuddling with him after an incredible, multi orgasm round of beast with two backs, when Danny suddenly sat up and said "Holy shit, Mom and Dad. Being careful to not accidentally hit Facetime, he called them and told them the news. They flew out the next weekend.

On Saturday, it was just a normal young couple, picking up his parents at the airport. Going out to dinner. Eventually, Barbara got me alone and told me "I'm thrilled that you were able to get your head together. The two of you looked so perfect back in Hawaii."

"Well Barbara, it wasn't exactly a straight line, A to B to C kind of thing. We both went through some serious introspection."

"That's the way it always goes. Welcome to love and especially commitment."

Sunday morning, Danny took Ted to Peter's country club for a round of nine hole. Barbara and I went to lunch where I introduced her to my dear friend, Dr. Rebecca Fleming.

"What kind of Doctor are you Rebecca?"

"I'm a Doctor of Psychology specializing in Gender."

"With all the confusion and problems these days, I'm sure you're quite busy."

"Barbara, Rebecca works for the X-Change Corporation. They are on the forefront of a new medical treatment that can help hundreds of thousands of people find the life they want."

"X-Change? Wait, didn't Ted tell me he was playing golf with a company founder this morning? I'm pretty sure the company was X-Change because I remember thinking that was an unusual name."

"Yes. Peter is the founder of X-Change, and is Rebecca's boss."

Barbara sat in silence for half a minute, her eyes darting back and forth between Rebecca, myself, and the table's center piece.

"I'm guessing that you want Ted and me to learn more about X-Change. Are you looking for investors?"

"No. Mrs. Armstrong."

Barbara looked a bit disappointed, which turned to nervousness.

"Ok, say what you have to say."

"Mrs. Armstrong, several years ago Peter and his team made a breakthrough in being able to actually edit a person's DNA strand. In particular, we can exchange the X and Y chromosomes that control gender. They also found a method to introduce that change into an individual's body and have that edit take root and spread throughout that body. Mrs. Armstrong, we are well past the experimental stages. We are fully up and running, helping clients with their wishes. We can turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man. We can do this temporarily, or it can be permanent. This is not a surgical or chemical process. Our process creates fully functional men and women. The woman are 100% female, which means they can produce grandchildren.

Mrs. Armstrong, Jaci and I are very good friends, but she once was my patient."

Barbara had an expression on her face that looked like she had just been told that eating rats was actually very nutritious. Somewhere between ill and hopeful, but leaning towards ill.

"Hi Barbara. We never met but we've had some fun exchanges on Facebook. I used to be Jason Dixon."

"You went through this X-Change thing because you wanted my son?"

"I went through X-Change the first time to do a favor for your son. A son who loved his parents so much that he didn't want you worried about him when you had just faced some real problems. He just wanted you to know he was fine after his breakup by having a new girlfriend. We're very sorry we lied to you."

"So you and him before the trip..." She crossed her fingers back and forth several times.

"No. We were just best friends, but friends that were close enough to do something crazy like that to help one another out. Two days before you met me, I was still Jason."

"I don't know. This really is crazy. You're a girl who used to be a boy, hanging out with a shrink who turns people into something else. How much do you think I can take?"

"Barbara, I love Danny. I've always loved him, but until I could see him through Jaci's eyes I didn't know the extent of my feelings. If this had never happened, I probably would have been his best man and lifelong pals. Instead, I'll be his bride and he will be my man. Look, I have a lot to learn about being a woman, but my heart knows what it wants. I remember how important you said trust was, and I realize what we've told you has shattered what the two of us was building on. All I want is for you to let me try to find a way for you to trust me again. Let me find a way to be part of your family.

She wasn't happy, but four mimosa's later she at least was chatty.

Danny and Peter told Ted in the clubhouse. After two Woodford reserves, he looked up and asked "So Peter, you took that boy that I saw on Facebook in the torn jeans and a World of Warcraft t-shirt and turned him into the girl in the one piece bathing suit that I saw in Honolulu?"

"Yes."

"You do good work Pete."

I actually had a decent head count at my Bachelorette party, although it was probably one of the more unusual parties that Unleashed had ever seen. Most of the time, the woman were all close to the same age and background. We had two very classy middle aged woman (Peri was able to make it). Rebecca was twelve years older than me, and my sister was six years older. Angela did come. Becoming Jaci had flip flopped our relationship. No more sex but now we really got along well. She liked to think of herself as being a wild child, but she had to admit that she couldn't think of anyone who had done anything as wild as me. We also had several nerdettes from my work as well as some girls from marketing. I now had a decent entourage with Danny having to put up with a couple of girl's nights out a month. There were also a couple of staff members from X-Change that I had befriended doing my volunteer work. We also had in attendance a few X-Change clients that I had counseled.

It was a memorable night and Abby was right. A nice backside is a truth on its own.

Danny wasn't as fortunate with his bachelor party. Obviously, his best buddy could not attend much less organize. He ended up going to a strip club with ten attorneys from work including the partner that he worked for. After about an hour in, he pulled his boss aside and said "I want to thank you for tonight, but I have to be honest. My bride to be has better titties than most of these girls. She has a much better ass, incredible legs, and a face as pretty as can be. I'm going to go home and fuck my fiancé."

I didn't start reading Cosmo and watching Real Housewives. I did start reading Vanity Fair and one weekend my sister flew in and introduced me to chick flicks. I very much enjoy the Portuguese woman from Love Actually but can't decide if I like Sandra Bulloch's character better from Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks' Notice, or The Proposal.