Stray Cats Ch. 06

Wendy gazed out the passenger window watching the world whiz by. "So just you and Candace were the ones with the wanderlust?"

"I suppose so, although from the sounds of it, some of it rubbed off on my younger brother, Tommy."

Wendy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek then she rested her head on his shoulder as he drove up the twisted little highway further into the mountains. She fell blissfully asleep.

A half hour later Kyle pulled into a gravel driveway that led up to a simple two-story home that had a country farmhouse appeal to it. He nudged Wendy and she sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey sleepyhead, we're here."

As they approached the house they could hear arguing inside. They climbed the porch stairs and stood outside the screen door. Kyle whispered to Wendy as he pointed to the two standing in the center of the living room. "That's my uncle Willie and his niece, my cousin, Martha Johnson.

Martha stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips, a defiant scowl on her face. "What do you mean that's not crazy? Who teaches their boys to pee on trees in public? In the school yard no less?!"

A pleasant faced woman with wisps of grey hair swirling around her face turned to see two people walk in through her front door. "That's all right Martha, we won't say anything more about it. Hello Kyle, is this your girlfriend Wendy?"

Kyle ushered Wendy through the foyer and into the living room. "Yes, Wendy, Mom, Mom, Wendy."

Wendy shook the hand that was extended and smiled sweetly. "Hello Mrs. Upton, I glad to meet you."

Norma patted her hand. "No ceremony here dearie, call me Norma."

Kyle dropped their bags near the hallway stairs. "Hi Martha, Uncle Willie." He turned and whispered to his mother. "What did Uncle Willie do now?"

Willie turned to Kyle; his voice was filled with bluff and bluster. "I only told her boy Rodney, that no matter where you are in this world, you have to have a whizzing tree, what's wrong with that?"

"My son is not a bear in the woods, Willie, my side of the family does not condone public urination in Philadelphia."

"This isn't Philadelphia Martha, it's Swiftwater, and it is in the woods."

"Aargh! Stay away from my Rodney, Willie, or next time I am calling the cops."

"All right Martha." He pulled out a small notepad and scribbled a note. "Here's Henry's number if you need to call him." Willie turned to Wendy and winked. "My boy's the duty sergeant tonight and he could use an excuse to visit. It gets pretty boring most nights down at the police station."

Martha flipped the note over her shoulder and stormed off slamming the screen door on her way out. Kyle could hear her muttering about old coots with no sense of decency.

Uncle Willie turned to Wendy. "Don't worry, Martha's my sister's girl. She gets a bee in her bum about something and you just have to wait it out until the ride is over." He stepped closer and leaned in to take a closer look. "So you're Wendy. It's nice to meet you."

At that moment a woman strode out from the back bedrooms dressed in a bra, pajama bottoms, and snow boots. She was carrying an axe as she walked through the living room towards the kitchen. Everyone paused as the woman strode across the room. "Denise, this is Wendy, Kyle's new girlfriend."

Denise waved the axe over her head as a welcome without breaking her stride. Wendy watched her go through the kitchen and out the back door. The screen door slammed shut with a whack. "Where's she going?"

"To chop wood. Winter is nearly around the corner." Willie chuckled as he sat back down in a recliner and picked up the remote.

"She's on a mission. Denise is sort of my wife, although it's not official. We've been together now for nearly twenty years. I promised her a couple of year's back that we'd go to Las Vegas and make it official. She said we should dress up like Elvis and Priscilla and ride in the back of a limousine. I thought that sounded like fun."

He scooted around in the recliner and craned his head up towards Wendy. "Have you ever been to Vegas?"

"No, I never have been there."

"I think I've got enough saved up now so plan on it. They say you have to bring your own witnesses. Kyle, you up for a trip to Vegas?"

Kyle walked back out of the kitchen. "When would that be Uncle Willie?"

"Christmas."

"I'll check my calendar, but maybe."

The television started blaring the roaring sound of racing cars. "Oh good, NASCAR's back on. One of these days we'll get our own cable so I don't have to keep borrowing it from my neighbor."

Wendy turned to Willie. "Does he know you're borrowing it?"

"I think so, I told him once a couple of years ago."

That night Wendy was in the guest bathroom while Kyle was downstairs talking to his mom. He walked into their bedroom to hear her whimpering in the bathroom as if she was in pain. Suddenly, "Shit, fuck, oh shit that hurts." This was followed by another whimper.

Kyle knocked softly on the bathroom door. "Wendy? What's going on? Are you in pain?"

"Don't come in here, Kyle."

"Okay, I won't, but are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm just doing something that I hate to do and it hurts like a bitch sometimes. I'll be okay, just stay out, please."

Kyle walked over to sit on the bed and wait for her.

A moment later Wendy walked out of the bathroom carrying a small cloth bag. She blushed as she glanced into Kyle's eyes then she sat next to him on the bed. "I'm okay sweetie, it's just something I have to do everyday and sometimes it can be painful."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"It's so embarrassing." Then she sighed and nodded. She opened the small bag. Inside were several long cylinders that were shaped like dildos of various sizes. Only the cylinders were smooth and without the all the details that were common on silicone dildos. "I have to use these twice a day to keep me open and the larger ones really hurt sometimes. I've had to do this since my surgery."

Kyle looked at the small bag and then up into her eyes. "Why?"

"The doctor told me that if I don't my vagina will collapse. I know of a girl who had to have reconstructive surgery because she didn't do it and her vagina collapsed down to a little less than two inches. She couldn't have vaginal sex."

"Holy shit, is there something I can do to help?"

"No sweetie, just love me."

"That's easy, I already do." Kyle leaned over and kissed her lips gently. "So is this a permanent thing? Do you have to do this for the rest of your life?"

"Maybe, at least for a couple more years until everything settles down there." She stood up and put her small dilation bag back into her suitcase. "I've been doing some research and I discovered a procedure that allows for a permanent solution to my problem."

"You should do it then, I don't like to hear my girl in pain."

She curled her fingers and tickled his ears. "It'll mean a couple of months without sex, even masturbation, for me."

He grinned sheepishly. "There's other things we can do while we wait."

She nudged his shoulder and pushed him back into the bed then she climbed on top and straddled his chest. "Hmmm, I'm willing to explore if you are."

The next morning sunlight filtered through the curtains in the guest bedroom and Wendy stretched as she woke up. That was undoubtedly the best night's sleep she had had in years. It was so peaceful up here in the woods. She looked around the room. The bathroom door was standing open so Kyle was probably downstairs.

She grabbed her robe and busied herself in the bathroom a moment. She fixed her hair and dabbed on a little bit of makeup. As she got closer to the top of the stairs she could hear laughter and the clatter of dishes coming from the kitchen below.

Kyle appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Good morning beautiful, I was just about to come up and give you a wake up kiss."

Wendy began to step down the stairs towards Kyle. "How about I meet you half way?"

They met in the middle and Kyle wrapped his arms around her, leaning in for a kiss. "Good morning beautiful. Sleep well?"

"Like a baby, it's so peaceful here. I love it."

Kyle kissed her cheek. "Then you wouldn't mind coming back for Tommy's graduation?"

"I wouldn't miss it." They turned and walked arm in arm down the rest of the stairs.

"Great! How about breakfast?"

"I'd love some, I'm famished."

In a quiet moment, while doing the breakfast dishes, Wendy managed to ask Norma what she thought about her daughter Candace?

"Oh she's terrific. She's working for a production company up in Albany right now. I heard they're working on one of those vampire TV shows. I forget which one. They're all the same to me. She's having the time of her life."

"I meant, what did you think when she told you she wanted to become a woman?"

"Oh, well, I was worried at first, we all were. People can be so cruel you know. But she has so many good friends here and in New York that we didn't worry too much, beyond what any mother worries for a daughter in the big city. So Kyle told you about her?"

"Yes he did." Wendy turned and leaned against the counter. "You see, I've gone through a similar transition myself."

"You have? Goodness, I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me. You're quite lovely my dear."

"Thank you, Norma." Wendy dried a large platter and set it on the counter near a stack of plates. "And the family? Did they accept her decision?"

"Of course, once they understood it. We all did. But we kind of saw it coming so it wasn't a big surprise. Kenny, that was her name before she became Candace, was always awkward as a boy. And Kyle was always there to protect him. School children can be so cruel sometimes."

Wendy nodded, sadly, as Norma handed her another skillet to dry. "But when she transitioned, she just blossomed. It was wonderful to watch her grow. Of course she had a few hard knocks in high school."

"I know, Kyle told me about one of them."

"You mean the one with that football player Kurt and his buddies?"

Wendy nodded.

"That was one of the worst that happened. Kyle was her protector in high school, he took a lot of abuse because of his twin sister but through it all he never uttered a word of complaint."

Norma lifted a large pot out of the soapy water. "You know, in a way, a change like that really tells a person who their true friends are, doesn't it? People who will stick with you because they like you for who you are not what you are, they are the ones you can count on."

Wendy nodded with a gentle smile. "Yes, I think you're right." She glanced out of the kitchen window and watched Kyle help his Aunt Denise chop and stack wood.

Later that day, Kyle's car wove down the narrow country highway, heading away from the Upton family home. Wendy leaned her seat back and gazed languidly out the passenger window at the forest as it whisked by. On the radio, Aaron Copeland's "Appalachian Spring" filled the car with melodic tones that made the ride through the forest seem magical.

She glanced over and looked at Kyle as he maneuvered through a narrow country one-lane bridge. What an amazing man he was. Since she met him and her sisters Rachel, Amanda and April, her life had taken a complete turnaround.

April was right, my turn was coming and my Prince Charming was indeed waiting in the wings. She took a big breath and let it out slowly, closing her eyes to relish the sensation of just being with someone who really, truly loved her. Her eyes began to glisten. She dabbed the tears away and tried to settle her emotions. She turned to Kyle.

"Do you think there might be a cabin up here we could rent for a week or two sometime in the spring or summer?"

"Of course, my cousin has a few cabins she rents out every summer to people. I could ask her."

Wendy smiled serenely as she returned her gaze to the passenger window. "Thank you, I'd like that."

"You know we have a standing offer to come back to my mom's place anytime we want."

"I know, but this would be just the two of us."

Kyle smiled and blushed slightly. "I'd like that," he whispered. He stopped at a stop sign and waited for a logging truck to rumble by.

Wendy reached over and squeezed his hand gently as he looked down the road for other traffic. Once the road was clear he turned onto the highway heading south and back to Delaware.

She snuggled under a blanket she found in the backseat and smiled sweetly. Life was good. She finally understood that slogan.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

The author copyrights Stray Cats and all of its parts. The reproduction of any part of Stray Cats without the written permission of the author is expressly prohibited.

This story is a work of fiction. All of the characters, their names and the places they visit, are purely from the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to persons, places, or things is not intentional and purely coincidental. © 2015/ Dreamweaver594