With the push to finish up Dithyran's Probe and at least get a glance at Swordsman of Atlantis, Dave had enough to keep him busy the rest of the week, along with some other loose ends on the move. He was aware his mother and Shae had talked back and forth with Emily once or twice, but wasn't clear on details. Shae kept telling him everything was all coming together nicely with few problems, nothing he need concern himself with, and he was busy enough that he took her word for it.

It seemed to work pretty well. At one point, he happened to realize that while he'd been worrying about getting his stuff to Bradford, he hadn't thought at all about getting his mother, his boys, and himself there. But, when he mentioned it to his mother, she said not to worry, they were bringing an extra vehicle from Bradford so they could ride back. "You are thinking of everything, aren't you?" he asked.

"We try to," his mother said slyly.

One of the items he did overhear was that Eve was going to be showing up for dinner after she wrapped up her office hours on Friday. That meant dinner started a bit late, but it was nice to see her when she arrived, bringing a surprise with her -- her husband John.

Dave had heard a lot about John from both Eve and Shae, and for that matter, from Emily and a couple others back in Bradford. In spite of the fact he'd come to respect and like Eve a lot, Dave had wondered more than a bit about what kind of guy would marry a transsexual, knowing his spouse had once been a boy. Dave didn't like to think of himself as a homophobe or anything, but he was staunchly heterosexual, and it gave him an uneasy feeling. But, on thinking about it a little, he figured not everyone was wired the way he was, and Eve, with her specialty, was probably more aware of it than most.

John proved to be dark-haired, rather slender, and only a little bit taller than his wife. He seemed to be on the shy side and willing to let others carry the conversation, only adding to it sparingly, but he was warm and had a good smile. In the first minute or two of introduction, Dave told him he appreciated John letting his wife help him out as much as she had over the past couple weeks. "That's what she does, and I'm used to it," he smiled. "We have an agreement: she lets me wear the pants in the family except when she wants to do something else. When that happens, she does it whether I like it or not." It told Dave right from the beginning that John had a pretty good sense of humor, if nothing else.

Although Dave had had phone calls with Eve every night or two over the past few days, it was the first time in nearly two weeks they'd had the chance for a face-to-face therapy session. After dinner, just for the sake of a little privacy, they went down to the parking lot, where he discovered that she and John had driven their minivan; on a cool and windy evening, it made a good place to sit out of the wind and talk things out. Toward the end of the session, Eve admitted, "Dave, PTSD hit you harder than I expected, but realistically, I think you're coming back well, if a little more slowly than I'd hoped. But then, you've had extra problems with the massive changes in your life this is bringing, so obviously you're going to have some stress. While I think you could probably have worked it out here in the city all right, I think being back in Bradford for a while will give you some perspective."

"Eve, I don't know how I would have made it without you," he said honestly.

"Dave, you'd have made it somehow," she said. "Your feeling of responsibility for your boys would have forced you to. Dave, this doesn't have to be our last session, you know. It's no big trick for me to run over here most evenings, so we can get together when you're in town. And you know my phone number, so call if you need me. I'll probably call from time to time myself, and if I happen to get somewhere nearby, I'll stop in."

"Eve, you're too kind to me."

"Nonsense," she said. "Besides, you're already paying me back the favor."

That one stopped Dave for a second, until it struck him: "You're talking about Shae, right?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I may be stepping over the line to say this, but she has been distressed about her inability to conquer these issues she has in her personal life, and it's bothered me, as well, because I owe her so much. Dave, she told me quite early on about her hopes with you. I tried to be negative, for I agree with you about it being much too soon. I think you're probably right in backing off a little from her. I have to say, right now, I don't think either of you are in a good position to build a relationship with each other. That's not to say you won't get to good positions given time, and this move buys you time. I really hope for the both of you that it'll work out, but you must allow yourselves the possibility that it won't."

"That was my gut feeling from the minute she brought it up," he replied. "In the long run, it has a lot of potential. In the short run, well, Julie gets mixed up in it, and it could easily louse things up."

"Your gut was feeling pretty good on that one," she smiled. "Very often, when someone loses a loved one in a major trauma, they turn to the first available person to fill the hole, and often it does not work out very well. It says good things that you recognize the danger." She stopped, and let out a long sigh. "Dave, Shae is my best friend, and I literally owe her my life. At the same time, I've come to like you a lot. I'll be talking to both of you, and I hope it works for you. I think it will, and I'll help if needed. But if I think you're heading for trouble, I'll tell you, too."

"Honestly, Eve, I can't ask for much more than that."

"I think you're going to be all right," she smiled. "While there will be bad times to come, there will also be good times, like the concert the other night. Learn from the bad times and look for the good times."

They spent the evening just sitting around and being friendly. It turned out that John and Eve had quite a story to tell about their trip to Russia to pick up Sergei and Milla -- in fact, the plan was to pick up just Sergei, but they discovered a poignant situation at the orphanage. Milla's planned adoption had fallen through, and a change in regulations was going to make future adoptions more difficult. The little girl had a captivating smile, and at the last possible instant they'd decided to come home with two kids, rather than the one they'd been prepared for. It was obvious they were doting parents and lavished a lot of love and attention on their kids; Dave understood very well how it worked.

They went to bed early; their understanding was the people from Bradford would arrive very early so they could take advantage of the lighter early-morning traffic. If they could get a good start, they hoped to finish up the move out of the apartment in one day.

Even the boys were already up at a quarter to six the next morning when they heard the outside bell and Emily's voice on the speaker. In a few minutes, she was in the apartment -- but bringing a surprise: Dayna, and Vicky Varney, well, MacRae, now, since her remarriage. She was carrying a baby carrier with a very small baby. "Good to see you, Vicky," he smiled. "I see Emily roped you in."

"No big deal," Vicky smiled. "I'm just glad to be part of this shindig."

"We worked out that Vicky is going to watch the kids," Shae explained. "That's why they're up, so we can introduce them. Eve, JoAnne, and I all have things we need to be doing at Battery Park. We might as well get moving. All of us from here are going to go in John and Eve's minivan, which will cut the vehicles down a little."

"Might as well," he said, beginning to realize there had been a lot more planning involved than he'd been led to believe. It was just as well; he'd been dreading this day, and what it would mean, for it held every promise of being the most painful one yet. The sooner it was over with the better he would like it.

They trooped downstairs to the parking lot and headed to the McClellan minivan -- except for Dayna and Emily, who walked to a tiny Geo Metro parked a couple spaces away. Dave was silently wondering about that, as he'd expected a rental truck, but Dayna explained it away in an instant. "We figured it was a little tight to get the rig in here, so we just came over to get you. I'll give them a call on the cell phone so they can follow us."

"Shae, why don't you drive?" Eve offered. "You know where you're going better than I do."

"No big deal, we'll take the Queens Expressway and the tunnel; that'll just about get us there anyway."

Dave settled into the back seat of the minivan. "It'll probably be good to have some extra hands," he said dejectedly, feeling himself slide downward at the prospect of what was to come. At least they were going to approach through the tunnel, where he wouldn't be able to see as much.

"That's what we thought," Shae said. "The more, the merrier, and the quicker. Let's get moving."

It was a quiet ride over there; it was early and the traffic was still light for a Saturday, so they made good time, but Dave wasn't paying attention. A couple times he glanced back and noticed a rental truck and figured it held the rest of the group. Once they were out of the tunnel, there was too much to see. He kept his eyes down, trying to deny the reality again, and was barely aware of Shae pulling into a parking area on the downriver side of the building, near the loading docks.

As they got out, the Geo pulled in next to them -- and behind them, a big blue and white Winnebago motor home pulled in as well, the words Second Home lettered on the fender. Doors opened on the motor home, and to his surprise people began piling out: Emily's husband Kevin, Sandy, his classmates Aaron Heisler and Scott Tyler, and a dark, handsome woman he hadn't met but realized he'd heard about: Scott's wife Sonja. "Wow, I didn't expect to see all of you," he said in awe. "I guess Emily must have been busy."

"It was no trick finding people," Emily smiled. "In fact, when we decided to bring Dayna and Sandy's motor home, we decided we'd better hold the number of people down. It'll only sleep so many. We left after work last night and drove all night."

"But . . . where's the truck?"

"Not here yet," Emily smiled. "It'll be here later. Shae, you're running this part, what do we do?"

"What we're going to do is to leave Dave and Eve here," she said. "Or, at least in the freight area over behind the loading dock. There's a lot of packing and sorting to do, but the guys can start hauling the big stuff down right from the first. That'll leave someone down here who can keep an eye on it. If we need to ask Dave something, we can call him on a cell phone. There's a big pile of flattened boxes in the back of the minivan, we might as well take them up with us. Grab a couple of those four-wheeled carts; they'll be useful, too."

"I get it," Dave said quietly to Eve as the rest of the gang started for the loading dock. "This way I don't have to be in the apartment at all, but I'm available if I'm needed."

"Right," Eve smiled. "Plus, you're on the far side of the building, and I'll be here with you."

"You guys have this planned out pretty well, don't you?" he smiled, realizing how much more had been going on than he realized.

"There have been a few phone calls," Eve grinned. "But actually, fewer than you might think. Shae said she came over here yesterday to make some preparations. I thought the motor home was a pretty good idea. That way the boys can sleep through most of the trip."

"I had a feeling when Shae suggested we get Emily involved that it'd get done with style," he grinned. "I told Shae that Emily doesn't do half-measures."

"No, she doesn't," Eve grinned. "I brought a thermos of coffee. Let's find a place in the freight area by the loading dock to sit down and have some. We can sit and talk a bit. Maybe about something light."

"I know what I'd rather not talk about," he said as they started toward the building. "Hey, I haven't had the chance to tell you yet, but that John of yours is a pretty neat guy."

"I think so," she grinned. "Shae and I have known him for years. In fact, she teases me that I stole her prom date and married him."

"This is a story I don't think I've heard," he grinned, amazed to be feeling better than he could have imagined at this heavy time. "I know Shae has said you and she and John and Cheryl go way back, but she's never told the story."

"It has its moments," she grinned.

Over the next hour, as things began to be brought down from the apartment, she told the story in detail. Back in the summer between junior and senior years in high school, when Eve was still beginning to present as a girl, she and Shae had met John and his brother Paul at a county fair in Indiana, well away from Bradford. Both guys were nerdy introverts, Paul worse than Denis, even. After a few "dates" they'd gotten friendly enough for kisses, but nothing more. Denis couldn't go to the Bradford prom, but she and Shae went with John and Paul to theirs at their high school in Indiana. "I had the most glorious bright red prom dress," Eve grinned.

"I remember hearing about that," Dave grinned. "Vicky was there, and she told people for days afterward how great Shae looked."

"Yes, and she didn't remember me at all."

"I can imagine. So you stayed friends, huh?"

"No, in fact it was the last time we saw either of them for years," Eve smiled. "Here's the funny part. John and Paul didn't know, of course, that I was still physically a boy presenting as a girl, which is why Shae and I never let them get very close to us. What we did not know is there was more going on. Not even John knew Paul was working toward being a transsexual, too."

"Oh, man," he grinned. "First we practice to deceive, and so on."

"Absolutely," she laughed. "Paul had come to his decision to change before I had, and had started spiro well before me. That's a testosterone blocker. I'm still not sure how he got it; it was an illegal source somehow. When the subject has come up, it always seems to change to something else, if you know what I mean."

"I get the picture."

"Unlike me, Paul was carrying on his transition in absolute secret. His parents didn't know, and even John didn't know. Paul had floated the subject lightly with him on occasions, and John made it clear he didn't approve." Eve let out a sigh, and went on. "I can't begin to tell you my respect for his determination."

It had been a slow process; while Paul stayed on the testosterone blockers and later added black market estrogen, he was also in college, covering it up from his roommate, his brother John, for all but the last year of college. In those days, he rarely dressed as the Cheryl persona he'd determined he'd become. He got an apartment by himself the last year of college, dressed as Cheryl when he could -- and in the meantime, used a home electrolysis machine to clear his beard. "I had over two hundred hours of it myself over the years," Eve explained. "Even now, once in a while a few beard hairs will start to appear. When there get to be enough of them, I schedule a session. I don't like it. It's very painful, I always had to be drugged, Vicodin or even stronger medications. It's also very expensive. Cheryl had little money, but the home machine was much cheaper, if slower. Over the next two years, she spent over a thousand hours treating herself, all while maintaining 4.0 grades in her senior undergraduate year and also in her first semester of graduate school. I am literally awed at her drive."

"She wanted it bad," he nodded.

"Like me, she had little other choice," Eve nodded. "Had I faced that much difficultyI think I would have committed suicide instead. About half the people diagnosed with gender identity dysphoria like I had eventually do suicide. She chose not to. I had the advantage of the support of my parents, including full financial support. She did not."

Eve stopped and took a deep breath, and went on, "Eventually, at the end of her first semester of graduate school, the fact that there was something funny going on could no longer be covered up from her parents. She has never told me in detail, but she was badly beaten and physically thrown out of the house. John rescued her, took her to the hospital, and nursed her for a while. But he was no more enthusiastic about Paul being a transsexual than his parents, and spent hours trying to talk sense to her. Finally, she had no choice but to don her Cheryl identity and disappear. It was actually a relief to her, since transsexuals have to spend at least a year living continuously as a woman, or a man, as the case may be, and successfully, before most surgeons will operate on them. I do not know a great deal about the next few months, and don't want to know. I know Cheryl was in Chicago, and around some of the seamier sides of the gay community there. At the end of that period she had enough money for her surgery. I confess to not liking what those facts add up to, and I've seen a fair amount of it myself over the years, although as an observer, not a participant."

"I get the picture," he nodded, "And not a pretty one."

"No, indeed," Eve said. "However, she did pull away from it, and re-enter graduate school, a different one than she had previously attended -- Syracuse, where I also was working on my master's."

"And you tripped across each other."

"Yes, but in rather dramatic fashion. For whatever reason, she decided she'd better not be stealth around her roommate, and the roommate freaked. When I found out about the problem, I offered to trade with her roommate. After all, we were sisters of a sort, even though we didn't know each other." She let out a sigh. "Remember how Vicky didn't recognize me because of context? The same thing happened with me on seeing Cheryl. In fact, she recognized me first."

"That," he laughed, "Is one for the books. So how did John get involved?"

"I'm getting to it. Dave, over the several years of Cheryl going through all this, she did not have one friend who knew about it, not one confidant, except for a couple professionals who she talked to in a minor way. She had no one to hold her hand, to be a friend, and frankly, although her surgery was in sight she was near the end of her rope. I offered her friendship and support. Very quickly, we became hardly less friends than Shae and I had been. So, a few months later, I accompanied her to the same hospital, where I had my surgery years before, the same surgeon, in fact.

"The night before surgery, I left her alone in the hospital room and went back to the motel for a few hours sleep. While I was gone, she called John, for one last chance to have him offer his support. He wasn't home, but she left a message on his answering machine to tell him what was happening. When John got home and got the message, he, well, I hate to say it but he freaked out. He got in his car and drove madly all night in hopes of having one last chance to talk his brother out of it."

"Still not accepting it, huh?"

"Completely. He arrived too late; the surgery was under way. I suspect Cheryl planned it that way, letting him know but so he couldn't interfere. I found John crying his eyes out, completely hysterical. Dave, I know you don't want to think about this, but you were in far better shape when Shae and I found you. He was in very severe denial, refusing to accept that he'd lost a brother and gained a sister. I don't want to go into the details, but at one point I had to be so unprofessional as to threaten to mace him to settle him down. But when he came around, he was mostly supportive. This was over the Christmas holidays; Cheryl and I were locked out of the dorm, and had planned to rent a motel room to continue her recovery, but he wouldn't have it. His roommate was gone for the holidays, so he took Cheryl and me to his apartment."

She let out another long sigh. "I know it may have been unprofessional of me," she continued, "But at one point, I wound up taking him to bed to prove a transsexual was not merely a parody of a woman. I still don't think we could have fallen in love had he ever seen me presenting as Denis. He knows all about it, but it's not quite real, if you know what I mean. Over the years, we have worked through the block. Some weeks later, he and his roommate Chad drove over to Syracuse to see us. Chad had not previously met Cheryl, but to all our astonishments, it was literally love at first sight. And, much to our surprise, we have all mostly lived happily ever after."

"Well," he shook his head. "No point in making it simple when it can be so beautifully complicated."

"Very true," she smiled. "And to a transsexual, things are often more complicated than they seem on the surface, anyway."

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