January

The day labeled as the stormiest day of the year arrived.  Where was I?  Outside.  Finding shelter was practically impossible.  All of the nice places were already taken.  That left me stuck in an alleyway with little to no shelter.  After the prior night's binge, my stomach ached horribly, making it hard to move around.  Not only that, but I really didn't want to go around showing how bloated I was.  Cold and wet, I remained in the alleyway.  I prayed the rain would end.  Maybe, just maybe, someone up above would give me a miracle.  One good thing in my life.  Pretty sad when that one good thing is the lack of rain.

Sadly, the rain wasn't letting up.  I was just going to have to deal with it.  I buried my head in my arms and curled up even more.  Curling up made me feel a bit more comfortable.  I liked the idea of appearing smaller.  How small could I make myself?  Maybe I could shrink away if I curled up tight enough.   I was about to try when I heard someone walk near me.  It was most likely a passerby so I didn't move.  However, they stopped right in front of me.  Ah yes.  Just what I needed.  Someone who probably wanted to rob me. 

"Hey." 

Odd.  Why would they start a robbery with a casual hey?  Confused, I looked up.  Being as cold and tired as I was, I probably looked pretty dead inside.  I could just feel the lifelessness in my eyes.  To my surprise, a young, black man stood in front of me.  The voice was a bit off where it was higher than I expected, but he looked gentle and kind, even smiling a bit.

"H-hey,"  I said with a confused look.  What did he want from me?

"You must be cold."

"Um… yea,"  I admitted quietly.

"If you'd like, I'd be happy to offer my place tonight.  From one woman to another."

Huh?  What did he- Then I realized that upon closer look, he was a she, just dressed as a man. It explained the higher voice too. Most likely to get around town easier.   Being a black woman walking around town was not a good idea.  

"Here, let's get you somewhere warm and dry."  She reached out and pulled me up.  Going to strangers' houses wasn't the best of ideas, but honestly, I was desperate.  I just wanted to have a day off from the cold streets.  So I went with her.  The whole walk was fairly quiet.  Not that I wanted to speak anyway.  If she thought I was a woman, then speaking would ruin all my chances of getting a shelter.

We headed to her place, which was a fairly large house.  She seemed to be quite well off.  Either she married into a rich family, or she was a maid.  When we got in, I discovered she had married none other than Reginald.  Was this the woman he talked about who liked winter mints?  What was her name again…?  Oh, I can’t remember…

"That's quite the storm, huh?"  Max laughed as she pulled at her soaking wet clothing a bit.  I simply nodded a bit, still not wanting to give myself away.

"Let me go get dressed, and I'll grab you something dry to wear!"

The woman hurried upstairs and quickly changed.  Within record time, she came out in a light blue dress that had paint stains on it in the front.  It was a complete transformation.  She had gone from looking like a man to looking like a beautiful young woman.  Her dark brown hair was past her shoulders and had slight waves in it. Unlike me, she had a beautiful and curvy figure.  Big bust, big hips… the perfect hourglass figure that I wish I had. 

I was handed a dress to change into, which I quickly did.  There was no way I was standing around in soaking wet clothes for much longer.  Being in a not only warm but also dry dress was like heaven.  I didn't even care that the dress had paint stains on it.  Best feeling ever.

"Is it warm?"  The woman asked as I stepped out into the hallway with her dress on.

I nodded.

"Awfully quiet, aren't you?"  She chuckled.  "What's your name?"

Oh god.  Telling her my name was Adam was like asking to be labeled male.  Unfortunately, changing it was never something I was able to do.  Dad would've killed me if he caught Mum calling me something else.  So even though I hated the name, I never said anything about it.

"I'm Max." She said with the hopes I would greet myself.  I was right, and she was Reginald's wife who loved wintermints.  I didn't give her the response she wanted though and went even quieter. "What?  Do you not know your own name?"

"I don't like it…"  I mumbled, careful not to speak loud enough that she would be able to hear the deeper tone in my voice.

"I'm sure it's a lovely name."

Ever so quietly, I mumbled it out.

"Sorry?  Come again?"

I sighed and spoke louder this time.  "Adam…"

The look on her face said it all.  At first, it was a surprise, then a realization.  I could almost see the gears turning in her head.

"Oh gosh!  I'm so sorry!!"  She started freaking out, thinking I would be insulted that I was just given a dress.  "I thought you were a woman!! I can get you something else to wear, I'm so sorry I have you a dress! I genuinely didn't know!"

"No, no!  It's okay!"  I was too far into this and just didn't want to go back to being forced to live as a man.  And for some reason, I just felt comfortable opening up to her.  I explained everything the best I could to her, trying to reassure her that I liked to present as a woman as I felt that I was one.  Her reaction surprised me.  Instead of getting upset, she was understanding.  Although she didn't understand how I felt, she went with it and said she would refer to me as a woman, which made me incredibly happy.

"Now!  There's just one other issue."  She said.  Oh no.  What was the issue?  Was this all a lie??  Panic set in and I started to freak out at what the hell this issue was.  From the seriousness in her face, I felt as though this was the moment I was going to get kicked out.  As she opened her mouth, I braced myself for what was to come next.

***

"Aven?"

"Yea.  I quite like it."

"Well, I would say it's pretty gentle of her to help you find a better name that fits!"  Mum smiled.  "She is right.  It does suit you better than Adam."

"Yea, it does.  And here I thought her issue would be me as a whole.  Not that my name doesn't fit."

"Oh, you worry too much."  Mum giggled as she playfully shoved me.  We were back in our usual meeting spot and I had just told her about everything that happened, which was a lot.  "I'm really happy that Max is letting you stay with her, though!  It's good to know you're in a safe place."

"Yea."  I smiled.  "I think the only issue is going to be Beatrice since she's Reginald's sister, but other than that, I'm really happy living with them.  Max has even been helping with the binge eating."

"I bet!  It must be nice to be in a household that fully accepts you for who you are and is helping you get through your issues. I do wish I could've given that to you, but it is what it is."

"You gave me everything I wanted and more."  I gave Mum a smile.  "Even if Dad didn't like it, you stood up for me and were always there to help.  Even now you are.  And I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

Mum got a little teary-eyed hearing that and smiled.  Not knowing what to say, she pulled me into a hug.  

"I'm so lucky to have a daughter like you."  She said softly.  "Now that you got a home, I think it's safe to say I oughta return that dress to you, huh?"

"The blue one?"

"Mhm."

"How about you keep it?"  As much as it hurt to say that, I felt it would be better with Mum.  "That way you always have a piece of me with you."

"You're sure?  You love that dress though."

"I'm sure."  I nodded.  "I know it's not much since I can't be with you all the time anymore, but it's the best I can do."

"I promise I'll take good care of it then," Mum said as she hugged me tighter.  If this woman hugged me any tighter, I was going to lose my ability to breathe.

"I love you, Mum."  I partially croaked out.  Even if it was too tight of a hug, I still freaking enjoyed it.

"I love you too, Aven."