So… I cheated on Reginald. Completely of my own free will too. There, I admit it. I’m not particularly proud of it, but he was ignoring my needs! He gave up on having a kid with me, so he stopped pleasing me in bed. What was I supposed to do when he wouldn’t meet my needs?! I’m not saying I’m proud of it, but I’m just saying I had a real reason for it.

So to avoid Beatrice, I would dress up as a man and go out everyday to Lucas’ where we were together most of the day until I went home in time to make dinner for Reginald. It was an elaborate deception, and I kept going back even after Beatrice gave up on coming to the house during the day. Something happened one day though.

It was a stormy day. The stormiest January New York had been through in a while. As I put my men’s clothes back on, Lucas looked concerned.

“Are you going to be alright out there?”

“You afraid I’ll get swept up into the sky or something?” I laughed.

“Just don’t want you to get hurt is all.”

“Don’t worry,” I winked, walking out into the thunderstorm. “I’ll be ok. Since I’m a strong woman and all.”

I ran through the storm, trying to keep the rain out of my face. I could barely see five feet in front of me, only finding my way by keeping my hand on the sides of buildings. When I was only a couple blocks from the house, something caught my eye. A small woman in a messy dress huddled up beside a trash can in an alleyway. She was covering her head in an attempt to block out the storm. It made me feel so bad for her. The woman looked so frail and dainty, and I didn’t want to just leave her to the storm. Nobody deserved that…

“Hey,” I said. The woman’s head slowly looked up on me, confused.

“H-Hey,” she shivered. She had a bit of an odd, deeper voice, but I wasn’t about to judge. I knew a few of them women with deep voices, and some guys liked that.

“You must be cold,” I said sweetly.

“Um… yeah,” she whispered.

“If you’d like, I’d be happy to offer my place tonight,” I offered, holding my hand out with a wink. “From one woman to another.” For a moment, the woman squinted her eyes, but reeled her head back. I wondered what she was so surprised at, but realized that she might’ve thought I was a man and just chuckled. Slowly, she took my hand. “Here, let’s get you somewhere warm and dry,” I said, helping her up.

The two of us made it back home in silence. She didn’t seem like the talkative type, which there was nothing wrong with. I wasn’t about to interrogate her or anything. After all, the only thing I wanted was just to help her. The lady looked absolutely stunned by how big our house was.

“My husband’s Reginald Hawthorne, you know,” I said shyly. “That’s why a woman like me can live in a house like this.”

She looked surprised at that and like she came to some realization. Did she know Reginald? Well, everyone knows the Hawthorne’s, but you know those looks people get when they just suddenly get insight on something. I didn’t think much of it and just moved on with the conversation since the woman wasn’t saying anything.

“That’s quite the storm, huh?” I laughed, peeling the soaking wet coat off of myself. The woman just nodded at me with that blank stare. “Let me go get dressed, and I’ll grab you something dry to wear!”

I ran upstairs and changed out of the men’s clothing in a flash, throwing on my paint-stained light blue dress. It was one that I liked a lot actually. The stains wouldn’t come out, but I was ok with that. It made it something completely different; completely new. Beautiful in a different way; beautiful because it was different and stuck out. And that’s a bit of what art was about I think.

When I came back down, the young woman just looked at me in awe. It was like she was admiring every curve on my body, and I wasn’t sure in what way. I hoped it was just in envy and not love. I don’t know if I could hide three-timing Reginald like that-

“Here,” I said, handing her a dry dress. “You can change in the bathroom down the hall.”

Still without saying a word, she retreated down the hall and into the bathroom. She was kinda weirding me out now. She hadn’t said a word past our initial meeting and it was just weird. 

“Is it warm?” I asked her as soon as she stepped out. She nodded, and I sat us both down in the living room. “Awfully quiet, aren’t you?” I chuckled. “What’s your name?” She looked slightly uncomfortable at the question, so I decided to make the first move. “I’m Max.” Her look shifted slightly. I decided to finally press on. “What? Do you not know your own name?”

“I don’t like it…” she mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s a lovely name,” I comforted.

“…” she mumbled. I couldn't really hear what she said.

“Sorry?” I asked. “Come again?”

“Um…” She cleared her throat. “Adam…”

I was so confused. A woman named Adam? But suddenly I looked closer and felt myself reel back. Oh god… The face shape, the slightly low voice, the lack of breasts… I had given a man a dress!

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” I fiercely apologized. “I thought you were a woman! I can get you something else to wear, I’m so sorry I gave you a dress! I genuinely didn’t know!”

“No, no! It’s ok,” he assured me.

“I-I’m sorry! I-”

“I like being a woman.”

“I… What?”

“It’s… hard to explain…” he sighed. “I’ve always felt like I’d rather be a woman than the man I was born as. I always felt more like a woman, and I’ve been trying to present as one. It’s… It’s hard to explain to someone who’s never felt it.”

“I… I can’t pretend like I understand,” I admitted. 

“Figured…”

“But if you want to dress and act like a woman… I’ll treat you like one.”

“Really…?” she asked, looking up.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “It’ll be our secret, ok?”

“O-Ok,” she nodded, clearly still distrusting but seeing a faint spark of hope.

“Now!” I said with a look of fierce seriousness. “There’s just one other issue.”

“W-What?!” she said, looking panicked. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t want-”

“Your name,” I interrupted. “Adam won’t suit a woman. We need to get you something that’ll be fit for you.”

“O-Oh… I hadn’t given it much thought really…”

“How about… Aven?” I asked with a smile.

“Aven…” she murmured.

“How do like it?”

“I… I love it,” she smiled, looking almost on the verge of tears. “T-Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s a scary world out there,” I said, jokingly punching her shoulder. “Us women gotta stick together.”

“Y-Yeah,” Aven nodded.

“Oh jeez,” I exclaimed, looking at the setting sun. “I gotta go get dinner started!” I turned to Aven. “Would you mind helping? I think aiding in dinner would make a better case to my husband for you staying.”

“Ok!” she nodded, getting up and starting to help me chop up some vegetables.

“What’s your story anyway?” I asked as we started working. “How’d you end up in the alleyway like that?”

“Oh. Well, it’s a long story…”

The rundown was that Aven was kicked out by her father for trying to be a woman. That’s what she told me anyway. I felt like she was leaving something out by a few gaps in her story, but I didn’t want to press the poor thing. When Reginald came home, he didn’t seem too upset or surprised by Aven’s presence.

“We’ve got a guest?” he asked with a smile.

“Aven, you keep chopping the veggies,” I told her, walking over and kissing my husband. “I need to talk to you in private.”

“Ok?” Reginald laughed. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“No, no, it’s about our guest.”

“Alright then,” he said as we went to our bedroom and he began to change out of his sopping wet clothes. “So what’s with this ‘Aven’ woman?”

I explained to Reginald Aven’s story, and how she was a man who preferred to be a woman. He looked pretty confused at first until I explained in-depth all the feelings and her backstory. In the end, he looked understanding and even agreed that letting her stay with us would be the best move. We went back out to see Aven actually making the soup itself, going long past just chopping the veggies.

“Oh, look who made dinner?” Reginald laughed. “I’m happy to tell you Aven that you’ll be staying with us for as long as you like.”

“R-Really?” she said, eyes lighting up.

“Welcome to the family,” he welcomed, ruffling her hair and making Aven giggle. 

It was kind of sweet the way he fondly treated her the rest of the night. Loving not in a romantic way, but like she was his own daughter. Truth be told, I think Reginald was projecting Aven like she was his own kid. And well, I don’t blame him. I’d kill for the exact same thing too.

*   *   *   *   *

The next morning I was in my painting room, trying desperately to draw on some inspiration on such a dull morning. Reginald had already left for work and I was just left here to look after Aven, so I couldn’t even leave to see Lucas. So I was just painting the living room. I could put it with all the other living room portraits.

“Woah…”

I looked behind me to see Aven walking in, marveling at all the art around the room. I guess to regular people, it would look like an art museum. She looked around through a few paintings. The ones of fruit, rooms, people, occasionally some fantastical scenes too.

“These are all so amazing!” Aven cheered.

“Ah well, it’s not all that impressive,” I shrugged. “Most of them are the same thing, just repainted.”

“They’re still so cool…”

“I used to sell them, you know. It’s how I made money before I married Reginald. But, you know, I don't really need to sell them anymore. We’re not exactly hurting on money.”

“Well, what’re you painting now?” she asked curiously.

“Just the living room,” I sighed. “Wish I had a better sight to… paint…” I looked at Aven standing in the doorway. That was it! “Can I paint you?”

“Huh?” she asked, blushing. “M-Me?”

“Yeah, you,” I encouraged, gesturing to the stool in front of my easel. “C’mon, be my muse, would ya?”

“Alright…” she said shyly, sitting down and posing.

I spent about an hour sketching her outline and features before I called a break and made us both breakfast. I made us both some breakfast and noticed some food missing for some reason. Maybe Reginald took some extra for his lunch? I wasn’t sure. Anyway, Aven only ate like half her breakfast, so I finished it off before we went back to her posing and me painting.

I finished up the painting after a few hours. Aven was so impressed how fast I had painted, but it was just natural to me. I had taken her base figure and added some more womanly embellishments to make her seem more feminine. When I showed her the finished painting, she looked like she was going to burst into tears.

“I… I love it!” she exclaimed. “Thank you!”

“Well, thank you,” I laughed. “You’re the muse here.”

“Any time, I guess,” Aven giggled.

“Let’s go get some lunch already,” I suggested. “I am just starving.”