One Day at a Time-Chapter 2 (Patreon)

“Do you really need to stay with me? I mean, don’t you think it would be weird if others in the building saw me with two unknown women living together?” Jay mumbled out his worries.

“Oh honey, that’s the least of your problems. You are going to turn into a woman! Think how bizarre it could be for others who see you after a few weeks from now!” Erin giggled.

“Oh shit, I never thought about that! How would I explain all of this?! What would I say to my family and friends?! Will they accept me?!” Jay started to panic.

“Don’t you worry, sweetheart,” the godmother caressed Jay’s soft cheeks, “We’re here to help you go through those difficult times. Remember, love and compassion always win over hatred and fear.”

Jay’s eyes teared up for a bit. He had never felt so hopeful before. Then the doorbell rang. Jay wondered who could it be as he turned around and walked towards the door. He opened it, and it was the landlord! It was time to pay up the rent that’s been pending for the last three months!

“Uhm…” Jay hummed as they both looked into each other’s eyes with different expectations. “Don’t tell me that you don’t have the money,” the landlord, Joseph Williams, said.

“I was actually asking for your permission if you could allow them to stay with me?” Jay moved out of his sight and let him see Adele and Erin standing in the living room, all smiling with all the positivity they could to cheer the landlord up. “So, you have the money?” the landlord asked with raised eyebrows.

“Actually –“ Jay was suddenly interrupted by Adele walking past him and handing over a wad of cash to the landlord. Both Jay and Joseph looked at the bundle in disbelief. “That has six months of advanced payment as well. I hope you don’t have any objection to our stay here?” Adele asked with a sly grin on her face.

“No, not at all!” Joseph exclaimed while he hurriedly counted the notes in his hand. “It’s my pleasure doing business with you! You can stay here as long as you wish!” he gleefully walked down the stairs, out of their sight.

“Why did you do that? And how did you get so much money?!” Jay whispered. “Magic!” Adele answered with a bright smile spread on her face and walked back into the apartment while Jay followed.

“Are you sure you are not tampering with the free will concept of God by helping me with magical money?” Jay inquired.

“Well, kinda, but not really,” Erin replied, “It’s complicated. Let’s just say that your case is special.”

“Hmm, because of my weird wish to be born as a man? Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, what do we do now?” Jay asked, not sure how things would work out.

“Girl, you need to learn a lot what girls do. And you need a lot of clothes, makeup, accessories, and I mean a LOT!” Erin said, excited about the future.

“But before that,” Adele interfered, “you have to face your biggest fear, outing your true self to the world. You are going to call your parents and go tell your friends at the shop about you. They deserve to know it from you instead of figuring it out themselves.”

Jay’s heart skipped a beat as he realized it was time. The moment was here, and he had to take the leap of faith. He picked up his phone and unlocked the screen. His fingers trembled as they scrolled down the contact list to his Dad, Arthur Reynolds. He clicked on the dial button, and the phone rang.

“Hello, what happened, son?” his father asked as soon as he answered the call.

“D-Dad, I wanted to tell you something, something important,” Jay’s voice quivered as he tried to hold back his tears.

“Yeah, tell me,” his father replied.

“Dad, I-I… never mind,” Jay cut the call. “I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Adele spoke, “I have seen you since you were a baby. You are much more courageous than you think you are. I believe in you.”

The phone rang. The screen screamed with big letters, “Dad.”

“Pick it up,” the godmother gestured while Erin cheered with a thumbs up and a smile.

Jay gathered all his courage and picked up the call in an instant and said, “Dad, I am a girl.”

“What?” his father asked, not able to pick it up.

“Dad, I am actually a girl in a man’s body, and I am going to transition into a girl,” Jay said in one go.

Silence fell across the call from both sides. They could hear each other breathe. After a minute or so, his father declined. Tears fell down Jay’s cheeks, of both joy and sorrow. He felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, but at the same time, he was saddened by his father’s ominous silence. Dark thoughts filled Jay’s mind, trying to escape the foreboding future with his parents.

“I can sense your thoughts. Don’t give up, and don’t give in to your inner demons. Erin and I are here with you, always. You will not be abandoned by your loved ones, ever,” the godmother assured him.

“Erin, why don’t you take Jay shopping. It will lighten his mood,” she advised Erin. “Of course! I had been waiting for this moment for the longest time! Jay and I will have a lot of fun!” Erin exclaimed, trying to cheer up Jay.

Jay sucked up his tears, and both he and Erin walked down onto the road. While Erin summoned the car parked on the other side of the road using her magic, Jay seemed lost in thought. He was not at all amused. Erin drove Jay to the mall. While she tried to start numerous conversations with him, they all ended soon due to his one-word responses. Soon, they parked and walked into the mall.

“Woah! This place is so big! Just like father’s abode in heaven!” Erin exclaimed with surprise. She held his hand, and both went to the fashion store to buy some feminine clothes. With an unlimited supply of magical cash, she could buy the whole mall. But she decided to be realistic and bought two pairs of every item on the list. She introduced Jay to the staff as a transgirl beginning her transition to womanhood. All of them were courteous towards him. Jay was not in the mood, but he cooperated. After trying clothes a dozen times in the trial room, they moved on to the cosmetics department. They spent an hour there experimenting with nail polish, lipsticks, makeup kits. Jay was finally getting out of his headspace and enjoying the moment then.

When they walked out of the store, a group of men standing outside gossiping saw Jay in makeup and scoffed at him. “Woah, Look at this fag!” one of them commented, and all laughed. Jay’s face frowned with disgust, and tears welled up in his eyes. Erin was about to use his magic to teach them a lesson when a girl dashed in and charged at the men, “You think that’s funny, don’t ya?! Well, what’re y’all doin’ here? Waitin’ to get your pussy shaved in the salon?!” The guys vanished soon from that place. “Fuck bullies,” the girl murmured. She walked over to Jay and asked, “Are you all right?”

Jay answered, “Yeah, I’m fine,” while he was still sobbing from the incident. “Thank you,” Erin said. “It’s fine. This bunch of losers walks around here daily to tease girls. A couple more bashing will straighten them out.”

Jay raised his head and looked at the girl. “Hi, My name is Lexie,” she introduced herself to Jay with a cheerful smile. He was instantly enamored by her beauty. Her small cute face, blonde with streaks of dark brown hair, wide hips, everything. His worries and sadness disappeared, and he struck a conversation with her for ten minutes on the balcony. Jay and Lexie exchanged numbers. Erin figured it out and smiled.

Walking down to the car with twenty-five bags was a tedious job, but with the help of Lexie and a few other staff, they managed. Climbing up the stairs to the apartment was a whole another ordeal. However, Erin could use her magic to levitate the bags up to the apartment door since there was no one to witness the impossible feat. Jay seemed somewhat elated by his encounter with Lexie. He was taken aback by his refurbished apartment when Adele opened the door and welcomed them in. “Wow,” he whispered when he entered his bedroom. His shabby clothes were nowhere to be seen, nor his old appliances. His walls were decorated with posters of his secret celebrity crushes. Even his desktop and books were adorned with girly stickers he wished he could put on them. All the furniture in the room was painted pink, which was his favorite color. His bedsheet and pillows were pink with flowers drawn on them, and two teddy bears were sitting on top of the bed. The entire apartment was clean and transformed to suit the three girls living there. “I hope you like the changes to your room,” the godmother entered Jay’s room, “it took me quite some time!” Jay ran towards her and gave her a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. She tapped his back a few times in appreciation.

“You still have a few more people to meet,” Adele said, “Go and be honest to them. I believe in you.”

Jay went to his shop and assembled Gary and Dinesh for the important announcement. While Dinesh looked at Jay with sympathy, Gary frowned with repulsion. He dropped his id plate pinned to his shirt and walked out, never to come back.

Jay went a few blocks to the east and rang a bell. “Wow, you look different! Come in!” Lucas looked at him curiously as he opened the door. After listening to his whole story, Lucas took a sigh of relief. “Finally, that explains a lot! Bro, shit,” he mumbled and corrected himself, “I mean, sis, I can never understand what you have been going through for so long, but I am with you till the end,” he smiled and hugged Jay. Jay felt ecstatic about not losing another friend.

Jay was happy, for now. Even if his Dad didn’t respond, he was relieved that the people around him knew who he was within, and they accepted him. “Don’t you think we should change his name?” Erin said enthusiastically at the dinner table, “And we should stop using the wrong pronouns!”

“Yes, you are right,” Adele affirmed. “What do you think? Do you have any suggestions? Of course, you do!” Adele remembered when at seventeen, Jay wrote his female name on the backside of his lectures notebook.

“Julia. Julia Rose,” Jay spoke. “That is beautiful,” Erin responded with a bright smile. “Thanks,” Julia reciprocated.

After an hour or so of gossiping with each other and playing some light-hearted games, they retreated to their rooms to sleep.

Julia couldn’t believe she was sleeping in her dream bedroom. She was so excited that she could hardly sleep that night. It wasn’t until two in the morning that she finally slept, hugging the two teddy bears tightly. Soon, she jerked involuntarily, troubled by a nightmare. She dreamt of the bullies at the mall manhandling her, tossing her like a rag doll. She felt weak and helpless. Sweat trickled down Julia’s face and her chest heaved in anticipation. She felt the whole world rotate and get bigger while she scrunched, trying to hide from the scrutinizing eyes all around her. Suddenly, she felt the warmth of a mother engulf her. The darkness was cast away by light so bright, it almost blinded her. She was finally safe from the demons in her nightmare. She crouched like a baby, surrounded by her mother’s arms. She was blissed out until the alarm woke her up. Her head was exploding with a strong headache. She yawned and stretched herself. When she opened her eyes, she noticed something was different. Everything around her looked distant, and the ceiling seemed higher than it usually did. She pulled out the sheet covering her body and gasped. Her hands were underneath the sleeves. Even her legs were not visible. She jumped down from the bed as her legs didn’t reach the floor anymore. She almost tripped and stumbled due to her pajamas. She lifted her pants above and walked over to the mirror. “Aaaaaaa!” an unfamiliar voice shrieked through the entire apartment.

One Day at a Time - Chapter 3