The Transformation

I looked in the mirror, disgusted with what the mirror reflected back to me. Another hair sticking out of my chin, another one, fourth or fifth in the last few hours. Tears clung to my eyes, even though Matthew, my husband was great about things like this, I still felt as though he would stop loving me at any moment. I was a woman, and women did not have facial hair, at least not the amount that kept showing up on my face. Quickly I plucked the offending hair, and left the bathroom.



"Hey, hey, hey, what's with those tears?" Matt asked, wrapping his arms around me. I snuggled to his chest, and felt more tears pooling in my eyes. Releasing them was the only way to make myself feel better, so I cried on him "Did you find more facial hair?"



I nodded, still against his chest. He was such a good man, never judging me or making me feel like less than a woman but there was still doubt that nagged at me. Maybe being this insecure was part of the process or maybe it was my woman's intuition warning me about the impending heartbreak.  "Is there anything that could ever make you stop loving me?"



He squeezed me tighter, his brown eyes revealed that he was hurt by my concern. "Amelia, I knew when I married you what would happen when you turned 30. I still choose to marry you, and I will continue to love you after your transformation."



That word hit me hard, Transformation. Allow me to explain something to you, something that may seem a little odd to you, but I swear it is all true. My mother is a human, one of the flesh and blood variety, but my father is not. In her younger days my mother was part of a secret NASA agency that focused solely on "Project: Life", a mission to find life on other planets. The team found life on Venus, but my mom found love.



They say women are from Venus, men are from mars but they are wrong. The stories I have heard is that the second planet in our solar system is full of men. Not that they are all born men, no about 30 years into their life a Venusitian woman becomes a man. As far as I can tell there is no biological reason for it, just something that happens.



My mother warned me about it, even from the time I was a small girl. Since Venus is on a different rotation than we are, she said my change could come anywhere between the ages of 20 to 40. Try telling that to guys that you are interested in dating, it is not easy. Then Matt came into my life and accepted everything that I told him, he asked pertinent questions but didn't run away from me the way the other guys did.



“Hello, where did you go?” Matt asked looking at me, concern filling his eyes. He pressed his hand to my forehead, and moved his hands down to my neck to check my pulse. “Are you OK? Do you need to lie down?”



“I'm fine,” I gulped and looked at him. So handsome, many people, including my best friend Sam had told me they had secret desires of being with my husband. They may get the chance after I go from being a female to being a male. “Just thinking.”

“About what?”



I sighed, there was no way he was going to let it go I was going to have to tell him. “What about sex? I know you say you'll still love me but will you still desire me? How are we going to have sex, once I'm a man?”



He gave me a surprised look. “You of all people have to ask that? You know two men can have sex, and if you don't then you don't listen when Samuel tells you stories.” He gave me an intense look, and I knew what he was about to say, it was something that I did not want to hear but I would anyways. “The last few weeks have been, um rather difficult to make love.” His eyes wandered down to below my belt line.



One of the ways I knew my time was coming had been when that area began to change. At first I thought that maybe it was normal change but when I talked to my mom about it, I discovered that it wasn't. Then I stopped having my menstrual cycle and male parts slowly began developing, so when Matt said sex had become difficult that was an understatement. I know he hadn't said it to make me feel bad but I did. “I'm sorry!”



The world started spinning, everything became very blurry, my legs felt as if they were made of lead. The spinning abruptly stopped and darkness enveloped me, I didn't know if I had died or what had happened. Thoughts floated through my mind and I could vaguely hear someone calling for me but it was at such a far distance that I had no idea who it was.



A vision or a memory, I wasn't sure which floated into my mind. In the picture I could see a man, he was running around naked. He stopped and beckoned me to come closer. I still couldn't move, so I shook my head, and he came closer to me. “Sweet, sweet Amelia. I do wish your mother had given you a gender neutral name, but it was her choice and I had no say in it.”



“Who are you? Why do you look so strangely?” The man in front of me had pink skin, and his hair was a shade of purple that not even L’Oreal made. Maybe I was having a nightmare or something, if I could just wake myself up.



“Ah yes I forgot, you don't know me,” He held out his hand, I took it, expecting it to be slimy but it felt like another persons hand.  That fact freaked me out, it meant that there was something very wrong with me. “I am your father, Amelia. Do not be scared, just because I am from a different planet, doesn't mean I do not have love for you. You humans put so much emphasis on looks, that is why you are looking at me like you are.”



Embarrassment filled my face. Here in front of me for the first time was my father, and all I could focus on was the way he looked. There were so many questions that I could ask but the only one that formed in my head was “Why do you look that way?”



He smiled, at least in human form it was a smile. On Venus it might have been a grimace or something but it looked pleasant. “I am not from Earth like you and your mother, so therefor my outer layer, what you call skin is different. It has to be a different hue to protect us from the rays of the sun, and other issues that face my planet. But we are not here to talk about that, I came to you to help you through your transition. This must be a difficult period for you, my dear.”



“It is. All my life I have been a girl, I had my period when I was a teen and now to know that,” I took a deep breath, how did  I explain everything I was feeling to a man that I had never met before. It was hard enough when I had to tell Matt that if we continued our relationship, one day he would be with a man. To have to explain all of this to someone I had never met, that was too much for me. “I don't understand why I have to become a man!”



“In my culture this change is a rite of passage. Women are made to feel inferior on your planet and most others, when we began this change it was so that nobody is treated differently from anyone else.” As he spoke, I could feel my legs start move. Slowly I was beginning to feel like myself again, relief flooded my body. “”Where I live, no one knows what or who you were, all we care about is who you are now. My partner has always had male genitalia, and that bothers no one, because the person they love also has the same sexual organs.”



“But Matt isn't attracted to men,” I heard myself say as light flooded into my eyes, or my mind. I still wasn't sure what was happening, but I wasn't as scared as I had been when I first starting talking to my dad.



I could tell my father was trying to say something to me but once again I felt dizzy. It felt like I was being sent back to another place, another time. None of to made any sense to me, so I am guessing that it doesn't make sense to you either. I felt someone touching my face, and could hear someone talking to me again.



“Amelia, are you OK?” Matt asked, voice full of concern. I searched his eyes for any hint that he may not be happy with what he was seeing, or that he was revolted by the sight of me. When I didn't see any, I began to hope that maybe the transformation hadn't taken place after all. “Say something baby, anything. Let me know you're alright, please.”



The concern in his voice, the love in his made me smile. “I'm alright. I am more than alright, I am with the man I love!” My voice was deeper, and I ran my hand down my chest, which was now covered with hair. I felt sad,  how long would our love last now that I was a man?



“I am so happy you are awake,” He smiled at me, as he bent down and kissed my mouth. “I thought I'd lost you forever,”



“Do you still find me attractive?” I couldn't help but ask. I knew he would say yes even if he didn't but I had to hear him say it.



He took my hand and placed it between his legs.  “I think that answers your question,” He looked at my face and vocalized what he felt. “I still love you more than anything, and part of that is wanting to express our love physically. I have been attracted to men before but never like this honey, you are my soulmate, whether you are a man or a woman.”



I smiled as I sat up, and noticed that the underwear I had put on, were ripped. Matt handed me a pair of his boxers, so I stepped out of the under garments I had on, and pulled on his. “Thank you.”



“Happy 30th birthday baby!” He hugged me, once again. This time I cried tears of happiness, as the last thing my dad said to me crystalized in my mind.



“Love is love, it has no gender, race, or age. It does not discriminate against any of those things, and if someone does then they do not love you, they only love the idea of you.”