"Roger, Natalie didn't have any breakfast and I bet Luke didn't either. And now they haven't come down for lunch."
"So?"
"What do you think they're doing up there?
"Joyce, for goodness sake," he declared incredulously staring at her in disbelief. "Surely you saw the way they were looking at each other last night. My guess is they're now up there rutting like rabbits."
"Roger, please don't be crude."
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Roger, I think I should go up."
"Go ahead, be the spoilsport."
. . . . . . . . . . .
"It's nearly four o'clock, Roger. I think I'll just go up and say that you want to know if they'd like a drink before dinner."
"Hey, don't make me the bad guy."
Tap, tap.
"Natalie, Luke, Dad wants to know if you'd like a drink before dinner?"
Muffled noises. "Sure, Mum, we'll be right down."
"We'll just grab a quick shower. Mrs C."
They came down thirty minutes later, with sheepish grins on their faces, holding hands and leaning against each other. The boyfriend had the classic heart-to-heart with the girl's father over a beer.
Roger assured him that he and Joyce had seen 'the way things were'. "You'd have to be bloody blind not to see that something remarkably special was happening between you and Natalie at that pageant."
"No, we don't feel we've lost a son or that you've taken him away. We feel that our son has evolved into a beautiful and lovely young woman. You gotta be happy with that."
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Mum, this is Natalie, you know, the girl I escorted to the pageant."
"I know who Natalie is, dear. I'm so glad to meet you at last, Natalie."
"I feel the same, Mrs Baker."
"It is pretty obvious why you won."
"Oh, thank you. Luke made me look good."
"Mum, we have something big to tell you."
"Oh, I somehow doubt it, my boy. Unless, of course, you are going to tell me that you two are getting engaged."
"Mum, no . . . well, yes we are making plans, but there is something about Natalie . . . "
"Love, I think your Mum knows already."
"Of course, I know. I have always known. What I don't know is, why people think that when you become crippled your brain automatically turns to mush."
. . . . . . . . . . .
Joyce had made no attempt to crow about how she had fooled 'those women over at Fawley', but of course, the truth would eventually leak out.
Natalie continued with her transition. Her breasts became a little larger than she had ideally wanted, but they were a good shape and her doctors were happy. There were a few other tweaks, mostly of a minor nature.