Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?

18. ROSE BYRNE

I pulled out fresh clothes, however, this time I found my old gym shorts from sixth grade and my first ever concert tee shirt, a washed out black Linkin Park tee shirt.

I have to say, it can come in handy having young parents who'll take you with them to fun and cool events like rock concerts. However, I don't know if anything could prepare even the coolest parents to pass the ultimate test of coolness, being cool with and understanding the news I was springing on them.

I purposely picked these clothes knowing that they were small and would be tight in all the places girl clothes tended to be. No sense in hiding who I obviously was any longer, not to my parents anyway.

Mom knew I had breast growth and had normal enough female plumbing that I had started menstruating, and was on birth control pills to regulate. She also knew I was considering the possibility of transitioning, but I was still living as a boy and well, until the move, she'd had no clue I had interest in anything else.

She was also okay with that and content to keep my physical differences between us, not even telling my dad about it.

My shorts were so small there were like shorty-shorts on me, and they quite tightly hugged my hips and butt. The tee shirt was tight everywhere and it barely reached my bellybutton anymore.

After smoothing out my shirt, I ran a brush through my hair, styling it more like a girl. With almost shoulder length hair, I mainly fluffed it out and parted it slightly off center from the middle, framing both sides of my face.

Taking a last look in the mirror, I thought my reflection kind of reminded myself a little of a really young version of the actress, Rose Byrne, except with red hair. If this is what I have to work with, not too bad, I guess.

With my suddenly changed fluffy brushed out hair style in contrast with my old brushed back flat style and wearing my form fitting clothes, I was as ready as I could be, to talk to my parents.

Downstairs, while my parents were finishing up the ending of some syrupy, romantic comedy film, I stopped into the kitchen to pour myself a tall glass of ice cold milk. It was something to do to pass a few minutes while waiting for the movie to end.

When the ending music began and the credits started to roll, I matter-of-factly strolled into the family room in front of my parents, acting as if everything was normal.

I'll never forget the look on Dad's face. If he would have had taken a sip of his drink at the moment he saw me, I'm certain he'd have spit it all over the floor.

Mom flinched at the sight, but then quickly recovered and patted the couch seat signaling for me to come sit by her.

Breaking the silence, I announced, "Mom, Dad, we need to discuss a little something before I go to bed, unless you'd rather wait until morning."

I was sure Dad didn't know what was going on, but Mom knew.

Putting her arm around me, she looked me over for a moment then answered, "I'd say so, Lucas, honey."

Dad opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then stopped himself. No words came out, he just nodded his head instead.

"I know since tomorrow's Saturday, we're probably going to meet at least a few of our new neighbors. I don't think I can hide anymore what's been happening to me. Anyway, since no one knows me here yet, and with all of the coming introductions, I didn't think it would make sense to continue covering up and hiding these changes." I explained.

"So, what are you proposing," mom asked.

"I've done a lot of thinking about this and I think it'd be better if I was introduced as who I'm becoming rather than who I'll soon no longer be. Yes, mom,  I've made a decision."

"Honey, I know what you're saying and I've been wondering, almost dreading when this day would come. After our talk the other night in Dallas, I knew it would be soon, so I had a long conversation with your dad about it just last night."

"What? You did?" I asked slightly shocked, kinda relieved, and apprehensive about what he thought.

"She did, but I still have lots of questions and concerns," my dad finally spoke. "Stand up and turn around for me."

Mom motioned for me to go ahead, so I did. I stood up in front of them and slowly turned all the way around, allowing them to get a good look, for the first time, at the changes I had been hiding under increasingly larger clothes.

I thought my dad's eyes were going to bug out of his head. An expression of shock consumed his face as he got a good look at what mom had tried to prepare him for.

"Sweet heaven," dad began, talking to mom. "You weren't lying, honey. I know what your told me and it's all true, I see that. I didn't want to believe it, but now there's certainly, well, certainly no denying it."

Mom responded to dad with her own shock, "Yeah. With him dressed like this, it's even more dramatic than I knew." She then directed a question towards me, "So you're telling us you no longer want to hide this? You want people to know you're turning into a girl? And you're okay with what's happening?"

"I can't hide the changes any longer, mom. Like I said, I've given it a lot of thought, but no, I don't want people to know I'm turning into a girl. I only want the people here to know me as a girl."

"So you don't want to continue living as a boy," dad asked looking for conformation. "They can fix this, you know, son."

"Dad, this wasn't some rash decision I just came to tonight. I've had a long time to think about it. Yes, this is what I want. It's who I am. I have to embrace it."

"If this is what he-err-um, she wants, we have to respect that, honey. Everything I told you is true. She can even possibly have babies. Her body is more female than the doctors ever knew when she was born. Remember when they told us she was xxy, they said their best guess would be to raise a boy because they were fairly confident that was right, but to be prepared, because there was a slight chance it could turn out this way."

Dad took in all mom was telling him but he didn't respond. I did see his eyes began to water up.

After a few moments of silence mom spoke again.

"Sweetie, have you thought about what we should call you in front of everyone?"

"Well, I don't think Lucas is going to work. I'll definitely need something more feminine. Maybe you can help me with that, mom." I replied almost nonchalantly.

"How about Rosa? It was your grandmother, my mother's middle name."

"Nah."

"Nicola, Natalie, Carla?"

"Carla? I like that. Yeah, maybe."

"Okay, help me out here just a second," Dad suddenly interjected. "Mom told me that she took you to the doctor and now I can obviously see some things are happenin, but how, how did you manage to keep this from everyone so well?"

"Well Dad, when things first ..."

I went on to explain what I discovered, and the extent of the changes, catching him up on what had been happening to me, leaving out details about today's earlier self-exploration. I also explained how I had been wearing baggy clothes and binding my chest with ace bandages to keep everything secret.

This conversation with my parent lasted nearly an hour. At the end mom reassured me everything would be okay, and that they respected my decision. She told me there was nothing wrong with it, even if it was very uncommon.

Dad didn't say much during our talk, allowing mom to do most of the talking, although he did finally, hesitantly agree with mom about respecting my decision.

Mom had a few more questions for me and I understood they were worried about me and wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing and understood the consequences of some of the situations and problems I very well could run into.

I explained to them exactly what I wanted and why I thought it was better than continuing to live as a boy. I also made it clear I didn't want anyone knowing my past as much as possible.

They both indicated that they understood and both agreed with my desire for privacy while going through these changes, especially in relation to my past, and how it was for the best, for not only me, but the entire family.