Chapter 3: Screen Time

Tati turned on her TV—a large one, she noticed, larger than she’d had at home before—to find it was on ESPN. SportsCenter was on. Oh well, something familiar. She barely watched it because they didn’t bother to give the small volleyball league time. “In NVL action last night, the Arizona Copperminers took on the First Coast Sharks. First set, Taylor Honeycutt, gets it down… She led the team in aces with six.” Her jaw dropped. Here was a full highlight package, and what’s more, the crowds looked like they belonged in the NBA. The league didn’t even have a team wherever “First Coast” was, though the Copperminers were a decent team in the West. Holy shit, this is the big time.

“...And here are the standings in the Western Conference,” the anchor announced, showing a list of twelve teams. There at the top were the Vancouver Vixens, followed by Arizona with the Austin Bats in third. Her team. Again, there were a lot of teams she didn’t recognize. The National Volleyball League she knew only had 12 teams; this version seemed to have as many as 32, given that there were multiple pages of standings in the West and East.

What happened next almost made her eyes pop out of her sockets. “The defending champion Austin Bats are about to get a boost with Tatiana Flores returning to the lineup for their next game against Kansas City.” A large headshot of her was projected on the wall behind the anchor. “Flores has been out after her husband Devin gave birth to their first child three months ago, and her return is expected to bolster the team heading into the playoffs.” There was file footage of her making plays. She recognized a few of them, but they took place in small barns that weren’t jammed to capacity, not 17,000-seat arenas.

She grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. FS1 had a rerun of last night’s game. There were NVL games in the ticker on CBS Sports Network. And then, a few channels up, there was a sight that looked like a mirage: an NVL Network.

Her head was spinning. In a handful of minutes of watching TV, she’d learned her volleyball league was not only taken seriously all of a sudden but among the major leagues in North America, that she was a star player, and that her return was an anticipated event. Did my wish affect this too? she wondered. This situation caused a questioning of her own sanity.

Still mesmerized by what was being broadcast on TV and by the radical shift to what was normal the night before, Tati adjusted herself in a different position to at least be comfortable on the sofa. She felt a sharp pain as she crossed her legs and realized that her penis was being crushed in between her thighs. This stupid thing keeps getting in the way, she thought in anger, then gave it a slight shove out of annoyance before, once again, it grew erect against her will. With no other choice she sat with her legs open. Ugh, this goes against everything I’m used to… So un-ladylike.

Her mind went back to the very first lessons when she began volleyball as a girl. She could hear Mrs. Beatriss’s mantra clearly in her head: Learn your surroundings, learn your opponents, words that had helped her more than once. Tati grabbed her phone and began to look online for anything to explain just why in the world she woke up like this. The first thing she looked up was biology: sure enough, a penis was now the female organ with the male organ being a vagina. She let out a sigh of relief, happy to know her penis made estrogen like her previous vagina did. Which means… Despite my husband having the pussy he still produces testosterone…even though it comes from his ovaries. Just the thought of her husband being “female” caused a strange mix of emotions.

“I’m an overzealous volleyball player, and I’ll always chase an ace.” Tatiana looked up to see that a commercial was airing on TV, and she recognized the voice: it was Hannah Holly, star libero for the San Diego Sirens. She watched for 30 seconds as she saw Hannah play the role of Mayhem in an Allstate commercial, complete with a graphic declaring that Allstate was the Official Insurer of the NVL

It was a lot for her mind to process: what she was seeing on TV, what she was looking up on her phone. She alternated between the two, trying to take it all in, before it just became too much. Tati got off the couch and made her way to the bedroom to join her family for a nap.

***

Tati woke up later, feeling much better until she was reminded of her new reality. She had decided to enjoy the afternoon with a nice workout in their home gym. She was greeted with a large poster of herself. It was a cover image of Sports Illustrated: her hair was short and braided, and she was wearing a bikini. She had to admit that the shot was amazing, showing off her curves and muscles, until she saw the bulge in the crotch area. A headline to the side read Top Ten NVL Bulges. Tati let out a sigh of defeat, regretfully accepting her strange fate she was now in.

She started slow on the elliptical. With a penis between her legs, faster movement was strange for her. Tati felt it shifting around, but thankfully her panties did their job holding them in place. It was different up top, her larger swollen breasts jiggled with the slightest movements. Before Kris was born wearing a sports bra was optional, now it seemed for the foreseeable future she had ****. She cardio for a few more minutes but gave up. My body is shifting around more than I can take. Maybe I'll approach it differently tomorrow.

Kris cried in a distinct way that let Tati know he was hungry. As she made her way to him she felt her nipples stiffen, making small tents on her shirt. Small droplets dampened her white shirt as milk flowed out. _Thank goodness I'm inside… This would get rather embarrassing if I was out. _Tati felt Kris suckle with intensity at first before slowly petering out until, finally, he fell asleep. Gently, she placed him back in the crib and quietly left the room.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a text on her phone. The sender was labeled as simply “Coach”. Excited to have you back tomorrow, Tati. Sleep well.