Erin can't enjoy the game.

By the third inning, Aaron was fidgeting. The scrunchy managed to pull his hair back, but the bobbing of the ponytail with every movement was distracting. The bra’s tightness around his chest was surreal. And it didn’t completely stop the jiggling, which was even more distracting than the ponytail. The tight jean shorts were stretch, and they weren’t the relaxed denim he missed. They were like a second skin.

He sighed. He wasn’t a guy hanging out, watching a baseball game. He was, for all intents and purposes, a man pretending to be a woman pretending to watch the game. He just wasn't capable of paying attention to the game. He had too much on his mind. Things were spiraling out of control.

He got up and started just wandering around the room. He had to move, and the moving just reinforced all the alien jiggles and bobs of this facade he now had. But the nervous energy needed to be released, and this was about the only way he had to release it.

It wasn’t long before Sarah came in and noticed Aaron, lost in thought, ignoring his beloved baseball, and wandering around the room with a worried look on his face.

“Should I ask why you aren’t watching the game? It’s been a while since you had some down time…” she trailed off as Aaron finally noticed her.

“It’s too much, Sarah. It’s… this,” he waved his hands around himself, indicating his new appearance. “Everything is different… disturbing… and I can’t seem to stop it or fix it. I’m terrified of being run out of town.”

Sarah leaned against the archway leading into the family room. “Look, it’s just for a couple of week, right? Then….”

Aaron cut her off. “A couple of nerve wracking weeks where everyone assumes I’m a woman. And if I get caught it’s fraud, probably jail!”

“It’s for a couple of weeks,” Sarah continued. “You get paid, we get you some new clothes, you get your wallet, and we start over, I guess.

“Look,” she said softly, “As much as I’m sure it creeps you out to think about, THREE GUYS are apparently chasing you. Betty across the street thinks you’re a woman. No one has any idea that you’re actually my dad.”

Aaron slumped back onto the couch, pulling a pillow towards his chest, hugging it. “But if I get caught…” he said softly.

Sarah sat down next to him. “You won’t. And it’s just for a few weeks. We’ll keep people away. You can exhale and be sad when you’re home.

“And dad,” she said in a very small voice, “I’m sorry.”

Aaron started to reply when his phone buzzed. He checked the caller ID and sighed. “It’s Brad, my soon to be new boss.”

Aaron cleared his throat and slipped into the voice that was almost second nature now. “Hi… Brad…”

“Erin! Looking forward to you starting next week. I wanted to just give you a heads up. You’ll need your social security number for the tax paperwork, so bring your card if you can’t remember it. I’ll introduce you to Gloria, my office manager, first thing. She’s the one that keeps the place running smoothly. It’s probably best to try to stay on her good side,” he added as a joke.

“Any other questions for me, Erin?”

“Uh… no, Brad. Thanks. I appreciate the job and everything.”

“You’re quite welcome, Erin. I’m looking forward to seeing your Monday morning!”

“Thanks Brad, I am too…”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Aaron dropped his phone in his lap and buried his face in his palms.

“Looks like I’m on schedule to commit fraud on Monday with your mom’s social security number,” he told Sarah

They sat there, quietly, each coming to terms with what Aaron just acknowledged.

The doorbell rang, braking their revery. Sarah leaned over to try to see out a of window adjacent to the door to determine who was there.

“I think it’s Betty…” she said.

“Great,” muttered Aaron as he shut off the long forgotten baseball game and went to answer the door. He opened it, saying “HELLO BETTY!” loudly so she could hear him.

“Hello dear. Brad told me that you were taking a job with him. That is so good to hear, but…” she trailed off, as if unsure how to continue.

“BUT WHAT?” Aaron said, possibly a little too loudly, voicing his frustrations at the entire mess he was trapped in.

Sarah came over to the door to see what was going on

“Well, dear, I’ve seen your wardrobe. You don’t have much office wear, do you? I got some work outfits that might fit you from the church bazaar, and, if they don’t fit, well… I’m a very good seamstress. We’ll get you presentable for work in no time!”

Aaron was mortified he didn’t need, or want, cast off women’s work wear for a job he really didn’t want

“BETTY, I CAN’T LET YOU…”

“Oh, nonsense,” she cut him off. “I already have the outfits, and I have plenty of free time to alter them. Now why don’t both of you come over to my house for some tea? And then we can start seeing what alterations we need to make to the outfits! We’ll make you a respectable secretary in no time, Erin!”

Betty grabbed both Sarah’s and Erin’s arms, hooking elbows like they were old friends as she led them across the street to her house