Sarah gets help

Sarah was right. The two of you were getting through this, though it wasn't easy especially the first weeks she was back home. Sarah had seemingly come to terms with becoming her own daughter, though you still struggled to get used to her new body. You were openly very supportive but, you admitted to yourself, it had been a challenge to remember this was Sarah. Her appearance, voice, even smell all reminded you of your estranged stepdaughter, so you had to push aside your discomfort when she would snuggle up to you on the couch in the evenings or curl up with you in bed at night.

With such a radical change neither of you felt like doing anything more at first, though you could tell Sarah was starting to feel normal, giving you her typical signs of affection - taking your hand, giving a kiss on your cheek, and even relaxing against your chest while watching TV.

More and more you being to notice how attractive Renee was. That was something you never let yourself see before, and it had been made easier by how unpleasant she was with you. Now, though, Sarah's personality in Renee's body started to affect you - and at first that made you feel even more awkward, but slowly you started to appreciate her new appearance. Finally, one night in bed your cuddling turned into something more. And from that point on your relationship became very intimate again - even more than before, as Sarah seemed to need your relationship to keep her grounded with all the changes, and you were (to your shame) more than a little turned on by the 'new Renee'.

Sarah was also worried about assuming Renee's identity. Fortunately she had a few more weeks before school started back - Renee was entering her last year of high school - but she was starting to panic at the idea of having to pretend to BE Renee thoughout the day, at school and with her friends. At least Renee's father was still deployed overseas and couldn't return for several more months, so she had only limited phone calls and emails with him. She had put off seeing anyone else so far, telling Renee's friends that she was still recovering from the accident and needing time with her family to mourn the loss of her mother. But that excuse was wearing thin, and Renee's friends wouldn't be delayed much longer.

She had tried immersing herself in Renee's social media accounts and even her diaries, but Sarah wasn't much of an actress and the stress was getting to her. So she asked Dr. Jackson to setup some sessions with the psychiatrist he recommended. Those did have an impact. He could do little to calm her nerves at first, but her continued begging him to help her be comfortable 'passing' as Renee eventually led him to try hypnosis. Primarily at first the hypnosis was to help her relax. But Sarah convinced him to use it to make her better able to 'be' Renee. And that's when things became even more complicated.