Two (Commission) - Chapter 7 - TG

An alternate ending for Two, Ethan is no longer an older brother but a sister.

Greyson woke up with the anticipation of the previous night still on his mind. He wondered if the candles had worked. Had they done something to him? As soon as he felt aware enough to check his body, he ran his hands up and down it. When his fingers found that he was still wearing pull-ups, he knew that the magic had not changed him at all. He was still a toddler.

In response to his failure, he let out a big sigh and said, “Great.” That baby boy voice would take some getting used to, he decided, but it seemed that he would be stuck with it for now.

His bedroom door opened, and he watched through the bars of his crib as his mother walked in.

“Good morning, Greyson!” his mother said.

Again, he was intimidated by how enormous she was compared to him, now. That would take some getting used to as well.

She leaned over the wall of the crib and said, “Time to wake up, baby.”

As she smiled down at him, Greyson realized that he would have little power to control his life, now. The only choice he had to make now was how he would react to all of this. Either he could treat this fate as a great misfortune to be resentful about, or he could try to accept his new life and treat it as an opportunity to start over. When he framed it that way, it was an easy choice to make.

He smiled up at her. “Hi, Mommy,” he said, with his cherubic little voice.

She was about to reach for him but was interrupted.

“Mom?” screeched a voice from down the hall. “Mom?” Panic was evident in the cries. “Mom!” Was it Ethan?

“I’m in Greyson’s room,” his mother shouted and turned a concerned look toward the door. “What’s the matter, honey?”

Footsteps ran down the hallway to the door and Ethan appeared. Greyson was shocked. Not only did Ethan look deeply freaked out, but also his appearance had changed. His close-cropped hair had grown long, hanging down past his shoulders, and he was dressed in a pink and white t-shirt and sleep shorts. If Greyson had not known better, he would have assumed that he was looking at a 12-year-old girl instead of his 12-year-old brother.

“Are you all right?” their mother asked Ethan.

The panic on Ethan’s face shifted to confusion when he looked around the room. “What the…?” he said.

“Ethan?” Greyson said.

Ethan spotted Greyson in the crib and asked, “What happened to you?”

“Stephanie,” their mother said to Ethan. “What’s wrong?”

“‘S-Stephanie?’” Ethan repeated. “What? Who’s Stephanie?”

“Honey,” their mother said, walking over to Ethan. “Are you feeling ill? Did you hit your head?”

“I-I don’t know,” Ethan replied with a lost look on his face.

“I know,” Greyson said.

The two kids shared a look with the understanding that they would talk about this in private soon.

“Come on,” their mother said, putting her arm across Ethan’s shoulders. “Let’s have you lay down in bed for a little while. I’m going to get the thermometer. Then, I’ll get Greyson ready for the day.” She led Ethan out of the bedroom, while Greyson remained in his crib, confused about what had gone wrong with the candles. While he had a lot to get used to, it seemed that Ethan now had even more.

***

“I just had a nightmare,” Ethan said, trying to explain his strange behavior to his mother. “I must have been half awake when I was talking to you this morning.”

She leaned across the kitchen table to look at his pupils again, checking for dilation. Then, she put her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Really.”

Their mother did not look satisfied, but she said, “Fine, then, but I want you to stay home today just in case.”

“Okay,” he said. Ethan finished his bowl of cereal as he glanced at Greyson on his booster seat, scooping up small spoonfuls of cereal himself.

“I’m done!” Greyson declared.

“Me too,” Ethan said. “I’ll go take him to clean up and keep an eye on him. Might as well if I’m staying home.”

“Okay,” their mother said. “Call for me if you feel funny again.”

Ethan unstrapped Greyson from his booster seat. Then, he lifted him up and set him on the floor. “Let’s go,” Ethan said.

They left the kitchen, and Ethan walked slowly to allow Greyson to keep up. When they made it to the stairs, Ethan watched Greyson slowly climb up step by step.

“Mind if I carry you up?” Ethan asked.

Greyson wanted to do it himself, but he realized that he was making Ethan wait. “Sure,” he said, and let his brother lift him up and carry him the rest of the way upstairs to the bathroom.

Ethan sat Greyson on the sink counter and wet a tissue to wipe Greyson’s face clean.

“What happened to us?” Ethan asked as he worked.

When Greyson’s lips were free, he replied, “Magic. The candles on the cake yesterday grant wishes.”

“Really?” Ethan sounded more annoyed than amazed.

Greyson nodded.

“Then, can we use the candles to undo this?”

Greyson shook his head. “They don’t work except on actual birthdays. I tested them.”

“So,” Ethan said, “we’ll have to wait a whole year? Stuck like this?”

Greyson nodded, mournfully.

Ethan sighed and said, “It’s strange. When I saw you this morning, I remembered everything. I remembered how old you were and how you were getting younger everyday. Somehow I didn’t notice any of it until… I changed today.”

“What is it that…?” Greyson started to ask, but Ethan interrupted.

“You know what,” Ethan said. “It’s gone. I’m not a boy anymore.”

Greyson gave Ethan a sympathetic look.

Ethan threw away the tissue and asked, “Why? Why am I a girl now?”

Greyson thought about the party yesterday, specifically about the wish he had made before blowing out the candles with Ethan. “I think I wished that you weren’t my older brother anymore,” Greyson confessed.

Ethan thought about it for a moment and said, “I might have been worrying about being your big brother. Maybe I was wishing that you wouldn’t need me to be your role model, or something like that. That you could grow up without me being an example for you.”

“Really?’ Greyson asked.

“I was scared,” Ethan admitted. “I didn’t think I was ready for it.”

Greyson sighed. “I see,” he said. “I guess we did it together.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “Now, I’m not an older brother, and you won’t be growing up to be like me.”

“I’m sorry,” Greyson said.

“No,” Ethan said. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”

“What?”

“I messed with the candles on your birthday. I started all of this,” he looked down at himself at his crotch. “I deserve this.”

“No,” Greyson said. “It was an accident. You had no idea that any of this would happen. How could you?”

“Maybe,” Ethan said. “Still, if I had just left the cake alone, none of this would have happened.”

“Ethan…” Greyson said.

“That’s not my name anymore,” he replied. “I’m Stephanie now.”

“But-”

“Let’s just go with the flow for now,” Ethan said, lifting Greyson up again to set him back down on the floor. “Mom already thinks I’m sick in the head. Let’s just be quiet about what happened until I have a chance to think things over.”

Greyson saw the guilty look on Ethan’s face. He wanted to say something to comfort his brother, but he sensed that there was nothing he could say that would get through to him right now. “Okay,” Greyson said. “For now, we go with the flow.”

Ethan nodded. Then, he walked to his bedroom, leaving Greyson alone.

Later, Ethan ate lunch by himself while watching TV. Then, that night, he kept silent during dinner and went to bed early.

***

At breakfast the next morning, Ethan walked in with his long hair tied up in a tight ponytail. He had dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a baggy blue hoodie. It seemed he had gone for the most gender-neutral outfit he could find. Other than the ponytail and a pair of pink and white gym shoes, he looked pretty much the same as he had done yesterday.

Greyson was already eating at the kitchen table when his brother walked in. He had been taking careful scoops of food from his plate, making it a challenge for himself to eat as cleanly as he could. He put that challenge on hold, though, when Ethan pulled a chair out from the table.

“There you are,” their mother said. “Are you feeling better today?”

“I’m fine,” Ethan said, taking a seat. “Don’t worry.”

“Good,” she replied.

Then, she asked him what he wanted, and he agreed to the first option she gave him. When she put a plate in front of him, he ate the sandwich on it without paying any attention to what it was. Clearly, he was preoccupied with other things.

“So,” their mother said after Ethan had finished eating, “what are your plans for today?”

“I want to go see some of my friends,” he replied. “I think I know where they’ll be playing football today.”

“Football?” she replied. “Stephanie, I thought you said you weren’t going to be playing with the boys anymore.”

“I…” Ethan started to reply, but hearing that name again seemed to bother him too much to continue.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “I can tell something is bothering you.”

Ethan pushed his chair back from the table and said, “Excuse me.” Then, he left the room.

Later, Greyson watched through the window as his brother pedaled away on a girl’s bike.

***

Ethan was back home again just before dinner.

Greyson had been passing the time by playing with some blocks, trying to build a tower, using it as another opportunity to improve his coordination. Ethan walked in, his face red. Greyson thought it looked as though his brother had been crying.

“Stephanie?” their mother called from the kitchen. “Is that you? Dinner will be ready soon.”

Ethan ran upstairs without responding.

***

Ethan did not say much at all that night until Greyson had been laid down in his crib. Once their parents were in bed and the house was quiet, Ethan crept into his room and stood over his crib.

“You awake?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah,” Greyson replied. “You okay?”

“Not really,” Ethan admitted.

“What happened?”

Ethan sighed and said, “I found the guys at Stephen’s house. They were in the backyard playing football again.”

Greyson listened, quietly.

“I just tried to walk in there like normal to start playing, but everyone was giving me funny looks,” Ethan said. “Blake was giving me a really intense look. Stephen asked me what I was doing there, and I said I came to play. He said it had been a while since I played with them. He thought that I had decided that I was too old to play with the boys anymore.” He sighed. “He called me Steph. They all did. They said they would see me at school. I spent the rest of the day just riding around the neighborhood.”

Greyson watched as Ethan took a seat on a toy chest and held his head in his hands.

“Sorry,” Greyson said.

“It’s not your fault,” Ethan said.

“I mean, I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said.

There was a long moment of silence as they both wondered what to say or do next.

Greyson yawned, and Ethan said, “I should just let you sleep.”

“We can talk,” Greyson said, fighting back another yawn.

“Later,” Ethan said. “G’night,” he muttered as he left the room.

***

“Volleyball?” Ethan asked his mother.

“You wanted to play sports,” his mother said, placing a volleyball in the cart.

“I wanted to play football,” he said, glancing at the football in his hands.

“You’re too old to play coed,” she said.

They were at the store, shopping for school supplies. Currently, they were in the sports equipment aisle.

Ethan looked at the football in his hands one more time, sighed, and gave in, returning the football to the shelf. It seemed that he was getting tired of fighting to be treated more like a boy.

Greyson watched it all happening behind him as he sat in the baby seat of the cart. He was not a part of the conversation, but he wished he could do something to support Ethan.

When Ethan turned back to face their mother, she looked him over, giving him a careful examination.

“What?” he asked, self-consciously holding his hands together in front of his crotch.

“I think it’s time we got you some new clothes,” she said, “and underwear.” Her eyes were focused on his chest when she said the last part.

Ethan looked down at the subtle but increasingly noticeable mounds that were visible through his T-shirt. It was something he had been trying to ignore for the past few weeks, or cover up with a sweater when the weather was cool enough, but it seemed that a growth spurt had decided to force him to face his new anatomy.

He crossed his arms, turned away, and said, “Maybe some other time.”

“Today,” she said. “Come on, I’ll help you pick out a comfortable training bra.”

After a trip through the women’s underwear, they headed into the changing rooms. Greyson waited in the cart beside his mother as Ethan tried on the tops.

“How are you doing, Honey?” their mother asked after a long wait.

“I’m having trouble with the hooks,” Ethan admitted.

Their mother went in to help him. “There,” she said. “How does that feel?”

“Weird,” Ethan said.

“Is it constricting?”

“It’s…” Ethan searched for a description. “It’s the right size, I guess.”

“Great,” she said. “We’ll get another pair or two and a larger pair, for when you have another growth spurt. How’s that sound?”

Ethan sighed. “Sounds great,” He replied, almost managing to sound enthusiastic.

***

Greyson got in the habit of creating a series of challenges for himself in order to pass the time as school began and Ethan was out of the house more. After mastering eating without making a mess, his next major focus was potty training, which ended up being much easier than expected. After only two weeks of trying, he had managed to go without a single daytime accident for the entirety of the last week. With that record and some begging, he was allowed to wear normal underwear except for when he went to bed. Some mornings, he still woke up in need of a change, but that was out of his control, the fault of his immature body. Time would solve that problem eventually, so he did not worry about it.

For the times when he got bored of toddler toys and TV, he found ways of stashing books around the house in places he could access when his mother had her attention elsewhere. Greyson had held to Ethan’s earlier suggestion to go with the flow. He continued to hide his mature mind from his mother, not wanting to appear too precocious. After all, a two-year-old with a high-school-graduate mind would draw an unwanted amount of attention. At least until his next birthday, he had no way of changing his life, so he would rather live quietly as an ordinary toddler than be studied under a proverbial microscope as a freak genius.

It seemed that Ethan had decided to go even more with the flow. After his initial reluctance to all things girly, he had begun to acquiesce to his mother’s attempts to make a young woman out of him. It started with the bra, which hung in his closet a long while before he decided to start wearing it one day. The reason for Ethan’s change of heart about the underwear was a mystery to Greyson, but it might have been a reaction to Ethan having his first period. After freaking out over the blood, he had allowed his mother to walk him through the use of feminine hygiene products. Whether he wanted to face it or not, he had to come to terms with being in a girl’s body.

Time passed. As Greyson relished every new pound added to his little body, Ethan worried over the relentless changes that puberty was causing to his own. He worked out, trying to build his muscles, and ate hearty meals to fuel his exercise. However, the weight was going mainly to his thighs and chest. The growth was subtle, and Greyson barely noticed it until one day he saw Ethan looking at himself in the mirror in his bedroom.

Ethan was trying on his volleyball uniform. The short shorts clung to him tightly, revealing the shape of his thickened thighs and butt. The top was looser, but the twin mounds of his gradually expanding breasts were noticeable now even beneath the compression of a sports bra. He ran his fingers over his hips, turning sideways to view how much his ass protruded now. He cupped his breasts, and frowned with furrowed brows. Greyson could guess what Ethan was thinking at that moment. If this is what he looked like at 12, then how much more would he grow in the years ahead of him?

Ethan sighed. Then, his expression softened as he calmly faced up to his reflection, squarely. After a long minute of silent staring, he nodded and said, “Okay.” Then, he walked away from the mirror and shut the door.

The next day, when they were alone and able to talk freely about their experiences, Greyson had called his brother “Ethan” as he normally did when they were not being overheard.

“Steph,” his brother had replied, correcting him. “You should call your big sister ‘Steph.’”

“You sure?” Greyson asked.

Steph nodded.

Greyson briefly considered asking his sister why the change of heart, but he sensed that he knew already.

***

It was near the end of the volleyball season when Greyson finally got to see Steph play. Babysitters had become elusive, and there was a big game that obliged both parents to attend. Not able to be left behind, Greyson was taken along to the school. However, despite his months of bathroom success, their mother had brought along a diaper bag as a precaution. It annoyed Greyson that she had so little faith in him, but he kept quiet about it. They sat high up in the stands so that there would be no one sitting in front of them, and Greyson could view the game unobstructed.

Out came the two teams of middle-school girls. Steph was easy to spot. She was the tallest player on the court, taller than all of her teammates and at least half a head taller than their tallest opponent. Puberty had continued relentlessly, hitting her hard and fast, stretching her legs bones longer so quickly that she regularly tripped going up the stairs and expanding her flesh in distinctly feminine ways. She was fit, her legs thick with muscles, but she carried more weight on her chest than she would have preferred.

The game began, and Greyson watched in silent awe as his big sister went on to dominate the court. Her height advantage was a huge help when it came to blocking and spiking the ball, but it was her hustle and her teamwork that helped the team rack up points.

At one point, there was a long back and forth volley, players on each team dove to rescue the ball and managed to pass it over the net again. Greyson was on his feet, standing on the bench, cheering on his sister’s team every time they succeeded. When Steph managed to spike the ball for a point, Greyson leapt for joy, screaming his little head off in excitement. He watched as the team embraced Steph in a warm hug and felt some of that warmth himself, even up in the stands.

Then, Greyson noticed a wetness accompanying the warmth, down around his crotch.

He looked down to see a dark patch spreading on the fabric of his pants, and he realized that he might have let himself get a little too excited.

“Mom,” Greyson said, his face feeling warm as well, “I think I had an accident.”

She checked his pants and told his father that she would need to go change him now. He let her carry him out of the stands, hoping that no one would notice how he had pissed himself. Despite that shame, he felt only pride as he glanced back at his sister glorying in her triumph. That sense of vicarious accomplishment carried him through the changing to come.

***

That night, the whole team went out for pizza along with their parents in order to celebrate their first victory. Sitting in a high chair, Greyson was back in the soft absorbent padding of training pants again, which his mother had informed him he would be wearing regularly until he had another week or two of dryness. It was a setback, for sure, but Greyson had resigned himself to putting up with it for now. In time, he would not have to worry about staying dry. Still, compared to the great success Steph had experienced, it felt like a depressing failure for him. It did not help that Greyson was not allowed any pizza, only some salad and bread.

“Patience,” he reminded himself. “You just need to wait.”

Time would solve all of his problems, he realized. In the years ahead, he would have his own triumphs again, like Steph was experiencing now. There would be setbacks, true, but successes would surely follow. Feeling hopeful again, Greyson glanced over at where his sister had been sitting to find that she had wandered off somewhere. After a quick scan of the room, he discovered her by the old video game machines, chatting with some of the boys that she had played football with back when she had been Ethan. She and Blake seemed to be taking a particular interest in each other. As the night wore on, Greyson noticed the two of them playing many games together, followed by a somewhat awkward goodbye when it came time to leave.

Greyson fell asleep in the car on the way home, but he was awake long enough to see the glowing smile on Steph’s face as she waved goodbye to her teammates as well as Blake.

***

In the months that followed, Greyson watched Steph play in more games and go out for more celebratory meals. Blake and Steph seemed to encounter each other at these meals more often than would seem possible by pure coincidence.

Then, one evening as Greyson was waiting for dinner to be cooked, he looked out the window to see Steph and Blake standing together on the driveway, holding hands. Blake leaned in and kissed Steph. She seemed stunned, but she smiled and walked away, saying something to him as she approached the house.

Once inside, Greyson saw how his sister’s face was practically glowing. She seemed overjoyed.

“Hi, Steph,” he said. “Everything okay?”

She seemed a little startled and blushed. “I’m… fine,” she said and ran upstairs to escape.

***

Time seemed to pass more quickly as they settled into their new lives. Steph was off at school or playing sports or spending time with her friends and teammates. There were a few sleepovers here and there, but Greyson was asleep for all of those. He graduated out of training pants again and stayed dry all through the winter and spring, feeling particularly happy during Christmas and Easter as he got to experience both from the perspective of a young child again. Every month, his parents measured his height, and he appreciated every new inch, feeling the joy of growing up, again. There was something intrinsically rewarding about sprouting larger, feeling your shoes and clothes becoming too small for you, gradually, day-by-day, until you were given new clothes to outgrow. Every morning he woke up, feeling excited to see what more life had to offer him.

Summer came, and the warm weather allowed for more activities outdoors. Greyson noticed Steph spending time with Blake more often. Their parents noticed as well, eventually, and Blake started to show up for barbecues and other gatherings. It was not quite dating, but it was something that might grow into that in time. Blake was not there for Greyson’s birthday, but he did show up for Steph’s party.

Steph and Greyson had spoken briefly one time just before their parties, regarding the candles. They had been so busy with their new lives that they had nearly forgotten how important blowing them out would be.

“Are you going to wish for your old life back?” Steph asked him.

Greyson thought about it for a moment, recalling the good times he had experienced over the last year and considering his hopes for the future. He replied, “No. I don’t think so. Are you?”

Without a moment of hesitation, Steph shook her head. “For the first couple of months, it was all I could think about. I just wanted everything back to the way it had been. But, now…”

“Yeah,” Greyson said. He understood completely. “I get it.”

Steph smiled and gave him a big hug, and that was the last they ever spoke about their old lives.

Greyson blew out his candles, wishing for nothing else but happiness in the year to come. He woke up the next morning, looking the same as he had when he went to sleep, only a day older.

At Steph’s party, she glanced briefly at Blake before blowing out her own candles. The next morning, she too was the same as the day before and seemed to be excited to embark on her teenage years.

And, so it would be with all the birthdays to come, the two of them were happy to enjoy their lives just the way they were.