8  _Joe_Bates_Saga___________________________________________________________



8.  Chapter :      Home



Joe and Linda drove from the mall to Linda's house, in Joe's RX-7.
They had the rest of Saturday afternoon with nothing special to do, and
decided to spend some time at Linda's pool.

Linda was in the real estate business, and she did well as a
salesperson for commercial and residential property.  She worked on
commission, and during the last two years had done very well.  She had
spent some of her earnings investing in her house, which was
surprisingly large, and impressive.  She did not really need all the
room, but she had liked the place as soon as she'd seen it.

The owner, who wanted to sell quickly, accepted her offer immediately,
and so she bought the place.  It had a large drive in front, with the
detached garages in the back.  There was a large pool, and a gazebo
which housed a Jacuzzi.  It was quite a place.  Inside, there were five
bedrooms, a large family room, a big dining room, and even a hand made
room, which now only contained a Schwinn "Air-Dyne." The well equipped
kitchen had its own eating area, and there was even an outdoor
breakfast area.  At least, that's what she called it.  The house was
really much too large a place for one person, but she considered it an
investment, and she loved it.  She was still in the process of buying
furniture for three of the bedrooms.

Joe drove up the drive, and pulled around back, parking in front of the
garage.  They got out, and Joe took the packages containing clothes
they bought.  There were a couple of tops and shorts for him, and some
underwear that they had bought on sale at Linda's insistence.

Linda took her key and opened the door.  They entered her kitchen.

"Let's take those things to the bedroom," Linda said.

"Okay," Joe said.  "Do you have anything cold to drink?"

"Sure, what would you like?" Linda replied.  "I've got iced tea, three
kinds of beer, and milk for you health nuts."

"Better make it iced tea for me," Joe said.  He remembered how the beer
he drank last night made him feel.  He could hardly keep his eyes open
after drinking just one.  "I think my metabolism is screwed up, so I
better lay off the beer."

"Your metabolism isn't screwed up," Linda kidded him.  "You're just not
used to being a woman."

"Well, whatever it is, I can't hold it anymore," Joe lamented.

"You shouldn't drink beer anyway if you want to keep that figure,"
Linda teased.  Joe had been teasing her at the mall, about how he had a
better figure than she did.  It was true, and it bothered her a little.

Joe took the packages into Linda's bedroom.  He laid them on the bed.
The clothes Linda had on when he first saw her last night were lying on
the bed too.  She had changed clothes when he picked her up, so that
she would not be overdressed compared with his blue jumpsuit.  He
decided to try on the new clothes they bought at the mall.

He removed the jumpsuit.  He liked wearing it because it concealed his
body better than the other things he had.  It was just too warm,
however.  He slipped it off his shoulders, and sat on the bed.  He
could feel the cool breeze of the air conditioning on his shoulders and
back as he removed his Reeboks.  He stood and pulled his legs out of
the jumpsuit.  The cool air on his sweaty body felt great.  He looked
up, and saw someone in the full length mirror on the closet door.  He
did not recognize her.  In his mind's eye, he was still Joe Bates,
one-hundred ninety-five pounds, five-eleven, and MALE. The person he
saw looking at him in the mirror was about five feet seven, maybe
one-hundred-twenty pounds, and FEMALE. "She was kind of cute," Joe
thought, "standing there in those little blue panties."

Her small but nicely formed breasts were concealed by a bra with shiny
seamless cups.  She was wearing white sweat socks, which reminded Joe
of a cheerleader he knew from his college days.  Her hair was too short
for his taste, though.  He stared at the mirror.  When he raised his
hand to scratch his nose, he broke the spell.  He was the cute in the
mirror.  He raised his hand and touched his left breast.  He rubbed a
finger over the slick fabric, feeling the softness it contained.  He
could feel a nipple hardening to his touch, both with his fingers, and
as a warm twinge which went from his nipple to his crotch, which
reacted by contracting in a way that was becoming familiar to him.  It
was an unusual but pleasant sensation, and he liked it.  It was a
feeling the one-hundred ninety-five pound, five-eleven Joe Bates never
knew, and could never know.  He wondered about the old Joe.

He WAS the old Joe, but he was beginning to have trouble remembering
what the old Joe felt like.  The old Joe was strong.  He worked out,
and he had well developed biceps.  Joe touched his arm.  It was not
flabby, but it was small, and face it, it was weak.  It did not even
look like a man's arm, but then, maybe he was not a man anymore.  Was
he?

He looked in the mirror again.  His narrow shoulders did not look like
a man's.  He looked lower.  Those little blue panties covered hips
which, though not really wide, sure did not look like they belonged to
a man, and his crotch.  The gap between his legs, with its tiny bulge,
and a little damp spot, right in the center.  No, this was not what a
man looked like.  What was he then?  Was he a real woman now?  Did he
feel like a woman?  What did a woman feel like, anyway?  No, He was
still a man.  He knew what a man should feel like.  He liked the way a
man felt.  Of course, he enjoyed the way his body felt now, too, but
this was not real.  These were not feelings a man should have, but
then, it did feel good.

"Good idea, Joe," Linda said, breaking Joe loose from his thoughts.
"Get out of that darn hot jumpsuit."

Joe went back over to the bed he opened a bag, and took out two pairs
of shorts.  One was white, and the other blue.  "Which should I wear?"
he asked Linda, his fashion advisor.

"Wear the balloon tank top, with the blue shorts," Linda recommended.
"It'll look so cute."

"Yeah, cute," Joe said.

Joe pulled on the blue shorts, and fastened the button at the waist.
He zipped the zipper up and opened the boxes, looking for the balloon
top.  He found it in the second box.  He took it, and easily pulled it
over his head.  He looked down.  Across his breasts, three hot air
balloons now flew in formation among some clouds.  It was cute all
right.  He raised his hand and checked the area under his arm.  He
found he could touch the side of his bra.  He could even feel the cup.
No matter what Linda said, he still felt like his breasts were showing
through the armholes of the little top, but Linda thought it was ok, so
maybe he should forget about it.  He looked at himself in the mirror.
The cute young woman was looking back again, but she was even cuter
now.  He decided that if the top was all right for a real woman, he
would try it.

"Joe, you look great," Linda said.  "If you have to be a woman, even
against your will, at least be glad that you're so pretty."

"Guess it would be worse if I woke up yesterday, and looked like an
ugly woman," Joe said, grinning.  "I just can't get used to what I see
when I look in the mirror."

"I'll bet there are people who would give an arm to see what you do
when THEY look in the mirror," Linda said.

"Is the tea ready yet?" Joe asked.  "I'm going to die of thirst if I
don't drink something soon."

"Yeah, it's probably about brewed by now," Linda replied.  "Go get it,
and put some ice in it, will you, please?  I'm going to change into
something cooler, too."

Joe went into the kitchen.  He walked to the counter, and took the tea
from the electric brewer.  When he stood at a counter now, his waist
did not quite reach the top.  He did not actually feel shorter,
everything else seemed bigger.  He searched the cabinets for a pitcher.
He found one, and poured the tea in.  He then went to the refrigerator.
Linda's refrigerator had an ice dispenser in the door.  He took a
glass, and filled it with cubed ice.  Joe poured that into the pitcher,
and repeated it until the pitcher looked like it had enough in it.  He
then filled the glass with the cold tea, and drank it down quickly.  He
got another tall glass from the cabinet and put a little ice in it, and
then filled it with tea.  This he carried back to the bedroom.

"Here's some tea, if you want," he told Linda.

"Thanks, Joe," Linda replied.  "I was hoping you'd bring me one."

Linda was putting on her swimsuit.  It was a sleek fitting black tank
suit.  She was just stepping into it when Joe came into the room.  She
pulled the straps over her shoulders and took the glass from Joe.

"I have a couple of suits that you can try," Linda said after taking a
sip of tea.  "You're a little taller than I am, but I think my
two-piece suits would fit you."

"Okay, Linda.  I'll give it a try," Joe said.  He pulled his top over
his head, and removed his shorts.

Linda was searching through the drawers of her dresser.  She pulled out
a flowered bikini and a sort of fluorescent lime green suit.  She
arranged them on the bed for Joe to inspect.  Joe had never seen Linda
in the flowered bikini, but he had seen her in the green suit.  The
green suit was made by Body Glove, and had a zipper in the top, between
the breasts.  The top looked like it had more coverage than the
flowered suit, which just had little strings which the cups attached
to.  You had to tie the strings.  He picked up the bottom of the lime
green suit.

"I was hoping you'd try the little bikini," Linda chided him.  "You
sure would look good in it."

"Maybe next time, Linda," Joe said with a grin.  "It looks a little
skimpy to me, and I'm pushing my limits already."

Joe unhooked his bra, and slid his panties down his hips.  He took the
green bikini bottom, and stepped into it.  It felt very snug, as he
pulled it up his legs and over his hips.  When he felt it was on
correctly, he stepped over to the mirror.  It fit his bottom like a
second skin.  He thought he could even see the cleft of his vulva,
outlined in green lycra-spandex.  He could definitely see his pubic
hair hanging out the sides of the very narrow, "V" cut crotch of the
bikini.  Linda was inspecting him too.

"You're going to have to trim that bikini line, Joe," Linda decided.

"Bikini line?" Joe asked.

"Pull that bottom off, and come into the bathroom," Linda ordered.

Linda went into the bathroom, and Joe removed the tight suit bottom.
Naked, he went into the bathroom.  Linda had a ladies' electric razor
in her hand, and turned it on when Joe entered.  It was buzzing away
softly.

"Put your leg up on the stool here," She ordered.  "I'll show you how
to do this."

She pushed his leg apart, exposing the bush of his pubic area.  She
trimmed the soft hair away from his inner leg, almost to the lips of
his genitals.  She worked quickly, and Joe was concerned at the speed
she moved around this new, sensitive area of his body.

"Be careful, Linda," Joe said.  "I don't want to have any less down
there than I already have."

"I won't hurt you, Joe," Linda assured him.  "Okay, put your other leg
up." She repeated the process on his other side.  Joe could not really
see what she was doing, and craned his neck to look.  "If you're that
curious, try this," Linda said, and gave him a hand mirror from the
sink.

Joe took the mirror, and positioned it so that he could watch what
Linda was doing.  He was also getting his first real look at his new
genitalia.  As Linda trimmed his pubic hair, Joe examined himself
intently.  Where his scrotum used to bulge, he now had soft pink skin,
divided down the center by two little darker pink folds of tissue that
joined at the top approximately where his penis had been.  A bit of
tissue, smaller than a pea, protruded slightly from between the folds,
near the top.  Linda finished, but Joe continued looking at himself.

Using a finger on each side, he carefully spread the folds, exposing a
moist pink slit with two openings.  The small one, he decided, was
probably his urethra.  Below that was a much larger orifice, which he
recognized as a vaginal opening.  The image in the glass was hard
evidence for what he had suspected, but hoped was not true, but it was
a fact.  He was now a woman, inside and out.

"Really looks different, huh?" Linda asked.

"Yeah, really different," Joe repeated.  "I can't believe it's me."

"Gee, I didn't take that much off, Joe," Linda said.  "Just enough so
that you won't have to worry about showing when you wear that suit."

"No, that part's fine," Joe said, repositioning the mirror to another
angle.  "It's just that I've never really seen myself since the
change."

"Oh, I didn't think about that," Linda said.  "This IS all new to you,
isn't it."

"It's strange," Joe went on.  "I feel almost like I always have, but
when I see myself, it's just difficult to accept that I look like
this."

"Remember that about half the people in the world look like you do, so
don't think you're so unique," Linda replied.

"Maybe they do," Joe conceded, "but most of you were like this from the
day you were born."

Linda put the shaver into the drawer.  Joe looked up from the mirror.
He saw Linda watching.  She was smiling at him, sort of the way a big
sister might look at her little one.  He smiled back at her, and handed
her the mirror.

"Okay, I've seen enough for now, I guess," Joe said, rubbing the new
slickness of his pubic area.  His bush was now a very narrow triangle,
just like Linda's.  He had not realized she shaved herself that much.

"If you don't keep it shaved close now, you'll regret it," Linda
warned.  "It'll itch like crazy.  I suggest you get a hot wax like
mine.  It's a little expensive, but it lasts a long time."

"You keep talking like this is permanent," Joe said.  "Let's operate on
the idea that I look like this temporarily."

Joe went back into the bedroom.  He could feel the difference around
his crotch area as he walked.  It made him start to analyze again.
When he had a male body, his primary sensation of sexual arousal
emanated from and around his penis.  Now, it seemed, his whole body was
a sex organ.  It was simply a completely different feeling than his
experience as a man.  Sometimes, just the act of walking felt mildly
erotic.

He went to the bed, and picked up the swimsuit bottom.  He was pulling
it up his hips when Linda stopped him.

"Maybe you better put some powder on that shaved area," she said,
pointing to a little cut glass container on her dresser.

With the suit bottom around his knees, he removed the ornate top and
found a little puff inside.  He pushed the puff to the side and taking
a little body powder on his fingers, spread some on the shaved areas,
and for good measure, dusted some on his pubic hair.  He then pulled
the suit up, and tugged it till it felt right.  It fit very snugly, but
was comfortable.  He felt between his legs, but could feel no trace of
hair sticking out.  He rubbed his buttocks and stuck his fingers under
the leg openings, pulling the bottom down properly.  He reached down,
and took the suit top and looked at it.  He was not sure how to put it
on.  It had a zipper, but it did not open all the way.

"Just pull it on, over your head," Linda instructed.

Joe put his arms in the arm holes, and stuck his head into the top.  As
the suit went passed his face, he could smell it.  It smelled good.
The scent reminded him of Linda.  "It must have some of her perfume on
it," he thought.  That made him consider what he was doing.  No matter
what he looked like, he still the Old Joe, and he was standing there
putting on his girl's, no, his fiance's, clothes, and she was watching.
It was exciting, but at the same time embarrassing.  He quickly pulled
the top over his breasts.  He looked down at his chest, and was trying
to decide how far up to pull the zipper between his breasts when Linda
pulled him over to the mirror.

"Just look at yourself Joe," Linda exclaimed.  "You're beautiful."

Joe looked in the mirror.  Linda was right.  The lime green suit set
off the light tan of his skin.  He had not been in the sun since the
change, so he must have the same skin as before.  He always did tan
quickly, and did not easily burn.  He stood straight, and then turned
to get a side view.  The green suit looked like it was made for his
shape.  He was impressed.  He could not resist clowning around,
striking poses like those he saw in magazines.

"You can have that suit, Joe," Linda lamented.  "Now that I've seen you
wear it, I never want you to see me in it again."

"I do look pretty good, don't I," Joe said proudly.  "Of course, I
don't think you'll be breaking any mirrors either."

Linda went to the closet, and brought out two beach towels.  Then she
went to the bathroom and brought out a tube of sunscreen.  She gave
them to Joe and, taking her tea glass, she walked to the kitchen.  Joe
followed her with his hands full.  He could not keep his eyes off her
butt as she walked in front of him.  "She did look good," he thought.

"Do you want some tea to take to the pool?" Linda asked.

"Yeah, sure, that's a good idea," Joe replied.

Linda, with the tea, led Joe, with the towels and sunscreen, to the
sliding doors, and out to the pool deck.  She stopped at the table, and
got her sunglasses from her purse.

"I wish I had mine," Joe said.  "Of course, they wouldn't fit anyway."

"I'm sorry, Joe, I had another pair, but I broke them the other day,"
Linda said.

"No sweat," Joe said.

They went to the lounge chairs, and Joe lay the towels in the cement
deck.  They moved the chairs to face the sun.  Joe gave Linda a towel,
and she spread it on her lounge, as he did the same on his.  When she
lay back on the lounge, Linda pulled the straps of her suit down from
her shoulders.  Joe saw her do it, and tried to do the same with his.
His straps were too wide, and it was not easily possible.  He lay back,
and felt the sun warm his body.  He continued to watch Linda.  Due to
their positions, she could not see him as well.  She was carefully
rubbing herself with tanning oil.

"I'll do you, if you'll do me," Joe said suggestively.

"Sounds good to me," Linda replied, handing Joe the tanning oil.

Joe took the oil, and squirted a small amount on his hand.  He started
smoothing it on Linda's leg.  She put her head back and closed her
eyes.  Joe coated her upper thigh, and went all the way to her feet and
toes.  He carefully massaged each toe.  When he finished, he moved to
her arms, softly smoothing them with the oil.  He then oiled her
shoulders, and then moved to her chest.  He carefully avoided getting
oil on her suit.  She rolled over on the towel and Joe then coated her
back.  Linda was glistening with the protective oil.  When he finished,
he took her head in his hand, and kissed her softly on the lips.  She
answered his kiss by flicking her tongue into his mouth.  Joe took a
deep breath, relishing even the smell of her hair.

After a short while, as they just sat close and looked at each other,
Linda sat up in the lounge chair.

"Okay, Joe, lie down," Linda ordered.  "It's your turn."

Joe went to his lounge and lay on his back.  Linda took the suntan oil
and started rubbing it on his legs as he had done for her.  She worked
carefully around his suit, so that no oil touched it.  He spread his
legs slightly, and she rubbed some oil on his inner thighs.

"You dog!" Linda exclaimed.  "Do you realize your body has absolutely
NO cellulite?"

"What are you talking about?" Joe questioned.

"Look at this," she replied, pinching about an inch of Joe's outer
thigh.  It was perfectly slick and smooth.  She then pinched the same
amount of flesh on the same area of her leg.  The pinched tissue was
slightly dimpled between her fingers.  Not a lot, but not smooth
either.

"This is what I'm talking about," Linda continued.  "You have almost no
fat on your thighs.  It just isn't fair."

She then continued her application of sunscreen.  She moved down, and
caressed his feet, as he had done for her.  Joe had not realized how
good it felt, to get his feet massaged like this.  It was almost
erotic.

When Linda finished with his feet, she asked Joe to lie on his belly so
she could oil his back.  He complied, and put his face in his arms.  In
this position, it seemed he could detect Linda's scent again.  He
wasn't sure if it came from the suit he was wearing, from the suntan
oil, or if he was smelling her directly.  He seemed to have a much more
sensitive sense of smell since the change, and he was aware of odors
more now.

Linda was softly rubbing Joe's back, and Joe closed his eyes, and
enjoyed the sensations.  He suddenly felt his right breast get pinched
between him and the lounge chair.  The slight, but unexpected pain made
him jerk up quickly.

"What's the problem?" Linda asked.

"Oh, nothing," Joe replied, rubbing his soft boob through the suit, and
feeling embarrassed.  "I just got pinched, that's all."

"Welcome to the club," Linda said, patting him on the back as he
carefully lay back down.  "I could think of a few guys whom I wish
could get the opportunity to experience what you are."

"Well, I wouldn't wish it on any guy," Joe replied, trying to find a
position that kept his breasts out of the way.

Linda finished, and Joe rolled over.  They both just sprawled on the
lounges soaking up the warmth of the sun.  A while went by, and
suddenly they were jolted awake by the ringing of the telephone.

"It never stops, does it," Linda lamented.  She grabbed the cordless
phone that lay near her lounge chair.

"Hello," she answered.  "Oh, hi, Jay.  Yeah, he's here.  Just a
minute."

"It's Jay," she said, handing the phone to Joe.

Joe took the phone.

"Hi, Jay.  What's up?" Joe spoke into the phone.

"How you doing, Joe?" Jay said.  "I just called to find out what you
thought about Dan."

"I don't know, Jay," Joe said.  "I think he is understanding, and he
acted like he really wanted to help."

"He does, Joe," Jay said.  "He's good, too.  I've known him for some
time, and I can assure you, he knows his job.  If there's any way to
prove who you are, he will know what it is, and find it.  I think he's
the best."

"That's great, Jay," Joe said.  "I have good feelings about him too."

"What are you doing this afternoon?" Jay asked.

"Well, right now, I'm lying at the pool at Linda's house," Joe
answered.

"Gee, I thought I called your house," Jay said, a little confused.

"Maybe you did," Joe replied.  "I used call forwarding to transfer my
calls over here in case you or Dan wanted to find me."

"You damn engineers and your toys," Jay chided him, "but seriously, I
was wondering if you had some time, later on."

"What you got going, Jay?" Joe wondered.

"I finally got that ROM chip for the Bosche injection on my car," Jay
answered.

Like Joe, Jay was into sports cars, and owned a Red Porche 944.  He
found it a source of irritation that Joe's RX-7, which cost less, but
was equipped with a high performance wankel rotary engine, could run
away from his pride and joy.  In their informal road races, Joe's
"Rotary Rocket" could always take the four cylinder engine that powered
Jay's Porche.  Jay was always looking for ways to reverse the
situation.

A friendly rivalry was the result, but Jay was actually at the mercy of
Joe, and his engineering background, to help improve the performance of
his complex engine.  In both cars, all fuel metering functions were
performed by electronic fuel injection, which in turn was controlled by
a digital computer.  An electronics engineer was actually more at home
with a machine like this than a mechanic would be as long as the basic
engine was healthy.  Joe, who had experience with avionics, including
electronic fuel controls on jet engines, was not above using those
skills to improve the performance of his sophisticated auto engine.
Jay was in the process of improving his engine, too, but he went the
costly route of buying a performance chip from the after-market
sellers.  It was expensive, but then, everything was expensive on a
Porche.  He wanted Joe to help him install the chip in the computer.

"Okay, Jay, when do you want to put it in, as if it will do any good
anyway," Joe said.

"When can you do it?" Jay asked, sounding like a kid at Christmas.

"What do you have planned for this afternoon?" Joe responded.

"I don't have anything going till later, when I was planning to get
Barb, and we would go out," Jay said.

"How about coming over here later?" Joe suggested.

"What time?" Jay asked.

"Just a minute," Joe said, and called to Linda.  "What did you want to
do later?" he asked Linda.  "Jay's going to take Barb out, but wants me
to work on his car a few minutes first, if I have the time."

"Tell Jay to bring Barbara over," Linda suggested.  "We can put some
steaks on, and have a little patio party.  I haven't seen Barb in a few
weeks."

"Jay, Linda says you should bring Barb over, now if possible," Joe
relayed.  "We can put some steaks on and after that, I'll work on your
car."

"Okay, that sounds good," Jay replied.  "I'll call Barb, I know she can
be ready."

"Tell her to bring a swimsuit," Joe said.  "Bring yours too.  The pool
looks pretty inviting."

"Ok, Joe, I'll see you in about an hour or so," Jay said.

Joe handed the phone back to Linda.  She put it beside her seat and lay
back into the sun again.  Joe took a long draw of his tea glass.  He
thought of the irony of the situation.  He would be working on his
buddy's car, maybe wearing this suit.  "I might be one of the best
looking fuel injection specialists around," he thought to himself,
grinning like an idiot.

He lay back on the lounge and closed his eyes.  In a little while, he
turned, presenting his other side to the rays.  In what seemed like no
time at all, he heard the powerful rumble of Jay's 944 come up the
drive.  Linda got up when she heard the car.  She walked to the
driveway gate.

"Hi, Jay," she called.  "Barb, I'm glad you came."

"When you said food, Jay couldn't resist," Barb teased.

Barb was in her mid-twenties, and very attractive.  A little shorter
than Linda, with red hair, and a great figure.  She was wearing a
cover-up, and obviously had her swimsuit on under it.  Jay was wearing
a loud Hawaiian type shirt and shorts.  They both carried bags which
had a change of clothes inside.  They walked through the patio gate,
where Joe stood, feeling self conscious again.  Jay saw him first, and
his eyes widened when he recognized him.

"Joe!" Jay exclaimed.  "How you doing?  God, you're looking good.  Real
good." Jay could not take his eyes from his friend.

"Hi, Joe," Barb said, looking him over, obviously curious.

"Hi, Barb, good to see you," Joe said, smiling.  He was embarrassed
standing there in the close fitting swimsuit.

"Jay told me about your...  err...  situation," Barb said, trying to
help Joe feel more at ease.  "I must admit, I've ever heard of anything
like it before.  You certainly look, err...  a...  Well, healthy."

"Yeah, I guess healthy is a good word for it," Joe said, amused at
Barb's description of him.  "If I get any healthier I can run for Miss
America."

Joe saw that Jay hardly took his eyes off him.  He went over to his
pal.  "So you think that chip will give that four-banger of yours
enough guts to take the rotary, huh?" he joked.

"I hope so," Jay replied, "At least until you pull another rabbit out
of your hat with that damn Japanese clone car."

"You can call it a clone when you get an engine as good as the wankel,"
Joe returned.  He felt better talking with Jay.  It seemed more like
normal.

"Right now I'm going to cool down," Jay said, sticking his foot in the
pool.  When he decided it was all right, he dived in and swam to the
other side.

"It's great!" he said.  "Come on in."

Linda and Barb were already sitting in the lounge chairs, talking about
who knows what.  Joe did not know about getting in the water with Jay.
"What the hell," he thought.  "I don't really want to sit through girl
talk." He walked to the edge, and, without stopping, dived in as
gracefully as he could.  He surfaced in the middle, and noticed that he
could stay afloat much easier than he ever did before.

"This is weird, Jay," Joe said as Jay swam over to him.  "I'm floating
so easy, much easier than before."

"You got those natural life preservers now," Jay teased him.

"Maybe that's it," Joe considered, grinning.  He was smaller and
lighter.  He probably did have a higher fat to bone and muscle ratio.

"Come on ladies, get your butts in here," Jay yelled.  "You can talk
later."

Linda and Barb looked at Jay.  He waved them over to the pool.  Joe
hoped they would come in too.  He wanted company.  The girls came over
and sat at the edge of the pool.  Joe swam over to Linda.  He went the
last few feet under water, and grabbed her foot.  He tried to pull her
in, but he just did not have to strength to overpower her when she
resisted.  She realized that he could not force her in, so she let
herself be pulled in.  Joe could tell that she did it.  When they
bobbed to the surface together, he looked at her.

"I couldn't pull you in," he said, knowing she already knew it.  "I
didn't have the strength to pull you in," he repeated.

"Don't worry about it, Joe," Linda tried to reassure him.  "That's not
important at all."

"It is to me," Joe said.

Barb had a beach ball, and threw it at both of them.

"Let's toss the ball around," she called.  "Pick your sides.  How about
boys against girls?"

"Come on Barb, that's low," Joe said grinning.  It hurt, but he knew
she was trying to keep his spirits up, but did not know what to do.  It
was an awkward situation for everyone.

"Aww, Joe, she was only teasing," Linda came to her defense.  "You're
going to have to get used to it, and you're among friends here."

"I'm sorry, Joe," Barb said.  "I guess it seemed like a dig, but I
really meant I wanted you on my side."

"Okay, then," Joe said.  "Let's all take him on." He swam to the end of
the pool.  Linda and Barb followed him.

Jay went to the other end.  He had the ball, and when they were ready,
he tossed it to the other end, aiming at Barb.  She hit the ball, but
it went straight up.  Linda was under it and slapped it back to Jay
when it came to her.  Jay swatted it back, and Joe got it that time,
easily returning it to Jay.  They played fast and hard for about ten
minutes.  They were all getting exhausted, Jay the most, since it was
three to one, and they kept him moving in the deep water.

"I'm getting hungry," Jay lied.  "Let's stop and get those steaks on
the grill."

"Yeah, good idea," Linda said.  "I've been out here a few hours
already, and I'm going to be burned alive if I don't get out of this
suit."

"I'm ready to quit too," Barb said.  "Let's get out."

They all went to the side and struggled out.  They went to the chairs
and took towels and dried off.

"I'm going to get out of this suit and get the steaks ready," Linda
said.

"I'll help," Barb said.  "You two start the grill," she said to Joe and
Jay.

"It's a gas grill, so all we need to do is turn it on and put the
steaks on.  I'll start it anyway, and let it heat up," Joe said.

They went indoors.  Jay and Barb retrieved their bags.

"Jay, you can use the hall bath to shower and change," Linda said.
"Barb, you can use my bathroom if you like."

Jay walked to the bathroom with his bag, and shut the door.  Barb
followed Linda into her room.  Joe did not know what to do, and stood
in the hall.  Linda noticed him standing there when she turned to close
the bedroom door.

"Get in here.  Joe," Linda ordered.  "You don't mind if Joe changes
with us, do you Barb?"

"Joe?  No, of course not," Barb said.  "Not unless it bothers him."

"No, you guys don't bother me," Joe said, blushing, "and I suppose I'm
on your team now."

Joe entered the room, and Linda closed the door.  Linda went to the
bed, and pulled the straps of her suit down.  She pulled the suit down,
and removed it.  She took the suit, and her towel with her into the
bathroom.  Joe heard her start the shower running.

Barb looked at Joe, and smiled.  She was embarrassed, and tried to
break the ice with conversation.

"Gosh, Joe, what's it like to have a different body?" she said.  "I
can't imagine what it would feel like."

"It's hard to describe," Joe said honestly.  "It's different, and yet
it's the same in a lot of ways.  I really don't have a different body.
It seems that I just changed...  a lot."

"I'm curious, are you a real woman now?" she asked innocently.

"I don't know, Barb.  What's a REAL woman?" Joe returned.

"Well, you know...  boobs, and...  well...  you know," Barb stammered.

"See for yourself," Joe answered, unzipping the top of his suit, and
pulling it over his head.

Joe then pulled his suit bottom off, and wrapped the damp items in his
beach towel.  Then he stood up, and put his arms out and turned around
slowly, allowing Barb to inspect him.

"My god, Joe, You ARE a woman, aren't you," Barb exclaimed.  "You
really did change into a woman."

"I may LOOK like a woman," Joe corrected, "but I don't want to concede
that I am one, until I have medical proof.  I still feel like I'm a
man."

"Really?" Barb asked.  "You feel like a man?  How can you?  It's
obvious that you don't have the necessary parts." She was genuinely
interested.

"Whatever parts I have now, they feel pretty much the same," Joe said,
"but every nerve in my body seems more sensitive now, and of course,
there are the obvious physical differences."

"There sure are, Joe," Barb said.  "You really look good."

Barb removed her swimsuit top.  She eyed Joe, who tried to look away.
She then took her bottom off, and Joe was surprised to see that her
pubic area was completely shaved.  It made her look very erotic, and
Joe could not pull his eyes away.  Barb saw him staring, and she
smiled.  "It itches like crazy sometimes, but Jay likes it," she
explained, smiling.  "I think you know what I mean," she said pointing
at his closely trimmed bush.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Joe said, scratching his pubic area.  "Linda
showed me how to do this, so I wouldn't stick out of that suit."

The shower stopped, and they heard the shower door slide open.  Linda
came back into the room, wrapped in a towel.  She saw Joe and Barb
standing on each side of the bed, naked.  She stopped, but just looked
at Joe, then she smiled at him.  "I see you two have got to know each
other better," she teased.  "What do you think of Barb's trim job?"

"Well, as a guy, I think it's sexy as hell," he answered carefully,
"but as a woman, I...  uh...  I still think it's sexy as hell."

"Maybe we should take Joe in the shower, and shave him bare," Linda
told Barb.

"No, absolutely not," Joe insisted.  "I already have more taken off
that area than I should.  I suspect I'll already be getting some looks
when I see the doctor."

"You look fine, Joe," Barb assured him.

"Don't forget, I'm really a man," Joe said.

"Well, mister, get your butt in there and take a shower," Linda teased.

Joe took his suit and towel, and went into the bathroom.  He turned on
the shower and stepped inside.  The cool water felt good, and he rinsed
the chlorine off his body and out of his hair.  He finished, turned off
the water, slid open the door, and stepped out of the shower.  He was
drying off, when Barb came in the bathroom.  She walked passed Joe, her
full breasts swaying seductively, and went into the shower.  It was
like a dream come true.  Beautiful women, naked, all over the place.
He looked into the mirror behind the sink.  It was not a perfect dream.
There was one too many naked woman here.

Joe went into the bedroom.  Linda was dressed, and was drying her hair.
Joe found his underwear, pulled on his panties, and took his bra.  As
he was putting his arms through the straps, he felt a slight sting.  He
looked at his shoulders, and saw the outline of the swimsuit on his
chest.  He had a slight tan from before, but he still received a very
slight burn.  His breasts were outlined in lighter skin.  It sure
looked sexy, but it did not feel very good.

Linda saw his problem, and went to her dressing table, and grabbed a
little bottle with a pump.  She spread some white lotion from her hand,
to the pink areas around Joe's shoulders and breasts.  It felt cool,
and soothing.

Joe took his bra and carefully put it on.  Once it was on, it felt ok.
He actually liked the secure feeling it gave his breasts.  He got the
tank top from a hanger on the closet door knob, and pulled it over his
head.  The three balloons resumed formation on his chest.  He found the
blue shorts lying on the bed, and when he attempted to put them on, he
could feel that his legs had received a little too much sun also.  He
got the pump of lotion, sat on the bed, and rubbed some on his legs.
He smelled strongly of Linda's lotion.  He put his shorts on, and
checked himself in the mirror.  His short hair was mussed up, so he
went into the bathroom to use a brush to smooth his hair.

Barb was out of the shower, and was drying her hair at the mirror.  She
was naked, and her breasts, which were larger than Joe's, or Linda's,
jiggled and shook as she brushed her hair.  Joe needed to get into a
drawer, but she was in the way.  He stood there, watching her as she
moved.  She saw him watching, and stopped.

"Uh, sorry, I need to get a brush out of that drawer," Joe stammered.

"Oh, okay.  I thought you maybe just wanted to watch me," Barb said,
smiling at him.

"Oh, no," Joe stammered.  "I wasn't...  I didn't...  I mean...  You do
look good, but I...  uh..." Joe did not know what to say.  It was
obvious he was watching her.

"Don't worry about it Joe," Barb laughed.  "If I suddenly had to be a
man, I would be much worse than you."

Joe got the brush, quickly brushed his short hair into position, and
left the bathroom.  Linda was finished drying her hair, and they both
left the bedroom.  Joe went into the living area, where Jay was sitting
looking at his auto parts.  He grinned when he saw Joe, wearing the
cute tank top.

"Hey, nice balloons," Jay teased.

"Linda made me buy it," Joe protested.  "I told her it was too cute."

"You really do look good in it Joe," Jay said.

"I think it's a little too feminine," Joe complained.

"Well, if you've got it, flaunt it," Jay said.  He said that a lot.

"I've got it, I guess, but I'm not ready to flaunt it," Joe said,
grinning at his buddy.  "Let's see that stuff."

Jay gave him the box of parts.  Actually, it was one small part, and a
little manual describing what the chip did, and how to install it.
"This will only take a few minutes to put in," Joe said.

Linda came into the room, and when she saw them looking at the parts,
she shook her head.  "Barb and I will do the steaks, if you two want to
work on that darn car," she said.

"Joe says it will only take a few minutes," Jay said.  "We'll be
finished before you have the steaks on the grill."

"Get going, then," Linda said.

"I hope you brought some tools," Joe said.  "I don't have any here."

"I have the small tool kit that I always carry in the car," Jay said.

"As long as it has a phillips screwdriver, I think it will work," Joe
returned.

They walked out to Jay's car.  Jay opened the hood, and gave Joe a
little canvas bag, his tool kit.  Joe opened the bag, and searched
until he found a screwdriver.  He bent over the fender, and unscrewed
the lid of the small black box which contained the fuel injection
computer.  The position was awkward, and Joe, who was smaller now,
found it difficult to reach the box without difficulty.  He had to
stretch to reach the assembly.  He got the lid off, and started
removing the old ROM.

"Get me a flat blade screwdriver, would you please?" Joe asked.

Jay was standing there, bending over, and watching, but he did not
move.  Joe looked up from the fuel controller, at Jay.  He saw that Jay
was watching him.  He looked down, and saw what was holding Jay's
interest so completely.  From Jay's position, he had a perfect view
down the neck opening of Joe's tank top.  The large and loose opening
allowed Jay an unobstructed view of Joe's breasts.  Jay's face turned
red when he saw Joe caught him.  Joe just grinned at him, and stood up
beside the car.

"They're pretty nice, aren't they?" Joe teased.

"Well, yeah...  I mean...  I...  Damn it, Joe.  I'm sorry, but I just
couldn't resist looking," Jay stammered an apology.

"I understand, Jay," Joe said "I feel the same way sometimes, and it's
my own body."

"What's it like?" Jay asked.  "What does it feel like...  to have a
woman's body?  You know...  breasts and everything?"

Joe went to Jay's side of the car.  He looked around.  There was nobody
else around.  Linda and Barb were inside the patio wall.  He and Jay
were alone.  Joe pulled his top up, exposing his bra covered breasts.
Jay's eyes became as big as saucers, as he watched his buddy.  Joe
reached down and unhooked the catch between his breasts, and pulled the
shiny bra cups apart, baring his chest.  His full nipples quickly
became erect and hardened to little points as they were exposed to the
slight breeze.  Joe was as amazed as Jay at how they reacted.

"What do you think?" Joe asked his confused buddy, as he held the bra
open so that Jay could get a good look.

"Ah...  err...  I don't know," Jay stammered.

Joe interrupted him.  "That's what I thought," he said, "and I feel the
same way when I look in the mirror.  Remember, in my mind at least, I'm
still a guy, and I think the same thoughts you do."

"But...  what's it like?  Does it feel good?" Jay continued.  "Is it
better than before?"

"It's hard to describe exactly," Joe said, fighting to find the right
words.  "Yeah, I guess it does feel pretty good, maybe even better than
before." Joe considered carefully what he was saying.  "I'm still
getting used to it, but generally, I have more sensation all over now,
not just in my cock, which is gone, of course, but sometimes even it
feels like it's still there.  Especially when I'm turned on."

"What turns you on...  now?" Jay asked, genuinely curious.

"Same thing that turns you on old buddy," Joe said, as he fastened his
bra, and pulled his top down.  "I'm just now getting over a boner
nobody can see, but that I sure can feel, that I got when I saw Barb's
bare beaver." He winked at Jay.

"Barb showed you that?" Jay said, amazed.

"She didn't SHOW it to me.  I saw it when we changed clothes," Joe told
his buddy, who was beginning to show signs of envy, as well as an
erection powerful enough to rip his pants!

"I'm amazed she undressed in front of you," Jay went on.

"She was nervous around me at first, but when she saw how I looked in
MY birthday suit, I guess she accepted me as a girl," Joe said,
grinning at Jay's embarrassment.

"You lucky dog," Jay said.  "You're living a voyeur's dream."

"It may sound neat, but I can assure you, it's not that great," Joe
explained.  "I look like this all the time, and I have to learn to
relate to everybody in a different way.  Even you." Joe pointed at the
bulge at Jay's crotch.  "I'm just beginning to realize I may never get
back to normal."

"Does that scare you?" Jay asked, as he arranged his pants.

"How would you feel, if you woke up one morning, and found your cock
missing, replaced with a beaver and boobs, and it seemed unlikely you
would ever be a complete man again?" Joe answered with the question
that was now haunting him almost constantly.

"I think I understand Joe, and I promise to help as much as I can," Jay
assured him.

"Well, okay then, let's work on your car," Joe said.  "Look if you
want, but try to keep your mind on the task at hand." He hit Jay on the
shoulder with his fist.

Joe put the ROM chip into its socket.  He put the cover back on the
computer, and screwed the lid back on.  It was time to test the
installation.  "Okay, get in and start it up" he said.  "If it runs,
we'll give it a drive."

Jay got in, and cranked the engine.  It fired immediately.  He blipped
the throttle, and motioned for Joe to get in.  "Let's try it on the
road," he said, eager to drive it.

"Okay, but be careful," Joe warned.  "I don't want to get stopped, or
brought in for questioning just because I'm with you while you
terrorize the neighborhood."

"Don't worry about that," Jay said, as Joe got in, and clicked his seat
belt about him.

Jay quickly turned around and went down Linda's driveway.  When he
reached the road, he turned right, and his tires chirped, as he went
through the lower gears.

"Can you tell any difference?" Joe asked.

"I think it has a little more low end, but I'm not sure," Jay replied.
"We'll have to run each other on canyon road"

"Like hell we will!" Joe exclaimed.  "Maybe when I match my drivers
license again, but not before."

"Let's go back," Joe said.  He did not like the attention they were
receiving, driving crisply around the neighborhood in a red Porche.

Jay drove back to Linda's.  Joe was glad to be back.  The bumpy ride in
the Porche, which was fitted with competition suspension, alerted Joe
that he had to pee again.  No matter what he was doing, things were
different now.

Joe and Jay went back to the patio, where Linda and Barb were putting
the steaks on the grill.  Linda looked at Joe, who had some dirt on his
hands.  Jay kept his car immaculate, but it was not possible to work on
it without getting a little dirty.  Joe grinned sheepishly.

"No matter what happens, it seems you can't keep a guy from getting his
hands dirty," Linda said.

Joe went inside and washed his hands in the bathroom.  He pulled his
shorts down, sat, and urinated.  The sensation again made him aware if
his new genitalia, and when he finished, he stood up, and rather than
pull up his underwear and shorts, he went to the mirror, and looked at
himself.  His pubic area again looked completely different.  Linda had
trimmed the soft hair so close that now he could easily see his genital
cleft.  The sight of it in the mirror again made him interested in his
new body.

As he looked, he could feel the first signs of arousal.  He began to
sense what felt like an erection, but he knew that was impossible.  He
touched his pubic hair, and then spread apart the sensitive folds.  He
could see what was probably his clitoris.  He touched the small bit of
tissue, and was amazed to find that it felt exactly as if he had
touched his penis.

"No wonder I can feel an erection," he thought.  "I still have the same
nerves.  I still have my penis.  It's just that now it's just a quarter
inch long."

Again, he considered his situation.  Looking at himself, he wondered
what it would be like if the doctors were to make him look like a man
again.  Would it feel like before?  That seemed unlikely, since he
figured that there would have to be some big changes, and nerves, which
he was still using now, were what made him feel the necessary
sensations.  They would probably have to be cut or modified.  He knew
enough about biology to realize that it was difficult to perform
surgery without destroying sensation.  Did he want to lose the feelings
he now experienced, to get back only a mock up of what he once was?  He
pulled up his panties and shorts, and after touching a breast lightly
with his hand, he checked his short hair in the mirror, and decided he
was ready to go back out.

Joe walked back out to the patio.  Linda and Barb had put the steaks on
the grill, and Jay was standing by it watching them cook.  He motioned
for Joe to come over.

"How do you want your steak?" Jay asked.

"Medium rare," Joe replied.

"Okay, I didn't know your taste buds changed too," Jay said, and winked
at his pal.

"You'll be one of the first to know if they have," Joe said.

Linda was bringing out some vegetables and a bowl of macaroni salad.
Barb had a table cloth for the table by the pool.  Joe went over, and
helped her put it on the table.  Linda put the things she carried on
the table.

"Joe, would you help bring out some forks, and steak knives?" Linda
asked.  "Barb and I will set the table."

Joe went inside and found the forks, and brought out four steak knives.
He took them out and arranged them with the plates that Linda put on
the table.

Soon the steaks were done, and they all sat at the table eating, and
joking with each other about the pool, and the quality of the Jay's
cooking.

Before long, it was evening.  They all moved inside, to sit and talk
and listen to music.  At about ten, Jay and Barb said they had to go,
and they said their goodbyes.  Joe and Linda were alone again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm beat," Linda said.

"Yeah.  I'm tired too," Joe said, "and I can still feel that sunburn,
too."

They went into Linda's bedroom, and undressed.  Linda pulled the sheet
back, and lay down.  Joe lay next to her, and looked into her eyes.
"What will become of us?" he asked her.

"I wish I knew, Joe," Linda said.  "It will all work out though."

He held out his arms, and she wrapped hers around his shoulders.  They
went to sleep in each other's arms.