"Remember, you're Brad now and your older brother is David," Gloria reminded me as we walked down the hall towards the lobby. "It wouldn't do for you to slip up in front of strangers so it's best if you try to refer to him as David all the time, even when you're at home with your family, OK?"
"Yeth Gwowia, I undewthtand. Ith gonna be weiwd dough."
"I know sweetie, but you'll get used to it in a while."
I didn't like that she kept calling me "sweetie" or “champ" but I figured that was something else I'd have to get used to now that, as far as most of the world was concerned, I was a 4-year-old toddler. At least I could still keep calling myself David in my own mind.
Mom and Brad, apparently at ease in my body, both stood up as Gloria and I entered the lobby. It was weird having my mother tower over me; as David it had been years since she'd been taller than I was, but now she had a good two feet on me and it was Brad who was the tall one in the group. Brad was the first to speak.
"Wow. It's really weird to see my old body from this angle." I really should have expected him to be able to speak just fine since I'd acquired his lisp and childish grammar in the swap, but it was still a little hard to deal with the fact that my baby brother could now speak much more clearly than I could. he went on, "You know Brad, mom and dad were right; my old body looks just like a young version dad. I can't believe I never noticed that when I had it."
Whereas I was looking at things through a lens mostly of resignation, Brad seemed to be in a state of mild elation. I'd rather expected that to have faded a bit once the switch actually happened, but apparently he really was just that excited to be older.
While I was paying attention to Brad, Gloria had been talking with mom. Normally I'd have been paying attention to that too, but I was having trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. I'd tried to hold both things in my mind, but I'd stopped paying attention to mom and Gloria as soon as Brad had started talking to me. I didn't even realise that I'd tuned out mom and Gloria until mom started talking.
"Dr. Thomas has some things he wants to discuss with me alone before we leave, so I'm going to leave you two here while I go to his office. David," she looked at my old body, "keep an eye on your little brother while I'm gone."
"You got it mom," Brad responded as mom walked out towards Dr. Thomas' office.
"I no need babythitting! I owder den you!" I glared at Brad
"Not anymore," responded my old body with a smile.
"Ith not funny!" I stamped my foot just like Brad used to do when he got frustrated. Stupid motor skills.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry Brad. This is just really cool for me. I'm a grown up. This is all I've ever wanted. I'm not trying to rub it in, I'm just really happy."
I knew he was telling the truth. Brad had never been the obnoxious sort and even though I'd never really known how to interact with her because of our age difference we'd always basically gotten along. It wasn't right for me to take this out on him.
"I sowwy too. Dis aww jutht vewy thtwange fow me."
"Wow, I never really noticed that lisp when I had it. I'm sorry you have to deal with that. So, how'd everything go with Dr. Thomas?"
"Good. He jutht wanted to do thome tethts wif me. Thomething wif cups of watew an' bwocks an' thuff."
"Yeah, he made me do those too. Twice actually, once before and once after. I felt really silly the second time realising that I'd answered wrong before."
He’d answered wrong the first time and right the second? Dr. Thomas hadn't said anything to me about right or wrong answers. Was he just trying to figure out if they'd accidentally left some of my knowledge in his brain? Maybe I could find out.
"What you do wong da fiwst time?"
Brad laughed, "lots of things. For example, even though I watched him pour the water from the short fat beaker into the tall one, I still said the tall beaker had more water in it."
"Da taww one did have mowe watew in it! It wath way highew!"
"Brad, he poured it straight out of the short, fat beaker into the tall one, it had to be the same amount."
"It wath higher! Dat meanth it wath mowe." I was sure of that. I'd seen it happen myself.
"Well then, let's just say I answered differently the second time." I nodded, appeased, and he continued, "I asked him if that meant I had your knowledge and he explained that the test didn't actually measure knowledge, but how rather how our brains were processing the world and that since I now had a teenager's brain, that meant I was processing the world like a teenager would and not like a four-year-old would."
Thank goodness. They hadn't actually left my knowledge in my old body. I did wonder why Brad thought he’d been wrong the first time but I decided to let it slide. There wasn't much reasoning with a four-year-old, after all.
“Oh by the way Dav- I mean “Brad” they told me to talk to dad about my penis and the new feelings that’ll come with it but... do you think you can talk to me about later? I know it’s my body now but it just wouldn’t feel right to get familiar with it without your help. I’ll even try to help you get over your lisp!”
I wasn’t too happy about the thought of teaching my brother how to adjust to my body, but if anyone should do it it should be me. There was also the fact that Brad might be able to help me get over this lisp, odds are the rest of my family won’t help since I’m supposed to be Brad now.
I shook my head in agreement just as mom came back into the lobby carrying a small binder.
"Wath da bindew fow?"
"It's just some paperwork for mommy and daddy, nothing for little boys to worry about."
"How about teenage boys?" Brad realised just a bit too late that his enthusiasm might not have been in the best taste, "Sorry bro, I didn't mean..."
"Ith OK, I know you twying." I gave him a hug to reassure him. Brad honestly didn’t say that to be mean.
Mom held my hand as we walked out to the car and then Brad lifted me into what was now my car seat, strapping me in snugly.
"Ith too tight. I can't weach anything."
"I'm sorry hon," mom said, "that's how it's supposed to be. Child safety laws and all that." Mom closed my door and then got into the passenger seat as Brad got in on the driver's side.
"Mommy! He no can dwive!" Great, not only did Brad’s speech processing destroy my grammar, it was making me use "mommy" when I tried to say "mom."
"Yes I can!" Brad’s comment was excitement, not protest. "Dr. Thomas said that driving ability should have stayed with the body like other motor skills and he was right. Mom and I took a test run around the parking lot while you were still in the recovery room and it all just came to me. It was so cool!"
And so we were heading back home. I'd like to say that I remembered more of the drive, but Brad, like many young children, tended to fall asleep in a moving car and that non-conscious response, on top of the long day, meant I was soon snoozing peacefully, strapped firmly into my booster seat.