After that rather long shower, you looked yourself in the mirror. You couldn't help thinking that if you were going to be in this body - you should make it your own. Your receding hairline and bushy unkempt beard was not a favorite. You decided you wanted to shave. Your head. And at least trim the beard.
You looked into your wallet. You did have quite a bit off money on you. At least enough to buy some proper razors. And you were going to get a bit of the money from the experiment. You got dressed and went downstairs. Your mother was busy in the kitchen taking care of your youngest brother. Or were you supposed to think about him as your son now? Were you a father? A heavy though for someone that was 16 not long ago. "I'm going to go out to the store, I'll be back soon" You told your mother. "Alright, see you later, honey" She replied to busy with your brother/son to think about the fact she called you 'Honey' out of habit.
Your father was in the living room. A huge grin on his face while looking on his phone. "Oh, you're going out?" He asked. "Yeah, I'm gonna pick up somethings from the store you replied. "What are you smiling about?" You pondered aloud. "Oh, nothing. Just chatting with a friend" He said. "One of my new friends. I'm trying to get ready to go to school tomorrow and I don't want people to think I've gone completely insane so I've been reading your chats to get a feel for who's who. Maybe you should do the same?" He answered. The realization that just hit you felt like a punch to the face. You were free the upcoming week - but after that you had to go to your job. Meet with your colleagues. People you knew nothing about but that knew plenty about 'you'. "Uh... yeah, yeah..." You answered. You peeked at your fathers phone screen wanting to know which friend he was chatting with. But it wasn't one of your friends he was chatting with. He was chatting with a girl from your class. You didn't really talk but you had added each other on Snapchat and Facebook. It seemed like the thing you did with classmates. You pretended like nothing as you walked away. Feeling that angst again. Was your father already trying to get with a girl? A 16 year old girl at that? Just because he was now 16 that didn't make it anymore right. You hoped he'd wait till he got 18 at least. Even if it was always going to be a bit icky.
Well, most likely nothing was gonna come out of it - a 40 year old man in a 16 year old body was probably not going to be able to keep up a conversation with a 16 year old girl for long. Especially as he still had no experience with new trends and what not.
The trip to the store was pretty quick. As soon as you got home you rushed to the bathroom. You looked up a few videos on YouTube and were soon ready to shave your head. On of the clerks at the store had helped you pick up a good razer for shaving a head.
Soon, your dome was completely free from hair. It actually looked pretty good. If you lost some weight you might actually be able to get some women on the hook, you thought. In secret of course. Divorcing your mother wasn't an option. Then your family would be back in a mess you just got out of. After that you shaved your neck and trimmed your beard. Keeping enough to hide your slightly sagging chin. You were fat after all. In the mirror an almost different person was looking back at you. It felt good. Like you were taking control and making this your body, really and truly. It looked good as well. You were pretty handsome when it came down to it.
You decided to go downstairs to show your family the new you.
Your father looked amazed. "Wow, I... You... clean up pretty well. I had kind of forgotten." He said. He looked almost proud. Maybe a bit relived you were trying to adapt to the situation?
Your sister and older brother didn't seem to care much though. Your younger brother wanting to feel your shiny dome. "Daddy is bald! Daddy I want to grab!" with all the enthusiasm of a 4 year old. While it felt weird being called 'daddy' you didn't want to correct your younger brother. The concept of body swapping probably more then he could truly understand.
Your mother was standing there with a bewildered face. "Wow, you look... handsome. I like it. You're going to be the talk of the town" She said. She looked over at your father "See, I told you you should have shaved your head and trimmed that bushy bear. You would have looked great. Even though I've always found you handsome either way". She added. You couldn't help but feel a bit happy from your mother's words. If she found you 'more' handsome she was probably correct in that assessment. She was a woman after all. She'd know. Certainly given that this wasn't a mother complimenting her son in the regular sense. But a man she found attractive. Trying not to think to hard about the implications of that part.
"Glad you like it" you said. "At least the three of you that could be bothered saying anything at all" You said jokingly to Lucas and Mariah.
Your mother and father cleared their throats in a clear attempt for some attention. "Well, as we're all here - we wanted to talk about names. More importantly - This whole thing is secret, so to make things easier when in public we've decided we'll start using the appropriate names even at home. So, from now on, David - You're now going to go by Steve and Steve, you'll go by David." Your mother said.
"Also, kids, remember that 'Steve' here is your father. So call him Dad like you always done." while pointing at you. "And 'Steve'... You can't call me mom anymore. From now on it's Cathy. And as we discussed 'David', you're going to call me mom".
"And 'Steve'? This coming week we'll study some names and faces of the people at your workplace and some of our friends. Me and 'David' will help you with some basic stuff that's good to know about them." She added.
You froze. You kind of knew this was coming. Being called Steve. People obviously wouldn't call you David anymore. But even at home? And your siblings calling you dad. This was your fate. Your new life. And it was coming at you faster than you were ready for.