Ron looked at himself in the mirror, scanning for anything out of place. Although he was quite the looker, in his humble opinion, even he couldn't escape certain visual menstruation symptoms—today, a few blemishes on his face. Recently his beard had begun to grow in, with his facial hair covering most of the usual areas around his jaw. In his eyes, those red spots needed to be covered as much as possible; for Ron, the best method to hide them was to maintain the mangled brown mess that was his beard.
He was almost done with his morning grooming when a loud wrapping came from the door. “Come on, man! Some of us have places to be, *Veronica*.” Ron ignored his brother's rude barking. Subtle jabs like those reminded him of his abnormality.
***
Growing up, his fathers had thought he was a girl, giving him his legal name—yet, as puberty came on, he began to develop similar to boys. It was a very confusing time in his life as his voice deepened, muscles grew in strength, and—as of just recently—he could grow a beard like his first father. During those early years of puberty, at first he was disappointed. As a child, he had seen the beautiful women on both sides of his family, hoping he would fill into a proper lady with curves and grace. What he had gotten instead was Father’s rugged looks and Dad’s intellect and smaller feet. Had he been more open with his body during that period, the neighborhood children might have noticed Ron’s… unique body.
Ron’s dad was first to notice his changes when he was still in elementary school. Although small, he could tell his parents were upset and arguing about something related to him. Later that day during dinner, his parents told him and his younger brother the truth. Veronica and Roger were highly classified medical experiments. While his younger brother had developed normally, Veronica was considered an anomaly—the result of two male genes instead of the traditional male and female. Looking back, that explained why Veronica never had a mother like the other children around him or his outside family, and when asked if she was adopted, both his parents avoided the subject. Next he was told that she and her brother were going to be taught at home. In those years, Veronica was raised a girl, but as development progressed, women’s clothing no longer fit, and crossdressing—if it could be called that—went from an experiment to the only option.
Then Veronica’s 15th birthday came. And so too did a conversation.
“Veronica,” Father started, “we’ve called you by your birth name for a while now. As you know, your outer appearance has become more masculine. I mean, you look like your brother now.”
Veronica nodded.
“Dad and I have been discussing if you want to change your name.” It had never occurred to him the need to change his name yet as he thought about it more their logic was sound. The only way people could tell he was female was if they saw him in his panties or naked. He had even switched his pronouns, more out of convenience than anything. “We know it’s the only name you’ve known, but imagine if people see it when you apply to colleges in the future or when you apply for a job.”
“You’re…right,” he admitted.
“Well, what should we call you?” Dad piped up.
Veronica had to think about it. It was his name, and he liked it. The boy that looked at him in the mirror every morning might protest that however. What was he to call himself? Something new yet something familiar. Like a flash of inspiration it came to him.
“...W…What about Ron? Like…Ve-RON-i-ca.” A short pause. “Yeah, call me that.”
Father and Dad smiled and nodded in agreement, embracing and kissing. “...You know, that’s such a great fit,” Father explained. “Your great-great-grandfather on my side was named Ron. He was one of the first doctors when this place was still a territory. And you are a pioneer yourself, Ron.”
“Sweetheart, you need to tell him the rest,” Dad chimed in.
“Oh yes, that…” Kyle, also known as Father, shifted his eyes nervously.
“What is it?” Ron asked, trying to figure out what more they wanted to say.
“You’ve been homeschooled since middle school. We think that, for the remainder of your academic career, you should be with people your age and attend school.” Ron was shocked. Since he had been told by his parents about being some genetic freak, they had told him and reinforced several times to never tell people he was technically female. Yet now, he was being told that he was to leave the security of his home, with the possibility of being exposed, to make friends and socialize?
Whether he liked it or not, his parents made the decision for him. For the first few months it had been hard to find ways of hiding his body. Luckily, the internet had been a great tool. Some quick searches had shown him guides on FTM forums how to carefully integrate himself in male circles. More than once, he had gotten penis envy from his classmates and family. In a world full of men with cocks, he was the only one that lacked the organ—other than trans men, of course. It became easier and mostly routine by now. He had gotten a job as a delivery driver, which helped him buy more things to help present himself in a more traditionally masculine frame.
***
The door banged and shook violently as his younger brother snapped him out of his musing. “Let’s go, bro!”
Ron sighed deeply. *Time to face the world.*