Mark walked out into the yard. The cool night breeze surrounded and invigorated him in a way he'd never experienced before. It woke him up - it refreshed him - it made him feel strong. Was this what it felt like to be a man? Mark wasn't sure that he really preferred the idea of being male, but it didn't seem so bad, really. He'd try to find a way for them to change back, but if there wasn't one...well, if manhood felt like this, even part of the time, it wouldn't be such a catastrophe.
He heard a rustle, and looked up. About ten feet above him, Kevin had just managed to pull himself up onto the branch he'd grabbed. Mark laughed. "I really don't think that's something that comes naturally," he said. Kevin looked down, surprised. "M-d-dad? What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for you, obviously," Mark replied. "What are you doing out here?"
Kevin shifted his eyes downward, gritting his teeth a little at getting caught before he got to get out and test his new body. "I, uh, I just wanted to see..."
Mark cut him off. "See what your body can do now, right?" Kevin nodded. "Well," he continued, "I suppose I can understand that, but this really isn't the time. You'll have plenty of time to get out and run around when you get home tomorrow, but we all need to get some sleep. You kids have got school in the morning, I've got work, and your fa-er, mother and I have to see if there's a way to reverse this on top of all that. Come on in, it's bedtime."
Kevin was trying not to say anything, but it was all welling up inside him and he couldn't help himself. "I don't want to reverse this!" he blurted, before cupping his hands over his mouth, simultaneously horrified and relieved to have let his secret slip. Mark blinked at him. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.
Part of Kevin's mind was screaming at him to deny it, pretend that wasn't what he meant, do anything to try and save the secret. Screwing up his courage, he ignored that part and dropped down to the ground, handling the landing somewhat more gracefully than he had handled the branch-leap. "I..." he began, "I've been trying to figure out how to tell you. I'm transsexual. Or, depending on how you look at it," he said, indicating his new body, "I was transsexual. I guess you always knew I didn't want to act like a girl, but a year or two ago I realized that it was more than that. I...I wanted to be a guy, I found out that I liked girls, but the surgeries are expensive and the results aren't good and I didn't know how you guys would react especially da-er, mom and I didn't want to let anybody at school know and oh God I'm sorry I shouldn't be saying this but it's true and-"
Mark shushed him. "I...I don't really know what to say," he said. "I guess I've always paid lip service to the notion that people should let other people alone about their lifestyle choices, but I never really expected it to be put to the proof like this."
Kevin's ears drooped, and he gazed down towards his feet. "I'm sorry," he choked. "I know I shouldn't be talking like this..."
Mark shook his head. "No," he said, "it's good for you to get it out, at any rate. Hiding something like that is only going to make things worse, especially for you. I don't really have any answers for you, I guess, except to say that whatever the circumstances you're still our child and your mother and I love you."
Kevin managed a tiny smile. "But," he murmured, "M-mom...she wouldn't like this, I'm sure of that..."
Mark smiled. "I don't really know what she'll think," he said, "but she's certainly not going to turn cold on her own child over something like this. She's not like that, no matter what she's seemed like."
"B-but," Kevin said, "he...she...talked all the time about proper behavior for a 'young lady' and all that...she didn't really approve of me wearing boy's clothes, I'm sure she wouldn't like this at all..."
"It's not really what you think," Mark said. "When you've been married as long as we have, you come to understand even the things about your spouse that they don't really understand. I don't know everything that went on in her head when she talked about that, but I've always felt there was something deeper going on, something not really reflective of what she thought or felt. I think it had a lot to do with your Grandpa, her dad. You wouldn't know this, since he died so long ago, but he was very much the sort of person you think of your mother as, and he raised her to be that way. But I don't think she was ever really like that; I think she was just acting it out because that's how she was supposed to act. I don't know if that's going to change at all in light of all this, but I do know that it's not enough a part of her to make her alienate her own son over something like this."
"Then," Kevin asked, "it's okay...?"
Mark shrugged. "Like I said, I don't really know what I think of this yet. This is the first real test of my beliefs on this topic. I guess...I don't want to be a hypocrite. But I don't want you just rushing into a major life decision uninformed. I'll talk to your mother about this tonight. While we're looking for a way to fix this, I want you to talk to your mother and find out firsthand what being a man is really like. It may not be all that you think. If we ever do find a cure, I'll let you decide whether or not you want to stay this way, but I want you to seriously think about what you're getting yourself into. Alright?"
Eyes watering from happiness, Kevin nodded. "Good," Mark said. "Now come on, it's time to get to bed." He threw his arm around Kevin's shoulder and they walked back into the house.