Waking up to a new reality

The sleepover

Spot on five o'clock the doorbell rang. That'll be Mhairi (pronounced as the verb to 'marry', or Varry in Gaelic speaking areas.), she's always first."

Erin felt butterflies in her stomach as Lauren went to the door. As the door opened Erin was into heart fluttering mode – she just didn't know what was going to happen next. She realised that they hadn't thought it through.

As Mhairi took her jacket off in the hall, Erin heard Lauren say, "We've got a surprise for you – I hope it's going to be alright – there's going to be five of us tonight!"

Mhairi looked at Lauren, "Who else have you invited? Do we know them? Is it a cousin or something?"

Lauren: "Well I think the answer is yes! You know them and it is a relative." Taking a pause to think how she was going to word what was to come, she then said, "You know how Eric was in hospital and it was really serious?"

"Well yes.", she replied in a condescending tone.

Lauren continued, "Well it's a long story, but to get straight to the point, Eric had to have his future manhood removed and is now Erin, my twin sister."

Mhairi's jaw dropped as she processed the information. A few seconds later she exclaimed, "This is for real, isn't it?"

Lauren nodded and said, "This is not something to joke about."

Mhairi: "How is he. . . sorry 'How is SHE coping?'"

Lauren: "Why don't you ask her yourself, she's in the living room?"

Mhairi entered the room, not quite sure what to say. As she saw Erin standing there, instinct took over and she rushed over to giver her a hug. "I'm so sorry Eri. . . n, it must be tough?"

As Mhairi released her embrace, Erin said, "You've nothing to be sorry about. You just have to get used to the new me."

Mhairi: "That's not going to be difficult – you're still you, why would anything change."

Erin: "Well I've got thirteen years of learning to be a girl to catch up on – I might be a bit awkward?"

Mhairi: "Don't be daft – you've been a friend for as long as I can remember, nothing is going to change that."

Lauren excused herself to visit the toilet. Just as the door was shut, the front doorbell rang. With Lauren otherwise engaged, there was little option but for Erin to see who it was. Downstairs, she tentatively opened the door, to see Rhona and Melissa. Opening the door fully, she said, "Hi Rhona, hi Mel", and gave them both a hug. Taking their jackets, she put them on the newel post at the bottom of the stair. "Come on up", she said, "Mhairi's here, so we are all set, but there is a slight change to the normal – I'll explain when we're upstairs."

As they entered Lauren's room, Rhona and Mel stopped in their tracks when they saw Lauren sitting with Mhairi on the bed. Lost for words, they looked at Erin with a questioning expression, before Rhona managed to squeak, "What the.. .?"

Lauren stood up and stood beside Erin, "Meet my identical twin sister, Erin. You know how Eric went in hospital? . . . Well, it complicated but the short version is that Erin came out! It turns out that I've had a sister for all these years and we never knew it."

That didn't really do much to take the surprised look off their faces.

Mel looked at the twins and said, "I thought there was something different about you, Lauren, as you opened the door but all I could come up with was that your hair was shorter. But it wasn't you!" After a tense pause she blurted out, "That's so cool! Woops that sound insensitive. What I meant was. . . well I'm not quite sure what I meant. How are you?"