Walking into church set off a new wave of mini-panic for Eva. She knew she looked the part, but still, waltzing into a group of people she'd known for years as Eddie, wearing a dress and tights and heels - well, she couldn't quite keep a part of her from worrying that she'd be 'found out' as a freak. She did notice quite a few people staring at her, but each one inevitably broke into a sweet smile, at the sight of her and Rosemary looking so cute in their matching dresses.

The Kettlers made their way to their pew and sat down together. The church had found a second organist to take some of the burden off Marian, and today was the new lady's turn, so Marian got to sit with her family. They sat patiently as other parishioners ambled in, and Eva's anxiety level started to drop. No one seemed to bat an eye at the fact that Leo and Marian Kettler had two darling daughters. A warm smile washed across her face: I'm somebody's daughter, she thought contentedly.

Just as she started to relax, in walked the Waller family. In the flurry of wonderment that morning, she'd forgotten all about Mickie! She practically started hyperventilating again. Is he all done now too? What would he be like?

First came Mr. Waller, followed by Mrs Waller. Then Mickie's older brother Tom, and sister Peggy. And then another boy. About twelve years old, tall, athletic, and looking quite dapper in his Sunday suit. Eva was transfixed, her jaw dropping.

Marian playfully nudged her with a smirk. "I can't argue that Mike Waller is just about the most handsome fellow here" she whispered, "but it's really not polite to stare, dear."

Eva blushed ferociously, but she couldn't pull her eyes away. Mike Waller, she thought. So he's Mike now. And she's right, he is so handsome...

Suddenly his eyes turned toward her. There was a momentary look of shock on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a beaming smile. He obviously approved of how she had turned out, and her heart immediately went all a-pitter-patter.

She tried to look down, to be less conspicuous, but she couldn't help but sneak peeks every few seconds. The Wallers sat down, and Mike and Eva had a clear line of sight with each other. It was going to be difficult to get through the service without being really obvious. Mike grinned at her again. She gave him an embarassed smile and looked down.

The minutes dragged on, and Eva felt even more fidgety than little Rosemary. She was dying to get out of there and get a chance to talk to Mickie, or Mike. The sermon was strangely apt - "Showing our true selves to God" - but Eva was too preoccupied to appreciate the synchronicity.

Finally the sermon wrapped up, and the congregation slowly filtered out of the sanctuary. The Kettlers stood in the reception line, inching ever closer to Rev. Bremer to shake his hand and give their regards. A couple of times, older ladies stopped to compliment Eva and her sister on what proper young ladies they were. Eva couldn't help feeling a feminine pride, even if she wasn't too sure about the sentiment.

At last they reached the pastor. Hopefully they could take care of their perfunctory handshakes and just get out of there. Eva did feel a creeping dread, praying that the little meeting she had had with her father and Rev. Bremer the other night had become something that had just never happened.

"Why, would you just take a look at this beautiful family! God has surely smiled upon you, Leo and Marian, to leave these two lovely angels in your care." Marian and Eva both blushed at the compliment. "Now Eva, don't forget, we were going to have a little meeting with you and your folks after service today."

Eva was stricken with terror. He remembers after all! And he's playing along now, she thought, but once we're alone with him, he'll turn me back! Because I've gone against God's will! She turned pale.

"Why don't you all go wait in the chapel, I'll be there just as soon as all these good people have gone home."

Leo led them off to the chapel as Rev. Bremer finished up. Eva and Marian sat in the available folding chairs while Leo stood and held up Rosemary in his arms.

"Why Eva honey, you're shaking," Marian said with concern. "What ever is the matter?"

The elation from earlier that morning had collapsed and condensed into a tight little ball of dread. She had gotten a tiny glimpse of a beautiful life, and now it would be rolled back, and replaced with God's plan.

"I... I'm just nervous about meeting with the Reverend, I'm scared of what he might do..."

Leo and Marian exchanged mystified looks. "Sweetheart," her father started, "that's just silly. What could the pastor possibly do that would be scary?"

"He'll change me back!" She spat out, against her better judgment.

"Change you back?" her mother asked incredulously. "Back to what?" Both she and her husband were thoroughly confused.

Just then the chapel door swung open and Rev. Bremer strolled in.

"Thank you for waiting, folks, you know how that reception line can be. Now, I - " he stopped mid-sentence. "Is everything alright? You all look concerned."

"No, everything's fine, Reverend," Leo assured him. "Eva was just suddenly feeling a little peaked."

"Oh I'm sorry, dear, it does get mighty hot in here when everyone's gathered together in the summertime. One day I hope we'll be able to afford some air conditioning."

"It's alright, I'll be fine," Eva said in a weak voice, trying to convince herself.

"Well, let's get down to it then, so you all can get on home. Eva, I've been observing you and noticing you've been changing quite a lot."

Eva gulped, her eyes welling up slightly and her breathing uneven.

"Kids your age, you can change in the blink of an eye. One minute, you're out playing in the dirt with your friends, the next, you're sitting in church all prim and proper in a lovely dress, all grown up seeming. And one wonders, what is God's plan for this young person?"

Eva was still trembling, but increasingly confused as to where he was going with this.

"You've grown up a lot recently, you're becoming a responsible young woman. And my wife and I have been looking for someone to babysit our little Martha Jane, and we thought, what about that sweet Eva Kettler? She seems like just the kind of mature young lady that we would trust to look after our precious little treasure."

Marian made an approving sound. "Oh Eva, what a wonderful opportunity!"

Eva was taken for a loop. "Wait, you want me to babysit little Martha?"

The pastor cocked his head slightly. "I hope it doesn't upset you for me to ask? She is a little younger than your sister, but I imagine you've had a lot of practice looking after Rosemary."

"Sissy's real good at taking care of me!" Rosey interjected.

"Well what do you think, Eva, are you interested?" the pastor continued. "We would pay the going rate. It's a great way for someone your age to make some spending money."

Eva sighed with relief, letting the ball of dread dissipate out into the air. Not only was he not trying to change her back, he was offering her a job. A girly job! "Rev. Bremer, I'm honored you would ask me. Little Martha is very cute and sweet, and I'd love to take care of her."

"Well that's wonderful, it's settled then! Would you perhaps be free Wednesday evening? I'm leading a Bible study and Helen's got her women's circle."

Eva looked at her mother, who raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Well, we usually go to my Grandma's on Wednesday nights..."

"We can make an exception this week, honey," her mother said.

"Well then sure, Wednesday night sounds fine," Eva consented with a smile.

"Oh I'm delighted!" the pastor replied. "We'll work out the details Wednesday afternoon."

As they left the church, several families were still milling around in the yard conversing. Eva's parents stopped to talk with another couple, and she scanned the area. Across the yard the Wallers were also in a conversation, and she caught Mike's eye. He motioned his head off to one side toward a corner of the yard.

"I'll be right back," Eva said to her parents, and headed over to the corner Mike had indicated. Her heart began to pound again, as Mike headed to the same spot. They reached it at the same time, and both uncomfortably looked down.

"So..." Mike began, "it looks like you're all finished."

"Yeah, all done," she chuckled nervously, looking up at him, her hands clasped behind her back. "You too?"

"Yep," he smiled. "I told you it would work."

"I still can't hardly believe it. I just feel so... so... me!" She paused. "So, I guess you're Mike now?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"My mom said your name when she caught me staring at you," she blushed.

He smiled again. "So I s'pose you're not Eddie anymore?"

"No. I'm Eva now."

"Eva. That sure is a pretty name. It suits a pretty girl like you."

She blushed even harder, her eyes glancing down. "You... you really think I'm pretty?"

"I kinda can't hardly believe how pretty you are," he stated, looking directly at her. "And I also can't believe how that makes me feel. I never thought much about who's pretty or not. But I guess I see things sorta different now."

"Yeah, I feel different like that too. I - I think you... I think you're a real nice looking boy," she stammered.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, then Eva's mother called out to her.

"Eva sweetie, we need to get going now."

They shared a poignant glance as Eva slowly pulled away. "I owe you ice cream," Mike blurted out. "I'll come by and get you this afternoon, around 3?"

"OK!" Eva replied, a little more eagerly than she intended. She returned to her folks, unable to hide a smile.

"Somebody likes you," Marian teased in a sing-song voice.

"Mom!" Eva objected, not very convincingly.

Back at the Kettler household, Sunday dinner proceeded pretty much as it always had, with the slight difference that Eddie was now a girl named Eva.

"Mom and Dad?" she asked in between bites of ham. "Is it OK if I go get some ice cream with Mickie this afternoon?"

"Mickie?" Leo puzzled. "Who's Mickie?"

"Oops! I mean Mike."

"I see you've got a cute pet name for him already," Marian said with a wry grin.

Eva wanted to object but she was just glad her little mixup got glossed over.

"Well he's a good kid, it's fine," Leo said, "but don't think you can just go off with any old boy anytime you feel like it. You're getting to that age where you need to start being careful around boys. You don't know what they can be like. These notions they get in their heads - well, you just have no idea!"

Eva smiled to herself at the irony, but in a way Leo was right. Eddie hadn't reached the age where he'd started having those kind of 'notions', and she was pleased she wouldn't be going through that. Although the idea of having to be careful around boys was a bit worrisome, she knew she could trust Mike, there was no reason to worry about such things with him.

After the meal and cleaning up, Eva went back up to her bedroom. She had been so focused on her physical transformation that morning that she hadn't really taken stock of her room. It had a different feel, to be sure. The walls were painted a pleasing lavender color. Her bedding was light yellow, and much poofier and fluffier than before. The top of her dresser had little bowls with various pieces of jewelry in them, plus barrettes, hair ties, etc. And also on the dresser was a framed photograph. It was a picture of her, as Eva, with Patsy and Valerie. They all had their arms draped around each other and looked thick as thieves. She stared at it for a long time. She could feel something, a strong bond that she had with these two girls. They were her close friends. She couldn't remember details, but she knew they were tight, and she felt a longing to see them, and do all the girly things they loved to do together.

She walked back to the door to stare at herself again. "This is me," she thought, "I can't get over it. It's the real me. And to think I was almost too scared to let Mickie do it." She thought back to various moments she had lived as Eddie, and felt a pain that had always been lurking underneath. He'd gotten so used to it, he didn't even really realize it was there. But now that it was gone, it was so clear. It had shaped everything in his life, and now she was free of it. She could live the life that was right for her.

The next order of business was figuring out what to wear for ice cream with Mike. Her Sunday church dress filled her with joy, but it wasn't really appropriate for something more casual. She started looking through her closet and dresser for just the right thing. After a bit of searching, she settled on a burgundy skirt over some black tights, and a simple white shirt with a lace collar. She found some strappy sandals in the closet that were pretty but practical, and a simple little necklace to complete the look. Then she pulled a chair up to the mirror, and watched herself as she luxuriously brushed out her long silky hair.

"Oh Eva honey," her mom called up to her in that sing song voice again, "someone's here to see you."

Butterflies filled her stomach. It's only Mickie, she thought, why am I nervous? She paused for one more accessory - a pretty pink ribbon for her hair - and then slowly descended the stairs, walking carefully. Downstairs in front of the door stood Mike, wearing blue jeans and a button shirt. His smile conveyed mostly confidence but a hint of nervousness.

"You ready for some ice cream?" he asked.

"Sounds wonderful," she replied bashfully.

"Have fun, sweetheart," her mother smiled at her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Marian watched wistfully as the two kids walked out the front door, clutching her hands together in front of her heart.