"Absolutely not," I stated as I tapped out a message on my phone. "I'm not prepared to even call her yet, forget going over there for dinner. That's why I'm sending her a text."

Stace asked, "What are you going to tell her?"

I read him what I'd just finished writing, "I'm still getting things sorted out here and we're pretty busy. And I'm still anxious about seeing you and dad, and anxious about you and dad seeing me? When I said I'd changed a lot, I kind of undersold it a bit. This is what I look like now."

"I'm sending her a selfie along with that," I added.

My foxboy boyfriend looked thoughtful as he commented, "She's probably not going to believe you. What kind of tone did you get from her texts? And did she call you Meg, or did she use your deadname?"

I hit 'send' then snapped a cute selfie that got my face, white hair, and fox ears, and sent that too. Then I shook my head, "She didn't use any names in her messages. She called me 'hon' once, but didn't deadname me. Actually she didn't misgender me either, she avoided referring to me as 'son'."

After scrolling back to check my mother's texts again I added, "Actually now that I look at it, it's hard to guess her tone? I read it as upset and demanding, but it could also be worry or concern?"

"I hope it's the latter," Stace responded. "If we did go over there it pretty much means I have to come out to your parents too. And vice versa, whenever I catch up with my folks if you come along then you'll be outing yourself to them."

I shifted closer to him on the sofa so I could cuddle against his side as I replied, "I'm not as anxious about seeing your folks. I think your parents will handle this better than mine."

He slipped an arm around my shoulders as he smiled, "I don't know who'll take it better, but I know I'm less stressed about your folks than mine. I suppose that's natural though? Less at stake for me if your parents react badly, just like there's less at stake for you if my folks flip."

My phone buzzed with another text before I could respond, and a quick glance at the screen told me it was from my mom. After bracing myself I scrolled back down to the most recent message. My eyebrows crept upwards as I read it.

"Are those fox ears on your head? Did you get a tiny plush keychain toy?"

When I showed the text to Stacey his eyebrows shot up as well, "How the hell would she know that?!"

"No idea," I replied slowly. "I guess I'm going to find out though."

I braced myself again, then switched to the phone app. I was about to tap my mom's icon on the speed-dial tab when I caught myself. With my ears in a totally different place now, I couldn't really talk on the phone normally. Or at least I couldn't hold it normally, at the side of my head.

Instead I figured out where to hold the thing up next to my temple, so the speaker was closer to my ear. It meant the mic was further from my mouth, but I figured it would still work ok. Then I tapped mom's icon and waited for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

My heart was racing as I responded, "Hi mom. It's me, your daughter, Megan. Or just Meg for short."

"For short is right cutie," Stacey whispered as he chuckled quietly, earning him a swat on the knee from me since I was trying to focus on the call.

Mom was quiet for a few seconds, before finally responding "Megan. That's a nice name. And you sound... Your voice sounds pretty, hon. And um, you're happy with everything? With all that?"

"Yeah," I nodded. My heart was still going a mile a minute as I continued, "I'm very happy. It's a genuine miracle, like a wish come true."

There was another slight pause before she asked, "And the ears? And why is your hair so white?"

Even though she couldn't see it I was blushing as I replied, "Yeah, they're fox ears. I'm part arctic fox now, so um, white hair, and white fur. I um, I even have a tail now too? But it's nice. I really like it."

"Actually how did you know about the little plush toys?" I asked a moment later. "You're right, I got a little arctic fox toy, but how in the world did you guess that?"

From the tone of her voice I could tell she was grimacing, "Do you remember my friend Denise Turner? She lives down the street from us? Her daughter got one of those toys at the end of May."

My eyebrows shot up again, "I didn't know Mrs. Turner had a daughter?"

"Neither did she hon," mom replied. This time I could almost hear her blushing, "Denise thought she had a son, until the beginning of June. Now she's got a daughter named Blossom, who's um, part cow. That's how I knew about the plush keychain toys, Denise told me about them. And as soon as I saw your picture with those ears, that's the first thing I thought of. So I suppose it's a small world?"

For the next couple seconds I didn't know how to react. I was surprised, and I was definitely curious to know more about Blossom, but I was also grateful that I didn't have to try and explain the magical plush toys after all.

"Ok..." I said when I finally found my voice. "Anyways, um, I don't know yet if we can make it for dinner. I have to talk to Stace, but like I said in my text we're a little busy getting stuff sorted out?"

"Actually mom, have you talked to dad at all? Has he seen my email yet?" I asked as another worry crossed my mind. "And do you think he's going to be ok with this stuff?"

After another brief pause mom replied, "He's seen the email. I'll go and talk to him right now. I'll tell him about the rest of it, and show him the picture you just sent me. Then I'll let you know how it goes, ok Megan?"

I felt a little spark of joy when she used my new name, and couldn't help smiling. "Thanks mom. I'll talk to Stace. No promises just yet, but if dad's cool with things and we're not too busy here, then maybe can get together."

"Thanks hon. I'll be in touch. Bye for now."

"Bye mom!" I responded, then we both disconnected.

I was still smiling as I looked to my boyfriend and announced, "So my mom's best friend's kid turned out to be trans? And she got one of those capsule plushies at the end of May and turned into a cowgirl! That's how mom knew about the plushies, and I guess that softened her up a bit about the other stuff? She's going to check with my dad to see if he's going to be cool with this stuff too, then she'll text me or something."

Stace's eyebrows went up and he sounded a little incredulous as he asked, "A cowgirl? Seriously?"

"Apparently," I grinned. "I kind of want to meet her now."

Then I got more serious again as I asked, "So um, if it sounds like my dad is going to be ok with stuff, how do you feel about going to see my folks tonight? I was kind of worried about accidentally outing you on the phone, but I really don't want to misgender you instead."

Stace looked serious as well as he thought it over for a few seconds. Then he admitted, "I said I felt better about coming out to your folks than mine, but now that I'm on the spot I'm still a bit anxious? You did really well though cutie, talking with your mom like that. And I'm with you all the way."

"Or almost all the way," he added. "I don't really want to go to their place tonight, but if they want to see us then maybe we could meet them at a restaurant instead?"

After thinking about that for a moment I nodded, "We'll get some funny looks and stares, and it might be awkward meeting them and talking about some of this stuff in public. But I get it, you want to see them on neutral ground first. Incase they're going to end up making a fuss or something after all, they probably won't go overboard out in public."

My boyfriend smiled and shook his head, "That's actually not what I was thinking. I know your folks Meg, if they got talkative we'd be at their place till well past midnight. I figured if we met them in a restaurant, we'll have an excuse to escape and come home after a couple hours."

"Oh," I blushed. "Ok that makes sense too. And this does seem like the sort of topic my folks would have a million and one questions about."

He chuckled and pulled me into another hug, "You're not wrong about the neutral ground thing cutie. Let's say it's a bit of both? Plus it'll give us an excuse to dress up a bit, wear some of the nice clothes we both got this weekend."

I smiled and snuggled up closer against his side, but we only got a few minutes to enjoy the cuddle before my phone started ringing again.

I checked the call display and saw it was mom calling back, so I swiped the screen then held the phone up to the side of my head. A moment later I remembered and adjusted it up higher so I could actually hear what she was saying.

"...your dad's a little uncomfortable with the situation, but he promised he wasn't going to get upset or anything," mom said. "And we're both eager to see you in person, to see the new you hon."

"Did dad say what part made him uncomfortable?" I asked. "Like is it because I'm trans? Or is the fox stuff that he's not sure about?"

My mom responded, "Honestly hon I think it's a bit of both? Or maybe it's just the suddenness of all this happening at once?"

I couldn't help thinking, the only thing that was sudden for me was the transformation on Friday. Figuring out I was trans was a long slow and often painful process. Same with everything else before and after. Like spending my teen years dealing with dysphoria and depression without even understanding what was wrong with me, or dealing with the agonizingly slow process of getting on hormones and waiting for my name change to go through.

But of course nobody else saw that, except Stace. All my parents saw was their son turned into a foxgirl one day.

"Megan?" mom asked after I'd been quiet for a couple seconds, "How is your girlfriend handling this? I know you said in your email that the two of you were still together and that she'd been supportive, but how does Stacey feel about things now that you're um, now that you're actually a girl? And part fox?"

I winced slightly at her 'actually a girl' comment. I decided it wasn't the right time to get into that discussion though, but it seemed like a common misconception that a lot of cis folk had. Even some trans people too, but hopefully very few. But the idea that I wasn't 'actually' a girl until I looked like one or had the right plumbing or whatever still hurt, even though thanks to my fox plushie I'd definitely pass whatever arbitrary bullshit checklist they thought qualified for girlhood.

Instead I pushed those thoughts aside for another time, and focused on the other important thing mom said. I looked at my tall dark and handsome foxboy boyfriend and smiled. Then I finally replied, "Stace is still totally supportive and understanding about all this stuff, even the fox stuff. And um, actually that's another thing we needed to talk about? Now that you know what's happened with me."

Mom sounded curious and wary as she asked, "What do you mean?"

My boyfriend was watching and listening to my side of the conversation so he knew where it was going. And he gave me a little nodd so I knew it was ok to proceed.

After a deep breath I told mom, "So um um, it turns out Stace is trans as well? He used one of those little plushies too. Now he's my boyfriend..."

After a long pause mom said, "So you turned into a girl, and Stacey turned into a boy, and you're still a couple? Still boyfriend and girlfriend, just traded places?"

I couldn't help rolling my eyes, "That's a huge oversimplification mom, but yeah, if you want to put it in those terms. He's still using the name Stacey, or Stace, since it's one of those names that works either way? But his pronouns are he and him, like mine are she and her. I'm a girl, he's a boy, and we're still together. We both love each other for who we are, not what's between our legs."

That led to another pause in the conversation, while my mom processed what I said. She finally asked, "All right Megan. So will you and your um, boyfriend, be coming over here to join us for dinner tonight?"

"Actually mom, we were wondering if we could meet you at a restaurant instead?" I replied. I came up with some good excuses on the fly, rather than tell her the real reason we didn't want to go to their place tonight. "That way nobody has to cook or worry about cleaning dishes, and it'd be easier for us. You know we don't have a car, and your place is a bit of a hike by public transit."

That led to a brief discussion, but me and my mom finally agreed on a place that wasn't too inconvenient for anyone. It was about a twenty minute bus ride for us, and a twenty or thirty minute drive for them, so it was more or less in the middle. And we all liked the food there, it was a kind of semi-casual steak-house sort of place.

Mom and I made plans to meet there for six, then we said our goodbyes and I finally got off the call.

"So six o'clock tonight," I said as I looked to my boyfriend. "Which means we should be out of the house at five-thirty, to catch the bus."

Stacey nodded, "That gives us plenty of time to get ready."

"Yeah..." I grimaced slightly as my anxiety stirred. Me and my foxboy boyfriend were going to meet my parents, and suddenly I wasn't sure if I was ready for that after all.

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