"Okay," I said to Síle as we pulled up at the house. "Just let me do the talking."

She smiled and stared at me until I realized what a meaningless statement that was.

"Right," I said sheepishly. "Let's go."

I unlocked the front door and we both went inside, depositing our shoes near the entryway. Síle was looking around at everything as if trying to hold it in for later.

"Dad?" I called out in English.

A pause.

"Alyx?" he called out quizzically.

Oh. Right. The voice.

"I caught a bit of a cold during the camping," I called back. I could hear footsteps heading toward the entryway.

He came around the corner and stopped dead, staring at the two of us. His mouth was working for a bit before he finally got out, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Síle," I said. "She's an exchange student. Her ride left without her, so I brought her in my car."

"Well... that sucks," Dad replied, sounding genuinely upset.

"Yeah. I told her I'd see if she could borrow the spare room tonight. I could drive her on but I'm pretty tired."

"Sure, no problem," Dad said.

"Okay," I said to her in Clair with a thumbs up, "sounds like everything is fine."

Síle smiled and said, "Grá!"

He gave her an awkward wave, then asked me, "Where is she from? I didn't know you were studying another language."

Oops.

"I'm... not entirely clear about that?" I hedged. "Somewhere with some French influence, so that lets us talk, sort of."

"Uh huh."

I was trying hard to stay on the "no lies" side of the fence, but I figured it would only get harder, especially if either of my parents saw the Danna's touch on my arms. No doubt Mom would sense my in-progress transition immediately, and I had no idea if it was going to plow ahead even back on Earth.

"All right, c'mon," Dad said to Síle, nodding his head toward the hallway.

I sat out at the dining room table and waited for him.

Five minutes later, he came back out to the table.

"Well, kid, how deep in are you?" he asked me, going to the fridge for a couple of individual mini cheese wheels. He tossed me mine, and I caught it, looking down, not knowing how to answer.

"That bad, huh?"

I laughed, stopping just short of it turning to hysteria. Back in the hands of someone who cared about me more than just about anyone, it was hard to keep anything reeled in.

"I figure we have about half an hour," he said, "until your mom gets home."

"You won't believe me," I replied.

"I can't if you don't try."

So I started with, "I found a gateway" and went from there. I showed him pictures from my phone, of the forests, the two moons, the carefully discreet photos of Fleuve Clair.

"I mean, yeah, that does sound pretty crazy," he said. "It's so crazy sounding that I don't know why you'd use it as a cover story. I have to believe that you believe it, at least."

I took in and let out a shuddering breath. He didn't seem to be getting upset or calling me a liar, at least.

"She's not really an exchange student, is she?" Dad asked me astutely.

"No. Well, actually, sort of, yes?" I laughed. "We are both students, and she came to visit."

"If it were all true," Dad asked me, "what's your plan? What do you intend to do?"

I shrugged. "I have to go back," I said, feeling the weight of that decision with my family and familiar places right in front of me. "For a lot longer than a weekend. They need me."

He was quiet for little while, eating the rest of his cheese.

"How did so much happen in a weekend?" he asked finally.

Oh. I forgot to talk about that.

I saw Síle quietly poking her head around the corner.

"Everything okay?" she asked in Clair.

"Yes," I replied in the same.

She seemed to breathe easier after that. I gestured her over to the table, and Dad got up to get her a cheese wheel, too.

"And you learned a new language," he pointed out.

"Time is different there, somehow," I said. "For every one day here, it's about ten there. And they say it may change."

"Hmm. It does feel like you've been on hormones for a while," Dad said. "Your mom will definitely notice that."

"Weirdly no on the hormones," I replied, "but also kind of yes?"

He shook his head, not seemingly out of disbelief, but maybe of not knowing a way to gracefully add more to the pile.

"Okay," he said, back in business mode. "You know your mom. You won't convince her of that story, whether it's true or not."

I nodded. "Probably not."

"So we're going to make one that will."

"Carter!" Mom called out when she opened the front door. "Come help me with the groceries, yeah?"

"Coming!" I heard Dad call.

"Did Alex ever get home?" she asked at a lower volume when Dad rounded the corner to the entryway. "I see his car out there."

"Yeah," Dad replied cautiously. "Let me help you with the groceries, and then we have stuff to talk about."

"Talk?" she asked, already sounding on the defensive.

When their voices faded a little, I went out to grab the first load of groceries Mom had left in the entryway. I carried them into the kitchen to unload. Carrying that amount felt like it wore me out more than it used to; was I getting out of shape? Then I remembered again: I was losing shoulder muscles.

The front door opened again, then closed. Mom and Dad both walked into the kitchen, then. Mom set down her bags and turned to look at me, doing a double-take.

"Alex?" she asked, as if she wasn't entirely sure. "How could it change you so fast?"

"I told your mom about the gender transition stuff," Dad said, as we'd planned. "I hope that's okay."

I gave her a hug. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Even your voice," she said, a little unevenly. "I thought that doesn't even change."

"Mmm, modern technology!" I quipped.

I was blindsided by her sudden hug.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just... I worry for you. It's so easy to make bad choices that can be hard to undo. I love you."

I turned around and hugged her back.

"I know," I said. "I love you too."

"So... what do I call you now?" she asked, resuming putting away groceries.

"Still Alyx," I replied. "Though you might have to change how you spell it in your head."

We both laughed.

"A-L-Y-X. And, well..." I hesitated. What did I want to be called? That was a whole-ass philosophical debate I wasn't ready for. When I was physically male, it was super simple to hedge and say "they". Because I honestly didn't feel like I had much of a gender inside. Should I try to stake out that victory while I had a chance? But my last few days of starting to feel properly female had also made me second-guess myself. It felt a lot more natural to me. "Let's go with she/her," I finished.

I might come to regret that decision, but I didn't mind so much, and I felt like I wanted to give my mom something to stand on firmly.

She tousled my hair like she hadn't in ages and said, "Okay. My daughter Alyx, it is. I'll try, sweetheart."

I had to admit that I was both terrified and elated about this, but unfortunately, that was only half of the night's festivities. Dad looked at me pointedly. Okay, my turn.

"Also, I'm helping a friend with the spare room for a few days," I said.

"Oh!" she said, "bring him out!"

"Yeah, uh... Her name is Síle. She's an exchange student from Europe."

"Ohh, cool," Mom replied.

"She doesn't speak much English still, though. Let me go get her, just a sec."

I walked back into the guest room and found her playing with a puzzle that had mostly gathered dust until then. I let out a deep breath.

"Okay, let's go meet Mom," I said to her in Clair. "Almost clear."

"Okay."

The two of us walked back toward the kitchen. I had this moment, nearly an out of body experience, where I saw this scene playing out. Two regular humans, one human from another world who shouldn't technically exist on Earth, and one human half way between, a bridge. Like that music video with the drawings. Like I'd breathed magic on a page, and Síle just climbed out of it.

There probably won't be much understanding, I'd said to Síle. So just let me talk for you.

"Hey Mom, meet Síle," I said, gesturing toward her. "Síle, meet Mom," I said in English, taking up the role of someone with very little language knowledge.

Síle grinned and waved. "Bonjo," she said.

"Oh! French?" Mom asked. "Bonjour! Anyway, Alyx, can you help me get dinner ready?" Mom went on.

I smiled at Síle behind Mom's back and went over to the counter.

"Can you peel and slice those carrots?" she asked.

"Sure, no problem."

Then I realized two things: first, I would have to take off my long-sleeved hoodie jacket to avoid getting dirt into the food. Second, that was going to expose my Danna's Touch.

Oh well, I had to deal with this sooner or later.

"Okay Mom, last surprise tonight, I swear," I joked with her.

"Just a sec," she replied absently while I took my jacket off.

She turned around with a glass oven dish in her hands, containing sliced onions. Her face dropped instantly from a joking "what now" to a look of genuine terror. The pan fell, shattering into a million little cubes, bits of sliced onion flying everywhere at high frame rate.

And then she really surprised me, with a simple whisper.

"Danna."