Chapter 10: 10. Meeting Mom & Dad

"How are you doing cutie?" Stace asked quietly.

I grimaced and responded just as softly, "I'm feeling a little self-conscious right now."

He glanced at me then smiled, "Well you look fantastic Meg."

"Thanks," I replied with a smile, though I couldn't help blushing as well. "But that's not what I'm worried about."

My boyfriend nodded, "I know cutie. I'm feeling it too. At least it's Sunday evening, rather than rush hour."

That made me grimace again, and I couldn't help worry what it'd be like travelling to and from work. I probably wouldn't have to worry about that for a while, but Stacey would find out on Tuesday.

Sunday evening wasn't so bad, and the bus was only about half full so we got a couple seats together. That was still uncomfortable though, the seats didn't have any room for our tails at all. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling too confident about standing instead, since that'd leave our tails sticking out exposed at the back. I could easily imagine someone being curious or just annoying or whatever, and grabbing hold or tugging on them or something.

And that's not even taking into account the stares. The driver stared at us when we boarded, and everyone else on the bus stared at us as we found our seats. Even fifteen minutes later it felt like everybody was still quietly staring at the two of us.

I tried not to worry too much about that sort of thing though. It was something I could - and definitely would - worry about later. More pressing was the fact that very soon we'd be at the restaurant, then me and Stace would be having dinner with my parents. My mom and dad would get their first look at me as a girl. And their first look at Stace as a boy. At least we both looked good.

Stacey was wearing a pair of nearly-new black jeans that used to be mine, and a new dark-grey button-down short-sleeve shirt. He'd combed his hair so it wasn't quite as wild-looking, and over-all he just looked like the epitome of tall dark and handsome. I was almost worried other girls would try and steal him away from me.

I'd put on one of my new outfits, I went with pale pink leggings and a long pastel-purple tunic-style top. I brushed my hair and did some subtle make-up to round out the look. I also had my purse slung over my shoulder. I thought I looked ok, way better than I did before the transformation, but I didn't think I looked at stunning as Stace did. I kind of regretted not getting a pure white outfit, but when I was shopping for clothes all I could think about was white clothes would get dirty.

At least the weather was perfect. It was the end of July so we still had a few hours till it got dark out, and for now the sky was clear and the air was warm. There was just enough of a breeze to keep the air moving without being cool or chilly.

Then our ride on the bus was over, and as stressful as that had been it almost felt like it went by too fast. The two of us covered the half block from the bus stop to the restaurant in no time, and as soon as we were inside my boyfriend gestured, "There they are."

I couldn't actually see them due to my height, while Stacey had no trouble seeing past a few tables full of seated diners. He led the way, and once again we had a few dozen strangers all staring at us. That paled though when we got to the table, and suddenly it was my parents looking instead.

Mom and dad both stared wide-eyed at me for a few agonizingly long seconds, before they shifted their attention to stare at my boyfriend for a few more seconds. Then my dad finally snapped out of it and got to his feet.

"Megan? Is that you?" he asked as he looked down at me. I hadn't forgotten how tall my dad was, but I was maybe a little unprepared for how small I'd feel standing in front of him. Dad was taller than I used to be, in fact he was about ten centimetres taller than Stace's new height, and I felt like a little kid in comparison.

Mom stayed in her seat, and she was still staring as she commented quietly "You're so tiny!"

I blushed and cringed and maybe smiled a little all at the same time. Then I greeted them, "Hi mom, hi dad. Yeah it's me. I'm Megan. And this is my boyfriend, Stace."

"Hello again Mr. and Mrs. Reed," Stacey greeted them both with a relaxed friendly smile. "How are you two doing this evening?"

Dad just nodded slowly, then gestured "Please, sit down. Then we can order some drinks?"

Perhaps in an attempt to impress my folks Stace decided to act like a proper gentleman, he pulled a chair out for me and made sure I was comfortable before he took his seat next to me.

Happily the chairs in this place were the kind with a gap between the back cushion and the seat cushion, so there was room for our tails. I still made sure to wrap mine around onto my lap, so it wouldn't get in anyone's way behind me. My boyfriend did the same thing, and soon the four of us were comfortable, with me and my boyfriend on one side of the table and my folks across from us on the other side.

Then dad waved down our waiter who stared for five or ten seconds before taking our drinks orders. And everyone went with something alcoholic, it felt like we all needed that to take the edge off a bit. Dad ordered his usual rum and cola, while the rest of us got wine.

We exchanged some awkward small-talk while we waited for the drinks, and for the first minute or two afterwards. It was dad who finally kicked off the more serious conversation, after another sip of his beverage.

"So," he said as he looked at me, "You're a girl. And a fox."

He didn't sound angry or upset, instead the tone of his voice was more surprised and uneasy. And maybe a tiny bit freaked-out.

I nodded, "Yeah. I've known about the girl part for a while? I've been seeing doctors and going through the gender clinic downtown. I filed for a legal name change a couple months ago, that just came through the other day. And I was about to start hormone therapy this weekend. Then the um, fox thing came up Friday night after work?"

"And before you ask," I added with a happy smile, "I love it dad. I don't think I've ever been happier? Like I told mom earlier, this is a dream come true. Or a miracle. It's perfect and wonderful and it's me. The real me."

Mom asked, "But why are you so small? You must have lost an entire foot of height!"

I was still smiling as I shrugged, "I'm part arctic fox? And apparently they're one of the smaller breeds? I don't mind though, seriously! I always felt too big and gangly and stuff before? This is perfect. Like I said, this is the real me."

The conversation paused there as the waiter came around to check on us, but nobody had even looked at the menus yet. We started looking at that point though, and when the waiter came back a couple minutes later we were ready.

After we all placed our orders dad looked at both me and Stace and asked, "Sorry if this is getting a little personal, but you two are still ok together? It's like you sort of traded places I guess?"

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I glanced at my boyfriend then told my dad, "We're definitely still ok together, but I don't think it's like we traded places? I don't really want to fall back on gender stereotypes but Stace was always the strong confident one. I think he's been the man in our relationship all along."

The tall handsome foxboy smiled at me and teased, "You don't want to stereotype but you go ahead and do it anyways hmm?"

While I was blushing he addressed my dad in a more serious tone, "Kidding aside, Megan's right. I only realized I was trans recently, but in retrospect I can see the signs were there all through my life. As for her, she's been out to me for a couple months and I've never doubted that she was a girl. The only thing that's changed in the last two days is everyone else can finally see the real her, that I've known all along."

Dad sort of looked thoughtful and nodded slowly, but I knew him well enough to know what that expression meant.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes I'm still attracted to him dad. I mean, come on? Who wouldn't be? Look at him, he's hot!"

That made both my parents blush, while Stace smiled "Right back at you, cutie."

My folks decided not to push for any more information on that front, and instead my mom asked "So you both got those small plush keychain toys? Or did you just have one and shared it?"

"We each have our own," Stacey replied. "Meg's is a pure white arctic fox, mine's a black-furred red fox. Two different species."

I asked mom, "You said Mrs. Turner's daughter got one of those as well?"

Mom nodded, "I haven't met Blossom myself, but when I met Denise for coffee in June she told me all about her daughter. I honestly didn't believe it at first, but she had pictures on her phone."

"Next time we meet I'll have to tell her about you hon," she added with a bit of a blush.

"That's pretty neat," Stace commented. "I didn't think there were that many folks like us around? Megan found out about those plushies online, but I've seen fewer than a dozen people claim to have them. I guess there's lots more who aren't on discord, or aren't on the servers I've been on."

Mom didn't know anything about discord, she thought the internet was all email and facebook, but she told us what her friend said about Blossom. Which wasn't that much, the most interesting part of the story was that the cowgirl was actually friends with two more demi-humans, a wolfgirl and another foxgirl.

The four of us talked about that a bit, both my parents admitted they were more freaked out about the animal stuff than they were about me and Stace being trans. And I couldn't help shedding a few joyful tears when both my parents said they were happy for me, that I got my miracle transition and that I was so pleased with the results.

They were glad me and Stace were still happy with each other too, which made me feel really good as well. After all my anxiety and fears about coming out to my folks, it felt like everything was turning out better than I could have ever imagined.

The emotional topics were put on hold for a bit when the food arrived. As usual dad got a big sirloin steak and a loaded baked potato, while mom had her typical filet mignon and roast veggies. I got a small filet too, but had fries on the side. And Stace got a t-bone steak, with fries as well.

We all got refills on our drinks, then talked a bit about more mundane stuff while we ate. Mom and dad told us they were going to drive down to Niagara for a few days next month to tour around the countryside and visit wineries and stuff. And I told my folks I'd updated my résumé and I'd started looking for a better job again, something in graphics design.

All in all, it was a good meal and a positive experience. After dinner Stace admitted he hadn't spoke to his parents yet, but he'd emailed them. He also mentioned that he'd emailed work and still had to have that discussion with his manager, but he was hopeful there wouldn't be any problems.

The four of us finished up with some coffee, then my dad paid for all of us which was nice. Even if I was secretly hoping he'd do that all along. And finally, when we left both my parents gave me hugs. They were still a bit freaked out by my fox ears and tail, and my small size, but they accepted me for who I was and that made me really happy.

Stace and I thanked them for dinner and bid them a good night, then we headed for the bus stop while my folks got in their car and set off for home.

There were about as many people on the bus for the trip home as there'd been on the ride to the restaurant, and once again it felt like every last one of them was staring at us. About halfway home Stacey pulled his phone out to distract himself, and started checking his emails and messages.

Suddenly his eyebrows shot up and he gasped "Holy shit," before bursting out in a few seconds of barely-controlled laughter.

Once he'd calmed down again he showed me his phone, so I could see what he thought was so funny. I was surprised to see he'd been laughing at a short email from his dad, and even more surprised to realize it was a reply to the long serious coming-out email Stacey sent both his parents earlier.

"Finally!
I've got two tickets to the Argos game next Saturday, what do you say you and me go support our team while the two of us talk about girls? Then after the game I'll take you over to my favourite strip joint and we can ogle some T & A while we down a few brews?
I'm kidding!!!
Seriously son, I'm happy you've figured yourself out, and I'm proud of you for coming out to your mom and me. We'd love to see you when you have time for a visit, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about.
Love, dad.
Ps. Seriously though, I can get us tickets to the next Argos game if you're interested? We can start making up for missed father-son bonding time while we watch football?"

My eyebrows crept up as I read it, then I looked up at my boyfriend with wide eyes and commented "Wow. Your dad seems pretty laid-back, if he's already making jokes about this."

Stace nodded, "Yeah. To be honest he's always been pretty calm and pragmatic about stuff? Then again he hasn't actually seen me yet, so far he just knows I'm trans. He'll probably freak out a little more when he finds out I'm a foxboy."

"Yeah," I grimaced. "What about your mom?"

He shrugged, "No idea? She hasn't responded to my email yet. I have a feeling that means she's taking it a little harder than dad. I was thinking, maybe you and I could meet my parents somewhere for dinner tomorrow night? Assuming they're interested."

I couldn't help feeling a little anxious about it, but I felt a little better now that I knew things were mostly ok with my own parents. And seeing his dad's email helped a lot too.

"Of course Stace," I nodded. "I just hope your mom will be as accepting as your dad seems to be."