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Helen had brought our biggest vehicle to the hospital, a hugely expensive Lexus GX-470 that was loaded to the gills with every option available when our parents had purchased it.

"I figured we might need the space." She said, interrupting my ruminations as I opened the rear passenger's side door for Aiden. He'd woken up, in the meantime, from his short nap and yawned widely.

"I agreed, today we might need it." I replied. "In you get kiddo." I said softly to Aiden getting him to climb in and get himself buckled in.

"I'm ten not two." He groused softly.

"I know that Aiden, but today some of your actions have said that you still are a little kid in mind, if not body."

"When will you treat me my age?" He asked almost plaintively.

"Well that's really up to you Aiden. You can determine how I treat you."

"I want to be a big kid."

"Well then that will take some effort on your part since that means retraining your body to use the toilet."

"What about the other things?"

"Well I think for the short term we can keep doing that as long as we do them in private at home." I replied smoothly. The things that he was referring to probably would take him longer to wean himself from, and they also helped him bond properly with me so that his grief period over the death of his family would be both short and minimally traumatic.

"What is he talking about Matt?" Helen asked me.

"Sis you know how your breasts right now are flat?"

"Yes... do you mean to say the reason that your breasts are more prominent than mine is because they are lactating?"

I nodded softly, "They were getting almost painful when Aiden helped me, and himself."

She chuckled warmly. "He helped himself in more ways than one. Emotionally he was finding a bridge between his old family and his new one, and he was filling his stomach."

"You know better than I do sis, you're the psych major."

She leaned over to me and softly whispered into my ear, "And you're more than that now to him, you're his new mom."

"But..."

"Matt does it matter what gender you were before, what matters now is the fact that now you're as capable of having a baby as I am. Furthermore, I saw the looking his eyes when he looked at you, it wasn't the look of a child looking at his father, but rather his mother."

I looked back at Aiden, who was looking out the windows of the truck and fidgeting slightly, the seats in the vehicle weren't really all that comfortable to us now, since they hadn't been designed for tails. The feelings that welled up inside of me as I looked at Aiden made me realize that what my sister said was true. I wanted to nurture Aiden and comfort him, not challenge him and push him to do more than he was ready to do. Finally I looked back to Helen and nodded, "You're right Helen, will you help me do this? I can't do this alone, hell I don't even know where to start."

"Matt the best advice I can give you is to follow your own heart. It won't let you go astray much, and if you do go wrong you'll have to comfort him and try to make him feel better."

"Okay, but..."

"Don't worry brother, you aren't in this alone, we're a family and we'll get through this together."

I sat back slightly, feeling a little better about the situation and then growled as I felt the back of the seat pinch the base of my tail. These seats were far from comfortable and they made me feel awful since they weren't designed with tails in mind.

"We'll get these seats modified as soon as we can." Helen stated, reading my body language perfectly.

"We'll have to do the same thing to all of our cars."

The road into the center of the city wasn't completely clear as there were a number of deserted vehicles on the road including what looked like a burnt-out police car.

"Helen do we have anything to defend ourselves with?"

"You think I'm crazy Matt? Of course I brought a weapon, or two. Your .45 Lugers are in the glove box."

"Thanks sis." I replied pulling the box open and chuckling. She'd put the box they came in and the double holster belt into the big glove-box along with two boxes of .45 ACP ammunition.

"You carrying?" I asked her as I pulled the gun box out and opened it revealing the two black handled toggle-action semi-automatic pistols.

"Yes... I have my P-226."

I smiled nodding as I placed a loaded clip into the butt of one of my pistols and clambered a round before turning on the safety.

"What about the police Matt? If they catch us with loaded guns we could get into serious trouble."

"Sis I'd rather be in trouble and alive then perfectly legal and dead." I replied finishing with the second pistol before loading one of the spare clips. I also took a moment to top up the two clips in the loaded pistols so that they would be carrying a full load of eight rounds. "These weapons are to defend not just myself, but also you and Aiden, from the kind of person who wouldn't stop twice to kill a family to take everything that they own."

After a moment she nodded shifting slightly, enough so that I could see the butt of the holstered .357 automatic towards the back of her skirt. "I bet you a hundred bucks your pistol is loaded and primed as well."

"No bet Matt, I'm not that crazy as to carry around an empty gun."

Finally we parked near one of our favourite downtown clothing stores and I climbed out, pausing to strap the heavy belt around my waist with its freight of weapons and ammunition.

Aiden had already jumped out and was softly rubbing the base of his tail with a hand. "Those seats hurt momma."

I looked at him as a rush of warm feelings trickled down my spine like warm water, before I crouched down and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry cub but we have to use them until we're able to get them modified for us, okay?"

"Okay." He replied with a hug of his own.

A small part of me was slightly disappointed that he hadn't called me mother again, but I pushed that aside as I stood up and surveyed the area. "Come on Helen let's get moving we're burning daylight and I don't want to be here when the sun goes down."

"Nor do I Matt. I have a feeling that after the sun goes down things can get a bit ugly here."

Aiden reached up and took my left hand, leaving my right hand free in case I needed it.

Right inside of the door to the store was a man holding a rather intimidating pump-shotgun. "Don't cause any trouble you hear or you'll make the acquaintance of old Betsy here." He said fondly patting the weapon with his free hand.

"We won't cause anything, you have my word on that."

"Good." He replied shortly as we headed to the children's department.

"Come on Aiden we have to get you dressed now, that hospital gown isn't hiding much from the world."

"Can I have some real underwear?"

"How about we wait and see son. When you can make it to the toilet for two weeks in a row then we'll get you some new undies."

"But mom..." He whined softly.

"Aiden how would you like to have a wet accident in your pants in public?"

He shook his head violently causing his dark brown hair to wave behind him. "No... that would be really bad."

"Yes it would, now is there a way for us to ensure that even if you have an accident that other people won't know that you've wet?"

"Uh..." He looked up at me and I could see the conflict in his eyes. He didn't know if he could stand to wear diapers in public, even under normal clothes, but the idea of wetting himself was marginally worse.

"Aiden I'm not doing this to embarrass you, I'm doing this to help you." I softly said hugging him, one of my hands softly patting his bottom under his tail, feeling the warmth of a freshly wet diaper. "You're wet son."

He burst into tears hugging me tightly his muzzle in the gap between my neck and shoulder.

"Matt how about I go get some clothes for you two. This first period of adjustment is going to be rough on both of you."

"Thanks Helen, you're a lifesaver."

"Matt, you're doing fine so far. You aren't pushing him too far, and you're supporting him like any mother should, even when he's still finding that he's not the same child as he was before."

Nodding I gently rubbed Aiden's back as one of the floor people came up to us. "Having a rough day?"

"We just woke up within the past few hours, though Aiden's been awake for a bit longer and the change has been hard on him." I replied rocking Aiden softly. Even though he had just turned ten it was hard to see that considering the fact that he was small for his age, under four and a half feet tall and eighty pounds, moreover the way he was acting further reinforced his apparent youth.

"I can see that here. We have a room upstairs where things are much quieter, and you can have some privacy."

I looked at her face and into her eyes before nodding my head feeling that I could trust her. "Okay lead the way. Come on Helen I'd like you to come too so that you know the way."

Nodding she followed me as we made our way up the stairs into what I surmised was the store's staff lounge.

"We should be okay here sis."

She looked around as I sat in a reclining chair that had a gap in the back where I placed my tail. "Okay, I shouldn't take too long. I hope I can find some altered pants for us so we don't have to butcher the ones that we buy."

"I hear you there Helen." I replied with a chuckle a adjusting my hold on Aiden, who was dozing softly in my arms, his brief storm of crying spent.

The floor girl nodded and took Helen's hand and led her from the room before Aiden looked up into my eyes. "You must think I'm baby."

"Not at all kitten. You're a good boy who's had a very rough time over the past few days."

"But I wet myself and cry like a baby."

"Aiden you've just lost the most important people in your life, you're in a new body that you aren't familiar with, and you've been adopted by two people you don't really know. If you didn't cry under those circumstances I would worry, and so would Helen."

"But boys are supposed..."

"But nothing Aiden, boys have the same emotions as girls do, human historical culture is largely responsible for the difference in the way males and females are treated. I know that because like you I was born male."

"But you're like momma was before I got sick."

"That's because I refused to become emotionally isolated and impervious like many other boys. So far as I can tell you've yet to become like those boys too."

"My big sister used to say that I was a crybaby."

"Just because you're emotionally sensitive doesn't make you into a crybaby son. In fact I think it makes you a better person than all of those boys who hide what they're feeling until their anger and frustrations boil over and they lash out at the world around them."

He looked up at me nodding softly. "What about me having accidents?"

"Son you're body has changed a great deal, hell in some ways I'm surprised that Helen and I've maintained our control."

Hugging me gently he smiled his muzzle in the same hollow between my shoulder and neck one of his arms hugging me while the other was, rather cutely, curled up in a fist with his thumb in his muzzle.

"Aiden you didn't want to grow up did you?" I asked him softly my hand softly petting the brown head-fur between his ears.

"It's really hard sometimes." He mumbled softly.

I nodded, he was one of those children who was still fighting the battle between being a big boy and a little boy. The problem was that in the end the adult part won out because the body matured so that there was no way the person could deny that they were an adult.

Most kids like Aiden had one of two fates... some of them never made it to their adulthoods as the petty frustrations of maturity caused them to seek a permanent end to their confusion and internal pain. The others buried their childishness and only let it out in controlled circumstances when they were either in private, or with others who understood what they were feeling. "Aiden... I'll help you as long as you let me help you, I know what you're going through and I want to help you find a way to find a healthy balance for you so that you can move forwards without letting go of the things that you need the most in your life.

He looked up at me again, his thumb still in his muzzle, his eyes wide and with tears leaking out of the corners of them. "Really?"

"Yes I mean it Aiden, otherwise I wouldn't say it. I don't make a habit of breaking the promised that I make, to anyone. If you want you can ask Helen about that kind of thing, but I promise you this. I will never force you to be somebody that you aren't, though I will encourage you to at least act your proper age in public, more for your sake than anything else.

He sat there in my lap for a few minutes and I could almost see the wheels turning inside of his head as he thought over what I had told him. Finally after what seemed like forever he nodded, "I think I understand momma."

"That's good Aiden. I don't want you to hurt yourself trying to be someone that you are not."

"I don't want to be hurt momma." He stated softly and I gave a soft chuckle, realizing that he wanted what I was offering him, a chance to learn how to balance both of his needs, that of wanting to be treated like a younger cub than he was, while at the same time maintaining the appearance of a youngster who was rapidly approaching adolescence.

After a few more minutes of quietly snuggling in my arms he wiggled free and stood in front of me on his own two feet before removing the hospital gown that he had been wearing since we left the hospital and dropped the paper-like garment to the floor with a small smile.

As he did that Helen came in through the door with a handful of shopping bags that seemed to bulge with all sorts of clothes. "Well this is the best that I could do Matt, though some of these aren't exactly suited for our new forms. The pants and underwear still have to be modified for our tails, but the skirts, shirts, bras, and jackets should fit.

"Okay..." I replied hesitantly as she walked up and put her bags on the ground before kneeling down to give Aiden a gentle hug.

"You been good for mommy kido?"

"Uh huh... sorry I was crying earlier daddy." He answered hugging her back tentatively.

"There's no reason to be sorry Aiden, you were afraid. When you cry that tells mommy or me that something is scaring you, or that you're hurting on the inside. Right now everything that you know has changed and you're unsure of what's going on." Helen answered apparently not really hearing Aiden call her father.

"But shouldn't I just try and tell you what is wrong instead?"

"Aiden that works when you can articulate how you feel, but sometimes you don't have any words for what is wrong and that is when you cry to express what words can't convey. It's quite normal and healthy son."

He looked at her and then at me then with a shy giggle he asked, "Daddy?"

This time Helen looked across at where I was sitting, shock clearly written large across her features.

"Helen I think that since you put me into this..."

"I didn't put you into that role Matt, you virtually volunteered for it with how you've been treating him."

"As I was about to point out Helen before you interrupted me, that since I seem to have taken on the role as his mother figure it is only fair that you take on the opposite role, unless of course he acts pretty much the same to you as he does to me."

"Matt I wouldn't know the first thing about how to be a father figure, remember before this all happened I was a girl."

"Helen that would put you in approximately the same boat that I'm in." I replied smoothly.

She looked sharply into my eyes, a slight hint of that lingering shock still in her grey eyes.

To comfort her I walked over and softly gave her a hug to reassure her that I still loved her as much I possibly could love anybody.

After a few minutes she began to relax and hug me back. I remained in that hug for a moment longer before I let go of her and she looked at one of the bags of clothing and pulled out a rather plain looking dark grey skirt.

"Aiden I know that you would much rather have a pair of pants right now, but first we need to get them altered so that they'll fit us."

He looked at the garment that Helen was holding than over at me before he grabbed onto her shoulder and lifted one of his paws from the ground to allow her to help him get dressed. He smiled when she handed him a red t-shirt with the logo of the local NHL hockey team on it. "Thanks dad... I may be wearing a skirt, but I despise pink!"

I had to laugh at that as I removed the rather tight shirt that my sister had given me before we'd left the hospital and took one of the bras my sister had in her bag of clothing. I was familiar on the mechanics of how to take one off, I had done it often enough in the past, but putting one on was more of a mystery to me.

Helen looked over at me and shook her head before she took it from me and began a quick lesson on how to put it on. "Matt this one of the larger chest sizes that I could get given you breast size. Furthermore all of the bras that I bought for you are designed for nursing mothers."

"Helen I should..."

"Matt don't you hurt Aiden by trying to wean him off too soon. He's just come through a very traumatic time and he needs all of the support that we can give him, furthermore when our daughter is born I want you to be able to help me feed her."

After glancing in her eyes I nodded gently and kissed her. "Okay love I'll do it your way, but this may become bloody inconvenient at times."

"Of course it will, but once we do some more shopping we should have everything that we need, both for you and for Aiden and our daughter, when she gets here."

I nodded and finished getting dressed, feeling more than a little stranger at the feeling of the skirt that I put on flaring and fluttering just above my knees.

Twenty minutes later we walked out of the store, almost two thousand dollars poorer then we had been when we walked in, but properly clothed and with a decent sized wardrobe for the three of us. The store was one of the higher class ones in this part of the city and had an alterations tailor who was now busily altering all of our pants and underwear to suit our new tails.