The Big Winner

by Jennifer White

 

Hal never had much luck when it came to gambling. He always lost at cards. When he tried the casino, he lost everything he had brought with him. Not that he needed the money; he had a comfortable life, and made a decent salary. But gambling always gave him a *thrill* that he didn't get otherwise.

One day he was in line to check out at a party store, where he was buying a case of beer for a party he was planning with the guys from work. They were all going to come over to his place to see the football game on his new HDTV.

The lady ahead of him in line bought an instant lotto ticket, so Hal decided to buy one too, for himself. He took a penny from the change dish, and rubbed off the numbers to see if he won. Nothing. The usual.

For the lady who had bought a ticket however, it was a different story. She blurted out a scream, and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Look at this!" she said. "Tell me that I'm not seeing things."

Hal looked carefully at her ticket. Then he looked again. No way! She had just won $5,000!

"You won" he said. "Congratulations."

The lady was so excited that she screamed again, then jumped up and gave Hal a hug. All the customers in line laughed or applauded.

"I won! I won!" said the excited woman. Hal's eyes were on her large breasts, which were jiggling as she jumped up and down.

"Why couldn't that be me?" he mumbled, looking down at his losing ticket.

 

Suddenly, the ticket looked different. For one thing, as he looked down, Hal noticed something strange about his hand: it was petite, the fingernails were long and red, and he was wearing three rings. That wasn't his hand! And the ticket he was holding: there were the matching symbols, indicating a win of $5000. He was holding the winning ticket now.

Hal's eyes looked up his arm. He hadn't been wearing a black sweater, but his arms were covered with black cloth. And his chest...he didn't have large breasts! How could his chest look like that?

He looked up, to see an image of himself staring back at him, with a look of shock.

"You..." he said, surprised to hear a high pitched feminine voice emanating from him.

"What happened?" said the man in *his* voice.

Hal realized something: somehow, as impossible as it seemed, a strange event had just occurred. Hal had switched bodies with the woman who had won the instant lottery. How was this possible? He felt his soft curvy feminine body with his left hand. Oh no. He was a woman now! Somehow, he had been transformed into a woman!

He looked up again at the man who he used to be.

"We had better get out of here" said the man. "You have a car right?"

"Yes" said Hal.

"Good. Because I walked here. Let me drive you back to my place."

Hal had to point out his black BMW in the parking lot. The man who he used to be got in, and started it up.

"I always wanted to drive one of these" he said. He sped off around the corner, down the block, and into a trailer park. Down a few rows, towards the back, he pulled in the dirt driveway of one of the units.

"Home sweet home" he said. "The key is in your purse, the one on the yellow key chain."

Only then did Hal realize that he had a purse slung over his shoulder. He opened it up cautiously, and looked inside. He had to rummage through to find the yellow key chain. He took the house key, and opened the flimsy lock. This was nothing like his nice house he lived in.

The trailer park wasn't too low class, but it wasn't the nicest either. He noticed the ten year old Honda Civic in the driveway. Her car. The outside of the trailer could have used a good cleaning, or a coat of paint. Inside, it was fairly nice, but the furniture looked cheap and old. Not like his nice new leather couch he had bought a few months ago. Or his nice hardwood dining table and chairs.

He went in, and so did 'she'. Once in the privacy of her house, he finally felt free to talk.

"What just happened?" he said, still squirming to hear a female voice speaking whenever he spoke.

"We changed places. You're me, and I'm you" said the man. In *his* voice. It did sound a little different than what he was used to hearing. More like his voice on a tape recorder or something.

"We've got to change back" said Hal.

"I don't know how we got like this" said the man. "So how am I supposed to know how to get back?"

"I don't know. But I think I need a drink."

The woman in Hal's body went to the cupboard, and pulled out a bottle of cheap whisky. She poured shots for each of them, which Hal gladly downed. He insisted on another round. After that was done, he felt a little light headed, but he put the glass out for a third round.

"You shouldn't drink too much" said the woman in his body.

"Why is that?" he replied.

"Because you're pregnant."

"What!?"

"You heard me. You are going to have a baby. You are about six weeks pregnant"

Now it had been horrifying so far, to suddenly become a woman. Hal hadn't even explored his new body yet, or even really touched himself. But now he found out something worse: he was pregnant! He was in the body of a pregnant woman! This was getting worse and worse.

"I was always a cheap date" said Hal's body.

"What do you mean?" replied Hal.

"Well, ever since I was a young girl, I would get tipsy real easy when I drank. And it always made me horny. Get a couple of drinks in me, and I wanted to find a man real bad. I bet that you're getting wet already, aren't you?"

"So that's what that feeling is" said Hal, squirming as he felt the wetness forming between his legs. A very feminine reaction, which scared him all the more.

The man held out his hand, and Hal found himself taking the hand, almost by automatic reaction. The man was leading him into the bedroom, and he wasn't trying to stop it.

"I don't think this is a good idea" said Hal.

"Why? You're already pregnant. You can't be pregnant twice at the same time. Now get out of those clothes babe."

Hal found himself undressing, with some help from the woman in his former body. She took off all of the clothes he had been wearing, and now he was staring at a naked version of his former self. One that was fully aroused too.

"I look so big" said Hal, staring at the naked body he used to inhabit.

"I always wondered how it felt for a man. And now I'm going to get to see for myself."

Hal had never wondered what it felt like for a woman. He had no desire to learn. But here he was, laying down and moaning as he was being touched by the hand that used to be his!

The woman in his old body knew just where to touch, and how hard, to create excitement and arousal. Hal couldn't resist the advances. He spread his legs wide open, and allowed his former self to mount him, and slide in.

"Oh god!!!" yelled Hal, not able to comprehend the amount of pleasure he was feeling. "Yes! Oh yes baby! Right there! Ooooh!"

He moaned, and his eyes rolled back up in his head, as the waves of pleasure upon pleasure swept over him. Orgasm after orgasm spread through his entire body, making him shake and tremble. The feeling was so intense, that for the moment, it didn't even bother him that he was a woman. He just didn't want this feeling to ever end.

 

Exhausted, Hal rolled over and closed his eyes. After the intense lovemaking, and with the shots of whisky kicking in, he felt unable to keep his eyes open. He drifted off into the most pleasant and satisfying sleep he had ever known.

* * *

 

In the morning, Hal woke up and discovered two things: first of all, he was still a woman. And second, he was alone. She had gone, leaving him here by himself! He got up, put on a robe, and went to the kitchen. He needed a cup of coffee. He felt like vomiting, and he felt dizzy. Not to mention the headache he had. As he walked, he felt a light cramp, then another. Inside him. He instinctively knew that this was a feminine thing. Something to do with being pregnant.

What if all the other symptoms weren't from being hung over? What if they were part of being pregnant too? He had heard about morning sickness. Was this it? He made a cup of instant coffee, but after one sip, he had to run to the bathroom, and lean over the toilet bowl. He coughed and gagged. Great. What a wonderful way to start the morning.

After cleaning up, he went and tried a glass of water. That stayed down at least. He looked around at his surroundings. Compared to his house, this place was tiny. And everything looked cheap and old to him. He didn't like it, not one bit.

He noticed a note on the table, written in his own handwriting. That handwriting he had when he had been a man, that is. It read:

 

Dear Anita (you're me now, so that's your name),

Thanks for the sex last night. You were really good. I decided that

I don't want to hang around here anymore. But let me tell you a few

things you'll need to know about your new life. First of all, you work six

days a week, 5pm until closing, at Dave's Diner up on Main Street. You

are a waitress there. The uniforms are hanging in the closet.

Secondly, you're not seeing anybody. After that rat Henry cheated on

me, I kicked him out for good. So you're on your own. There's food in

the pantry, and I just bought the groceries. The rent is paid for this month

too, but the car insurance is due, so don't go spending a lot.

Oh, and don't miss work, or Dave gets real pissy. And you'll need

to find a doctor for the baby. Sorry, but I don't know who the father is. I got

drunk at a party, and I did three guys that night. Sorry. I told you that I

don't handle drinking very well.

Good luck with the baby and stuff like that.

 

What? She had just left? And he was supposed to live her life? He'd see about that. He went to the phone, and dialed his home number. He was surprised to hear a young girl answer the phone.

"Is...um...Hal there?" he said, unsure what to say to her.

"Sure honey. Who should I say is calling?"

"His mother" replied Hal dryly.

"Oh Ma'am. You've got quite a son! I just love him!" said the girl.

"I'm sure you do" said Hal.

A moment later, he heard the phone being passed over to 'Hal'.

"Uh...mom?" said the voice over the phone, unsure and unsteady.

"It's me. *Anita*. Remember me?"

"I knew you'd call me" she replied, in Hal's baritone voice.

"Why did you leave me here like that? We need to get back!"

"That isn't going to happen" was the reply. "And don't come around here, and try anything funny. I called your lawyer this morning, and he went to a judge to get a restraining order on you. So if you come around here, or try in any way to contact me, you'll get arrested and thrown in jail. I told them that you're crazy, so if you try to tell anyone about yesterday, they'll think you *are* crazy, and they'll lock you up."

"Please, come over here so we can talk."

"Sorry, but Heather is waiting for me in bed. I think I'm going to like being a man. Good-bye Anita."

The phone clicked as the other end was hung up. Hal stared at the phone in disbelief. He was stuck being a woman now. And a pregnant woman at that.

* * *

 

Hal took a shower, and familiarized himself with his new body. He had always loved women. Now he was one. It felt so strange. It felt wrong. But he explored himself, feeling his new body, touching himself all over as the hot water ran over him.

His breasts felt tender and sore, but they were so large and so firm. They were wonderful. He just didn't want *them* on his chest. He also explored the warm wet slit between his legs with his finger. He shivered all over, as memories of the orgasm from last night rang through his head. That part about being a woman wasn't all bad!

He got out of the shower, dried off, and used the blow dryer on his long dark hair. He went into the bedroom, and found where the clothes were. He put on a black bra and panty set, that looked fancy. Then he went into the closet, and pulled out a waitress uniform. He had slept in late, and it was time to get ready for work. He put that on, and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked pretty. The top of the uniform showed a glimpse of his large breasts. Ideal for getting good tips from male customers.

He saw cosmetics on the vanity, so he put on lipstick, and tried some mascara. He had seen enough of his girlfriends do it before, so it wasn't too hard to figure out. He took out a pair of black shoes that had a 2 inch heel, and put them on. Then he grabbed his purse, and went out to the car, which didn't start until the third try.

Hal drove to the diner, where he had eaten before. He parked in back, found the time clock, and punched in. He looked around at the tables. Which were his? There was a chart on the wall that he looked at. He could see what his section was. Five tables. No problem. How hard could this be?

* * *

 

When Hal got home at 1:00 in the morning, he was almost in tears. First of all, his feet were killing him. Why had he chosen these shoes? They looked like something a girl would wear to work. But they were so uncomfortable! Every step was painful.

And the customers were so rude to him! The guys would ask for something like catsup, but they just wanted to get a chance to look down his shirt, at his breasts. Or they'd sit at the table for 20 minutes after they ate, smoking and talking. They'd ask for three refills on coffee or water. Then they'd leave a $2 tip on at $25 meal!

Had had to keep running so that all five tables were happy. And all he had to show for the night was $40 in tips, some of which he had to share with the busboys! What a lousy night. He went home, and went right to sleep.

 

The week that followed was more of the same. Hal was feeling stress from working so hard, but making so little money. And now, for some reason, his face was breaking out. That wouldn't help with the tips! He would have to figure out how to wear more makeup to hide it.

And the uniform was feeling tighter on him. He knew that if he was pregnant, his waist would soon be expanding. Was that what was going on? Between the morning sickness and the dizziness he felt from time to time, he was starting to hate being pregnant.

He cashed the $5000 winning ticket, but there was nothing in the trailer for a baby. Hal started to watch the ads, and started buying things that would be needed. A crib. Clothes. Diapers. Bottles. Baby formula. Blankets.

Part of him wanted to just end the pregnancy, but he had never liked the idea of ending a life by having an abortion. So there was no possible choice: he was going to have the baby. He'd just cope with it somehow.

* * *

 

The next week was fairly uneventful for Hal. He was getting more and more used to being a woman now, but that wasn't to say that he liked it. Every day, he still wished that he was his former self. But he was also starting to realize that if he hadn't reverted by now, it probably wasn't going to happen. He was going to be like this forever.

He felt bloated a lot, and had indigestion. He felt uncomfortable in any of the tight clothes in the closet. So he had to spend some more of the money at a maternity store, to get some comfortable things. He had looked through Anita's finances, and she owned next to nothing. There were no savings, no stocks, no retirement plan. Nothing like he had before. He was living paycheck to paycheck, and the lottery money was all that allowed him to shop.

And wouldn't you know it, one day the car died, and he had to drop $350 to get it fixed. At least it was paid off. But there was rent, electricity, water, gas, cable TV, and all the other little bills. Anita also had racked up $3000 in credit card debt. He tried to pay it down, but there wasn't that much cash to go around.

So he tried harder at work. He was a good waitress, but he just wasn't getting the tips he thought he deserved. He was getting headaches regularly now, and he was alarmed at all the symptoms he was feeling.

So Hal went to the local library, and found a book about pregnancy. He was very relieved to learn that what he was feeling was in fact very normal. The book recommended things for him to do, in order to ease the symptoms. He started following the recommendations, like having several small meals a day, instead of a couple of large ones. Or taking Tylenol for pain, because that was safe for the baby.

And of course, he didn't drink at all. Had he known he was pregnant, he would never have taken even those two drinks that first night. That seemed so long ago. He looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't showing yet, but he could see a 'linea nigra', which is a dark line of pigmentation that some women with darker complexions on their abdomen. And *he* was a woman with a dark complexion.

He sighed. Would he ever adjust to being female? He doubted it.

* * *

 

The days went on and on, blending into weeks. Hal calculated that he was 13 weeks pregnant now, based on what Anita had told him that first night, and the symptoms he was experiencing. The best part was that he had entered his second trimester, and the morning sickness was gone. It felt so good to get up in the morning, and not feel nauseous.

But it was still very hard on him. He hated being in this *female* body. It didn't feel right. All the emotions he was feeling were overwhelming sometimes. He didn't know what to do. How could he have a baby? How could he be a mother? It was an emotional struggle every day, just to live.

He was dissatisfied with his job, but there was very little he could do about that. It tied him up six nights a week, and in his condition, there was no chance that he could work a second job. Although he retained all the knowledge he had from his previous life, he didn't have a degree as Anita, and it would take four years of college (and a lot of money he didn't have!) if he were to try to go to school. And only then could he get a high paying job.

He looked at the help wanted section, but there wasn't much of anything available to a woman with no experience and no degree, other than jobs like he worked in now. Unable to improve his situation, he went back to work...

* * *

 

One day, a few weeks later, Hal awoke to find blood on the pillow. He ran to the bathroom to discover that he had been bleeding through the nose. He panicked, and called the hospital. But the nice nurse in the prenatal department assured him that women sometimes got nosebleeds, because the hormones in their systems can cause the membranes in the nose to swell.

"Eat more foods with vitamin C" she said. "That will help."

"I have been craving oranges" replied Hal.

"See? Your body knows. Good luck. Why don't you set up an appointment to come and see us, so we can check on the health of your baby."

"I don't have insurance" said Hal.

"Don't worry honey. We'll help you find something. You might be eligible for aid. Just come down, so we can make sure everything is all right."

"Thank you" said Hal.

He wanted the baby to be healthy, but he was afraid of being poked and prodded by a doctor. He wasn't quite used to being a woman, and it seemed scary to him. He wrote down 'orange juice' on the shopping list, in his neat feminine writing.

 

Hal went about the routine of living his new life. Not a lot of exciting things happened, but he wanted to keep things calm and quiet. And every day presented a new challenge to him. Like one day, when he was sitting down to go pee, and found that he was having vaginal secretions. He had read that he might get them, but to actually have something oozing out like that made him sick.

Or the way that his uterus had risen up above the pelvic bone, and was quite visible now. He was showing. Anyone looking at him would know it: he was pregnant. This was terrifying and exciting all at once.

But the uterus pushing up against his stomach was giving him heartburn now. He also found that he needed to sleep with his upper body slightly elevated so he wouldn't get it at night. He got so little sleep as it was, and he had read that he should get all that he could, if he wanted to be a healthy mother.

That was still such a hard thing to accept. He was going to be a *mother*. He was going to have a baby. Although he had been a woman for weeks now, it was still something that he had not, nor could not fully accept. And in his heart, he wished he could go back.

* * *

 

A couple of weeks later, the nurse from the hospital called, and asked how everything was. Hal responded that he was doing fine, but she kept insisting that he should come in for an appointment. He caved in, and set one up for the following day, which he had off.

Hal was almost shaking inside, as he waited in the prenatal area. He looked around at the other expecting mothers. Most of them were with their man. And some of them were quite large, closer to giving birth than he was. He was going to get all big like them. That was a scary thought.

"Anita?" said a nurse.

"Oh, yes" he responded, still not quite used to being called by a female name. The nurse led him back to the examining room. She asked some questions, took some measurements, drew blood, took Hal's temperature and blood pressure.

"This is called a Delee stethoscope. It is used to hear your baby's heartbeat. Would you like to hear it?"

Hal nervously put in the earpiece. There it was. A tiny, fast, rhythmic beat of the baby's heart. He looked up at the nurse.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she said.

"I can't believe it!" cooed Hal. It was the sound of his baby's heart!

Next, Hal was to have an ultrasound. He imagined some giant machine that they'd hook him up to, but it turned out to be just a small hand-held white device. He laid on his back, and the doctor moved it across his tummy. A white cable attached it to a computer of some type. A picture appeared there, but Hal couldn't see it very well from his position. The doctor hit a button, and a printer hummed.

"Here's a picture of your baby Anita" said the doctor, holding it out for him to see.

With a trembling hand, Hal took the picture. There it was. A picture of his baby! Inside him! He could hardly believe it.

The doctor prodded him and took down some notes.

"I measured the height of your uterus, which is called the fundal height. If you are 21 weeks pregnant like you think, then your baby is just above average in size. We need to get a workup on the blood sample, but I think that both you and the baby seem very healthy right now. But make an appointment for every few weeks, so we can keep an eye on you."

"Thanks doctor" said Hal, relieved.

But still, he felt uncomfortable in this body. And as much as he disliked it at first, the more it kept changing, the worse he felt. He felt fat. Bloated. And with his belly pushing out like it was, he felt like a freak. The hormones flowing freely through his bloodstream would have made a natural born woman uneven and upset. But for someone who never had the luxury of growing up female, nor having gone through female puberty, getting to know her changing body, it made things even harder. Even now, feeling relief, he cried. Why did he do that? He just couldn't quite understand. It made no sense to him at all.

* * *

 

But the following weeks were hard on Hal. He was just getting used to the image of himself as a woman, but he was constantly changing now. His belly looked bigger because of the baby. And he was gaining weight. He felt fat. It was like everything he ate went right to his thighs. He was starting to have anxiety about all that was going on.

And add to that the fact that he was starting to itch all the time on his tummy, as the skin got stretched tighter and tighter. He applied oils and creams to it, but the itch was starting to drive him crazy. He couldn't do it in front of customers at work, and that made him seem to itch all the more.

The baby was kicking now, and he could feel it moving inside. He felt so unsure of himself. How could he have a baby? There was so much he'd have to know. Should he have the baby at home? Or in the hospital? Maybe he shouldn't have done this. He was wracked with indecision. It was like every few moments, he changed his mind again.

He was pacing in his trailer, when all of a sudden he sneezed from the dust that had just been stirred up. As he sneezed, he felt a warm splash between his legs. A little spot of urine had just leaked out again. This had been happening every now and then. It had even happened once when he laughed at a customer's joke at work.

* * *

 

Hal was now in his third trimester. Work was miserable. Tips from men were down, since seeing a pregnant woman must have turned them off. But strangely, tips from women were up. But overall, there was less money to take home every day.

And Hal's ankles and legs felt more swollen. He was very tired of being pregnant, and just wanted it to be over. He was always feeling some ache or pain, in his legs, his knees, or his back. He felt like pacing a lot, since he was always anxious. But as of late, his walk was feeling more like a waddle than anything else.

It was hard to sleep, with such a large belly. It was like sleeping on a bowling ball. And when he did fall asleep, sometimes he'd wake up with painful cramps in his legs. The pain was so much, as he could feel a knot of muscle in the back of his legs. He gritted his teeth, and tried to stretch it out, so the pain would stop.

One day at work, he just had to sit down. Dave yelled at him, but he had to sit down. He couldn't do any more.

"I need to cut back my schedule" he said. "This is just too much for me."

"I'm sorry honey, but if you give up those hours, and I have to hire someone new, I can't promise you that you'll get all six nights back."

"Whatever. I've got to go home."

"Good night honey" said Dave, shaking his head.

* * *

 

Hal was dreading what was to come. How would he be able to put up with all the pain? He had read about women giving birth. How was he going to be able to handle it? He thought about it all the time, and it was getting on his nerves.

He had been back for another round of tests, and they told him everything was normal. He looked at the calendar. He was due in three weeks. Three more weeks! He was so big now, so tired. How could he endure the wait?

He never felt comfortable now, no matter how he tried to lie in bed. He had so much trouble getting to sleep now! But he didn't dare take anything to help him, because he didn't want to harm his baby. Taking tea helped, but then he had to get up all the time to go during the night.

It was that night that something alarming happened: the baby 'dropped' down lower. Instead of being up higher in the abdomen, it was lower in the pelvis now. At first, he thought he was going into labor. But there were no pangs, no contractions.

He tore through the magazine he had been reading, and was relieved to find out that this was something normal for first time mothers. *First time*. Like there would ever be a second time! He would never go through this again!

With the extra time off from work, Hal found himself compelled to clean the house all the time. The level of cleanliness had slipped for the past months, but now he was a flurry of activity. He constantly thought about what was to come, and read more baby books. He had to laugh when he found one that said it was normal for a woman to have a strong "nesting instinct" kick in around this time of pregnancy. Great. He was having another normal feminine experience.

He still wasn't quite adjusted to being a woman. It still felt wrong. And being pregnant like this made things even worse. He felt so large! He felt so inadequate. How would he know what to do? He wasn't really a woman. How could he even think of raising a baby?

And he felt so ugly now when he looked in the mirror. He was so large. So heavy. He didn't even look good in women's clothes anymore.

* * *

 

A few weeks later, Hal was getting nervous. It was past his due date, but he was still carrying the baby. And miserable about it. He just wanted it all to be over with. He rolled over, and tried to go to bed again.

He woke up to go to the potty, once again. Just like he did a bunch of times every night. He noticed that he was discharging some blood and mucus, which was kind of sickening to him. He never had a period, so he had never even experienced that type of discharge on a monthly basis. So it made this seem even worse than it would have for someone who had been a woman her whole life.

He had some cramping too, so it was hard to get back to sleep. By five in the morning, he gave up on sleep. The cramping got worse for him too. When he noticed that they were occurring every 7 or 8 minutes, he realized something: these weren't regular cramps, these were contractions!

Hal changed clothes, got into the car, and drove to the hospital. He was admitted, and sent to a room. The nurse talked to him, and the doctor. He put his feet into the stirrups, and they measured him.

"You're at 5 centimeters" said the doctor.

"What does that mean?"

"Your opening where the baby will come through dilates, or gets larger. Over time, it will get wider and wider, until the baby can squeeze through. You should get to at least 10 cm when you're ready. That's how we know that it will be a while, along with your contractions."

"They are every four to five minutes doctor" said the nurse.

"Very good. Let me know when we're close."

With that, they left Hal alone. He was so nervous that he thought he was going to explode. He was afraid of the pain. He rang the button to call the nurse.

"I've decided that I want an epidural" he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes. I don't have a high threshold for pain."

"All right. I'll make the call."

A few minutes later, a woman came in to administer the epidural.

"Sit up, and bend over" she instructed.

Hal bent over, and she administered a couple of shots in the back to numb the area. Then he put in the epidural itself.

 

The next time they checked, Hal was at 8 cm. The contractions were getting more frequent, and they were also less gentle than before. They were starting to hurt! Hal had to grit his teeth, and hold on to the hand rails of the bed as each one hit. This couldn't be right! He hit the nurse call button.

It was twenty minutes before she showed up. Hal was in real pain now, and he pleaded with her to up my epidural. And labor hadn't even started. She checked, and told him that he was over 10cm now, so they were going to move him to the delivery room.

He watched the ceiling as the bed moved down the hall, around the corner, and into delivery. The OB was there, and ready to get started.

"With the next contraction, really push" he said.

When the contraction hit, Hal pushed hard. It hurt. It really hurt. With each contraction, and with each push, he shrieked in pain. Sweat covered his head. The nurse wiped his forehead, and wiped the stray long hairs from his eyes.

After forty minutes of this, Hal thought he was dying. This was far too much pain for a person to endure. He pushed again with the next contraction, yelling as pain shot up and down his back.

"There's the head! Its out!" he said, which made Hal gasp. It was almost over. One more push, and the baby was out! Hal was screaming, and so was the baby.

Hal was surprised when they didn't just hand the baby to him. He wanted to see it! But they took it to a warmer, and dried it off. The nurse then brought the baby to Hal, wrapped in a pink blanket.

"Congratulations, it's a girl" she said. "She weighs 8'11oz, and she is 22 inches."

Hal looked at the baby in his arms. *His* baby. The baby that he had brought into the world. It's face was so sweet, so innocent. Hal could feel the warmth from his baby, and held it close.

"My baby" he said, looking at her again.

It was his baby. The baby he had carried for eight months inside him. He had done it. He had given birth. As he looked at his baby, all the pain, all the inconvenience, all the suffering he had gone through didn't matter. All that mattered was this baby.

A surge of love went through Hal's heart. He loved the baby. His little girl. One day, she'd grow up to be a pretty woman. Just like him. Him? No, that no longer seemed to fit. There was no frame of reference in Hal's mind anymore where 'him' and 'he' seemed right.

No, the baby would grow up to be a pretty woman, just like Hal. Like *Her*. She smiled and cooed as she touched her baby's soft skin. She loved her baby.

And she realized it was time that she let that *male* name go. She wasn't Hal, she was really Anita.

"Her name is Mia" said Anita. "Mia Anne."

"That's a pretty name" said the nurse, writing it down.

"I feel so tired" said Anita.

"You need some sleep."

Anita handed the baby to the nurse, and felt sad as she let it go. She wanted to just hold her baby forever. But she was so worn out. She needed to sleep. She was exhausted. It wasn't long before she had the first good sleep that she had in a month...

* * *

 

It wasn't for another two weeks after going home, that Anita finally felt like it was time to try working again. Now that she wanted to work, but there were bills due, and she was out of money. But being in her position, she couldn't afford daycare. And she hated the thought of leaving her baby with a stranger. But she had no other choice. She was able to get the woman in the next trailer to watch little Mia Anne for six hours a day. She'd use that time to get back to work.

But when Anita arrived at Dave's Diner, there was bad news.

"Sorry Anita, but we don't have a job for you anymore."

"What do you mean?" said Anita. "I was out for a couple of weeks, like we talked about."

"Nope. We had to hire someone else. Now we don't have any shifts for you. So you'll have to find another job."

"You can't do this!" said Anita, on the verge of tears. This wasn't fair! Just because she had been.

"You've been a good employee Anita. I'd be glad to give you a good reference. Oh, and don't forget to drop off your uniforms. They belong to the diner, you know."

"Sure" said Anita, fuming about what just happened. This wasn't right. And she knew just what to do.

 

Anita drove home, picked up Mia from the sitter, and took her home to feed her. When she breast fed Mia, it was a quiet time when she could really think. She felt calm and relaxed as she bonded with her daughter in the way only a breast feeding mother can.

When Mia was done, she went down for a nap. Anita put her in the baby carrier, and brought her out to the car. She carefully put the baby carrier into the rear seat, and strapped it in place. Mia Anne's safety was foremost on her mind.

They drove across town, to an office complex out on the west side. The man named Hal that Anita used to be had worked here. At the largest law firm in town. And she knew all the top lawyers there.

"Hello. My name is Anita Roland. I need to see Daniel Goldbaum please."

Daniel Goldbaum was a senior attorney, who almost never lost in court. He specialized in suing wrongdoers, and was known for the large settlements he could make them pay. Anita knew him from when she had been Hal. But she had to pretend that she only knew him from what she read in the paper. He was an impressive man, tall and imposing, with a crown of white hair.

"I have a case for you" she said, laying out exactly what had happened. She had lost her job as a waitress, because she had taken time off to give birth. She cited three legal cases where such a situation resulted in a large settlement from the employer.

"And in Smith v. Jackson Holdings, Inc, they held that such an action is grounds for..."

"Just hold it" said Daniel. "How do you know so much about case law? Is this a setup? I've never seen a waitress that can quote Smith v. Jackson like that."

"Well, I studied for a while, but I don't have a degree" said Anita. That was true. She did study (when she had been Hal), and she didn't have a degree (as Anita).

"I will take your case" said Daniel. "But with the net assets in a diner, I doubt we will be able to generate much revenue. But I have an idea. You obviously need a job now. And I have seen your legal capabilities are quite impressive. Let me hire you here, for my staff."

"Well, I live on the other side of town, and I can't afford daycare for Mia Anne" said Anita.

"We have on-site daycare here. And we can be as flexible with the hours as you need. Here is what we would pay you."

Daniel handed a slip of paper, which Anita read. Her eyes lit up. With that hourly rate, she could afford to move out of the trailer, and get an apartment closer to the office. And with her skills, she'd move forward quickly. She might even be able to take night classes, and earn her degree, so she could become a full lawyer again.

"I'll do it!" she said.

"Welcome on board" said Daniel, extending his hand.

"Tell me," said Anita, "a friend of mine knows a man named Hal Winslip who used to work here. Is he still around? She hasn't heard from him in a long time."

"Hal? No. Sadly, we had to fire him. His performance slipped, and he had a drinking problem. I'm sorry, but you'll have to tell your friend that he is no longer with this firm."

"Thanks" said Anita.

"No problem. I'll start working on the lawsuit immediately. Now lets go over a few more details...."

 

Anita smiled as she rocked Mia in her arms. Everything was going to be all right. She felt like she was a big winner in the jackpot of life...

* * *

 

Author's note: a good friend of mine recently gave birth to a healthy happy baby boy. I thought you might enjoy learning about some of what we have to go through when we get pregnant, so I based many of the events on her experiences. I wish you could all be real women, and get a chance to enjoy the miracle of birth yourselves, from a woman's perspective. You'll hate it while you're going through it, but afterwards, you look back on it as one of the best experiences in your life...

  

  

  

*********************************************
© 2004 by Jennifer White. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of StorySite and the copyright holder.