Stephanie (Part 2) - The Wedding

Six weeks came and went. With Stephanie’s muscle memory and Graham’s mental memory, the couple learned not just the Waltz and Quickstep, but also a passable Jive during the lessons in the local primary school.

The teacher was amazed that they progressed so quickly.

“You seem to know what each one of you is about to do before you do it. Your mutual empathy is amazing.” she said once.

School carried on towards the end of the school year in July, and both Stephanie and Graham had arranged through their Head of Year for them to be together in the same classes the following year.

Stephanie’s shoes arrived in the post. Dyed to one of the 60,000 colours listed in the C.I. (Colour Index) and she had a buzz of excitement at the thought of being a bridesmaid at Serena’s wedding.

As they day approached she was invited to a rehearsal of the ceremony at a nearby country house and Graham came with her. The wedding planner from the venue was punctilious in making sure everyone knew what to do at any point in the day.

Stephanie knew that Serena, the two mothers and the three bridesmaids were due to have the whole morning of pampering with a hair stylist in attendance, then nails done to perfection and lastly, a professional make-up artist would work their magic on the women.

The wedding planner was put into a ‘seven and eight’ where she realised that the groom, Boyce, had not chosen enough ushers. Graham was pressed into being an usher. He was told just to ask politely which family the guests were from and then to guide them to the correct side of the marriage venue. Remarkably, he seemed to know that in advance, although he made sure that no one really noticed. (Note. 7/8 or seven and eight is Cockney Rhyming slang for a state. A high level of anxiety!)

Over a sandwich lunch Graham was introduced to the groom and various members of both families. He was polite, and made every effort to hide the fact that he knew them all already.

On the following morning Graham showered with care, and used conditioner as well as shampoo. He had always used conditioner as Stephanie, and didn’t see why men didn’t need conditioner as much as women, then he got dressed, but needed to call in his mother to help with the cuff links and double cuffs, then he walked round to Stephanie’s house. Stephanie and her mother had gone earlier for the long morning of ‘getting ready’ but Graham was to travel with Stephanie’s father and one of the groomsmen who lived locally.

“Will attending a family wedding be a new experience for you, Graham?”

“I did go to a couple as a small child, but I think I was more of a nuisance than anything. I really don’t remember much about them. Will there be any children at this wedding?”

“No, it has been made child free. I am not sure that I really agree with that, even if the children are a distraction.”

“I can understand why weddings are made child free. I didn’t understand what it was all about as a child. It was just being made to sit still for too long and was encouraged to eat something unfamiliar. I seem to remember that some years later I was told that I hated the shirt and clip-on bow tie. My parents had made a real effort to get a suit for a small child and I just made a fuss until they took it off.”

Nigel came downstairs also in a new suit. We have about an hour before we have to leave. Would either off you like a tea or coffee, or a soft drink?

Over drinks, Nigel quizzed Graham.
“How is the school partnership working?”

“Very well. We are both benefitting from it. Our teachers are very complimentary. We are planning to do our long study for our Extended Essay together.”

“Aren’t you supposed to do that on your own?”

“Not necessarily. If the topic is too big for one person then it is ok, for up to four people as long as the contribution of each is clearly outlined.”

“Do you know what you are going to study? We both want to read Civil engineering at University and we want to do a survey of the different types of concrete used in this town. It may sound boring, but it is vitally important to know when buildings reach the end of their lives and have to be knocked down.”

“What about the personal side of your partnership?”

“We get on very well together. We almost seem to know what the other is thinking. The school community think of us as a couple, and it is not far from the truth. We really don’t want to do things apart.”

“You have been a real pleasure to have as part of our family. I was uncertain about you getting together so quickly after meeting for the first time, but you both seem to have recognised something tangible that binds you together. Both April and I are really pleased the way that it is going.”

“Thank you. I always feel very welcomed here.”

April had left the three men some sandwiches as they would not get food at the reception until after 4pm.

The hour passed quickly with some discussion about the new season’s soccer fixtures. Graham didn’t have a particular team he supported, but listened to the good natured banter between Nigel, who supported West Ham, and Carl who was a Fulham supporter.

The car journey was only a few minutes and they were soon at the venue.

No guests had arrived yet, so Graham was at a bit of a loose end. He was due to be helping in the car park from 2pm so he kept occupied with his phone. Stephanie had left several messages, about what it was like to be pampered.

Graham was just a little bit sad, that it was an experience that he would never have.

He looked up and one car had arrived. He hurried to make sure they were parking correctly and knew where to go for the ceremony. It was made clear that with 230 guests and perhaps 100 cars things could easily go wrong.

A couple had arrived. Graham looked quite critically at the woman’s dress. He thought it showed a bit too much cleavage for her age and the hemline was too high, but it took all sorts of people and if the couple felt happy dressed as thirty-somethings rather than the late fifties that they actually were, then why should he mind. He did like the very flamboyant fascinator that was pinned at a jaunty angle on her head.

He already knew that they were Stephanie’s great-aunt and uncle, but asked politely who they were and ticked them off on the list before ushering them into the building where they would be offered a glass of fizz.

He didn’t have time to dwell on their arrival as two more cars swept into the car park. They carried a mixture of young men and women dressed quite casually. They had been fellow students at University of London of the groom. They had kept in contact for the several years since they had graduated, but the group was gradually shrinking in size as they married and started making babies. Eight were left and they had travelled together.

Graham didn’t have time to consider each carload as they arrived. Women struggled with stiletto heels on the gravel surface of the car park and Graham had to help one woman who was threatening to sprain her ankle on the uneven surface.

The sign against smoking caused some irritation when one of the other ushers politely held out an ash tray for cigarettes and one cigar to be stubbed out before they were guided to their seats.

When most of the cars had been accounted for, Graham checked his buttonhole to see it was still in place. He had chosen a blue dyed carnation with some asparagus fern round it. He knew the message would not be misunderstood by Stephanie when she saw it.

The Groom and best man were waiting at the front of the hall rather nervously when music started quietly from some speakers. The volume increased until the doors at the back were drawn apart and the bridal party entered.

The bride was holding her father's arm very firmly as the bridal party processed slowly and deliberately down the hall. Her dress was spectacular in brilliant white but with a pale green train that matched the dresses of the three bridesmaids.

Graham only had eyes for Stephanie whose makeup seemed spectacular with her elfin face framed beautifully with dark brown ringlets.

Graham knew, of course, that most of the ringlets must have been hair extensions, but the result was very special in his eyes at least, however the masterpiece had been achieved.

Graham noticed the corsage attached to Stephanie's wrist. It was predominately green with pale green rose buds wrapped with asparagus fern. Everything matched and Stephanie looked as if she had been born to be bedecked with such an outfit. Would he have been been able to carry off the role had circumstances been different?

He set such thoughts aside. They were not different, and he was happy with being Graham. He wondered if he would have had the gall to ask for stockings and a suspender belt, when no one else had thought about it. Probably not. He loved the idea once Stephanie had shown him the diaphanous delicates weeks ago.

But he was getting distracted. The celebrant was already intoning a much used welcome to both the guests and the participants. In fact the wedding with its exchange of rings took only a few minutes before the wedding party was ushered out for the signing of the registers.

Stephanie was required to hold the bridal bouquet during the signing as the other bridesmaids were old enough to act as witnesses. She seemed to outshine all the other women there in his opinion and his heart filled with pride. “I will make you my bride he said to himself.”

Stephanie could feel his emotions and looked over and a brief smile fluttered over her pretty face.

“I love you too.” She mouthed, leaving Graham with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Graham was placed at one of the less significant tables at the reception. Stephanie was on the high table with the rest of the bridal party.

“He knew all of Stephanie's relatives, but had to convince various uncles and aunts of who he was. One cousin welcomed him with a hug. I am Stephanie's cousin Seraphina. I think we have something in common apart from Stephanie. I will expect a dance later. I dance barefoot so you will need to be careful!”

“I shall do my best not to give you a serious injury.”

Graham mulled over the encounter. What could Seraphina possibly have meant? He didn't know anything about her from his previous life. He thought he had only met her once before.

When he saw Stephanie's mother away from other guests and with his interest piqued he asked about Seraphina so he wouldn't make any gaffs.

“She is the daughter of my sister, Rose. She has just finished at University reading something obscure to do with ancient history and is starting a doctorate. Rose did tell me about it, but it went in one ear, and out of the other one. Perhaps you can ask her about it. She is very nice but a bit Bohemian. She looks lovely to-day. I am sure there will be a queue of young men wanting to dance with her.

I understand that you did very well with the spinster aunts and other old folk on your table. They were full of compliments about this unfamiliar, but delightful young man who entertained them.

“I enjoyed their company. I have never found older people boring.”

Graham moved away from Stephanie's parents and found Stephanie in group of younger guests.

Stephanie's long dress still looked pristine and her makeup was even better close up.

“Hi you.”

“Hi you, yourself. I think you look stunning in that dress and all the accessories. Are those paste, or real emeralds?”

“I think they are real .My mother certainly thinks they are. They came from her grandmother”

“They are very pretty. They suit both you and the dress beautifully.”

“Thank you kind sir. I have enjoyed all the dressing up. I wonder who will be the next bride in the family. I like being a bridesmaid.”

Graham thought, and Stephanie caught the thought. Perhaps you will be the next bride in the family?”

“Don't tempt me. I feel addicted to marriages today.”

“I had a chat with your cousin Seraphina a little while ago. She wants a dance later. I couldn't think of any reason to turn her down so I am committed.”

“That's ok. I know that I am expected to dance with the best man and probably more than one of the groomsmen, but we will make sure that we have at least one dance. For the rest of the evening it will be a matter of duty, I regret to say.”

And so it was. Graham danced through the evening with both of the other bridesmaids as was expected, then he caught Seraphina's eye and he crossed the floor to claim that dance.

It was a slow waltz and Graham was happy to lead. They set off and Seraphina spoke closely to him. “I think there is more to your relationship than meets the eye”

“What makes you think that?”

“I recognise the signs.”

“I am not sure I know what you are talking about”

“Don't get me wrong. I think what has happened to you and Stephanie is lovely. Let me start with the details. You both are the same height and weight. You have the same hair colour and eye colour and just about every measurement Is the same except the obvious ones. You even share the same birth date.”

“All that is true, but fifteen year olds can be the same sizes and in a school of my size you would expect three or four people to share a birthday. There are only 365 days in a year, after all.”

“But you also chose the same subjects and enjoy the same sports.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I have just finished my degree in ancient history, and am starting my Ph.D in a few weeks. One area that interests me is where historical figures who are unrelated suddenly develop a hugely influential relationship. My hypothesis is that the pairs of people undergo some sort of melding of their personalities.”

“I think you and Stephanie have undergone one of these transitions. You two are just so perfect together. There is a sort of glow between you two that the guests recognise as something special but don't know what it is.”

“I need to talk to Stephanie before either agreeing with you or disagreeing. We do have something very special that arose suddenly. I cannot see a life ahead without her being an essential part. So far I can agree with you, but I will talk to Stephanie and we may talk to you or we may not.

“That's fair. I have a number of historical examples, but have never met a body swap couple. There, in my enthusiasm I have let the cat out of the bag.”

“I am sorry if I have offended. I am just so excited to meet two people who may prove an hypothesis I have had for over a year. My tutors just poo poo'd it, but I have thought over and over that it is the only way that certain historical events can be explained.”

“I do think we three need to talk, but not tonight, not here at the wedding.”

“Will you talk to Stephanie about what we have suggested?”

“She already knows.” was Graham's reply and he touched the side of his nose to make it clear that that fact was a secret.

“Please speak to me. I am desperate to have my hypothesis corroborated.”

“You know that even if we do talk to you that you might not be able to publish anything. No one, but especially a pair of fifteen year-olds wants to be turned into laboratory specimens. We have wondered if we were unique, and had decided that on the basis of probability that our situation may be commonplace.”

“I promise you absolutely that you will have complete anonymity.”

“It is now the end of our second dance together. We will be in touch, but we should both circulate.”

“As Seraphina turned, she smiled said quietly....”and Stephanie....”

...and Graham turned involuntarily when she used his old name. “be careful.”

“We will … I will …”

The rest of the evening was spent joining in with the two families. The bride and groom had long gone as was the custom.

Carriages was at 12:30 but the two teens were flagging by 11pm and Stephanie's mother drove them home.

Graham hardly had the energy to hang up his suit or put the rest of his clothes in the wash box, but he did and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Stephanie's mum helped Stephanie remove her make-up and let her hair down before they both crept off to bed. No sound was heard from that household until ten o'clock the following morning when Graham decided that it was late enough to phone Stephanie's mobile.

“We need to talk to Seraphina together. She has worked out almost everything. She thinks we are far from unique, but all the other examples she thinks she knows have existed are no longer with us. She tricked me into responding by calling me Stephanie.”

“She has promised that we can have complete anonymity, but I think her need for academic status may make her try to change our minds. I don’t think she would make a revelation if we refused to agree.”

The photographs seemed to take for ever to appear on a dedicated webpage, and Graham was included with Stephanie, and also in a group picture of the ushers.

He would treasure the photograph of Stephanie looking so beautiful, and he with his arm round her. They looked so perfect together.

Graham was surprised to see that after the beautiful prints of the bride and groom were excluded, his picture with him and Stephanie was the most popular. He asked his parents about it when Graham got his 10x8” unmounted print in the post.

His mother took charge of it straight away.

“You are not sticking that beautiful picture up in your room with drawing pins. I will get a frame for it when I go shopping later. It will go up above the mantelpiece. It is a beautiful picture of you both. I hope I am not being too sentimental, but doubt if I have ever seen two people more in love.”

Graham looked across at his mother and a tear trickled down his cheek.

His mother came round the dining table and for the first time in some years they hugged each other and both cried.

After they had dried their eyes Graham shared his love for Stephanie with his mother.

“When we first met I thought we were both fairly ordinary. The more time we spend together the more beautiful she seems to be to me. In this photo she seems to glow with something that is inside her.”

“I know I am biased but I think that is your doing. It is something you do for each other.

“I think we should invite Stephanie and her parents round for a meal soon.

“I would like that.”

Going back to school as Year Elevens was something of a letdown after the wedding. Stephanie’s dress had been cleaned and was now wrapped in tissue paper in a box under her bed, and all the accessories were in another box. The shoes were in soft bags in the bottom of her wardrobe.

Grahams suit was dry-cleaned then put away.

Routine has its own merits.

Seraphina had been in touch. She had hired a small room in a nearby Conference Centre one Saturday in late September. The room would be comfortable with easy chairs and hot and cold drinks were available.

Graham and Stephanie approached the meeting nervously.

Seraphina was there before them and was waiting in the foyer. She was dressed in a businesslike way, but kissed both Graham and Stephanie on the cheek in greeting.

When they had all got a drink, Seraphina started.

“Let me explain the background information I have and will take it from there.”

“Over the centuries there have been scattered examples of men forced into positions of power against their natural inclinations. I say men, because in historical terms it has always been men. Those men seem to suddenly find a life’s partner who is the making of them. Sometimes they are called ‘the Power behind the Throne’ or ‘Being made by a good woman’ , but please note that I am talking about historical figures here were we cannot ask them anything.” Sometimes these pairings are marriages but they can equally well be a trusted servant and master, or even a slave owner and slave. One example was a senior concubine and her master.”

“What is also clear is that if any mind or body swap has taken place then the two people are physically remarkably similar when it happens. Girls have boyish figures, and the boys are still adolescent, and they always have the same date of birth as far as one can ascertain from the records.”

“Rarely the pairing seems to work brilliantly and the couple go on to do great things together, but equally it can be a disaster and one or both members of the partnership never accommodate to the mind or body swap and you can imagine the consequences.”

“There are a few records where there has been one fatality, and the other member of the couple becomes mentally ill and has to be hospitalised.”

“Finally, where couples do talk, no one believes them and they tend to go into a World of their Own, and achieve very little in their lives as a consequence.”

“I am delighted to say, that you two are in the first category and seem to be accommodating to the change brilliantly. How do you feel about that?”

“We are delighted of course. That is hugely better than the alternatives. Hospitalisation, or worse is not attractive.”

Seraphina then took the couple through everything that happened on that first day, and subsequently.

With their agreement, she recorded everything.

“So how does the swap work now you have got used to it?”

“I don’t miss being a boy. In most respects I think I behave and react as a girl would. None of Stephanie’s friends seem to comment on anything unusual and I am quite happy in a group of girls. I chose my own clothes, and deal with periods as if I had had periods for several years. My friends know that I am part of a steady relationship and socially we are invited to events together.”

“I am very much the same. I missed all the pampering during the preparations for the wedding, but seeing Stephanie so beautiful as one of the bridesmaids brought tears to my eyes and the photographs of her in that green Empire Line dress are stunning. Being a boy now is clearly different, but I feel enhanced by having Stephanie beside me. Her beauty enhances me, and her constant companionship inside my head is a comfort and a close friendship that would be unreachable any other way.”

Stephanie clutched Graham’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Seraphina felt that both could have done with a good sob into the other’s shoulder, but she had prevented that by being there.

“Tell me about they way you can communicate.”

“It is like having someone there who is always supportive. There is no spoken communication. If there is something important then the other one of us knows about it instantly, but the ordinary day to day matters aren’t shared. There seems to be some sort of filter there. I don’t know if you would call it a type of empathy. I couldn’t give a precise definition of empathy, but it seems more than just an empathy. There is also the residual muscle or neurological memory from our past.”

“For instance, I knew straight away how to tie a tie, and Stephanie put on a bra the first day without thinking about it. I knew how to dance and Graham had all the steps built into his muscles. I knew them intellectually, but I had to train my muscles to do what my brain asked.”

“Empaths are people who can sense the feelings of others, and sometimes adopt those feelings as if they were their own. Your bond is not generalised as one would expect with an empath. Your bond is entirely between the two of you. It is almost a form of telepathy where thoughts and ideas are exchanged but mundane things are not.”

“Seraphina, do you have any idea how this happens or if anyone or anything controls it? Until I had my ears pierced, I had a strong feeling that our body or mind swap was reversible, but we both knew in an instant that there was no going back when the gun pierced my first lobe. It was a wave of absolute certainty.”

“No, I have no idea as to how or why it happens. Certainly there must be many occasions where two young people growing up at different rates reach a point where their bodies are sufficiently similar for this to happen, and there must be many cases where they also share a birth date. Like you, I feel that this must be more common than any of us know, but understandably the couples think they will be misunderstood or accused of witchcraft or something similar, and keep quiet.”

“Do you have any idea what happens when couples like us have children?”

“Why do you ask? It seems a question for the future. No, I am being unfair. With a bond like yours it must seem axiomatic that you will make love, and probably have children together.”

“The answer to your question is that I don’t know. The couples I have pinpointed as mind or body swaps have tended to be older and their child rearing days are over, but they are high profile, and that is probably why they are more obvious to someone like me.”

“My qualification in ancient history does not qualify me as a genetic counsellor, but there is nothing in the records to suggest that fertility is reduced, in fact the scant evidence suggests that the opposite may be the case. Whether the children have anything distinctive about them is even more uncertain. Kings inherit their kingdoms from other kings. A self-made king is a rarity. Take that as an observation, rather than a fact.”

“What do you intend to do with the gift you have been given?”

“Is it a gift? Not just chance?”

“I don’t believe that it is just chance. It seems to have purpose and the beneficiaries are the human civilization in general.”

“We intend to study the same A levels and to read Civil Engineering at University. We both enjoy making things and it will be a way in which we can contribute to Society and will enjoy doing it.”

“Do you know what will happen to us now?”

“There is not much to know. I have done an analysis of paintings and other images of possible body transfers through history. Many of the girls married at 14 or so in those days. From that rather inadequate basis I think that you both have passed a transition point where you could transition and that you will now diverge. I expect Stephanie will get a very feminine figure and Graham will become much more masculine, but that is hardly ‘rocket science’.”

“I think we are already diverging. I have abandoned the aa padded bras. Mum is taking me in to be measured this afternoon and expects me to skip A and go straight to a B-cup. I have also noticed that my hips are a bit wider and my knickers are certainly tighter. I haven’t tried on the bridesmaid dress since the wedding but it may not fit me even now.”

“I wonder if the suit will fit me. I haven’t tried it on since it came back from the cleaners. I have also noticed some development down below. Perhaps I should take a better look.”

“What else can you predict?”

I am getting really out on a limb here, but I would think it likely that the bond between you will intensify. I could imagine you setting up a Civil Engineering business with you both being directors, and I can only imagine the really really intense love making between you. It excites me just to think about it!”

“Remember I was a rather adolescent boy until two months ago. Developing into an attractive woman capable of making a boy’s heart beat faster is a bit daunting, and being fantastic in bed is even more daunting.”

“I am sorry to have to put these ideas to you, but you did ask. Is there anything I can help with as regards being a sexually active woman?”

“What one knows nothing about is difficult to ask questions about. I know it is a rather outdated idea that girls should be naive about sex, and it is up to their husband to bring them to the joys of love making … but we also know that husbands were also naive, and a few sessions in the local whorehouse does not prepare you for a loving relationship based on mutual pleasure and satisfaction. Even I know, that a few meaningless thrusts into a dry vagina is a recipe for a divorce.”

“I think we are getting away from my skill base. I learned by reading magazines for teenage girls. In my day they were fairly explicit as to what a girl or woman should expect of her partner. I suggest that that is as good a starting point as any, and Graham, you must have had the opportunity of reading those same magazines until recently. You could continue to read them. All I would suggest is that you are very careful about who gets to know about your transition, at some point it may be so remote in your lives that no one could prove anything even if they got wind of it.”

“One final thing I can suggest is that you both get genetically tested by one of the genealogy websites. Not genetic testing by a geneticist looking for damaging recessive genes, but just an anonymous site testing saliva for your ancestry. I think you might find that the results are interesting. Let me know if you want to share the results.”

“Thankyou for your time in giving me this interview. If I find out anything I will keep in touch. Please look after each other. I am sure your gift will give you both great pleasure and may even improve the human condition in some way I cannot imagine. Finally I would like to sign up as godmother to your firstborn and I feel absolutely certain that I can offer to be a bridesmaid at your wedding but don’t leave it too long or I would have to be the Maid or Matron of Honour and I don’t feel ready for that yet.”

After Seraphina had turned off her recording, she stood up and hugged both of them for several minutes, all three on the verge of tears.

“This chat has been a revelation. I hope with every fibre of my being that you are immensely successful in your lives.”