"At her parents confused expressions Sarah giggled. "I hadn't officiallybecome Sarah at that point, so Steve interviewed Brian... Well sort of..."Joan...asked, "I thought you had started your transition not too longafter..." She paused, not really wanted to say the words.Sarah smiled sadly, understanding her mother's pause. "It's okay mom, it'sin the past right?" Joan returned her smile and nodded. Sarah continued,"I started living as Sarah almost immediately once I got to the Thetahouse... I. .. do youmean?" Hugh asked, confused. Sighing, Natalie cleared her throat,allowing her soft sweet voice to shift back to Cal's natural tenor andspoke back, "Well..... if you want to know where Cal has been, here heis," as Natalie/Cal pointed to herself directly, a hand gracefullyplaced upon Natalie's bosom. "Cal.... but how.... did you get surgery?"Hugh asked, walking up towards her. She stammered some more. "Well, itsnot exactly surgery...." Natalie remarked, as she grabbed at her. The slave was unsure who or what had brought it here, but it hoped that the lack of visible scarring on the others' bodies meant that it too would be well treated. The slave assumed that the absence of its old collar meant that Matriarch no longer owned it, and hoped that its new owner did not enjoy causing pain.The slave was diverted from its mental wanderings by the novel experience of a room monitor delivering a message whose language content was completely inside the slave's audible range.. “If you’re okay with it, I can take you home. I completely understand if you feel uncomfortable, though,” I was sure to add. The relief in your eyes at the addition had a bubble of laughter welling in my chest, but I quashed it down without dropping the look of concern on my face. I was right—you were just as easy a mark as I thought you would be. My instincts were never wrong.“No, no, that’s fine,” you told me, giving me the second genuine smile of the night. “I-I really appreciate that. You.