"She smiled and declared that I owed her one. The rest of the girlslaughed for this invariably involved dunging out the stables. I rejoinedMelanie and...the class plodded home through the increasing rain. By thetime we arrived at the school, the rain was lashing down and it took anextra hour to get everything ship-shape. Like us, the ponies wereobviously grateful to be home and dry. Once in the privacy of our study, Melanie interrogated me before ourfriends returned from the away hockey match.. Gonewere his modest collection of female attire. Things that he had collectedsince childhood and stored in a trunk in the attic of their modest home. Afew tears escaped as he gently caressed his earliest possession.A bra that had belonged to his mother and purloined from the laundrybasket in the bathroom of his childhood home years before. He'd only meantto try it on, but when the strap ripped, he knew that he'd have to makethe garment disappear and hope that his mother never noticed its. ‘Fucking bitch!’ Gary bellowed at last. ‘I can’t fucking believe you did that! How? How could you do that? Sit and talk like we’re going to go to couple’s counseling… and then… What the fuck?’ Julie took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves. There was nothing she could say that could possibly matter to Gary at this point. He was totally right. No one should have to worry for one second that their spouse would do what Julie had done. But the pictures… Julie had to say something,. The strange thing about it was that the decisions to stop and go weren't his or mine. It was as if one mind was operating both bodies.My birthday had been another watershed. I've had meals just as good before, though not many. The balloons were kind of hokey, which made him all the more adorable. The earrings and Jack sending Wanda out with me to pick out a nice dress were both nice gifts. But the thing that brought us closer together was the love for me that all his efforts showed. Coming home.