The Phenomenon

"Here they come," I said as I saw them step out the front doors of the high-school.

A few seconds later Kevin and Maya climbed into the back seat of Vivian's car.

"Hi sis, Hi Viv!" Kev greeted us. "Thanks for giving us a lift."

"You're welcome," my girlfriend replied as she started the car.

I twisted around in the passenger seat to address the cute little blonde sitting beside my brother, "Hey Maya? Did your parents say it was ok for you to stay with us all weekend?"

"Yes Callie," she replied. "They want me home Monday by dinner time, but until then I can hang out with Kevin and you two."

It was Friday afternoon and this was the May long weekend. We weren't really planning to do anything special, but I figured hanging with her boyfriend and a couple college students was more fun than staying home with her folks for the long weekend.

Like me, Maya was a cute petite blonde. She was seventeen and in the same grade as Kevin. I had no idea who she'd been before, if she'd been a guy or girl prior to the phenomenon, but I wouldn't ask. That sort of thing had become almost taboo. Like it didn't matter anymore who you used to be. It only mattered who you were now.

And now Maya was my little brother's girlfriend. The two had been an item since just before Kev's seventeenth birthday back in March. She seemed nice enough, and she was definitely into my brother. I hadn't met her folks yet but from the sound of it they'd both adjusted and were still together.

Same as Vivian's parents actually. My girlfriend's dad was called Anne now, and she and Viv's mom were still together and they were making the most of things.

"Your parents didn't mind you spending three whole days with a couple rowdy college girls?" Vivian asked with a smirk. "They weren't even worried about three unsupervised nights with your boyfriend? Your folks sound pretty cool Maya."

The girl rolled her eyes, "My parents trust me not to drink or take drugs with you 'rowdy' college types. The only other thing they used to care about was making sure I didn't accidentally get pregnant, and it's not like that's going to happen now right?"

For a moment I was worried Kevin might react badly to that comment, but my little brother just made a 'snrk' sound as he held back a laugh. It didn't stay hidden for long though, as he giggled "Seriously, if it did happen we'd probably get an award or something."

On the one hand I was glad that sort of thing didn't bother him anymore. Like yes he was still a guy, still my brother Kevin. But apart from his name and pronouns, I almost wondered if he'd accepted everything else. He kept his hair short and didn't wear dresses or skirts or anything like that. But he'd started wearing tight clothes now and then, outfits that showed off his curves. And he didn't seem upset or embarrassed about his body anymore.

On the other hand, his comment about getting an award referred to something that was a lot bigger than just the four of us. This was the twentieth of May. Almost nine months had passed since the phenomenon, and not a single new pregnancy had happened in all that time. There were still babies being born, but that was probably going to stop in the next ten to fifteen days.

There was even talk about various betting agencies doing odds on where and when the last baby would be born. Like what country, what day. It was weird and unsettling, but fortunately I couldn't dwell on it any longer as we were already home.

When we got out of the car, Vivian opened the trunk then she and I started pulling out bags of groceries. Meanwhile Kevin unlocked the front door then him and Maya went inside, leaving me and my girlfriend to carry all the food in.

We brought the groceries into the kitchen and started putting them away while my brother took Maya up to his room. They left their backpacks up there, then came back down and joined us in the kitchen. Rather than give us a hand they just got in the way as they grabbed a couple cans of cola for themselves.

"Hey!" I stated in a firm voice. "You could help, you know?"

Kevin giggled, "Sorry sis."

He helped me and Viv put away the food while Maya sat down and sipped her cola.

Once the work was done the two kids ran into the living-room and claimed the big TV for themselves.

Vivian rolled her eyes and grinned, "Typical high-schoolers, right?"

I smiled back but shrugged, "It wasn't that long ago that was you and me."

"Ugh," she grimaced. "Don't remind me."

We both grabbed some soda as well, then ended up sitting at the kitchen table for now.

I had a few gulps of my drink as I reflected on how my life turned out so different from anything I ever expected, yet it was also pretty damn good. Not perfect, but pretty good.

The biggest negative was mom. Despite all our attempts, she kept drinking. It wasn't till November that she finally agreed to get professional help. She went off to some government-sponsored program, and basically never came back. We heard from her only once after that. She sent a letter through the mail, with no return address. It was angry and hurtful but at least we had some closure.

She couldn't cope with, in her words, losing her whole family. She deadnamed me and Cheryl constantly and said she couldn't deal with having her husband and oldest son 'betray her'. And she couldn't deal with her youngest son going through so much pain and suffering. She said she was sober again, but she flat-out blamed the drinking on us. Like she claimed she couldn't stand to see us again without using booze to dull the pain. So if she was going to stay sober she couldn't come back.

At the time it hurt, but we took the one positive from it. Mom was sober and we hoped she'd stay healthy. We hoped she'd find somewhere she could be happy.

Meanwhile Cheryl all but moved out as well. She was still our parent and our home was her official residence. She still worked and paid the mortgage and the bills, and she sent me and Kev money every other week. She even dropped in now and then, usually with her girlfriend. But since the end of November she basically lived at Erin's place.

Over the holidays me and her had a heart-to-heart talk and Cheryl admitted she was enjoying her renewed youth too much to look after a couple teenage kids. She said she needed to be true to herself and that meant being off with her girlfriend.

So basically me and Kevin lost both our parents, thanks to the phenomenon. Neither of them died, and we were luckier than some people we knew in that regard. But the bottom line was three months after the world changed, our parents were both gone and the two of us only had each other.

And it sounded kind of tragic when I thought about it in those terms, but the truth was me and Kevin were both happier this way. Mom would have just dragged us down and held us back if she was still here. And Cheryl simply wasn't mature enough to be a parent to the two of us. She was more of a distraction or disruption whenever she was around for any length of time.

Kevin and I had each other, and we were both happy about that. So the bad stuff wasn't all that bad. And beyond that, there were a lot of positives too.

At the end of October me and Viv both started college together. I began a two-year program to become a registered therapist, and Vivian was studying sociology. We were both attending a local college, and tuition was free thanks to a new government program.

Then a couple weeks after that, our family got called in for our ID interview. We came out of that with our new temporary ID, I was legally and officially Callie Watson. My brother was still Kevin, but he got his new picture on his documents. He also pointed out that none of our ID had a 'sex' designation anymore. He was a little grumpy about that, he really wanted that 'M' on there but he got over it fairly quickly. 'Kevin' was an unambiguously masc name, and that was good enough proof he was still a guy.

Then in January things got even better. I asked Vivian to move in with me, and she agreed. We claimed mom's old bedroom since it was bigger and had a big bed in it. Some of Cheryl's stuff was still in the old guest room, and my old room became the new guest room.

Then in February another unexpected surprise came in the form of my little brother's first-semester report card.

His grades were all way up from the previous year, and all the teachers had good things to say about him. I found out he'd been participating more in a lot of extra-curricular activities, he'd even founded a club for other students like himself. He called it the 'OBC' which stood for Old Boys Club. Apparently it was a play on words or something, but I never really got the reference.

Kev also became a lot more popular with the girls than he ever was before. Apparently the lack of boys was a big deal, and guys like my little brother were in high demand. He even became a star on the school's softball team, and he'd already joined a local softball league that would play over the summer.

It seriously felt like he took the change like it was some kind of test, and passing it gave him all the confidence and self-assurance he needed to tackle all kinds of other things in life. I'd never say I was glad it happened to him, but I was incredibly proud of how he responded to it afterwards.

As for myself, it was still one of the best things to ever happen to me. I got a body I loved and was happy with and comfortable in, and that led me to getting a girlfriend I also loved, and she loved me.

I was probably smiling as I thought about her, when she finally spoke up and snapped me out of my reverie.

"Hey Callie?" Vivian asked with a smile. "What's on your mind?"

"You are," I replied happily. "I was just thinking about how unbelievably lucky I am to be with you."

She blushed but grinned and responded, "The feeling's mutual, you know? From best friends to girlfriends, I can't imagine anything better."

That was my cue to blush as well, "Thanks Viv."

My smile eventually faded and I had a sip of cola then asked, "Do you ever wonder what your life would have been, if everything didn't change? Like where you'd be now if the phenomenon never happened?"

Vivian's expression became serious as well, and she got a thoughtful look on her face for a few moments. Finally she shrugged, "I'd still be a guy, obviously. A shy, quiet, lonely guy. My best friend would be a couple hundred kilometres away, she'd still be a hot sexy girl and I'd probably have no idea. I'd still be living with my parents and attending the local college. I'd be taking the HVAC technician course I'd originally planned on, preparing for a glorious career doing furnace repair."

We were both quiet for a few moments, then her smile slowly returned as she said quietly, "I know a lot of lives got fucked up last August, and I'm sorry for how a lot of people suffered and all the crap things that happened. But stuff worked out well for me, and I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful it worked out for you too. And for Kevin."

There was a brief pause before she added, "And who knows? The way things are going, the stuff they're saying on the news lately, makes me think it might just be a sort of catalyst to really change things for the better? Like there was a lot wrong with the world, but as bad as some things were there was a huge institutional inertia resisting any kind of change to the status quo? This whole thing took the status quo and shredded it. It's only been nine months right? Society feels like it's stabilized but I think the aftermath hasn't even started yet. Right now, we're still in the 'shocked and numb' stage. Everyone's getting on with life, but I don't think we've reached a new normal yet. That's going to take at least a generation, maybe two."

It took me a minute or two for her words to fully sink in. I finished the last of my soda then pointed out, "There won't be any more generations at all, let alone one or two, if the scientists don't solve that problem."

"They will," she replied confidently. "By the time people like you and me are ready to have kids, science will be ready to make it happen."

I knew it wasn't what she meant but I couldn't help teasing, "We're not even married yet Viv, it's a little early to talk about you and me having children."

"Ten years," she replied without batting an eye. "We'll both be twenty-nine. That'll be when we have our first baby. We can start arguing over the details when we're twenty-five."

My eyes widened and I blushed, I wasn't expecting her to throw my taunt right back at me like that. "I um, that's honestly too much for me to think about right now."

"I know Callie," she replied with a grin. "But you brought it up."

We were both quiet for another minute or so, then she changed the subject, "Anyways what do you want to do for dinner tonight?"

"BBQ," I replied without hesitation. "It's supposed to be excellent weather all weekend, so we'll be having BBQ every night. Kick off the end of spring, light up the grill, enjoy the almost-warm evenings outside."

"Sounds like a plan," she grinned. "Burgers tonight?"

"Burgs it is," I agreed with a smile.