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Mustard Seed: Faith, Hope, and Love

By Sasha Zarya Nexus

Chapter Four ~ Test Transplant

Has Theresa discovered the secret of the hope necklace and the special engagement ring affixed as a pendant?

April 4, 2008 ~ Test Transplant

Leira, Laura, Theresa and Jessica had an early report time for their surgeries so they didn’t get to meet for breakfast. Since they were all on dietary restriction due to the surgery all would be limited to talking with each other anyway. Both Leira and Laura were really unselfish and were sending waves of peace and tranquility to the other as the surgery approached thru their empathic link. Their hearts went out to their sister test subjects too.

In separate operating theatres the four surgeries occurred almost simultaneously.

The extraction of the stem cells and the snips of Leira’s liver were done endoscopicly thru a couple of small incisions. Leira’s liver snips was transferred to the other operating theatres where Laura ,Theresa and Jessica were already having some of their stem cells removed. A snip of Leira’s liver was transplanted into each of Laura, Theresa and Jessica using the artificial blood vessel and the stem cells which had been trained to become blood vessels. Leira’s stem cells in the other operating theatre were trained to become lung tissue. Those stem cells were seeded in areas of Leira’s lungs where the cancer had taken hold.

The four of them were rolled into separate recovery areas following when their respective surgeries concluded. Dr Robin had interceded with the Staff to place all the participants in the same room following recovery. She explained that somehow at least Leira and Laura would end up in the same room anyway so why fight it? They relented and when all of the participants were awake from the surgery they were all placed in the same room.

Hope joined her aunt and observed her looking intently at the ring that Theresa now recognized as a matriarchal ring after doing some research on the internet from her laptop last night before she went to bed.

"What do you see in that ring?" questioned Hope seriously. Hope knew it was a gift from her mother and was not to be taken lightly.

"I found out last night it is a matriarchal engagement ring. The stones encircling the center stone represent women's birthstones who are alive at the time of the marriage."

"That makes sense. There are 2 diamonds and 2 citrines. and they represent all the women of the family. Well the citrine's mine but I don't know who the other is for."

"Sweet heart, I'm going to tell you the rest of what I think but even though it may seem to us that because we love your mother that things should be forced to happen in a particular way. We can't force anyone with this ring. The time for you to have given it to me might not have been now or else maybe I figured it out wrong. Even if we have the right person picked out, that person has got to learn about me and see if they want a life with me. Do you understand sweetheart?"

"Yes, Daddy. I'll be good and wont do any parent trap kind of things . Now what have you figured out?"

"Well we know the ring is for a woman but I have figured out the woman is not me. If it were me who would have been presented the ring by a man then my birthstone, the emerald would have been one of the stones but it is not there."

"So I guess you will go back to being my daddy for everyone to know soon."

"Yes, I've learned that I just cant give up my duties at the drop of the hat. for the near term I am more important helping keep things going rather than being in the middle of things. So yes you'll be getting your daddy back soon."

Dr Kathryn smiled, "Did I hear a cute girl asking if she would get her daddy back soon?"

Hope said, "Yes, Ma'am!"

"Dr Sommers, your sample completely rejected. We thank you for your effort but I am writing the orders to get you put back to normal. Leigh will be working with you tomorrow intensively to unlearn any new habits that you've picked up. If its OK with you we'll sequester you up in your room upstairs and limit your access to the rest of the facility until you are ready to go back to normal."

"If I am a good boy and work with Leigh tomorrow when can I resume normal duties?"

"Perhaps by Thursday April 6th if you work well tomorrow. That way you could make an appearance before surgery begins in the morning with who ever we've chosen to be the surrogate."

"Well, If you will give the orders, I'll finish up the conversation I was having with my daughter. I guess for the crash course back I'm going to have to be out of touch with my daughter for a while again so I will explain that as well."

Hope had a governess, Bethany Turner, who stepped in to take care of her when things called her daddy away. He knew it wasn't fair to her and he hoped that he would have something better worked out in the future.

"Bethany, Please pick up Hope at the security desk in about 30 minutes. I'm going to be away for about a day but I should be in sometime Thursday night. I'm going to see about keeping my time free to fact find on this new project so I should be available to keep spending the same amount of time that I have been recently on her....... Thank you....... Good bye."

"Hope, If you overheard my talk with Dr Kathryn you know that they are going to pop me back into being a man so its going to take a day of intense work to get me sorted so things can get back to normal. I'm going to keep off the administrative stuff because I have some fact finding to do about this project and about something that doesn't have anything to do with the project... Or does it?"

"Oh Daddy! You are always teasing. So tell me the rest of it about the ring."

"Well we both know a pair of twin sisters who have their birthday in April. What is the birthstone for April?"

"The diamond, Daddy!"

"That's right sweetheart and the other citrine stone could represent Leira's unborn child. No matter who carries her, Leira gets her back. That's part of the deal So if I have it figured out right the ring is telling me to court Laura and propose to her at Christmas. (That's the polite thing to do since it gives her a chance to clear her head with all of that extra maternal hormones and be more herself before committing to a guy like me. I'll give her a chance to see if she likes me and for me to know that I like her for her and not just to fulfill the hope of the ring. "

"That's OK, Daddy! I'll miss you daddy but I'll be glad to have my daddy back. Take care Daddy I love you!"

"I love you too, sweet heart. Go to security and Bethany will be up to take you home."

"I will, Daddy!" and she blew a kiss toward her father.

Dr Robin had been given a copy of the preliminary results of both surgeries by Dr Kathryn and in lieu of the surgeons discussing them with Jessica, Laura and Leira, Dr Robin had been given leave to do so. The surgeons would be refining their results based on periodic tests that had been ordered on each of them.

“Hi Leira, How do you feel?”

“I feel wonderful Laura. They have taken really good care of me. How do you feel Sis?”

“I feel wonderful too. I would highly recommend this hospital for anyone contemplating surgery.” Laura giggled.

Mark gave his wife a guarded hug and a kiss. “I love you Sweetheart”

“I love you too Darling” Leira seemed to be living on love to have her beloved by the side of her hospital bed.

Leigh was beside Jessica's bed giving her sister a hug and a kiss, "How do you feel Jessica?"

Jessica noticed that they were rolling Theresa out of the shared room. "I feel really good, I wonder if Theresa's test failed and if they are taking her off the program."

"Theresa's data was the long shot in achieving a match I think they have decided to refine the parameters for test subjects. The ordinary rejection standards don't apply with this methodology. Failing the test means that they cant even use her for a backup recipient. It makes sense for them to return Theresa back to her normal life as soon as they can. If the rumors were true that she has an important brother, I imagine that we'll see him soon." Leigh explained as her pager went off. After she had called in and received the message then she could continue. "I guess my guess was right. They have me summoned to take care of Theresa so I may be incommunicado till Thursday"

Dr Robin had returned to the room carrying three charts. They all hoped that the charts contained the preliminary results on their surgery.

“Hi Dr Robin! I have been summoned to work with Theresa so I guess her results didn't go so well." Dr Robin assented with a nod of her head. Could you please look in on Jessica for me while I am tied up?"

"Sure, Leigh I will look out for 'Jaycee' Go on and help Theresa."

"Thanks Dr Robin!" Leigh kissed her sister, collected her things and walked out to the elevator on the way to Theresa's room."

Laura questioned, " What can you tell us about how both mine, Jessica's and Leira’s surgeries went?”

“Hi Laura , Leira Jessica and Mark! Yes I have the preliminary results for all of you who had surgery.”

“Great Dr Robin lets hear them!” exclaimed Leira

“Let’s see for you, Leira, first. They were very encouraged about the ease of collecting and number available of your stem cells. Those that were taught the trick of becoming Lung tissue performed very well. It seems that in the limited area of your lungs that were seeded that the cancer cells are disappearing and are being replaced by good lung tissue. The snip of Laura's liver that was transplanted retained viability. All good so far.”

“Thank you Doctor. I suppose it is too early to tell if this will make a noticeable difference in the cancer?”

“Yes Leira, We’ll have to wait for some more definitive results later on to evaluate that question adequately.”

“Cool Dr Robin!” exclaimed Laura, “Now what about me?”

“Laura you have good results as well. The results collecting the stem cells for you were identical to the results from your sister, Leira. More good news about how well behaved that they are. As we speak a brand new blood vessel is forming over the artificial one so your stem cells learned a new trick too! The transplanted Liver snip is functioning normally with no indications of rejection with a good blood supply so it seems that everything about the transplant so far has been a success.”

“That’s wonderful news Dr Robin. I hope the news stays this good while they are completing their testing!” replied Laura with a twinkle in her eye over all the good news.”

"Jessica, your results are no different than Laura's down to the last decimal place. Its as though the three of you are triplets." Dr Robin explained

"Thank you, Dr Robin. That's encouraging news! Can you let us know why Theresa was taken out from us?", inquired Jessica

"Yes, Theresa is getting rehabilitated so wont be around. The tests showed that even under backup conditions that a transplant into her would fail. The tolerances for this process are a lot narrower than for other procedures. Theresa's Brother, Dr Sommers should be at the facility on Thursday." Dr Robin instructed

Jessica replied, "Thanks Dr Robin for letting us know."

Dr Robin was listening to a voice in her ear for a moment then addressed all in the room. It looks like Security was penetrated. They were very inventive but fortunately once in they didn't have a clue what they were after so the set off an alarm and were detected. Dr Lee projected some stills from the security cameras.

Jessica recognized the pair as being roommates with Jaycee in a three person room. Jessica remembered that Security had sent Leigh over to retrieve his belongings and since Jaycee was formally attached as an intern to this project after legally dropping his other classes and part time work and the project was his stated address She just brought Jason's belongings to the project.

It was after his roommates checked out all how perfect the switch had been without any snags, that the came to the conclusion that it smelled bad and they were going to talk to Jason in person to make sure he was really OK. Besides being concerned for him, they really missed him. She identified the first man pictured as Thomas Gordon and the second one as George Tailor.

Dr Lee relayed the identification and background of the 2 men to Donald Vaughn in security. After a brief discussion. Dr Lee told Jessica that Dr Sommers had requested that she and herself join him to discuss the circumstances of the security breach. She also told me that the 2 men referenced were being detained awaiting an explanation which the meeting that Dr Lee and Jessica were going to would decide.

It was a tribute to the layout of the project space that it was very soon that Jessica's bed was rolled into Dr Sommers room and when Dr Lee entered as well all the people for the meeting were present.

Dr Terry Sommers, Jaime's Hope foundation CEO, took charge of the meeting by introducing himself and scattered around the room the rest of the participants, Donald Vaughn, Security, Erika Johansen, Therapist, Leigh Majors, Image consultant, and Jessica Majors, Project Intern and Test Subject. We have a security breach. Considering our cover story this is the kind of thing that could happen. I believe that even Jessica is surprised that her roommates came looking for her instead of just accepting things at face value which usually happens when attending a prestigious place like John's Hopkins." Our cover story states that we can not erase our test subject's previous male gender expression, It is vital that we allow to leak the information that our test subject is a transwoman. That is the only way we have without vastly cutting down our test pool to present them as women rather than men using this fertility procedure."

"John's Hopkins anti-bigotry campus code includes gender expression, so we can use legal action to protect out clients should a former associate turn out to be a bigot upon learning. The best course of action is to go ahead and out Jessica to her former room mates as a transwoman and ask them to keep it confidential for Jessica's sake if they really care about her. Jessica, in any case will have Thursday tied up either as subject or backup for the implantation surgery. Leigh you could meet with the men tonight and explain Jessica's delicate problem being a transwoman and that she will be indisposed till Friday. If she's not the implanted then no mention of the pregnancy need be made as long as that part is still secret. if she is the implanted we'll let them in on what has happened establishing 2 eye witnesses outside the staff of her being a pregnant transwoman. In any case since we must expose Miss Major's status as a transwoman prior to decision point on becoming pregnant, The foundation will also cover all her transition and surgical expenses in having GRS."

"Ok, that was a mouthful so let me ask for some input. Jessica, do the terms and arrangements I outlined meet with your approval? These are your friends, is there a simpler way of dealing with them?"

"Dr Sommers, Thank you and the foundation for the gift. I accept the terms and conditions. I guess if I am not chosen then what we are agreeing to is that the two of them are taking me and my sister Leigh to dinner to one of the nice places on campus that would have me back in a flash if something happened with Laura and the baby. If I'm pregnant, their security clearance is raised and they get to see me in the project because I'll be too fragile to leave, but we'll need them to confirm my cover story (Which turned out to be the truth but I hadn't done anything about it until joining the project). So if I'm not knocked up, the pair of us sisters, end up distracting them so they don't know about the project's main purpose.", Jessica answered.

"Your cooperation on that last is encouraged but not required. As researchers, they know that they will have to work on closed projects so honoring your commitment not to reveal what you are doing as an intern shows them to be trust worthy and will be a feather in their caps on future background checks. This goes for both of you, date them for as long as you are enjoying yourself and no longer just like any other relationship even if its only for that first date where you will get across that 1), Jessica is Trans and being treated for it, 2) You have this neat job 3). if you talk about it ,you'll be canned Any more questions, Jessica?" Dr Sommers finished

"No Sir! I know what I am expected to do and I will be happy to do so."

"And Leigh, Do you accept your part in this and do you have any observations on how to augment or do better?"

"Dr Sommers, I will be glad to do my part in this and I concur on what needs to be done. Thank you for your gift to Jessica. When Erika and I discovered the break thru that she had made when forced to face her true self I had determined that even if I had to mortgage my future then I would see that Jessica's treatment was completed. Thank you for doing that for her. I'd like to augment as permitted by Jessica's schedule and possible selection as primary by myself and Dr Erika constructing trial situations to get her used to dating a guy. From what I understand from her, dating is a huge step especially for a 5 day old and some times their sexual orientation is so pronounced that they cant even be a good actress and get thru it. By working with her we'll get to a presentation that is comfortable and natural for her and that is more likely to be well received."

"Thank you Leigh. Excellent input to augment our plans and I authorize it. We'll rewrite the book one more time to include that preparation in the protocols for our test subjects." Dr Sommers smiled a secret smile as he wondered about the possibilities.

"Dr Johansen, Do you accept your part in this and do you have any clarification or augmentation that you would like to suggest?"

"I consent to my part, Dr Sommers, My only augmentation is the one Leigh suggested and I am satisfied with my part in that. We should be able to be very useful to the test subjects getting them used to being dated.", Erika noted that last with quite a twinkle in her eye as well.

"Finally, Mr. Donald Vaughn, we still need to hear from you concerning why security was breached and actions to take to keep it from happening again."

"Dr Sommers, We had a couple of young men who came in acting as if they owned the place and the security checkpoint involved let them thru in error. Some of our staff are new and unfortunately there being a vacuum at the top caused by your apparent disappearance and the arrival of a heretofore unknown sister let security be a little lax rather than inadvertently tick off an unknown top person. To combat this security will be putting everyone thru the entire security procedure. Staff have an expedited procedure already because we can wand an imbedded chip and let them pass thru which does not impede motion in an emergency. Externally we can appeal to the CEO that his best place is presiding over the staff and younger volunteers can be found to be test subjects "

"Mr. Vaughn, I too have realized that my best place is being CEO. I'll be spending thru tomorrow unlearning the skills taught to my 'sister' and I will be back to my ordinary status on Thursday. I won't be participating in the test subject program again. Using the entire security procedure on everyone coming in will slow things down in the beginning but we will adapt. Hopefully the door that I helped open will be closed. Anything else Mr. Vaughn?"

"Nothing, Sir! I'm very glad to have you back. I can escort Miss Majors to the containment room so she can deliver her message to them so we can send them on their way."

"Very good so if there is nothing further we can dismiss this meeting." And the meeting did break up. Dr Lee called for assistance and She and Jessica were headed back downstairs to the room with Leira and Laura in it. Mr. Vaughn escorted Miss Majors to speak with the dorm roommates of Jessica.

Mr. Vaughn began, "Mr. Tailor and Mr. Gordon, is this woman the sister of your former roommate that you told me about who had permission from Jason to move his stuff?"

They both agreed, "That's her. What's happened to Jason, he hasn't written or called? We are worried about him."

Leigh began. "Jaycee is fond of you two also but Jaycee is a bit overwhelmed right now. Her new job is a closed research facility where she would be fired if she breathed a word about what she was doing at work."

"Hold it!, said Thomas. "You are referring to Jaycee like she's a girl, not just mentally but in body too!"

"Jaycee is now Jessica Christina legally. You knew she was trans but wasn't doing anything to get her body in line with her mind because she was so hurt by her parents mistreatment that she feared to show her true self. She did a good job of covering it up but about a month ago she went thru a crisis and realized it was time for her to transition or bad things would happen. She found the ad for this project that she's part of gearing up. The intern's position was perfect for her. She could jump to being a girl 24 /7 immediately and the project would fix it with the university that all the paperwork was OK. No more classes for a while so no worries about meeting people again till she felt up to it. So she took the job with the security strings attached so she could finally be who she's always been in her heart. Honestly, if you guys had shown some interest before she left she would have gotten a message back to you even though going thru her changes she wasn't presentable enough yet to be seen in public when she had to move out so she sent me instead. She doesn't want you to worry about her and please don't try to break security again to see her. You really don't want to get her canned after what this job means to her. Best she can do is for her and I to meet the pair of you for a meal on Friday. She should be presentable enough to be out in public but don't expect that she'll be magically turned into a guy's dream girl but she looks pretty and with time she'll blossom. Beauty takes a while but its worth waiting on. "

Thomas and George looked stunned with their mouths hanging open in surprise so when Leigh came up for air they only had one word and they said it together, "Really?"

"Really ! Really!" answered Leigh who continued," So boys, do you wanna go on a date with me and my sister?"

Thomas and George were not too stunned to pass up such a wonderful chance and they still wanted to hear from their friend's lips that she was alright. "Yeah!" "Sure!" as they both agreed to the date.

Leigh saw that they were hooked and would not be creating any more problems, She guessed it was a good plan after all. "We'll text you with a meeting time and place, Wed Nite. Jessica has some important things scheduled but they won't take up all her time so we'll have to find out on Wednesday night whether dinner or Supper would work best with the rest of her day."

"See you later Leigh and we will be looking for that text." Leigh smiled and blew them both a kiss goodbye.

"Gentlemen, if you will promise not to try to penetrate security again, the foundation has authorized that I drop the trespassing warrants and let you go.?" "Yeah! "Sure!" The two young men were let go back to their dorm very much stunned that their former roommate was now Jessica. They wanted to be on her good side when they met her so they forgot about any plans to try to break in and find her now that they had been told the truth and had set a meeting to speak with her.

After Leigh had returned to Dr Sommers room for more help getting in the right mindset. Dr Erika called Dr Robin who picked up to receive a message for Jessica and Laura that she was on the way down to do a group session. Dr Robin told the ladies that Dr Erika wanted to meet with them and then she pulled a chair between the two beds at the foot and also got a chair ready between the 2 beds at the head for Dr Erika. Mark had pulled up a chair besides Laura and the two of them were whispering back and forth.

Dr Erika arrived and greeted each of the ladies and then took a seat where it was provided for her. She began," Welcome ladies! I'm sorry to say our number has declined by one. Dr Summers was eliminated as a possible test subject and since He isn't transgendered has chosen to go ahead and pick up his life where he left it. Leigh will also be making herself scarce till Thursday giving him the crash course in Guy 101 so he won't let anything he learned for the project embarrass him. . So I guess we'll check in first and see how you ladies are doing. Let's start with you Jessica. Anything new today?"

Jessica began to giggle, "I have a date that I have to get ready for on Friday. It's a double date with my sister but its still going to be my first date.!"

Erika suppressed a giggle and stated with a knowing grin, "How did this come to be, Jessica?"

"Well you know the drill on how the project did getting the subjects in. We were practically kidnapped and took out of our lives without any way to notify anyone which was OK when we found out that time was of the essence and a woman and a child's life hung in the balance. But it didn't leave much for explanations. Well at University at this level things move pretty quickly at times too. Once a reasonable explanation of how good the opportunity was at the new place and that I wasn't actually kidnapped (Only too rushed to do the polite things to say goodbye) Then I thought things would end. The project sent Leigh in to collect my things and send them to the project. She was polite and gave them my regrets and goodbyes second hand but did not fill in any details about my new life. She did hint that it was a bit secretive. They left on good terms. Then today my roommates bluffed their way into the center by coming to the check point as thought they owned the place. With things at the top in an uproar some of the guards erred and let the two unauthorized people free access to the project main area. They were soon collected by some less gullible guards and detained. I identified the unknowns as my former roommates. We met in executive session and decided a double date would allay their fears that I was OK and confirm my cover story that I was already transitioning before joining the project. My sister got to see their reaction when they told them that I was a girl named Jessica now and they accepted the double date. We set it for Friday since that may be the first day after the transplant that I might be able to be up at all if I have the transplant and as backup I cant stray too far from the campus. I'm thrilled even though if they react badly to me then I will be hurt big time. I choose to dwell on the possibility that they will stick with the new me and are really good friends."

"That's some exciting news. How are you going to get ready?"

"Leigh told me that she will take care of me. She'll work with me to try to get me comfortable with the situation. If I am comfortable then I will be confident and everything will go smoother. I'm just glad that there wont be any more surprises for the boys."

" Thank you Jessica. Dr Robin how is your day going?"

"Pretty well I've been doing some liaison duties plus with Leigh having to devote her time to Dr Summers, I agreed to keep a look out for her like I am doing for Laura. We three have been getting along famously."

"Very good Dr Robin. How has your day gone Laura?"

"Pretty good, on the whole. I'm going to miss Theresa and her daughter Hope. Some how I don't see someone as important as Dr Summers spending the kind of time that Theresa has been with us. I wonder what will be the difference interacting with him rather than her when we are together."

"We each respond according to our gifts. What Dr Summers did, he did out of love and in pursuit of a hope that exactly what is planned here would happen. It was his way of touching the miracle with both life's being saved and any sacrifice, even his gender was worth that. His own daughter was the beginning of a technique that saved children in those impossible situations when both lives were at risk. Many of the things that go into Dr Summers being a good administrator and a good parent went into his portrayal of Theresa. Unfortunately she wasn't real but he tried hard to keep her from becoming a caricature of a woman. The reason that people would not have ultimately accepted Theresa as a woman is the reason that by character she was real and expressing herself in a way that would not be possible now. He was freed from all the stupid ruled that restrict male behavior and he used that to portray Theresa. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised how much Terry is like Theresa except that Terry goes by all the male rules and a few too many of the stereotypes for his own good. I think that he comes across with even more integrity now that he doesn't have to worry about translating his male actions into female ones and is just being himself!"

"I'll give him a chance. Its the least I can do for the time that she vested in trying to be Theresa in the off chance that she could help. That shows commitment and friendship. Even if he felt a higher calling, In the here and now he was working to help save my sister and niece."

"How would you feel about participating in an exercise to get transwomen ready to date for the first time?"

"I might if I get to pick out the man and if he refuses me that I don't have to worry with it again."

"I'll take that stipulation. Who would you like to date?"

"Well based on what you have just said, the only man that I know who would be an interesting fun date is Dr Summers himself. Do you think you could arrange that one?" Laura gloated because a smart important man like Dr Summers would not give her a second look on a real date. He would let her down nicely but would refuse the request.

Dr Erika giggled, "Be careful what you ask for Laura, You may get it! Honestly I'll put it to Dr Summers and see what he says about it."

Laura giggled too, "I'll be looking forward to hearing the response."

Dr Erika concluded," I guess that is a good place for us to leave off today and we will pick it up again tomorrow time permitting. Thank you, group!"

The others in the circle chorused "Thank you Dr Erika"

Dr Robin announced," A all of us significant others have used up our visiting time for now. You three test subjects will need to get all the rest you can now because you both will be in for a lot of tests over the next 24 hours to see what results we have before we can go ahead with the next step.” Dr Robin finished.

Mark leaned over and kissed his wife “Take care Sweetheart. I will see you later. I love you. ”

Leira spoke to Mark tenderly, “I love you too Darling. I’ll be looking forward to your return.”

“Jessica, Laura and Leira, you three be good girls while we are gone.” Teased Dr Robin.

“Yes. Maam. We Will” the three ladies said in unison and then added “NOT!” and they both erupted in a giggle fit.

With that Mark and Dr Robin left the sisters in the room by them selves. Over the next few hours one or the other of them would be wheeled out to have tests. The staff took very good care of them performing tests monitoring the result of the surgeries. Other tests that were suggested by the results of the first days testing were done as well.

Mark and Dr Robin looked in periodically on the three women. While they were visiting, Dr Robin kept the women informed about the updated results. Eventually Mark and Dr Robin returned to their sleeping quarters for the night while the test subjects spent the night in their hospital room. Jessica, Leira and Laura looked angelic as they slept and entering the dream world. Laura was going back in her dreams to the happy day when she became Laura legally.