Backdated because I'm slow at everything. Set early to mid-April. Also, I've always heard it said that Destiny City is in Virginia, so that's what I went with. orz


Word Count: 810

“That was surprisingly not stressful.”

Paris dropped into the leather chair behind the desk in Chris's office, letting momentum carrying her around in a circle before propping her feet up onto the desk-top. She was at least careful to keep the heels of her cowboy boots a safe distance away from the computer and its accompanying attachments.

She watched Chris engrossed at work at his drafting table. When she thought she'd waited long enough for him to switch his attention to her, she bent one leg at the knee and shifted into a position she thought came across as provocative and alluring. It had the desired affect, as Chris turned from his drafting materials to get an eyeful of bare leg.

“What wasn't stressful?” Chris asked distractedly.

Paris suppressed a wicked grin but could only feel amused by Chris's appreciation of the warming weather and the shorts it induced from the depths of her winter wardrobe.

“The DMV,” she said.

“Huh?”

A glossy card slapped quietly onto the desk-top once Paris had wedged it out of her pocket. It bore her picture, a pale faced girl with curly blonde hair teased to perfection, and striking blue-green eyes that twinkled above lips curved up into a smile made permanent on film. A brief series of informative descriptors accompanied the photo.

Quote:
Name:
Gallo
Paris Donatien L

Address:
7 Alstroemeria Way
Destiny City, XX 23479

DOB:
02/18/1994

Height:
5ft 4in

Sex:
F

Issued:
04/12/2014

Expires:
02/18/2019

Class:
NONE

Endorsements:
NONE

Restrictions:
NONE


Chris picked the card up to give it a closer look.

“Nice picture,” he said.

“Thanks. I'm extremely photogenic,” Paris joked. She propelled herself around in a circle again, one leg hooking lazily over the chair arm as she asked, “Nothing else stand out?”

“No. Should it?”

“Look under sex.”

There was a brief moment of silence before it finally seemed to register in Chris's brain.

“Oh...” he said, and then with more awareness, “Oh.”

For a second there Paris wondered if she should be offended that it'd slipped Chris's mind enough that the update didn't stand out immediately, but then she thought how nice it was that he probably looked at it as less of a change and more of a correction. Because the last one had been wrong, despite whatever judgement anyone else might choose to pass on the subject.

“I thought you said it was probably going to be a hassle,” Chris said.

“I didn't realize the law'd changed two years ago,” Paris explained. “All it took was a request form signed by me and my doctor. No court order or proof of pending or completed surgery necessary.”

“Kind of surprising considering where we live.”

“I know, right?”

Chris examined the card for a few moments longer before handing it back. Paris braced one foot against the edge of the desk to bring herself to another sudden stop, taking her reissued driver's license to give it another look. She tried for some bravado, as she didn't want to make it seem like too big of a deal, but there was a certain reverence with which she held it. A part of her didn't think she required any sort of proof of who she was, yet the acknowledgement lifted a bit of the weight off of her shoulders all the same.

“How do you feel?” Chris asked.

“A little relieved. Happy. Sort of vindicated. Maybe kinda guilty, too.”

“Why guilty?”

“I feel like I've had it easy,” Paris said. She bounced her leg up and down in a show of mild anxiety. “I have my mom and your family. I have good friends. I have a good doctor. I'm taken seriously in my field. I don't have to worry about the financial cost. Everything's just so...”

“Not easy,” Chris said.

“No, but... other people have it worse. Even without everything else I'd still have you, and that's probably been the most important thing, you know? That I don't have to do everything alone.”

Chris didn't seem to know whether to frown sadly or meet her with a warm smile, with the result that his mouth leveled out into a line that seemed a far cry from either. But his eyes were loving and tender when he looked at her. Paris smiled and sighed contentedly as she dragged her foot from the desk and hopped out of the chair, circling around the desk to throw her arms around her husband. When Chris's arms came around her waist and lifted her against him, Paris felt her anxieties melt away.

“I love you,” she said.

He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, dropped his nose to gently nuzzle the curls by her ear and said, “I love you, too.”