That evening, after dinner and putting the kids to bed, Will and Stacy sat together on the couch. The air between them was lighter than it had been in days, but there was still an undercurrent of tension, an unspoken weight that neither had dared address until now.
Stacy glanced at him—at herself, yet not quite—and sighed. “You’ve really done an incredible job today, Will,” she said softly. “You’re starting to look like… you. Not just a copy of me.”
Will gave her a faint smile, leaning back against the cushions. “Thanks. It feels good to make progress, even if it’s just a haircut and some clothes.”
She nodded, her gaze lingering on Will, though she quickly looked away. “But… it’s still hard, you know? Seeing you like this. It’s… it’s me. And I love you, but I don’t know how to…”
Will sat up straighter, sensing the weight in her words. “How to what?”
“How to be us like this,” Stacy admitted, her voice cracking slightly. “You’re still my husband, but every time I look at you, I see… me... a woman. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to… to be intimate with you like this. And it kills me, Will, because I want to, but—”
“Hey,” Will interrupted gently, reaching for her hand. “It’s okay. I get it.”
Stacy looked at him, her eyes welling with tears. “Do you?”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “It’s weird for me too. I look in the mirror, and I see you. I feel like I’m stuck in some surreal dream that I can’t wake up from. And the thought of us being… close again? It’s scary for me too, because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Stacy squeezed his hand tightly. “But it’s not fair to you. You didn’t ask for this.”
“And neither did you,” Will said firmly. “We’re both trying to figure this out, and it’s okay if it takes time. We don’t have to rush into anything. We can take it slowly. Step by step.”
Stacy let out a shaky breath, her tears spilling over as she leaned her head against his shoulder. “I just hate that this has happened to us.”
Will wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. “Me too. But we’ll get through it. Even if it’s awkward, even if it’s hard. We’ll figure it out together.”
They sat like that for a long time, the silence between them filled with unspoken fears and quiet resolve.
