When we arrive at Navida's home, she is totally not what I expected. She isn't some mystic or “wise woman” or the tribe’s medicine woman, or even a witch. She is short, yes, as expected after wearing her boots, definitely Native American, an almost royal face, in black leather pants and a cowboy shirt. In her four inch boots she would have been my size, if I wasn't also wearing similarly high heeled boots.

She approves of our dresses though, and her fingers on my skin, as she hugs me, give me shivers, that do not go unnoticed. That dress was made for you, she whispers, and I nod, knowing it to be true. When she hugs Joanie as well, she looks in her eyes for a long time, and I am proud of my daughter for not looking away. This time Navida nods.

We have some tea together, as we wait for Shawna to arrive, which takes another five minutes. After she first hugs her mother, we both watch Shawna kiss Joanie, not holding back, as they pull into each other. They kiss deep, and it feels just right. Shawna's mother seems to agree with my thought.

After Shawna has a sweet hug for me as well, Navida explains the ceremony. Their tribe has less and less pure members, that is, children born from two tribe members. It is only natural, as people fall in love outside the tribe, and she looks at Shawna and Joanie, but it brings foreign blood into the mix. The elders have consulted with the spirits, and an old friendship ceremony has been reinstated to initiate new members into the tribe. If we agree, and perform this ceremony, Joanie and I will both become members.

There is a price, multiple even, and an enormous responsibility towards the tribe. Once accepted as a member of the tribe, the new member must at least conceive one new child with an existing tribe member, and preferably more, obviously. She looks again at our daughters, who seem totally okay with that. In our situation, where we're technically still of the male sex, we would have a choice between female tribe members, willing to conceive a child with us.

At this point I'm not sure Sunny will agree, me fathering another child, and not with her, but I keep on listening. We're also expected at tribe meetings and to participate in any celebrations, and last but not least, we're expected to learn the language, and through all of this preserve the traditions. For some reason I expected nothing less.

The ceremony itself is a blood ritual between friends, in our situation with Shawna and Navida. When we accept their blood in our system, an unbreakable bond is created, an unbreakable female bond, after which we will receive a new name within the tribe. No problem for me, but is John ready to be Joanie forever?

But looking at our children I see no hesitation, they can't wait to start. And somehow, wearing this traditional dress again, I want this just as much. I need to talk to Sunny! But as if she can read my thoughts, Navida shakes her head. It's your decision to make, yours only. If it makes you feel better, I'm still young enough for another child, and I'd love for you to father it. I can raise it by myself, you don't have to worry about that. But you will have your responsibilities to the tribe, and the child will recognize you as their other mother.

Once more I see a life changing decision, just like a few months ago, when I decided to become a woman, so we could live our life in the community of Amazonia. Now, another community wants me, or I really want to be part of it, much smaller than Amazonia, and in much more need for “new blood”. Again, I feel like I can make a difference. And again, it involves a child. As I think of Hailey, I smile. Her becoming part of our family was the best thing happening to her. And us. She'd love to have a younger sibling. And Sunny will love it too, I'm suddenly sure of that.

Decision made, I tell Navida that our child will have to grow up as much in my family as in hers. We have to figure out how best to do it, but it will have multiple mothers loving her. Somehow I know already we will put another girl in this world. Navida smiles, it will be as you say.

The ritual is not quite what I expected. I figured it would be between me and Navida, and then between Shawna and Joanie. But it was not to be. You can't make a child with the person you bond with. So, I will bond with Shawna, who will become another daughter to me, and Joanie will bond with Navida.

Navida performs the ritual first on me, as she slices my right wrist with a razor sharp knife. In a similar move she slices Shawna’s left wrist, and then with a tight deerskin she binds our wrists together, the wounds against each other. Apparently the blood flow from her side is stronger than mine, as her blood enters my veins.

It takes almost an hour, as her blood becomes part of me, and I can feel the bond forming between us. My love pours out to her, and I know she'll make me a grandmother soon. At the same time I feel her love for my child and for me, two people that she only knows for a few days. But we both know it's meant to be, in the same way we can never separate from one another again. When we finally are “disconnected”, I don't even see scars.

Shawna then performs the same ceremony on her mother and her lover, using a clean knife and a clean skin. Looking at them both, I see the love exchange as their bond forms. My child will just as much be hers now, as her child is mine. A wonderful trade.

Afterwards Navida names me Moon Flower in her tongue, and it warms my heart. Joanie becomes Life Of Light, and she wants to honor that name by becoming Olivia Lucia Young. I concur, and I declare I will now be known as Luna Fleur Young.

As the newest tribe members, Navida takes me to her room, as Olivia goes with Shawna to her old room. Somehow, Navida manages to free my manhood from the bodysuit, and it is erect and ready for use. I'm on my back on her bed, as she mounts me. She talks in her native tongue and although I don't understand it yet, I guess she's calling her ancestors to help her in this sexual bond we're creating. As she plays with my nipples I can feel the electricity inside me trigger an orgasm. As I shoot my load deep inside her, I can see her cum as well, and we both know the deed is done, as she cleans me and hides my manhood again. Then she kisses me deeply, thanking me for the gift I gave her.

Later, I leave Olivia with Shawna and her mother. They will stay there overnight, as I prepare myself for explaining this all to Sunny. I needed not to worry, as she embraces me, and accepts this child to be one of hers as well. She's very interested now though to meet Navida, and I'm sure that is true the other way around as well.

That night, still in my deerskin dress, after some wonderful sex with Sunny, I dream of the tribe I'm now part of. A small but proud group, perhaps a thousand members in total. But today two members were added and in about nine months two children will be born as well. In my dream I see my daughter and granddaughter growing up in this neighborhood, as best friends and sisters. Olivia and Shawna, pregnant again, just living down the road, with Navida helping out. I smile as my happy dream slowly fades away.

FOUR YEARS LATER

I often think about that dream I had, so many years ago. And it wasn't that far off, I tell you. Let's start with Navida. She came to a pool party, probably three months into her pregnancy. And fell head over heels in love with Liz. And that went both ways. A month later she moved in with Liz and Emma and another month later they were married. Incredibly enough, Liz wanted another child herself, a sibling to the new baby, and she wanted it from the same father.

I leave that kind of stuff to Sunny to decide. Liz had shared our bed many times, but never while my manhood was freed. Obviously, that changed, as Sunny herself was curious about the kids I would produce with our best friends. Yes, Sunny and Navida got very close as well, and Sunny started selling a lot of the tribal merchandise through her webshop, provided by Navida.

Instead of a quick jump between the sheets, the two worked on a special ceremony for Liz and me. In a way very romantic, but also very effective, as it guaranteed an immediate success. All four of us shared the bed with Sunny in one of Navida's dresses. Which was well needed, as the hormones were having an effect on me, so I needed every stimulation. But, we managed, and two weeks later her pregnancy was indeed confirmed.

Which brings me to Shawna, also very pregnant. With Olivia back in college, wrapping up her studies, Shawna really needed some help with things. And she found it with Heather, who opened her house for her granddaughter's sister-in-law. A manager job had opened up in the most exclusive boutique in Amazonia, and Shawna secured it, now living just a few minutes from her new job.

Soon after, Olivia moved in as well, newly graduated, with a job just a few miles from Amazonia. Heather was looking forward to being a “live-in nanny”, as they jokingly called it. So, as I had dreamed, two girls were born within a week, and they looked so alike you'd swear they were twins. One was the aunt of the other though, through both parents.

Which brings me to me. I never went back to my old job. As a matter of fact, I got a full-time position at the school, as both the counselor job, as well as the side job of maintaining the website took bigger proportions. They offered me a bigger office near the front of the school, but I stayed in my first, close to the children.

I must say, the principal did a great job on the Nora situation. Instead of becoming an outcast, and laughed at behind her back, the principal put Nora in the middle of all kinds of positive events, sharing small milestones with everyone, even had a Lamaze class going, with girls that longed to be a future mother. Nora was never alone, adored by all, and if she scraped her throat, or moaned while sitting down, someone would run to get the nurse. The day of the birth, classes were canceled and kids were waiting in the lunchroom, with a big screen streaming a feed from the hospital, not quite in the room, but close enough to hear Nora's best friend scream encouragement. There were loud cheers when the baby girl was finally shown on the big screen.

I took over the community website, and before I knew it I was on the board as well. I was also on a whole different board, as one of the elders in our tribe. An elder, yes, courtesy of Navida.

Which takes us finally to Haley. And Emma I guess, as the two young ladies are inseparable. She has been eying me while I worked on the different websites, and asked some good questions. I showed her my tools, how the coding worked, and gave her my backup computer, as it was much more powerful than her Chromebook. Next thing I know, she and Emma are working on a class project, and making a website for it. With more bells and whistles than I have ever attempted.

In their Sophomore year they took on a much more complicated project, and not only did they ace it, but they got inquiries by some professional organizations. They kept on working on it well after, and they were collecting many names in our tribe. They called it “Tribe Genes”, and working with a DNA company they mapped several generations of tribe members, even leading to people who had no idea that they had native blood in them.

It was not about the purity of the bloodlines, it was about maintaining tribal traditions. The tribe had long ago already accepted that in order to physically survive, mixing with outsiders was inevitable. But, to mentally survive, the old traditions needed to be passed on. That's why I could be an elder.

No matter what, with about a thousand tribe members, maybe a hundred are actively involved in continuing the old teachings and celebrations. But, with Hailey's and Emma's program, another four thousand relations were detected, and from this group a surprising amount was interested and proud of being part of such ancient traditions. Our one hundred changed to five hundred easily, with more still coming on board, the sense of belonging overwhelming.

And now, in their junior year, with a series of colleges already offering full rides once they graduate, more than a dozen tribes across the country, and even outside, have shown interest in the program, and the company our girls started, simply named Hamma, has more than four million dollars in their bank account. And they use it to fund another project, Abgan, or Abused Girls Anonymous, giving victims of abuse a voice, even though some are still too scared to speak.

I can't be more proud of them, for reaching out to these girls, and bringing hope, because sometimes that's all it takes to change a life.