"All You Zombies-" by Robert A. Heinlein Read Free Book Online Page B

you struggle? --    "Huh? What's that got to do with it? --    "Quite a bit. Maybe he deserves a couple of broken arms for running out on you, but-"    "He deserves worse than that! Wait till you hear. Somehow I kept anyone from suspecting and decided it was all for the best. I hadn't really loved him and probably would never love anybody-and I was more eager to join the WE. N. C. H. E. S. than ever. I wasn't disqualified, they didn't insist on virgins. I cheered up.    "It wasn't until my skirts got tight that I realized. --    "Pregnant? --    "He had me higher "n a kite! Those skinflints I lived with ignored it as long as I could work-then kicked me out, and the orphanage wouldn't take me back. I landed in a charity ward surrounded by other big bellies and trotted bedpans until my time came.    "One night I found myself on an operating table, with a nurse saying, "Relax. Now breathe deeply. "    "I woke up in bed, numb from the chest down. My surgeon came in. "How do you feel? " he says cheerfully.    "Like a mummy. --    "Naturally. You're wrapped like one and full of dope to keep you numb. You'll get well-but a Cesarean isn't a hangnail. "    Cesarean" I said. "Doc - did I lose the baby? "    Oh, no. Your baby's fine. "    Oh. Boy or girl? "    "'A healthy little girt. Five pounds, three ounces. "    "I relaxed. It's something, to have made a baby. I told myself I would go somewhere and tack "Mrs. " on my name and let the kid think her papa was dead -no orphanage for my kid!     "But the surgeon was talking. "Tell me, uh-" He avoided my name. "did you ever think your glandular setup was odd? "    "I said, "Huh? Of course not. What are you driving at? "    "He hesitated. I'll give you this in one dose, then a hypo to let you sleep off your jitters. You'll have "em. "    "'Why? I demanded.    Ever hear of that Scottish physician who was female until she was thirtyfive? -then had surgery and became legally and medically a man? Got married. All okay. "

        'What's that got to do with me? "    "'That's what I'm saying. You're a man. "    "I tried to sit up. What? "    "Take it easy. When I opened you, I found a mess. I sent for the Chief of Surgery while I got the baby out, then we held a consultation with you on the table-and worked for hours to salvage what we could. You had two full sets of organs, both immature, but with the female set well enough developed for you to have a baby. They could never be any use to you again, so we took them out and rearranged things so that you can develop properly as a man. He put a hand on me. "Don't worry. You're young, your bones will readjust, we'll watch your glandular balance - and make a fine young man out of you. "    "I started to cry. "What about my baby? "    "Well, you can't nurse her, you haven't milk enough for a kitten. If I were you, I wouldn't see her-put her up for adoption. "    "'No! "    "He shrugged. "The choice is yours; you're her mother - well, her parent. But don't worry now; we'll get you well first. "    "Next day they let me see the kid and I saw her daily - trying to get used to her. I had never seen a brand-new baby and had no idea how awful they look - my daughter looked like an orange monkey. My feelings changed to cold determination to do right by her. But four weeks later that didn't mean anything. --    "Eh? --    "She was snatched. --    "'Snatched? --    The Unmarried Mother almost knocked over the bottle we had bet. -- Kidnapped - stolen from the hospital nursery! " He breathed hard. -- How's that for taking the last a man's got to live for? --    "A bad deal, " I agreed. -- Let's pour you another. No clues? --    "Nothing the police could trace. Somebody came to see her, claimed to be her uncle. While the nurse had her back turned, he walked out with her. --    "Description? --     "Just a man, with a face-shaped face, like yours or mine.