My plaid, hipster pajama bottoms were comfortable. Black socks kept my feet warm. I wore a red, baby-doll t-shirt that had the word "Angel" printed across the front with a halo and single rhinestone floating above the text. Several of my friends and lovers often laughed, declaring the print to be false advertising.

Dad sat to one side of the table and his wife, Jan, sat on the other. I sipped green tea from a black, ceramic mug while the two of them read the newspaper or dredged through education and computer magazines in search of interesting tidbits.

For a second, I realized it could have been a moment that occurred five years prior. It was almost as though I'd not left at all, as though I hadn't changed the face I present to the world in such a radical way. I was comfortable in a way that no pair of pajamas could provide. I was with family.

The moment was gently broken with modern conversation. The room filled with words, phrases, and whole sentences decrying the current school board, describing new students, or complaining of custody battles within near cells of the family. I drifted slowly from the past into the present.

It was then that I decided to take a shower. The day had to press on and I would rather it did so walking tall than crawling on hands and knees, still half asleep. Besides, my hair was a mess and I felt a bit dirty. Sleeping next to the fireplace made me sweat during the night. Deciding to shower seemed a logical course of action.

Remembering there was no shampoo or conditioner in the guest bathroom downstairs. I asked to borrow a bit. Dad and Jan waved me off and said something like, "Of course. Of course. Help yourself young lady."

I thanked them both, then slid across the polished wood floor in my socks toward their bedroom and bathroom. Just as I reached the door one of them called out, "It's to the left, in the ugly shower... the brown shower."

I stopped.

Passing the table on the way downstairs, I mentioned what a great joke their ugly brown shower would be in BDSM circles. They smiled and shined me on as I carefully descended the stairs, still grinning.