April 1997. Goodbye drinks at The White Horse. Tomorrow Lula Mae and the unborn Victor/Victoria are flying back to Texas. ‘Homecoming Queen,’ says Max. ‘Have you ever actually been one?’
‘High school and college both,’ says Lula Mae with a modest smile. ‘It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.’
‘Have you told your parents you’re coming?’ says Max.
‘Oh yes, they’ll be meeting me at the airport.’
‘Told them about their grandchild-to-be?’
‘Not yet.’
‘How do you think they’ll take the news?’
‘They’ll open a few bottles of champagne and they’ll be impatient to start spoiling him or her. I chose my parents carefully and they’re my kind of people.’
‘Probably a lot of jocks and ex-jocks hoping to see you again?’ says Max.
‘The jocks are a while back,’ says Lula. ‘Before you it was mostly executives.’
‘I wonder who’ll be next,’ says Max.
Lula Mae shakes her head and takes Max’s hand. ‘I’m not the same as I was before I met you.’
‘Definitely not,’ says Max, patting her in the area of major change. He finds that he has to wipe his eyes.
‘Whatever happens,’ says Lula Mae, ‘Victor or Victoria won’t ever …’ She also needs to wipe her eyes.
‘Won’t ever … ?’ says Max.
‘Call anybody but you Daddy,’ says Lula Mae.
Long kiss, long embrace. ‘Time for our last double scotches,’ says Max.