The next morning at the breakfast table a freshly grounded Tracie was almost shouting. "If I was a boy, I wouldn't be grounded, and we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now!”

Speaking through his teeth, Tracie's dad spat, "You ARE a boy!"

"No. No, she's not."

It was spoken quietly, almost unheard, but it had a force behind it that shut everyone up.

Corinne looked at her husband, "Face it, honey, she's not a boy and hasn’t been for a long time, if ever, really." He sat back down and put his forehead in his hands, staring at his plate.