---

---

Previously...at the neighborhood bus stop...

"Do you think she'll mind?" Cindy asked Vi as they walked to the bus stop.

"I sure hope not; she's my best friend ever, Cin." Violet said as she spit out her gum onto the Parker's front lawn.

"I'm really scared, Vi...this is the craziest thing I've ever done. Well, apart from pantsing Gina Conforti in second grade. And she got over it enough to be my best friend. But this is really..."

"Crazy? Yeah, but what's the worst that could happen? That she won't like you? She doesn’t like you now... well… she doesn’t dislike you either, so either way?" Violet shook her head and stopped.

"I could ask a couple more kids? Would that help?" Violet smile until her sister glared at her.

"Yeah...so if she says no there will be more people to stare at me when I start cryin'? No...I don't think so. Let’s just leave it the way it is. Either she comes over or not, but I don't want an audience when I fucking fall apart." Cindy pouted and then started to cry.

"Gee, for a big sis, you sure are such a big baby!" Violet said, but her tone was playful and her hug belied any mean intent.

"I guess you can't help who you get a crush on, right?" She patted Cindy on the back.

"If this is what it's like in ninth grade, then I don't want any part of it." She laughed softly and rubbed Cindy's back.

"I swear, Vi...if this doesn’t work, I'm gonna join a fucking monastery." Cindy said quickly until she saw Violet start to smile. Violet started to laugh and Cindy began to turn red.

"What's so funny, Vi. This isn't funny." She pouted until Violet stopped laughing long enough to say,

"Monasteries are for guys, stoooopid." She teased.

"Well, that'll work too, since I don't seem to be having any success with girls.

"Yeah..." she replied and then shook her head.

"Cindy...it's gonna be okay!"

"I wish!" Cindy said before turning around and running back toward their house.

"Show me how you do it?
And I promise you, I promise
That I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you"

---

That afternoon…at the Rubio home…

“I don’t care…I just can’t. What if this doesn’t work? I’ll just die.” Cindy was sitting up in bed, clutching her knees in an almost fetal position. After leaving Violet on the way to the bus stop, she had come home and stayed in bed all day.

“Come on…it’ll be fine…” Violet said as she hopped onto her sister’s bed. Cindy turned from her headboard and it was obvious that she had been crying.

“I can’t do this…she’ll hate me for it and then I’ll never get a chance…no…I can’t.” Cindy Rubio was nearly two years older than her sister, but in so many ways, they were like twins. They had always been close, but grew even closer when their mother passed away when Vi was in sixth grade and Cindy was in eighth.

“Okay…how about this…let’s just get to know everybody…like everybody in both families. We can invite Adele and Jerry and their mom for Sunday dinner…that way Daddy can be there, too, and it’ll be more of a nice family thing. And if somehow Daddy gets talkin’ with Mrs. M and I sorta get Jerry to play some video games or listen to some tunes, you can talk a walk…Miri likes walking around the neighborhood; we do it all the time. Nothin’ serious, okay?”

“Vi…I’m so scared. `Let’s just forget it, okay?” Cindy turned away and began to cry. Violet patted her on the back.

“Okay…just you and me and Daddy…no problem, Cin…”

---

At the same time…at the Magliano home after the hospital visit…

Adele, Miri, and Jerry walked into the house as Giada looked up from her Bible to see two of her three children crying.

“Oh…honey, what’s wrong,” Giada said as Adele started up the stairs to her room. She went to speak and was joined by Jerry, who had thought his mother was speaking to him. They both sobbed,

“He…he kissed me.” Adele ran up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door loudly. Jerry followed her quickly, running into his own room. Giada turned to Miri and cocked her head.

“What just happened?” She asked and smiled while looking up the stairs.

“I don’t know, but…wow, huh?” Miri shrugged her shoulders and suppressed a giggle.

“Yeah, wow.” Giada laughed softly before walking up the stairs.

---

“Jerry…can I come in, honey?” Giada leaned into the room past the partially opened door.

“You’re already in…” Jerry tried to laugh but quickly brought his pillow to his face and began to cry.

“What’s the matter, Jer?” She sat down on the bed and pulled the pillow from him gently, revealing a very puffy red face.

“I…hheeee….I….” He stammered. She patted him on the back and spoke softly

“Slow down and take a breath, sweetheart. It’s okay.”

“I…Mom…I’m so messed up…do you think I’m messed up…I’m so messed up?” He began to rock gently, banging his back against the headboard.

“No…you’re….scared…confused…like everybody else.” She bit her lip, wondering how to help her child.

“I….kissed a boy, mom….me….Jerry…your son…I kissed a boy.” He turned and buried his face in her sweater and began to weep. After a few minutes, he had cried himself out…for the moment.

Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You're just like a dream
You're just like a dream

“Okay…let’s take this one bit at a time, okay?” She rubbed him on the back and continued. “One bit at a time.”

“I….I kissed a boy, mom! You must hate me?”

“Never, honey…and never for something as sweet as your first kiss. Did you like it.” He looked up into her eyes with the most shamed expression she had ever seen.

“Yeeehhhhsss. Mom…I kissed a boy.” He began to sob. She grabbed his face with both hands and held it almost arms length.

“Stop it this instant. You did nothing wrong. I’m proud of you.”

“Proooud? Whhhhaayyyyyyy?” He sobbed once again.

“Because you chose to be who you are and be kind to someone who you care for…why wouldn’t I be proud.”

“Be…becuzzzzz. I…I’mmmmm a booooyyyyy.” He buried his face between her sleeve and the headboard, bonking his head hard.

“Honey…stop….shhhh….shhhh…..There’s nothing…nothing wrong with kissing a boy….nothing.” She was almost angry, but not with Jerry. Years of abuse from his father, for which she felt responsible, had pushed her son into a box, a place that he struggled to escape. And now, when the cage was open, the poor bird was too afraid and ashamed to fly.

“Jerry…close your eyes. Do this for me, okay…close your eyes. Got them closed?” An odd question since she was right next to him, but she didn’t want him to see her own tears; at least not just yet.

“Yeeehhhhesss.” He could hardly speak.

“Now…what was Vinnie…that’s his name…you kissed Danny’s brother?”

“Yeehhhhessss?”

“Okay, honey..what was Vinnie wearing? What did he have on?”

“I…..pajamas? I don’t remember…”

“When you kissed…did you have your eyes open? This is important, honey?” She smiled as he raised his head.

“At…at first….but then…I closed my eyes…” He began to sob again, his face a mask of shame and confusion.

“Because you and he…made a connection? You…enjoyed kissing him…right?”

“Yehhhessss?” He said it in a question, almost as an apology.

“Now…what if his name were Vicki instead of Vinnie…would that be okay?” She asked him while rubbing his back, trying to show him she didn’t mind any of what he feared.

“Or what if your name were Geraldine instead of Jerome? Or what if you were both girls or both boys, honey?”

“Wahhhat? I…I don’t….I don’t understand.” Giada smiled at her child and stroked his hair.

“You’re not a boy, are you?” He had been going back and forth; his sister’s clothes did more to confuse this issue than clarify it, but she had known that these things sometimes occur with more than one child in a family. His remarks and responses were so much like Adele’s when she was going through her time of discovery.

“You’re my daughter, Jerry, plain and simple. Now you may have kissed a girl or a boy…we don’t know either way, from what you tell me. So it’s not about whom you kissed as much as it is about who did the kissing. And I think it’s become pretty apparent that Vinnie got kissed by a girl, right?”

Almost like a light going on, the whole world seemed to come alive for Jerry. Even though he continued to cry…even though she continued to cry, it was as if she was finally free to be who she was always meant to be…to be whom God intended her to be, as some might say. She eagerly nodded.

“So kissing Vinnie was good either way, since now you know that a girl kissed Vinnie. I guess it’s up to Vinnie to decide who and what he is, okay?”

“Okay….okay? What if Vinnie is a girl like me…just like me?” She began to cry again, this time softer, almost waiting for the explanation from her mother that would make things “all better.”

“What of it…you’re who you are, right? Would Vinnie’s kiss be any nicer or not nice at all if he were really a girl? Would you have liked him or her any more than you do now?” The wonder of the moment was entirely different than when her son Anthony told her about Adele…her ‘son’s’ true self. That was a chaotic moment, spoiled by her ex-husband’s angry and vicious remarks. Here, in safety and comfort, her daughter came to her; finding encouragement and hope. She felt guilty about her lack of support for Adele at the time, but they had made peace of a sort. Now she felt glad for all her daughters.

“I..I think it would be…the same.” She smiled again, wiping her face on her mother’s sleeve.

“I think so, too.”

---

A few minutes later…

"Why are you so far away?", she said
"Why won't you ever know
That I'm in love with you?
That I'm in love with you?"

“Adele, honey?” Giada felt like an Emotions Nurse making the rounds.

“Yeeaassss?” Adele looked up to see her mother standing next to her bed.

“Did you cry yourself to sleep?” She obviously had, but Giada wanted her daughter to talk about the whys and wherefores of the crying.

“Yesssss?” Adele rolled over and her mother knelt next to the bed and kissed her daughter on the bridge of the nose.

“I’m glad you found your bed in time, because it really looks like you’ve fallen hard for someone,” Giada kidded her while rising to sit down next to Adele. The girl scooted sideways and made room for her mother. Giada lay next to her, face to face, brushing the tears from her cheeks.

“He….he…kissed me, Mom…right in the elevator.” She started to choke up, but her face wasn’t sad at all.

“Why the tears, honey? You sound sad, but you look…surprised?” Adele nodded as her mother began to stroke her hair.

“He…doesn’t want to make love to me, Mom…” A statement that would have had an entirely different meaning only weeks before, she seemed almost happy that she was being rejected. Giada smiled.

“He cares too much for you to make love…he respects you?” Almost an unnecessary guess, it needed asking nonetheless for Adele’s sake.

“Right…like…I…I don’t have to do anything…he just likes me.” Truth be told, Danny was falling in love with Adele, but like would suffice for the time being.

“He doesn’t expect anything…he gives instead of takes.” She didn’t want Adele to feel condemned, but the distinction had to be made since Adele needed to move away from how she had believed and behaved; almost performing on demand.

“No..yes…he’s just such a nice guy. Oh…Mommy…what if…maybe I’m…..” Her voice trailed off as she thought of conversations past with her mother. And of course, the ringing accusations of her father continued to follow her like the bells of a leper marking her as unclean.

“You are more than just okay, honey…Remember…’fearfully and wonderfully made…” Giada quoted Psalm 119 to her children often, partly as a way of undoing the harm of her inaction and neglect when she was drinking; but even more so, as she remembered the verse for herself. “God don’t make no junk,” she remembered a preacher saying once, ironically a preacher who was against gay marriage and anything transgender, but in this case, was entirely on the mark.

“I feel bad…like he’s missing something…like he needs glasses, Mom. I mean…I …with his brother....Oh, Mommy, I’m so ashamed…what did I do…I messed up big time….he can’t…it’s not fair.”

“Honey…Danny strikes me as a man who thinks and acts for himself, no matter what. If he kissed ...since he kissed you, I think he’s looking past who you used to be. Like Aunt Chloe used to say about your Uncle Dave…when everybody else had given up on him? ‘Most folks see Dave as he is…I see Dave as he can become.’ That’s Danny with you.” Giada kissed her daughter’s forehead before finishing.

“There’s just one thing that you need to do, honey.” Adele was so used to doing things to maintain a relationship she feared one more task.

“What, Mom…what should I do?” She began to cry. Giada stroked her cheek and said softly.

“You need to see yourself the way Danny and I and your sisters…yes, SISTERS…see you…and the way God sees you, honey…fearfully and wonderfully made’” She gathered her daughter in her arms and showered her with kisses even as the girl sobbed enough to shake the bed. More healing for another Magliano child.

---

The next day…at the Rubio home….

“Hello, is this the Rubio residence,” Giada spoke softly, her voice almost sing-song.

“Yes, this is Benjamin Rubio, may I ask who’s calling? If you want my daughters, they’re out and about in the neighborhood right now…Can I take a message?”

“Oh…Mr. Rubio…this is Giada Magliano…Miri’s mother?”

“Miri… oh yes…my third daughter,” he said with a soft warm laugh.

“Have we met…after the past few years…I feel we should have met by now…but with my jobs…I’m sorry..I’m rambling.”

“We’ve met just the once…at your wife’s funeral. I’m so sorry I haven’t kept in touch. When we were going through such a hard time with my ex, you and your wife were like an oasis in a desert for my twins…you know Jerry as well?” Giada looked away even though it was a phone conversation, fearing for her son’s…reputation in the neighborhood.

“Jerry…yes…Mrs. Magliano….” His voice sounded ominous.

“Please, call me Giada.”

“Okay, Giada…Jerry strikes me as unusual…” His voice trailed off and Giada grew nervous until he continued.

“He’s one of the kindest kids I know. Did you know he actually sang to my wife…when she was at her last? Asked permission and then just calmly sang some sweet song…I don’t even recall the tune, but Maya was so filled with peace…like an angel he sang.” He began to tear up at the thought.

“There I go…rambling again. Anyway…it’s nice talking to you…what can I do for you?

“I wanted to know what to bring?”

“Bring…for what?”

“Oh…I’m sorry…Miri says that you and your daughters have invited me and my children for dinner. I know we haven’t touched base in a while, but she says Violet told her that since she and Vi are so close…well, I’m sorry, but it seems like we’ve got our signals crossed. I’m glad to talk with you, but I’m sorry to have…”

“Please, don’t…it’s okay…we haven’t had much company in the last couple of years…It will be fun…I don’t know what Cindy and Vi are preparing…do you like wine?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Rubio…”

“Please…call me Ben…my friends call me Benny.” He laughed softly.

“I’m sorry…Ben…I’m an alcoholic…can I bring some Ginger Ale…maybe a salad?”

“Certainly…I’m sorry…it’s okay…oh…by the way…when am I having you over?”

“Sunday at two? That’s what the girls say.” She said it absentmindedly, referring to Miri and Jerry, not Miri and Vi.

“Okay…Sunday it is. I’m looking forward to seeing…your family. Thanks for the heads up…Giada.” He laughed that kind welcoming laugh once again.

“Okay…Benny…Sunday it is. Bye for now.” She almost said the ubiquitous “Love you,” but caught herself. She hit off on the phone and stared at it for a moment. She sighed and said,

“Hmmmm….Benny….”

Ben Rubio hung up the phone even as his eyes darted around the kitchen. He spotted Cindy standing in the doorway looking equally fearful and angry. He shrugged his shoulders to say if to say, “What gives.” She returned the shrug as if to say, “Don’t ask me.” A moment later she looked toward her bedroom and screamed,

“Violet!!!!!!” before running down the hallway as her sister ran out of the room and out the front door. Benny watched his older daughter run out of the house as she continued to yell her sister’s name. He laughed once again before say once to himself,

“Hmmmm…Giada…”

"Why are you so far away?", she said
"Why won't you ever know
That I'm in love with you?
That I'm in love with you?"

You, soft and only
You, lost and lonely
You, strange as angels

Next: Heartache and Healing!

---

Just Like Heaven
Words and music by
Boris Bransby-Williams, Simon Gallup,
Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, and Laurence Tolhurst
As performed by the Watson Twins
Read more: http://www.metrolyrics.com/just-like-heaven-lyrics-the-watso...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph-2HQiTjyc