While getting ready to meet with two girls from school who've been invited to Cori's sleep-over, Bobby gets a call from the hospital, talk to her mom, and learns a bit about both her parents as well as her part in their divorce. Worried about being accepted, Bobby braces herself to meet Rhianna and Tess, and discovers what kinds of friends they can be.

Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure - Chapter XII

Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown

I couldn't stop staring at the girl in the mirror.

It was still hard to believe I was looking at myself. It wasn't as if this was the first time I'd seen a girl in the mirror, but it was still weird just the same. It hadn't been too long ago I'd been in my boy clothes and I'd still seen a girl. I didn't look that much different in the clothes I'd borrowed from Cori. Just a little more relaxed. Maybe even a little happier.

Aunt Joan had helped me look through Cori's closet and explained the funny looking overalls I'd picked out were called shortalls and that they were lavender, not purple. I was a little confused at first about the lavender, since I thought it just meant the soft, flowery smell of the bubble bath I'd used late last night.

Instead of getting annoyed with me for asking a dumb question, Aunt Joan stopped what she was doing and explained how lavender could mean more than one thing, just like the word orange could mean a color or piece of fruit. Once I was able to explain in my own words what she had told me, she gave me a quick hug before gathering up some shoes and clean underwear for me. After handing over everything I would need to get changed, she found some clothes for Cori to change into after her bath before she left me alone in my friends bedroom.

I adjusted the left strap of the shortalls so it would stop slipping from my shoulder. The soft, almost silky, short-sleeved, white cotton shirt felt nice under the rougher corduroy of the shortalls. No, not a shirt. Aunt Joan had said it was called a . . . blouse. I touched the plastic, flower-shaped buttons running down the front. It had been a little funny doing them up on the wrong side, but it wasn't really all that hard. I couldn't remember if girls did them all the way up, but decided to leave them, since I liked the way the blouse looked with all the buttons closed.

I sorta hop-stepped back a couple times until I could see the white anklets and lavender sneakers in the mirror and wondered if all girls matched up their shoes with their clothes like this. Was Cori unusual for liking the kinds of clothes she wore? I was finding I really liked the very girly look. Did that mean I was I a girl like Cori? Was I a girl? Could it really be as easy as deciding I was a girl to become one? Had I ever not been a girl?

I swung my head from side to side to shake the dizzy feeling I was getting from all the questions swirling around in my head and giggled at the way the swaying pigtails tickled my ears. I was so glad I had convinced Aunt Joan to help me fix my hair before she left. The scent of the strawberry shampoo I'd used last night (or early this morning?) was faint, but still noticeable as the pigtails bounced around my head.

I'd pulled the crutch (which Aunt Joan had insisted I still needed to keep using) away from the wall and was swinging my way towards the bedroom door when I heard a familiar knocking. "Sweetie, is it okay if we come in, or are you still changing?"

Something seemed to flutter in my stomach and my knees felt wobbly. "Tess and Rhianna got here already?" Even though Cori seemed positive they'd assumed I was a girl, I still wasn't sure how ready I was to have someone from school see me dressed like this.

"No, they won't be here for a little while yet. When I said we, I actually meant me and someone on the phone who would very much like to talk to you."

"Oh, umm, come on in. I'm all done changing." Talking to someone on the phone sounded a lot less scary than meeting Cori's friends face to face and the nervousness in my stomach calmed a little.

Aunt Joan was holding a phone to her ear as she walked into the bedroom. "Oh Irene, you should see her. She looks adorable in the outfit she picked out."

It took a second before I realized who she wast talking to. "Mom! Oh, can I talk to her please?" Without waiting for an answer, I hobbled towards Aunt Joan in a rush. I must have swung the crutch a little too wide. Without warning, it had slipped out from under my arm and I was falling sideways.

The next thing I knew, the phone was bouncing on the thickly padded bedroom rug and Aunt Joan was down on one knee, holding me in her arms. As she lifted me up and started to carry me to Cori's bed, I heard a tinny voice shouting. "Joan? Bobby? Anybody? What's going on?"

"Mom, is that you?" I was too far away to make out what the voice on the phone said as Aunt Joan sat me down on the edge of the bed, but I was sure now I knew who it was and that she sounded worried.

After checking my ankle to make sure I hadn't hurt it again, Aunt Joan scooped the phone off the floor. "Irene? . . . Yes, everything is okay. She just got a little excited when I was bringing you to her and fell. . . . Oh no. I checked and everything looks fine. She does seem anxious to speak to you, though. . . . Of course. . . . No need to thank me. It's what best friends do." Her chuckle was warm and playful. "Okay, you're welcome. . . . Sure, here she is."

After handing the phone to me, Aunt Joan tiptoed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her. "Mom? Is everything okay?"

Hearing my mother's gentle laughter melted away the last bit of worry I was feeling. "I was just about to ask you the same thing. Is your ankle feeling any better?"

"Oh yeah. Aunt Joan kept me home and made me keep my foot up all day. Most of the aching is gone now. I can even walk on it a little."

"That's so good to hear. Now I know it's tempting, but I want you to promise me you won't try putting any weight on that foot for a while and keep on using the crutch Joan's let you borrow."

I wanted to argue that I really wasn't all that bad off, but I didn't want to make her any more worried than she already sounded. "Okay, I promise."

"That includes the sleep-over. So no jumping, dancing, running, or anything like that when you're playing with your friends, and no walking anywhere without the crutch."

"How'd you find out about the sleep-over?"

"You're avoiding answering me." Mom sounded a little more serious, but there was still a bit of a smile in her voice.

"Okay, I promise not to do any of them things at the sleep-over. But how'd you find out about it?"

"This afternoon, after the hospital staff were done poking and prodding and running me through all kinds of tests, I called Joan to find out how you were doing. She told me about the sleep-over Cori was planning and asked me how I felt about you joining it."

"And you're okay with it?"

"Of course I am, Pumpkin. I've raised you as a good b-- err, girl, and I know you'll behave yourself."

"Were you gonna say boy?"

The faint crackle of static filled a few seconds of silence. "Yes, Bobby."

Cold dread washed through me and the phone felt like it was just about ready to slip out of my sweaty hand. "So, you see me like a boy . . . like a sissy who wears girls clothes?"

"No, Pumpkin." There were a few more seconds of silence. "Actually, that's not entirely true. When you were first born, I thought of you as my son. As you grew older and I saw your personality developing, I realized you were a bit different from most boys. I believe your father saw the same thing as well."

"Is that why he freaked out at my fifth birthday party?"

The sadness in Mom's sigh made my heart ache. "I'd say that was part of it, but it seems it was also somethings from his past that set him off. Once I'd gotten you to sleep that night, I had a long talk with him and found out about some things that had happened to him a long while ago."

"What kinda things?"

"Just . . . just some very bad things that went on for a very long time. It didn't excuse what he did to you. If I had thought for a second he wouldn't keep his promise about never letting it happen again, I would have left him that night."

"You would have left him because of me?"

"Yes . . . no. What I mean is, I would have left him because of what he did. He was responsible for his own actions, not you. And just in case you were wondering, he was also responsible for his own choice in leaving a few months ago."

"But, I'd told him I didn't wanna get my hair cut."

"Which had nothing to do with him leaving. Your father and I breaking up had been a long time coming. He just happened to choose that night to leave."

I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to absorb what I'd learned while questions floated around in my head. What was it that had changed my father? What had happened to him that was so awful that my mom wouldn't tell me? Was I really not responsible for my parents breaking up? It was still hard to believe, but my mom seemed pretty sure I wasn't. Eventually, the sound of Mom's voice broke through my thoughts. "What was that?"

"I was just asking if you were still there."

"Yeah. Just thinking a lot and trying to figure stuff out."

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin. Talking over the phone about things like this probably isn't the best idea. Think you'd be up to a real talk when I get home from the hospital?"

The sadness and confusion I'd been feeling was almost completely overridden by the excitement of being able to have my mom back home again. "Oh, that sounds great! When ya gonna get outta the hospital?"

"Well, my nurse came in a few minutes ago to take me to the last of my tests for today."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep ya on the phone so long."

"It's okay. When he'd dropped me off from the last test, I'd told him I was going to try reaching my daughter this afternoon and he's been very understanding. If everything goes well with this and the other tests I've taken today, they may be letting me out as early as tomorrow afternoon."

My heart was bubbling over with happiness. Not only did my mom seem to accept me as her daughter, but she didn't seem to have any problems referring to me as one with other people as well. Topping that off with having her back home . . . I really couldn't have felt any happier. "Wow, that sounds great! I can't wait to see ya again."

"Same here, Pumpkin. I can't tell you how much I've missed your sweet smile."

I felt a little worried when I heard her sniffling. "Everything all right? You sound like you're crying."

"I'm fine. These are happy tears."

On the one hand, the idea of happy tears didn't make sense. On the other hand, I was happier than I'd felt in ages, but there was a tear trickling down my cheek. "I love you, Mommy." The old name had slipped out again, but it felt right, so I didn't worry about it.

"I love you too, Bobby. Now I want you to be a good girl for Joan and try not to stay up too late tonight at the sleep-over. Joan had said she planned on driving you and the other girls to school tomorrow before going to work and I don't want you to make her late because you can't wake up. Can you do that for me?"

"I will. I promise."

I hadn't been sitting on the bed for more than a few minutes after I hung up before I heard Cori's shouting, closely followed by the rumble of what must have been her thumping down the steps, then the excited sound of new voices. I pulled a fluffy tissue from the fuzzy pink box on the night stand, then dabbed at my tears and blew my nose before standing with the help of the crutch and bracing myself for the new arrivals before heading out the bedroom door.

* * *

I had just come out of the hallway and looked down the steps to watch the hug-fest. I smiled when I saw a girl with short black hair and cinnamon-colored skin gasp as Cori squeezed her tight and another girl with long waves of coppery-red hair and a face full of freckles squealed when Aunt Joan picked her up and wrapped her in a warm bear hug.

The second girl, who I quickly recognized as Rhiana, seemed to notice me first, but it was the first girl, Tess, who shouted, "Bobby!"

When Rhiana squirmed out of Aunt Joan's arms, she ran up the steps and gave me a huge hug. "It's so good to see ya again, Bobby. Everybody at recess was askin' about you."

Once Cori let her go, Tess lightly bounced up the steps two at a time and hugged me too. "I'm glad to see ya too. Rumor had started going around you'd been in a bad car accident."

Not one to be left out, Cori thumped up the steps and joined in the group hug. "I dunno how the rumor got started, but I'm glad ya didn't get in a car accident yesterday."

I turned to Cori, not sure if I was ready for the answer, but still needing to ask. "Had you told people who'd been in the accident?"

"Oh no. That's one of the things I figured you wanna let people know if you was up to letting them know."

Rhianna gasped. "Who'd been in an accident?"

Tess rolled her eyes before glaring at her friend. "Hey! You know better than asking questions like that."

I reached out and did my best to hug all three girls. "It's okay. I don't mind telling ya's so long as ya don't tell nobody else."

Rhianna's embarrassed expression relaxed a bit. "Of course. I won't tell anyone else. Promise." The other two girls nodded in agreement and added their promises.

"Actually, it was my mom who'd been in an accident."

It was Tess's turn to gasp. "Oh god! That musta been awful!"

Rhianna squeezed my shoulder. "You poor girl. I'm so sorry to hear that. If it ain't too personal . . . how's she doing?"

I took in a deep breath. "She's doing better now. But when I first saw her. . . ." I thought back to the other night when I first saw my mom in a hospital bed. I thought of all the tubes and wires coming out of her. All the emotions I felt then, all the fear I'd tried to push down on the way to the hospital, everything just came back in a rush. Without a word, all three girls closed in and held me as I started crying.

When I was more or less back to my normal self, I felt a new hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Aunt Joan smiling gently and holding a box of tissues. She pulled one out and held it up to my nose. "Go ahead and blow your nose, sweetie."

Cori, Tess, and Rhianna all made their own versions of honking noises as I blew my nose, which started me giggling. The others joined in, and even Aunt Joan chuckled. "Okay girls. It's time to get started on the pizza's if you want anything to eat during the sleep-over. Who wants to help?"

All four of us said, "me," at exactly the same time, which started everyone laughing again as we followed Aunt Joan into the kitchen.