Thursday afternoon at the Fontenot home, Houston, Texas...

"There you are!" Estelle smiled said as Corie walked into the kitchen. Corie's mother was likely the best friend she had; perhaps even the only friend she had, from her perspective. And of course you already know that your Mom is supposed to like you anyway.

"We've got a bit of time before your appointment. Do you want to go to Bejing Dream?"

"I'm not really that hungry...I guess I could just get some soup?" Corie said as she loaded the dishwasher. She gazed at the juice glasses from breakfast, noting both had traces of lipstick.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Estelle knew exactly what was wrong, but it was very needful for her to draw Corie out; her doctor was concerned about how much Corie was holding in, despite the difficulty of the past several months.

"Will Dad ever come back?" She looked out the window as if he were about to walk up the driveway.

"I hope so." Estelle lied. Vic had called her that morning, insisting that she change her mind about Corie.

"We don't have a daughter, Stel....we have a son," he had told her.

He wasn't angry as much as frustrated and perhaps a great deal fearful. He really didn't understand at all what Corie was going through and he was so adamant about what he thought he knew; more stubborn and insistent than mean or cruel. Nothing can be worse in a debate than when the other person is ignorant or indifferent. If he were passionate, it would be easier for Estelle to appeal to him, but Vic's beliefs about religion and God and sexuality and gender were rooted insecurely in a marginal understanding of someone else's understanding.

"I think he just needs to think things through, honey. I'm sure he'll come around when he realizes just how important this is to you." It wasn’t just important; it was her life.

She wanted to convince herself almost as much as she wanted to convince Corie. They had married young, and Corie was the only child that survived out of six pregnancies. She treasured her daughter while Vic valued the legacy he thought he had left in his son. A gulf that left their child hanging like a Saturday afternoon serial heroine off a rope bridge spanning a chasm; Corie was barely hanging on, and any swaying of the bridge would send "her" to an untimely death.

The office of Elizabeth Chang, MD, later that afternoon...

"It really needs to happen sooner rather than later, Mrs. Fontenot." The doctor said as she reached behind her desk to retrieve a brochure.

"She'll start very soon transitioning into the next stage of 'his' development and if she doesn't start treatment, her male characteristics will become more apparent. We really need to start now. I can appreciate the dilemma you feel, and I can't tell you what you should do." She turned and smiled at Corie.

"But I can say that you'll be fine, and we can start making long term plans for your surgery."

Liz Chang was a great doctor; not merely because of her expertise, but her understanding of the things about transgender youth that went beyond medical information.

"Now...as your friend? I think after what you've told me, your husband will come around. Has he seen Corie since he moved out?" She looked at the closed office door, imagining the girl sitting in the waiting room.

"No...It hadn't even gotten that far. He was so upset just to hear her talk about it. You know...'No son of mine,' like Corie was his and his alone." Estelle began to cry. Liz grabbed small pack of tissues and handed it to her.

"I think if you can manage it, maybe your husband would agree to meet together with you and Corie and me."

"I'm hopeful only to a point. Vic can be stubborn at times, and we've always worked through it. But this? It's like he's afraid to back down; afraid to be wrong. Like nothing he's ever stood this fast for." Estelle looked absentmindedly at the brochure, hoping that somehow there would be a breakthrough, but nothing would prepare them all for what happened.

A few days later...

"Fontenot household...my Mom can't come to ....Dad? What...No, she's not here...she hasn't gotten home from work. Meet you? I thought...what? No...I don't hate you...Dad... please... It's okay... what? About six...okay... see you then."

"Corie, I'm home." Estelle said as she put the grocery bag on the kitchen table.

"I'm in the living room." She walked into the living room and found Corie sitting on the couch watching ESPN. And then she noticed Vic sitting in the recliner across from the TV. He got up and walked quickly to her. She shied away from him briefly until she realized that just Vic being there meant something had changed.

"Vic...." Estelle tried to be cold and dismissive, but in spite of her anger and disappointment, she couldn't stay mad at him.

"Hi hon," he said sheepishly. He stepped closer to her and she received his embrace, almost feeling guilty at the affection after his treatment of Corie.

"I missed you....I missed you both." It was only then that she saw his eyes were red and his face was puffy.

"Vic...What...why?" She wanted to ask so many questions, but the words got stuck in her throat at the mention of "I missed you both."

"We've been talking. I don't know what to think anymore, but I feel horrible. I never meant to hurt either one of you." He hugged her again as she began to cry. She had been so torn; it really was almost cruel to have to pick between the two, especially since she loved her husband and her child. Vic looked at her and shook his head, not at her crying, but his part in making her try to choose.

"I...I went to see Pastor Callahan over at the Methodist Church near my job. We had a long discussion about what to do. She and her husband sat down and talked with me. Even when they showed me how wrong I was, they made me feel like I was okay, you know? That this was something that a lot of parents go through." He turned to Corie, who sat quietly on the couch.

"Listen...I can't promise I'll understand everything about this...I don't know if I ever will." He turned to Estelle and half-smiled.

"I know I'm not going to be able to figure this one out...Pastor Callahan reminded me that I can't figure anything out. But the two of them helped me understand that loving you is more important than being right. And they were nice enough to remind me that I'm not right all the time anyway. What a nice couple."

"I can't do this if you're going to walk out every time things aren't what you think they should be," Estelle said, turning her back and shaking her head.

"I can't promise anything but that I will listen and try to understand both of you from now on." He put his hand on her shoulder and she grabbed it and held it tight. Turning around she smiled at him.

"Vic...It comes down to this...we don't have a son....I'm not sure we ever did."

"I...I know....I think I've been afraid all this time....like I failed him as a father." Corie turned her head at the mention of the word.

"Dad...you're a great father. You didn't fail me....I wouldn't know how to be strong and stand for what I believe in if you hadn't shown me....I mean....I wouldn't even be here." She got up and ran to her parents.

"She's right...No one believed what we have could have lasted this long, and you loved me when no one else would...." She began to sob as Corie came and pulled the two of them together, placing her father’s and mother's hands together.

Estelle Tran Carter Fontenot; born in Columbus, Georgia in 1973; her mother the wife of a Vietnamese Colonel stationed at Fort Benning and her father an African-American Major who shipped out to Vietnam shortly before she was born. Vic Fontenot, born in New Orleans in 1975; he met Estelle when she was a senior and he was a sophomore at TCU. They married in 1996 and Corey came along two years later, his birth sandwiched between five miscarriages. Vic had hoped that Corey would grow up to be another Reggie Bush or Peyton Manning. Instead, their only child appeared more and more like she'd be another Halle Berry or Sandra Oh.

"I have no right to your love; not after what I just put you and your mother through."

"Dad...that's just it...a lot of other guys would have never come back...much less admit they were wrong. Dad...I love you!" Nothing very sweet or maudlin; less like a storybook ending and more like real life. Three people realizing their own limitations and each other's strengths; the Fontenot family pulling together.

Corie looked at her mother and father as they smiled. Her father smiled at her; the first real smile for her from her father ever. And her mother smiled at her, a smile that was for her and her alone. And Corie moved on...to a bright future.

Next: Julie's Story