I'm going to give you all fair warning about this one. It hurts but in a good way so grab the tissues

Andrea looked at the two girls both dressed in Identical dresses she had found through a friend. The dresses, while dating back to the 80's style she had fallen in love with when she was that age are made of newer materials. In this case a stretch velvet allowing for sudden growth spurts while remaining tightly fitted.

The dresses in question were black velvet A line dresses with short puffed sleeves that had white lace trim. A matching white embroidered lace peter pan collar on the dresses just made them so cute. The small tied bow in the back of the dresses just added to the overall cuteness of the dresses.

Dorothy was in her element and could not stop looking in whatever reflective surface she passed. Indeed both girls got many a compliment on their dresses so far. The black mary jane shoes with the white lace socks and white tights completed the two girls.

While Dorothy wore her hair teased a bit but pulled back with a hair band, in black velvet. Jacilynn's red mane was held in place with a black velvet bow on the back of her head. This was not the only difference between the two girls. Dorothy was all smiles, giddness, and skipping along.

Jacilynn however was a different story. She would walk along with her hand in Andrea's but her feet would barely clear the ground as she walked along. Her dull lifeless eyes and straight line lips left little doubt that this girl was anything but happy.

Andrea despaired looking at the young girl. Gone was the almost happy go lucky child she had fallen in love with a year ago. In her place was this shell moving numbly through the day. It had been a total of 3 weeks since she had carried the girl back to the house in her special pink dress from where she had chased after her parents. The girl had spent the next three days sitting at her window all day every day waiting for her parents to return.

Andrea knew full well how unlikely it was for Jaci's parents to return anytime soon. In part due to the restraining order but mostly due to how stubborn the parents were. She did wonder about that in part though. Homophobia that extreme is usually due to one or the other of the parents actually being in denial of themselves. Be it being gay or even trans the instinct to *protect* their child from that life forcing them to go further and further. But Andrea was not a doctor to actually know that for sure.

Andrea knew the girl needed badly to cry to heal. So far the poor young girl had been so withdrawn and had not seriously cried. The only time she would cry is when Dorothy would do something silly in a desperate attempt to get attention from her sister. Even then it was just tears rolling down her cheeks.

Even bringing the child in to the hospital for her lower abdominal scan had been almost painless. The child had responded only as a machine. You had to tell her to get dressed or undressed as she would not do so on her own.

The most maddening part of that was that after all the previous trouble to get the girl in for the scan it had come back as "normal". Andrea had been so sure that the girl really was a girl on the inside. However Dr Malfosa, her gynecologist had told her that the scan came back as having no anomalies of any kind.

Andrea had been insulted when Dr. Malfosa had accused her of giving Jacilynn estrogen or that the girl had self medicated somehow. Andrea knew full well that the only medication her girls, both being underage to recieve HRT, were only on testosterone blockers. Yet Jacilynn's blood test confirmed that the girl had the same elevated levels of estrogen as that of any other teenage girl.

The only thing that could make sense ,especially when you considered how the girl regularly lost almost a litre of blood in her stool, would be if she was somehow intersexed. But Dr. Malfosa had been adamant that Jacilynn did not posses a uterus or even ovaries. What had been a surprise however was that little Dorothy's scan came back with an anomaly. There was what could be an immature ovary in the girls abdomen. However without a biopsy to test it to be sure they were currently ruling it as a simple anomaly as it could also be cancer.

Still Drea did not want to push things Dottie was still not the same after the test fiasco. Drea had explained what the test was for and Dottie had gotten a new library card with "better books" but she could tell that Dottie was not happy she had"failed" the test. Now with the wait to see her own mom, especially after what happened to Jaci, giving her the news she had to go in for a biopsy test would just compound problems.

Drea had gotten both girls these dresses for today. While both girls looked cute Drea herself had problems of her own. Today was the day she dreaded every year. Drea was wearing a black velvet dress of her own. While not as cute as the girls it did show off her curvy figure to best advantage, especial when some of the curves were unwanted. The sleeves of the dress were long and the sweetheart neckline was unadorned. She had thought about a similar dress to the girls but it would make her look like an old lady.

The bell over the door tingled as she ushered her two girls inside the flower shop. She had each girl pick out a single red rose. Dorothy found one that had a huge blossom on it. Jacilynn's was partially closed for a blossom. The two were different as the two girls were different. For herself Andrea picked out the pink rose. She gave each girl the money to pay for the flowers and they did. Jacilynn even gave a small smile.

They left the flower shop and continued on their way to the cemetery that was near the flower shop. Andrea could not help but think the flower shop did good business being so close one.
The antique wrought iron fence had a fresh coat of black paint. It was a pretty fence, plain but the tops curved up and down separated by real stone pillars. The grass in the cemetery was neat tidy and very green. As usual on a weekday the gates were open.

Andrea led the girls down the many curving paths to the back of the cemetary. The graves they passed were in some ways works of art with the angels, and ornate crosses. That is except for here. Here was the burial place of a dear friend. The simple plaque gravestone said Here lies .... 1956 - 2003. The original name of her friend had be chiseled off by her parents. The girl had transitioned against her family's wishes and they had disowned her. Her friend had called her late one night to poor out her heart about how hard it was. The girl had not even legally changed her name and the loss of her family had hurt her deeply.

It was because of her sacrifice that Drea had found the courage to complete her own. Drea knelt down, with the assistance of the two girls, and cleaned away the few dead grass clippings. She placed her own pink rose down across the grave put down the paper from the rose that was wrapped so she would not ruin her hose and openly wept. Not once saying anything to the two girls.

Jacilynn looked around the graveyard she was in and noticed a strange sound. It was crying but it was coming from someone that sounded like Tante Andrea. It couldn't be she was always smiles and happy hugs. Turning she looked and saw Tante Andrea's shoulders heaving heavily with the tears. They were very powerful tears. So much so that they started her own tears. Dropping the forgotten rose Jacilynn knelt beside the woman that she had come to love very much.

"Tante don't cry. I'm sorry please don't cry." Her own tears falling fast and hard she snuggled under the arm of Tante Drea and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry please Tante I love you so much please don't cry. I ...I...." the rest of what Jacilynn said fell to unintelligible mumbles.

Dorothy looked at the two special women in her own life with unnoticed tears in her eyes. Jacilynn had woken up after so long even if Tante was crying and she did not know why. The rose with the big blossom and its one forgotten thorn crushed in her own hand as she brought it up to her eyes to cover her tears. Not knowing why she also snuggled under the other arm of Tante in much the same position of Jacilynn.

And so the three ladies all cried tears of healing over the grave of a special person.

Unnoticed to the three a cement angel whose face had long corroded from age but overlooked that spot of the graveyard seemed to sprout water from the eyes.