"Well girl, they'll be here any minute," I said to my cat Cleopatra, who sat lazily between presents under my modest tree.

I walked into the kitchen, checked the oven.

The ham was done, just waiting for the Christmas feast that also included the usual trimmings of potato salad, dill pickles, cheese, rolls, corn on the cob and pie that had become part of our annual Christmas Eve dinner. Just quiet, laid back. Nothing fancy.

I walked one more time nervously into the bathroom, checked my hair, my makeup, my dress.

I slipped on the Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD just to add to the mood.

The door bell rang.

"Right on time," I thought. Bill was never late.

I opened the door, and there stood my two favorite people in the world: Bill and his 8-year old daughter Katie, both holding presents.

"Let me get your coats," I said, kissing Bill on the cheek. "Go put the presents under the tree."

"Is Cleo there?" Katie asked.

"Of course, where did you think she'd be? I said.

Katie and Cleo had been best buds ever since she and I picked her out of a litter at the pound when Katie was 5.

"How was the office party?" I asked Bill, who had already plopped down in his usual place in the recliner in the living room.

"Same old, same old," he said. "The boss acted like giving Christmas bonuses wasn't an annual thing. Old Joe got out his sax."

"Has he improved any since the last party?" I asked.

"No," Bill laughed.

Just then Katie ran over and gave me a hug.

"Oh, Rachel, dad said he wished you'd come over to our house," she said.

"I will, sweetie, to see all of the presents Santa brought you," I said.

I felt Katie no longer believed in Santa, but she still played along, which made it fun.

And Bill had been insisting our Christmas Eve dinner be moved to their place the last couple of years. But I still felt the timing wasn't right.

"So your Mom's at 6 tomorrow, right?" Bill asked.

"Yup, so you better picked me up at about 5:15 to give us plenty of time to get there," I said.

I wasn't exactly looking forward to the family get-together. We weren't entirely a loving family before I came out to the world that I wanted to become a woman shortly after I graduated from nursing school. I was abandoned for a short time, but then I was slowly accepted back in.

Still, it was an uneasy truce the last few years. Poor Bill didn't know what he was getting into. He ran into my mother at Macy's one day and told her we were dating. It was quite a shock to her. She insisted he come to the gathering.

I was actually glad to have the protection.

The fact that Bill and I had been an "item" was quite a shock to many people in town.

I was the gender freak who worked long hours at the big city hospital, but still settled down in the small Southern community, and was the talk of the community.

Bill was the ultra-successful engineer, the former star-athlete turned widower raising a young child.

Talk about scandalous.

His late wife was part of the reason this shocking match took place. Jennifer and I were best friends in high school. We were geeks in the color guard together (talk about scandal, was the the first "boy" ever in color guard, yeah the queer names started early). The fact that Bill dated Jennifer was almost as much a shock, since she was a geek and not the cheerleader type.

We went to nursing school together. She was one of the few who didn't abandon me when I came out as transgender.

Bill, amazingly, didn't either.

I was one of the nurses who gave Jennifer care when got sick shortly after having Katie. Bill never forgot that, although we lost touch for quite some time after her passing.

I literally ran into at the concession stand at the Falcons' game in Atlanta about three years after Jennifer had past away. It was a mess, quite comical, drinks spilled all over us. He was there with his buddies. I was there with a few nursing friends. We had a good laugh.

He exchanged cell numbers since it had been so long since we'd seen each other.

I was shocked to receive a call from him the next day, asking if I were interested in going to dinner.

He was charming. he began sending flowers and the lunch dates became actual dates. I began to spend time with him and Katie both.

His family was furious at first, but then warmed up to me.

We seriously started dating a year ago. It was then when we sat down with Katie and explained that I once had been a boy. Amazingly, she was cool with it.

I thought about how lucky I was when I asked Katie to help me set the table, which she gladly did.

"Rachel, would you mind if I started calling you Mom?" she said.

I was in complete shock. Really, I didn't know what to say.

"Oh baby, I think that is really up to your dad," I said. "Rachel is probably good for now."

I told her not to say anything to Bill.

She kept her word.

We did our usual around the supper table. We talked about how things were going. Katie told me she really thought it was cool that I had the picture of her at her school Christmas program on my computer.

I told her how much I enjoyed the program and told her how great she did in it.

Bill told me how proud he was of me for heading up the toy drive at the hospital.

"Told everyone at work, that's my girl friend," he said.

I blushed and laughed.

"I swear you give me too much credit," I said while pushing a strand of hair out of my face.

"You sell yourself short, love," he said.

He also made the announcement the three of us were going to go look at Christmas lights, and then we were going to go the midnight candlelight service at the Methodist Church.

"You've got to be kidding," I protested. "They'll throw me out and want to stone me."

"Oh, no," Bill said. "Ran into Bro. Andrew. He insists that we come. He insists that I bring you. He said we'd all be welcome."

I was still a little hesitent. But I finally agreed to go.

"Can we open presents now?" Katie interrupted.

"As soon as we put everything away," I said.

The three of us put the plates away. Katie couldn't wait to open her presents.

She tore right into both.

"Oh my God, what I beautiful dress, I love it, I love it," she said.

She was even more excited when she pulled out tickets to the Katy Perry concert.

"Nothing I can give her will even compare to that," Bill said.

"Oh stop it, you know she'll be excited with whatever you give her," I said.

As for Bill? He went nuts when pulled out tickets to the Falcons' first playoff game at the Georgia Dome. He almost ignored the leather jacket I got him.

"You do like it?" I asked.

"I do," he said with a laugh. "But you know how much I love my Falcons. This is our year."

"You are such a man!" I said, punching him in the shoulder.

"Now it's time for yours," he said as he pulled a box out from under the tree.

I was speechless, tears ran down my face. It was a beautiful silk kimono.

"Oh my God, Bill, it's beautiful," I said as I kissed him on his cheek and curled up next to him in the recliner.

He winked at Katie, who walked out of the room.

She came back in holding mistletoe and placed it over our heads.

"You know what that means?" Bill said.

"Uh huh" I nodded and got ready for the kiss.

"We can't do it until I give you this," he said as he pulled a box out of his pocket.

My heart leaped.

"Rachel Ann Redding, will you be my wife?" Bill asked with tears in his eyes.

Before I could answer, Katie hugged me and asked "would you be my Mom?"

I cried, stammered.

"Yes, yes, yes to both," I cried before Bill gave me the biggest kiss we'd ever shared.

They both clung to me.

"I think this is the best Christmas ever," Katie said.

"I think you might be right," I said before Bill gave me one more kiss.

"Well my ladies, we've got to be going," Bill said. "We've got to see the lights. And I almost forgot, we're getting together with Bro. Andrew before the service. And you probably need to bring the kimino because you and Santa have things to do tonight after the service."