Everyone filled the van as they were ready to go to breakfast. Again, George found himself stuck with everyone waiting to get into the crowded van. He decided to go in the car with Erwin instead.

“Alright, has everyone buckled their seatbelts?” Carol asked from the front seat while adjusting the mirror.

As Carol hit the road, Nancy leaned over and whispered something that surprised her but made her smile.

“Is that so? Then a special young lady needs special treatment on a special day like this,” Carol replied, looking in the mirror directly at Erinna.

Erinna was a special and unique child who cared for everyone around her before thinking about herself. Carol was impressed by her ability to assess a situation and quickly act accordingly. Erinna was also special because Carol considered her to be her second daughter. She had spent many times caring for her when she was sick, almost as much as Heather.

They reached their destination, the same restaurant and coffee shop the Houstons used for breakfast when they ran in the morning. Carol parked the van, and Erwin parked the car just behind her. For George, it was a nerve-wracking ride. After he had asked for permission to date Nancy yesterday, having to ride beside Erwin was terrifying.

Jessica welcomed everyone when they entered the coffee shop, but her eyes were on George again. Nancy saw this immediately and didn’t like Jessica’s attention to George. Thinking quickly, Nancy took George’s arm in hers, causing him to blush as his arm touched her chest. Jessica was envious of Nancy’s display of affection as she guided everyone to their table. Jessica couldn’t leave without making an embarrassing comment that made her little brother Steven blush.

“So, it seems little Stevie finally has some friends?” Jessica said, giving Steven a big kiss and making him blush to an even deeper shade of red.
“Jessi, please,” Steven whined, causing everyone to laugh. Once she had all the orders except Steven’s, Jessica left as she already knew what her brother loved to eat.

Jessica started bringing everyone their breakfast, including Steven. Jessica could see that Erinna had decided not to say anything about it, as she could ask Steven later. Once everyone had their breakfast, they started to dig in.

“So, George, do you mind if we kidnap Erinna for a bit?” Carol joked as everyone was finishing their food. She knew Heather would be in for a big surprise when Erinna returned. Carol also knew Heather wouldn’t be happy not knowing or seeing her daughter before going home, but it was worth the surprise.

“Well, if you can explain to dad why his baby girl is not back with me, then I can’t say no,” George replied. George smirked at Erinna sitting beside Oliver, not realizing they held hands under the table. He knew that his dad was against the idea of his baby girl staying away from home, even if it was just a few houses and a five-minute walk away. When Erinna was still a boy, Jeff would also be concerned when Ryan was away from home, but now as Erinna, he was overprotective and didn’t want his baby girl ever to leave home.

Blushing a bit, Erinna stuck her tongue out at George. It seemed she would always be the baby of the house, either boy or girl. That wouldn’t change, and she wasn’t sure if it would ever change. “I am not a baby,” Erinna replied with a huff.

“You have to convince dad, not me.” George shrugged and shook his head. He knew how much Erinna hated being the baby in the family, but still, it was fun to tease her from time to time.

After breakfast, everyone walked back to the van. Carol dropped Ron, Walter, and Dakota at their homes, but Steven stayed with her since they went to his mom’s salon anyway. Jeff and Erwin were going to spend some time with the boys, so Connor’s stepdad also decided to come. Oliver went home with Erwin and George and took Connor with them.

Because of her last-minute plan, Carol invited Heather, but she was not coming alone.

Arriving at “Betty’s Beauty World” salon, Carol could see that Heather had already come since she could see Heather’s car parked in front of the salon. It was empty, so Carol assumed she was inside. Carol had wanted to keep Erinna’s new look a surprise for Heather, but she couldn’t complain.

Everyone left the van and went inside the salon, only for Erinna to get a big surprise. Her aunt Leslie was there, sitting beside her mom and chatting.

“Aunt Leslie!” Erinna squealed as she ran to hug her aunt.
“Look at you. You’re so pretty,” Leslie said, breaking the hug. “I was surprised yesterday when your mom told me what happened, but I always knew you would make a pretty girl.”

Erinna blushed a bit before thanking Leslie. Erinna then started to look around curiously. “Where is everyone?” Erinna asked, not seeing any of her cousins.

“Well, Destiny is having her hair styled, and her sisters are looking for some new clothes for her in the nearby mall,” Leslie explained, adding to Erinna’s confusion as none of her cousins were named Destiny.
Meanwhile, Carol spoke to Steven’s mom, Betty, and explained what she wanted for Erinna. Betty happily agreed, admitting that she always wanted to work on Erinna’s hair. Still, she said Erinna would have to wait her turn, as Betty had not yet completed Destiny’s hairstyling.
As everyone walked in, Erinna was just about to ask who Destiny was when Leslie noticed Carla coming her way.

“Carla! It’s been a while since the last time you modeled for me. I assume Linda is giving her star girl the proper attention. If not, call me,” Leslie said, making Carla blush and then smile.

“I am on vacation until next year, Mrs. Dawson, and yes, Linda is the best. I wouldn’t work with any other agency,” Carla replied.
Last summer, she started as a model and modeled Leslie’s fall collection. The agency she now worked for belonged to a friend of her mom, Linda. While her modeling career began as a favor for Leslie, Carla enjoyed the work, and Linda was more than happy to keep Carla busy modeling for her agency.

“Now, girls, let’s get you all ready for a manicure and pedicure,” Betty said, guiding the girls further into the salon.
Erinna noticed a new girl sitting on a chair while one of the salon girls was washing her hair as they walked in. She somehow looked familiar to Erinna, but she couldn’t place her. Every girl got her chair, and one of the attendants started working on their nails.

About a half-hour later, Erinna admired her fingernails with a sparkly baby blue coat and white French tips. While she couldn’t see her toenails, she could only guess they looked the same. Her hands seemed utterly feminine, and much to her dismay, she couldn’t deny that she loved them.

“Now that I have finished Destiny’s hair, it’s time for a certain young lady to have her hair styled,” said Betty as she walked up behind Erinna. “Today, we will also be piercing your ears. It’s time you had it done, young lady.”

Erinna was nervous about getting her ears pierced, but she was still curious about Destiny.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who is Destiny?” asked Erinna.
Betty smiled, “I think you should ask your aunt Leslie that question, Erinna, as she would be better able to answer it, but for now, please follow me over to that empty chair in front of the sink.”

Erinna nervously followed Betty to the chair, where Betty put a smock around her. “Please don’t cut it short. I wanna keep it long,” Erinna begged, unsure of what kind of hairstyle Betty had in mind. It took her such a long time to get her hair this long, and she didn’t want it cut short.

“Don’t worry, Erinna, I definitely won’t do that,” Betty explained as she started to wash Erinna’s long flowing hair, causing her to purr. “Oh, someone likes this,” Betty commented, causing Erinna to blush. “I would have worried if you didn’t like this,” Betty added with a wink.
Erinna had to admit Betty’s hand felt good on her scalp, and she never thought being in a salon would feel this good. Erinna was starting to see things from a different angle. No boy would ever want to experience something like this, except maybe Brandi, but could she still count Brandi as one of the boys? Erinna doubted it and suspected something was up with Brandi.

Once Betty washed Erinna’s hair, she moved Erinna to another chair in front of a large mirror but turned the chair around so that Erinna couldn’t see it.

“Hey, I can’t see,” Erinna complained.

Your mom wanted it to be a surprise,” Betty explained, making Erinna huff. Betty chuckled a bit, took a pair of scissors and comb from the counter, and began to work on Erinna’s hair.

“You are such a pretty girl, with such beautiful hair, it’s only logical that you want to keep it long,” Betty commented, assuring Erinna.

Erinna blushed again upon hearing Betty’s comment. She was not used to being called pretty or cute. It confused her; one part loved everything girly and feminine, but the other tried to convince her that she shouldn’t like it. This side of her was failing miserably.

Betty kept on cutting and combing Erinna’s hair. As Betty continued with her scissors, Erinna began to worry while watching strand after strand of hair falling to the ground. Betty then took a blow-dryer and a brush to dry Erinna’s hair. Betty turned Erinna’s chair around to face the mirror when she finished.
“What do you think?” Betty asked, already knowing the answer from the shocked look on Erinna’s face.

Erinna was speechless and at a loss for words as she continued to stare at her new hairstyle, moving her head from side to side.

Betty had cut Erinna’s hair in a cute shoulder-length bob-cut style with short bangs. Erinna looked in the mirror and saw that her hair was still the same length despite all the cutting. It made her face look more feminine than ever before, and for the first time, she realized how girly she looked since no hair was covering her face.

Erinna saw Heather’s reflection in the mirror. Heather looked very pleased with a big smile plastered on her face. She knew that such a cute and classic hairstyle would suit Erinna, and she was confident that Erinna would love it.

“You look simply adorable, sweetheart. What do you think?” asked Heather.

“I think it looks fine,” Erinna shyly replied. Even though she was excited inside, she didn’t want her mom to see that.

“There’s just one more thing I must do,” said Betty. “Hold still, Erinna,” as she stood in front of the mirror.

There was a click, and Erinna felt a slight pain in her left earlobe, then a second click with a bit of pain in her right earlobe. Betty stood aside as Erinna looked into the mirror seeing two new tiny diamond stud earrings in her newly pierced ears.

“I didn’t think I could look any better. Wow! Those earrings look great!” Erinna gushed. Realizing how excited her reaction appeared, Erinna blushed a bit.

“That’s my beautiful girl. You look great, sweetie,” exclaimed Heather. A tear almost escaped her eyes, seeing the reflection of the pretty young lady in the mirror and realizing that it was her daughter, the daughter she always wished to have.

“If you will excuse me now, ladies, I have another client in dire need of a hairstyle,” Betty exclaimed as Erinna watched her walk towards Brandi.

“Why don’t we go for some coffee until Betty finishes with Brandi? The day had just begun after all,” suggested Leslie as she stood there with her four daughters.

“Hold on,” Erinna thought as she started to count again. “one, two, three, four.” Then it suddenly made sense, and she realized who the fourth girl was. “Dennis?” Erinna asked, making Destiny blush.

“But, she’s not Dennis anymore. She’s now Destiny,” the oldest of the girls said and walked over to Erinna, hugging her. “You look cute, by the way,” she exclaimed, kissing Erinna’s forehead.

“Thank you, Amy,” Erinna replied shyly. She had always liked her cousins, at least from her mom’s side. Boys or girls, they were all fun to be around. Though everyone called her Amy, Amelia, at 16, was the oldest girl in the family, so she was like a big sister except for her older cousins. She was tall and looked just like her mom but had an imposing air and an expression that said, don’t mess with me. Even George would rather listen to her and not argue.
Just younger than her was Olivia, who’s 14, and then Emma and Destiny, who are both 12.

“Maria will want a hairstyle just like yours so that she can match you exactly,” Olivia commented as the girls all giggled. Maria was Aunt Lynn’s daughter. Maria and Erinna act like they are twins, and everyone knows it. Whenever they are together, they spend a great deal of time with each other. Now that they were both girls, everyone was sure they would become closer.

“But Maria has longer hair than me,” Erinna said with apparent envy in her tone. She had always envied Maria for having such long hair and always wished she could have waist-length hair like her.

“I bet she will say it first thing today. As soon as she sees Erinna’s new hairstyle, she will immediately ask Aunt Lynn to get it styled just like Erinna,” Olivia smirked, imagining Maria’s reaction.

“Well, we’ll know later now, shall we go?” Heather suggested.
Everyone left except Carol, who would join them after Betty finished with Brandi. Carla would stay behind, too; since her dad was coming home from New York, Carol would drop her off to spend the winter holiday with him.

Nancy and Shelby joined Erinna and Heather in Heather’s SUV while Leslie took her daughters to her car. With that, they all went to a nearby café. Everyone ordered drinks. Even though Heather usually won’t allow her to drink coffee, she couldn’t resist Erinna’s cute puppy eyes. Erinna once again manipulated Heather to get her coffee and cake.

“So, you’re now attending the same school as George and even playing on the football team with him?” Amy asked as they took their seats. Amy was very interested in Nancy after observing her close relationship with Erinna.

“Yes, I started high school this year, and we are classmates too,” Nancy explained, feeling awkward as she became the center of attention.

Erinna smirked and decided to tease Nancy for a bit. “They are going on a da-mmuph....” Erinna tried to speak, but Nancy cut her off, preventing her from speaking, by placing her hand over Erinna’s mouth.

“School trip, she meant a school trip,” Nancy explained, looking a bit frustrated, as Amy regarded her with a suspicious smirk.

Then, Erinna decided she didn’t like anyone to shut her up, so she came up with an idea to get Nancy’s hand off her mouth and started to lick it.

“Ewww, what was that for?” Nancy glared at Erinna and took a napkin to wipe off her hand. Erinna couldn’t help but giggle, causing Nancy to start tickling her.

“You know, Nancy, if Erinna wasn’t my cousin and I didn’t know her, I would say you’re both sisters, and there’s no way she’s just your boyfriend’s sister,” Amy noted while grinning, making Nancy smile as well.

“That’s because she’s my sister. I had always wanted to have a sister anyway,” Nancy said, poking Erinna in her side and making her stick her tongue out for Nancy.

“Feel free to take Emma if you want to. I still need Destiny, though. Without her, I won’t know what to wear when going out,” Olivia suggested as Emma glared at her. Destiny just smiled and winked at Olivia
“Thanks, but I already have a sister. Erinna is enough for me,” Nancy replied as everyone laughed.

They all chatted for a bit, and Nancy found that Leslie had only recently remarried her new husband, Jack. Her three daughters were from her first marriage, and Destiny was her new daughter from Jack’s previous marriage.

She was astonished to learn that Leslie’s three girls were competitive swimmers, all of whom were on their school’s team. It was a family tradition as the women had been competitive swimmers for generations. She also found that they all attended an art school. Olivia and Amy strived to become actors. Emma wanted to be a novel writer, and Destiny wished to become a fashion designer. Leslie showed great interest in Destiny’s talent and mentored her stepdaughter personally. Nancy found it amusing that Emma wanted to be a novel writer like Destiny’s birth mother, while Destiny wished to be a fashion designer like her stepmother.

“So, to be clear, your family has a long swimming history? I never expected that. I thought that Erinna was the only one into swimming,” Nancy commented, surprised she didn’t expect that Erinna would be from a long family line of competitive women swimmers.

“Well, not everyone in the family is a swimmer, but every girl in the family has to take swimming classes at least. However, none of the boys ever seemed interested in swimming. Erinna used to be the exception but not anymore. I guess,” Olivia explained.

Soon, Carol arrived with Brandi, grinning from ear to ear, showing off her new hairstyle. While Brandon always had a big mouth, Nancy couldn’t ever remember seeing Brandon smiling like that. It made all her suspicions correct; Brandi seemed more comfortable as a girl. Once Brandi took her seat, Leslie’s girls hammered her with questions. Even Destiny asked a couple of questions.

Nancy did her best to support Brandi, and although she could tell that Erinna’s cousins weren’t judging Brandi, she did not mention that Brandi was ever Brandon. The only problem was Amy. She seemed to be wise, intelligent, and difficult to deceive. She could see that Brandi struggled to answer some questions, so Nancy had to jump in.

“Let’s say that Brandi was never the girly type. Until recently, she was more of a tomboy, but she has started to appreciate girly things,” Nancy explained, hoping that she had convinced everyone that Brandi was just a tomboy who’s starting to get into girly things.

Heather, Carol, and Leslie had occupied another table to let the girls have their discussion. Now though, Heather was more thankful they were at a separate table. It seemed she would be working on a new case very soon.

“So, you’re saying that the test result was received but hidden according to her? It’s hard but not impossible. Some people still can’t accept the fact that their children have TSS. I have seen several cases where one or both parents hid the truth but never worked on one before. If that’s true, though, it’s a serious crime,” Heather explained, shocked by the news. She would have never suspected that Brandi was a boy. After all, no one had told her before.

“I have evidence from Brandi’s stepmom. Unfortunately, she can’t do anything since she hasn’t custody of Brandi. I can’t confirm this, but she suspects that Brandi’s father, Kyle, is physically abusing her, but it could be self-harm. I know how hard things are for TSS children. After all, I have experience raising a TSS boy and girl,” Carol explained, much to Leslie’s and Heather’s shock and surprise.

“Even if it’s self-harm, it would be due to parental neglect. I can easily turn it into child abuse in Brandi’s case,” Heather sighed, rubbing her forehead.

She hated dealing with child abuse more than any other case. Her problem, simply put, was she could hardly control herself in court and not explode.

“I need all the evidence she has obtained. Make sure she sends it to me by registered mail. I have to build a case carefully, and once I have a warrant, I can subpoena all the files Kyle has from any electronic device he owns. Jeff is a computer whiz and knows how to retrieve even the most carefully hidden files and documents; even if Kyle deleted files a year ago, he would be able to recover them.”

“How much will you charge, though? She can’t pay much at the moment,” Carol asked worriedly. She knew Heather’s work was anything but cheap. After all, you can’t find a lawyer as good as her inexpensively.

“Look, Carol, normally I wouldn’t talk about charges in a case like this. If I lose this case, I won’t charge her anything. Tell Brandi’s stepmother she shouldn’t worry about it, though. After all, Brandi’s father, Kyle, will pay for everything. Now it’s more of a matter of honor than money,” Heather explained carefully, much to Carol’s relief.

Carol still couldn’t believe that a stepmother would care for her stepchild more than her biological father. Leslie could give her a good example too. Her husband, Jack, would never hurt Destiny. He would never stoop that low.

•••••••••••••

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please tell me if you like it and how I think I could improve it. Any comments or thoughts on the story are appreciated. I would love to hear from you.

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