“Okay. How about this. Girls first, then the eldest kids.”

“So that's Angie and Troy?” Alex asked.

“Alex!” Amber snapped.

“Look at his hair Mom. He has girl hair.” Alex pointed to his cousin. Troy smiled and fluffed his hair, then he leaned back in the loveseat and hammed up how comfortable it was.

“That's enough young man.” Leonard said to his son. “Let's just get through the presents without you being more of a pest then you already are.”

Big thanks to Djkauf for the editing again.

Part two of the family meal and a little time with Tracy

December 25th 1982

The board game was in full swing, just about an hour after dinner had finished. In the kitchen the sounds of plates clinking, and pots being slammed around could be heard. Troy and Vance took the time to smile at each other every time that Johnny and Alex insisted it shouldn't be them doing it. But their smiles grew extremely wide when they heard their mother call out.

“Stop!”

Alex and Johnny stopped what they were doing and looked at their Aunt Maggie who was at the table, her attention on the two boys. “Now have you been making sure the dishes were clean?”

Both boys nodded and replied. “Yes.”

“Then why have some left the sink?” Maggie asked as she got up an stood by Johnny.

“Where?” He asked.

“You tell me.” Maggie answered. From the table, Troy and Vance held back the snickers. They knew what was coming next. She had done it for them the one time they screwed up. A chance to find the dirty dish. They failed that time too.

“There's no dirty dishes.” Johnny said as he looked at the plate in his hand. He quickly turned it to his chest and scraped a bit of food off with a fingernail.

“Oh really?” Maggie asked. “So you didn't just scrape food off with a fingernail? I saw your wrist moving.” She opened up the cupboard that Johnny had been putting plates in and pulled out a stack of ten plates. There she slowly went through them, handing ones with dried on food back towards Alex. “This is turkey. This is mashed potatoes. Gravy here. And I know Modine doesn't use these plates on a daily basis.”

“I can re-do them.” Alex said. Maggie opened up the cupboard where the glasses were and showed them a lipstick stain on one cup.

“Oh, you'll re-do them.” Maggie said and she began to empty the cupboard.

“That's not fair!” Both boys cried out.

“You're right. It isn't fair to your Great Grandmother to have dirty dishes the next time she wants to entertain a large group.”

From the table, Olivia called out, mimicking the boys from last year. “Hurry up, I want my presents.” This caused Vance, Troy and Angie to snicker, gaining them a dirty look from Alex and Johnny.

“Well I'm not doing them!” Alex stomped his foot.

“Alex!” Leonard shouted from the living room. His steps seemed to thunder through the house as he walked into the kitchen. “You will do ALL the dishes and you will do them right.”

“But it will take forever!” Alex whined.

“Then maybe you shouldn't have been rushing.” He looked to the clock. “Besides, it's not six yet, so we have all night.”

As the boys were about to complain again. “Leonard? May I alter the rules a tad?” She went over to him and whispered into his ear, then she stepped back and asked. “Well?”

“Go for it.” He nodded and waited.

What happened next surprised both sets of boys. “Since this is Christmas and you have thirteen people waiting on you, I will only pull out the dishes you've claimed to have cleaned up till now.” Alex and Johnny looked relied. “But one more mistake and I empty every cupboard in this house.” Their expressions fell again.

“But there's a ton of dishes here.” Alex replied.

“I know. Ask Troy and Vance how long it took them the one time I emptied the cupboards at home.”

Vance didn't wait to be asked, he looked at Alex and smiled. “It took us from five at night till almost nine thirty.”

Maggie looked at them, then went back to her seat. “You're getting a break, something they didn't get, just because of the holiday.”

“Well....” Leonard looked at them. “Looks like you two should start cleaning.”

~o~O~o~

As the dishwashing was winding down, with no more mistakes, Conner had gone to the dining room and leaned over to Vance and whispered something to him, then he came to Troy and whispered to him.

“Don't tell your cousins about those envelopes you got at your place, okay? That wasn't Christmas money, not exactly.” Troy nodded and Conner patted his shoulder and headed to the living room.

“Well, they're done.” Maggie said as she headed into the living room and went for the love seat.

Troy went to the living room with his cousins, only to find most of the seats had been taken by the adults. As much as he enjoyed the couch, he was willing to sit with the kids. But he cheated and started to grab a chair from the kitchen table. Olivia stopped him and took it from him and took it to the living room for him.

He was about to sit down when William got up and tapped him on the shoulder. “Troy, take the spot by your mother. I'll take the chair.” Troy looked at him for a moment. “Come on, I know that's not very comfortable on you right now, go sit by your mother.”

As Troy sat in the spot of the love seat closest to the tree, Alex looked at his mother. “Why does he get the nice seat?!?”

“Because the seats are not that comfortable and he's been good, unlike two boys who are closely related to me.” Amber said as she sat down.

Amber was on the couch with her husband and father. Modine and Conner were in their usual seats. Joy sat on the floor, with her daughter right in front of her. Olivia took up a spot by the tree and she began to pick through the presents. “How should I do this?” She asked. “Eldest to youngest? Adults first?”

“No!” All five kids called out.

“Okay, youngest to eldest.” Olivia smiled at them. “Adults first, then kids later?”

“No!”

“Okay. How about this. Girls first, then the eldest kids.”

“So that's Angie and Troy?” Alex asked.

“Alex!” Amber snapped.

“Look at his hair Mom. He has girl hair.” Alex pointed to his cousin. Troy smiled and fluffed his hair, then he leaned back in the loveseat and hammed up how comfortable it was.

“That's enough young man.” Leonard said to his son. “Let's just get through the presents without you being more of a pest then you already are.”

“Angie, because of your help in the kitchen, you get the first gift. From your Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.” Olivia handed a small package to her and the girl began tearing through the paper.

She pulled the paper off and squealed. “It's a Ramona book!”

Then Olivia handed the next one to Troy. “See, he's a girl!” Alex said with a huge grin.

“No.” Olivia said. “He gets his because he helped us out today.” She turned her attention to Troy. “It's from Grandma and Grandpa.”

He tore the paper open and found a book. It was actually two books. He pulled them out an smiled.

“What did you get?” William asked.

“Books.” Troy held them up and showed The mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph. Troy looked to Angie and picked her book up from the end table where he had put it earlier. “Guess I don't need to borrow yours now.” He said as he handed it to her.

Angie began giggling. “Cool. It's an awesome book.”

“THOSE ARE GIRL’S BOOKS!” Johnny screamed out.

“Johnny!” Amber snapped at her youngest.

“They are?” Leonard leaned forward. “I read The mouse and the Motorcycle when it came out and I think I was like twelve.”

“Oh.” Johnny turned back to face the tree and he got very quiet.

Leonard looked to Troy and smiled. “You'll love them. Great books.”

“Thanks.” Troy replied, giving his cousin a smile. It was a small victory at least against the evil forces of Johnny and Alex. But each one counted.

Troy sat back and instinctively leaned into his mother and watched as the gifts got sorted out. He watched in glee as Alex and Johnny got clothes. There were also some action figures, but he didn't pay too much attention to that. He watched as Vance got a watch from his grandparents, plus a few books of his own and a few action figures from the Empire strikes back. Troy wasn't too surprised to see that he got some as well. He smiled at his cousins and Uncle, wishing that they knew about Tracy. He wasn't happy with many of the gifts, but he wasn't going to get mad and ruin the night.

It was Angie's gifts that caught his eyes. Not only did she get stuff from her Great Grandparents. She got stuff from her Grandfather and Aunts and Uncles. By the end of the gift giving, she had several cute skirts, a couple of blouses, one nightgown with a pony on it and some hair accessories. Troy felt the jealousy rise up in him. He leaned back in the seat, angry that he didn't get any hair stuff.

Maggie seemed to notice the shift in his attitude and she saw where he was looking. She pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. “You got some of that at home.” She whispered into his ear.

“I know.” He replied.

“But you got some nice books.” Maggie said.

He looked to her and smiled a little. “Yeah.”

“I'll look for those Ramona books the next time we go to Chico, okay?”

Troy looked at her and smiled wide. “Please?”

“Alright, how about some of that pie now?” Olivia asked.

“One moment.” Conner said as he got up and pulled out several envelopes. He began handing them out, making sure he got the children first.

Troy got his and he opened it up and found a twenty dollar bill inside. He handed the card to his mother and whispered. “Could you put that in your purse?”

“Sure thing kiddo. You better say thank you for all of this.”

“I will Mom.” and Troy stood up to start the rounds of thank yous.

“Maggie, is that food in the fridge?” William asked.

“Yes, in Tupperware and on the top shelf.” She replied.

Vance, you want to go with me?” William stood up and looked at his son.

“Where to?” Vance asked as he let go from hugging his grandmother.

“I am taking some food to one of the guys at work, because he had to work tonight.”

“Yeah, I'll go. Can I have pie when we get back?” Vance looked to his mother.

Maggie chuckled. “I'll save you some. Apple, Pumpkin or cherry?”

“Apple. And a slice of Cherry, if no one eats it all.”

~o~O~o~

Vance sat in the passenger seat of his fathers car, a cardboard box sat on his lap with several containers inside. The sun had set already and they seemed to be the only people on the road. “Dad?”

“Yeah, Son?”

“Why are we doing this?” Vance asked. “Did they ask you to?”

“No. I offered.” William replied. “Tony is a new guy, and his family all went out of town. He couldn't get the time off to go with them. And Larry offered to work Christmas day so Joe could spend the day with his family. Larry's all alone since his wife passed away a few years ago. So I offered to bring them a meal because they are stuck guarding the mill. ”

“Oh.” Vance nodded. “So you're giving them what they missed out on?”

“Right. Larry still has a family, but they don't live around here. So if he had stayed home, it was going to be cold cuts for his dinner. This isn't taking the place of friends and family, but it helps.”

“I see.” Vance nodded again as they pulled into the lot of the mill William worked at. They stopped at the guardhouse and found a man in his late fifties at the door. He gave them a huge smile as they pulled to stop. Another man stepped out, this one in his early twenties, he smiled just as brightly.

William got out and offered his hand to one, then the other. “Larry. Tony.” He went around the car an took the box from his son and took it back over to the two men. “This is my oldest, Vance.” He said as Vance got out of the car.

“Hey kid.” Old Larry said.

“Hi.” Vance gave a small wave as he walked over to them. William offered the cardboard box to the two men.

“It's got some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy in there. Plus I think Maggie saved some of the scalloped corn. Sorry but the fruit salad and green bean casserole never made it to the left over stage. There's also a two slices of cherry pie and two of apple. There's two paper plates and some plastic silverware in there too.”

“Thanks, William.” Tony took the box and set it inside the guard shack, while Larry stuck his hand out and William shook it, then he offered the hand to Vance who shook it too. Tony came out and shook their hands as well.

“Thanks, man. If you hadn't brought that it was going to be peanut butter and jelly for dinner.” Tony said. “Tell the wife and family thank you from me.”

“Me too.” Larry said. “Tell your wife and the others thank you for the food.

“I will. But I better get going. Enjoy the meal guys and leave the stuff in the box on that table in the break room.”

Vance waited for his dad, then got in the car and he buckled up. As they pulled away and headed home he was quiet for a moment, then he looked over to his dad and smiled. “I kinda like that.”

“What?” William asked.

“Bringing the food. I feel good about that.” Vance said.

“So do I, son. It was something I think I had to do.” William said.

“Why?”

“You may not remember, but eleven years ago, I was working on a Christmas day and someone brought me Christmas dinner, just because I wasn't able to get home to you and your mother and broth...sister.”

“Wow.” Vance said. “That would suck to be at work on Christmas.”

“It does, son. Even if you're single, it still sucks.”

~o~O~o~

Troy headed back to his parent's place with his brother and mother. It was just around Ten in the evening. His two cousins had finally been taken back to their Grandfather’s place and that left Troy the chance to play another board game with his brother, Cousin Angie and her mother, Joy and Olivia. He had several books under his arms, and a bag with his other gifts.

As they got closer to the house, Troy's smile began getting stronger. He knew that once he was inside the house, Troy was going away and Tracy was coming back out. He had no intention of being Troy any longer then he had to. Maggie opened up the door and the three of them shuffled inside. Troy made a bee-line for the bedroom, followed closely by his brother. Both boys began to unload their gifts onto their bed. Vance was sifting through his as Troy began to shed his clothes.

“Can I have a moment?” Troy asked. “I want to change really quick.”

“Troy, I've seen you change before.” Vance replied.

“Troy? I think you mean Tracy.” He answered back. Vance looked over his shoulder to see his sibling holding a nightgown and a pair of panties.

“Got it. I'll be in the kitchen.”

“Just be a few minutes.” Troy stated.

Vance went to the kitchen and opened up the fridge and began looking around for something. Maggie came into the kitchen and chuckled. “Hungry already? You've had how many slices of pie?”

“Just a couple.” He said. “I was just looking though. Tracy kicked me out of the bedroom to change.”

“Ah. I wondered when she was going to take off her male clothes.” Maggie opened up the Tupperware container of cookies and pulled two out. She passed one to her son and she sat at the table.

“Can't say as I blame her. Man, I used to be bad, but Alex and Johnny.....wow.” Vance shook his head as he took a seat.

“I know. I can't believe that Amber cracked a cup with just one hand.”

Vance looked at her and cocked his head, wondering when that had happened, but a bigger question loomed on his mind. “Mom, did you ask Amber to have them do the dishes?”

“Yes I did.” Maggie nodded. “You would have been doing them all alone and after last year’s stunt of a new cup and plate every time, I figured they deserved a taste of their own medicine.”

“When they kept grabbing cups at dinner, I was getting pissed.” Vance shook his head and sighed.

“Me too.” Tracy said as she came into the kitchen. “That was the first thing they did.”

“And the best part about it?” Maggie smiled brightly. “They did it to themselves.” Both of her boys chuckled.

“Mom?” Tracy sat in a chair next to Vance and grabbed at the cookie bin. “Were we ever that bad?”

“You two used to dirty a lot of dishes, but not like they did.” Maggie answered. “But I broke you two of that habit, what, three years ago now?”

“Yeah.” Vance agreed.

“Come on. One more cookie, then it's bed for you two.”

“Thanks Mom.” They both replied.

~o~O~o~

Their Grandparents were in bed already and Joy lay there in the guest bed, with her sister Olivia on a cot and Angie in a sleeping bag on the floor. The little girl was already snoring away, a large stuffed dog in her arms. Joy had been thinking about her cousin Troy all night an wondering if she was making mountains out of mole hills. She rolled over and looked to her sister. “Olivia.” She whispered. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah. What's up?” She whispered back.

“I keep thinking about Troy and that whole Tracy thing.” Joy said. “Am I wrong for being concerned for Angie? I mean I don't want to let someone that could hurt her anywhere near her.”

“Protecting your daughter is never wrong, but you should get to know Tracy before you condemn her.” Olivia said.

“But I wouldn't let her go with those cross-dressing hookers on Hollywood and vine. What if Troy is like that when he's Tracy?”

“Joy. First of all, Troy is only eleven. Second, he's been castrated. He'll have as much sex drive as a piece of wood.” Olivia sat up. “But if you don't trust me, why not hang out with him, or should I say her.”

“But what if he hurts my daughter?” Joy asked again.

“Joy, look at what happened. Aunt Maggie said that he was almost raped. He's been suffering nightmares since that day all dealing with that rape. I know I'm out on a very thin limb here, but trust me, I think Angie will be safe around him. He spent a week with five girls and they loved Tracy. None of them claimed that he did anything, or I'm sure we would have never seen Troy today. Grandma says she is a wonderful young lady.”

“So....you think I'm over-reacting?” Joy asked.

“No Joy. I think you're being the type of protective mother that I want to be when I have children.” Olivia said. “But don't just blindly judge. Let your heart and your mind meet in the middle. That kid has got a heart of gold, always has.”

~o~O~o~

December 26th 1982

It was still early when Tracy woke up. She found herself in the kitchen, still in her nightgown and trying to make as little noise as possible. She had been itching to cook something for a couple of weeks. So she planned on making some bacon for herself and a couple of eggs.

Her father didn't have work that morning, but his body didn't know that. So after a quick stop at the bathroom, he followed the smell of bacon and hot chocolate. He came into the kitchen, one eyebrow raised as he stopped by his daughter. “Hi, Daddy.”

“Young lady?” He stood by the stove as she cooked the bacon. “Are you supposed to be pushing yourself?”

“Daddy, I've rested. I'm fine.” She replied.

“And you're breaking the doctor's rules. She said no lifting. That's a fifteen pound cast iron skillet. It didn't just leap out of the cupboard and onto the stove.” William said. “You don't need to go hurting yourself.”

“I'm, good Daddy.” Tracy turned to give him the best puppy-dog eyes she could manage. “Honest.”

“Okay, but you get worse and you can kiss any plans for the summer goodbye.” He said as he sat down.

“What? WHY?” She whined.

William gave her a stern look. “A medical professional told you to do something to keep your health in good shape, but you keep pushing the rules. You hurt yourself and your summer is called off, understand?”

Tracy slumped her shoulders. “I just wanted to make breakfast. I feel so useless around here.” Her voice was almost a whisper when she talked. Hey big green eyes began to fill with tears an William knew at that point that he had screwed up.

~So much easier with boys.~ He thought to himself as he quickly stood up. ~No rampant emotions all the time.~ He pulled his daughter into a hug and kissed her forehead.

“I'm sorry, baby. I don't want you to cry, but I don't want you hurting yourself either and threatening to take away your summer seems to be the only way to keep you listening to the Doctor's orders.”

“I know Dad. I just want to be helpful again.” Tracy leaned her forehead against his chest and cried for a few moments. William held her with one arm an tended to the bacon with the other to keep it from burning.

“You are helpful, baby. You just got to take it easy till you get the green light, then we will let you get back to your old chores.”

“I...” She sighed. “I hate waiting, Daddy.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head. He changed the subject, hoping to quickly end the tears. “How did you sleep last night?”

“Well. Mr. Cuddles kept the dreams away again.”

“Good. If Mr. Cuddles can keep my little girl safe, then he can stay in the house.” William smiled at her.

Maggie walked in to see her daughter, with tears in her eyes, hugging her husband. “I miss something?”

“No.” William said. “I got on someone's case and made her cry, so there's no need to yell at her.”

“Got on her case?” Maggie asked as she went to the coffee maker. She was awake now, not point in going back to bed. “Why, what did she do?”

“Cooking.” William replied. “But I yelled at her already, so don't do it.”

“Baby. You didn't have to cook for us. Besides, we may have slept in.” Maggie said.

“Well, I was going to cook for myself, then as you all got up, I'd cook for you and while I waited, I was going to read one of my books.” Tracy said.

“Well thank you. I can help you now if you want.” Maggie said. “You keep on the bacon, I'll work the toast. If Vance wakes up, then we'll just make more.”

“I'll get the eggs.” William said as he let go of his daughter and reached for the fridge.

~o~O~o~

Olivia, Joy and Angie sat at the table with Modine and Conner. Conner was busy reading the newspaper. Modine had the crosswords in front of her while the girls all ate. After a few minutes of watching Joy out of the corner of her eye, Modine looked up and put her pencil down. “What's wrong young lady?”

“It's nothing, Grandma.” Joy replied.

“You're flicking eggs all over your plate with your fork and your mind is a million miles from here. What's going on?”

“It's....” Joy wanted to just push it under the rug, but her grandmother could be persistent. “I've been thinking about Troy and that Tracy thing of his.” This caused Conner to look up from the sports page.

“It's not a 'thing', but what has you bothered?” Modine asked.

“I'm....am I worried.....” Joy sighed deeply and put her fork down. “I'm trying to keep Angie protected, but I keep thinking that maybe Olivia is right and I may be blowing things out of proportion.”

“Maybe you should go see her today. I'd bet that it's Tracy who went to sleep over there last night and woke up this morning.” Modine said. “There's no shame in protecting your kids, but you got to let them make their own decisions on things too. If you choose everything, Angie will never learn to think for herself. I'm not saying you should just let her run wild, but don't hide her from the world. Plus, if you just fear what you never know, then you could be cutting someone very important out of your life.”

“See?” Olivia looked at her sister and stuck out her tongue.

“I think I understand.” Joy said with a nod.

“Joy, when I first found out about the Tracy thing, when Angie showed me the clothes, I went mad. I was ready to beat the gay out of Troy. But over the past month, it's hard to not see a young girl, even when he's Troy.” Conner said.

Olivia pointed a finger at her sister. “I know you watched him yesterday at dinner. Tell me his mannerisms weren't a girls.”

“Oh, they were. Good thing Johnny and Alex couldn't see him sitting with his legs crossed.” Joy said. “And I swear I saw him smiling when it was just us girls.”

“That happens.” Modine smiled at her. “I was shocked the first day I saw a genuine smile from Tracy. I hadn't seen one on Troy, not a genuine one at least, in a very long time.”

“He has been moody for a long time.” Olivia stated.

“And now, at least when he can be himself, the gloom is gone.” Modine said.

“Okay. I''ll go over and see him...er...her.” Joy looked at the clock. “Think they're up this early?”

“Seven? Maybe, but you may want to wait a couple of hours to make sure Vance is up.” Modine replied.

“Can I go?” Angie asked.

Olivia put a hand on her sisters shoulder. “You should let her go. Let her meet Tracy, too.”

Joy thought about it for a moment, then looked to her daughter and held out one finger and pointed it at her. “You can go, but don't bug Troy...Tracy too much. No ton of questions, got it?”

“Yes.” Angie smiled brightly.

~o~O~o~

It was just past nine in the morning and Tracy was sitting on the couch with one her books. She had received several from her Grandparents and a few from her parents. She was currently reading the Pippi Longstocking, one of the books her parents got for her. She had tired to curl her legs under her, but her wound prevented that. It was just still too uncomfortable. She had taken a shower for the day already. She was in a decent skirt, not one of her favorites, but it was still nice. The shirt she wore was one of her other Christmas presents. It was a deep blue color, with roses around the waist.

The phone rang and she looked up, making sure that her parents could get it. Her mother picked up the phone. “Patterson’s, Maggie speaking....Good morning Joy.” Tracy watched for a moment, then went back to her book. She only caught her mothers side of the conversation. “Just sitting around the house.....sure.....sure, we don't mind company.....no, we're all dressed now...Yes, Tracy is here.....yeah, anytime, just come over when you want to.” She was quiet for a little bit, then spoke again as she leaned towards the base of the phone. Tracy looked over and raised an eyebrow. “Okay. See you in a few minutes. Bye, Joy.”

When she hung up the phone, William looked away from the TV to her. “Joy's coming over?”

“Yes. She wanted to meet Tracy first hand.” Maggie looked over to her daughter. “Olivia and Angie are coming with her, I hope that it's okay.”

Tracy nodded. “Yes. I don't mind.”

William was confused. He looked from his daughter, to his wife. “How does she know about Tracy?”

“They found out yesterday.” Maggie turned in her chair to explain to her husband. “Angie had asked about the panties and nightgown she had found at Thanksgiving. She just blurted it out, thank God that Johnny and Alex hadn't shown up at that point. But Joy wanted to know about it too. So Tracy let them into the secret.”

“Are they okay with it?” William asked.

“Olivia is fine and I think Angie doesn't care. Joy is worried that Tracy will hurt her daughter. So I guess Olivia and her talked about it and Olivia said the best way to handle her fears was to come meet Tracy.” Maggie

Tracy got up and went to her room, taking her book with her. She wanted to look her best and prove that she wasn't a danger to anyone. She took a quick look around the room that she shared with her brother. It was a study in contrasts. Since there wasn't much room to work with, neither had their own side, it was just the bunk beds. But some areas were split. One half of the dresser was cleaned off, except for the box that held Tracy's makeup and a small jewelry box. There was only one boy's suit hanging on one side of the open closet. The rest of the bar was filled with Tracy’s clothes. The book case was the same. The lower three shelves were all in a neat order, each book put in there Alphabetically by Author, then title.

She put the book on her dresser as she flipped through the few pieces of jewelry. Her ears weren't pierced, but she had a couple pieces of clip on earrings. She held them to her ear, then decided to not over do it. She took a quick look in the mirror and made sure she was presentable. She could hear the knock at the door, then it opened up and she heard her cousins.

She could hear the talking, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Her attention was on her hair. She wanted it to look just right. She was running a brush through her hair one more time when she heard giggling at her bedroom door, which caused her to jump. She looked at the door and she saw her mother and her cousins.

Maggie chuckled. “I was wondering where you went off too.”

“I....” Tracy blushed brightly and she looked at the floor. “I wanted to look good. You know.....” Her voice dropped and her shoulders slumped. “So you wouldn't think I was just a boy in a skirt.” The tears began to fall when Maggie came into the room and pulled her into a hug. Tracy's head rested against her mothers chest.

“Oh baby. You're not a boy in a skirt. Please don't cry, we shouldn't have laughed at you.”

Olivia came in and put her hand on Tracy's shoulder. “Kiddo, I only chuckled because you were doing such a girly thing. Primping your hair like you were? That reminds me of me years ago.”

“Years ago?” Joy stepped into the room. “How about this morning. You must have spent an hour in front of that mirror after your shower.”

“Hey. Enough of that.” Olivia gave her sister a halfhearted glare.

Angie came into the room and went up to Tracy, looking her over closely. “You look pretty.” She said

“Thank you.” Tracy blushed.

Angie looked around the room. When she stopped looking the questions came in a quick barrage. “You share the room with your brother? Aren't you afraid he'll see you? Did they remove your pee-pee? Is that what the Orchi....thingy you had done was? Did you have it done to be a girl? Can I see? Are you going to grow boobies soon? Are you a girl at school? Do you swim in a girls swim suit? Why aren't your ears pierced? Are you letting your hair grow out? Do you go to school as Tracy? Why were you Troy yesterday, when you look so pretty like Tracy?”

Tracy was stunned at the bluntness of some of the questions and she was doing her best to process them, most went by in rapid fashion. Joy stepped behind her daughter and covered her mouth with a hand. “Angie, you agreed.” She simply said as she looked at her child. “It's rude to ask a lot of those questions. You shouldn't ever ask about people's private parts. And you should never ask to see them. You wouldn't want Tro...” Joy caught the child in question begin to look at her and she corrected her mistake in time. “Tracy to see yours, would you?”

Angie pulled her mothers hand away from her mouth and being a typical kid with no filter over her mouth, she spoke freely again. “No. I wouldn't.”

“Then don't ask to see someone else.” Joy said. “Good girls never ask people that question.”

Angie looked around again and she squealed and lunged for the bed. Her arms wrapped around the soft fuzzy body of Mr. Cuddles. “He's cute!”

“It's Mr. Cuddles.” Tracy replied.

“Can I have him?” Angie asked.

“No!” Moved to rescue her little fuzzy friend. “I just got him and he helps me sleep. He keeps my nightmares away.” She sat on the bed with Angie and was trying to reach her bear

“What nightmares?” Angie turned to face her, holding the bear in her lap with a big hug. Tracy put her hand on the bear and was trying to slowly pull him to her.

“Angie, that's not a question to ask.” Joy said. “And that's her bear, so let go of him.”

“Does the bear help?” Olivia asked as Angie lowered her head and let Tracy take the bear back.

Tracy nodded. “In Livermore, my girlfriend held me at night and I didn't have the dreams. But they don't live here.”

“I'm just glad you're safe.” Joy said.

“Me too.” Angie stated as she wrapped her arms around Mr. Cuddles and Tracy.

“Hey, who's that?” Angie asked as she got off the bed and went to the dresser. There sat a picture of Tracy, Maggie and five other girls. Tracy got up and picked up the picture began pointed at each person.

“Well, you know me, and my mama. That's Rachel, Sage, Stacey and her sister Casey, they're Sage's cousins and the girl in the wheelchair is Brooke.” Tracy let Angie hold the picture for a moment. Joy and Olivia looked over her shoulder.

“That's one thing I have been wondering.” Olivia stood up and looked to Tracy. “How did you meet them?”

“My Uncle Frank....well he's not really my Uncle, but a friend of Mom's, well Rachel is his niece. She has known me since I was six or so. I told her years ago I wanted to be a girl, but when she asked me a couple years later, Vance heard and made fun of me so I kinda forgot that. But she heard about me from Aunt Shelly and she told Sage.” Tracy went to the bed and sat down.

“See, Rachel felt bad about asking me openly and she had Sage explain what she did wrong. So at Thanksgiving I went down and got to have two sleepovers with them, they were super cool. And then they had me meet the rest of them last week and it was fun.” Tracy looked up and smiled. “I loved being one of the girls, it was so cool.”

“How did Sage know what Rachel did wrong?” Joy asked.

Maggie leaned forward and whispered into her ear, then repeated it for Olivia. Both women looked at the picture, then at Maggie.

“Really?” Joy asked.

“From what Persephone said. Both sets, but she's living as a girl.” Maggie explained.

“Wow.” Joy just stared at the picture for a moment, then looked at Tracy. “And none of them had a problem with you? I mean with having....well, you know.”

“Not at all. They were all great.” Tracy replied.

Olivia elbowed her sister. “See. I think Angie will be just fine.”

“Yeah, okay. I was wrong. Don't rub it in too much.”

~o~O~o~

Just before ten there was a knock at the door. Vance got up from his mother’s seat, where he had been watching the football per-games. He opened up the door, then pulled it open all the way. “Hey Grandpa. Did I miss work today?”

“Not at all Vance. I wanted to catch the San Francisco game today. We can work tomorrow.” He smiled at his son.

“Then what's up?” William asked, getting out of his chair.

“Got an offer for all of you.” Conner said, looking to the kitchen where he saw them.

Conner went to the kitchen doorway, so Joy, Olivia and Maggie could hear him. Tracy had her own seat and Angie was in her mothers lap. “Modine was wondering if you all of you would like to join us for dinner tonight? Nothing too special, just all nine of us.”

They talked for a few moments, then Maggie nodded. “We'd love to.”

“Good. I'll tell her.” Conner smiled at them. “Ladies.” He turned and headed for the door, stopping to give Vance and William a glance. “See you all at four then.”

“Does Modine need us to bring anything?” Maggie asked from the kitchen doorway.

“I'll have her call and we can plan from there.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Maggie called after him as he left.

“So do you have any dolls?” Angie asked Tracy.

“No.” Tracy replied. “Haven't got a lot of girl’s toys. Actually, I don't think I have any.”

“Aww. We could have played with dolls or something.” Angie said, then she smiled. “I got some with my clothes at Great Grandma's place. You wanna see them when we go over there?”

“Sure.” Tracy smiled back.

~o~O~o~

Joy sat at the kitchen table with her Aunt, sister and Grandmother and watched as her daughter and cousin Tracy played with some of the dolls that Angie had brought along. She sat back in her chair as the two girls played, watching intently for any signs of trouble.

Olivia broke her concentration by putting a hand on her shoulder and chuckling. “Hey, you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Joy nodded. “It just surprises me.”

“What does? Tracy?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah. All these years that I've seen Troy and he's barely smiled. That grin has been on Tracy's face since she picked up that doll.” Joy turned to look at the women at the table. “She's definitely a different person than what I expected.”

“Joy, you hear the phrase 'a boy in a dress' and you think hookers. They're not all standing on the corner of some street offering sex for money.”

“I know. I....” She sighed and lowered her head a bit. “I see that now.”

“She's a good girl.” Maggie said, looking to her own daughter. “I'm very proud of my daughter, we all are.”

And that's all for Christmas of 1982. Up next, more of Tracy meeting life head on