Dottie’s Mom - A Jaci and Dottie Story

“Todd?”

“Mom?”

Dottie, Jaci, and Drea all froze, looking at the woman who had stepped out of her car just as the three of them had done the same.

A dozen different emotions fought each other for the right to come of Dorothy, but none really managed to succeed for a long moment.

“Todd you look uh very nice.” the woman, who was Dorothy’s mother said.

“My name is Dorothy !” Shouted Dottie.

“THAT IS NOT THE ...” the woman started yelling back, but then calmed down and continued, “I see uh ... Dorothy. I bet your outfit got noticed if you were out dressed up like that.”

“Mom, its not a cry for attention! This is just who I am! Why dont you get it!” Dottie yelled, and tears began to form in her eyes.

Then there was a feral sound from Jaci, and she leaped at Dorothy’s mother, trying to hit and kick the woman, yelling and crying as she did so. Finally, Drea pulled her off the woman, and calmed the little girl down. She gave Jaci some money, said, “Go to the mall, dear.” and Jaci stormed off.

“Now, Dorothy,” Drea said, once Jaci was out of sight, “Please go play in your room, and let me talk to your mom for a bit, okay?”

Still shaking, Dorothy went to her room, and pulled out a couple of dolls and began to play.

Meanwhile, Drea took Dorothy’s mother inside, checked out her knees to make sure Jaci hadn’t done any serious damage, and then sat her down to have a cup of tea.

“Sorry about Jaci, Mikey. She’s been through a lot lately, and very protective of her sister.” Drea said.

“No serious harm done, but my shins will sting for a while.”

“She’ll get punished for that later. For the moment, I wanted to let her cool down, and sent Dorothy to play while we talk.”

“That’s fine with me. How is Todd doing, other than dressing like a girl?”

“Dorothy is doing much better. She’s made serious progress in dealing with what happened to her, and now she’s testing as being very smart at school.”

“Well, I suspected Todd was smart as a baby. Before Jim died, and he went to Dr. Smith ....” The woman choked up, but then caught herself, “But I’m glad he’s doing well at school.”

“What happened with Dr. Smith wasnt your fault, you know.” Drea said.

“He .. Why didn’t Todd say anything for so long? “

“Maybe she couldnt find the words to tell you. She was very brave during the trial.”

“”And I wasnt.”

“I never said that.”

“I had a breakdown. It was too much, losing my husband, then having my son raped ....But I’m getting better, and very soon I expect to be able to take up the duty of taking care of my son.”

“If you cant see you have a daughter, you’d just cause her pain. And I’ll fight for her, if I have to, to protect Dorothy.”

Dorothy’s mom said, “I’m my son’s mother. Once I’m medically cleared, he will come home with me. And he’ll stop pretending he’s a girl and be the boy he should be.”

“Good luck with that. If Dr. Smith couldnt get the girl out of her with rape and torture, nothing you do will. All you’ll do is make your child miserable, maybe even make them want to take their own life.”

“No. Not again, not after losing Jim to suicide. I wont let him ... I ... “

“Look. I dont want to fight with you. I want to give you some home movies we’ve made of her with me and Jaci. Watch them, see how happy your child is. And think about it before you take that happiness away.”

******

Later, Drea went to Dottie’s room, and found a couple of dolls strewn across the floor, and a whimpering sound coming from the closet.

Drea opened the closet door, brushed aside the pile of shoes (Dottie was already developing a pretty large collection), and curled up beside the child of her heart.

“I cant go back to being a boy, Tante. I ... I just cant ...”

“Shhh. Its okay, sweetie. Nobody is going to make you be anybody but you.”

“But my mom wants to take me home and make me a boy and I cant ... I cant ...”

Dorothy started crying even harder, and Drea held on to her, and let her cry.

Then the door of the closet opened again, and Jaci was standing there. She sat uncomfortably on the pile of shoes so she could hug Dorothy from the opposite side of Drea, and added her own tears to those of her ‘heart sister'.

"Ja...Ja...Jaci?”” Dorothy managed through her sobs.

“I’m here, sis.”

“I’m right here.”