I paused before waking my son up. Sure I had planned this due to their constant bickering largely started by my now sleeping, nightgown wearing son but I did have several reservations about everything I was doing. I took a deep breath and looked at him, sprawled out on his sisters bed, his pink nightgown falling around his now hairless mid thigh, his face right up against the image of Justin Bieber on her pillow, his pink nail polished toes hanging of the edge of the bed. I knew I had to push through. Tyler and Jillian had been undeniably less openly hostile to each other yesterday. Beyond the whole thing being rather amazing and hilarious, "Tiffany" was much more pleasant than Tyler typically was, while "Jonathan" was much less high strung and a lot easier to be around than Jillian. I took a deep breath and proceeded, gently shaking my son awake.

"Tiffany, wake up sweety."

I watched him open his eyes, once again process where he was (his sisters room now his room), what he was wearing (a rather skimpy pink nighty that I had allowed Jillian to buy as a reward for her straight As), and what the day had in store for him (starting with a jewelry making class.)

"I let you sleep in," I said gently "Its 11:00." I had planned on waking him up early to give him another cooking lesson but given his good behavior during a tough day yesterday that would have typically made Tyler sulk, pout, whine and curse me out, I decided against it. "Do you think you can try doing your own makeup like we talked about yesterday?" I asked, again trying to be gentle.

"Yeah, whatever" came my sons garbled response.

"Ok" I said smiling, "I'm making breakfast."

I stepped over a bra on the floor and headed for the door. The room had already began showing its first signs of my son living in it. For one, the bra Tyler had worn yesterday was on the foot of his bed, his outfit from the previous night was in a ball on the desk chair and there were a few pairs of panties stern across the floor. Again, due to his good behavior, I decided not to humiliate him by telling him to pick up his panties and left him to do his make up.

I went downstairs and started fixing pancakes.

About 30 minutes later Tyler came down stairs with a surprisingly pretty and presentable face of light, tasteful, makeup, wearing a white floral skirt and a pink floral top.

"Your makeup looks great!" I said, starting with the positive, "But honey, you can't wear a floral top with a floral skirt."

"Oh" Tyler said, looking indifferent. "How was I supposed to know that?"

"Its fine sweety, I'll find you a better top while you eat. Are you wearing a bra?" I felt the need to ask because given the chance he'd love to not wear one.

Tyler gave me an irritated looked and suddenly took his shirt off revealing a pale pink bra.

I smiled. "I didn't mean for you to do that. I was just asking."

He gave an angry breath and tossed his shirt at me, which I caught.

"Yes, I will put your top away for you." I said sarcastically. "But reign it in Missy."

I patted him on his bra laden back as I past him to go upstairs to find him a new top. I knew he'd hate being called Missy but I felt like I needed to keep his attitude from getting out of control.

I went into my daughters room and picked out a pale pink blouse that I thought would go well with my son's skirt and as a bonus would blend in well with his bra. I headed downstairs to find Tyler finishing up his pancakes. I left the blouse on the chair next to him and went to the bathroom. When I returned Tyler had finished his breakfast but was still sitting there on his phone in just his bra.

"C'mon sweety, put on a shirt." I said, taking his plate.

He sighed slightly and groaned but reached for the pink blouse and pulled it over his head. I looked at him.

"You look good." I said pleased with how the top looked with his skirt.

"Yeah" he mumbled without looking up from his phone.

"I'm going to check on your brother and then we're going to head to jewelry making, ok? Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah" came the reply, again without looking up from his phone.

I walked upstairs and cracked open the door to Tyler's room. My daughter is still asleep, her eyes closed, resting peacefully in Tyler's now stunningly clean room, looking perfectly at home in a teenage boys room. While her old bed room now showed slight traces of a careless teenage boy living in it, Tyler's room had been completely cleaned and transformed. I was tempted to wake her up but decided against it. Since "becoming a boy" she had become a lot more easy going and while not enjoying being a boy, she seemed to enjoy her new laid back Tyler-like, lifestyle and schedule, instead of her typical type A, activity packed, days. She didn't have anything to do today until the soccer game later today, so why not let her keep sleeping.

I quietly closed the door and headed downstairs.

"Ready to go, Tiffany?" I called into the kitchen. I didn't get a response but heard Tyler's footsteps as he hopped off his chair.

We didn't talk much on the drive there. I focused on driving while he stared at his phone. When we got to the class I parked and sat in the car for a second, waiting to see if he'd noticed we had stopped. He didn't or if he did he didn't acknowledge it. I cleared my throat. He didn't look up.

"Tiffany." I said somewhat firmly.

He looked up.

"What?" he said in a voice that was somehow reminiscent of both angsty teenage boy and bratty teenage girl.

"Are you ready for class?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Ok. Do you want me to go in with you? Remember, the girls are going to think you're a real girl. I already told the teacher about the situation so she knows and said it was ok but I can still walk you in if you like. Was I embarrassing the other day at Zumba?" I ask.

"No, just stay in the car." he said flatly.

"Ok! Have a good class! Can't wait to see what you make!"

Tyler rolled his eyes as he opened the car door and walked toward the building. I smiled as I noticed him checking himself out in the window, slightly adjusting his hair and smoothing out his skirt before walking in. I then headed to a Starbucks where I got some work done before returning to pick Tyler up.

When I came back to pick him up, I found Tyler waiting for me outside the building standing next to a very pretty, dark haired, girl. The two seemed to be talking and while Tyler didn't look as happy as the girl did, he was certainly engaging in a conversation with her. When Tyler saw my car, he started toward me. As he got closer I noticed that he was wearing a silver bracelet with a few beads on his wrist.

"How was jewelry making?" I asked.

"Fine." he grunted

"That bracelet is really pretty." I tried as I started the car.

"Thanks." he offered.

"Who was she?" I said, asking the question that was on my mind as I pulled out and started home.

"Just this girl" he responded.

"Does she have a name?"

"Gabriella."

"Is this Gabriella a friend?"

"Sure, I guess." he said giving me a look. "I just met her today."

"Well I'm glad you're making friends. You're gonna be going to jewelry making at least two more times so it'd be good if you had a few friends in the class." I said, trying to be positive as I stopped at a light.

He glared at me and leaned back, putting his feet up on the dashboard.

"You can't sit like that in a skirt!" I said, laughing a little. "Everyone can see your panties! Unless," I paused "you're trying to send a message to one of those boys on the corner." I tilted my head towards a group of about five teenage boys who were standing on the corner near the light.

Tyler groaned but quickly sat up and adjusted his skirt, making sure his panties were clearly out of view.

I chuckled as he eyed the boys cautiously as we drove by.

When we got home Jillian was eating cereal in the living room while watching TV. She immediately complimented Tyler on his pretty new bracelet, a compliment he didn't respond to.

"So, Tiffany, you still have to shoot your video for Jillian's youtube channel. And then you have some downtime! And Johnny, you have your soccer game in a few hours."

"Got it." Jillian called from the couch.

Tyler said nothing.

"Have you thought of any ideas for your video, Tiffany?" I ask.

"Why do I even have to make a video?" Tyler whined, sounding like himself again. "It's Jillian's channel. What if her thousands of followers don't want to see me?"

He said thousands very sarcasticly and looked at Jillian as he said it but she wasn't listening.

"You are doing Jillian's usually activities. Posting a YouTube video on her channel on Sunday is one of her typical weekend activities." I explained.

"How come Jil...Jonathan doesn't have to do anything bad?" he complained.

"Jonathan is having your typical weekend which includes a lot of down time." I explain. "But she will be going to your soccer game this afternoon. It's not my fault Jillian has busier weekends."

"What do you even do in your stupid videos?" he asked Jillian.

"Usually fashion tips, makeup tutorials, sometimes shopping videos, stuff like that." Jillian answered, still not getting off the couch. "You can handle it. You'll think of something. I'm sure you'll do great sis."

Jillian, I noticed, was not only relaxed as a boy, but was a much more supportive brother than Tyler ever was.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tyler asked.

Jillian looked at him and smiled. "You're a pretty girl. I've seen you fixing your makeup. I see how you're working that skirt. You'll be good at it." she said patting him on the butt with playful encouragement.

Tyler reddened.

I decided to help him out. "Why don't you do some makeup tips? You did your own makeup this morning and you did a really great job. You could do a tutorial on how to do a smokey eye and blush blending." I offered, knowing what my sons strengths were in the makeup department.

The look on Tyler's' face made it clear that there were few things he'd rather do less than apply blush and eye shadow on camera but when I suggested taking him to the mall and filming him trying on various outfits he said he thought he could handle the makeup tutorial.

"I wanna see it before she posts it though" Jillians voice came from the couch. "It's still my channel and I don't want her putting bad content on there."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "It's your stupid YouTube videos, it's not content. You're not some social media star."

"I have over 1000 followers so that's something" Jillian called back. "So if I want to call my videos content I can. And I don't want you putting up a shitty video."

"Isn't it my channel now?" Tyler asked turning to me. "If her room is now my room and her clothes are now my clothes and her activities are now my activities shouldn't her YouTube channel be my YouTube channel?"

"Yeah, you're right Tiffany. You can post the video without showing Jonathan if you like."

Jillian sat up, her type A stress suddenly alive her face.

"Please don't do that Ty, I, I mean Tiff. Please just show me before you post it. I can edit it for you if you want. Just run it by me first." she rambled, slightly panicked.

A slight smirk came across Tyler's pretty face, a flicker of boyish joy that I hadn't seen from him all day. "Relax, bro" he emphasized the word bro in a strange way, as if making fun of Jillian for taking to calling him sis over the past few days. "I'm not going to post anything bad. I'll show you the video before I post it." he said, seemingly amused by his sisters sudden stress.

"Thanks so much" Jillian said, as her new state of relaxation washed over her once again.

I was, honestly, impressed with Tyler's maturity. Tyler usually would have used this as something to hold over Jillian's head but, apart from a rather harmless smirk, he took the high road.

"I'm gonna eat and then I'll make the fucking thing." he said walking into the kitchen. The use of the F word brought my glowing thoughts of Tyler's new found maturity back to earth somewhat but my pride in his recent mature response kept me from commenting on it.

I watched as Tyler fixed himself a grilled cheese in the kitchen. Tyler never used to cook anything for himself. He barely would pour his own cereal. Now he was making grilled cheese, which I'd never even taught him how to make. Did he always know how and he just preferred to have his food made for him or was he figuring it out after I told him, slightly sexistly, that girls need to know how to cook. I didn't believe that but it was something that my mother had told me repeatedly as a child so cooking was something I decided to teach Jillian. Tyler had never shown Jillians interest in cooking but when the time came I decided to emphasize it to Tiffany. Just a day later, my son was making his own food.

After he finished his grilled cheese Tyler placed his plate in the dishwasher. "I guess I'm going to go shoot that video than." he said reluctantly.

"Actually," I said, seeing the time, "Johnny you need to get ready for soccer. I know it doesn't take you long to get ready but you need to put on your uniform and shin guards and cleats and all that. Remember to tape down your breasts. I know you don't need to necessarily but you should."

I noticed Tyler's smirk return upon hearing this. I could tell from Jillians face that she wasn't aware that she had to wear shin guards to play soccer but she went upstairs to change all the same. A few minutes later, she emerged, wearing Tyler's soccer uniform. While it look strange at first, after my eyes adjusted I realized that she looked pretty sharp in it. Seeing her in the uniform made it sink in just how much she looked like a teenage boy.

"Looking good!" I said nodding. "You ready to go."

"Yup" she said holding up Tyler's blue soccer bag.

"Don't forget to bring water." I reminded her.

"Right" she said heading down stairs to get some.

"Lemme just make sure that you're sister doesn't want to come watch your game." I said knocking on Tyler's door.

"What?" I heard his voice say from behind the door.

I opened the door and found him standing in the doorway of Jillian's closet with a "don't ask what I've been doing" vibe.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing" he said quickly

"Ok," I said, eyeing him suspiciously, "I was just wondering if you wanted to come support your brother at his game."

"No!" Tyler said, reminding me again that he was still my son under that skirt and bra. "I can't go there like this! All my teammates are there! They can't see me like this!"

"You're friends are going to see you tomorrow at school." I reminded him.

"Still" he whined. "I dont want to cheer on my sister, I mean" he said rolling his eyes "my brother, playing on MY team. Sh-he's going to play!"

"Ok! Ok! Just thought I'd ask. Can you at least wish your brother good luck. This is his first real boy activity."

Tyler rolled his eyes but agreed to. At that moment, Jillian appeared in her old doorway.

"I got the water Mom. We better get going!" she said in a slightly excited way.

"Hey, uh Johnny" Tyler said in a stiff way. "Uh I just wanted to say good luck, you know. Have fun and stuff."

"Awww, thanks sis!" Jillian said giving him a pat on the back. "That's really sweet of you. Hey!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "What's that?"

She was looking at Tyler's bed on which he had 3 tops spread out.

"Oh um" Tyler blushed slightly. "I was just thinking about um you know, wearing one of those. For the video. I don't know. Just thinking about it."

So that's what Tyler was doing in the closet. Looking for cute tops!

"Go with the pink Sis!" Jillian said indicating a pink off the shoulder top with enthusiasm. "Its cool and trendy and the showing one bra strap look is kind of sexy." She seemed a little embarrassed about her feminine comment but continued "You have really pretty, thin shoulders, plus it goes well with your pink nails."

Tyler blushed further.

"Definitely." I said smiling. "Pink is kind of your color Tiffany."

"For sure!" Jillian agreed. "You're a pink girl!"

Being called a "pink girl" made Tyler blush about as hard as he possibly could.

"Yeah, sure guys. I'll do that" he said quietly.

"Alright! See you Sis!" Jillian said.

"Bye sweety!" I said following her out the door. "I might be back or I might not. It depends if Jonathan wants me to stay at the game."

"Sorry about that girl stuff, Mom." Jillian said earnestly as we walked to the car. "I really am trying to be a boy for your punishment. I just really wanted Tyler to wear the pink top." She paused and gave me a little smile. "I want Tyler to wear as much pink as possible."

I smiled. "No problem, son."

We had a pleasant ride to the field but when we got there I felt the need to have a talk with her. I parked the car and turned to her.

"Look, I told the coach about everything but you look like a boy and these boys will probably treat you like a boy and that might be kind of odd." I started.

"Yeah I know."

"If any boys figure it out and are inappropriate with you go straight to the coach." I reminded her.

"I will."

"Also keep in mind that this team has been practicing for a while now so it wouldn't be surprising if you don't play much or at all. Remember, Tyler barely plays and he's been on the team for weeks."

"I know Mom!" she said casually. "Don't worry."

"Maybe I should stay and watch just in case?" I asked.

"No Mom. Just go home. I'll text you after the game. I love you but having you here would just be more embarrassing." she said.

"Ok. Have fun!" I called as she left the car.

I drove back home and realized I might be able to finally have some alone time. I went into the living room and turned on the TV. I never got to chose what we watched anymore. I flipped channels until I found something I wanted to watch and put down the remote.

Two episodes in I heard footsteps and turned around and saw Tyler, sporting the recommended pink, off the shoulder, top, bra strap showing and all, paired with a pink, floral short skirt, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Princess!" I said trying another one of my pet names for Jillian on Tyler. "How's the video coming?"

"Good" he said, not commenting on being called Princess. "I finished it. I'll show Jil-Jonathan when he gets home."

"Ok" I said smiling and walking toward him. "See, now you have free time. You can kick back and relax."

"Yeah. I know" Tyler said smiling slightly. "Finally!"

"Sweety, I just want you to know" I said smiling even more broadly "that I'm really proud of you and how you've handled this weekend generally. You've had a big weekend, a really tough weekend, and you've been really brave and done a really good job." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a little pat.

"Thanks Mom." his response came.

"You wanna come watch some TV with me?"

"No thanks. I might just go up and lie down a bit. I'm really tired. Might read a bit."

Tyler wanted to read instead of watch TV? He really had changed a lot in just two days. Maybe he was just tired.

"Ok, but if you change your mind I'll be here. We can even watch ESPN if you like."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks mom." he said as he left the kitchen.

I returned to the couch. About half an hour later the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Robert, Adam's Dad."

"Adam?"

"From you're son's soccer team. Or your nephew actually."

"Oh right! Hi! Is everything ok!" I knew Robert. Adam was one of Tyler's friends. They weren't close but they'd been to each others houses.

"Oh everything is fine! Great actually! Johnny had quite a game! I was just calling to make sure it was ok with you if I drove Johnny home!"

"Oh yeah of course." I responded. So Jillian played?, I thought. And played well? This was not something I expected.

"Would you mind if I dropped him off a few blocks away?" he asked. "I have a SUV full of boys I need to drive home and relieve a babysitter. Could I drop him on Milton Street?"

"Of course!" I said "Why don't I meet you there?"

"I hope you don't mind we picked up some burgers. The boys were hungry after the game so we hit the drive through. You know how they are. Anyway, now my car smells like burgers AND sweaty teenage boys!"

I laughed as I hung up and told him I'd meet him there to pick up Jonathan.

I grabbed a coat and ran upstairs and stuck my head into Tyler's room.

"Tiffany sweetheart, I'm going to run out for a sec but if you... what are you reading?"

Tyler quickly shoved the black, paperback book behind his back.

"Nothing."

"C'mon sweety, show me." I said walking toward her.

Tyler slowly revealed the black book, a pair of hands holding an apple gracing the cover with the words "Twilight" across the top.

"You're, you're reading Twilight?" I asked, shocked.

He blushed. "That girl Gabriella said I should try it and Jillian already had it. She said I had to read the books before watching the movies. It's actually really interesting." he said, his voice filled with both reluctant, feminine enthusiasm and masculine embarrassment.

"Ok, well I'm going to run out for a sec. Could you actually start dinner? Just start. The recipe is pretty self explanatory. Its on the kitchen counter." I ask.

"Ok, sure Mom." he said, closing his book, standing up, adjusted his bra and stretched a little.

"Thanks sweety." I said blowing him a kiss as I left the room.

As I walked to the corner I'd agreed to pick up Jillian on I thought about my two kids and how much had changed in just two days. Jillian was excelling at soccer and grabbing burgers with "the boys" while Tyler was doing makeup videos and reading Twilight.

About a minute after I got to the corner a silver chevy stopped right next to me and rolled down the window.

"Hey there!" Robert said smiling. I hadn't remembered him over the phone but seeing him I immediately remembered him. He was around my age, had a slightly chubby build and face but also a very handsome way about him. He was wearing a baseball cap and his son was in the passenger seat next to him. I could hear 3 other boys in the back and had to remind myself that one of those boys was my daughter.

"Hi! Thank you so much for bringing her him home." I smiled at him.

"No problem! You're boy is quite a player!" he responded, returning my smile.

"Is she? I mean is he?" I blushed slightly.

I heard the boys in the back laugh.

"Your Mom called you a she!" a voice said.

Adam in the passenger seat laughed.

"Ah shut up" a slightly lower voice responded.

"Yeah." Robert continued. "He was exactly the spark they needed. I expect he'll tell you all about it." He made a clicking sound with his mouth. "Alright, time to go bud, he said to the back of the car."

The door opened and Jillian got out, beaming a confident, relaxed smile.

"See ya Jon!"

"Yeah see ya Johnny!"

"See you guys!" Jillian responded in the lowish voice I had heard from the back of the car.

"Later Johnny!" Adam called from the passenger seat, waving.

"Bye dude" my daughter called back in a pitch perfect impression of Tyler.

"Well!" I said as me and Jillian started back home and Robert drove away. "Seems like you have a lot to tell me."

"It was crazy!" Jillian started in a voice only slightly higher than the one she was using in the car. "I didn't play at all in the first half and we were losing 2-0. But then that kid Joey got hurt, he might have broken his wrist or something, and then this other kid Ezra, twisted his ankle, so coach put me in! And I hadn't played soccer since like 5th grade gym but I don't know! I was feeling it." Jillian suddenly had a cocky swagger that reminded me of Tyler after a good game. "I scored 2 goals and then the game winning goal in over time! It was nuts. Everyone mobbed me!" she continued.

We were home and entered the kitchen to find Tyler back in his apron preparing the chicken like I had asked him.

"How'd the game go?" he asked pleasantly.

"It was so sick!" Jillian responded with excitement. "I only played the second half but scored 3 goals including the game winner in OT!"

"Really?" Tyler looked surprised.

"Yeah! They thought I was your cousin so I think they assumed I wasn't that good. No offense." She gave Tyler a little pat on the shoulder.

Tyler didn't react.

"Coach said I was actually the best player on the team!" she continued. "I'm probably better than you!" she said to Tyler.

"Johnny be nice!" I said sternly.

"What?! I'm sure Tyler isn't bad for a girl but this is..."

"Why don't we talk about this in the dining room so Tiffany can focus on her cooking?" I suggested cutting her off. "Unless you need my help." I said turning to Tyler.

"I'm fine" Tyler said, shortly and me and I led Jillian out of the room.

Once in the dining room I got a play by play of each of Jillian's goals down to the smallest detail. It rivaled the summaries that a 7 year old Tyler used to give me when he felt the need to explain every last play of every game he played in.

"...and I don't know why I thought I could but I tried it and it worked! Left footed! The guys went crazy!"

"It sounds very exciting" I said, smiling.

"It was. And honestly I don't see why I shouldn't stay on the team even when this is all over. I mean, I'm better than Tyler and I think the guys like me better actually. None of them think Tyler is any good. He just doesn't have foot coordination I think. He's only on the team because they need a minimum of two subs."

I heard a sad sniff and looked behind her shoulder to see Tyler standing in the doorway. Sports was his life. Soccer was about a quarter of his life, along with video games, baseball and basketball. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes." he said quietly.

"Oh no." Jillian turned around and followed him as he left the dining room. I followed them both. "Did you... you weren't suppose to hear... I was just saying that I think the guys might think its better, for the team if.."

I gave her a look.

"I'm sorry," Jillian said. "I'm not trying to be mean. Girls are so sensitive" With this comment Tyler turned somewhat dramatically back to the kitchen, his skirt flapping up a tad behind him. I gave her another look. "Really, don't be mad! But this is a good thing." she said turning to Tyler who was arranging roasted carrots on a plate. "You were concerned you'd let your team down but everyone agreed they were better off without you!"

"Johnny! That's another day of being a boy!" I said angrily.

This seemed to bring Jillian down to earth a little.

"I'm sorry Sis. I really am." she said putting her hands on Tyler's shoulders. "I'm just still kind of excited from the game. Whatcha cooking?"

The image of masculinized Jillian trying to comfort her feminized brother was kind of a sweet one but Tyler didn't care much about the gesture.

"Dinner." Tyler said shortly.

"Don't be mad at me." Jillian said smiling slightly.

"You finish dinner." Tyler said in a blank voice to me and he left the kitchen. I heard him walk upstairs and slam his door.

"I'm glad you had fun and I'm glad you did so well but be nice to her." I said looking a Jillian.

"Ok! I didn't mean to get her all worked up. It's not my fault I'm better at adapting than she is." Jillian said defensively.

I took the chicken out of the oven. "Just be nice." I repeated. "This is actually really good!" I said, trying the chicken.

I had Jillian set the table and brought out the food. I was honestly quite impressed that Tyler had not only roasted the chicken on his own, but made 2 different sides, mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.

Once all the food was out I went up to Tyler's room.

"Tiffany! C'mon honey, the meal you prepared is ready. Come eat!"

He said nothing.

"You made it all by yourself. I'm really proud and impressed." I sat down on the foot of his bed and put my hand on his back.

Still no response.

"I know its hard that Jonathan had so much success as a boy while you're still finding your footing as a girl. But from what I can tell this dinner is the equivalent of three goals. It looks really delicious. It would be a shame if you didn't taste it yourself after working so hard on it."

He lifted his head and I saw his makeup was smeared. He had been crying.

"Oh sweety!" I pulled him in for a hug. "Why don't you fix yourself up and come downstairs.

He nodded but didn't say anything.

5 minutes later he came back downstairs, his makeup refreshed. He'd even added a coat of lipstick.

We all sat down.

"Before we eat, I just want to say that this meal was prepared entirely by Tiffany. I only took the chicken out of the oven. Everything else was all Tiffany."

He smiled slightly.

Tyler and I helped ourselves but Jillian only took a few roasted carrots.

"Sorry. I'm not that hungry. Me and the guys got burgers after the game." She said with a macho air. She stuck a carrot in her mouth and her eyes opened wide. "These carrots are amazing though Tiff!"

Tyler smiled.

"So how was our weekend?" I asked. "Are we ready for school tomorrow?"

The thought of presenting themselves as the other gender in front of all of their closest friends at school seemed to sap Jillian of some of her macho excitement and sap Tyler of whatever solace the compliments of his cooking had given him.

"What are we going to tell people?" Jillian asked, the glow from her soccer success faded.

"Whatever you like. You can say you're trying out a new look or that you're seeing the world from your twins perspective. You can tell people you're trans. Or you could just say its a punishment and blame it on me. Call me a crazy person. I don't care."

"You are a crazy person." Tyler mumbled staring at his new bracelet.

"I've called all your teachers." I reminded them. "The school knows to expect Tiffany and Jonathan tomorrow. You just have to handle your friends." I had actually gone to great lengths to make sure this wouldn't be a problem at school. I had called the principal who I knew from my days on the parent committee and multiple members of the school board to make sure it would work. The kids were to be treated as the other gender in the eyes of the school I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was given my connections and years working for the school. I was genuinely shocked at the principals hysterical laughter when I told him that Tyler was now Tiffany and was wearing exclusively female clothing but given some of the head aches my son had caused him it made sense.

My son and Principal Dexter had a strange frenemies relationship. Tyler wasn't a bad kid but had made a good number of trips to the principals office, more often for bone headed boyish stupidity than suspendable offense. And yet the principal had allowed Tyler to forgo summer school last summer despite D's in both Science and Math when Tyler managed to scrape Bs on his finals with the help of his more intelligent but still slightly bone-headed buddy Scott. So when, through laughter, the principal said he would make sure everyone got the memo about my kids and make sure that nothing serious happened to Tyler or Jillian, during they're time as the other gender, I believed him.

"Why don't we just talk about this weekend?" I say, trying to get to a more pleasant, even constructive, topic. "What was one thing you did this weekend that you liked or were proud of?" I looked at Jillian. "Besides soccer."

"Hmmm," Jillian said, thoughtfully. "Its been a fun weekend actually. It's been nice to relax a bit like Tyler does. Oh I know! I got really good at Halo! I actually broke your kill record!" she said turning to Tyler.

"Great" Tyler said glumly.

"How about you Tiff? Anything good happen for you this weekend, besides cooking this incredible meal."

Tyler started to open his mouth and then stopped.

"C'mon, Spill!" I encouraged.

"Well" he started. "I know it sounds weird but I was actually kind of happy with how my video for your channel came out."

The mention of her much beloved YouTube channel brought another bit of my daughters femininity back into her gait.

"Oh, I'd love to see that!" Jillian said, in her normal voice, or at least in a voice a lot closer to her normal voice.

"Ok" Tyler said kind of shyly. "Let me get my laptop."

He ran upstairs and came back down holding his laptop, now in Jillian's pink case. He placed it on the table between me and Jillian and hit the space bar.

We saw Tyler, in his new room, his face up close to the camera, wearing the recommended pink top, his bra strap showing.

"Hi guys" he said in a bubbly feminine voice. I suddenly realized I hadn't really listened to him talk as a girl. I had dropped him off at Zumba and jewelry making and spent most of my time at Abigail's birthday party with my sister. I had no idea that Tyler, when he tried, sounded exactly like a 13 year old girl. He sounded a lot like Jillian.

"So I know I'm not Jillian but I'm Jillian's cousin Tiffany and she said I could do a few videos on her channel so I hope you guys like them. Today I'm going to show you guys how to do a smokey eye and blend blush."

Not only was Tyler's voice light and girly, but he was speaking exactly how Jillian spoke in her vlogs and videos. I watched in amazement as Tyler perfectly applied blush and eye shadow, explaining himself as he did.

"So this is the final product." he said to camera once he was done holding his hands out just under his chin in a feminine way. "I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you guys liked it and I hope you do these techniques yourself. Don't forgot to like and subscribe. Bye!!!"

The screen faded to black. Jillian and I looked at Tyler, who was standing above us watching us watch, in amazement.

"WOW" Jillian said, sounding like a girl again. "That was amazing! You sounded, looked, acted exactly like a girl! That was amazing! Obviously I want you to post that on my channel!"

"That was really impressive sweety." I said giving Tyler a hug.

"Thanks" Tyler said smiling.

"You know what?" I said proud of my son. "I'm taking off a day for this. I'm really impressed with you." I turned to Jillian. "And I'm taking off a day for you too. For soccer. You both have done a great job. So that's 15 more days for you Tiffany and 12 for you Johnny."

The rest of the evening went a little better. The three of us baked cookies and then cuddled up and the couch and watched TV before bed like we did when they were little. Sure it was different to have Tyler in the nighty and Jillian in the T-shirt and pajama pants but it was just as enjoyable. The result was everyone going to bed happy. Tiffany, I realized, is much more willing to cuddle up with her mother than Tyler was.

I checked in with both of them after they had brushed their teeth and tucked themselves into bed. They were both nervous about school the next day but had both texted their friends, letting them know about the situation and felt ok with the situation, or at least as ok as they could. I even got a rare "love you Mom" from Tyler.

I got a very different sentiment the next morning when I woke him up to do his makeup but eventually he got out of bed and applied his makeup.

There was a nervous energy in the kitchen as Jillian, wearing bluejeans, a black sweatshirt and Tyler's go to Nike's, shoveled cereal down her throat, while Tyler, who, along with the brown Uggs that he complained were "basic white girl shoes" only to have Jillian say he was a basic white girl, was sporting a grey and white striped long sleeve top that stopped right where his black leggins started, ate nothing but a banana. It was a tad awkward when they had to switch school bags in the car after Tyler had initially carried his boyish blue Under Armour backpack out to the car while Jillian brought her black and pink purse style school bag out but transferring their books and binders from one bag to the other kept gave them something to do besides be nervous in the car. There was a certain sense of pride I felt seeing them nervously emerge from the car, Tyler, his sisters purse like school bag slung of the shoulder of his pretty white sweater, and Jillian, donning her brothers favorite navy hoody with his backpack on her back. For the first time in a while I gave them each a hug before allowing them to actually walk into the building. I had taken the day off from work in case things went badly but after my slightly emotional drop off I didn't get any texts of distress during the day which I took to be a very good thing. Jillian had soccer practice after school so it was only Tyler who came into the kitchen at 3:30.

"Hey honey, how was school?" I asked.

"Fine." Tyler responded.

"Was it hard?" I asked. "Were people mean about it?"

"Yeah, some." he said, again using few words.

"Who?" I asked.

"No one. Just some jokes and teasing and shit." He answered. "Some from my friends. Some from just random assholes. It's no big deal."

"But you're friends were nice?" I asked.

"I guess. They mostly made jokes but like... that makes sense. They don't really seem to see me as a boy anymore I think. Most of them just treated me like a girl. Besides Scott."

Scott had been Tyler's best friend since before he could walk and he lived right down the street from us. Scott was very similar to Tyler but with a little extra maturity, both physically and emotionally. Knowing that Tyler would walk home with Scott was one of the only reasons I was ok with Tyler walking home on his own as a girl. I was happy but not surprised to hear Scott stood by Tyler because the two of them were as close as close can be and I knew how broken Tyler would be if he hadn't, but I had hoped that my son would have had a few other friends who liked him for reasons besides their similar interests and clothing choices and could have looked past his leggings and lipstick, even though the humiliation at school was very much a part of the punishment.

"The girls were nice though." Tyler continued. "But yeah, a lot of the guys were..."

"Oh honey!" I said cutting him off and pulling him toward me into a hug. As I hugged him I couldn't help but notice that my son smelled very... pretty.

"Tiffany?" I asked. "Are you... wearing perfume?"

He blushed. "Yeah, a little, is it really noticeable?"

"No, its smells really nice. I was just wondering where you got it."

He blushed harder. "This girl at school lent me some."

"Well" I said smiling. "You smell beautiful. Was it that Jessica girl?"

"No," he said. "I didn't see her."

A few hours later Jillian returned, once again dropped off by Robert. I met them outside the house.

"From what the boys are telling me, coach is really changing things to feature Johnny." Robert told me.

"Wow! That's awesome!" I said, patting Jillian proudly on the back.

Dinner that night was mostly Jillian talking about soccer. In an effort to shift the focus of the conversation I turned to Tyler, who hadn't been talking.

"What was your highlight of the day, Tiffany?" I asked, stiltedly.

"I dont know. English?" he offered.

"Wait, Tiff? Have you not checked the comments from your video yet?" Jillian asked.

"No, why?" Tyler answered.

"Well you should." Jillian took out her phone and slid it across the table to her brother.

Slowly a small smile came across his face.

"I guess that was the highlight of my day" he said quietly.

"Can I see?" I asked.

Tyler pushed the phone to me and I started reading the comments.

sooooo pretty!

Youre as good as your cousin!

loved the video! request for the next one... do MASCARA+FAKE LASHES! EYELASH WEBISODE!

"They love her!" Jillian informed me. "Her video was a real hit. Its got almost 8000 views in a day."

I kept reading the comments.

wow ur really good at this. u could get ur own channel

beautiful with and without makeup!

so pretty and informative!

I looked up at Tyler who seemed to be a bit happier than he was a few minutes earlier before returning to the comments. Some girls had even posted pictures of them with smokey eyes.

"Wow, you should read these comments!" I told him reading out loud.

"Great video. So helpful!"

"Awesome vid! Would love to see one with you and your cousin!"

"omg i need this, been doing sucky makeup on myself for years!"

"Ohhhh Tyler..." I said, realizing I failed to call him Tiffany but deciding to let that one slip. "Check out this one! She's hot. Would bang! Wow! Someone is making an impression with the boys!"

"I've never got a comment like that!" Jillian exclaimed. "Almost all my viewers are girls! Look at you!"

Tyler blushed.

The next few days were all very similar. I'd come home from work early so I would be there when Tyler got home. Tyler would come home a little quiet and down, spend an hour or so in his room reading "Twilight" then he would come down and help me make dinner. Jillian would come home, I'd have a quick conversation with Robert, and then Jillian would fill us in on soccer and "the guys." After dinner we would go through Tyler's new YouTube comments. This took a nasty turn Thursday night when we found a batch of not so nice comments.

tyler you fucking fairy

TYLER BAUER LIKES COCK

suggestion: dick sucking demonstration next!

"I've had so many mean comments written about me," Jillian said, trying to comfort him but that put an end to the constant checking for comments. Jillian thought that some boys at school had found the video and taken the comments section. I felt really bad about the comments but through all this, past the laughs of watching Tyler take off his bra at the end of the day and doing his makeup every morning, I could also see Tyler becoming a more humble and sweet person.

Friday, I was truly stunned. Tyler came home and before I could give my usual "how was your day?" he said "Mom, can I go on a sleepover tomorrow night?"

I smiled at him. "I'm sorry sweety but I can't let you sleep at a boys house."

"No," he said "I wanna sleep over at my friend Gabriella's."

"Oh, um ok. Of course! Yeah! Why shouldn't you girls have some fun? Where does she live?" I smiled at the request.

"Just a block away." he responded.

"Yeah, of course!" I said smiling broadly. "You have fun with your friend!

I smiled as Tyler went up to his room. He was behaving better. He was starting to enjoy himself. He wanted to sleep over at his friend Gabriella's house! Maybe this crazy idea was actually working!