Chapter 6 is here! Let me know what you think in the comments!

The phone rang. I woke up suddenly. I had fallen asleep on the couch. Tyler was clutching my left shoulder, Jillian my right. I tried to get up carefully. Jillian shifted the other way while Tyler's head fell onto the seat of the couch where I had just been sitting. They were both still asleep.

I picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi! It's me."

I smiled. "What has you calling this morning." I said in a whisper.

"Well I just thought I'd let you know that we can come. We're coming to your BBQ tomorrow."

"Oh great. Can Adam come too?"

"Yeah, me Adam, the twins, all coming!"

"Great. So excited. See you then, Robert."

"See you."

I was excited that Robert and his family would be coming but I knew that it meant I had to tell him the truth about my kids sooner rather than later. I looked at them. Should I wake them up?

I decided to make breakfast, that way I could tell them as they ate and we could figure out how to handle it.

About not long after I had started making pancakes I saw Tyler sit up.

"Hey Sweety!" I said as he stood up and turned around, stretching. His hair was a mess. "You want some pancakes?"

Tyler sat at the counter in the kitchen, smoothing out his pink nighty as he sat down.

Some 10 minutes later Jillian stood up, wearing one of Tyler's t-shirts and pajama pants and lethargically made her way to the table.

"I need to talk to you guys." I said as Jillian sat down. "It's kind of serious."

Jillian made a face. "Actually I have something serious too but I can go after you." she said.

"No its fine, Sweety!" I said. "Say what you need to say."

I was hoping it wasn't more sour grapes over last night when my bosses son took more of an interest in her brother than he did her.

"Um ok." she said looking around at us. "I'm not really sure how to say this so I'll just say it. I might be a boy, I think. I want to stay a boy. For now at least. I want to stay in Tyler's room, at least until he gets it back and dress like a boy and everything. I thought it'd make things easier. And I kinda want to. So yeah."

I dropped my fork. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did Jillian actually want to be a boy?

Tyler looked at his sister in amazement.

I tried to collect my thoughts. This was surprising but fine. Good even.

"I'm serious." she continued. "I kinda liked being Johnny. And last night I missed it. I wasn't as comfortable being a girl as I used to be. And its because I wanted to be a boy. I am a boy." she turned to Tyler. "It was fun being sisters with you for a few days though!"

This was shocking but fine. I just had to make sure she... he knew I supported him. This was a sharp change but probably good for him. Sure Jillian was a very girly girl but Jonathan was doing really well as a boy.

"Wow." I said. "Well that isn't what I expected but of course I support you. I support you and love you no matter what." I walked over to her and hugged her and then noticing Tyler, still in his nightgown frozen in his chair, his head titled strangely, I added "I'm sure Tiffany does as well. Don't you, Tiff."

"Yeah" Tyler said looking surprised and giving Jillian a nod. "Of course."

"Thanks sis! You make a more natural girl than I do anyway!!" Tyler shrank at being told what a natural girl he was but mumbled something as Jillian looked at me. "Now what was your thing?" she asked as if nothing had happened.

"Well, I invited Robert to the BBQ tomorrow and he's coming with the kids and I just think its time we told him the truth about all of this. So he knows. I feel bad lying to him. I hope he still likes me after it but I feel like I need to tell him."

"Tell him what exactly?" Jillian asked.

"Well, that you used to be a girl and why Tyler is a girl. Do you think there's a way to say that to him and not have it sound crazy?"

"No!" Jillian said. "But I think he might like you anyway."

I smiled.

"I want to tell Adam anyway." she said. "I don't think he's gonna care. He sees me as one of the guy and that won't change."

"Why don't we tell Adam and Robert together?" I suggested. "Invite them over and just explain it so they get it. I know it might not be that easy but its worth a shot."

"Wait so we're telling Adam that I'm a girl. Or not a girl but" his voice trailed off. "You know."

"Yes." I said. "I'm sorry if your not comfortable with that Tiffany but you are a girl right now and I don't feel comfortable lying to Robert anymore. You gotta take one for the team, Princess. Adam's a nice kid. He won't tell everyone if you don't want him to."

Tyler sighed. "I'm going to go get ready for Zumba." he said and he left the kitchen.

"I'm going to think about how I want to say it." I told Jillian. "And I'm going to see if they can come over. It'd have to be after 1:30 or so because your sister has Zumba. Actually it better be after 2 because she'd want to shower."

"Why don't I ask them if they can just stay for a little after they drop me off after practice." She suggested. "That'll be around 2:30 so Tyler will have plenty of time to get pretty."

"Sounds great" I said.

A few minutes later Tyler came down, dressed for Zumba. I drove him to Zumba and was happy to see a girl greet him as he walked in. I watched as they hugged and walked in together, chatting. I was still very mad at Tyler honestly for lying to me and betraying my trust. This was actually part of the reason I was forcing him to go on a date with Thomas tomorrow at the BBQ. Nothing was going to happen as long as Thomas was around his parents but the part of me that was still angry at him for sneaking around behind my back was really looking forward to watching him deal with Thomas. I had actually been making an effort to embarrass him a little recently, forcing him to hang out with Abigail, posting feminine pictures of him on my Facebook account, and setting him up with Thomas. I had even told my sister that Tyler would take Abigail trick or treating on Halloween and was rather tickled to find out that Abigail decided to buy Tyler an early birthday present in the form of a Princess Jasmine dress that was actually his size. Despite my lingering resentment toward my son I had to admit that since then Tyler had become a very convincing and natural girl. He even seemed to be enjoying himself a little and I could feel myself softening. I even told him that he could invite Scott for trick or treating with Abigail if he didn't mind Scott seeing him in his Princess Jasmine dress and Scott didn't mind spending his Halloween trick or treating with a little girl (two little girls if you count my son).

I spent the next hour in my car practicing how I was going to tell Robert (and Adam) why I decided to punish my kids in such a strange way. Before I knew it Tyler was tapping on the window of my car.

"Hey Mom can you give my friend Danielle a ride home?" he asked.

I smiled. "You made a friend at Zumba?"

Tyler blushed a jerked his head toward a short but pretty blonde girl standing a few feet away. "Please don't embarrass me."

"Your friend can have a ride home but I'm going to embarrass you." I said smiling.

Tyler and Danielle climbed into the back of the car.

Should I mess with Tyler a little more? Why not?

"Hi! I'm Betsy, Tiffany's Mom. You must be Danielle."

"Yeah" the girl smiled at me as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Where do you live sweetheart?" I asked her.

"284 pine street" Danielle responded before turning to my son. "I think it looks great honestly." she said, obviously continuing a conversation from before they had gotten into the car. "It's sleeker than your other sports bra's. More athletic looking. How did it feel?"

I smiled. Prior to getting into the car Tyler had been talking to a friend about his sports bra. Maybe he was a bit more girly than I thought. I looked back at Tyler as I stopped at the light. He blushed.

"Good." he said in his girly, feminine voice. "It was actually easier to move in."

"You talking about Tiffany's new sports bra?" I said butting in.

"Yeah." Danielle said.

"I can get you another if you like, Sweety." I told Tyler. "It comes in a few colors."

"Thanks Mom." he said.

"Honestly though" Danielle said. "I know you've only been 3 times but you already look so fit. And way more confident."

"Thanks." Tyler said. "I'm getting the hang of it I think."

So my sons best sport was Zumba, I thought. Good to know. And Tyler was showing confidence at Zumba. Interesting.

"Oh, can I ask your Mom?" Danielle asked.

"No, don't." My son responded.

"Why not?"

"Its embarrassing. It'd be awkward."

"Its not a big deal. She's your mom. Its more awkward for me."

"Fine."

"Betsy?" Danielle said speaking up. "Why don't you let Tiffany wear lingerie?"

I laughed and tried to think quickly.

"Because you let her wear other Victoria Secret products. And some of her nighties are just as adult as lingerie."

"How have you seen Tiffany's nighties?" I asked.

"Snapchat" she responded.

I smiled at the thought at Tyler Snapchatting himself to his friends in some of Jillians more feminine nighties.

"You know what. Maybe I should rethink my stance on lingerie." I said. "If Tiffany feels she's ready to wear thongs who am I to stop her."

Tyler's face went bright red.

"See. I told you." Danielle said. "You just had to ask the right way."

"You know what." I said. "Maybe after Zumba next week I'll take you girls to Victoria Secret and buy you some lingerie if its ok with your parents."

Danielle's face lit up. "That'd be so fun right Tiff!"

"So fun!" said Tyler conjuring up enthusiasm for the idea of trying on lingerie with his mother and a pretty girl.

"Is this your house?" I asked Danielle.

"Yup." She said opening the door. "Thanks for the ride." She turned to Tyler. "Let me know if you can sleep over next week. And let me know about how things go with that guy."

She shut the door and I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that Tyler had been telling his friend from Zumba about Thomas.

"Glad to see your fitting in with the other girls." I said as I started driving.

"Yeah." he said.

"And I want you to know you can wear any lingerie you like as long as it makes you feel pretty."

"Thanks Mom." He seemed to know I'm goading him a bit but determined not to let it phase him.

"She seems really nice."

"She's cool."

"You could've invited her to the BBQ."

"I guess."

"Do you girls often talk about your sports bras?"

"Yeah, thats what us girls talk about." he said giving me a snarky look as he popped a pink earbud in his ear.

"I can get you more of those kind you like if you want."

"That'd be great."

"You want a bunch of colors or are you good with pink."

"Pink's fine." The other earbud made its way into my sons ear and I heard Taylor Swift softly coming from the back seat but when I looked back he turned down the volume.

We arrived home.

"Go shower and get dressed in whatever you want Robert and Adam to see when they find out about you." I said.

Driving Danielle home had used up some time. It was already 2.

Tyler came down stairs 20 minutes later, lightly made up and in his now typical black leggings and his favorite deep purple Victoria Secret sweatshirt., his hair in a messy bun.

"C'mon Tiffany, you can do better than that. You look like you're ready to watch a real housewives marathon. Make a little effort." I said.

He went back upstairs and came down a few minutes later now wearing a small black crop top and tiny Victoria secret booty shorts, a much louder outfit then I had pictured. I was thinking a nice top and modest skirt or maybe a sundress. His hair was still up in a messy bun.

"Thats a little revealing." I commented, then seeing the look on his face and realizing that he was wearing this as a joke because he was pissed off that I asked him to change before, I laughed and said "but that's ok."

"What?" he said. "You don't want me to change?"

"No you're good." I could see the shock in his face. He'd clearly expected me to say he couldn't dress like that, that he had to at least cover his belly button and a little of his upper leg.

"Well, I'm going to change."

I suddenly heard the door open. "We're home" Jillian called.

"Well you don't have the time now, Princess..." I said as a look of panic at the idea of Adam and Johnny actually seeing him in booty shorts and a crop top flashed across his face. "...so guess your stuck looking all sexy." I told him as Tyler walked grumpily toward the living room. "That's going to make quite a first impression." Tyler slinked off to wait for them knowing he didn't have enough time to change and I headed for the door.

"Hi!" I said to Robert and Adam as they entered the kitchen, hugging them both.

"Is everything ok Betsy?" Robert asked. "Johnny just said you wanted to talk. We can't stay for too long but he sounded kind of serious."

Jillian, or Johnny as I should say now since Jillian says she's actually a boy, had already made their way into the living room where Tyler was.

"Whoah!" Adam said, reacting as most boys who suddenly find a girl dressed as skimpily as my son was dressed, would react. "What, who are you?"

"Everything is fine. But thats what I want to talk to you guys about." I walked into the living room with Robert and sat on the couch with my children on either side of me, facing Robert and Adam.

"I need to be honest with you guys because I care and you need to know the truth." I started and then I told them everything.

Adam's jaw dropped when he heard and he looked at Tyler then Jonathan than back to Tyler, where it stayed for the remainder of my explanation. He seemed less shocked about Jonathan but totally shocked about Tyler. Robert on the other hand was inscrutable.

"So that chick..." Adam asked in amazement, nodding at his crop top wearing former teammate after I had finished my explanation, "...is Tyler?"

"Yes." the three of us said at the same time.

"Wow!" Adam said an amazed grin spreading across his face. "I don't believe it. That's not Tyler. That's a girl. You're messing with us."

Robert still hadn't said anything.

"I'm not" I said, slightly nervously.

"It's me" Tyler said and the sound of Tyler's voice made Adam's jaw drop a second time.

"HOLY SHIT. NO WAY!" Adam said with a laugh. "That's crazy." He said, dumbfounded staring at my son, sizing him up in his new form from his promiscuous, belly button showing, top to and his hairless, feminine, very exposed, legs. "You actually make a pretty good girl, dude."

"Thanks, I guess." Tyler blushed.

"Not sure if its a compliment." Adam laughed. "So you're like a girl at school too?"

"Yeah."

"And you use the girls bathrooms and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Wow! Do you pee sitting down?" Adam grinned and Tyler blushed again.

"Yeah."

Robert still handed spoken.

"Say something." I said to quietly to Robert, not loud enough for the kids to hear.

He was still silent, looking blankly at Tyler. I started to feel panic creeping in.

I got up and headed toward the kitchen. Why had I screwed up my only good relationship with a man since my husband died?

I poured myself a glass of water and saw Robert walking toward me.

"I don't know." I said. "I don't know why. But I did it and its happened. I hope you remember that you still like me, maybe even love me and..."

He cut me off. "I do love you."

I looked up at him.

"I'm crazy about you." He said. "You're the only woman I've liked this way since my wife. You're incredible. You're smart, funny, great company, beautiful. It was just a lot to take in. But I don't think you were wrong to do it."

"You don't?"

"I don't judge how other people parent their kids. Now would I have done it? Probably not. But you did and you helped Johnny find his true identity as a boy. That makes you a pretty good parent. And knowing Johnny I can tell you for a fact you did something right with that boy. And I didn't know Tyler as well as I know Johnny but he always seemed kind of arrogant and whiney to me honestly and now..."

We looked up at our kids, Adam peppering Tyler with questions about his new identity in a way that was half mocking half sincere.

"Dude you're actually pretty hot." he told Tyler "Do you wear a bra?"

Tyler slid back his shirt to show Adam his bra strap. Adam giggled.

"Do you wear panties?"

Tyler reluctantly pulled back the waistband of his shorts to reveal his pink panties. To more giggles from Adam.

"...now Tyler seems like a really sweet young woman." Robert finished. "I would never have guessed it but he seems to make a better girl than he did a boy."

We looked back at our kids.

"So do you have boobs?"

"Kinda."

"Can I touch them?"

"No!"

"Don't be a prude, sis." Jonathan scoffed.

"What?" Tyler said adjusting his bra. "I don't want him to touch my boobs!"

"Wow! You really are a girl now!" Adam said laughing at Tyler feminine adjustment.

"No I'm not." Tyler protested with a smile.

"Yeah, you are." Adam said obviously. "I can't believe a chick like you used to be on the team."

"He even made out with a boy last night!" Jonathan said gleefully.

"What?!" Adam said looking a Tyler who blushed. "You made out with a dude?"

"He did! Or I really should say SHE did. He's in high school too. And plays football!" Jonathan added.

"You're dating a high school football player?" Adam asked Tyler.

"We're not dating." Tyler said, still blushing. "It was one kiss. He's not my boyfriend or anything."

"He's not his boyfriend or anything." Jonathan agreed. "But he wants to be." Both boys howled with laughter. "And pretty soon, he will be!"

My now feminine son blushed and rolled his eyes as his new brother recounted to his former teammate how Thomas had flirted with Tyler all night and Tyler had responded like a giggly little girly girl and of course, how he ended the night by kissing the feminized boy, in front of everyone. Tyler didn't say anything, he just sat there, playing with his bra straps and pushing the hair out of his eyes. A couple times Adam looked at him between laughs and he'd give a little embarrassed smile.

Adam's laughs made both Robert and I smile.

"Tyler really is pretty, isn't he?" Robert said to me. "

"He is!" I agreed.

"I'm glad I have my sons," Robert said, looking at Adam, "but my brother has a daughter and I always wondered what it would be like to have a girl."

We both looked back at Tyler who was adjusting his hairless girly legs so he was now sitting on them.

"I don't know. I always thought it would be fun to have a Daddy's little girl who I could spoil and be protective of." He laughed.

I smiled too. "Well I don't want to get ahead of ourselves here but, Tyler could be your Daddy's little girl. I'm not sure he wants to be spoiled or think of himself as Daddy's little girl but he definitely could use some protection." I couldn't help but laugh too.

"I don't want to overstep so early in our time together" Robert said smiling, "but that could be lovely." He looked at Tyler. "I never figured I'd meet my little girl on my sons soccer team but you never know." He chuckled. "But seriously, right now, Tyler really doesn't seem anything like the Tyler I knew on Adam's team. Tyler was always loud and boisterous. Now he seems so dainty and delicate. Nothing like he was as a boy."

I hadn't experienced Tyler as terribly dainty or delicate since the punishment started but looking at him now I did see it. While Tyler definitely wasn't as much of a girl as he appeared to be right now to Robert and Adam as he blushed at Adam's teasing, because I knew Tyler so well, and was so close for his entire punishment, I hadn't considered that Tyler wasn't still as boyish as he was when the punishment had first started. He was always pretty but at the beginning he still walked and sat and moved like a boy. Now he held himself much more like a female.

Still the nerves of being displayed off to Adam were definitely contributing to Tyler's timidness and frequent blushing and that made him seem much more girly. I wondered how Robert would react to seeing the more boyish sides Tyler that was still there as he dressed as a girl every day but currently not present as his new brother and former teammate laughed at his girly appearance and romantic night with a boy.

"I can't believe you let him kiss you! I can't believe you did any of that!" Adam said, observing my sons feminine body again. "I can't believe that's really you Tyler. You used to be so normal. Now you look, like, girlier than most girls." He paused and then added "you're actually hotter than most girls."

"Thanks?" Tyler said, clearly embarrassed.

"It's a compliment sis!" Jonathan said with a laugh. "Be a good girl, bat your pretty eye lashes, giggle and say thank you like a normal girl would."

Adam laughed and Tyler rolled his eyes again.

"I'm not a girl." He said with a little annoyance in his voice.

Adam laughed again. "I bet the guys on the team would say otherwise." He took out his phone.

"Please don't tell them!" Tyler said, sounding more like a girl then he ever had.

Adam smiled and put away his phone. "Ok, I won't." He said kindly. "But only because you seem like such a sweet girl Tyler, and I wouldn't want to upset you."

Tyler gave a little smile. "Thanks. But I'm not a girl."

"Sure, you're not a girl." Adam said. "You're just wearing a bra and panties and and a little girly outfit with short shorts and have sexy girl legs and long girly hair. Oh and girly pink nails" he added noticing Tyler's manicure for the first time. "But you're very manly."

"I'm not a girl." Tyler insisted but even he couldn't help but giggle given how he looked at the moment.

"You should see her room" Johnny told Adam. "It's so girly."

Robert put his hand on my hand as the kids went upstairs, the real boys teasing Tyler about how if he had a bigger crush on Justin Bieber or Shawn Mendes after Johnny told Adam about Tyler's bed room decorations.

Robert leaned in.

We kissed.

"I love you." He said smiling at me. "And I'm with you. And I'm with your kids too."

"Well" I laughed, "With me right now means we treat Tyler like a girl at least for the next 120 days or so." I said as we headed upstairs.

He laughed. "Honestly at this point, it'd be hard to treat him like anything else."

"Would you at least let him take you home?" I heard Jonathan say as we walked into Tyler's room. "Not necessarily sleep with him but would you let Justin Bieber take you to his house for a cuddle at most after your first date?"

Tyler blushed. "Shut up," he said, a little of his normal boy energy back in his voice. I wondered if going up to his room and away from the parents had loosened him up and brought it back out.

"You would!" Jonathan insisted.

The boys laughed.

"Dad!" Adam said noticing us in the doorway. "This is Tyler's room!" he said gesturing at the pink walls and feminine decor. "Can you believe that? A boy lives in this room."

Robert looked down at me and smiled.

"Don't be rude Adam." Robert said smiling broadly at me. "It's not nice to call Tyler a boy."

It wasn't especially funny but we all laughed.

"It's true." Adam said looking Tyler's skinny, exposed, girlish body up and down. "My bad."

The contrast between Adam and Tyler was stunning. Adam wore a stunned expression and looked completely out of place in this pink, overly girly room while Tyler, who kept nervously pushing his hair out of his eyes, looked perfectly at home, hairless legs, crop top and all, if a little embarrassed.

"It's just hard to believe that anyone who played on my soccer team could have this many dresses," he said looking at the closet, "or this many bras," he said looking at one of Tyler's open drawers that was messily packed with Tyler's Victoria Secret products, "or this many posters of Shawn Mendes on the wall."

"Tyler has such a big crush on him." Jonathan said, prodding Tyler.

"Shut the fuck up." Tyler said, a trace of the normal, boyish, non timid or girly Tyler coming to the surface.

Jonathan looked surprised and stunned but Robert laughed and the laugh killed the tension. "That's not very lady like, Tyler." He said, answering my question about how Robert would react to Tyler's still boyish personality come out of his now feminine appearance. "If you keep talking that way you might scare away all the good looking boys..."

"Well maybe I should do it more often." Tyler said with a grin. I was clearly right about him getting a little bolder and more comfortable after the kids left to come upstairs.

"But for a lot of guys it will only make them like you more. Nothing better than a pretty girl who's willing to curse."

Tyler blushed.

"Don't worry, Tyler." Robert said with a small smile. "When a girl's as pretty as you are, guys don't care how you talk.

"Oh. Great." Tyler said sarcastically and everyone laughed.

I smiled.

Robert clearly knew that Tyler was still a teenage boy and would act like one when he could, and he was just as comfortable as the rest of us teasing him about his new girly role in the family. Even better, as a father of all sons he knew exactly how boys like Tyler thought and acted and knew how to talk to him and even tease him in a way that wasn't mean but was consistent with the punishment.

"Alright boys, lets give Tiffany some privacy, so she can put some real clothes on." I said noticing Tyler blush as Adam surveyed my sons skimpy outfit yet again. "You guys will be back for the BBQ tomorrow. Adam, you can get to know the real Tiffany then."

"Yeah" Johnny said smirking. "If her boyfriend, Thomas lets you."

Tyler through a pillow at Johnny but missed.

"You throw like a girl." Jonathan mocked. Adam and Tyler gave a little giggle.

"But he throws pretty good for a girl. Maybe you should play softball this year Tyler." Robert suggested. "If you get enough of your friends together, I could coach you girls. Something tells me you'd do pretty well."

From the face he made Tyler actually seemed to like the idea of playing girls softball, even though I didn't know what friends he could get together to make a team, but before Tyler could say anything Adam spoke up.

"No he should be a cheerleader!" Adam disagreed. "I wanna see him jumping around in the little outfit with all the rest of the girls, cheering on the boys."

Tyler blushed clearly less excited about that idea.

"Maybe he can do both." I said. "But right now he needs to get ready. He's a girl now so it takes her a while to get dressed. She has to do his hair and his make up."

Tyler blushed at me changing his pronouns so much in once sentence but Adam laughed as we filed out of her room.

I showed Robert and Adam out and after closing the door gave a little cheer.

That had gone so well! They were both very understanding! I still had a boyfriend! It was so nice to have a boyfriend again.

Tyler wouldn't admit but I knew he was excited for the BBQ. He was the one who came up to me asking if we could invite the Kingsley's (Scott's family), Robert, and even Aunt Mary, Uncle Jeff, Carter, Gabe and Abigail over so he could cook for them. I was still irritated with him but I was also happy that he wanted to show off his cooking skills so I ok'd it on the condition that he also invited Eva, Carter's girlfriend who Tyler had been texting with. But Carter had football practice and Abigail a gymnastics class and the Kingsley's were out of town for the weekend. Eva agreed to come.

He seemed disappointed to find this out, especially Eva who he called "even worse than Jillian" but I was fairly proud of myself for managing to get Robert and his family AND my boss, his wife, and his son to attend in such a short span of time so that Tyler would have a good group to cook for.

It was late October but it was so warm it still felt appropriate to have a BBQ and I was rather excited for it, especially now that Robert knew everything. I had even excused Tyler from jewelry making again as long as he promised to post 2 videos to his sisters youtube channel before the BBQ. When I went to wake Tyler after he hadn't emerged from his room by 11:00 I was surprised to find he was already awake and was making his videos. He turned around, startled.

"Oh hi Mom." he said blushing. "I was just finishing the video."

He was wearing a shoulderless black top and had clearly spent a good deal of time on his makeup.

I smiled. "Whats the subject?"

He looked at the ground. "Matching your makeup to your outfit. And I did the eyelash video that comment asked for."

"Well I can't wait to see them!" I said warmly. "Remember our guests get here at 1, we need to be ready to cook when they're hungry."

"I'm gonna be ready!" Tyler snapped brattily. "Get out of my room, and let me finish" and I immediately remember why I was looking forward to watching him struggle with Thomas.

An hour later he came downstairs. "I'm sorry I got mad. I'm a little nervous about today." he said.

I forgave him but then asked/told him to make me breakfast.

"Actually!" I said standing up as he took out the red dotted apron he usually used. "I got you a little gift." I said pulling out a plastic bag out of the closet. "Enjoy."

He put his hand in the bag and pulled out his gift, a white and pink, lacy, flowered apron with "Tiffany" embroidered across the chest. He smiled.

"Thanks Mom" he said in a way that made in impossible for me to tell whether he loved or found it humiliating and wanted to be polite. He probably felt a bit of both which is honestly how I wanted it.

He donned his new apron and made me scrambled eggs without speaking to me.

"Where's Jillian?" he asked as he presented me the eggs.

"Your brother Jonathan spent the night at Adam's" I said reminding Tyler or his former sisters decision the other day. "HE will be coming over with them."

"Right." Tyler said with a nod.

I looked at the clock. "You better get dressed." I told Tyler. "They'll be here in half an hour.

I enjoyed my breakfast, thinking about what a good cook Tyler had become. I tidied up in the kitchen and living room until I saw Robert's Chevy SUV pull into my drive way.

"Tiffany! Robert is here!" I called up stairs.

"Be down in a sec!" he shouted down.

"Hi!" I said, kissing Robert on the cheek as he entered. "Hi sweety." I said giving Jonathan a hug. "Hi everyone!" I said addressing Adam and his 10 year old twin brothers Mason and Eli. They both waved at me as Adam said Hi. "Tiffany will be down in just a moment." I said as Tyler appeared in the door wearing a summery but pretty, coral sundress.

"Hey sis" Jonathan said smiling. "Nice dress."

"Hi Tiffany" Adam said smiling as he nodded at his former teammate, saying his new name with a grin. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks." Tyler said, looking down but blushing at the boys compliments.

"Hi Tiffany." Robert said, giving my son a hug. "These are my other sons, Mason and Eli. Boys, this is Betsy's daughter Tiffany."

"Hi!" My son said sweetly, waving to the boys.

"Hi Tiffany." They each said. I could tell from the looks on their faces and the way they said Tiffany that Robert had explained to them exactly what the situation with my son was, how they should act around Tyler and that they not only found it funny but knew exactly who Tyler was, probably from watching their brothers games, and were struggling to contain their glee at the seeing their brothers teammate's new femininity in person.

"Tiffany's wearing a new dress." I told the men and Tiffany blushed again.

"I thought she might be." Jonathan said. "You really do look amazing Tiff."

"Thanks." Tyler said with such little enthusiasm it almost sounded sarcastic and Jonathan picked up on it.

"Oh come on Tiffany! You look beautiful. Don't be so down! You're probably just nervous to see Thomas again. Why don't you do a little twirl in your pretty new dress! That will make you feel better."

Tyler blushed and tried to refuse but Robert stepped in "Good idea Jonathan. Why don't you show us a little twirl Tiffany?"

"Yeah Tiff! Twirl!" Adam demanded.

Blushing, Tyler reluctantly did a couple twirls to whoops from all the boys and applause from me and Robert.

"Awww. So beautiful." and "Really pretty Tiffany." Jonathan and Adam said with smirks to the twirling teenage boy, who had no choice but the thank them.

"Yeah, you're so pretty and girly Tiffany." Mason agreed, less delicately, apparently not realizing that you wouldn't usually tell a girl she was "girly."

"Totally." his twin agreed. "A cute little girl."

Tyler, who had been blushing the whole time, blushed especially after the twins complimented him. Something about being told he was a cute little girl by a boy that was several years younger than him a several inches shorter than him seemed to set Tyler off but maybe he had the same thought I did as I looked at my feminized son's stunning legs, that at the moment, little Mason and Eli probably had more body hair than girly Tyler did, and were probably more manly by the mere fact that their nails weren't painted and their legs weren't showing. Something along these lines seemed to have crossed Tyler's mind because he said "Um thanks guys."

He could clearly tell they knew. I wondered when Tyler had ever talked to them before or what they'd talked about. They probably looked up to him as a cool older kid on their brothers team. Now, in their eyes, he was more like a pretty older girl. He took a little breath and looked at me as if to say "do I really have to keep this up right now when everyone knows I'm a boy?" He started but before we could say anything another car pulled in and I saw a very pretty woman driving with Eva in the passenger seat. Eva got out of the car immediately and ran up to Tyler. Tyler blushed even more as she approached.

"I'm looking forward to eating!" Robert said to Tiffany changing the subject and helping the blush fade from Tyler's face. "I'm a bit of a grill nut. I hope you wouldn't mind a little assistance."

"Of course not" Tyler said only to blush again as Eva reached him.

"OMG I LOVE YOUR DRESS YOU LOOK AMAZING!" She said as wrapped him up in a girly hug. I noticed Adam and Johnny repressing grins as Tyler sort of awkwardly hugged her back. "WEREN'T YOU TWIRLING IN THIS GORGEOUS DRESS BEFORE I GOT HERE?" She asked my humiliated son. "DON'T LET ME STOP YOU! I WANNA SEE YOU TWIRL TOO GIRL!" And reluctantly Tyler did another twirl as Adam and Jonathan failed to repress smiles and Mason and Eli failed to repress laughter as they caught a little glimpse of Tyler's panties as he twirled.

"You must be Betsy!" I hadn't noticed the pretty woman who had been driving get out of the car and approach me.

"I am."

"I'm Diane, Eva's Mom. We spoke on the phone. So nice of you to invite her to something like this. Being new and all. I know she seems to really like your daughter. They're always texting. You're daughter seems like a really nice girl." We both looked over at Tyler and Eva to see Eva still admiring Tyler's dress. "Look at them, twirling and giggling and checking each others outfits out. They look like they've been friends for years already." Eva was now looking at Tyler's manicure. "I'm glad she found a female friend. Ever since she got here it's been all boys. She needs someone like your daughter to go shopping with and get her nails done with, you know, girl stuff."

I smiled. "Thanks for driving Eva. My boyfriend has 3 sons so I thought Tiffany would need a gal pal here for some extra female energy here."

Diane smiled. "Oh of course. Poor girl's outnumbered by boys 4 to 1. That's a lot of boys. A lot of masculine energy for one girl to be dealing with." She laughed. "Anyway I'm going to leave her here and pick her up in a few hours. Sorry I can't stay for the BBQ, I wish I could but I'm just too busy. Maybe next time!"

"It's no problem!" I said, smiling as I heard Eva tell Jonathan that she "could already tell" that Tiffany would be like the a little sister to her. "See you in a few hours!"

Diane drove away and I showed Robert and the kids into the yard only to hear the sound of another car in the driveway. I rushed outside to greet my boss and his family and upon seeing them, panicked as I remembered that they only new Jonathan as a girl.

"Peter!" I said greeting my boss. "Molly! Thomas!" So good to see you three again. So glad you could make it!"

"I never say not to a BBQ!" my boss said jovially. "And Molly told me your daughter is on the grill!"

"She is! She's very excited. And very excited to see you." I said looking at Thomas. "But before we go in I need to talk to you about my other daughter quickly. Its kind of a big thing." I said trying to keep them from proceeding into the house.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked.

"Nothing is wrong!" I said. "But since Friday night Jillian actually came out to me as transgender. So she's a boy now. We have been treating her like a boy. She goes by Jonathan. I hope that doesn't throw you off too much." I said praying they weren't transphobic.

Peter smiled. "Oh, of course that's ok. My brother's daughter is gender fluid. And Molly's brother is gay. We are big LGBT supporters. Just last year I donated a mill-I mean a large sum of money to support LGBT youth."

"It kind of makes sense actually." Thomas said and was immediately hit on the arm by his mother.

"That's not polite!" she said to him. "What my son means..." she said turning to me "...is Jillian gave off a slightly more masculine vibe than your other daughter did."

I smiled. "It's fine. I just wanted to make sure when we're in there you know that Jonathan is a boy now."

"Understood" my boss said, smiling as I led them to the backyard.

"Robert, this is my boss, Peter. This is his wife, Molly, and their son, Thomas. This is my boyfriend, Robert." Robert shook hands with Peter, Molly and Thomas smiling and making pleasant talk with them. "These are his kids." I said indicating his sons. "Mason, Eli and Adam is around here somewhere." I said looking for my boyfriends oldest son to find the teenagers (Tyler, Jonathan, Adam and Eva) had broken away from the crowd a bit. I beckoned them over. "And that is Ty-- Tiffany's friend Eva." I said pointing as she approached.

"Hello." Peter said kindly to Mason and Eli as I drifted toward the teenagers. "How old are you boys?"

"I'm Thomas" I overheard Thomas saying to Adam and Eva. "I'm Tiffany's boyfriend." He said as he put an arm around my smooth legged, sundress wearing son. Adam gave Tyler a little look at the word boyfriend but didn't say anything.

WOW! I thought. So Thomas is "Tiffany's boyfriend" now? Yeserday Tyler was insisting they weren't dating and now he was letting Thomas introduce himself as her boyfriend. If Tyler didn't speak up he'd find himself in a relationship with a boy, and a cute one at that.

Tyler didn't speak up, shrinking into Thomas' arms as Thomas kissed my son again.

Adam's eyes widened briefly as he looked at Tyler but he recovered quickly.

"Oh cool." He said. "I'm Adam. I'm Jonathan's friend, and thats my Dad." he said pointing at Robert.

"Wow!" Said Eva, not bothering with her name. "You guys make suchhh an adorable couple. You two are actually perfect. We need to double date. We just need to."

"That'd be fun." Thomas said looking sweetly at Tyler, who, still in Thomas' arms, looked ready to shrink into the ground.

"And its good to see you again, man." Thomas said, turning to Jonathan, who hadn't spoken. Clearly he too had realized that my bosses family hadn't seen him as a boy before but seemed pleasantly surprised by Thomas' treatment of him as a boy and wasn't about to question it.

"You too dude." He responded as my boss and his wife approached him.

"Good to see you again Jonathan." Peter said shaking his hand.

"I'm really happy to see you living your best life." Molly said smiling.

"Uh thanks." Johnny said smiling.

"Ready to start cooking Tiffany?" Robert called from across the yard.

"Yeah!" my son called back. "Coming!"

He walked over the grill with Thomas and I followed at slight distance and watched as Robert tossed Tyler his new apron which he dropped and Thomas picked up and gently placed on my son, tying it in the back for him which quickly turned into a hug sweet hug from behind and a kiss on the cheek.

"I've never seen my son like that." my boss said as I joined him and his wife at the table we kept on the patio. "Him and your daughter are really clicking."

"He was talking about her on the way over here." Molly said smiling. "He was talking about how she knew about football and how she didn't know how to use a steak knife. He even said she ate popcorn in a cute way. And he never talks about girls to us!"

I smiled. "Tiffany is also a little quiet about boys but she certainly seems to be enjoying herself." I said even though I noticed Tyler squirming away from Thomas constantly trying to stand on the other side of Robert, hoping that my boyfriend would act as a buffer between him and his boyfriend.

I sat Peter and Molly, enjoying the unseasonably warm October day, watching Adam, Jonathan, Mason and Eli play football in the yard with pride and looking away only to look at Tyler manning (or should I say womanning) the grill, his pink apron clashing with his coral sundress, his boyfriend at his side.

After a little Robert came over to tell us that the food was ready. I noticed the moment he left that Thomas had managed to coarse my son onto his lap where he was sitting, looking adoringly at Tyler.

We gathered around the two picnic tables the kids at one table, Thomas and Tyler sat next to each other naturally, while the four adults sat at the other. Tyler and Robert proudly presented the burgers which were met with much praise.

"This is delicious!" my boss exclaimed on his first bite.

"Yum!" Eli said happily.

"It's actually really good sis." Jonathan told Tyler.

"I'm so impressed." Molly commented.

"You're really talented babe." Thomas told Tyler hugging my sons side.

"OMG, they're so adorable." I heard Eva whisper to Jonathan.

A few minutes later I looked up and smiled to see Thomas feeding my son his burger while Tyler sat daintily on his lap, manicured hands in his womanly lap. If Tyler wasn't going to say that he wasn't interested, that's what was going to happen.

I enjoyed the meal, telling Peter and Molly about how me and Robert had met, what it was like dealing with Jonathan coming out, and exchanging funny stories from when my kids were little, repurposing stories from when Jillian was little, as "Tiffany stories" and vice versa.

"And after all that" I said. "Tiffany said she didn't even like piano and wanted to take ballet!" I said finishing a story about Jillian's indecisiveness about after school activities, to laughter, but replacing Jillian's name with Tiffany's.

"Boys are so much simpler!" Molly agreed. "From the time he was young Thomas only wanted to play sports. My daughter wanted to do something new every month!" Molly and Peter had a college age daughter who was at Penn.

"Johnny was always into sports, even as Jillian." I said. "Tiffany, not as much. She doesn't mind watching them but she's not an athlete. I always tried to do joint birthday parties when they were growing up but one year, when they were 6 or so, Johnny insisted on a sports party and Tiffany wanted a dress up party so we did both, this was back when my husband was alive. Jillian was miserable for Tiffany's entire dress up party" I said thinking of how in actuality Tyler had been coaxed into a dress as a little kid by her and her friends at Jillian's princess themed 6th birthday party "and the next day at Jillian's party, Tiffany came up to me saying she was too sweaty to keep playing!" I said remembering how my husband had laughed when Jillian told us she was too sweaty to keep playing at Tyler's party. If only my husband could see them now.

"I think that's something Tommy likes." Molly said. "He likes being the manly man. A foot taller than her. Protecting her. Telling her about sports. Being the sweaty, hairy, one in a sense. Doting on her. And Tiffany is such a girly girl, always wearing pink, always has her makeup and nails done perfectly, always giggling and blushing. It's perfect!"

I looked over at my children. Johnny was talking to Adam about something I couldn't hear and Tyler was trying to shrug off Thomas' persistent hand.

"Couldn't you just see them dating?" Molly asked me. "I could totally see Tiffany coming to one of Thomas' games. Running onto the field after its over and jumping into his arms. Complaining about how gross he smells in all his football stuff and how now her outfit smells. And then Thomas thinking thats funny and cute and chasing her around to hug her again. Her squealing when he finally catches her but of course she actually loves it." She blushed a little. "I'm describing me and my husband now a little but still. I think they could make a really nice couple."

"They could." I agreed looking back at them. Tyler was now back on Thomas' lap with muscular hands around my sons slender waist. He was probably enjoying what he thought was the Tyler's womanly scent and the feel of Tyler's girly butt in his lap but Tyler wasn't doing anything to object. Maybe Tyler's future should be jumping into the arms of hunky football players, I thought. Maybe he is better of as a girl. Did I lose one daughter only to get another?

I snapped out of this thought when I remembered Tyler's boyish behavior over the past few days. How overwhelmed and scared he was after kissing Thomas, how he acted more like his boyish self in his room with Jonathan and Adam, even being willing to put on his girly exercise clothes, which I know he hated, for the chance to play soccer. He wasn't a real girl, no matter how pretty he looked at one. This was only a punishment. I wasn't sure how long it would last given Tyler's behavior but I wasn't going to force Tyler to be a girl forever. And as pretty and teenage girly as he looked now, when he hit puberty this wouldn't even be an option. This was crazy. I knew he liked girls and I knew he was a very typical teenage boy. That's why he was always so resistant to being girly. He was just too scared to do anything that would make him stick out as a boy in front of all these people. I shouldn't read too much into anything my feminized son does. I just have to keep up with the punishment, treating him like a girl, so he learns his lesson and when it's over, I'll have two sons. So I should enjoy having Tyler as a daughter while I can.

I went inside to get the ice cream and called the kids over to our table to serve it. Peter and Robert got up to play some two on two basketball with Adam and Jonathan at the hoop my husband had put up for Tyler so many years ago, the hoop he spent so many ours at during the summer, so I scooped 7 bowls of ice cream and me, Molly, Mason Eli, Eva, Thomas and Tyler enjoyed our ice cream as the day faded.

Tyler looked uncomfortable, trying to shift away from his boyfriends advances until he finally ran out of bench. When Tyler left to go to the bathroom I followed and found him on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong Sweety?" I asked. "I know boys can be difficult sometimes but..."

"It's not boys!" he yelled. "I just don't want to be with that boy!"

I stood, stunned for a moment, before my brain started whirring again.

"Is there another boy you'd rather be with?" I asked.

"No, I didnt... I'm not..." Tyler looked annoyed with himself for having said such a thing but couldn't bring himself to tell me he didn't have a crush on any boy.

"Look. You don't have to tell me who you have a crush on." I said. "But if you do have a crush, on someone, a boy or otherwise, you can use this date or sorts with a boy you don't care about as practice. The stakes are low. I'm not saying lead him on but practice being the girl. Just be nice, polite, enjoy yourself. You can just practice being with a boy." I paused "or someone else if your not into boys. And then when your done, tell Thomas you had a good time but your not interested."

Tyler looked at me confused then took a deep breath and said "Ok." He reapplied his makeup in the mirror, smoothed out his dress and went back outside.

Did that mean I was right? Was there a boy Tyler liked? Who could that possibly be? I remembered what Danielle had said. "Let me know how things go with that guy." Did Tyler like Thomas more than he was leading on and the stress of falling for a boy was getting to him.

When I got back outside Tyler was certainly much warmer to Thomas. They were chatting, my son apparently happy on his boyfriends lap, giggling, snapping selfies and accepting semi frequent cheek smooches. I couldn't help but snap a picture of my own.

"Well we better go." Molly said some 30 minutes later. "My husband has a call at 5. Thank you for all this. It was lovely. We should do this again." she turned to Tyler. "And thanks again for cooking. You are quite the chef!"

Tyler got off Thomas' lap and we all headed out front to meet up with the guys, who were playing in the driveway, Thomas, leading the way holding Tyler's manicured hand, followed Mason and Eli, both giggling at the hand holding in front like little kids do, followed by me, Eva and Molly.

When we reached the driveway Robert put up a shot that hit the side of the rim and shot straight for Tyler. Thomas grabbed it with ease and hoisted the ball back towards the rim. It hit the front of the rim and bounced toward Tyler who caught it.

"Take a shot sis!" Jonathan called.

"C'mon, shoot" Thomas encouraged. "Do you know how?" he asked. "Lemme show you." He said, stepping behind my son and repositioning his elbows before Tyler could answer.

"The power comes from your knees." he told Tyler. "So you should keep your elbow in, and only keep your right hand on the ball. Bend your knees." he bent his knees behind Tyler, still holding my sons right elbow in place from behind. "And follow through! Give it a try."

Adam and Jonathan were barely holding in their laughter at the very hands on shooting instruction Tyler was receiving.

Tyler bent his knees and put up an awkward shot, a shot much less fluid than his usual shot, but the ball hit the back of the rim, bounced high and fell through the net.

"HEY!!!" we all cheered as Tyler grinned broadly, hugging Thomas and accepting the half mocking praise of Jonathan and Adam and the sincere praise of the adults.

We said our goodbyes to my bosses family and I smiled as I noticed Tyler plant a kiss on Thomas' cheek.

"This was fun." He said. "You're such a good friend."

I couldn't believe what I heard. Tyler, did have more girl in him than I thought. Was he friendzoning Thomas?

The word friend immediately had an impact on Thomas who recovered quickly and returned my sons cheek peck saying. "You're a good friend too." Without much enthusiasm. But his face lit up when as he said good bye to Eva she blurted out "can I give you my number?"

I approached Tyler as they drove away. "'Your a good friend?'" I said smiling. "Clever. But why didn't you just say you didn't want to see him again."

"It didn't seem like the right thing to say." he said blushing. "And I just thought of that. So I said it." he smiled.

We had a nice rest of the night with Eva, Robert, Adam and the twins. Tyler, emboldened by his success had challenged Jonathan to one on one. He got all dressed up, donning his favorite pink sports bra, to the giggles of Mason and Eli who I realized, probably hadn't seen any girls in bras let alone see a teenage boy like Tyler in one, and a pair of short light blue athletic shorts only to be humiliated, 11-2 by Jonathan, who used his height to his advantage, blocking almost all of Tyler's shots and grabbing almost every rebound. Tyler sulked for a little only recovering slightly when Adam told him he was "actually pretty good, for a girl" and the kids played board games upstairs while me and Robert cuddled and watched TV. Around 8:30 Mason came running into the living room, a big smile on his face.

"We were playing Twister" he said excitedly "and Eli lost first. So as punishment he had to get a makeover from Tiffany and Eva, so presenting, my twin sister!"

Tiffany, Eva, Jonathan, Adam and Mason came out, pushing a reluctant but laughing Eli who had been heavily made up. His lips were pink, he's cheeks rosy, and he had a perfect smokey eye shadow. He was even wearing one of Jillian old skirts over his sweat pants. He did a goofy curtsey and me and Robert applauded jokingly.

The more I looked at Tyler the more a crazy thought popped into my head. Was Tyler enjoying himself? He made a very pretty girl and he had a lot more confidence as female then he used to. He seemed to be getting along well with Eva and he had even seemed to be into Thomas toward the end of the afternoon. But if he was, why did he tell him they were just friends? And why did he still seem so sad?

"We better get home soon." Robert said standing up. "Boys, ELIza, why don't you guys grab your stuff." he smiled at Eli. "And wipe that stuff off your face."

Eli obliged and returned a few minutes later with his face make up free. "There we go." Robert said smiling. "You looked ok as a girl but I think it's best that you leave the make up and skirt wearing to the real girls..." he put a hand on my son's shoulder "...like Tiffany."

Tyler blushed as all the boys roared with laughter.

The moment they left, Eva grabbed my son and pushed him upstairs insisting they had to have some "girl time" together. Tyler looked back at me sadly, as if he was asking for me to save him but I knew there was nothing I could do. "Enjoy your girl time, girls!" I called, as Jonathan laughed.

Girl time didn't last long. About half an hour later Diane came back and I went up to tell Eva. I heard her loud voice as I went up stairs.

"OH MY GOD GURLLLLLLL! YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!"

I smiled. What could Tyler be doing during his "girl time" with Eva that was making her say that.

"YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AMAZING."

I knocked on the door and heard Tyler gasp but Eva welcomed me in. I opened the door to see my son, made up with mature glittery professionalism, hair down and wearing a tight, strapless, pink party dress. I had only allowed Jillian to buy the dress reluctantly because it was MUCH skimpier than anything else she had but I was never the type to . The dress was shorter than any dress I'd ever seen Tyler wear and its tightness, and the pose Tyler seemed stuck in out of shock, made his butt look big and feminine. His lips and his nails (which seemed to have just been re painted) were a matching shade of bright pink. Completing the look, was a pair of open toed, pink 4.5 inch stiletto heels, which allowed Tyler's freshly nail polished toes (pink of course) to show. The heels definitely contributed to his feminine posture and the combination the make up, hair, tight dress, and heels made him look several years older than he was.

"DOESN'T SHE LOOK AMAZING?" Eva asked.

I smiled as Tyler blushed. "She does!" I said stunned. "You look gorgeous." This only made Tyler blush more.

"I did her makeup." Eva said. "But that's her dress."

"You're very good at make up." I told her, still stunned both by how pretty and how much older Tyler looked.

"Look at this," Eva said, putting her phone in my hand. I couldn't believe what I saw. Picture after picture of Tyler, posing seductively, in this tight pink dress. Tyler jutting his butt out. Tyler poking his butt toward the camera and looking back. Tyler sticking one foot up in the back. Tyler sexily laying sideways on the floor. There was even one where he bent over and covered "his boobs." She had done a full photo shoot. "I'll send them to you." She offered.

I looked at Tyler who had managed to stop posing and now looked small and embarrassed, but pretty as ever, in his party dress.

"You totally have to wear this for him sometime." Eva gushed returning to my son who was now sitting on the bed, his legs crossed like a perfect young lady. "After you tell him. And you HAVE to tell him."

"Tell him?" I said confused. "Tell who?"

"No one!" Tyler squeaked, blushing even more and looking more like a girl than he ever had before.

Eva smiled. "Omg. I'm sorry. I just slipped. I swear I won't tell anyone."

I decided not to press the subject with my mortified looking son and started to move on but at this point Jonathan appeared in the door and broke down laughing.

"Oh my god!" he laughed. "You look like a slutty prom queen!"

"Jonathan!" I scolded. "Be nice!"

Eva agreed. "You don't know anything about fashion, Jonathan. She doesn't look slutty. She looks sexy. She's has a great body. She has great legs. She has a great face. Why shouldn't she show that off?" She walked over to Tyler. "Guys will be all over her..." Tyler looked down, clearly thinking about what his friends would say if they could see him now.

Jonathan laughed. "You're right. Guys will be all over her."

"And wait till her boobs come in." Eva said gesturing at Tyler's chest. I suddenly realized that the dress was essentially pushing his pecs together so they looked like boobs. Eva had also contoured some pretty impressive cleavage onto my sons chest so he looked like he had a fairly average sized pair of boobs. "She'll be getting all the guys she wants."

We walked Eva down, Tyler still full made up and in his sexy party dress, struggling with his heels on the stairs, but before she left she turned to Tyler.

"Tell me what he says." She said. "And call me if you need help with the contouring."

Predictably my dress wearing son, his hairless legs on display, blushed but nodded.

Tyler went to wash off the make-up and change the moment we got back inside but not before Jonathan could get a few jokes in.

"Awww, look at your little boobies." Jonathan said, as Tyler looked angrily at him. "You're developing aren't you Tiff? Aren't a little girl anymore, are you? You're a strong, independent woman now!"

Tyler ignored her and went straight to the bathroom. When he returned he was make-up free (for the most part, he still wasn't an expert on taking off makeup) and wearing a pair of pink Victoria Secret sweatpants with "Victoria Secret" on the butt with a matching pink tank top. Tyler had accepted that pink Victoria Secret sweat pants and tank tops were the most masculine clothes he could wear now and had started wearing them a lot.

Then the three of us, me, my son and my daughter, all laid down on the couch.

"It's tiring, hosting." I said.

They both nodded.

I looked at Tyler, who had just played the role of girl so well for hours.

"Tyler, be honest with me." I said looking at my son using his real name in an attempt to coax honesty out of him. "I know you have a crush on a guy. You told your friend from Zumba about him. Heck, you almost told me about him. And clearly you told Eva something about a guy. If you like Thomas, why'd you say you say that thing about being friends?" I said asking the question that had been on my mind.

Tyler smiled a little "I don't like Thomas." He said.

"Really?"

"I dont!"

"She's telling the truth Mom." Jonathan said. Then turning to Tyler he said. "Just tell her, she's gonna figure out soon anyway."

I looked at Jonathan. "You know?"

"Its pretty obvious." he said.

Tyler took a deep breath. "I... I kind of have a... a crush on Scott."

I felt my eyes bulge and my jaw drop.

"Scott? Your friend Scott? Scott Kingsley?" I asked.

Tyler nodded.

Jonathan laughed. "It's been kind of obvious honestly Mom. She turns into a total ditz around him. She wears perfume to school when she knows she's gonna be around him. She's even been waiting up for him after school so she can walk home with him after football practice."

Tyler blushed but didn't deny anything.

"Have you said anything?" I asked.

"No" he said looking at the ground. "I can't. He's not just someone I have a crush on. He's my best friend. I don't want things to get weird." He paused. "Without him, without him I wouldn't have been able to get through this shit. He's my favorite person. He's certainly better than both of you."

I laughed.

"That's why I can't risk losing him." he said.

I moved toward him on the couch. "If you love and trust him so much, tell him how you feel. You're just as much a girl as any other girl in school, but if he's not interested, trust that your friendship is strong enough to deal with that."

Tyler looked at me, smiling slightly.

"Ok I'll do that." he said standing up and heading toward the stairs. "Thank Mom."

I looked at Jonathan. "She told you?" I asked.

"I figured it out" he said smiling "shortly after I heard her talk to him about which dress she should wear to that dinner."

Tyler returned to the room a minute later. "Alright!" he said smiling. "I told him."

"You did?" I said confused. "Where is he?"

"Well I texted him." Tyler specified.

"You texted him?!?! Just now?!?!" I said. "What... what did you say?"

"Hey, I just need to tell you I kind of have a major crush on you. I hope you like me too but its fine if you don't. I know we can still be friends either way."

How could my son who had become such a convincing teenage girl yet do such a bone headed teenage boy thing.

"Oh sweety! That isn't what I meant. You can't say serious stuff like that over text!" I said raising my voice. I controlled it when I saw Tyler's face fall. "Stuff like that is better said in person." I said in a forced calm.

"Oh." Tyler said looking sad.

His eyes got big all of a sudden.

"Um, guys, he's texting back."

"What'd he say?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know! He hasn't sent it yet." Tyler said, his voice rising in excitement.

The phone binged.

His face fell.

"Damn dude, thats a lot." he read.

The phone binged again.

"Flattered but I'm not sure I see you like that" he read.

I could see tears welling up in Tyler's eyes as he put his phone down. I rushed toward him as they started streaming down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry" I whispered to my son and he cried into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

I always thought about how I would act when a boy broke my kids heart. I always pictured hugging and comforting my daughter as she cried over the boy who had dumped her or turned her down but as I held and comforted Tyler, what was left of his makeup smeared, his hairless body smelling of lavender, I realized that's exactly what I was doing.

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