Linda Coville went to her closet. The 18-year-old girl wanted to make sure her turquoise ribbon party dress was ready for her big date on Saturday night. Even with the big night out being two days away Linda wanted to make sure her outfit was ready to be worn. What good was it to have a dress that was elegant, modest, and fun if it was dirty when wanted. The dress had the look she was going for that night. That was the perfect look for where her man, Sam Gracia was taking her, the end of school awards banquet.

The empty hanger where the dress should be made Linda shake her head. The irked girl was sick of her stuff going missing, being used, or moved. Like all the other times, she knew who she was going to blame for this, her brother Ron. Their older sister, Nancy, would never borrow any of her things without putting them back where they belong. Plus they agreed to tell each other when they use something of the others.

Unlike the other times, he had no way to cast reasonable doubt on who was messing with her belongings. Nancy, left this morning to go to a woman in STEM, Science Technology Engineering and Math, conference. With there being no plausible deniability she had her brother dead to rights. Being vindicated by the missing dress would feel so good. Linda would no longer have any lingering doubts about the role she played in the issue her and her brother’s relationship was having. Ron has been cold to her lately. He claimed it was because of all the false accusations he was dealing with. When the truth came out, he would be upset that the truth was being told.

Linda’s happiness also came because now her brother would have to quit being like a fridge towards her. He will warm up once he did not have to hide the truth. In fact, she was so looking forward to helping him embrace his feminine side. They would become closer by having some sort of proxy younger sister older sister bond.

**************
Ron was just in his room playing his favorite video game of all time, Skyrim. The game was over 10 years old but he loved it. The mechanics of the game was streamlined. The stories behind the quests were good. Then there was the customization of the players. There were nine races and two genders to play and eighteen different skill trees to go up. The interactions in the game were tailor-made based byl the choices the player made. One playthrough he was a hardened Nord Barbarian, the next a sexy Wild Elf elf assassin, and then an Imperial High Priest of the Vigilant of Stendarr. This time he went with a Briton sorceress.

Ron was sucked away from the fantasy world and back to his home when his sister came barging into his room. All the enjoyment he had from the game went away from her disrespecting his personal space. He also knew whatever she had to say would get rid of any of his good mood which was left.

Linda made the unreasonable demand to know where is it? Not telling someone what “the it” they were inquiring about was unreasonable. It is like asking them to answer a ridiculous riddle instead of a question. There was no hint of what “the it” they were talking about in the question. Ron, not wanting to be Gollum to his sister’s Bilbo, sidetracked the impossible riddle by saying “Linda you need to respect my room. Don’t come running in here asking questions.”

“Don’t talk about respect. You have been coming into my room all the time taking my clothes. You also have been using my perfume, makeup, and bath bombs. I know it is you for no one else is here to have taken my dress, my favorite one. I also know it is you for Nancy never borrows things without telling me. Plus she would put them back where she found them.”

“I have no idea what dress you are talking about. I am sick of you accusing me of taking your clothes or using your stuff. If you have not noticed I am a boy so I would not be wanting to wear your dresses or use your toiletries.”

“My turquoise blue one. You like it. You said I looked great in it. It is fine if you like to wear dresses just ask for now on.”

“I don’t like to wear dresses. I said you look great because you asked my opinion.”

“Just give me my dress back and I will drop this for now.”

“I don’t have your dress. Now leave and don’t come in here without my permission.”

Linda said fine as she stormed out of his room as abruptly as she came in. The only result of her brief time in the room was to rain down on his feelings. Hopefully going back to the continent of Tamriel and finishing the next quest will come with the reward of getting back in a good mood.

******************

Kyle and Dawn Coville finally got around to cleaning up after supper when their daughter Linda came running into the kitchen. Those two looked forward to this part of the day. While doing these simple chores, they would chat and joke around. Plus once they were done cleaning up the day was over. They could finally relax.

As soon as Linda said, “Ron took one of my dresses again. This time I have proof. It has to still be in his room. My brother has not put what he took back yet.”

Dawn and Kyle knew they were going to be doing some overtime. This was not the first time their daughter made the accusation towards their son. Each time they handled it quickly by just saying to Ron, that nothing is wrong with crossdressing if he did, but he cannot take others’ things without asking if he was. They thought this response was neutral. Those two did not want to take sides. It was not neutral for they did not take into account Ron’s strong denial. They brought up the chance of him being a crossdresser with no sound rationale.

The unconscious siding with Linda led to this time the parents going to talk with Ron with the assumption that Linda was telling the truth. That the dress was somewhere in Ron’s room. To them, the reasoning was sound, her clothes and makeup had been mysteriously moving, someone used her shampoo and conditioner along with bath bombs without her permission. These facts all led to Ron being the culprit.

Kyle and Dawn, along with the accuser, Linda went to Ron’s room to confront him. On the way towards the interrogation, Linda was still making her case. Each time she repeated one of her points on why Ron had to be guilty the judges were becoming more prejudiced towards the accused. The one-person debate was making the parents more closed-minded.

Kyle and Dawn opened up the door to their son’s door and walked right in without giving notice. Having the trial over in their minds made Kyle and Dawn forget about respecting their son’s privacy. One of the costs of committing the crime of taking from others without asking was the forfeiture of privacy.

Hearing the squeak of footsteps on his bare wood floor Ron said “Linda I told you not to come in here without my permission.”

Kyle said “Ron this is your dad. I came in here to talk to you about taking your sister’s things without her permission. You need to quit doing it.

“There is nothing wrong with you wanting to express who you are. We love you and will support you in doing so.”

“Dad I did not take Linda’s dress. How many times do I have to say that I am not a crossdresser.”

Linda said, “If you are not a crossdresser then why isn’t the dress I want in my closet?”

Ron was getting frustrated as someone whose hints were not being picked up. How many times does he have to tell them he is not a crossdresser. There was no way he should have to establish he had the common fashion sense of a teenage boy. He tersely said, “I don’t know. Maybe Nancy has it.”.

Dad “It is fine that you are not ready to tell us. Just put the dress back and quit taking your sister’s stuff. We will act like we do not know.”

“Dad I don’t have the dress.”

Linda was getting frustrated also. She wanted her dress back. That turquoise ribbed party dress was exactly what she wanted to wear on Saturday. She also saw this as her chance of getting her brother to stop taking her things. “Yes, you do. You just did not have the chance to wear it yet. Put it back and never come into my room again without my permission.”

Dawn wanted this to be over “Ron just put it back.”

Ron said, “I can’t.”

Kyle asked why. Ron showed how enraged he was becoming by exhaling out of his mouth. “I don’t have it. How many times do I have to say it?”

Linda asked then why isn’t it in my closet. Ron answered the question with the question: “How should he know?” The Queen of England would have been jealous of how strong Ron’s glare of disapproval was. Everyone in the room knew he was not amused.

Ron was not the only person who was not a happy camper in his room. Linda wanted to make sure her dissatisfaction was on the record. How dare her brother act like he was being attacked for nothing. “Don’t you look at me like that. I’m only asking for you to return my dress. Get your own dresses to wear.”

Dawn said “Ron, your sister is right. If you just put the dress back when we go downstairs this subject will be dropped.”

Dawn’s son knew it was a losing cause but was not going to give up. He could not. Saying nothing would be seen by them as a sign of admission. Ron understood that he was guilty until proven innocent. Fighting for a lost cause made Ron enragement and frustration grow. Those feelings put a strain in his voice when he said “I can’t.”

Kyle misread the cause of the strain in his son's voice. To him, that kind of frustration had to come from not getting to wear the dress. That the missed opportunity was breaking his son’s heart. Add to that, that from now on Ron was going to be watched meant the chances of raiding his sister’s closet would be few and far between.

Wanting to ease his son’s pain Kyle came up with a great idea. The plan came via the help of hearing Linda telling Ron to get his own dresses. “Son, I understand. Hand over the dress now and we will take you shopping for your own.”

Ron said “You can check my room. I don’t have it.”

Linda once again jumped to a bad conclusion. “You ruined my dress.”

Ron said “I didn’t”

The issue had to be worse than Kyle thought. Ron was now acting out on his self-hatred about being a crossdresser by destroying what he wore. The loving father did not want to give the destructive behavior a chance to worsen to self-harm. There was a bad saying which people took as good advice of drastic times called for drastic measures. The saying was bad for the measures which are usually taken were reckless or dangerous. The Actions were taken out of desperation and hopelessness without planning. Kyle came up with a reckless plan out of the desperation he felt with his son not coming clean. “Ron, you will be having a girly weekend this weekend. It will start when you take your bath tonight.”

“No. I will not. I can’t go to school dressed like a girl.”

“You will not be going to school tomorrow. Your mom will be taking you shopping.”

“No, I don’t want to. I did not ruin Linda’s dress.”

Linda jumped in “So you took it.”

“No, I did not. I did not take her stupid dress. I can’t miss school tomorrow. It is the section meet for track. I can’t miss the awards banquet tomorrow. Even if that weren’t so, I will not be having a girly weekend.”

“Ron, this is not up for debate. You destroying your sister’s dress is a bad sign. We need you to accept being a crossdresser before you start to self-harm. You having this girly weekend is for your own good. It is more important than a track meet or a banquet.”

“So I am guilty? I have to prove that I am innocent?”

The pleas of the convicted crossdressers fell on the deaf ears of the judge and jury as they left the courtroom. Kyle did not want the pleas of leniency to lead to an overturn of his ruling. Dawn was too concerned about the unilateral decision that her husband was the judge, his ruling without getting counsel from her. Linda knew whatever her brother was saying was a lie so there was no need to hear him out.

***************
Ron was upstairs brewing in the realization that even without knowing what a girly weekend was that it was going to be bad. In the kitchen, his dad was brewing a pot of coffee for him and his wife to drink as they talked about his mandate. Kyle had no idea that the discussion was going to be just like the coffee, strong, heated, and a little bitter.

Before the coffee was done brewing the lid came off of the build-up pressure Kyle’s decision made. Dawn said, “Kyle you are going too far with this.”

“Calm down. I am looking out for our son. His mental state is bad. He destroyed his sister's dress. I do not want to take the chance that he takes his anger out on himself.”

“I am calm. You took control of the situation when I was there. We are a team. We need to discuss how to raise our children. I agree this is major, but making him do a girly weekend seems extreme and also you never set a punishment that you make up on a fly. That is reckless.

“I don’t like this one bit. We are pushing Ron when he is not ready.”

“Dawn, I thought you knew we were going to decide what a girly weekend was. I saw the conversation was going in a circle and that needed to stop. If we dropped the subject, it would not have been brought up again until Ron borrowed another one of Linda’s dresses.

Our son is stuck in his growth and right now we have to help him. It might seem like tough love, but this experience of being enfemme this weekend will be so beneficial to him. Ron, will be getting positive reinforcement about being who he is. Us showing how accepting we are will also make him grow closer to the entire family. This weekend is going to help us all.”

Dawn agreed with her husband. The mother wanted what was best for her son. Him experiencing his feminine side sound like it was. She also wanted her family to get closer. With the kids growing up, they are growing apart from each other. The issue of Ron taking Linda’s clothes was hastening the separation.

Kyle and Dawn asked their daughter to sit in as they work out what exactly this weekend will be for Ron. Those two get a teenage girl input and also make the weekend more of a family bonding exercise. Any of Dawn’s lingering doubts about the weekend went away with how quick and smooth this collaboration went. The positivity from all involved surely had to be a sign that their love for their son will help him overcome the fear of being rejected. After hammering out what the girly weekend would entail, those three went up to inform Ron all about the fun-filled weekend.

****************

Kyle, Dawn, and their daughter started their way up the stairs, doubt was creeping up in one of their minds. To Dawn, this just seemed a little wrong. Why did Ron only take from Linda’s room and not Nancy’s. Those two girls were the same size and had the same taste in clothes. The uncertainty got stronger as she remembered her son suggesting that maybe Nancy had the dress. To make sure that they were doing the right thing Dawn ask her daughter if there was a chance that Nancy took the dress. Linda vehemently assured her mom that there was no chance what she suspected was true. With her mind at ease Dawn was ready to do what was right for her son.

As the tribunal made sure they kept the positive attitude they had as they walked into Ron’s room. The mindfulness of those three will help fight off the effect of how tense being in Ron’s presence was going to be. The tension was tighter than a miser was with their wallet.

Ron was showing his opposition to them and their plan by not acknowledging the three. One of the ways the one-man resistance was going to fight against whatever was coming was by having them initiate any interaction. Ron might have no say in what was going to occur, but he can send a clear message everything and anything about this weekend was without his approval.

Kyle started to explain the weekend by telling Ron he was going to be called Rhonda. Hearing that they were going to mock him even when addressing him made the teenage boy start to steam as much as the bath in the second part of the edict. Tonight he was going to shave his body and take a nice bubble bath using one of his sister’s bath bombs. The look of disgust on his face confused Linda, the last time the soon-to-be Rhonda used one she had to sneak. Now the weekend sister was going to get the full experience of having a nice relaxing bubble bath.
Then,after the bath, he was going to have to dress like a teenage girl. His sister with glee in her voice said, you can borrow anything from my wardrobe. The newly christened Rhonda took her sister’s jovial mood as Linda was gloating about getting her way.

Tonight went from being a nightmare to Rhonda to a dream come true when she heard about the rest of the weekend. Friday Dawn was taking the day off so her and her new daughter could spend a day together bonding over pampering and shopping. They were going to get their nails done and facial. Then a nice lunch and some afternoon shopping in the Nittany Valley Outlet Mall. The only good thing about the day-out plans was that they were far enough away that there was little to no chance of anyone they knew seeing them.

The next part did break Rhonda’s silent protest. She was going to help with the cooking. Forcing her into the kitchen was against what her parents instilled in her from an early age. She was brought up from an early age that making and serving supper was not something which was feminine. She objected and asked whose idea. That would also answer who was a hypocrite out of her parents.

Linda took credit. The girl who had a brand new younger sister explained that she thought it was fun to help and wished she did more often. Rhonda quickly fired back then you can help with supper this weekend. Kyle said this weekend is all about you embracing your femininity, Linda will have her turn to help afterward.

Linda was trying to help because she did find cooking fun. The truth is the only thing she was helping was making the separation between her and Rhonda to grow wider. There are many simple truths in life and one of them is never to think that others will find a chore as fun as you do. Most of the time they will see it as what it was to them work.

Saturday was date night. Rhonda was too shocked to object. There was no way she was going to go out on a date with a boy or a girl. How repulsed she got about a guy trying to impress her, acting like a border collie, and rounded up her scattered composure. She started her objection with a simple what?

Dawn knew exactly the thoughts which were going through her youngest daughter’s head. She wanted to quickly put Rhonda’s mind at ease and explain better. Calling it date night was a little too far and misleading. “Rhonda, there is no actual date. No one other than your family will know about this weekend. We know you are not ready for others to meet the real you.

“You are going to get ready for a date like a girl does. You are also going to get to pick whatever you want to eat and what movie we watch, like most girls do on the first date. It is going to be a night to make you feel like the special girl you are.”

Linda once again pushed Rhonda away by trying to get closer. “I so wish I could stay at home and enjoy that with you.”

Rhonda said “You can.”

Linda said “You know I can’t. I have the banquet to go to.”

“You can, you just want to go to that banquet. I should be going to that banquet also.”

Kyle jumped to stop the bickering siblings. “Rhonda you need this weekend. You will look back and be happy that you explored who you are instead of eating some decent food in a poorly light hall.”

When the plans could not get any worse, somehow they did. What was on the agenda for Sunday was as horrible of an idea as having a 4th of July cookout in the UK. Sunday was called Sister Sunday. The plan was for Rhonda and Linda to bond. Linda would show her little sister how to braid hair, give her makeup tips. Rhonda was expected to open up to her sister during that time together. There was a better chance of a bar opening up in a dry county than Rhonda sharing anything remotely personal with her sister.

****************

An hour had passed since Linda found out that she was going to have a younger sister. She could not wait anymore. Her new sister still has not gotten ready for bed and Linda wanted to help. She had some Nair for the hair removal, a long nightgown, and some plain cotton panties. The Nair was because the last thing Linda wanted was for her sister to nick her legs. Those legs needed to be perfect. Any little blemish would hurt Rhonda from finding the freedom of being able to be herself. The insecurities of not being what was commonly seen as a woman were enough to fight, not being her best new self would just add another foe needed to be conquered. The nightgown and panties were because girls did not sleep in only boxers like boys did. Plus, sleeping in them would get Rhonda used to being comfortable wearing what she yearns to wear. If someone can get a goodnight sleep in a butterfly print nightie that is proof that they are comfortable in it.

Also assisting Ron in the transformation into Rhonda would be the start of them forming a sisterly bond. Linda wanted to be as close to Rhonda as she was to Nancy. She wanted to start the sisterly bonding. Helping will show Rhonda that there was no hard feelings about the dress. This little gesture was going to be a new beginning of their relationship.

The fantasy of being welcomed by Rhonda was destroyed when Linda walked into her sister’s room. Once again she did not knock and was reminded of that fact. The lame defense of that is what sisters do was quickly shut down by Rhonda. Knowing she was where she was not welcomed, Linda gave her gifts to Rhonda and left.

Waiting until right before bed Ron began what he saw as his official transformation into Rhonda. The first part was getting rid of his body hair. That was straightforward enough. Just apply the creme, wait then wipe off.

After using Nair to get rid of her body hair Rhonda felt weak. Being so smooth made the girl feel delicate. That feeling was not right. It was downright strange to her. As Ron she was not the strongest boy, but she never felt weak.

Starting the bath was not good for Rhonda. The bath bomb going off sounding like hissing. The way the bubbling water looked did not look relaxing. Getting in the water the little fizzy bubbles were exploding all over her. Those little eruptions felt like thousands of tiny fingers flicking her. As soon as her body was clean Rhonda got out of the tub. There was no way she could relax in what she saw as foaming water.

That sensation of those little fingers striking her was still happening even out of the bath. To get those prying hands from touching her Rhonda dried herself better than she ever had before. The towel went over her body easier. Having no hair caused no resistance to slow down the towel.

The next part was the hardest for Rhonda, putting on her sleepwear. She picked up the panties and saw that they had butterflies on them. Them matching the nightgown was seen as rubbing in the fact that Rhonda came into existence. The youngest sister had no idea why Linda hated her, but swore as she was putting them on that one day that bitch was going to pay for what she did.

The traumatic experience of having to start the girly weekend along with her anger was helpful in one thing. Being tired from those strong negative emotions was a great sleep aid. Rhonda was able to fall asleep. Drifting to sleep Rhonda thought of how wrong everything felt and how when Ron comes home it will be with a vengeance.

***************

Being off from school did not mean that Rhonda was going to sleep in. The early wake-up messed up Rhonda’s plan of trying to sleep as much as possible this weekend. If she was not awake then she would not be an active part of the girly weekend.

The first order of business to Rhonda was to use the bathroom. Rhonda was done relieving herself in the bathroom when she was greeted by Linda, who was waiting to use the bathroom. As they passed each other Linda mentioned that girls sit when they use the restroom. The older sister was just trying to be helpful. She was pointing out the fact that being a girl was not just about wearing a dress and make-up. There was doing things the way girls do them. After all, Rhonda just being Ron in a skirt would not help with her personal growth.

Trying to be helpful to someone who did not want help almost always was not gratefully greeted. There was no being showered with praise for Linda before she took a shower. Instead, she got a cold splash of reality. That her sister was still mad at her. “Don’t tell me how to use the restroom.”

“Fine, I was just trying to help. If you do not embrace this weekend you will still have issues about being Rhonda.”

Instead of acknowledging Linda, Rhonda just kept on walking towards her room. Saying anything would wrongly give credence to Linda’s false accusation that she was looking out for Rhonda. There was no way getting her brother to be a girl for the weekend was to help. Linda was just mad that something happened to her dress and was taking it out on poor Rhonda.

Back at her room, she found an outfit laid on her bed. It was a black pleated midi skirt, leopard print chiffon blouse, clear pantyhose, black pumps with leopard prints around the heel, and a matching black floral embroidered bra and panties. Linda picked this outfit because it was cute and also functional for the day. The leopard print and black tied the ensemble together. The loose-fitting blouse and skirt would make it easier for Rhonda to change and hide her lacking figure.

Rhonda first put on the bra and it was tight. Her sister’s chest was smaller so the band was a little too small for Rhonda’s chest. The panties were not cut right. There was not enough room in the crotch area for Rhonda. The pantyhose felt so clingy. The rest of the outfit was bad just because it was way too girly for Rhonda. Why not just some pants and an oversize sweatshirt. That is exactly what Linda was wearing to school today.

After she was dressed, Rhonda’s mom came into her room to style her hair. Ron had medium-length hair for a boy so Dawn had something to work with. By teasing the hair and combing it a different way now Rhonda had a nice messy pixie hairstyle.

Finally, Rhonda joined her mom in the kitchen. Dawn already had her purse and her keys out. She was ready to go. They were running late. Plus she was going to get to spend a lot of time with Rhonda. The loving mom was going to use this time to strengthen her daughter’s courage and also get to know her better. Once Rhonda felt how much love her family has for her it will be easier for her to be who she was.

Dawn asked her daughter if she was ready to go. Rhonda did not answer that question totally truthfully. The truth was she would never be ready to go. “Mom, I am not ready. I don’t like this outfit at all.”

Linda did not want her sister to stall and piped in. “You just don’t want to wear it because I picked it out. You did not even listen to me when I told you girls pee sitting down. You need to act ladylike.

“You look great, don’t worry about it. You will look better by the end of the day.”

Dawn was in a hurry to get going. “Rhonda we don’t have time for you to pick your outfit. We are running late. We need to get to Nittany Valley Outlet Mall. You have an appointment with MAC in 90 minutes.”

Rhonda knew what MAC was. There was no mention of makeup. She was pissed that this was dropped on her at the last moment. Hearing the severity of the weekend might have made her fight more about what was going on. She said, “What?”

Linda wanted to sell the shopping trip, “You are getting your makeup done by a professional. It is going to be great. You better listen, they are going to give you many tips.”

“No.”

“Rhonda, we talked about this last night. You are having this girly weekend. You need it. Now get to the car we need to get going.”

***********
The mother-daughter conversation on the ride for the shopping trip was as one-sided as a political debate in North Korea. Dawn initiated all the talking. Rhonda gave the shortest answers possible. If there was somehow a no word answer the daughter would have given those. Dawn would have enjoyed getting those no-word answers for then there would be no words dripping with disdain to hear.

They finally pulled up to the MAC store. Dawn looked at Rhonda and was a little unsettled about the weekend. The look on her daughter’s face and closed-off demeanor the entire ride was a sign that Rhonda was not opening up at all. In fact, to Dawn her daughter actually became more closed off. Dawn attributed the cause to Rhonda’s nervousness. This conclusion came from Rhonda saying yes to the question of if she was anxious.

Dawn decided not to overthink anything else about today. She did not want any negative thoughts. If the mother was giving off bad vibes it would affect Rhonda. The bigger reason was any doubt about doing what was right would lead to Dawn questioning their decision made out of desperation.

The mom willfully turning a blind eye made it so she did not see how clumsy the interaction between Rhonda and The MAC cosmetic specialist was. Those two talking had about as much grace as a cloddish couple doing the tango. Beth, the lady doing Rhonda’s makeover, asked Dawn about Rhonda being unenthusiastic. Dawn responded that her daughter was just a little nervous about being out for the first time.

The day continued the same way, Dawn choosing not to see how cringeworthy the interactions between her daughter and any of the sales clerks they dealt with. Dawn also made the conscious choice that her daughter was just deferring to her by letting her make all the purchasing decisions. The mom being in control, led to this becoming a shopping spree. Dawn wanted to give her daughter the best wardrobe that she could have. That was her way to show support.

At lunch, Rhonda mentioned that her mom was spending too much money. Rhonda was embarrassed by how many dresses, skirts, blouses, bras, panties, leggings, shoes, makeup, and costume jewelry they bought. Her mom had to spend at least $1,000. There was no way a normal girl could wear all of this, yet alone one who stated she was only going to be around for this weekend. The closest in Ron’s room was going to become hers.

Dawn responded with “Oh, don’t worry dear, this is your early birthday present. We want the best for you.”

“No, it is not. I am getting a Playstation 5 for my birthday.”

“We can’t support you being Rhonda and also buy that right now. That is too much money. Don’t worry you will be getting that console for Christmas.”

Hearing that hurt Ronda. Her parents went against their word to Ron and once again took away an award from her. The Playstation was not only a birthday present but also an award. They were going to buy a big-ticket item for Rhonda’s birthday because of her maintaining a 4.5 GPA. Her GPA went above the scale for Ron taking the AP level English, Math, and Biology.

Rhonda got up not finishing her meal and started to walk away. There was no way the girl was going to spend any more time having her mom spend any more money on more “gifts” for her. Dawn inquired where her daughter was going. The response was three words “to the car.”

The mom relented and just said take some of your bags with you. The tone in Rhonda’s voice that there would be no negations about cutting the day out shopping. Cutting the day short was a good idea anyway. Her daughter had already gone $500 over their budget for the day. Dawn found it hard to say no to her daughter. The mom took her daughter not objecting to her comments on what she liked, as Rhonda also liking it. The truth was Rhonda did not object for it would be a waste of breath.

As they were driving off Dawn tried to get her daughter to open up by saying how great it was to have her own wardrobe now. That now Linda would be able to borrow her clothes. Dawn knew how sharing clothes between her sister Emma and herself had brought them closer together, and she wanted to bring Rhonda and Linda closer as well. Even before Linda's dress went missing those two were not close.

Bringing up how now Linda’s clothing selection grew got Rhonda mad. It was bad enough that she was getting the worst birthday present ever, now she had to share it. This anger did make Rhonda become an active member of the conversation. What was about to be said was going to make Dawn yearn for the short answers dripping with disdain or even better if somehow her daughter could answer without saying anything.

“No. I don’t want these clothes but you are making them my birthday present. There is no way that Linda is going to get to wear them. That will be that you are using my birthday gifts to give more to your daughter. That is bullshit mom. “

Dawn believed that she knew what the real objection was. Rhonda was not getting anything for herself. She went to assure her daughter that there was more to her birthday present and that more would be for her and no one else. “Rhonda calm down. You are still going to get something special which will be all yours. We order you some breast and hip forms. You will love them. You will have curves and that will make wearing your new clothes better.”

“I wouldn’t love them. You know what I would love. The Playstation 5 which you and dad promised to get me for my birthday. I did not ask for any of this. I told you that I was not taking Linda’s clothes. You did not listen to that and now you are not listening to what I want as a gift.”

“Rhonda, I know you are having a hard time getting used to others knowing about you. Once you are comfortable being who you are you will not mind waiting a little while longer for that gaming console. This is about you being you. You will be so much happier then.

“We love you and would never do anything to hurt you. You have been borrowing your sister’s clothes for too long. You need your own.”

Rhonda could not figure out why her mom thought she would much rather own 5 pairs of shoes which will only collect dust over a Playstation 5. How could her mom actually believe that Rhonda was real. Neither mom nor anyone else ever saw Ron in a dress until today. Instead of trying to talk rationally to someone with an irrational belief, Rhonda said, “I am done talking to you about this. You will not listen.”

The rest of the ride home was quiet. Dawn respected her daughter’s decision. The huge spending spree and finding out that she had to sacrifice some of what Ron wanted might have been pushing Rhonda too much into accepting herself. Dawn cursed herself for bringing up what was bad news in such a nonchalant manner. She knew how important having the newest gaming console was to Ron. If they had more money she would easily spend it on getting everything not only on Rhonda’s but also Ron’s heart desire. With Rhonda being ignored until yesterday Ron’s wants were going to take a back seat. Rhonda needed her own time to shine.

*******************

After they got home Dawn kept on giving her daughter the space she requested until it was time to start to prepare supper. Maybe, having some fun in the kitchen would help coax Rhonda out of her shell. A parent and child working together has been a bonding experience since the dawn of time. Doing an everyday task might also be what Rhonda needed. Instead of making a big deal about her daughter, the way to help with self-acceptance might be to just act normal around her. If being Rhonda did not make anything else different then maybe she will realize that fact.

Dawn wanted to start making supper together on the right foot. When Rhonda showed up in the kitchen looking as disinterested as a cat looking at its owner, the mom said, “Rhonda, I know why you don’t want to be here. You are self-conscious about being able to be yourself. You think that we are going to reject you or think less of you. We don’t.

“This girly weekend is so you can see nothing is wrong with you. You need to be open to how open we are with you. You need to quit being so hard on your sister. She is trying to help you. I know she is so excited for you. Linda always wanted to be a big sister.”

Hearing Linda being talked in a positive light made Rhonda speak her mind. “No mom, the reason I do not want to be here is that I don’t like to cook. You are trying to make it sound like me helping out in the kitchen is going to be fun. It will not. It is Linda who said she likes to cook. Funny thing, she never offers to help out. We never knew about this until my girly weekend.

“If you want help in the kitchen have Linda do it, not me.”

Dawn actually heard what her youngest daughter said. She was open to having a discussion about how horrible the day has gone so far. Rhonda had a good point, this girly weekend has been only about putting their expectations on Rhonda. For her daughter to grow she needs to be able to just be herself. Dawn just going with the fact that Linda liked cooking therefore Rhonda would also, made her advance the outdated notion that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. Dawn knew better and was going to act accordingly.

“Rhonda you are right. You can go do what you want. Tell your sister Linda to come down here. I am going to let her help.”

On Rhonda’s way to her room, she stopped by Linda’s. She knocked and was told to come in. The older sister was happy. One Rhonda respected her privacy and got permission to come in. Two, her sister came to see her. This might be the bonding moment Linda was dreaming about. Then there was the biggest reason. Rhonda had a huge smile on her face. Maybe that well-deserved thanks was coming.

Rhonda said “Linda, mom wants you in the kitchen. You are going to help out with making supper.”

Linda did not want to help out with the cooking. It was Friday and she was relaxing. The last thing she wanted to do was any sort of work. “Sis, you do not tell me what to do. You are helping mom out in the kitchen.”

“Umm, no. I told mom that I did not want to. She now wants to give you the chance to do what you enjoy.”

“Go back and tell mom I don’t want to tonight. I am busy now chatting with my friends online.”

“Linda, you do not tell me what to do. You go tell mom that you don’t want to help. I wonder if the real reason is you do not like cooking. You never mentioned that fact until you try to have me do it. You never offered to help mom or dad when they cooked.”

Linda quickly said bye to her friends and went to do what she was told. Linda saw being told to help with the cooking as a chore. There should be no chores on Friday night. Her unjustly having to do more work had her in a mood as sour as the lemon juice the chicken filets were soaking in.

Dawn knew something was bothering Linda so she asked her daughter what was wrong.

Linda said “I was talking to my friends when I was told that I had to do Rhonda’s chores. I know this is her first girly weekend but she should not be passing work off on me. We agreed that she would help in the kitchen.”

Linda’s acidic tone along with making herself out to be above Rhonda left a bitter taste in her mom’s mouth. “Linda, we did not agree to anything. You suggested that which you thought was fun for a girl to do, and both your father and I ran with it. You had no say in it.

“Helping out in the kitchen was not a chore for Rhonda. You said it was fun. Rhonda told me she does not find cooking fun. I liked the idea of having help today so I got you.”

“Mom don’t believe Rhonda. She is in denial. She is hiding who she is from us.

“I don’t want to help today. I was busy when my sister got me, so I am going back to that.”

“Hold on, what were you doing.”

“Chatting with my friends.”

Dawn was not happy that Linda backed out of doing something she just sold her parents was fun. How Linda went on about cooking being fun made it sound like she would jump at the chance. The unhappiness grew when Linda tried to equate talking with her friends with being busy.

“Linda, you are staying to help. I want help today and you like to cook.”

“Fine, mom.”

How bitter Linda stayed as she was helping her mom make the lemon pepper chicken, with roasted sweet potato cubes and green beans glazed with a honey dijon mustard raised Dawn’s concern. If her daughter exaggerated about liking cooking what else could she have been doing the same about?

The only interaction Rhonda had with her family was at dinner. Her dad and sister tried to talk with her about the big day out shopping. The girl who did not want to revisit the events of her day gave short answers. Dawn tried to change the subject so Rhonda could be more comfortable and wouldn’t recoil further into her shell.

Then Linda tried to hype up how good the day must have been with getting so many new clothes. Before the older sister could get much more into her sales pitch about the joy of being a female, Dawn interrupted her. The mom was straightforward and told her and Kyle to drop the subject. That if Rhonda wanted to share she would and that was fine.

******************
Rhonda started her Saturday morning later than a normal weekend. She was comfortable sleeping, that was time away from this girly weekend. Also what teenager does not have sleeping as one of their favorite hobbies. Some teenagers were known to wake up from their sleep to just eat breakfast then lay down on the couch for a nap.

As Rhonda was doing her best sleeping beauty impersonation, Kyle wanted to wake her up. He kept on mentioning to his wife it was time for their newest daughter to start her day. Dawn stood as firm as a new mattress about not waking their child up. They never did so when any of their other children slept in on the weekend. For Rhonda to accept being herself she needed to be treated normally.

Rhonda finally ran into her parents when she came into the dining room with a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Kyle asked how did his angel sleep and got no response. He repeated himself and the same happened. Dawn asked Rhonda how did she sleep and the girl said well.

No answer for him and a short answer with a not true interaction for his, was was too much for the dad to take. “Rhonda if I ask you a question you need to answer it. Also when asked a question it is rude to give a short one word reply.”

Dawn found two things wrong with Kyle’s assertion. He called Rhonda angel and her not answering it was a huge sign she did not want that to be a nickname. Kyle needed to respect his daughter. The other issue is that it was normal for teenage girls to sometimes be withdrawn from their family and a little moody. This was as big of a hobby for them as sleeping. Expecting Rhonda to not have that phase would be treating her differently. This weekend was about making her feel normal. Putting pressure on her to not act like a normal teenage girl would go against the goal of this weekend.

“Kyle it is fine if Rhonda does not want to be called angel by you. Also, she is not in the mood to talk and that is fine also. You need to quit trying to push her to open up. That will come in time. “

As Rhonda was finishing breakfast her sister came into the room. Linda thought that the messy pixie hairstyle was so cute on her sister. She also thought that with a few trims here and there the cuteness level would go up to adorable. Wanting to be nice and bond along with wanting her sister to look how Linda wanted, made her say, “Sis, I love your hair. After you are done with breakfast I can cut your hair. Just a few snips here and there would do wonders for your look. Plus no one will notice when you have to be Ron. He combs his hair straight back.”

Rhonda was mortified at the thought of her sister cutting her hair. She was as trustworthy as a dog left alone in a butcher shop. The fear of the haircut being something Rhonda could not hide made her speak out against it. “No, I will not be wearing my hair like this ever again after this weekend.”

LInda was upset at how her sister bit her head off. That was not how you should treat someone who was trying to help you. Rhonda did not appreciate also that Linda was nice enough to forgive her for ruining that nice dress. “Fine be that way, but I thought you would want to look like a real girl.”

Dawn jumped in “Linda stop that right now. Rhonda has a say on how her hair is. You know it looks nice on her. You said you love it.”

“Mom I was just being nice by saying I love it. It is fine but can be so much better.”

Dawn said “Linda, you seem to be overstating stuff lately. You need to stop that.

“Rhonda, pay no attention to your sister. She is just mad that you are not going along with her suggestion. She wants to be the big sister and if Nancy did the same with her Linda would say yes.”

Rhonda said, “Trust me mom I do not care what Linda says or think. I am going up to my room now.”

After Rhonda left the room Dawn got Linda and Kyle's attention. She had something extremely important to tell them. “Honey, Linda do not bother Rhonda. I’m going over my sister Emma’s place in a couple of minutes. I will be gone for a couple of hours. You two leave Rhonda alone. She needs this time alone and you two are pushing her too hard. You are forcing her where she is uncomfortable. That will just do more harm than good.”

There was no acknowledgment so Dawn asked “Are we clear.” Her honey and her daughter gave a yes.

*****************
Desperate times call for desperate measures made Kyle Coville do another brash and reckless decision. Kyle was going to invite Ron’s best friend, Chole Pruitt, over to meet Rhonda. Linda suggested that maybe Rhonda needed someone who she could trust to come out of her shell. The father ran with it. Maybe having her BFF get to know the real girl will open Rhonda up to being who she was. Plus Kyle could see his good buddy Jim Pruitt.

Kyle loved hanging out with Jim, but today was going to be even better. Rhonda’s father was going to be able to pat himself on the back in front of other people. Kyle was going to look like he was so woke for being accepting of the newest addition to his family, his daughter who he thought was his son.

The perceived benefits of the drastic move made Rhonda’s father not see the certain drawbacks. He was going back on their word about no one else knowing about the weekend. Them breaking that promise would break any semblance of trust their youngest had in them. Making Rhonda see her friend when she does not want to will also make their youngest feel like they had no control over their life. Kyle has already taken away her ability to decide what to wear, and where to go this weekend. He would not respect Rhonda wanting to be called Ron. Now he was making it so she cannot even decide who to see.

Another drawback was his wife was not involved in making this decision. They just had a talk about him making their family a dictatorship instead of a cooperative. She also told him and their daughter to leave Rhonda alone. There was no way that Dawn would have agreed to this. Kyle’s better half knew that they were close to breaking Rhonda’s trust in them. The only reason he did not see that they already did was on the assumption that once Rhonda was comfortable being in a dress that their daughter would understand.

Chole was happy to go see Ron. She missed him yesterday at the track meet. When it was an all-day event like sections, there was a lot of time just waiting. The best way to pick up the mood during downtime was to spend it with a friend. The time she was waiting for her next heat in the hurdles would go as fast as a 100-meter dash talking with Ron.

Once there Jim and Chole were greeted by Kyle. After a quick greeting Chole went to go see her friend, but was stopped by Kyle. Then was when Chole was caught up to speed about what was going on with Rhonda. She took what was said at face value. There was no reason for Rhonda’s dad or her sister to lie.

After the brief briefing Kyle escorted Chole to Rhonda’s room. He wanted to ease his daughter into welcoming the unexpected visitor. Little did he know that no amount of easing would make the unwanted visitor wanted. Kyle opened up the door to his daughter’s room and said “Hey Rhonda, someone stopped by to see you. They so want to talk with you.”

What her dad just said cannot be true. How could there have been anyone there to see her? No one outside of their home knew about Rhonda. She told no one so if this was true it meant that either her parents or sister told. They broke their promise of no one knowing and she would not have to see anyone.

Before Rhonda could ask what was going on she saw that none of her family could be trusted. Ron’s best friend Chole came walking in the room. As Chole went running to her friend to give her their first hugs as Rhonda and Chole, Kyle closed the door to leave the two girls alone. This moment should only be between the two friends. In those few steps so many thoughts came across Chole’s mind. How great it was going to be that her best friend was a girl. They can share so much more. There was no doubt in Chole’s mind that Rhonda was into boys. That had to be why Ron never asked her out. She knew he picked up her hints as well as a Dyson vacuum picked up dirt.

Rhonda backed away from her encroaching friend’s embrace. The girl with the unwanted visitor did not like the invading of her personal space. Before Chole could hug her friend she stopped. Right now she needed to ease Rhonda’s fear about things changing between them. There will be changes but all of them will make the two friends even closer.

“Rhonda, don’t worry. I am your friend. Just wanted to hug you to show you how much I care about you.”

“My name is Ron.”

“Your dad told me everything. How you’ve been borrowing Linda’s clothes, makeup and even bath bombs. I love bath bombs also. Soaking in those little fizzy bubbles is just so soothing and relaxing. You have to like being all girly this weekend. This is so much better than going to the awards banquet.”

“I never borrowed a dress from Linda. The bath, those little bubbles were annoying. I hate being forced to look like a girl. My face feels dirty. The bra is constricting my chest and the pantyhose feels so clingy. The shoes are tight. It feels like my body has no room to breathe. I never want to be dressed like this again. I want to go to the awards banquet. I deserve to get presented what I earned. ”

Chole reached out to grab Rhonda’s hand. She wanted a physical connection between those two to represent the emotional one they have. Rhonda pulled away. The girl no one was listening to wanted nothing to do with her friend. “Rhonda you will get used to makeup and the rest of what you have to do to present yourself as a girl. Once you do you will love it. Reality will live up to what you dreamt it was.”

Rhonda was saddened to see her best friend was a fool. There was no other way to explain why Chole bought into this story. She did not have time for fools so she just said “Just leave Chole.”

“No Rhonda, you are my best friend and I want to help you. I want to support you being who you really are.”

“No you don’t. If you wanted to be supportive you would have believed me when I told you I never took Linda’s dresses. You would have respected me when I told you not to call me Rhonda. You would have heard me when I said that the makeup makes me feel dirty. That the bra feels like it is constructing my chest and I hate how clingy the pantyhose feels. Plus my shoes are tight. Instead, you said don’t worry us girls get used to it. I will not get used to it. I don’t want to get used to it. I hate every second I am dressed like this. I hate every time someone calls me Rhonda or treats me as a girl.”

“I’m sorry. I know you are fighting what you want. I know you are Rhonda. We are best friends yet you never made a move on me. I like you more than just friends yet you do not feel the same about you.”

“I did feel the same way. At first, I never made a move on you for I thought you were out of my league. Then when I figured out you were not, you were seeing Henry. He then broke up with you so I gave you time. Then during that time you always talked about how you will never go out with a friend again. That it hurts too much to lose a friend and a boyfriend. I respected what you said.

“I am happy that I did not ask you out. You showed me you are not who I thought you were. You saw how mad and upset I was about having to be Rhonda. Instead of taking my side, what do you do? You push me harder to be who I am not. You try to tell me who I am, what I want, and what is fun.

“I am a boy. My name is Ron, not Rhonda. I want to go to that damn banquet. If being at the awards banquet is not as good as being all girly then why don’t you stay home?

“Now leave.”

Chole knew Ron was telling the truth. She had to start to make amends for her bad decision to just listen to what others were saying about her best friend. The girl tried to start to work it out by saying “Can we talk?...”

The little pause between sentences was long enough for Ron to jump in. The pause did not need to be long for Ron was not listening to what Chole had to say anymore. She was given more than enough chances to show she was with his time. He jumped in the conversation by raising his voice in anger and told the girl he now did not know, “I said leave. See, you don’t listen. No one listens to me. Just leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

Chole finally listened to Ron’s words. The girl honored her friend’s wishes by getting up by not trying to have her side heard out. Now was not the time to try to make amends. She got up and left without saying a word. It might be too late for her not to hurt her best friend, but Chole could make sure she did not do any more damage by aggravating him more. On her way down the stairs Chole figured out it was not too late to truly support Ron.

As soon as she left the stair’s landing Chole started to try to correct Ron’s dad. “Mr Coville, you are wrong about Ron. He did not take Linda’s dress. He does not want to crossdress. He is miserable up there for what you are doing. You need to stop this right now and let him go to the banquet.”

“Chole, dear you know to refer to her as Rhonda. The only reason she is miserable is that she is fighting her desires. You are not helping by believing her strong denial.”

Jim reaffirmed his friend's point. Chole found those points as weak as wet paper bags. They did not cover anything which Ron said. They were based on people believing what they wanted to believe instead of what was happening. “Dad no, Ron does not want this. This should stop and he should be able to go to the banquet. You know what, If Ron cannot go to the banquet then I am not either. ”

Kyle did not want Chole to miss out on the recognition she rightfully deserved. Hard work should be acknowledged. “I know you want to help Rhonda, but you need to be there. You earn that Science Award. You will regret not getting it handed to you.”

“I will regret being there without Ron more than not going.

Dad, I want to go home. I am not going to be a part of whatever Ron’s dad is trying to do to him anymore.”

***************
Dawn hanging those new curtains with Emma did lift her spirits. Spending time with her sister while helping her made the work which was done enjoyable. Another reason for the higher mood level than before was not being around her youngest daughter.

This weekend of personal growth for Rhonda was not going as promised. Instead of becoming more open, Rhonda was becoming more insulated from the family. Instead of being allies, she was treating her mom, dad and sister as the enemy. She was not giving her mom and the rest the benefit of the doubt. Linda was worse. Rhonda was treating her like a war criminal.

Dawn’s sky-high mood was shot down by what greeted her when she got home. There was a huge fight between father and youngest daughter in the living room. Rhonda was screaming at her dad “I am not going to call and apologize to Chole.”

There was no good reason for Dawn’s daughter to be uttering that sentence. There was no way that Rhonda would have contacted Chole. The girl for the weekend did not want anyone to know about her yet. To get the answer she needed to know but was dreading to hear “What is going on here Kyle?”

Rhonda started to answer the question “Your husband”

Dawn quickly stopped Rhonda from answering. She wanted the answer from her husband, not her daughter. The wording of the start of the answer was also a little concerning. Rhonda referred to her dad saying your husband was a sign the girl did not want to be associated with her own flesh and blood.

Kyle said “Rhonda is fighting with Chole for no good reason.”

“There is a good reason. You just will not hear me out. No one will hear me out. Like I was saying mom.”

Dawn said “Rhonda, wait. I want your dad to answer this. What caused the fight?”

Kyle said “Jim and Chole stopped by. Chole came here to help Rhonda be herself.”

There was that dreadful information Dawn was expecting. Chole should have never been over. There should have been no possible way that her husband invited those two over. That would have gone against what was agreed upon for Rhonda’s girly weekend. If Jim and Chole stopped by unexpectedly Kyle should have turned the visitors away. Either way, Kyle messed up bigger than the record exec who signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead of the Beatles.

“Rhonda dear, please go up to your room. I need to talk to your father alone.”

The pissed off young girl did not need to be told twice to leave. There was no use to wait to be heard, Dawn shutting down any attempt for her daughter to talk was another instant of Rhonda not being heard out. Instead of being talked over, Rhonda wanted the seclusion of being alone in her room. Her family made it a point to constantly remind her that she was not a boy to them this weekend. Being away from her family was in a way being away from the weekend. She would not have to focus on the present. Rhonda could think about the good times in the past or her goals for the future.

Once her daughter was upstairs Dawn “Why were people over here?”

“Honey, Rhonda has been so distant since we confronted her crossdressing. Linda said that maybe her sister would open up to someone she trusted. Her comment gave me the idea to invite Chole over.”

“You know that we agreed that no one else would know about Rhonda.”

“I know but what we were doing was not working. Our daughter is resisting too much. That wall needed to be broken down for any progress to be made.”

“Maybe that wall staying up means we are doing this wrong. We cannot force Rhonda to be Rhonda. She has to accept it on her own terms.

“Now, why do you think that Rhonda owes Chole an apology?”

“Our daughter kicked Chole out of her room. Chole got so upset she said that we are wrong about Rhonda. That she was not going to the awards banquet because Rhonda has to miss it also. That is not true, Chole is just upset about the fight.”

“Kyle, you forced Rhonda into a situation she was not ready for and you expected it to go well. She does not want people to know about her and you outed her. Yes, she is going to lash out. She is going to be argumentative.

“Ever think that maybe Chole is making a stand for her friend. Maybe Chole believes Rhonda. Maybe you did not make the case strong enough for her to believe. It could be that it is just too hard for Chole to believe. That Rhonda made better points with her denial. Or even there is something we are missing about this girly weekend.”

“I am taking over how this weekend will go. You broke Rhonda’s trust in us by having Chole over.“

“We are sticking with what we agreed. I was doing my best. I was doing what I thought was right.”

“No we are not, you already went against what we agreed. Your intent does not change the fact that what you did was wrong. You went against your word and made Rhonda face people. Rhonda can stay in her room as long as she wants this weekend. She does not have to spend time with Linda tomorrow.”

“Linda is so looking forward to tomorrow. She is going to get to be Rhonda’s big sister.”

“Kyle, she is Rhonda’s big sister no matter what. If Rhonda does not want to bond with Linda tomorrow then it will not happen. Right now it is not a good idea to have those two alone. Rhonda is blaming Linda for this weekend. Those two are going to be at each other’s throat even more now than before.

“We are pushing Rhonda too much. She might not even be a crossdresser. She could have just been curious about women's clothing and found out that wearing them is not for her.”

Kyle’s response of “Linda said otherwise.” perfectly explained why Rhonda was blaming her sister. The parents were listening to her about Rhonda. They had more trust in someone else over Rhonda in knowing who she was.

“Linda is not Rhonda. We have to start listening to Rhonda to know what is best for her.

“Linda tells tall tales. You know she oversold how much she likes cooking. She might think something is true but that does not mean it is. There is no more discussion about this. “

After laying down the law with her husband Dawn went to see her daughter. The mother was going to put to rest any concern Rhonda had about Chole knowing about her and also tell her the change in plans.

“Rhonda dear. I know you are upset. You are scared that your secret will be shared to others. Chole would never do that to you. She cares about you too much to hurt you.”

“No mom, she doesn’t. She does not believe me. Everyone is going to know.”

“Even if she doesn’t care about you she is smart enough not to tell everyone. You know her secrets also. She will protect your secret to protect hers.”

That last statement was true. Secrets can also be dirt on other people. That is why you only share them with people you trust. If Chole shares what she saw earlier today she knows that Ron can share many things with her dad. Many things her dad would not approve of.

Rhonda became more at ease. She was feeling more protected by mutual destruction. “Now what your dad did was wrong. He should have never had her come over, but he thought he was helping you.

“We are forcing this on you and should not. The weekend plans are changing.

“You can do what you want, Rhonda. You can stay in your room by yourself for the rest of the weekend. You do not need to spend time with Linda tomorrow.”

Hearing that the weekend was going to change gave Rhonda hope. These changes had to be that she was no more. That Ron would be free to be Ron. That means going to the banquet. Being out of dresses forever was a bigger award than the plaque he was going to get tonight.

Then when the envelope opened and Dawn announced the changes in them, Rhonda's hope was dashed. In fact, what her mom said sounded like a mockery. There were no real changes. The statement of doing what she wanted was a lie. Ron wanted to go to the banquet and dress like the boy he was. Instead somehow being stuck in her room was made to sound like a huge prize.

“Just leave mom.”

“Rhonda what is wrong. We are giving you what you want.”

“No, you are not. I don’t want to be Rhonda. I want to go to the banquet and see my friends. You are just letting me be by myself.”

“You need this weekend. This time will let you learn more about who you are.”

“I can’t even be by myself. You said I can stay in my room by myself, yet when I ask to be alone you stay.”

“Sorry, Rhonda. I know you are having a hard time. I was just trying to help. I will leave you alone with your thoughts. I love you.”

***************
Getting ready for her date night was the same as all the other times Rhonda put on girl’s clothes. The bra felt like it was restricting her breathing. The panties were way too tight in the front and the pantyhose embraced her legs too tight. There was no way that she would ever get used to this. The only reason she did not break down to cry was there was hope. Tomorrow should be the last ever that she had to put up with this uncomfortable. At least if her parents kept her word about no more forced girly time.

The dress was a crochet lace maroon bodycon dress. Her outfit for the night looked too small for Rhonda. She wondered how the heck it fit her yesterday. When she put the dress on it stretched to conform to her body. Rhonda was pleasantly surprised that the give in the fabric made it so she did not feel like an overstuffed burrito.

Linda came in waiting to see what her sister would pick to wear for the big night. The older sister was impressed with Rhonda’s taste. That dress was classy yet was made to highlight the feminine figure. The neckline plunged just enough for a hint of cleavage. The patchwork crochet lace patchwork design drew anyone looking towards the breasts. The midthigh level showed off enough leg.

Wanting to build her sister’s confidence and make up for the catty hair comment Linda said “Looking nice, sis.”

Oh how Rhonda hated how Linda called her sis. To her, the use of sis was just another snide comment to rub in the fact that Rhonda was. That Linda was gloating about her lie being believed for no good reason. If Linda wanted to be catty, Rhonda was more than willing to fight back. There was nothing left to lose. “Even the hair.”

“Fine be like that. When I help you with your makeup I will be bringing my scissors. Don’t worry, you will love it. Even if I take a little too much off and you need to wear it that way all the time.”

Rhonda was not worried by that threat. She was just going to get her mom to help her with her makeup. As soon as Linda left the room, Rhonda went and got her mom. Dawn was happy that her daughter took the initiative about the makeup. It could be Dawn was wrong and Kyle was right. That the little bit of pushing made Rhonda force to see who she was.

As Dawn was applying Rhonda’s makeup, Linda came into the room wearing Nancy’s light green floral print handkerchief hem dress, her purse, and scissors. Her mom's eyes stopped at the dress and that gave Linda time to hide her scissors behind her purse. Dawn was pretty sure that was Nancy’s dress. She asked Linda when did she buy that dress. Linda said that she borrowed it from Nancy. Dawn wanted to know if she asked. Nancy was not home and Linda assured her that she and her sister always asked when borrowing each other's things.

Linda knew the information her mom wanted was when she asked. There was no way the girl was going to tell the truth. Linda borrowed without asking. Nancy was not home and would have said yes anyway, so there was no need for a call. Linda sidestepped by saying “She doesn't mind.”

Linda was telling the truth and being dishonest at the same time. Her and Nancy did not expect to always be asked. Neither of them minded if the other raided the other’s closet.

Before Dawn could continue her questioning Linda stop her. The girl also was able to remind Rhonda the haircut was not an idle threat. “Mom, I am happy that you are doing Rhonda makeup tonight. It means I can leave now to spend more time with Sam.

“Rhonda don’t worry. Tomorrow I will help you with your makeup. I did not forget I told you I would.”

Rhoda said “Linda no need. I want to do it on my own.”

Linda left right after her threat was defused. Being outsmarted by Rhonda got her mad. She could not take the chance of replying. Engaging with Rhonda might bring to light the threat. She also needed to leave before her mom could inquire more about her wearing Linda’s dress.

***************
As the day went by the situation was getting worse for all involved in Rhonda’s girly weekend. Kyle was frustrated by his plan not working how he envisioned. Dawn did not like forcing Rhonda into coming out to others before she was ready. Linda was saddened her relationship with Rhonda was actually worse than with Ron. Rhonda just hated everything,

After Rhonda was ready for her big night, the next step was to get ready for a special dinner in her honor. Kyle asked Rhonda what she wanted to eat. That question was greeted with an energetic answer. Hearing the upbeat tempo in his daughter’s voice justified the lesson in tough love. Rhonda was coming around to being herself. The truth was that Kyle’s youngest child was looking forward to having their dream meal.

Then the answer itself was a little concerning. Rhonda wanted a starter of hot wings, then for the main course a t-bone steak, loaded baked potato, corn on the cob, and some fresh Italian bread. Then the dessert was chocolate cake with ice cream.

Kyle said “is that a little too much for you dear. You have to watch your figure”

Dawn was worried that the huge meal was Rhonda trying to eat her way out of being sad so she agreed. She repeated that the meal was kind of big. Rhonda took what both of them were saying as body shaming. Those two would have never said that to Ron. Those types of statements were what made girls become body-conscious. She was not going to take that. The part that got her the most was that her mom's waist was bigger than hers. “Mom you know what. You are right. You also should think about watching your meals. You know you have to watch your figure”

“Don’t you dare talk to your mother like that.”

Dawn was taken back a little by hearing she had to watch her figure. Those words hurt until she realized why Rhonda gave the smart answer. Her and Kyle tried to shame Rhonda for wanting a meal that she saw Ron and Kyle eat many times before. “Rhonda, I am sorry. I should not have agreed with your dad.

“Kyle. Our daughter was right to call me out on agreeing with you. If there is nothing wrong with you and Ron eating that meal then there is nothing wrong with Rhonda eating that meal. If it sounds like I am telling her to watch her figure she can say the same to me.

“Now, say you are sorry dear.”

Kyle knew better than to go against what his wife said. Every single time Dawn has used dear at the end of her request she has been right about Kyle making a bad decision. Kyle learned early in their relationship if he denied the request there would be a long discussion on why he was wrong. Doing what he was told meant the discussion would be a short one. “I am sorry Rhonda. It is just not ladylike to want to eat that much.

“How about if instead we have a nice hot n spicy grilled chicken salad. Then for the main course filet mignon, with garlic baby potatoes and steamed carrots. Then after we eat we can watch Wonder Woman?”

Rhonda wanted to scream at her dad, her acting not ladylike all weekend should be a huge hint she does not want to be seen as a lady. The temporary girl said “I am just going to spend tonight in my room. If I can’t eat what I want and can’t pick the movie I want to watch. You only picked that movie because you think I am a girl, dad. I do not want you two to try to treat me special.”

Before Kyle could command his bratty daughter to stay, his wife gently put her hand on his arm. He looked at her and Dawn said “Let her be. We broke yet another promise to her. We cannot force ourselves on her now.

“Plus we need to talk about how casually you body-shamed Rhonda.”

***************

The girl they called Rhonda turned on her computer to do some e-commerce. She was going to spend her night spending her emotional currency on pain shopping. Looking on her sisters’ social media accounts was going to make her feel bad. That was exactly what she wanted. Rhonda wanted to burn the feeling of pain, betrayal, and anger from what happened into her psyche. Doing so would make her more resilient to the upcoming pressuring from her family to forgive them.

Rhonda was looking at Linda's Facebook feed when a text box appeared in the right bottom corner of the screen. She saw that the incoming message was from Chole. The curiosity got the best of her and she opened the text box. Rhonda could not resist seeing what Chole had to say. Maybe an apology as insincere as Chole’s assertion about being all dressed up with nowhere to go was better than being presented an award.

Rhonda did not reply. She was so disappointed in the simple question “Ron can we talk?” There was no fuel to add to the fire of anger. There was nothing to help her remember the pain of the night.

The girl left the message box open. Maybe seeing Chole’s blase attitude like nothing major happened would be able to add to Rhonda’s anger.

“Ron, I know you read my message. I just want to say I am sorry. I was wrong to believe your parents and Linda before even hearing you out. I know you do not like to wear dresses. I did not have your back when you needed it. I am sorry. I should have and I cannot fix that mistake. I can have your back from now on and do. I have it now. I did not go to the awards banquet. I did not want to be there without you. I wanted to show how wrong I thought your parents are by not going. Can we talk this out? Are we still friends?”

Someone having faith in Ron changed his mood and attitude. Even with his face feeling dirty, bands constricting his chest and a clingy feeling on his legs, the boy got filled with confidence. His best friend was back. He sent a message back “We can talk but we are not friends.”

“I understand. I want us to become friends again so what can I do to help us reconnect?”

Ron then sent a text “I do not think we can be friends. The reason is that I am going to ask you out and you do not date friends.”

“What? I thought you did not want anything to do with me.”

“I was hurt that you did not believe me. It hurt so much because of how deeply I care for you. You believe me so I know you just messed up listening to what everyone else was saying.
So how about it next weekend me and you go wherever you want to eat and see what movie you want.”

Now it was time for Chole to play coy with her friends. “No.”

“What you said you like me and I like you.”

“The no is because we will pick where we go and what movie we see. The date will be for both of us to spend time together. It is not for you to try to impress me or win me over. You already do.”

“Good one. You got me better than I got you.”

Faith is powerful. Having it can lead to people going beyond what they think they are capable of going. People having it in a person gives them the strength to stand up for what is right. Now that Ron had the faith of a girl who he found to be even more special than how special she found him. This support made so he did not need the pain shopping to stay strong anymore. There was no more need to have a mental note of this weekend to stay true holding his family fully accountable for this weekend.

The longer Ron was talking with Chole the more he did not resent the makeup, bra, dress, and pantihose he was wearing. Then as the new couple was chatting the night away a new picture came up on Ron’s screen. The picture was a reminder of why the night was wrong. How clear this picture proved his point made it a call to action. There was no way Chole’s boyfriend could not act upon it immediately.

Ron told his new girlfriend he was going to have a much-needed talk with his parents. Ron then yelled down the stairs “Mom and dad, to my room RIGHT NOW!”

***************

The girly weekend Kyle and Dawn had planned for their son was backfiring on them as badly as leaving a loyal partner for the person you cheated on them with. Those two knew the best course of action right now was to leave him alone. The parent’s hearts being in the right place took to the wrong decision. They pushed too hard for their son to accept what society found to be taboo. They should have listened to him. The objections were a clear sign he was not ready to embrace who he was. They also took away his night at the awards banquet. Now instead of coming closer to feeling comfortable in his own skin when wearing what he wants, their son regressed.

As the loving parents sat watching television there was yelling coming from their son’s room for them to come there right now. Even with their son having the right to be mad at them for pushing him out of his comfort zone they were not going to put up with him yelling at them. They were his parents and he did not make demands.

Kyle and Dawn were ambushed as they were entering Ron’s room. Their son's voice was as booming as a howitzer cannon when he shot out his next order “Look at the screen.”

The incoming artillery missed its mark. Ron’s parents were not going to run to cover during this battle. This moment was their last stand. They were not going to lose any more ground. As soon as Ron spent what they thought was the last round of ammo he had they started to make their charge. “You do not ever talk to us like that again young man. You might have issues with how you feel but never lash out at us again like that.

The charge of the parent brigade was stopped in its tracks when another round of fire came from Ron’s mouth. “Right now, if I say to do something you better do it.”

Kyle said “You do not give orders around here. Do not talk to us like that again. Show us respect. After this weekend you will choose when you crossdress. You needed to experience this weekend so you would feel free to explore the Rhonda side of you. We are making sure to encourage you to be who you really are. That you do not have to lie to us or the world.

“I am yelling and giving orders for talking with you did not work. So if you want to even try to salvage any type of relationship we can have you will look at the screen.”

“Rhonda, what is so important that we have to look at your computer screen?”

Ron gave no answer. Kyle took no more incoming shorts from his son as a surrender. The real reason was that Ron was making his stand. The boy was not going to answer a girl’s name ever again. The misguided dad repeated the question and got the same response. Kyle asked the question again. Instead of firing at the verbal artillery of hostility in kind, Kyle remained being kind and compassionate towards his crossdressing son. Admitting you are not what society expects can be hard, and instead of making answering the hard question any harder Kyle just repeated the question.

The response was the same as before. Kyle was going to amp up the pressure to answer the question. Maybe a little force will help his son come to terms with having a feminine side. Before he could his wife said, “Honey, look at the screen.”

How wrong Kyle and his wife were wrong came into focus as his eyes focused on the picture. The computer was open to their son’s Facebook page. The newly posted picture was from Nancy having a great time at the STEM conference. She was wearing Linda’s turquoise ribbed party dress.

There was total silence in the room until the new assault started upon the parents. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”

Dawn said, “We’re sorry.”

“Is that it?”

Dawn answered again “We were trying to do the right thing. There were two stories and we had to believe one. Linda was so adamant that you ruined her dress and have been sneaking into her room to use her stuff we picked her story instead of yours. We did not want you to hide or feel ashamed. We wanted you to know we are open-minded. We did not see what we were doing as punishment, but as giving you a growing experience. That when you were comfortable with who we thought you were you would thank us for this lesson done with tough love. ”

Being open-minded is not about accepting others who are different. It is accepting others for who they were. This girly weekend was more virtue signaling for Kyle so he forgot the true meaning of open-mindedness. Kyle wanted to become the toast of their friends for being brave enough to support their son.

“That’s it!”

“What else can we say? What else can we do?”

“What you can say is I don’t have to dress like a girl anymore. How about your daughter is in huge trouble for lying about me.”

Wanting to end and forget about his son’s feminine weekend Kyle jumped into the conversation again by telling Ron to go take a shower and change. Doing the right thing also had the added benefit of giving Ron time to cool down before the talk continued. That Kyle’s son would not bring back up the issue he had with Linda.

The delay tactic did not work. Ron kept going with how he was feeling “I’m not done with what you can do. You get Linda home right now. She caused this. She made me miss my sections and also the banquet. You know that I let my team down yesterday. I was looking forward to tonight. I wanted to be handed that award for my group winning the Model United Nations”

Dawn did not want to ruin her daughter’s night. She already felt bad enough about what they have done to their son and ruining not only his weekend, but his trust in his parents. “She did nothing wrong. We are the ones who did all of this to you”

“Your daughter lied. She said I destroyed her favorite dress. She said there was now way that Nancy would borrow that dress without asking. She said I already wore her panties. Had Linda not say that, then I would not have been made to be Rhonda.”

“She was stating what she believed. That is different, Ron. You know that.”

“Your daughter was stating what she wanted to believe. She had no reason to think that I was wearing her dress, just came up with it. She knew that she and Nancy always borrowed each other's things without asking. Your daughter didn’t ask Nancy if she could wear the dress she is wearing tonight. You know she didn’t. You asked her directly if she asked. Her answer was that Nancy did not mind. You know she was sidestepping the question.”

“Well Nancy would not mind, she is not here to wear the dress and don’t call Linda, my daughter. She is your sister, show her some love. Linda is staying at the banquet. We are not going to ruin her night so you can get back at her.”

“There you go taking her side and defending her. The point is not if Nancy would mind. The point is she did not ask. You will not admit that your daughter lied. She said that they would never do that. Never, she said never. I bet if you talk with both of them you will find many times that they did it. That is why her stuff was out of place. Call Nancy and ask her.

“Also mom. You did not even cover her stating me wearing her panties as a fact. We all know why. There is no defense to that. You just want to brush over her making lies up about me.

“And, I will call her your daughter for she did not act like my sister. You are only letting her stay so she does not get mad at you like I am. I don’t mess up and get punished. She lies and gets away with it. ”

Dawn wanted to compromise with her son. There was an issue with Linda they had to deal with but to the mom it was not that urgent. Linda’s intent was to help Ron see the truth. She did not want to get brother in trouble. “We will send her a text to come home right after the banquet so we all can have a discussion about what happened.”

“Fine, do whatever, but we are not having that discussion. I am done with this family. I see I am treated differently.”

“You will be at that discussion. You are not being treated differently. You are still our son, no matter how mad you are,”

As Ron was grabbing a wanted change of clothes he said.“Oh I will but I will not say one word. I can see all you are going to do is tell Linda she was wrong and she will say it will not happen again. That means nothing.

“And also, I am being treated differently. I just told you how I had to miss out on my weekend plans, yet you are letting your daughter have her fun. What she did was wrong and I did nothing wrong.

“I said if you wanted to try to salvage any relationship between us you will do what I say. I might be your son but that does not mean I need to have a relationship with you. You are not doing what I say, so I am done talking with you.”

As Ron was leaving his room Dawn called Nancy. The mother did not want to impede on her eldest daughter’s night out but needed to know the truth. Dawn had to know as soon as possible what exactly had been going on with her daughters borrowing each other's things.

******************

Linda’s phone gave out a text alert. The girl who was enjoying her night quickly looked down to see the message was from her dad. She ignored the message. Her dad must have been sending her a congratulatory text Her dad’s restatement of how proud he was did not need to be read right then. Receiving a text from her mom a couple of minutes later was confirmation her suspicion was correct. Then yet another text came in from her dad. She read it and then the first two. They all were the same message. “Call us ASAP”

To Linda, her parents wanting her to call them was a request not an instruction. Them repeating the message over and over had to be them wanting confirmation she was following their order of reading her texts from them right away. The message could not be to actually call them right now. Her parents knew tonight was a big night for her. Also, texts were shorthand communication so she was not taking the short sentence literally. How could she? After all tonight was a big social event and they would not want her to take time out of it.

Linda sent the reply to her dad of “will do, love ya.” Then five minutes later another text came asking when she was going to call. The girl sent a message saying after the banquet was over. Then as soon as that message was read her mom replied with “Call me now!”

The exclamation point was screaming at Linda she misread what her parents’ texts. That ASAP meant ASAP. On her way to the lobby Linda sent a text, “Sorry going to the lobby now.” Hopefully admitting she misread what they wanted would smooth the little wrinkle in their understanding out.

Linda called and said, “Hey mom what’s up?”

Dawn replied, “Hello Linda, your dad is on his way to pick you up. Be outside waiting for him.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. Just be out there waiting for him.”

“If nothing is wrong then why do I have to come home?”

“You have to come home because we have to talk about your dress and this weekend.”

“Mom, don’t worry I didn’t tell anyone about Rhonda. I might be a little mad at how she has been acting but I know the hard time my little sister is having. I love her and will never do anything to hurt her. We can talk about it when I get home.”

“Don’t argue with me. If I or your dad say we need to talk right now, that is when it will happen. Also, don’t call your brother Rhonda or your little sister. He is your brother. Now be out there waiting for your dad.”

“I was not mom. I will be waiting for dad. I love you.”

“Good, see you when you get home and I love you also.”

***************

As she was waiting the short time from the end of the phone call for her dad to pick her up, Linda started to worry about her brother. This had to be something major for her mom and dad to make her leave during the middle of the banquet. Something major being wrong with Ron also explained why her mom was short with her.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of Linda’s mind playing the worst-case scenarios about her brother her dad was at the curb. She jumped into the car and with a little fear in her voice asked her dad what was wrong with Ron?”

Kyle only wanted to reassure his daughter that her brother was fine. Their talk was going to happen at home. In a calming voice, he said, “Nothing is wrong. We will talk when we get home.“

“So how is Sam doing?”

Linda knew something was amiss. There was no way her parents would get for from the banquet if everything was hunky dory. “Dad please tell me what is wrong. I know something is. You would not have gotten me if not.”

“Trust me when I say nothing is wrong.”

“Come on dad I know you are lying.”

“You need to learn to trust people when they tell you something. I said nothing is wrong with your brother.”

“Then trust me when I say I can handle what is wrong with Rhonda.”

“Fine, you want to know. Here it is. Your brother was not sneaking into your room and trying on your clothes. Now drop the subject until we get home.”

Even after being told she was wrong, Linda stood as firm as an athlete’s body on her brother being Rhonda. “Dad, don’t believe Rhonda. She likes to wear dresses and she ruined my favorite dress. I finally caught her and you are taking her denial. Come on, she is protesting too much. Turn around so I can go back to the banquet.”

“Linda I just told you to trust someone when they tell you something. Your brother did not ruin your favorite dress. Nancy took it with her to Washington D.C.

“Also,do not call your brother Rhonda. He is Ron. And I am the parent here so you don’t give the orders. If I say we are going home, we are going home.”

“You are believing her over me. When Nancy comes home tomorrow evening without the dress you are going to know I was right.”

“I said don’t call your brother Rhonda as he is Ron. That means don’t refer to him as a girl in any way. You should know that when I told you that Nancy took your dress with her. You should have known it is the truth when I said Nancy took your dress. That is a fact.

“I should have believed your brother over you the entire time. The only reason I saw I was wrong was the picture your sister posted with her wearing that dress. Your brother should not have had to prove his innocence.

“It wasn’t Ron taking your stuff. It was Linda. You knew that could have been, but denied it.”

“With that cleared up why do I have to come home?”

“For you lied about what was going on? You knew there was a chance your sister took the dress. You also stated as fact that your brother wore your panties. You had no proof or suspicion of that.”

“I did not. I believed that he was wearing my clothes. If he was wearing my dresses it made sense he was wearing my panties also.”

“You lied about how you and your sister will borrow each other's clothes, make-up, and perfume without asking. Don’t deny it, your mom talked with Nancy and she told her.”

“Dad, I really thought it was Ron. Nancy and I usually ask each other. I did not think about the times we did it when the other was not around.”

“You thought but acted like it was a fact. You should have thought about those times also when we asked you if you did it. You should have said the truth.”

“I was too concerned with stopping Ron from taking my things.”

“That is why you had to come home. We need to talk about how you ignore what did not back up what you believed. You wanting to be right and not wanting to know what is right caused this situation. You being more worried about stopping what you thought was happening instead of knowing what was happening caused this situation. Ron would not have had to suffer the ordeal he did this weekend. He is very hurt by what happened.”

“Don’t blame me for you and mom making Ron have a girly weekend.”

“I am not. We messed up, instead of having you prove you were right we had Ron prove you were wrong. We presumed him guilty until he was proven innocent. You had no proof but acted as if you did. We trusted you over Ron and you knew you were not being honest. Making it sound like you two would never borrow from each other without asking was a huge reason why we believed you.”

“I still don’t know why this could not wait until later. I know not to do that again, but now my night was ruined.”

“You’re worried about your night being ruined? How about how your actions affected Ron? He missed competing in sections and going to the banquet. You going with your baseless assumptions as fact and being so passionate about them really hurt your brother. You said no when Ron said what happened. You knew there was a good chance of that. Instead, you wanted to be right. Even with both of you borrowing without asking, you said that you never did. I believed you because I thought you had no reason to lie. If what you were saying was true, then Ron had a good reason to lie. How society treats people who do not conform to traditional gender roles is still bad. He would want to hide that.

“Now think about that instead of arguing with me. Think about how much you hurt your relationship with your brother. Because I am thinking about how I destroyed my relationship with my son.”

*******************

As Ron was washing Rhonda down the drain never to return, Dawn was figuring out how to make amends for all the bad decisions made about the girly weekend. The first step she would take is to admit to herself when she thought anything they did was a mess up or mistake. Using those words was a way to try to downplay the severity of the situation. To have any chance to start rebuilding their relationship with Ron everyone involved had to take full responsibility for their actions.

Taking ownership also meant to not blame the victim. Ron had no fault in what occurred. She would shut down any talk about how Ron should have put up more of a fight. He told them the truth and only quit after repeatedly insisting that they were not listening to him. When the power parents had over children was used it did make their resolve to resist weak and useless. There were only drastic moves left for Ron to do. Ron did not have the time or was in the right mindset to think of them.

Then how were they going to make up making him wear makeup and dresses along with treating him like a girl? Taking away Ron’s agency had to make him feel helpless. Being treated as the gender you are not had to be incredibly damaging to her son’s self-image. The damage had to be compounded by them choosing not to listen when he told them he was not a girl. Somehow they had to make sure that Ron had his agency back. Ron also needed his self-image back.

Thinking about not listening made the remorseful mother replay the entire weekend. She saw that letting Linda help was a huge mistake. A child should not help discipline one of their siblings, especially when the one who was helping was wronged by the child who was being punished. That gave one of them power over the other and made it look like vengeance.

She knew that they were going to have to get Ron that Playstation 5 before his birthday. Getting their son what his heart desired was not a lame attempt of trying to buy forgiveness. That was nothing more than throwing money at the problem and hoping it would go away. Not fixing the why, would just lead to them treating Ron the same in the future.

The reason for buying the Playstation 5 was what Ron went through this weekend. He deserved to be treated special. The gift of the gaming console was a peace offering to give him something he would enjoy. Doing so would also show to Ron that he was heard and his parents will keep their word. She heard how upset Ron was when he was told that he was not receiving the gift when promised.

As Rhonda was still formulating her plans to win back Ron’s love and trust he came downstairs. There was no greeting by Dawn to her son. Not saying hi was a way to give power back to her son. He can make the choice to greet her or not.

This action was read wrong by Ron. He saw it as his mom ignoring him yet again. That she went from not listening to him to not acknowledging him. He said, “I don’t even get a hi.”

“Sorry, hello Ron. I thought you would not want to talk with me. I do not blame you. We made a lot of bad decisions which adversely affected you. I was trying to give you the space you deserve. I promise to do better listening to you from now on.”

“Good. Now that you are listening to me here is what I want done to Linda.”

“Ron, you are my son and her brother. You do not get a say in her punishment. We made that mistake by letting her give her suggestions with you. We are not going to make that bad decision again. Doing so was one of the reasons this happened

“I knew it, you are going to let her get away with this. You believe that she did not see me as guilty only because she thought so. She did. Linda had no proof. Plus she knew that her and Nancy took each other's things without asking. Nancy having that dress made way more sense than me. I am not a girl. The norm would be that I would not want to wear dresses.

“She took pleasure in my punishment making all those suggestions that you followed. Did you know that she threatened to cut my hair? That's why she said she was going to help me with my makeup tomorrow.”

“That is exactly why we are not going to give you a say. If you don’t think we are being strong enough with our punishment then you can show your disapproval. We are not going to force you into having a relationship with us. We crossed the line too many times to try to force you to be a part of the family.”

As the mom and son were having this serious talk Kyle and Linda came walking in. There was no hi coming from his son and his daughter was greeted by a “huge fuck” you from Ron. Kyle was not going to let what he saw as an honest mistake let such disrespect happen. “Ron you don’t talk to your sister that way. You also say hi to me when you see me. We made an honest mistake. You need to not be so mad about it.”

Dawn said “Kyle if Ron does not want to say hi to you then he does not have to. What we did went past being a mistake. We did some very bad parenting.

“Ron can also say fuck you to Linda. He is steaming mad and her lies played a huge part in our bad decisions. She knew that sometimes her and her sister took each other’s clothes without asking, yet denied it. She really does not like to cook but said she did. Also, our daughter threatened to cut Ron’s hair after we said that his hair was not going to get cut.”

Linda knew she was in huge trouble. “Mom, I was just mad at Ron. I was never actually going to cut his hair. Even if I did, the little trimming would have helped with that cute pixie cut he had going on.”

“Linda, you had no right to make that threat. You should have known better. We messed up by listening to you about how to handle that perceived issue. Still, you are his sister so you do not take things into your own hands.

“As of right now you are grounded. You will not be going to your prom. You will not be going to your friends’ graduation parties. You will be helping me or your dad in the kitchen every day. There will be more.”

Kyle knew that his daughter’s senior summer was supposed to be her best. This was her last moment under the sunlight of being an adolescent. Linda would be entering adulthood in the fall. “Dawn you are going too far. Linda messed up and she will learn. How about if she does not go to some of her friends’ graduation parties instead. That will be bad enough.”

“Kyle you are not getting this. What happened was not something minor. What we did went beyond a bad decision. It was bad parenting. What I said is the start of how we are going to punish Linda. She should have known better than to make her baseless accusations sound like the truth. She only gave what would back up her claim so we would see her as being right. She knew that it might not be Ron, but made it sound like a fact.

“Now tomorrow I am going to be returning everything from the shopping trip I can. Then I am going to buy that Playstation 5 for Ron.”

Ron said, “No you are not.”

Linda said, “I might have been wrong about the dress being ruined by him, but Ron wants to keep the clothes.”

Dawn put a stop to Linda. The mom was done letting Linda control the narrative of Ron’s actions. The matriarch of the family did her best at letting Linda know to not try to explain other’s actions. Dawn strongly called her daughter out “Quit that Linda. You know that is not true. You saw how miserable your brother was. You saw that your sister is wearing your dress. Let Ron say why. Don’t speak for him ever again. He has a mouth and he can use it.

“Ron why not?”

Ron explained “They are mine and no one other than me gets to decide what happens to them. I want to give them to charity. They should at least make some lucky girl feel more girly. That was their purpose.”

Dawn loved hearing those words from her son. The biggest reason was that he was taking back his agency. Another was Ron was still the kind-hearted kid he always was. There was also a small part of her that was happy that she did not have to make that long trip.

“That is a great idea Ron. So now I will only have to get that Playstation 5. Come with me Ron so you can pick up whatever new game we want.”

Kyle objected by saying “We don’t have that money budgeted dear. We are not going over our budget anymore than we already did.”

Dawn said, “Then we will change our spending habits. We will spend less money on me and you. We made some bad decisions, Ron should not have to pay for them. We should.”

Hearing that he would not have the same spending cash was a great motivator for Kyle to change his mind. He did not want to give up any of his creature comforts.“Fine, we can up what we spend by a little. We have been doing great building up our savings.”

Rhonda was not having her husband’s change of mind. They were the ones who made the bad decisions that led to the increased spending, so they should cut back to keep the budget. If not then the budget was not a real concern to her husband. Plus changing their mind about the spending would only go to show Ron that he was being treated differently than the rest of the family. “No dear. You do not want to spend the extra money so we are not.

“I think we are all tired. We also need to soak in the bad decisions which everyone other than Ron made. So I am just going to say: Ron, if you want some counseling we will get that for you. Kyle, you and me along with Ron, will be going to get some family counseling. That is if Ron wants to go. If not we will understand that he is not ready and it will be me and you Kyle.

“Does that sound like the start of a plan Ron?”

What Dawn said proved to her son that she saw the errors of her ways and wanted to fix the damage. He was still pissed at her, but being allowed to be mad made him clear eyed enough to see the plan was a great start to fix the damage. Ron having a say about what affected him made the damaged boy’s sense of agency come back. His self-image was getting stronger. His mom would not have been going to these extremes if they had not been wrong in how they saw Ron the last couple of days.

Ron replied “It sounds great mom, but I have something to add. Dad has to tell Mr Pruitt exactly why I was made to be Rhonda.”

Kyle said, “No way.” This incident had to stay in the family. The father was too worried about his pride if he came cleanly on what really occurred to his friend. The real reason would make Kyle look like a fool and Jim would lose some respect for him. There was no good way to spin forcing his son in a dress only on hearsay.

Dawn said “Ok dear. If you don’t tell him I will. I hope you tell him to show Ron that his well-being is more important than your well standing among friends.”

“You are right. I need to own up to what I did. I just don’t want to feel like what I am: a fool and a bad parent.

“Ron, I am sorry. I will work on repairing what I broke. You mean way more to me than hanging out with my friends. Your well-being is worth not having Starbucks or going out to eat for a little while. Tomorrow, get a couple of games for the Playstation. I can go longer without Starbucks. Plus I make coffee better than them anyways.”

The part which touched Ron the most was the last thing his dad said. The son knew his dad was downplaying giving up Starbucks. Kyle went there for the muffins. Trying to make the sacrifices he was making as no big deal at all showed Ron his dad was putting his well-being first. That Kyle did not want Ron to feel bad for one second about giving up his little joys in life for a while.

Linda finally got a word in“You forgot me. I should be going to counseling also. Instead, I’m being punished. I have learned my lesson. I already know I was wrong. This is not fair.”

Dawn said “Linda, you have no say in this. What you did was wrong. You mislead people to get your way. That is plain and simple. You do not need to figure out why that is. You need to reflect on what you did and why. If you think you need to talk to a professional about that then we will get you therapy also, but you will still be grounded.

Linda threw herself to her brother’s mercy. Maybe if her brother said that their mom and dad were being too harsh they would listen. He knew exactly how much a punishment that did not fit the offense hurt someone. After all, they did go overboard on him. “Ron do something! Everything is cleared up. They are being too harsh on me. Come on I am your sister. I was only trying to help you.”

Ron said “I want nothing to do with you. I am not your brother and you are not my sister. Remember that. Even if I thought mom and dad were being too hard on you I would not spend my breath saying so.”

Even with being told to think about how much she damaged her relationship with Ron, the truth finally hit Linda. She lost a family member. Not having a kid brother sent Linda into full mourning. Knowing that chasm between them was so huge that it might never be mended took away the pain of not going to the prom or seeing her friends. She had more important things on her mind than having fun. Linda needed to make herself a better person, one Ron would be proud of calling his sister. Even if he never does so again.

On their way up to bed Ron lightly hugged his mom and thanked her for finally listening to him. There were some bad decisions made this weekend, but Ron knew at least his mom was going to do her best to make those wrongs right. That she had also made his dad see the truth behind what he did. If she was going to put the energy into keeping this family together, he was going to also. Listening to her on how to become a family again was the least he could do because she finally heard him out.