Jamie always felt like he was a girl. He would dress in his sister's clothes when he was younger, always feeling like he was whole in those precious moments.

However, Jamie would go outside in girl clothes. As he approached his teens his parents soon became worried about what people would think of their son. Jamie's girl time with his sister was stopped abruptly by his parents, and they had a talk with his younger sister about what boys are and are not allowed to do.

Jamie's sister Amy used to be the only person who Jamie could feel like 'her' true self around. However, after the talk with her parents, Amy became sickened by the thought of Jamie wearing her clothes. After Amy's change of heart, Jamie would sneak Amy's clothes into the bathroom and put them on, especially her school uniform, since it made Jamie feel like a normal girl getting ready for a day at school.

After Amy caught Jamie in her uniform in the bathroom once, Jamie was never able to wear clothes in private in the house again. Amy would push on the door to get in the bathroom when Jamie was in there, and when she would see him in her clothes, she would tell their parents. Jamie would get punished, each time with more furious actions from his parents. His mother would scream at the top of her lungs about how it is wrong for him to wear his sister's clothes. At one point, Jamie's father grabbed him roughly by the ear and dragged him out of the room and into his parents' bedroom and had a talk about how it was disgusting for a boy to be wearing his sister's clothes.

After the rough treatment by his father, Jamie no longer wore his sister's clothes, but he did keep some girl things he treasured in a toy construction set box under his bed that no one in his family knew about. Inside, he had a Barbie doll, one of his sister's school uniforms that he no longer dared to wear, and a picture he drew of himself as what he wished he could be: a normal girl.

His home life had gotten better, but his school life had become much worse. He always had feminine mannerisms, and while he tried his best to hide them by mimicking the boys in school, they always seemed to come through. His nickname of Jamie didn't help either. Jamie wasn't actually his real name. His name was Timothy Richard Jameson. Jamie came from his last name, which was a nickname that his grandfather also used. The boys at school would use it as ammunition by saying that Jamie used a girl's name rather than his real name because he really was a girl.

Jamie liked the nickname precisely because it could also be a girl's name, but wouldn't dare tell anyone that. He really did wish that he was a girl, especially when he started Junior High. In grade school, he was constantly teased, and while the teasing hurt his feelings, Jamie was able to pretend to ignore their comments and continue with his day. In Junior High, however, the tormenting turned to violence.

Jamie was beaten every day. Since Jamie had few friends among the boys, when it came time to explain the situation to the principal, Jamie would have no one to back his story up. The bullies would always say Jamie was the one who started it, and since Jamie was among the tallest kids in the school, the principal would believe the stories. It didn't help that Jamie appeared in the principal's office for fighting at least once a week. Jamie would go home with a bloody nose, a black eye, or hurt ribs, while the bullies would have no injuries. It didn't matter to the school though, since Jamie was a known trouble-maker. To them, the lack of injuries on the other boys just meant that Jamie was a poor fighter.

His home was the one place that Jamie could feel safe, but after so many out-of-school suspensions, his home life became tense again. His father began to think that Jamie was out of control and that he had a horrible anger management problem. Amy used this to her advantage when the siblings would get into arguments. She would rub her arm until it turned red to show her father how hard Jamie had hit her. It didn't matter to her father when Jamie would tell him that she hit him. Jamie's dad would tell him that Amy was a girl and that she was weaker than him. Jamie shouldn't hit girls under any circumstances, especially due to how big and strong he was. After Amy cried to her father several more times, the discussions between Jamie and his dad became more serious. His dad would tell Jamie that he thought he had an uncontrollable temper and that he was afraid that Jamie would hurt or kill his sister one day out of anger. Jamie would try to explain that Amy was the one who would throw the punches and that they hurt a lot. But, his dad would point to the fights at school and the marks on his sister after their fights. In Mr. Jameson's mind, this only showed him that Jamie's temper was completely out of control.

His dad had threatened to send him to military school, which was a thought that completely terrified Jamie. He couldn't imagine having to spend the rest of his education at a school full of nothing but big, strong, angry boys. At least he got a few minutes of peace at school during lunch when he would sit at the girl's table. Strangely, the bullies never used that as ammunition against him, probably due to the fact that Jamie went to all the other tables at school and was refused a seat before the girls allowed him to eat with them.

The bullies probably saw it as a last resort, rather than Jamie actually wanting to eat with them rather than the boys. However, Jamie really did want to eat with the girls, as he hated being around the boys. Lunch was the only time in his life that he felt completely comfortable. He didn't have any friends among the girls at the table, as they viewed him as the weird kid. Jamie would often come across as clownish when trying to imitate the boys at school. However, even without any real friendship among these girls, he still felt happy for the forty minutes he was able to eat with them at school. Of course, he would never dare reveal that fact to anybody.

In his second year of Junior High, Jamie had finally become used to his life. His home life became manageable since he avoided any arguments with his sister and just let her have her way. This had the added benefit of keeping his dad off his back. Jamie became a fast runner at school and was able to easily run away from the bullies if any bad situation crept up. Because of this, the fights at school had finally ended as well. Plus, the few minutes of peace at lunch kept his life from feeling completely like hell. He had finally felt like he had found a routine that he could feel comfortable with.

That all changed one day when a boy caught him off guard in the hallway. Jim, who was one of the offensive linemen on the football team, tripped Jamie when he was walking out of the lunchroom. "Watch where you're going, girl." He picked Jamie up, and Jamie put his hands in front of his face as he prepared for the inevitable beating. Jim's football friends now were all around them, and Jamie feared for the worst. Jim pushed Jamie into the girl's bathroom and shouted "that's where you belong!" The boys were laughing and Jamie looked around scared. There was no one in there, but Jamie couldn't go back out with the boys out there. He ran into one of the stalls, pulled his feet up and sat on the toilet in a fetal position, and started crying.

After a while, he heard a voice. "Are you alright in there?" Jamie's heart dropped to his stomach. Now, what was he going to do?

Jamie held his breath and hoped the girl outside the stall would go away. "Do you need help?" The last thing Jamie needed was more people coming in here and catching him in the girl's room. Jamie squeaked out "I'm OK."

"You don't sound OK. My name's Karen. I'm here for you if you need someone to pour your heart out to."

Jamie's breathing got more rapid. He knew the voice. It was Karen Clemens. She was one of the girls he sat with at lunch, and she wasn't going to go away. How was he going to get out of here now? She'd freak out on him if she found out that he was a guy in the girl's bathroom. His only time of true peace at school at lunch with the girls. That was going to surely end now. She'd tell her friends how much of a freak he was for being in the girl's room. His life was over.

"It's OK, just open the door and we can talk. Or not. It's your choice. But you can't stay in the stall for the rest of your life." Jamie seriously thought about trying to do just that, but he knew he had to face the music sometime.

He sighed, unlatched the door, pushed the door open, and quickly blurted out "I'm sorry I'm in here. Please don't be mad. Jim Cleary pushed me in here. I ran into the stall. I didn't know what else to do! Oh god!" He started crying again.

Karen was momentarily surprised to see that it was Jamie in the stall, but her face softened when she heard how Jim had treated him. Jamie was a weird kid and always seemed like the class clown. She knew that he'd been picked on, but figured that was just to be expected considering how he acted. She'd never seen him break down like this. She really felt bad for him.

"Don't worry Jamie. I'm not mad at you." She held out her hand to help Jamie up to his feet. Jamie smiled and reached his hand out to hers. "Let's get you out of here, though, before things become bad for you."

As Jamie and Karen walked out to the hallway, Jamie was glad to see that the jocks were gone. Karen walked with Jamie down the hallway and stopped. She looked concerned and Jamie was afraid of what she was going to say. "I never knew that the teasing bothered you so much. You should lay off the class clown routine. I know you probably want attention, but you're attracting the wrong kind of attention. I don't want to be mean to you, but I don't want you hurt. To be honest, no one is really comfortable with your act. Everyone thinks you're really weird." Karen knew, as soon as she said it, that she had gone too far. "Oh, Jamie. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Jamie started crying hysterically. The hallway soon filled up with students who were now staring at Jamie. "No, it's true. I know what people think of me. I can't help it though. I don't want attention. I like it when I'm left alone. I try to fit in. But I can't. And you're right, it is all an act. But I can't be myself. You don't understand. I just can't!"

Jamie didn't care that there were two hours left of school. He had to get out of there. Everything was messed up. His tolerable life suddenly became a whole lot less tolerable. He always suspected people thought he was a freak, but now he knew for sure that it was true. He turned around and ran for the doors.

Karen tried to stop him. She shouted "Jamie wait! I'm so sorry!" But Jamie was already out the door.

He ran home as fast as he could, crying like crazy the whole way home. He ran up to his room and flung himself on his bed. He felt totally empty inside. His life was over, there was no way he could face anyone at school ever again. The scene he made in the hallway was sure to seal his fate as the school freak for the rest of his life. He sunk his head in his pillow just as the doorbell rang. He heard the front door open as far as the chain lock would let it, followed by Karen's voice. "Jamie, I'm really really sorry! Please let me in."

Jamie was surprised to hear that Karen followed him home. He wiped the tears from his face with his shirt sleeve and headed down the stairs to the front door. He unbolted the lock, and let Karen in, with his eyes pointed downwards, ashamed to meet hers. He thought about how he had admitted to the entire school that his life was just an act. "I guess you must really think I'm a freak after that." Karen's eyes welled up, and she hugged Jamie tight. "I don't think you're a freak, and I really don't think you're weird either. I'm so sorry I said that Jamie."

"The truth is I do enjoy your company at lunch." She thought carefully before she said her next line since she didn't want to hurt Jamie again. "You seem so happy then, but you seem so different the rest of the day." Jamie backed out of their hug and his eyes got big. Did she suspect anything? It would be terrible if she found out he wanted to be a girl. He was a boy and boys just don't think like that. Karen saw the worry in Jamie's face and quickly added, "But after today I know why you act like that." Jamie gulped, expecting the worst. "With those jerks on your case so bad, it's no wonder you're not comfortable in school." Jamie relaxed, and Karen noticed immediately. "Thank goodness," she thought, "the hard part is over. Now I just have to make it up to him."

"You have more friends at school than you think. You might as well stay home now since school is almost out, but when you get to school tomorrow, don't worry so much. Just be yourself, I'll get the word out and we'll make sure that those jerks leave you alone." She smiled at Jamie and gave him another hug. "The kids at school will be glad to meet the real you. I know I'm glad I did." She left Jamie's house. "I'm going to head back to school. I promised Julia and Megan I'd meet them after school. See you tomorrow, and remember you have nothing to worry about."

Jamie sat after she left thinking to himself. How much of himself did he really want people to see? It's his natural behavior that got him in trouble in the first place. He couldn't let himself act like a girl, that's for sure. He definitely had to still try to copy the movements of the boys so he didn't stand out as a freak. But, no more acting stupid. He hated acting like that anyway. However, people noticed how odd he moved and acted, and he found that if he exaggerated it more, people would laugh at him rather than beat him up. If he really did have people watching over him as Karen said, then maybe he wouldn't have to worry about getting beat up. That thought brightened Jamie's mood considerably. "That's what I'll do then", Jamie thought. "No more acting weird, and I'll see where it goes from there."

When the rest of the family came home, Jamie was still in the living room thinking. His dad looked at him, "What's on your mind son?" Jamie looked back at his dad briefly, then turned his head towards his knees. "Nothing. I'm just thinking." Mr. Jameson noticed how sullen Jamie looked and decided that it was a good time as any to try to turn his mood around a bit. "Well, your mom and I have been talking, and we really think you should get out of the house more. We hate seeing you looking so down all the time. You really need to make some more friends. You should join the football team. You're the tallest kid in your school. You'd make a great linebacker." Jamie cringed at the tallest kid comment. He hated being so tall. He cried about it to his parents once when he was younger, but his dad just brought one of his friends' sons over to tell him how great it was for a man to be tall. Jamie hated the thought of becoming a man one day and almost told his dad right then and there that he wanted to be a girl, but thankfully he kept it in. His life had become terrible since when his family caught him in girls' clothes, Jamie shuddered to think what his life would be like if he actually told them that he wanted to be a girl.

Jamie's mind got back on track. Oh no, football. That's the last thing he needed. They smash into each other for fun. And that didn't seem like fun at all to Jamie. He wanted desperately to not get beat up anymore. Getting hit around in his free time sounded awful. "Actually, I was talking to Karen Clemens earlier. I'll probably be spending time outside of school with her."

Jamie's dad got a huge grin on his face. "So, you've got yourself a girlfriend?" He saw Jamie blush and picked him up into a bear hug. "Of course you do. You have the looks of your old man." Jamie cringed at that thought but gave his dad a forced smile. At least the football crisis seemed to be averted for the moment.

When Jamie's mom called the rest of the family in to dinner, his dad told her about Jamie's new girlfriend. Jamie blushed, and his mom told him that she'd love to meet her. When both his dad and his sister replied that they'd love to meet her too, Jamie knew that things had taken a sharp turn really quick. He barely knew Karen and hoped that he hadn't made things worse by bringing her up to his father.

That night Jamie tossed and turned as he thought of the day ahead of him. Will things get worse? Will Karen get mad at him because his family thought they were dating? Will he screw things up even worse by acting like a girl instead of acting less goofy? Will the kids see right through his charade?

The alarm went off, and Jamie woke with a start. He hadn't had a very restful night's sleep, but then again he hadn't rested well for years. "Well, time to face the music", Jamie thought. "Hopefully I don't screw things up too bad."

His mom and dad had already left, but his mom had left him and his sister their lunch money as usual. His sister would be up in 15 minutes to be in time to catch her bus, but he had to hurry off on his bike if he wanted to make it on time.

He made it just in time to hear an announcement calling Karen and him to the principal's office. "I'm very disappointed in you two for skipping school yesterday. Karen, I'll let you off with a warning since you've never been in trouble before. But this young man," he turned to Jamie with a stern face, "has been in my office too many times to count. I thought those days were behind us, but it seems they aren't. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call your parents and give you in-school suspension, Mr. Jameson. Karen spoke up, "Mr. Munsen, it's not Jamie's fault. He was being picked on by Jim Cleary and his friends." She held her head down as she continued, "I called him a freak. I didn't mean it, and I tried to tell him, but he broke down crying and was already out the door by the time I could say anything. I followed him home and apologized to him there." Mr. Munsen thought for a few moments. He did remember the commotion in the hallway. "Thank you for your honesty, Miss Clemens. Since no one was hurt from the commotion, I'll let it pass this time. I'm glad you're not resorting to violence to solve your disputes anymore, Mr. Jameson. But next time, come to my office instead of leaving the school grounds. I promise I'll always be here for you if you have a problem." The kids thanked their principal and went to their first class.

Jamie couldn't get the meeting with Mr. Munsen out of his head. "It seems like everyone is offering me support lately. I hope it stays that way." As he thought that, a rubber eraser hit him on the side of his head. It was shot by Brad Loomer, one of the football players. He and a group of his friends started laughing, and Jamie's thoughts of peace quickly dropped. "Knock it off you jerks. Don't worry about them Jamie, they're just idiots." It was Susan Thomas, another girl Jamie ate lunch with. They kept laughing, but Jamie smiled broadly. He never had anyone stick up for him before, and he had two people do it for him in one day. "With this much support, maybe I can try to be myself after all", he thought.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. All of the girls that Jamie sat with at lunch stuck up for Jamie, and the jocks never gave Jamie any trouble outside of the eraser incident, except that once during sixth period Math when Jim Cleary flicked him with his forefinger in the back of the head. Jamie soon realized that it wasn't the whole school that was against him, but just a small group of idiot boys. Jamie figured that he could live with that.

At the end of school, Karen surprised him by asking him if he wanted to go to Denny's after school with her friends. He thought back to his conversation with his dad. "I guess I really am going to be doing stuff with her." He smiled and said to her, "I'd love to."

---

As I've been updating this story, the other three chapters just needed a few tweaks. However, this one and part five just didn't flow right, so I changed part four's ending to better fit the established personalities of the characters.

---

Jamie dialed home on his cell phone to ask permission to go with the girls to Denny's. His dad answered the phone and was thrilled to get the call. "Of course you can go to dinner with your girlfriend, son. What kind of father would I be to say no?" Jamie thought that he should end the girlfriend talk then and there and tell his dad that Karen was just a friend. He thought better of it though, since his dad seemed prouder of him now than Jamie could ever remember him being.

He didn't want to hurt his relationship with his father, so he changed the subject. "Why are you home so early, dad?" His father was an elementary school teacher, so he normally doesn't get home until Jamie gets home, or slightly later. "We had a half-day. I don't get the whole half-day off like the kids do, since we have work to do. But I still like half-days since we still get to go home earlier than normal." Jamie found himself wishing he could get a half-day. He missed his old school, where his dad worked now. They were right next to a creek bed, so half days were always called if the water rose too high.

His father broke his train of thought. "I've got to go son, have fun. I have a special night planned for your mother, but she knows nothing about it. I've got a lot of work to do before she gets here."

"OK dad, have a nice time with mom." "I will son, you have a nice time with your girlfriend." His dad's voice seemed to get louder as he got to the last part of that sentence. Jamie could imagine his dad's face beaming with pride at his son, the "chip off the old block". Jamie sighed. "If he only knew who I really am", he thought.

Luckily, Jamie had no time to wallow in self-pity, since his friends arrived at that moment. Susan asked, "Are you ready, Jamie? My mom's picking us up out front."

Jamie was nervous about meeting Susan's mom but tried to put any fear aside. "Yeah. I just called my dad. He said it was OK for me to go." Karen smiled. "Good! There's your mom now, Susan!"

They all piled into the back of the van. Mrs. Thomas was a little surprised to see a boy in the group since her daughter had a very close-knit circle of friends. "Who is your new friend, Susan?" "This is Jamie Jameson. He's become a part of our group at lunch." Susan smiled at Jamie. Mrs. Jameson became even more surprised at this revelation since her daughter's group didn't expand too often. And, she never once saw a boy join the group. She didn't say anything, since she figured the girls were growing up. But she decided she would keep an eye on him though, just in case his hormones got the best of him. She just hoped that too many more boys wouldn't join the group. She didn't think she could handle that.

Mrs. Thomas was pulled out of her trance by a bunch of girlish laughter coming from the back seat. She looked in her rearview mirror and was surprised to see Jamie giggling right along with the girls. They burst into "Fly with Me" by the Jonas brothers, and Jamie was singing right along. She knew then that this wasn't your typical 13-year old boy. He looked the part when he first got in the van, but looking in her rearview mirror, she couldn't help but see five giggling girls. Even if one of them was about six feet tall with short hair. She stopped her thought process there. She can't let first impressions cloud her judgment, either for the good of her daughter or for Jamie. This was a boy after all. She had to think of him as such. She looked back again, just as Jamie was singing "tonight.. I.. can see the world through your eyes" and broke into a girlish giggle fit. She smiled to herself and thought, "it's not going to be easy".

Jamie and the girls were still giggling when they got into the restaurant. They had just sat down at a table and ordered grand slams when Jamie's worst nightmare came true. Out of nowhere, Jim Cleary pulled Jamie hard out of his seat. While Jamie was on the ground, and before anyone could react, he kicked Jamie repeatedly in the ribs and twice on his head. The jocks were laughing, but the rest of the restaurant wasn't. A large man pushed Jim down hard and looked down at the crying boy. "Are you alright, young man?" Jamie grabbed his midsection and tried to get up. It hurt so badly that Jamie ended up falling back to the ground, screaming in agony. Jamie had never felt pain like this before. The girls were all on their knees, teary-eyed as they hugged their friend. Jamie, feeling his consciousness failing on him, whispered what he feared might be his last words to his friends. "Thank you for letting me feel like a real girl." He barely got the words out as the darkness enveloped him.

An ambulance showed up five minutes later and took Jamie directly to the hospital, however, the wait for the other girls' ride to get there was excruciating. Once they finally got into Susan's mother's van, the girls were all silent as they rode to the hospital. They knew Jamie was effeminate, but his revelation before he passed out hit them hard. Emily, a brunette who had joined the group a year ago, and one of the two girls who talked to Jamie the least spoke up. "I feel so bad. I never talked to Jamie since I thought Karen was just being nice to him to get him to stop acting so weird." As she said that, she started crying. "It's no wonder he acts so weird. God, it's got to be so hard for him feeling like that." Mary, the short red-haired girl who shared Emily's previous views on Jamie put her arms around Emily. "I know exactly what you mean. I always tried to avoid him and never really accepted him into our group. But, now... can you imagine how hard it must be being a boy who feels like a girl?" As Mrs. Thomas heard this, she now knew her assumption about Jamie was correct. She wondered if his parents knew, and feared what they might say if they did find out. The last thing Jamie needs now is more trauma, but she knew his parents had a right to know what she knew. She'd have to find a way to break it to them before someone slipped it out, possibly making things worse.

As the girls got to the hospital, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Jameson were already at the hospital, their faces looking ravaged from crying so hard. Mrs. Thomas introduced herself. "I'm Mrs. Thomas, I'm Susan's mom." The girls looked sheepishly at his parents. Susan spoke up. "We've never actually met. I'm Susan Thomas, this is Emily Thompson, Mary Martin, and Karen Clemens. We're Jamie's friends." The two looked at Karen. Mrs. Jameson spoke up. "Hello Karen, we've heard so much about you. It's too bad we couldn't meet under better circumstances. You must be a wreck." Karen sniffed and nodded. Mr. Jameson added, "Don't worry, the doctors say Jamie's going to be alright. He's got a fractured rib and a concussion, but luckily he doesn't have anything too serious. He's a strong boy, he'll pull through."

Emily broke down at that and uncharacteristically shouted as her emotions were running high. Emily shouted at him, "She's not a strong boy. She's not even a boy! She told us she felt like she was a real girl when she was with us! I thought she was just a weird boy too, but after she told us her deepest secret we can't help but see her for what she really is!" She started crying. "And you should too!"

Mrs. Thomas covered her mouth, looked at her husband, and braced for the worst. However, Mr. Jameson simply stood up and calmly stated "I've got to go out and get some fresh air". With that, he walked past the girls and then walked out of the hospital.

In his hospital room, Jamie was conscious now, but the pain medication he was on made him woozy. He saw his mother come in, however, his father was nowhere to be seen. His mother sat by his bed and kissed his forehead. "Oh, my poor angel. I'm so sorry. I wish I hadn't been so blind to how you really felt."

---

As I said in the previous chapter, I've been updating this story. This chapter needed the most work. It was rushed to have a happy ending, people acted out-of-character, and it had weird, unexplained, local terminology that didn't fit in the story. It still has the same ending sentence, but it's not as happily-ever-after as before, in order to save room for chapter six.

---

Jamie was surprised that her mom now knew her secret. She never would have said it if she hadn't thought she might make it through the blackness back to the land of the living. However, it was out now. There was no turning back.

What surprised Jamie the most though, was her mom's reaction. She couldn't remember the last time she kissed her on the forehead like that. She's sure her mom probably did it when she was little, but her mom didn't show affection like that to avoid embarrassing her "son".

Her mom choked back her tears. "I need to ask you a question sweetie. Do you want to live like a girl? I mean, all the time?" Jamie couldn't believe her ears. Despite her pain and grogginess, Jamie got a huge smile on her face. Her mom smiled at this and then frowned a bit. "I can talk with your principal and teachers, and try to keep you from getting hurt again. But I can't promise anything. And, you know we live in a neighborhood with a lot of religious people. The neighbors might give you a hard time. Sorry to say it like that, but that's the world we live in. If you choose this, I feel really bad about what you have ahead of you. Your life isn't going to be easy."

Jamie looked at her mom. "My life has never been easy. But it will be a lot easier if I can be who I really am." Her mom smiled. "I'll get everything worked out for you. You just get your rest now."

Back in the waiting room, Jamie's mom saw that her daughter Amy was here, talking with Jamie's friends. Amy looked at her mom. "Is Jamie alright? Can I see him?" "Jamie's fine, but he needs his rest." He then addressed Jamie's friends, "Did you tell her?" Amy spoke up, "Yes, they told me. To tell you the truth, I always suspected it. Is he going to have a sex change?" Both Amy and Jamie's friends looked at Mrs. Jameson, as they all wondered what she would say. "It's too early to say. Jamie's going to have to see someone so they can figure out together what's best for him."

She looked over at Jamie's friends and added "What he needs now is support. It's not going to be easy for him. I'll call my friend at family services and try to get everything set up for Jamie once he's up to it." She then got a stern look in her eyes. "But first, I'm going to call Jamie's dad and get him to talk to the father of that punk that put him in here."

Back home, Mr. Jameson was waiting for his wife. "I talked to Larry Cleary. It turns out the manager at Denny's called the cops, and they pressed charges against him for disorderly conduct and assault. He tried to talk me into dropping the assault charges, but I couldn't. Especially after I saw Jamie in that hospital bed. His son has a date at the juvenile court in a month."

Mrs. Jameson looked at her husband with a worried look on her face. "What about Jamie. I mean, what do we do from here?" Mr. Jameson looked flustered. "This is way too much to me. I love Jamie, but I really don't understand at all. He's a big strong boy, so why would he want to be a man in a dress? I'm going to stay at my mom's for a few days, and talk this over with her. I know she loves Jamie more than anything, so maybe she'll have some kind of idea how to talk him out of it."

Mrs. Jameson frowned at her husband as she watched him go outside and get into his car. She then decided to stop getting worked up over her husband and decided that she'd like to take some time to bond with her oldest daughter instead.

Mrs. Jameson smiled at that thought. "I can't wait to meet her."

When Mrs. Jameson arrived back at the hospital, she saw Jamie talking to his friends. Although she could tell that it was painful for him to talk, Jamie was more animated than she could ever remember him being. He had a huge smile on his face as his friends talked to him. When she heard the girlish giggle escape from Jamie's lips, she knew that this child truly was her daughter.

When she saw her mother walk into her hospital room, Jamie's smile became even wider, if that was even possible.

"Mom!", she shouted in a hoarse voice. Mrs. Jameson could see the pain in her daughter's eyes after she talked but was happy that her child was so glad to see her. Despite her injuries, Jamie was still the happiest she had seen her since she was a little boy... er, girl?

At that thought, Mrs. Jameson thought back to Jamie's childhood. She remembered Jamie dressing in her sister, Amy's clothes. That was the last time she saw Jamie this happy. A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought how horrible it must have been to Jamie when she was punished for wearing girls' clothes. She now knew that Jamie was her daughter, and such a punishment felt absurd to her now. She was going to have to make it up to her. Nothing meant more to her than the happiness of her children, so she vowed that she would do anything in her power to make sure that Jamie retained that gorgeous smile she had at that moment.

Jamie's smile faded a bit, though, when she saw her mother crying. "Are you OK, mom?"

Mrs. Jameson knew that Jamie always put others ahead of herself, but now was Jamie's time to be in the spotlight. She grinned at her daughter and told her that she was just glad to see how happy she was.

"When you get out of the hospital, we're going shopping for a whole new wardrobe for you. Your old clothes hardly seem appropriate for a girl of your age to wear."

Jamie's grin returned, and her friends all let out a collective squeal. Karen smiled at her friend and told her "this is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to help you on your path to girlhood."

Susan grabbed Jamie's hand softly and told her friend "you think you felt like a real girl earlier, but you haven't felt anything yet. Just wait until we're done with you. You'll feel like a princess."

Jamie smiled at that. However, at that point, she realized that her dad didn't come into her room with her mom. She felt a pit in her stomach as she thought about what her dad would think about their girlish shopping spree. He definitely would be livid to know that his mom was getting thier 'son' a girl's wardrobe.

Jamie looked over at her mom. "Mom, where's dad?"

Mrs. Jameson swallowed hard, as she was dreading this conversation. She wanted to be as diplomatic as possible since she knew that Jamie really worked hard to try to please her father. She wanted Jamie to be herself and feared that she would retreat back into her shell and try to be the boy that she now knew that she wasn't.

"He's at your gran's. He's having a hard time dealing with this, but he really does love you. And your gran does too. She loves you and Amy more than anything else in the universe. I'm sure that she'll help turn your dad around."

Mrs. Jameson loved her mother-in-law almost as much as her own mother. She was a sweet lady who cared about the welfare of others over herself. Jamie got a lot of her personality from her gran. Jamie also loved her gran at least as much as her gran loved her. Since she had gotten older, the love only got stronger. Jamie's gran used to be a cook for Good Housekeeping, so she was always making delicious meals for the family. Jamie always rode her bike to her gran's house, keeping her company and learning new recipes.

Her mother-in-law might be part of the older generation, but Mrs. Jameson was sure that she would care about Jamie's happiness more than anything else. She might not be happy about Jamie wanting to be a girl at first, but once she saw how happy Jamie was, and how naturally girlish she acted around her friends, Mrs. Jameson was sure that her mother-in-law would come around to the fact that she now had two granddaughters to spoil.

Jamie wasn't sure about what her mother had told her, but she did love her gran and she knew that her gran loved her. She thought about how understanding her mom was and figured that her gran would be understanding as well. She knew that their bond was close, and hoped that now that she was allowed to be the girl she had always been, her bond with her gran would only get stronger.

She also knew that her dad loved his mom. If her gran really did end up supporting her desire to live as a girl, she knew that her gran could bring his dad around too. If anyone could show her dad the light, it would be her gran. She was so kind that she had more than enough light to get her dad to understand and would still have plenty of light to spare.