Hey bat fans....oh wait wrong one.. In the last episode of days of ... oh darn wrong one again ...where was that ...
Various sounds of searching continue.
Hmm is this it? Nope oh hey Ive been looking for that! What was I looking for again Oh yea...
In our last episode Janice and Samantha come face to face and accuse the other of being the brother while in thier fancy dress finery.
Brinnngggg Brinnggg Bringg.
"Harold get that while I get these two into some coats."
"Yes dear" Harold approaches the door almost as if it will bite him. While muttering under his breath"Please please let it be some mormon selling a bible." Click.
"Hi Harold!"
"Your early!"
"Merry Christmas to you too. Now are you guys ready? Bill and the girls are getting anxious." His inlaw Stacy replies.
"Hi Aunt Stacy!" chime two girls in slightly different coats that come down to thier knees. Janice has on a blue coat with purple fur trim and Samantha has on a black coat with red fur trim. Both looking the picture of two sweet girls. Both are carrying a tuperware container of thier cooking. "We helped Mommy with the baking!" proudly smile the two girls.
"Hi Stacy. Thank you so much for coming and giving us a ride. Is the rental big enough for all of us?" Asks Mary.
"OH its no problem." Stacy leans in close to Mary and whispers"I thought you had one of each?"
"We do. Dont ask we got a surprise this morning."
"Oh uhm well" Somewhat at a loss for words Stacy turns back to the girls and looks closely. Both seem like girls in every way to her one brown hair one red, one in a red dress and one in a brown dress from what she can see through the coats."Well dont you two look pretty and so grown up too"
"Oh Aunty" both girls blush furiously and chime at same time leaving Stacy just as confused. "And what are the your names?"
"Im Janice and this is my younger brother Samual"
"Im Samantha and this is my older brother Jason"
"Am not"
"Are too"
"GIRLS!"
"Sorry Momma!"
"I expect you both to be proper young ladies!"
"I will Mommy Ill be a good girl"
"You cant be a good girl your a boy, Ill be a good girl Mommy."
"No you cant im the girl, your the boy."
"Am not"
"Are too"
"GIRLS!"Shouts Mary then in a more calmer voice" Today you are both girls and i expect your best Behavior"
"That goes double from me"Confirms thier dad."Now apologize to each other"
"Ok, Im sorry Samantha your just as much a girl as me sis."
"You too sis, Hugs?"
Both girls put down thier burdon and hug each other in their heavy coats. Picking up thier burdon again they walk outside to the waiting van.
"Are you sure about this?" Asks Stacy.
Mary and Harold look at each other in that silent communication that almost all parent seem to have give a short nod and say yes. They all then proceed outside, after grabbing coats purse and more tupperware, to follow Stacy to the waiting van where the two girls are climbing into the back with their two other cousins. Stacy and Mary occupy the middle seat which has only two belts and Harold joins his brother Bill in the front. Bill looks to his wife for an explaintion who shrugs in return.
Have to take a break and sleep ill continue tommorow...or maybe not
Hey boys and girls its howdy... oh wait thats wrong.. In our last episode our heros battle the mighty... nope that one either.. lets see.. darn muses always moving my stuff around... Donatello does machines, Michelangelo is a party dude tutoo... ok thats definatly not it..
Janice and Samantha have helped their mother bake cookies and have been introduced to their aunt and uncle.
Bill leans over to Harold and in a low voice asks.
"Which one is which?"
"Don't ask just drive."
Bill starts driving with a puzzled look on his face same as his wife Stacy. The Drive to Mom and Dads doesn't take all that long and is very quiet their daughters Nancy and Susan in the back are unsure what to say or do since they were told they were picking up there cousins. One a boy and one a girl yet there was two girls.
Janice and Samantha are oblivious to all this since they are looking daggers at each other and are embarrassed that their brother is in their dress. The silence is not lost on Mary who is sitting their trying to figure out how they were gonna pull this off.
Upon arrival the four girls disembark in a flurry of heavy coats all covering their dressed being careful to not snag their tights or get their shoes dirty. The four confused parents follow behind them all loaded with the remaining Tupperware containers, and gift bags. The four girls are each carrying something as well. Janice and Samantha are carrying the smaller Tupperware containers of cookies while Nancy and Susan are carrying utensil bags and cups.
Janice being the older of the four girls reaches for the doorbell and rings it. The door opens to their Grandfather.
"Merry Christmas Grandpa!" screech the four girls in unison. Grandpa Charlie is a little stunned as he seems to have acquired a new grandaughter and his one grandson seems to be missing.
"Well Merry Christmas to you to girls. And may I ask you pretty girls for your names and your coats?"
"I am Janice this is my brother Samuel please excuse him."
"I am Samantha this is my brother Jason he is nuts."
"GIRLS!"
"Sorry momma."
"I am Nancy."
"I am Susan."
Well young ladies you are all very pretty. Uh go bring your containers to Grandma in the kitchen."
With that the four girls now free of their coats move as a group to Grandma's domain the kitchen. Grandpa Charlie looks to his children and their spouse for an explanation of some type.
"For today we have two girls." Utters Mary.
"I see.. Uh Harold Bill care to join me for a glass of christmas cheer?"
The men move off with all the coats while Stacy and Mary go to the kitchen. In the kitchen is the muttering of four very excited little girls.
"...and I put the frosting on the chocolate chip cookies all by myself Nana." Janice finishes saying to a very confused grandma who is trying her best to maintain a false smile. She looks to Mary with an eyebrow raised. Mary replies with a wave of her hand to mean let it drop/ later.
"Since all four of you are all wearing very pretty dresses it would be a shame for any of you to get them dirty here in my kitchen. Uh Janice I hold you responsible for all the girls and you may decorate the tree."
The four girls leave enmass to go decorate the tree which is a tradition for the children. It is the first time Janice has been put in charge of the group but they all proceed to delicately decorate the tree with the antique ornaments, the lights and streamers have already been hung along with the ornaments on the upper branches of the fresh pine christmas tree.
Left to themselves in the kitchen but still in visual view of the four girls Stacy, Mary and Grandma Denise confer in low voices.
"Mary I may be getting old but I am fairly certain that one of your children is a boy."
"Well this morning brought me a surprise. At the moment, aside from desperately needing therapy, I seem to have two very pretty girls and no son. I cannot explain it. And truthfully I am not even sure which is which anymore. Lets just go with both are girls for today."
"As you wish but you do know something will need to be done. While both gifts I made for your uh girls can go either way I am not sure how we will handle this."
"Thank you. This is really really strange and difficult. I never would have guess one of my children would be one of those trans people."
"You seem to be handling it better than either Bill or I would have Mary."
"I hope you do far better than Charlie or I did with Terry." At the mention of the long lost sibling there is a moment silent grief. The suicide of Terry some 8 years ago is still a hard burden to bear for the family. It is because of this that the whole family is trying very hard to accept the new girl without making a big fuss. Poor departed Terry could not stand the angry looks and comments of his/her family when he/she started to transition. The resulting video played to the family upon his/her death had a profound impact. They all look hard at the new girl in her dress and really see that she is a girl just the same as all the others.
In the private office/den a similar conversation has taken place with some alcohol mixed in to soften the blow.
"Harold she really does look and act just like the other girls. Do you have any idea how to go from here? We still have the number for that therapist who specializes in trans people."
"I guess we will have to see first. This is the first time we have even seen any sign that he wasn't happy being a boy at all. He seemed so normal to us."
A single tear escapes Harold's eye.
"I don't want another Terry. I will do my best to help my new daughter."
"I think we will all try a little harder this time to be understanding. Not many get a second chance to do things right."
"Here."
"Here."
And the clink of the three glasses can be heard over the softly playing Bing Crosby record of Christmas music.
To be continued at some other time.
Look I have all this cleaning I need to do..
I don't care if it's time again I need to...
Meh your not gonna drop this are you?
Fine!
In our last episode Princess Nighty nigh... that's not it.. Hey Bat fans!... Nope definitely not.. OHH a new story by that awesome author Dottie!... oh wait.....
In our last episode Janice and Samantha have been asked to decorate the tree with Nancy and Susan. Our confused grandparents and parents have revealed that the missing member of the family was also once trans.
Janice, being the eldest, was hanging the highest glass ornaments as far as she could reach. Samantha and Nancy were behind her holding the next ornaments while Susan was busy trying to unravel the package of tinsel that had gotten all messed up with another package.
As was the usual the lower portion of the tree was heavy with ornaments while the top was neatly filled. The middle, far less than previous years, was still somewhat bare.
Under the tree was the red with white trim tree mat in velvet awaiting it's own decorations. Grandma Denise had been given the family heirloom Sears nativity set. The set, all in porcelean, had at one point been a cheap christmas decoration. However time had turned this once cheap set into something priceless as it was now onto it's third generation of children.
The girls, now finished with the ornaments and tinsel, hurried into the kitchen to retrieve their parents and grandmother, amid many squeals along the way. The squeals also notified the men that the girl's were done. Like all girls they were proud of their work and wanted praise for making the tree so pretty.
The adults all noted that the one missing boy, who was usually pretty glum at this point, was smiling just as much if not more than the other girls. Mary and Harold somehow came together to gaze upon the christmas tree and were both smiling proudly at there little bundles of joy.
Nancy, Janice, Samantha, and Susan were all vying to get grandma's attention showing the peices they placed, or helped place. Grandma Denise was in her element. Christmas was her time of the year. She also loved her granddaughers, all of them, so much as it made her feel younger just by being with them. This was easy for all to see as she smiled so much she glowed.
Grandpa Charlie came up behind his children and their spouses and opened his arms to put a shoulder, or arm, across each.
The four girls waited impatiently for Grandma to put her naviety set in place. This was also tradition for them as it was like watching an artist put each piece lovingly into place beside another. When grandma was done the girls approached the tree, carefully tucking their dresses so as to not crease them, and kneeled down on their knees sitting on their feet. Grandma carefully winded the music box and the first sounds of tiny christmas music was heard. Each of the girls hugged her Grandma.
"Merry Christmas Grandma." was said by each.
As Grandma was getting ready to leave the tree she picked up the box, tears in her eyes, she noticed that the box was not empty. Checking the tissue papers she searched for the rattling item and found a small angel.
The small angel, who you could not tell was either male or female, was something she didn't remember seeing before. With a shrug she put the angel into place on the top of the manger set were a tiny little nail was sticking out.
It was not till she was ready to walk away, with a groan for getting up, that she quickly turned around and looked at the angel carefully.
Along the sash of the porcelain angel was a simple Merry Christmas. However she could swear that the writing was that of her missing child. She said nothing but looked at her new granddaughter for a moment and wondered.
With the decorations done around the tree it was now Grandpa's turn, also tradition. He pulled out the old train set that he had gotten when he was young and set about setting it up. The girls each wanted to help grandpa and held out various track pieces. When it was set up Charlie sat back and looked on it with pride. The motors on the engine had long ago burnt out but the detail of the old electric train had been something that he had loved even as a child.
"Turn it on grandpa!"
"Yeah how come you never turn it on grandpa?"
"It doesn't work anymore girls"
"Really?" Little Janice reached for the simple knob that turned to start the old train. As she did so the once dead lights came on in the train and every so slowly the train started to move along it's bright copper track.
Charlie was shocked. While he occasionly turned it on before for the one or two lights to come on this was different. It was like someone had given the train of his youth new life. It had been almost forty years since he last saw this train move. And yet, here it was moving on it's own accord. Just like his wife he looked to his new granddaughter and wondered.
To be continued next christmas.
Merry Christmas to all!