As Mommy braided my hair she said "I want you to be on your best behavior tonight. You know your grandfather doesn't really approve of my letting you dress-up as a girl."
"I'll be good Mommy" I said suddenly feeling a little funny.
"You had best be" Mommy said. "After we get back home Samantha will come over to babysit you and Katherine."
"What about you, Grandma, and Grandpa, where are you going?" I asked.
"You know perfectly well that I have to work tonight" Mommy said. "And that your grandfather and grandmother have to catch their flight tonight."
"I thought you didn't work tonight" I said. Reality must have shifted again.
"Now you knew that I was scheduled to work tonight" Mommy said.
"I forgot" I said. There wasn't any point in saying that she did have the night off just moments ago. I started wondering what Samantha would say when she saw me. Then I suddenly had an embarrassing thought, we were going out to eat and I was dressed as a girl. Not only that but my hair would be braided. I would really look like a girl.
"Did you remember to tuck in your penis?" Mommy asked.
"Yes Mommy" I said.
"Good" Mommy said. "Well your hair's done. Now just sit there while I braid your sister's hair then we'll go."
A few minutes later Mommy had us buckled into our booster seats. I really didn't like the four foot nine rule. I wouldn't be that tall again until my body was twelve. I wanted to be myself again though I thought that I might miss this. If only Thomas hadn't tossed the medallion into the river. Something was bugging me though. The medallion that I had was broken. The one Thomas had wasn't. What did that mean? Was it even the same medallion? If it was a different
medallion then I still have some hope.
We arrived at the restaurant and went in. Grandpa and Grandma were already there and sitting at a table. Grandpa said "Well it's about time you got here."
"Oh hush now" Grandma said. "They're not that late. Why we just sat down two minutes ago ourselves."
"Sorry about being late" Mommy said. "Ashley didn't come right home after school like I had told her."
"When are you going to stop indulging that child?" Grandpa asked. "It's just confusing him."
"It's what she wants" Mommy said.
Grandpa looked at me and then said "I don't think that he wants it." Well he was right on that, I didn't want this. Though I didn't see as I had much choice now. I was becoming a girl and there didn't seem to be anyway to stop it.
"All I want is for her to be happy" Mommy said. "She wants to dress like this all the time and I'll let her as long as she's happy."
"Give me a few minutes with him and he'll be happy dressing in boys clothes" Grandpa said.
My mind was in girl mode and I said "I'm happy like this Grandpa. I don't want to change. Why would I want to be an icky boy?"
"You are a boy though" Grandpa said. "And your name is Marcus."
"No" I said as forcefully as I could. "I am a girl and my name is Ashley." As soon as I said this I accepted it. I knew that I would become a girl now and not stuck in between.
"Well what do I know?" Grandpa asked sarcastically. "It's not like I have experience raising a child. Oh wait, I do have that experience."
"Dad please" Mommy said. "Can't you accept Ashley's decision and let it be?"
"It's just wrong though" Grandpa said.
"Ashley never really looked like a boy though" Mommy said. "The doctors said that she has an extra X chromosome which is why she looks like she does."
"You never told me that part" Grandpa said.
"I just found out a couple days ago" Mommy said.
"But he still has a Y chromosome?" Grandpa asked.
"Yes she does" Mommy said. "The doctors don't know what will happen with her as she gets older. She could develop like a girl should with the obvious exception."
"Alright then" Grandpa said. "I won't say anything more about it."
"Thank you" Mommy said.
The rest of the dinner went by without anyone arguing over me.