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Lilith was stunned by the venom about Sarah coming out of the mouth of her friend, Constance Hannity. Constance's anger directed at someone she did not know made Lilith lost for words. Lilith was also dazed for she knew that until a couple of weeks ago, she would have agreed with the ignorant and hateful rhetoric coming from her fellow feminist Lilith's point of view on transgender people had changed since her heart and mind were opened by Sarah. The lady seeing the ugly side of her friend had most of the same small-minded views as the radical feminist. How divisive those views were did not occur to Lilith until actions derived from them were taken by her. Then Lilith sat as Constance said, "James is nothing but an useful idiot for the oppressors of women. You need to see him as he is for his goal is to become a glorified eunuch. All he is doing is raping an entire gender by mocking us. He will not be welcome at any of our meetings dressed in a manner demeaning of our struggles. The attack on her friends acted like a GPS for Lilith to find the words. Those words showed Lilith that even before Sarah came to be, her views on transgender people were never truly the same as Constance's. "Don't you talk about our sister like that, Constance." "I will never call a man my sister. You think that him playing dress up makes it so he understands the plight of woman? That he understands the pain of being a woman? Any money, he enjoyed all the harassment of expressing his feminine side? "Get off your high horse. Sarah has her own plight and it is tied into her being a woman. I will not conflate all her struggles with ours, but they come from being a woman. You will never understand she is a woman until you realize you cannot have all the same struggles and experiences from womanhood as all other women. In your small mind, if you cannot experience it, then it cannot deal with womanhood. I saw the harassment and pain Sarah got from trying to be who she was. All of it came from her being a woman. I gave her it, for I did not believe she was a woman. Others gave her it, for they could not believe that a man would give up his privilege to be who she really was. She took the pain and suffering, but did not like it. You think since Sarah could easily have never had to deal with it, so doing so means she wants it. She does not. My friend just wants to be who she is and is not scared of paying the price. Never mistake her strength as her enjoying being mistreated. Also, don't call me sister. Sarah is my sister, and anyone who does not accept her for who she is, is not. Your heart is not open to others. You have no empathy. You want to be exclusive, not inclusive. You talk about wanting equality, yet you will not give it to others. You are a hypocrite, saying a person cannot be defined by their body, yet you are doing the same with Sarah." "Poor misguided Lilith." "Oh Connie, stick that condescending talk up your ass. It is only me and you here, so do not try to win points in public opinion by downtalking me." Constance was not going to have a debate on this subject. She knew she was right and nothing was going to change her mind. She felt bad, for Lilith lost the true faith of the feminist cause, that her friend was buying into the androcentric propaganda that the female and male brain are different. The lie about the differences in the brain just helped the patriarchal-led industrial-military complex stay in power. "Lilith, if you are not going to be civil, maybe we should not talk about this subject. It is closed anyways, for I made the decision." Lilith knew the transgender issue was far from closed; she was going to bring it up at the Women's Student Union meeting. The lady who knew she was right was going to press the issue of whether the WSU was going to be inclusive or exclusive. There was no way this decision should be coming from the top, for it set the club agenda on how it will meet its mission of serving the needs and concerns of all the female students. **************** Father Salvatore Lightman, the Patron Sinner of Saints, was enjoying a smoke and a beer after having a nice quiet meal with Sister Catherine. She came over at least twice a week to break bread with the leader of her parish. The other nuns looked down on her decision to do so. They believed it was wrong for the leader of the flock to have a personal life. He can be outgoing and social, but being the spiritual leader of his denomination, Father Sal needed to have his calendar clear. The man of God needed to be able to drop everything to serve his flock. A couple of years ago, Mother Superior Natalie forbade Sister Catherine from eating with Father Lightman. She heard too many of the parishioners talking about the inappropriate meals those two were sharing. It did not look good for the church, so she wanted to put a stop to it, then when one of their biggest donors, Thomas Ratzinger, threatened to find a more traditional parish, the head of the nunnery knew she had to take action. Father Sal was not happy when he found out the order Mother Natalie gave Sister Catherine. He could not stand that she put the love of money over the happiness of two people. He tried to reason with Mother Natalie about how it was good for the health of their church for him to be able to have a conversation once in a while with someone he wanted to spend time with. Mother Natalie was not going to cave and informed Father Sal he could find someone else he wanted to spend time with. Sister Catherine took a vow of obedience and Mother Natalie made an edict. Father Sal was fine with it, then he informed Mother Natalie to get rid of the cable, the nunnery's car, and to make sure the sisters changed their shopping habits. They also had a vow, a vow of poverty to uphold. Mother Natalie relented. Father Sal was the Patron Sinner of Saints, for even with being the most beloved Priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese and the most knowledge about Catholic Dogma, he was a flawed man. Father Sal made sure that he always worked the parish's soup kitchen alongside the nuns at least once a week. He always had time for anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, who needed guidance. Father Sal did so, not in hope of converting them but that he felt so good helping others. He loved his cigarettes and beer, sometimes a little too much. He would once in a while go to the casino. He would drive an hour to the Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin in Greene County, just to play a little poker. He did not play to win money; it was just a little fun and relaxing. Any winnings he would always donate to cause du jour of his parish. Father Sal did not choose the trendy charity to be cool; , he did so for he was the one who picked it. That charity would be close to his heart. These sins were not the worst ones in the eyes of the modern day Pharisees who judged everyone to a much higher standard than themselves. The best way to describe Father Sal's faith was to call him a heretic. It would not be fair to do so. A long time ago, Father Sal had a crisis of faith and came away from it not caring about God and heaven, one way or another. He came away from it not caring about the Byzantine dogma which his church had. How could any sane person care about tenets which came from people who made the decision that beavertail is a fish. All Father Sal cared about was the core teaching of Jesus's truth, and he felt that continuing to say Mass was the best way to get Jesus's teaching to the masses. Father Sal believed in all his heart and soul the most important commandment was love your neighbor as yourself and love God as no other. To Father Sal, love was God; it was the highest power. Love deserved a temple in its honor which dwarfed the Sistine Chapel. He saw spreading the message of love via being a Priest as his way of helping to make that grand temple. It would lead to the day when a man's life was actually his prayer to Sal's God, so the Earth itself would be the temple. Father Sal was indulging one of his flaws, hoping for a way to get out of going over to the Serra's for supper tomorrow. They were nice people, but thought that showing off their good works to a priest was being pious. The man of the cloth so wanted to tell them that him knowing their list of good deeds for the month did not earn them extra credit. Also, he would love to talk about what was happening on the WWE with their son, Shawn, who was a huge wrestling fan. (OK as-is, but a technical punctuation would put a semicolon after "credit" if you keep the word "also" or eliminate "also" if you keep the period. The more I think about this, the ideal solution would be to keep the period and change the sentence to read "He would also love to talk...") Then Father Sal's prayers were answered; , he got a call from Cara. Those two were going to meet on Saturday, but Cara asked if he was free tomorrow. Father Sal said, of course. He would have been free to judge a talent show in Christchurch, New Zealand, but with it being time with Cara, it made the excuse for missing dinner with the Serra family an enjoyable one. Spending time with a lady, whose faith was so strong and did so many good deeds, made the grifter feel not as guilty about pulling a con over his flock. Father Sal took solace in the fact that good was coming from him lying about his faith. Also being around good people like Cara was a great reminder to him to make sure he worked hard on keeping his secret safe - not for his protection, but to help others stay strong. ********** Sarah was in total James mode by the time her Giggle Twin dropped her off at home. To stay safe, Sarah put herself in the protective custody of the male persona she made. Even with James just being part of her, she knew he was her champion and watchdog. He came about from a need and would not only protect her, but make sure whatever happened was in her best interests. As James walked into the house, it had a light earthy smell from the red poppies which decorated each room, and paprika and garlic from the feast in his honor. To him, that smelled like home. He was then greeted by the smiling faces of his entire family; , even his dad had a little grin on his face. He felt welcomed at home; a little part of him wondered if the welcoming committee would be the same if they knew the truth, that there was a lady standing in front of them. That question left quickly, for it was of no concern right now. James knew that he had to know more before he revealed that he was really a she. The mystery behind the show of emotions from his dad Marcus was quickly answered. "Hey there, stud, you finally got the girl. You should have played the field some while waiting, but still, you got her." Marla quickly responded, "Oh Marcus, if you would have done that with me, we would have never gotten together." "Yes, but I already played the field before I set my sights on you." Simon did not want to waste a Friday night with his dad, hearing his dad give out compliment sandwiches all night long. It was passive-aggressive in his eyes, and did not want to expose his child Gary to it. "Dad, who cares if James did not do it your way. He got what he wanted, and knew how to get it." Hearing his dad call him a stud made James realize that his dad was still going to act like rebar and reinforce James being a man. Before Sarah allowed herself to be known to her creation, James would have just thought of the statement as his dad showing disapproval of anything which James did not do perfectly. By not perfectly, James meant not exactly how his dad wanted it done. Now James was suspicious that somehow his dad knew about Sarah also. The pretend man wanted to put a stop to the critique of how he lived his life, and said, "Dad, I got her and that is all that matters." Marcus liked James standing up to him as much as a child liked birthday cake and ice cream. "I know, Son. I just do not want you to lose her. You know men wonder if something better is out there if they did not sample enough. It also helps them show they are a man to others." Before Ruth could point out the fact she was married to her first boyfriend and they never broke up, James spoke up again. "No, Dad, boys wonder if something better is out there. I do not need to prove how I am to anyone." It was fine that James stood up about the past, but standing up to advice about the future Marcus liked as much a child did if the birthday cake was a carrot cake. "James, you need to listen to your old man. I know what I am talking about." Marla was not going to have the main topic become Marcus telling James everything he was wrong. James usually just ignored it. Tonight was different; , today her son was not in the mood to hear it, so it needed to stop. "Marcus, instead of trying to give advice tonight, just enjoy that our baby boy is home." "He is not our baby boy. James is a man, the stud who got the lady." James let his dad getting the last macho comment go without making a verbal response for he knew his mom wanted it to drop. Marcus was pleased to have his place in the pecking order honored by his son. The dad was also pleased his son still showed his disapproval with the look he gave him. Marcus knew that men need not use words to get their message across and James did so. The tension between Marcus and James was gone like a child actor's fame because the dad, Marcus, misread his son not backing down as James finally becoming a man. The concerned father was going to let up on his son. That day at his sister's place must have been just two kids playing and not knowing better. It took James long enough to show it. Even with seeing his son as a real man, Marcus had no regrets or remorse with how he handled the situation. He was as hard as cheap leather on his son for James benefit and it worked. His relationship with his sister, Gloria Bunker, was nonexistence Being the disciplinarian to his son and the bad guy in his sister's eyes was a price the loving father was willing to pay to make sure his son had the best life possible. ********* Dillon had as many traits which Ronnie found wonderful as there are house rules to play Monopoly. The one Dillon's main squeeze found endearing was how open his man was about making sure Dillon made solid genuine connections with Ron's friends. Ronnie's boys and Dillon were fast becoming friends. Robby, Bobby, Rickey and Mike could tell that Dillon's reason to be friendly with them was not to score points with Ronnie, but for he liked them as people. Dillon was in the dining room with Mike playing 500 Rum to just spend some time together as Ron got dressed up as Veronica. Dillon was happy that it was taking his man longer to get ready, for he wanted to talk with Mike about Thanksgiving. Dillon was going to invite Ronnie and Mike to his parents for the holiday. Dillon invited Ronnie but he already had plans to spend the holiday with Mike. Dillon so wanted his parents to meet the man who had his heart. His parents wanted to meet him also. Dillon's father, Hank, was more eager about being introduced to Ronnie than the man who wanted to show off his other half. People in their community of Hudson, Ohio, all knew how proud and supportive Hank was of Dillon. When Dillon came out his junior year in high school, Hank became very active in PFLAG. In a short period of time, the loving father was able to organize a haunted hayride whose proceeds went to that support group. As Dillon cut the cards for Mike's deal, he cut straight to the point. "Hey Mike, this Thanksgiving I would love it if you and Ronnie came to my family's farm. I want to introduce my man to them." Mike was so happy to hear how serious those two were and, not wanting to feel like a third singer in a duet, Mike said, "You can take Ronnie. I can just stay here. I need to stay here anyways, for my job at the gas station. It is fine; Thanksgiving is no big deal for me. Ronnie is making more of a fuss about it than me." "I want you to come also. If I did not want you there, I would have taken Ronnie on another weekend. I know you will enjoy it. Do not worry about being the third wheel. It is a festive time where everyone mingles with everyone else.The house is filled with four generations of friends and family all weekend long. They love to meet new people with new stories. People can only hear about my Uncle Tom draining the game winning three point shot so many times." Dillon's choice of words did not cause convince Mike to change his mind; , it was the want in them. Mike felt Dillon's desire to have him as part of the celebration. To Mike it was how close people were in the other's heart which made family, and Dillon was offering the man with no biological family a place close to the center of his. Dillon wanted to become as close as possible with Mike, because anyone who was as dear as his 500 Rum opponent was to Ronnie's heart was also going to be dear to Dillon's heart. Dillon wanted a close lifelong friendship with all the people that Ronnie had one with also. Mike was touched by the offer and opened up his heart to Dillon in accepting the invite. "I would love to go. I always wanted to enjoy a huge Thanksgiving surrounded by friends, family and loved ones." With being a foster child all his life, Mike never felt a close connection to the foster families who took him in. The motherless child's knowledge of the family's being paid to take care of him caused a disconnection. .Each time one of those kind-hearted families introduced him as a foster child while introducing him to their friends, Mike was reminded it was a temporary situation which could end at any time for any reason. It also made Mike feel more like an accessory than a part of the family. Mike knew most of those foster families were good people, but with changes in their life, they moved on from having a place for Mike in their home, heart and life. It made him feel disposable. With Thanksgiving being dealt with, Dillon told Mike to deal the next hand. The time together became less them playing the game, and more those two just talking. In between hands, Mike started to show Dillon cards tricks. The aspiring doctor started to learn them in grade school as a way to impress one of his foster fathers who loved magic acts. He kept at it now, for doing sleight of hands tricks helped him with his dexterity. A great surgeon needed to have nimble hands. *********** Father Sal sat in the corner of Smitty's thinking whether he had time for one more beer before putting the food order in. The mounting looks of disapproval from his fellow patrons played no factor on his decision. The only concern was to make sure he was back at the rectory in time to greet Cara. The lady who wanted his guidance was not due to show up at the rectory for another hour, so he did. The man of the cloth could not believe how much of an ordeal it was for him to get what he wanted for supper while making sure he did his duty to a member of his flock. No matter what, his decision would be chastised by others. No one should be judged for getting a fresh fish sandwich. If he would have came to Smitty's with Cara, people would have been talking about how inappropriate it was for a priest to be out having a meal with such a young lady in a bar. Coming here and enjoying a couple of beers made the people talk about him hanging out with the wrong crowd. Even members of the wrong crowd were saying so. The people who were in the wrong crowd by judging those in this wrong crowd would have whispered about Jesus if he stopped in here also. The man who was having a Catch-22 was joined by a Major Major asshole. Instead of offering peace to his new drinking buddy, the major major asshole said, "So, Padre, this establishment is good enough for you to frequent it?" Father Sal wanted to be left alone by this guy. He knew that no matter his response, the major major asshole sitting next to him would take it the wrong way. One of Father Sal's strengths was he knew the right time to act counterintuitively. Most people would try to ignore the comment and just hope the person went away. Father Sal responded, "Jesus would find Smitty's good enough to frequent, so I do also." "Oh, the high and mighty priest is comparing himself to Jesus." Raising his voice some, Father Sal said, "No, I am trying to emulate Jesus. I am a priest and Jesus is our role model. We patterned our lives after his so it makes sense for me to compare my actions to his. I am trying to represent him on Earth. You understand that right?" "Lighten up, Father Sal." "Do you understand what I said?" The major major asshole got what he wanted, a rise out of the priest, but did not like being talked down to. "I'll leave you alone. If you can't take a little light-hearted banter, you really should not deal with the public." Father Sal was going to have the final word and make sure this MMA never get smart with him again. "Son, it is not lighthearted to accuse someone who has to be open and accepting of others as being judgmental. It is not lighthearted to infer that a man is not following a huge tenet of his job. But I want to thank you for leaving me alone, and may the peace of Christ be with you, my child." Father Sal did chuckle to himself with the sanctimonious salutation he added at the end. It kept his good mood, but knew he should leave if he wanted it to stay when Cara came over. He ordered the sandwiches along with his last beer. He could warm their meal in the oven until his guest came. *********** Marla was so happy with how the family gathering went. Her husband was not nitpicking James about every little thing. How her youngest son was so comfortable having an in depth conversation with Ruth, along with, his brothers' wives,Shirley and Angela, was a sign of maturity in her eyes. It took her husbands and other sons until they got married to be comfortable around women, like James. They did not realize that men and women can have a close platonic relationship even if one or both were single. Marla's happiness about the night went away in an instant when she heard her husband yell,"No, you cannot have the car to see her," to James. She was relieved that outburst happened after the rest of her children and their families were gone. Marla knew that they were getting sick of Marcus needing everything to be his way. Simon even joked that his dad was more particular than the princess who could not handle a pea.. Marla went into the living room to give James support, and was pleasantly surprised at what she heard. James knew what he was protecting so he was not shackled by not knowing why he wanted to stay clear of his father's anger about this issue. "That is fine, Dad, I will just call for a taxi." Marcus was not going to even chance that all the hard work he put into making sure his son was the type of man he was proud of would be in vain. Sally put him in a dress, and James was enjoying it. She was not going to corrupt his son again. "You cannot see her." "Honey, our son can go see Cara if he wants to." "Sweetheart, that will be fine. Our son wants to go see Sally. I will not allow it." "I can see Sally if I want. She is my cousin, and I want to get to know her better." "She is just like my sister, and trust me, you do not want to know either of them. You will not like them." "No, Dad, you do not like them. I do not know them, but want to." "Why is it a fight to get you to do the right thing all the time, James?" "This is a fight about me doing what you want. I am my own man, and can be friends with who I want." "Not while you live under my roof. I do not ask for much, just to stay away from a couple of people who I know are a bad influence." "You never explained why. If you did, then I can make my decision if I want to know them." Marla was so impressed with how James was holding his own against Marcus about Sally. Her husband was irrational with his hard stance about Gloria and Sally. She had no idea what the falling out was between Marcus and his sister. She knew what caused them to become estranged had to be bad, and both thought the other was to blame. The only time Marla tried to have a meaningful conversation with Gloria about the rift between the siblings, her sister-in-law said nothing. "Marcus, you do not make threats like that to our son about our roof. Do you understand?" "Marla, stay out of this conversation. It is none of your concern. James will not do one little thing which I request." "Do not talk to me like that, Marcus. If it has to deal with any of our children, then it is my concern." "See what you did, James, you upset your mom just by not taking my advice." "No, Dad, I did not. She is upset for you are being unreasonable. Just say why you think those two are so bad." Marla wanted James out of the house so she could have a nice little chat with her husband. She was going to get to the bottom of the animosity between the Young siblings. James was unaware that he was also going to be part of the conversation. "James, take my car and enjoy yourself tonight. Your father and I need to have a talk." *********** Cara was so happy to walk up the concrete steps of the huge Victorian house which Father Lightman lived in. She knew that he, if anyone, could help her with the opposition between her love for Sarah and her church's views on it. Father Lightman let her in, and told her to take a seat in the dining room and they will eat. Cara did not want to eat. She needed a resolution to the debate her heart and soul were having with what provided them substance. She asked if they could talk first. For the girl who gave him hope his depiction was for the greater good, Sal would do anything he could to make her feel better. Postponing supper was easy. The worst which could happen was that they had to eat dried-out fries and fish. Cara being comforted was worth way more than eating a bad meal. "Of course, my child." "Forgive me father, for I have sinned." "Cara, you need not start this discussion as a confession; , also please call me Sal. You know I hate being formal in a social setting." "I do, for the guidance I need is about me not only sinning, but wanting to continue to sin. It pains me to think the church could be so wrong about some of its teaching." Cara did not want to be a cafeteria Catholic; she found them to be self- serving and hypocritical. To her, being a member of a church is accepting all of its teachings, not only the ones you agree with. How could someone say they are a good Catholic if they do not follow what the church said? "Cara, please do not be so hard on yourself. You are a great person, and it is just dealing with temptation. We all do, and we all fail at one point or another to win the fight against it." Father Sal, I have to be hard on myself, for the church does not approve of who I love." "Cara, do not worry if the man you love is of a different faith than you." "Father Sal, I know the church is not against interfaith marriages. It is not that." Father Sal was kicking himself, for he should have known Cara was well versed on Catholic teachings. He was just so used to the misnomer on such a simple stance by so many seeking a church wedding. "Sorry, Cara, I am just used to people having that wrong belief. If it is not about his faith, then how could you loving a man be a sin?" The priest, who was trying to do his best at easing Cara's dilemma, could tell his last question caused it to become stronger. He knew Cara had to freely tell him the issue and not feel pressured into it. A person has to freely share a problem to be open to a solution from someone else. "He is a woman. That is the sin. I am in love with a woman, and I know Sarah brings out the best in me, and I cannot do better." "Cara, my child. You are not commiting a sin. Jesus made a new covenant and gave two commandments, the great and new. They had to do with how to live your life, not what not to do. If someone brings out the best in you, and you bring out the best in them, it cannot be a sin in my eyes. This is for it goes against Jesus's teaching. Do not worry about what the church has to say about your love. It hurts no one." "That is totally against the church's teaching, Father Sal. One cannot pick and choose what they will follow, and what they will not, and still be a good Catholic." "Yes they can, and they should. If the church's teaching goes against the word of Jesus it should be questioned. What is more important; Jesus's own words, or the word of man?" "But the Pope is the voice of Christ on Earth." "That is a position a Pope gave to himself. They are human, and will make mistakes." Cara could not hold in her astonishment in hearing such heresy from Father Sal. "The Pope is infallible." "No, he is human. If the Pope is infallible about his teaching, then somehow Pope Francis is right with his teaching on giving communion to divorced and remarried couples, or to families where unmarried parents are cohabiting, while all his predecessors were also right with the opposite stance." "Times are changing so the churches view on topics do, Father Sal." "God's views on any subject are constant. Humans make mistakes, and the Pope is just a human. The God I worship is about love and helping others to be the best they can be. You said so yourself that Sarah brings out the best in you. It cannot be a sin. I am going to be frank with you, child. You are afraid of rejection by the church. Any church or anyone who would reject you for who you love is not worth having in your life." Cara did not respond to hearing Father Sal bringing up rejection by the Church. Her crisis of faith came from her fear of being rejected by her family. They were all devout Catholics, and she had no faith in them accepting her for who she was. The silence from his fellow debater told Father Sal he was on the right track. "Do not worry about your family, Cara. They love you with all their heart and soul. They will be happy for you finding true love. Did they turn their back on your older sister Elizabeth when she got a divorce from her husband No." "But he was a not a good person." That man beat Elizabeth, and that was grounds for the divorce. Father Sal hated that the church would not grant Elizabeth an annulment; the reasoning was the abusive behavior did not start until after the marriage. They believed the woman beater when he said he was not abusive until the pressure of marriage got to him. "Yes, so with Sarah being a good person, they would approve of you two." "You know if they have any issue with it, they will come to me. I will guide them to see that love is not wrong. Child, do not worry; your family is filled with good people. Can we discuss this later? I am hungry, and so want to eat. I promise you, we will talk as long as you want. That is, of course, only until it is time for breakfast, and then another break." Father Sal's true unshakable faith in her family and his bad joke put Cara at ease. She was hungry also; being upset always added to her appetite. After eating, Father Sal kept on reassuring Cara her love was fine until she started to agree with him. *********** Sarah was too nervous to want anything stronger than a soft drink while out tonight. The fight with her dad made her know he was not ready to meet his second daughter. It also made her know he would never be ready to meet her. Even with knowing, finding out the truth would lead to more conflict in the Young household. Sarah was going to push on. Sarah was so happy to see Sally and gave her a big hug. Sally returned the tightness of the embrace when she felt the love, caring and happiness her cousin felt in seeing her. It also made those two catching up easy. The closeness those two shared years ago came back like a faithful dog. Sarah knew full well the advice Naomi gave her. She was going to follow it, but on her terms. Sarah was going to be open and honest about who she was only if needed. It will come out as she found out about the truth, if the truth was what she remembered. "Sally, I was wondering if we ever used to have tea parties when we were young?" Sally did not know how to answer that question; of course they did have tea parties.. Before Sarah's dad caught her in a dress, it was the highlight of their playdates. Sarah was Sally's first BFF. How Sarah's father's anger, which was purer than extra virgin olive oil about seeing his son in a dress, made it understandable those memories were blacked out like a document scrubbed by the CIA. Remembering the wholesome unadulterated joy from them made the undecided lady know the right answer. "Yes, they were so much fun. I still smile when I think about them." "When I do, I also smile." "You just asked if we had them, James, how can you smile about them?" "I asked, for I just started to think about them, and did not know if they were real for it is just strange that we hung out and our parents ...., you know." Sally did not want to corrupt Sarah's memories of the tea parties with how they ended. It should forever stay a sweet innocent memory, when those two were so much closer to being perfect than they are now. "Anyway, James, enough about the past. It is so great to reconnect with you. Tell me more about Cara. " Sarah was not ready to come back to the present. "What did you call me during those tea parties?" Sally was not going to rehashthat topic, and she lied by saying, "James, of course. What else would I call you?" James knew right then she was not telling the truth. The laugh and being too detailed with what should have been a simple answer was the giveaway. Sarah knew this was the moment of truth, to see if she was strong enough to follow the advice of her psychologist. The lady who did not know her mental strength was as strong as Samson was as quick as Hermes when she said "Sarah." Sally could tell that Sarah was still unsure of the past and wanted it to stay that way. If the woman she thought was a man was sure of the past, it would rehash animosities between her mother and Sarah's dad. Still, Sally could not bring herself to lie. It would add a stain to what should be a spotless memory. "Now, why would I do that?". "For I would put on one of your dresses, wear a bow in my hair and tell you to call me Sarah. I was an honorary girl." Sally got a little defensive. "It was just kids playing, James, nothing more. We had fun, and that is all you should remember.Now I want to hear about Cara. I see how your eyes light up when you mention her." "It was more than just kids playing, Sally." With how her Uncle Marcus accused her of mocking his son and the berating James got, Sally thought that James was accusing her of mocking him. "Don't be like your dad. You wanted to wear the dress." "My dad knew?" "James, tell me what you remember. " "Like I said, I remember us having tea parties. We would sit at your yellow plastic table, and I would feel so pretty and right in that dress and bow. It felt normal for you to call me Sarah. We would talk about us getting married. We were going to be each other's Maid of Honor. Sarah took a break. It was hard for her to keep going, because she had pieced together who opened the door, and why she did not want her father to come in. Sarah had yet to recall the details. Sally could tell it was getting emotional for James, so she continued the story for him. "You were going to marry a woman husband. Then we were going to raise our children together. I wanted one of my sons to be just like his Aunt Sarah, and you wanted one of your daughters to be a great husband to a man like you. " Sally paused, for even with knowing the newly confirmed memory was going to be ruin, she wanted it to be perfect for just one moment to Sarah; well, at least as perfect as a known horror story could be. "Go on, Sally, who opened the door? Please tell me who opened the door." "You know who." "Please, Sally, just tell me." Sally continued, for she knew that James needed confirmation. "It was your dad, and he was furious. I never saw anyone so mad in my entire life. He made you repeat over and over again; 'I am a boy.' We were crying, and the crying made his fury grow. His yelling and screaming made both of us wet ourselves, then he got on you for wetting yourself, saying only a sissy boy would do so. "My mom came upstairs, and those two got got into it. You stopped repeating 'I am a boy' and your dad scolded you for doing so while he and my mom had it out. Your dad was so wrong. It was only two kids playing." "No, it was not, Sally." "James, you are not any less of a man for playing tea party with me. Do not take it seriously; , it was just kids playing make believe." "Sally, this is hard for me to say. We are not close, but you deserve to hear this." Sally grabbed James' hand to give him support and said, "Go on." "It was not just two kids playing. I am.... I am Sarah. I am a transgender.... lady. What my dad did must have buried the truth deep inside me until I was strong enough to face it. I needed to know the truth about our tea parties so I could be Sarah." Sally felt honored that her cousin shared with her. Having the privilege of knowing the true woman in that man made Sally know that her BFF was and will always be her BFF. The caring cousin knew this was hard on her long lost friend, and invited Sarah back to her apartment. When they got back to Sally's, those two talked until the wee hours of the night. Sally loved hearing about the weekend Sarah came to be. She thought that how she and Cara were known as the Giggle Twins was adorable. Lastly, she gushed over the half-heart necklace Sarah showed her. ************ Marcus Young woke up and was still getting the silent treatment from his wife. He was so relieved that she was not talking to him. It helped him to keep the shameful secret his own. In a couple of days the matrimonial cold war would start to thaw. It would take a little longer because he would much rather not talk to his wife than share with her what he saw. She could not handle it. Now all he had to do was wait for his wife to go to the store so he could wake up Sleeping Beauty and finish the talk he was having with James last night. It would not be long before she went. They were almost out of half and half when Marla woke up. Last night, while his wife slept, he went downstairs and dumped most of the half and half out. The man, who needed to make sure his son does not uncover the past, left enough creamer for the morning pot of coffee . He might have been using deceit to get his wife out of the house, but he was not cruel. He knew how much Marla loved to greet the day with her cup of java. Marla finished her second cup of coffee and blurted out she was going to the store and asked Marcus if he wanted anything. She might be as mad as a person who lost out his dream job to his rival who did not even really want it, but she was not going to take it out on him by being petty. Marcus said 'no' and nothing else. He did not want to tempt round 2 with her right now. It was time for the rematch with his lippy son. The loving father thought about last night and maybe he went about it wrong. His boy was now a man and he needed to talk with him instead of talking at him. Marcus still was going to get his way, because his paternal skills were on par with Robert Young's. He woke up James to tell him they had to talk. Until this moment, Sarah did not know how she was going to handle knowing the truth about what happened many years ago. Was she going to confront him, or act like she was still in the dark? Sarah sneered back, "Yes, we do." Those three words and how they were perfectly delivered was all that Marcus needed to hear to know. It was too late; James found out about the incident. Marcus felt like he used more willpower than a temple full of Shaolin monk masters not to fire back at his son. The father knew the son was expressing the right emotions about how Marcus belittled him and rode him all those years. "You know, then you understand why I did not want you to see Sally. It was just mean of her to put you in that dress." Sarah did not like that his dad was trying to hold a conversation with him looking over her at that moment. They were not on equal ground; he was looking down at her, and she was looking up. He was fully awake, and she did not have her full mental capacity yet. "Dad, let me dress and we can talk about it." "No, Son, this is too important to wait." Marcus forcing the situation took away one of the disadvantages Sarah had. Her brain jumped from idling to being in 4th gear. She needed to take away the others. There was no way she could change with him in the room; she had panties on underneath her sleeping shorts. "I do agree it is important, but it can wait. I am going to change, and then use the bathroom first." "No." Sarah got out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes. "Yes, I will be right back. I so want to have this talk with you." How assertive his son was being made Marcus feel a little at ease about James seeing Sally. His son knowing about the past did not destroy all the hard work Marcus put into making sure his son was a real man. He knew there would be a rough spot between those two and it might be permanent, but that did not matter. Marcus did his job and raised his son to be a man. Marcus believed that a father sometimes had to sacrifice having a close relationship with their children for their good. It was for the best that James was the man he was, and Marcus knew one day James would understand. This was for Marcus understood why his father was a taskmaster with him. As Sarah got ready to greet the day she made the decision not to tell all to her dad. She was not ready to handle the fight which would come along with the truth. Her dad was sure not ready to accept his third son was actually his second daughter. She went downstairs to finish the conversation. "Dad, it is simple. You were wrong with how you handled the tea parties. I never want to hear you again talk about my manhood. Never. Who I am is not in question." Marcus liked how Sarah chose her words carefully. He took it as his son making sure not to show any more disrespect to him while being forceful. Marcus, having been browbeaten into who he was today, totally understand why James was being stern. The real reason behind Sarah being as careful as a bomb squad technician with her words was she was never going to lie again about who she was. Marcus decided to do his own thing and not take a page out of his old man's playbook. He was going to give James the response he wanted from his old man. The man who learned a little from the many mistakes his dad made also hoped the three words he was going to use to end this conversation were delivered as perfectly as the three words James used at the beginning of it. "I love you." Those three words were powerful, and Sarah knew it was the best she would get from her old man. They were a show of emotions from Marcus rarer than how John Wayne liked his steak. They also meant he would never bring up the subject. Sarah also knew that her father would never say he was sorry, because he did not think he did anything wrong. She went over to hug him and said "I love you." It would be more likely to hear a mime than the father who believed in tough love to admit it, ; but Marcus enjoyed how close those two felt at that moment. Even if they never shared a moment like this again, Marcus knew how he rode James was worth it. Marla came in and saw those two hugging. Seeing the showof warmth between her warring husband and son quickly defrosted the cold war she and her husband were having. Even with Marcus being on her do-not-call list, she still got him Double Stuf Oreos. When she bought the cookies, they were not for today. They were her standard peace offering to indicate the end of the conflict. Now he was going to get them today. "Marcus, can you please put on a pot of coffee. , I got you some Double Stuf." Marcus was happy with how it worked out. Marla was not going to press about the past anymore, for the conflict between her son and him was over. He loved that his wife believed in leaving sleeping dogs sleep, and that one was now fast asleep again. It was now his turn to make his standard peace offering "I can, Marla, and you know what? I am in the mood for Pasta Two tonight. James, if you like, you can come along also." Not wanting to push showing too much of herself, Sarah gave an answer which Marcus would approve of. "That would be great. I will bring Cara along."