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Chapter 1 Sydney Powers was your typical 13-year-old kid. If by typical you mean genius college graduate who's working on two PhDs in mechanical and chemical engineering. He never had to work a day in his life as his patents, earned while working on his Master's in Science degree, were bringing in large amounts of money in licensing fees from major mechanical manufacturers. But academic life wasn't what Sydney wanted, he craved a normal life after 13 years of being the focus of his mother's careful love then his stepfather's ire. He was incredibly smart and clever but he longed for friendship and a chance to do what kids his age did: date, got to parties, play video games, swim, and just talk. What kids took for granted, Sydney longed for. Sydney just wanted to be normal. It was a life that he could never have, as his stepfather forced him to go to school to get more degrees to work on more projects to earn more patents. It was ridiculous to Sydney, he had no need to do anything with his life as he had enough money to live off of for the rest of his life. He loved tinkering with designs and making things but he didn't want to have to do it, he just wanted to do it for fun. His stepfather, Gregory Hollis, controlled his wealth, only paying for his schooling while Gregory himself worked from home managing his small investment firm. Sydney never saw a penny of his money, he had to beg for money for clothing, supplies, and his allowance for food and entertainment. It was humiliating to Sydney to ask for his own money, with his stepfather insisting that he not waste a penny when he didn't have to. Gregory forced Sydney to attend UMass-Amherst, which was a blessing as it allowed him to get away from his stepfather's control. Sydney's family had lived on Cape Cod for decades with his paternal family keeping close tabs on him while ignoring his mother. He barely knew his maternal grandparents, they would babysit him from time to time when there was nobody else to do it but they kept away from him and his mother. His maternal aunts and uncles were no different, they knew of Sydney but did nothing to get to know him and only offered token birthday cards and Christmas cards. His paternal family was even worse. They simply refused to acknowledge Sydney's existence and ensured that his life was a living hell in school before he was tested out once he was found to be a genius. His mother never tried to contact them, he asked a couple of times about them but she simply refused to talk about them and told him, "You are better off not knowing them." His father had disowned them before he was born, running away to the dark depths of Philadelphia. He claimed a bunch of things about Sydney's mother which were lies but it caused everyone who knew his family to shun Sydney. It was tough growing up due to the shunning as he was beaten constantly in school until he was able to forgo the rest of elementary, middle, and high school to attend college at the age of nine. He earned his bachelor's degree at 11 then his master's degree at 13. The only member of his family who had no contact with him in any form was his uncle Justin. His mother had a picture of him in her bedroom and would often cry over it but she never elaborated on why. She never had a bad thing to say about his uncle, she was the only one to never trash him like his other uncles and grandparents had done whenever they saw Sydney or the kids and parents had done when he was in school. When Sydney was 10 his mother married Gregory after a brief fling. She was working as a secretary at his bank and became smitten with her after meeting her. He ignored that she had a young son, which was hard for most of her dates to do, instead giving her the sex and affection that she craved. The marriage was rocky as Sydney and Gregory never got along as Sydney was so engrossed in his work and never acted like a normal kid. The fact that he was earning a college degree and was already set to enroll in a master's program made the masculine Gregory feel inadequate compared with the slender, meek Sydney. It was further degraded as Sydney had been awarded two patents for his deigns that he had devised while working on his master's degree then started to license the designs to major corporations making Sydney a multimillionaire, earning Sydney more money than Gregory had ever earned in his life. Sydney's mother passed away suddenly from a stroke when he was 12. Gregory quickly took control of Sydney's life and all but cut him off from the rest of the world. He took control of his finances and of his educational future, demanding that Sydney get his PhD so he could market Sydney as the young genius who would make companies millions if they hired him. Sydney's grandparents could not care any less about the lack of contact with him. After token visits after the funeral none of the family came to see him. He was all alone with nobody except academia. Getting assigned as Rick Samuels' roommate in the fall of 2020 was pure luck for Sydney. Rick had been the first person to ever treat him like an equal and not talk down to him due to his age nor act like he didn't belong there. Rick wasn't supposed to have him as a roommate but to Rick it was a good placement as Sydney needed someone who was used to tough situations and after a couple of days he proved that he was a great fit for Rick's personality. Sydney was not supposed to be in the dorms at all. As a post-graduate student he should have been in a campus house or condo but due to his age the school refused to lease him one. Gregory fought them on it but being only 13 it was a liability issue for the school. They were being smart. Even if he was a PhD candidate he was still 13 and without a parent to oversee him there was no way he was allowed to live outside of the dorms. If it got out that the school allowed a 13-year-old to live alone the Department of Children and Families(DCF) would have the school in court with the head of housing brought up on neglect or endangerment charges. Gregory himself was to blame for the placement in the dorms as he was too lazy or cheap to move out of the Cape Cod house to the campus to be by Sydney's side. Allowing Sydney to live in the dorms while having the RAs and head of security keep an eye on Sydney was the best he could get. It was an easy solution in his eyes, he could do as he pleased away from the boy then market him when he earned his PhDs in three to four years. Sydney was at work right away and spent much of the summer engrossed in his designs and research. He breezed through the classwork portion of the degree with much of his time actually spent doing as much work as possible to get it out of the way while allowing him to tinker with his designs at night. He was one of the few students who had full access to labs and with his undergraduate interns was able to perfect one of his designs while figuring out his next step in his biggest, boldest design. The summer gave way to the fall semester with Rick and he becoming joined at the hip. Whenever Rick wasn't around Sydney was with Jaimie and Miles Finn and Christina Connors. When the Finns left the school after three weeks he took up with Christina and her new roommate Jordan Marsh then two weeks later Sylvia Roberts. The ladies treated him like a little brother but he enjoyed that treatment. Jordan ensured that Sydney wasn't overdoing things while Sylvia mothered him as he worked to overcome a tough design flaw. He enjoyed Sylvia the most, they were kindred spirits that shared a connection that went beyond their mutual roommates' friendships. The trip to the wedding of Juanita and Zoe James over Labor Day weekend opened up Sydney's eyes about family life and why Miles, Jaimie, Christina, and Rick were so good with him. None of the family members were at each others throats, none of the cousins fought to show who was the best, none of the women made snide remarks about their sisters-in-law or nieces. The elders were what he had seen grandparents to be on TV with jokes about the adults and contented sighs of affection when one of the grandchildren did something funny yet dumb. He was treated like one of the family despite not knowing anyone except Jaimie, Miles, Rick, and Christina and even then it was only for a couple of weeks. The kids his age didn't think he was a freak for being smart and were actually jealous that he was able to do things they could only dream about. He got along well with the girls and shared in a few jokes with the boys, which gave him great joy as they didn't think he was odd for being so unathletic and feminine. Miles found out one of his deepest secrets during that trip. He tried hard to keep it from Rick but it was tough to do without knowing Rick's schedule inside and out. But Miles unexpectedly saw his panties and camisole that he had packed in his bag, bringing great fear to Sydney but apathy from Miles. Sydney kept his clothes hidden, he normally wore panties instead of male underwear and did his own laundry. His panties were the only female garments he could wear without anyone saying something. Rick never noticed and as he showered alone for safety nobody saw his underwear. Sydney had loved wearing female clothes for years and for a time had dressed up with his mother when he was younger. She encouraged him to dress up, they had no friends so Sydney felt that it was more for her than him. He didn't know why he enjoyed it so much, but as he grew older it felt right and became harder and harder to return to being Sydney the boy instead of Sydney the girl. Once she had married Gregory the dressing stopped and the clothes were put away. Luckily for Sydney he had been able to stash away some money to buy his camisole, getting it several sizes to large for him so he'd grow into it. He had to make due with his panties until they got too small to wear making him have to save up again to buy larger ones. Sydney had kept his secret for another four weeks until Rick came back to the dorm after studying with Christina to find Sydney wearing only his camisole and panties and with his hair put into a braid. Rick's eyes turned away as he blushed at the sight, Sydney had somehow made himself look feminine and pretty by just styling his hair. He left for a few minutes so Sydney could change out of his camisole then reentered with the shame still on his face. Sydney expected the worst but Rick sat down and softly asked, "Is this what you do when you are alone?" Sydney nodded to which Rick next asked, "Does anyone else know?" Sydney shook his head, then added a solemn, "I started doing it in secret after mom married my stepdad. I haven't worn them out in the open in almost four years." Rick was serious and asked him firmly, "Is this curiosity? Or do you like the clothes? Or is it more?" Sydney asked what he meant, not realizing that he was asking him if he was a girl inside like so many of the people he had met two weeks before. Rick sighed and told him, "It sometimes starts as a phase that you grow out of. Other times it's a need to dress like a girl that you can't shake and need to indulge in at home or at special clubs. Then there is the deeper issue, of being a girl inside like Jaimie, my sister, and a few of the girls you met at the wedding. These girls were like you, but with help were able to become the girls they truly were inside. You need to talk with someone to figure out if you are a crossdresser or are transgender." Sydney's eyes lit up at hearing that. For all of his genius he never pegged any of the girls who were at the wedding as being anything less than normal girls. He understood that Jaimie was transgender but to him he never figured out that there could be more like him who started at a younger age than him. He had met Al Samuels but she was as female as her friends and even had a good looking boyfriend. Her being transgender gave Sydney concern as she noticed Sydney's earrings when they were at the wedding, but she was simply another girl to Sydney. His whole image of girls was broken by the two people he had met and it was only getting more intricate as there were more girls like them that he had met and interacted with- none of whom Sydney realized hadn't been born as female on the outside. Rick realized his mistake and had to quickly point out, "My sister isn't like the other girls. She had to become a girl due to a tragic accident that cost her all of her manhood but gave her a new life as my new sister. She has had nearly two years of being a girl to cut away the last bits of male personality and is about as female as you can get without a set of reproductive organs." Sydney looked down in shame. He had to think long and hard about his life. If Gregory found out about his secret his world would come crashing down as the ultramasculine Gregory would remove him from the school and force him to do his studies from home while he kept a close eye on him. No matter what he did he was going to find out, he always found out. Rick saw the hesitation and asked that he speak with a special therapist about his habit, one away from the school and prying eyes and ears. Sydney was confused to which Rick told him, "She can help guide you. She will know if you are truly a girl inside or whether you are just a crossdresser. I don't mind if you are a crossdresser, but the other guys may not like it." He mumbled a scared, "Gregory will find out. He always finds out about what I do. He keeps close watch on my money so I can't pay for the session. He is my guardian so he will know when they ask him for his permission to treat me, even if it's just an evaluation." Rick just grinned and made a phone call to his mother Olivia for help. Olivia had the information on hand and gave it to Rick, with the express instructions to bring Sydney to her so he actually went to the appointment, she'd handle the logistics and billing and ensure that whatever was needed was done with Gregory not knowing. Sydney looked relieved then tensed up at another person knowing his secret. Sydney was going to say something about paying, but Rick countered with a hard, "It's covered by the state's health insurance program. Since you're a minor you are covered for it. Your stepdad won't find out or else someone is going to end up in jail for violating your rights." It was a tense two days as Rick and Sydney went about their normal routine. Sydney was driven east by Christina and dropped off at the Samuels home while she drove on to her family's home. She didn't ask what was going on, but did offer him a warm hug and kiss on the cheek causing him to blush. Olivia was waiting outside for him and helped him inside. Al and Thomas Samuels weren't home which made Sydney a lot more at ease. Olivia insisted that he eat a snack before they talked, which made him at ease as she acted like this wasn't a big deal and almost like she had been through this before. Once he had a chance to calm down Olivia asked if he had ever had a mental health evaluation done. This was a tough question as Sydney didn't recall many if any doctor visits since his mother died as he had been so busy with schoolwork. Olivia caught his reaction and added, "It's alright not to remember, but given your mind I think you simply never had one or you'd remember when you went." She asked about a grief counselor, getting a head shake and quiet, "I never talked with anyone. All anyone ever wanted to ask of me was questions about my college classes then about the money I was making from my patents. Mom and I kept to ourselves and Gregory always handled the finances for mom and me. I didn't talk with anyone, it was just school and home and that's it." Olivia's face was red as she tried to calm herself down. She let out a terse, "You should have talked with a grief counselor and likely a child psychologist. It's pretty much standard procedure nowadays to insist on that. I don't believe that your stepfather is doing things in your best interests, I hope you have some sort of trust fund set up to keep him from spending every penny of your money." Sydney was stunned which gave Olivia the answer she needed. She then asked about his family, getting a simple, "Mom's family stopped bothering when mom died. Dad's family ignored us altogether. They didn't like her and they blamed her for my dad running off before I was born. None of my family have seen me for a long time." Olivia stopped at that point and made a few notes then told Sydney, "I'm going to have you talk with my sister Beverly after your appointment. She will look into your bank account and the expenses and see if your stepdad is doing something wrong. I'm sorry but I think he is. I'm also going to ask a friend to look into your custody situation. He may not even be entitled to anything of yours as stepparents aren't normally given full custody if there is family around to take you in. Your father is out there and will need to be located, he should have had custody of you with your stepdad getting it after he refused." Sydney sighed and asked, "If my dad can't or won't be found, can you try my uncle Justin? He's the only one who hasn't had any contact with me. I'm hoping that he would be willing to be my guardian." She asked for his name, then did her best to hide her shock from him. She knew how to get in contact with Justin, and knew he would do the right thing. She just needed to help Sydney's more important gender situation first. Al and Thomas came home late, with Al having makeup smeared across her cheeks and her forehead sweaty while Thomas had bruises from his football practice. Olivia shook her head at Al, telling her firmly, "If you are going to make out that heavy after school you two are going to be separated. Take it slow. You may not be able to get pregnant but I still don't want you to get a bad reputation around your school for appearing to do things that girls your age shouldn't do yet. You know people would just love to take a snipe at you just because of who you are and what you are." Al blushed and apologized then tried to change the subject by asking why Sydney was there. It wasn't hard to figure out that it was important but him staying with them instead of Jaimie and Miles was odd. Olivia changed the subject by asking about school, getting a glare but no response from Al who knew that if she said anything to push Olivia she'd be grounded. The family ate in peace a short time later with Al going off to do homework while Thomas fielded phone calls from his friends and girlfriend about Sydney being there. He didn't have a clear answer, but he did tell them that his mother was tight-lipped and refusing to let Al needle him for information. He was able to get them to stop asking when he brought up that his mother was keeping close to him. Al finished her work and sat with Sydney in the living room. She looked him over and asked him to go in her room for a bit. Behind closed doors she finally asked, "Did Rick find what you had hiding? Don't lie to me because I'm not as dumb as you may think I am. You weren't acting like a normal boy before and there were far too many clues about you not to see that you weren't like other boys." Sydney sighed and admitted, "He saw me in my panties and camisole. Yes, I was wearing girls' clothes. I didn't have a chance to change out of my camisole before he saw me. He's making me go to a specialist so she can see if I'm like you or not." Al grinned and hugged him, telling him firmly, "Nobody is like me, you are your own person. You might just like wearing girly things or you may be a girl. I don't think you really know, I think you might have had an idea but you didn't have anybody to talk with about this. Mom won't let you go back without talking with her." Al asked about it, insisting that he tell her everything from the start. The more Al heard the more she felt that Sydney was a girl rather than a curious crossdresser. It didn't add up for her, he was too much of a girl in how he was feminine without noticing it. She had seen it herself with the earrings. Al finally admitted, "You walk, talk, and act like a girl. If given the choice would you wear dresses and skirts all of the time?" Sydney blushed and silently nodded, adding, "I wore them a lot before mom got married. It got to the point that I only wore boy clothes when I went to class and meetings." Al was no expert but she asked the obvious, "Would you go all of the way? Would you have surgery to become like me and Jaimie? That's the big question that the doctor will ask, it's the big divider for many women like us. Some don't want or can't afford the surgery but are still women." Sydney shed a tear at that. He honestly had not considered it but it felt right. He looked in Al's mirror then at her and felt like he was no longer a boy but a freak. Al had hit the right chord and found his hidden truth. He really was a girl, he just never had the chance to show that he was one. Olivia saw Sydney's reaction and texted the doctor that he had a breakthrough without talking to her. Al told her mother firmly, "He's a girl. I've spent too many hours talking with Aunt Alison about what it is to be a girl to not notice that he isn't a he inside. He's not gay and he's not a crossdresser. Sydney is a girl. He is a she. She just needed someone to show her that she isn't wrong in her thinking." Sydney, hearing those words for the first time, finally broke down. Al had her in a tight embrace while Olivia gave them privacy. Thomas tried to ask what was going on, only to be told to give Sydney space until she was ready to talk. Sydney got up to go to her room with Al telling Thomas to keep his trap shut until she was ready. Thomas knew to not cross his sister especially when it came to something she was passionate about. He would have to endure the wrath of his girlfriend but it nothing compared to an angry Al protecting someone that she cared about. After an hour Olivia came into Sydney's room to check on Sydney only to see her in her camisole and a pair of shorts asleep on the bed. She was cuddled up to a small stuffed bear, not unlike how Al cuddled with her floppy blue monkey. The poor girl looked like she was wiped out, which given the situation and talk with Al was understandable. Al walked by and saw her asleep in bed cuddling the bear and was about to say something but stopped as she saw that it was wearing a light blue shirt with pink trim with white shorts and pink trim. For someone who was unsure of herself it was a big indication that she was feminine and had a strong connection to her feminine self when younger. She was sending signals to others that she wasn't just a boy who loved to wear girls' clothes, she was a girl inside but hadn't been able to let it out fully. In the morning Olivia woke Sydney up to get her ready for the day. Sydney was scared that Olivia would say something about her wearing the camisole, but only got a soft, "That is a little too small for you. You need something larger so it covers your chest more as you move around." Sydney got dressed and tried to hide her underwear from view but it was already known by the others so there wasn't much point in burying them in her bag. Al came in and told her to hurry up, she didn't want to be late for school. Sydney blushed at that, rushing to finish dressing and fixing her hair. The two ate quickly while Al finished grabbing her books and backpack. The drive to school was quick but saw the duo getting stopped by Al's friends who all tried to have a word with Sydney before being herded off to breakfast by Alice Porter. Al was inundated with questions about why Sydney was there but she kept her privacy and refused to talk about, giving the others the strong impression to stop asking about Sydney as she wasn't about to talk. Outside, Olivia was asked about Sydney not being in school from parents who didn't know her and gave a glowing, "Sydney is actually completely finished with school and is enrolled in a PhD program at UMass. Unfortunately Sydney got stuck as my son's roommate. Sydney is staying with us for the weekend as Rick had to do some work on a project and Al wanted Sydney to come by for some positive stimulation and a little tutoring." Dorothy Taylor caught the lack of pronouns and moved on with the parents catching on that Sydney is not to be talked about due to sensitivity. Olivia gave her a subtle nod which was all she needed to get the others to talk about the kids' schoolwork or lack there of as they got into the swing of things. To Sydney, it was a relief as she didn't know how long she could have lasted under their scrutiny. Olivia drove in to Boston and was met by a woman who introduced herself as Chloe Daniels and who needed to speak to her about her family situation. Sydney looked at Olivia who explained, "She needs to do this check as it isn't a normal situation and you asked that your uncle be contacted. We know him but we have to go through the procedures to ensure that there isn't a fight with your father over you." Sydney sat down and talked about her mother, her maternal and paternal grandparents, her uncles, and her missing father. Olivia wrote something down then nodded to Chloe, who then asked about her uncle Justin and his connection to her father. Sydney didn't want to answer, it was painful and she didn't believe any of what was said about her uncle. Chloe sensed there was an underlying story and coaxed Sydney to explain, "Mom and Uncle Justin were dating for years before dad broke them up. Mom loved Uncle Justin but dad got her pregnant so they couldn't be together anymore. Grandma and Grandpa blamed Uncle Justin for everything, dad was supposed to date mom not him but she chose Uncle Justin over him. Uncle Justin ran off in frustration and never contacted the family again. Mom never fell out of love with him. She married Gregory but deep down she still loved Uncle Justin." She gave Chloe a good segue allowing her to ask about Gregory. Sydney growled an angry, "He's cheap. He has a lot of money but he never spends it on anything unless he is forced to. I had to beg him for money for clothes last Spring since I outgrew my old ones. I had to borrow money from the school for school supplies since he refused to give me anything when he dropped me off this summer. If I didn't have it covered by my research grant that I paid for with my own money at his insistence then I would not have been able to do any schoolwork. I haven't been back home since May, I've lived out of my dorm at school since then." Olivia's face went red at hearing that while Chloe smirked. Olivia was about to say something but Chloe boldly cut her off, explaining firmly, "First of all, he is in serious trouble for abandoning you at the school. You aren't emancipated and unless you had a minder who kept a close watch on you then you were neglected. Second, your basic needs aren't being met as I can see from your clothes that you needed some replacements month ago. Third, your stepfather just did the worst thing possible- he got us involved. He, as your stepfather, is not entitled to custody of you under the laws and statutes of our state, only your grandparents, uncles, and father are." Sydney flinched at hearing that, asking, "What will happen to me?" Chloe just grinned and explained, "At school you will be under the temporary guardianship of Rick Samuels as he is both over 18 and trusted by you. We will try to contact your father and failing that, your uncle Justin. We will have to speak with your grandparents but given that they never challenged your stepfather having custody I am of the belief that you are unwanted by them and thus in your best interests will be kept from them. Their little petty act of ignoring you is enough to show me that you are not best suited in their care." Sydney thanked her for doing that for her. She gave the information about her father to Chloe who had Olivia talk with her people to get the search started. It might take time, but Sydney had nothing to worry about anymore now that Gregory would no longer be an issue for her. The two drove on to Boston Sinai Hospital where Olivia said Sydney's new counselor was located. The hospital brought back a lot of sad memories to Sydney as she started to remember her mother's brief battle and Gregory berating her for crying over her mother dying in front of her eyes. Olivia noted this and told her that she wasn't in trouble, she just had to talk with Dr. Bell to get to the bottom of things. Dr. Edith Bell greeted Sydney and Olivia as they entered with Olivia filling out the paperwork on behalf of Sydney with the blessing of Chloe and DCF as her de-facto guardian with Rick being her official guardian. Edith didn't ask what was going on, knowing that it was going to be told shortly by Sydney and was likely too personal to explain in public. Inside Edith's office, Sydney was asked why she was there. She hesitated, then told Edith, "I'm here due to Mrs. Samuels wanting me to undergo this evaluation. She wanted me to know if I was transgender or a crossdresser or simply confused about myself." Edith asked for the full story, being told about her past dressing and her time with her mother then stopping when she married Gregory, ending with Miles finding about her personal items and Rick seeing her dressed up. It all came out quickly and with Sydney in near tears. Edith didn't judge her, she was interested in what she had to say about everything. Letting Sydney calm down, she then asked, "How do you feel when you are dressed?" Sydney blushed as she admitted, "I feel a lot better, like I am really me. It feels great. I love how I look and feel and how much the makeup felt right and how much things fell into place with how I feel about others. I can't help but feel like I belong in clothes and wish I could be a girl full time. I feel like I am a real girl." That last part was out before she realized she had said it. She covered her mouth as Edit calmly added, "You let the girls give you a makeover without fighting. You saved up to buy something that was going to only be worn when nobody was around. You loved acting like another girl even while you were dressed as a boy. You even enjoyed how you looked as you compared yourself to Al Samuels during your talk last night." Sydney said a meek, "Yes" which Edith added, "You suppressed your inner self because you have other things that are being dealt with. First it was your mother's marriage. Then it was her death. That was in addition to your academic work. You haven't had the chance to be your real self, you have put off being yourself for several years. Now that you are around people who won't harm you for being the way you were meant to be you are blossoming into the real Sydney Powers." Sydney burst into tears and blurted out, "I just want to be happy! I haven't been happy since mom died! I haven't been myself. Gregory is a tough man who would beat me for daring to wear panties. I can't be the real me. Whenever I try to be he haunts me, making me see his way of thinking even if I don't like it. I just want to be me. I'm not a boy. I'm a girl. I love being a girl. I need to be a girl." Edith gave her a smile as she spoke from the heart and lost whatever filter she had about what was really going on with her. She was starting to accept her budding femininity and with proper help she will be able to live as who she should have been born as. Sydney Powers was female, now was the time to allow that inner female to blossom for all of the world to see. Olivia was brought in to talk about Sydney's situation. Olivia was blunt and to the point telling her firmly, "Her stepfather rules the roost but isn't actually the one who should have custody of Sydney. We are going to try to find her father and if unable to do so we will have her stay with her uncle. We know her uncle, he's a good man who will do the right thing for her. Until then, my son Rick will be keeping an eye on her at the school while Richard and I host her on weekends." Sydney was asked if she was ready to be her true self, earning an honest, "Am I allowed to be? I don't want to do this if I have to stop once my dad or uncle get custody of me." Edith nodded, to which Olivia explained, "I can't speak for your dad but I know your uncle will not stop you from being yourself. He is a good man at heart and has dealt with ladies like you for several years. He is rough around the edges but inside him is the heart of a man who cares about those in his care." Olivia led Sydney out and hugged her as they got into the car. Sydney started crying, letting out tears of joy and frustration as she accepted that she was going to be the girl she needed to be. She felt a great relief as Olivia hugged her, giving her love that she hadn't felt since her mother died. At the Samuels home, Al saw the tear stains and grinned. She softly asked Sydney, "When can you start transitioning?" Sydney didn't honestly know, with Olivia asking her if she wanted to make it official. The school would have to accept her gender change or they would be facing a tough investigation by the state for again violating the rights of a student. The Finns were on a short fuse with the school and would need little provocation to pull all financial backing from the school and cause other major donors and scholarship programs to chose to move their money elsewhere. Sydney being a special student and one of the few who brings the school good publicity, it would be tough for them to take issue with her. Sydney knew that it would cause chaos and the school would insist that she hold off her transition until she earned her PhDs. Her health and well-being didn't matter, they didn't want to have to shuffle her rooming assignment or give her extra protections as she went to and from class and in the dorms. Her becoming a girl would also cause the school to deal with the usual bigotry but also claims that they were helping a child mutilate her body and live a lifestyle that was harmful to herself and the school. There was now enough going on with Sydney to call in help. Al simply walked next door and asked Cameron Byrne-Toro to come over. Cameron obliged, with Al grinning as she told Cameron that Sydney had a few things in common with him that would help ease things along. Olivia got right down to it and asked about a stepparent controlling the money of a minor that the minor earned. Cameron shook his head at hearing that, adding a firm, "It has to be in writing that the stepparent is allowed to do so. From your look I believe there was no such agreement in place and Sydney's stepfather is fleecing the money for his own benefit without giving Sydney a penny." Sydney nodded, explaining, "Mom handled the banking while Gregory handled the investments. He's using my money to fund his company. He claims every cent earned in profit and interest as his own and won't let me have any of the money I am receiving from my royalties." Cameron understood the gist of the situation and added a firm, "If you want, I can have your money withdrawn and every penny repaid that he stole from you. You may end up with no new money in interest or dividends, just the money paid into the account. I suspect that his actions aren't in your best interest and I also don't believe for a second that his marriage wasn't a coincidence given the timing. I can't do much about that but your money will be moved to safety." Sydney was surprised at hearing that but could agree with him. Olivia put things together and added, "He used your mother. He took advantage of her loneliness to get closer to you. He is using your money to fund his own life, it's why he doesn't give you any money- it'd cut into his investment returns. It also meant that he would have less money for himself, but in doing that he just showed that he is stealing from you and Cameron here will ensure that you get every penny earned." Cameron drafted a cease and desist as well as a transfer of control away from Gregory into the hands of someone Sydney could trust. Sydney herself was going to have access to the account but only in small amounts until she turned 18. He then drafted a, "Show cause" for Gregory accessing the account as he may have defrauded the account after his wife's death and moved money to an account that wasn't known to either Sydney or his mother. Cameron then asked about Sydney being there and didn't want them to lie to him. Olivia sighed but Sydney confessed, "Rick caught me dressed as a girl and had his mother get me an appointment with a psychiatrist. They are trying to get me away from Gregory so I can live with my family." Cameron looked at Sydney and asked, "Are you sure you want to go through with it? It's going to be a living hell for a long time. People will hate you for no reason and call you all sorts of names and may try to hurt you. Olivia can tell you a lot of horror stories that the girls and boys had to go through when they started to transition." Sydney was caught off guard by the, "Boys" comment, Cameron saw the confusion and admitted, "I'm transgender. I transitioned before law school. My sons Ashley and Liam are from my time trying to be a woman. I couldn't live with myself any longer and had to be true to myself. I know that there are many women and men who are able to fight their urges for decades and only transition in their 60s and 70s and some in their 80s but I couldn't hold off any longer. I was blessed to have two great friends and to then find a woman who fell in love with me. You need to be ready, it won't be easy. It never is. We can't all be Jaimie Finn and find the right people at the right time to help us." Sydney grew quiet as she thought about what Cameron had said. She looked at Olivia and asked softly, "How many are there that you know? I know Jaimie and Al and now Cameron, but who else?" Olivia didn't want to, "Out" anyone while Cameron counted off a number in his head. Al gave her a solid, "Reyna, Kylie, Nichole, Mia, Trinity, Deborah, Diego, Jaimie, Addison, Aunts Kennedy, Amanda, and Katie, and Uncle Cameron. You met all of them at the wedding, and hung out with Diego for a while the last time you were here. Before you say anything, mom, I got their permission to tell Sydney. It was hard not to with Thomas and I getting stuck having to deflect why she was here all day without Rick and the others wouldn't accept any more lies from us." The number was confusing to Sydney as she remembered most of them. Trinity was so beautiful in her dress. Diego was a little large up top but looked muscular. They were nothing like she envisioned. Cameron asked if she was transgender, getting a quiet, "I am. Al got me thinking about it and Edith made me see that I was not a boy despite what everyone thinks about me. I know the truth about what I was feeling, I can't go back to being a boy anymore. I can't do it. I won't." Cameron offered her a soothing hug to calm her down before calling his colleagues to tell them that they had a special case coming their way. He was blunt, telling Savannah Ward, their probate specialist:, "Get ready to go after the widower who supposedly controls the assets of Zara Powers. Something is amiss with him, I don't think he's on the up and up and might have done a lot to mortgage his wife's and stepchild's future. If there is no record of him being married or her filing a will giving him control of hers and Sydney's finances it'll be all out war. Take no prisoners. He is too much like the guys we have fought for too long. She needs this." That last part caused Savannah to sigh, then ask, "Is Sydney going to transition and if so, who is her next of kin? I never liked her being left alone at that school without someone keeping an eye on her. She has been too vulnerable and could have taken advantage of her with her being unable to respond." Sydney listened and asked, "Is she like me too?" Cameron nodded, adding a warm, "She couldn't start to transition until she was in college but had been taking blockers since junior high. You saw how she looks, She's one of the best looking women I've ever see and if I hadn't met Lupe I would have fallen for her. She's special, she will find the right guy for herself at some point." Savannah was still on the phone and knew what Cameron was doing for her. Her best friend was trying to boost her confidence as she normally got down whenever a kid like them was in need. She was the kind of person who always fought harder for kids, with her already knowing Sydney making it harder. Chapter 2 The group finally broke up when Lupe Byrne-Toro came over to seek out her husband. Her sons Ashley and Liam were with her with Ashley trying hard not to look at Sydney so he didn't accidentally say something wrong. Liam asked if she was really a girl, and when Sydney said yes he unintentionally said, "You can't be a boy, you let the girls put makeup on you. Ashley won't let the girls do that to him. Cat and Willow never trick him into it like they did to you." The little 4-year-old didn't know how much that meant to her but it made her blush deeply. Lupe led the three guys out with Al groaning at Liam getting one over on the boys without thinking about it. Sydney felt great about the compliment, even if many of them knew her secret they accepted her fully as a girl. Rick called to ask how the day had gone for Sydney only to end up getting told to come over and see his family or face punishment. Rick had wanted a quiet weekend with his fiance Jaimie but this was an order making him have to rush over while Jaimie laughed hard. She knew that this all involved Sydney going to see Dr. Bell so was intentionally left behind as her mothering instincts would not let her leave the young girl alone once she heard the good news. At the Samuels home Rick had to endure glares from his sister over not coming home to see them then had to put up with Thomas complaining about him getting Rebecca upset at him for keeping things from her yet again. Jaimie kept quiet during all of this sibling friction while Olivia made them sit down and eat while their father Richard finished the meal. They ate in silence as the five teens had their minds on something else throughout the meal. Once the dishes were cleared away Rick finally asked about the results. Sydney gave the statement to him then Olivia gave the temporary guardianship paperwork to him. He flinched as he read that he was her guardian until the court hearing to determine custody but it was what needed to happen and he was the only one who could keep a close eye on her at the school. Rick smirked as he told her, "Bed at 9PM. No arguments. Shower every night after everyone is asleep. You clean up your messes or no TV. And keep off the porn sites." Sydney rolled her eyes at that, adding, "I already do all of that. You know the guys won't let me shower any other time and you are the one who leaves his underwear and shirts all over the floor! And don't you dare joke about porn, I know what you do when I'm in class or showering. I'm surprised Jaimie hasn't said anything about your scantily clad bikini pictures." Rick's face went a deep shade or red while Al was on the floor laughing at her brother getting his joke turned around on him so badly. Olivia gave him a hard glare while Richard and Thomas shook their heads and muttered a joking, "You women are all alike." Al laughed harder while Sydney blushed. She hadn't meant to cause that to happen to Rick but it came out. Al led her away, whispering, "He wasn't thinking. After all of the time with me he should have known not to try to outsmart us girls. We can't help but be smarter than guys." Jaimie kept quiet during all of this, giving Rick a stoic expression as she was deep in thought. She understood being kept away and for once was happy to have a light touch when it came to helping a newly outed girl become her true self. She simply let the others handle it, Sydney needed them more than she needed someone who was going to be miles away from her most of the week. Sydney got ready for bed after saying goodbye to Jaimie, with Al letting Sydney borrow a pair of pajamas. She changed in front of Sydney, giving her a good glimpse of her body and what was done to it. It was tough to not notice a few scars on her legs and abdomen but the flat front of her panties gave her a bit of uncertainty about being there. Al dropped her panties and got a new pair, giving Sydney a view of everything she now wanted. She was enthralled by the amount of hair and how well toned Al was, once her shock of seeing her vagina wore off and she could focus. Al smiled as her little show had gotten Sydney to accept that she was a girl in Al's mind and that Sydney was just like her despite having something extra, "Down there." When she finally pulled herself together, Sydney asked why Al did that for her. Al just smirked, then pointed to the bed and told her firmly, "You are a girl. You needed to see for yourself that I'm not afraid of you for your being a girl inside. You saw my scars, you saw my vagina, you saw my pubes. I'm a girl, as are you. You have something that you want removed, well you saw the price I paid. Reyna and Nichole are no different, we carry scars from the trauma that caused our surgeries. Reyna has pellet holes in her hips and thighs, Nichole has a slash scar on her hip. You don't want those scars. They aren't worth it. I almost died twice because of the accident that made me into a girl, I don't want that for you." She hugged Sydney, confessing to her, "I'm jealous of you. You are an amazing person and have a life that we kids dream about: freedom from school, independence from parents, wealth beyond belief. You are going to be a great girl to date when your uncle lets you. He's a great person, Rick and Thomas complained about him but he's really nice." Sydney gave her hopeful eyes causing Al to explain, "We don't want to get your hopes up. You will meet him soon. If I know Thomas he is already plotting to have him meet you in person in the next week or two. If he doesn't file for custody of you by Monday mom will make him do it. Who knows, he could decide to adopt you as his daughter and you would have a home here. You wouldn't need to babysit Rick anymore." Sydney smiled at the joke giving Al the reason to lead her to her room so she could sleep. She ensured that Sydney was alright and watched as she let the anxiety of the day fade away as she cuddled her bear. It was so endearing, with Olivia telling her warmly, "Now you know how you look when you are sleeping. You and she do the same thing with your stuffed animals, only she doesn't drool so much." The rest of the weekend was spent getting Sydney some new clothes, ones suitable for her true gender while giving her a soft introduction of her true self to the other kids her age. Al was by her side, helping her ease her anxieties while allowing her friends to show they were alright with her being a girl inside. Diego Vincent was a bit upset that she was a girl inside as it meant there was one less guy among them but he was glad that she was trying to be herself and not live a lie any longer. Mia Flynn, Kylie Pena, and Nichole Smith had long talks with her about transitioning with Mia offering her a candid take on starting out herself after being legally orphaned after abuse while Kylie did her best to talk about dealing with being the newcomer in the family. Nichole offered no real insight, she was there more for moral support as she had been the only one who had parental support from an early age and had undergone her final surgery already. The four talked for several hours, with Mia needing to hug Sydney as she talked about how lonely she had been until Rick had befriended her. The others knew the feeling well with Mia offering her a hopeful, "He's a good cousin, he treats us all like little sisters. You may want to watch out for him going overboard, he loves to smother us when he thinks we need protection." Kylie asked if she had found out if she liked girls of boys, getting a blush and meek, "Girls" from Sydney. This caused Mia and Kylie to smile as both happily added, "Us too!" Mia added a happy, "There's not many girls who like girls in our school but you have plenty of time to find a nice girl." Nichole grumbled, "You are going to have to go on blockers and if you are smart you will put away some sperm for the future. I guess I am lucky that I couldn't have children because of my surgery, they wouldn't be useful anyway. Just be careful, it's still part of your body. Don't get upset because you are stuck with it for another four years. Jaimie had hers done and Addison is having hers done next summer. My sisters told me that you don't have to ever use it but if the girl likes you and wants you to use it there's nothing wrong with it. Addison did that with Carmen and ended up giving her twins." Mia and Kylie were both blushing deeply while Sydney understood what she was saying. She wasn't trying to be crude, she wanted her to know that it's just flesh and a way of giving pleasure. She added a meek, "You really know a lot about this. Al seemed to be the wisest but I guess it's something you share between you." Their parents were listening with Olivia shaking her head over the girls' frank discussion. Karen Smith sighed and added a happy, "At least they are talking about sex for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones. Besides, my friends and I did this same thing at their age. Poor John was listening and thought we are talking about gardening and farming and nearly fainted when he was told the truth." Kennedy Pena added a laugh and solid, "They aren't our little girls anymore. She's trying to be normal and that means listening to girls with more knowledge than her. The girls are putting on a show for us, they know we are listening. It's when they are whispering that I think we need to be concerned. Kylie and Nichole were talking about some of the girls and boys the other day in hushed tones that got me thinking that they have some issues going on at school that Alice and Dorothy don't know about." Olivia had to fight her smile while Astrid Flynn added a happy, "Al was different, she came in with a whole different perspective on sex having heard the worst of it from her mother and from the boys in school. Rick was smitten with Jaimie and is too intimidated by John and Michael to ever think about sex and Thomas won't touch Rebecca until they are married under penalty of emasculation by Dan. Be glad to have gotten this special moment with the girls, she may not be your daughter but this was a motherhood moment for you." Down on Cape Cod Gregory Hollis heard from his spies at UMass that Sydney had again gone East with her roommate. Sydney being with the known members of the Finns was trouble for Gregory, he knew the family by both reputation and dealing with their investment firm. They were not interested in any of his ideas and turned down every offer for investing with him and even thought that he was not as good as he claimed to be with his investments. The Finns were his ticket to the big time but their accounts were handled solely by people who were, "Beneath" him. He had more education, more experience, more connections. He saw their growing reputation as nothing but a cheap attempt to invade the market with fake ideals and ethics. His real problem was that the accounts were doing three times the output that his accounts had done. He had access to a lot of money thanks to his stepson's money but he couldn't tap into it too much without causing questions about where the money was coming from. Until he got full control over the account he had to live investment to investment with the returns barely covering his expenses and the little profits earned going directly into the account to appear to be interest instead of dividends. He was well aware of the family's troubles so far that year and was willing to put out feelers about the family being in financial trouble over their actions. His information was incomplete as he never knew what was actually going on and the ones in trouble was actually the school, NCAA, the school police department, and a fraternity. The school had already had to pay out close to $25 million to compensate Jaimie and Miles Finn, Rick Samuels, and Sylvia Roberts for all of the actions taken against them by the school and employees of the school allowing them to be financially independent. There were reports of Sydney being involved in almost every instance. Her roommate was one of the Finn Family's core members with Sydney getting swept up into the date rape allegations as a witness. Gregory saw this as his chance to get Sydney away from the Finns, but he couldn't do that until he had a chance to get in contact with his sources and ensure that Sydney was directly involved and not involved simply because she was Rick's roommate. His spies didn't include people in the DCF, the courts, or his own hometown. Early Monday morning Savannah filed her paperwork at the courthouse in Boston before heading for Cape Cod while Chloe Daniels had her own paperwork ready to hand to Gregory. She wasn't going alone, she had a couple of state troopers with her for protection and to place him into custody for his abandoning of Sydney at the school over the summer. The meeting went as expected, with Gregory claiming to have worked out an agreement with the school to have Sydney looked after by people they hired yet providing no proof. He was asked about his relationship to Sydney with proof of his marriage and his attempts to contact Sydney's biological family regarding her care and support. Gregory couldn't provide anything, he got openly upset and angry and told them to leave him alone or he'd sue the department for harassment. This was enough to spark the troopers to place him under arrest for child abandonment and neglect, with Chloe telling him, "You made a huge mistake in abandoning your stepchild. The school keeps all records of any such agreements and we have copies of them. We know what you paid and who was supposed to look after Sydney and as it turned out, Sydney was supposed to only be there a week but stayed the entire summer without any kind of supervision." The troopers took him to the State Police barracks in South Yarmouth while Chloe texted Savannah to alert her that she needed to get to the Barnstable County court complex to get information about the marriage between Gregory Hollis and Zara Powers. Her hunch is they weren't married and if they were he may not be who he claimed to be. His reaction was too upset to have been normal anger. Sydney was just a pawn to Gregory, he was more concerned about his access to her money than her. Savannah fought the clerks but after getting the hierarchy involved including threatening to go to the Secretary of State and Attorney General's Office got the information about Zara Powers' will as well as her, "Marriage" to Gregory. Her will was a nice sum of money that went directly to her son Sydney. Sydney had inherited about $2 million in stocks, bonds, and land from Zara. More importantly, it also specifically precluded Gregory from inheriting as it was money that came from the man who may or may not have been Sydney's father. The news hit Chloe hard, the poor girl was an orphan now. If her grandparents were unwilling to take her in their only hope was the missing uncle. Savannah happily added, "The way Olivia was talking, he is already well known to them and willing to to take her in. I'll take it from here, you do your thing." Chloe made her way to Sydney's maternal grandparents' home. She hated to drop in unexpected but this was a part of the job that had to be done. She felt that she already knew the answer that they were going to give but she had to ask them anyway. They were kind enough to listen to her but had no interest in Sydney due to her paternal family. They were honest with her, she was part of a family that was bad news and if they knew that the Powers family had custody of Sydney they would do horrible things to the family. They felt it was best to have Sydney live elsewhere even if it meant they'd never see her, they had been avoiding her for her own good before but now it was for their own safety as well. Chloe had to move on, they meant well and she couldn't argue against their being cautious for all involved. She moved on to Sydney's paternal family to verify that she was best elsewhere as was claimed. She had formed her opinion about where Sydney would go but still had to ask the family if they were willing to care for Sydney as they were her next of kin. Sydney's paternal grandmother answered the door followed by her grandfather. Chloe showed her identification then asked to speak with them regarding their grandchild Sydney. There was a look of apathy on their faces but given that Chloe was with DCF they had to let her inside for the sake of their other grandchildren lest DCF come back regarding them. Chloe got right to the point and asked, "What is your relationship to Sydney Powers? It is our current understanding that you have not been in contact with Sydney since the passing of Sydney's mother over a year ago. It is also my understanding that you have had no contact with Sydney at all since Sydney's birth." She waited for them to give their excuse, with her grandfather growling, "That boy ain't our grandson." Her grandmother added, "The whore slept with multiple men, that kid ain't our grandson. The whore is just a cheap floozy who blamed the kid on our son and made him run off scared when he refused to say that the kid was his." Chloe sighed then asked, "Were you aware that Sydney's alleged father has passed on and as Sydney's mother is also deceased you are Sydney's next of kin?" Her grandmother growled back, "So what. That kid was never our grandchild. His mother caused our son to run off and made our other son cut us off. We never saw our boy again, he died because of that tramp!" Chloe waited a bit then asked, "We are aware of the location of Sydney's uncle Justin and will be in contact with him. We need to know if you are willing to house Sydney until the custody situation is over. As Sydney's next of kin, Sydney is supposed to be with you under your care." She gave them enough rope, it was up to them to accept Sydney or to leave her to her uncle's care. Her grandmother didn't hesitate, telling Chloe, "Take the brat. He isn't our grand kid. He can die for all we care. He cost us our son. That other rat can have him, he was never our son. That no good piece of garbage can't take his licks like a man. Let the little runt stay with that sissy boy." Chloe got up and left. She added a firm, "Thank you for your time. I'll be sure to note your exact words in my report and present it to the judge. Should you seek custody the recording of this meeting will be played in open court. Please bare in mind that you have a right to appeal any decision but given your wording we are of the belief that you are the last place Sydney Powers will be placed." Chloe walked out and had an idea. She called her office to conduct a search of court records for assault against a minor involving Sydney's grandparents. It took a few minutes but Chloe had results- multiple counts of abuse over a span of several years, all by her grandparents against her uncle Justin. It went further to include restraining orders against them that were violated leading to convictions for both. The odd thing was they suddenly stopped when Justin reached high school age, with notes that the earlier convictions were asked to be voided by the DA's office. She smiled at hearing that. The odd voiding of the convictions aside, it was good news for Sydney. She was lucky to have gotten away from those people and if all went well she could be with her uncle in a few days. She needed someone who could understand her pain, he had grown up with it. Over in Winnisimmet, Ricardo Vincent, Savannah's and Cameron's colleague, had a long talk with Justin Stoner about his family. This was out of the ordinary as Justin rarely interacted with anyone in the family outside of school and Ricardo's son had graduated the past June. The questions were even more puzzling to him as they were more like probes than actual questions. The biggest question that he asked was about his views on transgender children. Justin looked down in shame and had to confess, "I feel for them. I can understand the abuse they suffer and I can understand wanting to get away from their horrible lives. I don't think I could ever live with the constant sadness and anger that they have to endure for being born in the wrong body. They deserve all of the support they can get, especially from family." Ricardo grinned at hearing that last part. He asked what Justin knew about his family since the time he left. It was an honest question which Ricardo hoped would lead to more insight into Sydney's life that she may not have known about before. Justin looked saddened, but pulled himself together enough to admit, "My three older brothers, Moe, Larry, and Joe, married and moved out immediately after college. My older brother Jackson got held back a year and had to go to work immediately after high school. We got into constant fights over my girlfriend, Zara. She was in love with me but my brother was always getting her to go on dates with him to keep him from hurting me. Eventually I had enough and called things off, giving her one last night of fun before graduating community college and transferring to UMass-Dartmouth to get away from Jackson's constant harassment." He paused but added, "Zara and Jackson didn't last. When Zara and Jackson's son was born two months early he fled, claiming that he wasn't the baby's father. I only heard about this whole drama through classmates from high school who still lived in town and talked with me. I have never met him or seen his mother since I left but I wish I could help him out. He deserves better than Jackson, he deserves a chance to be better than our family." Ricardo had to hold his tongue but Justin was too smart for him. He looked right at Ricardo and blurted out, "He's in trouble, isn't he? Of course my parents won't lift a finger to help their unwanted grandchild. Heaven forbid they treat him like my older brothers' kids. I just hope Jackson didn't pass along any of his genes to him, he deserves a chance to be better than Jackson and his grandparents." Ricardo sat him down and explained the situation in full. He explained how Sydney was left at school all summer alone, without guidance or money to buy basic things. He explained how Sydney had been taken for a ride by his stepfather seizing his money for himself. Justin took the news hard but listened. Ricardo stopped before he told too much about Sydney. He figured it best to be honest about Zara and explained, "Zara died last year after a sudden, massive stroke. She didn't make arrangements for Sydney's care, by law he was supposed to go with your parents but that fell through for obvious reasons. We feel that Sydney would be best placed in your care. As it stands, Sydney is temporarily in the care of Rick Samuels with his parents providing additional support. We would prefer that you accept custody of Sydney as you are Sydney's next closest relative and Sydney has expressed a dire that you get full custody. Despite what happened to you and Zara, Sydney wants to be with you." Justin looked sad but offered a solemn, "I have to help him out. He's innocent and deserves a shot of normalcy. He didn't ask to be born, he deserves to be a normal kid." Ricardo called Chloe to let her know that Justin had agreed to claim custody of Sydney from the state. She asked that he be told the full story, including Sydney's issues so that there was no further drama for her. He looked at Justin who was waiting for word, hoping it went well but preparing for the worst. Ricardo finally stated, "If you recall my earlier question about transgender people, well this was due to Sydney. Your nephew is your niece. She has come out after accidentally being discovered by Rick Samuels. As you know the Samuels family are no strangers to transgender people and with the help of Dr. Edith Bell they have helped Sydney come to terms with who she is. Will this be a problem? If it is we will find a suitable permanent home for her should you feel that it will be a problem. She will understand if you don't want to endure her drama." Justin looked down in shame, knowing that the poor girl had kept her need to be a girl a secret from everyone. He mumbled a timid, "I can't deny her. She needs help and stability. I'll take custody of her." Ricardo was quick to call Chloe who then called Olivia to give her the good news. Rick was told, who then sat Sydney down and proclaimed, "Your uncle Justin has agreed to be your guardian from now on. He taught Jaimie and Reyna, and is the teaching mentor for Deborah. If he is alright with you then you have nothing to fear from living with him." He smiled and added, "The bad news is you will live close to your friends, with Al being three blocks away, Kylie, Trinity, and Diego two blocks away, Mia is one block away, and even worse news is Nichole is on the same block so you have people close by who are able to help you. The good news is you won't have to worry about being alone as Al and the others will include you in everything since you are their friend. I just hope you can handle Cat and Ella though, they won't let you get away from them without playing with them every few days." This was great news to her. She would have support around her and her uncle was known to everyone and had made a great impression on them. All she had to really worry about was Gregory and how he took the news that he was now cut off from her money. Ricardo gave Justin a chance to think about things as he prepared the paperwork to petition for custody of Sydney. When everything was signed and dated, Justin sent Ricardo on his way then prepared his home for his new guest. The idea of being close to one of his nieces and nephews made him feel like there was something missing in his life, but he stowed that idea as he needed to focus on work. Zara had been the love of his life, Sydney was her legacy, but he still felt a sense of needing more. Out in Amherst, Sydney was quiet as she worked with Rick on his assignments for his Introduction to Physics class. She had been quiet ever since Christina dropped her off, with Christina hugging her tightly for no apparent reason. It as exactly what she needed, the reassurance that she was going to be alright and had help available. Rick and Sydney didn't talk much as they worked, she was in the zone as she helped him and he knew it best to just let her tutor him even if he knew much of the information already. Sylvia had made great use of their determination and improved her own work while poor Christina got left out as she was doing well but nowhere near their level of work. Sylvia felt bad about her being left out, but seeing Sydney acting so calm and focused gave her a feeling that it was alright for her now. After they finished, Sylvia hugged and kissed Sydney. She was feeling maternal thanks to the slew of pregnancy hormones in her system but she still loved knowing that Sydney was doing better after the tough weekend away. Christina had to drag her away before she started crying again, with Sylvia telling her, "She's just such a great girl. She's going to be a stunner when she blossoms." Gregory was blindsided by arrest and made bail that afternoon. He had to come up with a plan of attack to get Sydney or at least get her money. He would be ruined, he had no way of supporting himself and the money that Sydney had actually earned from his transactions would have to be repaid to Sydney making Gregory likely to face criminal theft and fraud charges on top of neglect and abandonment. He had little money in his bank account and after paying off a friend to post his bail he was broke. He was going to lose his house to Sydney, he honestly had only his car and his clothes to his name. His only ambition now was to get at Sydney and make her sign over everything, if she didn't Gregory was going to ensure that Sydney had a hellish time from then on once his spies got at her. Just after 8 PM Gregory arrived at the school and went right for the police station. He tried to play up his need to remove Sydney for his own good as he felt concerns about his well-being. The officer on duty agreed to go with him to the dorm to check on Sydney but at the same time alerted Rick that he was about to get an unwanted visitor. The officer was one of the few who had zero involvement in Rick's arrest and assault and was on great terms with him and Christina. He had to be, he was a former classmate of David Peterson and remained at the school as a police officer after graduating. Something was off about Gregory and if his hunch was right he was about to prevent a possible kidnapping of Sydney by the disturbed Gregory. Sydney had enough time to change out of her pajamas into a simple pair of shorts and t-shirt. The two were dressed very similar, making Rick groan about her spending too much time with Al. She just smirked, it was unintentional but it was very funny. Gregory pounded on the door yelling for Sydney a few minutes later. The officer calmly told him to be quiet but Gregory growled at him to shut his trap. The officer could only shake his head and ready his handcuffs, it was clear that Gregory was leaving there under arrest for one crime or another. Rick opened the door and demanded to know who he was. Gregory pushed him aside and tried to drag Sydney out only to be brought down by an arm hold by Rick. Sydney told the officer, "He's my stepfather, but he's not supposed to be here! He doesn't have custody of me any longer- Rick does." Rick showed the paperwork then told the officer, "Arrest him. You saw him barge in and grab Sydney. I'm not going to let him get away with trying to scare any kid in my care." The officer nodded then placed handcuffs on Gregory. He made a final attempt to break free of the handcuffs then kick at Sydney only to hit the officer in the jaw, knocking him out cold. This only led to the guys next door to Rick grabbing Gregory putting him in a hold then dragging him outside to the officer's awaiting cruiser, fling him inside while Rick called for an ambulance as the officer came to. Sydney was terrified, Gregory was there to get her and she didn't know what to do. Rick called and got his parents to get his room ready, then had Sydney pack her things to head out. She wasn't safe there any longer, but in Winnisimmet she would be. Rick didn't have to drive east, his mother drove west instead. He had classes, Olivia would endure the three hours of driving to ensure Sydney was out of harms way. He was under strict orders to get to bed while Olivia helped Sydney gather the last of her things and comforted the distraught girl. 90 minutes later at the Samuels home Sydney was told to go right to bed, with Al slipping into bed with her to comfort her. Sydney fell asleep immediately, she cuddled her bear while Al hugged her tightly ensuring she couldn't get up until Al awoke. This whole display caused Olivia to shed a tear of joy and sadness as her daughter was trying hard to be a good person while still showing youthful affection that she tried to keep hidden under the teenage angst exterior. In the morning Al got up up for school with Sydney staying asleep. She was out cold, barely moving and barely giving Al the chance to move her arms out from under her. She had to stop herself from saying something about the whole sleeping together thing, it was done on instinct and need. Olivia sighed and had to explain, "It's an instinct in us ladies. You sensed that she needed someone close and were trying to be that person. Your aunt and I did that a lot when we were your age, especially after a tough date. I don't want to tell you about the number of bad guys we endured before finding our husbands. Sadly she didn't find the right guy until three years ago, but you get my point." Rick called once Olivia was back from dropping off Al at school. The news wasn't pretty, Sydney was being blamed for the disturbance in the dorms and was getting kicked out of school for being too much of a distraction. The housing office felt that it wasn't the, "Right place" for a kid and after a review of their policies and procedures Sydney's living at the dorms was a huge liability for them. The school opted to keep her as a student, but only on paper. She was gong to have to work elsewhere to earn her PhDs. Olivia sighed and broke the news to Sydney, getting a terse, "I didn't want to go there anyway! Gregory wanted me away from him so he didn't have to act like a father. I would rather do my work close to home, with Uncle Justin." Olivia just grinned and nodded. She was essentially homeless now, but only until Justin got custody. Olivia made sure to call Chloe to tell her about Gregory, getting her to act on Sydney's behalf. John Finn facilitated a call from Chloe to Justin during his break between classes. The call was quick, he was asked, "Your niece has asked to stay with you as she is no longer able to stay at her school due to safety concerns. Can you care for your niece or should we place her in a foster home?" Justin didn't hesitate, telling her firmly, "I'll sign any paperwork needed to get custody immediately. I already filed paperwork with the courts to have custody of her yesterday. I have a room ready to go and if need be I'll get her whatever is needed. I understand that she will need a whole new wardrobe akin to what girls her age are wearing. Before you ask, I'll fight my family over her rights. She comes first." That was all Chloe needed to hear, she smiled as she explained, "I'll see a judge about granting you custody as her next of kin and as the only family member willing to house her. Be patient with her, she needs a loving home but also a guiding force. It'll take time to adjust to parenthood, you know as well as I do that I know this already.." Chloe went before Judge Martha Perez within the hour and had the change of custody without so much as uttering a word. Chloe had been thorough, Justin's parents were unfit due to their assault convictions and Justin's brothers were unfit due to various alcohol arrests and questionable jobs. It was amazing to her that Justin had turned out to be a model parent just by escaping their clutches. In school Justin was almost a new person. The reality that he was now an uncle with a child who needs his help sank in. Deborah Peterson saw the looked and added a happy, "It'll wear off soon. At least you don't have to change diapers and spend half the night helping her with gas issues like I do." Justin smiled and shook his head, her infant son was a blessing but she learned all too quickly that it's not fun to deal with the downsides of babies. At least Sydney was able to take care of most of her own needs. She would need help with her transition but otherwise she was as fiercely independent as Justin. Chloe stopped at the Samuels home to check on Sydney and to give her the good news. With Justin being appointed as her new guardian she had a home and a caring adult to look after her. She couldn't help but start crying again, she was going to miss the others but this was what she needed. Justin picked her up at the Samuels home with Chloe doing the introductions. Justin was just as his picture looked, only with more muscles and a nicer haircut. Sydney was the spitting image of her mom making Justin shed a tear in grief. The two hugged and cried together, letting their emotions flow free. Olivia moved Sydney's bags to the car with Justin telling her affectionately, "You really need new clothes. I know tomboy looks work with some ladies but not with you. Maybe a nice skirt and blouse will do, definitely nothing above the knee." That set the ladies off as Sydney nodded at the acknowledgment of her true self. Justin hugged her again, then led her to the car to drive home. She couldn't say a word, letting Justin drive in silence. Chloe did a visual inspection of Justin's house and gave him her approval. It was impeccably clean to the point of being sterile. Sydney was just glad to have a room of her own and lay down as soon as she saw the bed ready for her. Out in the kitchen Justin signed the last of the paperwork with Chloe congratulating him on doing the right thing for his niece. He only offered a timid, "She needs stability and support, I hope to give that to her. I don't know what she had to live through before but I hope she is able to adjust to things now." Justin finally accepted his bit of parenthood and asked what she would need, not knowing about girls and their requirements. Chloe smirked and wrote down a long list of things to buy, with Justin reading and wincing at some of the lingerie items needed. It was a fatherhood moment, one that was shared by millions of fathers around the globe but one that was a big moment in their relationship.. As Chloe left, Savannah rang the doorbell and introduced herself to Justin. His mouth dropped open as he saw the most beautiful woman he had seen in years, one who would give his beloved Zara a run for her money in beauty. Sydney hugged her upon seeing her, asking her why she was there. Savannah happily told them, "I'm here on your behalf and need to speak with the two of you about Sydney's probate situation. Sydney is the sole beneficiary of her mother's estate as well as her alleged father's estate. She has inherited a tidy sum, enough to cover all of her basic needs and provide her with money for her children when she has them." Sydney blushed while Justin looked off in shame. Jackson had a bit of money earned from gambling at a casino, leaving it to Zara was a cheap way of saying, "Sorry" but it was needed by her. Zara never forgave Jackson and lamented her betrayal of Justin, Sydney was her legacy and her only tie to Jackson so leaving her everything was the best way of helping her even if she no longer needed the money thanks to her hard work on her patents. Savannah laid out Sydney's new assets. She had several million in a trust fund that she wanted Sydney to create, the Powers house on Cape Cod, and some stocks that could be cashed in for a large payday. Justin gave out a huge sigh of relief, asking, "Can she access her money yet? She needs clothes and other essentials. I don't want her to do without clothes especially if it is causing her emotional distress." Savannah nodded, adding, "She has roughly $125 million in patent revenue that is unsecured. We are in the process of auditing her account to see where her expenses have gone as I don't believe they were being spent on clothing and living expenses as they should have been. I'll transfer the entire amount to a new secured account that will be set up by a trusted investment firm. I just need your signatures to start the process." Sydney signed with Justin countersigning. Savannah added her own signature then drove with them to the nearest bank branch to get the account transferred. She was happy to add, "The only ones with access to this account will be Sydney and her financial advisers. She will have a set limit of $5,000 at any time with any purchases over that amount requiring approval from the financial team. This isn't trying to keep her from her money, this is simply to prevent her form squandering her wealth. They do this with all of the accounts for children that they manage, Sydney's isn't even the largest account with them." Justin kept silent while Sydney asked, "Can I access it now?" Savannah handed her her own bank cards with Justin taking them off her hands before she could put them in her pocket. She smiled at that, with Justin adding a firm, "We have shopping to do. I don't think you will spend the full amount but if need be we can go shopping another day." Savannah joined them for the trip to the mall, helping Sydney choose exactly what she needed for her new wardrobe while Justin kept quiet about her buying things he didn't want to know about. He enjoyed seeing Savannah and Sydney together, Savannah was a great influence on her with Sydney taking to her immediately. Once back home, Justin asked Savannah why she was so close to Sydney. Savannah sighed, then admitted, "I'm like her. I'm transgender. I haven't had my surgery yet, though. She reminds me so much of myself that it was tough to not see her as me at the same age. I missed out on so much, thank goodness for blockers or I'd be a 300 pound hulking beast like my father and uncles. She is blessed with her mother's body but it's only a matter of time before her own body betrays her." Justin saw the pain in her eyes and confessed, "You turned out beautifully. You are the prettiest woman I have seen in years. You deserved a chance to relive this experience, I wouldn't know where to being with her but you helped her find what she needed and in the right sizes. I'm happy that you are here." He hugged her, then without thinking kissed her cheek causing both to blush. It was a spur of the moment thing but it meant the world to them. Sydney caught the kiss and hug and herself smiled, hoping that the two would see more of each other as her uncle could use a woman in his life. Chapter 3 That morning over at Belchertown District Court, Gregory was before a judge to answer charges of assault, assault on a police officer, attempted kidnapping, and disorderly conduct. The judge read the charges and the fact that he had only been let out on bail for negligence and child abandonment against the same child hours before caused her to deny him bail pending trial. Gregory swore that he'd get at Sydney, causing the judge to simply have the record show that he threatened a minor causing him to swear he'd have her fired leading to the court officers to drag him off while contempt of court charges were added on to his existing charges. Gregory's spies had no further information about Sydney. In fact, any inquiries about her were met by strong questions about why leading to further scrutiny. The few who were employed at UMass were investigated by the school police department getting a clear picture of Gregory's payments for dumping Sydney at the school and how he controlled her through proxies who intentionally misled the school into believing that she was being taken care of. Things got further out of hand for Gregory as his bank account was drained by Savannah Ward. Or rather Sydney's large bank account was drained, as it was actually her money that he was using to finance his lifestyle. With no way to pay for a lawyer he was stuck in jail until trial and humiliated as the once mighty and powerful Gregory was reduced to a powerless nobody in jail. With several key state officials eyeing the case the Cape Cod and the Islands District Attorney along with the Hampshire County District Attorney agreed to prosecute him at a superior court roughly halfway between Amherst and Cape Cod, which was in Norfolk County and unfortunately for him- Dedham, a mere 10 miles away from Sydney's new support base yet 70 miles form Gregory's. Gregory had no influence in Norfolk County, he barely had any influence in his hometown except by way of key people who were actually using him instead of the other way around. He was going to have a rough go for a long time as he had no way of fighting the charges with no money for a decent lawyer, so much so that he may have to admit that he finally met his match in Sydney. She had finally won, she wasn't even fighting yet she had beaten Gregory so thoroughly that he was had lost before he started. The next day, Sydney was forced to wake up early as Justin had to go to work. She was free to do as she pleased, but he had an offer that he just couldn't refuse in Shea Porter asking for Sydney to join him at his lab. Sydney jumped at the chance, Shea was one of her idols and had dreamed to working with him ever since she had started master's degree program and learned he was related to Jaimie and Miles. She was showered, dressed, and had eaten before Justin had finished his own dressing. She smiled as he looked much better than the night before, which may have been nerves or hormones towards the lovely Savannah. She had to admit that Savannah made her heart flutter, but her eyes were on girls her own age and not ladies who looked like she could be her older sister. Justin introduced Shea and Sydney leading to her blushing and giving a meek, "Hello" to him. Shea led her inside with Sydney marveling at how orderly his lab was and how many new machines he had to build his new designs. The engineer in her was jumping for joy, while the kid in her only saw the lab as a second home for Shea. Shea didn't hesitate to ask how she was handling Justin. She blushed, but Shea confessed, "He's a good man. My son wasn't happy with him but then again he is a bit of a lazy student at times. He's a tough grader, Raul was a bit girl crazy which caused him to lose focus which Justin helped change once we forced Raul to keep his hormones in check and keep the kissing to a minimum outside of school." The two talked about her work and what she was planning on doing for her PhDs. Shea had the brilliant idea to have her show him what she could do, with Shea working with her to perfect her idea in ways that she hadn't been able to do before with her old adviser, Vera Bradley. It was a lot of fun and after several hours of focus they had a working idea that would take several months to complete after she had her original designs in hand. Sydney had gotten more done in a day than she had in a year, all thanks to Shea and his encouraging style. The two discussed how she had gone about her academic work. It was seen as being a waste of her time as she was a lot more useful in a lab than a classroom. She was being wasted, simply because her ideas were too revolutionary and she was seen as more of a publicity piece than a legitimate student by her department. UMass were in the wrong in forcing her out. Shea saw where they had made a mistake but didn't tell Sydney, instead helping her secure what she had done and consider her options once UMass made her force-out official. He would offer her a place at his lab for as long as she needed it, no matter what university she affiliated with he was happy to have her as a coworker. Justin picked her up after quick seven hours. Shea was beaming with pride while Sydney asked, "Can I transfer my PhD studies to one of the local universities here? Shea had me doing work that was miles ahead of what I was doing in Amherst. He thinks I can get another patent or two more from my designs than I would ever have gotten out in Amherst. Plus the schools out here are better known and highly respected, he has better connections than my old adviser had and actually treats me like a person not as a novelty to show off for the cameras." This was out of Justin's league but he agreed that she should continue her work closer to home. She needed formality and structure and getting it from the colleges close to home would give her a chance to thrive while still being cared for. It would also give him a chance to work without her being around him all of the time. The week flew by fast. Beverly Bollinger, Olivia's sister and the Finn Family's resident accountant, had found the amount of money spent by Gregory that he owed to her and had located which bank accounts they were in. His investments were all Sydney's by law, so she had cashed them in on Sydney's behalf and made a large profit while removing the stolen money from Gregory's accounts with the blessing of the banks. She had made a cool $2 million from the investments and dividends, giving her a hefty amount to live on alongside the $125 million from her existing patent license fees and her $2 million inheritance from her mother. The house on Cape Cod needed to be closed up and sold off with Gregory's personal items put into storage as Savannah had him evicted with Sydney's blessing. Justin was asked to take her down to Cape Cod with the family helping her out by having Patrick and David Peterson be pack mules for Sydney. Justin was sympathetic to them, but Patrick's wife Deborah and David's wife Emma were tough to say no to and their children made it a point to drive them out of the house with diaper changes. The group drove south, with Savannah carrying the deed to the property along with all other relevant documents such as custody of Sydney and her diagnosis of being transgender. She hoped they weren't needed but she wanted to be careful. David called the local police to let them know that a state trooper was assisting a family in removing possessions from the home in case someone called the police. He expected typical local reactions to an out of town trooper being there but they had no reason to respond without a legitimate call and without opening themselves up to investigation for harassment and possible wrongful arrest charges. This was a bad move, as immediately the Stoner family were up in arms and ready to fight Sydney for no reason other than they could as she was showing herself in the town again. Justin shook his head and calmly explained, "My parents will try to claim the house as their property as it was bought with money left by their son. They are going to do this simply because Sydney is here and they think that she is vulnerable. We won't get help from the local cops, half of them are related to Dad and the other half are friends with my brothers Moe, Larry, and Joe." David could only utter a swift, "Let them try. I'll have a quick word with a friend or two at the South Yarmouth barracks to get some help before the fireworks start. I'm sure they'd love to hear how the family is able to get away with half of the crap they pull- especially your parents. We notified them of our being here, they have no rights to the house and if they are going to fight you on it they have to go through the courts like everyone else. The locals can't do a thing about us being here except say hello." His determined smirk sent a chill down Sydney's spine but Patrick shook his head, explaining to her, "He really doesn't like people who abuse the law, especially cops. You might hear some of the stories one day but it pisses him off. It doesn't help that his job nowadays features a lot of dirty cops and politicians being brought to justice for crimes against the general public and taxpayers." David returned with a smile and hearty, "Backup of three troopers, all of whom I worked with at the academy and detective school. They have been itching to get their hands on a few of the dirty cops down here, it'll be a turkey shoot for them. They really dislike these guys, something about Justin being their friend and owing him a chance to take down some of the bastards who made his life miserable." Justin's eyes popped out at that. David nodded, explaining, "They all went to high school and college with you. It's along time coming but they are going to give your family their just desserts. Jackson left a sour taste in their mouths when he stole your girlfriend away just because he could. The said she deserved better, they thought the two of you belonged together." As they awaited their backup, Sydney and Savannah were upstairs looking through her room and found some outfits she had hidden away that weren't in her size anymore but were still wearable. Hidden among them were pictures of Sydney and her mother, bringing tears to her eyes which forced Savannah to hug her tightly as her grief welled up. It was touching, with Savannah feeling a sense of maternal instinct towards Sydney for the first time as she helped the girl let out her feelings. Sydney whispered, "I wish you were my mom" as she kept hugging, unknowingly revealing her inner desire to Savannah. Savannah whispered back, "You'd make a great daughter. But I can't date Justin. It wouldn't be right to date a client's parent. I'm sorry, honey." The two broke their mutual hug and dried their tears, letting Sydney box a large amount of panties and a couple of nightgowns that were large enough to fit her. The rest was packed away in boxes to be sent to a donation center. Sydney added her old boys clothes and toys, hoping they'd do some good for boys at foster homes and homeless shelters. The ladies moved on to Zara's private space, which Sydney had a key to yet surprisingly Gregory did not. Inside were a bunch of pictures of Sydney, a lot of which were her in dresses and skirts with her hair styled much the way she wore it that day. She kept the same hairstyle for years, it was unisex and easy to maintain making it a favorite of Sydney and Zara. Sydney smiled at the pictures, her mother was happy to have her dress as a girl and encouraged her to act like her daughter for the weekends. She traced the path of her femininity from her kindergarten days up through when she started college, getting taller and her hair slightly longer. The one constant was the two showing affection for one another as Sydney smiled brightly. Sydney next looked through Zara's jewelry box, examining some of the jewelry her mother owned and seeing a special necklace that said, "#1 daughter" on it. Savannah put it on Sydney, affectionately telling her, "You are beautiful. She must have loved her time with you to go this far. I believe she knew the truth, you were always her daughter to her even if she didn't say it outright." Sydney started to cry again, this time confessing, "She always told me that I was what I was even if I was a girl. She couldn't afford a doctor to help me, before I got awarded my patents Gregory had all of her money tied up. I am just happy that she loved me enough to indulge me in my fantasies. I don't know what I'd have done without her love." Something caught Sydney's eyes in the back of the jewelry box. It was two envelopes, one with her name and Justin's name on them. Sydney opened hers up and cried hard, it was instructions to find her uncle and give him the letter. She confessed that it was the truth that she held for so long out of guilt and grief. Sydney needed to know the truth and Justin needed to be the one to break it to her. Savannah had her gather her mother's jewelry and the items for donation. Sydney called Al and asked her if her mom could find a place for all of the clothes Zara had left behind. Olivia smiled at hearing that, with her knowing that there were a couple of moms among the family who'd love some of the clothes Zara had while a lot of the clothes would go to needy women who could make great use of the dresses, skirts, blouses, and jeans. The pictures confirmed it as Savannah texted that several were brand new, unworn, and dry cleaned giving Olivia a big smile especially as the sizes were just right. She asked around and got several yes responses from the ladies, with each happy to have something so fancy. Sydney didn't know the names of the designers but Savannah knew and was happy to relay the names to her, thankful that they found new homes so fast. They did the same with the shoes as Sydney unknowingly asked why her mom would need so many. Savannah gave her a little girl talk about the right shoes for the right outfit and how different shoes were needed for different occasions. She seemed to get the gist of it, but to her youthful eyes it was still a lot of shoes to own especially as they wee never worn or rarely worn. Once the last of the clothing was packed up and moved to the cars Savannah gave Justin his letter. He opened it up and read it, immediately shaking as the contents hit him hard. He had tears streaming down his face as he read it, it was a powerful message directed right to him from the woman he loved. With shaking hands he handed it off to Savannah who read, "I am sad to say that if you are reading this, my beloved, then then I have passed on. I only hope that my daughter Sydney hasn't perished alongside me. I say daughter as my darling little Sydney is not a boy as her anatomy shows. She is a girl in mind and spirit and will be the daughter that you always wanted to have. She has never been a boy, despite being raised as one her inner self was evident to all who chose to see it. I saw it, but nobody else did." She looked up at Sydney who was eagerly listening, then continued, "We talked about kids in the past. We were planning on marrying when you went off to college. Jackson was always jealous of our love and constantly tried to break us up. You always defended me and fought him off, always earning many punishments and beatings for being a real man to Jackson's overgrown boy and your father's bully. Like a fool, I thought if I pushed you away I would protect you. I slept with you one final time to give you a memory to last a lifetime before I gave your brother what he wanted to keep you safe." Sydney started to realize something major was happening. Justin's hands were quivering as he tried to look away from her. Savannah continued, "That last night was the worst time of the month to have sex. I got pregnant from our lovemaking. I had to hide my pregnancy for a month and a half to avoid tipping off your parents or brother. When I finally told him I was pregnant Jackson ran off, claiming I was a whore. He lied about me, getting your family to go against me. Sydney was assumed to have been born two months premature but only my doctors and I knew the truth: the timing wasn't right. She was a healthy baby, but just her existence and Jackson's departure made me a pariah to all." Justin had to fight a brewing anger, it was common knowledge how she was treated by the town and the schools. Savannah continued, "I was ostracized and harassed until Sydney was revealed to be a child prodigy. Your parents wanted her to be their ticket to retiring in style but I refused to have anything to do with them after they pushed us away in our hour of need. When Sydney was awarded two patents for her designs in graduate school and licensed them to major manufacturing companies for over $125 million they tried to get custody of her only to have the state refuse to grant it to them. They tried to get me sent to jail for abuse but nothing happened, DCF's investigators had found no justification for their claims and cautioned your parents against lying to them." Sydney smiled at that, causing Justin to calm down and his heart to warm up. Savannah continued, "I foolishly fell for a man at the bank who had big plans but needed a fresh start. I tried to help him but he ended up falling for me. We had sex once and I ended up pregnant causing him to marry me. I had a miscarriage which Sydney never knew about, but it started to drive a wedge between Gregory and I. When I received word that Jackson had been killed and I was the sole beneficiary of his money I kept it from Gregory so he didn't run off with it. I put the money in Sydney's account and put it in my will that only she could inherit the money. I hope that the money is still there, untouched and ready for her use." Savannah smiled as she read, "I hope that if you are reading this that you do the right thing for Sydney. She is a bright child who just needs someone to love her. I can't do it but you can. Please, do it for her. She needs her father. You are the only person who can keep her from your parents' clutches. If they get her she will likely die an early death under dubious circumstances or be driven to suicide." Sydney looked at Justin who had tears in his eyes over hearing the heartfelt plea from Zara. He hugged her tightly, crying into her shoulder. Sydney let out a soft, "Daddy" which he offered a tear filled, "My baby girl." Savannah, David, and Patrick gave them space as the two cried themselves out, letting years of emotional turmoil come to a head in each others arms. As she was rearranging boxes in the car, Savannah looked through a box of items and found Sydney's original birth certificate along with some pictures of Justin and Zara. She had to fight her emotions as she was a stunning woman who looked like an older version of her daughter. It was like she was still alive, her memory lived on through her daughter. The birth certificate proved to be interesting as Justin was listed as the father. A later copy was altered to state that it wasn't him but Jackson. This was highly suspicious with David theorizing that it was a part of the Stoners getting at Zara for driving away Jackson, refusing to acknowledge that he wasn't the father of Sydney while the man who fled fatherhood was. It would also keep unwanted questions from arising about Justin being absent from the picture, which would shed the Stoners in a bad light. Savannah just sighed and called Ricardo to ask for his opinion, getting a happy, "The older, original one is the one of record and the newer one will be contested as being done by outside parties. They thought that they were slick but it won't hold up in court since the original still has him on it and from her own words and the doctor's notes she is Justin's child- not Jackson's." David caught sight of several people looking at them from down the street. He noticed several cruisers driving around without pulling down their street then stopping to talk with the people observing them, it was too convenient to not be involved. Showtime was about to start, with his friends waiting the call from a nearby Dunkin Donuts to come by to help. The local officers came in hot and heavy with lights flashing, getting David to shake his head while Savannah quipped, "All flash, no substance." David added, "Have to make themselves look good for the neighbors. They all know Sydney and know Justin but but still act like they are burglarizing the house. I honestly can't think of a way that they can claim she is burglarizing her own home." The officers got out of their cruisers with guns drawn and told both to put their hands up. David just grinned, told them to put their guns down or they'd have to answer as to state and federal investigators as to why they are about to fire upon two unarmed people who are at the residence at the request of the legal owner. He called their bluff, they didn't back down and told them to get their hands up or they'd be force to fire upon them to protect themselves. David told them firmly, "I'm going to reach into my pocket and pull out something that will make your presence here a big issue. If you lay hands on me, I'll have you in jail on assault charges. Don't think that your union or some local politician will protect you as I have my own, higher protection that your people can't win against and that's just my aunt. If you fire on us, you will be in jail on murder charges. Say hello to the camera, my brother is filming you from inside and you are being recorded via audio via our cell phones currently being broadcast to my aunt, the deputy Attorney General of Massachusetts." Patrick waved then called David's friends to get them there ASAP. David slowly pulled out his badge folio, flashed it and his ID, then told the officers, "Next to me is the owner's lawyer and she will be filing a complaint with both your department and the State Police shortly. She has every pertinent document on her to show that we have every right to be here on behalf of her client. From my understanding, the people who called you already know about her and knew why she was here and who she is with. So just save the theatrics, you are already in enough trouble as it is." The officers kept their guns drawn leading to a standoff. David didn't move, but Patrick opened the front door and announced, "Two minutes out, coming in with every available unit from outside of the town including AGO officials." David just grinned, adding, "I tried to warn you." Two cars came down the street with lights on, followed by another six with sirens. The troopers were out of the cruisers in seconds with their own guns drawn but pointed at the officers, telling the four to put the guns down on the ground slowly. The officers tried to fire on them but were shot by the troopers in the shoulder, dropping all four in pain. The locals from the town police department were told to back away, with copies of the dashcam videos made of all. Patrick turned over a copy of his video with Savannah turning over a copy of her digital recording. The four with gunshot wounds were taken away under heavy guard by the the State Police, while the town's officers explained to the troopers that they were there due to reports of gunfire but then adding that the four were not supposed to be there as they hadn't been called to the scene. The troopers just shook their heads, they now faced attempted murder charges. The troopers took over the investigation but had to stop as the Stoners arrived and demanded the arrest of the people inside. They claimed that they were burglars stealing their late son's possessions and that the kid inside was kidnapped from them. They were making a lot of noise for the neighbors but the troopers tuned it out after a few seconds, knowing that it was all an elaborate lie. Once Mr. Stoner stopped ranting, the lead trooper asked, "You mean to tell me that the legal resident of the house is stealing the items inside? That the items that legally belong to him or her are being stolen by him or her? Is this the same kid whom you last week refused to acknowledge as your own to DCF? The same kid whose custody now lays in the hands of the next of kin, after you two, and who is by judicial decree with the next of kin and legal guardian? By all means, tell me how this is burglary and kidnapping as it's a standard case of the occupant moving out." The other troopers laughed as Mr. and Mrs. Stoner tried to fight for words while Savannah simply told the troopers that they were finished and would produce all legal documents to show legal ownership was in Sydney's hands and nobody else. That was done with a cursory glance to which the troopers told the Stoners, "Leave and don't come back. We will look into this and if we find out that you were involved you will be facing criminal conspiracy and attempted murder charges alongside the officers." The Stoners turned to leave, vowing revenge. Justin walked out causing the Stoners to lash out only to get the troopers to grin and show their handcuffs getting them to back off. Justin knew the next move would be a play for Sydney, but Savannah had an ace up her sleeve with Ricardo's previous filing being amended to now show Justin's parental relationship. 90 minutes later, in Winnisimmet, the cars pulled into Justin's home with Sydney rushing inside to play with little Antonio and Sophia before they left. David and Patrick moved most of the boxes with the ones going for donation put aside while the ones for the ladies were looked over by Emma and Deborah. Savannah and Justin rested while the ladies did their best to not smile at the dresses, with Justin unknowingly putting his head on her shoulder with Savannah doing the same on his. The two fell asleep, awakening to Sydney's smiling face as the two tried to move away from one another. She didn't say anything, just continued smiling as she finished making dinner. Justin tried to say something about that but Sydney was adamant that she pull her weight around the house. The trio ate in silence while Sydney stole glances at the two adults. Justin tried to keep a stoic face but his eyes darted to Savannah frequently. Savannah hid her feelings deeper, she didn't make any looks or actions until she helped Justin clean the dishes. Sydney stayed up with the couple until her body gave out from the anxiety, causing Savannah to help Justin carry her upstairs to her room with Sydney instinctively staying, "Thanks, mommy" to her. Justin shed a tear, she had a flashback to her mother but Savannah whispered to him, "She wants us to date. She has her heart on you and I marrying and my becoming her new mother. She told me so earlier." Justin didn't react, he didn't know how to do so. Savannah was beautiful and smart and reminded him so much of how Zara was. But he didn't want to betray her, even if she gave him the blessing to do so it still felt wrong to date someone and have her call Sydney her daughter. The two walked downstairs with Savannah hugging him tightly. He reciprocated by kissing her on the lips. His lust gave out, she was a beautiful woman and he couldn't hold back any longer. He needed to have her in his bed, to make love to her, to spend the night in her arms. Savannah kissed him deeply and allowed him to fondle her breasts through her blouse. As he moved down her body she stopped him, telling him that she wasn't a complete woman yet. Justin looked in her eyes and continued, giving her a reassuring smile as he gave her sexual pleasure before undressing and allowing her to do the same to him. The two eventually made it up to Justin's bedroom and closed the door tightly, wedging the door in case Sydney woke up and went looking for them. The two spent the part of the night in a passionate love session, with Justin giving Savannah her first taste of sex with a man while Justin endured the most sensual encounter he had ever had. Zara was great in bed but Savannah was making him feel alive erotically. He fell in love with her abilities and her body, even if she had something extra, "Down below" he enjoyed giving her body pleasure as much as she gave his. Sydney was up before the couple, with a big smile on her face as she ate her breakfast while the couple came in half naked and looking exhausted. She didn't say anything about their night, but she hugged Savannah after Savannah got out of the shower. Justin got the same, with her adding a happy, "You deserve someone to love, daddy." Sydney really knew how to melt his heart and hit him where it hurt the most- his pride and his sense of family. His being called, "Daddy" was something that Justin had never considered before but hearing her say it made him want to be the best father he could be no matter what the cost was. Savannah watched in awe as the last of the single man was starting to break down and accept that he was a father, of a girl who was determined to set him up with her lawyer, and actually found the idea of the two being together both arousing and intriguing. The couple ate then went up to peek in on Sydney, who was engrossed in a design for Shea Porter. The determined look on her face caused Justin to chuckle as he knew that look all too well- it was his own look, one that he often had when reading his students' research papers and finding a lot of issues that he knew they had to have gone out of their way to ignore or that they knew was total BS. It was something unintentionally done by Sydney yet was a subtle link between the two. Savannah just grinned and added, "She's definitely your daughter, that's your determined face." Both blushed as they realized that came out without thinking. Savannah tried to shy away from Justin but only got led downstairs to sit for a bit before going back upstairs to interrupt Sydney. An hour later Sydney forced herself to take a break, catching the attention of the couple as they watched her work from the doorway. She blushed but neither said anything, letting her put her work away. Downstairs in the living room Justin asked if she was completely sure that she wanted to leave UMass and if she was ready for the consequences of moving her projects away from them. Sydney shook her head and was firm, stating, "I own the rights to everything as I self-funded the project and paid for it in full. Gregory did a lot of shady things in getting me to go to UMass but that was one thing I actually insisted on. My issue will be if any of the others working with me are willing to move to a different university. I'll have to meet with the school to get them to release the students or else I'll have to find new students to work with." Justin grinned at hearing that as Savannah started to think. She simply asked, "Do you have it all in writing?" Sydney nodded, shooting back a terse, "I'm 13, not stupid. I made sure mom and Gregory put in those provisions as I didn't fully trust the advisers or the school. Without them, I'd be out of my own money and they'd control the research and prototypes I had already started building. With the right person advising I might even have lost the eventual rights to whatever patents I was awarded with the school taking them as their own." Savannah simply nodded her head, adding, "I'll have to bring in someone who knows the academic world but if you have it in writing and it was followed cleanly this should not be an issue for you any longer. For all you know, they could have slipped in something that prevents you from leaving with anything or makes your work useless. You may be smart, but they have been at the game for decades." The trio stayed inside all day until Savannah felt it was time to go, inviting the two over her house for an impromptu dinner. Sydney accepted, with Justin forced to come along. Savannah was happy to show them around her small apartment, explaining solemnly, "Ricardo and Cameron have had a lot of success but I'm still struggling to bring in clients. It's not much but my share of the profits was enough to buy this condo and a new car suited for New England's weather rather than California summer. I am truly grateful that Ricardo hired me, although I wish it was under better circumstances for him." Her neighbors were surprised to see a guy coming over let along one with a girl. They tried to dissuade Justin but he ignored them, letting them show their true colors to the neighborhood as the bigots they really were. He hated to endure this but Sydney had to see this side of people. He knew one of them from the high school and wasn't happy that he was quick to go against Savannah. Mario Ricci was a math teacher at the high school and who had been hired the same year as Justin. The two had a lot in common in the past but he may have to end their friendship if that was how his saw Savannah as a person. He was happy to be there and was impressed by her condo despite her humility about it. It was quaint, perfect for a bachelorette like Savannah. It had all of the necessities for a modern home yet didn't have the unneeded size, he would have enjoyed living in a place like this before Sydney came along. Sydney was pleased to see that Justin was acting like a good boyfriend. Savannah and he held hands and shared a kiss as they left, with Sydney smiling at the subtle sight. She wanted her dad to be happy and Savannah was slowly making him happy without him noticing it. At school the next day, Deborah asked about his day. Justin clammed up, mumbling that it was private to which she added, "We all know she likes you a lot. Just go easy on the sex, she is still self-conscious about her body and will need some coaxing to accept that you like her for herself." John Finn caught the conversation and asked what it was about. Deborah just grinned while Justin blushed. John caught on fast and subtlely smiled at Justin doing well with Savannah already. As the day wore on Justin was asked about his weekend leading to Justin simply telling people, "It's personal." When they tried to pry, he reiterated that he wanted to have his privacy as he wasn't ready to explain it to everyone. John intervened twice by adding, "Some things are too premature to talk about." After school, Justin was hauled in to see the principal to answer some tough questions. John was by his side, as was Deborah. Looking at both, Jake Bollinger's only comment was, "So it's partially true, he has a kid staying with him." Justin steeled himself them announced, "Last week my ex-girlfriend's daughter was put into my care by the state. She was originally believed to by my niece through my older brother but according to a letter to me left by her mother, I am actually her father. She isn't in any danger, I am not sleeping with her nor abusing her. We have had plenty of people who have helped us get used to one another." Deborah smiled and stated, "She's Sydney Powers. You met her at the James' wedding in September. She's been with Justin due to an issue at UMass but is going to stay with him permanently. They were with Savannah Ward all weekend and both David, Patrick, and the kids know about her being here." Jake just shook his head and smiled, offering his apologies over the rumors and stating, "I'll explain the truth: you were reunited with your daughter. There is no need to go any further, it's your personal life and you were honest. It's hard to go against your solid witnesses. Now what's this about 'she'? I recall Sydney being a boy, or at least that's what you introduced Sydney as." Justin cringed and explained, "Sydney is transgender. She was caught at UMass by Rick Samuels and forced to get an evaluation. Her mother actually knew about her being a girl for years but she herself didn't accept it until the Samuels family helped her. She should have her second evaluation soon but I have little doubt that I never had a son, just a daughter who is now getting the chance to live." Justin left while John casually added, "He's on the verge of dating Savannah. His daughter is pretty slick, she wants a mother and has connected with Savannah. It's deeper than both being born wrong, the guys were saying how much she acted like a mother to her and vice versa. Justin is in for a big shock." Down on Cape Cod, the Stoner family and the officers were facing the media and a judge. The judge took no prisoners and remanded the officers due to the seriousness of the charges. For the Stoners, he set bail that was within reach but included orders of protection on Sydney and Justin's behalf. The community was divided. One group wanted the officers released as they believed the officers did nothing wrong. One group wanted their heads for trying to kill innocent people and state troopers. As expected, the state was keen to show just how troubling their community was as several politicians reared their heads and called for the release of the officers. They didn't care that they tried to murder two people or that they also tried to kill the state troopers, they wanted them released. The state simply told them to buzz off while making note of just who was involved as it was clear they were dirty. The Stoners posted bail and proceeded to trash the former Powers home, searching for anything that could be used against Justin and Sydney. They found exactly what they needed, locating an old photo that had fallen out of Zara's jewelry box and lodged behind the bed. They would go after Sydney now, having the firepower to ensure that she got them off with her money or else her secret got out. Their first stop was the media, who gave them a platform but it backfired as Sydney's tragic past and their own shunning of their son caused the spotlight to go on them instead of her. Justin refused all interviews and wouldn't let Sydney talk with the media, letting Ricardo and Savannah handle them. The two were rough but to the point, ensuring the facts were laid out for all to see. Sydney wasn't harassed, instead was given blanket protection from stories. The fact that she had been witness to both the Miles' and Jaimie Finn's harassment as well as Sylvia Roberts' and Rick's date rape case ensured she was too hot to handle. She simply confirmed that she was their grandchild and they had ignored her before they ever tried to go after custody of her and only wanted her due to Justin. When all else failed, the Stoners used their only weapon- the picture. They went to the state about the abuse by her mother then claimed that she was being abused by Justin without any actual backing. The state gave them a quick response that they didn't like:, "We are aware of your allegations and believe that based on your history with both that your allegations are false and malicious. We will investigate as is required but are of the belief that your grandchild is not in any danger." Chloe came by, took one look at Sydney, talked with Justin, then told the duo, "Get a second opinion regarding her treatment immediately. I suggest Alison Eliza as she has more experience with kids in her custody situation. Edith Bell will agree with her assessment, but both are likely to say she is a girl." DCF handed the media their official statement followed by strong wording about patient confidentiality and protecting the rights of minors. The media read between the lines and quashed any stories that dealt with abuse claims against Justin, if DCF used the line of confidentiality then she was being treated properly. They had enough losses to the state to justify their concerns about Sydney. With the state now unwilling to do their dirty work for them, the Stoners went after Sydney the hard way- via the courts. They filed in Barstable County Family Court but were told that a several day old case was already on file in Suffolk County and would not be moved due to Sydney being a resident of Suffolk County, not Barnstable. Ricardo was no fool, he had already filed the amendment to his earlier petition, this time to have Justin be declared as Sydney's biological father based on every fact pointing to it short of a blood test. The family was on edge as the Stoners finally counter-filed, claiming abuse by Justin for allowing Sydney to dress as a girl. That part was pulled out of thin air, they hadn't actually seen Sydney so they had no idea that she was already living as a girl but went for the worst claims without evidence. The whole of their claims was based on Justin being unfit, yet no actual supporting evidence was presented. Ricardo had Justin undergo a blood test then sent it off to be tested by a lab. It would come back in two days with the results expected to be what they knew them to be but still supporting their claims. Justin was told to simply go about things as normal, they would not get Sydney without breaking bail and no court would revoke custody before the scheduled hearing. Chapter 4 During school the next two days Justin was on edge and seemed to coast through the motions of teaching his classes instead of being his normal reclusive self. John was on point and defended him, setting straight several of their colleagues who then sympathized with him. The parents among the teachers were thrilled for him and couldn't wait to meet the mysterious Sydney while the young, single, and/or childless colleagues felt sorry for him losing his freedom. Deborah helped out in class immensely, working with the students as Justin finished correcting papers and keeping his mind occupied. Being at the cusp of her own solo teaching, this actually helped with the transition from Justin doing the teaching to Deborah. After class, she helped him endure the need to check in on Sydney as the urge to be an overprotective parent grew within Justin. Sydney did better during her time. Shea and she had worked hard on their new prototype and used recommendations from Patrick Peterson to fix some issues with a pump and outer casing that neither could fully fix on their own. The two were in-sync to the point that she was able to finish his sentences and he was able to predict what she wanted to do next while she had a design sketched to match the image in his head. Shea offered a sympathetic ear as Sydney vented her frustrations over her grandparents being so unlike her father. He offered a knowing nod, explaining, "My in-laws were some of the most amazing people I ever met. They helped us out when I was in college, knowing that I'd repay their assistance when I was able to get out in the world. Their daughter took this accepting of a loan as a sign of weakness and only took from others, never giving back unless it benefited her. When they died I cried buckets while my wife was only interested in her inheritance. It hurt seeing her apathetic to her own parents. It did give me a little pleasure to know that they had left granddaughters an inheritance instead of their daughter." Sydney nodded, adding, "You found a great woman in Alice. You have a great new son and daughter to counter the terrible daughter you lost to prison. I guess sometimes it depends on the person in side that matters most, you can teach them only so much before their true selves shine through. Some people are good at hiding their true selves, others not so much. Rosalind was a good person at heart so what her sister and mother taught her didn't last while what you are teaching her took hold." She had only briefly met Raul but he was acting like Shea was his father in full, while his sisters were closer than some of the sisters she had known back home. The look of pride in seeing that her father was like Shea made her think about how she was like him yet still her own person. He was nothing like his family, but he was also alike in that he was headstrong in his beliefs and actions, his just happened to be for the benefit of others instead of for himself. As they finished their lunches Sydney got a shock as a police officer entered the lab demanding to see her. Shea calmly asked his business there and was told, "We received a report of a child not attending school as well as reports of this child working without a permit during school hours. She will have to come with me until we determine the truth." Shea laughed, then announced loudly, "Like hell she is. She is a PhD student who is working on her degree under the direction of a fully qualified college educator. Her lab work is part of her degree work and is exempt from the work laws as it is part of her education. If need be I'll have my brother-in-law cite you ever legal precedent and ruling until your retirement but she isn't leaving here with you." The officer took a step towards Sydney only to be told loudly, "Lay a finger on her and I'll file assault charges." The officer backed away, calling for backup while Shea made his phone call. The officer wasn't happy that he was being taken to task by Shea but his threat was serious enough to wait for help. Shea picked up his phone and called Ricardo who swiftly called his brother Willie Pena who then called the officer directly. The officer's face went red then white as he listened to his boss explain how he had been in the wrong and had just left the department open to countless issues due to his being so careless. Sydney was a minor so needed someone to be with her if she was going to be brought in for questioning, she could have been questioned there under supervision making the attempt to remove her from the lab all the worse as it was a waste of time and resources due to the response from his backup. The officer left without a word, while Shea was called by Willie who happily told him, "The school will be in deep trouble for their little stunt. Her adviser at UMass tried to force her to return but this will only serve as the final nail in her time at UMass. They knew about you, but I guess they didn't notice that you were married and who your wife's family is. I doubt very much they'd have allowed this stunt to happen if they wanted to tango with my wife." Willie and Savannah stopped by and discussed he phone call with them in person. As the person written and faxed a statement claiming to know that Sydney was not attending school and working illegally, they had grounds to go after the person. Savannah suggested cutting her off at the pass and exposing her for what she had done, the school had already kicked her out so there was no reason to demand her return as she had nowhere to go to at the school. Seeing the name of the complainant, Shea laughed as he added, "This was pure jealousy. Sydney is her former adviser's ticket to the big leagues as Sydney would be perfect for several corporations- young, talented, and able to be manipulated into handing over her hard work for pennies on the dollar. If my hunch is right, she is already getting a pretty penny from one of the manufacturing conglomerates for access to Sydney and her patents. It'd be foolish to work for them, they'd control her future and give her next to nothing in compensation for her revolutionary ideas and anything she created would be owned by them with her getting little to no credit." Sydney growled, "She treats me like I'm a kid, she doesn't want me and rarely talks with me about my thesis paper or about the classes I should be taking. I tried to have my adviser switched but she refused to allow me to move elsewhere. Shea has done more for me with a proper paper idea while helping me find what to do for my research in a week than she has done in six months, I wish I'd gone with him instead of her but Gregory insisted." Savannah shook her head while Willie called his wife Kennedy to get her onto the school for kickbacks from companies for forcing students to work for those companies as well as for extorting students out of their research and patents. Kennedy just grinned, pointed out that it was already in the works, and the exact professor was in for a rude surprise when Sydney returned to the school to pack up her research- she had opened a can of worms that her adviser tried to keep tightly closed. Willie asked if the school knew about her gender change, getting a solid, "No" which he added, "This will be a big problem for her. You know she will use it against Sydney but given that Shea has offered to be her adviser and has his own lab that is affiliated with three universities there is no issue. Her only real problem will be deciding which one she wants her degree from. Personally, I think MIT may be best." The next day, Sydney met with MIT officials accompanied by Savannah, Shea, Patrick, and Ricardo. The entourage was greeted warmly as Shea and Patrick introduced Sydney as a prodigy who was withdrawing her research from UMass due to personal issues and wanted to attend MIT. They gave her a typical interview which followed by her explaining the situation with UMass-Amherst followed by Patrick and Shea giving testament to her assistance in developing their own work over the past week. Her transcripts, master's thesis, and letters of recommendation from her UMass-Darthmouth advisers told of a highly intelligent student while her patents and ideas for research and development told of a bold and forward-thinking person. She had exactly what they wanted in a student and with time would be an asset to the school. The fact that she was only 13 was beside the point, she wasn't the first young prodigy they had but she was the first who had won patents and actually improved others at the school. The issue of her gender was ignored, Patrick's wife was known to them as was Shea's nephew. It was a simple matter of ignoring it entirely as it was irrelevant to her work. She was able to do the work and in time would have the school touting her research as being done with them. Unlike UMass-Amherst, MIT didn't need to use her for publicity as the school was its own publicity machine and her scientific abilities were all that mattered to them. It was official now. Sydney just had to deliver her withdrawal notice and remove her research before UMass seized it then tied her up in court in a last ditch attempt to retain her. Savannah gave a call to a judge in Hampshire County and got a cease and desist order put in place on any action against Sydney with deputies being dispatched to shut and seal her lab until the group was able to get out there. That afternoon Winnisimmet officer Ian Bailey joined Shea, Savannah, Justin, and Sydney on the trip out west to the campus. They were greeted by a happy Rick, Christina, and Sylvia Roberts. Christina and Sylvia were all smiles as they looked over the feminine looking Sydney, hugging her as she smiled at the two for not saying anything abut her change. The ladies asked about her being back, growing concerned about her presence as rumors had been swirling about her being kidnapped by someone after Gregory's failed attempt. Savannah explained, "She needs to get her research and clear out her lab. Shea is here to help with that while Justin here is overseeing everything as her parent. I'm here as her lawyer while Ian is here on behalf of the police department executing an arrest warrant for her former adviser." Rick told them he'd get her things out of their dorm while the girls went with Sydney for support. It was expected to be tough, but Ian cut off any potential issues by going to the police station, showing the warrant from Winnisimmet Police, and got them to enforce the district court judge's order under penalty of contempt of court. They had no choice but to comply and help them out, especially as they were on thin ice with the state as it was. The deputies were still there and had trouble with Vera and her students trying to barge into the lab. The campus police helped by removing them while Ian casually asked, "Vera Bradley?" He took great pride as she looked up and said a terse, "What the hell do you want" to which Ian happily proclaimed, "You need to come with me, we need to have a talk about your phone call and fax this morning to my department regarding one Sydney Powers and the quote 'lack of schooling and illegally working'. My department does not take fake accusations lightly and are pressing charges against you." The color drained form Vera's face while the campus officers escorted her out, telling the students, "They have a court order, don't go inside unless you want to spend the night in jail. This is above us, we can't stop them from enforcing it so don't even try to call us for help." The students backed away, letting Sydney open the lab while the deputies stood watch outside to prevent them from entering after Sydney's group. They didn't need to know what was going on beyond it involved the college and they were doing their jobs on behalf of the judge. The fact that someone from Winnisimmet was there and the campus officers were dancing around the situation only gave them a contented feeling that they were helping something big even if it's just a tiny part in all of it Sydney's lab notes were strewn about with Sydney noting that they had made copies of her notes and designs for the project she was supposed to start working on shortly. Shea asked if she had made her own copies, ones that she kept with her getting a grin and happy, "I figured I might have to do that some day just in case someone tried to steal my design. She never checked my project, the others worked on different parts of a larger design involving my own prior design but mine was meant to be independent as I intended to use elsewhere." It was both brilliant and sneaky. He looked at the design closely, spotting several flaws which Sydney nodded at him seeing. She pointed out, "They are intentional, and unless you knew otherwise you would include them and weaken the structure directly or after you removed the flaws. I also added some unnecessary additions that are purely aesthetic but look important. You saw the real deal in your lab." Sydney boxed up her work as well as the prototypes she had already started to build. One was mostly disassembled causing her to curse, with Shea asking, "Is that a working model?" She nodded, but added, "They won't find out anything from it, it's an outer casing that doesn't do anything. I only built it to give me a visual cue on how to keep things small and where they may go. It's useless but still it hurts that they tried to steal my design." The group packed up the last of the items and left the lab bare. Everything inside was bought with money from Sydney's grant and as per her contract she owned everything. What she couldn't take was the notes that were made from working in the lab, Vera would fight tooth and nail but the injunction from Sydney would prevent her from using anything obtained from Sydney's work for herself. It would be useless to anyone, more for academic reference than actually usable data. Outside, the students were angry at being forced out. Their PhDs and master's programs involved their working with Vera who was using Sydney's work with the students caught in a black hole as her work was frozen due to it relying solely on Sydney's designs, which she didn't own. Her whole plan was to use Sydney, pawn her off on a corporation for a hefty fee, then use the research that the students came up with to further her own prestige and finances. Sydney shook her head while Shea told them, "The school is in a quandary. They must either find you new work or allow you to leave and work under Sydney as everything that you had done relies on her own work. I don't know what Vera was thinking but she duped both the school and you while getting paid to give your hard work to someone who would control you. It's your choice but Sydney is leaving here for good." The deputies helped them out to the cars with each realizing that Sydney was the student and this was all of her work. It was a shock to them but then again it wasn't unheard of to have child prodigies in the field of science. Sydney just didn't strike them as one, she looked perfectly normal and like any 13-year-old girl and had been mistaken for Shea's daughter while Sylvia was thought to be the student. Over at the dorms, Sydney met the grinning Rick who told her firmly, "You can pack up the rest. I am not about to pack up a girl's underwear. I won't even touch Jaimie's." Christina gave him a funny look while Sylvia burst into laughter at his unintentional joke. Sydney just shook her head and boxed up her panties and the last of her clothes, with her trinkets and books going last. Rick saw them out, hugging and kissing Sydney after she loaded her things into the car. Sydney told the girls to keep an eye on him and not let him work too hard. Christina hugged her tightly while Sylvia kissed her cheek, whispering, "You look so much better than you did before. You were always a girl." The group met up with Ian who had a big smirk as he explained, "She's in a heap of trouble. The school wasn't happy that she caused yet another legal incident and have suspended her with pay until her legal issues are cleared up. Chief won't let this go unanswered so she's getting probation at a minimum, fines in the thousands at the maximum. The real thing is how the folks in the academic world deal with her antics once word spreads about what she did." Shea answered for him, explaining, "She's seen as a hack and won't get another job at a major university. Heck, I think she's on her last legs as it is as she may have plagiarized her work and stolen the research of a fellow student. It's a strong case made stronger based on what we saw today. MIT will be more than happy to back Sydney against her, with Vera getting the full force of their legal might against her." Their final stop was the university's admissions office. Sydney filled out the withdrawal forms which Savannah countersigned followed by Justin. She filed it without fanfare and simply walked away, the clerk simply not knowing her nor caring as long as everything was in order. Savannah called Beverly Bollinger and had her and Greta Nelson, Sydney's new investment manager, remove her grants from the school while moving it to MIT with the amount subject to audit to ensure nothing was charged to grant that shouldn't have been. Beverly grinned with fanged teeth, she was going to love getting at Vera and get back anything that shouldn't have been charged. It was entirely within her powers to do so, Vera didn't have the right to charge for things that weren't necessary and to do so was fraud, which only weakened Vera's already precarious position at the school. Sydney listened to the conversation with Christina whispering to her, "It figures that Miles gets a job assisting the state and you accidentally cause Aunt Beverly to audit your grants. He'd have every single expense questioned but he's busy helping fight dumber criminals on Cape Cod." Sydney blushed at that, Miles was the kind of guy who'd go all out just for her and acted like a big brother to her whenever she was around him. Back in Winnisimmet, Sydney ate a late dinner then went to bed. Savannah kissed Justin then went home, but not before a little fun with him in bed. In the morning Sydney asked how come Savannah didn't stay, getting a meek, "It's a school night, she didn't want to break an unwritten rule about staying over on a school night." She smiled at hearing that, letting him eat and drive off to work as she rode in to the lab with Shea. The two set up her own lab within his building, securing it and ensuring everything inside was cataloged. She enjoyed doing it and after calming down went right to work as she assembled her visual prototypes then assembled her working prototype, something that she was glad Vera never noticed nor took the time to bother to test out given that it was close to being ready to use in trials. Shea laughed as she assembled her work in seconds, noting how simple yet complex it was with how it could blend into the background of most machinery and run without interfering with anything. With the right piece of equipment, her project could revolutionize power distribution and electrical generation in chemical plants and manufacturing centers. She was sitting on a veritable gold mine as it'd be in high demand, which was why Vera had used her and manipulated her as Sydney would give a company billions in revenues for her hard work. The two worked on her design more, with Shea trying hard not to see that Sydney was a true prodigy who just wanted to design and build. She was using her education and career as an outlet but it was something that was both great at and had a passion for. She wasn't interested in building for money, she just wanted to be herself and design things that make things easier for the world while living her life as she needed to live it- as a woman. Shea grinned and offered her a warm, "If you weren't Justin's daughter or even his niece I'd have offered to adopt you as my daughter. You are simply amazing and deserve to shine. I wish my daughters and son had your scientific devotion, but they are great kids and I love them. Justin and everyone will be proud of you when you finally put your papers up for review by the school, but I'm proud of you now." Those were the first words of encouragement that she had gotten since her mom died. Shea saw that he hit a nerve and apologized but she was just so happy to have had that happen. He was a colleague but he was also a parent and was acting like a dad for her during a dad moment. At home Justin told her about her appointment with Dr. Alison Eliza for her custody hearing. She reluctantly got into the car, with Justin having to explain to her, "You met her before at the James wedding. She's the psychiatrist for the younger girls so you may have been mentioned before. She is a good person, I know her through her wife and she is one of the few who I'd trust with your care." Alison Eliza met them at the reception desk, giving Sydney a big hug while Justin sat down to wait. Dr. Bell came by to talk with him in regards to Sydney's care giving him a distraction but it was a twofold meeting as she was gauging him as a parent for Sydney as well. She was impressed with him especially as he was a man who she had thought was gruff and tough to deal with, believing his reputation that had been told to her by Deborah in her own therapy sessions. Inside Alison's office, Alison told Sydney that she had made a strong impression on the kids simply by being a kid. She blushed at that, offering Alison as solemn, "I was trying to hide some of myself from them but I guess I didn't do it well enough. I loved the makeover and playing with the kids, I don't know what else I did as I couldn't do much else beyond talking with them." Alison smirked as she explained, "You got the guys to stand up for you about the girls pushing you. The girls didn't think about what they were saying even if it was playful teasing. The girls liked that you dealt with the younger girls in a way that they didn't expect and gave them what they wanted while being your own person. Admitting to yourself that you are a girl was something none of them could have done, it was an act that was tougher than any of them except Diego and Al could do. You were being true to yourself." Alison went away from the others and started asking about her past, getting the same response she gave Edith. Alison smiled and asked firmly, "Is that really the story? I know you found out some truths from your past, it's alright to admit that you were wrong about yourself." Sydney sighed and explained, "I started dressing up for mom when I was four because it was fun and mom was sad all of the time. I guess it was over Uncle Jackson's death as my grandparents blamed her for him dying. I kept asking to do it until mom built a small wardrobe for me that we would play with on weekends. It was our little game but I always felt better as a girl than I did as a boy. It felt right, I didn't have to work hard to prove I was better than everyone else and didn't have to fight others to show I'm the biggest boy around. I was myself, I could do what I felt was right and I could enjoy spending time with mom without being thought of as a sissy or weirdo." Alison was hitting pay dirt as she opened up about the true origins of Sydney the girl. Sydney continued, "When I started school we only did it on weekends then on holidays. I never bothered with the boys as they would always tease me about mom being single and nobody liking her. I stopped wearing normal clothes at home and would only wear skirts and blouses then always wore panties. In school I wore boy things with boy underwear but those were always removed the second I got home. This went on until mom married Gregory. He hated feminine boys so mom had me stop. I didn't start up again until I was in college, away from Gregory's power. That's how Rick found me and got me help, he found me dressed up in the only girl clothes I had- panties and a camisole." Alison asked about the letter, getting a somber, "Mom wrote it to tell me to find dad. I found him by default thanks to my lawyers. Mom loved dad but couldn't be with him, I hate that but I found dad. Mom wanted us to be together but dad wanted me because I needed him." It was tough on Sydney now. Emotions were stirred up that she hadn't dealt with before. She sobbed, "I wish she had found dad before she married Gregory. She deserved a chance to be with dad but she let him get away from her. Dad loves her, he never stopped loving her. We could have been a family." She had held off on grief for years but talking with Alison had dredged up the old feelings. She was still a little girl despite her intelligence and maturity. She hadn't had the chance before to deal with this grief and having to talk about it had finally opened up the dam of grief. Alison offered an understanding, "She wanted to give him a life where he wasn't reminded of what he lost out on. She betrayed him so he could have a better life away from his family and those who'd harm him, she couldn't let herself accept that mistake even if it was for the best that she did it. He wouldn't want you to dwell on this, he wants you to move on and enjoy your life now that you can be who you need to be. It's what she'd want, it's what you need." Alison's words were what Sydney needed to hear, causing her to stop sobbing and hug her tightly. Alison led her out to where Edith and Justin were waiting, with Justin asking if she was alright as soon as he saw that she had been crying. Alison just smiled and offered him a warm, "She's much stronger than we give her credit for. You have my agreement with Edith that she is as her mother had suspected and that she should transition for her own health and well-being. I suspect that she isn't far off from puberty so it'd be best to find a doctor for her as well as an endocrinologist. As tough as it may be for you, she's going to need to take the next step shortly." The two drove home with Sydney still dazed but starting to accept that this wasn't a dream. At home, Savannah greeted them along with Ricardo and a woman whom he introduced as Dr. Sarah Jones. Justin shook his head, asking, "Is this an ethical violation? You know her already." Sarah just smiled and pointed out, "Be that as it may she isn't family to me, well not directly. There isn't an ethical issue as I am treating her as any other patient. I'm also one of the few who has experience with teenage transgender patients and can do more for her than others can given that I know her history and hopefully have her trust." Sydney nodded, to which Sarah added, "Then we have an agreement. If you would be so kind, I have an appointment set up for her so you can go into your hearing with everything needed. It'll only be a bit and I'll have our in-house endocrinologist help her with her treatments." The group drove to Sarah's office and after a quick examination her only notes were that she was a little underweight and tired but some healthier food and more sleep and breaks at the lab would work for her. The endocrinologist was quick and mostly painless, drawing blood then starting Sydney on blockers as well as giving her a dose of estrogen with a prescription to be filled. She wasn't happy to be told that she'd have to produce semen, but that would wait for a week so they could arrange proper storage. Sydney didn't want to produce it but Sarah softly explained, "It's for your future children. I understand that you are interested in women, it's so you can have your own biological children with your wife. Even if you may hate it, it's a good idea to store it. We have done it for the other girls, sadly four never got the chance to store theirs. They don't see it as a loss but if they were into girls it would seem to be." Sydney cringed as she remembered the stories about the girls especially Jaimie. She didn't want that to happen, as much as she would love to be a full girl she did hope to be a mother some day especially a mother that was of her own flesh and blood. Preserving something that she hated producing was a small price to pay for her future. Finally back home, Justin found the letter he was hoping for. Ricardo opened it for him, read it fully, then gave him a sad look followed by an unhappy, "It's my duty to inform you that the test results were challenged by your family. They contest that your samples were tainted and someone in the lab was falsifying documents. However, the geneticist conducted the tests twice on each of the samples that we provided, refusing to play their game. He knows us and knew that if I was asking for a test then it was a serious situation. The results are: 100% match on your test. You are her father." Sydney hugged Justin then hugged Savannah, kissing her cheek and looking up at her with anticipation. Savannah didn't say anything, just hugged her while Justin looked on with an eager face. Savannah simply kissed him full on the lips, making him curl his toes as she stopped fighting her urges. Ricardo made a discrete exit, allowing Sydney and the couple to have time alone. Sydney was firm with them, explaining, "Stop acting like you don't like one another. I know you two had sex twice. You deserve a chance at love so start dating! I like Savannah a lot, it's not because she reminds me of mom. She's just so good for you and makes me feel like I'm her daughter no matter what we do. Please daddy, give her a chance? Please Savannah, give daddy a chance?" Her pleading looks worked, with Sydney getting dinner together while the couple talked. Savannah asked him if he was ready to endure what people would say about her, getting Justin to kiss her again and offer a firm, "I like you, I may even love you. I have endured years of torment for just being myself, I will happily endure it for making you happy. My only concern was Sydney but she wants us to be together as a family." Savannah kissed him again, with Sydney taking a picture and texting it to Al who sent back a warning to not push them. Sydney texted what had happened, getting Al to add, "They really do like each other. But don't push them. It's tough on her to live up to your mother's image." Sydney sat between the couple and kissed both, asking, "Would you two get married?" Justin looked at Savannah who was blushing, then explained to his daughter, "It's too early for that kind of talk. She is making me feel the way your mother felt but she may not like me or you always comparing her to your mother. If she should happen to want to take things further then I'd happily marry her." Sydney smiled at that, then added a warm, "If she does, can she adopt me as her daughter? I want to have a real mom, she deserves a daughter as well. Please, daddy? I don't want to end up with your brothers or parents if something happened to you. I wouldn't survive with them. They'll kill me." The look of fear on her face was enough for Savannah to blurt out, "It will be among the forms we fill out alongside our marriage license. I'm not letting you get away from us, you are the daughter I always dreamed of having. I couldn't let someone hurt you. I won't let them get you, you don't ever have to see them if you don't want to." The three ate in silence as the touching moment loomed over the trio. Sydney had made her point, she wanted them to be a family and Savannah had accepted that they were going to become one. Justin was lost in thought as Savannah had unintentionally admitted that she'd love to get married to him, an idea that made his heart flutter as she was becoming harder and harder to not see as the woman he loves. The couple spent the night together with Justin giving her pleasure before falling asleep. He didn't need to be satisfied, she was the one who had an emotional evening thanks to Sydney's questions. Savannah felt horrible about not reciprocating but Justin had simply smiled at her and kissed her goodnight. In the morning, Savannah dropped off Justin at school. The two kissing caused a stir as Justin's various colleagues were both shocked and intrigued by the mystery woman. Justin didn't talk about her, he just went to class and greeted Deborah who just smiled at him as they started class. During his lunch break Justin was asked about the mystery woman. He was honest, telling the inquirers, "She's my new girlfriend. She was hired on my daughter's behalf and through my daughter's various manipulations got us to get together. I haven't felt this way 14 years." The word daughter slipped out unintentionally causing his colleagues to ask about that. Justin was up front ant explained, "My niece was left in my care by the state after issues at her college. When we cleaned out her former house she found some letters to herself and I from her deceased mother. Her mother explained that our last night together as a couple before we broke up produced a girl, my supposed niece, and that my brother, her supposed father, wasn't her real father as they had thought. We had a DNA test done to confirm the story and it was positive- I am her father." Justin left it there, there was no need to delve deeper into Sydney's life. He'd rather they talk about him behind his back than Sydney. He could take the comments, she didn't deserve to have them talking about her as none of them had ever met her. Deborah kept him focused on class while she taught. During breaks she did ask about the couple being so close, getting the same smile he normally gave but was countered by Deborah's quick, "So it's puppy love that's starting to become more. I hope you have held off on sex, it can be nerve wracking for us especially if it's your first time performing that way." Justin blushed to which she gasped. Justin blurted out a mumbled, "She initiated it, I gave her pleasure as she gave me pleasure. She is beautiful even if she still has her birth defect, I'll support her either way but if she chooses to undergo her surgery I'll be happy to nurse her back to health." Deborah nodded at hearing that. It was the same response her own husband gave to her after they married. He didn't mind seeing her defect, it simply was part of her just as it's part of Savannah. The next day was a repeat of the same except Sydney was with them as Savannah had business in Cambridge with some potential clients. Her being there was a bit of a stir as Justin was mobbed by John and his familial and non-familial nieces and nephews. Sydney blushed at all of them being there but they were more interested in Savannah and Justin than her. Thomas Samuels explained to her that they were under orders from their older and younger siblings and cousins to leave her alone, plus Justin was more of an interest given how different he had started to act in class since he started to get close to Savannah. Savannah herself underwent scrutiny, with the girls eyeing her until they nodded at her being alright for them. John sent them on their way with Justin while he talked with Savannah. She asked what that was all about, getting happy, "They were giving you the aunt treatment. They are used to Justin but this is the first time that he has been close to anyone and the way he is acting it's causing them to think that he may be going further with you than just dating. Besides, since you are partners with Cameron and Ricardo, you are going to be close with them at some point. It's their way of adding you to their extended family without letting you know that they like what they see." The coupled drove on, with Sydney smiling at Savannah's own happy look. She confessed to Sydney, "I don't have any family. Mom and dad cut ties with me when I was 18 and haven't tried to contact me since. They let me take blockers when I was your age and knew my intent to transition but it hurts that I am all alone. Ricardo has been a good person to me and Cameron has been like a brother, but it's the first time that anyone ever made me feel like I was part of a family even if they don't really know me." Sydney smiled at hearing that, it was from the heart and it felt right for them to act like she was an aunt. She would ask Cameron if he could make it so Savannah had a mom and brother so that she had more family. She heard about it being done before, she figured that maybe his mom would be willing to do it for Savannah's sake. Shea asked to speak with Savannah when they arrived a the lab, his expression wasn't on that looked like he was happy which upset immediately upset Sydney. He showed her a paper that had just been published online, which Sydney read and grew angry at. Vera had published Sydney's work as her own and was using her designs to try to license them for her own. Shea saw the anger in Sydney then added a bombshell:, "Vera used the prototypes that you created but not the actual finished designs. I'd cut her off by lodging a patent complaint then showing that she stole your work. You were smart in copyrighting everything, she doesn't have the originals nor does she have the supporting evidence. The school will be happy to back you up in your claims, simply show that the originals are in your possession and that the ones she has were stolen from your lab and that all copies belong to you legally per your contract with the school." An hour later they were meeting with the school officials who were in agreement with them. They got a kick out of Sydney using her system of flaws to prevent people from stealing her ideas especially as Shea showed that it was justified. They asked to see the exact prototype that Vera had stolen, laughing as it was clearly not finished and the components were out of proportion for what Sydney planned. The school, Savannah, and Shea sent a retraction notice to the scientific magazine that the paper was going to be published in then endured an explanation from both the school, Shea, and Sydney that the entire paper was plagiarized from Sydney's notes and that the culprit, Vera Bradley, was trouble over her antics. The magazine sent an editor to talk with them, examined the prototype designs Vera had sent as her own, then examined the actual prototype. Sydney's design was the only one that actually made sense on review and once the visual prototypes were shown to be just for show the paper was retracted. Vera had to endure phone calls from colleagues who demanded to know why she had just published a paper that was retracted, causing her to try to lie her way out of the situation. She tried to blame Sydney only to have that tossed back as the magazine revealed that they had seen the actual device that she had claimed as her own and what she submitted were nothing but non-functional models while the real one worked. She was left with no actual defense, she blamed Sydney but with MIT backing her there was no defense for her. Vera's day was just getting worse as the school was put on the spot by multiple researchers as they questioned Vera's presence at the school and anything connected to her. The past accusations about her being a plagiarist came to light and upon review they were found to not only be true but also to be clearly influenced by outside forces. The school was forced to terminate her, citing violations of her contract for her conduct regarding students and her illicit actions regarding obtaining students' patents. At home, Sydney was grumpy. Justin tried to talk with her but she wasn't in the mood. Savannah just snickered then hugged him, telling him affectionately, "Congratulations, it's a 13-year-old girl! Her hormones are starting to flutter due to the estrogen starting to affect her. It'll be a little out of whack for a while but she will be alright if you give her some space." Savannah went up to Sydney's room and hugged her, letting Sydney know that she wasn't in trouble. She let Sydney cry herself out, then explained to, "Your hormones are starting to get a little out of whack due to your becoming a woman. It'll take some getting used to. I was the same way, but thankfully I started over the summer so I didn't hurt others when it happened. You will adjust to them." Sydney's only response was a tear-filled, "Thanks mom" causing her to cover her mouth in shame. Savannah herself was in tears, it was unintentional yet it was what she had wanted to tell her. Savannah kissed her cheek and offered a warm, "I love you too, sweety. I'll tell your dad to file the paperwork tomorrow after school. I would love nothing more than to be your mother in full." Downstairs, Savannah kissed Justin then asked him, "Will marry me, Justin Stoner?" Justin looked at her as if she was joking but she asked again, "Will you marry me, Justin Stoner? I love you, I can't picture my life without you. I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you. You are exactly what I pictured my husband to be and I have fallen madly in love with you as a person." Justin shed a tear as he fought his feelings. Looking over at a picture of Zara he thought he saw her nodding to him, giving him her approval to marry Savannah. Justin cried again, this time blurting out, "I love you, Savannah Ward. I'll marry you. Please, marry me and be the mother to my daughter." The two kissed deeply as Sydney quietly crept away, only to be told, "Get over here" by Justin. She embraced both, looking at the same picture and seeing her mother smiling back at them. It was a sign to her, her mother had given her blessing for all of this to happen with Savannah being her new mother. Chapter 5 Justin was upbeat the next day, with his students liking his new attitude while Deborah shook her head at the change in him. She didn't need to know what had happened, it was clear that Justin had proposed to Savannah the day before. Her only response to him was a simple, "It'll wear off as soon as you are married, trust me on this. She's definitely your daughter if she got the two of you to take the next step already. But in all seriousness, they stop being cute after a week. Just be glad that she's potty trained and can walk", getting a grin from Justin as she figured out just who had unintentionally caused the proposal between the couple. Over lunch, Justin's change was noticed by most of his colleagues. It was tough to evade the inevitable questions, with two asking about what happened. Justin didn't hold back, blurting out, "She asked me to marry her and I said yes. She was asked by my daughter to adopt her and she said yes. It's hard not to be upbeat after all of that." As expected, word traveled fast around the school. Thomas and the teens tried hard not to grin but Justin only rolled his eyes at the 12 teens being happy for something that had happened to someone they barely knew. They congratulated him on all that happened and joked that he was getting in over his head with a bunch of 13 and 14-year-old kids coming by. After school on the way out, Mario Ricci demanded to speak with him in private. Justin figured that he knew what it was about, Mario wasn't exactly a good person in the best of times so this was going to be a tough talk about someone Justin was ready to defend to the death. Justin steeled himself for the onslaught, Mario was known to do whatever it took to get his way and if he was demanding a talk it was going to happen whether Justin wanted it to happen or not. When they were in the teacher's lounge what came out of Mario's mouth was a terse, "Are you sure you want to marry that fake woman? After only a short period of time? You may have to put up with your student teacher being another of those mutilated men but you don't have to date or marry one of those people. You can do better. You can get a real woman, not some doctor-created fake. When people hear about what she is they will talk and it won't be pretty. Save yourself the trouble, find a real woman to satisfy your needs. A good hooker doesn't cost as much as you think, your reputation isn't worth it." Justin sighed, gathered his thoughts, then shot back, "Savannah is the first woman I have dated since my girlfriend was forced to dump me for my brother. You may be a neighbor but you don't know the first thing about her. She is more woman than any of the cheap LaGrange Street prostitutes that you pay for and she is all natural, unlike those women you pay off at the strip club who have silicone boobs larger than their heads with less brains than a 10-year-old. I love her. She has won my heart. Just because she isn't able to bare me a child does not make her any less of a woman nor does it make my love for her any less. I'd rather adopt a child with her than live a lonely, miserable life that you lead wasting every spare dollar on people who only see me as a penis and dollar sign. She is my fiance so respect her." Justin stormed out as rumors started to swirl about Savannah. Mario was left to deal with an irate Jake and John, who simply told him, "Main office. We need a long talk about the rules." In the office, Mario was given a week-long suspension with the union backing away from him as John laid out why he was suspended to them. John let it be known that Savannah was covered against that kind of verbal assault as it was done due to her gender change alone and no concern about Justin's reputation. Her being a lawyer had nothing to do with the union pulled support, it was clear that Justin was in the right and Mario in the wrong. Justin was in a foul mood at home which only served to get Sydney upset as he explained to her why he wasn't acting normal. Sydney hadn't experienced that kind of bigotry before so it hit her hard. She felt horrible that her future mother was being called a fake by a guy who couldn't find a normal woman of his own and needed to pay women to give him any kind of attention. Savannah called to ask to stay with them as her condo had been broken into that afternoon while she was at the office working on a case. The entire condo was trashed and there were several slurs written across the living room, causing Justin to tell her to move in with them as it was pointless for her to stay where she wasn't wanted and they were already engaged. She hesitated but Sydney's heartfelt pleas were too hard to ignore and she had to agree that it was safer for her with Justin and Sydney. Ricardo had her take pictures of everything while Willie had the detective assigned take fingerprints and pictures for the investigation as well as catalog any missing things. She noted what was touched and what wasn't, hoping that the burglars were stupid enough to touch things inside the condo. The detective was in and out in an hour with multiple prints from various objects that had been moved around. Savannah's weren't among them, in fact she regularly wore gloves while cleaning and only really touched light switches and doorknobs. Once they were scanned and put into the system they came back to Mario Ricci and his best friend, both of whom had no business being there especially as Savannah had no contact with them due to their own insistence on avoiding her. Willie just grinned and called the on-duty ADA who got an arrest warrant as well as told them that as it was known that one of them had an issue with her gender change they'd face tougher charges. A search warrant was also issued allowing them to find any of the missing items in their condos. The search was thorough and came up with several rings and necklaces including Savannah's class ring and some personal jewelry that belonged to her grandparents. Mario tried to lie about having the jewelry but Savannah had pictures taken for insurance purposes of all of them, with her class ring including her feminine name etched into it. It was hard to deny it wasn't her ring, the name, "Savannah" was in gold under the birthstone and diamond setting. The detective simply returned the items to Savannah as Mario was arrested for the destruction of property, larceny, and burglary while his friend was arrested for breaking and entering and destruction of property. Justin and Sydney went to Savannah's condo and helped her pack up most of her possessions. The largest items were left for another time, but she really didn't have much beyond books and clothes. They were done with the boxes in a matter of minutes leaving Justin to wait for the ladies to finish packing Savannah's intimates. Sydney helped Savannah with her clothes and lingerie, blushing at the bras that looked to be larger than she'd ever get. Savannah had to explain to her, "You should get larger than I am, you are developing five years before I started. I know your mother was reasonably large, you should be similar. I think you will be about a cup size larger but with a smaller frame making your breasts look nicer compared to mine." Sydney hugged her for that, with Savannah loving that she was having these kind of talks with a girl let alone a girl who would become her daughter. It was what she always wanted, and with her finding love with Justin it was what she was going to get in droves. Sydney felt the gravity of the moment, smiled, and had to add, "Your boobs look nice, mom. I am just jealous. I'm glad you didn't get fake ones." Savannah blushed and added a meek, "I thought about it when I started. I couldn't afford them though, I was lucky to afford hormones and blockers so implants were out of the question. I don't mind that they aren't that big, I know a few ladies who got huge implants and it didn't look that good no them no matter how feminine their bodies were. You don't need them, you will be beautiful on your own. The two shared a moment, then the realization of what Sydney had said sunk in. Being called mom by Sydney almost made Savannah faint. Sydney smiled at her, she had said it with feeling, she was going to be her mother so it was pointless to not call her, "Mom" when in her mind Savannah had already become her mom in all ways but legally. To Sydney, Savannah had been her mom the second she and Justin kissed as it was clear they had fallen for one another. She was Sydney's mom. The two hugged then finished taking the rest of Savannah's things down to the car. Savannah called in for an insurance claim then started the process to sell her condo. It wasn't worth keeping and she didn't want to tempt fate by having a place to escape to if things went bad. Justin kissed her as they arrived at home, telling her, "This is your home now. I am proud to have you as my fiance and future wife." The mail was checked with the notice of the custody hearing regarding Justin's family trying to get Sydney finally arriving. It was in four days, with the Stoners demanding full custody and Justin removed for access to Sydney's money. They claimed that as her uncle he had no right to it, which Savannah had to laugh at as by their own logic they had no right to it either. The real reasons for getting after Sydney couldn't be any clearer: they wanted to control her wealth and they wanted to spite their brother. Savannah nonchalantly pointed out, "They want something that they can't get access to, as Sydney has locked it up in an untouchable trust fund that is controlled by people who aren't intimidated by their threats and muscle. Their ploy won't work, you are her father and you have done nothing but show you have her best interests at heart." Sydney told her father bluntly, "Marry mom on Monday. File the adoption forms and marry mom. I don't want them to have any chance at getting me no matter how confident you two are. There's no reason not to, you don't have to hold off any longer and I know darn well that you can't stop thinking about one another. Marry mom, please!" Her hormones were acting up which both understood, but she was being sincere and had justification for wanting them to be married. There was no way around it, the couple agreed to marry at city hall during Justin's lunch hour on Monday. Sydney smiled at hearing that, telling both, "I'm buying the rings. It's my money, I want to spend it on my dad and my new mom. You deserve it and it'll send a clear message to Uncles Moe, Larry, and Joe that you aren't going to take their crap any longer." There was nothing else to say. Sydney holed up in her room working on something while Justin graded papers and Savannah typed up her notes for Tuesday's hearing. She was going to act as Ricardo's eyes and ears in case he couldn't remember something while he did the main arguing on Justin's behalf. It was his field of expertise, while Cameron would handle any and all financial inquiries and she'd handle the estates of Jackson and Zara in order to keep them out of the Stoners' hands. In the morning, the trio went ring shopping. Sydney's eyes caught a matching gold rings which were perfect for them. She also produced her mother's engagement ring, which she happily handed over to Justin who slipped it on Savannah's finger to claim her as his future wife. It fit her perfectly, leading to both looking upward in thanks as it was yet another sign that they were meant to be together as husband and wife. The couple walked around the shopping mall with Sydney leading the way, getting a snicker out of the energetic girl looking at the different stores and trying hard to find the right things to buy. Savannah smiled as Sydney was overwhelmed by the options, knowing full well that if given half a chance she'd buy everything in her size just so she could feel like she was more of a girl because of her wardrobe. Justin just enjoyed the time together as a family, it was a view he loved seeing in both ladies. Once they had the basic dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts, pajamas, and panties Savannah had them drive to a specialty shop that catered to a specific clientele like themselves. Justin cringed at realizing what she was doing but gave his blessing for her to help Sydney shop for those specialty items. It was a huge step for him as this was adding on to her physical appearance to give her the image of being physically maturing into a woman, albeit simply in the form of falsies that many girls her age wore. Sydney entered the store and blushed as she saw some of the displays. There were various displays of lingerie, corsets, nighties, robes, stockings, and tights. She was closer than she had ever been to those kinds of clothes, she had seen them online but never dreamed of ever being able to feel the lacy materials and soft silk and satin fabrics nor see how tight-fitting some of them were. The couple behind the counter greeted Savannah warmly then asked who the young lady with her was. Savannah happily exclaimed, "She's my stepdaughter Sydney. I'm marrying her father on Monday and adopting her right after." They tried to be careful about the subject around Sydney and asked, "Does he know your history?" Savannah nodded, adding, "My partners knew him for before we were introduced. He has no problem with ladies like me and loves me regardless. He's been amazing, I have never felt so loved by anyone." She leaned in close and whispered, "And he knows how to treat a woman in bed" getting snickers while Sydney added, "You two need to keep the sex down, you know I can hear you when you do it! Daddy does love you though." Savannah was blushing a deep shade of red with Sydney grinning at her discomfort and for thinking that she wasn't hearing what she was talking about with the couple. Savannah finally got down to business and asked, "Do you have any breast forms that would be suitable for a young lady to wear? Sydney here hasn't been blessed yet and would appreciate hiding her small bust until she blossoms fully. She is just starting down her path to being her true self and could use the help." Sydney added, "I just started hormones, I won't get them for a while." The couple were all smiles, Savannah nodded, adding, "It was pure luck that I'm like her but she now sees me as her mother and my fiance is happy to have a daughter even if she has a birth defect. She's a great kid, a little too smart at times but just makes your heart melt. She's just impossible to not fall in love with, I honestly could not have dreamed of a better daughter than her." The couple led Sydney over to a small alcove that had several shelves with boxes and flesh colored silicone blobs of various sizes and shapes, all looking like they could have come right off a woman's chest. As they were picked up Sydney noticed that they had indentations and coloration that looked like nipples and areolae. She felt them, noting how smooth they felt and the weight they had to them. They were heavier than she expected, she thought they may have air inside but they were solid silicone. She felt giddy, they were going to be put on her chest, giving her breasts making her look just like girls her own age! It was a big step into being a woman, real breasts on her chest were a sign that Sydney was no longer a male but was now a young woman. She was starting to feel that this was more than just a dream, this was now her new reality- there was no turning back now. Knocking Sydney out of her moment of revelation Savannah asked her to take off her shirt then held up several pairs that looked close to her skin tone. It was a tough choice but after a few minutes of examining the various tones against her chest she had found the perfect pair for Sydney. Sydney looked at the breasts and had to hold back tears, they matched her skin perfectly. Savannah helped her put on the forms after applying a generous glob of glue. The sensation was weird and the weight took a little getting used to but they felt amazing to her. She saw that her skin blended in with the breasts, but there was some discoloration where the two met giving you a clear line. The ladies smiled widely as Sydney was doing what countless ladies had done in the past- admiring her new breasts in the mirror while critiquing her new look. Savannah told her that she'd get her some makeup to blur the lines, which gave Sydney some solace while still feeling that it was a concern that someone may find out the truth if they saw her chest. To break her anxiety the ladies discussed the proper care and maintenance of the breasts as well as how to affix them, which Sydney listened to intently and with eagerness. Their next stop was another alcove, this one containing various synthetic vaginas and other tools to hide Sydney's birth defect. Savannah had to carefully explain, "She doesn't need anything fancy, she just needs a gaff. She is out of school, she's actually in a dual PhD program so doesn't attend any normal school anymore. The girls around her are well aware of girls like her both pre and post-operative." The couple looked as if they were shocked, Sydney added, "I have my bachelor's and master's degrees and two patents with a third filed this week. I don't have to do anything that requires me to be naked around girls my age so it's just for my own mindset." Savannah nodded, adding, "The only people she'd be around are fully supportive of girls like us. If you really need to know, she will be around Finns and not just my partner's family. He ex-roommate is marrying one of them so she has a lot of contact with them. Just three pairs of gaffs will be fine, she isn't very active although she probably should be." The items were paid for by Savannah, who insisted on doing it for Sydney as a right of motherhood. Sydney saw the pleading look in her eyes and agreed to let her pay but told her that she'd buy her own next time. Outside Justin looked over the bags and blushed, adding a somber, "First hormones now breasts. Next will be boys begging her for dates." Sydney shot back a terse, "I don't like boys! I've put up with enough macho douches to last a lifetime, and that was just in elementary school!" Justin apologized, pleading, "I know you went through a lot. I know that your grandparents made sure that your mom and you had a miserable life. I hate that they did that to you, their own flesh and blood. All because of me! You didn't deserve any of that." Savannah sat with the still simmering Sydney, letting her get her anger and frustrations out. At home in Sydney's room, she told Sydney, "He had a 'dad moment', he was due for one of those. He meant that you are maturing faster than he he thought you would, blossoming into a young woman before his eyes. He loves you. But for dads seeing their daughter having breasts is the biggest way of showing that she is no longer his little girl but is a young lady, one who will catch the eye of someone soon. He just didn't think that maybe you would like girls. It's his default, but now he knows. He won't make that mistake again, but he may not be happy if you dive into dating girls right away." She was in tears as Savannah said that, offering her a loving, "Thanks mom" as she cried. This was a tiring day for her, her hormones were starting to impact her more and more despite only having a small amount in her system so far. Justin was seeing just what Savannah had to go through several years before, on her own, away from any kind of support network. Savannah left Sydney to enjoy some private time to rest and recuperate from the anxiety-filled shopping trip, telling her that they'd go shopping for bras in a bit. Justin looked at her oddly but then backtracked, adding a firm, "I don't even want to know. This is something a mother should do with her daughter. The only thing I know about bras is how to remove them." Savannah snickered, and added a happy, "You might enjoy wearing one." Justin growled, "I've worn them too many times before, I hated wearing them. My brothers were cruel bastards at times, I don't want to wear one unless it's a life or death situation and even then it would have to be yours and Sydney's lives in the balance." Savannah hugged him tightly, then added a happy, "I wouldn't mind if you explored your feminine side. I know it's tough but you would show you were more man than your brothers. Besides, you really don't have the legs for skirts or dresses, your arms are too hairy and to muscular to look good in a blouse, and your face can't be fixed with makeup." She looked down in shame, adding, "I know some ladies who are more masculine than you yet couldn't live as a man any longer and started to transition to their real gender. I am grateful that I was able to pass for the most part, with the only ones who ever clocked me being those who knew the old me from high school and my old hometown. Still, it pains me to know some aren't so lucky and have to endure a lot of surgery to alter their appearances or simply can't go outside during the daylight for fear of attack due to their bodies." Justin kissed her cheek then hugged her from behind, preventing her from wallowing in shame over something that she couldn't fix. It was a shame that they were blessed while so many others weren't, he was just grateful that Sydney was able to get help early before she endured that inner horror. His new family was making him see that there were people out there in the world who had a lot worse problems than terrible family, they had legitimate problems. After an hour-long nap, Sydney was refreshed. She saw her parents cuddling on the couch and felt the urge to jump in there with them, giving them both hugs. Savannah saved her the trouble by offering her one then telling her to get ready to go, telling her to put on her gaff so there weren't any incidents in the changing rooms. A half hour later they were back at the mall, this time with a specific purpose. Sydney saw for the first time what she looked like, "Down there" with the gaff and gave Savannah a look of longing. Savannah sighed and offered her a pensive, "Five more years. You need to be 18 to have the surgery and your dad and I aren't about to go to another country or against your doctor's orders by getting you one earlier. As friendly as Sarah Jones may be, I don't want to risk upsetting anyone by having it done earlier than 18." The two spent two hours shopping for lingerie, with Savannah helping her choose the right bras for certain blouses, t-shirts, and dresses. She showed Sydney how to put them on, take them off, adjust the straps, and ensure that they were the right size for her. Sydney listened intently, trying hard to learn everything about this seemingly simple task that was so important for every girl and woman to know. She did something that Sydney adored, she allowed Sydney to buy a sexy lingerie set just to give her a sense of feeling sexy. It was not meant to be worn outside nor be seen by anyone, but it was a pair of sexy panties and a thin, lacy, strapless bra. It took all of her strength not to cry but Sydney kept her composure as she saw herself in the mirror wearing the lingerie and looking like she was 16 or 18 instead of the 13 that she truly was. When they returned home, Justin had dinner ready with the two digging in eagerly. He didn't ask about the shopping, opting to not know about his daughter's lingerie especially given they had an important hearing coming up. Sydney did offer him a bright smile and kisses, before rushing off to her room to put away her lingerie in her dresser drawers the way Savannah had told her to. The next day was spent with Sydney visiting Al Samuels and her friends, enjoying her backyard while enduring the boys staring at Sydney's new chest. Al made a remark about them realizing that Sydney wasn't going to go back to being a boy now that she had breasts causing the boys to blush and go to the Byrne-Toro home in shame while the girls remained, each hiding their laughs as they saw the four unintentionally covering their crotches. Sydney just shrugged in casual deference, adding, "Mom said I needed them. I guess it worked on them." The word was out faster than she realized causing Al to tell the others to back away. She asked what was going on, getting a meek, "Savannah is going to adopt me after she marries daddy tomorrow. I don't want to call her Savannah anymore, I can't help but see her as my mom. She's been that way since I came into dad's care and has been doing everything for me that my mom used to do before she died. She even told daddy that our shopping was something a mom had to do for her daughter." Al understood the feeling, adding, "I did the same for my mom and dad when they started fostering me. You are lucky, she's a nice lady and your dad is a great guy. Well he's great when he isn't teaching, Thomas still won't stop whining about him being so mean to them Freshman year. Reed seems to like him though, then again Reed likes every one of his teachers." Al and the girls went in search of the boys, getting caught up in Ashley's brother's antics as the group entered. Liam Byre-Toro latched onto Sydney and demanded her attention, getting the guys to give her their sympathies while being relieved that he had set his sights on someone else letting them play their video game in peace. Sydney didn't mind, Liam was a great kid who was simply energetic and probably too bright for his age group like she had been. The two spent the next two hours playing while Sydney watched Al and her friends joke around and talk in the backyard. Liam finally fell asleep for a nap giving her a chance to go outside but was asked to talk with Cameron for a bit. It was a no-win situation, Cameron would only ask to speak with her if it was important so she gave in and talked with him. He laid out several documents regarding her grants for PhD research, the money of which came from her bank account and specifically was for her own research and two secondary project affiliated with it. The problem was the grants were depleted with most of the expenses being claimed by Vera, much of which seemed like it was necessary but he wasn't sure actually was given her previous behavior. It was a tough situation, she would have to recover the money or allocate more money for the research. Sydney asked what he recommended. Cameron grinned, then let out a hearty, "Go after Vera. No holds barred. She depleted it, she needs to show where the money was spent. Beverly Bollinger has been looking into it and thinks she found a secret bank account that has no reason to be receiving money from the grant yet has several large payments made to it. She is looking at where it goes but thinks it's Vera's own bank account." Cameron thought about it then added, "This makes a lot of sense. She bilks the account then covers her tracks with false expense claims, you run out of money for the research and have to go to her for help. She just happens to have interested parties willing to fully fund the research but at the expense of your patents. You'd get your degrees, but you lose the more important rights to what you discovered and what you have built. You may even be forced to work for them, getting paid handsomely but not getting a penny for the billions they'd earn from your hard work." Sydney knew this was going to get Vera put away for a while, Cameron sensed her feelings and added a firm, "It's larceny. She had no right to take the money unless it was accounted for. She didn't do that, she just took it in large amounts. I don't have to know what she did in the accounting ledgers to know that the things she tried to charge didn't make sense and the inventory of your lab didn't show any of it." Cameron went over some of the grant's purchases and expenses then over the inventory in Sydney's lab and about half of the purchases were legitimate while the other half were faked. Sydney asked if the other students were involved, getting a quick, "No, and before you ask nobody else was involved. Vera handled the finances, they went to her for supplies. It all funneled through her, which is her biggest flaw since it is all easily traceable back to her." Sydney asked if there was a way of helping the students affected as they would be hurt from her pulling her grant away. Cameron nodded, explaining, "They were offered new projects by the school but the two involved with your work expressed an interest in working alongside you as your project ideas were key to their theories and with your prototype they could theoretically turn their own projects int viable machines. Shea Porter has assured me that you and they would share credit for the work and with a written agreement you three could have a solid machine design that could be monetized for a large fortune for all of you." Sydney shook her head at the idea but Cameron insisted, adding, "This isn't like Vera, they are actually trying to earn their PhDs and your prototype is the missing link for their design theories. They would have to start over from scratch with new advisers who would look at their work critically and unfairly. You don't need the money and they aren't looking for it, it's just a fringe benefit that all of you will garner. Shea is offering to license it from the three of you so he takes on the issues while you three deal with writing your papers for the dissertation aspect of your PhDs." Sydney agreed to do this, but added a firm, "I want it known that I'm not in it for money. If they don't like that I'm giving up millions then they can license the design and work off of it on their own. Shea can do all of the hard work, but I want to be left alone in the future." Sydney was interrupted by Cameron's mother Cynthia coming into the room and telling her to take a break. Savannah came in and talked with Cameron while Sydney sat with Cynthia in the living room. She was nervous around Cynthia, the elderly woman was imposing yet caring giving Sydney the strong impression that she was the ideal grandmother. Cynthia asked what she was thinking about, getting a solemn, "I was thinking about mom and Cameron and you. Mom treats Cameron like a brother, I feel bad that she doesn't have anyone like Cameron has. Dad told me that they are always together at work and have worked together for a long time in school. They were their only friends but it seems like more to them." Cynthia nodded, adding, "She is a good daughter. I don't know why her family couldn't accept her as their daughter. They are missing out on a lovely woman. I'd adopt her as my own but I don't want to harm her relationship with Cameron. The two share a lot in common, being siblings can strain things." Sydney gave her a pleading, "Can you do that for her? Please? She needs a mom, she can't do this alone. Mom is trying hard but she needs a mother to help her through things. I don't want her to break down. Dad loves her but she needs someone who can talk with who understands her." Cynthia hugged Sydney before she could cry. It was a plea from the heart, one that was tough to deny. Cynthia sighed and added, "I'll talk with them tomorrow afternoon. This isn't something to take lightly, but you are a tough person to deny. Even Liam can't match those puppy dog eyes." Cameron and Savannah saw the look in Sydney's eyes and asked, "What did she do now?" Cynthia looked at Sydney who immediately confessed, "I asked you mother to adopt mom so mom can have a mom so she doesn't get overwhelmed because of dad and me. I'm sorry mom, I don't want to upset you by doing that. Forget I said anything." She was now in tears, hoping that she hadn't ruined Cameron and Savannah's friendship. Savannah just hugged her, kissing her cheek and explaining, "I know you want to help me but I'll be fine. Cameron is a good friend and I love him like a brother but that's as far as we are going." Cynthia interjected with a firm, "You two are closer than just friends. Don't sell yourself short, I know that you helped him through the toughest stretches of postpartum depression and through aggression when his testosterone levels started to affect him. I would be honored to call you my daughter, you have been more of a family to her than I have and I can't deny her family. Please, accept this." Savannah hugged Cynthia while Cameron smiled at Sydney, who stopped crying. It wasn't as bad as she had realized and it was turning into a needed emotional development for all. Sydney asked when they were going to do it, to which Cynthia added, "Exactly when I said I'd do it. Monday afternoon." Ashley, Liam, and their sister Reyna were told about what was going on leading to the three to just grin at Sydney then hug Savannah. Liam did his best imitation of a cute kid by offering a quick, "Auntie" to her as Ashley and Reyna rolled their eyes at his manipulations. The adults needed a moment to hammer some things out giving the kids some space prompting Ashley to take Sydney up to his room while Reyna giggled and teased, "If she wasn't becoming your cousin I doubt mom and dad would let you have her up there alone." Inside his room, he meekly asked about her boobs. Sydney cupped them then smiled as he tried hard not to look at them as he knew they weren't real. Sydney happily explained, "Mom thought I could use them as a way of getting others to not see me as less than a girl or make fun of my lack of boobs. She said it was a rite of passage, one every girl like me goes through at some point. She did it in college." Ashley just nodded, adding an unintentional, "You look nicer now." She hugged him, kissed his cheek, then added, "It's the best thing you could have said. I just want to be normal." He added, "But you are" which only caused her to hug and kiss him again. It was the closest he had ever been to a girl who wasn't his girlfriend Rosalind Porter, it was odd but it felt good to have done that for her. Sydney was all smiles at his words, it was the first time a boy had ever said something nice about her that wasn't meant to be an insult about her femininity. The two sat in his room for a while without saying anything more. Savannah came up to get Sydney, who hugged and kissed Ashley again making him blush. He still couldn't stop looking at Sydney's chest, which only caused Savannah to smirk at his accepting her new form. Back at home, Savannah teased Sydney about Ashley liking her new boobs. Sydney happily smiled at that, adding, "He thinks I'm normal. He's the first boy to treat me like I'm normal." The two let it go, it was a tough day for her which only added fuel to her excitement as Justin was about to say something about Sydney being alone with a boy. The change of conversation to the two being cousins instead of a boy and girl was enough to drop it. His concern, though, was heartwarming as his dad instincts were working in full and his concern for her was what she love about him. The next morning was hectic as the trio had a lot to do that day. Sydney had to force herself to eat and focus on only a small part of her prototype with Shea having her keep herself from losing track of time. It was one of those things that she had to learn as a scientist and engineer, but it served another purpose as she still had to eat lunch and make herself presentable for the marriage ceremony. Shea drove her to city hall, where Savannah, Cameron, and Ricardo met them. Justin came in out of breath but calmed down as he saw Savannah. The two entered, had Ricardo and Cameron sign off as witnesses, then kissed as newlyweds. It was all over in a matter of seconds. Justin had to rush off back to work, but first signed the adoption forms allowing Savannah to adopt Sydney. The group next stopped off in Boston to make the filing, with Savannah first getting Cynthia to sign during Cynthia's own lunch break. The filing was no big deal, but Ricardo did have to hold off one of the clerks from trying to have things sped up. Ricardo did add an upset, "We will be back tomorrow morning so there's little point in doing anything as it would not be allowed due to that hearing. We know she has a soft spot for those I am employed by but I have to do this the right way. I know others would abuse her generosity, but I can't ethically do it." At school, Jake Bollinger had to find someone to cover for Mario Ricci, who was now upgraded from paid suspension to suspension pending termination. He hated doing it but asked John about who to hire. He grinned and casually mentioned Harper Carter was qualified to teach but needed to get her credentials updated but until then she was able to fill the role as a substitute. Justin nodded at hearing that, he was aware of her through Deborah Peterson and having met her briefly back during the James wedding. She was a good candidate as she was skilled but had nothing else to do now that she was divorced. Justin added that she was willing to work hard and simply needed a chance, which John agreed with but cautioned that it may take time for her to get up to speed of high school work. Justin called Harper and got her to agree to meet with Jake. She was actually excited to teach, with Justin explaining that it was only temporary but could turn permanent if she got credentialed. Jake met with her during the day and after showing her skill as a substitute she was hired. Justin was feeling great leading into the next day's hearing. Deborah took over for the day in the classes she observed with John reluctantly filling in Justin's other two classes. He was glad that it was simply discussing a book he knew all too well from having to read it himself and listen to his three kids talk and complain about it and could give a different perspective that the kids would understand. Sydney reluctantly attended the hearing, opting to wear a dress to show that she was serious about her transition and wasn't about to let her family bully her anymore than they already had. Savannah gave her a big smile when she entered the living room after changing, while Justin did his best imitation of a fish out of water as his mouth dropped open in shock. His only words were, "You look just like your mother looked the day I met her. You are beautiful, simply beautiful. Oh honey, she knew it all along that you really were a girl inside- this proves it." Sydney had to hide her tears as her emotions started to overwhelm her. She didn't think she looked that much different than she normally looked, she only styled her hair and put on a dress. Her dad's face said otherwise, it was a moment that she would remember forever as father and daughter hugged tight. Savannah moved her aside and pulled out a few packages from a shopping bag. Sydney's eyes lit up as she recognized lip gloss, mascara, and eyeliner. Savannah added some concealer for the little blemish that had developed on Sydney's cheek overnight that she didn't notice which only caused Sydney to cry. Savannah explained, "A little goes a long way with girls your age. You saw your friends, they had on less than you are wearing only because they don't need much. But I did notice that three of them had on concealer, which is needed to hide little red spots that you will get at your age. I hate to tell you this, but it's a clear sign that you are about to enter puberty. Even girls get them, it's just part of growing up." Sydney gave her a sad look, but Savannah added a firm, "It's coming, but it's only because it's only a week since you started blockers and hormones. This is to your benefit as we can store your sperm. We said we'd do this before, well this is the best indication that the time is right. The sooner we store it, the sooner you don't have to worry about manhood. The blockers can only help so much, after you store your sperm you can go on a higher dosage of estrogen to get things going faster but still safe." The two walked out to the car with Justin giving Sydney looks that concerned her but only served to give Savannah a smile. Sydney looked up at her father who told her affectionately, "Not too much of that stuff, you look beautiful without it." Sydney had to look away or else she'd start crying again. Chapter 6 At the courthouse ,the lawyer trio went right into their legal stance as they prepared Justin and Sydney for the slew of insults and accusations to be thrown at them by Moe, Larry, and Joe Stoner's lawyer team. Sydney was ready, it wasn't anything that she hadn't heard before and they had never met her so they didn't know her as a person making their insults all the worse. Justin knew that no matter what was provided in support of him that his brothers would try to make him out to be a bad person, it was what they always did and it was their only defense. If that didn't work out, his brothers would resort to violence. They weren't afraid to beat someone into submission to get what they wanted, but being in court could curb that action. It was only temporary, but it would be enough to let them get restraining orders against the trio before they came at them in retaliation later on. Justin pointed out his three older brothers as well as his sisters-in- law. All three men were balding or completely bald, heavily tanned, and looked like they had spent too much time at the bar based on their paunches. They still had their large, muscular arms which did show that they still performed their normal workouts but not as intently due to the obvious paunches. Justin just shook his head at the others with them, they were desperate enough to bring political help. Two town managers and two county assemblymen were there in a vain attempt to make it seem like they were pillars of the community when none of his brothers actually worked as their wives' families were rich and powerful. Justin had his suspicions about what they actually did for a living, which was right in line with how they had always acted dating back to their childhoods. Ricardo had seen this play before, and it failed badly each time. He wasn't going to let them intimidate him as they thought they would. Judge Perez didn't take kindly to people who had never seen nor met the child trying to force their influence over a child being with the person who should have custody. She would ensure that they had a nasty surprise, if they expected her to bow to their threats they'd enjoy some time at Nashua Street Jail courtesy of Suffolk County. Out of the corner of his eye Ricardo spotted Angela Victor, Kennedy, and Miles. The trio being there caused him to grin, if they were there then there was a big investigation going on that involved one or more of the people there that could either include one of the Stoners or one or more of the elected officials they brought along with them. The trio simply nodded to the group while keeping out of the line of sight of the Barnstable group. Ricardo could only grin as he slyly told the others, specifically Justin and Sydney,, "As soon your family open their mouths they will be setting themselves up for trouble. This is all on record and I guarantee will be subpoenaed by Kennedy and Angela as it pertains to them. If my hunch is right, Miles has found a link to some money transactions that involved the Stoners and their in-laws that was linked to the councilors and assemblymen with them. This is your first time seeing him work, but that young man is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. What you saw as a teacher was nothing compared with what he can do with a subpoena, accounting information, and a chip on his shoulder." Sydney just smiled as she tried hard to not stare at the trio. Miles nodded to her to keep quiet and not take notice which she fought hard to listen to. He was one of the few whom she listened to intently, he had kept her big secret from everyone and if he needed her to keep quiet then she wouldn't say a word. The group was led inside with the Stoners and their group going in first. Miles, Angela, and Kennedy came in after them, keeping to the back and covered by Judge Perez entering with the clerk having alerted her that they were there and to not make note on record their presence until after proceedings started. Miles sent a note to her that if asked, they were there as witnesses on behalf of Sydney and Justin as Miles and Kennedy knew Justin and Sydney through school and home life and could attest to his personality, her personality, and her ability to be cared for by Justin. Judge Perez didn't bat an eye and kept all attention on her with her commanding presence. She called the court to order and had everyone in court administered the oath binding them to their words under penalty of perjury. She was no fool, she was giving them slack to hang themselves by their own words with the trio in the back getting what they would need through her own perfectly and ethically legal manipulation of events in the courtroom. Judge Perez was to the point and asked for the particulars of the case. Her clerk read, "The family of one Jackson Stoner are suing for custody of one Sydney Powers on the basis of Justin Stoner, the next of kin and the person whom DCF has awarded Sydney's custody to, is unfit. The Stoners allege that he is a sexual deviant, has no experience dealing with children Sydney's age, and is unable to care for her as he is a full time teacher. They claim that due to his being single he will sexually assault Sydney and try to bring Sydney into a life of poverty and depravity." Judge Perez asked for the counter-claim. The clerk stated, "After meeting with the family previously, DCF has found that the Stoner family is unsuited to be Sydney's guardians due to previous acts of abuse by Sydney's grandparents all all three brothers towards Justin Stoner. They state that the family has ignored Sydney and Sydney's deceased mother for 14 years and only upon learning that Sydney was being granted to Justin Stoner did they try to sue for custody. Sydney has never met any member of the family except Justin Stoner and has expressed a desire to remain in his care." Judge Perez hid her smirk, if DCF was putting Sydney with Justin then it was a done deal in their eyes. She asked who the DCF contact was, being told, "Mrs. Chloe Daniels, with an addendum by Mark Sylvester and Anne Connors as both have previously met Sydney and Justin socially and through his role as educator and Sydney's friendship to their family." Judge Perez had to hide her smirk again, the Stoners and their lawyers had no idea who those people were but if Mark and Anne were supporting Chloe's finding and had a preexisting relationship with Justin and Sydney then there was no fight. Judge Perez had the Stoner brothers state who they were and what their jobs were. One by one Moe, Larry, and Joe stated their names and their employment, with each being an assistant or personal assistant to their father-in-law. She then asked about their educations, getting the same, "Bachelor or arts" response from two while the third stated, "Associate of the arts." She asked about their wives' jobs. Each of the in-laws told her that they had no jobs and that they were stay-at-home moms. That wasn't so bad, but coupled with their husbands there was nobody working which was, in her eyes, a sign that they were spoiled, uninspired, and greedy. Justin was asked about his employment and educational history. He was proud to point out, "I earned my AA in English Literature from Cape Cod Community College while working as a gas station attendant. I moved on to UMass-Dartmouth where I earned my Bachelor of Arts in English while working in the bookstore and library. I spent two years saving up for graduate school by working as a librarian at UMass-Boston before earning my Master's Degree in English. I spent part of that time earning my license to teach high school English before earning a job at Winnisimmet High School where I have worked full time, I am currently in my fifth year with the school." She nodded at hearing that. He was highly educated, working hard during his time away from the family. She was starting to see that he was the black sheep of the family for bettering himself while his brothers were feasting on the hard work of others. She grinned as she asked the Stoners, "How do you support yourselves? I understand you are employed by your in-laws but what exactly is your job? You said assistant and personal assistant, do you work in an office? Do you help them plan meetings and other work? What exactly do you do?" There was a collective look of disbelief on their faces. She had called their bluffs. They have to answer her questions honestly or open themselves up to investigation by the state. They struggled while looking at their wives for help as this was something they never considered anyone daring to ask them. She encouraged them to answer, leading to Moe saying, "I do whatever my father-in-law asks of me." Larry added, "I visit the locations he tells me to visit and speak with whomever he wants me to speak with regarding whatever it is that he is working on at the time." Joe added, "I organize his day planner and arrange his meetings, letting him know who wants to speak with him and finding out who can't be allowed to contact him at the time." She had them now. Their jobs were so vague that they were almost non- existent and wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny. They sounded more like job descriptions of hired thugs than actual assistants, which explained Kennedy's group's presence to her but also went to show her that they were a danger to Sydney's safety. Their wives were no better, they had no idea what their husbands actually did for a living. Two of them were concerned as their husbands looked angry at having to explain to Judge Perez what they actually did for a living and were shocked when they realized that it wasn't the job they had told them about doing in the past. Their supporters looked like they were not happy at Judge Perez but she knew it was all because they were going to be left open for attack by the state for corruption or worse crimes. Seeing her chance, the supporters for the Stoners were asked who they were and why they were there. The men touted the three brothers as being great fathers and pillars of the community yet when asked about their children none of them knew the first thing about their kids. They were asked about their own connection to them outside of being their elected public officials, getting looks of anger at her daring to ask them that question to which she demanded an answer, leading them to state that the Stoners were donors to their campaigns and had been for several years. Judge Perez then asked about Justin's connection to them, getting a sneer from the men, all seven of them. She sensed a lot of hostility but when asked they all tried to paint him as someone who stole their brother's girlfriend and raped her before she could leave him for the man she loved. She asked why they didn't go to the police with that accusation leading the men to hem and haw to which stated, "So you have made a major accusation of rape that by my calculations is still within the statute of limitation yet offer no proof of it, except that all three of you believe it. I question whether it actually occurred and if he was actually the one who committed the alleged rape or if it was your other brother, the one who can't answer questions due to his being deceased." She saw the look of disappointment and disgust in their wives while their supporters tried to appear to be aloof but it was backfiring badly on them. She asked about their accusation that he is unfit, which led the brothers to claim that he has no experience with children and was not able to handle a teenager. Judge Perez tried her hardest to not laugh at that, she noted, "Your brother is a teacher, in high school no less, unless I am mistaken that includes 14-year-olds and the occasional 13- year-old kids so how exactly has he no experience with children Sydney's age when he deals with them for a living?" They finally were asked about his sexual deviancy. The Stoners contended, "We were told by a friend that he was sleeping with a man. We don't want Sydney anywhere near gays especially ones who are dressing up in drag to entice men like Justin. He deserves to be locked up for doing that, he's a bad influence and will lead Sydney to a life of depravity and sex like him." Judge Perez shook her head and asked about this friend. Savannah and Justin heard the name and wrote down something to Ricardo who grinned and nodded. Their little act would backfire on them badly, this friend was the worst person to have used for support. There was nothing else to use against Justin. Judge Perez had her decision in hand but was going to let Ricardo rip them to shreds and give the state more evidence against the four politicians as it would save the taxpayers more money in overtime if he did it in open court than they did in hours of investigating behind closed doors. She didn't like using her courtroom for things like this but it was for the greater good that it be done. If this were any other group in her courtroom she'd have ended the hearing already with Justin getting full custody. Ricardo was told to begin, to which he told the judge, "Your honor, as the next of kin for Sydney Powers Justin Stoner asks the court to grant him full custody based on multiple criteria. First is based on being the only person in Sydney's 13 plus years of life to bother to help Sydney when Sydney needed it. He offered his home, without question or reason, to Sydney when Sydney needed it most." Judge Perez asked for a clarification. Ricardo grinned and explained, "Sydney's mother Zara Powers died 18 months ago after a sudden illness. Her death was well known in their hometown with the Powers Family being one of the oldest in the county. The Stoners had over 18 months to claim Sydney before Justin was ever notified, in fact the social worker who was supposed to inform the next of kin was overridden by someone in his local office whose name just happens to be the same name as Justin's eldest brother's wife's family. Their own parents were adamant that Sydney wasn't their grandchild and that they refuse to care for Sydney. Your honor, until they were notified that Justin was caring for Sydney not one Stoner even bothered to see Sydney let alone care for Sydney. This has nothing to do with Sydney, this is just a petty power play against Justin Stoner by his parents and older brothers!" The reaction caused Justin's brothers to complain while their wives looked at one another in shock. Moe's wife looked down in shame, her father had kept her nephew from family when Sydney needed help. Even if she had issues with Justin dating back two decades, Sydney was an innocent child! Ricardo then added, "The claims about Justin dating a man came from a now former colleague of his by the name of Mario Ricci, who lived close to Justin's new wife. Yes I said wife, as they legally married yesterday. We do not contest that she is transgender, but as you are well aware that has no baring on this case as it is not grounds to deny custody based on higher court rulings. Further, this same man had burglarized Mrs. Stoner's condo, stealing several thousand dollars worth of jewelry and personal items from her. He is currently incarcerated in Nashua Street Jail as his bail had been revoked due to again being caught last evening inside the now-former residence of Mrs. Stoner." Judge Perez just nodded as another of the claims was shot down. Ricardo shot back an angry, "The story about rape is a fabrication, one started by Mr. Jackson Stoner himself. Jackson was the supposed father of Sydney yet in all of his years he never claimed Sydney as his own. We found out just why he never did: he stated that his family wanted him to settle down with Zara Powers yet he only wanted Zara because his brother Justin had her heart. He actually forced the two apart, physically manhandling her leading to an arrest that the Stoners claimed was Justin's doing yet the State Police reports clearly state otherwise. The DA's office failed to prosecute Jackson for the crime and were admonished by the district court judge for bringing charges against Justin based on known lies." The Stoners looked angry while their wives gasped in shock. Ricardo then shot back with his biggest statement, adding, "We learned the full story from Zara Powers herself, as she left letters that were filed with her lawyers, the probate courts, and left at home for Sydney to discover. Your honor, Jackson Stoner is not the father of Sydney Powers- Justin Stoner is!" Ricardo provided the letters, multiple notarized copies that were located during Savannah's search into Sydney's and Zara's inheritances that she had kept away from Sydney for her own good. Judge Perez asked if Ricardo had supporting evidence, to which he produced the paternity test. The Stoners tried to cry foul to which Judge Perez shouted back, "You guys are really something. Your brother is the father of Sydney Powers, deal with it. You are not getting custody of Sydney and if you continue I'll see to it that you yourselves come under scrutiny for your own actions as I don't believe for a second that none of you were ignorant of the truth about Sydney's paternity." Ricardo then dropped the biggest bombshell, stating, "Sydney has asked that the court declare her father as her father and grand him full custody. She also petitions the court for adoption by her stepmother." Judge Perez nodded, looking at the paperwork that the clerk had brought in. She signed off on it, not saying it at the time but trying to get some more information as it was now her time to do some work for the state. She asked where Sydney was and what she was doing for school. Justin stated loudly, "Sydney is currently enrolled in a dual PhD program with MIT and is working towards her third patent along with helping two other students work towards their own patents and PhDs. She is a prodigy, she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees as well as earned two patents of her own that have made her a wealthy young lady. She took the day off to be her, she is sitting next to me and hasn't said a word despite all of the accusations flung at me." Before she could say a word, Cameron handed Judge Perez the letters from Drs. Bell and Eliza which only caused Judge Perez to nod in agreement. Justin then handed another letter, this one from Zara. She read it and nodded again, this wasn't a whim and had gone on for years to he point that she was female in all but her exterior and as Judge Perez could see wasn't long to change as well despite her clearly wearing breastforms. The Stoners screamed that he was harming Sydney, causing Judge Perez to shout back, "You never saw your niece before and should have noticed right away that there was a child sitting among your brother's group. She is under the care of a professional that I have had in my courtroom multiple times before and who has shown that she knows the laws inside and out. There is no abuse, your brother is doing what is in the best interests of your niece and that is what we are here for in the first place!" Her words hit hard as it was clear what she was saying. Judge Perez asked Sydney to stand up in front of her, asking her, "Are you petitioning the court for a change of birth certificate in addition to a name change?" Sydney looked at Justin who nodded, giving Judge Perez a soft, "I'd love both." Judge Perez wrote out the request and signed off on it. She told Justin and Savannah to stand up, then announced, "Normally this would take a month or more but given that you have the supporting evidence in the form of a DNA test and have the best interests of Sydney at heart, I am ordering that you be declared Sydney's biological father and her birth certificate be amended to both reflect her gender and parentage. Further, Mrs. Stoner, I am granting your request to adopt Sydney as your daughter as you have shown that you are acting as Sydney's mother in all ways. Congratulations to all of you." Justin, Sydney, and Savannah hugged tightly as the clerk wrote out the orders. The Stoners loudly objected and started to threaten Judge Perez. Moe threatened to teach her a lesson in real justice while his other brothers threatened to have her removed physically, moving towards her before being stopped by court officers entering to assist. The four supporters threatened to ensure that Judge Perez never worked again and would have their colleagues take her out politically. They were direct, stating, "We know the DA and will ensure that your vacation home is raided and they find some questionable material. Think about it, the lesbian family court judge being found with child pornography in her home. Do you think it's worth it, your freedom and reputation for a piece of garbage with a tranny freak kid? You will get it, we aren't kidding." The one doing the threats pulled out a phone and made a loud phone call, while another made a couple of phone calls to the local police. Judge Perez firmly asked, "Are you done threatening a judge in open court during a sitting session where everything you have just said is being recorded for the record?" She then told the court officers to place them under arrest for threats while Kennedy and Angela each announced that they had heard everything and would have the proper response to everything that the had threatened to do. As soon as the Stoner brothers were hauled off alongside their four supporters Kennedy was on the phone to the State Police to have them get over to the judge's beach home. The troopers were there quickly and actually were able to catch three local officers in the act to breaking in with each carrying a bag of magazines with one carrying a USB drive that was filled with child pornography. The officers were speechless and demanded a plea bargain from the state, only to be told that wasn't happening. The trio threatened the troopers, claiming the DA would get them off. When asked how, they were happy to tell them that the DA was good friends with the Stoners and would do anything Stoners wanted him to do. The officers unknowingly just sprung the final trap, they had more evidence now that it was a complete corruption situation and needed the Attorney General to intervene. Justin left with Sydney smiling brightly at everything going her way. She had a mother, a father, and was recognized as female. She even had a grandmother, aunt, uncle, and three cousins now thanks to the filing for adoption by Cynthia. When they got home they were greeted by Byrne-Toros who all celebrated with them as one big family. Reyna enjoyed ribbing Justin by calling him, "Uncle Justin" while Liam hung off him as he got used to the larger Justin being there. Justin had to hid his smile, it was vastly different than he had thought. The celebration lasted several hours with Liam falling asleep on Justin's lap, Reyna fielding phone calls from her friends as she showed pictures of Sydney in her dress which set in motion a whole chain reaction of calls as Sydney's being declared a girl got around among the family as a whole. Ashley had the toughest night, he felt weird seeing Sydney dressed so feminine and confessed to her that she was turning into a better looking girl than his friends which only caused Sydney to cry and hug him. The next day in school Justin told Deborah about the day before with Deborah hugging him over it finally being over for him. John gave him his congratulations and asked if he wanted Sydney to take a weekend away so he and Savannah could celebrate without interruption. Justin politely declined, but the idea did give him joy as he thought about it. During his break period he caught Harper Carter's class and was proud that she was doing well on her own. After class she thanked him for the help, but he tried to direct it at John. Harper still thanked him for his role, if he hadn't supported John she wouldn't have the job to keep her busy. Over in Boston, Sydney was having her first meeting with her new colleagues. The two saw her dressed as a girl and asked about it, then one made the mistake of calling her a tranny in front of Shea who was blunt in telling them the rules of his lab and about their affiliation with MIT and if they were going to earn a degree from the school they had to abide by the school's rules of conduct. It was a clear showdown, they would either accept Sydney as female or they'd be out and have nothing to show for their hard work and even more important- no way to explain their departure that was acceptable to another school. Sydney didn't make light of her appearance and was working hard throughout the day. She took her required breaks and smoothed over rough transitions that popped up on the other projects. The more they worked together, the more the better they worked. Sydney was actually what the two needed to spark their ideas and make them reality while also keeping them grounded in reality as they found issues that popped up that they overlooked. It was a surprise to the two that Shea was often involved, giving them guidance while dealing with small issues that were above their level but he was expert in. They had done more in one day with Shea and Sydney than they had ever done with Vera, and actually had a better grasp of their theories than before. Sydney was forced to take an afternoon off later on in the week as she was taken to a cryogenics center to produce her semen samples. It was embarrassing as she had never masturbated before but it was something that she needed to do for her future. She produced samples over four days, enough for eight infusions but enough to also assure that insemination would take hold at least once if not twice. Her sperm count was low, in fact that was part of why they had her give so many samples. She was told by he endocrinologist that her hormones had taken hold faster than expected and in time would be good enough to grow breasts as large as her mother's breasts. She was happy to hear that, it was what she wanted more than anything else in life and it was coming true. Life started to get better for Sydney. Cameron recovered the money Vera Bradley had taken from the grant and gotten UMass to go after her for fraud as they were the ones who were on the hook for the thefts as they were forced to compensate Sydney. Vera's reputation was toast as her only supporters fled as their cash cow at the school was gone and no other adviser in the region would play their borderline criminal exploitation game. The state went after her for fraud and embezzlement for the theft of the grant money. She tried to claim she had a right to withdraw the money but when shown that everything that she claimed was neither used nor in inventory yet the money ended up in her bank account she shut up. She tried to blame it on Sydney, making the mistake of saying the wrong thing about her by claiming that she was nothing without her but the fact was shown that Sydney actually had patents and strong connections in the industry outside of the academic world thanks to Shea and some of Shea's colleagues and friends at MIT yet she herself had questionable people who disavowed ever knowing her when asked. Vera received a suspended sentence for the theft and a hefty fine for the fraud charges. She tried to play it off as no big deal but her connections in the business world refused to help her any longer. They actually tried to sue her for breaking her contracts with them, but had to withdraw before they were exposed as funneling PhD students into their employ only to force them to give up their patent rights once they had hired them. Vera's troubles were only just starting. She was in deep trouble academically as her PhD paper and master's thesis were shown to have contained fabricated or plagiarized statements and statistics. She was exposed as embellishing most of her facts and when her designs were actually copied none of them worked as claimed making her students get put under scrutiny. The students that went into the academic world were forced to defend their PhD papers again while those in the private sector were kept away from the general public or outright released with their work transferred to those who had solid PhDs and master's degrees. The ones who weren't put under scrutiny were Sydney and her two colleagues. Shea's reputation covered them, as did MIT's thorough inspection of their master's thesis papers which, coupled with Sydney's existing patents, were enough to satisfy event the most ardent scrutinization. Sydney spent much of the next month working on he project as the two assisted in smaller segments that would be part of their own projects. By December, they had a working prototype that could be put to the test and after hours of fiddling with it worked the first time. The group celebrated, with Sydney enjoying the pleasure of seeing the fruits of her work helping others. Shea just nodded in approval. He had been there before, and was happy to help the trio do their work but kept his participation to a minimum. It was their research, he was there to guide them but it was all their own work. Gregory Hollis was in a heap of trouble for his actions. Dedham Superior Court proved to be a tough place for him as the jury at his trial were not in the least bit impressed with his manipulations of a 13-year-old kid. He could tell that he wasn't about to get off so demanded a deal. The state weren't about to give him what he wanted, the Attorney General was seeking the maximum for his crimes as she was leaving office with Sydney's case being her final act of justice as she retired in favor of Angela Victor. Angela was a bit more lenient with Gregory as she prosecuted him. He testified about the Stoners offering him money to keep the truth about Sydney's parentage and Justin's location a secret form Zara and Sydney. They were the ones who set him up with Zara, and the ones who put ideas into his head about controlling Sydney through Zara. Sydney was clearly like her father, they didn't want Sydney to know the truth nor let her get away so she'd topple their empire. Gregory's words fit the statements from people who knew the Stoners. The trio were seen as total scumbags who did the dirty work of their fathers- in-law. The three elderly men were essentially the Cape Cod mafia as they controlled businesses, influenced elections, and paid off the police to look the other way allowing them to do whatever they wanted. They even used the police to force competitors and anyone who was trying to get back control out of business, with the DA being shown as being one of their biggest sources of help. Gregory received three years for assault, five years for attempted kidnapping, and another combined six years for tax fraud, extortion, and bribery. He tried to act like it was no big deal but he was also ordered to pay back in full all money stolen from Sydney which bankrupted him. He was left without a penny and still had to pay back fines from the state and federal governments once all was said and done. The investigation into the county caused the DA to backpedal and run for cover as the four at the court had blown his cover. He was caught through his bank account accepting bribes from the entire Stoner family, minus Justin, to look the other way. Being an old friend of the Stoners and later helping set up the in-laws with coverage from investigations by the state he was the perfect foil for them. They were unstoppable until they went up against Justin and the people he had in his corner, even if he never knew they were supporting him. The DA was forced to resign, with the appointed replacement being someone unaffiliated with him and offering a simple solution: he was going to try everyone involved regardless of connections to powerful politicians. He didn't care, no matter what happened to him he was going to ensure that the cabal's power was destroyed. He was actually doing exactly what the people of the Cape and Islands wanted him to do and assured himself a full term in the next election. The county government was gutted as multiple directors and supervisors were forced to resign in disgrace or were arrested by the state for criminal acts ranging form extortion to bribery to assault. The county commissioners were the only ones who were not affected, they had stayed away from the Stoners and anyone involved with them and had kept their hands out of anything that wasn't ethical. They had their reasons for doing so, they could easily be removed from office by the state by simply having the county government dissolved like eight other county governments in the state had happen to them in the past. The elder Stoners were tried by the state once the former DA was forced to step aside from their case. The assistant attorney general assigned to the case went at them fast and hard, leaving them with little wiggle room nor much chance to fight back with. They were caught red-handed, they had nothing left to do except accept defeat but they were defiant until the end. They swore their sons would help them, but their sons were no help as they had their own issues. The elder Stoners blamed Justin for everything yet when proven he had nothing to do with it they tried to blame Sydney. This was countered that they were blaming a 13-year-old for all of their problems, a child who had never met them and whom they had made clear they wanted nothing to do with. They continued to rip into Justin and Sydney to the point that the judge told their lawyers to stop them. The Stoners attacked the state and Justin in the media, but their own connections to the disgraced DA, their sons' in-laws, and their own past abuse of Justin backfired on them. They found no sympathy as they found that the jury was outraged at their antics and who convicted them on all charges, with the judge sentencing them to a combined 15 years in prison each for conspiracy to commit murder. Their sons fared no better. The state tried them in Plymouth County for their crimes connected with the Barnstable County investigation as Barnstable County was unable to give them a fair trial. They had been in custody since their arrest in court, their finances frozen by the state as they investigated the brothers and their in-laws for multiple crimes. They were in serious trouble as their words were damning to them. Their claims were checked out and in the process led to the brothers' in-laws being found to have squirreled away millions in revenues, causing them to come under fire from the federal government for back taxes. Their contributions to the local and county politicians were never claimed allowing the state to go after them for bribery along with illegal gifts as well as go after the politicians for graft and illegal campaign contributions. The precarious position that the Barstable County Cabal had set up started to collapse as the extorted started to tell their stories to the state with the written and physical threats being shown to the state investigators. The Stoners had unknowingly angered hundreds and it didn't take much to get more people to back up the claims against them. By the end of the month the Stoners had 2,000 people ready to testify against them for their crimes, all of whom said were at the behest of the Stoners' in-laws. Seeing no way out of it, Moe, Larry, and Joe Stoner turned state's evidence and testified against their fathers-in-law. With no way of paying thugs to shut them up they were forced to endure criminal charges while their families started to break apart as they tried to cover up their own actions. The families were partially successful but the money trails led to most of the family members leading to more charges. The Stoner brothers were each sentenced to 20 years in prison on state charges then 10 years on federal charges. They were looking at longer sentences on more charges but their plea deals lowered that. Their fathers-in-law threatened them but they had nothing left to threaten them with, with the Stoners going after them in the jail's common area as they learned just how little clout they had left. Once they were out of jail's hospital wing, the cabal were picked apart in court by both the state and federal governments. The cabal tried to blame the Stoners but this backfired as the witnesses and Stoners each said that they had ordered the businesses and individuals targeted for extortion. They were eviscerated by everyone one the stand, the list was long and the evidence hard to ignore with their personal fortunes being shown to be nothing but proceeds from their crimes. The trials lasted for a month. The witnesses painted a damning picture with little defense available and even then it was not enough to do anything more than to show that they were never at fault in their eyes. The trio were sentenced to 30 years on state charges then another 40 years on federal charges, ensuring that none of them would leave prison before they passed away. The Stoners' wives had honestly never known their husbands' or fathers' activities especially their actions against people who fought back against them. They enjoyed easy lives, but didn't want them at the expense of the fear and blood of others. Learning the truth caused a crisis of conscience in them. They were Stoners but they weren't like their husbands and fathers. They saw why Justin was hated and why he wanted to get away from there. They made bold decisions, they decided to move their families north to the Boston area and live along Navy Hill in one of the many condo complexes far away from anyone who had known them. They sued for divorce from their husbands and were awarded substantial settlements, with each of the ladies swearing to keep the money for their grandchildren. They angrily told their fathers off over their crimes, then walked out on them. It was a slap in their faces, one they never saw coming. The ladies decided that Winnisimmet was a better place than Cape Cod and wanted to be close to their niece, giving her family that she had been denied for 13 years and trying to make amends. They didn't care about her gender issues, she was family to them and they wanted her to be family even if it was at a distance. They were sincere, her story hit them hard and caused them to see that their pampered lives wasn't worth it if it came at the expense of someone innocent like Sydney. Justin was contacted and was reluctant to allow Sydney to meet with them. He feared that she would be hurt or used as a pawn by the ladies but Savannah went with her, not wanting to let her go alone and sensing this was not as it seemed. He agreed, but told her that if there was any trouble to get out of there fast as he didn't fully trust the ladies. The ladies sat down with Sydney and asked if she was actually transgender or if this was a phase she was going through. Sydney was adamant that this was no phase and countered that she had spent most of her life as a girl and it was only after she had been forced out of school that she lived full time out in the open as a girl. She showed a picture of her as a five-year-old, in a dress, dancing for her mother causing the ladies to start to believe what she was saying even if a bit apprehensive about it. The ladies listened to Sydney explain what she was going through, letting her talk until she was finished before offering any emotion. It was the least they could do for their niece especially as they had ignored her for so long for no reason except their own unjustified feelings towards her father. She was a good girl, she was the kind of niece that they could be proud to tell others about but had never tried to acknowledge her before. Their kids kept away from them during the meeting. They were upset that their fathers were in jail and looking at going to prison. They blamed their uncle and Sydney for ruining their lives. The kids listened and the truth about Sydney angered them. After Sydney left they confronted their mothers about her only to be told that their fathers were wrong about Justin and Sydney and were hiding the truth from everyone because of their own criminal activities being exposed. She was their cousin and would be around them in the future, whether they liked it or not. She was family to them, even if they didn't like her or her father she was family and would not be pushed away. Their fathers had a strong influence on the kids, with the girls seeing Sydney as a fake and the boys seeing her as a freak. None of the eight kids wanted anything to do with her but that didn't matter to their mothers. Sydney was their niece and the only one untainted by the Stoner influence, she was what they had hoped their children would be. In time, they hoped that their children would learn that their fathers were wrong about greed, power, and forcing their will on others. Sydney just shrugged off her aunts' optimism. If they wanted to be in her life she'd let them be, but she wasn't going to go to great lengths for force them to treat her any differently. Sydney felt a bit guilty about having so much wealth while her cousins struggled in their new city. She asked that her father sell her house on Cape Cod and give it and the money she inherited from Jackson to her cousins since it meant more to them than it ever would to her. The money could be helpful to the kids' futures, even if they'd never acknowledge her help. The money was a token gesture but enough to show her aunts that she was trying to be family to them. They accepted it, dividing it between the eight and saving it for their college lives. She then had them accept another $6 million, giving the eight the right to claim they were millionaires and to ensure that none of them would ever be for want. She was serious about giving them the money, it was a small amount of her personal fortune but it was something that she had to do for them. Their mothers were proud that she cared so much about them that she gave something that they'd never appreciate. When told, none believed that Sydney had done it but when explained by Savannah they realized that it was no joke and Sydney gave them a fortune. The Stoner ladies had better luck with Savannah as she helped get them in contact with Cameron to sort out their financial issues. Their husbands had a lot of legal issues but with Cameron's help they were able to keep much of their husbands' assets and seize the assets that they had hidden from them on the side in case they were ever divorced. The ladies were able to live in comfort while finally being able to work on their own for the first time, allowing Sydney's gifts to remain untouched ensuring the kids had a chance to have a nest egg for their future. Savannah's past had shocked them but seeing her as a loving mother to Sydney had tempered any ill will. She was just as much woman as them and had gotten them to see that women were more than just what was in your panties. She wasn't afraid to be critical and gave them the counter to their influences allowing them a different perspective on things. The ladies grew closer to Savannah to the point that she was like another sister to them. Their children had a hard time seeing her as an aunt but it was tough to ignore her as she was frequently over at their condos talking to their mothers. The eldest were hard to crack but the youngest eventually just treated her like another aunt, albeit one they didn't say much to. The youngest kids found themselves starting to be OK around Sydney and eventually tuned out their older siblings' complaints about her. The three youngest actually liked talking with her once she started to open to them. They were barely 10 and 11-years-old so had more in common with Sydney than the older cousins and siblings. Sydney got them to meet her friends and other Finn Family members causing them to unknowingly fall for the three fifth graders. It was endearing, the kids were quick friends and through Sydney had found a common bond with them. Sydney had unknowingly caused what was a growing rift of jealousy among the four friends over Logan Finn being all but dating a girl since that past summer to smooth over as the trio got close to her cousins. The adoption of Savannah by Cynthia Byrne went through after only a week as there was no attempts to defraud anyone nor was there any debts. It was like so many other adult adoptions, it was done out of love and as they were both over 18 and Cynthia was older than Savannah there was no need to delay. The family gathered together to celebrate, with brother and sister hugging tightly as Cynthia got used to being called grandma by another child as well as mom by a daughter. Justin found new life in Sydney as he started to warm up to his students. Deborah and he spent hours talking, with Deborah giving him an ear for when things got hectic with Sydney as well as when he and Savannah needed a chance to cool off after a normal bit of marital strife. She loved acting as a friend to him, even if he was old enough to be an uncle to her. His students benefited from his focus on school and relaxed atmosphere. Justin eased off on grading and actually evaluated some papers, raising them up to a higher grade helping several students. It was common knowledge that he was different due to being a dad and husband but the students took this as a win and a good thing for them. Savannah was convinced to have her surgery after days of pleading by Sydney. She was adamant that she not hold off on it any longer, she deserved to feel a whole and a full woman. It was tough to say no as Sydney was preying on her feelings and hit the right chord in her to make her realize that she was lying to herself in putting it off. Justin would never leave her for a, "Real" woman, and Sydney was her daughter no matter how much she thought that it was just a dream. The surgery was set for early December with her recovery coming just in time for the Finn-Bollinger wedding on Christmas Day. Savannah underwent the proper preoperative checks and was given the all clear. Justin saw her off in the morning, then returned after school to see her in recovery. In school, he was a bundle of nerves but everyone who knew him knew why he was acting that way. Deborah tried hard to keep his spirits up and ease his anxieties but it was tough to do as she herself had gone through this same anxiety before. John and Jake kept him focused with the students taking things easy on him out of respect for Savannah, even if they had never known her. Sydney was with Savannah through most of the preparations, leaving her at the door as she was wheeled into the theater. Shea was with her, as were Ricardo and Cameron. Cameron held Sydney tightly as she let her nerves get to her, with Cameron telling her that in four years she'd be going in there too and would have Savannah and Justin by her side as she went through it. The operation was a success with Justin having to hold back tears as he saw Savannah's tired form in her recovery bed. She was all smiles, with Justin hugging her as he told her that she was never more beautiful. The two shared a loving smile, he meant every word of it. Sydney felt bad that her mother was in pain but knew that it was part of the process and the pain was part of the final step. She felt like it was something that she could endure, if her mother could endure it then she could as well. Her time would come, she would be patient. That night she felt the first tinges of breast growth in her chest and felt her nipples changing. This coupled with her mother's kind words gave her a new resolve. She was a woman inside, and now her body was becoming a woman on the outside. In four years, she'd be a woman in full. All she needed now was to wait and accept her blossoming changes. She had waited years to become the girl she was meant to be out in the open, she could wait four years to become whole. The End.