Blessings Part 1 free porn video

June 15th, 2025 It had been a rough few years for Anthony Russo. His parents had perished in a horrific crash due to drunk drivers hauling dangerous chemicals crashing into one another and sandwiching their car killing the couple instantly. He was left to care for his eight-year-old sister while finishing his high school diploma and fighting social services off as they tried to his sister into custody due to his young age. Anthony and his sister Rose inherited a large sum of money from their parents. With their life insurance policies, the proceeds from their lawsuit against the trucking and chemical companies who owned the trucks that killed their parents, then their parents' own trust funds the two were not for want. They each had about $10 million each in their bank accounts, enough to live comfortably for years to come. Anthony was accepted into and moved to Amherst, MA to attend college while enrolling his sister into a local school so she could get away from the pain of their former hometown of Pittsfield, MA. He had to spend his freshman year as an online student then attend classes as a mixed online/in-person student while Rose went through third through sixth grades. He did well in college and earned a degree in chemical engineering, parlaying that into a master's degree program. Rose attended middle school while her brother worked on his master's degree. She was a great student but suffered at times when her hormones got the better of her and she couldn't focus on her work. The reason was quite simple: she was fighting her sexuality and eventually she came out to her brother. He accepted that she was in love with women and bonded with her over his own failed pursuits of the fairer sex. She loved to needle him about his choices, with her happily telling him that his girlfriends were airheads who used him to get what they wanted. She never told him that she knew, but it was clear to her that they had zero interest in him as a boyfriend when she found them having sex with his friends next door while he was out with his other friends. Once Anthony earned his master's degree he was approached by Vera Bradley, a research scientist in the UMass- Amherst chemical engineering department about continuing his education and studying at the school under her tutelage as part of a team she had assembled to help her newest PhD student in his new research and development project. It was a strong offer, with him getting a small amount of pay to work under her as well as develop from his new colleague, a young boy by the name of Sydney Powers who was a true genius when it came to engineering. Anthony didn't hesitate to agree to join her team, knowing that it was a gift he wasn't likely to receive again. Rose was happy for him, she didn't want to leave her school especially now that she had her first girlfriend. They were a secret couple, but it was the first time she was getting attention from a girl. Things were too good to be true, as that October Sydney caused Vera to be exposed as a fraud who was trying to get her students to sign horribly unfair contracts with companies while she got paid a kickback for diverting them to the companies. He was left with a huge dilemma as he would have to start from scratch with another instruction who would look down on him, accept a transfer to MIT to be part of the team Sydney was now building to continue Sydney's privately-funded work, or move to another school and have Vera's black mark held against him. Rose told him to stop being stupid and do what was needed: take the job with Sydney and work at the foremost scientific university in the world. Rose was happy to move with him to the Boston area, her girlfriend was just using her to get another girl jealous. She had no reason to still remain in Amherst. Anthony worked with his new academic adviser, a man named Shea Porter and who carried multiple PhDs and a strong reputation in the engineering field. Shea was blunt and told him, "If you are going to be conducting your research and refining your designs based off of Sydney's designs, then you must accept that she is transgender and will be presenting as female from now on. She is an amazing young woman who is built wrong and whose family I am proud to be part of." Anthony needed time to think and told his sister about Sydney. She didn't believe him, demanding to see a picture of her before she believed a word about her. When he showed a picture of the two she blurted out, "She's hot," which got his interest piqued. Rose blushed deeply as that came out too fast. He demanded to know what she really felt because her face showed something different from what her mouth was saying. Finally, she confessed, "So what if she has a dick. She's hot. She's better looking than the girls in school and is wasted on guys. I hope that she doesn't fall for their tricks because she will get used by guys looking for quick lay without fear of making her pregnant." Anthony could see that she was smitten with Sydney and would seek to know if Sydney was into guys or girls. He hoped it was girls, his own research showed that a large percentage of them are lesbians who just happened to be born wrong. It made him proud that Rose was so accepting of Sydney but it was feared that she might be trying to overcompensate for her own issues with girls. Over the next three months, he talked with Sydney about her personal life and listened as she told him about being the only person among her friends who wasn't dating anyone. Then shit hit him hard, she told him that it was nearly impossible to find a girl who would accept her for herself and not get upset that she had a penis. It was what he needed to hear- she was perfect for Rose. He slyly asked if she would consider a date with his younger sister, as she was going stir crazy in their Bradford house because she couldn't deal with the girls in her own school. Sydney blushed and asked if she was alright with her, "Secret" to which he happily told her, "She knows and she is hoping that you find a good girl. I think she has a crush on you, she knows what you look like and had a tough time not drooling over your picture. She asks about you a lot, hoping that you'd be single." Sydney agreed to the date provided he get her father's permission first. Anthony gulped as he asked her father Justin for permission, with him glaring at Anthony until his wife Savannah happily corrected him about what Anthony was really asking about. Anthony nearly fainted, telling him firmly, "She's way too young for me! I'm asking for my sister's benefit, not because I am trying to date your daughter!" The date was a smashing success and led to more dates. These dates led to more and over time, the two girls were inseparable on the weekends. Anthony would have to drive Rose to Winnisimmet then make his way to the lab to work, with Rose running from the car to hug and kiss Sydney while Anthony had to look away in shame at the couple being so smitten with one another so quickly. They were together for four years as Rose bloomed into a beautiful young woman who Anthony had to hide his tears from as he recalled their mother's own beauty. Sydney had to fight her urges whenever she saw Rose, so much so that they were never allowed to be alone up in their bedrooms as they would not stop at simply kissing. With Sydney, "Intact" despite being on blockers and hormones they didn't want to risk any pregnancy despite the girls ignoring Sydney's "growth" between her legs. Rose had constant boy and even girl issues in high school as boys thought they could, "Turn" her back into a straight girl while TERFs in her school claimed that she wasn't a real lesbian because she was dating a, "Boy". She happily verbally jousted with both groups and got many of them suspended and several expelled for violent behavior and threats, she just didn't care and let them show their real selves to the school. She was a borderline hero to the outcasts of the school, and unlike most other girls in the school she had a real relationship that was going to last beyond graduation. Prom was a pain to Rose as her school fought tooth and nail to keep Sydney form attending. It made the local news and thanks to the fact that Justin was a fellow teacher any teacher who tried to stop Rose from bringing Sydney found themselves in deep trouble with their union. The school finally went too far and outright banned both girls, leading to the prom being called off and a large fight among the parents, the school, the students, and finally the town over their blatant discrimination. Rose just ignored it, while Savannah happily worked with legal representatives from the town to accept a legal settlement on Rose's behalf allowing her to have a nice nest egg on top of her already existing inheritance. She didn't care about the money nor did she care about the prom. What she really cared about was dancing with her beloved Sydney and making things right with her. Rose received something better from Sydney's friends and family: an invitation to the Winnisimmet High School prom as a guest of Sydney, who was going as part of their faculty. During the course of the four years since coming to Winnisimmet to live with her father she had gotten a side job as a tutor and substitute teacher at the high school and had earned a reputation of respect and admiration from the students. The fact that eight of the graduating students were friends of hers and her father was a teacher was beside the point, Rose was being given the chance to participate in a prom where she could be among people who actually cared about her. As the prom finished, Sydney and four of her friends dropped to one knee in front of the other seniors and proposed to their beloveds. Rose was in tears at the sight and let out of tearful, "Yes!" that caused Justin to need air as his daughter had just gotten herself engaged. The five couples went off together as Justin struggled to process the scene but was genuinely happy that both girls had taken their love to the next level and were going to be serious about one another. Watching your kids grow up is never easy. For Justin Stoner, it was exceptionally hard. He was a father of two and watched his two daughters blossom into beautiful young women right in front of his eyes over the past four years. Sydney was the spitting image of her birth mother, right down to her beautiful amber eyes and wavy dirty-blonde hair. Piper was a precocious girl and developed early, with breasts that had every boy in middle school drooling over but who had developed mentally at the same rate, giving her a strong sense of what she didn't like in people. Piper had the indignity of being tall and slender, making her body almost model- like in appearance causing men to leer at her whenever she entered a room and who had most women jealous of how she looked to the point of treating her like a leper. Sydney had to endure four and a half years of growing into her body, while at the same time struggling to deal with her immense intelligence and a hard ton contain inquisitive nature that led to far too many sleepless nights. She was a genius who at the age of 18 earned PhDs in chemistry and engineering. On top of that, she also earned four patents for her designs with a fifth patent being shared with her research assistants, including Anthony Russo. She was lucky to have found love with Rose, with Anthony giving his full approval of their coupling. Rose was just coming to terms with her sexuality and upon meeting Sydney on that first pity date she fell for Sydney hard. The two had a strong bond as they dealt with their isolation, with Rose bringing out the inner teenager in Sydney and forcing her to act her age instead of her normal intellectual self. Rose couldn't accept that Sydney was truly transgender until the third date, with Rose only believing it when Sydney tearfully dropped her skirt and panties to show her that she was deadly serious. Rose burst into tears at Sydney doing that for her, she hated making Sydney feel horrible that she had to acknowledge something that she hated but it was a reaction that Sydney loved in Rose. Justin had to fight his urge to stop Sydney when he saw her dropping her skirt, but once Rose accepted the truth and got closer to Sydney in a caring embrace his anger subsided. Rose looked up and saw his reaction, with Sydney insisting that she be blamed as it was her own fault and not Rose's fault. Justin didn't punish Sydney, instead he set ground rules for them and let it go. Rose kissed his cheek over being so sweet about it, Sydney should have been punished for being alone with Rose and showing her her private parts. Sydney went downstairs to her mother's waiting glare while Justin talked with Rose about what happened and why, knowing that she needed to talk with an adult that she respected. He was the closest that she had to a father ever since her own parents were killed, he cared about her beyond being Sydney's father and wanted her to let out her true feelings even if it hurt Sydney's own feelings. Rose somberly told him, "I love her. She's the perfect woman for me. She has a penis and testicles, but she is all woman and I love it about her. I don't care if she has them, I just want her." She burst into tears, with Justin hugging her tightly then explaining, "She's going to have surgery to be whole. What she has isn't going to remain, she will be all woman like you. It's only another couple of years, but it'll be like she was born like you." Rose sniffled then quietly asked, "Doesn't she want kids?" Justin grinned and happily explained to her, "She has saved her sperm. She will be able to give you children if you want. She banked enough to have four children, it cost a pretty penny to store so much but her future needs matter most." Rose lost it again. Sydney was the woman of her dreams, even if she had the genetic curse of being born with, "Y" chromosomes she was the woman of Rose's dreams. The fact that she could not only be Sydney's wife but bare her children gave Rose the biggest bit of happiness she could receive. Sydney's younger sister Piper felt bad for Rose as she was just trying to be normal but endured a lot due to being from a broken family. Piper understood her and sought her advice and gave Rose a shoulder to cry on and vent her frustrations as only orphans who endured the same can understand. Piper lost her birth parents due to their own drug making, there were very few in Piper's large extended family could understand her pain at times like Rose could. Piper was lucky in that she had found the perfect boyfriend by accident by his needing someone to be a friend to him who was a girl but ended up falling for one another as their friendship bloomed into love. As she entered 9th grade, the couple were the strongest among their grade and made them the top of the group of incoming freshmen. Logan Finn was a force to be reckoned with on his own, but coupled with the beautiful 14- year-old potential model who happened to be the daughter of their English teacher put her into the, "Untouchable" and, "Most sought-after" among students. Rose graduated with high grades but few prospects for her future due to having no contacts at any of the local colleges. She kept refusing Sydney's pleas to let her pay for Rose's education, with Anthony trying hard to get her to accept that it was for the best as it was a genuine offer of love. Rose felt like she was a freeloader, she wanted to make it on her own without the need to rely on Sydney just in case the two fell out of love and broke up- something nobody believed was possible. Rose had a decent amount of money from the lawsuits and her parents' deaths, but it was still tough to accept the genuine offer of help from her beloved fiance. Her brother was struggling to find work and his research prospects were grim as he wasn't as brilliant as others and his range was limited thanks to Vera Bradley's tainted touch on his academic record, so she was on her own at age 18. She didn't want Sydney to feel obligated to provide for her, her pride wouldn't let her accept any help. Sydney paid for her education anyway, with Sydney proposing to her at the prom out of the blue but not beyond expectations of Anthony as Sydney had gone all out and gotten the ring of her dreams for the proposal. Her brother gave his blessing, with Sydney offering him a dowry of a job with the heavily sought after Peterson Manufacturing. It wasn't actually much for her to do as the company was in the process of looking for someone with his skills and had been purposely kept away from him as the few who were similarly qualified had stronger connections and more family wealth than him. Sydney wouldn't let him go without a job and kept at him for not accepting her proposal, Peterson was looking for someone with his credentials and all he had to do was apply to secure the job. His pride was too strong, his stubbornness was even stronger and he kept applying to other places before he gave up all hope of a job. Despite Sydney's efforts, he knew he was blackballed from the industry. Piper was growing older and was finding herself spending more and more time with Logan at his house as she helped his younger sisters and brother with school and mentoring the young Ella and Cat Finn as the two dealt with boys and periods while also keeping Logan from going overboard with protecting them from the ravages of hormonal boys and a few girls. Ella had her own issues to deal with as she fell hard for her best friend and longtime confidant Flora Nelson, with Piper sharing her advice and guiding the young girls through their newfound love for one another while giving them a chance to see if it was love and not lust as some claimed it to be. With Piper entrenched as Logan's girlfriend and Sydney on the cusp of leaving the nest to join Rose as her wife, Justin and Savannah were feeling the pangs of growing older and seeing their kids become their own people. Savannah felt it even more, she had to come to terms with her daughters becoming independent and no longer needing their mother to guide them. With Sydney now on the verge of being 18 and having her surgery, she felt like she wasn't needed as a mom anymore. Seeing other parents become parents caused Justin to want to give Savannah a child of her own, but as she was like Sydney in that she was born genetically male it was impossible. He thought about the two trying to adopt, but it was going to be a long time coming and they didn't want to risk the child being upset that their new mother was transgender. He was at wit's end until he was given an idea: using a surrogate and donor eggs to become a parent again. Savannah was sat down and saw Justin explaining what he wanted to do and why. She was in tears as he told her, with Justin knowing just how much it meant to her to become a mother of her own doing. It was then suggested by her that he do the same, as he deserved to raise a baby of his own blood even if he was the biological father of Sydney already and had been raising Piper since she was 10. Justin hugged and kissed her, with Savannah loving that he was willing to endure years of frustration and sleepless nights because he needed to give her what she had desired. The two hammered out plans for how the surrogacy would go, with the two using a service that was used by Paul and Alexandra James when they chose to become parents four years before. The couple enjoyed triplet boys, with the trio being the spitting image of both parents and their surrogate becoming part of their family as well. The couple kept their plans from Sydney and Piper, but did let their friends know what was going on. It was a big stir among the ladies as Savannah blushed deeply at them insisting on her using the frozen semen that she had been forced to save by her birth parents years before when she started to transition, with Justin contributing samples for use on the surrogate causing him to be embarrassed by the ladies. They had a good time riling him up, but it was all in good fun as they offered him their utmost support. Savannah's adoptive mother, Cynthia Byrne, reined-in the ladies when they got too over the top about the situation as they nearly blew the secret to their children. Cynthia realized early that this was far too important to go overboard over, insisting that they not talk about it in front of anyone else and to leave Savannah and Justin alone until things progressed far enough to tell the others. Cynthia loved Savannah deeply and was happy to rule over her friends and extended family with an iron fist, it was needed at times as they forgot about Savannah in their baby-mania fog. Savannah was a deeply scared person, without someone to keep things in perspective she might lose herself in the mix. Cynthia was proud to help her daughter, it was something that she had lost out on when her own son had his two children back before he himself transitioned from female to male so Savannah was giving her a motherhood moment that she deeply respected and was paying her back in full without realizing. June 2025 It took four months of planning and finally vetting perspective surrogates, but the couple found a young lady who was willing to donate her eggs and carry their child to term. She didn't need the money that she was going to receive, she was actually well-off and in a loving relationship with a woman who was herself was doing the same for a couple who were going through infertility but her surrogacy was simply her being implanted with a child instead of becoming pregnant herself. The couple were happy to help the Stoners, especially as Savannah was able to settle the couple's long dispute with their parents over their relationship and their rightful inheritances from a caring grandfather as the, "Mother" was giving the family an heir even if the child wasn't going to be their grandchild at all. Justin and Savannah arranged for Savannah's sperm to be used first, with Justin happily going the next year as it meant more to Savannah than to him. The facility that her sperm was stored at required the couple to visit in person, with Justin making his deposits during the visit while Savannah signed all of the required paperwork. It was a trying day as the couple endured the humiliation of the attendants not really liking what was happening but not daring to say anything to the couple for fear of their jobs as well as the threat of a lawsuit once they heard just what Savannah did for a living. During this time period, the paperwork got mixed and as they scrambled to fix the issues the deposits were mixed together. Savannah's and Justin's semen were used during the days of insemination leading to issues where they didn't know who would be the biological, "Father". There was a strong chance that Savannah wouldn't be the one to take hold, with Justin ending up as the father and Savannah unable to produce any additional samples essentially ending her chance at "fathering" a child herself. That was only the start of things. Their surrogate ended up pregnant with twins making things get a bit complicated as they needed to wait until the babies were developed enough to do a test to see who was the one who fathered the babies. It would take months, months that Savannah would spend in a funk as she felt like her dreams were shattered by the fertility center's errors. The wait was just as hard on Justin as he couldn't bear his wife being so upset at someone's mistakes. He knew this was a tough time for her, but this was the worst news she could ever receive and the wait was destroying her fragile psyche. There was nothing that he could do to help her, she needed to hear the news and it wasn't happening until early September. During that long wait, the girls were finally told what was happening. All three were happy for them and saw Sydney weeping at becoming a big sister again while Piper was stoic but happy for both of her parents even if Savannah was preparing for the worst. Rose was seeing the future in the pregnancy, she was proud of Justin and Savannah and prepared herself for when she herself would undergo the same. The trio discussed things in private as they prepared for Sydney's surgery, with Rose insisting that she was going to be a model sister and the perfect mother in the future. Piper kept quiet, only adding that she was happy that their parents were thinking about themselves and their needs and were fulfilling a desire in both that was near and dear to their hearts. Rose was simply happy for them, with Rose asking Sydney to confirm to her again that she wanted to marry her so they didn't waste any time or risk losing the other to suitors now that both were 18 and Sydney was coming into her wealth in full. Sydney was too teary to say yes, but her deep kiss and hug gave Rose her answer. Piper just grinned and texted their cousins to tell them that Sydney was moving up the wedding, leading to their aunts and cousins to call them to demand a reason why they had done so without telling anyone. Rose was caught in a tough situation but Piper hugged and kissed her, reassuring Rose that she wasn't in any trouble. The only real trouble came when Anthony was told. He was upset that they wanted to marry so young and hadn't experienced being themselves yet. He couldn't stand in Rose's way, but he was not happy that she was limiting her possibilities especially as she hadn't chosen a field of study yet. Sydney knew better than him, she knew that Rose wasn't cut out for academic life and would only earn her bachelor's degree before entering the workforce. By marrying Sydney, she didn't need to even earn her degree as Sydney was happy to be the breadwinner. Sydney didn't even need to work, her wealth was enough to live a life of luxury until they died and still leave a huge fortune for their children. Piper listened to Rose explain her brother's reaction and countered with a firm, "He's upset that Sydney is going to be around you all of the time now. It hurts him to be out of the job now that he has his PhD and nobody wants to hire him. The sins of his first adviser tainted him academically, he doesn't want to be a pity case and he doesn't want to ask for him when he needs it most." Rose looked at her oddly, with Sydney smiling and explaining, "She means I'm moving in with you to be close to you since I don't need to be around the lab so much. I can even teach at your school while you earn your degree, but being around him is like twisting the knife in him since I'm the reason why he has no job. He will get a job, I am calling Uncles Graham and Zachary right now. He needs it even if he refuses to ask for help from us to get it." Graham Pierce and Zachary Phillips were the CEO and CTO at Peterson Manufacturing, a call to them and their approval was a guaranteed job for Anthony. Anthony was the kind of person they would pick up in a second, but the actions by the disgraced Vera Bradly nearly five years before had caused him to be among the blacklisted people in the industry. He was an innocent bystander, but he was still one of the people who suffered because Vera spoke so highly of his abilities before her disgrace. The stage was set, Sydney called Graham and Zachary and got them to agree to look into Anthony and give him a chance. The worst that would happen was they didn't like what they saw from his academic works that were on record, the best was they saw him as a potential money-making missing link to their next big product. Anthony would have his fair shake and would get the needed second chance that he had rightfully earned, even if he didn't deserve the scrutiny in the first place. Anthony was called by Lindsay Reagan, the Peterson Manufacturing COO and the head of the business side of the company, and asked to meet with them regarding possible employment. He was reluctant to accept the job, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work for the biggest independent engineering manufacturing companies in the world and one that was perfect for his educational background. He agreed to go but told her firmly that he was going to defend himself against any false claims based on his knowing Vera Bradley in the past. Sydney was called and told what happened and relayed it to Rose. Rose just smiled, it was her brother's stubbornness showing and he would never admit that he needed the job as much as he really did nor that he was happy to accept it without a fight. He'd be upset at his sister for doing that for him, but deep in him he knew that she did it out of love for her brother and need for him to work. The girls kept Justin and Savannah from getting anxious about the babies. When the twins are finally developed enough to perform the DNA testing they were barely able to sleep as all five were awaited the reveal. Savannah was the most distraught, with Justin barely better than her at hiding his anxiety. Inside the office, the prenatal doctor revealed shocking news: both of them were the "fathers" of the two babies. Through a twist of fate and extremely interesting luck, sperm from both had hit their marks as one egg each had been fertilized. It was a literal one in a 50 million yet both of their ejaculates had taken hold of the two eggs. And things got even more stranger as there were three babies who were developing instead of the two who were known, with Justin being the father of one of the fetuses and Savannah the other two. Justin was the father of a boy and Savannah of a boy and girl. What was a major error might have been a blessing for them as there was no more of Savannah's sperm as all of it was used in the insemination despite it only supposed to be one dose, she was going to be the, "Father" of a second baby making her not need the additional sperm at all. Justin asked how it could be possible that both were, "Father" to the baby, with the doctor explaining, "It's call heteropaternal superfecundation. It's extremely rare but it does happen, many cases occur in the time when a woman is taking fertility medications and produces multiple eggs instead of just one. It's not much different than homoparental superfecundation, which is when the same sperm does the impregnation- both result in multiples, in your case it's triplets." The doctor let it sink in before continuing, "They are healthy and there isn't anything wrong with them. I checked with the donor's doctors and she is clean genetically and has a family history of great health and longevity. The babies are progressing nicely and by November you should be parents again." The two left to speak with Savannah's legal partner at their office to discuss actions to be taken against the fertility center. Savannah had a strong case and likely would win despite her low sperm count. The fact that she is the genetic "father" of two is irrelevant, their error caused her to lose her only chances of being a genetic parent in the future. She was too numb to talk, so Justin listened for her. Ricardo Vincent smirked while explaining, "We treat this as a joint surrogacy. The donor mother signed over all rights to the two of you as part of her contract, she ensured that her wife had no objections and had all restraining orders in place to prevent her family from seeking the children when they are born. She happily explained that you two are their parents and even though they are her children genetically all she did was donate her eggs and gestate the children." The two needed to let it process, Ricardo simply let their colleague, Savannah's elder brother Cameron Byrne-Toro, explain to them, "You have a solid lawsuit against the center, as does the donor. All of you are suing for the costs of raising additional children as well as the loss of Savannah's semen. It's likely to bankrupt them, but it needs to happen to ensure others don't experience similar issues. The cause was entirely their fault and was done due to blatant errors in record keeping and inept staff. They don't have any way to claim otherwise as their director admitted such to our investigator when he fired the staff." Cameron showed the amount sought, then filed the lawsuit alongside the donor's lawsuit for issues that were already being experienced due to three children instead of one. She was going to need surgery to fix her body after the births, but it was mostly due to the loss of income due to being unable to work for three months before and after the births. She only worked due to boredom as her wife made money from her job as a consultant but it was beside the point as she lost the money due to the center's error. The money being sought by the Stoners was $25 million, with the donor seeking an additional $1 million plus medical costs. It was a lot of money, but with Savannah being unable to create new life from her genes it was a pittance. The couple knew that the money was going to go to the three kids, with Piper and Sydney not needing it as the two had their own money that was sitting in the bank. The lawsuits were filed in court and saw the fertility center fighting back with every dirty tactic that they could think of. None of them expected them to go for the donor's family but the center left nothing to chance and alerted the donor's in-laws as a last ditch effort to go after them. This was a huge issue as the in-laws saw what their daughter-in-law was doing as immoral and fought for custody of the triplets despite the agreement with the Stoners and having no genetic link to the children in the first place. Savannah was distraught as she couldn't face anyone after reading the order to appear at a court hearing in regards to custody of the triplets. Ricardo assured her that they didn't have a leg to stand on, but it was like her world was falling apart. She knew that her gender change would destroy any chances of the couple obtaining custody, the kids would be sent to live with their grandparents-in-law. Sydney and Rose tried to make her see that things weren't as bad as they were, going so far as to make her act as Anthony's lawyer while he sought a job even if Peterson Manufacturing was giving it to him. She gave in as she couldn't hurt Anthony because of her own issues, and Rose was tough to say no to as her pleading look was tough to deny. She loved Rose like a daughter and was happy that she cared about her brother enough to get him help from her future in-laws. Anthony's meeting with Peterson was exactly what she needed as she spent more time talking with the various family members instead of actually representing Anthony, with Anthony annoyed at her lack of focus but realizing that it was likely a good thing for him. Inside the conference room he met with Lindsay Reagan and was told firmly, "You are about the best possible candidate to come across my desk since I have been in charge. You have a quality thesis and your paper on the new design for the Stoner Valve interlocking system is revolutionary. Sydney was right in helping you make her third generation design come to fruition as you solved countless issues that arose." Anthony was dumbfounded but his shock only grew as his PhD adviser and mentor, Shea Porter, came into the room and sat with Lindsay then shook his head in disappointment. He looked over at Anthony and demanded, "Why are you here? You should have had a job with several companies out in Atlanta as I had several companies lined up to take you on." Anthony looked down in shame and mumbled a timid, "Vera Bradley. As soon as I went for my second interview with them the offers were rescinded and every answer was the same: I'm untouchable due to her and anyone trying to hire me was given a suspicious look. They only paid you lip service, they had no intention of ever hiring me. I spent money on plane tickets for nothing. You might have been my mentor yet Vera's reputation lingers on four years later." Shea smirked then told him, "You are hired here. And it's not because of your connection to me or your already knowing Patrick Peterson- it's because you are a true gem who will be an asset to the company for years to come. Patrick alone will be pleased to have someone he knows so well working alongside him, you should be his #2 before the year is out as he can trust you to tell him what he needs to hear, not what is best for yourself. The others just don't have your understanding of him nor do they have the trust that had been built over the years." Shea just smirked then added, "I'll have a long talk with my so-called colleagues down in Atlanta. They lied to me and likely lied to their personnel office about you. I think it's retaliation for embarrassment at being exposed at possibly being connected to Vera so they are going to be out of their own jobs and if they aren't then I'm going to send my own hounds after them as their shareholders will not stand for their actions. We need you and your sister needs you, as much as she is maturing she still needs her big brother. She's 18, but she's always going to need her big brother to help her." Anthony hammered out an employment contract as well as salary, which was double what he would have gotten from working in Atlanta or even out in Silicon Valley. Peterson wanted him badly and it reflected in the signing bonus that they gave to him. He tried to refuse it, but meeting with Peterson's chairwoman, Patrick's mother Lilly, he saw that they wanted someone who was staying put and not there until he found a better deal with another company. Savannah looked over his finances and told him that he should sell his old house and move closer to the company's headquarters. She strongly suggested Winnisimmet as it was where Rose and Sydney were going to live, he had to think about it but her pleading eyes were tough to deny. She also had ulterior motives for asking him to move closer, Rose would need him to help her as Sydney underwent her final surgery the next week and dealt with some of her depression that came with fulfilling her dream of being a complete woman. Late June 2025 Sydney underwent her surgery in the same Boston hospital that her mother had undergone her own four and a half years before then. It was a trying time for Rose as as she feared the worst but had her brother there to support her. He hated to see his sister in tears as she grew nervous, but he held himself together and put on the tough older brother facade that she needed to keep herself together. It was a tough three weeks of rest and adjusting to her newly healing anatomy, but Sydney was back to normal and forcing Anthony to stop babying her. The couple all but ran him out and told him to look at houses while Sydney rested, forcing him to follow through on the suggestions from Savannah. She was trying hard to keep from mothering Anthony, but it was hard not to when he needed parents then. Justin helped him search, having him meet with Dan Lopez and Angus Campbell whom he introduced as the manager and assistant manager for the company that owned the houses. He looked through the listing of houses and visited multiple houses but all of them lacked the, "Homey" feeling that he felt was needed, with the last one purposely being saved for his viewing as it was what they figured would be best overall. It just so happened to also be close to where Sydney and Rose were now living and within a short distance of all of Sydney's friends. The house was in a section named, "Twatville" but had been jokingly nicknamed by the majority of the Winnisimmet residents as, "Finnville" since it was the location of most members of the family. The few who didn't live in the neighborhood either lived on the other side of the city or lived in other cities like Bradford and Endicott. Anthony didn't know that yet, but he'd learn soon enough. The house was too large for him, but he hoped to one day settle down and have a family. It was also at an extremely cheap price, which caused him a lot of concern. He looked Dan in the eyes and asked him point blank, "It's really great, but what's the catch?" Dan just grinned while Justin shot back a groan and explained, "This was his niece's house. She moved to California to start medical school while her husband attends law school. It's cheap because they had a low buying price in the first place: $150,000. It was foreclosed on by the bank and only needed a few small tweaks to it but it was ready to move in. There is a little bit of damage but it's due to their little daughter being a terror at times. It's perfectly fine, they technically are making a profit from you." Anthony sighed and agreed to buy the house. Dan prepared the paperwork and told him that he'd have Savannah look it over before it filed it with the proper people. It was his to move into, he'd happily sell his old house for him and fix things while Angus offered his own simple, "It's easier to use us than the locals up there. Bradford may have members of our family up there but they can't manipulate or extort us. We have the backing of too many people who could cause their empire built on sand to crumble." The three fathers all saw him looking over the rooms and stopped at the former nursery/kid's bedroom. All told him firmly, "Don't rush into things." Angus added a grumbling, "They look cute and all but they are terrors when you need sleep. Be glad you didn't start early, my son is trouble with a capital T." Dan and Justin laughed at him while Anthony understood what he meant. It was a nice house and he did have pangs of wanting to find love, but his family came first and he gave up on finding a woman because he didn't want to abandon Rose. The yearning for love and family were growing stronger, but it was able to be quelled as he talked the sale over with Savannah later that day. Savannah happily told him, "You will find someone. I found Justin, my brother found his wife Lupe. Your one true love is out there somewhere, you will find her." A few blocks away, Sydney was being pampered by her sister and cousins. The four Stoner cousins had help, Piper's boyfriend's sisters insisted on helping Sydney despite her demands that they stop. She was not going to let them give up their summer to help her, but the girls insisted on helping her for Rose. Rose was happy to work with the girls, especially as they had been so used to doing it for their family friends over the years. Sydney didn't want attention, but Cat and Ella Finn wouldn't let her life a finger if they could do it for her. At 13 and nearly 10-years-old, they were eager to show that they weren't little kids anymore and could do more to help their cousins. Rose was happy to show them that they were appreciated and Sydney was just being crabby because of the psychological impact of the surgery. Both girls knew it better than most, with Cat happily telling the frustrated Rose, "She is better than she realizes. She's got you here, a lot of women don't have anyone to be around them when they recover and deal with having their dream come true." Cat's big smile showed that she had a big leg-up on Sydney and she couldn't argue with that logic. She had fallen into a trap that Cat had set and caused Ella to groan at being sprung. Ella complained, "She just outsmarted Sydney with logic. She's too much like mom, she's too clever for her own good." Rose laughed at the display Cat was putting on, hugging her tightly and letting her know that she appreciated her help. Cat just hugged her back, knowing Rose needed that show of support. It was also rare that she could do that without any consequences, everyone in the family were immune to her antics but Sydney wasn't thinking straight and Rose was too new to them to build up a resistance. When Anthony called to tell them that he had a new house, Rose looked suspicious but Cat happily told her, "He bought Jaimie and Rick's house. It's the one Uncle Dan wanted him to take, nobody else will buy it because of Jaimie. Uncle Dan said something about him becoming a dad too but none of us think he will find a good wife anytime soon." Rose laughed as Anthony complained about Cat as he overheard everything she had said. Cat just gave a big smirk, she had played him like she played Sydney before. Rose smiled at Cat then told her brother, "I'm getting married and living with Sydney so it's time you started doing what you need to do. You did your job, now it's time to be a man and find a girl to actually feel bad enough about you to marry you. Maybe you might even get some sex out of it." That had the girls laughing, with Cat getting a look from her sister that stopped her from making a sex joke that would only end up causing her to get into trouble at home. She may be aware of sex and what happens as a result of it thanks to her brothers and sisters having had kids already, but she was still too young to make those kind of jokes. She lacked a filter for those kind of jokes, that developed later on as she matured and learned when it was appropriate and when it was too lewd. When he hung up, Ella happily told her, "The house has a nursery and is too big for him. He's probably going to feel weird for a while so don't go into being a mom just yet. You two are good together, but it's tough on him to see you growing up. I have enough trouble with my brothers accepting Flora as my girlfriend, he's probably going to be even worse with you especially since you are younger than him." Cat teased her about she and Flora Nelson dating, but it was friendly teasing. Flora had been her best friend for years and was closer to Ella than their other cousins/friends. It helped a lot that Flora wasn't actually related to Ella like Ella was to their friends Daisy Peterson and Faith Jones, making their being close to one another make sense to all of them. Anthony didn't have much time to celebrate as he had to prepare for starting his new job with Peterson Manufacturing the next day. He was needed immediately and saw himself heading to their factory in Winnisimmet to talk with HR for much of the afternoon and evening as they verified everything about him to the point of annoyance. They tried to act like it was being thorough in their investigation into him, but it had an air of suspicion that went beyond basic security questions. When the questions turned to asking about his sister and her relationship, he stopped all questions and told them firmly and authoritatively, "My sister is off limits. I don't care if it costs me my job, she has nothing to do with your company. Her sex life and who she falls in love with are not your concern and if it is a concern then this is no place that I want to work for." He listened as the HR representative threatened him to which he got up and walked out, telling her, "If you are actually going to go after me, then so be it. But I'll be sure to talk with Shea Porter and Patrick Peterson about their offer being voided by you. By all means, explain to them how my sister's sex life has anything to do with your company or what I am going to do at Peterson Manufacturing." Patrick just happened to be outside waiting for Anthony to talk with him about something that they'd be working on when he smirked, called someone on the phone, then told the HR person, "Answer the phone when it rings. You showed your true colors, we don't accept industrial espionage. You really have big brass balls to try this stunt, it was never going to work. He's protected, he has multiple board members and all of the senior staff waiting to talk with him tomorrow while your plant was never going to see the inside of any laboratory nor see any new products. The job was held just for him, you were never going to give the job to her. We pegged her right away, and she squealed on you first chance she had." He grinned as the phone rang and security entered to escort the now former HR director out as she had her entire office searched as well as her company-issued phone seized and looked at. Patrick thanked Anthony for helping the company without realizing it, with Patrick explaining, "We had our eyes on her for a long time. She did OK for a few months but started to do several suspicious actions such as letting several key people go while hiring unqualified engineers to work in our secure area. We just needed a reason to take her down, sadly for her she chose the one person who we fully trust to try to extort." Patrick didn't waste any time and took him to the secure wing of the plant, allaying any fears that the security officers had as he happily told them, "He's Anthony Russo. You were expecting him tomorrow but I thought it best to show him tonight as he will be busy tomorrow. He got rid of our rat problem, the one we told you to be on the lookout for soon. He's trusted fully and as the highest level clearances." The four nodded and let them inside without a second look. Patrick showed him to where he'd work and offered him a look at their current projects. Anthony recognized the works and nodded at how they worked together while cringing at seeing his own designs being implemented wrong. Patrick noticed the look and explained, "It's why we wanted you. You should have been hired right away but as you saw: we had a rat problem and you were blackballed. That's all changed, you are one of the most important engineers that we have brought in to work in years. We couldn't dream of making this machine work without your designs and input. Your patent is being used, so you will get a pretty penny in licensing from us as well as whomever wants to use our products in their own designs." The two talked about what they wanted to do with their designs, with Anthony loving talking with the older Patrick as an equal and as a friend. Patrick was glad to have someone close to his age who had a strong understanding of younger sisters, with Patrick appreciating that Anthony had given up so much to be the big brother Rose needed. He may have been a father, but he still had a need for friendship. Anthony returned to his empty home and felt the pangs of guilt and sadness. He missed his sister, but she needed to be with Sydney. He was all alone for the first time in his life, giving him great sadness. Across town, Savannah helped Justin to bed and gave him a deep kiss over doing something so bold for someone he barely knew. Anthony needed family and he had gotten it from Justin without knowing he had helped him. Justin was feeling what it was like to be an uncle and an adviser, something that he had not had the chance to be with his nieces nor his nephew. The couple waited for news from their surrogate, and were told that things were progressing nicely for the babies. The couple hated that the couldn't meet the trio yet, but they were healthy which was what mattered most. The 3D images of the babies showed them to strongly resemble Justin and Savannah, with Savannah's biological son sharing her beautiful nose while Justin's son was the spitting image of Justin- right down to the shape of his nostrils and curl of his lips. The couple were on great terms with the Stoners and only kept their distance as it'd make things harder to separate when the babies were born. The Stoners understood, but still were glad that the couple were able to put the babies first and keep them in the loop about everything. Their obstetrician was happy to know that even if it was a surrogate pregnancy, the donors were concerned about every aspect of the donor mother's life and health making things easier on her as she didn't hold back anything important. Sydney and Piper were told about the babies and as expected, Sydney gushed about her brother looking like his father. She smiled and told Justin that he looked like him and nobody else, with Sydney happy to admit that she was her mother's daughter even if they didn't want to say that due to how Savannah would react. Savannah loved that she still cared about her birth mother and was happy to tell her that she was right and she was her mother's daughter while little Nathan was his father's son. The name slipped out before she realized it. Justin happily told her, "I love it. I had a professor back in community college who had that name and he was a big help in getting me scholarships." She insisted on him naming the other two. He smiled and told her, "Lydia Zara and Phillip Jackson. I know he was terrible but he's not the namesake for our son, my grandfather is. I loved him and he was a great man who never let my brothers hurt me. My only regret was that he died too young." She nodded while Sydney shed tears over her mother honoring her birth mother that way. Justin told her warmly, "Zara would want you to name your daughter after her. She'd be proud to be a namesake but it's you who should name your child after her." Rose gave her a longing look, which Sydney firmly told her, "Not until you graduate college. I may not need to work but I want you to have a degree and work experience first." Rose blushed and boldly told her, "Too late. Our fling worked...I'm pregnant." Sydney fainted while Justin fought for words. Savannah asked her, "Are you sure? I know that you are old enough but are you sure that you are pregnant?" Rose nodded then went to the bathroom, coming back with a stick. She showed it to Savannah and explained, "We did a lot more than study the last few months. We never used a condom, we didn't think that she was able to produce sperm anymore. It's all my fault, Sydney didn't know that I was fertile and I should have used birth control. I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen." It was tough to accept, but Savannah hugged Rose tightly while Sydney and Justin were at a loss for words. It took the timely arrival of Piper to break their stupor as she asked, "What's going on?" Rose handed her the test stick and had to cover her hears as she screamed with joy over the unexpected news. Piper demanded answers from the couple, which led to Justin cringing as Rose told her, "I wanted to lose my virginity during senior year so I asked her to have sex with me. We spent the weekend away on a trip with my supposed friends. Well as part of it they all had sex with their boyfriends, I had sex with Sydney. She hated it, I hated it, but it was enough. We did it a couple of more times when Anthony was at the lab for the night, and we did it a couple of times over prom weekend. I missed my last period, I am two weeks overdue. I know you aren't fully used to yours but I know mine enough to know that it's not going to come for another nine months." Justin wanted to say something but Sydney was in tears. She whined, "I ruined your life! How can you go to school and be a mother? I don't have to work but I don't want you to think that we have to stay together just because of the baby! My mom did that with her husband, and it ended badly for her!" Savannah gave an indication to the others to leave Sydney alone, it was a moment that they need to do alone. Justin led them off to another room, with Savannah telling the sobbing Sydney, "She knew what she was doing when she did it. You two are young, but she knew what she was doing. She knows that she will have to live with being a mother, but she loves you no matter what." She sighed then explained, "You know full well that your mom was manipulated into dating that piece of garbage. She didn't stay with him because of being pregnant, she stayed together for your sake. It was a misplaced attempt at doing the right thing for you, but she was thinking of you and what you may need. She died suddenly, but it wasn't due to him nor you. Rose loves you and wants to marry you no matter what. She wanted to marry you before she found out she was pregnant, she loves you deeply and you two will have wonderful children together. You already created one, you will create more in the future when you do decide to have more of them." The mother in Savannah was coming out in force, she couldn't help but comfort her daughter. The two were so intertwined that she was feeling what Sydney was feeling as she realized she was going to be a mom in a short period to time and to her own blood. Miracles happened, she had seen it already five years before with the family but this was a miracle alongside another miracle. Rose told Anthony and had to hold the phone away from her ear as he screamed at her. It was what he had feared would happen to her when she was younger, but he never realized that it might happen with Sydney. He hated being that way but he had to act as the parent to her and tell her just how she had just disappointed him by not being mature enough to realize what can happen from sex. Rose accepted his admonishment then listened as he sighed and told her, "I know she didn't think that it could happen, but it happened. You two don't have to worry about where to live, where to work, or how to afford to pay for things. But I still want you to get an education, if only for our parents' sake." He gave his blessing to her and let her live with the consequences of her actions, know that she was in shock but wouldn't do anything drastic. He felt bad for her, his little sister was willingly giving up a lot of her future to become a mother for her fiance and living up to her mistakes. She had shown that she no longer needed her big brother, she was a mature adult who accepted the consequences. The next morning, he reported to work and was met by the new head of HR trying to stop him from entering the building. Patrick and Shea were inside the foyer and happily told the HR director, "He is cleared in full by the board of directors, COO, CEO, and Chairwoman. His background is well-known to all of us and it is sparkling. The only thing he needs from HR is an ID but that'll be handled by security as you and your department have a long discussion about your former director regarding her breeches of policy. I'd start looking for a job as well, you had to have known who he was ahead of time and expected him to have pulled this stunt. Don't leave the property." Shea grinned and added, "Before you say anything, his sister was with the nieces of the chairwoman just yesterday, he was with her brother-in- law of her yesterday morning, and he comes with a stellar resume that I know completely as I'm his PhD adviser. He was hired as we need him for projects that you have no knowledge of and for reasons that you aren't cleared to hear. So please, save the theatrics. We expect you to be upstairs in five minutes or your career will become quite complicated." Shea led Anthony inside to security where he was issued his new ID and given full access to all areas of the company. Only few like Patrick and Shea had his kind of unlimited access, Anthony was a true VIP at Peterson and the talk of the offices. Anthony was led upstairs to his own lab and office and told that he was going to lead their design division while also having his own projects on the side- his first project was already known to him, that of fixing the design flaws so his designs were integrated fully. That caught Anthony by surprise, to which Patrick stated, "We are going to be using a lot of designs that are based off of Sydney's and your designs. Your joint patent alone is the backbone of a special frame that is being considered for automotive engine housings as part of their next-generation hybrid motor. You are able to work with the designers and engineers while giving your own ideas that others can't. You are in my old job, I'm moving on to become the new CDO of the company and wanted to leave things in the hands of someone that I can trust- you. Sydney is too young to get any of them to listen to her, but you are both able to endure their idiocy as well as force your way on the projects through their bullshit. She will be around frequently as a consultant and VP of designs, you are now officially the VP of engineering- equals in the business, with both of you reporting to me." They spent much of the morning going over the projects, how far along they were, who was working on them, what their issues were, and how he could help them. Anthony was enthralled at the work and found himself enjoying the job more and more as he listened. By lunchtime, he had a good idea as to the complexity of things and where he would be spending much of his time when not advising others. During lunch, he was shocked to see someone that he hadn't seen in years. The girl who was serving them lunch blushed at his recognizing her while Patrick tried hard to not say anything about her. She was afraid to say anything to Anthony directly, instead just took their order and moved along. Patrick waited until she was out of earshot then asked who she was. Anthony sighed, and told him, "She is the one that got away. She was my high school sweetheart. She's the same as when I saw her 10 years ago. She's filled out nicely but she looks the same as the girl who kissed me goodbye at graduation. She didn't go to college like most of us, she had to work to support herself after her family had issues." A shocked and bewildered Mary Riley watched Anthony from a distance as she waited her tables. She hated to be seen by him after all those years, yet she was glad to have encountered him again. He still looked amazing, much more handsome than the boy she had to dump when she learned she didn't get into college after high school. Patrick watched Anthony and had to hide his smile, he was still in love with Mary after all those years. The woman was a beauty and he cared deeply about her, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. The duo barely said anything all meal and Patrick picked up the tab for them, which was really just a formality since he owned the restaurant. As they were leaving, the manager, Carl Leonard, asked to speak with Patrick about Mary's intrusion. Patrick just gave him a grin and boldly told him, "She did a good job and is better than the girl that she replaced. She is too good for her job but I suspect she has her reasons for working so hard. Don't you dare discipline her as she has done nothing wrong and was caught by surprise at knowing my colleague here. Shed did her job better than the others so all you can say is 'good job'." The two left, but Mary was in for a rough day. Carl hated that she was there and only hired her out of respect for Patrick as Patrick had interviewed her when Carl was out sick. She really did do her job well, but the job should have gone to his nephew instead of her as he had planned. Back at the office, Anthony had to face down a bunch of upset people. Patrick looked them over and asked, "What happened?" Anthony cringed, he knew the news had finally hit Patrick's family. Anthony finally explained, "Rose is pregnant. She and Sydney had some fun while away with friends. I could have sworn that they told me they were going to be supervised but the girls lied to us. Then they did it again after the prom, this time enjoying the freedom we gave them a little too much." Patrick looked at him oddly while his mother Lilly explained to him, "Think about it: unprotected sex + two kids all alone + not realizing one wasn't shooting blanks. It's Addison and Carmen Carter all over again. The only plus side is they were already engaged, so it's just icing on the cake." Anthony looked away in shame while Lilly led him upstairs to the executive suite to talk. She was in her mother mode and as someone who got pregnant at the same age she understood as well as anyone just what Rose was going through. Even if he wasn't her son, he still needed a mother at that moment. Inside her office, Lilly asked how he felt about Rose and Sydney becoming parents. He looked down in shame and confessed, "I feel like I'm a failure as a brother. I should have told her not to do it and I let her go on the trip knowing that the girls weren't exactly the best girls and who had been known to be liars, but I didn't do it. She is her own person and can be hardheaded when she wants to be, but I can't get over seeing the little girl I had to raise. Rose has always been her own person, but it still stings to see her make a mistake that she will have to deal with for the rest of her life. She's giving up her life to be a mother, I don't want her to do that." Lilly smiled at hearing that, then told him, "She's not giving up anything. She's marrying the woman that she loves and giving her wife the child she needs. She knew what she was doing and did it anyway. She is a smart girl, she knew there was still a remote risk of getting pregnant. Part of her wanted to have it happen, it's her gift to Sydney: loving her on their own without help." She grinned then added, "She had all of the help she can ever need: four aunts, an uncle, six cousins, a sister, and a grandmother. All of whom love Sydney unconditionally and who will help her out in any way. That's not even counting the fact that her Aunt Lupe will insist that the baby go to her daycare center so that Rose can attend classes. It's non- negotiable, all of us will insist on it. She won't sacrifice anything, we will ensure that she doesn't. If my sons, daughter, in-laws, nephews, and nieces can do it, she can do it too. She has our help now, we want to help her out." Lilly hugged him, kissed his forehead, then explained, "She's part of our family now, and we won't let her do without. She's closer to Sydney's friends than she ever was to any of her own friends. That's not a joke, that's the actual words from her own mouth. She isn't alone, she has real friends and now she is going to have real family. And you aren't alone in this either. Trust me on this, there's quite a few of your generation who are itching to give you all the support you need whenever you need it. Patrick is a friend, as is his brother and cousins. Give them time, they will reel you into their antics." Anthony headed back down to his lab and found himself struggling to think straight. When he finished for the day, he saw that he had found several flaws in a design without realizing it just by letting his mind flow freely and trying hard to think about something other than Rose's situation. Patrick took him out to the restaurant again, this time with his brother David in tow as they had a, "Guys night out." The guys were joined by David and Patrick's cousins Michael and Miles Finn as well as their cousin-in-laws Ian Bailey and Scott Nelson. Anthony was all but forced to endure the guys joking about being dads, with Ian grumbling about all but Patrick and he getting lucky in only having one. Miles happily pointed out that it was his own fault for teasing his wife and tempting fate, especially as his wife was now pregnant with their third child and was enjoying him pampering her to ease her pregnancy. Anthony was glad that they didn't needle him about dating, but it was easy to see why as Mary was still working and trying hard to not get noticed by Anthony. The guys kept from asking too much about the mysterious woman who seemed to avoid Anthony while he tried to avoid eye contact with her. The ever observant Miles did take note that the two had a history that was deeper than it appeared to be. The evening rush died down but saw Mary frantically calling someone after she answered her phone. It was disconcerting to Anthony while the guys listened closely and nodded to one another as they heard a few things that she was saying. From the sound of things, she had a major crisis and her begging and pleading was falling on deaf ears. When she hung up, she had to beg Carl to let her leave early. Carl refused, then told her to get back to work or she was fired. Patrick and David walked over and asked what the problem was, to which Carl angrily told them, "This young lady is trying to get out of working her shift. I need her until midnight but she's trying to get out right now!" Patrick grinned, asked Mary what the problem was, and was told, "I have to get home to pick up my son from his babysitter. Then I have to pack up my apartment as we have been kicked out by the owner. I can't stay any longer, if I wait too long my son will be dropped off at the police station and I will be reported to DCF for being an unfit mother." She was in tears now, Patrick angrily told Carl, "You have more than enough help. She worked for a full 12 hours by now- likely without a lunch. I know damn well that you have enough staff, she's leaving and if I hear that you retaliated against her you will need to find yourself a new job. I'm not putting this restaurant in any danger from the state because of your laziness and trying to hurt her." Carl threatened Patrick to which Miles and David grinned and showed their State Police badges and asked if he would prefer to leave quietly as he was going to be immediate terminated for making threats against the owner of the restaurant or would they need to put him in handcuffs. Carl swore that he'd get back at Patrick, but Patrick shot back, "Thank you for making this easier. You're finished in this business. I'll happily tell every restaurant in the region how nasty you are as a manager and how willing you are to destroy a restaurant to get your way. If you are lucky, none of the mom-owned restaurants will ask to meet with you. I'd take that meeting, their words aren't ones to be ignored." All noise in the restaurant stopped. David and Miles, "Helped" Carl find his coat and then leave. The man made a mistake of threatening Patrick again, to which Miles casually stated, "We know who will be sent by the Board of Health and we have a meticulous record of previous inspections. If you try to go to the city you will find that Valerie Finn has already cut you off. She doesn't play nice when you threaten her family, especially ones defending their employees from being mistreated." Miles wasn't joking. David already texted his aunt to get her to help while Patrick calmed Mary. He had Anthony drive her to pick up her son and help her get ready to move out as quickly as possible. Anthony drove the frantic Mary to where her son was staying and spoke to the angry babysitter. The old woman wasn't feeling well and told her that she couldn't take care of the boy anymore. He wasn't any problem, she was just too frail to care for him and she feared that she may not live much longer. Anthony could see that the woman was pale, almost sickly. Mary grabbed her son's things and walked to her apartment nearby only to greet the angry landlord. He didn't wait for her to ask why he was being so forceful with her, she accepted that she was going to be homeless and needed to look for a place to sleep for the night while worrying about things the next day. Anthony held the tired boy in his arms while Mary gathered her meager possessions. He saw Mary's tear-stained face and asked her if she wanted to spend some time at his house until she could get back on her feet. She was too numb to give him a response, he gathered the boy's car seat and put it into his car then drove to his house in Bradford where he put the boy to bed while Mary was led to Rose's old room to sleep things off for the night. Anthony awoke to the sounds of Mary's son crying in the other room, with Anthony immediately going to him to see if he was alright. The little boy was scared but seeing Anthony he seemed to calm down. Mary awoke and went to her son, who was asleep in Anthony's arms as he rocked the boy back to sleep while trying hard to keep from falling asleep himself. Mary lifted the boy up and brought him to her room while Anthony went back to his own room. Mary didn't say anything, hoping that Anthony didn't make a big deal out of her pitiful existence as a single mother to a four-year-old boy. He already had enough on his plate and didn't need her drama. Anthony went to bed feeling terrible about Mary and how bad she had things. Her family was once one of the wealthiest families in Western Massachusetts yet she was struggling and failing. She had nothing left except her son and the clothes on her back, something had to have happened to make her get cast out of the family and get stuck in such poverty. Anthony woke a couple of hours later to Mary and her son already awake. Anthony had them eat first before he drove them back to her former apartment to gather the rest of her things. She really didn't have much, only clothes and a few toys for her son making it a quick finish to the job. Mary looked at her watch and was about to call in sick but Anthony stopped her, asked her if she could trust him for a bit, then called Rose and Sydney to ask them to do him a huge favor on behalf of Mary. Rose tried to remember the name then giggled at him still having a crush on her. He grew serious and nearly shouted, "She needs help and I know you aren't doing anything today. You two could use the extra practice since you felt the need to ignore a condom and get pregnant." She stopped teasing and told him to bring the boy by. Mary was in tears again, to which Anthony gave her a sad, "She remembered you and is doing this for you. She needs the practice, she and her girlfriend are going to have a baby next winter so need the practice. Plus, I don't want you to spend any money. I know you don't have any. Please, do it for him." She agreed to let the girls watch her son, but something caught her interest. She asked what he meant by her and her girlfriend. Anthony sighed and calmly explained, "Her fiance is transgender. The two of them had sex back in April and May and ended up getting pregnant. Rose is a lesbian but she couldn't stop herself on prom night or when they were away with friends for the weekend. They didn't think that they needed a condom but that turned out to be wrong, thus becoming parents." Mary couldn't believe it, the little girl who loved to annoy her brother was in love with women and had found a girl who was the best of both worlds for a bit. Anthony sighed then added, "Sydney is extremely rich and can take care of the two of them but wants Rose to get an education too. They are struggling to accept that they will be parents but are madly in love with one another." He smiled as he also added, "Sydney is a genius- a true genius who has two PhDs and multiple patents for her designs. Her designs helped me earn my PhD and her mentor brought me East when my former mentor was exposed as a fraud. She saved me from being a virtual slave to a corporation and giving me a new start and even a new house to live in." He realized his mistake then asked if she would still like to stay with him until she got back on her feet. He hated to do it but she needed a home and he had a big one that was sitting empty. He looked at her son and saw the little boy who looked like he had never had stability and wanted to give it to him. Mary tried to refuse but Anthony asked if it was her pride or fear talking. She tried to brush it off but he called her bluff perfectly. She sighed and told him, "I don't like to accept charity from anyone." He smiled and told her firmly, "This isn't charity, this is helping the girl I loved who helped me out more times than I can count. You helped me with my college essays, helped me fill out applications, helped me with my math homework, even helped me with my Latin homework. I'm repaying you for making me what I am today by being my friend long before I asked you out. You were always my friend, it's time that I paid you back when you need it most. Please, let me help you." Mary agreed, so he happily told her, "I'm only living here until this weekend, I"M actually moving to Winnisimmet to be closer to work. Our boss set me up with a nice house and arranged to sell this one. I was going to live alone, but I won't let you live on the streets. His family would skin me alive for not trying to offer you a place to stay." He got her son ready and let that sink into her head. She had a home with him for as long as she needed it. Her son deserved a nice home, and even if he had to force her to accept it he'd ensure that the little boy had a nice daycare center to go to. July 15th, 2025 Anthony drove to Winnisimmet and introduced Mary and her son Tommy to Rose and Sydney. The two girls looked at Mary then at Anthony and were about to say something, but thought better of it and led the scared Tommy inside so the duo could get to work. Tommy was afraid, but some soothing words from Sydney got him to relax and sit down on the floor to play with the few toys that he had while they cleaned the house. In Anthony's car, Mary smiled at the sight of Rose growing up to be so beautiful, completely different from the rambunctious and annoying tomboy that she had known years before. She was the spitting image of her mother, while Anthony was his father's son. Rose being pregnant only made her look all the more beautiful as she had that subtle motherly glow that Mary couldn't help but notice on her as she looked at Tommy getting out of the car. Anthony wisely told her, "She's mom's daughter. She's even bigger in the chest than mom, but that's more likely dad's side of the family leeching in. You know I know this thanks to you making me dress as a girl a few times for making sexist jokes about you and having to now wear bras when we were 14. I remembered her bra size and from washing Rose's bras for her and I know she's a full cup larger than mom. I think that she will be almost as big as grandma when she's ready to give birth, I hope she enjoys the downside of swollen breasts." Mary grinned as he caught a quick glimpse at her chest, it was her own growth that was behind that big reminder of their past. She did offer a calming, "She's beautiful now, but she's going to be voluptuous and sexy after. I wish I had her figure, but with my mother's side of the family we never got big. I'm just glad that I burned off the baby weight quickly after I gave birth to Tommy." Sydney wasn't mentioned, but Anthony did tell her, "Yes, she is transgender. She's going to take good care of Tommy and will probably have visitors to ensure they aren't in over their heads. That's if their friends don't get forced to join the girls, although only two are able to get pregnant from their fiances." He cut her off and explained, "There's one lesbian couple, two transgender couples one of which is a post-op female/male couple, and the last two are 'normal' couples. All but one have siblings so won't do anything even if they are able to. I expect there to be at least two couples there just to ensure they have company and give them a break. They are all experienced with kids Tommy's age and younger." He was prophetic as Sydney received a phone call from her aunt telling her that her cousins were on the way to help her. She didn't know how they knew, but she couldn't refuse the help. Ashley Byrne-Toro was the only one who had a younger brother among them and he never went anywhere without his beloved Rosalind Porter. Rosalind had a way with little kids that got them to listen to her and do what she asked of them even if they didn't want to do it. Over in Boston, Mary was dropped off and was immediately told by the assistant manager that she was fired. When she asked why, she was told, "You aren't what we want. I don't care if you are the boss' new friend's girlfriend, you cut out early and left us short-staffed. It's your own fault for getting knocked up. Don't bother suing, you don't have any way of getting a lawyer. It's your word against mine." She was in tears and turned to leave but was stopped by someone behind her who then led back inside. The man stood tall and had an angry look on his face, which very few got to see and those who saw it knew they were in extreme danger. It was the angry face of John Finn- Patrick's, David's, and Scott's uncle and Miles' and Michael's father. In a booming voice, John asked, "Let me get this straight. You, the assistant manager and not the newly hired manager of this restaurant who called you not 15 minutes ago, have chosen to fire this young lady due to being given the night off after working an unscheduled double shift by none other than your own boss- the owner? And you have the balls to blame her four-year-old son for it?" The man growled, "Who the hell do you think you are waltzing in here!" John smirked, then let loose an angry, "I'm the co-owner of this restaurant and after talking with my nephew, Mr. Patrick Peterson, am taking temporary control until further notice. I'd like to know just who you think you are in your firing someone that you have no right to fire. And I'd like to know just what you are doing in this office as you have no right to be here at all- you aren't supposed to be working until tonight!" John nodded to someone outside who walked in and explained to the assistant manager, "Carl Leonard is the only non-owner allowed in here. You have no reason to be in here and have no right to even have access to that desk. John, I think we might have found out why this restaurant is hemorrhaging money. The duo have been keeping two sets of books and lying to the owners about profits. I do believe that we will need to talk with the police about this matter." John grinned and told the man, "Don't leave town. Expect visits from the state and IRS. You can't fool us and we will tear apart your entire life trying to find where you hid the money that you stole. Patrick and I were on to you two from the moment we bought this place, you stole from the wrong people." Valerie Finn, John's wife and the legal counsel for Patrick, gave him a fear-inducing smile and added, "If you try to hire muscle, it won't work. Our name is one that nobody will touch. The same goes with the local police, neither will investigate unless it's an actual confirmed crime and not just a false fishing expedition as we have deep roots in both as my son and nephew were witness to what happened last to Carl Leonard last night. Save your money, you'll need it." She led the man out and told the staff that he was fired and not allowed inside under any circumstances and if he returned they were to call the police. Turning to Mary, Valerie sat her down and explained to her, "We can't use you as a waitress anymore. I am sorry, but with a young son and no home we feel that you need a different job. My sister will be arranging for a job at her company for you. I know you and Anthony had a thing in the past, but this is something that we are doing as former single-mothers who have been in your shoes. Believe it or not, we see too much of us in you and want to help you." John didn't dare say anything, while Mary had to fight tears. Valerie led her away while John talked to the new manager to find a replacement who could handle the job and wasn't connected to the former management team. It was going to take a while to find an assistant who could be trusted, but they could cope at the restaurant as it was slow and he himself would act in the role when needed. At Peterson Manufacturing, Mary was led up to the executive suite where Valerie introduced her to the assembled ladies. Patrick's dutiful mother Lilly was at the center with her friend Beverly Bollinger by her side. Off to the right was Lindsay, with Valerie taking her place beside Lindsay. It was essentially the core of their unofficial, "Single mothers club" who could be there on short notice, with each having a reason to see Mary. Valerie asked about her life since graduating high school, knowing that Mary's story needed to be told as she had a lot to say and needed to get it off of her chest soon. She wasn't sure if she should tell them, so Valerie insisted, "It's nothing we haven't heard before and experienced ourselves. All of us were in your shoes and know the struggles. We were single parents, though only Lilly has remained so." Sighing, she explained, "During senior year, I was told by my parents that I was being groomed to marry dad's boss's son. He was a total creep who slept with any woman he could get his hands on and was the suspect in multiple rapes around Pittsfield. I refused to marry him, I wanted to marry Anthony instead. Dad told me to dump Anthony or he'd ensure that Anthony's family had an 'accident'. I dumped him so he could be safe, but dad still tried to have his parents killed just to show who was boss. I guess he's the reason they died later on, they were influential enough to get the right people to look the other way." She didn't see the others writing notes, she continued, "I stayed with him until I caught him in bed with a 13-year-old girl two years later. I called the police and he was arrested, but I was cut off by his family and forced to live off of my settlement. They claimed I set him up, I had to agree to it or they'd show I was a liar. I was forced to go east to get away from the shame and lived in Brockton for a long time, working at a department store while living with roommates. I met and married a nice guy, who then ran off with his girlfriend when I caught them in bed together. I was pregnant with Tommy then, he said that he'd support me until his girlfriend cut him off. That lasted a year. I moved on to Boston to live there but struggled to find work who would let me work around Tommy's needs. The restaurant was good to me until Carl took over. He has made my life miserable ever since, and when Mr. Peterson bought it things got worse. Patrick doesn't know how much Carl skimmed, but all of us know that he stole about half of what the restaurant earned each night and changed the books to make it look like it had been a less successful night than it really had been." Lilly told her that it was alright to tell the truth, she wasn't going to get in trouble. Mary added, "Tommy was babysat by our neighbor but she started to get sick. She tried to hide it but it's terminal. I know she claims she is alright but last night she got news that she was going to die in two months. I begged Carl to let me go early but he refused. He was trying to get rid of me, it's why I actually got in trouble today. He knows that I know all about his fraud and doesn't want to be caught. All of us knew they are doing that, it's why the former owner sold the restaurant- Carl stole all of the profits." Lilly asked about her family. Mary shook her head and confessed, "Dad disowned me and gave all of the money I would have inherited to my younger brother. His family is rich, but struggle to make money on their own. They spread out, one of my uncles went east and opened a chain of gyms until he was forced to sell them after he divorced his wife. He ended up in prison but nobody knows why." All eyes turned to Beverley who asked, "Wilbur Riley, Sr.?" Mary blush, shooting back, "He's my uncle." The whole room laughed while Beverley grinned and explained, "Well I'll be damned. I'm your aunt...or rather your former aunt. Your uncle was sent to prison for assaulting our son and then fraud as I found that he had been hiding a lot of the money that he earned from his gyms before we divorced. He lied to the state and IRS and got nailed with both tax evasion and fraud sentences on top of the preexisting assault and child abuse charges. He even lost everything as he tried to sell everything he had to me to avoid losing his shirt to them, he made our son a multimillionaire in the process." Mary was too stunned to speak. Beverley shook her head and told her affectionately, "My husband and I will be happy to house you until you get back on your feet. I may not be your aunt anymore, but I am the closest that you have to family. Plus as much as he would feel obligated to help you, your cousin Will is too overwhelmed by my grandchildren. He just had to have two before they graduated college, but we love Simon and Little Lilly anyway." Mary looked down in shame and declined, explaining, "Anthony offered to let us stay and is moving us to Winnisimmet this weekend. I don't think it's a good idea to disrespect his offer by accepting another so soon after accepting his." All of the ladies shared a smile, it was more than just feeling obligated to stay with Anthony but she was too afraid to admit it to herself that there was more to their relationship. Valerie asked, "Have you had any contact with your ex-husband?" Mary shook her head, telling her, "He sent me divorce papers and gave me full custody of Tommy. His girlfriend doesn't want him to have anything to do with Tommy and she is strict regarding his contact with others. She wants him and him alone, any other girl's kids are to be forgotten about. She's a dominatrix by trade, I guess I wasn't kinky enough for him but I am just glad that Tommy doesn't need to know about that side of him." The ladies laughed at that, while Valerie was pleased that there were no issues for her in that area. The little boy would have a father-figure and if the winds of fate blew true- Anthony was that father. It was too fitting that he'd fall into Anthony's life when his feelings about family and children were strongest. Finally, Lilly explained to Mary, "We have an opening for a secretary in our HR department. Our former secretary was grossly overqualified for her position and is being moved to a position that she is best at. She is now the VP of HR and is overhauling the division and is looking for people that she can trust. I feel that you are able to perform the job as you have shown the ability just from my son's observations. He would have asked you to be hired as you are too good to work as a waitress. I'm heading him off before he begs me, he's too old to do that anymore. Patrick has observed your ability to work phones, juggle orders, and get things moving in a way that fits this job perfectly. It's a salaried position, and comes with a few perks. We have a strong relationship with my sister's preschool and are able to work around issues that arise regarding kids. As you are going to live in Winnisimmet and Tommy is able to go to pre-kindergarten, things will be even easier on you thanks to Lindsay's husband, Carmen Carter, or Katie Eliza- all of whom live in the neighborhood and whose kids are attending the same school." Valerie further added, "This isn't a handout, this is a step up. We understand you better than you believe. We are all former single parents. We know how hard it is to juggle childcare and work. Lord knows, if I didn't have my parents to help I'd have lost my own son to the state immediately after birth. We want to help you, you are special to Anthony and as a friend of Patrick's you are thus special to us." The ladies went over her job and what she'd be required to do. Mary blushed as Valerie told her, "It's not much different than your job at the front desk at the gym your uncle made you work at. You answer the phone, direct calls to the proper people, and log all complaints. Your work is the most important, it's the best way of showing that someone actually lodged a complaint and nothing was done. HR has to follow the rules and investigate, we won't accept any sweeping under the rug of incidents." Lindsay led her to the HR department and had he shadow her colleagues. Right away Mary noticed that certain complaints were ignored while others were altered. It was troubling and she asked about it. She received a look of contempt while her colleague stated, "We have a bunch of whiners who complain about people saying things to them. This is a workplace, if they can't hack it they need to leave. We are supposed to only forward complaints against certain people and only to our supervisor, he will decide to do something or not. Don't go running to anyone about this, the boss will ensure you never work at any office again. That's if he doesn't fire you outright." Lindsay cleared her voice and loudly stated, "Thank you for that, I believe you are relieved of duty. I am sure legal will want to know why you have refused to follow proper procedure that I personally set up to deal with issues. Save your excuses, nobody except myself can alter those orders nor can they they be overridden. HR reports to ME, not the other way around." Security led the woman out while Lindsay entered the supervisor's office. Shouting could be heard, the two were going at it loud and with a lot of vitriol. Finally, Lindsay exited and told Mary, "I'm sorry to say but you are our temporary HR department. Sorry for dumping so much responsibility on you, but things were a lot worse than we believed and the entire department is in a state of flux. You are the only one that I can trust to do the job while we hire replacements." Mary took calls and made reports throughout the day, with Lindsay having a trusted secretary from one of the other departments takeover for Mary while she dealt with the incidents. She had a knack for her job and was doing well in conflict resolution, showing that she was grossly overqualified for her job as a secretary. Lindsay smiled, Mary was going to end up being the supervisor who oversaw incidents and was the middleman between the secretary and the new HR director. During lunch, Anthony sought Mary out and ate with her and Patrick at the restaurant. They were with Lilly and Valerie, with the two mothers doing their best to not say anything about Mary and Anthony or the couple's endless dancing around their feelings. It was cute, with Patrick getting looks that said to him, "This is what you looked like just before you married your wife." After lunch, Lilly asked Mary about her feelings for Anthony. She blushed deeply and tried to escape the question, but finally admitted, "He's the same man I knew in school. I'm shocked that he didn't find a woman to marry but he was busy being the big brother Rose needed. I don't know if he is a fool for not finding love or the kindest soul for sacrificing his love life for her well-being." Nothing more was said about her obvious crush, it was a precarious situation and there was Tommy to deal with as he would be first and foremost for Mary. Mary did steal some glances at Anthony as he and Patrick walked away, showing she loved him despite her timidity. Mary would come around to the couple getting together, it would only take a matter of time to do so. The rest of the day was spent talking with people in her office while Lindsay sent a memo that Mary is the acting HR director. She was unknown so people didn't know how to react to her, which was what was needed. She couldn't be extorted or exploited, nor could her orders be ignored by anyone without it being detrimental to the welfare of their careers. Over at Rose and Sydney's house, Tommy spent the morning playing with his toys with Ashley and Rosalind before he explored the neighborhood with the four. He was quiet and didn't say much all day, only holding Rose's hand as they walked and barely touched his lunch when they returned home. After lunch, the girls brought him to visit Sydney's grandmother and cousins at the Byrne-Torro home. Tommy napped in Cynthia Byrne's lap while the girls ate their own lunch and relaxed, not getting the chance to speak much but neither really wanting to say anything as the elderly woman gave them a knowing look that spoke volumes about the girls and how they were doing so far. They were about to make her a great-grandmother years before she had thought would happen, but it was forgivable given Sydney's fragile emotional state. She was proud that they weren't running from their responsibilities and made their marriage mean more. Tommy stirred after an hour and walked with the girls as they visited friends' houses nearby. Tommy got to play in the backyard as the girls talked with their friends Diego Vincent and Polly Taylor, with the two teens holding off several others who came by to see what was going on and who the new boy was. Quick texting led to nods from all of them, with only the youngest kids upset at not being able to go out and meet the new boy. He mostly just sat with the four on the back porch, but that changed when Polly found out that she was being co-opted to babysit her nephew Antonio and niece Dorothy Peterson while their mother went to a doctor's appointment. The two ran outside and immediately hugged Tommy, pulling him to play and calling out to another boy next door. Tommy was caught in their wake as he was pulled along to play with the three as Rose and Sydney encouraged him to play so he had something to do. After a bit, Dorothy came out with Tommy as the boys opted to play with cars and trucks while Tommy wasn't interested. She had her dolls with her so took him up to a playroom so they'd play with her dolls and do something instead of sitting with the older people. The two played quietly, with Tommy having fun with the energetic and happy Dorothy. When that got boring, Dorothy grabbed her dresses and started to give Tommy some to put on so they could play pretend. He didn't flinch at the bright pink dress, even grabbing the tiara that came with it and pretending to be a princess to Dorothy's fairy. He loved every minute of it, Dorothy never gave him a second thought as he did what he wanted as a girl and made their time fun. Tommy saw what he looked like in the dress and loved it. He preened in front of the mirror and looked at the image of a girl in front of him. Dorothy giggled and brushed out his long hair so that it looked a bit like her hair but with less length yet still feminine. Tommy was mesmerized by the image. He couldn't stop seeing a girl in front of him, as if something in his mind finally burst open and the real him was appearing. He wanted to cry at seeing who he really was, but he didn't want to show that he was less than a male to Dorothy. Dorothy hugged him, sensing that he needed one and knowing how much dressing as a girl can make a boy feel bad. She was smart for only four- years-old, she took after her mother in so many ways despite not being biologically related to her. She loved to play dress-up with her cousins and second-cousins and knew that not all boys liked to dress but the way he played with her gave her the impression that he may like dressing-up with her. The two kept playing and enjoyed their time together and spent two hours enjoying the various dresses as they switched between roles, with Tommy always taking on a princess role. Eventually they wore out and fell asleep on the floor, huddled together as they hugged one of Dorothy's dolls. They were not noticed until Anthony and Mary appeared, with Rose and Polly rushing upstairs to get Tommy and see if they were alright. What they saw shocked them and caused the two to go back downstairs and ensure that Mary wasn't upset at Tommy wearing one of Dorothy's dresses. Sensing something was the matter Mary asked what was going on with Tommy, getting a timid, "He's on the floor asleep with Dorothy. I don't want you to be upset, but he's wearing one of her princess dresses and hugging her doll tightly. It's not unusual for Dorothy to get the boys to dress with her, but the way he is dressed, his hair styled, and hugging the doll...well, it's something more." All looked at Sydney who shrugged, explaining, "It could be anything. He's bored and she has a way of making you do what she wants without knowing it. All of the boys have done that, Antonio does it all of the time at home. He isn't used to her ways and could be acting nice to her since he's new to her." Mary went upstairs to awaken Tommy. Polly had to calm Dorothy, who knew she would have to tell her why she made Tommy dress in the outfits after he left. Tommy barely moved, he grabbed onto Mary and had to be carried down to the car still in the dress with Anthony unable to say anything as it was as if he was seeing a ghost from the past in the way he looked in the dress. Inside the car, he confessed to Mary, "He looks like you when we were in preschool. Same hair, same eyes, same nose, even same sleep hug." She looked at him and smiled, it brought back forgotten bits of their past that she had enjoyed and gave her hope that Tommy could do better than she had done in life. Up in Bradford, Tommy awoke in his bed and immediately grew scared. He took off his dress and tiara and tried to hide them, only to be called by Mary to come out for dinner. He reluctantly walked over, he knew he couldn't get away without explaining why he was dressed like a girl now. The two didn't make light of his dress, letting him eat his dinner then watch TV while the two packed boxes for the move that weekend. His choice of shows was a surprise to Anthony, with him telling the oblivious Mary, "Most boys his age don't watch 'Angelina Mouse'. Patrick complains about Dorothy and his niece Lilly being hooked on that show while his son and nephew Simon watch 'Top Paw'." Mary watched Tommy and didn't see anything odd, Anthony shook his head and offered a consoling, "It is probable that he just isn't used to other kids and he did what Dorothy wanted to do because he didn't know most boys don't do that willingly. The boys do it, but they also force her to do what they want to do afterward. You know how Rose was with her friends, and how I was with you." Mary blushed at that, with Anthony nodded and adding, "High heels, your mom's dress, and lipstick. It was one of the few times we had all four of our parents freaking out. Mom and dad were upset that you were in trouble with your parents, dad forced them to back down from hurting you and making us stay away from one another. They conveniently ignored that you had on dad's best suit and cologne." She started to see what he was getting at, it was actually a funny time and she did goad him into doing it as she wanted to have some fun acting like a boy. He did it willingly and enjoyed the fun of doing it, he had no intention of being a woman and was only trying to kill time. It was likely something that she should have expected, kids did that kind of thing all of the time growing up especially at their age. Anthony looked over at the boy who was laying on the carpet, quietly watching the TV. He softly asked her, "Would it be so bad if this wasn't a one-time thing and it was something more? Sydney once told me that she started feeling that she was in the wrong body at the same age." Mary had to think about that. The way Tommy was laying made his hair frame his face just right, it was almost like she was looking at a little girl instead of her son. She struggled with the image, her son was there but it could easily be her daughter with the only way of knowing being in Tommy's underwear. Sighing, she confessed, "I love him no matter what he is inside. I never want him to be hurt but I don't want him to endure pain and suffering because I made the choice to stop him from being himself. Looking at him laying that, I just can't stop seeing a little girl laying there. It's as if he's my daughter instead of my son. If he is a girl inside I'll love her with all of my heart. I just don't know what to do, I can't hurt Tommy. He's been through so much already." She was in tears, causing Anthony to hug her deeply while she wept into his shoulder. He whispered to her a calming, "You are a great mother and I am happy to be there for you for as long as you need me. I have been your friend since we were his age and I won't let the two of you suffer alone." Mary thanked him then deeply kissed him on the lips. Anthony let her settle down then kissed her back. It was a romantically charged moment, but he didn't feel that it was the right time to go further with her as Tommy was close by and wide awake. When Tommy fell asleep the couple put him to bed, with Anthony carrying him and Tommy saying a tired, "Thanks, daddy" to him. Anthony didn't know what to say, looking over at Mary who had tears in her eyes at the boy's sleepy proclamation. Anthony saw the love in Mary's eyes and led her to her room, but simply parted with a goodnight kiss rather than press things further. In bed, he fought a tear as Tommy's words struck him hard. Mary entered as he was looking away from the door and slid into bed with him, hugging him tightly and kissing his shoulder. He didn't say a word to her, letting her hug him while she drifted off to sleep while he fought the urge to do more with her. In the morning, Mary woke him up with an amazing bit of sexual foreplay that they had enjoyed back in their high school days. They didn't do much, she needed to give him pleasure as a, "Thank you" for the caring assurances the night before. Anthony kissed her deeply when she finished, showering with her as the two cooled their libidos so they could start their day. Tommy needed prompting to awaken and got scared as he realized he was still wearing the dress from the day before. Mary sat him down and asked, "Did you have fun yesterday?" He nodded so she told him, "You aren't in trouble. Anthony and I did the same thing when we were your age. All kids do it, it's part of being a little kid. You didn't do anything wrong, Dorothy was happy that you played with her." Tommy still looked down in shame, so she asked, "Did you like being a girl?" He nodded and added, "I am a girl. I am not a boy. I don't want to be a boy." She let it go, they didn't have enough time to talk about it as they needed to drive to Winnisimmet to drop Tommy off with Rose and Sydney. Anthony asked what was the matter, Mary was nearly in tears as she told him, "He said he was a girl and not a boy. I don't think he's playing, I think he believes it. My son is starting to feel that he is my daughter." Anthony just nodded and added, "I'll talk with Sydney, she will know what to do. Don't make an issue of it yet. It might be a phase, it was his first time so he may be confused over playing and being a girl." In Winnisimmet, Sydney directed them towards the Stoner home where Savannah was going to help the couple for the day. Savannah noticed something was going on and asked about it, Anthony waited for Tommy to be out of earshot and told her, "He played dress-up yesterday with Dorothy Peterson and is now confused about being a girl. We don't know if it's due to playing with a girl for the first time or if it's more. Please don't press him, he's feeling bad already." Mary looked away in shame but Savannah reassured her, "It's going to be a while before you know if it's a phase that he's going through or not. Don't look too much into it just yet, each person starts to feel the true gender differently. I didn't admit until that I was a girl inside until I was 11, Sydney knew when she was just four. If he continues, we can get him help." Mary gasped, Savannah nodded and explained further, "Since she already knows thanks to Polly and the girls, Deborah Peterson is as well. There's a bunch of us who are transgender who are part of the family so we have extensive personal experience. I'll see if Dr. Allen can meet with him, she is treating Hunter Eliza who is a year older than Tommy and recently admitted that she can't live as a boy anymore. She's experiencing a lot of issues with being who she is and may be the best one to talk to." Anthony asked who they were, Sydney explained, "Hunter is Aunts Alison and Katie's daughter. She is close with Dorothy so Dr. Allen knows of Dorothy and the kids. Aunt Alison normally handles young kids but as Hunter is her daughter she can't treat Hunter. Dr. Allen isn't as good as Dr. Bell but nobody can replace Dr. Bell. And before you ask, Dr. Bell isn't dead- she had to retire due to health reasons." Anthony led Mary away while Rose asked what was going on. Sydney whispered to her, "Tommy may be thinking he is a girl so mom is going to get him an appointment to see a specialist. He was acting a little different yesterday afternoon once he started to play with Dorothy, it might be his awakening. I did the same thing with my birth mom when I was four, it's possible this was the spark he needed to see that he wasn't Tommy but is really Tammy or Tori or Teri." Tommy was just as expected with the girls, playing with them, drawing, watching TV, and not fighting them when it was lunchtime. Savannah had a loving glint in her eyes that made her think that she might actually be a good mother when the triplets were born. Seeing Sydney and Rose doing so well with Tommy also gave her a feeling that the two were going to be amazing parents when their bundle of joy was born in March. Tommy slept with one of Sydney's old stuffed animals, with Sydney realizing that he wasn't going to be leaving the house without it. It was a pretty pink bear that Rose had given her after their first date. It had a special significance to Sydney, but seeing Tommy hugging it tight made her realize that it was not going to leave his arms and if she tried to take it away he might have a meltdown. When he awoke, Savannah had the girls go out for a walk while she talked with Tommy. Savannah was in the zone and asked him warmly, "You mommy told me about yesterday and what you might be feel. You look so pretty with your bear, I was the same way when I was your age and so were the girls. Are you a girl inside? It's alright to tell me, I won't get upset at you for being honest with me." Tommy looked away in shame but said, "Yes." Savannah hugged him and kissed his cheek, then asked, "What is your girl name? You can choose one and it'll be special to you, nobody will make fun of you." Tommy had to think about that, it was a great question and one that he needed to ponder for a while. She was doing the only thing she could think of, heading him off at the pass and giving him a way of showing that this wasn't a phase. He couldn't hide his true feelings if people showed support of him. Tommy smiled and finally blurted out, "A woman once called me Tara. I am Tara. I like being Tara." She smiled back and proclaimed, "Well, Tara. I think you could make due with some toys and dolls. I am going to see if my friends can spare some from their daughters. Would you like to play with some little girls your age? They would be happy to play with you, it gets boring at home for them." Tara agreed, to which Savannah called a friend who was more than happy to help Savannah and the girls out as well as set an appointment with a specialist. Tara listened and realized that Savannah had not gotten angry at her choosing a name and called her by it. She felt strange, like she was being loved by her and the girls and she was safe to be herself and not what others want her to be. Katie Eliza drove her twin girls over to meet Tara and give her some toys that the twins were happy to part with. The twins were rambunctious, with Hunter leading the two inside while her sister Bailey kept a stoic expression as she didn't want her sister to embarrass her again. Hunter smiled at Tara and told her mom, "Is she like me? Is she different?" Tara looked at Savannah for an explanation, so Katie explained to her, "Hunter is a girl who was born with boy parts. She's just starting to be a girl but is still like you. She doesn't know how to calm herself and let adults talk. I'm sorry that she made you uncomfortable, but she is a nice girl." Hunter led Tara away while Bailey realized she'd have to be their watchdog as the adults talked. She, the levelheaded one among the twins, was alright with that. She was a lot like her mother Alison while she knew that Hunter was like her mom Katie. She felt bad for Hunter, but she was still Hunter's sister and being the older of the two she was also the one who assumed leadership and protection for Hunter. Katie and Savannah watched as the girls played together with Tara's new toys. The girls were happy to let their oldest toys go, especially after being told that Tara didn't have much while they had every kind of toy that they wanted. They knew kids who were too poor to afford good toys so were proud to be the mature kids that their mothers wanted them to be in giving Tara the stuff they never played with. Tara happily played with the girls and went over to their house to play more when Savannah called an end to their play so the girls could stretch and play at the Eliza home. The girls were happy to go, with the twins ending up dressing Tara in some old clothes that were too small for Bailey but were just fine for Tara. Seeing how comfortable Hunter was and how cute she looked in her own outfits, Tara was lost in a girlish world of pink, unicorns, rainbows, and fairies that Bailey's clothes tended to have. Observing but not intervening, Savannah and Katie both watched as the three were in-sync and Tara never questioned any of what the girls were telling her about the clothes and how to dress. It was as if the girls were expected to help Tara, so much so that they told her about some of the little things that the two mothers could barely contain laughter over: leggings, undershirts, panties, and skirts. The three girls enjoyed several hours of fun, but stopped with the twins' sister entered after a day out with her cousins. Trinity Eliza just looked at Tara, looked at her mother, then walked on, telling her, "I already did my big sister thing once, you didn't listen to me then. She's pretty in that outfit, but you can tell her that she needs to let her hair grow if she wants to really set herself apart from boys." Katie countered, "She's just playing at this point." Looking at the girls again, Trinity boldly back, "Yeah, right. You said that with Hunter and were wrong then. I know the difference between simple playing and starting to be her true self and that's beyond playing. She's so far out that it'd hurt her to make her give it up. I may not a psychiatrist like mom, but even I can see that she's a girl inside." Katie didn't want to argue with Trinity, she was right. Tara was bursting out and wasn't going away. The little girl inside of her was blooming and with the right support she would blossom for real. Two hours and a nap later, Anthony and Mary arrived to pick-up Tommy. Seeing her mother, Tara burst into tears and ran to the bedroom to quickly change out of her skirt and t-shirt. Mary went after her but Katie wisely told her, "It's starting. Tommy needs some time to gather his wits. Tara is taking a toll on him and is becoming stronger. She's becoming a real person, the old Tommy is fading away. I'm sorry to say it, but I strongly feel that your son is really your daughter." Tommy came out with his shirt disheveled and shoes untied. Mary picked him up and kissed his cheek, while Anthony gathered Tara's things. He didn't say anything about how he was dressed, Tara was cute and the way she looked for the brief second that he saw Tara she was just like her mother at age 4. Inside the car, Anthony asked Tommy, "Are you Tommy or are you another name?" Mary gave him an odd look but realized what he was getting at. Tommy tried to look away, but Mary's hug and kiss made him give in and tell him, "I'm Tara. I'm a girl. I'm not a boy." The duo didn't say anything after that, Tommy didn't want to talk and neither wanted to make him any more upset than he already was. At home, Anthony set out Tara's pajamas and told Tommy, "You can be Tara at home. I don't mind you being a girl, I want you to be safe and happy. I love your mom too much to let any harm come to you because you feel that you need to be a boy for me." Tommy removed his boy clothes and a few minutes later Tara exited her bedroom and tearfully hugged Anthony telling him, "Thanks, daddy." Anthony smiled at her and shot back a happy, "Thanks, my cute little daughter." Mary was overcome with emotion as it was a touching scene and tugged directly at her heartstrings, the man she had loved for years was being the father to her daughter when she was at her most vulnerable. He accepted Tara fully, giving her the paternal love that she needed. When Tara went to bed for the night, Mary kissed Anthony deeply and told him affectionately, "I love you, Anthony Russo. You have done so much in one night for Tara that I can't stop seeing you as the boy that I fell in love with back in high school." She led Anthony into his bedroom and gave him a night of sex that he had craved for years but had not been able to have due to his commitments to raising Rose. She was just as he remembered, only she had learned a few tricks that caused him to cry out in pure ecstasy. Mary proved to him that she was the one that got away, and if he had his way Mary and Tara Riley would become Mary and Tara Russo.