No Joking Matter Part 3 free porn video

The flight was faster than expected but saw Denise being forced to look after Pena and Bollinger kids at their insistence. Ella and Flora stayed back to take care of business and run media interference about what was going on with Denise with Junior and Billy spending time at the house to ensure that it wasn't being infiltrated by paparazzi hoping to get shots of Francesca or Denise in compromising positions. It was no big deal to the duo to stay, especially as Junior and his wife Aggy rarely came by the mansion and Billy rarely left the navy base allowing them reason to visit the Finn-Nelsons. The plane's two landings gave the Los Angeles group reason to be happy as there were no incidents and the kids were getting used to Denise being family to them. Flora gave her wife a big smile as she knew that it meant more to Denise than she let on that the kids treated her like family, it was how they felt as kids when they joined the family. It was a feeling of overwhelming love, attention, affection, focus on the future, and angst over wanting a good life that others had. Denise was feeling that and more, especially as she cried at being called "auntie" by her future nephews as they played with her before falling asleep. She cried more when she sat with Beth and Ben and heard them calling her "our new daughter" as they talked with the family's legal arm back home. She sat in Ben's lap and hugged him deeply, then fell asleep from the anxiety overwhelming her causing each of the others to keep quiet as Denise needed their closeness right then. The plane landed with Denise still in Ben's lap requiring her to be carried by Will while Michael took her bags to the car for them. Will complained about her dead weight causing Claire to complain that he was a big baby which unintentionally awoke Denise leading her to become scared at upsetting her. Will explained to her that they were in Massachusetts but she was scared of Claire's reaction. Claire groaned and told Denise, "This dummy was complaining about your dead weight, but he's the one who needed the workout since he hasn't lugged his air pack and bunker gear around in days. I'd expect Michael to whine about the bags but Will complaining about you was just lazy. You aren't that heavy, our kids weighed more than you and he carried them around whenever the fell asleep in his lap." She led the unsteady Denise to the car while Will tried hard to look away in shame. Claire sighed and told Denise, "He's a good husband and father but sometimes he just can't stop joking. He likes you more than you'll ever know, he always asked about you whenever Jack came home and was the one who got the time off so we could fly out with you. He cares about you, even if his big mouth shoots off a lot." At the Herman home, Denise was led inside while Michael complained about carrying the bags again. Claire smirked and shot back, "It's not that bad, it's just panties and bras. Surely you don't mind them, I think you'd enjoy some of the frilly lace ones she has." Michael shot her a glare while Courtney countered, "You know he prefers cotton with lace trim, He still has the blue with pink trim we got him last year buried in the drawer. He's overdue for wearing them." Denise tried hard to not laugh at the blushing Michael while Claire added, "Don't forget the breastforms this time, he doesn't look good without them. And put the bulge away, I don't like seeing my cousin's shortcomings- only you should get to see that. Oh, and a longer skirt this time, it rode up his legs a bit too much last summer and showed his hairy legs above the stockings." Michael ran off in embarrassment while Dense finally broke down and laughed hard at the idea of him wearing those clothes. Courtney waited until he was out of earshot and told Denise, "It's family tradition now for the guys to crossdress for the day. Michael usually puts effort into it, Will won't do much as it's usually on days he has to work. Uncle John goes all-in for it, the kids love helping him get ready as the girls get to show him how to put on makeup and the boys joke about what he's wearing. The kids all do it whenever they get the chance, we don't mind them dressing and it helps them understand how hard it is to get dressed in the morning. Sadly, some of the kids get teased but the kids who do it always end up getting made fun of by other boys and girls that have siblings who did the same with them." Denise thought she was joking, but Will growled to Claire, "I don't plan my shifts to avoid them- it's not my fault Uncle John schedules them when others are on vacation! I cover for the guys so they can go to wherever their vacation homes or destinations are. And you know full well I'm one of the few who can do hazardous materials response in the department so I have to be on duty on short notice." Claire smirked causing Denise to realize that it was the truth. She helped Denise get settled, telling her affectionately, "You're the youngest of our generation even though many of our kids are older than you. It'll be confusing but accept it for what it is and don't go overboard trying to be girly. You have family members in school with you, even if you're the only one in 7th grade. Jane Gibson will help you a lot, as will Alana and Lara. She's protective like her father. Thankfully she takes after her mom in looks, but with a trimmer body and pretty boobs." She showed Denise pictures of the various girls close to her age causing Denise to blurt out "beautiful" which only led to Claire telling her, "They have boyfriends already. Jane is still single, though. She is her mother's daughter, she's developing earlier than others and has boys all over her but she found the right boy last year. I wish my Lilly wasn't so large but it's her maternal genetics at work. You saw Hannah Smith's size, she's going to be even bigger than Hannah in my eyes. I wish it didn't skip a generation but mom is happy that I wasn't too big too early." The talk of breasts caused Denise to look down in shame. Claire tried to reassure her that it was only a matter of time that she started to sprout leading Denise to blurt out, "I want them now! I'm just a boy in a dress without them! I have to show the world that I'm not a fake, that I'm a girl inside even if I have a penis and want to marry a girl. I'm just a fake, just a bad fake." Claire went downstairs and grabbed Beth who immediately hugged the sobbing Denise. Beth waited a long few minutes for a lull in Denise's tears before telling the distraught girl, "You aren't the only girl in need of 'help' in 7th grade, nor will you be the last. You'll be taking hormones shortly, we had to get the funeral out of the way first. Trinity has an appointment lined-up tomorrow with the endocrinologist that she refers her patients to. You'll have your first blocker and estrogen shot then." Denise sobbed, "Thanks, mom," leading Beth to kiss and hug her. When Denise finally stopped crying it was time for dinner, with Ben making the meal and both Benny and Lucy sitting alongside Denise. The family ate silently, with Denise not feeling like she could speak without crying all over again. Francesca and Donald were eating with Zeke, Gabby, and Walter so weren't there for the bonding, but it was also planned as Denise needed to get used to Ben and Beth as her parents and not have them there to interrupt things or make Denise uncomfortable. Francesca would be around less often than Benny or Lucy making them need to be close to her. Francesca knew what she was doing as Lucy admitted to her that she loved helping Denise and loved having the idea of a little sister especially one who cared about what she had to say one whom Lucy could help adjust to being new to the family. Lucy hadn't realized it, but she had finally admitted that they were family and knew her duty as family to Denise. It took her years of isolation to get around to admitting that, but Francesca was happy to tell her, "You're her big sister as much as I am and she needs you more than anyone else. You're used to all of us now and you know that you are family even if your only connection is through your friendship to Marcy and marriage to Benny. You are a Herman now, a cousin to dozens and aunt to even more. You are Denise's anchor and the one she'll go to for help when she needs advice. You're what Marcy will be to Jasmine, even though Jasmine has two big sisters to talk to. You're a sister, my sister. You had me, I had my friends and cousins, now the torch has passed. One day Denise will pass the torch to another in the same way. You are our sister, you are our family and will always be our family- little sister." Denise and Lucy spent the evening watching TV before Denise fell asleep with her head in Lucy's lap. It was sweet as the maternal hormones in Lucy caused her to unintentionally stroke Denise's hair then move her to a better position. The look she had was one of affection as she couldn't help but feel strong emotions towards the sleeping girl: one of protection and love, her little sister in all but name. Denise was finally carried up to her room by Benny allowing Lucy to rush to the bathroom then talk to Beth about Denise. Beth stopped Lucy before she could speak, telling Lucy, "It's natural. It's what you need to feel: protection of someone you care about and want to help. She's family and your instincts are starting to grow stronger, ones that want you to protect her as much as possible. All of us have them, it's what makes mothers mothers and fathers fathers. Benny has the same feelings towards the boys as you have towards Denise. He's subtle, but he knows how to get the boys to stop before they hurt themselves or another person. The issue will be whether you can turn those hormones off after you give birth, it's a tough thing to do. I couldn't do it until Francesca came to live with us, you'll have a lot of us watching over you to ensure you don't suffer the same. Fiona will be closely observing you, she won't let you try to hide the symptoms from us and will ensure that you get the help that you need." Denise dreamed about girls that night, having another nocturnal emission causing her to shed tears as it was getting worse for her as she couldn't help but feel great. She slowly did her laundry before Ben and Beth awoke, with Beth seeming to know what she had done as she smelled the dryer sheets in the air. It took all of her might, but Beth let it go while Ben didn't make mention of it as it was too personal. Denise was told that she had her appointment later on and would need to be ready after lunch, allowing her several hours to herself to think and mentally prepare. When the time came, she was silent as they drove to the clinic for the exam then went through a battery of questions and several blood vials before Denise received two shots in her arm and a prescription for estrogen and blockers. She was ecstatic, it was the first step towards becoming a woman and would be the start of her new life as Denise Herman. Back at the Herman home, Denise was told that she had to make semen samples the next day causing her to nod and thank Beth for thinking about her future. Ben grumbled about them being too feminine causing Beth to glare at him while Denise shed a tear and hugged him. He did it on purpose, hoping it would get Beth to react while showing Denise that it was fine and give her reassurances. That wasn't the only announcement that they had. Ben presented completed paperwork requiring a few signatures, with him putting his own first then Beth putting hers. Denise read over the forms and cried, it was the adoption paperwork and included a change of name request so she would be Denise Herman. Denise eagerly signed the paperwork then hugged Ben, kissing his cheek causing him to blush deeply at her affection. Beth happily teased him, "Francesca was older and in more pain and Benny outgrew the loving phase with you, but she's at the right age to still love her daddy like that and hug you easily. Get used to it because it's only a matter of time before she outgrows you. Maybe it'll be a few months when she finds a nice young lady to hug and kiss like she does you." Denise blushed deeply and ran off in embarrassment, with Beth smirking at the subtle tease while Ben shook his head and hoped that Denise didn't take it the wrong way. Denise didn't take it the wrong way, it was embarrassing but she loved that they understood her and let her know that they were happy that she was going to find a girl to love her. It would take a while, but she'd find the right girl for her. Dinner was with Francesca and Donald, with Brice and Royce doing their best to get Denise's attention. The two had a knack for annoying their uncle, parents, and grandparents but the more they were around Denise and her calming nature the more they started to behave and not try to get into trouble. It was clear to the four why: they accepted her as their newest aunt and wanted to get on her good side, with Denise understanding them unlike other aunts. Denise put them to bed and was shocked when the boys whispered to her, "We know you are a boy like us. Mommy and daddy talk loud and told Aunt Amy about you. Mommy loves you more than any other girl, she said you aren't like Aunt Amy or Aunt Jessie or Aunt Courtney. Mommy said you have to have an operation but can't have it until you are older. Are you sick?" Denise looked away in shame but confessed to them, "I'm like you inside my panties but I'm a girl in my heart and my head. I can't look like a normal girl until I'm 18, it's the rules. I have heard about other girls like me who had the operation early but bad things happened to them before the operation. I'm not going to endure that, I don't want it to happen to me. You two are too young to know that stuff, all you need to know is that I know what it's like to be a boy. Your aunts don't know that, but I do. I know that you two act out because you want attention and don't know bad attention from good. You are good boys but you just don't know that you shouldn't fight and shouldn't swear. Your mom and dad love you, but it is tough to work and give you the needed attention. That's why your grandma and grandpa are around so much, they love playing with you when you are good boys and won't play when you are bad. Your cousins are older than you and aren't able to play anymore, but you still have 2nd-cousins who'll come by to play but don't like it when you act bad to them. If you act nice they will play what you want to play and even spend the night- that's what they want to do but you make them upset when you are bad." The two understood her and just wanted the truth. They fell asleep in her arms causing her to fall asleep too, with the two showing their parents and grandparents that Denise was their new favorite for doing what the others hadn't done: spoke to them on their level and let them understand without getting upset. She was a natural with the kids, even if she didn't realize it she had found her true calling in life. Denise's dreams of babies and having their attention caused her to smile. Denise realized that she liked teaching kids, especially ones who needed a push in the right direction to correct their lives. The boys were the first that she helped turn around, she liked acting but her heart lat in helping kids in need. Denise awoke when the boys awoke, with the two going with her to shower and change clothes. They didn't wake Francesca or Donald which caught both parents by surprise, but seeing Denise helping the two boys eat showed just why they hadn't awoken their parents: they were already being helped and it was doing a number on them as they loved every second of listening to Denise. She had them listening to her and by the way they responded it was clear that whatever they talked about the night before had a lasting impact on the boys and had changed them to their core. Once the family had eaten breakfast and the boys left with Donald, Francesca asked about the boys and their sudden change. Denise looked away in shame and confessed, "I told them about me. They heard you and Donald talk with Amy about me. They know I'm a boy like them. I told them that I can't be full until I'm 18 and why I can't be one yet. Then I told them that I knew what it's like to be a boy and that it wasn't helping them to act out because they want attention. I told them the truth and they understood all of it. They don't want to upset you but they didn't know that they were upsetting everyone by acting the way that they were. They'll start acting better with the other kids, especially their cousins." Denise was seized in a big hug as Francesca shed tears of joy over Denise doing what none of them had been able to do and doing it after sharing something tough to admit to someone so young and innocent. She finally pulled together and told Denise, "Thank, sis. We've been so busy and Ma and Pop have been so frustrated with them that we didn't think to talk to them. They are so much like their father, it's tough to not see him in them. I should have known that they were trying to get attention from us, but we are just so used to pushing aside things that we didn't see what's right in front of us." Francesca drove Denise and Beth to Denise's appointment with the cryogenic center so she could save her semen. It was tense but Francesca assured her that it was for the best. Beth was quiet throughout the trip, with her happy that Lucy was pregnant as it meant he wouldn't have to do the same procedure for his future offspring, but it might come up after the baby was born. Francesca saw Beth's look and told her bluntly, "He's saving some. All of the younger guys are doing it, they don't want a repeat of what happened to George. None of them want to lose the chance of being a dad and all are happy to put some away just in case. George didn't know that it ran in his mother's side of the family, that witch kept it from him out of humiliation but it was a genetic predisposition!" Denise asked what she was talking about, Francesca sighed and explained, "George Daniels. He's one of the older guys in our generation and was sadly stricken with a fast-acting testicular cancer. He wasn't able to save semen before he had to have his testicles removed to save his life. He had two daughters but he wanted a son to counter his daughters, especially as they are so much like their mother. All of the younger guys started to save their semen for the future at their wives' and girlfriends' requests. Benny was going to do it but the baby caused him to delay things. He might do it sooner since you have to do it, if you are girl enough to do it then he's man enough to do the same." At the cryogenic center, Denise was led to a private room and provided with some "material" in order to help her "get hard" but none of it did anything for her. She wasn't into men, she saw some materials with women in it and decided to take a close look and found just the right ones to make herself "hard" as her penis reacted to seeing the beautiful nude models. She gave in to her desires and masturbated as she was told to do, with the images filling her with a lust that she had never felt before. It took her 20 minutes but she cleaned herself and was beet red when told that she'd have to do another three batches over the next two days. Beth sympathized with her while Francesca assured her that there was nobody in the family who'd dare make fun of her for doing what she had done. Beth pretended to not hear her when Francesca whispered to Denise, "All of the boys do that every night starting at 12. It's something they can't deny. And trust me- it's something all of us know about because all of us had to wash the kids' clothes. Poor Walter can't look us in the face whenever we mention laundry, neither can Johnny. Johnny was even worse: he'd do it naked and got caught by his mom and dad doing it!" Beth nearly fainted at hearing that, but knew that it was something that was a legend among the family because it was too funny and believable to not be remembered. Denise started to feel better especially as Beth didn't react to the story beyond her deeply red face. Over lunch she asked Beth if she ever did that when she was younger causing Beth to blush and nod then admit, "It was harder to do in the foster home but I found ways of doing it. It's natural, all girls try it. I know that Francesca did it a lot when she was dating Donald, especially as he refused to have sex until they were married. She'd do it every week when we went on our date night while she was babysitting Benny." Francesca nearly choked on her drink and asked how she knew, leading Beth to tell her, "I knew about your little 'friend' hidden in your dresser and didn't say anything out of privacy. It was the only time that you could have done it with your schedule. Your friends are all the same, only you didn't have the edible lotions that Reyna, Sam, Iris, and Rachel had. Jessie gave hers to Courtney and I know that you girls didn't give any to Rebecca- if she tried that she'd have been dumped by Thomas in a second as he angrily told her father multiple times over just to prove a point to him and the younger kids." Francesca was beet red while Denise asked who those people were. Beth happily explained, "Rebecca is Jaimie's cousin and also Rick's sister- in-law, she's married to Thomas Samuels. Iris and Rachel are sisters and married to Sam and Reyna. Reyna and Rachel you know about, Sam and Iris are close and a lot more daring regarding sex. They are the only pair who can't get pregnant from sex so pushed all of the boundaries regarding sex. They've been caught by Iris's brother and Sam's brother, and paid dearly for it: lots of diaper changes, missed dates, and strict curfews. None of the others would break the rules so the two did it to give an example to the younger girls, like Amy and Al. They still broke them, you'll hear about the texting incident alongside other funny things the girls have done." Denise loved hearing the stories, it made her feel like part of the family while giving her a sense of her being, "Normal" despite all of the chaos around her. She quietly thanked Francesca and Beth for telling her and hoped that she didn't break the rules. Francesca smiled and happily added, "It's part of growing up, you push boundaries until you learn the limit then you either respect the rules or break them and are forced to endure the punishment. You'll have the same rules that others have: keep your grades up, do all of your homework, no sex unless you use a condom, and no arrests. All of those are easy to follow and you have little reason to break them, we love you but we don't want you to hurt yourself or others. That last rule is the biggest, but it's also one that's been broken the most: you heard about what happens after they broke the rule, but the kids turned out great and we love them deeply." Denise understood and countered, "I don't want to have sex with anyone until I'm complete. I don't want to get detention or make my teachers upset. I'm already going to cause issues because of what I am, I'm not going to make things worse by getting accused of raping a girl or becoming a mother with someone who hates me and only wants what I have even if I don't have much." Francesca beat Beth to the punch and explained, "That's not true at all. Your parents left you everything in a will that Aunt Valerie had secured just in case someone tried to claim that the state owned all of it. It's all in your name: the houses, cars, their savings, stocks, bonds, and partial ownership of several of the shows currently in production via a production company that they founded in secret but never told you about. That same company is making a show that your parents tried to get you on but didn't get to do due to Aunt Valerie. You actually have several million in your name, you do have money. But you won't touch it: Aunt Beverly put it in a trust that you can't touch until 21, with mom and dad refusing to touch it unless it's an emergency. You will have your salary from the show to yourself but mom and dad won't let you splurge too much." Denise was dumbfounded, she couldn't comprehend having all of those things let alone having so much it had to be put away until she was older. She looked over at Beth who nodded, adding, "It's standard for all of you kids to do that so that you have a nest egg for the future and don't have to worry about money unless it's a dire emergency. You aren't the first who came into money the hard way from your parents' death, it sucks but it's yours and yours to do with as you please when you come of age. We won't touch it, it's your money and you have no reason to need it from the money we make at school and what you earn from your show. They left you something that they hid from you, which makes them stealing from you even worse. It's all yours, when you get old enough." Denise let it go, she didn't want to think about the Halls anymore especially as they had hurt her again with their selfish actions. She did ask about the show ownership, to which Francesca explained, "You're 25% owner of In Transition Productions which is making four shows with a fifth in production. You're going to receive a lot of money as the shows are hits and built on solid writing and acting. It's basically the antithesis of other shows on the network, it's also untouched by Jasper Warner." She smirked and added, "He hated the company, he couldn't get his own shows to last while the folks at In Transition were raking in viewers by the thousands. He wanted them shut down but couldn't get any support from GBS execs as the numbers were too strong. You were going to end up on their shows, if Benny and Jack didn't bring you in on the new show via your former contract's clauses you would have been stuck with a bad part on those shows until your parents were bought out just to get rid of them or you had become too expensive to keep. You're too big to ignore now, you're the entire show. Benny and Jack are the driving force and big names, but this is all your show and if I know my brother- you'll be the real star once they retool the show." Beth asked about that, Francesca sighed and explained, "It's likely to be a dramedy: comedy laced with a lot of drama. It's something that the network was hoping to get, a show that broke the rules of comedy by being real without going overboard into full drama. The guys are going to show just how much they can act while you get to essentially be yourself. You'll be the one who the drama centers around while you deal with life as a girl transitioning to your true self. Hormones, dating, sex, bigotry, sexism, being gay, breaking the way people see you: all of that will be used in some form. They can't do it without a big amount of input from you. No matter how much they try to do it alone, they need your help." Denise loved that they needed her for the show, but didn't want to be showcased that way. Beth patted her hand and offered a soothing, "They know you are reluctant, but it's the best way to have the show be about someone like you. Nobody knows what you are going through except you, they want you to be a bit part of the show. You are the star, they are your costars. It's your show as much as theirs." She sighed and added, "In Transition has offered to buy you out but we think it's too lucrative to do so. I think you should buy into the new show and be one of the executive producers, alongside the two. We have paperwork to make it happen, John is fine with the three of you forming a production company to give you an equal share. You'd own 30% of the show, John would only own 10% and the boys 60%. It's an easy split as I know John will refuse any money and likely redirect it to you so you own 40% over time. He sees a big future in you, even if you give up acting to focus on something else you'll have that 40% until one of the two buy you out or you decide to sell it back to John." Denise was unsure how to react, it was a lot of money being tossed around in such a casual manner by people who seemed to know what they were doing. It's something that she never thought about, but she was glad that they considered her crucial to the show enough to try to give her ownership of it. It further strengthened her resolve to make the show into something more than just a dramedy, she'd be making it into a show that everyone could find entertaining no matter the age or beliefs. The second session went like the first session, complete with Denise finding the magazines and seeing just how much she liked the women in them. She did something that made her surprised: she chose to envision her dream girl and what she'd do with her while she masturbated. It helped her immensely as it only took a few minutes and produced more, giving her a strong feeling that she'd one day find a girl who looked just like the girl of her dreams. She was quiet on the ride home, Francesca sensed her thoughts and wisely told her, "You'll find her. You aren't alone and have people who want to be around you. She's out there, you just haven't found her yet. I know it seems like it won't happen, but it will. I'll guarantee that you find love, even if it's a pity date." Denise smiled at that, there was a girl out there and she'd find her some day even if it took decades to do so. Denise liked the thought of dating, but controlled herself as it would be tough to date without it being an issue nor being trouble for her date. Girls would always be there, but dating as a child star and one who caused a huge sensation would be even worse for them. At home, Ben didn't ask about their day and Donald refused to mention where their mother had gone to the kids. The boys hugged and kissed Denise and led her away to play after telling her that they'd both been good boys all day. It relieved Denise, with Donald nodding to her to show that it was the truth. When they were out of earshot, Donald complained, "They were hyperactive but not causing trouble. It's a complete turnaround for them, they were trying to play with the kids and actually got Bryan to sit and play with them and had Skylar rushing to play with them for once. I don't know what she did but she's got the kids begging to be babysat by her next chance she gets." Francesca wisely told him, "She knows what's going on better than any of us. She was honest with them, got them to listen to what they were doing wrong and why. They just want attention and know now that what they were doing wasn't the right thing to do. She's been acting different since them too, she's just not as outward as them but I can see a subtle change in her. She might have found what she wants to do once the show ends or she decides that acting isn't for her anymore. She has a future in childcare- as a teacher or as a preschool teacher, but still in childcare." The kids came down when they started to tire, causing Francesca to hug them and lead them out while Donald didn't say anything to her. Beth happily told Denise, "The warnings were right: you are going to be a hot commodity among the kids, they want you to be their babysitter. Skylar and her cousins were the first, the boys are the newest ones, now their cousins want the same. It's a good distraction for you and the kids know not to go overboard with playing and won't manipulate you into giving them sugar." Over dinner, Beth broached the subject of Denise's future. Denise sighed and explained to Beth, "I'm not sure what I want to do. I want to help kids and I want to teach them but I don't want to endure all that it will cause me or the kids if someone like me becomes a teacher. I'm a danger to kids, I'm a deviant and can't be left alone with kids. Dad and mom said sexual deviants like me are banned, parents would riot if I went near a kid let alone tried to teach them. I want to help kids, but not if it's going to harm them." Ben growled, "They were a couple of idiots who probably told you that to keep you working in acting to get more money from you. You heard about Dorothy's daughter Deborah- she's transgender, just like you. She's an English teacher at the high school and one of the best teachers in the school. Then there's Katie Eliza, Trinity's mother. Katie is a 1st grade teacher and is a trendsetter among her colleagues. You can not only be a teacher, you'd make a great one with how you understand boys and girls so well." Denise looked down in shame and added, "I wanted to help special kids with problems. I liked helping the boys, I want to help more like them. I want to teach but help them with their problems too." Ben smirked and added, "It's a noble idea. Someone who has been through what they are going through is the best teacher to have. A lot of kids in the high school are foster kids or have had parents die or are the children of criminals, all of us know what it's like to be one or more of those. The same goes for the teachers in the middle school, several have endured abuse and other issues over the decades. You can be a teacher and one of the best, it's up to you to try to learn and help kids." Denise felt empowered and hugged Ben deeply then happily said, "Thanks, daddy" as she kissed him on his cheek between hugs. Beth had to hide her tears as Ben's impassioned speech was something that he rarely did but when he found his voice he showed that he could be an amazing orator. and inspire you to do something you didn't have the confidence to do. Denise needed that confidence, she clearly felt a strong urge to teach and help kids and with her natural empathy she might be a truly great teacher. The next day was a repeat, with Donald replacing Francesca as he had business nearby and would help Denise by talking with her if she needed to talk. He didn't ask details about what happened as he knew exactly what went on from having heard about it from Reyna and the girls. He focused on her being the new kid in the family and being legally orphaned, albeit for a very brief time. Denise listened to him and understood that she wasn't alone, many others had been through what she'd just been through and came out better for it. The fact that he and Amy had new, loving parents that had a baby together thanks to their timely time away from home caused Denise to look at Ben and Beth and feel bad that they hadn't had the same. Remembering why they couldn't have another baby caused her to be glad to have come into their lives and be the child that they hadn't been able to have. Once again the kids went for Denise, this time with Francesca shaking her head and complaining, "They are acting better than anyone has ever seen. Ma can't believe the change, Walter wants them tested to see if they have been replaced with robots from Sydney's lab. Pa said you better get a secretary for the phone calls the others are going to make begging you to babysit their kids." Denise looked over at Beth and Ben for help, both were holding back laughter with Donald telling the bewildered Denise, "It's been joked about for two weeks but it's finally happening. The boys acting like good boys has made the others take notice and want you to try your magic with their kids. It's was a big joke before, but now it's really happening for you: you are wanted by them to babysit the kids." Beth finally pulled herself together and explained to Denise, "It's serious. They wouldn't joke about it if it wasn't serious. Jaimie is reluctant to let anyone babysit Austin and Hannah is overprotective of Pierre so it's a huge vote of confidence to have you babysit for them. JD and Candace probably wouldn't mind the night off so Skylar is probably going to spend time with you after school for a while when she isn't up to stay with John and Valerie. Her brother is being a pain to them so don't be shocked Joey don't get along- nobody seems to make him happy except his parents." Denise agreed to do it as it would kill the boredom of studying and rehearsing scripts. Then that hit her: how would she attend school and act? Shooting took all week and left only weekends, she wouldn't be able to do any of what she had been roped into doing and act on the show. Denise shed a tear and told them, "I can't do it, I won't have the time. I don't know how I'll go to school and rehearse, it takes all week to rehearse and film. I don't want anyone getting in trouble for not doing work, mom and dad had to pay someone to help me because I was filming so many commercials before I got on the show. I don't want to get you in trouble because of me." Ben sat her down and explained to her, "You're filming on weekends. It's a half-hour show, but different than what you did before. A large number of scenes can be filmed at once, the guys will be filming a lot separately from your scenes, you'll film on weekdays only when you really need to and even then it has to be scheduled ahead of time to clear your social calendar first. You are a kid still, you need to be one and filming all week in a small studio isn't helping you- being at school will." Beth added, "Valerie was adamant that you not have to film unless it was an emergency. You're vital to the show, but we aren't allowing you to work crazy hours. You were forced to do it in LA because your parents allowed them to, but Benny and Jack won't allow that to happen here." Denise felt relieved. She could be a normal girl but still be an actress and performer. She hoped that it was worth it to work around her schedule, she didn't want to hurt the show any more already. Thinking it over Ben smiled and added, "I think I know what's going on now: the boys are going to get it done so that we see antagonists' point of views and what's happening with them. It'll likely be a lot of adults talking about your character and plotting how to get rid of you or how to help you out without it being clear that they're really helping you. Knowing the boys, it's a few scenes filmed on set here and likely will be done in a way that the parents of the kids are the ones to get the bulk of the scenes allowing you and the kids to interact and react then the kids fly back to LA or go to normal school like you. It's been done a lot before, but this is the first major show to utilize it." Denise understood what he meant: bloc filming done in a way to maximize child actors and allow them to star in an entire season but only film a few weeks total. It's why it's a pain to film with kids: puberty does a number on them between filming and airing so boys' voices are deeper, girls sprout breasts and bigger thighs and butts, and all of them grow taller from growth spurts. The kids who would work with Denise would benefit more as bloc filming allowed them to take on more projects while the show was in editing and earn themselves a lot of money, particularly in commercials, making them happy to lose a few weekends for the chance to get better roles and become a breakout star. The topic of school caused Denise to ask when it was going to start. Both smirked and announced, "Late August." Ben added, "We go to work a week before you do to setup our classrooms. You're welcome to go with us, if not then Amanda would be happy to watch during that time. It might be a good chance to learn how to dance the way she wants you to, with Polly and Trina happy to teach you while Amanda is busy working on the books or preparing for her classes." Timidly, Denise asked about singing. Beth shook her head but Francesca interjected, "She doesn't have to do any unless she wants to. It's not needed for the show and it's going to eat a lot of her time at home so it isn't worth it unless she really wants to. I think she could get some lessons from the girls, Tabby is pretty bored at home with Neil working all of the time and the kids finally in preschool." Donald added, "Before you ask, Tabby is Aggy's cousin and Neil is Michael, Jaimie, and Ella's cousin. It was pure luck that you haven't been roped into babysitting their kids but their brother was home and it was easy to have him do the babysitting. If he knew that you'd do it he'd be over here with the kids and run off before you could refuse- he hates babysitting." Denise had a look of surprise, but realized that it was the family at work again. She didn't mind kids, it was fun trying to get them to do what you needed them to do and the kids like her a lot. Babysitting for a person who might help her was a bonus, especially as it was nice to do when she did it. Denise's look said it all, Francesca wisely told her, "I'll ask Tabby. If you're lucky Anita Dupree will be around to help you. She's a great singer, especially in the pop style. Tabby is more country/western and has an ear for lyrics that Anita just can't match. And you might doubly lucky: Trinity is on vacation so you'll get a chance to work with her. Dr. Trinity Eliza is one of the most talented musicians you'll ever find, especially when it comes to writing piano pieces for pop songs. She has a lot of money from her work with several artists, Anita being just one of them. She even has her own hit song, all three did." Denise was enthralled, which was what Francesca wanted. She moved Denise upstairs then made a call to Tabby and by pure luck had both Anita and Trinity there. After she explained what she wanted to do, Francesca was told to bring Denise by immediately so they could talk with Denise in private. Denise walked the short distance to Tabby's house and was engulfed in a big hug by a little boy. Denise didn't know what to do and hugged him back, causing him to giggle and run off. Trinity shook her head and complained that her son was showing off again, with Francesca laughing hard at the joke. The little boy smiled and ran off to play by himself, with Trinity telling Denise, "He's my son, a 'gift' that I gave my wife our senior year. He's not like Brady, Chance or JJ, my wife planned to get pregnant with him. He's a great kid but isn't afraid to push limits- like his mother. I love my wife but the little pest is too much like her for my liking." She knew it was coming so Trinity explained, "I finished college early and got into medical school with a decent residency. I'm still a resident, but am able to practice alongside my mother, Jaimie, Fiona, and our aunt Sarah. I have another year to go before I'm fully certified, but I handle basic medical care for the clinic through an agreement with my hospital." She smirked then added, "Yes, I'm transgender. I've known that I was a girl since I was two and was able to transition when I was five. My parents both died in a short period of time so mom and momma took me in and adopted me as their own. Mom is transgender too, and 'fathered' my sisters. My sister is also transgender, ironically she's more like momma than mom in her looks and is a beautiful girl. She had her surgery last summer, thankfully she recovered nicely and loves showing her body off to guys." Denise wanted to ask, so Trinity told her, "I had mine after high school but had already impregnated my girlfriend. It's the third time it happened in our family, mom and momma were pissed and her parents weren't happy especially as her sister was jealous of us already. Her sister couldn't have her surgery for three more years and was upset that we broke major rules. Yes, her sister is like us too." Denise blushed while Trinity added, "She's into guys. She found her boyfriend before 8th grade by pure luck. He's a twin, which helped because she became close with his sister. You likely won't see them as they work hard and he's often on the road traveling." Trinity directed Denise to the awaiting Tabby and Anita, with both smiling at the nervous girl while she tried hard to not say the wrong thing. Francesca did the actual introduction, with her happily telling the scared Denise, "They don't bite, that's more of a Cat thing. Anita wants to hep you and Tabby does this for a living so it's no big deal to her to help someone who needs it- especially family." Francesca walked off to distract Trinity's son while the ladies talked alone. Once they were sitting at the table, Anita told Denise to show them what she could do. Denise tried to sing a song that she knew but it came off key and made them cringe at how badly she was singing. Tabby brought up videos from, "Tickle Your Funny Bone" which involved the cast singing, with Denise blushing as she sang OK but it was really a parody song that she was intentionally singing horribly. She caused Anita to write a few things while Trinity noted the key they used and Tabby recalled which song it was- one of the ones she wrote for the show that they tended to use to fill out time on the show. When the ladies finished, Anita explained to Denise, "You need training but it's not your fault. It's not a big problem, you were singing the wrong song the wrong way. You aren't too bad, we heard you sing a song the way it was supposed to be sung and your voice is pretty good. With some training you might be a decent singer, one who can perform in front of crowds who want to hear you sing instead of have to hear you sing because it's part of the show they came to see filmed." Denise felt bad over her lack of talent, but Anita explained to her, "You are miles ahead of where I was when I started singing. I had to hide my male voice, I was lucky to have a naturally higher voice but it was tough to sing as a female when my voice was cracking and getting deeper. You are prepubescent and can continue to have a female voice indefinitely thanks to your blockers." Trinity added, "You are taking them at the right moment, if you waited another two months you would be fighting your deepening voice. I know that you aren't happy over saving semen, but it was worth it as it allows you to remain young and girly indefinitely. Your voice is alto and will remain that way for as long as you take your blockers or until you have an orchiectomy to stop testosterone production." The ladies had Denise sing again, working with her to show her how she should sing and what it would do to her if she didn't ease into it. She did well to the point that she impressed them with her eagerness and was singing at a level that made Anita jealous. Anita happily told her, "You have talent and could be a hit singer but your heart isn't in it. We'll work with you, it's boring at the studio without anyone using it this time of year. The girls could use the distraction, Trinity's wife is out with their daughter but even the workaholic teacher can't get Trinity to stop- but you can." The ladies talked with Denise about dancing, with Anita noting that Denise had moves but were raw to the point of painful to perform for Denise as they were likely overexaggerated for the comedy of them. Denise blushed but Anita calmly explained, "You want to dance and sing, which is a good thing. We can teach you to sing and Aunt Amanda or Trina or Polly could teach you to dance. I'm not good at dancing which is why I didn't dance much in my music videos or on stage- I preferred to perform with the piano and let background dancers do it. They enjoyed the easy work and nice pay we gave them." Looking at the time, Anita put a radio on and called the ladies over. Francesca came in and sat with the scared looking Denise while Trinity's son smiled brightly at Denise. Francesca sighed and had to tell a scared Denise, "It's Stephanie's show. Stephanie Porter- Phillips, Trina's wife and Polly's friend, works as a commentator for a radio station and is really good at speaking her mind and making people think. She is hated by a lot of people, but most of it is because she hates liars and BSers and won't let anyone try to exploit her or Trina for their gain. She's a lesbian, friends with a transgender woman, cousin of a guy who happens to be transgender, 1st- cousin to one and 2nd-cousin to two transgender girls so she is not going to let herself be used where it can hurt those she loves: her family and friends." Tabby added, "She's Al Douglas' best friend. You know full well about Al, Stephanie was the first one to accept her and through her they expanded their group of friends. Diego and Kylie are her 1st-cousins, with Diego being her cousin by blood. Jaimie and one girl you haven't met yet, Nichole King, are her 2nd-cousins through their mothrs. Stephanie probably knows all about you through Polly and Aunt Amanda, that's if she didn't hear about you from the kids. Billy is a big sweetheart who probably told her that you'd be around and to defend you when people start to talk about you and your show especially when it's clear they wanted their own kids to star in the show." More people knowing of her than she had realized. Denise was overwhelmed, especially when Trinity's son blurted out, "She's like mommy and Aunt Stormy, she has a wee-wee." Denise was upset but Trinity told the boy, "And you love Stormy and me so you'll love your new Aunt Denise too." He smiled and kissed Denise, sitting in her lap to show that he was being a pest and trying to get them to react to him. She kissed his cheek causing him to giggle and hug her again, refusing to let her go and causing Trinity to shake her head and complain that he was acting like his mother again. He smiled and told Trinity, "I'm like you, mommy said I'm like you but I'm a boy not a girl." They understood what he meant, with Trinity telling him, "You really do know how to make people feel better. You are like me, but with your mother's sneakiness. Our little devil wrapped in an angel's wings. Don't think that you're getting ice cream, you haven't cleaned your room yet." It was touching to Denise, pure family love with someone who seemed to understand that he was part of a unique family and happy to be part of it. It only got better as a little girl was brought in by a tall, busty woman who was drop dead sexy in Denise's eyes. She smiled at Denise, while the little girl gave a look of apathy while secretly eyeing Denise. Trinity got up and kissed her wife Ronda, with Ronda complaining, "She's healthy and whiny, which is a big vote of confidence from Uncle Richard. She just needs to get out of her bouncer and crawl for a bit or she's going to get too big for her own good. He said that you need to cut back on the over-analyzing and leave her health to him- he doesn't like you getting obsessive over her feeling hot or gassy." Trinity blushed while the little girl gurgled at her mother. Trinity took her out and handed her to Denise, with Denise trying hard to hold onto the little girl. The girl's reaction was swift, cooing and spitting-up on Denise's blouse causing the ladies to laugh and Ronda to shake her head at her daughter's actions. Trinity took the little girl off of Denise's hands as the girl giggled at Denise, with Ronda taking Denise up to her room and helping her change her blouse. Denise was scared of being topless in front of Ronda to which Ronda told her, "It's nothing I haven't seen before. Believe me, I've seen Trinity and my sister before each had their surgery. My sister was pretty big, one of the biggest I've ever seen and a big reason she was so girly: she hated knowing she was bigger than boys. Don't worry about it, it isn't anything you want to use and I don't care for them. I never really did, it was just sex." Denise saw the hurt in Ronda's eyes and knew not to ask, Ronda sighed and told her, "It was all so I got attention- from my dad, from the town, from my grandparents. It wasn't until mom adopted me as her daughter that I fell in love with Trinity- love at first sight. I didn't like sex with guys, I actually hated it. I did it, I'm ashamed of it, and I'm glad I met Trinity right away before I reverted to what I knew and not what I actually wanted and needed." Realizing some of the source of Denise's fear and anxiety, Ronda told the ashamed Denise, "It's alright to like how I look. I don't hide my breasts, I'm naturally large thanks to my family. Stormy is large too, she's smaller than me but she takes after mom. I love knowing that I'm always being eyed, Trinity isn't the focus then as everyone looks at me. It's a pain, but it also saves us a lot of issues as people try to focus on me and don't notice Trinity giving her anonymity. Stormy has a husband who is tall, strong, and would rip you to shreds if you upset his wife which helps to keep her safe, but Trinity has just me." Ronda smiled and added, "You aren't too bad looking yourself. I know you'll have a couple of girls after you when you start school, it's inevitable that they'll see the real you especially with you having a few of the 8th-graders trying to meet you. Jane Gibson alone will turn heads, she's the most popular girl and is extremely selective about whom she associates with. Then there's Alana and Lara Perez, they are always around Jane and who are both quite used to girls like you. Jane's the biggest coup, she has a lot of frustration over boys being pains to her because of who her father and grandfather are and will be quick to take on someone who doesn't want her because she has money and fame in her family." Denise blushed at the mention of money. Ronda happily told her, "It's just money. A lot of us have it, the few who don't don't want it because the ones who do have it inherited it or won it because of being hurt by people. Nobody cares about money, everyone earns money and has jobs. I'm a teacher, my sister is a businesswoman, our mother is a librarian and our father oversees all of his company's offices. Trinity's sisters are going to college despite their mothers having money saved for them. All of us work hard to be better than our parents and our parents work hard to be better than our grandparents. Grandpa and Grandma are happy that we are working so hard, all of the grandkids are trying to be like them." Denise understood what she meant, then mumbled, "I can't do what I want to do with my life. I love to help kids but I won't be allowed to because of what I am. I want to learn and help others, but my life is a life that will harm kids and won't let me help them even if I'm nothing like what they believe." Ronda empathized with Denise, telling the distraught girl, "I know what you mean. My reputation was a horrible one before I moved here and it took me a long time to live it down. People learned about what I was like before and expected the worst, then when I tried to get a job I struggled because people in my old town told investigators that I was a slut and a danger to kids. Uncle John put a stop to all of that and forced the city to hire me because I had a strong reputation as a student teacher and among college professors and what they were saying about me back home was all lies. The truth was what they knew me as, a woman who was smart and could understand kids. You'll be fine as a teacher, Aunt Katie is the best 1st grade teacher in school and will make the schools see that you are the teacher that they need." Denise hugged her and cried into her shoulder. Ronda shed tears as well, it was a horrible burden on the girls to have to go up against arbitrary roadblocks because of outdated ignorant views. Denise had the passion and heart to be a great teacher, she just needed the training that would come from college and her practicum. Denise needed the drive to go forward, she had the want but not the push that came from a group who had been there before and knew how to encourage you to do and be your best. Back downstairs, the little girl giggled at Denise and begged to go to her. She cuddled into Denise and fell asleep, causing Ronda to shake her head and complain about her daughter showing off again. It was followed by laughter and a head shake from her big brother, with Ronda telling him, "You were more of a momma's boy, you still are. You love going out with your mommas and making us give you love and affection. Your sister loves making a scene and showing that she is the center of all attention including marking who her new favorite is. You just peed on them when they changed your diaper. Thankfully she doesn't do that, well she can't really- she lacks the equipment." He blushed and looked away, with the ladies giggling at his embarrassment. Denise enjoyed having the little girl in her arms and rocked her as she'd seen in TV, causing her to get clenched tighter as the little girl held onto her for more closeness. The reactions caught the ladies by surprise but given how Denise had been acting around kids it was a sign that she was more maternal than the ladies were. Francesca managed to get the sleeping girl away from Denise and led Denise home. Denise was quiet, but Francesca managed to ask about what she did back there. Denise looked ashamed and explained, "I saw mothers doing that on TV and in the park, I thought you were supposed to do that. It felt right." Francesca reassured her, "Your instincts are strong, stronger than any of us. We didn't do that when the boys were her age and I know Anita didn't do that with her four kids. She has two by her own making, one by her husband, and a nephew adopted as her son by her sister's request. She's an excellent mom, she has been busy but had to quell her touring because of health issues but loves to perform and wants to help you perform better. I swear she is thinking about songs while Tabby was thinking of lyrics and Trinity was thinking of melodies. The three together could run the music industry but their hearts aren't in it: Trinity is a doctor, Tabby is a lyricist, and Anita is a singer. The don't want to manipulate things, but they have the clout and ability to do so if they so chose. And the music industry knows that!" Over dinner, Denise told Beth and Ben about what happened causing them to laugh and Beth to joke, "She anointed you as her new favorite. She doesn't like anyone, but she liked you. The whole spit-up was her marking you for herself, so the other babies know you're hers. She's a great kid, she just has a funny way of doing things around older people. It irked her brother as well, a bonus to her." Sure enough, Beth had to field phone calls from Katie and Alison Eliza about their granddaughter and Denise. Ben had to endure ones from Stalking Wolf and Crystal Miller, Ronda's parents and had it a lot worse as the two were upset that their granddaughter had marked Denise without them warning her to watch out for the little girl's vomit. Ben chuckled and told them the rest of the story, with the couple not happy with their granddaughter showing off for her brother but snickering at Denise's lack of reaction and showing the little girl that she wasn't going to get in trouble for doing something natural. Stalking Wolf wanted to know if the rumors were true, leading Ben to explain, "She's transgender and is heavily leaning on female to the point of bad thoughts and fear of not being allowed to transition. She's a lot like Stormy was, but is quickly coming out of her shell. I hate to think of it, but Denise is a lot like Trinity was when she was taken in by Katie and Alison. You get to see how Trinity was back then." Denise went to bed dreaming about performing in front of kids in a classroom and having them cheer her on while she taught them science and math. Then thoughts turned to her ideal girl and caused her to see a girl who was plain looking with long brown hair that somehow made her look sexy. She focused on her face and her cute nose caught Denise's attention, with it fitting her oval face and making it look like it was perfect proportions to her eyes and mouth. She smiled as she dreamed of this girl, with Beth smiling at her as she slept. Beth somehow knew that it was about a girl yet wasn't sexual as the other nights had been. It was almost as if Denise had learned that she didn't need to try too hard to think of a girl, she had known several like herself already who'd all had love come to them through friendship and being themselves. In the morning, Denise was revitalized and had more energy than normal. Beth announced that she and Ben had a lot of work to do at the high school and she had the option of going with them or going with the Finns for the day. Denise thought it over and asked to go with the Finns, she didn't want to go to the school unless she had to especially not during summer vacation. Denise walked over to the Finn home and was greeted by Skylar and her cousins. The kids were happy to see her and even happier to hear that she'd be with them all day. Skylar then told her something that shocked her: they were going to the beach and she had to wear her swimsuit if she wanted to go. Denise blushed as Skylar showed Denise the swimsuit already hanging and ready to put on, with Skylar leading Denise upstairs to a bedroom to change. She didn't hesitate to change in front of Denise, with her telling Denise to do the same. Skylar shocked her and told her, "Grandma said to wear the 'gaff' so you don't show your penis. I don't mind seeing it, but other girls and ladies will get upset." Skylar looked and giggled at seeing the hair, blushing at realizing that she got caught staring. Denise let it go and got dressed, with Skylar finally telling her, "You look like Jane and Alana and Lara now. They have boobs but you are going to get them soon. Mom said I won't get any until I'm 15, like her." She looked ashamed, Denise countered, "Girls are different. Your mom was later than other girls, my mom said she didn't grow big until high school too. I know girls who looked big but I knew they put in fake boobs. A lot of girls do that, especially at my age. You'll get big. If your mom is big you'll be big." Skylar hugged her then went downstairs, with Denise not noticing Valerie smiling outside the door and ready to say something. Denise knew what she would say so cut her off by saying, "I thought hat's what she needed to hear. She's too young to worry about that stuff, she should worry about toys and dolls." Valerie didn't respond, letting her know that it was the right thing to say to Skylar. Downstairs the kids were eager to go but were first told that they had to wait for their cousins to come. Denise wasn't sure what to say or do, with the kids going off to continue to play while Skylar sat her down to watch TV. A few minutes later several teenagers entered looking for Valerie. Valerie introduced them as the girls Denise had heard about: Alana and Lara Perez and Jane Gibson. Seeing Jane immediately got Denise to blush as she was prettier than Denise imagined, with Jane smirking at the response. The girls went out to the cars with their parents complaining about having to act as chauffeurs for them. Valerie smirked causing them to groan as the kids smiled brightly at their parents knowing that it was a classic, "Just like mom and dad" moment for them. Valerie handled Skylar and Denise, with Bryan and Pierre Smith joining them in the minivan. Denise sat in front with Valerie, she was the only one tall enough to ride up front and it allowed Denise to not be as anxious around the kids. On the way, Valerie asked about the Elizas. Denise looked away in shame to which Valerie happily told her, "It's nothing bad. Trinity and Ronda were ecstatic at the kids liking you and their daughter claiming you as her own. She isn't like that with many people, only just Stormy and her husband. Her aunts can't get her to give them any attention, nor can her 2nd-cousins. For her to latch onto you is a big thing." Denise didn't respond, it was nothing to her and all she did was act on instinct. Valerie added a happy, "I know it's annoying, but a lot of people are taking interest in you. You are great with the kids, they want you here and wanted you to swim with them. Skylar looks up to you, she doesn't say it, but it's clear to us that she idolizes you. You aren't like the others, you seem to have a special bond with them without knowing that you have a bond. She loves us, but just can't get close to anyone. Her birth father wasn't a good person and being abandoned by him when she was just a toddler hurt her deeply. She loves JD but it is hard to get her to open up and accept us. She doesn't act that way with you, she seems to feel like you are someone to talk to and get to know better and look up to. You might understand her more than the others, a lot of you are the same but she seems to gravitate towards you." Denise didn't know what to say, it was hard to believe that someone could care about her that much and look up to her after only knowing her for a brief period of time. Valerie smiled at her contemplation, it was a good sign for Denise. Valerie added a happy, "You already told your parents what you'd like to do as an adult, she's showing you that it's the right job for you. Acting is nice and all, but you have a strong connection to kids and could be one of the best teachers of kids in need of help. Empathy is strong in a lot of people, but true understanding and ability to communicate on their level is unique." Skylar tried hard not to say anything but finally admitted, "Mommy said she wasn't like anyone else and we had to be good even if we didn't like her. Aunt Hannah said if we upset her we wouldn't go visit the estate in England. Aunt Jaimie said she is scared of everyone because they were mean to her and they are trying to hurt her because she is better than them. We know she isn't like us in her panties, we saw it in our cousins. I did what they wanted, I don't want them mad at me because I said the wrong thing." Skylar was on the verge of tears leading Denise to tell the distraught girl, "You didn't have to do all of it. I don't want you being different because of me. You don't have to put on an act, everyone else acts that way around me. You are too young to pretend to be good, I don't like people like that." Skylar was silent the rest of the ride while the other kids were quiet. When they arrived Denise hugged her causing her to hug back. Denise added a soft, "You are a good person to do that. Thank you." The kids were already changed so ran for the sand once they had a blanket and chairs laid out for them to rest. Denise helped Valerie set the chairs up and arrange the umbrella, Denise wasn't too keen on the water while the kids were more interested building sand castles than swimming. She looked at the kids playing together and sighed, remembering how she did the same but enduring being a boy at the time. Valerie asked about her not going swimming, causing Denise to explain, "I don't know how to swim well. I've only swam in pools that were small or had a lot of people close by. It was one of the things that I didn't learn to do, mom and dad were too lazy to teach me and I never had time to learn due to auditions and acting and finally the show. I avoided going to the pool parties at the cast members' houses because of that, not that they wanted me there anyway." Valerie gave her a knowing glance then sat her in a chair and explained, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I did the same with Michael before I met John, I didn't have the time to teach him to swim. He tried it a few times at the town pool but the bullies there made it tough to learn well. John helped him, I'm sure he will help you learn tomorrow when the kids go to the pool. Jane and the others won't say anything, it's not something they would dare make fun of you for because they'd have diaper duty for the rest of their summer vacation and much of the fall quarter." After a half hour the kids tired of the sand and wanted to swim, causing Denise to reluctantly walk out to the edge of the water and jump in the waves with the kids. She was scared that she'd get pulled out to sea by the waves, leading to the kids to laugh about her being afraid of the water. She was silent about it and walked off alone, letting them run in and out of the water together. Jane, Lara, and Alana watched her holding back tears as the kids teased her which caused them to grow concerned about what the kids had said to her to upset her so much. They walked over to Valerie and asked, causing Valerie to carefully tell them, "She's a weak swimmer. Unlike you girls, she doesn't know how to fully swim yet. The kids don't know that, they must have unintentionally said something about it that hurt her feelings. She knows you won't say anything as you all know the penalty for it- diaper duty for your cousins for the next three months. She's going to be taught tomorrow when the kids go to the pool. Please don't make a big deal about this as it's extremely tough to deal with for her." Jane walked over to where Denise was sitting and gave her a deep hug, telling Denise affectionately, "They're so used to us swimming that they didn't know that you can't swim yet. They didn't mean it to be hurtful, it's them being brats. They're only preschoolers, they are more pest than kid at this point." She led Denise on a walk. Denise asked why she wasn't swimming, causing Jane to blush and tell her, "I have my period. Same with Lara and Alana. Mom said we are 'synced' because we are so close to each other and spend so much time together. It's annoying, we only came because it's boring at home without dad there to keep us out of trouble. Dad usually takes us to Foxborough for the day but he's stuck in the studio working on something for the network. We would have gone up to visit Alana and Lara's aunts but they are busy with work and don't want us annoying them at the restaurant or office." Denise asked what she was talking about, so Jane happily explained, "Dad is an analyst for the Patriots. He does a lot of commentary during the season and works on injury reports for other sports. He knows a lot about injuries, he does rehabilitation work with Uncle Eric and Aunts Jessie and Rebecca. Dad got certified as a physical therapist after he retired from playing football of the Patriots so does a lot for the networks because he knows a lot and is famous." Jane was thoughtful in her look, as if loving mentioning her father to Denise. Jane happily told her, "We are all going to visit the stadium in a couple of days, he likes to do his segments with us doing funny faces so he gets used to reactions. The team says it's no big deal but the other announcers say he knows what he's doing because he doesn't react like other people while in crowd shots. Nothing upsets him when he's talking, unless it's one of us getting hurt or someone insulting our family just to anger him." Jane walked with her for a while, then told Denise, "I know you like me. I don't mind it. I don't have a boyfriend because boys are jerks and ones I like always get taken by others. The last boy I liked ended up already taken by my former friend because she was jealous of me. It was a bad situation, he ended up cheating on her with another girl and got her pregnant- at 13! I don't like girls that way, I'm happy that you see me that way. Mom said it's nice to know girls can like us for our looks as much as guys, it means that we are 'all-around girls'. I'm jealous of the other girls, Alana is going to have nicer boobs and Lara will have Sela's cute face. I'm only going to have mom's boobs." Denise tried to bite her tongue and finally admitted, "You have a nice butt and legs. It's the best feature on you, better than your boobs. You look a lot better than most of the models I've met as well as some of the actresses. Francesca said she's jealous of you, I think she meant it." Lara and Alana blushed at hearing them talk about their bodies, but Denise meant every word of it. She didn't mean to do it but she ended up helping Jane a lot, earning a kiss on the cheek and a whisper, "It's tough being a lesbian in middle school, but I know a few girls who are in the closet. One girl came out last year and is really great with everyone. She's likely going to be in your class since those who know our family and trusted by our family are put together for safety and support." The girls walked with Denise for a bit before wading into the water. Denise followed them, especially as it wasn't too deep and they were just wetting their feet. It was calming to her, especially as the girls didn't talk much and when the did they were joking about something the kids were doing. After lunch, the girls sunned themselves on their towels in the sand. Denise was surprised when Jane and Lara undid their straps flashing her their breasts causing Valerie to warn them to watch it or they'd end up showing everyone their breasts. Denise's red face showed that she had seen them, with the two quickly retied their straps and begged Valerie not to tell their parents about breaking the rules. Denise didn't know how to react, she kept her face buried on her towel and couldn't move until the big reaction she had went down. Jane saw Denise looking extremely uncomfortable and blushed deeply, as did Lara while Alana shook her head at her cousins being so careless and forgetting Denise's sexuality. It was hard to forget that she liked girls, they were told to avoid doing just that by their parents earlier. Once they had enough sun, the girls walked up and down the beach and endured the stares of boys and a few leers of men. Denise felt uncomfortable with guys calling out to her, with Jane telling her to just ignore them and they'd get the clue. She did flip-off a few of the guys who called them homophobic names after they ignored the guys, leading the guys to get razzed by other guys and men around them. When they caught the eye of a couple of guys who wouldn't take no for an answer they ran off, leaving the guys in hot pursuit. When they had to stop to take a breath the guys were on them and tried to make the girls date them, leaving the girls laughing at their bad pickup lines. When the guys wouldn't let the girls go the girls finally had enough and kicked them square in the balls causing them to scream in pain. The girls were afraid that the guys would do something but Valerie's commanding voice caused all of the boys to run off, right into the arms of several state troopers who responded thanks to Valerie's signal to them. The guys tried to come up with an excuse for their behavior and what they were doing but they were overheard by the troopers. The girls were walked away to cool off and keep the kids from getting too rambunctious while Valerie forced the guys to accept lifetime bans from the beach for harassing the girls as well as citations for stalking underage girls. The girls' real ages caused the guys to nearly faint, with the troopers nearly laughing at the tough guys now cowering at the reality of having just avoided a guaranteed jail sentence and joining the dreaded sex offender registry. Things got even worse for them as the troopers let slip who Jane's uncle was and what his job was with the state, leading to curses and begging for them to not get sent to jail. It was comical, they had reverted even further and were now begging children. Denise was scared to death about what happened, while Jane calmly explained to her, "Guys are idiots. It was clear that we were too young for them but their hormones wouldn't let them see that we were kids. I might have nice boobs and Alana is as tall as her mom and Lara is filled-out as much as her mom but we still sound young. Guys think with their dicks, or that's what papa said to me when guys were being talked about by the girls in town last week. Guys only think with their little head and girls think with our big heads. We are smarter than them, they are dumb and can't control their penis." Denise blushed at hearing that, with Lara adding, "Mom said dad is just like that only he thinks that he's a big man but isn't that big. I asked what she meant and she blushed, I think it means he thinks he has a big penis but really is average but really means that he isn't as funny or as smart as he believes himself to be. He's smart but really can't tell a good joke. Most of his stuff makes mom groan." Jane recovered from her flub and added a somber, "Dad isn't funny. Mom said he spent so much time on his football skills that he never developed his comedy skills. She said he's going to make a lot of 'dad jokes' like Grandpa makes. Grandpa is the worst, we love him but he's not funny. I think he does it on purpose so we focus on other things. Papa is funny but nothing like Uncle Will." Valerie had to smile at the girls being so candid and agreed fully with them about the jokes. Poor John was terrible at jokes and lived up to the, "Dad joke" name. He was a great man, but even he knew that he had no skills in comedy and really only did them to do as Jane suggested- make the kids go elsewhere. The day wound down as the kids started to get tired and cranky. When the boys started fighting and the younger girls tossed sand at them it was clear that it was time to pack up and go home. The elder girls had no problem leaving, with Jane joking that they had enough sand in their suits for the day. The girls showered and changed, with Denise blushing at seeing the girls' nude bodies causing a quick turn and attempt to change faster. Jane caught Denise's blush and flaunted her body, with Lara telling the showboating Jane to stop showing her big, hairy beaver to the girls. Jane turned even redder while all of the girls giggled at her and Alana shook her head in shame. Denise was the first to finish, then helped the younger girls change. The girls struggled with their damp suits causing her to need to tug down on them leading to people watching her closely. Denise didn't try to do much except pull down, but it looked like she was doing more as the yelps from the girls and big blushes as they realized they hadn't cleaned enough sand off of their legs causing the issue hit them. Denise tried hard to go unnoticed but she was recognized by one of the girls waiting to change. She had to run out in shame as whispers started then yells could be heard among the women. It was the worst, it was her being outed and a mob was about to go after her. Valerie came to her side and comforted her while Jane got the girls changed. Valerie knew that help was needed so signaled to a state trooper about trouble brewing leading the woman to stand nearby ready to walk inside to quell the pending issues. She knew the family well, especially Valerie's son and nephew. The trooper listened to what the women were saying and had to hide her rage but quelled it as they had a lot of accusations but none of them had actually seen anything due to either not being inside or being on the other side of the room away from the stalls where the girls were changing. She waited for them to claim that Denise molested the girls, then prepared counterclaims that were hard to refute. She had a good idea what would be said, and was ready to make them look like fools. Jane was confronted about the "molester" who just left. Jane didn't hesitate and ask, "What exactly do you mean? I didn't see any molesting and you certainly didn't. Oh, you mean my aunt? She left because you were about to claim that she did something to my cousins when you didn't see anything." She glared at the woman then had the trooper take over, with the trooper telling the women, "She told you the truth. None of you saw anything so you are making a dangerous claim that can land you in jail for perjury. You didn't see anything, you may know who that girl is but you didn't see her do anything. I know you didn't see it because I saw you enter after she left. You were told by others that she was in the room changing, what you heard doesn't match what happened especially as multiple witnesses will say that she was in the cubicle changing and only came out to help the younger girls. And helping change is not molesting, if that is the case then you yourselves are guilty of it as I saw several of you help your own children change outside- in full view of the entire beach! And where you had your hands was extremely close to being molesting as there was little reason to grab the fabric down there in that way." She had a look of anger which only coupled with the women's children saying they didn't see anything and their mothers were lying about what they saw. Several others started to say that Denise was only in there for a few minutes and left quickly, only leaving because people were making claims of what she was doing even though they didn't seen her doing anything. None of them made any claims that were backing up the molestation claims, the ones who recognized Denise didn't dare say anything as it was clear that Valerie was with them based on how Denise was being hugged by her. With no support the ladies delved into transphobic rants which led to the trooper banning them from the beach for life for violating the state's discrimination laws. She happily told them, "You may not like her but you don't have the right to discriminate against her. She has every right to be here, you don't. There was only one violation here: yours. Leave. Don't come back or you'll be arrested for trespassing." Denise was distraught while Valerie dared the women to continue. The trooper escorted the women to her cruiser, issued their bans, then told them, "The state has no problem prosecuting you for trespassing. This is a public beach, not your private park. The people of Winnisimmet have as much right to be here as those from Kensington. Don't think for a second that that's not the real reason for your actions. You had to have known who Valerie Finn was and acted as you did out of a vain attempt to provoke her." Valerie led the girls away, with Denise being held back for a second. Valerie hugged her, kissed her on the forehead, then told her bluntly, "Your fame worked against you. I think I'll talk with Beth about you getting your hair cut and changed. Some highlights, bangs, and curls would look great on you." Denise smiled at that, to which Valerie added, "Earrings and a wig will help you. I think glasses might be in order as well. I know you wear contacts, I have seen the medical notes about them. You can be a totally different girl in public than on screen. It'll help save you from actions like this." Back at home, the girls showered. Jane showered with Denise causing Denise to feel odd but after a few minutes she didn't notice that Jane was naked and helped her wash her hair. Jane looked at Denise's penis and smiled, telling her affectionately, "If I was into girls I'd be all over you just to get a chance with that piece of meat. It's big, but not huge. I hope to find a guy with that size in the future but I don't think I'll find anyone with the size that you are sporting. Sorry, but it's pretty big!" Denise blushed and looked away, washing it and hoping that it went down. Jane hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek, adding an affectionate, "Believe me, it's tough seeing you as anything but a girl. I know I joke about what you have, but it's how I relieve tension. I care about you, I just want you to be happy. Please don't get upset at me, I'll stop talking about it from now on." When they were finished Denise was elected to play with the kids by their own demand, forcing her to keep them entertained before they took a nap. Skylar was the only one not to nap, with her joining the four older girls watching TV. She looked at Denise with affection, causing Jane to quip, "Skylar really is starting to act like she's found her role model. I thought I was that but I guess Denise is it now." Skylar blushed while Denise kissed her cheek, it was sweet and the girls made Denise aware of how the almost worshiping Skylar felt about her. It only strengthened how Denise felt about the kids, they were all like cousins to her in more than name now. She wanted to be family to them and loved that she had a close cousin who felt strongly about her enough to act like her. Alana added a happy, "You know she's 'Aunt Denise' since she's 'last generation' like our parents, right?" Denise didn't know how to react, to which Alana explained, "It's a whole tradition thing. All of us are of the 'next generation' as there's four generations of us. Sophia Peterson is the oldest, her cousin Antonio is next oldest. There's overlap because of the way our grandparents had babies, most of you are older than us but you, the Stoners, Flynns, and Danielses are younger. You're the youngest of your generation and the last to be born as your aunts and uncles are too old now to have babies. It's odd to think of it, but your mom and dad are only five years older than Uncle Patrick- he's the oldest of your generation. And he's older because his dad married Granty Lilly after Gruncle Jerry divorced his wife Sophia. You know how the family feels about adoption, Granty Lilly was the first to adopt when she adopted both Uncles Patrick and David. Gruncle Jerry adopted Aunt Claire when she was born." She realized her mistake and shot back a tough, "It's really complicated, they hate thinking about it as it was sad and a lot of people were hurt then. Granty Lilly came out on top and Gruncle Jerry was happy to have a daughter. He would have been even happier if he knew she was related to Gruncle John." Denise knew that she'd get the full story later, it was fascinating to learn. Alana wisely stopped and had them focus on something else while Skylar looked on with wonderment at her idol. Denise felt a lot of pride in knowing that someone cared about her that way, and she loved being a role model for girls. Dinner was fun for them as they enjoyed a cookout in the yard and Denise running ragged as the kids all got her to play with them. The kids tired themselves out faster than anyone had hoped with most of them falling asleep in the Finn entertainment room. Denise was left feeling tired herself and walked to the Herman home alongside the girls, with the girls helping her get ready for bed without thinking. Alana and Lara blushed at seeing Denise's bulge while Jane ignored it. The two realized that it wasn't a big deal and snickered at the sparsely decorated room, leading Jane to tell them, "She's only been here two weeks. Give it time, she'll have as much junk as you two have in a month." The bit of teasing helped a lot as Denise felt at ease as she drifted off to sleep. Once downstairs and out of earshot of Denise, Jane told the cousins, "No more making fun of Denise. She can't handle it and might breakdown. I don't want her to hurt herself because we can't stop joking, she isn't used to us and we are too set in our ways to stop being ourselves. We can cut back on it and ensure that she knows we aren't trying to humiliate her. I don't want her hurting herself because of us, not if I can help it." The two walked off in shame while Jane was hugged by Beth and Ben. Jane mumbled a timid, "I can see it in her eyes, she's feeling terrible about what happened. If it happens again I don't think she'll survive. I don't want her to hurt herself, I don't want her to be like Brady." The tears of what happened 10 years before when she was just a toddler came flooding back. She had a strong clue about what happened and why, nobody had to tell her that it was bad because she could see it from how he adults acted around her. Jane wanted to protect Denise, even if it meant changing how all of them acted around her and giving up part of their personalities to ensure her safety. Denise slept well and dreamed of girls again, only this time they were her friends and helped her out in a tough spot by saving her from bullies and the media. She smiled as she slept, friends were what she needed and wanted most in her life. She hoped to make them in school, even if it meant that she would be unable to visit them on weekends due to the show. In the morning, she went over to the Finn home and greeted the kids again and played with them until it was time to leave for the pool. John showed her how to do some basic swimming moves which the kids all copied helping them learn faster which alleviated the other instructors' burden. Denise was quick to learn and really only needed confidence that would come in time and practice, which came later in the day as the kids went back to the beach for another afternoon of fun in the sun and sand. The girls no longer had their periods so swam out from the sand, with the reluctant Denise starting to see that it wasn't so bad and they were only chest-high so she wouldn't drown unless she panicked. It was relaxing to her to feel the waves on her shoulders and listen to the girls talk about boys and siblings and their other friends who weren't part of the family and who preferred to be friends with them only at school. It was almost as if she was "one of them" even if she was a year younger and new to them. Denise's day was one of great fun, but that ended when they were changing in the bathhouse. She was confronted by a group of "parents" who claimed that she had harmed their children, with the kids all in tears over something that Denise had no clue about. She was scared that they'd hurt her but seeing the look of anger on Jane, Alana, and Lara's faces calmed her as they were ready to protect her if need be. The group advanced and grabbed onto Denise, pulling her outside and showing her naked lower half to the crowd causing screams and yells from a dozen parents while several kids laughed at seeing a "boy" dressed in a girl's swimsuit being pulled by adults. Denise was mortified and was ready to flee but couldn't get her arms free of the people holding her there. She wanted to get as far away as possible, it was humiliating to her to be on display for all to see especially as she only had her top on and her penis was freely dangling between her legs. The group were screaming obscenities at Denise but were suddenly silenced when several uniformed troopers moved forward followed by men in t-shirts and shorts who told them to leave, they were in violation of lifetime bans from the beach and what they were claiming were lies. Denise noticed one of the troopers was the same trooper from the day before, with Lara smiling at two other troopers with her. She happily shouted, "Uncle David!" causing Denise to cringe while Jane shouted, "Uncle Miles!" The two tried to hug the men but were stopped short when they realized they were mostly naked and it wasn't the right time to hug them. The girls finished changing while the troopers arrested the group of, "Parents" and pulled them outside to awaiting cruisers. Their faces were ones of anger coupled with the look of death that many parents knew- they had just tried to hurt someone close to them. The trooper angrily told them, "You are under arrest for assault and battery on a child under 14. Given that you also verbally assaulted her and tried to show that she was transgender you are charged with a hate crime modifier. I am also including that you were trespassed from all state beaches yesterday so you have no right to be here. This stunt backfired on you, we were watching you the whole time. Your supporters are known associates of a hate group and are under arrest for trespassing as well." Alana finished dressing and rushed out to hug one of the men while Jane hugged another. Lara smiled at them and told Denise, "That's Uncle David and Uncle Miles, our uncles. They both are state troopers. Granty Valerie must have called them to help you, she is sneaky like that." David Peterson finally got Alana to stop hugging him then kissed Lara before introducing himself to a shocked Denise. Jane finally stopped hugging and kissing Miles Finn and introduced himself. The two big men left Denise struggling for words, with Jane finally telling her, "They work for Uncle Reed at the Attorney General's Office as detectives. Uncle Miles is really smart and makes everyone look dumb for trying to trick people. Uncle David is his boss, he thinks he's smart but mom says his brother got all of the family's brains. He only thinks he is smart, but Uncle Patrick really is." David gave her a glare while Miles added, "It's the truth, you know he's the smart one. Luckily you got the looks...wait, nope. Daisy did. Sorry, I guess you just got the bad luck." The girls were giggling which caused Denise to relax. She was walked over to the state trooper to talk about what happened and told her story, with the trooper telling her, "It's what we saw and it fits what we heard. You didn't do anything wrong, they wanted to hurt you because they could. They are going to be in jail for a long time, but I suggest that you get a makeover so people don't notice you anymore. It's why they spotted you: you have distinctive hair." Denise blushed at hearing that, but it was true- her hair was long and curly, much to her dismay. It was a source of pride for her parents as they hadn't let her cut her hair for years and only trimmed the ends off when needed. She was ready for a change, one that would alter how she looked as a girl. Denise looked over at the girls who seemed to know what she was thinking. Miles and David cleared it with the other troopers so the girls could leave, with Denise showering and changing fully then going to the Finn house to shower to get the salt off of her. This time she showered alone, with Jane, Alana, and a reluctant Lara waiting for her to finish before taking their own shower together. Valerie was waiting for Denise and introduced her to a neighbor who looked over Denise closely then told the grinning Valerie, "I can think of a few styles that would work for her, and dying her hair would help immensely. I agree about glasses, the old 'Clark Kent' mentality works. I suggest a wig to wear on the show, one that hides her hair color and style and can be written into the show for obvious reasons." Denise didn't understand, to which Valerie explained to her, "A lot of girls start out with short or no hair on their heads. Wearing a wig is more for mental health than looks, they feel the need to wear one until their own hair grows long enough. Jaimie had to wear one once because she was assaulted, the others either had longer than 'normal' boy hair or opted for a pixie cut that was in style then." The woman was introduced as Riley Pierce, Amy's mother-in-law. Amy's name caused Denise to ask if she was avoiding her as she rarely saw her before moving east, leading Riley to explain, "She's busy. It's tough to get time off with her line of work. She does network administration, and does a lot of work for companies who can't afford their own in-house IT people. My son works hard as a trooper patrolling at night so isn't able to sync his schedule much. They have a couple of hours together each day, but it isn't ideal for either of them. He's hoping to get a promotion to sergeant soon but it's all political. He isn't a good investigator so wasn't able to do what Miles and David did in getting a detective position and he's too upfront about wrongdoing to work protection details or airport security so is stuck on the highway." She understood now, it was tough to see her with so much work. It helped sooth some of her feelings as she knew a lot of people but not seeing them caused her concern. Work was tough to do when you're in a job that was stressful but needed like policing and keeping companies running. Valerie called for an appointment for Denise to get her eyes checked then told her, "Riley will take care of your hair. I'll have a talk with the guys about your need for a wig, I think it should have been done anyway because you are going to be out in public a lot. I know the school will protect you, but it's the parents of kids that I'm concerned about- they could go to the media to exploit you for their gain. We've seen it before with parents, money will make you do stupid things and those paparazzi will pay big to someone or juicy information like where you're attending school." The girls came down and asked what was going on, with Valerie explaining it causing the girls to ask to do the same. Valerie shook her head while Riley told them, "Not until school starts. I think you could do with some highlights, but no major changes. If you're going to dye your hair blue again you're doing it on your own. Jane, I know you love your blue hair, but I'm not footing the blame again!" Jane smirked while Alana and Lara added, "Green and pink!" Jane told Denise, "You'd look good with light brown hair, it would look a lot like your mom's hair." The girls agreed while Valerie added, "She's already doing that, as well as a shorter haircut and glasses. I'm sorry to say it, but I think they'd do a world of good for your disguise and give you a sense of normalcy. I'm just surprised that the Halls had not weaseled a doctor into performing laser eye surgery on you but I suspect they feared what I'd do if I found out. You don't need it, it'd only hurt your vision in the long run." Denise tried to give her a look of longing but Valerie shut it down. Denise didn't want glasses, but she'd be like everyone else and would have no problem blending in as she'd look like any other girl. She had a strong feeling about it, it was an imperfection that worked to her advantage. The girls watched TV and talked, then saw Jane smirk and tell Denise, "This is boring, let's have a sleepover. Mom is home and dad should be out for most of the night. Mom won't mind." Denise didn't know how to react so Jane did all of the talking and got them driven over to the condo that the Gibsons lived in and happily greeted a woman who looked a lot like Jane but more voluptuous. She gave a big smile to Denise and welcomed her, introducing herself as Sylvia Gibson and happily telling her that she was welcome any time after school since Jane volunteered her for that duty. Jane blushed but Sylvia happily explained, "I have the time, I work mostly from home anyway." Denise asked if she looked like her grandmother because she didn't look like John or Valerie causing the blushing Sylvia to explain, "I'm adopted by them. My birth parents abandoned me after I they found out that I was pregnant. I love mom and dad deeply and am grateful that the wanted me become their daughter even if it was awkward for all of us to explain to people. Jane will tell you what happened to me. I hate discussing it, but she is fine with it." In Jane's room Jane explained, "Mom and Uncle Rick were raped in college by a group of people. They were drugged and then forced to have sex with each other. My cousin Sylvia was conceived from that, her parents abandoned her so Grandpa and Grandma helped her. They adopted mom after she married daddy, she worked at a big amusement park and had a wedding in front of everyone in the park My big brother, my sister Jae, and I came along a lot later, Mathew works most days because he doesn't like to ask mom or daddy for money. He looks a lot like daddy, which mom loves and Mathew hates. He also doesn't like playing football, he likes baseball. Jae doesn't like hanging out at home so is over with her friends most days, they're pretty cool even if they're boring to me. They're like their parents, mom and day say we're all alike even if we aren't blood to one another Jae is a great big sister, even if she's more of a boy-crazy girl than everyone else. Mom isn't happy about that but dad said she's just like mom." Denise asked about her cousin Sylvia, with Jane happily telling her, "She knows she's really our half-sister and loves us as cousins. Mom is close to her, she goes to mom for advice whenever she needs it. Mom and daddy love her as a niece, not a daughter- mom gave her up to Aunt Jaimie to raise as their daughter right after she was born. Aunt Jaimie and mom are close, mom tries hard to be close to Aunts Cat and Ella but she just doesn't have the same closeness as Aunt Jaimie. My sister isn't as close to us but she cares about us and daddy said she's the most like mom. I'm like both." Sylvia was smiling as she listened, Jane had become so accustomed to telling others about the family's past that it came out without hesitation. Denise looked up at Sylvia who nodded, adding a happy, "We're just aunt and niece, I love her deeply but she was never my daughter. I prefer to be called her egg donor since to me that's all I was. She's a great woman, Sylvia is developing into a fine woman and is nothing like me. She's her father's daughter, she even looks like her grandmother Olivia but with bigger boobs. It's the one thing she got from me and the one thing Rick hates most." Denise blushed while Jane added, "Mom has the biggest boobs in the family. Sylvia has big ones but not as big as mom. Aunt Jaimie is happy that she has smaller ones, she said her birth mom was huge!" The girls giggled at that and sat down to watch a movie in Jane's huge bedroom. Denise asked why she had such a huge room causing Jane to happily tell her, "Dad owns this entire floor and upstairs. We have the penthouse condo, dad wanted safety and security and mom wanted privacy so they got a nice one. It happens to be bigger than any other bedrooms because of the size of the condo, we have a Jacuzzi and a sun room along with our own deck and courtyard and pool!" The girls giggled then Jane suggested they sleep out in the courtyard for the night. It was cool outside so it was the perfect night to do it. Jane even joked that they should sleep in the nude causing Sylvia to tell her, "Your father banned that after your brother almost had a heart attack seeing you girls naked! You know it isn't allowed anymore, so why joke about it? Besides, I don't want Denise to feel bad or to upset your sister if she decides to come home tonight." Denise didn't react while the girls were laughing hard at Jane's joke backfiring. Alana whispered to the confused Denise, "She's not joking, he saw us naked and fainted. He never saw a girl naked so seeing us caused him to complain about Jane taking advantage of the privacy. He's private, he doesn't like anyone annoying him because he doesn't have a girlfriend. Jane likes annoying him over that." The girls spread out on the patio and watched the TV that popped out of the wall, with Jane cuddling the nervous Denise while Alana and Lara simply lay on either side of them. It was sweet, especially as the girls watched a movie that the girls giggled at watching. Denise was enthralled by it, it was nothing like the, "Kids" movies that she normally watched while not too mature. After the movie ended, Jane explained, "That's 'Closet Secrets'. It was about Grandpa's younger brother. He wasn't a good person, he was mean to Grandpa and hated Granty Katie." Denise asked Sylvia if it was true. Sylvia nodded, then confessed, "I was told a lot of it by Hannah and dad when Hannah was rewriting Roland's book. He was a horrible person who hurt people because he was a crossdresser. He did a lot of drugs to keep his dressing urge down." She sighed and finally told her, "He was horrible, simply horrible. A lot of what he did wasn't included due to time issues, but he nearly drove Aunt Katie to suicide and was going to kill dad if he hadn't been held back by Aunt Karen. Only Aunt Karen could stop him. he was run out of the family and only came around a couple of times when he needed something from dad. Dad finally put an end to his issues but it was just a ruse to get clean, with dad finally getting him sent away for life. The book was his way of trying to make amends. He talked to the feds about what he did and was murdered for it. He wasn't any sort of person you should feel sorry for, especially as he'd hate you because you're like Aunt Katie." Denise understood what she meant now, he didn't seem like a nice guy. Jane tried to refocus things and told Denise, "A lot of the adults were in the movie. Mom and dad were classmates, Uncle Miles played his own biological father, and even Granty Karen got to star as great- grandma Catherine." Denise understood a lot of what was going on. Lara giggled and added, "That's not the only movie that they got to star in, Gruncle John had three movies about his life made. Aunt Jaimie's life was really the plot of them, but Gruncle John was the focus on the first and third and was in a lot of the second. We all got to star as Aunt Jaimie's classmates and our parents got to play their parents. Your parents got to play their friends, mom said they loved playing people who mentored them when they were started out." Denise couldn't believe that she was with movie stars, especially as they were so, "Normal" and weren't like the girls she knew from, "Tickle Your Funny Bone." Jane complained, "Sylvia got to be Aunt Claire, mom played Aunt Karen. We were too young to have lines, we were in the background most of the time playing in the playground at school while Aunt Jaimie's character was beaten up by Uncle Scott." That slipped out fast causing Jane to explain, "He was mean to her but he was hurt. That was part of the third movie: he was badly abused and they helped him get away. He was played by Chance Carter. You heard about his twin sister Brady, he understood what Uncle Scott went through and played the part as if he was Uncle Scott. Brady played Aunt Jessica, Aunt Jessica insisted she play Uncle Scott's sister. It was only fair since she was by his side a lot of the time even if she was nicer than him for a while." The girls eventually ate dinner and decided settled in for the night. When they fell asleep Sylvia had to hide her smile as Jane laid claim to Denise as her friend even if she was younger than Jane. It was sweet, a move Sylvia had done with friends back when she was the same age. Jane's father Mitch returned home late and was shocked to see a new girl with the trio. Sylvia smiled and told him, "Meet Denise, Benny and Francesca's new sister. Jane sprung her staying the night on us, she's in need of a night away and bonded with the girls. She's done a number on them, Jane has grown a lot in the past week. I'm sorry to admit it, but our little girl is fast becoming a mature woman." Mitch grumbled about her being too much like her mother causing Sylvia to shed a tear and hug him. It was sweet and it meant the world to her, Jane being like her was something that she had hoped would be true but they had clashed so much before about how she acted. She was always a daddy's girl and tried to please him but always seemed to clash with her mother about any little thing. Jane cuddling close to Denise was asked about, as was the girl's hands getting a bit close to Denise's privates. Sylvia blushed and told the concerned Mitch, "She's not into Jane like that. Trust me, she has no interest in her sexually. She's showered with Jane and Jane has seen her naked but there's nothing more to it than normal friendship behavior. It's a lot like I was with Jaimie, I can only see girl in Jaimie and Jane only sees girl in Denise. And before you complain, Jane jumped in the shower without Denise knowing and wouldn't leave- it was a show of support and nothing more." Mitch let it go, he was struggling with his little girl growing up and had to settle for her being his little angel for a few more months before her hormones and need to date overtook her. It was great to see her starting to mature emotionally as she really was acting like her mother there. Sylvia and Jaimie were a lot alike and joined through something neither liked yet were sisters in more than just name. Mathew got home from work and complained about the store being a madhouse then stopped short as he saw a pretty girl cuddling with his sister. He demanded to know who the new girl was then went off to his room to, "Relieve some tension" that seeing Denise caused. Mitch had to shake his head at that, it was funny how Denise had that effect on a boy without knowing about it. When he came out a half hour later he asked why Denise was there. Hearing the story, he was upset and on the verge of breaking something. Mitch smiled at seeing that, with Sylvia wisely telling Mathew, "It was all taken care of by your uncles. It was expected and they were there to ensure that it wasn't swept under the rug. Your grandmother will be happy to know how you feel about it as well as how you reacted to seeing Denise. Don't overreact when you meet her, she isn't used to guys." He blushed to which Mitch added, "And no, she won't introduce you to any of her former castmates. It's a good thing you haven't met them, you'd be disgusted learning the truth about them. A lot happened that you don't know about, much of which involved Denise and terrible actions against her. It's a sore spot for her, please don't ask more as she doesn't need you getting upset causing her to get upset too." He complained about the girls getting their way again, especially Jae getting to hang out at her friends' house without parents. Mitch angrily countered, "They're staying with your aunt Courtney tonight. The girls sprung it on Courtney to give Denise some space. Jae is Jae, she needs time to adjust to new faces and is taking Denise's story hard especially as she liked a few of the boys in the cast. You wouldn't like it if you found out the truth about some of your heroes, I'd love to tell you about the real lives of some of the Red Sox players but I won't break confidentiality." Denise was up early the next morning and was startled seeing a boy showering. She blushed and had to back away in shame while he rushed to get dressed. Denise didn't know what to say, he was cute but he didn't do anything for her sexually- just made her feel jealous of his looks. Jane awoke to the blushing Denise and asked what was wrong. Denise asked who the boy was who was in the shower, causing Jane to shake her head and complain, "He forgot to lock the door again, didn't he? That's my idiot brother Mathew, he never remembers to lock the door. He knew you were here, he can see us sleeping. He is harmless, he's probably hiding his shame at you seeing how small he is." Denise blushed and looked away, Jane gasped at realizing what she meant. Denise nodded and admitted, "He isn't small, he's above average. I'm not as big as him, he's going to be bigger than that." Jane gagged at thinking about that, with Mathew yelling at them for talking about his penis. They didn't mean to be overheard, but it was hard not to talk about something like that so freely. Denise's big compliment wasn't lost on him, but it still felt weird that his sister knew about that now. The girls got dressed and ate breakfast with Denise eyeing Mathew in case he said something about the bathroom incident. Jane shook her head and complained to her parents that Mathew forgot to lock their bathroom door again causing the couple to scold him and him to beg to not be punished. Denise tried to look away in shame, with Sylvia finally telling him that it was the last time and if it happened again he would be barred from baseball and would have to do the laundry for a year. He complained about Jane's bloody sheets leading Jane to gasp in shock and run off in embarrassment, the little bit of sibling rivalry biting her in the butt in a way she didn't expect. Denise wisely didn't say or do anything, but was glad that she escaped without Mathew complaining about her not knocking first. It was something she never knew before: siblings squabbling over something trivial. Sylvia finally led the girls to the Finn home and hugged Denise. Denise asked what that was for, and was told, "You needed it. I know what it's like being an only child, you aren't used to it." Denise was told that they were going to the beauty salon after her eye appointment. She wasn't happy to have her eyes tested, but it would help her immensely to hide in plain sight. If she was lucky, there was a strong chance nobody would recognize her and she would be able to be a normal girl. The eye test was worse for Denise than she thought, her contacts were fake and were harming her, she'd need glasses just to correct the issues that the contacts caused. The worst part was finding out that all the contacts were good for were making her eyes a brighter shade of blue- not for helping her see. She decided on a pair of glasses that weren't too ugly but were inconspicuous. Looking at them, they'd be perfect for making her look average to below average, with the option of wearing contacts of a real prescription being available for her. Shew as happy to be normal, even if she wouldn't stand out again. Their next stop was nerve-wracking as Riley's shop was busy but most of the clientele seemed to be not as feminine as they appeared. She spotted obvious Adams Apples and even a bulge in skirts as they sat in the chairs, something was off about the, "Ladies" in there with them. She didn't know whether to feel upset that she had to go to a, "Special" salon or relieved that the salon workers wouldn't hurt her. Valerie saw her hesitation and explained to her, "This is Riley's salon. She doesn't discriminate like a lot of salons do, she welcomes ladies like yourself and guys getting in touch with their feminine side. It's a safe place, the ladies here know a lot about what you're going through. You know about Al, Diego, and Kylie and likely Mia and Nichole as well, well her sons Oscar and Stephan are friends with them and in Stephan's case- married to Mia's sister Nancy. She's happy to help you out, as are the other ladies. The other ladies working today are like you, they won't let anyone hurt you or upset you." Denise was led to a washing station and then had her hair trimmed to a manageable length. She then had her hair styled into a style that looked different until she realized that it looked just like the style that Beth wore her hair in. Her bangs were similar, with her ears showing more and the ends curled the same way that Beth's hair curled making it look stunning yet pretty basic to maintain. She was in tears as Riley finished, with Riley then coloring her hair to match Beth's own hair color so it looked like she was Beth's biological daughter. Denise was steadily crying over the joy she was feeling as she saw herself transform into her mother's daughter even if she wasn't her blood. It only added to a feeling of completeness and love as Valerie added a happy, "Next, your ears are getting pierced. I know it's long overdue, but it's also a rite of passage for girls. Your mom said it was alright, she has a few sets of earrings that would go great with your glasses." Before she could respond, two quick pricks hit her ears as Riley's colleagues came at both of her ears to place gold studs in her ears giving her the final look that she needed. Valerie led her off so the girls could get their hair dyed, with Valerie telling them, "I cleared it with your parents, pink, purple, and blue is fine but no greens- that's your Aunt Rachel's color. She doesn't like anyone sniping her looks." Jane blushed while Lara went right for a hot pink color and Alana an electric blue color. Jane opted for an orange color that worked with her hair, with all three knowing that they were likely to end up getting it cut just before school so the color was really just for the summer vacation fun. Denise wasn't jealous of the bright hair colors, she actually didn't mind not standing out like the girls were as it went against why they were there in the first place: to give Denise anonymity. The drive home was quiet and once there they went right for the entertainment room in the basement to enjoy some quality time in front of the massive TV screen. Mathew was talking with John about something school-related and stopped as he saw the four girls. He looked at them closely then finally asked, "What happened to Denise, did she go home?" John shook his head in disappointment while hiding a smile, Jane and the girls laughed while Denise felt like he was making fun of her. Jane loudly announced, "That's Denise! She got her hair cut to not look so much like she did on TV. She looks like her mom now, she looks like Granty Beth's daughter!" He was fighting for words and had to walk away in shame, mumbling that it wasn't Denise. Denise felt like she was humiliated, John happily told her, "You look great. Your mother will be happy with how it turned out, you really do look like Beth's daughter. Despite being a workaholic, she's still beautiful and as much as she hates to admit it- she's still turning heads in school. I know he has a crush on her, he is bad at hiding it but he can't help but feel like that towards your mom." Jane wisely kept her mouth shut as it would be instant diaper duty for her. The girls got Denise to enjoy a few hours watching TV while waiting for their parents, while Mathew skulked around upstairs trying to hide his clear embarrassment over what happened. He couldn't get the image out of his head, Denise had changed only a little but she looked like a new girl- not the pretty girl from TV he knew of. Sylvia picked up Jane and gave Denise a big kiss, then led the flummoxed Mathew away before he had a big, embarrassing, messy reaction to Denise. Jane's new hair color was asked about with Mathew not even noticing it until Sylvia mentioned it causing Sylvia to joke, "Are girls all you think about?" Fabian and Sebastian Perez came in next to pick their daughters up and stopped short at seeing Denise. Both had to do a double-take before realizing that it was Denise, with Fabian keeping Sebastian from cracking a joke that would have upset Denise. Sebastian caught the look from John and left quickly so that he didn't make his surrogate uncle upset, with John laughing at Sebastian's quick exit and telling Denise, "You really did a number on him- he didn't crack one joke about you. It's a rarity, he'll say something just to say something even if it's complimentary. He's fine with your style, he just doesn't want his wife Sela to be all over him about making a bad joke that upset you." Denise ate with the Finns and was told that Ben and Beth were running late as they had meetings to go to in Boston. She wasn't too upset at that, it was nice spending time with the Finns without the kids on her to play with them. The kids weren't far away, they just weren't at the house pestering her. After several hours John started to worry about what was delaying Ben and Beth. Valerie called them to get an answer and was shocked when someone else answered the phone claiming to be speaking on the couple's behalf. She played the game the person was playing and got the information she needed, then angrily told John, "They were detained by Kensington Police under suspicion of illegal drug possession and abusing a child. Someone claimed that they were molesting Denise in the backseat of their car." John shook his head at the idiocy of the claims and personally called the Kensington chief in regards to several of their officers illegally detaining his friends and lying to his wife about their detention. The chief listened and was fighting a fury, John angrily told him, "We try to keep clear of the goings-on in your city for this very reason. You know it's a cesspool that makes Winnisimmet's past look tame, you have told me yourself that it's a powder keg ready to go off. After learning what just happened, I have to tell him what your department just did and I pray that he doesn't go after you directly for allowing it to happen. Grow a spine for once! They can't bully you around anymore, they haven't been able to for years. You chose to play along and reaped the benefits of it, now it's time to reap what you sow." He walked across the street and spoke to Reed Pena about what happened. Reed immediately called in his best investigator as well as David Peterson and Miles Finn. This was something brewing for years and it now had given them a reason to actively investigate the department's corruption. Reed personally drove to Kensington and demanded to speak with the officer in charge. After getting a runaround Reed shook his head then loudly told the desk sergeant, "That wasn't a request. I'll be back in a few minutes with a court order for the release of the illegally detained individuals." Miles and David entered and tried the same, getting the same runaround but this time with claims that it was a holdover at their request. Miles casually told him, "If that's the case then you should have done it as soon as we asked. You just lied to us, along with lying to the Attorney General. David, I believe he's forfeited his right to be an officer of the law this evening. Place him under arrest." David moved forward but was stopped by several Kensington officers drawing their weapons. He and Miles backed off but Reed entered with the chief as well as multiple State Police troopers and had the desk sergeant and officers who drew their weapons arrested for their actions. The chief growled at the officers, "What the hell were you thinking? You were willing to murder state troopers? For what- getting back at the Finns because our department is blackballed because of the city council? You pissed away your careers, there is no returning from this. Good luck with the union, you forfeited their support by getting your asses caught on camera committing a crime. Those bodycameras won't be deleted again." Reed entered the cells and saw the couple huddled in a corner. He called out to them and told them that they were released and everything against them destroyed. He then growled, "Sue their asses. The city is over the line, you were targeted and I'll be damned if you don't get your fair share from them. I'm going after the council for their illegal meetings, Rachel is already securing all of their computers and we're in the process of seizing every computer owned and operated by members of their family. They think it's OK to harass people because the city is bigger than Winnisimmet, not anymore." Reed led them out and told the chief, "Don't try to delete anything. If you are involved, you're getting it as much as the council. No immunity, you're going down hard. You ignored what was going on to the point of being part of the problem. If you're dirty, you're getting cleaned out like the rest of the trash." The chief's face went white with Reed's angry look. He led Beth and Ben out to their car in the back of the station and drove it out, with the chief trying hard to figure out his next move. He knew best to not try to warn anyone and if he tried to go to the media he would end up in prison himself. Reed sighed as he told Beth and Ben, "Something is going to happen, I can feel it. Denise needs to stay close to John and Valerie. Kensington is a hellhole that's just about to explode and they aren't afraid to take innocent people down with them. You two were targeted to get at Uncle John, it was all about his money and what he could buy Kensington. It's only a matter of time before they connect Denise to you and go to the media claiming all sorts of things. They made up whatever they could hoping that you'd be able to manipulate Uncle John, but they have no problem going right for sexual assault claims." The facts didn't matter, their jobs did. To have claims against you, no matter how false they were, was a death sentence for any teacher. John escaped it through being too tough to make anything stick, but the couple were easy targets as nobody would believe them and people wanted to think the worst of them.