She should have known.
Every night since Gracie was four, she would make her mother read Pinnochio out loud before bed time. And every night Gracie would act out Pinnochio's lines, convincingly begging her mother "I'm a real boy." And still that little girl says the same thing even if her hair is chopped off, her clothes are baggy, or she prefers to be called Adam. That little girl is still telling her mother that she's a real boy. And Mrs. Torres plays along, letting her dress like a boy and act like a boy, but she is still Gracie at the end of the day. Adam would never let her say it out loud, and she wouldn't dare crush her daughter that way. But like Pinnochio, Gracie was not a real boy.
"I now pronounce you man and wife." she always pictured Gracie's perfect wedding. She'd be in a beautiful flowing white dress with flower embroidery and rhinestones. She'd be wearing the pearls that had been past on from generation to generation in her family.
Mrs. Torres cried when they kissed. She loved seeing her daughter happy. Man and wife. Man. Even now- testosterone flowing through her body, surgical procedures making Gracie legally Adam - she couldn't let her go. She hugged her tight before sending the couple off to their honeymoon. Man and wife. It made her tear up some more. "Your nose is growing, Gracie…"
She's ill now, dialysis everyday. Gracie is with her though. She smiles at her daughter, stroking some lose bangs behind her ears. "I'm so happy to see you, Gracie…" And her daughter stiffens, backing away from her mother slowly.
She glares, eyes watering. "Gracie? Really, mom? After all this?"
And she misses her daughter sitting beside her, gripping her hand softly. "You'll always be my daughter…" she whispers. And Gracie leaves. Mrs Torres only sees her at reunions. They barely talk, Gracie won't look her in the eye. Pinnochio turned into a real boy at the end of the book, but his maker still clutched him like he was still that wooden puppet. And no matter how hard she tries to convince her mother, Mrs. Torres can not be convinced that her birth child, her own flesh and blood, could ever be a boy. She gave birth to a Gracie, and Adam just possessed her. Adam could never mean as much; she just wouldn't let him. Gracie lived in her heart forever.
Yeah... poor Adam. He'll never be accepted by his mother ;_; You know I got really upset when she was like "If you want to dress like a boy." Ugh, that pissed me off. And I thought we would have gotten over it in My Body is a Cage. Whatever. Opinions?