"It just came out of nowhere, man."

When I'd come to the Carpenter house looking for parenting advice, I'd been pretty confident that Michael would know what to do.

What I wasn't ready for was just how...nonplussed he looked. "I know it can feel that way, Harry, but Maggie's growing up. She's a teenager."

The Winter in me snarled in possessive rage at that. She was still a child, my child, and I was finding it harder and harder to accept that she wasn't the little girl clutching onto Mouse's fur anymore.

But this wasn't the time or the place to be Harry Dresden, Winter Knight. I needed to be Harry Dresden, Father of Two.

Stars and stones, why was the first one so much easier for me than the second one?

"Okay, but...how would she know? Isn't she still too young?"

The long suffering look I got from Michael for my question spoke volumes. "Harry...you really do know nothing about any of this, do you?"

"What, and you do?"

"Yes, actually." There was no way for me to miss that dollop of disappointment Michael was feeling towards me, which was just making this conversation even better. Still, he was clearly resolved to do his best to get me through it. "Harry, think back to when you were Maggie's age."

"Gotcha: awkward, gangly, and impossible to be around." I had to be glad I was talking to Michael. Too many of my friends would be all too happy to take advantage of the easy set-up I'd just given him.

Michael was too nice for that. Ignoring my self-deprecating remark, he continued. "What were you doing?"

It was hard not to say, 'Being trained by Darth Justin', but for once I had the good sense to hold in the snark. "Trying to get into Ellaine's pants? Learning magic? Failing classes?"

He tried, but Michael couldn't hide a smile and the start of a laugh before he pressed on with his point. "You were exploring relationships. Developing new skills. Making mistakes. In other words, you were discovering who you are."

It didn't exactly take a detective to put together what Michael was saying. "So...you're saying Maggie's whole thing is...normal?" Looking a little exasperated, Michael nodded. I tried to really take that in, but for some reason, it was having problems settling in my mind. "Isn't it strange though? When I was a kid, there wasn't anyone dealing with that."

"Yes, there was."

Michael's voice was as hard as steel, and there was a power to it that shook me.

"There were absolutely people we went to school with asking the same questions that Maggie is. The difference is, when we were her age, their choices were to hide in silence or to stand up and face ignorant hatred head-on." There was something undoubtedly grave about how Michael spoke about that option.

Mulling what he'd said over in my head, I knew there were really only two options: either these people were just lying for attention, mentally ill, or easily tricked by others; or they were telling the truth about something that for the longest time, society at large absolutely refused to consider was real.

Well, fuck me.

The shoe was on the other foot this time.

My revelation must have shown on my face, because Michael went from looking righteously serious to pleased as punch to be proven correct.

This didn't exactly make me feel any better, though. Dread became vertigo, my stomach deciding to start doing flips without warning, as I considered what this could mean for Maggie. "Is it really any better these days?"

There was a weariness in Michael's voice when he replied. "Better? Yes. Safe? Good? Right? No. Only the Lord knows when people will be able to let go of their hate."

"Well, I've jumped into a lot of fights that weren't looking too good. Might as well add this one to the list."

Michael beamed at me, and I couldn't help smiling back. I liked it when he was proud of me.

Still, I had one last question for him. "I've got to ask..."

As I fumbled for a way to finish that sentence that didn't sound horribly insulting, Michael helped me out by knowing exactly what I meant, because he's just kind of like that sometimes. "You're wondering why I, a Catholic man of great faith, would stand where I do on this topic?"

Wow, did that sound terrible anyway. "Yeah?"

His gaze turned away from me, instead focusing on a family picture of the whole Carpenter family on a nearby wall. "Alicia didn't so much 'ask questions'. She simply knew who she was before we did. It did take some time, but Charity and I support our children, and we were happy to have one more daughter than we'd thought."

"Huh."

Wasn't entirely sure what else I could say to that revelation.

"If you don't mind a question in return, Harry, what exactly did Maggie tell you?"

I blinked, and realized that I'd dumped this whole thing on him without actually explaining how it had happened. "Oh, well, we were in the grocery store, and out of nowhere she told me she wasn't sure if she was a girl." Considering I'd expected my resident teenager to ask me for her favorite kind of cereal at that exact moment, I'd been just a wee bit surprised.

"And what did you say back?"

"Um..." I coughed. "Nothing? I just kind of...continued grocery shopping. And she didn't say anything else about it either." Sure, I was having a heart attack the entire way through the store after that, but I didn't think saying that would really help my case.

"O Lord, give me patience," Michael prayed, and that really solidified my impression that I'd really shit the bed. "Harry, while that is not the worst reaction you could have had, it certainly wasn't a good one. You need to talk to her about this, and make it clear you're there to support her. If Maggie even wants to be a 'her'. You should ask what pronouns Maggie would prefer."

I felt like I should have been taking notes. "Anything else?" I knew I sounded exasperated, but...I hadn't expected homework when I'd come to see my best friend.

Completely ignoring the rhetoricality of my question, Michael said, "I'll be right back," and left the room, only to come back a few minutes later with several pamphlets and booklets. "This is just the resources we have on-hand, but if you wait for Charity to get home, she'll be happy to provide you with anything else you might need."

Taking a deep breath, I told myself that this was for Maggie. I'd destroyed a supernatural nation for her, there was no way in hell some educational reading was going to slow me down.

"Thanks, Michael. I...hell's bells, you really saved my ass on this one." I extended a hand to him.

He winced a little at the swears, light though they were, but took my offer anyway, only for him to pull me in for a hug. "May the Lord watch over you and your children."

There was a lot of reading in my future, and potentially a huge shift in how I saw Maggie, depending on where her questions led.

But that was her road to take. It was up to me to help make it as safe as I could. And I resolved to do that, with a smile on my face every step of the way.

Well, most of the way. It dropped for a second when I saw the costs of some of the medications involved.

Who was I going to have to kill for Mab to give Maggie and I health insurance?