Almost an entire month had passed since the newest member of our family had made her unexpected arrival. What was weird was that neither of us, not even Namęšéme, had even tried to come up with a name for her yet. I couldn't quite explain why, but maybe it was uncertainty on how long she'd be with us. Maybe it was because we weren't sure what kind of name would fit her. Either way, we were at an impasse on what we could call her.

Visiting her had starting becoming a regular thing, especially on the weekends. Namęšéme and I never missed a second of visiting hours. Not even Mrs. Richardson, who was still recovering from her hysterectomy, wanted to pass up any chances whatsoever of seeing her baby. Doctor's orders couldn't stop her no matter what. So there me and Namęšéme were in the NICU along with Mrs. Richardson, our littlest family member laying in the incubator beside us. I still couldn't get over how small and wrinkly this baby was, which frankly didn't make her look much like a baby at all. I was just gawking at her, trying to wrap my head around something so impossibly tiny being alive at any capacity.

"Unbelievable, isn't it, Jessica?" Namęšéme asked me while he looked into the incubator. "It still confuses me how we could start out that small."

"Amy," I suddenly replied.

My namshim turned to look at me, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Amy. Her name is Amy."

"Is that really what you want to name her, Jessica?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." Namęšéme turned around to face Mrs. Richardson. "Arizona, what do you think?"

Mrs. Richardson was silent for a moment, then began to speak. "Well, I did read in one of the baby books Wesley got me that Amy meant 'beloved.' I never even gave much thought on it until now."

"So... are you going to use it?"

"Yeah, I think I will. Amy Traversie."

Namęšéme gave a soft smile. "Amy Traversie. So it's settled, then." He started heading out. "I'll go find a nurse and notify her about the name. Jessica, why don't you stay here with Arizona? I'm sure she needs company while I'm gone."

I reluctantly sighed. "Alright."

With that, Namęšéme was off. Soon, I was left alone with Mrs. Richardson and Amy.

"Do you think... Amy will be alright?" I asked Mrs. Richardson gently. "By that, I mean do you think Amy will have any, um, disabilities?"

"There's no way of knowing that right now, Jessica," Mrs. Richardson answered me. "We'd have to wait until she was older and started developing."

"That what the doctor said?"

"Pretty much, but I'm sure she'll be fine. She's managed to make it almost an entire month so far. At the rate she's going with the weight gain and progress she's made, she'll be home in no time."

We didn't really speak again for a while. After thirteen minutes, a nurse came by and curtained off the area we were in. Mrs. Richardson unbuttoned nearly all the buttons on her blouse and just watched in anticipation as the nurse removed Amy from her incubator and placed her on her bare chest, a hospital baby blanket being placed over them soon after. The nurse then walked off to tend to another family. Finally, it seemed like Amy was right where she belonged. I found this to be quite moving, to be honest. At that moment, I noticed Amy's eyelids beginning to twitch. Mrs. Richardson and I both softly gasped at what was happening right before us. Then... Amy managed to open her eyes for the first time ever. Too bad Namęšéme wasn't there to see it. Speaking of...

"Alright, I'm back," Namęšéme said as he walked back to Amy's incubator. "Did I miss anything?"

"Unfortunately, you did," Mrs. Richardson replied. "Amy just opened her eyes."

I could hear Namęšéme let out a disappointed sigh. "Damn. Well, at least I'm here now." He gently ran his finger down Amy's pencil thin arm, only stopping at the very bottom of the wrist where the arm ended and the hand began. "Néméhotâtse, Amy. You are one of the best things to happen to me in a long time, and I hope you keep that close to your heart for a long time."

"I'm sure she will, Warren."

"Do you mind if I sing something to her?"

Mrs. Richardson shook her head. "Not at all."

He then proceeded to say "Grandmother's Lullaby," the same song he used to sing to me when I was a baby and Náhko'éehe was still alive and out partying with her friends. He'd also sung that lullaby for Náhko'éehe when she was a baby herself. The lullaby itself was very short, only lasting about thirty-five seconds. As if on cue, Amy's eyes shut again. Her eyes seemed to have been a grayish-blue in the brief time they were open, but we thought they would turn brown like mine and Namęšéme's when she got older.

"Nâhtona," Namęšéme began to speak. "We're all so excited to bring you home. In fact, we've actually started working on your nursery. I know most of the people I know here have told me I shouldn't get my hopes up when it comes to you, but they're wrong. You are a Traversie, and a Traversie can overcome any obstacle in their way no matter what it is. I promise you that I will never let you or your mother down. I will do everything I can to make sure you're safe and sound. Mark my words, anybody who tries to make you feel bad about yourself will regret it."

Though the breathing tube obstructed part of Amy's face, we could've sworn we saw her smile.

Soon enough, just two and a half months after Amy came into the world, she was given the okay to go home. Once home, she would cry a whole lot. It didn't seem like much of anything could stop her crying no matter what we did. The whole house and I would lose sleep, her cries were so loud. Thankfully for me, the last day of school was just around the corner so Amy's screams weren't too much of a hassle to deal with. Life seemed to go on as it had done since Amy was born and then some. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell her how we were actually related. I would've been robbing Namęšéme of yet another chance to raise a child if I came clean. Plus, who knew how Amy would've felt about me if I told her about my life before I started living as Jessica?

In practically no time at all, the last day of school had arrived. Namęšéme woke me up at around 6:30 in the morning like usual. I was never a big fan of waking up in the morning, especially when it was for school, but today was different.

"Good morning, thunderbird," Namęšéme said to me just as I was stirring. "You know what today is, right?"

"Tuesday?" I asked back.

"Well, yes, but today's the last day of school. Are you excited at all?"

"I sure am. I can't wait for summer vacation!"

Namęšéme just chuckled. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Jessica. First, you gotta have breakfast. What do you want?"

"Oh, uh, how about some Trix?"

"Trix? Ain't that the cereal with the trickster rabbit for a mascot?"

"That's the one."

Namęšéme chuckled again. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that General Mills borrowed him from the Cherokees to use for their cereal."

"I-I guess so."

"Actually, never mind, let's just get you some Trix real quick. Don't wanna be late."

"Alright." I got out of bed, got dressed, and joined him in the kitchen. "Man, I can tell this is going to be the best summer ever."

On the way to school, I stared out the passenger window of Namęšéme's truck, taking notice of the brilliant blue-green and wheat brown grass with golden stems every few spots. I had a brief daydream about me and Frankie, about a future we could have together with kids and a dog and maybe even some cows like the one Namęšéme had back at the ranch. I wanted so badly to be in this with her. I wanted to be there for her no matter the risk. I wanted to protect her from anything and everything that could hurt her: homophobia, HIV, bullies, even President frickin' Reagan himself.

"Everything all right, Jessica?" Namęšéme asked me.

I snapped out of it. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just... I want to spend the rest of my life with Frankie."

"You're that serious about her?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the thing is..." Namęšéme trailed off for a few seconds. "...while I'm supportive of your feelings for her, I'm not sure others are going to feel the same way. Mind you, I'm only being supportive because you're my granddaughter, but there's a lot going against you and Frankie. Certain places think that the feelings you have for her aren't a natural phenomenon and can instead be cured. I hope for your sake that you never have to stay at one of those."

I audibly gulped. I had no idea what places he was referring to, but judging from the vague description he gave, I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.

"Uh, thank you, I guess," I said, the discomfort evident in my voice. "Can we just focus on the last day of school and what we could do for summer vacation instead?"

Namęšéme cleared his throat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to kill the mood. Just wanted to warn you, that's all."

And just like that, he'd already driven up to the school entrance. On cue, I got out of the truck and turned to face him.

"Well, uh, thanks again for warning about those places, whatever they are," I said awkwardly. "I wanna talk about what we could do for summer vacation when you pick me up, okay?"

Namęšéme smiled at me. "Of course. Well, have fun. This is the last time you'll be a seventh grader, so make it count."

I waved at him as he drove away. Once I was sure he was gone, I turned around and walked right inside.