"Hey, Mom? Why am I going to stay with uncle Milford again?" Stephanie asked curiously, playing with the hems of her shorts.
She watched as her father walked over to her mother. They exchanged a look and a soft smile spread on her mother's face. "He's going to watch you tonight. Mommy and Daddy are going on a date."
Stephanie nodded. She understood that children weren't allowed on their parents' dates. She had asked before if she could join, but she was told that dates are private. She looked up. "Why isn't my babysitter coming, then?"
Her father's face fell. "Ah, well, she's sick."
Stephanie nodded again. "What's uncle Milford like?"
When no answer was given, Stephanie looked up, confused. "Is he mean?"
She watched as her mother knelt down. "He's nice. You'll have a wonderful time, Steven."
A bit saddened upon hearing that name, Stephanie sighed. "Okay."
When the time came to leave, Stephanie found herself more confused. "Why are we taking my clothes?"
A look was shared between the parents. "You're going to stay the night."
Something wasn't right. Even if Stephanie was staying the night, why was all of her clothes being brought?
When the car started, Stephanie had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She looked over to her younger sister who sat and giggled in her car seat. With a glance out the window, a thought stuck in the back of her head.
This is the last time you'll see your home.
Worried, Stephanie curled up in her seat. Something was definitely not right.
When the car slowed to a stop, she couldn't help but marvel at the house. It was a warm yellow, with a large, white door. Her mother helped her little sister out of her seat while Stephanie slipped out of the car, her eyes wide in wonder at the size and beauty of the house.
"Uncle Milford lives here?" She found herself amazed, walking up to the front door in a trance, not even realizing her father right behind her, reaching for the knob. When it opened, another feeling darted into her. A warm, fuzzy feeling, that she couldn't place a name to.
"I'm in the kitchen! Is that little Steven?" A voice called out, and Stephanie's stomach lurched into her throat. She didn't realize how scared she was until now. She had never met her uncle. Why hadn't she? Certainly her mother lied. He has to be mean. He was probably in the kitchen, prepping the oven for a little kid's body right now!
Nervous, Stephanie nodded. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she wanted to keep it that way. Her father's warm hand nudged the back of her head and she stepped further into the home, making her way over to the living room. This house was huge!
Stephanie sat on the couch, holding her small plush dinosaur close to her. She jumped when she heard footsteps behind her. She was expecting her uncle to look terrifying, but instead she saw a man only a few feet taller than her, his body wrapped up in a frilly, yellow apron, a smile on his face. Seeing him made Stephanie grin slightly. "Are you my Uncle Milford?"
The older man chuckled, pulling his duck-printed oven mitts off, sitting beside the child. "It matters. Are you my little nephew Steven?"
A toothy grin grew onto Stephanie's face and she relaxed. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. It was only for a night, after all. "What are you making in the kitchen?"
Standing up, the man grinned. "Well, how about you come in and find out?"
Stephanie cheered and followed him, a whiff of cinnamon flowing into her nostrils as she entered the kitchen. Upon looking around, Stephanie figured that the only people her uncle was cooking was gingerbread people. She sniffed the air and smiled. She was going to have a good night!
"Oh, wait, Uncle… did you use eggs in these? I can't eat eggs." She frowned, turning her head as her father walked into the kitchen.
"I'm going to go ahead and apologize about that," her dad said to her uncle, walking up behind him, "she's been avoiding a lot of foods, she read about stuff on the internet and ever since has refused to eat animal products."
Stephanie looked up to her uncle, who seemed unmoved. "That's quite alright! There's a man staying her with us that doesn't eat animal products, either. He also doesn't eat sugar, though, so I made some sugar-free and animal-free ones! They're still in the oven, though. Plus, you wouldn't want to eat any before dinner, would you?"
Stephanie shook her head. "No, of course not!" She smiled, but it faltered. "But who else is staying here?"
Milford smiled at his niece. "There's two people other than me staying here. You'll meet Sportacus at dinner, and I can introduce you to Bessie now, if you'd like."
Stephanie shyly nodded. She didn't know there was another girl in the house. That made this whole ordeal a lot easier and less scary.
"Now, she might be working, so we have to go in quietly, but she's right in here." Milford whispered as they neared a door in the hallway. He pushed it open, slightly nudging the child forward, setting Stephanie in the eye sight of an older woman, with tall, curly pastel blue hair and bright red lipstick that would make her stand out in a crowd. Right away, the woman smiled.
"I'll talk to you later, Bailey." She set her phone down and stood up, walking over to Stephanie, cupping the child's face in her hands. "Well, aren't you just adorable. How old are you?"
Stephanie straightened herself up a bit. She didn't love being fawned over like this, but she tried to remain polite. "I'm 12, M'aam."
"And what good manners!" Bessie exclaimed, ruffling the kid's hair. Stephanie just awkwardly laughed.
"Has Sport called you today?" Milford asked the woman. Stephanie let her eyes drift from one to the other.
The woman grinned from ear to ear, showing off her wrinkles. "Yes, he called about an hour ago. He said he'll be here in time for dinner."
"Perfect! I'm making lasagna tonight!" Milford said, and Stephanie couldn't help but grow a grin of her own. She loved lasagna! In fact, it was her favorite dinner at home! Did they somehow find out?
"Uncle Milford, can I help you make dinner?" Stephanie asked politely, her hands behind her back. She always wanted to help cook, but her mother stopped letting her help in the last year, saying it was time for her to start "acting like a boy," whatever that meant.
The man laughed a jolly laugh and touched the back of the child's head. "Of course you can help. All the fillings are ready, but I haven't layered any of them! That sounds like the perfect job for you."
Stephanie nodded in agreement and followed him out of the room and back to the kitchen.
Within thirty minutes, the food was shoved into the oven, and Milford gave Stephanie a remote and sat her down to watch whatever movie she wanted to watch on Netflix in the living room, her little sister following suit.
In the kitchen, Milford stood arguing with his sister and her husband. "Look, are you sure you want to do this?"
"We're sure." Stephanie's father said, his arm tightly around his wife, who was sniffling.
"Priscilla," Milford whispered to his sister, stepping forward and causing her to look up. "Your kid might never want to see you again. You might stop Steven from trusting you forever. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"We said we're sure." Her husband spoke up, stepping forward so he was hovering over Milford.
"I'm sorry, Milford, I just…" The woman sniffled, wiping her nose with a tissue, "I'm scared for my baby. I don't want him to get picked on anymore."
Milford looked sadly at the two, taking a step backwards. "Have you even told him that he's staying yet?"
Looking up, the woman shook her head. "I couldn't, Milford. I couldn't bring myself to tell my baby Steven that we're leaving him alone." The woman sobbed, hiding in her husband's chest.
"We'll leave after dinner." The taller man said gruffly, rubbing circles in his wife's back.
Nodding, Milford lowered his head. "What do you want me to tell him?"
A sigh escaped the child's father. "Tell him that Mommy and Daddy need a break, but… we'll be back for him one day."
"And what about Emily?" The mention of the child's sister caused the mother of the two to reveal her puffy, red face again.
"We'll be taking Emily with us."
Milford rubbed his forehead. "You'll at least let Steven call you at night, right?"
The couple shared a look. "Not every night." The father said, sending the mother's face into backflips.
"But we will call him!" The mother fidgeted for something out of her purse. "I even bought him a little phone for this." She pulled out a small iPhone, easily no later than a 5s, covered in little star stickers.
Milford nodded his head solemnly. "Alright. And you're sure you've filled out all the papers for him to enroll in school this week?"
The mother nodded. "They're in his backpack. He doesn't know what they are, but they're in his little green folder."
"Well, dinner is almost ready." Milford said, glancing at the timer that showed only twenty minutes left until it would ding. "How about you two go and spend a little more time with your son before you up and leave him?"
The couple nodded slowly, and after drying her eyes better, the mother rushed into the other room, followed by her husband.
The minute they left the room. Milford sat down at the table. The sound of his ringtone filled the room and he smiled down at his phone. "Hey, Sportacus." He said, the second he answered, "are you almost here?"
"Yes!" The sound of the other man's excited voice made him grin, "do you think a jump rope or a soccer ball is a better gift for little Steven?"
A bit taken aback, Milford chuckled. "I can't tell yet. Get both, you can say one is from you and the other is from me. I'll pay you when you get back. How far are you, anyway? Dinner will be done very soon."
"You don't have to pay me back," the other's voice was joyous, "and I'll be there in about ten minutes. I'm in checkout now." Though a bit taken aback by how fast the other house occupant transferred from the toy aisle to checkout, he laughed.
"Alright, alright. Well, I made lasagna tonight. I hope that's alright."
"Sounds delicious!" Sportacus cheered. "I've got to go, it's my turn in line. I'm excited to meet the little champ!"
Milford smiled. "I think he'll need you here. Alright, I'll talk to you when you get home."
And with that, the phone clicked goodbye, leaving the man alone in the dark kitchen. He peeked in on the couple and their kids, a feeling of grief washing over him. He really didn't understand why they had to handle the situation so messily. Not to mention, all they told him was that the child was being bullied very badly in school. Milford didn't get any details aside from that information, and it made the situation even more stressful. How was Milford going to be of any help? He sighed and returned to the kitchen, staring absentmindedly at the stove until the timer went off.
When the oven opened and the scent of warm Italian spices flooded the house, Bessie emerged from her office and helped set the table. As if he arrived faster because of the food being done, the doorbell rang and Bessie brought Sportacus to the dining room, the two of them setting the table together. After all, they were having more guests then they did even on the nights when Bessie's relatives visited, or when businessmen came over to talk to Milford about a law he was passing or not passing.
After dinner was over, Stephanie's parents prepared themselves to say goodbye. Her father carried her sister to the car, the small child unaware of what was going on. Stephanie's mother knelt down in front of her daughter, placing gentle hands on her cheeks.
"Hey Steven, Mommy's gotta go now." The woman said, tearing up slightly again, pulling her child close to her and hugging her tightly. "You're going to stay here for a while, okay?" She whispered, causing a deep shiver to run down the child's spine.
"What do you mean, Mom? It's just for tonight, isn't it?"
The woman pulled back and shook her head sadly, watching as her child started to break down and crumble like a delicate pastry.
"Mom, please, what do you mean? How long will I be here?"
Clearing her throat, the woman brushed blue curls out of the child's face. "I don't know yet, sweetie. But your Dad and I, we can't…we can't handle all this…girly stuff anymore."
Now sobbing, the eleven-year old held tightly onto her mother. "Mom, please, Mom, I'll do anything, please don't leave me!"
Wiping her face, the woman stood up and cupped her child's face again. "Just…just get better, and I'll come back for you. I promise." The woman kissed her kid's forehead sloppily, wiping at the lipstick that now smeared on the child's forehead.
"Wait, Mom, please!" The little kid sobbed, as the mother pulled away, holding her purse tightly at her side, taking one more lovelorn gaze at her child.
"I'll come back when you're better, Steven. I'll come back when you want to be Steven." The mother said in a tender voice that confused the child further.
And with that, the woman stepped outside, heading to her car without turning to watch as her child raced after her. When she reached the car, the woman pushed the kid back a little. "Now, I mean it, Steven! You have to stop that blubbering, and, and," she looked her child up and down, "and become a young man."
"Mommy, please," the child begged one last time, holding desperately onto her mother's arm, her eyes blurry. "Mommy, please don't go."
But with that, the woman opened her car door and climbed into the passenger seat. Without another glance, the woman shut the door in the child's face, the minivan starting its engine and making a departure that took all of Stephanie's tears out of her eyes.
After what felt like hours, which in reality was only a few minutes, the young child stood up, slobber and snot running down her face, and made her way back inside. Right away, she grabbed her dinosaur off the couch and curled up, hiding the reptile toy in the ball of her stomach as she sobbed into her knees.
Slowly, Milford made his way over to the child, sitting beside her on the couch. The other two adults watched hesitatingly by the door way before quietly slinking to the child's side as well. Gently, Sportacus placed his hand on the kid's back, causing her to look up, eyes still red and her face blotched from crying so hard.
"Uncle Milford," she hiccupped, launching herself into his chest, "I don't understand. My Mom keeps getting mad at me for stuff like playing with dolls and practicing my makeup, and she's always telling me to be more like a boy. But I don't get it." The child curled up again, squeezing her dinosaur plushie with her fingers. "I'm not a boy. I'm a girl." She broke down in sobs again, leaning against her uncle. The trio watched the child and rubbed her back and hummed to her until she slowly stopped crying.
Once she did, Bessie took a deep breath and pulled the child closer to her. "Hey sweetie, is there another name you would like to be called? Steven is usually a boy's name. It doesn't suit a little girl like you."
Smiling slightly, Stephanie leaned into the woman's arms. "I…I think my name is supposed to be Stephanie. In my dreams, that's what Mom and Dad call me."
"Yeah?" Sportacus jumped in, smiling at her. "Then your name is Stephanie."
"You've got a lot on your plate, Stephanie, how about we go do some fun girl things to cheer you up a little?" Bessie cooed, wiping at the child's face.
Smiling lightly, Stephanie looked up. "Girl things?" She sniffled. "Like what?"
"Well, how about I do your makeup?"
The little girl grinned, showing off her teeth. "Really? I've never had my makeup done by anyone!"
Bessie pulled the little girl up and held her arm protectively. "Yeah? Well, then this will be fun, won't it?" She looked at the two men sitting on the couch and bid them good night, leaving them in silence.
"Hey, Milford… what are we supposed to do?" Sportacus asked curiously, looking down at the bag in his hands nervously.
The mayor shrugged. "I don't know yet. But maybe we should go ask if we can help."
Sportacus nodded, set his bag down, and hurried over to the restroom where the little girl was getting her makeup done, Milford following.
"Miss Busybody," The mayor asked softly, "is there anything we can do to help?"
Bessie covered the little girl with a towel and smiled. "Yes. How about you go get me some pink Kool-Aid packets?"
"Wait, why?" Milford asked, clearly taken aback by the request.
"Well, I think I'm gonna teach this little girl how to dye her hair. She's old enough to know." She looked back. "It doesn't go against the dress code, does it?"
The two men shared a look. "Um, Sportacus you go check the school's website if it's allowed while I run to the store and pick up some pink Kool-Aid."
Bessie smiled, widely, her crinkles peeking through. "And try to get some sugar-free Kool-Aid." She looked at Stephanie. "It's better for your hair." Stephanie nodded, taking in the information.
Milford hurried off and Sportacus peeked his head in the restroom, grinning widely. "If it's alright, Bessie, I have a lot of unopened perfumes and make-up kits that I can give Stephanie." He looked directly at the child, who seemed taken aback. "If she'd like it, of course."
The little girl grinned from ear-to-ear. "Of course I'd like it!" She flapped her hands excitedly. "I'm so happy! I've never owned my own make-up or perfumes! I always had to sneak them from Mom." The little girl's face fell at the memory but brightened again when Bessie approached her and sat down in front of her.
"Well, little angel, I've got a lot to teach you. And you won't have to steal make-up or perfume any more, okay?" She pulled out her concealer pen and applied little dots to the child's blotched spots and blemishes. "Us girls gotta stick together, right?"
"Right!" Stephanie said proudly. She wasn't used to having other people call her a girl, and she couldn't help but flap her arms again in excitement.
"Especially us girls who were told we were boys." Bessie put the concealer pen away and put her thumb on the girl's chin, cocking it forward. "Right?"
Stephanie gasped a little. "Did they tell you that you were a boy, too? But why? You're so pretty!"
Bessie chuckled lightly. "They did. But, you're a pretty little girl, too, ya know." She pulled out her beauty blender and tenderly blurred the concealer into her complexion. "That reminds me, Sportacus," she pointed her nail-polished finger at the standing man, "make sure to call the schools and tell them to change some of those papers up, alright?" She smiled back at the girl. "Tell them that there's been a mistake. We don't have a little boy, we have a little girl, and her name is Stephanie."
Sportacus smiled widely. "Of course." He popped his head out of the room and back in, "and I'll go ahead and gather up all my old make-up and perfumes for her, too."
Bessie nodded in response as the blue-cladded man dashed off.
"He's kind of weird." Stephanie whispered, and Bessie couldn't help but laugh.
"You think so?"
Stephanie nodded. "He's really jumpy. But it's okay." She smiled softly. "I'm kinda jumpy, too."
"Then you two will have fun being jumpy together. I know you will."
A sad expression crossed the girl's face. "Miss Bessie?"
"Yes, Darling?" The woman cooed as she brushed bright purple eyeshadow on the girl's eyelids.
"I was made fun of at my old school." She cleared her throat. "Will people make fun of me, here, too?"
Bessie bit her lip. She honestly wasn't sure, and while she knew the superintendent and principal—who were both openly gay—she had a feeling they couldn't prevent every little girl from being called a boy. "I'm not sure, Honeypie, but you know what?"
The little girl sounded defeated as she voiced out the word, "what?"
"You're going to make it. And you'll make friends. And you stick to those friends like glue, and you'll be okay." Bessie cocked the girl's chin again, applying blush to her cheeks. "Because you're a strong girl, okay?" She stopped her hand and stared at the child, smiling softly.
The little girl nodded. "Thank you, Miss Bessie." She looked down at her hands and tapped her fingers together nervously. "I'll try my best."
"That's all you can do, Sweetie. Just try your best and everything else will work itself out from now on, okay?"
The girl nodded again. The two went on in silence until Sportacus returned, a small bag in his arms.
He pulled a few tiny containers out, still wrapped tightly in plastic. Right away, the young girl's eyes widened. "Is that lipstick?" Her mouth fell into an 'o' shape. Seeing lipstick so close to her and knowing that she was going to be allowed to actually wear it was almost too much for her. She flapped her hands hard and giggled. "Can I wear some, please?"
Sportacus looked up at Bessie, who nodded, before setting several of the containers in the small girl's hands. "Of course you can. It's all yours."
Smiling widely, the little girl looked at the different colors and paused at the sight of a bright pink one. "Can you put this one on me, please?" She held it up to Miss Busybody, who saw the color and giggled slightly before nodding.
"Of course I can. Just hold still." Bessie said, tilting the child's chin. "Now, make duck lips!" The girl gigged before doing as she was told. "Sportacus, were you able to get things changed at the school? And is she allowed to dye her hair pink?"
"Yes, the office workers were happy to change everything we needed. And yes, she's allowed having her hair any color. They greatly encourage kids to express themselves through their hair and clothes, as long as there is no offensive language or messages on it."
Bessie chuckled. "Thank you, Sportacus. You can go wait for Milford downstairs now."
The man nodded and ran off, once again surprising the little girl.
"Does he always run like that?"
Bessie chuckled. "Yes, he's very active. He runs the local tee-ball team, works from home, and still does almost all of our shopping for us."
"Is he your son? He seems a bit too old to be your son."
Bessie smiled a bit at that. "Not exactly. His dad is…how do I explain this?" She whispered to herself, as she pulled out different shades of pink nail polish, much to the girl's excitement. "His parents weren't the nicest to him, and we took him in, but he was already almost an adult when he moved in."
"Was he abandoned by his family, too?"
The little girl's question struck a chord within Bessie and she set the girl's hand down completely. "Abandoned is a big word, Sweetie."
"It's a big word that means you are left alone." Stephanie added on quietly.
"But you're not alone, and neither is Sportacus."
The girl nodded slowly. "Because we have you and Uncle Milford, right?" Stephanie didn't sound too excited by that.
Bessie cupped the girl's face and cradled it in her palm. "I know this is tough on you, Sweetie, but it's not your fault any of this happened, and because of that, it's going to work out just fine."
Still a bit upset, the girl nodded.
"Now, let's get to these little nails of yours. I bet you've never had a manicure, have you?"
Within the hour, Milford had returned, a large bag hanging off of one arm and a smaller off the other.
Upon seeing him, Sportacus helped unpack the bags and put things away. While at the store, Milford had bought a few dresses, skirts and other pink clothes and accessories for the little girl, along with a pink and white soccer ball and a pink jump-rope, and of course, the pink, sugar-free Kool-Aid. Unpacking the clothes into the girl's drawers, Milford took the girl's suitcase of clothes her parents brought and hid it in the back of his closet so she wouldn't have to even think about wearing them.
Setting the gifts upon her bed for her to find, with the frilliest bed set he had, which was an old one from Bessie, he made his way with the pink Kool-Aid into the restroom with the girls. Smiling upon entering, Milford could smell the familiar scent of nail polish and looked at the young girl's nails, which were decked out in hot pink.
Bessie didn't even wait for the man to talk before she pulled the Kool-Aid packets out of his hands and stated ripping them open. "Now, when I put this on you, you're going to have to sit still for about thirty minutes and not touch your hair. Can you do that for me?" She interrogated the young girl, who nodded and happily flapped her arms in excitement.
Within a few moments, the girl's head was fully coated, and with a towel still draped on her shoulders, she was given headphones and her new phone to listen to music on while she waited. When she was finally done, and the dye was washed out in the sink, Bessie couldn't help but gasp.
She put way too much Kool-Aid. What was supposed to be a light, pastel pink was now hot pink and vibrant. Nervous, she leaned toward the little girl. "Alright, Stephanie, what do you think?"
The girl, who had her eyes closed prior to the words, opened them up curiously and gasped as she looked in the mirror. "It's perfect!" The girl flapped her arms excitedly and spun around, smiling at herself in the mirror. "Kids will definitely wanna be my friend when they see my cool hair tomorrow!"
Bessie exchanged looks with the other two adults and shrugged. There was nothing they could do now but wait. Grabbing her by the hand, Bessie led the girl to her room. "Now, you need a good night's sleep. Tomorrow you start school, and I won't lie to you," she looked back at Milford and Sportacus, and then at the gifts on the bed, "it's going to be a bit bigger than your old school."
Stephanie, who was too busy marveling at said gifts, barely heard the words. She hugged the soccer ball close to her chest and grinned. "That's okay. The bigger the school, the bigger chance I have to not get picked on."
Bessie nodded and smiled. "Exactly. Now, lay down, Stephanie. You're going to need plenty of sleep. Especially if you want me to do your makeup tomorrow morning."
The little girl nodded and yawned, pulling her stuffed Stegosaurus to her chest. "Okay, okay." She laughed, laying down in her bed and sighing in comfort. She watched as Bessie left the room and flicked the light off.
A few minutes passed and she tried to sleep, but Stephanie couldn't help but think about her mother's face when she left. Stephanie felt happier than she had in years being able to dress as a girl, as herself for once. So why did her mother find that so bad?
And then there was her father. He didn't even hug her goodbye, and the more she considered the day's events, the more she thought that he didn't want to hug her goodbye.
Sitting up in her bed, Stephanie felt the tears start to crawl out of her eyes and onto her face, though she fought for them to stay in place. She squeezed her plush toy and quietly started to cry into it.
After a moment of calming herself down, she ventured out of bed and down the hall, and slowly, she made her way down to the living room. She thought that maybe if she could watch a little more cartoons, she would be able to sleep.
What she didn't expect to find was Sportacus, sitting up on the couch, watching cartoons himself.
A smile grew on her face as she neared the corner and watched from a distance. She didn't feel like confronting him, so she decided to stand in place and watch. People could fall asleep standing up, couldn't they?
She planned to do just that, but as one of the characters in the cartoon fell down, she found a tired giggle escaping her throat.
Right away, Sportacus whipped his head around and small grin appeared on his features. "What are you still doing up?"
Sighing, the girl inched her way towards him and sat next to him on the couch. "I can't stop thinking about my parents."
"Yeah?" He placed a gentle arm around her and let the young girl lean against him. "You've went through a lot today, though. Your brain is tired."
She giggled. "My whole body is tired. I just don't want to go to sleep and dream about them."
The other couch occupant thought for a moment. "Well, than how about you watch the cartoon for a while, and then when you fall asleep, you'll dream of it instead."
She strained a smile and leaned back. "That's why I got up. I'm hoping some cartoons will help."
He nodded and yawned himself, leaning back. Within an hour, the girl was snoring on his arm, so Sportacus carefully stood up, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to her bed. Just as she was being tucked into her blankets, her eyes fluttered open.
"Hey, Sportacus?"
He smiled. "Yes, Stephanie?"
"Do you think my parents will ever come back?"
Sportacus paled and swallowed hard. He didn't know the answer to that, but he brushed her bangs from her eyes and grinned anyway. "'I'm sure they will. They'll realize what they've done and come around."
"I hope so." She yawned out, snuggling into her blanket. "Thanks, Sportacus."
"It's nothing, Stephanie." And with that, he quietly sneaked out of the room, flicking the light switch off, leaving the young girl alone with her dreams.