After supper that night, Daddy poked his head in my room. AK's Daddy took her home that evening, at least for a few days.

"Hey Dixie, I was just comin' to say goodnight." Daddy smiled over at me.

I waved him in and tucked my diary away under my pillow. He sat on the edge of my bed.

"Whatcha writing about tonight?" Daddy asked as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"My name." I said, settling myself on my pillow.

"Your name?" Daddy's brows knitted together. "What about your name?"

"Well, Momma told me about how I got the name 'Dixie' today. I…..I thought someone was kinda poking fun at it today, and it hurt my feelings. Stupid huh?" I felt kind of ashamed at telling him. With all our family has been through, I'm crying about a NAME. The red in my cheeks darkened.

"Ain't stupid" Daddy said brushing my cheek with the back of his hand. "So you heard about your ol' Uncle Merle huh?" Daddy motioned for me to slide over, I did and he let me snuggle into him, taking in his scent: Earth, dry sweat, and woods. The combination always made me feel safe.

"Yeah. You miss him Daddy?" I asked looking up at him.

Daddy smiled sadly. "Uncle Merle, he was…a tough son of a bitch." He chuckled. "But yeah Dix. I miss um." Daddy smiled down at me, kissing the crown of my head.

We fell asleep that way. Me tucked into Daddy's arms, his chin resting on the top of my head.

The next morning, I chose my clothes carefully for school. It's not like I had a lot of options, but I decided I wanted to look nice today. I put on my best jeans, my favorite red button up top that Uncle Glenn got me from his run this past summer. I wore my favorite tan boots. I fashioned my hair in a loose side braid and tied a red ribbon in it. "Well, that's a good as it's going to get." I sighed at my reflection and walked down stairs for breakfast.

"Wow" Momma smiled at me as I walked into the kitchen sitting at the table. She put my eggs and toast in front of me. "You look beautiful honey!" Momma squeezed my shoulders and went back to making the pot of coffee.

Daddy looked up from the knife he was sharping. "Dixie, you DO look beautiful." He looked down and then up again. "What for?" he frowned.

Daddy hasn't taking my growing up very well. When Momma added a bra in my size to the list of items she wanted Uncle Glenn to pick up this past summer, Daddy sighed into his supper. Momma says it was because I was his little girl.

"No reason" I smiled at Daddy as I spooned eggs into my mouth.

"You sure bout' that?" Daddy frowned again.

"Yes! Jeez, see the next time I try to look nice." Just then AK walked in.

"Ready Dix…. Wow." She looked a little – shocked at my appearance.

"See? Dixie! Why are you dressed up?" Daddy stood hands on his hips.

I shoveled one more bite of eggs into my mouth and took a sip of my milk as I stood. I kissed my Daddy on the cheek. "Bye Daddy!" I ran to over doing the same to my Momma "Bye Momma!" I grabbed AK's hand and ran out the door.

I slid into my seat beside AK. I busied myself looking at my homework, not really paying attention. Just then, I felt someone watching me. I looked over my shoulder to see HIM, Alex Smith, heading my way.

"Hey Dixie" He smiled his handsome smile over at me. I felt myself glowing.

"Hey, Alex right?" I asked willing myself to put a genuine smile on my face.

"Right, hey…uh, listen. Yesterday? I hope I didn't make you angry. I wasn't making fun of your name. You seem offended. I've just never heard it before. My family came from California, and I…I like it though." He smiled that smile again.

"Uh, hey, yeah…that's fine. No big deal." I smiled back. "You know what Dixie means?" I asked

He shook his head 'No'.

"Lookout." I smiled at him.

"Dixie Dixon: lookout." He smiled "See you later." He looked over his shoulder at me still grinning.

In that moment, for the first in my life, I was happy to be named Dixie. With a silent prayer of thanks to my Uncle Merle, I smiled back.