The psychic had been unclear as to when the change she predicted would be coming, but even if it meant waiting hours, days, weeks, months, or, worst case scenario, years or decades, Britta and Annika did not worry about it at all. They had their minds preoccupied with other affairs, like Dell's readjustment into their lives and Jimmy's preparations for the fall farmer's market, which happened a week after Toby and Jules' Halloween pranks and shenanigans.

November in South Carolina usually had dry weather, and in Barnwell, this made the perfect setting for the annual autumn farmer's market, usually the biggest farming event of the year with all of the town's farmers displaying their goods to the many people who came to purchase fresh produce. It was almost to the same magnitude as a festival, as some non-farmers held bake sales or raffles. Everyone in the Darling family, even the former carnies, attended the market, all except for Annika; she had scheduled a doctor's appointment for that day.

The stall of the Darling Farm included a narrow variety of produce that had been grown either naturally or by their own labor, including peaches, citrus like oranges and lemons, tree nuts with a distinct bite to them, flavorful sugar fresh from the sugarcane plant, and cotton with all the prickly seed removed being sold by the bag. Jimmy made sure everything was priced fairly; the ripe fruit was seventy-five cents a pound, and something like cotton was usually priced higher around their parts starting at two dollars a bag. Britta sat by her husband to offer assistance like she did every year, as did Christopher and Toby, but he let Elina and Jules walk around and enjoy the festivities.

"Stay within my sight, ok?" Jimmy ensured the two.

"She's with me," Jules said, a polite smile in his boyish face. "She ain't gon' get lost, dad."

"That's my boy," his father said proudly.

Elina rolled her eyes; she hated how her father babied her, not allowing her to go anywhere unless she was with someone like one of her older siblings or her friend Lily. It was as though Jimmy had forgotten that his daughter was growing up, and needed to be alone sometimes when she needed it. Jules tried to take the girl's hand to prevent her from wandering and getting lost amongst the large crowds of people in the center of town, but she pulled away—he gasped.

"Elina, I'm shocked at you," he said.

"Did you forget I'm old enough to be by myself?" she asked haughtily.

"Well, dad wants you here with me," Jules replied. "He don't wanna see you lost."

"I'm thirteen now," Elina said, stopping and looking up at her brother; she had such a persuasive look hidden in her ethereal face—he shook his head, reluctantly agreeing to not hold her hand.

"Alright," he said. "Let me still be with you, though, at the least." She's so damn spoiled, he thought.

"Fine."

Suddenly, the girl caught a glimpse of her best friend in the distance; her mousey brown hair in its distinct frizz was held back by a plain black headband. Her larger-than-life glasses framed her small gray eyes, and when she saw Elina, her gapped smile made itself known as she waved frantically with excitement, running toward her friend with two candy apples on sticks in her hand; one had been half eaten.

"Lily?" Elina wondered.

"Oh, hello, I thought I'd see ya here," her friend responded, giving the girl with white-gold hair a hug; she handed her the uneaten candy apple. "Here ya go, lil' lady." Elina took the candy apple and had a bite of it. She savored the flavor for a moment before speaking, having swallowed the sweet taste of crisp apple and sickening-sweet caramel.

"This is good," the girl said.

"My mama made 'em. Gave me two fo' free," Lily said with a smile. "Where's yo' daddy and mama?"

"They're back there somewhere," Elina replied. Jules, feeling awkward around the two girls, felt like his work was done—he walked up to his little sister and tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm gonna go back to the stand with the others. Leave you two alone," Jules said. "Will you be ok?"

"Yeah," Elina said.

As soon as Jules came back to the Darling Farm stand, his father looked at him after having just sold three bags of cotton to a customer with shock. Shaking his head, Jules cut into whatever his father had to say.

"She saw her friend. I left 'em alone," the young man said.

"What? Really?" Jimmy asked.

"She will be fine," Britta said, standing beside her husband and patting his shoulder with her soft accent to calm his nerves down.

Dot and Bette, who were behind the section of their stall where the tree nuts and strawberries were, were approached by a well-dressed, older man wearing a dark blue suit and a black Stetson hat. He looked to be in his fifties, but not much older than Jimmy or the twins themselves; the look in his eyes was rather strange, but very friendly. Maybe too friendly. He appeared to take a long look at the prices of the cashews, which were contained in their own little triple ounce boxes.

"Fifty cents an ounce," the man said, a smooth-sounding Southern accent escaping his slightly-chapped lips. He then glanced up at the conjoined twins. "Ain't that a bargain?"

"We have only the best, sir," Bette said, a smile across her ever-cheerful face. "Can we interest you in some fruit? Freshly picked right from our farm."

"Aren't you kind, lil' miss," the man said smoothly. Something is wrong with him, Dot thought, her mindset reaching Bette; she ignored it.

"Oh, I believe that's you, sir," the cheerful twin smiled.

"It ain't everyday I see two beauties in one body," the man smiled, extending his hand with his blue eyes meeting Bette's dark ones. "Name's Charles Loring."

"What a delightful last name," Bette smiled, a slight giggle escaping her grin. Dot glanced over at her twin sister, who introduced them both. "We're Bette and Dot Tattler. I'm Bette."

"And you must be Dot," Mr. Loring smiled, extending his hand to Dot's side; she politely shook it, even though she thought his behavior to be fishy.

"Good to meet you," the mean twin said, gazing at him long and hard with an unwavering, solemn stare.

"You're quite the caterpillar," Mr. Loring sneered under the guise of a friendly joke. "Bette here has a shadow over you." The nice twin smiled, but then Jimmy, who was distracted by the scene, looked at Mr. Loring and then at the twins—he seems awfully friendly. That's unusual, he thought.

"Hey there, sir," Jimmy said politely. "Can I help you find anything?"

"Oh, I think I've found exactly what I'm looking for," the older gentleman said with a smile; Bette giggled, blushing uncontrollably. You're so naïve, Dot thought, projecting her idea to her twin's brain; she was unswayed. "The name's Charles Loring."

"Jimmy," the man with deformed hands said, shaking the gentleman's hand. "Jimmy Darling."

"My, you have a firm grip, sir." Mr. Loring noticed Jimmy's deformity, looking down at it with a subtle sense of apprehension; yet he did a good job hiding it. However, a disheartened Jimmy noticed it before his smirk could wipe it away. He then glanced over at Britta, her ageless, Nordic beauty catching his attention—her hair had been braided before being put up in a bun and a translucent, periwinkle blue headscarf graced it perfectly; it was loosely fastened, but she still looked timeless. Her blouse matched the scarf on her head, and her skirt was below the knees and black; her shoes were casual mules with a kitten heel and her legs were covered by nude nylon hose.

"And who is this blonde beauty?" the man asked politely. Jimmy extended his hand to his wife, who took it and stood by his side whilst feeling his fused fingers in his grip.

"This is my wife, Britta," he said proudly, glancing at her flushing, shy face. She extended her hand when he did, and she smiled slightly, her pearly whites gracing him.

"Pleased to meet you," she said.

"My, my," Mr. Loring said, taking a step closer and holding her small, delicate hand in both of his hands—he focused on her vivid green eyes. "You are ageless. They should be painting portraits of you." Jimmy did not like his flirtations, so he had a tighter grip on his wife's hand, pulling her away ever so slightly as she blushed from his flattery. Watch it, bub, Jimmy thought, his disapproval in his facial expression at the older gentleman.

"Well, I own a plantation on the other side of town," Mr. Loring continued. "Passed down to me from Pa to Pa for a hundred years or so. You should check out what we have to offer."

"Oh, I'd love to," Bette said with joy. She then glanced at her twin. "Wouldn't we, Dot?"

"Shush," Dot whispered.

"He's trying to be friendly," Bette said quietly.

"Somethin's fishy with him," the mean twin said pessimistically. She had always been like that; one would think the years would lighten her up; apparently not.

"My son is around here somewhere. How rude of him not to be here, 'cause he'd love to meet y'all," Mr. Loring said, stroking the slight goatee that sat on his chin.

Meanwhile, Elina and Lily walked around looking at whatever the farmers of the small town of Barnwell had to offer. One of them, who lived nearby the Darlings and owned an apple orchard, was selling apples. She then remembered it was Richie's family, Annika's longtime friend from childhood—he was still in New York. She suddenly thought of her older sister, and worried about her; why had she suddenly scheduled a doctor's appointment in order to miss such a fun occasion? Was she ill?

"So where'd Annika go? Your big sister?" her friend asked, licking the remainder of caramel off the Popsicle stick.

"She went to see the doctor a couple cities over," Elian said with worry.

"She ok?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me why she was going. She just…up and went."

Suddenly, Elina turned her back to see a tall, handsome young man walking through and past two crowds of people. He was very becoming; tall with light brown hair and a football player's build with broad shoulders and a chiseled chest as seen through the front of his white t-shirt. Lily noticed her friend's eye caught by the same thing, looking back to see him and gasping with amazement.

"Elina, look!" her friend whispered with joy. "He's so cute!"

Elina suddenly saw him stop in front of her, and she turned around, gazing up into the boy's bright blue eyes; pools of pure water from a spring. She looked down, seeing him extend something toward her; it was a flower, but not just any flower—it was a garden rose; white, almost a very light pink, with perfect petals naturally arranged in their own layers. It was in full bloom, and she took it to her perfect, straight nose to sniff it lightly. She then gazed up at the young man, who smiled charmingly.

"Elina Darling, is it?" he asked.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I saw you at the Darling Farm stall an hour ago," he said. "I walked by. I know it sounds crazy, but I couldn't help but admire you from afar." Lily blushed, but suddenly felt uncomfortable; she was now, awkwardly enough, a third wheel. Elina remembered her father discouraging her from seeing boys, but she couldn't help but appreciate his flattery and flirtations.

"I'm David. David Loring," he said politely. His tone of voice was prim and proper, and he was very well-dressed. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Same," Elina said, looking down at the rose he had given her. She suddenly felt a sharp prick in her index finger, wincing a little as she glanced down to see a bit of blood escaping where a thorn on the rose had penetrated.

"You ok?" Lily asked, taking the rose from her and seeing the blood on Elina's fingertip. "Holy Toledo!"

"I-I'm sorry, miss," David said, extending his hand to offer help; the girl rejected him, taking the small cut between her teeth to make it bleed in her mouth. Lily looked at the handsome young man, marveling at his appearance. He had a look about him, and she couldn't quite figure it out—nevertheless, he was like a white knight on a fiery steed who had probably only come to the farmer's market to claim his princess.

"Ow," Elina groaned, grimacing at the salty, iron-like taste of her own blood as she looked to see that the bleeding stopped.

"Hold on," David said, focusing on the stem of the rose to carve off the thorn he had overlooked. He scraped it with his small pocketknife before giving it back to the girl he fancied—Elina took it, again.

"Thank you," she replied. He extended a bent arm, his elbow protruding as if to escort her to a dance floor at a gala or ball. At first, Elina was nervous and hesitant; Lily whispered in her ear encouragingly.

"Take that arm, 'nd I'll take the other," she whispered.

Nodding, she took David's arm while Lily proceeded to take the other; David looked at the girl's mousey, frizzy hair strangely, but was still polite and has one girl on each arm. Elina's gaze wandered, the young man whose arm she was on stared at her to the point where it almost made him unaware of his surroundings—her platinum hair was loose but pulled back, a braid running down the length of her tresses. She dressed modestly, as often instructed by her mother. Her outfit consisted of a beige corduroy skirt with small black buttons and a pocket on the side, a wine-colored button-up blouse that had a fitted collar, and she wore knee-high socks with simple black shoes. David could see the curve of her breasts through her shirt, and her wasp waist was accentuated by her tucked-in shirt. Her eyes stopped wandering when he began to speak, her fiery hazel-green eyes fixated on him and his Southern way of talking.

"How come I ain't seen you around before today?" David asked. Elina's eyes widened, her gaze making him feverish as his heart raced. Her face so angelic with her high, defined cheekbones, her perfect, straight nose, and her heart-shaped, feminine jawline.

"I go to school," she replied. Was that the best she could come up with?

"I'm almost done with school. I'm a senior," he said. "I'm seventeen. You?"

"Thirteen," she replied.

"Aw," David cooed. "You're just a wee babe."

"What?" Elina was shocked.

"I mean that in a good way, miss," he replied. "Y-You're pure."

"Don't call me that," she said coldly. "Please."

"You seem cold on the outside," David thought aloud. "But you got a fire within." He seemed to relate to her now. He also seemed too be getting too close for her own comfort in such a short period of time. She had just met him, for crying out loud! Elina did not respond.

"I go to school with a Toby Darling. He your brother?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"He gets all the girls, that one," David pointed out, passing by the stall with fresh, crisp apples from her sister's friend's family farm. "He also fights a lot, too. Often over girls he won't see again after one night. He's in detention too much, too."

"Well, he doesn't come home until seven at night sometimes. He misses dinner on occasion," Elina said.

"Exactly my point," David said, looking forward as he saw the Darling Farm stand.

The Darlings and what had been left of the former carnies talked to Mr. Loring, but then out of the corner of Jimmy's eye, he gasped slightly at the sight of his beloved daughter on the arm of the young, handsome man who had given her a rose. A rose! Of course, that was the second thing he noticed. He narrowed his eyes at the young man, who had Lily on his other arm, as they drew closer to their stall. Jimmy looked at Mr. Loring, his cunning smirk making itself noticeable as David let Lily go—he managed to keep Elina on his arm, adding to the overall discomfort in Jimmy's heart.

"Ah, there y'are, son," the older gentleman said. "Come meet these fine folks." Leading Elina closer to her family's farm stall, David extended his free hand to introduce himself.

"I'm David, sir," he said when he came to Jimmy; to be polite, he shook the young man's hand, but when he saw Elina and her beautiful, ethereal face, he extended his hand to her and she took it, feeling his grip strong and tight.

"Ah," she groaned. Jimmy glared at the young man, but then looked at his daughter; a guilty expression swept across her face.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," David said, continuing to Britta, who smiled softly.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, shaking his hand gently.

Once he introduced himself to everyone, he walked back a few steps to be with his father, keeping his eyes on Elina; she had become the apple of his eye, and he smiled brightly at her. What a perfect smile, she thought as she focused her fiery gaze on him. Mr. Loring noticed the discomfort in Jimmy's facial expression, moving closer and leaning toward him.

"Don't be alarmed, sir," he said, a cunning tone in his voice. "I raised my son to be a gentleman." He stood up straight, giving a fifty dollar bill to the man with deformed hands as payment for three bags of strawberries, three boxes of different kinds of tree nuts, peaches, and oranges. He watched as they walked away, but did not hear their dialogue as he watched them speak.

"You've been bewitched, son," the older gentleman said.

"You, too. Those conjoined sisters, though," his son replied.

"They sure were lovely. Bette meets my fancy," Mr. Loring said. Avid still looked to be in a daze—he couldn't get the young girl off his mind.

"Elina is...magnificent."

Three hours. Three hours she had waited; the doctor was finally coming in to see Annika after all that time to give her the results of the tests she had taken from her thorough physical examination. She had known better than to take advice from someone who barely knew her, but she had been so accurate with her mother during their reading; hey, maybe it was worth a shot? As soon as the doctor opened the door, the woman made herself alert, pushing her frizzy bangs away from her face to get a better look at the medical professional.

"Ah, Ms. Darling," the doctor said.

"Tell me, doc," she said anxiously. "I can take it."

"Well, you're healthy…to an extent," he said.

"Get to the point," Annika pleaded.

"We found that…you are lacking internal female reproductive organs," the doctor said.

"What do you mean?" she asked in shock.

"You were born without a uterus, without ovaries, without a cervix, even. You mentioned that you never grew breasts or had a menstrual cycle?" he recalled.

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's why. Your body got confused due to the lack of estrogen, and you produced more testosterone," the doctor explained. "You were only defined as a female because you only have external parts."

"So…" Annika felt nervous, looking down at her knees; she had been wearing a hospital gown, but it pulled back by itself. "What does this mean for me?"

"You were supposed to be born a male," the doctor said directly.

It all made sense now—all the years of bullying by more popular girls for her "boyish" appearance; all the years of being mistaken for the opposite sex; the friendships she formed with neighborhood boys were as though she were a boy herself; the only explanation for her sexual identity and her attraction to women; the reason why she felt so comfortable in men's clothing. She took a sigh. This was heavy stuff, indeed, yet it enlightened her more than any meditation or joint-smoking session could have. However, a huge dilemma was still there, and she was dying to know the answer—how would she break the news to the family?

"R-Really?"

"Yes. This type of thing happens when you're still a fetus. You wereborn without female reproductive organs, and we can fix that," the doctor said, looking into Annika's masculine, boyish face.

"You mean, make me a woman?" she asked.

"No. Gender reassignment surgery," the doctor said. "You were supposed to be a male. We just have to fix your external parts to make you…a male."

"That's it?" Annika asked; the idea seemed to catch her attention in a positive way.

"Well, there's hormone therapy, too," he explained, "but judging by your physical examination today, we won't have to worry about the bulk of things that a normal female body would have to undergo in order to become a male. For example, you don't need a mastectomy, because you don't have breasts. Quite frankly, you won't need a lot of testosterone because your body has been producing it your whole life; and, that's why you look and sound the way you do."

"Oh," she said. The doctor looked at her, noticing that she was looking down at her knees.

"Are you alright? Anything you want to talk about?" the doctor asked with concern. "Questions?"

"Well…yeah," Annika said somberly, looking him in the eye. "You see, this is pretty heavy stuff you're laying on me, but I appreciate you being direct. All the years of…" A tear formed in her eye, and her voice cracked a bit; she was on the verge of crying, "the years of…trying to be a girl…only to fail. I've been bullied for looking like this, and it hurt. It took me time to get over it…but…I don't think I could've ever successfully been a girl, especially with this condition…" She wiped her eyes with her index fingers. "Well, I guess what I'm trying to ask…my mother is very religious and traditional. She's homophobic, so there was no telling her I'm a lesbian. My dad is a bit more open-minded…and my siblings, well…they hear the sermon every Sunday. There's no use telling them either. So my question is…how do I tell my family? I want them to still accept me. How can I tell them without freaking them out?"

The doctor nodded as he listened to whatever Annika had to say. He could fully understand why she was crying; at the time, he had seen many patients who had undergone sexual reassignment surgery successfully with the only adverse effect being an unaccepting family who ostracized them as the "queer" or "faggot". He tried to console the patient, putting his arm around Annika's shoulder as she tried to breathe deeply.

"I understand, Ms. Darling," he said. "I would suggest…" He paused for a moment, adjusting his glasses. "Start with your parents. Take them both in a private place and talk to them. If one is more open-minded than the other, that will help a lot. This surgery is probably inevitable for you, and they will need to get used to this big change in not only your life, but theirs as well. Eventually, your whole family will have to know, and if they really love you like a family member, they will accept you. It's a challenge, but it's worth it. Don't lose hope."

As she left the hospital that day, Annika felt whole; another void in her heart had been filled, and her mind was clear. I knew it, she thought as she drove her Volkswagen down the last highway leading to Barnwell with miles of farmland surrounding her on both sides.