You can do this.

You are a strong, independent woman.

No! Man!

Geez!

Goddamnit!

Annika sat in her camper that afternoon thinking of how to break the big news to her parents and to the family as a whole. She knew her mother was not going to like the idea, but she would have to accept it eventually; the surgery seemed inevitable, which would make it so that she would become the man she was born to be. Plus, she had a doctor's referral to back her up on the logical reason why she was to undergo sexual reassignment surgery—there was no arguing with facts.

When she finally made up her mind about what to say and when, she alighted from the stationary vehicle and continued on to the trail leading to the front of the family home, where she went up the steps and opened the door, looking around the front entryway to see if either her mother or father were there—suddenly, Britta entered, carrying a basket of clean, soft clothes that had been taken off the line outside. Her mother looked up at her expressionlessly, and Annika was extremely nervous just being near her.

"You, dad and I have to talk," she said. Britta raised an eyebrow, the first hint of expression or emotion in her face since her daughter entered the house.

"Here?"

"No. More private than here," Annika replied solemnly. "It's a serious matter."

When Jimmy and Britta finally sat down for Annika to talk to them, he looked over at his wife and even though she was expressionless, he could tell she was anxious. He reached over subtly, gently tapping her skirted thigh and holding her small, fragile hand in his own large, deformed one. They were seated in the dining room on the side of the table closest to the kitchen doorway, and the basket of laundry was left on the other far side. Annika's soft dark brown eyes stared at them both as she took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

"Annika?" Jimmy asked. "What's wrong?"

"I went to the doctor yesterday," she replied, her low-pitched voice sounding serious as ever.

"Are you alright? Nothing life-threatening, I hope," he said with worry. Britta remained quiet, her vivid eyes calculating her daughter methodically. "…is it?"

"Well, no," she said, nervous to go on; you can do this, she thought. "I had a thorough checkup, and…the doctor…he…"

"What?" Jimmy asked, looking at her and leaning in slightly to pay closer attention. A tear formed in Annika's eye, but she held it back as she said what she had to blatantly and directly, something she had always been good at.

"He said I'm a male," she said, her voice cracking.

The can of worms was open; the cat was let out of the bag to start scratching her parents, especially her mother; her life was over, well, at least that's what she thought. Jimmy looked shocked, yet it did not surprise him because Annika was unusually masculine for a girl, and as she grew up, development was just strange—no breasts, no menstrual cycle, no elevated emotional sensitivity like a normal girl would develop during adolescence; nothing but broader shoulders, growing taller than average, aversion to wearing feminine clothing, and lest it be forgotten that she was attracted to the same sex. Britta, on the other hand, felt guilty of herself and her parenting, but also was disappointed in Annika—her eyes radiated negativity at her, but her husband spoke.

"What? How is that…possible?" he asked.

"The doctor said that…" Annika paused. "My body got confused and produced more of the male hormone. Testosterone, or whatever. They tested everything, my blood, my vitals, and even did a scan. They found that…I don't even have parts."

"What do you mean, 'parts'?" he asked, listening to his daughter—he sensed Britta's discomfort by the sensation of her squeezing his hand really hard.

"The kind that you need in order to have a baby and get pregnant," Annika explained nervously, her voice cracking slightly as she continued. "I only have external parts and a hole but that's pretty much it. No…cervix…womb…no ovaries…I don't have any of those things. I was born without them."

"Wow," Jimmy said, readjusting his posture as he let go of his wife's hand—she glared at him coldly. "Well, we all have our shortcomings. Even me." He raised one of his disfigured hands to make his point, his fused fingers making themselves known to the conversation. "They couldn't really fix my hands if they tried."

"The doctor said there's a surgery. They're going to fix me up," Annika said.

"What?" he asked.

"Sex reassignment surgery," she told him directly, maintaining calm as she took another sigh. "They'll take my external parts and make them…like a male. I'll become a man."

"When will this be?" he asked. Annika looked at him, pretending her mother was not even there to give her the sharp, icy stare that stabbed right through her soul as she spoke.

"It ain't right away," she replied. "He said…uh…I remember…six months? Yeah."

"What about you in the meantime?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, the doctor said that it's a shorter time making the transition because I've been producing testosterone my whole life, and I don't have breasts to perform a mastectomy, so…other than some hormones and changing my girl parts to boy parts, I'm set."

"You cannot do that," Britta sneered, looking at her daughter with anger hidden in her eyes.

"And why not?" Annika asked defiantly, leaning back and crossing her arms, looking at her mother as though she were crazy.

"God made you a woman. That doctor is wrong," Britta said, her tone frigidly unfeeling. Jimmy glanced at his wife, as he always hated seeing her upset in any way, and he patted the top of her back gently.

"Britta, the doctor said what he said, and if he thinks Annika here should have surgery, then she should," he said.

"This is against God's will. You wereborn a girl. Just because some doctor is crazy enough to tell you that you are otherwise just is wrong," Britta said condescendingly. "He made no mistake in giving us you as you are." Annika laughed arrogantly, waving her hand in the air as she dismissed the ideas her religious mother was trying to force down her throat.

"You seriously don't think God makes mistakes? Ofcourse he does! We all make mistakes," the woman told her mother, trying to reason with her; Britta just glared at her, her lower lip trembling slightly. "And the sad part is, a doctor! A medical professional! A doctor! He told me that this surgery will have to be done. For obvious reasons! I can't live like this anymore,mamma. You can't hide behind the Bible forever. You ain't going to find truth that way!"

"Your father has a deformity!" Britta exclaimed, beginning a dialogue in her mother tongue—Annika understood every world, but dismissed it and resumed to speak English.

"He can't help that because doctors couldn't fix him!" Annika replied forcefully—Elina, her attention caused by the commotion in the room as she walked by, spied on them by peeking through the doorway—both her mother and sister looked heated as they argued.

"They can't fix your father!" her mother screeched; Jimmy was startled as he saw the woman jump from her seat—he had no idea what she was saying, but took context clues from Annika's English responses. "He lives with his hands all...deformed and people stare at him like he's a monster. He can live with being different, and so can't you!"

"They can fix me, mamma! That's the difference! Damn it! I'm twenty-five fucking years old! You really have no say over my decisions to begin with!" Annika shouted. Jimmy glared over at his daughter as soon as she cursed at her mother, and stood up to stop the two from quarrelling further to make it look like he was siding with his wife—however, Annika was absolutely right about everything, in his opinion.

"Stop it! Right now!" he shouted, holding his short wife from behind to prevent her from doing anything she would have regretted; he couldn't prevent her from using her powers though, but luckily she hadn't.

"Dad!" Annika exclaimed; he ignored her to try and console a crying Britta, whose tears emanated from her eyes as she sobbed against her husband. Jimmy shook his head, biting his lower lip nervously as he patted her upper back softly, hearing his wife weep. How were they both supposed to know that she had felt stronger about the matter than how she usually conveyed it with her stares and subtle comments?

"Mamma," Annika said, taking a deep breath and watching her weep in her father's arms. She walked closer and took another breath, trying to stay calm and not shout like she had been enticed to by her mother and her fanatic thinking. "I'm still your child…" A tear formed in her eye and rolled down her cheek. "I'll be your son, mamma. The only thing different is my name and…my parts. But…" She started to cry, "I'm still a human, just like you and dad. Remember…when you were called freaks? How you didn't like that?" She licked her dry upper lip, looking up at her father, who made eye contact as he held his wife, who had silenced a little. "How do you think I feel, mamma? It makes me feel bad when you say mean things about my clothing or…you know…remember how you looked at me when I came here for Elina's party as a surprise? I felt like…you were at one point."

Jimmy and Britta were both hit in the heart with Annika's emotional appeal—he hated the word freak, yet it resonated with him even when he led the former carnies on their exodus to a new life on their South Carolina farm after years of exploitation by the selfish, fame-hungry Elsa Mars. Even after moving to Barnwell, the former carnies were faced with unwelcome stares and snickers from ignorant people on the street or from people who visited their farm. It took a long time for them to be accepted into the community, but no matter what, they were still freaks—Jimmy thought of this in the context of the situation facing them and how Annika had felt exactly the way he had all those years because he was different. She, too, was different, and there were many changes to come—the path to uncertainty had just begun.

Hey, Keri here! I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Anyways, if you have any, and I mean ANY ideas for a future chapter, feedback, or simply like the story please leave it in the Reviews!

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Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support! Happy reading/writing! :)