First things first, I would like to thank everyone that helped me get Chapters 1 and 2 fixed from my (and Zoe's) decision to change the voice of the story. Now that we have gotten past the point where the voice changed, things should be smooth sailing from here...

A small bit of forewarning, there are a few things in this chapter that are unlikely to happen in real life, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...

Now without further ado...

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Shopping

Mom and I were in the car driving toward the shopping center that we had eaten breakfast so that we could engage in some retail therapy...

"So, what are we going to get me?" I asked, looking over at mom as we slowed down because traffic had stopped due to an accident.

"Some skirts and dresses, and defiantly some undergarments. You need your own as you can't keep wearing Heather's. If we want to keep this secret, we're going to have to make Zoe as self sufficient as possible. I don't know how your sister is going to take you possibly becoming her sister. Although given the way that your father and I raised you two, I don't think we have anything to worry about..."

"What about school?" I asked as we rolled about twenty feet and stopped again. A fire truck and medic rolled down the berm past us.

"Well, for now, you have to go to school as Allen. I see that changing at some point, but lets get to that point first." We rolled another twenty feet and stopped; I was getting restless in the traffic. I had always gotten restless when I was stuck in a car that wasn't moving, and that was exactly how I found my self this second. Mom looked over at me as we rolled about ten feet and stopped again. "Put the window down... Let some cold air in." That was the usual way to fix me when this happened. We rolled forward about seventy five feet and stopped again. "Would you want to go to school as Zoe?" Mom asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Would you want to go to school as Zoe?" Mom asked again. Traffic had started to move again and I presumed that the accident had been moved off to the side and that we might get there after all...

"Yes. My grades are good, but I think that they would be better if I could be me." We rolled past the accident, which didn't look that bad, but was bad enough to require the jaws of life... I put the window back up as we got back to highway speed. "I would love to be able to be Zoe when I'm home, I may have to suffer through being Allen at school I think I can live with that." I glanced at mom and saw her smiling.

"I would imagine that your dad will have some names for us soon." Mom's iPhone, which she had placed into a dock mounted to her vents between the front seats when we got into the car, chimed to indicate she had an email. Since I was not driving, I started to hit the icons on her phone to pull up her email. My own phone chimed from my purse. The only email mom had was from dad, and it contained a list of Doctors names, addresses and Phone numbers. Looking at the top of the email I saw that I also had a copy of the same email.

"His timing never ceases to surprise me..." I said to mom. "We have a list now..." Looking at the list on one of the computers at home would be easier than trying to do it from one of the phones. Mom glanced at the screen.

"How many, can you tell?" I scrolled the email and counted.

"Seven." I hit the bottom of the email and saw that dad had typed a small note. "He put a note at the bottom, it says 'Katherine and Zoe, Here's the list I told you I'd get. These are the doctors the company recommends to employees who have gender issues. The most recommended by the patients that have seen her is a Dr. Emily Francis. Her information is at the top of the list, and I was told that she does have Saturday hours. Also, I have an idea about how to tell Heather, so try to video conference when you get a chance. Love, Tom." I glanced at Mom.

"He has an idea on how to tell Heather... Your dad has always been good at this kind of thing..."

"What kind of thing?" I asked, as mom got off the interstate.

"Breaking odd news to people..." She said, letting the thought trail off. She pulled the car into a parking spot and shut off the engine.

#
Mom and I walked into the Apple Store, which caused me to look around. There was no clothing here, and we all had newish technology, so no reason to buy something. Mom walked right up to a twenty seven inch iMac and launched face time. The computer signed in with it's ID and password, which caused mom to sign out and then back in with her own. As the system populated her contacts, Mom looked at me.

"Do you have your headset?" I reached into my purse and pulled it out. "Plug it in." I spun the machine just enough to be able to see the ports on the back.

"It has two ports... We need a MacBook..." Mom pursed her lips and looked around. "Go to that open thirteen inch Air and sign it in to face time using your information. I'll be over in a second." I walked over to the machine and signed it out of face time, and then back in as me. As it populated my contact list, which was far less than mom's, I noticed that both Heather and Dad were on, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw mom talking to a salesman. She was pointing at the twenty seven inch iMac that we had just used, and was now pointing at the thirteen inch MacBook Air that I was now standing at. She smiled and nodded, and then walked over. I offered her an earbud, and pointed at the list. She nodded and then double clicked on dad's name. The call connected and we were looking at Dad's face, who looked confused.

"We're at the Apple Store, we figured that this would be easier than trying to do this from one of the phones." Dad nodded.

"Ok, for starters, I assume you got the email?" We both nodded. "Ok. I just talked to Heather, right before you called. I dropped some simple questions about how would she feel if someone she knew was transgender, and then she said that it would depend on who it was. This confused me a little bit, so I asked her to elaborate. She said that if she caught her bother, sister, whatever in her clothes that she would kick your ass, Zoe, but she also said that she would do everything in her power to guide you as an older sister should. I think we should just come right out and tell her."

"Really?" Mom said. Mom looked at me, and I looked back at mom, and then noticed that we were being stared at by other customers, and one salesman was using us as a demonstration on face time. From the looks of it, we had helped make a sale...

"Yeah. Katherine, we raised our kids right, and they respect the differences that we all have. Zoe, just be your self when Heather comes home. It looks like you guys are attracting a crowd so give me a call when you get home, and Katherine, buy something from there to thank them for letting you come in and take over a computer..."

"Ok, Anything in particular you think I should get?"

"Not off the top of my head." Mom nodded. "Love you guys and I'll see you Tuesday."

"Bye Tom." Mom said.

"Bye Daddy." I said. I watched as the screen went back to the list of contacts for face time and I signed out. Mom looked around at all of the people that were staring at us. I rebooted the MacBook Air, knowing that it would reset everything back to how it had been when I walked up to it. A man in shirt sleeves and a tie walked up to mom. He had an ID badge, so I presumed that he was the store manager.

"Good Morning, Ma'am, may I ask you and your daughter a question?" He asked mom.

"Sure." The crowd that we had attracted hadn't shrunk. I think they were expecting us to get chewed out for what we did.

"Who were you facetimeing with?"

"My husband. We figured that a laptop would be easier than an iPhone for the two of us to talk to him at once." The manager nodded.

"He looked like he was in a hotel room, is he away on business?"

"Yeah, he's the director of a department for Gillenfelter Systems and is currently in Denver. We try to talk to him every day when he's gone, and usually use Face Time to do it. We're a Mac Household." Mom said.

"Can you give me a rundown of the equipment you guys have, and may I trouble you to basically write down what you just told me? I would like to share it with my staff as well as send it up the chain to Steve Jobs. He loves hearing about how people use our products to keep in touch when distance keeps them apart. We've never had someone just walk into the store, take over a computer, and just start using face time before." Mom looked at him, and he turned around and looked at someone standing at the genius bar, who held up four, no make that five fingers. "We just sold five Macs because of your use of Face Time." I blinked.

"Well, we have a twenty inch iMac, My husband has a seventeen inch MacBook Pro, I have a white MacBook, and both of my children have thirteen inch MacBook Pros... I helped you guys sell five Macs?" The manager nodded.

"What are the ages on those machines, we haven't made a twenty inch iMac in a few years..." The manager, whose name tag read 'John' asked.

"It's one of the white ones, we got it and my MacBook at the same time, I think in two thousand seven... The MacBook Pros are all within a year old. My husband told me to buy something to thank you for letting me come in and take over a computer."

"Us selling five machines just because of your impromptu use of Face Time was thanks enough. Are you guys going to be in the mall for a while, I want to make a phone call and see what I can do to thank you guys." The man that had been standing at the genius bar walked over and whispered in John's ear. "Make that seven Macs..."

"Yeah, we need to do some shopping." Mom said.

"Ok, if you could give me your phone number, I will call you when I find out what I can do." Mom wrote her number down and handed it to him.

"You don't have to do anything for us. We didn't really do anything..."

"I know." He smiled. "I may not be able to do anything lets see what happens, ok?" Mom nodded. "Why don't you guys give me an hour and we'll see what happens."

#
"Tom, because we went in there and used that MacBook to call you, they sold seven Macs... They want to do something for us..." Mom paused and listened to dad on the other end of the call. "Yes, seven. He asked me what equipment we had at home and I told him. He was going to make some calls to see what he could do." Mom and I walked toward one of the anchor stores. "I don't know what he has up his sleeve. The profit alone from those sales would have been more that I would have spent on anything in the store." Mom and I walked toward the juniors department. "Zoe, look around at stuff and find stuff that you'd want to wear while I finish up talking to your dad." I nodded and wandered off on my own; as I got out of ear shot, I heard mom say "I think that he's going to try to replace my Macbook and the iMac..." I wandered for a few moments just taking in all of the options that were now available to me. I had dreamt of this and now, here I was shopping in the department that would make my outside match my inside. I grabbed a few skirts that looked like they would have been my size and also some tops. Then I saw the sweaters... I grabbed a few in various pastel shades. It was then that I realized that I needed a cart, and mom appeared with one...

"Your timing is just like dad's..." I said, offloading what was in my arms into the cart. "I think that the skirts will go with everything else."

"Looks like it." Mom said. "We should get you some pants as well. And you do need your own shoes..." I saw a blue and black plaid skirt on a hanger and grabbed one in my size. I tossed it in the cart. Mom and I made our way toward a place to check out when I spied some jeans. I looked for some in my size and tossed them in the cart as well. I looked at mom, who looked satisfied. I saw the area where the sleepwear was being displayed and headed over there to look. Satin was about the only thing that I could think of that I wanted to sleep in and I found a cute satin night gown and panty set. The only thing that concerned me was that the panty was a thong... I tossed it in the cart anyway, as I didn't have to wear the matching panty... I saw mom giving me a look.

"What?" I asked, mom just smiled and shook her head. I also grabbed some cotton sleep shirts and a few pair of sleep pants. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to have options. Mom and I walked toward the intimates department, a department that I had never entered before, and a department that I could probably get lost in... I looked around, in awe of the number of colors, not to mention the styles of undergarments that were displayed. As a boy you get a choice of three colors: white, black and grey; as a girl you get your choice of every color under the rainbow and some things that weren't part of a rainbow... That was how I found my self looking at a black and white plaid bra and panty set... I turned and looked at mom... "What size am I?"

"Your sister wears a 34C, so I'd venture a 34A probably." Mom said. I found a set that had a 34A bra and a size 6 panty. I had looked at the size of the panty when I put it on. I tossed it in the cart and then looked at a few more matched sets. The idea of having a matching panty and bra intrigued me, it also in a way made no sense as no one should see your bra and panties...

#
Mom and I carried the first round of spoils out to the car and were walking back into the mall when her phone rang. She pulled the phone out and looked at it. "It's the Apple Store." She said, and then swiped her finger across the screen to answer the call. "This is Katherine." Mom said. She tilted her head toward the Apple Store.. "Ok, John, we'll be there in a few minutes." I followed mom toward the store. When we got there, John met us at the front of the store.

"My employees all decided that since it was your direct use of Face Time that resulted in the sale of eight total machines, plus some accessories, that they are going to give you their commission. Based on the machines sold, That's a total commission of just shy of three grand." Mom looked at John, and then around at the eight members of his sales force that had sold the machines.

"You guys don't have to do this. All I did was call my husband, you guys actually made those sales. I might have helped clench them, but you guys did the leg work."

"Ma'am, I think I speak for the rest of my coworkers," A girl, whose name tag read Sarah said, stepping forward. She wore the royal blue shirt that all of the sales staff wore and had on a pair of rather snug black jeans. She had a pair of blue and black glasses on and a few strands of her brown hair framing her face. She was in the front of the group of employees because if she wasn't, all four foot ten inches or so of her would be lost behind her taller coworkers. "But every single sale we made was on the fence." She turned to look at her coworkers. "You did make those sales, albeit indirectly, but those were all you. You deserve the commission from those sales." Sarah handed her a gift card.

"I don't know what to say." Mom said.

"I'm not done yet." John said, a smile on his face. "I have been authorized by Steve Jobs himself to give you a twenty seven inch iMac and four iPads." Mom looked at him in disbelief.

"Thank you?" Mom said. I did a little bit of math in my head. Mom could replace her MacBook with the commission and then all of the Macs in the house would be less than a year old.

"You're welcome. If you want to continue your shopping and then come back and pick up the products, that is fine. If I'm not here, speak with Sarah who knows what's going on and where everything is. She will be here until we close tonight." Mom looked at me.

"Let's go finish our shopping." Mom said to me. "We will be back in a bit." Sarah nodded.

#
Mom and I walked back into the main concourse of the mall and then toward a shoe store. Mom found a place to sit down and we sat.

"I need to call your dad..." Mom said, digging her phone out of her purse. She tapped the screen a few times and then held the phone to her ear. I simply sat and watched the rest of the people in the mall go about their. "Hey Honey." Mom said into the phone. I watched as a girl that I knew from school walked by with some of her friends. "Well, the manager at the Apple Store called and said that he had received word about what he could do for us." Mom paused and looked at me, with a smile. "Yes, I know you said to buy something from them, but they are giving us something. They sold eight computers because I came in and started talking to you using Face Time." Mom paused again. "Yes eight. The sales personnel decided that since it was the direct result of my use of Face TIme that they sold those machines, that I should get the commission. That's just shy of three grand... There's more though... The manager asked me to write down how we use face time, He sent it to Steve Jobs, who authorized him to give us a twenty seven inch iMac and four iPads..." Mom glanced at me as she listened to dad. "OK, Hang on," Mom turned to me offering the phone. "Dad wants to talk to you." I held the phone to my ear.

"Hi Daddy." I said. "What's up?"

"Zoe, Accept the stuff from the Apple Store, and have your mom get a new laptop. When you guys get home, I want you to work on getting the the computers setup, data transferred etc that way I won't have to do it when I get home on Tuesday."

"Ok. What do you want me to do with the old iMac and mom's old laptop?" These were important questions, if I did say so my self.

"Put them in the den, I'll figure out what to do with them when I get home."

"Yes, Daddy. Is there anything else?"

"No, sweetheart. Hand the phone back to your mother."

"Ok, Bye Daddy. Love you." I handed the phone back to mom.

"Ok, Tom. I love you." She said and then put her phone away. "Lets go get you some shoes." Mom said, standing. As we walked, mom looked like she was in thought. "What did your dad say?"

"He said to accept the stuff from the Apple store and to make sure that you get a new laptop, and that he wants me to set them up and do the data transfers when we get home. He didn't mention the iPads... Heather is going to be surprised..." I said. Heather had been wanting an iPad for a while but couldn't justify the purchase. We walked into a shoe store. There was a sales person that smiled at us as we walked in. Mom and I walked right over to the women's shoes and started looking. I found a pair of black ballet flats and showed them to mom who nodded. She pulled out a pair of those fleece lined boots that all of the girls at school were wearing. I nodded and went back to looking. I found a pair of tennis shoes that were pink and white and showed them to mom and she nodded. I figured that I now had shoes for almost every occasion. That was until I saw a pair of black loafers with what appeared to be a two inch heel. I showed them to mom, who looked at me.

"Ok." She said... "Tell me why you think that you should have them."

"Well," I paused, formulating my argument. Mom and Dad both were good at forming an argument in such a way that it proved their point and sometimes left you with no counter argument. This was why Heather still didn't have an iPad. "Some of the clothes that we have already purchased won't work very well with the selection of shoes that we have. For instance, the ballet flats would work with the denim skirt that we got, but not as well with the pink skirt. The boots would just look funny with both, and the tennis shoes would be laughable, thus the need for a pair of shoes that are a little bit dressier."

"Add them to the pile." Mom said with a smile. That meant that my argument had convinced her of the need for the purchase of the shoes. It wasn't every day that the kids won an argument against mom or dad.

#
We took our spoils out to the car from round two when mom saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks. I had run into the back of her as I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. I looked in the general direction of where mom was looking and saw what caused her to stop. Sitting in the parking garage, at the end of the row that we were parked in, was Carly's car.

"We're going to have to be careful." Mom said, popping the trunk. "I'm pretty sure that Heather is with her." Mom pulled her phone out of her purse and brought up the application that would let her see where Heather's phone was. "Crap." Mom said. I glanced at the screen on the phone and saw that Heather's dot was on the mall. "Lets head to the Apple store, get the stuff and get out of here. This is not where we want to tell your sister about Zoe..." I nodded. Mom closed the trunk and then opened the back door and pulled out a sweater that she kept there, slipped it on and then locked the doors. Heather probably wouldn't have seen mom's car if she wasn't looking for it, so we had that going for us. Neither one of us wore anything that was distinct to the family or anything. Mom and I walked back into the mall and headed straight for the Apple store. Mom and I walked in and looked around. John was no where to be seen, but we did see Sarah, who was working with a customer. She saw us enter and held up a finger, and turned her customer over to another salesman and walked over to us.

"You guys ready to finish the transaction?" Sarah asked, a large smile on her face. Mom nodded. "Why don't you pick out some covers for those iPads while I go get everything together." Mom nodded again and we walked over to where the cases and covers for the iPads hung on the wall. Mom grabbed a brown and black leather cover,

"What color do you you want?" I looked at mom with a look that said 'do you really have to ask me that.' Mom reached up and grabbed two pink covers. Sarah came back out with cart that had the twenty seven inch iMac on it as well as the four iPads. Mom sat the smart covers on the cart and looked at Sarah. "Could you get me a thirteen inch MacBook Pro?" Sarah nodded, and disappeared through the door that she had come out of. She came back a few seconds later with a MacBook Pro. That was one thing that dad liked about the Apple stores. They didn't try to force accessories on you. Mom pulled the gift card out of her purse and handed it to Sarah, who started scanning stuff, looked at mom, who was looking at the little screen that showed the price, watched as mom nodded. Sarah took care of the transaction and then turned to the salesman next to her.

"David, I'm going to help them out to their car, I'll be back." The person that I presumed was David nodded and Sarah handed me the MacBook. I took it and mom gave me a look like 'Don't you dare drop that...' Mom led the way out of the store, and toward the car. I walked next to Sarah, wondering if she would be able to even pick up the box that the iMac was in. We got to the car and I assisted Sarah in picking up the box and putting it in the back seat. We sat the four boxes that contained the iPads in the floorboard and then sat the MacBook on the seat next to the iMac.

"Sarah, I want to thank you, and if you would please pass that on to John for me." Mom said.

"I will." Sarah said, "You guys have a nice day."

"You too." Mom said, I stood next to the car and watched Sarah go. "Zoe." I turned slowly. "I know her ass looked nice in those pants, but we should get out of here before Heather finds us..."