Lindsay answered the door when Mika and Crystal knocked, “I see you two made it!”

Crystal giggled, “Yeah, well if slow poke here didn’t decide to get you a thank you gift, we would have been here sooner.”

Mika blushed, “I always get a gift for the person holding the slumber party, you know that!”

Crystal nodded, “I know I was teasing you silly.”

“So what’d ya get me?” LIndsay teased, peeking inside the metallic paper bag. “Oh wow, this stuff is expensive!” she gasped, taking out two bottles of makeup.

Mika nodded, “I had some discounts but it still wasn’t cheap.”

“You so did not have to do that,” Lindsey said as she hugged Mika. “I would’ve settled for some of your homemade cookies!”

“Hey now,” Crystal giggled. “Mika’s cookies are all mine,” she teased.

Lindsey giggled. “Oh, not those cookies you goose. Lisa would never forgive me,” she teased back.

Mika blushed deeply, “My cookies are mine,” she said, still blushing she stuck out her tongue.

“Oh no they’re not,” Crystal giggled, tickling Mika’s sides gently.

“Meep!” Mika giggled and squirmed and squirmed away.

Lindsey laughed. “There’s a gaming tournament going on in the living room, enough soda to send a mentos to the moon in the kitchen, and pizza in-between so you guys know the drill, make yourselves at home, and if you break anything, blame the dog.”

Mika giggled, “Like when we were five and you broke your mom’s vase?”

“Or when I was eight and broke it again,” she said innocently. “It’s amazing what you can do with a little superglue and an afternoon.”

Crystal laughed, “Did she ever figure it out?”

“To this day she still thinks that poor dog did it,” Lindsay giggled. “Maybe I should tell her the truth.”

“Did what?” Kelly , Lindsey's mom asked as she came out with a tray of pizza rolls for the living room party.

“Eep!” Lindsey squeaked. “I refuse to answer on the grounds that I will most definitely incriminate myself?”

Kelly smiled, “Just be careful of my vase this time, you already broke it twice.” she gave the girls a wink as she took the tray to the living room.

“How did she...” Lindsey trailed off, and Mika laughed.

“She’s a Mom. I swear they come equipped with eyes in the back of their heads and proximity radar built in standard.”

That night Mika woke up to use the bathroom, though she had to pull away from Crystal carefully not to wake her, and then stepped over several unconscious bodies in sleeping bags. On her way to the bathroom she could hear whispers in little girl voices. She stopped in her tracks, straining to hear what they were saying.

“You sure this is what she wanted?” one of the voices asked.

“Oh I’m positive. She was so sad about having to go back to her old life, it was practically radiating off her.”

“Well if you're sure... I mean messing with someone’s life like this and then find out it’s not what they wanted is not good Luci..” The other voice stated.

Mika crept towards the hall closet very slowly, without making a sound. She eased the door open, but no one was there.

“I know. I can’t explain to you why I intervened with her. I took your advice and took a break, and in doing so, she showed me the most wonderful summer I’ve had in a very long time, so I wanted to repay her.”

The other voice said, “I know how that is, just be careful ok? Take it slow, don’t do everything at once, or you’ll be doing more vacationing than you wanted.”

“Yes, I’ve been easing her into it, for both our sakes. I don’t want to shock her. I just want her to be as happy as she made me.”

“Luci?” Mika whispered, peeking in the bathroom. The voices disappeared after Mika called out. “I think I’m losing my mind,” she sighed, plodding into the bathroom.
Something seemed off to Mika, her male thing was way smaller than it normally was, and her chest was a tiny bit heavier. She shrugged it off as she sat down to pee. “Weird voices, weird feelings.” she sighed.

“Hey,” Crystal said, poking her head around the bathroom door. “Um... Can I ask you something and not have you freak out?” she said, half-asleep.

“Sure come in and shut the door.” Mika whispered.

Crystal nodded, looking a little uneasy as she closed the door. “Did ... Um... Did you hear something when you got up to pee?”

Mika nodded, “I thought I was going nuts.”

“So it wasn’t just me then,” Crystal sighed, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. “It sounded like two young girls talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. At first I thought I was dreaming, and then I noticed you were gone.”

“I think they were talking about me,” Mika answered, glancing up at Crystal. “Are you happy with my choices Crystal?”

“What?” Crystal asked, confused.

“Are you happy that I decided to tell my mom when I was 5 that I wanted to be a girl?” Mika smiled, she finished and cleaned up pulling up her sleeping shorts and flushed.

“Yes, God yes,” Crystal answered as she put her arms around her. “It was because you’ve been able to be true to yourself that I’ve had the courage to be true to myself too. You are the reason I can be openly lesbian with confidence, even if we weren’t dating. You’re an inspiration to the people around you,” she said, and kissed Mika softly.

After washing and drying her hands she turned and kissed Crystal on the lips, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” Crystal giggled. “Your damn fairy godmothers did.”

“Hey they aren’t mine.” Mika giggled, “But I hope they can keep it down from now on.”

The funeral service was short, but sweet. A couple of Christopher’s co workers and friends spoke on his behalf, and though Mika was given the opportunity beforehand to prepare some words, she opted not to and instead, led a short prayer that Lindsey had written for her in the form of a poem.

After the service and burial, as Mika sat with her hands neatly folded in her lap in the back seat of her mother’s car, Crystal reached other to touch her shoulder, getting her attention.

“Look,” she said, a bit surprised herself. There were a number of cars parked around Mika’s house, and girls from both the cheer squad and spirit squad standing around, some bearing baked goods, others with grocery bags.

“Did you...” Mika asked, but Crystal shook her head.

“No, I didn’t say a word to anyone,” she said, and as they got out of the car, both Lindsey - still wearing her black dress from the funeral - and Tiffany approached and hugged Mika.

“Surprise?” Lindsey giggled a little.

“You guys...” Mika laughed a little. “You didn’t have to do all this!”

“Cheerleaders gotta stick together right?” Tiffany teased. “Besides, we didn’t feel right all showing up at your Dad’s funeral unannounced, but we wanted to show you we care.”

Mika hugged Tiffany, “Thank you.”

Tiffany giggled, “No problems girl. See you at practice Tuesday!”

“Want to go to a movie before bed?” Crystal asked Mika as she changed her clothes. “Since we can’t get out of school again tomorrow,” she teased.

“Sure we got plenty of time, what movie do you want to go see?” Mika smiled.

“Eh, you pick?” Crystal said with a shrug as she pulled on a pair of casual flats.

“Hey you asked, you pick.” Mika giggled.

“Yeah, but I picked last time,” Crystal giggled too, tucking her top into her skirt and throwing on just a dash of lip gloss after.

“We could always go see X-men of Futures Past.” Mika smiled.

“That sounds good,” Crystal said as she took Mika’s hand. “I just want to get you out of the house for a few hours, and it was a movie, or shopping,” she said with a grin.
“Thank you for not suggesting shopping.” Mika giggled.

“I know you said you were okay... That you made peace with your Dad’s death, and... I know you never saw eye to eye with him, even though he tried to be a good Dad these last couple of years, but if you need to talk, i’m here for you,” Crystal said, and leaned closer to kiss Mika’s neck. “I love you,” she whispered, and smiled as she headed for the door.

“I love you too,” Mika answered as she followed Crystal out, still holding her hand.