“I'm tired of hiding. I hate these clothes. I hate Troy.”

Tracy got up and began pulling off the shirt she had on, pulling it over her shoulders. Sage stood with her. “Stacey, get the door. Rachel, get a skirt from the closet and a matching blouse.” Sage asked their friends in hushed tones. Sage stopped her before she could completely remove her pants.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded.

Sage pulled Tracy into a hug. “So can I assume that Troy just said his final goodbye?”

Thanks to Djakuf for the edits

The story continues, the next day, Sunday. Soon this weekend shall be over.

Also keeping the rating where it is for the subject matter with William's story

February 6th 1983

Bernice had wanted to talk to Maggie all morning, but either her children and the girls who were visiting, were near by her, or Maggie was running stuff to and from Modine's house. Finally she caught her on the way back to her house. She had no clue where the girls had gone to. She knew her husband was sleeping in the trailer. William was with the Chinese guy and the other parent and they were somewhere looking at the farm work Conner was doing. Persephone was with her youngest daughter, hanging out with Modine. She she took her chance, while she had it. As Maggie reached the front door, Bernice came around her trailer.

“Margret, could we talk inside for a moment?”

“Sure Mom.” Maggie said, not wanting to correct her on the use of the name just yet. She hated the name Margret. Hated it with a passion. But it was never wise to antagonize her mother and with a possible week to the visit, she wanted it to go as smoothly as possible. And her mother loved the name Margret and the Maggie/ Margret fight had been going on since Maggie was a teen. She led her mother inside and her mom pointed to the chairs.

Bernice waited till they both were seated in the e-z-chairs before she started. “Margret, When I was headed to the shower last night, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye in your kids room and I have to know, Why is there a bunch of girls clothes in your boy's room? Those girls couldn't have brought that many clothes. And if they did, why are they hung up in your child’s closet and why are there girl’s panties in the dresser, along with a couple of nightgowns?”

Maggie felt outrage first and she snapped at her mother, instead of trying to remain calm. “You searched their room?!? Why?!?”

“I saw the clothes hanging in the closet last night and I was understandably curious about the dresses in the closet. I may have searched a bit too much. But after seeing the clothes, I feel I have a right to know what's going on with my grandchildren. I need to know they are safe. But I thought about it all night, Margret, I figured it out why this is going on and this can't be healthy for him. Just because of his surgery, that doesn’t make him a girl. You're not helping. Someone had to buy him those clothes Maggie, and you shouldn't have done that, He's your son, and doing this and living in the past like you tend to do, you'll mess up his mind.”

“Mom, don't call me Margret, I hate that name, call me Maggie, you know that.” And in that phrase, Bernice knew she had angered her daughter. The logical part of her knew that the chance for a good, healthy, productive talk was gone. This was how many of their fights had started before. Maggie had always let her mother get her way, till the name was invoked. But both women had a temper and when angered, they didn't like to give up. Maggie's eyes locked onto her mother, but she stayed in her seat. “And I am not living in the past!””

“Maggie.” Her mother sighed, using her daughter’s preferred name. “What he's doing isn't healthy and you're not helping. I know you've wanted a daughter, even since Alyson died, but forcing your son to be a girl isn't healthy for either of you.”

“This isn't me living out what could have happened, Mother!” Maggie snapped. “Tracy has been to several professionals and they all say the same thing. That my youngest is a girl, trapped in a boy’s body. They're even thinking of giving her hormones for girls.”

“Marg...Maggie, this isn't healthy. Troy is a boy, not a girl.”

“Mother, It's Tracy now. Professionals have checked her out. They say this is the best for her.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy had been in the house with her friends the whole time, in the bedroom finishing up on the packing she had to do. They had all gone quiet when she had heard her mother and Grandmother talking. She wanted to curl up on her bed, but she had grown sick of hiding. Even being in the boy’s clothes for just the past couple of days was making her angry and depressed. Now her Grandmother didn't want her to continue in the life she wanted.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the boxes of clothes they had packed already. “I'm tired of this.” Troy whispered.

“What?” Sage asked in a whisper.

“I'm tired of hiding. I hate these clothes. I hate Troy.”

Tracy got up and began pulling off the shirt he had on, pulling it over his shoulders. Sage stood with her. “Stacey, get the door. Rachel, get a skirt from the closet and a matching blouse.” Sage asked their friends in hushed tones. Sage stopped her before she could completely remove her pants.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded.

Sage pulled Tracy into a hug. “So can I assume that Troy just said his final goodbye?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “She's going to meet the real me and I don't care what she thinks.”

“Come on then, We'll help you get ready.” Sage grabbed a blanket off her bed and held it up to give Tracy the privacy she needed. Rachel went to the boxes and dug out a nice skirt and top.

~o~O~o~

While the two women were arguing, Tracy walked into the living-room, wearing one of her nicest skirts and shirts, tears were still going down her cheek, but she held her head high. The girls had done a quick job in turning her hair into a feminine style. Three steps into the living room she got worried and bolted for her mothers chair. Maggie saw her at the last moment and moved as Tracy hopped up into Maggie's lap. She leaned her head against her mothers chest, who was stunned at first at the arrival of her daughter. But after a moment she began to stroke her daughter’s hair and she looked at her mother.

“Mom, meet Tracy, your Granddaughter and face it, she's staying, whether you like it or not.” Maggie said, having calmed down some, since her daughter came out. “The first little while I thought it was a stage. I thought she wouldn't go as far as she did, but honestly, this little girl is here to stay.”

“Maggie, Troy is a boy and this can't be healthy for his mind.”

“Mom, Troy is a depressed little boy, who has told me that if he has to live one more day as Troy, he'll take his own life. You've seen him mope around since you've gotten here, he was absolutely miserable.” Tracy nodded as she looked at her grandmother. “Mom, this isn't a snub at you or Dad, this is who my child is.”

Maggie sighed and looked to the clock, then to her daughter. She knew her anger wasn't helping the cause. She knew she needed help. So changed subjects to give her some thinking time. “Baby, it's almost lunch time, would you help me make lunch for us and your Grandparents, and your friends?”

“It's okay, we can always get something later.” Her mother said, trying to end the conversation. “We got stuff in the trailer.”

“Mom, I want to talk. I need to talk.” Maggie hugged her daughter. “We need to talk, okay? Running away from this won't make it go away. You've found out, you may as well hear how it got this far.”

“Okay.”

Maggie went to Sage and whispered into her ear. The redhead nodded then left the house, sprinting for Modine's place.

~o~O~o~

Vance, Jerry and Mooney were off on bikes again, while Conner walked around, showing William, Lok and Harvey his idea place for a garden. Conner knew he was favoring Harvey as he talked and guilt was digging at him. It wasn't that he hated Lok, but his time in World War two had helped him become leery of Asians, or at least that was the lie he hid behind. He knew he had been cold to the man's crippled granddaughter, too.

They stopped in one corner of the yard and Conner's conscience finally got the best of him and he knew he should do something. He had been thinking about how he felt for treating Tracy, and now here he was, doing it again. He turned to Lok, then he held out a hand to Lok. “Sir, I'm sorry. I've been a jerk to you. It may not seem that way, but I'm been ignoring you, or just giving you a bad attitude and that's wrong of me.” He said.

“Think nothing of it.” Lok said, shaking his hand.

“I've always been negative towards most Asians, because of events in World War two.” Conner stated. “But that's no excuse for treating anyone badly. If William and Maggie are okay with you, that should be good enough for me. And hiding behind the War is an excuse. William was in Vietnam and he doesn't have a problem.”

“Sometimes hatred blinds us, and it is rarely ever a logical hate.”

“Yeah. I almost lost out on a granddaughter and a wife from my own stupidity.” Conner said with a nod.

“And how did it change?” Lok asked.

“Well, Modine kicked me out of the house when Tracy came back from Livermore after Thanksgiving. It wasn't till her attack that I realized that I was being stupid. I thought she was a weak person, a worthless queer, until I watched her take on three kids, all bigger then her, to defend my Modine. I'm not sure what it was, there was a quality in her that impressed me. She could have run, but instead, she defended her grandmother, while injured.”

“She is a special child.” Lok Agreed.

“And she was the reason that I've been getting better. I should have never been rude to you these past few days. Your Granddaughter either.”

“She is not the reason. She is just the one who set you on the right path. She may have helped you see the error of your ways and now you can see your regret, you are changing your attitude. I would say that unlike those who never learn to accept those who are different, you are on your way.” Lok replied with a smile. “As for my Brooke, she is used to people treating her badly, not from her skin, but because of her legs. Yet she rarely lets it get to her.”

Conner gave a nod. “But I would still like to apologize to her as well.”

William sighed. “I'll admit that I have no problem with you, but your granddaughter....” He trailed off for a moment. “She reminds me of what could have been. I've been a bit cold with her.”

“What do you mean?” Lok asked.

“When I was in Vietnam, one of the camps I was stationed at was near a small village. There was an orphanage on the outskirts. And a lot of us soldiers would go over and give the kids things like candy, shirts and stuff like that. I was stationed there for about six months and there was this small girl, maybe a year and a half old. She had the greatest little smile. I had actually talked to my CO to get the paperwork started to see if Maggie and I could adopt her. See, Maggie had wanted a daughter and although she wouldn't have been ours, we could have loved her all the same.”

William steeled himself for the next part of the story. It was the part that hit him with regret and anger and was the reason that he rarely spoke of it. “At the time, the Johnny Cash song “A boy named Sue” was out and I thought Susan was a great name, so that's what I called her. We had some of the red tape finished and the CO was just going to alter some paperwork so we could claim she was really my daughter and get her out of the county. But it never happened.”

William leaned against one of the many olive trees. “A battalion of North Vietnamese stormed the town and by time we managed to push them back, we found they had hit the orphanage.” Tears began to drop down William's cheeks. “Any child that had anything American was murdered. The girls were treated worse.” He didn't have to say anything about what worse was, each of the men there knew what could happen to women in wartime. “I had never wanted to hurt another human being like that in my life, not until Tracy's attack and attempted rape by Bruce, but when I found that little broken girl, my little angel, I wanted to hunt every last one of those bastards down and give them the eye for an eye treatment. She wasn't even two years old. I can't even listen to that song anymore, because all I can see is that little girls face.”

William looked to Lok. “I don't hate Brooke, but seeing her in person and hanging out with Tracy made me think about how things could have been. She makes me wonder what type of child Susan would have been. She would be about thirteen by now.”

“War has a way of changing a man's principles and hurting those who may not wish to be involved.” Lok said. “But to defend the defenseless, that is the sign of a good person, and something your daughter gets from you.”

“I think she gets some of it from her mother, too.” William admitted.

“Either way, she is a special child and to have wanted to get a child out of a bad situation, you are a good man.”

“Thanks.” William replied.

~o~O~o~

Twenty minutes later, after lunch had been prepared, Maggie sent her daughter to the trailer out front to wake her father from his nap. She was glad that Persephone was there, so someone could help her explain what was going on. She had one chance at this and hopefully she wouldn't anger her mother in the process. Again.

Tracy was fighting the nerves as she went to the door of the trailer and knocked. She knew her mother and grandmother were watching from the kitchen window, but she was still worried about letting herself be know to her grandfather like this. Also she was outside, in her girls clothes and the last time she wandered the property like that, it didn't end well. She could hear movement inside the trailer and a moment or two the door opened and her Grandfather looked out at her and smiled. “Hello young lady, how can I help you?”

“I...um...uh...” Tracy bit her lower lip for a moment and lowered her head, welling up the courage and then she blurted out what she was told to say. “They said it's lunch time inside and I was to let you know.”

“Okay. Well let them know I'll be right there.” He said with a smile. He was too tired to realize that he was hearing his own grandchild.

Tracy nodded and went back in the house where she saw her mother and Grandmother both standing there at the window over the stove. Maggie was closing it to keep the heat in the house. Maggie was smiling, but Bernice had a shocked look on her face. Tracy helped her friends in setting up the table.

Marion went to the kitchen, nodding to his wife and daughter, who were the only ones in the room. He looked back into the living room, then down the hall towards half bath. Finally he looked to his daughter. “Maggie?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Who was that little girl who knocked at the door? She another friend of Troy's? I didn't see her in that group of girls before, but she did seem familiar.”

Maggie smiled and shook her head. “Tracy, come out please.” Tracy emerged from her bedroom, her friends all waited in there to see what would happen. This time she had started to shake unsure of what her grandfather would do. As she got close, Maggie put a hand on her shoulder. “Dad, I'd like you to meet Tracy, your granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter? You adopted another child?” He asked. “Where's she been the past day?”

“Not adopted Dad, and she's been here the past few days.” Maggie stated. “ In fact, Tracy has been here all along, even back in Wyoming a few years back.”

He turned and studied the child, not picking up on what she meant at first. He recalled the visit, when Maggie had driven Vance and Troy out for a month long visit. He recalled the visit well, then his lips pulled back in a smile as he saw the necklace his mother-in-law had given Maggie when she was eleven. “Troy?”

“No Grandpa.” Tracy said as she shook her head. “It's not Troy anymore, it's Tracy now.”

His emotions hovered around confusion then he seemed to think about something and finally he reached out and hugged the girl. “Well Tracy, you are quite pretty. I do believe you said that lunch was ready?”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Bernice asked her husband in dismay, as he held out a chair for his Wife. As she took it, he moved and held one out for Persephone, then he held out of for his daughter. The girls went to a card table sitting nearby.

“Well Bernice, first of all, I'm hungry. Secondly, where has hatred of something or someone got anyone in the past? And last, this isn't our house, so what can I really do about it? But honestly I'm surprised that you're surprised.” He stated as Maggie sat down, then he went to his own seat. “Face facts, even when they were in Wyoming, Troy wasn't the most boyish kid there. That's what Maggie meant by Tracy had been the one there? Isn't it?” He asked, looking to his daughter.

“Right. I think this has been happening for a long time, we just never noticed it till last August.” Maggie replied.

Marion looked to his wife. “Let me ask you a question. When they were at the house in Wyoming, who did Troy spend more time with?”

Bernice was quiet for a moment, then she remembered. “With Maggie and me.” Bernice finally said.

“I tried to take Troy hunting, but he was interested in flowers and butterflys. I just thought it was his age showing through. I guess I was wrong.” He looked to his daughter. “Care to clue me in on this Maggie?”

“I would love to. I've made Mom wait, it's only fair you hear it too. Actually, Persephone can help too, because she's dealing with the same thing.” Maggie replied, gesturing to Persephone. “Conner and Modine know already, and so does Shelly and Frank and yes this has something to do with why Tracy is home-schooled and being moved to Livermore, But let me get the whole story out before you ask questions.”

Tracy tried to focus on her food as her mother began the story, starting with her suspicions that Tracy had been wearing her clothes for a couple of years. She covered how Modine had found her in August and the deal that allowed Tracy to visit on the weekends. She went over the story of Vance and Troy's suspension from school, then the trip to Livermore, meeting with Sage and Rachel and William's acceptance.

As she began the story of Bruce's attack, the little girl began to cry lightly, causing Sage to put an arm around her. But Maggie kept going, making sure to not leave nothing out. She let Persephone tell of Tracy's visit to her friends before Christmas. The girls only barely managed to keep from talking about the visit. Maggie took control of the conversation back and finally finished with the pictures and the threats and their upcoming move to Livermore, her daughter had regained her control of her emotions.

When she had finished, Maggie got up and left the room for a few minutes, but neither grandparent spoke, leaving a strange silence in the room. When Maggie returned, she had two pictures. She handed them to her mother and gestured to her father to look as well. “This one was from last fourth of July. This was in Livermore, just after Thanksgiving. Notice anything?”

“Just that he's in girls clothes in one?” Maggie's mother offered.

“No Bernice, It's the smile.” Marion stated. “Right there.”

“Yeah. The smile is almost always on my daughters lips.” Maggie picked up the other picture. “These girls here are Tracy's friends and they accept her as a girl.” Without being asked, all the girls began nodded. “The parents of the girls accept Tracy as a girl. My baby stayed there for a week and there were no problems at all.”

“None?” Marion asked.

“None at all.” Persephone replied. “She was at my house two nights and my sisters as well. None of the parents had a problem with Tracy. See, these girls have dealt with this before.” Persephone stated, she gestured to Sage. “See my eldest girl was born with both sets of parts and I refused to let the doctors cut her up because they felt like Gods. So none of them have a problem with Sage and none have a problem with Tracy.”

“You should take him to a psychologist or something.” Bernice suggested.

“We have and he is supporting Tracy. We see him once a month. The next appointment is in two weeks and that will have a second therapist there to get approval for hormones. If you want to go I will give you the address. Although we may see him when we move Tracy down this week.” Maggie replied. “He's the doctor she went to see in December while she visited her friends.”

“Then you should get a second opinion.”

“Doctor Ivan is a good Doctor. He's been super cool to me all this time.” Sage stated.

“Mom, a professional has seen Tracy. Even the Doctor who preformed the Orchiectomy helped and offered Tracy the chance to see a Therapist to make sure what to do. She could have just forced us to pump testosterone into her, but she gave Tracy the choice.”

“What about the bible. Maggie, this is against what it says in the bible. Maybe you should all go to Church?” Her mother said. Tracy rolled her eyes but decided to just finish her lunch.

“See that's the argument that those crazy ladies from the church are using. They claim that wearing these clothes will make Tracy want to rape and kill the kids in the town. To be honest, I have been thinking of going to a church when we move to the Bay Area, but honestly Mom, the bible says a lot of things and contradicts itself, a lot. I've seen you wearing pants and short hair, the same verse that the church ladies used against her can work both ways. If you want to go with a biblical stand point, what about Judge not? Or love thy neighbor like you wish to be loved? There are a lot of things in the bible, but should we follow them all? Should I take Vance out back and stone him to death for the times he's lied to me? Should I be stoned to death for anytime I may have ever taken the Lord's name in vain?” She held up her sandwich. “This is ham, that's a no-no in the first part of the bible. I've eaten shell fish before, the house doesn't have battlements on it. Face it Mom, the first part of the bible has a list of rules that people barely pay attention to.” She gave her mother a look that only she, her parents and her daughter understood her next statement. “Should those people who cheat on a spouse be put to death? This is a good child and there's nothing wrong with her, just a birth defect.”

Her mother thought about that and was silent for a minute or two. “I don't know Margret....this just seems wrong.” Bernice finally said.

Maggie leveled a steady look at her mother. Without looking away she addressed her father and daughter. “Tracy, could you and your Grandfather please go outside for a moment. Girls, could you go with them? Please, take your sandwiches, but my mother and I need to have a talk. Tracy nodded and everyone grabbed their food and headed for the door.

Once the door had shut, Maggie got up and moved to the other side of the table. She looked at her mother, not in anger, but just a firm look. “Mother, I don't claim to know what's going on in Tracy's head. Yes, I enjoy having a daughter. Yes a part of me would rather have Tracy then Troy because the girl is much more open and friendly, plus she's more confident. She's proven herself as a good daughter and as a great grandchild when she risked her health and defended Modine while injured. The same injuries have made sure that she will never have children, or a normal male life, ever.”

“Mom, it's simple. Tracy is here to stay. You have three options. First is you can get up and leave, writing off this family as a total loss and never have any contact with us ever again. And let me tell you, that one will rip my heart out and crush my child, but don't you dare stand between my child and her happiness. The second choice is that you refuse to accept it but let her live her life and never bring it up in a derogatory way and enjoy the rest of your visit. The last is that you can accept that this is what Tracy wants and it's what the Doctors, trained professionals, think is best for her and learn to love your Granddaughter. She has five friends who totally accept her as a girl, one of them knows what she is going through because she is dealing with it too. I know this isn't normal, but what is?”

“I can almost bet you that right now Dad and her friends are trying to console her and get her to stop crying because she wanted you two to meet her and she was worried that this would happen. So she was ready to hide in the guise of Troy, just to keep you from getting mad because she is tired of being attacked for what she is. She was willing to forgo her happiness, just to keep you happy, so don't even think she's being selfish in this.” Maggie stood up and pushed her chair in. “I'll give you a few minutes to think about it, but I think my daughter needs me.”

Maggie made it to the doorway when she stopped. “Honestly, she needs her Grandmother, too. All girls should know their Grandmothers, but only go to her if you have no problem with my daughter.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy, her friends and her Grandfather all left the house and started walking past the house and towards the field and the barn. Marion reached over and put an arm around her shoulders. “Tracy, I'm sorry. I know your grandmother can be a bit old fashioned and stubborn. It's supposed to be the man who doesn't understand, but like I said, I'm not too shocked. I have a few questions, and if it's okay I would love to talk, but we don't have to.”

“You don't hate me, do you?” She asked.

He smiled and shook his head. “Tracy, if I hated you, would we be talking?”

“I....I guess not.” Tracy replied.

“Can I ask, is this permanent? I mean will you be getting that surgery that the woman in New York got?”

“Who's that?”

“I forget her name, but she is basically a woman in a man's body, or she was, then she got a surgery and is now a woman.”

“Christine Jorgensen.” Sage answered.

“Yeah, her.” He nodded. “So are you going to do that? Become all woman?”

“I think....I don't know.” Tracy shrugged. “I mean I want to. There's been a couple of times, while making dinner, when no one is in the house with me, I've looked at a knife in my hand and just thought about how easy it would be to just cut it off.”

“Cut what off? Your....” He let the question hang, but pointed below her waist line.

“Yeah.” She said with a nod. Rachel and Sage gasped and she felt another arm wrap around her waist. “But I'm just too afraid of messing up, so I haven't done it.”

“Good.” Marion put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “Baby, you ever feel like that again, promise me you'll talk to someone. There's so much that could go wrong. You cut off your..... thing and you could bleed to death before anyone can get to you. There's a major vein in that.”

“But I hate the damn thing.” Tracy said. Marion began to blush at the topic. It wasn't a conversation he had ever though he'd have with a grandchild. “I want to just rip the stupid thing off.”

“I can see that.” He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. When he let her go, he kissed her cheek. “Come on, tell me about these girls you've befriended. They must be special if they are this protective of you.”

“They are.” Tracy said as she looked at her friends. “And each of them is awesome in their own right. Brooke is an athlete, even though she's in the wheelchair. Casey can't hear, but she loves to draw, Rachel loves to sing, Stacey is super cool and Sage helps me out when I talk to her.”

“That's good.” Marion said. “I'm glad she had friends like you girls. Everyone needs friends in life to enjoy the trip with.”

“Thanks.” The girls replied.

“So, does this mean you like boys?” Marion asked his granddaughter.

“I like one boy.” Tracy answered, not wanting to tell her friends about her thoughts of Brooke stripping. “I'm not sure if it's just boys I like.”

“Well, you are eleven, so let things work themselves out and you can pick later. Like when you're sixteen and your mother lets you date.”

“Mom said I had to wait till I was thirty.” Tracy chuckled. “They were already trying to keep Peter away from me when I am home.”

“A typical parent thing to do when it comes to a daughter.” Marion said. He heard footsteps so he turned and saw his daughter. “Everything okay?”

“I just wanted to make sure my baby was okay.”

“As good as gold.” Her father said. “In fact we've been talking.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone went into the house after Maggie had left and she found Bernice at the table. “Mrs. Richter, I know you have no reason to listen to me, but please, hear me out. I know the pains of having a child like Tracy.” Persephone took a seat across from her. “There is nothing wrong with Tracy. The child you knew is still there. The lessons of right and wrong are still there. This change wont make Tracy into some kind of crazy ax murderer. She is a scared little girl, who got put in the wrong body.”

“It just seems wrong. Boys should be boys.” Bernice stated, but she was having a hard time figuring out what was right and wrong. “Not dressing up as a little girl.”

“My eldest, the redhead has both sets of parts. She has a penis and a vagina. How normal is that?” Persephone asked. “Sure, the Penis isn't that large, and the Vagina is partly closed off, but tell me how she would fit into the whole boys are boys and girls are girls. Please, I've often wondered if I was wrong for pulling her away from that Doctor who just wanted to choose what she was going to be.”

“I....don't know.” Bernice thought about it for a moment then looked at Persephone. “She really has both parts?”

“Yeah. And she's starting hormones because her body isn't producing them like it should.” Persephone stated. “She has been a boy and a girl. She hasn't lived like a boy in ages now. But in her heart, she's a girl. The same goes for Tracy. I've had a group of five girls staying at my house now, about once a month for little over three years. Tracy is just like they are. She's not a boy in a dress. In fact I've never seen any boy mannerisms in her at all. Have you? Ones that are natural, not forced?”

“You know....for once I am at a loss of what to do.” Bernice shook her head slowly. “Maggie gave me three options. Leave and never speak to them again, tolerate it or love Tracy, but I really don't know what to do.”

“Well, what do you want to do? If you leave, will you ever return? If the answer is no, can you say goodbye to your daughter and her family for the rest of their lives? And are you willing to take them away from your husband too? Ma'am, have you ever used the argument that it's what’s on the inside of a person that you should judge?” Persephone watched as Bernice nodded. “We all have, but this is one of those moments where you see that statement in action. You're seeing Troy the boy and refusing to see Tracy the girl. Sure, if Tracy were to strip, you would see a young boy standing there, but you watched her walk out of the house. You watched her make lunch. Did you see a boy there? Or a scared little girl who is worried that she just caused her Grandmother to hate her mother and her family for the rest of their lives.”

“I'm....I'm not used to this.”

“I know. Girls like Tracy can have that effect on you, but it doesn't mean they are bad children.” Persephone stated.

I'm almost finished with that one weekend. Then Tracy can move onto the Polka festival.....wait, no, that can't be right.
On a personal note, the story that William tells of the girl in Vietnam actually happened to my Father. There was an orphanage he had actually talked to Mom, through letters, about adopting a girl that he had named Sue, but the Vietnamese army came in and killed a lot of the people in the town, including the children at the orphanage.

There will be at least one or two more posts that cover this weekend, then we move on again.