Jason's Story

by Kristine Roland

Chapters 40 - 44. The continuing story of Jason, a young boy that is coming to terms with his transgender nature, and his mostly supportive family.

"Kristine, introduce me to my granddaughter and her girlfriend please." Jason's grandmother said.

Authors Note: Thanks to Joni W for editing this section for me!

Chapter 40

"Is Kelly ok?" Richard asked Kristine as she came into the living room.

"She will be. She is just really hurt by Jessica's reaction." Kristine replied.

"Why do you keep referring to Jason as Kelly? What the heck is going on here?" Jason's grandfather asked.

"We learned several months ago that Jason had been hiding this need to express himself as a girl. He was feeling terribly guilty and ashamed of his feelings. We have been working with a psychologist since then. Jason is transgendered." Kristine said.

"What do you mean? Trans what? Jason is a boy, he is a good ball player, loves to fish, he is not effeminate. What about this Julie, did she do this to him." Jason's grandmother said.

"No Mom, she didn't. We found out about this before he and Julie got together. Julie has been very supportive of him, but she is not the cause. I know that it is hard to understand, hell, I still don't fully understand it, but there is no doubt about it. Jason is far happier as Kelly then he ever was as Jason." Richard told his parents.

"And what does this psychologist say. Surely with his help, Jason can be cured of this foolishness? And why are you letting it go on?"

"Dad, it isn't foolishness. Look, we have had to do a lot of research on this recently. This is more common than you would realize. We could forbid Jason from expressing this, but the research shows that forcing transgendered people to suppress their inner selves leads to serious depression and worse. I would much rather have Jason become my daughter Kelly, then for him to sink into depression and possibly kill himself. That is what happens." Richard said.

Jason's grandmother gasped.

"So what exactly did this psychologist recommend?" Jason's grandfather asked.

"That we give Jason the time to figure out what is right for him. He said that some, though not many, may grow out of it. But he also told us that most never do. The important thing is to figure out just how far he needs to go with this. From what we’ve seen, Jason is not going to grow out of this. He is Kelly. Looking back, he has always been Kelly; we just didn’t realize it. Kristine and I are fully behind him… No… Kristine and I are fully behind her." Richard looked at Kristine, reached over and took her hand, giving it a loving squeeze. Kristine returned the squeeze and smiled at him.

"Mom, Dad, I know this is a lot to take in. But I also know that you two love Jason and want him to be safe, healthy and happy in his life. He needs this to be happy. I know in my heart that we are doing the right thing for him. He is going to need as many people to help him face the challenges ahead; as many as possible. We know that Jessica will never come around and that is unfortunate. I hope that you will give Kelly a chance, because she certainly wants you to be a part of her life. She is in her room right now, worrying about how you are going to react. Are you going to be like Jessica and disown her, or are you going to be like Sally and accept her for who she is?" Kristine asked.

"Ira, I am not going to reject my grandchild and neither are you; and you know it. Jason has always been a wonderful grandson and I'm sure that Kelly will be a wonderful granddaughter. Kristine, I want to meet my granddaughter."

"Lizzie…"

"Ira, I mean it. You know Richard and Kristine are good parents. If they tell you that this is the right thing for Jason, you know that it is, to the best of their ability. We are not going to add to their problems. Jessica is going to get an earful from her mother tonight, because her behavior was not very Christian in my book! At least not in the way I was brought up and not the way we raised her either."

Ira sighed, looked at his wife, his daughter-in-law and son, and said, "Of course, Lizzie. You’re right."

"Kristine, introduce me to my granddaughter and her girlfriend please."

"Mom, it will be my pleasure." Kristine replied, and led Lizzie toward Jason's room.

They knocked on the door, and then went in.

Jason and Julie were sitting on the bed holding hands, with Jason's head on Julie's shoulder. Julie was trying to keep Jason calm. They both looked, with slight trepidation, at the two women that had come into the room.

"Mom, this is your granddaughter Kelly." Kristine said.

"Don't just sit their girl, come and give me a hug!" Jason's grandmother said.

Jason expression showed his relief as he got up from the bed and went to his grandmother and hugged her, saying "I love you Grandma."

"Shhh… It's going to be fine. I love you too, Kelly. Now how about introducing me to your girlfriend. Julie, I believe, isn't it?"

"Ohh… I'm sorry, yes, Julie this is my Grandma Anderson."

Julie came over and said, "Hello Mrs. Anderson, I'm happy to finally meet you."

"Please call me Lizzie. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Julie. I'm sorry that things got off to a rough start here today. But we’re going to put all that behind us and get on with celebrating Jas... I'm sorry, Kelly's birthday. Kelly, I'm sorry, but I suspect that the gifts we brought are not quite appropriate now. We will just have to go shopping soon and get you something better."

"I haven't changed that much, Grandma. I still like the same things I always did." Jason replied.

"Well, I don't think the shirts and pants I bought are quite right now. Besides, you know I love shopping for my grandkids. If you tell me that you don't want to go shopping for some new clothes, I'm going to wonder if you really are a teenage girl." She said with a wink.

"Oh, no… I can always use some new outfits."

Julie laughed at that. "See, she really is a girl. You should see her trying to figure out what to wear when we go out."

Grandma Lizzie chuckled. "Ok, I have to ask, are you Kelly's girl friend, or Kelly's Girlfriend?"

"I'm both. I don't care if she is Kelly or Jason, she is my best friend."

"Fair enough. Well Kelly, are you ready to meet your grandfather? I promise he won't bite, but he’s probably going to take a while to warm up to you."

"Yes, I guess so."

"Then let's go."

With that, she took Jason by the hand and led him out to the living room.

Chapter 41

"Ira, come meet your granddaughter."

Jason watched as his grandfather came over to him. Jason closed the gap and went to hug him, his grandfather hesitated, opened his arms, as he looked down at Jason holding him, he sighed and returned the hug, softly at first, but then with feeling.

"Kelly. Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Jason squeezed him tightly one more time, and then said, "Grandpa, this is Julie."

"Hello Mr. Anderson." Julie said.

"Julie. It's a pleasure."

"Julie, you can call him Ira." Jason's grandmother said.

"Oh… Of course, thank you Lizzie. Julie, please call me Ira." Grandpa said.

The rest of the morning and afternoon, they spent in various activities. They had an early dinner, followed by the birthday cake, which said Happy Birthday Kelly. After cake, Jason opened his presents. From his parents, he got a necklace. Julie gave him a pretty top. "You have to tell my Mom that I gave you a nice shirt."

Grandma Lizzie said, "As we discussed, we will go out for something when you come home."

Soon after opening his presents, his grandparents had to leave to go home.

"Kelly, I have watched you all day today. I see how happy you are and I want you to know that I love you. Your Grandmother and I will be here for you."

"Grandpa, you don't know how much that means to me. Thank you! I love you!" And he gave them both hugs and kisses.

Chapter 42

"Jessica, I was ashamed of you today." Lizzie said to her daughter, later that night, on the phone.

"Mom, I am not going to expose my children to that perversion."

"Jessica, you claim to be Christian and you would not even give your own brother the benefit of hearing him out. You slapped your nephew!"

"Somebody needs to tell him that it is not ok. But no, my brother just lets him do it because he thinks he wants it. It's a sin; it says so in the bible."

"Really… it does? Where?"

"Mom, I'm not debating it with you. You know as well as I do that the bible condemns faggots."

"Don't use that kind of language to me! And no, I don't know that. I know that your husband and your preacher interpret certain passages that way and that they ignore those things that are prohibited that they don't want to give up. But even if it is, Christ said, 'love the sinner, hate the sin.' You should be supporting your family, but instead you wrap yourself in self-righteousness. Don't pull that nonsense with me. I brought you into this world. Your beliefs do not justify the act of hatred you exhibited today."

"That wasn't hatred; it was an act of love. I was trying to wake up my brother, so that he can save his son from eternal damnation. Jason needs to understand that it is not acceptable and then he will quit this sinful activity. He is just looking for attention. Well he got it."

"You know Jessica, it's love like that that got Christ crucified. If you weren't my daughter, I would really love to be there when you meet him. As it is, it would hurt too much to watch him reject you the way you rejected your nephew today."

"That is blasphemy. I will not sit here and listen to you blaspheming my Lord and Savior."

"Fine. I'm done. But if you or Tom cause problems for Jason, you are turning your back on your family, your father and I are supporting him fully."

"Jason has made his own bed; he will have to lie in it. When all is said and done, I hope he comes to his senses, better a bit of problems here on earth, eternity is a long time."

"I'm not bluffing, Jessica."

"Neither am I, Mom. Goodbye." Jessica hung up the phone.

"Damn!" She slammed the phone down on its hook. "Ira!"

"What?"

"Where the hell did I go wrong with her. She is a self-righteous bitch."

"You did not let me shoot that bastard that she married."

Lizzie laughed, "Well yes, that probably was a mistake."

"I take it your call did not go well?"

"No, she can rationalize anything she does. It's God's work."

"Is she going to out Jason?"

"I think she is going to let Tom do it. He may have already done so. I told her we were fully supporting Jason and that if they cause problems for Jason, they were turning their back on the family. She did not care."

"I guess we’ll find out when Richard, Kristine, Jason and Julie get home, just a couple of more days."

Chapter 43

Tom sat at his computer, looking at the picture from his camera phone. Seeing Jason all dressed up as a girl made him sick to his stomach. He attached it to an e-mail, and addressed it to two of his friends that lived in Jason's town, and hit send.

Kathy and Sue looked at the computer screen. "Oh, shit." Kathy said.

There, in an e-mail, that had been forwarded over and over again, probably to three quarters of their classmates already, if not all, was a picture of Jason standing next to Julie. Jason was wearing a one-piece bathing suit, with long hair, and of course breasts. The caption clearly labeled it as Jason, and while that might have been questionable, there was no question that it was Julie, and since people knew full well that the two were dating, no one was going to question it.

The phone rang.

"Hello John. Yes, I just got it. No, I don't think it is doctored. Look, come on over, we can talk it through here. Kathy is here too." Sue said. "Oh this is going to be fun. He is not a happy guy right now."

"I'm sure he isn't."

A little while later, John was sitting in Sue's kitchen. "What the heck is going on? Did you know about this?"

Sue sighed. "Yes, we figured it out a few weeks ago."

"And you didn't tell me!" John said.

"John, it had nothing to do with you and it was too risky for Jason. It would have been better for him, if we had not figured it out. I don't betray my friends."

"But you know everyone is going to assume that I knew! They're going to think that I'm gay."

"But you are not gay and Jason isn't either. He is not interested in boys. He and Julie really are together." Sue said.

Kathy had been quiet till now but she said, "Look, Jason has been your best friend for years. If it wasn't for Julie and him getting together, you would not have Sue here, have you forgotten that. The fact is, it was because Julie found out about Jason that they got together in the first place. She likes it. Jason is a great guy and by the way, a nice girl too. So are you going to be a friend, or are you going to turn your back on him."

"I don't know. I don't know what to think. I've known him most of my life and we have been friends forever. We have shared a room together and this whole time he has kept this to himself. I feel like he has been lying to me our whole lives."

Sue said, "John, I understand, but try to put yourself in his place. You know how people are going to react to this. He only told his parents a few months ago, he surely couldn't have told you before them. He didn’t tell Julie, or us, we caught him. Julie saw him buying girls shoes with his mother and remember we told you that they had told us that he had a cousin Kelly, well he is Kelly. He fought this for years and is only now coming to terms with it himself. Please John, give him a chance. They will be home tomorrow; he’s going to need all the friends he has."

John looked at them both, let out a sigh and said, "Ok, I'll try."

Chapter 44

They pulled into Julie's driveway. The whole town knew about Jason. Her mother had called last night, after having been called by one of her friends.

Her mother originally wanted to come up and get Julie and bring her home right then. However, considering the hour, and the fact that they were coming home in the morning anyway, she consented to allow her to stay the one final night.

Her mother would not listen to her attempts to explain.

After much discussion, Julie had told Jason's parents that they could push her mother to talk to her about her own sexuality.

Richard opened the trunk and got Julie's bag out. The front door opened and Julie's mother came out. She was clearly upset.

"Julie, go inside." She said.

She started to reply, but her mother cut her off, "Don't say a word. Go inside, now."

"You and Kristine have a lot of nerve. How could you keep this a secret from Ken and me? We trusted you to keep Julie safe."

"She was safe."

"Oh… then why is she in a picture with your son dressed up like a girl? What does that make her and how safe will she be in school. What chance will she have to find a real boyfriend? No boy will want to be with her now, because everyone will assume they are gay, like your son."

"Jason is not gay. He is transgendered. There is a difference. Trust me we are all just as upset as you are about that picture being circulated. The one thing I do know is that Jason is going to hold his head up high and face it. You need to speak with your daughter and listen to her. There is a reason that she and Jason came together. I know you know what I'm talking about, because Ken told me about your concerns. I'm sorry that Julie has been brought into this and we will do whatever is necessary to protect them both. I know you don't think so right now, but we have come to really care for Julie, we don't want her hurt, any more than you do."

"You and your family will stay away from Julie. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you. Speak to her."

Richard closed the trunk, got into the car and drove away.

Julie's mother went inside and sent Brian out to get Julie's bags. She went up to Julie's room and found her lying on the bed crying.

"Julie. You are not to go anywhere near that boy again. You stay away from him; you don't talk to him, no e-mails, no contact. He does not exist, do you understand?"

Julie sat up, looked at her mother and said, "No. I understand, but no. I will not desert him. Especially now, when he is going to need me the most."

"Julie this is not open to negotiation. You will not have contact with Jason."

"You're right about one thing; it is not open to negotiation, I am not going to turn on him."

"Julie, you have already seriously damaged your reputation. It’s going to be difficult to overcome this and until you do, no boy is going to want anything to do with you. The longer you stay with him the harder that will be."

"I don't want any boys. I have never wanted a boy. Don't you understand; I don't like boys that way. I don't like girls that way either. That is what got me interested in Jason in the first place. I caught him buying girls shoes and it was like a whole world opened up for me. I confronted him with it and that is why I got invited to their house that first night. So his mother could find out if I was going to use that information to hurt him. I used to think I was going to be alone my whole life, than I met Jason. I don't know if he and I will still be together when we get older, but I know what I am looking for now."

Julie's mother looked like she had been punched in the stomach.

"You don't like boys? So you are gay?"

"I don't know Mom. I don't like boys, I kind of like girls, though I'm a little bit grossed out by the thought of touching a girl down there. Though not as much as the idea of being with a boy. Yuck. But Jason is a little bit of both and I have to tell you, I really like that."

"Julie, you are too young to know that. You just think you’re gay."

"You're not listening Mom. I don't think anything, but I know how I feel. It isn't going to change. I know you love me Mom and I know you don't like things that are outside the norm, but you are going to have to accept me as I am. You know, one thing I did learn from the Andersons, they accept people as they are. Mr. Anderson had a lot of trouble with Kelly, but he never lost sight of the fact that he loved his child and that her happiness and well being were the most important thing. I hope that you and Daddy can open yourselves up to accept me. This is who I am, Mom. You can either accept me, or reject me, but you cannot change me."

Julie lifted her head up as she was speaking. Her eyes watering, but defiant.

"Julie…"

"Mom, I love you, but that's the choice; accept me as I am, or reject me. Can you meet me part way? Are you willing to try to accept, I don't need unconditional acceptance this second. If you are willing to try, I have the phone number of Jason's psychologist. He can work with us as a family to help you and Daddy, and frankly me to learn to accept me. If you are not willing to try, then I will have to leave."

Julie's mom sat down in Julie's desk chair.

"Leave? Your fourteen years old, where do you think you would go. Did the Andersons put you up to this?"

"No, they didn't. I'm sure they would give me a home though, while I tried to work things out with you and Daddy. But I also think that Kathy or Sue's parents would put me up. None of them would let me go live on the street. Should I leave?"

"No, of course not Julie, I don't want you to leave, and neither would your father. I don't know what to think. I'm very upset about this picture and I'm furious that the Andersons knew about this and did not think it was something we should know about."

"Mom, they did not have much choice. I made them promise and they could not tell you without putting Jason at risk. They had to trust me and I had to trust them."

"They still should have told us."

"Mom, they couldn't. Please, can we call them and arrange to get together and clear the air. We’re all going to need each other to get through this. The whole town knows about Kelly and me. Kelly is going to have a really tough time of it. Now that it is out, I think that Kelly is going to go full time. She has nothing left to hide."

"I don't know... Damn, oh alright, I will call them."

"Thank you Mom. I do love you, I hope you know that."

"I do, Julie. I love you too. Do you have any more secrets I need to know about?"

"No, I think this one is big enough."