A 17-year-old boy was pacing around his room. He didn't know how he should say it to anyone, let alone his parents. He didn't think of it as a failure or that his parents would think of it that way, but his school gave that kind of impression with all the bullying and the way teachers talked about it.
Then his year-and-a-half younger sister knocked and came into the room. "Hey, you okay over there?"
He looked at her and started biting his nails. It felt less helpful so he got back to pacing. "I have no idea."
She gave him a look. "Come on. Let's sit down and talk." She took his arm and pulled him to his bed. She sat down with her legs crossed and waited. "No more pacing, if you keep doing it, I will go crazy."
He sighed and sat down. He took one of his hands into the other and started massaging the back of his hand. He looked at her. "One of the boys a year or two below me got beaten up yesterday at school. I know, nothing new, but I heard the boys yelling 'f*gg*t' (use it and I will be VERY upset with you) at him. Since I didn't know what that meant, you know that I don't really follow certain things. I just do what I like and try to keep up with some of your favorite things." He started mumbling.
She got her hand on his mouth. "To the point, please, I'm going to meet Gene today."
He nodded. "Well, the word fascinated me since they yelled it out and nobody bothered to do anything. So I started looking and I think I dug myself into a big hole." His pressure of one hand on the other got bigger.
Angel took her brother's hands and pulled them away. "Hey, it's okay, breathe. In... and out. In... and out." She kept nodding her head to show when to take a breath and when to release it. "I'm here and mom and dad are always here for us too. No need to worry, you're not alone."
Then the door opened again and a 12-year-old head peeked in. "Hey." A smile got the older siblings to smile too. "What are you guys talking about?"
The eldest quickly stuttered out. "Nothing that should bother you just yet. What's going on, big bear?" He motioned for the kid to come to them.
The little sibling ran up to them and when they noticed his notebook in his hand, they knew where the problem was - math was there yet again. "Okay, sit here." Angel pushed herself a little bit away so the kiddo could sit between them. "You and math, you two must hate each other with passion." She chuckled.
They got to work and after half an hour they were done. There wasn't that much, but it was math. They had trouble with it too. Not as much as the kid, but it still wasn't their favorite.
"Did you talk to your teacher about this?" The eldest asked.
Head went down. "Yes, but I didn't really get any help."
"Why don't we talk about that with mom? Dad is with uncle Scott at the moment and we should talk about it with someone." Angel said and stood up pulling her younger sibling with her. "I'll be back and we're going to keep talking if you want to." She smiled at her older brother and left with the child to find their mom.
She looked at her younger sibling studying her face as they walked. "Is he in trouble or something?"
She shook her head. "He just has trouble understanding something, but don't worry, I will help him. You just smile and learn your school stuff." She kissed the head of her younger sibling. They walked into the living room, where their mom was just cleaning one of the shelves. "Mom?"
She turned around. "Yes? How can I help you two?" She smiled and walked to them to hug them. Angel was getting taller than her mother, she was nearly as tall as her father.
"This nugget has a problem at school. The problem is that the math teacher doesn't want to help with learning. I mean, you know our math struggles and the teacher seems not to care." She said and rubbed the back of the smaller person standing beside her.
Their mom sighed and pulled her younger child for a hug. "I will go with you to school and we will talk to the teacher about it."
Angel smiled at them. "Okay, my work here is done and now I'm going to talk to my big brother for a moment before I go out with Gene for a bit." She hugged them both quickly and went back to her stressed brother. "I'm back, time for you to spill the beans quickly." She said as she walked into the room. She sat next to him and gave him a look.
"How do I know if I like someone?" He asked the question she was asking herself a couple of weeks ago.
She smiled. "That depends. If you like them, you want to hang out with them, you enjoy their presence near you, or you like talking to them. If you like like them, then all that plus you may want to get a little bit touchy - cuddles during free time, kisses every once in a while, maybe something more, don't tell me about that part." She chuckled.
"Do you have someone like that? Someone that you like?" He looked at her.
She smiled back at him. "What do you think?"
"Well I'm guessing yes, but that's just a guess. We haven't really talked about these kinds of things. Mom and dad never talked to me about liking someone, so I don't really know much about it. And we both know that I don't have any friends outside of my family and the people that you all are friends with. I don't really like people in general." He scratched the back of his neck.
She sighed and gave him a smile. "I will go through this with you later, but now I have to go because as I said, I am meeting Gene and I don't want to be late. If you feel like going to bed before I will be back, text me or call me. I'll ask Gene if she has an idea about how to help with this... situation. Don't worry, she won't judge you." She smiled and stood up.
That evening Zayn fell asleep without texting his sister. He fell asleep by his notebook. His head just fell to the side and he was out. His father woke him when he got home. But he wasn't really awake. His body yes, but his mind was still elsewhere.
Unlike him, the youngest one of them was still awake when Angel got home. "Hey there, kiddo. What were you doing while I was gone?" She smiled and hugged the smaller body.
"I was thinking when my voice will get deeper, like Zayn's or dad's voice. Then I realized that you and mom's aren't that low. Does that mean that my voice won't be as deep as dad's?"
Angel's eyes widened a little. She knew where that was going. She had a classmate asking the same questions during biology classes. "Well, one of my classmates asked that same question a few years ago and I will tell you what our teacher told us. Your voice does have its limits and it varies based on your body. There are ways to make it deeper, but some of them are connected to many other things. She also said that if anyone feels that way, they should talk with their parents about it." She smiled kindly. "But for now, since mom and dad are sleeping, you can talk to me."
"So my voice can get as low as Zayn's and I won't be like a whistle for the rest of my life?" The hopes in the voice were high and Angel felt bad for probably shattering them in the near future.
She looked down for a second. "It will get lower, but not that much. That's something that usually happens to boys' and you don't have the body of a boy." She wrapped her arms around her younger sibling.
"Does that mean that I won't have a beard either?" The question was a little shocking.
Angel knelt down in front of her little nugget. "Do you think you should have one?"
Then dad went to check why there was light coming out of one of the rooms. "Hey, time to go to bed." He said gently.
"Okay, we'll talk about this tomorrow." Angel kissed her sibling's head and stood up to talk to her father. She stood by him and whispered. "Can I tell you something?" She asked.
He smiled and nodded. "Of course, you can. What's up?"
"I don't want to cause any trouble or something, but I think you should talk to that little nugget about girls and boys. Not as partners, but as how the bodies change because I have a feeling that you have a baby trans in the house." She said. "I would do it, but it seems like I have another questioning client." She said with a gentle chuckle.
Mitch smiled. "And what about you? I noticed you and Gene." He poked her side. "Don't worry, I will not say anything until you are ready, but I did notice. I know that look." He pulled her for a hug.
She smiled a little. "I don't think there's a point in hiding something that obvious." She mumbled. "But we should really go to bed, I have school tomorrow and then the patient. And you will probably have a busy schedule as well." She smiled at him.
"Okay." He kissed her head. "Sweet dreams, doctor." They chuckled.
The next day was a nightmare for Angel. She didn't expect her older brother to have everything so complicated. But they got to the finish line with a result that he got to on his own: demi-gay.
She also told him that she was a lesbian and Gene was her girlfriend, not a girl friend.
Now let's look at the youngest person in the family and the struggles over there...
After school, when the kiddo got home, Mitch went right to the room. "Hey there, my little runner. Angel told me that you have some questions about human bodies." He sat down on the bed in the room and pulled the little nugget to sit beside him.
"I've just been wondering when my voice will get low and when my beard will start growing. Like yours or Zayn's." That shocked Mitch a little.
"But that's not how bodies work, buddie. Zayn's body is similar to mine. Yours is similar to mom's. Your voice will get a bit lower, but it should be higher than mine or your brother's." He said gently. "There are ways to make it deeper, but that will only have an effect on the voice. A beard is a result of something completely else. You can't have a beard without certain hormones." He kissed the little head beside him.
"Does that also mean that I will have to have long hair?" Mitch shook his head. "We can cut it short?" Eyes looking into Mitch's started sparkling a little.
"Of course. Just ask your mom what haircut would work the best and we'll go get your haircut." He picked up the 12-year-old child and walked to the parents' bedroom. "We wanted to ask you something." Mitch looked at his wife as he sat beside her.
She got her headphones off. "What can I do for you two?" She asked as she kissed their heads.
"Dad said you can help me pick the right short haircut." The child said happily.
Mitch leaned closer to Kirstie. "Angel had a suspicion and I think she was onto something. We may have a trans baby here." He whispered.
She looked at him with shock, but still a smile. "Come here, my little honey bun." She patted her lap and opened an internet browser to go look for haircuts.
7 days later they were ready and it was time to cut. When it was done, the child looked into the mirror and then at the mom. "I look like a boy." The cheerful voice brought a smile to Kirstie's face.
The hairdresser was a bit shocked but when the dots connected, she smiled. "I'm glad you like it, young man." She pinched the happy red cheeks.
When they got home, Mitch was amazed by the short hair and the happiness. "Come here, little runner." He hugged his child tightly. "You look amazing. Go take a bath to wash off the little cut hair on your neck."
The child happily ran off. "Don't run, honey," Kirstie called and looked at her husband. "Time to talk to that goofball about seeing a doctor. I saw those sparkles and I'm not sure if period and boobs will be the way. You should talk about that too and then if it goes the way I think it will, I'll call Matt for a number to that friend of his."
Mitch nodded. "Happiness first. Now come here, I want to squeeze you close to me for a minute." He hugged her close.
Then 2 arms wrapped around them. "May I join?" Zayn chuckled. Then Angel pushed herself between her mom and dad. "Just the big bear is missing?" Zayn chuckled.
"That little ball of joy is in the shower," Kirstie said.
"Oooh, is the haircut good?" Angel asked.
Kirstie and Mitch nodded. "Nearly as good as that happiness."
"I just hope I won't crush the beard dreams." Mitch sighed.
"By the way, the hairdresser heard loud and clear 'I look like a boy.' and the little sparkles in the eyes when she said 'young man' were saying it all," Kirstie said.
They all looked at each other. "Boy's pronouns it is then. If we hear a no, we'll stop." Zayn shrugged with a smile.
After about half an hour, a freshly cleaned and dressed person walked to Kirstie and hugged her tightly. "I love the hair. Thank you."
"You look gorgeous, like your dad." She kissed the short hair. "Now go show the hair to your siblings, they were asking about it." She smiled.
The child went to look for Zayn and Angel. "Hey, mom said you wanted to see the haircut." A short-haired head peeked into Angel's room.
Both of the older siblings turned to look and their jaws went down a little bit. "You look amazing, big bear." Zayn smiled.
"Mom said you seemed to like it when you were called the young man," Angel asked without actually asking.
"I don't know if it was the haircut or the young man, I did feel very happy. I am still happy, don't think I'm not, but that moment felt like everything was about to be right." That made Angel smile.
Zayn pulled his youngest sibling onto his lap. "Is something not right? You can tell us, big bear. We can try to help."
"I've been thinking about the voice and beard thing that we talked about with Angel and dad, and I don't like what you were pointing to. I don't want to be a girl." That sentence made the older siblings look at one another.
Then Angel smiled. "That means few things, one - we need to get our parents and they will find more professional help, two - we need to find you a new name, and by 'we' I mean you." She kissed the freshly cleaned head. "Do you want us to refer to you as a boy?" She asked.
The little sparks that came back to the eyes said it all. "That is possible?" The voice full of hope asked.
"Anything you want is possible in some way." Zayn smiled. "Come on, let's go talk to mom and dad so they can help." He picked the 12-year-old sibling and they went to the parents.
They talked for hours till the evening came, then Kirstie sighed and with tired eyes leaned her head against Mitch's shoulder. "Please tell me we have no more surprises for now."
Zayn looked at his sister. "Well, I do have one." He scratched the back of his head. "With Angel's help, I found out that I'm basically demi-gay."
Kirstie hid her face in her husband's chest. She was tired and ready to sleep. "How am I supposed to keep up with all the news? We need to celebrate and I'm way too tired to even think." She whined into the shirt.
Mitch squeezed her. "Don't you worry, you're not alone. I will do it all, now let's go to bed and tomorrow we're going to plan the celebration parties. Everyone gets their separate one." They got up and Mitch picked his wife up and carried her.
By the time they got to their room, she was asleep. He tucked her in and went to say goodnight to each of his kids.