Daddy's Little Girl

Mom backed the car into the garage. Once she had parked, we both got out of the car and went into the house. I was still trying to get used to wearing knee socks. I was used to wearing socks that stopped where the knee socks, but the knee socks fit differently they were more snug all the way up to just below my knee. Heather was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. She turned toward the door as I came though it first.

"Hell-" She stopped when she saw my complete outfit. Mom shot her a look. "Zoe, that little outfit is extremely cute on you."

"Thank you." I said, executing a curtsy. Heather blinked at me.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She asked.

"By watching you do ballet a few years ago. I practiced in my room where no one would see me... How was my curtsy?"

"Perfect..." Heather said. She made a spinning motion with her hand that indicated that she wanted me to spin around so she could see me from all sides. I obliged, not realizing that my skirt would float up as far as it did.

"Zoe, be careful doing that..." Mom said.

"I think that black panties would have worked better than pink today..." Heather said, with a chuckle. I thought I had been doing pretty well at not showing my panties to the world.

"Probably..." Mom said letting the thought trail off as her phone chimed. She pulled it out and looked at it. "Your dad will be home in about thirty minutes." She said, and then looked from me to Heather. "Heather, do you have any outfit that would compliment what your sister has on?" Heather looked at me and then at mom.

"Not really." She said, "I do have a blue plaid skirt that I haven't worn is a while. Why do you ask?"

"I was kind of thinking that you and your sister could dress similarly, but at the same time, in a way this is kind of like Zoe's birthday and I want her to feel special, if that makes any sense."

"Actually, it does. It makes a lot of sense. This is the beginning of Zoe's new life, I have a lot of stuff to teach my little sister, Tonight's about her. Lets make it special." Heather winked at me.

"Alright. Why don't you girls go work on homework until your dad gets home." Heather and I nodded, and then headed for our room. Before I entered my room, Heather stopped me.

"Zoe, when I said that you looked cute earlier, I meant it. I'm proud to have you as my sister." She hugged me and I hugged her back. we rarely hugged so this was a nice change of pace...

#
I had just finished my homework when I heard the garage door open. I stood up and left my room as I wanted to be downstairs when dad walked in the door. I walked into the kitchen and stood there. Mom walked over and stood behind me, her hands on my shoulders and Heather stood right next to me. I already had an idea of how dad was going to take this by way of our video chat, and right that second, I knew that with the support that I had that I would stand firm against what ever came my way. Allies would be vital in the coming days, more so than I realized. The door opened slowly and I waited with bated breath as Dad walked through it. It was always nice to see him after he had been on the road, but this time I was nervous about him seeing me. He walked in and I smiled. I knew that my dimples were showing, and that only added to the effect. There was a thud as laptop bag hit the floor. I knew it was padded, but I still cringed inside. He blinked twice, his jaw dropping and then shook his head as if to try to clear some cobwebs, and then smiled.

"Zoe!" Dad said, "You're beautiful. I'm sure that I could use more words to describe you, but that sums it up." He opened his arms and mom removed her hands from my shoulders and I ran to my father, embracing him in a hug and us bonding in a way that we had never bonded before: as Father and daughter. I was ecstatic at the fact that my family accepted me for me. Dad and I broke the hug, and he held me at arms length and looked at me. "How was your doctors appointment?" He looked from me to mom and back to me.

"Doctor Francis pretty much confirmed what Zoe said. Our little boy is growing up to be a beautiful young woman..." I raised an eyebrow and spun slowly to look at mom.

"Mom, that made no sense..." I said with a chuckle. Heather and dad burst out laughing and then mom smiled. Dad looked me up and down again.

"You look cute in that outfit. I never saw you as the kind of person that wears a hat though. I guess it depends on the hat..." Dad let the thought trail off. "Lets go sit in the living room, it will be more comfortable than standing here in the kitchen." He said. We all moved from the kitchen into the living room, where Heather and I sat on the couch and mom and dad sat across from us on the love seat.

"Tom, Dr Francis actually gave me a diagnoses of Gender Identity Disorder as the name for what Zoe has. I have all of the paperwork and Dr Francis will be meeting me at the middle school tomorrow at seven thirty." Heather's eyes widened.

"Zoe's going to school tomorrow?" Heather asked in disbelief. Dad looked as shocked as Heather sounded.

"Yes," Mom said. "If her doctor thinks it's time, then it's time," She paused. "Tom, she is going to be the first transgender student in the Tinapple city school district," She looked from me to dad. "We might have to fight right along side her... We might have an uphill battle before us." Dad pursed his lips and nodded, his eyes not leaving his youngest daughter: me.

"Zoe, are you ready for this?" Dad asked. "This fight could get kinda ugly." I looked at mom and dad, and then at Heather, my gaze finally returning to dad.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I said. "You guys taught us to stand up for what we believe in and what is right. I have every right to walk into that school and be educated as anyone else. I also have a right to be me. I told Emily that if push came to shove, I could keep going to school as Allen, as long as Zoe can be here the rest of the time. It won't be easy, but if there's a fight over it that's not going to be easy either. I'm going to win. I have you guys for support no matter what happens. Love conquers everything." I reached up and wiped a traitorous tear from my cheek that had escaped my right eye. Mom and dad looked at each other, eyebrows raised, with a look of proud shock crossing their faces.

"Wow..." Heather said. "Are you sure that you're only thirteen?" That caused mom to start laughing. Dad smiled and looked at Heather and I.

"I'd say we raised you guys right." Dad said. "I don't know about you three, but I'm starving. I didn't get a chance to get lunch when I got back from Dallas as I had to give reports to the board..." Dad paused and smiled at me. "Zoe, May your father escort you to dinner?" he asked. I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"Yes, Daddy." I said, trying to keep the tears of happiness in my eyes. Lets just say I failed at the attempt.

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Dad parked the car and shut off the engine. The four of us got out and I walked with my father who looked proud to be walking his daughter into the restaurant. Mom and Heather walked behind us, chattering on about something. I wasn't paying much attention to them, just proud in the acceptance that I had received from my family. I couldn't have asked for a better set of parents and older sister. As we walked into the restaurant, the hostess looked at the four of us and smiled. She led us to a table and we sat. Before she departed, she looked at me.

"That is a cute outfit." She said. I smiled at her.

"Thank you." I replied, smiling. I was so happy to just be me, with no pressures to conform to being something I wasn't. But, as with anything, there was some not so good news sitting on the horizon... News that would shake up the schools, news that would change some lives. I was as ready as I would ever be to take on the challenges before me. You have to stand up for what is right, for what you believe. Tomorrow morning would mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and the end of the previous chapter. The road that my life would travel down had yet to be paved, but it was there waiting for me to start my journey.