“Alexis, is this how you repay me? I take care of you for fifteen years, fifteen, I send you to private school, keep a roof over you and try to make a man out of you for your own sake and then you repay me by dressing up as a girl and saying you want to live with your fucking aunt. You are such a fucking disappointment kid! I shouldn’t have kept you, I should have just put you on adoption like your sister. I should have known that you kids were only trouble, after all, YOU killed your mother! ”

Tears started running down his face.

“I should kill you, I should fucking kill you, just like I’m about to kill that bitch Éleonora right now. You overstepped your bounds, girl, you corrupted my son and then you brought back the torturous memory that is his sister. God, I fucking hate you, if I had known you would do this to me I would have killed when your sister first introduced us 20 years ago.”

Éleonora stated talking with difficulty “You would have killed me when I was six? What kind of sick freak are you!” After saying those words she coughed blood and restarted “I should have told Jeanne that you looked suspicious. I should have sabotaged your relationship. God, I have been foolish, really foolish, I should have known the moment Alex talked about abuse that it wouldn’t have be a good idea to meet you with the kids present,” She started gasping for air and then passed out.

Lexi unfroze and started doing CPR on our aunt while panicking. “Auntie! Stay with us please don’t give up! ” She stated crying “Please, not now! Not after only four months of being with you. Not now that we had everything to make a functional family.” Lexi eyes were a like a broken dam and my dam broke shortly afterwards. I opened my mouth and went at it.

“Why did you do this, dad, why? She just wanted us to be happy! I would have been out of your life after this. Why do you have to ruin everything for me? You said we killed mom but, fuck, dad, we were only babies. Auntie is right you are sick freak! I should have known better than to let you abuse me. Why? Why do you hate me so much? Why do you hate us so much? ”

He didn’t have time to respond because moments later we could hear the police arrive. He kicked me, ran to his pickup truck and sped away.

Auntie was in critical condition for hours. The doctors said that there was significant damage to her spine and lungs and that although she might heal, she would probably never walk again.

Lexi and I were totally out of it having just experienced one of the most traumatic experiences in our young lives so we didn’t comment on the dire future of my newly discovered aunt. I barely knew anything about her, but she had been ready to fight my dad with me, an act that made her a heroine in my eyes, but that had as a cost her ability to walk. I felt guilty, really guilty because none of this would have happened if she hadn't met me.

Lexi could perhaps see my guilt because she held me close to her and just told me that it wasn’t my fault, auntie would have gone to see him as soon as she would have found me. I wanted to argue but she stopped me.

“Alex, it isn’t your fault, alright! It's our father’s fault! He is the one who pulled the trigger not you can’t spend blame yourself for everything it’s annoying.”

“Not as annoying as you fucking treating me like a kid all the time!” I said raising my tone.

“I treat you like a kid because you act like kid. You are so egocentric thinking that everything happens because of your actions,” She said in angry voice.

“Girls, calm down!” Said a young dark haired woman with runny makeup and a Parisian accent. I recognized the voice but I couldn’t tell where from. Before I could figure it out the woman restarted talking “I know that Nora being in the hospital is stressing you but don’t you dare start fighting right now. You have just met each other, don’t sabotage your relationship so soon.”

I was going to ask who she was but Lexi answered for me.

“Sorry Aunt Robin, sorry Alex. I just didn’t want you to do something foolish because of your guilt. Even if we have just met each other, I care about you a lot. I have done so since I saw you, a girl with similar features as me, lying on a bench.”

“I am sorry too, Lexi, I just have been taught that when something goes wrong it's my fault. It's hard to forget one's education”

Lexi and I hugged

“Good,” Tearfully said Aunt Robin “At least I will have something less to worry about tonight. Your stupid aunt should have consulted me before doing something so impulsive.” Her tears started streaming. “Such a fool, I leave her alone a minute and then she gets shot.” She sobbed for a minute and we took her to see auntie who was peacefully sleeping. “Girls, promise me that if anything like this ever happens you will tell me. Nora might be 26 but she still acts like a teenager sometimes, she thinks she is mighty, invincible. Yet clearly, *sob* she is not.”

We slept in the waiting room while Aunt Robin made some call and enquiries. I don’t know if she slept that night because when she took us eat at a restaurant the next morning, she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

We sat, we started eating and she started talking “Girls, they still haven’t found him. He is still at large and the police haven’t got a clue to where he could have gone. ”

“Isn’t that dangerous for us?” Asked Lexi, worried.

“Yes, which is why I got my father to pull a few political strings. You will be able to stay in France for an unlimited amount of time. Nora and I had planned to sell the house here and buy a house over there anyway so it’s not a bother to us. We can’t move your aunt yet, so until we buy the house and your aunt is ready to travel we will send you to a boarding school near the Alps. ”

“Boarding school?” We both enquired.

“Yes a boarding school, a girl’s school actually. Sorry, Alex. I know it’s not been that long since you have taken the role of a girl and I also know that you are slightly confused about your gender but they were the only ones that could take the both of you at such a short notice. ”

“I will have to go to school as girl?” I asked.

“Yes, at least until Christmas, afterwards if you feel like going back to being a boy we will transfer you to the boy's school just in front of it.”

“Do they know about my status?”

“Yes and because they already have some transgender students. The only thing is that you will have to share a room with your sister and another trans girl. Which I hope is not going to make uncomfortable Lexi.”

“Why would being with another girl and my sister bother me?” Said Lexi while grinning.

“Good, some girls get uncomfortable sharing with trans girls so I wanted to be sure you were OK with it. Oh and Alex for all your stay at the school you will be on blockers, is that fine by you? ”

“Yes.”

“Good, because you are flying as soon as we go back at the house and pick your stuff up. I know it's quick but there’s no way I’m letting you stay one more night in this city with your psycho father running around.” She paused and then restarted “Oh and I almost forgot, if its fine by you, I would like to start the process of adopting the both of you. Éleonora and I discussed doing this before she got shot but because the both of you barely know us I want to know if it’s OK with you. ”

“OK by me, I love the both of you very much.” Said Lexi hugging her.

I said: “I just want a functional family,” and joined the hug.

I got a passport made last summer when the school took us on a biking trip south to Vermont. Now I had use for it again.

I never flew before and neither did my newly discovered sister. We were flying in first class and we were right beside each other. She slept most of the flight but I didn’t catch any sleep, I was worried. Two weeks ago I was a lonely boy who had never wore any girl clothes and who did his best to try to be a boy and now I was forced to be a girl for what 2 months? I am pretty sure the girls there will smell the rat and start bullying me. Lexi also worried me. She had been lovely until now but what if she took a dislike at me, we barely knew each other. What if we discovered things about each other that we would totally hate and that would break our fragile relationship? Could I cope with a sister who didn’t like me? Not only that, there was also the case of my aunts, who would eventually be our moms, would they be safe with my dad running around the city with a loaded weapon? There was so much stuff to worry about, my life had become very complicated in the space of four days and I didn't know how I would cope with it.