Nothing further was said as Julie and I followed my parents over to the short-term car park at Heathrow Terminal 3, but at least Dad took charge of our large suitcase which saved us a struggle, especially as it had grown somewhat heavier with the addition of Julie’s two years’ worth of medication. He loaded it into the boot of our car, and we got into the back seats. I turned to Julie and offered a re-assuring smile, and touched her hand but said nothing. Her face looked grey, in spite of the makeup she was wearing. Mum and Dad were equally reticent in the front seats. The car journey back Woodley took about forty minutes, during which time there was an awkward silence within the car. Eventually we pulled up outside Julie’s house and once again Dad took it upon himself to unload our suitcase from the boot. Julie and I led the way into the house with our cabin bags. Mum followed behind with a face like thunder.

I guess it must have been two years or more since I’d last thrown a full-blown ‘hissy-fit’, and I’d forgotten that it could be a useful, first-strike, ‘shock and awe’, tactical device when dealing with unreasonable crusties. But clearly Julie was learning fast. Dad was still struggling to negotiate our suitcase through the front door when Julie went straight on the attack towards Mum.

‘You needn’t think you are going to make me change back to Julian; it is my life and I’ll live it as I want to. I’m almost sixteen now and nobody can force me to be someone I’m not.’

Mum looked surprised by the onslaught and was about to respond, but before she could do so Julie had returned to the fray.

‘You are not going to take away my hormones, they were prescribed for me by my doctor, and if anyone tries to take them from me I’ll call the police,’ she continued, starting to cry.

I doubt if Mum had even realised that she’d been taking female hormones, but certainly she did so now.

‘And you are not to be angry with Jenny. She was the only person to be kind to me when my parents died and you’re lucky to have such a good daughter.’

By now she was in floods of tears as all the pent-up emotion of the last two months suddenly came gushing out.

‘Without Jennie and Susie’s help I might have killed myself, so don’t you dare be angry with her, either of you.’

With that she flung down her handbag, stormed up the stairs to the master bedroom, slammed the door and locked it. We could hear her wailing on the bed.

Both Mum and Dad looked stunned by her reaction.

‘So now you know Julie’s secret, and what I’ve been doing this summer — helping her to come to terms with the death of her parents and her lifelong feeling that she should have been born as a girl,’ I said, to break the silence.

‘How can he possibly know that at his age,’ said Mum, contemptuously.

‘Believe me, Mum, nobody would have put themselves through what Julie has done over the years unless they were absolutely sure. In any event, she’s consulted a psychiatrist and has also begun hormone therapy, so there will be no going back, whatever you or anyone else may think.’

Mum didn’t answer. We could still hear Julie’s sobs emanating from her bedroom.

‘Should you go up to her?’ Dad asked me.

‘No, best leave her be for a little while; let her get it out of her system,’ I replied calmly. ‘She’s been through a lot lately. I’ll go up and see if she’s ok in a few minutes.’

‘I knew we should never have agreed to let Jennifer stay here for the summer, that family are nothing but trouble,’ said Mum to Dad.

‘My task may have been a little more complicated than I first imagined, but I’ve been helping my sister and I don’t see that I’ve done anything wrong.’ I said.

‘Me neither,’ said Dad. ‘It appears that Julie has needed help, and Jen has provided it.’

Mum ignored my comment and angrily went for Dad.

‘Don’t you go defending what she’s done! You don’t understand; you’re not really her father.’

Dad’s cheeks went red. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so angry.

‘I’ve supported the two of you for the last fifteen years and I’ve earned the right to regard Jenny as my daughter, and I will not let you devalue or undermine our relationship. I think that what Jen has been doing is quite admirable, and wish I’d known about it earlier. If I can help the pair of them in the future I intend to do so. As to my not understanding; I understand enough to know that you married me on the re-bound, and that you have never forgiven Julie’s father and mother for what they did to you. But they’re both dead now, so you will just have to get over it and move on, otherwise we are both liable to have a sad and lonely old age.’

Mum didn’t answer, but sat weeping quietly. Dad continued to look very angry and upset. We could also hear Julie sobbing in the background. All in all it was quite a scene of emotional outpouring. I’d been involved in my fair share of family conflicts over the years, but they were normally between Mum and me, with Dad attempting to arbitrate and dry the tears. Now, for the first time, I found that I was the dispassionate adult, trying to calm the situation.

‘No-one could have asked for a better father than you’ve been, and I honestly don’t think that mum could have found a better husband, whether she was ‘on the re-bound,’ or not,’ I said quietly, touching his hand. ‘I may have had another natural father, but you will always be ‘my Dad’.’

Mum now realised that in her anger she’d gone too far.

‘I’m sorry, Jack, you have been a good husband, and I don’t know what Jenny and I would have done without you,’ Mum said quietly, with copious tears continuing to fall.

Dad didn’t reply.

‘I know she really loves you, but just give her a little time to grieve for her former husband,’ I said quietly to him.

He still looked hurt and upset, but his anger had subsided.

‘Alright, we’ll go home to Bracknell now. You’d best go and look after your sister. I’ll come back tomorrow to see how I can help you both,’ Dad said to me.

‘Thanks, I should like that, and I’m sure Julie will be grateful as well,’ I said giving him a kiss.

Mum didn’t argue. She quietly got up and followed him out of the house without saying anything more. Before she did so I gave her a hug and whispered in her ear: ‘Mum, don’t spoil your current and future happiness for the sake of a dream that died fifteen years ago.’

I heaved a sigh of relief as their car drove away, and went upstairs to talk to my sister.

‘Julie, they’ve gone now. You don’t have to worry, nobody is going to take anything away from you or force you to do anything you don’t want to. In fact, I think we may even have gained an ally in my father.’

I heard the lock turn, and a very bedraggled looking little girl came to the door with puffy eyes, smeared makeup and untidy hair.

‘I’m sorry Jen; I don’t know what came over me.’

‘I know exactly what came over you,’ I replied smiling. ‘It was the effect of those hormones you’ve been taking. I‘d forgotten what havoc an excess of oestrogen can play with your emotions, especially if your body is not accustomed to it. But don’t worry, in many respects it was exactly what was needed, even if it did precipitate a row between my parents.'

‘I didn’t want to cause them any trouble. I just wanted to be left alone to be Julie.’

‘It wasn’t your fault, there were just some issues between your father and my mother that had been swept under the carpet and never fully resolved. It is just as well that they are now out in the open.’

As promised, Dad arrived the following afternoon wanting to know if there was anything he could do to help us. I’d half hoped that he might bring Mum with him, but he didn’t and I decided that is was probably best not to ask. Whatever went on between them after they left last night was their business which they’d have to work out between themselves. Instead, we spent a couple of hours going through all the details of the Probate application and Julie’s plans to buy a flat for us to share in Nottingham.

‘The main problem you have will be to sell this house and any of the furniture that you do not wish to take with you to Nottingham. I’ll probably be able to help you there,’ said Dad. ‘My firm will be able handle the marketing of the property for half our usual commission, as it is ‘for one of the family.’ I’m afraid we’ll have to deal with Jenny, as she will be the administrator of the will and you are under age.’

‘I realise that and trust Jenny with my money,’ replied Julie.

‘I can also probably arrange to sell any remaining furniture and make sure you get a fair price, as I have several contacts in the trade. However, you may wish to keep the house partially furnished until you have a buyer and maybe negotiate with them regarding carpets etc. as everything is in very good condition. I’ll make sure that the house is ok whilst you are away. However, unfortunately you can’t really do anything until Julie’s mother’s probate is granted.’

‘I’ve received a letter giving me an appointment for a Probate Interview on 14th September, assuming all is well the grant should arrive the week before we leave for Nottingham. If we are lucky we will just be able to sort out the main financial details before we leave,’ I said.

‘Good, in that case I’ll arrange for a colleague to come out and get the details of the property so that we can put it on the market as soon as you have the go-ahead from the Probate Office. If you wish I’ll also contact the company you are intending to buy your flat from in Nottingham, to put them in the picture. They’ll have more confidence in you as buyers if they are kept informed exactly what is happening at this end. I just wish that you’d told me all this before, we could have got things moving whilst you were away.’

‘Sorry Dad, I wasn’t sure how much I could tell you about what was really going on, after all it was Julie’s secret rather than mine.’

‘I’m sorry too Mr Anderson,’ said Julie, ‘I suppose I was just being paranoid until after I’d been to Thailand and begun my hormone therapy.’

‘Alright girls, but Julie, you can’t keep calling me Mr Anderson, how about Uncle Jack?’

Julie smiled.

‘Yes, I’d like to have an Uncle Jack. What should I call your wife?’

Dad sighed.

‘I don’t really know. It may take a little time, but I’m sure she’ll come round in the end.’

‘Would it help if I were to invite you both to a dinner party, together with Susie and her mother?’ asked Julie.

‘What do you have in mind?’

‘It’s my sixteenth birthday on Wednesday. Neither Jenny nor I will be working on that day and I’d love to do the cooking for a dinner party,’ she continued.

‘It would be unlikely to turn into a family row if others are present,’ I added. ‘Julie’s a very good cook, but how will you cope with five women and yourself?’

Dad rolled his eyes, but smiled and said he would be happy to come, but wasn’t sure how Mum would react to the suggestion.

‘Why don’t I drive out to Bracknell and have a quick word with Mum, whilst Julie shows you round the house,’ I suggested.

‘Alright, the best of luck.

I let myself in to our house with my key. Mum was busy in the kitchen preparing vegetables for their dinner. Although I’d prepared exactly what I was going to say during the drive over, I forgot it all as soon as I arrived. All I could think to do was to give her a hug. For once she didn’t attempt to resist or to use the opportunity to criticise what I was wearing.

‘I shall miss you when you move to Nottingham,’ she said in a matter of fact way.

‘I know, and I’ll miss our family rows,’ I replied laughing. ‘But you have a very good husband who will need to be looked after, and kept up to scratch. In any event, I’ll only be living a few hours away with my sister. I hope you will come and see us.’

‘Yes, your sister,’ Mum said ruefully.

‘Yes Mum, she is my sister and I’m very proud of her. You can’t hold Julie responsible for the actions of her father and mother.’

‘No I suppose not.’

‘I hope you’ll come to accept Julie as a part of the family; after all she’s turning into exactly the sort of girly-girl that you always wanted me to become.’

Mum smiled.

‘‘I’ll do my best. At least she appears to have had more influence on how you look than I ever had.’

I noted that, for the first time, Mum had used the feminine form of the personal pronoun when referring to Julie.

‘She wants to invite you and Dad to a dinner party for her birthday on Wednesday night, but it means that you’ll have to accept her as Julie — there must be no references to her past life.

‘Maybe Wednesday is a little bit soon,’ Mum replied.

‘Please come, Mum. There won’t be many opportunities for us to spend time together before we leave for Nottingham. If you do come, I promise I’ll put on a dress and some makeup.’

Mum sighed.

‘Alright then, I’ll come, if your Dad is agreeable.'

I drove back and announced the news to Dad and Julie. They seemed to be getting on very well together in the study, talking about selling the house, so I retired to my bedroom and rang Susie. I spent the next hour filling her in with all the gory details of our homecoming the previous evening. I also relayed the invitation to her and her mother. Susie’s Mum had suspected that there was something a little different about Julie but had taken it all in her stride once she had been told the full story, and was more than happy for Julie to continue helping at the salon.

Dad eventually left us at about five o’clock to drive back for the dinner that Mum had been preparing. I saw him out to his car.

‘She does love you, and she loves me as well; she just has difficulty in showing it sometimes,’ I said.

‘I know,’ he replied. ‘That may have been why her first marriage failed. But at least we’ve the advantage of having brought up a wonderful daughter together, so it will be worth our while to put some extra effort into making our marriage work.’

‘Thank you for accepting Julie as well.’

‘You’re our daughter, and she’s your sister and so we have no choice but to accept her,’ he replied.

‘I’m so glad that Mum found you,’ I said giving him a kiss.

He didn’t reply, but looked quite pleased with what I’d said.

Julie had already started making plans for the meal on Wednesday and was making a list of what we would need to buy.

‘Can we go shopping on the way home from work tomorrow evening?’ she asked.

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘It is a pity we can’t invite Joe and his sister as well.’

‘Well if all goes well on Wednesday, we can invite them both round for a farewell dinner when Joe gets back from his holiday.’

‘Yes I would like that, but I think it will be only fair to let Clare into my secret as well.’

‘That’s up to you to decide, Julie. If you wish I’ll ask Joe to break the news Clare. She seems to look up to him and so will probably keep your secret — at least for a while — and by then you’ll have moved to Nottingham.’

‘Yes I’d like her to know the truth, before we leave, and maybe then we can stay in touch via Facebook.’

‘And there will be times in the future when we will visit the Thames Valley as well,’ I said.

‘I don’t have many friends but I’ll miss Clare and Susie when we do leave.'

I decided to change the subject.

‘By the way, how is the medication going?’

‘Alright I think. I’ve been carefully following the instructions, but the only changes that I‘ve noticed so far have been emotional ones.’

I laughed.

‘Just make sure that you don’t have another of those ‘hissy-fits’ when you are preparing for the dinner party, I wouldn’t be able to cope on my own.’

‘I’ll do my best not to,’ she replied smiling.