The Next E(evee)volution

January 5th cont.

The next day after breakfast, Becca had to leave for work. That left the 4 of us, a good chance to hopefully get rid of Mary and Chris for a while so I could talk to Sam.

“Hey Mary, why don’t you and Chris go do some sightseeing around here? There’s plenty to see and do in this town. I’ll watch after Sam, don’t worry,” I said with a smile. I gave a quick look around before whispering in her ear, “This is the only way I’m gonna be able to help with Sam. I need some one-on-one time with the kid. I can’t do that with Chris around.”

Mary nodded. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to have a look around. Just take good care of Sam, alright? I’d like to have my son in one piece when we return.”

“Aw, only one? Where’s the fun in that?” I teased.

Mary gave me a stern look. “Alright, alright, sheesh. Can’t take a joke?” I asked.

She just rolled her eyes and went to talk to Chris. Before long, both had agreed to let me babysit and were on their way out the door. They said their goodbyes to Sam, telling him to behave for his auntie and all that stuff, then it was just the two of us. I figured I could ease him into everything instead of trying to drop any bombshells. He was just a little kid, he wouldn’t understand if I just started talking about gender stuff!

“So Sammy, now that it’s just you and me, what do you wanna do?” I asked gently.

“I dunno, mommy usually tells me when it’s time to do stuff,” he replied. I rolled my eyes, of course she did that. Kids needed a measure of freedom, especially at such a precocious age!

“Well your mommy isn’t here right now, so it’s your choice. You pick what you wanna do. Anything at all, you just tell me!” I said, hoping to encourage him a bit.

He thought about it for a moment, about as deeply as a 5 year old can think. “I wanna color!” He said, with a smile that instantly melted my heart.

“You got it kiddo, Auntie Becca went out and got you some coloring books last night! Why don’t you choose which one you wanna work on?”

I laid out a handful of coloring books. All of them featured a variety of children’s characters, both male and female. I suppose you could call it a test, to see which ones he’d gravitate towards. But really, it was just for the sake of variety and the fact that Becca could just grab them from the toy section of the local big box store. He picked out one that had a bunch of kid superheroes on the cover, though I didn’t recognize the show they were from. Still, there were both boy and girl superheroes, so it would be good. I gave him a box of crayons and let him get to work.

While he did that, I pulled out my laptop and had a seat on the sofa. I was at a good angle to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn’t just wander off or anything, but I’d mostly just let him do his thing. This kid needed space, desperately. So I figured it was best not to hover. This went on for about an hour, nice and peaceful, before he stood up and declared he needed to go “peepee”. I just laughed and told him to go, he knew where the potty was! 

As he left to do that, I decided to check out what he was working on. Just as I suspected, he was currently coloring in one of the girl characters, using red and pink crayons. I checked the other pages, while he had done one boy character, he was mostly focusing on the girls. This was it, my way in! I could use this to talk to him about his feelings! Maybe even get him to open up about any gender dysphoria, though not using those exact terms just yet.

Once he got back from the potty, he showed me his hands were clean and that he had washed them. Good kid, better hygiene habits than me even!

“So Sammy, I saw your coloring. You did great! You stayed in the lines and everything! Very well done.” I said.

“Thank you auntie, coloring is fun!” He smiled.

“Heh that it is kiddo. So I couldn’t help but notice, you were coloring in the girls and only one of the boys. Can you tell me why that is?”

“I dunno,” he said, looking down and shuffling his feet.

“Come on, you can tell me. You’re not in any trouble, I promise. I just wanna know. It’s ok to like them.”

“Mommy and Daddy told me I shouldn’t like them this way. That it’s wrong and makes God cry.”

I was about ready to kill the two of them, they seriously fed this kid all that bullshit?! But I took a breath and tried to suppress my murderous rage.

“Mommy and daddy are wrong Sammy, it doesn’t make God cry. God made you just the way you are, even how you feel. Sadly, some grown ups try to make others feel bad about themselves by saying things like that. I think that’s wrong. Everyone should be able to explore how they feel. So why don’t you tell me, what makes you like the girls so much?”

“Promise you won’t get mad?” Sam asked.

“How about a pinky promise? That’s the strongest promise there is, completely unbreakable!” I said, using something I remembered from my own childhood.

“A pinky promise?” His face lit up, it seemed he knew what that was.

“That’s right, I pinky promise not to be mad at whatever you tell me,” I extended my little finger towards him. He smiled and put out his own, before we locked and shook on it. The promise was sealed.

“Alright, now can you please tell me what you like about those girls?” I asked, hopefully I’d get a real answer this time.

“Well, um, I just think they’re really pretty. I like their outfits and their long hair, and how pretty they get to be. I wanna be pretty like them! I sometimes wish I was a girl so I could be pretty too…”

My heart absolutely broke and I pulled the kid into a tight hug. I’d heard words like this before, from my own mouth when I was about his age. I wanted to be a pretty girl too! It wasn’t until much later that I learned the terms transgender and gender dysphoria. No kid should have to suffer through that, especially not a member of my own family!

“Oh Sammy, I’m so sorry! You shouldn’t have to go through this alone! I know exactly how you feel.” I said, trying to fight back tears.

Sammy latched onto me, starting to cry too. “You, you do?” The newly out girl asked. 

“Of course I do! Come, sit on the couch with me. I have a story to tell you, one that happened to me a very long time ago, when I was about your age.”

So the two of us sat down as I began to recall my own childhood. How I’d been born as a boy but, for as long as I could remember, I wanted to be a girl. I told her how I struggled with it and my family refused to accept it. Eventually, I learned I wasn’t alone, that there was a word for this: transgender. It wasn’t anything bad, just something that a lot of people didn’t understand. And because of that, they found any excuse to think it was wrong. But they were the ones who were wrong, it’s completely natural.

“So you see Sammy, if you wanna be a girl, you can just be a girl! That’s perfectly fine. That just means you take after your dear ol’ auntie! I’m a girl now and no one can tell me otherwise!” I smiled.

“But why are you so fuzzy?” She asked innocently.

“Ha! That’s something else entirely. I’m becoming a Sylveon! But that’s another story for another time.” I said with a small giggle. “For now, let’s focus on you. Is there a name you like besides Sam? Something else you’d like to be called?”

“Well, there is a show I like to watch sometimes, when mommy and daddy let me watch on my own…” she said.

“Oh? Which one?” I asked.

“Umm, it’s called Sofia the First. I think Sofia is super pretty and I love her dress and hair. I wanna be a princess like her!”

“Ooh yes, I’ve heard of that one. It’s a cute show for little girls, perfect for a cute little girl like you,” I reached out and booped her on her nose, making her giggle. “So do you want to be called Sofia?”

“Yeah, I wanna be Sofia!” She exclaimed.

“Very well your highness, I christen you Princess Sofia!” I said, using my cane to make it look more official.

Sofia squealed in delight and quickly ran over to hug me once more. Could I just adopt this girl and just say screw her parents? Clearly I was the better fit! All kidding aside, my niece was adorable. Seeing as we still had time before her parents got back, I set up some video games for the two of us to play, particularly Smash Bros. I’d go easy on her of course, since she was still little and all. But she got to play as Princess Peach, which was an absolute joy for her!

Before long, Sofia’s parents returned. I made sure she wouldn’t tell them about our little conversation just yet. Chris would probably have a fit over it and while Mary could probably be convinced this was the right thing for Sophia, she still had a ways to go before she was ready to accept her new daughter. For now, I’d talk to her myself.

“Welcome back you two,” I said. “Did you have fun?”

“It was pretty nice, you were right that there’s plenty to see around here. You picked a good place to run away to.” Mary said.

“Do you have to put it like that?” I asked. “It’s not like I was some kid running away from home. I left when I was 18, and moved here a couple years ago. I’m a perfectly capable adult who made a choice to get a fresh start. I needed to get away from that stupid Bible thumping town, there was no future for me there.”

“Whatever you say Ruby,” she said dismissively. With that, she turned her attention to “Sam”. “Did you have a nice time with your auntie Ruby?”

“Yeah! Lots of fun! I did coloring and played games and had a lot of fun!” She said with a big smile.

“See sis? All the more reason you should live closer to us. Your nephew clearly adores you!” Mary said.

I just rolled my eyes. Here we go again, always trying to guilt trip me. I want nothing to do with our hometown, they’d probably hate me even more now that I’m a Sylveon! I thought to myself.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I need to stay here. This is my home now, I’m happy here. Besides, it’s close to my doctor and everything. He’s kind of a specialist, so I need to stay close,” I said.

“You mean the one that’s turning you into this, thing?” She asked.

“A Sylveon, yes. Don’t act like you don’t know it, you and I used to play Pokemon together all the time! You stopped because you said you were ‘getting too old to play kids games’, but you just let mom and dad shame you into quitting. Well I’m through letting other people control my life. What you see before you now is the ultimate statement of freedom! I don’t care what you or other people think of me this way, I’m letting my true self shine through! If that means being a girl AND a Sylveon, so be it. I’m happy this way! Can you say the same?”

Mary was taken aback. I guess she wasn’t expecting me to bite back like that, but I wasn’t gonna let her push me around. I do things my own way, always. While there’s usually room to compromise, my life and my identity are not things I’ll ever compromise on! Never again! My whole life, I was told that it was wrong to be myself, that I’d never be a “real girl”. But they were wrong, not me. I found true happiness with my identity, with someone who accepted me for it. I had no regrets.

“By the way, your DAUGHTER and I had a lovely time together. She’s a good kid, could use some encouragement from her parents though.” I said matter-of-factly.

I watched as both of their jaws dropped straight to the floor. Seemed they weren’t expecting me to be so blunt about it, neither was I to be honest. My original plan was to talk to Mary privately about all of this, but it just kinda came out. Guess I lost myself in the moment. Still, their reactions were almost funny. That was, until Chris decided he’d heard enough.

After a moment, his mind caught up to him and he lunged at me, pinning me to the wall by my shirt. “Listen here you pervert, I won’t let you groom my son into a degenerate like you! I’ve worked too hard to make the perfect Christian family, I won’t let you ruin it!”

He balled up his fist while pinning me to the wall with his other hand. I just glared at him. “Go ahead asshole, do it. Give me a reason, I dare you. See what happens. Your wife and daughter are right there, this is gonna make one hell of an impression on them,” I said coldly.

“Shut up!” He barked. “Don’t you dare talk about my son that way!”

Just as he was about to throw a punch, Mary grabbed his arm. “Stop it! Put her down now! That’s my sister!”

“He’s a heathen and needs to be taught a lesson! Our son will not be pulled into his cult! I won’t allow it! Sam is just a boy, he has no idea what he wants right now. Your BROTHER is filling his head with lies! Now let me go so I can take care of this problem!” He yelled with venom in his voice.

“Stop it right now or I’m leaving you and taking Sam with me! I don’t know what is going on with him right now, but we can either figure it out together or I can do it by myself. Your choice. If you lay one hand on my sister though, we’re through!”

I was surprised, Mary was actually standing up for herself and for me! She’d never done this before. I was the strong one, I always stood up for her in front of bullies. But here she was, standing up to her own husband for my sake. I never thought she had it in her, but it seems she was stronger than I thought. Was that what becoming a mother did to her?

Chris was obviously shocked by this as well, his wife threatening to leave him. He suddenly broke free from her grasp and threw the punch anyway! But instead of hitting me in the face, he hit the wall. With that, he let go of me and I fell to the floor. No worse for wear at least, as I got up and brushed myself off. I looked at the wall where he punched it, a nice hole in the drywall. Well, fuck. There goes the security deposit on this place! As I turned to deal with him, I saw Mary was already on it!

“What were you thinking?! My sister graciously accepted us into her home and this is how you repay her? Look I’m not the biggest fan of this gender stuff, but she is family! I refuse to turn my back on her again! Especially when my own child’s future is at stake! Now you go sit over there, I’m going to talk to Ruby and Sam so I can figure out just what’s going on!”

With that, she turned her attention towards me. “Ruby, come with me. Now where’s Sam?”

We both looked around. As I glanced in my bedroom, I saw a small pair of legs just sticking out from under my bed. Seems the poor girl got scared from all the fighting. I waved Mary over and the two of us went in there, closing the door behind us. This way, we could talk privately.

“Sam, sweetie, you can come out now. The grown ups are all done fighting,” Mary said sweetly.

We watched as she shuffled her way out from under the bed. Her eyes were filled with tears, the poor thing was terrified! She ran over and hugged her mom. “I’m sorry,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“What are you sorry for?” Mary asked.

“I didn’t mean to make daddy mad at Auntie Ruby…”

“Oh sweetheart, it’s not your fault. Your father and I have some grown up things to take care of after this, but don’t blame yourself. You did nothing wrong, I promise!” She said, hugging her tightly.

“Yeah, don’t blame yourself. It was my fault. I got caught up in the moment and said something I shouldn’t have. That’s on me,” I said.

“Don’t apologize Ruby, he’s the one who chose to act the way he did. For now though, I wanna hear what happened while we were gone. I want the truth this time, not what you would tell Mom when she asked you what happened at school,” Mary said.

All 3 of us sat down on the bed as we discussed what happened that day. How Sam had told me that she really wanted to be a girl and to be called Sofia. I specifically mentioned how this was all her idea and I didn’t push her to do anything. She picked the coloring book, she picked which pictures to color and she told me how she wanted to be a girl. She picked the name too. I needed Mary to know that I did not influence her to do anything. This all came from Sofia, I just gave her love and support like she needed.

This was a lot for Mary to take in. Her own "son" was just like her former brother, a girl. This was a key moment for her, would she accept it? Or at least try? I carefully watched her reaction, waiting to see what her answer would be. Finally, she spoke up.

“Is this really what you want sweetheart?” She asked Sofia.

“Yeah! I wanna be a girl!” Sofia said confidently.

“Well, I guess I can’t really deny it then. I don’t know a lot about this, but if this is how you really feel, then I’ll do my best to help you be a girl.”

Sofia squealed with joy as she hugged her mother, it was a very cute scene. I breathed a sigh of relief, this could have gone very wrong. Mary really was trying her best here, a lot more than I had expected. Now the only problem remaining was Chris. Judging by his reactions so far, there was no way in hell he was gonna accept Sofia as a girl. How would Mary handle things with him?

“Does daddy hate me mommy?” Sofia asked.

“What do you mean Sofia?” Mary responded.

“Daddy hurt Auntie Ruby cause she said I was a girl. He was really mad. Does that mean he won’t love me anymore if I’m a girl?”

“Oh sweetheart, don’t worry about that. This is just new to him is all, he needs some time to get used to it. I’m gonna go talk to him, ok? You stay right here with your auntie.” Mary said.

With that, she got up and went back out to the living room where Chris was. As instructed, he was sitting on the couch. She walked up and looked him dead in the eyes.

“We need to talk about our child,” she said sternly.

“You mean the fact that that freak is making him think he’s a girl?” Chris responded.

“Chris, that’s not how it is. I talked to both of them, Ruby did nothing to influence them. Everything that happened was Sam’s idea. Ruby just listened, the one thing neither of us have really done. Sam really does want to be a girl, to be called Sofia. This isn’t Ruby’s fault. As far as I can tell, it’s natural.”

“There’s nothing ‘natural’ about this Mary! I will not let my son turn out to be a tranny freak like your brother! I won’t give into these games! I’m here to make sure my son turns out to be a good, Christian man like me! To follow the word of God! And God hates fags and trannies! I won’t allow my son to go to Hell!”

“That’s enough! Our child is not a freak! And neither is my sister! She’s a good, caring woman! I don’t fully understand this, but I’m willing to try at least! Are you?”

“I’m gonna put a stop to this, once and for all!” Chris said as he started marching towards the bedroom, but Mary stopped him.

“Stop it! I’m not gonna let you hurt them!” She yelled.

“Get out of my way!” He said as he shoved her to the side. Clearly he wasn’t thinking about how much force he was using, as she hit the wall pretty hard and let out a yelp in surprise. I immediately rushed out.

“What the hell is going on?” I looked over and saw Mary on the ground and immediately rushed over to her. “Mary! Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, oww. He just, bumped into me a bit hard. That’s all…” she said, though I didn’t believe that for a second. I turned to Chris.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” I demanded.

“None of your business, freak,” he said with a nasty tone in his voice.

“Excuse me? You hit your wife and I’M the freak?! I don’t think so pal.”

I didn’t notice at the time, but my fur was standing on edge. Clearly I was more enraged than I thought. I was about ready to snap. “LIsten up! You got approximately 10 seconds to apologize to my sister and then get the fuck out of my apartment! I’m done dealing with your bullshit! I offered you a chance to get to know your daughter, but clearly you’re not interested. So either leave, or I’ll show you exactly what this ‘freak’ can do! Got it?”

“You can’t be serious, you’re kicking us out? So much for helping, huh?” Chris accused.

“No Chris, she’s kicking YOU out,” Mary said, surprising us both. “You’re my husband and I love you, but you’ve done nothing but cause problems since you got here. Please, just leave. I need some space to think about everything that’s happened. Go home, Sofia and I will be fine here.”

Chris was dumbfounded, for once he was speechless. His own wife had just stood up to him and asked him to leave. Clearly, he was defeated. So without another word, he grabbed his suitcase and left. I breathed a sigh of relief and went to help Mary up off the floor.

“Are you sure you’re ok sis?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine, he didn’t hurt me. Just knocked the wind out of me is all. I’m sorry about him, I didn’t think he’d react this way. He said he’d keep an open mind when we came, but clearly that was a lie. Had I known, I would have come here without him.” Mary said.

“I mean, I told you from the start that I didn’t like him. Back when you two were first dating, I told you he was no good, but you insisted I was just jealous. And you know what? Maybe I was a bit jealous, cause you seemed so happy and I was just miserable. I didn’t have space to be myself. But my instincts weren’t wrong, you’re way too good for that asshole,” I said.

“He seemed like a good man at first. He had all the values that I liked in someone and I thought we were a perfect match. Though it’s only now that I see how badly I treated you. This gender stuff is way more complicated than I thought. I always figured you were looking for attention and would grow out of it. But now that I see the same thing in my own child, I realize that this is who you are. Though the Sylveon thing still confuses me admittedly.”

“Heh, better late than never I guess! I’m just glad you finally came around. I did hope Chris would get better as time went on, but clearly he’s still the same scumbag that he always was. But enough about that, why don’t I order all of us some pizza and we can just relax for tonight? We can throw on a movie that all of us can watch, sound good?”

“Sure sis, I’d like that,” Mary smiled as we went to get Sofia.

The next couple days passed without incident. Chris didn’t bother coming back, so it was just the four of us. We all made sure Sofia was comfortable, using her new name and she/her pronouns for her. She had a ball with it! Still, there was one thing missing, something I planned to correct come Christmas day…

---

 

So, this got really out of hand. Sorry folks, but I got super into writing this section. Maybe I should be a writer or something! In fact, from now on, this blog is gonna be a story time blog. This was a lot of fun, I hope you’ll all stick around for more cause I have more to say about what happened over Christmas. But I think I’ll save that for next time. Until then!

 

Part 3 End