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It’s a random Tuesday, and my brother, a harried tenure-track professor, has not-so-subtly invited me for an impromptu walk. This is not normal Tuesday evening behavior for my brother. Even Sarah had wide, innocent eyes as she said there was no mail today when I asked about it this afternoon. Something is up.
And this family is terrible about being sneaky.
Charlie and I take a leisurely walk around the lake. The early November air is crisp, and the earthy smell of the lake water fills my nose. Occasional whiffs of distant burning leaves linger in the air. Golden yellow and tan leaves crunch under our feet as we walk the well-worn path. Charlie is babbling about nothing at a furious rate, rather than acting like a normal human being.
Charlie is an amazing older brother, so I’m choosing not to be too concerned about this “sibling trip!” around the lake. I feel like the worst thing that could happen today is that he’d tell me he and his new boyfriend Nick had eloped.
And the only bad part of that would be that I wasn’t invited.
Nick is amazing and selfless. It was all for Charlie’s benefit, of course, but he got me out of jail, he’s getting my visa sorted, he’s hired me to work at his new law firm, and he got me a place to live, with him and his mother. Nick is the kindest human I’ve ever met. If Charlie ran off and married him after eight official weeks of dating, well, I wouldn’t blame him. Hell, I kind of want to marry him.
Charlie tries to surreptitiously check his phone, but I catch him in the act. He doesn’t notice, of course, and his eyes light up. “Ready!” he announces. “Um, I mean, are you ready to head back? Because I’m ready to head back. Stop giving me that skeptical look. Everything is normal.”
“Um, sure, Charlie.” I shake my head in amusement at his strange behavior.
As we approach Nick and Sarah’s place—my place—Nick runs out of the house wearing the frilly pink apron he prefers for baking. My eyebrows rise in suspicion. Why is Nick, a busy lawyer, baking on a random Tuesday? And why did Charlie obviously have the job of getting me out of the house?
Nick has something silky in his hand as he approaches us, and I realize it’s a sleep mask. “Can your kinky stuff not wait until I’m not around to see it?” I ask.
Nick turns pink. Charlie really picked a cute one. Actually, Charlie, the jerk, got pursued by this cute one. My brother is a stubborn knob sometimes.
“Um, uh, um…” Nick is sputtering in embarrassment.
Charlie just rolls his eyes and grabs the mask. “This is for you. I don’t want to do kinky shit around my baby sister either, Nancy. We have a surprise for you.”
Charlie puts the mask around my head and pulls me towards the front door. Nick helps Charlie guide me up the stairs and through the house a bit. The smell of chocolate permeates the air, masking the ever-present scent of the dogs. I can hear the scuffing of Sarah’s favorite slippers as she paces about and the skittering of Juliet's nails on the wood floors—I’m guessing we’re in the dining room.
I hear a lighter click and then smell the slight stinging scent of a flame.
“Is Tori on the line?” Sarah frets.
“Yes,” my older sister’s staticky voice responds, apparently on speaker phone.
“All right. Now, Charlie!”
Charlie pulls the mask off my face and I’m looking at three expectant, sweet, silly faces. “Surprise!” There’s a homemade chocolate cake with candles burning in front of me.
“It’s not my birthday…?” I am confused.
“No, it’s your re-birthday!” Sarah squeals. I still have no idea what’s going on.
“Your name day,” Nick supplies, handing me an envelope. The return address is the Norfolk County Probate and Family Court.
“Oh my God!” I snatch the envelope out of his hands and tear it open.
“Maybe we should have lit the candles after we explained this?” Charlie asks. Tori snorts on the phone.
I pull my official name-change court order out of the envelope with shaking hands. I am now, legally, and forever, Nancy Alice Spring. My gender is “F.” I cry happy tears and Charlie hugs me tight.
“You’ve been Nancy for so long, but now it’s legal,” he whispers.
I sniffle before I finally blow out the candles. I wouldn’t be here without any of these weird, loving, goofy people. And I love them all so much.