Chapter Text
“Gem! Gem, Gem, Gem, Gem, Gem!!” [_____] ran into their shared room excitedly.
“[_____], [_____], [_____], [_____], [_____], [_____], [_____]!!” Gem called, matching her twin’s energy. “What’s up?”
“Look!” She ripped off the beanie she was wearing, revealing short, messily cut hair. “Look, look, look!” She jumped up and down, flapping her hands excitedly.
Gem gasped, hastily climbing down the ladder of the bunk bed and rushing over to her sister, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You cut your hair?!”
“Yup!” [_____] nodded eagerly, grabbing Gem by the shoulders as well. “And I came up with a new name!”
“A new name?” Gem dropped her arms and tilted her head, confused. “But your name is [_____] though?”
“Nuh uh,” [_____] said, shaking her head so violently that it gave her a slight headache. “It’s fWhip!”
“fWhip?”
“Yep! It’s fWhip! Spelled just like this.” She grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote out her name on their chalkboard wall. It was honestly a miracle that they had any space amidst all of the random doodles. “See?”
“Cool,” Gem said, grabbing another piece of chalk and writing her name next to fWhip’s. “Why d’you have a new name now?”
“‘Cause [_____] is a girl’s name,” fWhip responded, scrunching her nose in disgust.
“But you are a girl!” Gem protested, utterly confused. “Also we had matchy names!”
“Nuh uh! I’m a boy, see!” fWhip points to her – his hair. “I have short hair!”
“You’re a boy?” Gem asked, reaching over and messing up fWhip’s hair.
“Yep,” fWhip nodded eagerly, swatting away Gem’s hand.
Gem giggled and gently shoved fWhip. “So I have a brother now?” fWhip nodded again, humming in affirmative. Gem gasped at this and spun around excitedly. “Yay! I have a brother!”
fWhip and Gem spun around together until they both got dizzy. fWhip fell first and Gem fell on top of him, the both of them giggling as the room spun around them. There was a light knock on the open door, and Gem and fWhip looked up to see their mother standing in the doorway, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
“What is going on in here?” She asked, entering the room.
“We’re having fun!” Gem answered, rolling over onto the floor.
“I can see that.” She looked down at the twins on the floor, eyes widening once she noticed fWhip’s hair.
“[_____]! What did you do to your hair?!”
Gem gasped incredulously. “Don’t call him that!” She quickly stood to her feet and jumped to her brother’s defense. “His name is fWhip!”
Their mother tilted her head, kneeling down next to fWhip, who was still on the floor. “Is that so?”
“Uh huh!” fWhip nodded, making no effort to move. “I cut my hair ‘cause I’m a boy and boys don’t have long hair.”
“You’re a… boy?”
“Yeah! Gem spoke again. “He’s my brother!”
“I’m her brother!” fWhip parroted.
“I swear every pair of siblings in this family is bound to have one change their gender,” she mutters, rolling her eyes goodnaturedly.
“What d’you mean?” fWhip asked, rolling over to lay on his back.
“You know Aunt Kate?”
“You mean the one Daddy doesn’t like?” fWhip asked, promptly earning a kick in the side from Gem. “Ow!”
“Well she- wait what?”
“Nothing!” the twins responded simultaneously, grinning innocently.
“Well…” their mother continued, “she wasn’t always Aunt Kate, you know.”
“She wasn’t?” Gem asked with a tilt of her head.
“Was she Aunt Cheryl or somethin?” fWhip added.
Their mother chuckled. “No no, she used to be Uncle Kate. Well, her name wasn’t always Kate, but I think she’d have my head if I told anyone her deadname, so I won’t.” She hummed thoughtfully. “I’m not even sure I remember her deadname, come to think of it.”
“What’s a ‘deadname’?”
“Is that like [_____]?” fWhip muttered his old name, as if it were a forbidden word.
“Exactly!” Their mother reached down to ruffle fWhip’s hair. “It was the name that was given to her at birth that she changed once she transitioned.”
“Like how I changed my name to fWhip!” he exclaimed excitedly.
“Correct.”
“Did you want a sister?” Gem asked. “Did you get super excited when Aunt Kate told you she was a girl?”
“I never really… had to want a sister because I had plenty of sisters before her,” their mother answered with a shrug. “But I was really excited for her either way. Super proud of her.”
“Are you proud of me, Gem Gem?” fWhip turned to look at Gem with big, pleading eyes.
“Super proud,” Gem answered with a nod.
“Yay!” fWhip threw his arms into the air in celebration. “Are you proud of me, Mama?”
“I am so proud of you, honey. This haircut on the other hand…”
“Hey! What’s wrong with my haircut?!” fWhip pouted.
“It’s…” She scrunched her nose. “Um… It’s lovely for your first attempt but…”
“It’s super bad,” Gem said bluntly.
“Rude.”
“Well it is!”
“Gem, don’t be rude,” their mother chided.
“You think it’s bad too though!” she protested.
“I never once said it was bad.”
“You did the nose wrinkle thing you do when you think something sucks but you don’t wanna say it.”
Their mother sighed and shook her head. “You pay too much attention. fWhip, honey, come with me. I’ll cut your hair a bit more.”
“Cut it a bit better,” Gem teased, giggling.
“Gem…” Their mother gave her a stern look.
“Sorry.”
fWhip stood up and punched Gem in the shoulder. “Meanie.”
“I said I was sorry you butt!” She shoved fWhip.
“Children, children.”
“Sorry…” the twins apologized simultaneously. They looked over at each other, and broke out into a fit of giggles. They hugged each other, Gem lifting fWhip from the ground and spinning around. She loved her sister so much, but she loves her brother a million times more.