She's Already a Boy

Kelly heard them arguing outside the closed bedroom door, voices muffled like mittens.

"Is she going to change?" her mother asked. "She's already a boy. I don't think it would be good for her."

"True," said her father. "She's been a boy from the beginning. But I suppose it isn't the same."

"Why does it matter? She's always been a boy. What difference does it make?"

"It makes a difference to her. That's the difference."

"But she's already a boy. Her note says so. Why go through with it?"

"She wants to match, Lois. Inside and out."

"But why should it matter? She feels like one, so she is one. I think it would harm her."

"You think it would harm you. You think of your church."

"No, I think of her."

"You think of the church."

"No."

"Yes."

"But she's already a boy. We've known it, others see it. She doesn't have to change, does she?"

"No, I suppose she doesn't have to. But maybe she wants to."

"But why, when she's already a boy?"

"You're worried about people, Lois. Their words."

"No, Eli. I worry about her. I worry she'll regret."

"Why would she regret? She's already what she is and feels."

"What if she's wrong?"

"How can you be wrong about what you are and what you feel?"

"I don't know. Just wrong."

"Lois, if she feels it, it's right, isn't it? She's already a boy. She looks like a girl but wears boy clothes, loves boy things, plays boy games, has boy actions, thinks like a boy."

"Fine. But what if she's wrong?"

"How can she be wrong if she'd already a boy?"

"I don't understand, Eli. Does she have to change?"

"You won't love her less." It wasn't a question. She would still love Kelly. He knew. "She’ll do what she wants, say what she wants. She'll fit right in."

"Will she? Fit right in?"

Silence for a while.

Lois spoke again. "Right. But if she's already a boy... "

"Have you asked her? We should ask her if she's going to change."

Tears grew in Lois' eyes. "I'll lose my little girl?"

"You never had a little girl."

The bedroom door opened and Kelly stood there.

She said looking from one to the other, "I do what I want, say what I want. I'm already a boy. I don’t need to change."

The end