Adoption Adjustment 17

Getting home, Miah took in a long breath as she closed the door, smelling the familiar comforting scent of her home. Closing her eyes Miah, let out the breath in a drawn out contented sigh, happy to be home after having to rush to the office, when she should have been enjoying the day with her family. She was about to pull off her shoes when movement at the top of the stairs caught her attention, she didn’t get a good look, but she was pretty sure she just saw Kennedy running off to his room wearing a yellow and black nightgown. “Kennedy?” She called out his name to clear up the confusion.

“Hey look who is home!” Rosemaire said coming into the entrance way from the living room. “I was afraid your boss was going to make you sleep at the office, it was bad enough she called you in to work on your day off.” She said, giving her older sister a bit of sas.

“Haha.” Miah said with a mock laugh. “Really though, while it was a surprise you came into town, I really do appreciate you helping me out. I know Joleen appreciates you taking the girls off her hands as well. Though…” Miah turned away from her sister, looking back up the stairs as she heard her youngest giggling and the sound coming from the wrong side of the upstairs hallway. “Speaking of them, did I just see Kennedy in a nightgown? I know earlier Abby had to lend some clothes, but…”

“Yeah it was a yellow and black bumble bee thing, Kenzie picked it out. She wasn’t much help at first, but she came around.” Rosemarie said, thinking back to the shopping trip earlier that evening.

“Okay, so you got the girls some clothes too, but why is Kennedy wearing that nightgown?”

Nodding her head Rosemarie gave her sister a bit of a shrug. She hadn’t expected to spend this much on the trip, but there was no way she couldn’t include McKenzie and Abigail in on the shopping trip. “You would have to ask Dee Dee and Abby, I think Abby bug was the driving force behind what her new sister wore to bed.”

Cocking her head to the side Miah blinked a few times in confusion. “Dee Dee? New sister?” She had an incredibly long day, felt both physically and mentally exhausted to the point that if Rosie told her the sky was purple and had always been purple she would have to double check before calling her out.

“Yeah on the way to go shopping the girls were talking about nicknames, how McKenzie already had Ken in her name and they settled on Dee Dee, I think Keke was a close contender. Cute right?”

It was hard for Miah to accept that the boy with wild unwashed hair and a little more than rough around the edges would want to be called something so feminine when he had asked her to call him Ken. “I think I need a glass of wine.” She said, now thinking the nickname and sister talk might all be stemming from the same place, the teen boy having to borrow clothes from her daughter. Her two probably thought it was all in good fun, not thinking that it was actually bullying, Rosie though, she had no excuse to join in on that and should know what undermining a boy's masculinity could do to their self esteem. She just didn’t have the energy to scold her, not when she needed to ask for another favor.

“I got you.” Rosemaire said, quickling moving her bare feet across the room to the end table next to the couch, before producing a now empty wine glass that looked like it had already been used and a half empty bottle of her five year old cabernet sauvignon. “It has been a day… my nieces can be…” With a half smile on her face she stumbled for a word. “Spitfires.”

This time when Miah laughed it was genuine, each of her girls had been called worse. They were good kids, and she thought they were good kids, much better than she had been once upon a time, but they were still kids and knew exactly how to push other people’s buttons, doubly so for one another. “I will ignore the fact you helped yourself to my wine fridge if you join me for a glass before I have to go up and talk to them about bullying Kennedy or Dee Dee, or whatever.” She said the last word with another sigh, this one full of frustration, thinking about how she had to go play the bad guy after abandoning them for work.

“Bullying?” Rosemarie scoffed. “Tonight those three saw a bully, but I wouldn’t call what happened on their part bullying. When that bigger boy pushed Dee Dee down both McKenzie and Abigail jumped to protect their new sibling. Honestly, I couldn’t be prouder. Right now the three are in Dee Dee’s room reading a book we got. One McKenzie picked out for Dee Dee after learning about their love of cars.” She added to make sure Miah got at least an inkling of an idea of how nice and welcoming her girls had been.

“Huh…” Miah had already taken the wine bottle out of her sister's hand, but hearing a bit about their day she turned her head to look at the stairs once more. “You know, I think it would be best if I go tuck them in before I have any wine.” She said while looking away. Things between the three had been mostly good, rocky at times and calling Kennedy their sister would definitely need to be addressed, but hearing that they stood together and were actively thinking of Kennedy and something he would like did make her feel proud. Turning back to her redheaded sibling she handed the bottle of wine back. “Rain check on the drink, will you be around tomorrow? I have another day of work ahead of me and I know the girls would love spending time with you rather than hanging out at my work stuck with Joleen. Not that there's anything wrong with her, just… you're their aunt.” Miah shrugged her shoulders in an uncaring manner. “I guess you are likable to some impressionable people.”

Taking the bottle from her sister's hand Rosemaire raised an eyebrow. “I make a living off people liking me.” Soon as she said it, Rosemarie knew it was a mistake. The pleasant expression on his sister’s face fell away. “Sorry, I know, I know.”

With a shake of her head Miah took the first two steps up the stairs, before stopping to look at her sister who looked ashamed. “Rosie, I love you and while I don’t approve of what you do, I understand you have had a very different life than me. I hope your new business venture works, but even if it doesn’t. You are always welcome here, so long as what you do doesn’t come here with you.”

With a dim smile Rosemarie nodded, after spending what she had today she did plan on taking on a client, but that wasn’t going to come close to touching the girls, but the very fact she had made the plans when promising herself that this trip was just to visit made her feel ashamed. “I can watch the girl’s tomorrow, you get done whatever it is you need to and then maybe we can all have a big family dinner?”

“That sounds great, just… just order something, no one wants to eat a turkey that is both frozen and somehow burnt.” Miah said, teasing her sister before resuming walking up the stairs.

“THAT WAS ONE TIME!” Rosemarie yelled up after her.

Ignoring the freckled woman, Miah moved to the right at the top of the stairs, double checking that her youngest was in fact not in her room before heading back the other way. Inside the old playroom, Kennedy’s room had the door open and inside she found the three kids all together on the bed. Kennedy sat in the middle, a book with the picture of a sports car on the cover open in his lap and each of her two girls on either side of him. Her tired eyes saw that he was in fact wearing a bumble bee themed girls nightgown that Rosemarie had bought for McKenzie. “Well don’t the three of you look cozy. Mind if I join too?”

“YEAH!” Abby said, patting the sliver of bed left open beside her. “ACK!” She then proclaimed as her mother picked her up in order to sit down with her youngest in her lap.

“Better?” Miah said, peering over Abby’s shoulders, as she hugged the girl from behind. Getting a head nod for confirmation, Miah raised one of her thinly arched eyebrows as she looked at the teen boy who looked like he wanted the room to swallow him so that he could avoid her gaze. “Nice nightie you got there, did the girls make you put it on?” Soon as she asked the question she felt Abby start to squirm about like a squid caught in a trap.

“NO! I didn’t make her do nothin!” Abby said, feeling her mother hug her tighter before whispering in her ear.

“I did not make him do anything. Is how you say that sweetheart.” Miah whispered, correcting her daughter.

“See.” McKenzie said, whispering to Kennedy from his other side, before speaking up. “Kennedy has been pretending to be our middle sister all day. He even told Aunt Rosie that he is a ten year old girl.”

“Is that true? Have you been… playing pretend today?” Miah had almost accused him of lying, it even took her effort to keep her voice neutral. Kennedy by all accounts has had a difficult life and while she thought that she had earned his trust, with his experiences an accusation that showed she didn’t trust him could set them back.

“Umm…” Kennedy said hesitating. He had in fact said that to the girl’s aunt, but she didn’t believe that he was really a boy, let alone a teenager and things just kind of got worse from there… and it wasn’t really his fault he was wearing a dress, that was the pirate guy and his wife that worked in Miss Miah’s office and that was after the two girls conspired together at the park and… and… his mind rambled on and on, each thought joining the last in a run on sentence about how each step along the way wasn’t his fault. He was just so tired, he hadn’t even fought the girls over putting on the girls nightgown. It wasn’t like he had anything really to change into. Sure a bunch of clothes were bought for him, seeing a closet partially full and draws completely full of underwear, sure they were panties, but he never had a full drawer of one article of clothing in his entire life. Well… he figured he might have, but he really didn’t remember little details like that when his parents were still around.

“She didn’t lie, well she did before, but now Dee Dee is telling the truth.” Abby said, squirming around in her mothers lap so that she could look her in the eye.

“Honey.” Miah said in a soft, easy voice. “You do know Kennedy is a boy, not a girl right?”

“Noooo, she isn’t a boy, look at her! And she isn’t nineteen, she is shorter than me!” The young strawberry blonde haired girl said with more than a few shakes of her head.

“He is too! Well he is seventeen Abby, not nineteen or ten years old.” McKenzie said, leaning forward on the bed to correct her younger sister.

“STOP!” Kennedy yelled, feeling like he wanted to just dive under the bed after raising his voice and having everyone’s eyes on him. Being the center of attention had been the antithesis of his life up to this point, but he couldn’t stand there being a debate on his gender and his actual age just because he was short. That wasn’t his fault, none of this was… With the three people in the room looking at him, especially the beautiful Miss Miah, Kennedy started to feel his face grow red and tears come to his eyes.

The thought of nothing being his fault dredged up his darkest thoughts, the car crash that took his parents. He could remember his mothers smile, he could remember his father towering over the world as he tossed him about back in those formative years and he remembered his parents fighting about something in the car, not what exactly but it had been something about him, something he had done. He couldn’t remember what, but he did remember the car crash, or at least part of it. He had done that, it was because of him, because of something he did the only people in the world that loved him died. When Miss… Aunt Rosie said she cared about him, when Kenzie and Abby stood up for him he felt baffled and he felt like he was loved, much like he did with Miss Miah held him and he was afraid it would all vanish. He hadn’t done anything wrong… not really, not recently but he thought it could all be punishment for what he had once done.

“I’m… I’m a boy, but… but…” He tried talking through the wave of emotions coming over him, but he didn’t get far. He knew better than this, acting like a kid and crying only got him something to cry about, but he couldn’t stop himself and he was wedged in the bed between multiple people, escape wasn’t much of an option. Instead of a slap or being yanked about like he was used to, Kennedy felt a warm embrace. Not just from the woman that said she wanted to adopt him, to be his mother, but from her own kids too.

To Miah, it looked like Kennedy was about to have a panic attack, he was starting to blubber and take in ragged breaths. She immediately took him into her arms, pulling him to her and in the process adding her little girl who was in her lap into the embrace. “Shhh, shhh, shhh. It is okay, everything will be okay.” She said, giving each of her daughters a weak smile. Miah was aware bringing in a foster child would have its challenges, she just never expected those challenges to wrench her heart so much.

The four had been holding the feminized teen for less than a minute when a now tipsy Rosemarie came dashing into the room, almost colliding with the door frame. She had heard a bit of yelling from upstairs and then she was positive she heard someone let out a crying wail. Seeing everyone holding their newest family member she came to the edge of the bed worried. “Is everything okay? Dee Dee, are you okay honey?”

“Kennedy, his name is Kennedy.” Miah said, correcting her sister, a bit of anger inside of her bubbling up in her tone. The boy was crying after trying to say that he was a boy, the damage of the day coming to the surface.

Slightly opening both eyes Kennedy took in a ragged breath as his lip quivered, trying to fight off the next wave of tears. He could see the concern on everyone’s face, nowhere was there a look of hatred or disdain that he was so used to seeing when people looked at him. Hearing Miah use his full name instead of the girly nickname made his heart beat a little faster. Aunt Rosie… Rosemarie didn’t know the truth, she had been so nice to him, thrilled even to help him, she had bought him so much. He didn’t want girl’s clothes, but she never snapped at him at how expensive things were, or how much he was costing her, she did it all and seemed happy to do it. He couldn’t let that fall away… she would hate him. What he felt earlier would fade away and then Miss Miah would hate him and then… and then… and then… he would be sent away. Again.

“She… she… everyone can call me Dee Dee.” He said, finally able to hold in his emotions. It didn’t happen often, but every few years his emotions broke like a dam and even now while he felt like he had a grip on it all, it was a tenuous thing.

“Are you sure?” Miah asked. Looking from the boy in her arms with tears running down his face to her sister, who unbeknownst to her hadn’t picked up on the use of the male pronouns when correcting her on his name in her inebriated state.

“Ye… YES.” He added emphasis to his words before clamping his mouth shut as he felt his emotions rise once more.

“It’s okay, its okay.” McKenzie said, repeating her mothers words as she rubbed her hand across his back to try and comfort him. She was feeling terrible till Kennedy said he actually wanted to be called Dee Dee. She had only pushed harder on the nickname when he refused to tell the truth, now she was just left feeling more confused than anything.

“Hey, how about this?” Miah said, pulling the sniffling boy away from her chest to look him in his blue tear filled eyes. “How about I get the brush, you like it when I brush your hair right?” She had never had a boy before and didn’t think it was an activity boys would really sit through, but she did it for her girls and after she had tamed the tangle that was his hair he had seemed so relaxed everytime after when she ran the brush through his hair.

Unable to say a word, Kennedy nodded his head, but not wanting her to go he pressed his face back into her chest, his arms wrapping around her once more. He felt the shifting of the bed and the soothing hand on his back vanish as McKenzie ran off to get her mothers brush.

Soon Miah was closing the door to the bedroom, the lights off after Kennedy passed out and dead to the world after the fourth stroke of his thick bristled brush through his hair. Feeling the door close she rested her forehead on the wood, her hand still on the handle. When she had gotten home she was physically and mentally exhausted and now she could add emotionally to it. It had all passed, Kennedy was obviously wounded, she was going to make sure he got all the love and attention he deserved, but it also made it clear that he was going to need some professional help.

“You okay?” Rosemarie asked in a half whisper, the door across the hall from Kennedy’s was now closed with Abigail joining her big sister in her room so the girl’s aunt had a bed to stay in. No one was willing to accept her getting a hotel room or staying on the couch.

“Yeah…” Miah said with a hard sigh. “This is what I signed up for and I’m happy to be there, but all this girl stuff and saying it is okay to use the nickname Dee Dee.” She shook her head, positive once she closed her eyes, pillow under her head or not she would be gone.

Rosemarie could see how tired her sister was, but it felt like there was more to it than being overworked. “A house full of girls can be a lot and I don’t think there is anything wrong with the name Dee Dee, I think it is cute. And if you want a man in your life all you have to do is look. Sis you are successful, brilliant or at least passibly brilliant and down right pretty.” She said with a big smile on her face.

“Passibly, like I can pass as brilliant? And just pretty?” Miah said with a hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised. When she saw her sometimes brat of a sister just give a nonchalant shrug she rolled her eyes. “I already had my man, my love... I miss him, but I’m happy with what I have.”

Blowing out some air from her lungs Rosemaire rolled her head. “Yeah… I guess being happy is the point. Maybe get your happy ass to bed then, and after some beauty sleep I can use a better word than pretty.”

Turning her head Miah looked to Kennedy’s door and then to McKenzie’s where her two other children slept or were about to. “Yeah, I’m beat.” She said, before taking a few steps down the hallway to the master bedroom, stopping and looking over her shoulder when she felt her sister tap her on the shoulder.

“Hey… you are doing good, you are doing a wonderful job raising your girls. Really I could never be the wonder woman you are. I think you should hear that from time to time, I love you sis.”

Giving her younger sister a tired smile Miah nodded. “I love you too, but I think if I can be a superhero I would like to be one of those green ring people that can make whatever they want.”

“You mean a Green Lantern?” Rosemarie asked.

With the tired smile still on her face Miah gave a partial nod. “Sure, them too. Dork.”

“Name calling? Very mature.” Rosemarie giggled as her older sibling waved her off as she made her way to her bedroom.