Surprise Offer 2: is a direct continuation of the story about Lily and her ‘brother’ Lance. Can she find acceptance and her place in the world as Lily instead of Lance? Emotions run high as Lily’s new best friend and ‘adoptive’ family members move things forward at lightning speed. Can she handle it all? How will a surprise just before Thanksgiving change everything? Lily and Sammie are back, ready to take on the world with pigtails and dancing, in a way only ten-year-old little girls can do.

Previously:

She was done with the second magazine when a male nurse entered the room, “It is time to take you to surgery. Can you give me your name and date of birth?”

“Lily Vanderbilt. March 27th, 2005,” the patient answered.

The guy said, “Great, I am going to inject this in your IV, and you are going to be sleeping by the time we get to the surgery room.”

True to his word, Lily was soon sleeping.

When Lily awoke in her room after her surgery on Tuesday, it felt like she was wearing a diaper. She looked drowsily around the packed room. Daddie, Granny, Aunty, and Mr. Berger had joined Mommie, Sammie, and Mrs. Berger. Aunty stepped out into the hall and soon returned with Uncle and Lauren. The gifts and flowers appeared to have increased, too.

“Creamy!” Lily croaked out, getting everyone’s attention. The little girl grabbed her cream colored teddy bear and gave it a big hug. With one arm around Creamy, Lily turned her attention to the covered food container sitting on her bedside table. Lily removed the cover to find half a ham sandwich and some grapes. A cup of juice rounded out the small lunch.

Coarsely, Lily said, grabbing the cup of juice, “My mouth is dry. Am I wearing a diaper?”

“Small sips, Honey,” Mommie stated, trying to help her daughter drink the juice without spilling any. “Nope, not a diaper. It is just a thick pad to catch the blood.”

Lily, realizing the constipation was decreasing, said, “Oh, they opened me up?”

“It is just a tiny hole. You will get a bigger, more expensive one tomorrow, Princess,” Daddie explained.

As if discussing the hole and pad was a cue, a nurse walked in. Lily looked at the whiteboard to see that the on-duty nurse was Sarah.

“Sorry, everyone,” Nurse Sarah said, closing the curtain. “Just a second, going to give the patient some privacy.”

Lily watched with interest as her various things were checked and the bloody pad was changed to a clean pad. The nurse also applied another helping of the anti-itch cream on Lily’s chest. Once that was done, the curtain was opened, and some vitals on the board were updated before the nurse left the room.

Lily was halfway through her meal when she heard Daddie say, “Hi, Mom.” …

“Your granddaughter is in the children’s hospital.” …

“No, not Alexis. My child, not Frank’s.” …

“Yes, granddaughter. The MRI and ultrasound show a full female system inside of her.” …

“Plus, the period she is having proves it too.” …

“Lily.” …

“Yes, it does sound nice. But I can’t claim credit for it.” …

“You are more than welcome to drive the nine hours to get here. I am sure we can find a room for you.” …

“You don’t have to come up, but we aren’t going to refuse you.” …

“She’s eating right now, but her eyes are fluttering. I suspect she won’t be awake long. She just woke up from the first surgery, where they punched through her blockage.” …

“We will keep you informed.” …

“Goodbye, Mom, give Dad love from me, and can you please let Frank know?” …

He hung up the phone before staring at his wife. Mommie sighed before picking up her phone and saying, “Hello, Mother.” …

“We can’t make it tomorrow.” …

“Your granddaughter Lily is in the hospital.” …

“That is a loaded question.” …

“According to the MRI and ultrasound, you have never had a grandson and always had a granddaughter.” …

“Official admittance is for a blocked vagina and pooling of the blood in the uterus.” …

“Exactly. She has a temporary tiny one right now. They just brought her back from her surgery.” …

“About two today.” …

“Can you please let Stephanie know?” …

“Thanks, send our love to everyone on Thursday.” …

“She fell back asleep.” …

“Goodbye.” …

Just as Mommie had said, the patient had fallen back asleep, cuddling Creamy.

Daddie was soon back on the phone, “Hello, may I schedule a consultation with Tim Olsen?” …

“Oh, he retired last week.” …

“Adam Olsen would be just fine.” …

“Tom Vanderbilt. 555-5459.” …

“My son turned out to be our intersexual daughter, and we need help with the mountain of paperwork to change all the legal documents.” …

“I will await his call.”...

“Goodbye.”

Lily did wake up after a bit to be rewarded with more hospital food. It was surprisingly good, being a cheeseburger with french fries. She did have to encourage the horde to eat themselves. Told them she would be fine while they went and ate something.

When they did return, Lily had Mommie help her off the bed so that she could visit the bathroom.

“Where is our beautiful patient?” a nurse asked as she walked into the room. Her name tag identified her as Emily.

Mommie pointed at the closed door next to her chair, “Apparently stinking up the world in the bathroom.”

“Next time she has to go to the bathroom, please have her push the call button so a nurse can assist her.”

When Lily came out of the bathroom, Susan sniffed the air and jokingly asked, “Did you have to stink up the room? Anyway, Nurse Emily wants to tell you off and take your vitals.”

Blushing, “I had to go, Mommie. Tell me off?”

“Yes, after a surgery, you are supposed to use the call button for help to visit the bathroom, cutie pie,” the nurse instructed the kid, who looked to be seven. “The doctor also wants to track how often you go for at least a day after a surgery. More importantly, though, we have to make sure the surgery site is not damaged by you peeing or pooping. We also have to make sure everything is cleaned up right after using the toilet so the surgery site doesn’t get infected. Let’s get you into bed and let me take a look.”

Lily blushed as the nurse helped her onto the bed. After a quick examination, some cleaning, and making sure the pad was secure, Nurse Emily took Lily’s vitals.

Once the nurse had left, Lily looked at her Granny and asked, “Who is watching the store if Aunty and you are here?!?”

“We closed early today.”

“Normal closed early?”

Aunty chuckled, “Of course not. My mother just smacked a closed sign on the door and told me we were heading to the children’s hospital. She didn’t even tell me why until we were on the highway.”

Lily just blushed right up. Meanwhile, Lauren, in Auntie’s arms, was reaching for her favorite ‘cousin.’ Lily told Lauren, “OK, you may sit with me, but you have to be careful.”

With Lily, Lauren, and Creamy all situated on the bed, Lily looked at her best friend, “Sammie, can you please go to the playroom and grab me some picture books Lauren might like?”

Once Sammie returned, Lily read the stories to her younger cousin. Sammie, who had pulled up a chair beside the bed, found herself also enjoying Lily reading the stories.

Gradually, the visitors left before they were down to Mommie, Daddie, Mrs. Berger, and Sammie. Sammie bent over her friend and hugged her before saying, “I will see you tomorrow after Girl Scouts.”

Heather Berger also hugged her second daughter before walking out of the room with her first daughter. Daddie was soon hugging his daughter and walked out too.

When the girl started to drift asleep, she asked her Mommie, “When are you going home to get sleep?”

“I am not. Your Daddie brought a change of clothes for me,” Susan said.

Lily exclaimed, “MOMMIE! I will be fine. Where would you sleep?”

“This chair,” the parent pointed at the chair she was sitting on.

Lily responded, “Absolutely not! Go home to sleep. I am not going to die. At least not now. If I need anything, I just press this button and a nurse will be here in seconds.”

Mommie raised her eyebrows, “You are being a courageous girl ordering your mother around.”

Lily smiled, “You can’t spank me right now, and you deserve it.”

“Fine, you win this time. I will go home to sleep,” Susan got up and hugged her daughter.

Once Mommie begrudgingly left the room, Lily was soon asleep with a massive smile on her face.

Wednesday morning, Lily woke up in her hospital room to find her Mommie there. Lily put her hands on her hips, “Mommie, I thought I told you to sleep at home.”

Susan shook her head back and forth, “Relax, little girl, I have only been here for 15 minutes.”

The young girl turned to the food menu to order breakfast before continuing to read her magazines.

After handing in Lily's and her homework, Sammie sat down at her table. She was soon joined by Amanda, who asked, “How is Lance?”

“They did emergency surgery yesterday. But … he is improving. … He has another surgery scheduled for today. ”

“What is wrong with him?”

Sammie told her friend, “I am not allowed to answer that question.”

Mr Collins clapped his hands, “Class, it is time to start. As you can see, Lance is still in the hospital. I will give you some time later today to make some Get Well cards for him. For now, we will start today with Geography.”

Lily was looking over an American Girl magazine that her mom and she had picked up in the playroom when the same nurse who had taken her to the surgery yesterday appeared in the room again. He again asked for her name and date of birth. When that matched his clipboard, he told her that, again, she would be asleep before they got to surgery.

When she woke up again, it felt that the pad between her legs had gotten bigger. She asked Mommie drowsily, ‘What did they do this time?”

“They put in a long-term temporary one-way tube. That will allow you to safely have periods until you have reconstruction surgery sometime at the beginning of next year.”

“My pad feels thicker.”

“You have a heavy flow, and the pad is also acting as bandages for the surgery site, so a bigger pad is needed,” Mommie explained.

She nodded as she held tight onto Creamy. With nothing to do, she grabbed one of her magazines.

Hanna Kane addressed her Girl Scouts, “OK, girls. First, my niece can’t be here because she is in the hospital for women's issues. We will get started with the promise and law like normal. Then we start the first aid badge in the spirit of one of our group members being in the hospital, and we will finish by doing the closing.”

The five from Mr. Collins's class had a surprised look on their faces. All of them stared at Sammie, who either ignored the stares or missed them.

Lily said while holding her hands on her hip when her Granny walked into the hospital room, “Did you close early again?”

“Yes, I did, only an hour early, little girl,” Granny stated. “It is the day before Thanksgiving, and lots of businesses close early.”

The young girl shook her head before turning to her magazine again.

After the closing, Hanna Kane told the girls, “Girls, have an enjoyable Thanksgiving, and I will see you in two weeks.”

Most of the girls went upstairs with Hanna. Sammie turned to leave when Amanda and Tina grabbed her arms.

“You are going nowhere,” Amanda declared. “We are going to discuss your best friend, Lily Vanderbilt.”

Sammie's face fell, looking at the five girls who were both in Girl Scouts and Sammie’s class at school, “How long have you known?”

Anna said, “Don’t change the subject. How does Lily have a women's issue?”

Sammie answered, “She started her period on Monday. And I don’t think it was her first one.”

“She’s a boy,” Jen pointed out. “Boys don’t have periods.”

Amanda exclaimed, “Period? But there shouldn't be a hole!”

Sammie ignored Jen’s comment and looked at Amanda, “You hit the nail on the head why she is in the hospital. They put a small hole in her on Tuesday to start draining the huge pool of blood inside her that had no way out. Today, they were supposed to put a bigger hole in.”

“She shouldn't have the internals!” Tina exclaimed.

Sammie said flatly, “The doctor says she does, and the fact that she is having her period proves she does.”

They were soon distracted by Mrs. Kane walking into the room, “Girls, your parents are waiting. What is keeping you?”

Amanda glared at the scout leader, “We were discussing your niece, Lily Vanderbilt.”

“Samantha Berger!” Hanna reprimanded.

Tina was quick to defend Lily’s best friend by saying, “She is innocent. She only confirmed what we already knew.”

Sammie looked at the five other Girl Scouts before turning to Mrs. Kane, “They refuse to tell me how long they have known.”

Amanda firmly stated, “We want to go to the hospital to see her.”

Hanna knew she wasn't going to win this. “Let me make a phone call and then talk to your parents. Let's go outside.”

After a discussion with all the parents, it was decided that Hanna and Mrs. Berger would take three girls each and head to the hospital. The two adults, along with Sammie and Lauren, were already headed that way anyway.

When they got to the hospital, the five Girl Scouts asked Mrs. Kane if they could stop at the gift shop before going to the room. The sixth one was providing finger service to Lauren to stabilize the toddler. After purchasing a get-well teddy bear, the nine of them headed to the fourth floor.

Lily was bored reading her fourth American Girl magazine. After the girl shooed them out of the room, Mommie, Daddie, and Granny had gone downstairs to get food. A knock came on her closed door. She thought it was her dinner and told them to come in.

You had to pick up Lily’s jaw when Amanda, Tina, and Anna walked in. They were soon followed by Jen, Rachel, Sammie holding Lauren’s hand, Aunty Hanna, and Mrs. Berger. The girls apparently came directly from Girl Scouts since they were in their uniforms. The patient glared at Sammie, “What a surprise, my friends.”

“Bestie, I am innocent,” Sammie pleaded.

Amanda, being the spokesperson for the group, said, “She is innocent. All she did was confirm what we already knew. We did demand she reveal why you were here.”

While helping Lauren into the bed, Sammie added, “They refused to tell how long they had known.”

Lily told Lauren softly and with great patience to crawl to the other side of her body, away from her IV line. She then said, “I figured the minute you knew Lily and Lance were the same person, Amanda, the whole world would know. Or maybe I fell under your taking secrets to the grave side.”

“You did fall under my secret side. I enjoyed Lily’s company and friendship during Halloween and before. You weren't hurting anyone, being Lily. So, I saw no reason to go off about it. Anyway, it’s not like I hadn’t seen you in a dress before Halloween. Of course, now we know that Lily is the real you,” Amanda said.

Lily started, “Tha …”

Another knock came on the door. It was Lily’s nurse saying that she needed to change the girl's pad. She closed the curtain and quickly changed the bloody pad for a clean one before opening the curtain again. The patient's blood pressure was taken next. Finally, the nurse updated the whiteboard before walking out of the room.

“As I was saying before my pad got changed, thank you, Amanda, and the rest of you. Not you, Sammie, though,” Lily stuck her tongue out at her best friend.

Another knock happened on the door, and after receiving permission, the food service guy dropped off Lily's meal. Sammie helped her best friend with her table. The other adults soon joined the horde while the girl was eating.

Lily asked, “Since you won't tell Sammie how long you have known, can you tell me?”

Amanda sheepishly answered, “Halloween.”

Lily meekly said, “So we never fooled you once.”

“I wouldn't say that. You had us suspicious but not sure at the party,” Anna stated.

Tina pointed out, “Lily came out of nowhere. Sammie and her were connected at the hip. And Sammie and Lance were also connected at the hip. Just like Superman and Clark Kent, Lily and Lance were never seen together.”

Jen added, “Lance and Lily are both, suspiciously, four to six inches shorter than Sammie.”

Amanda stated, “Also, you missed a tiny bit of pink when you removed your Princess Aurora nail polish.”

“Fiddlesticks,” Lily responded with a frown.

“I wasn't kidding when I said we enjoyed the friendship of Lily,” Amanda sympathetically patted Lilly’s hand. “We considered you our friend, so we didn't care.”

Anna added, “Other than your true last….”

Another knock on the door happened. Lily invited the person in, too. The more, the merrier. It was her family doctor.

Doctor Kendrick looked around the crowded room. “Well, quite the gathering here.”

Author's Notes: Comments and questions are always welcomed -- Thanks Becky

This story is complete, though we’re wrapping up the proofreading process chapter by chapter as they get posted. I plan to post a chapter every Wednesday.

Four of the six short stories featuring side characters are already finished and will be released as we reach their places in the timeline. I’m currently writing the fifth side story while continuing to proofread this one. Plans are also in for a sixth side story and a final chapter for KA.

As for Surprise Offer Book 3, the research is done, but I’m planning to take at least one story break from the series before starting it.