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.

Upon getting home on Wednesday after school, Amanda’s Mommie handed her a brochure. Looking at it, she was confused.

Amanda’s Mommie said, “I put a $50 deposit on that face painter for your birthday party.”

Amanda studied the brochure and the hiring contract stapled to it. Suddenly her eyes went wide, ‘Preteen and Gilbert’s Costumes. It has to be Lily. She IS extremely cute as a rag doll.’

Looking up at her mother, “You put down a deposit? Has Raggedy Lala accepted the job?”

“Yeah, just a deposit. Alison said she would ask Raggedy Lala if she could do the gig. I hope she can, though. You should see how good she is. There’s a book at Gilbert Costumes showing some of the face painting that little doll has done.”

“Mommie, if my hunch is correct, I don't think you're going to be approved. Raggedy Lala is going to turn you down when she figures out it is my party.”

“Do you know who Lala is? Does she not like you?”

Amanda grinned, “I have a suspicion, and if my suspicion is correct, she very much likes me, which is why she will turn you down. If Raggedy Lala accepts, I will hand-wash the dishes for a year.”

“You must really think I am going to be turned down,” Mommie responded.

Amanda said, “I will say it this way: if my hunch is correct, and Lala accepts your booking, I will be very, very upset at a friend of mine.”

Over at Oak Acres, Sammie and Lily walked into the Vanderbilt house after school. Mommie threw her the free advertisement newspaper that usually went straight to the recycling bin. The girl just looked at it with confusion.

“Lily, please look near the bottom of the second-to-last page.”

Lily opened the newspaper and scanned the section called Public Notices. She finally found one that stated, “Public Notice: This is a notice that Lance Allen Vanderbilt is changing her name to Lily Ann Vanderbilt for medical reasons.”

“We have to give public notice?”

"Name changes require a public notice. They don't specify where the notice needs to be,” Mommie explained, and upon seeing her child nod understanding, she continued. “Now, please call your Granny Gilbert’s store. The number is on a slip of paper next to the phone. She has a tentative gig for you.”

Picking up the house phone, Lily did as instructed, “Hello Granny.” …

“Mommie says you have a tentative gig for me.” …

“What is the date?” …

“The 16th of January? Let me guess at two p.m.” …

“No can do. I can't be a party guest and a rag doll at the same time.” …

“Yes, that is my friend Amanda’s birthday party.” …

“Love you, Granny, goodbye.”

Lily hung up the phone and turned to Sammie, “Amanda’s Mommie tried to book Lala for her party. I, unfortunately, had to decline.”

“Why? Just clone yourself.”

“Very funny, Bestie.”

“Well, that was quick,” Mrs. Mueller commented as she hung up the phone and looked at her daughter, Amanda. “As you said, Lala has declined the booking.”

Amanda got a massive grin on her face, “I knew it. But Mommie, before you find another face painter, let me talk to someone.”

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing bad, Mommie.”

Mrs. Mueller raised her eyebrows, “Like yesterday was nothing bad?”

Amanda blushed, “This is a lot more innocent than yesterday.”

Thursday morning, Amanda came up to the two best friends, “Thank you for denying that booking. You saved me a year of doing a hated chore.”

“I am unsure what you are talking about,” Lily responded, while trying not to smile.

Amanda glared at Lily, “But you knew I wasn't talking to Sammie.”

Lily blushed, “Fine. Are you sure you are not a private investigator?”

“Come on, Lily, who else could be a preteen connected to Gilbert’s Costumes?”

Lily shrugged, “I don't know. Sammie suggested I clone myself.”

After school, Amanda headed the opposite way from home. She soon walked into Gilbert’s Costumes and was greeted by Ms. Gilbert.

“I would like to talk about Lala's face painting. But it is probably better that Lily be here during the discussions.”

The shopkeeper looked at this unknown girl with surprise. They had just mentioned both her granddaughter’s name and her alter ego. Caution was warranted, “Do you know Lily?”

“Remember the Girl Scouts that visited her in the hospital. One of them was me. Mrs. Kane can vouch for me.”

“Hanna, can you come here?” Allison said on the intercom.

Coming out from the back, Hanna smiled at one of the weekly visitors to her house, “Hi, Amanda, what brings you here?”

Ms. Gilbert was the one to respond, “She wants to discuss Lala's face painting and wants Lily here for it.”

Hanna just shrugged her shoulders and suggested calling Lily.

Amanda added, “Her shadow can come too. Sammie won't be involved in the discussion, but she can come.”

Lily walked into the Berger's house dressed in her white leotard. The girls planned on doing homework before crash-coursing Lily on her recital moves.

They hadn’t even gotten their books out before Mrs. Berger handed the phone to Lily. It was her Mommie telling her that her Granny wanted both of them at her store for a bit.

After shrugging, they bundled up in their sweatsuits and coats and walked the two blocks. When they walked in, Amanda said, “Nice sweat suits, friends.”

Lily grinned, “You caught us as we were going to practice our recital dances. Why were we summoned?”

Granny looked at Amanda before turning to Lily, “Amanda wants to talk about face painting and Raggedy Lala.”

Lily started to say, “I …” before being hushed by Amanda.

“Let me say my speech first. I know why you denied my Mommie. I would have been very upset if you accepted,” Amanda smiled at Lily. “Even if you do make an adorable rag doll. But getting back on the subject. I want Lily, not Raggedy Lala, at my party. BUT I do want to have my cake and eat it too. I still want to have face painting at my party. Specifically, Lily's face painting. What I propose is that we, my Mommie and I, don't hire Lala. Instead, we hire Lily.”

“But I don't have my own face paints.”

Amanda looked at Ms. Gilbert, “Which is why we are having this discussion here.”

Lily also looked at her Granny.

Shrugging, Ms. Gilbert responded, “I don't see a problem with it. The question is how much time to charge?”

Lily turned back to her friend, “How many are invited to your party?”

“It is just the seven of us Girl Scouts in Mr. Conner's class. I wasn't allowed to invite all the girls. It took me a while to convince Mommie to change it from five to six guests when a new girl appeared out of nowhere. And that convincing was done weeks ago before you went into the hospital.”

Lily looked at Granny, “So, six full faces I will be able to paint. I think that will take less than an hour. Better make it an hour to be safe.”

Granny asked, “Same place, Amanda?”

“Yes,” Amanda’s smile grew bigger as she realized she was going to get what she wanted.

“That will make it the same price I quoted your Mom,” Granny watched Amanda’s reaction.

Lily asked, “Can I give them a friend's discount of 20 percent?”

“I don't see a problem with that. Let me butcher a Lala Tentative Agreement. Amanda, here is the phone. Call your Mom.”

Amanda agreed and did what was asked of her. Amanda’s Mommie soon walked into the store, “Hello, Sammie. I am not sure what your name is, sweetie. Hello Allison. Why was I summoned?”

Amanda went over to Lily, “Her name is Lily. And we summoned you because I got a face painter for my party. I even got you a discount.”

“I thought the rag doll turned us down.”

“I didn't get Lala. I got Lily to face paint,” Amanda responded.

Ms. Gilbert handed the tentative agreement over. Amanda’s Mommie asked, “Why are the helper, chaperone, and identity sections crossed out. I see every Raggedy Lala has been replaced with Lily Vanderbilt.”

Amanda smiled at her Mom, “Lily doesn't need a helper, you are Lily’s chaperone, and we already know who Lily is.”

“How can I be Lily’s chaperone?”

“Lily is one of the party guests,” Amanda said.

“Oh, the mysterious sixth guest.”

“She isn't mysterious. She was just hiding,” Amanda stated. “Now, are we going to do it?”

Mrs. Mueller turned to Granny, “Do I have to put down another deposit?”

“Nope,” Ms. Gilbert responded. “I will shred the refund check I made out to you today and move the deposit over. Within the week, I’ll have a new hiring form for you to sign.”

Lily and Sammie bid their farewell and started the trip home.

Once the two friends had left the costume shop, Amanda turned to the shop owner, “Ms. Gilbert, I have a proposal.” The girl and the shopkeeper discuss the proposal before Amanda followed her Mommie out of the shop.

In the car, Mrs. Mueller turned around and faced her daughter, “Why do I feel like I have hired the rag doll without hiring them?”

Amanda grinned, “I can neither confirm nor deny that because that would identify Raggedy Lala.”

Sammie asked her best friend as they were walking back to Oak Acres, “Can you really do six faces in an hour?”

Lily thought for a moment, “That is ten minutes per face. I probably can’t do them in an hour. It might take 15 to 20 minutes per face. The time is more a formality with Amanda’s party than a set-in-stone limit.”

Sammie nodded before Lily continued, “Besides, I don’t need the money. I haven’t spent the money from the last gig. I just need something to pay Granny for the face paint used.”

Back in the Berger's house, Lily was warming up at the barre after the homework was done.

Instructor Sammie stood on the other side of the barre, “I am going to teach you two moves and then run you through the recital.”

Lily smirked, “OK, Miss Bestie.”

Sammie just stared at her best friend before shaking her head, “The first move is called échappé. This move starts and ends in the fifth position. You will rise onto your tiptoes while doing this move. Tiptoes are called demi-pointe in ballet.” She then showed the move before having Lily do it a few times.

Sammie continued, “The next move is called relevé. You start in a demi-plié, raise to demi-pointe, and end in a demi-plié. This one can be done in any position. This is what it looks like in fifth position.” She continued by showing the move.

Lily was told to do the move a few times in each position. Once she had it down, Sammie started a snippet of music taken from the Nutcracker.

Sammie got the barre out of the way, “This is the music Miss Rebecca says you are dancing to.” The temporary instructor waited until the music stopped before continuing, “Now we are going to run through the dance slowly without the music and then increase the speed each time.”

Sammie started to call out the moves slowly. She stopped a few times to give pointers on improvements before continuing. When they were done with the first time around, she said, “Miss Rebecca might have you move around the stage a bit, but for now, we will just stay in one place.” She continued while starting the music over, “From the top.”

After the third run through, Lily stopped her friend, “Miss Samantha, I am done for today. I think I have the dance memorized, but my body is saying you are done today. My legs hurt, I’m thirsty, I’ve got a headache really bugging me, and I am totally worn out. We can do this again tomorrow.”

It was probably good they quit because Mrs. Berger entered the room while they were putting the ballet stuff away, “It is dinner time, girls.”

Mr Conner picked up the ringing class phone. After listening to the phone, “Lily, your Mom is at the office to pick you up for your appointment.”

“Bestie, see you tonight. Make sure you collect my homework, please.”

“Okay, Bestie.”

“The freak gets another early day,” Lily heard as she walked out of the room.

“Christy, go to the office!”

As the petite girl was walking at a relaxed pace down the hall, Christy stomped past her.

“Lily Vanderbilt?” a lady, who appeared to be middle-aged to the girl, asked from an office.

Lily looked around the empty waiting room that had more space set aside for toys than seats. There wasn't a question about which girl the lady wanted. Lily got up and walked to the lady. She stopped when she realized Mommie wasn't following her.

“Lily, it is just going to be you and me talking. Your Mommie will be waiting patiently here for you.”

As Lily walked into the room, Jan closed the door behind her.

“Have a seat anywhere you want to, Lily.”

Lily looked around the room that was painted with muted primary colors. There was a bookcase with dolls and stuffed animals sitting by one wall. A couple of bean bags were sitting around the room. A child-sized table was in another area. An adult-sized love seat was in another place. The opposite wall from the toys was the lady’s desk.

Jan noticed the girl looking at the bookcase. “You can grab a doll or stuffie before you sit down, Sweetie.”

Skipping to the animals, Lily grabbed a little brown bunny before sitting on a pink bean bag.

Wheeling her desk chair to right in front of the girl, ‘Her mom assures me she is ten. My eyes scream seven or eight.’

“Lily, my name is Jan Moore. You can call me Miss Jan or Miss Moore. I heard about you from your Mommie on Tuesday. But how about you describe yourself?”

“I am Lily and …”

“Don’t know how to describe yourself?”

“What do you like to do?”

“I love to do ballet and do face painting.”

“How long have you been doing ballet?”

“Beginning of November.”

Jan asked the girl multiple questions, purposely avoiding questions about gender. Usually, she did this with her gender clients to judge if they were actually transgender or being forced to be transgender. The world had a lot of bad characters in it. However, she had to remind herself that this girl was intersexual, so technically, they were being forced by their body.

“So what happened the Monday before Thanksgiving?”

“I was practicing ballet with Sammie, and she brushed my chest, causing great pain. I already had constipation, cramps, and a bad headache.”

Jan previously had been told about Samantha, so she followed that sentence. She encouraged the girl to continue.

“Sammie didn’t like that and told her Mommie that I was having a period.”

“The next day, I saw a doctor who diagnosed me as having female parts. He forced Mommie to take me to the children’s hospital.”

Lily continued talking about the hospital visit.

“You were doing ballet weeks before your period was discovered, right?”

“Yes?”

“So Lily existed before nature gave you a surprise?”

“Yes,” the little one holding the bunny said, while flopping its ears. She then went on to describe the month of October to the lady.

Looking at the time, “It has been a pleasure talking to you, Sweetie, but we have run out of time.”

Lily, after getting up, put the bunny back where she got it from.

Back where Mommie was, “Susan, it was a pleasure talking to Lily. I would like to talk to her every two weeks.”

Acknowledging the instructions, Susan scheduled another appointment.

Friday, after the girls were together again, they ran through Lily’s recital a few times.

During a break, “How was your counseling appointment?”

“I guess fine,” Lily shrugged as she grabbed a glass of water and massaged her aching legs.

“What happened?”

“She just asked questions about Halloween and Ballet.”

“What did she tell you?”

“That is it. She didn't tell me anything. She kept asking questions to make me talk, and writing down notes in her ever-present notepad.”

Sammie didn’t know how to respond to that.

Once the two girls thought the recital was at a good pace, so the music and dance matched up, Lily was made to do it entirely from memory.

When Lily was done, she turned to Sammie, “Now you show me your recital.”

Sammie happily showed her best friend her part in the intermediate class recital. Mrs. Berger clapped after she was done. The older lady exclaimed, “Excellent, Samantha. Please get dressed. Lily’s mother is expecting both of you for dinner.”