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.

Saturday before ballet, Lily walked to the Berger’s house in her yellow sweatsuit. She let herself in like she had been told to do many times in the past. She was greeted by Mrs. Berger when she showed up in the living room, “Let me have that bun, Lily.”

After the fake bun was handed over, Lily felt her hair being pulled tight. The older lady said, “One day, your hair will be long, Sweetie. Just like a watched pot, hair doesn’t grow when you want it to.”

Sammie came down soon in her own sweats and leotard, holding a white circle item. When questioned what it was, Sammie said, “It is my practice, tutu. We should have invested in a new one for you. I haven't seen my old one from when I was your size for a very long time ago. I tried finding it a few days ago and failed.”

Lily just shrugged and then followed her second family to the car. About 25 minutes later, she was in her studio removing her canary yellow sweat suit. After getting her ballet shoes out of her ballet bag, she put them on her feet. She was getting good at tying the ribbons for the ballet shoes. Once that was done, she went to the barre to do some stretches. When she felt she was stretched enough so she wasn’t going to hurt herself, she ran through her recital by memory.

She had just done it completely when Miss Rebecca said, “Excellent, Lily. I see that Sammie taught you some new steps. It does look better with the échappé and relevé in the dance.” She threw Lily a practice tutu and said, “I want you to run through it while wearing that. After that is done, we will add some movement to the dance.”

Miss Rebecca started the music for the dance. Again, from memory, the dancer ran through the dance. Lily found it different to dance in a tutu. She had to be mindful of it when she moved her arms. The practice tutu also changed how the dance felt when she did it.

“Very Good, Lily. Remember to smile next time. I want you to start from stage right and demi-pointe shuffle to the middle of the stage like this. That movement is called a bourrée. I want you to bourrée to the stage left when you are done dancing,” The instructor said.

Again, Lily ran through the recital dance with the requested additions. When she was done with that run, taskmaster Rebecca added more movements in the middle of the dance so it wasn’t done entirely from the same spot on the stage. The ballerina was able to only bourrée from stage right. Her legs hurt too much to do it to stage left.

Miss Rebecca said, “That is fine, Lily. You are still strengthening your muscles, and you’re still recovering from your hospital stay. Just remember to do it during the actual dance.”

The focus changed to doing stretches to help the leg muscles. After that, Miss Rebecca had Lily do some ballet moves that didn’t push the leg muscles too much. The tired dancer was happy to finally hear révérence. She did the requested movement before heading to her dance bag for a much-needed guzzle of water.

After she removed the practice tutu, she tried to give it back to Miss Rebecca and was denied. Miss Rebecca said, “It is yours to keep, Lily. You will need it again.”

Lily asked, “I will make sure to bring it next week. How much do I owe you for this tutu, Miss Rebecca?”

“Have your parents contact me if they want to pay for the tutu. I will not argue if they do or don’t. It is just an old one of mine. Next week is the dress rehearsal, Lily,” the dance instructor explained as she walked over to an opaque round bag sitting on the table. “You will need to be wearing this costume instead of the practice tutu. Please wear white dance tights.”

Lily asked, “Can I peek, Miss Rebecca?”

Rebecca smiled and said, “You may.”

Lily unzipped the bag to find a red-trimmed white tutu. She tried to remove it to discover there was a strap keeping it from moving around the bag. Undoing the strap, she slid the outfit out and held it at an arm's length. It was a red and white candy-striped dance costume with a red-trimmed white tutu that stuck almost straight out. Lily smiled as she put it back in the protective bag.

Rebecca cautioned the girl, “Take care of that costume. There is no time to get a replacement before the recital. Here is what your parents owe Mistress Anastasia for the ballet outfit.”

Lily nodded her understanding as she got back in her sweatsuit and tennis shoes.

“Lily, since you are a new ballerina, you might not be aware of this fact. Only young ballerinas wear panties underneath their performance costumes,” Rebecca instructed.

Lily blushed, “So, no panties next week?”

“Correct.”

Lily, with red cheeks, followed her instructor into the common area as the other class was also letting out. The girl with her hands full met up with her friend, who also had her hands full with their own practice tutu, recital costume, and dance bag.

The two friends headed outside to find Lily's Mommie waiting for them. They put their items in the back before getting into the car. Mommie said, “Sammie, your mother has a client. You two had your hands full.”

Lily explained that the dress rehearsal was next week, so we got to bring our costumes home.

Mommie asked, “What does your costume look like, Princess?”

“A candy cane with a tutu,” Lily said with a giggle.

Mommie looked at Sammie in the mirror and asked, “And yours, Sweetie?”

Sammie giggled, “Most of my class, including myself, are gingerbread girls. Two girls are the cooks.”

Lily interjected, “Before I forget, Mommie, you owe Mistress Anastasia for my costume. We also owe Miss Rebecca for my practice tutu.”

Mommie responded, “I will get the amounts from you later, Princess.”

About halfway home, Susan noticed the talking between the girls had stopped. Looking in her rearview mirror, she saw that Lily had fallen asleep.

In their driveway, after Lily was woken up, Mommie looked at the girls, “Both of you two will have to give the Bergers and Vanderbilts our own private dress rehearsal. But that will have to be this evening. Lily needs to come with me to the mall this afternoon. She needs some essentials. You are welcome to come if you want, Sammie.”

“Yes, please,” Sammie blurted out.

“Okay, it looks like Lily still needs a nap,” Mommie stated, seeing Lily yawn. “My princess usually takes a 30 to 60-minute nap after ballet. We’ll leave for the mall in an hour.”

The two preteens, dressed in street clothes, were chatting nonstop during the 30-minute drive to the giant mall. Mommie directed the two towards the girls' department in Macy’s. She headed straight for the intimate section, which caused the new girl to blush right up.

The older lady pointed at Lily as she told a worker, “My daughter needs some training bras.”

“Excellent, let me measure her bust,” the lady said, pulling out a measuring tape and going up to Lily. “With a 26-inch bust, you are a size small, little lady.”

Mommie grabbed some of the bras off the rack before heading to the other clothes. She said rhetorically, “I think Sammie and your Granny filled your closet quite well. See if anything catches your eye. Otherwise, we will pay for these and head to the next stop.”

Lily pulled out a ballet pink leotard with an attached tutu skirt. She checked the size before showing it to Sammie, asking, “It is my size. Can I wear something like this to ballet?”

“If you were in one of the classes for kids two to five years old, sure,” Sammie rolled her eyes. “Mistress Anastasia would never let someone our age wear that in her classes, but Miss Rebecca is your teacher. She would be the person to ask.”

Lily stuck her tongue out, “I bet I’d make a cute six-year-old ballet dancer. Unlike you, I never got to be one when I was actually six, no matter how much I wanted to back then. I think it’s cute and it is my size, so I want to get it.” Handing the leotard to Mommie, Lily continued to look. She passed a dance t-shirt over, too. Turning to her Mommie, “This Hello Kitty skirtall from the clearance rack is also cute.”

Sammie had stepped away and returned with an extra frilly red and white Christmas dress. “OK, Miss six-year-old, let's see if this dress fits you,” the taller ten-year-old mentioned with a smirk as she held the dress up to her friend.

Lily, for her part, didn't complain about the dress that was obviously meant for a younger age group. On the contrary, the ten-year-old being regressed had a massive smile on her face, “Can I try this one on too, Moooommmmmiiiieee?”

“What size is it?” The adult asked while rolling her eyes at how thick her daughter was laying it on.

“6X, Mommie two,” Sammie answered.

Samantha looked at her best friend with curiosity. She had only grabbed that particular dress because it was an over-the-top, prissy dress that any six-year-old would love, but a ten-year-old wouldn’t want to wear. Even though Lily was a small ten-year-old, Sammie was almost sure there was no way the dress would fit her friend, since she got it off a rack in the little girls’ section. Yes, it was the largest size in that section, but … Lily wouldn’t be able to fit in it, would she? She didn’t really want it, did she?

Mommie wondered where the two girls were going with this. “It doesn't hurt to try it on, but I doubt it will fit.”

The small group headed to the changing rooms with the four outfits. “My youngest daughter would like to try these four items on.”

“You may have room three.” The attendant expressed boredly.

Lily was made to model the t-shirt, skirtall, and ballet leotard before the dress was given to her.

When the petite ten-year-old walked out of the changing room wearing the childish dress, she turned to Sammie, “Sister, can you do up my back?”

Shaking her head at being called sister, the taller girl buttoned up the shorter girl. Surprisingly, the dress mostly fit. It wasn’t even hard to do up all the buttons. Sammie couldn’t believe her bestie could actually fit in a 6X dress.

“Okay, Princess, spin around slowly,” Susan looked at her daughter, comfortably and happily wearing the dress that should have been a size or two too small. The Mother squeezed the waist and discovered at least an inch of ease. There was also plenty of room in the shoulders and sleeves. The chest area was the only tight area. However, even there, there was about a quarter inch of growing room. The adult stared at the back buttons in the bust area, trying to decide whether to buy it or not. Glancing at the price tag, “Do you like it, sweetie?”

Looking at her younger self staring back at her from the mirror, and feeling very shy, Lily meekly responded, “Yes, Mommie.”

“Does it feel comfortable? Put your hands on your head and face away from me, please, Princess.”

Lily answered, as she put her hands on her head with great confusion, “It does, Mommie.”

Susan shockingly examined the dress as her daughter reached upward. ‘The dress doesn’t pull too much in the pits when she reaches upward. The skirt comes a bit higher on the leg than it is probably designed to sit. However, three inches or so above the knee is still a bit modest. Christmas is three weeks away, so we only need three or four weeks out of the dress.’

“Sweetheart, you may lower your arms. You do realize, Princess, if we get the dress, you will wear it somewhere at some time? You will also be treated like you are dressed. Do you agree with that, Sweetie?”

“Yes, Mommie.”

The short girl was originally expecting to try the dress on, see herself in the mirror, before returning the dress to the rack. Yes, the currently regressed girl wanted the dress, but she didn’t expect it to fit or Mommie agreeing to purchase it. ‘Treated like you are dressed? What did Mommie mean by that?’ Lily thought to herself.

“Sammie, gather Lily’s clothes up,” Mrs. Vanderbilt instructed, while ripping the tags off Lily's dress.

Lily blushed as she realized that meant she was wearing the dress out of the store. The small group headed to a nearby register, with Lily’s hand being held.

“These six items, also here are the tags for the dress she is wearing. Can I have an extra bag for the clothes she wore here?”

With the bags in hand, they headed into the mall itself. Unlike earlier, Lily now wasn’t allowed to walk without her hand being held.

‘Oh,’ Lily finally realized. ‘Being treated like you are dressed, like a six-year-old.’

Mommie apparently knew exactly where she was going. The three didn’t stop or slow down until they got to the store Claire’s.

Squeezing her daughter’s hand, Mommie said, “Pick which one of these starter earrings you want, Princess.”

Lily got very excited and eventually picked a lovely pink stone. She sat down where the lady had directed her to sit.

“Aren't you a little princess in that dress? How old are you?”

Feeling shy, Lily was speechless.

Seeing the chance, Sammie expressed, “She is six.”

“Oh, a big six-year-old getting her first earrings. Those pink studs will make you look even cuter than you already are.”

Lily blushed at the compliments, even if the age was wrong. She also gladly accepted the pink bunny to hug during the ear-piercing process. Five painless minutes later, the earrings were in her ears.

Back in the mall corridor, Mommie played with the back of Lily's hair. Feeling the back of her head, she felt a bow.

“Nice red bow, little sister.”

Mommie then grabbed Lily’s hand and continued down the row of shops on a mission. She directed Lily and Sammie into a toy store, “My Princess can pick one item to purchase today.”

“Anything?” Lily asked with wide eyes.

“Within reason, Princess.”

“What is ‘within reason’?”

Mommie thought for a moment, “No more than 50 dollars.”

Forgetting how she was dressed, Lily gave her mommie a big hug and said, “Ok, Mommie!”

Like a kid in a candy shop, Lily grabbed Sammie’s hand and dragged her down the aisles.

As she followed the girls, Susan thought, ‘Two minutes ago, I definitely had a six-year-old daughter. It will be interesting to see if the toy she picks out is for the six- or ten-year-old.’

When they got to the doll aisle, Sammie asked, “How about a Barbie set?”

“Eew!” With that feeling expressed, they looked at a few other dolls, like Monster High, Sofia the First, and some from Frozen. Lily then dragged her friend to the bikes. “Fiddlesticks, over 50 dollars.”

The craft aisle was the next stop. “This might be an idea. … No, I know!”

Sammie eeped as she was dragged to the video games. Lily looked left and right before pointing at a video game behind the glass. “Animal Crossings!”

“Melissa from Girl Scouts has that,” Sammie stated. “She seems to like it.”

Looking up at her mother and pointing to the game, Lily said, “I want that game, Mommie.”

Susan Vanderbilt was uncertain if it was the six-year-old or the ten-year-old wanting the game, “Let me get an employee to help.”

Mommie flagged down a worker who unlocked the case and grabbed the game. The three shoppers followed the employee to the cash register to purchase Lily’s prize.

Game in hand, the three girls headed out of the store, but instead of going back to the car, they went two stores down into a kids' clothing shop. Again, Lily was being treated like the six-year-old she was dressed as.

“Okay, girls. It is time I got to work spoiling my two girls. Each of you is walking out of here with a fancy dress. I get final approval, but I will let you two pick out and try on a few possibilities.”

Lily, in her childish dress, looked at Sammie before the two of them squealed in glee. Then they headed over to the girls' section and examined the dresses that would make any ten-year-old look like a princess. The big question was whether they would match or coordinate their dresses. Going twinsies was tremendously appealing, but in the end decided to just get ones that looked good next to each other. With fancy princess dresses purchased, they all headed back to the car.

After dinner, both ballerinas were dressed in their ballet costumes in the Berger house. It was the house that had the largest uncarpeted space. Lily liked how she looked when examining herself in a mirror. With an audience of four adults and one ballerina, Sammie first did her dance. Since she was dancing as part of an ensemble, they were only getting a taste of the dance.

Lily then successfully danced like it was engraved in her mind. Once they were both done, Mrs. Berger said, “Lily needs a red pair of dance shoes. Samantha, I think, already has a white pair, but I think she would be better with a brown pair.” She continued rhetorically, “But the color of Samantha's shoes would be up to Mistress Anastasia.”

Mommie said, “Ok, Sammie, I suggest getting out of that costume to avoid damaging it. I will take this ballerina home so she can get out, too. Say goodbye to your best friend until Monday, Princess.”

The two girls hugged each other while pouting. Once that was done, Lily followed her parents to their house next door.

When they got into the house, the answering machine light was blinking.

“Lily, this is Jimmy. Please give me a call,” the machine said.

“Hmm, I wonder what he wants.”

Mommie told her daughter, “It is too late to call today. We might be too busy to call tomorrow, too.”

Sunday morning, Lily followed her parents into church wearing the red velvet Christmas dress. While the adults were talking, Lily went up to Kelly and the other girls. They were chatting when a certain cousin hugged Lily around her waist. Right before church, Lily directed the toddler to the nursery. After Lauren was in the nursery, she followed her parents into the sanctuary. She scooted into the pew next to Aunty before Mommie sat right next to her.

Just to be different, Mommie and Daddie were hosting the Gilbert extended family this Sunday. While they were waiting for dinner to be served, Aunty and Granny were quizzing the oldest granddaughter about ballet. That led to talking about the recital.

While eating meatballs for dinner, Lily mentioned to the family, “I have been thinking of doing something to pay back Pratt for my treatment. I just haven’t decided between face paint or ballet.”

“Face paint might not be healthy for a hospital environment. I think ballet would be a better choice,” Mommie mentioned.

“Ballet lets me get Sammie involved,” Lily pondered. “I wouldn’t even know how to set something up like that.”

Granny smiled at the little one, “I will make some calls tomorrow, Princess.”

The dinner conversations continued on more boring subjects unrelated to the preteen and toddler. Lily decided to practice hair braiding on Lauren while watching The Muppets’ Christmas Carol with her cousin. Surprisingly, the youngest one didn’t fidget too much while her hair was being put into a braid.

At two, Lily was told to go upstairs and put on her new dress to show Granny.

“Which new dress? The red or green one?”

"I was thinking of the green one, but I won't be upset with you wearing the red one. However, the catch still applies.”

Blushing Lily decided to put the green one on, which didn't have all the frills of the red one.

Mommie wondered as she headed up the stairs, ‘Do I have a six- or ten-year-old daughter today?’

Turning into her little girl’s bedroom, she noticed the dress of choice was the green princess dress. Walking behind the preteen, she zipped the girl up.

Wearing the green dress, white tights, Mary Jane shoes, and a pretty ballerina necklace, Lily went downstairs to show off her new outfit. With each compliment, Lily’s smile and blush got bigger.

“Okay, Princess,” Mom directed Lily toward the door. “Let’s get your coat on and over to Mrs. Berger for your hair before we leave for your surprise.”

“Surprise?” Lily looked at Mommie. “What surprise?”

“Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. I promise I will tell you once we are all in the car and on our way.”

Over at the Berger’s, Lily was quickly put in the hair salon chair and had her hair styled. Then she was ushered out to the living room, where Sammie, in her new dress, was watching cartoons.

“Do you know where we are going, Bestie?”

“Nope, Mommie won’t tell me. Not even when I turn on the puppy dog eyes and face.”

“Girls,” Mrs. Berger said, entering the living room. “Bathroom and then into the car.”

Once the car was on the highway, the two moms revealed their destination. They were going to the Olsen Performing Arts Center to see the Nutcracker Ballet.

Lily climbed into Mrs. Berger’s car for the ride to school. “Hello, Sammie.”

“Hello, Bestie. ” Sammie said.

Lily smiled, “Oh, Sammie, I am thinking of doing my recital for Pratt. Do you want to join me?”

Sammie thought before replying, “That sounds fun. I think I will.”

“Granny offered to make some calls to set it up. She told me it might be a few days.”

Sammie nodded.

Lily mentioned, “Jimmy left a voicemail on the answering machine Saturday while we were giving the impromptu recital.”

“What did he want?”

Lily shrugged, “Just said to call him. It was late when we got home, so I didn’t return the call. Mommie wouldn't allow me to call yesterday, either.”

Sammie asked, “He and Lance used to be good friends, right?”

“I wouldn’t say BFFs, but yes, we were friends,” Lily said, wondering where Sammie was going with this.

Sammie pointed out, “You haven’t done anything with him since we became BFFs, right?”

“Yes,” Lily confirmed, still confused about where Sammie was going.

“He is also the one who called you that word?”

Mrs. Berger asked as they were showing up at the school, “What word?”

“Hermaphrodite,” Lily responded. “Which is precisely what I am since I have XX Hermaphroditism.”

Before Mrs. Berger would open the child lock doors, she asked, “Was it said in a mean way?”

“At the time, I just laughed. I don’t know how Jimmy meant it. Amanda and Tina ran after him. And he apologized the next day with Amanda's urging,” Lily said. “Amanda did something. What, I am not sure because it was never mentioned again.”

Mrs. Berger nodded before opening the minivan's back door. The two girls went toward the classroom before Lily split off to use the bathroom. She met Christy as she walked out of the bathroom. She heard her fellow classmate say, “Freak,” very softly.

Lily set her new pink backpack next to Sammie before going up to Jimmy, “You called Jimmy?”

Jimmy smiled, “I thought you ignored the message. Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to play like old times?”

“It was late Saturday when we got home, and I was busy all day yesterday. The sports stuff is gone, but we could do the video games,” Lily said.

Jimmy pointed out, “You never enjoyed the sports stuff anyway. I think you only did those to hide Lily. When?”

Lily shrugged, “Wednesday, Saturday mornings, and Sundays are off now. Today or tomorrow after school work. Bring your homework.”

Jimmy smiled, “Let me get back to you.”

As she was sitting next to Sammie, the best friend asked, “What did Jimmy want?”

“To play like old times again. I suggested tonight or tomorrow,” Lily explained.

Sammie faked being hurt, “I have been replaced.”