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:

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, “This Wednesday, Saturday morning, 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.”

~o~O~o~

Lily glared and said, “We have been with each other about six days a week, connected at the hip since October.”

Sammie hugged her best friend and said, “I was just teasing.”

Later that day, after school, Lily was getting ready for another ballet practice session. She had just put on her pink sweatsuit over the top of her pink practice leotard with its attached skirt. The doorbell rang. She thought that was odd. Sammie was expecting her at the Bergers' house. She wasn’t expecting the best friend here. The girl opened the door to be greeted by Jimmy, “Hello, Jimmy. Nice to see you.”

Jimmy looked at the girl, “Oh, you must be busy, Lily.”

“I was heading next door to do homework, then practice ballet. You are welcome to come and watch us after we are done with homework,” Lily said.

Jimmy hesitantly replied, “I guess.”

After putting her coat on, Lily grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him next door. The boy dragged his feet on the ground as if he were being dragged to the slammer. The girl was clueless as they went into the Bergers' house. She said, “Sammie, I got us another homework partner.”

Nervously, Jimmy said, “H h hello S S Samantha.”

With a smile, Sammie said in her own leotard, “Hello, Jimmy. I don’t bite.”

Lily said while smirking, “No, she only nibbles.”

"Watch it Lily. In that skirted leotard you look more like a kindergartener than an equal. You better be nice to your elders, unless you want me to start treating you the age you look," Sammie said as she started a tickle torture on Lily with a few soft blows.

The shorter girl didn’t know what was worse, the tickle torture or soft blows. “Stop! … Mercy! … Stop! … … I … am … sorry!”

“That is a good little girl,” Sammie told Lily after stopping the tickle torture.

While smirking, the boy had just gotten his homework out, “Are you two ready to do some homework, we don’t have much tonight.”

When the three of them had finished their homework, the two girls gave Jimmy a private dance show. After about 30 minutes, Sammie had an evil grin on her face. She ran upstairs and came back, holding some cloth in her hand. She said, throwing the item to him, “Catch, Jimmy.”

He shook it, reviewing it as a pair of pink leggings. He asked, “W w what is t t this, S S Samantha?”

Sammie said, smiling, “Why do you only get tongue-tied around me? Do you like me? It is a pair of leggings. You can’t do ballet in your jeans.”

Jimmy whispered, barely audible, “M m maybe.” He continued with shock, “Do ballet!?!?”

Lily smirked, “It is more fun doing the ballet than watching it.”

Pointing toward the guest bathroom, Sammie said, “You can change in there.”

The boy soon returned wearing the leggings, and the two girls had a blast teaching the positions. The boy kind of liked it, too.

Mrs. Berger walked in later and said, “Dinner time, girls. Oh! Dinner time, girls and boy.”

While having cheeseburgers, the children were quizzed about teaching Jimmy ballet. The boy blushed softly and said, “I enjoyed it, Mrs. Berger. I am not sure I want to take lessons, though.”

After dinner, Samantha said, “Jimmy, we will be back. Make yourself at home.” They then ran upstairs to change. Jimmy stayed downstairs and settled on the couch.

When Lily came down in jeans and a sweatshirt, she noticed that Jimmy quickly put down the magazine he was reading as if it were on fire. She thought it looked like a Girl’s World magazine, but wasn’t sure. She was questioned about where the clothes came from. The girl pointed out that she had her own bedroom and clothes there.

Mrs. Berger walked into the room with the phone. She said, “Jimmy, phone for you.”

Jimmy said into the phone, “Hello?” …

“Yes, I am at Samantha’s.” …

“She is here too.” …

“Mrs. Berger fed me.” …

“I did thank her.” …

“Oh, we already did our homework.” …

“Ok, I will make sure.” …

“Mrs. Berger, my mom wants to talk to you,” Jimmy said, handing over the phone.

Mrs. Berger said, “Hello, Bree.” …

“Oh, he isn’t a bother.” …

“Oh, I will let him know.” …

“You already told him, OK.” …

“Goodbye, Bree.” She then hung up the phone before saying to Jimmy, “Your mother made it clear to me she wants you home no later than 8:30.”

Jimmy said, “She told me, too, Mrs. Berger.”

While this phone discussion was going on, Sammie had walked into the room. She said, “Let us play Mario Kart on the Wii.”

Jimmy looked at the clock after their third race on Mario Kart, “It is eight-ten. I'd better head home.”

Sammie smiled, “Don’t you think you should put on your own jeans, Jimmy?”

He looked at his pink legs, “Oops. I think I should.”

Once in his jeans, the boy returned to the room and hugged both girls. Sammie got a more prolonged hug than Lily. Once Jimmy left the room, Lily delivered her own hug. She then gathered up her ballet stuff and headed home herself.

Mr. Berger unlocked his car for Jimmy to get in, as he watched Lily go home.

After school on Tuesday, Lily and Sammie were looking for the car in the pick-up area. Sammie mentioned, “I can't see my Mommie.”

Lily looked back and forth before seeing a hint of a different color car. She walked a little closer to get a better view. Returning to her best friend, the petite ten-year-old pointed, “Sammie, my Mommie’s car is down this way.” After they were in the car, she asked, “Not that I am upset to see you, Mommie, but you are usually working right now. What happened to Mrs. Berger?”

Mommie explained, “Work was slow, so I was done early. When Sammie’s mommie said she had a client, I offered to pick the two of you up.”

The two girls nodded.

Mommie stopped in front of Gilbert’s Costumes. Lily asked, “Why are we here?”

Mommie said, “Your Grandma, Lily, wants to talk to both of you. I will wait here while you two run inside.”

They walked into the store and waited until Granny was done with her current customer. When she was done, she hugged her granddaughter. “Greetings, two of my favorite girls.”

Lily shook her head and said, “Don't let Lauren hear that. We were told you wanted to talk to us.”

“I specifically said two of my favorite girls. What are you doing at three on Saturday?”

Sammie shrugged. Lily looked confused, “Nothing besides getting in each other's hair.”

Granny corrected, “No, you two are doing a ballet show at Pratt.”

“Ok, Granny.” … “Fine with me, Ms. Gilbert.”

They said goodbye before heading back to the car. Once in the car, Sammie said, “I have been learning your recital. That way, we can do a duet. My recital as a solo isn't very good. I am just hoping that one of my old performance costumes still fits.”

“What is wrong with the gingerbread girl?”

“It doesn't match your costume very well.”

“Details. They would be happy if we did it in our practice leotards.”

“True, but it wouldn't look as nice.”

Lily asked as they got out of the car, “Do you think you can come up with a dance where you could display your talents?”

Sammie puzzled over that, “Let me think about that. Are we doing homework at Hotel Vanderbilt or the Berger Resort?”

Lily looked at her friend weirdly, “We were at your house yesterday. I guess we'd better give my Mommie some time with us.”

Wednesday after school, dressed in her Girl Scout uniform, Lily walked next door. She climbed into Mrs. Berger’s car. As she was talking about the topic of the day, she realized they were not heading to Aunty Hanna’s house. When they stopped in front of the ice skating rink, Lily asked, “Why are we here, Mrs. Berger?”

“Your troop leader said to come here today.”

Shrugging, she just followed Sammie into the rink. The two girls headed to the sea of green vests and skirts gathered near the rink. They were apparently the last to arrive.

Hanna Kane told the girls, “We will get started with the promise and law like normal before earning the ice skating badge. Finally, we will do the closing.”

After the promise and law, the troop headed to the ice skating rental area. When Lily was handed a pair of white and pink skates, she sat down to put them on her feet. She followed the rest of the scouts off the boards onto the ice.

“Girls, one of the requirements of the badge is proving to me that you can get up safely,” Hanna Kane instructed. “We will start in alphabetical order. Amanda, you are up.”

Amanda laid down on the ice and proved she could get up. Mrs. Kane said, “Excellent. Anna, you are up next.”

A few girls later, “Great, Jill. Lily, you are up.”

After lying down on the ice, Lily proved that she could get up. She thought the ice was cold as she pushed herself up.

“Thank you, Sweetie. Marlene, you are up.” …

“Thank you, Vicky. Now, the hard part is done. Now it is time to have the fun. Stop standing around, girls, and have fun on skates.”

You didn’t have to tell Lily or, for that matter, any of the other girls twice. They started skating around the rink. Some of them were more talented on skates than others. Lily was just happy to hold Amanda’s hand. The two girls had an equal amount of talent on skates. That is none at all. Sammie and Tina didn’t have Olympic skills, but they were much more talented than the other two girls.

About 50 minutes later, Hanna said, “Girls, our time is over. Head off the ice and put your shoes back on.”

Lily headed off the ice and sat down where her pink shoes were. As she was tying the laces on her sneakers, Aunty called out, “Ladies, please return your skates. When that is done, return to me for the friendship circle.”

After returning to her Aunty, Lily stood to the right of her. Sammie soon stood next to her. When Aunty squeezed her hand, Lily squeezed Sammie's hand.

Soon, the Troop leader said, “Thank you, girls. In two weeks, we will have a Christmas party. Please bring a gift worth 15 to 20 bucks to the party. Your parents, hopefully, should be waiting outside for you.”

Lily Vanderbilt put on her pink coat before following her best friend out to Mrs. Berger's car. She greeted the neighbor after getting into the car. Back at Oak Acres, she said, “Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Berger. See you tomorrow, Bestie.”

“It was nothing, Lily,” Mrs. Berger told her.

The best friend said, “See you tomorrow, Bestie.” Sammie then gave her best friend a hug before the two girls separated.

Mommie informed Lily after school on Thursday, “Lily, you are not going to school tomorrow.”

“Why?” Lily looked at her Mommie like she had grown a second head.

“You have a court case tomorrow.”

Lily just shrugged before heading next door to play.

Mommie waited until Lily’s seatbelt was on before backing out of the driveway on Friday. The young girl was dressed in her green Sunday best dress that Mommie had demanded that she wear. About 30 minutes later, they were pulling in front of the county courthouse in Clearwater.

The two Vanderbilts walked into the courthouse. Lily recognized the lawyer who was at the school meeting. She tried to remember his name. Mr. Orsen or something like that.

Adam Olsen, the lawyer, asked, “You excited for your name change to be done, Lily?”

“Is this what this is for? Mommie didn't tell me. Just that I had a court case. But to answer the question, yes, I am very excited.”

“Let’s go into the courtroom and wait our turn.”

The party of three headed to the courtroom gallery. The other court cases were various legal matters. Divorce here, eviction there.

A court case about a lien on a house was dragging on. Lily was trying to stay awake. She would rather watch an icky sports game than be here.

Lily was suddenly awake when she heard the judge say, “Vanderbilt name and gender change case.”

She was directed to the front by Mr. Olsen. Mommie followed behind.

Judge Hudson looked at the little girl in front of him, “Are you the one requesting to change your legal name?”

Lily said with a curtsey, “Yes, Your Honor.”

“I see you brought a lawyer. Don't let him know because he might get a big head, but you picked an excellent lawyer.” The judge continued, “Will the counsel explain the need for the name change. I see this is medical-related. That is not the normal way to describe a gender change individual.”

The lawyer stated, “My client is intersexual. Here is a certification that she is XX and has always been female, Your Honor. These changes are the first step to correct the mistake made in the delivery room.”

“I see,” the Judge looks at the papers handed to him by Mr. Olsen. “When was this medical issue discovered?”

“November 23rd, my client was introduced to their monthly friend, for lack of a better word, Your Honor.”

The Judge raised an eyebrow while looking at Lily, “I am sure that was quite the surprise, young lady.”

“It was, Your Honor.”

“Do you want your name changed?”

“Again, yes, Your Honor.”

The judge turned to look at Mommie, who was standing next to Lily, “I am guessing you are her Mother?”

“I am, Your Honor.”

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Susan Vanderbilt, Your Honor.”

“Ms. Vanderbilt, do you want your daughter's name changed?”

“I do, Your Honor.”

The judge slammed his gavel down and said, “The petition for the name and legal gender change to Lily Ann Vanderbilt, female, is granted.”

The two ladies and the lawyer left the courtroom. Once in the hallway, the lawyer said, “I will start working on getting a new birth certificate and an updated Social Security card. Unfortunately, the process time for those two can take months. I hope you are not upset, but I have been talking with my father about this case. He previously had to go down these steps with another client. He has helped me figure out what order the changes need to be done in. I know it is a slow process, but eventually, everything will be changed.”

The two Vanderbilts headed to the car. Twenty minutes later, Mommie was walking into the school with Lily. They walked into the office.

Mommie told Miss Fran, “Lily’s court case is done. I need to excuse her from PE today. She is not dressed for it.”

The receptionist acknowledged the statement before typing it on her computer, “I e-mailed the PE teacher.”

Mommie hugged her daughter before patting her on the bottom. After saying goodbye, Lily headed to her classroom, while the secretary got copies of the court paperwork.

Upon reaching the classroom, Lily slowly and quietly opened the door. She apparently was not as quiet as she thought she was. The whole class stared at her.

“Wow, the freak is in a dress.”

“Christy, you may go to the office!”

“No, thank you, Mr. Conner.”

“It wasn't a request. Now go.”

Christy stomped her shoes as she left the room.

“One second, class. I have to call the office.”

Lily noticed Amanda was sitting in her usual seat. Shrugging, she sat next to Tina.

“You look nice,” Tina commented. “What is the occasion?”

“I had a court case. I am officially Lily as of today.”

Tina hugged the stuffing out of Lily before paying attention to the teacher again. At lunchtime, Sammie cornered her friend, “How did it go, Bestie?”

“Name change granted,” Lily got out seconds before she found herself being hugged.

After the hug, Jimmy walked up to the two friends and looked at his friend. Lily couldn't interpret the look.

“You look nice in that dress, Lily. You don't usually wear dresses to school. What is the occasion?”

“A judge declared me officially Lily as of an hour or so ago.”

“I am happy for you.” With an effort to keep his eyes just on Lily, Jimmy asked without stuttering, “Can I come over this evening, Lily and Sammie?”

Sammie looked at Lily and shrugged. The shorter girl decided to be the spokesperson, “We don't care. We should be at Sammie’s house.”

Sammie whispered so only Jimmy could hear, “I can find you a pink leotard if you want this time, Jimmy.”

Blushing up, Jimmy stuttered, “I I I n n not s s sure t t that i i is n n necessary.” He ran to the other side of the room.

“What did you say to embarrass him, Sammie?”

“A secret I might let you in on when we don't have witnesses. Though I might have scared him away from showing up tonight.”