Jimmy’s parents have uncovered clues that suggest their child may be living a hidden life. One that seems to bring a surprising amount of happiness. Unsure what it all means, they turn to trusted friends for guidance, leading to a carefully planned dinner meant to shed some light on the situation. Juliette performs in a small ballet recital, where emotions run high and quiet truths begin to surface. As relationships are tested and supported in equal measure, focus turns to identity, trust, and the first steps toward understanding who Juliette really is.

“Bye, Mom and Dad,” Jimmy told his parents Sunday after lunch. “I’m going to Samantha’s house. Mrs. Berger will probably drop me off right before my bedtime.”

Jimmy Bowen hadn't even gotten to the end of the driveway before his mother, Bree, began searching his bedroom. She pulled out the bottom drawer of his nightstand first. It was empty.

“What are you looking for, Bree?” Larry asked.

“I think I am looking for pictures of my daughter, Larry.”

“Daughter?!?! Since when have you had a daughter?”

“I mean, our daughter. You remember I told you that Jimmy always winds up in Denise's Halloween costumes.”

“Yes?”

“Twice in the last month, Jimmy has gotten mysterious pictures of a girl in the mail. I barely see them before they disappear into his room.”

“Okay… what does this mystery girl have to do with Jimmy?”

“I think that girl is Jimmy.”

Turning to his dresser, Bree pulled out the bottom drawers and hit pay dirt. She pulled out a box, two pairs of panties, two pairs of socks, a pair of jeans, two shirts, two sweatshirts, and a bag. Taking a sniff of one of the shirt's underarms, she tried to figure out if the clothes had been worn.

She opened the box and found various awards and medals, plus the three pictures, another pair of panties, and a pair of pink socks.

Bree examined the pictures. The happy, smiling girl reminded her of Denise, except with brown hair instead of dirty blonde. One showed her in a flower girl outfit, another in a Christmas dress in front of a Christmas tree, and the last was just a sweatshirt and jeans on a bed in an obvious girl's room.

Flipping through the two sweatshirts, she went “Eureka!”

“Larry, you want to see your daughter?”

“There's that ‘daughter’ word again.”

Bree showed the pictures to her husband.

“One thing's for sure… she's happy like that. Whose dresses?”

“Don't know. I didn't find any dresses… wait.” Bree ran to the closet and found no girls' clothes there. “Yep, no dresses. I did find some dirty laundry… at least, I think it’s dirty.”

“Whose clothes are they?”

“He's spending a lot of time at Samantha’s and Lily’s. But Lily's so tiny… Maybe Samantha’s.”

Larry just shrugged.

“Let me call Susan.” Bree went to the phone and dialed the Vanderbilts, but there was no answer. She then called Heather Berger. “Hello, Heather.”…

“Nope, not a hair trim this time.”…

“I am hoping to discuss what Jimmy gets up to at your house… and the Vanderbilts’.”…

“I know they’re not home. I tried them first.”…

“A meeting?”…

“With the kids?”…

“A babysitter?”…

“Who?”…

“From your church? How old is she?”…

“When and where?”

“You don't have to cook.”…

“Fine.”…

“Talk to you tomorrow at five, at your house.”

After hanging up the phone, “Larry, we have a dinner meeting at the Bergers tomorrow at five. Heather refused to discuss it over the phone. Apparently, she's getting a babysitter for the three kids during it.”

Larry just shrugged.

“What do you all have in that bag, Bree?” Larry Bowen asked his wife as they got out of the car Monday evening at the Bergers' house.

“Just the pictures… I left the clothes at home. Here, take this pie.”

“Pie? I thought they said they would feed us.”

“I can't come empty-handed,” Bree said as she rang the doorbell.

Ryan Berger opened the door, “Greetings, Bree and Larry. Heather called and said she ran into traffic coming back from Mountain. She's running about fifteen minutes behind.”

“My wife made a pie,” Larry said.

“You didn't need to. You know Susan and Tom Vanderbilt, right?”

“But of course. Nice to see you two again.” Bree said.

“So where are my son and his friends, anyway?”

Susan replied, “Ice skating at the Mountain College ice rink.”

“Sorry that I’m late.” Heather Berger said coming into the house. “If everyone can have a seat, we can start this dinner meeting.”

“Heather, the Bowens brought a pie.”

“Bree, I did say to just bring yourself. But we certainly won't refuse dessert.”

Bree passed around the pictures. “Have you all seen those before?”

Susan looked at the one with the pink dress. “I've never seen this dress.”

“About every girl at Jefferson Elementary has a version of this sweatshirt,” Heather said, looking at the picture of the girl in the pink school sweatshirt. “If it weren’t pink, I’d say every student.”

“Are you familiar with this girl?” Bree asked.

She missed the look Susan and Heather gave each other.

Tom said, “No. Should we?”

“I think this is Jimmy… as my daughter.”

“Oh?” Ryan asked. “Would that be a problem? Bree? Larry?”

“I’m not sure I like him… her sneaking around without talking to us,” Larry said.

“These pictures were found with two complete girls' outfits in a hiding spot in my child's room. I didn’t find these two dresses, though.”

“If this is Jimmy, I can say none of these clothes are Lily’s,” Susan said,

“Yes… I suppose my daughter wouldn't fit in Lily’s clothes.”

“Did you find this sweatshirt?” Heather asked.

Bree answered, “Yes.”

“Can't be Samantha’s,” Heather pointed out. “She’s wearing hers today.”

“Is this Samantha's or Lily’s bedroom?”

“No,” Tom answered.

Ryan added, “No.”

“Suppose this isn't either of your Christmas trees.”

“You can see our tree, Larry.” Ryan pointed towards the tree.

Susan shook her head, “No, but I am interested in your thoughts… what if your son suddenly became your daughter, as Lily did?”

“As long as my daughter's happy, I’m fine with it. This girl has a bigger smile than I've ever seen on Jimmy’s face,” Larry said.

Bree hesitated before adding, “I've seen that smile before. Every Halloween, my child always wears their cousin Denise's costumes. I can't bring myself to say ‘son’ during this discussion.”

“So let me get this straight,” Susan said. “You both would be fine with a daughter.”

“Yes.” Jimmy’s… Juliette's parents both answered.

Heather said, “I can say I have never seen J in a dress at our house.”

“Neither have I,” Susan answered.

Heather asked, “Out of curiosity, if your child were a girl, what would her name be?”

“Elizabeth Rose. As a matter of fact, we actually had dresses embroidered with ‘Elizabeth Rose’ before we were surprised by Jimmy’s arrival,” Bree explained. After a brief pause, she added, “Somewhere in my house, there’s still a picture of Jimmy in one of those dresses.”

“We enjoyed this discussion, even if we didn’t get any answers out of it,” Bree said.

“We’ll do this again tomorrow with a special guest,” Heather responded. “I believe she’ll be able to give you some answers to your questions. I’ll even arrange for some entertainment, too. Do bring those pictures.”

The Bowens acknowledged the instructions and stepped out into the cold.

“We didn’t get any information,” Larry commented.

Bree considered that for a moment, “They were very careful with their words. Maybe they told us more than we think.”

“I thought we went there to ask them questions,” Larry pointed out. “Instead, I felt like we were on trial.”

Heather Berger asked the girls, “Did you enjoy ice skating?”

“We did Mrs. Berger,” Lily answered for the group.

“How about you, Juliette?”

“I had a blast, but my bum hurts,” Juliette said while rubbing her bottom.

“How about you, Laura?”

Smiling at the three young girls, Laura responded, “They were a joy to be around, and we all had a blast.”

“Did they behave themselves?”

“Yes, they did.”

Heather handed some money over to Laura Schneider.

“Mrs. Berger,” Laura said, looking down at her hand. “This is too much.”

“I insist. You took wonderful care of them.” Heather waved it off with a small grin.

On the way home, Heather Berger told the girls behind her, “All three of you need to give a ballet recital for mystery guests tomorrow for dinner.

“M-me too?”

“Yes, even you, Juliette.”

Julie fidgeted with her sweatshirt sleeves. Anxiously, she said, “Oh.”

“Juliette, I want you to trust both the Vanderbilts and Bergers. We have your safety and best interests in mind.”

“Y-yes, Mrs. Berger.”

“Now I thought that Lily could do her recital in her candy cane tutu. Samantha, you can do the recital you did at Pratt in the tutu you wore there.”

“Yes, Mrs. Berger,” Lily smiled.

“Yes, Mommie.”

“Now, Samantha, do you think you can come up with a nice recital that shows off Juliette's knowledge and a tutu for her?”

Samantha sat up straighter in her van seat. “Yeah, I can. She could do the one she did for Rachel after the recital.” Sammie paused, “She might not remember all of it, though.”

“That is fine,” Heather paused, thinking. “Juliette, I think your wig can be put in a bun.”

“A b-bun!?”

“Ballerinas usually wear their hair in buns in ballet outfits.”

“Oh.”

“Now, when we get to my house, Lily, you are to go straight home. Juliette, you are to find Jimmy and come right back to the car. It is past your curfew, but your parents know you are going to be late.”

In Samantha’s room, as one got dressed for bed and the other changed into her boy costume, “Juliette, I want you to come straight here in the morning. We have a lot of practicing to do tomorrow.”

“O-okay. S-Samantha.” She turned to walk out of the room.

“Juliette, you forgot something.”

Juliette … Jimmy looked at themselves in the mirror and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Yep, there was the boy costume staring back at them. “What am I forgetting?”

“Your magazine.”

“Oh, duh.”

“Mom and Dad… I am home. S-sorry for being late.” Thinking to themselves, ‘I hope they don't ground me… not with that recital tomorrow for who knows who.’

“Did you enjoy skating?” Bree asked.

“I did… my bum didn't.”

Larry asked, “What’ve you got?”

“Umm… a model railroad magazine.”

Larry looked at his wife, confused. They thought they had gained a daughter, but here their son was coming home with a railroad magazine.

Bree gave a small, composed nod. “Straight to bed with you.”