Jimmy’s world is changing fast now that Bree sees her child as Juliette. The day after the big reveal is a wild ride for Julie, and she is not in control. Unsure about where things are going, she is overwhelmed and worried. Mom trying to make up for lost time and Rachel trying to be a good best friend are a force Julie can't slow down. The day's adventures bring her clothes shopping, two photo shoots, and to a Girl Scout meeting. Is it too much for Julie to handle, or meeting her every dream? Could it be both? New questions, nervous moments, and a few truths that can’t stay hidden forever all happen in one day. A day that Juliette will never forget.

Wednesday morning, Rachel's Mom, Marilyn Vickers, walked to where Rachel was, “Phone for you, Sweetie. They didn’t say who it was, but it sounds like your friend Juliette.”

Rachel, who hadn't seen Julie or Jimmy since Saturday, ran to the phone, “Hello, Julie!” …

“Your Mommie wants to talk to me?” …

“Right now?” …

“Alright, see you in a bit.”...

After hanging up the phone, “Mommie, I’m going to Juliette’s house. She lives on Maple Street.”

“I don’t think I got Juliette’s last name on Saturday?”

Rachel hesitated. "It's… Bowen.”

Marilyn opened the phone book and flipped to the Bs. Looking at the options, “Is Larry her father's name?”

“I’m not sure… but I think so.”

Rachel rang the doorbell, and it was opened by Julie, wearing the pink elementary school sweatshirt Rachel had given her. 

“Juliette!”

“Rachel!”

“Why are you wearing that… here?”

Julie glanced down at herself. “What do you mean?”

Rachel leaned in and whispered, “At home? You’re wearing girls’ clothes?”

“You gave them to me to wear. Where did you think I was going to wear them?" Julie tried to keep a straight face.

“Juliette Elizabeth Bowen, invite your friend in and close the door. You’re letting the cold in.”

“What? Did your Mommie just call you Juliette? Since when can you dress like this at home?” Rachel slipped her shoes off. 

“Last night. Mrs. Berger and Mrs. Vanderbilt tricked me into showing Mommie and Daddie my ballet recital.”

“Oh.”

“You must be Rachel Vickers?” Bree said as they walked into the kitchen.

“Yes… ma'am.”

“Have a seat, young lady. I’d like to talk to you privately. Juliette, go back to your bedroom until we come get you.”

Rachel’s stomach flipped as she quickly sat at the table.

“You wanted to talk to me, ma’am?”

“I understand you took some pictures of Juliette… and used them against her.”

“I had them. I deleted them on Sunday.”

“But you did take questionable pictures of my daughter?”

Rachel looked down. “Yes… I took them.”

“What kind of pictures?”

“I took pictures while we were turning Jimmy into Juliette for the flower girl thing.”

“Were any of them… inappropriate?”

“What do you mean?” Rachel hesitated. “I mean… I took pictures from when she was in just panties to when she was fully dressed. We turned around while she put them on.” Rachel swallowed. “I shouldn’t have.”

“Do you have any more photos of Juliette?”

“Just normal ones. I took a few more than the ones I sent her.”

“So nothing inappropriate?”

“No, ma’am. Just pictures of her dressed.”

“You like to take photos?”

“I do.”

“I want… actually, you’d better go get your friend from her bedroom.”

Rachel did as she instructed, knocking on the bedroom door. 

“Coming, Mommie… oh, it’s you, Rachel.”

“What are you doing, Julie?” The girl looked around at the piles sitting on the bed. 

“Mommie wants me to sort my clothes into two keep piles: can be used for Julie, or Jimmy can wear to school. Then two other piles: sell and trash.”

“So… am I going to see you more now, Julie?”

“I’m hoping you will,” Julie looked at Rachel, unsure how she would respond. “Now that S-Sammie won’t be teaching me ballet every day, maybe we could get together after school sometimes.”

“I’d enjoy spending more time with my little girl, but why are you stopping the ballet lessons? I thought you were enjoying them.”

“Daddie wants me to take actual lessons, maybe at the same school that Samantha goes to.” Julie flipped through the pile of clothes on her lap.

“You’re good enough to join Sammie’s class?”

“Are you crazy, best friend?” Juliette looked at Rachel like she'd lost her head. “I’m not on Sammie’s level.”

"Wait! Best friend?” Rachel wanted to follow up, but also needed answers on ballet. “We’ll come back to that. So, you’ll be in the beginner class with my sister?”

“I doubt it. I'm not that good. Maybe I’ll fit in with the class below Jessica’s?”

“No! You are not a preschooler,” Rachel’s brain went into overdrive as she started to think about all the implications of Julie joining the beginner’s ballet class. “Now, as we go back to your Mommie, we’re talking about that ‘best friend’ thing.”

“You don't want me?”

“I didn’t say that. I mean… I’d like that but I just thought Samantha and Lily were your best friends.”

“No, we’re close… but they’re best friends with each other. They have stuff they don’t really share with me.”

“Okay. My best friend,” Rachel said with a huge smile on her face as she took Julie's hand and gently squeezed. “Let’s go see what your Mom wants.”

“You want us, Mommie?”

“Took you two long enough to come back.”

Julie smiled over at Rachel, “We were talking.”

“How about we talk in the car?”

“In the car?” two girls asked together.

“A certain daughter of mine needs more clothes.”

Rachel quickly thought about that, “I need to call Mommie to let her know.”

“Rachel, as I started to say in the kitchen, do you like to take pictures?” Bree asked in the car.

“Yeah?”

“I want pictures of my ballerina in her tutu.”

Julie sank a little in her seat. “Th-that is Samantha’s tutu, not mine, Mommie.”

“Leave it to me, Mrs. Bowen.” Rachel smiled at her new best friend. “I'll do a whole photo shoot with the ballerina.”

Juliette groaned at the thought of the photo shoot as the car came to a stop. Looking around, she realized that they were in front of Gilbert’s Costumes. That at least made things… interesting. “Are we going to Gilbert’s?”

“Nope, the children’s consignment down the street.”

Rachel wondered, “Can we go in there anyway?”

“Why Rachel?” Mrs. Bowen asked.

“I want to ask Mrs. Kane if Julie can go to Girl Scouts later.”

Julie exclaimed, “G-girl… Sc-Scouts!?”

“You don't want to go?” Rachel questioned.

“I… d-didn't say that.”

“Well, what's wrong?”

“N-nothing,” Julie got out.

“Yeah, right. You’re stuttering, so what’s wrong?” Rachel took Julie’s hand.

“Th-they w-won’t accept me?” Julie held her breath.

“If Lily can do it, you can do it.”

“B-but Lily’s… like… actually a girl.”

“Juliette Elizabeth Bowen, you are also a girl. Plus, you have multiple friends who are in Girl Scouts.” Rachel countered. “Besides, Lily was in Girl Scouts for over a month before her surprise showed up.”

“Yes, Mommie Rachel,” Juliette dropped her gaze.

Bree raised an eyebrow to the ‘Mommie Rachel’ comment, but also observed that it was said without a stutter. She held the door to the consignment shop open. “After we’re done in here, we’ll go ask Mrs. Kane about Julie joining Girl Scouts.”

A bell dinged as they walked in, followed by a voice from somewhere in the store, “I'll be there soon.”

Bree guided the girls toward the racks of girls’ clothes.

“Hello there,” Robin Kester said as she approached the group. “How can I help you?”

Bree turned and pointed at Julie, “I’m looking for size ten-twelve clothes for my daughter.”

“You’re in the right area. Any particular item?”

“We really need all of it. She’s changing so fast, we need a whole new wardrobe.”

“Growth spurts bring a lot of parents here. I'll leave you to it. Just call for me, Robin, if you need anything.”

Rachel started holding items up to Julie. 

“Eew!” Rachel said, looking at an out-of-fashion dress.

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Bowen was also holding dresses up to her daughter. 

“Mommie, I am not in kindergarten!” the normally quiet girl spoke up loudly, her voice echoing in the store. “I am not Lily. I can’t get away with the kindergarten look.”

Robin, the owner of the store, almost dropped the dress she was pricing. Rachel looked confused at the first part but nodded in agreement at the second. Bree Bowen shushed her daughter before putting the dress back.

“Score!” Rachel exclaimed, holding up a hanger with a Girl Scout junior uniform: skirt, blouse, hair band, and vest. “I can't believe someone sold their vest! It also comes with a camp T-shirt.”

Bree set that outfit aside on top of the small pile she had been gathering.

“We still need to get a sash. Julie can't use that vest… it already has someone else’s badges,” Rachel explained.

Marilyn Vickers went to her collection of school pictures for her daughters. Flipping through them, she grabbed the first class pictures page she came to.

‘Third grade photos.’ …

‘Bowen’ …

‘There's no Bowen. Strangely, there's no Berger either.’

‘Doh! This is Jessica's class from this year.’

Flipping through the images again, she grabbed one labeled ‘Mr. Conner - Fifth Grade.’

‘Bowen… Jimmy Bowen!’

‘Didn't Juliette say she was in the same class as Amanda, Tina, and Rachel?’

“Jessica? What was the name of your schoolmate who was discovered to be a girl?”

“Lily is her name.”

“You know the last name?”

“Vander something.”

‘Yes, there she is. Lance Vanderbilt.’ 

‘These were taken in late September.’

‘Juliette must be transgender or like Lily. That was no boy in a dress that joined us at the recital.’ 

‘A well-behaved girl with manners that could rub off on Rachel.’

‘Though if this is correct, Rachel did blur the line of no boys in her bedroom. However, is Juliette really a boy?’

‘Also, she technically wasn’t completely truthful about Julie.’

‘I'll set it on Rachel's bed so she knows I know.’

‘We will discuss it after scouts tonight.’ 

Marilyn walked past her youngest daughter on the way to her oldest daughter's room.

“What you got there, Mommie?”

“Rachel's class pictures from this year.”

“Oh, can I see it?”

“Why?”

“I want to look for Rachel's friend Julie.”

“Nope. You won't find her.”

“Rachel's in trouble for lying.”

“That’s for your father and me to determine. If you mention anything to her, I’ll gladly give you four times the punishment she gets. Besides, I have the feeling your sister has dirt on you.”

Jessica clamped her mouth closed.

‘Now, that proves it. Rachel knows something Jessica did.’ Marilyn dropped the pictures on Rachel's bed.

“Robin?” Bree asked as she approached the empty counter. 

Robin Kester stepped out of the back room, “Yes, how may I help you?”

“Can my daughter try this stack on?”

Robin's eyes jumped out of their sockets, looking at the size of the pile, “Yes, you may. The changing room is over there.”

Rachel grabbed her best friend, who had been mostly speechless since they got to the store, and dragged her to the changing room.

Bree set the pile on the bench, “Try the slip and dresses first, Juliette.”

“Y-yes, Mommie,” Julie said to her mother as she grabbed the slip and dresses. 

As she passed Rachel, Juliette faintly whispered, barely loud enough for her best friend to hear. “A-all th-this for me?”

“Come on, fashion show my friend.”

Rachel looked to see if Mrs. Bowen was watching before slipping into the changing room with Juliette. She was glad Julie’s Mommie couldn’t see them from the changing room.

Julie quickly changed in front of Rachel and put on the slip that her friend was holding. She then put on the offered red velvet dress with a cream-colored skirt embroidered with red flowers. Julie moved to go show her Mommie.

Rachel quickly grabbed one of Julie’s sash ends. “No, hold still, little girl. Let me fix it.”

Juliette froze without argument, allowing Rachel to do up the buttons and tied the sash into a bow.

The girls stepped out of the changing room and stood in front of Juliette’s Mommie.

“Spin around slowly, Juliette. … How does it feel?”

“F-fine, Mommie.”

“And the slip?”

“That’s fine too.”

“Well, try the nighties next.” … “Rachel, keep out of the changing room this time.”

Rachel thought to herself, ‘Busted!’

About an hour later, the store owner was totaling up the cost of the clothes, “That’s quite a bit of clothes.”

“Yeah, my daughter needed a whole new wardrobe.”

As Robin continued to total up the purchase, she looked at Julie, “Looks like someone had a bit of a growth spurt. Is this your Christmas gift?”

“I h-hope not,” Julie looked at her Mommie.

Smirking, “There are gifts under the tree with your name on them.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Julie got out, “Th-thank you, Mommie.”

“I applied a fifteen percent discount since you’re buying so much.”

“Thank you, Ma'am,” Bree handed Robin her card and then looked at the two girls. “Juliette and Rachel… go ahead and each take a bag. I’ll take the other two.”

With the bags in the car, the three girls walked into the costume shop.

“Hello, Juliette. You missed Lily and Samantha… they were here a few hours ago. Are you here to try on costumes?”

“Try on costumes?” Bree asked, looking at her daughter with a slight frown.

Juliette didn’t like how her Mommie was looking at her now. “N-not today, Ms. Gilbert.”

Rachel spoke up, “We’re here to ask Mrs. Kane if Juliette can go to Girl Scouts tonight.”

“Hanna, can you come out here? One of your girls wants to talk to you,” Alison said into the intercom.

“My daughter’s been coming here to play dress-up?”

Juliette stayed very still, suddenly unsure if she’d done something wrong.

“Only once. She came in with my granddaughter Lily and her best friend.”

Bree visibly relaxed at the mention of Lily. “I‘m assuming that was with your permission.”

Juliette let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

Alison Gilbert agreed, “Yes, ma'am.”

"Rachel!” Hanna said as she walked into the room.

“Mrs. Kane, can Julie go to scouts tonight?”

Hanna looked Julie over, then remembered her returning a Minnie Mouse costume earlier that week. She must be one of Sammie and Lily’s friends. They had all come in together. “I don't see a reason why not.” 

Rachel looked around to see if anyone else was close. “She’s like Lily was at Halloween.”

“Oh, is that so?” Hanna looked Julie over more carefully. 

Juliette wasn’t sure if she should move or stay very still.

“Any friends in scouts besides you and Sammie?” 

“Amanda, Tina, Anna, Jen, Lily, and Sammie.”

“How many of them know Julie's brother?”

Rachel giggled. “Amanda, Tina, Anna, Jen, Lily, and Sammie.”

Julie gave a barely noticeable nod.

“Well, that makes things easy. I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Kane,” Rachel said, smiling at Julie, who had been silent this whole time.

Hanna turned to who she assumed was the mother. “Make sure she has a uniform, Mrs…?”

“Bowen. We bought a used set at the consignment store today. Rachel says we have to replace the vest.”

“They can choose a vest or a sash, but most of the girls in our troop wear a sash. If you go to the Girl Scout store by the mall, they sell the starter patches as a set. You’ll also need the numbers for troop 5783.”

“We’re headed to the mall next, so I’ll stop there. Rachel, do you know that troop number?”

“Of course.”

“Mrs. Bowen, tonight is the Christmas party, so Julie will need to bring a gift.”

“Any specific requirements?”

“Something a nine to eleven-year-old girl would like that is ten to fifteen dollars in value.”

“I think we can do that.”

“Oh, don’t worry about sewing the patches on the vest or sash for tonight.”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“Well, I have to get back to what I was doing in the back room. See you tonight, Rachel and Julie.”

“C-can we try on costumes, Mommie?”

“Maybe later, sweetheart. We have more shopping to do.”

“O-ok.”

Alison spoke up. “Before you go, could I get your contact information? I might have a modeling opportunity for Juliette.”

“Modeling?” Bree wondered, looking between Ms. Gilbert and her daughter who suddenly had a bright red face. “Do you want to model, Princess?”

Julie blushed, “Y-yeah, S-Sammie and Lily will be doing it too.”

Ms. Gilbert continued, “The last time Julie was here, a customer suggested I create a web page to show off the dresses. I thought Lily, Sammie, and Julie might make good models.”

“If my best friend’s going to be a model, can I be one too?” Rachel asked with a huge smile and wide eyes as she put her arm around Julie.

Alison chuckled, “I’ll take your information and talk with your mom if I decide to move forward with this.”

As Bree wrote down her contact information, Ms. Gilbert also took down Rachel’s mom’s name and number. Then the girls and Bree returned to the car.

Once everyone was buckled in, Bree looked into the back seat at her daughter. “Modeling, Princess?”

“W-well… Lily was wearing this really cute flower girl dress with a flower crown. It made her look like a kindergartener.” Julie shifted a little in her seat. “And Sammie was in this… I d-don’t know what kind of dress it was, but it came from the costume aisle, not the wedding dresses. It was really fancy, with a skirt that poofed out. I think Mrs. Gilbert called it a Southern Belle costume.” 

“I k-kinda missed my chance to dress up pretty.” Juliette hesitated, then continued, “I was just in a Minnie Mouse costume.”

Julie glanced down at her hands. “W-when Ms. Gilbert suggested the three of us model some of the dresses, I thought it might be fun… to try different girly outfits as Julie.”

After a moment, Julie added more quietly, “Other than Denise’s Halloween costumes, I haven’t really done dress-up like that since first grade.”

Sheepishly, Julie finished, “There are some really beautiful dresses in that shop… I’d like to try them on.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay in posting. I been busy in RL and chapters weren't ready to be posted. If I get off my bum, S02ch25 and J04ch2 should be posted Wednesday. Currently only J04ch2 is ready. The other is mostly ready. Unfortunately, 3, 4, 5, and 26 aren't currently ready and my RL isn't slowing down. There is also the issue that chapters 5 and 26 overlap.

So sorry, expect delays in posting to continue.