My Foster Mom Wanted A Daughter - Book 2 Of A Series

Chapter 6: Help

It was in the early afternoon when Mary Elizabeth phoned her friend, Sharon, and related to her, the morning's visit with Anna Simms and the horrible Ms. Pentecost.
Sharon was understanding and sympathetic, knowing fully, how hard her friend had tried to direct Angelo away from his girly tendencies.

"You've done everything you can to try and direct him away from anything girly. The thing is, he just seems to have a genuine need to be a girl. I don't think you nor anyone else is going to be able to actually change that.  And the truth is, if they don't let him stay with you, he's going to have one miserable, and difficult life," Sharon volunteered.

She then went on to explain how her college-going daughter, Heather, and Heather's boyfriend had been doing some research on male-to-female gender situations after meeting Angelo.

"Transgendered people seem to be the real thing," Sharon told Mary Elizabeth. "These boys, the truly transgendered ones, are not faking it. It seems they honestly feel they are girls mistakenly born with a boy's anatomy. In their mind, they see themselves as actually a girl trapped in the wrong body.

"You know," Sharon continued, "observing Angelo and the differences between when he is having to present as a boy and when he gets to be a girl, I've felt the same thing; that he actually does believe he's a girl inside."

"I can't say I disagree with you, Sharon," Mary Elizabeth said in agreement with what Sharon was telling her.

"I'll tell you what I think, Mary. I think you should challenge this decision to remove Angelo. Get him examined. Take him to see a psychiatrist. If you can get a diagnosis confirming this, then the agency won't be able to take him from you on the basis that they are trying to use now... Have you thought any more about trying to adopt him?"

"Well, with the current issues with the agency, you know that's not going to be possible, but yeah, I absolutely do want to try to adopt him as soon as I can," Mary responded, beginning to tear up.

Angelo remained curled up on the couch for most of the rest of the afternoon, clutching the stuffed kitten, caressing it, sobbing intermittently.

Angelo was finally awakened from his funk when Sharon, her two daughters, Tanya and Heather, and Heather's boyfriend, Michael, showed up at the door.

"We're going to try to help you stay here, Angelo," said Heather, as they entered.

Angelo perked up immediately, so happy to see Tanya who had become the best friend he'd ever had. Actually, to be honest, she was one of the only friends he'd ever had.

The two hugged, as teen girls normally would, and both giggled as Angelo produced the stuffed kitten for Tanya to kiss as well.

"Oh my darling, you've been crying," Sharon said, seeing Angelo's reddened eyes and flushed face.

"I guess," he replied, brushing his mussed hair from his face. His motion was unmistakably feminine. He felt messy and unkempt, and like most women, he felt like he needed to excuse himself and go fix his face and hair. He rejected that feeling immediately, realizing that he must maintain a boy mode.

"Let's listen to what Heather and her friend has to say now, Tanya and Angelo," Sharon said.

Mary Elizabeth suggested, "We can do this in the kitchen. We can all sit around the table, and we've prepared a little something for everyone." 

They all headed into the kitchen and gathered around the table, with Angelo bringing an extra chair from the dining room. Mary Elizabeth had been preparing a cider punch to accompany the orange cake that Angelo had baked that morning and it all smelled wonderful as she served everyone a glass of cider and slice of cake.

Michael began by stating he and Heather had been affected by Angelo's story, his life with a sick mother and her death, his awful experience living with his aunt and cousins, his obvious feminine demeanor, and the current issues with the county.

Michael was an active participant in a social activist group in school and felt that people who were gay or lesbian or transgender should be respected not shunned.

"We don't know if you're transgendered or not, Angelo, but if you are, that needs to be considered," Michael said, quickly warming to his topic, becoming more and more demonstrative as he continued expressing his thoughts.

"But, child welfare is thinking of accusing me of psychologically abusing Angelo. They are trying to say that I am coercing him into dressing as a girl," Mary Elizabeth offered. "I tried to tell them that he seems only to be happy when he is presenting as a girl, but they kept saying that the reason for that was because he just desperately wanted to make me happy so that I'd love him."

"I know, Mrs. Dayton," Michael responded. "It's also true that he's only thirteen, and child welfare is properly concerned that a foster parent doesn't lead a child into a life that could bring problems. The agency has to be careful, otherwise, they'd be turning children over to pedophiles."

"Almost fourteen," Mary Elizabeth added, "I understand, but can't Angelo's case be looked at more carefully? Shouldn't his desires be considered? What will it take for them to see that this truly is what he wants?"

Heather intervened, "Yes, Mrs. Dayton, that's the point. We're going to help you with child welfare, to make sure they don't remove Angelo without a real reason, to make sure Angelo's voice is heard and his desires are considered."

"And they don't have a good reason to remove me," Angelo piped up. "She's the kindest, neatest, bravest, most compassionate, loving mom anyone could have. I miss my real mom, but I love my new mommy."

Mary Elizabeth's eyes welled up with tears as she listened to what Angelo was saying.  She reached over and patted Angelo's slender hand.

"We'll do everything we can to help Angelo remain here. Everything," Michael reiterated.

"Yes! We can all drink to that," Mary Elizabeth exclaimed as she raised her glasses of cider high in a toast.