“Coming,” I reply as I continue to smile as I walk to the kitchen where Mom is.

  Surprisingly, Mom wasn’t upset with me at all. In her words, she trusts me to act appropriately, whatever that is supposed to mean, and then she made me tell her every detail of my date.

  ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

  Dad comes home the next day and tells us that we have a company dinner to attend as a family Friday evening. Something that happens on an all too frequent basis.

  So, when Friday afternoon rolls around, I head upstairs to shower and get ready for dinner.

  A couple of hours ter, we’re seated at a rge, rustic, wooden table in a very popur local steakhouse packed with Dad’s coworkers, pcing our drink orders.

  I have on a really cute outfit. It’s a plum-colored short-sleeve, babydoll dress, glossy bck stockings, and my silver ankle-strap sandals with 4” heels. Mom bought them for me as set when she was out shopping one day.

  She told me the store had the same dress in bck, and that’s what she almost got me before she saw this one. I’m gd she chose this one over the bck, because the color really works well for me, as in, it really stands out against my hair. I’m definitely eye-catching, which is something I’ve come to enjoy.

  Mom told me a while back that all girls need at least one little bck dress in their wardrobe, then took me to the mall and bought me three different styles of them. All of them are great, but I simply love the one in Chiffon. The material is so soft and delicate.

  While everyone is deciding what they want to order, I begin to realize that Mom must have not told Dad about my date. I say this because Dad is acting perfectly normal, and if he knew, he wouldn’t be acting this normal with me. Overprotective Dad, remember?

  I turn to watch her as she reads the menu. At this moment, even though we always had a close retionship as mother and son, I feel a special connection between us, which further deepens our mother-daughter bond.

  Just as I have that thought, Mom gnces up from her menu. She notices my quizzical look, winks at me, smiles, and then looks back down at her menu. I wonder if that is her way of telling me that my date is just between us. It’s a scary thought that she can read me so well.

  My introspection is interrupted when the waitress returns with our drinks and prepares to take our order. That’s when I realize that I’ve been dazing out and still haven’t decided about what to order.

  “Are we celebrating anything special tonight?” The waitress, who David can’t take his eyes off of, earning him an elbow to the ribs from me, asks in a bubbly tone, “A birthday or something?”

  Dad replies, “Not that, we're celebrating a new contract that our company was awarded.”

  “Well, congratutions. Can I start you guys off with an appetizer?”

  “Yeah, if I remember correctly, your lobster roll dip,” Dad looks around the table at us girls and smiles, “is my girl’s favorite, so bring us a pte of those.”

  “Excellent choice; it’s one of my favorites, too. I’ll have the kitchen throw in a few extra since it’s a special night. Are you ready to order your main meals as well?”

  We give her our orders, and then Dad picks up his gss of beer and holds it in the air. Getting everyone’s attention, he began, "Since tonight is a celebration, I’d like to make a toast."

  We all lift our gsses, Mom with a gss of wine, David and I, our sweet tea. Dad gets serious and again begins to express his admiration for everyone in the company, thanking them for all their hard work, etc.

  I can see from the smile on her face that Mom is so proud of Dad. Before he can finish his long toast, she’s waved all of us up, and we all raise our gsses to the employees before taking a drink and sitting down

  We pause our conversation when the waitress brings out the appetizer.

  Once she’s gone, we all reach for one of the lobster dips, and David brings up what he called a hypothetical situation.

  “I know Mom is supportive of Rei, but Dad," he pauses to take a bite of a lobster roll. After he swallows, he continues, “You say you’re 100% supportive of Rei.”

  "We are," Mom replied.

  "I think I’ve made that pretty clear," Dad adds, reaching for a second lobster roll.

  "Okay, so what happens if Rei comes home one day and announces that she’s found the guy she’s truly serious about and wants to go on dates alone with him? What then? Will you still feel the same way?"

  I choke on the bite I was about to swallow at the moment David says that. I’m embarrassed beyond words that he’s talking about this with Dad. Once I can breathe again, I look over at David. He grins and winks at me.

  I’m fairly sure about what Dad’s reaction will be, but I get what David is doing. He’s trying to get Dad on record before he finds out about my date alone with Jeremy and get him to openly state where he stands, while at the same time doing it in a way that keeps the fact that Mom already knows and approves of it a secret.

  Dad begins to say something but stops himself. He looks thoughtful for a few moments as he considers how to respond. Mom reaches over, pats this thigh, and nods while smiling at him to seemingly encourage him.

  He looks at her for a few moments, and in that brief time, they don’t say a thing, but it looks to me as if they have a whole conversation. I hope that one day I can find someone with whom I can have that kind of deep retionship. My parents have always amazed me, even more so at this moment, since I’ve always admired their closeness and the way they rete to each other and us. They almost never fight, and it’s usually about work when they do. Even then, it isn’t like a real fight. They disagree, work it out, and it’s over. They are so in tune with one another, they can often simply look at each other to communicate something.

  After a couple of seconds, Dad says, “Rei,” looking at a spot in the middle of the table. “I’ve watched you closely since your surgery, and I’ve seen how quickly you’ve adapted. It tells me that, at some level, you’ve always known that you were a girl. I know you tried to live up to my expectations of you as a boy but were never quite able to do it. Regardless, I truly believe you’re having an even better life now.”

  He pauses and looks me in the eye. “Maybe even I knew it. Regardless, I’ve seen you cheer your brother on as the best Godamned cheerleader I’ve seen since I met your mother. However, I’m a firm believer that all things happen for a reason, whether we know why or not, but I also think that things would’ve been easier for you if we had known about your, um,... quirk earlier and raised you as a girl as you should have been. I can’t believe it took your mother and me taking you to a doctor to figure this out.”

  He pauses again. I know my parents, and Dad’s trying not to tear up as he reaches across the table and takes both of my hands in his. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry that I pushed you so hard back then. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I can see now how that was just me and the way I think men and boys should be.”

  At that moment, the waitress walks up with our meals on a rge tray.

  Dad releases my hands and looks away as he wipes his eyes while our waitress pces the tray of food on a stand and begins pcing our meals in front of us.

  “Do you folks need anything else?” She asks after she pces the st meal on the table.

  Dad looks around the table to see each of us shake our heads. “I could use another beer and a refill on their tea, please.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back with your beer and refill their tea.”

  She sashays off, and we begin eating.

  After a couple of bites, Dad clears his throat to get our attention. "Regardless of how things were, you are unabashedly Rei now. Well, I guess she’s actually always been, but you get what I mean. So, it wasn’t a surprise when she showed interest in a boy. I expect that she’ll want to do that at some point. I mean, go on a date alone with a boy.”

  David cut his eyes over at me, then back to Dad. “What if that’s sooner rather than ter?”

  I pyfully kick David as Dad continues. “Either way, my reaction won’t have anything to do with whether I believe in and support her, but I’ll react as any dad would when it comes to his precious baby girl.”

  “So, you’d say, ‘No, she’s too young and has to wait until she’s twenty?’”

  “More like thirty,” Dad says as he points his fork at me with a stern expression for a few moments, then fights to keep himself from smiling.

  Mom quickly picks up her wine and takes a sip to cover the fact that she didn’t respond.

  I roll my eyes over his bad joke. “Hyuck, hyuck, very funny, Dad.”

  "All joking aside," Mom begins, “Before you do that, we’re going to have a rather serious talk about sex.”

  Making sure that Dad can’t see her, she winks at me because we’ve already had that talk. I know what she’s doing. It’s all about keeping up appearances as far as Dad is concerned, but I seriously wish she hadn’t said that in front of him.

  In keeping with the theme, I maintain a put-upon expression as I state, “I’ve already had the birds and bees talk with Dad st year.”

  “I remember, but it’s not quite the same talk as a girl. There’s more we need to talk about.”

  At that moment, the waitress returns and snags David’s attention again, which earns him another elbow to the ribs.

  “How’s everyone’s meal?” She asks.

  We all reply with some form of delicious. To which she nods in reply and leaves.

  While I dice up some more of my steak, I think about what just happened. While embarrassing, I’m thankful to have such wonderful parents, a lovely older sister, and such a protective brother. I couldn’t wish for a better family.

  Just now, I truly understand. Everything is going to be fine, and I have nothing to worry about in that respect. With regard to Jeremy, I think Mom, with a bit of an assist by David, has that situation well in hand for me, so I can soon look forward to going on many more dates alone with Jeremy. Well, maybe double dates as well, since I had such a great time when we were hanging out with Carl and Desiree. Carl is funny, and Desiree is simply a great girl, even if they are slightly older than Jeremy and me. Not that I care about age. As long as they are good people, I’ll be happy to be friends with them.

  Speaking of Desiree, I need to text her when I get home.