Basil was humming joyously at the prospect of getting to go back to Jeremy’s house again. His dress was waiting for him, practically calling out to him. If only it weren’t just for the afternoon. What was he supposed to do until then?
He was hanging out in Indigo’s room. His older brother had turned on a little enchanted music box that played rock music and was sitting on the bed reading some kind of superhero comic. Basil was on the rug, looking through the stack of comics and trying to find something that he might like to read.
“Is there anything besides superheroes?” he asked.
“Um… yeah, but I don’t think you’re old enough for horror comics, bro,” Indigo replied.
“Oh… Hey, do you at least have any Jinx comics?”
“What? No. She’s a lame hero anyway. And that show is for girls.”
Basil felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, then mumbled, “Yeah… Right… Sure…”
He knew he shouldn’t like that show. But it was such a good cartoon. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t watch it just because he was a boy. What was the point of being a boy, anyway? They never got to have all the fun that girls did. Maybe Susan had Jinx comics Basil could read. At least he could cheat and do girl stuff when he was at her house.
Basil left Indigo alone with his comics and headed into the hallway, stopping at Poppy’s open bedroom door.
“Poppy, what are you up to?”
Poppy looked up from her dollhouse.
“Just playing,” she said.
“Can…” Basil started wringing his hands and stepped inside the room. “Can I play with you?”
Poppy blinked in surprise.
“But I’m playing with dolls,” she said.
“Yeah, I know.” He glanced away, afraid to look her in the eye. “But, you know… I thought it might be fun.”
Poppy took a moment to answer.
“I dunno, Basil. It would be kind of weird for a boy to play with dolls.”
Basil’s entire face was burning. He stammered, “That’s not fair, Poppy. There’s nothing wrong with a boy playing with dolls. Besides, you don’t have anyone else to play with you right now.”
“Um… the thing is: I’m used to playing alone. It’s not like I’ve ever had a sister to play with. I didn’t ask to have two brothers, you know.”
Basil nodded, crestfallen.
“I’ll just… go,” he mumbled, walking out of the room.
Once in the cramped living room, Basil plopped down on the couch and rested his chin in his hands. What was going on? Over the past few weeks, he’d gotten really uncomfortable at home for some reason. Everybody was treating him weird just because he was a boy. Why did this bother him now?
Was it time to go to Jeremy’s, yet? Basil squirmed a little. He wished that he could bring the dress home to wear it all the time. Girls had comfier clothes. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t he have been born—Why couldn’t he wear clothes like that?
“Mom!” he cried out. “Is it time to go yet?”
“Not yet, sweetie,” came a voice from the kitchen. “Be patient.”
Basil got up and wandered into the kitchen, where his mom was preparing sweets for the oven.
“Hey, Mom,” he began, “can I grow my hair long?”
Without looking up, his mom replied, “Oh? But you have such nice hair, now. Why would you want to change it?”
“I just do.”
“Well, when you’re Indigo’s age we’ll let you decide how long you want your hair to be, alright?”
Basil grumbled. That was years away. He wanted longer hair now. Why couldn’t his mom see that?
“So,” he continued, “when I’m older, do you think I can have curved horns like you, instead of spiral ones like Dad and Indigo?”
“Oh, honey,” his mom said, wiping off her hands on her apron, “that’s not how it works. Boys have curled horns. Trust me, girls find it very attractive. You’ll like having them.”
“How do you know?” Basil asked. “You’re a girl. Besides, curved horns are just better.”
“You’ll understand when you’re older. Now run along and play. I’ve still got work to do.”
Basil sighed and returned to his room. He didn’t have an easier time finding anything to do while he waited. But eventually his mom knocked on the door and it was time to go.
Teleporting there only took an instant. Basil was positively buzzing with excitement as his mother knocked on the door. It took far too long for Mrs. Archer to open the door.
“Hello Basil, Willow. Come in. Jeremy’s not home from soccer practice yet, but Susan is in her room.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Archer,” Basil said, flying right past her while his mom stopped to talk for a bit.
“Susan!” Basil cried, knocking on the door. “You there?”
He could hear movement inside, and then the door opened.
“Hey, Basil. Jeremy’s not here.”
“Do you have it?” Basil asked in hushed tones.
“Hm?”
Lowering his voice even further, Basil elaborated, “The dress!”
“Oh, yeah. It’s in here.”
Susan closed the door behind him and Basil flew right over to the dollhouse. Making sure that Susan wasn’t watching, he stripped out of his shirt and shorts and slid the dress on. He was Azalea again.
“Um, hey?” he began. “Can I… um… Can I transmute a pair of dolls shoes to wear?”
Without turning around, Susan nodded.
“If you want.”
Azalea’s wings buzzed in excitement and he started looking through the various dolls to pick one pair out. He picked a pair of flats and held them in his hands, funneling magic into the shoes. Then Azalea kicked off his own shoes and slid them on. Lastly, he cast a glamour on his hair, making it long again.
“Alright, I’m ready!” he said.
Susan turned around and grinned.
“Wow, Azalea, you really do look like a girl.”
For some reason, a sense of pride welled up in Azalea’s chest.
Susan asked, “What do you want to do until Jeremy gets home?”
Azalea started wringing his hands, his wings fluttering nervously. He knew what he wanted to do, but was afraid to ask. Still, if Susan was okay with him looking like a girl, maybe she’d be okay with this too?
“Can we play dolls?” he asked in a tiny voice.
Susan’s face lit up.
“Sure!” she cried.
“Really?! Even though I’m a boy?”
Susan blinked in confusion, then said, “Yeah, as long as you want to.”
Azalea could have hugged her.
Susan sat down next to the dollhouse and picked up a couple of dolls.
“Hello, Azalea,” she had a blond-haired doll say. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing fine, er…”
“Daisy,” Susan supplied.
“I’m doing fine, Daisy,” Azalea replied, fumbling with a curtsy.
Susan chuckled and continued, “Can I get you some tea and cookies?”
“Please.”
Susan navigated the blond doll to the little kitchen, then with her other hand picked up a small teacup and handed it to Azalea.
“How is it?” Susan asked.
Azalea pretended to take a sip and replied, “It’s great. Thank you!” Then she paused. “You know, I’ve never actually had tea before.”
“Neither have I,” Susan admitted with a shrug.
At that moment, they heard the front door open and close. Susan got up and Azalea fluttered after her. They both peaked out the doorway to see Jeremy walking down the hall in his soccer uniform. When he saw Azalea, his expression lit up.
“Hi, Basil!” he cried.
Azalea winced.
“It’s Azalea when I’m like this,” she corrected him.
“Oh, right. Let me just change my clothes and we can play together, alright?”
He stormed into his room and slammed the door shut, causing Azalea to flinch in surprise.
Susan rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Boys.”
“I know, right?”
The two exchanged a glance and burst into a fit of giggles. It only took Jeremy a few minutes to change his clothes and the three of them reunited in the living room. Azalea sat down on the back of the couch and crossed her legs like she saw Poppy do sometimes.
“What do you want to do?” Jeremy asked.
“We could play hide and seek?” Azalea suggested.
“Alright, you count first.”
“No! I wanna hide!”
“But you’re so small,” Susan protested.
“I want to hide…”
“Jeez, alright,” Jeremy said. “I’ll count first.” He covered his eyes. “One, two, three…”
Azalea didn’t have a lot of time. He ran through a lot of possibilities in his head. The answer was like a bolt out of the blue. He raced to Mr. And Mrs. Archer’s room and, after checking that it was empty, secluded himself in the closet.
After a few minutes, Azalea heard movement outside. He held his breath as the door opened. He wasn’t expecting Mr. and Mrs. Archer to enter the room and lock the door.
“What do you think about him?” Mrs. Archer asked quietly.
“It’s hard to say,” Mr. Archer replied. “Have you talked to his parents about his behavior while he’s here?”
“I’m worried about, you know, ‘outing’ him to his parents if he’s not ready. But, like, with this new name, is there any doubt that he’s… you know?”
“I think that he’s the only person who can tell us if he wants to be a girl,” Mr. Archer said, and Azalea’s heart skipped a beat. “We should try to give him, or her, the opportunity to tell us, but I don’t want it to feel like we’re pushing him into something. I’d hate for him to feel like he has to commit to something if it just turns out to be a hobby and nothing more.”
“Alright. I think it would be prudent to ask him if his parents know about this.” Azalea’s breath caught in his throat; they were going to ask his parents! “I’ll ask him about it later today.”
Azalea let out a little sigh of relief, then quickly covered his mouth with his hands.
Mr. And Mrs. Archer shared a little kiss, then unlocked the door and left. Azalea dropped down to the floor of the closet and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest. That wasn’t right, was it? Azalea couldn’t be a girl, not really. That was impossible. It was just a daydream. Nothing more serious than—
The door to the closet swung open and Azalea cried out. Jeremy was standing there with a wide grin on his face.
“Found you!” he cried. “You’re normally better at this game.”
Azalea chuckled lightly.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” he said. “Um… I’m kind of tired. Can we just stop playing and get a snack or something?”
“Uh… yeah, sure, I guess.”
“Thanks. I… I think I’m going to change out of this stupid dress first.”
Before Jeremy could pry any further, Azalea flew out of the closet and out of the room. Susan’s room was empty, so he closed and locked the door before flying down to the dollhouse. His clothes were still sitting there. Azalea dispelled the glamour on his hair and quickly changed into his old clothes. Jeremy and Susan were already in the kitchen with a bunch of snacks when Basil arrived.
“Basil?” Susan asked. “Why did you change?”
Basil shrugged and replied, “Just didn’t want to be wearing a dress. Is that weird?”
“Um… I guess not.”
Basil sat down and picked up a cracker in both hands, munching down. He’d decided that he wasn’t going to wear the dress anymore. Boys didn’t wear dresses. They didn’t wear dresses and they didn’t play with dolls and they didn’t wish they’d been born as girls and—
“Basil, are you okay?” Jeremy asked.
“I’m fine!” Basil snapped, but he wiped away some tears with his arm.
Jeremy and Susan exchanged a look but didn’t say anything more.
He didn’t really want to be a girl, anyway. So what if he wanted to wear dresses and watch girly shows and look like a girl? In a better world, boys would be allowed to do that. But he didn’t want to be a girl. And he definitely didn’t get a flutter in his heart when Mr. Archer briefly called him her, because that would mean that he really did want to be a girl and that was… He couldn’t… It wasn’t like it was really possible…
“Hey kids,” Mrs. Archer said, walking into the kitchen. “Oh, Basil. You’re not wearing your dress.”
Basil nodded, not looking away from the cracker with one bite taken out of it.
“He’s acting weird, mom,” Jeremy said.
“Is something wrong, Basil?” Mrs. Archer asked, leaning down to look him in the eye.
Basil tried to shake his head, he really did. But what happened was that he nodded and started to cry. He dropped the cracker and buried his head in his hands. After a moment, Basil felt a large hand scoop him up.
“Basil, what’s wrong?” Mrs. Archer asked softly.
He shook his head. He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t let it be real. He’d never be able to live with himself if he was always pining after something he couldn’t have.
“Isaac, come in here!” Mrs. Archer called out.
“What’s going on?” came the voice of Mr. Archer.
Everyone was quiet for a while, waiting for Basil to stop crying. Eventually he just curled up in Mrs. Archer’s hands and sniffled. She brought Basil to the living room and laid him down on a couch cushion.
“Honey,” she said, kneeling down beside him, “you can tell us anything. You know that, right?”
Basil shook his head.
“Not this,” he said.
Mr. Archer sat down on the ground and asked, “Does this have something to do with the dress?”
Basil nodded.
“Well,” Mr. Archer continued, “whatever you tell us, we’re not going to share with anyone, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“It’s not that.”
“You have nothing to be afraid of, dear,” Mrs. Archer insisted. “We’re not going to judge you.”
Basil sniffed and looked up. Mr. and Mrs. Archer were watching him closely. Jeremy and Susan were standing awkwardly nearby. Basil gulped.
“I… I was hiding in the closet,” he said.
A pained expression crossed their faces.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Mr. Archer said.
Mrs. Archer asked, “So… do you have something you want to tell us?”
Basil sighed and mumbled, “I want to be a girl.”
“I didn’t quite hear—”
“I want to be a girl!” Basil cried, sitting up. “For real, I mean. Not pretend anymore.”
Mrs. Archer nodded.
“It’s okay, Basil,” she said. “You can be a girl if you want.”
There was silence for a moment.
“Huh?”
“Basil,” Mr. Archer said, “you can absolutely be a girl. I’m sure that there’s magic that can help you.”
Basil looked over to Jeremy and Susan.
He asked, “Do you think I could be a girl?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “I don’t care if you’re a boy or girl as long as we’re friends.”
“It would be so cool if you were a girl!” Susan cried.
Basil sniffed and grinned, then frowned.
“How am I going to tell my parents?” he asked.
Mr. and Mrs. Archer exchanged a look.
Mrs. Archer asked, “Basil, how do you think your mom and dad will react to you telling them?”
“I dunno.”
“Do you think that they’d accept that you want to be a girl? Or do you think they’d react badly?”
“No, I just don’t know how to tell them.”
“We’ll help you.”
Basil sniffled.
“How?”
Mr. Archer suggested, “Let’s invite your family over for dinner tonight. That way you can tell them, but you’ll have us there to support you.”
Basil thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“That wouldn’t be so bad.”
Things were mostly quiet after that. Mrs. Archer put on a movie for the kids to watch while Basil silently mulled over every possible negative outcome to this plan that he could imagine. Occasionally, Susan or Jeremy would glance over and ask if he was okay, and he’d grunt in reply.
Basil’s mood took another sharp turn once he could hear Mr. and Mrs. Archer making dinner in the kitchen. He actually jumped when the doorbell rang. Mr. Archer went to answer the door, and soon enough Basil was swept up in a hug from his mother.
“Hi, Mom,” he said.
“Honey, you’re practically shivering. What’s wrong?”
“It’s—It’s nothing, Mom. I’m fine.”
His mother gave him a look that told Basil she didn’t believe him, but left him alone to speak with Mrs. Archer.
“Kids,” Mr. Archer finally said, “it’s time for dinner.”
Basil sighed deeply and stayed sitting, even after Jeremy and Susan got up.
“Basil?” his mother asked.
Mrs. Archer said softly, “Willow, let me speak to him. You go on ahead.”
“I don’t much like things going on with my children that I’m not privy to, Diane.”
“He’s just a little nervous. I’ll explain later. Please trust me.”
Basil’s mother took a long look at Basil, then muttered, “I’ll hold you to it.”
She flew away, leaving Mrs. Archer and Basil alone in the room.
“Hey,” Mrs. Archer said, kneeling down next to the couch, “are you ready?”
Basil shook his head.
“I figured. Don’t worry, it’s okay to be nervous. But we’re going to be with you. And remember, your family loves you even more than we do. If being a girl is what will make you happy, then they’re going to support you. Now, come on. You don’t want your food to get cold.”
Basil nodded and floated up from the cushion to follow Mrs. Archer into the dining room. The whole Archer family was sitting on one end, and Basil’s family were sitting cross-legged on the tablecloth on the other end, each with a plate far too big for themselves with only a small portion of food.
All eyes were on Basil as he fluttered over and touched down next to his siblings. Instead of sitting down, though, he wrapped his arms around his stomach and bit his lip. Might as well get it over with.
“Is something wrong, Basil?” his father asked.
Basil took a deep breath and looked at the Archers, then his own family.
“Basil,” his mother said softly, “if there’s something you need to—”
“I want to be a girl!” he cried out, curling his hands into fists and flinching.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Slowly, Basil opened his eyes and glanced at his mom, studying the expression on her face. Finally, she frowned and stood up.
“Honey, what’s this about?”
Basil started stammering, “Y-You see, I’ve been wearing this dress and making my hair long and I’ve been doing girly things and I really really like it and I don’t like my name and—”
He cut off and started breathing really fast.
“Basil, Basil!” His mother placed her hands on his shoulders. “Hush, dear. Remember to breathe.”
It took a good minute for Basil to catch his breath, by which time his dad had stood up and walked over.
“Say that again, but slower,” he said.
Basil glanced over at Mrs. Archer, who nodded.
“I want to be a girl, Dad,” he mumbled. “I want to be a girl and wear dresses and play with dolls and… and I just want to be a girl, Mom.”
“Basil,” his mother said, “that’s an awful lot to—”
She was cut off when Basil’s father knelt down and grabbed Basil in a hug.
“Of course you can be a girl if you want to, Basil.”
Basil choked, then started to cry and collapsed into her father’s arms. After a moment, she heard a sigh and felt her mother’s arms wrap around her, too.
“Can… can I go put on my dress, then?” she asked.
“Um… sure, honey.”
“Thank you. Um, hey Susan? It’s okay if I go back into your room, right?”
“Yeah, of course. Hang on. Let me come with you.”
Basil hopped on Susan’s shoulder and was carried back to her room. Once there, she fluttered down to the dollhouse and picked up the dress and shoes. Susan turned around while Basil stripped down and into her dress.
“Alright,” Azalea said, shaking in anticipation. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Susan scooped Azalea up in her hands and started walking back to the dining room. Azalea sat cross-legged, legs bouncing nervously. Her breath caught in her throat when they entered the dining room and she closed her eyes.
“Here she is,” Susan said eagerly, placing Azalea on the table.
“Basil?”
Azalea took a deep breath and stood up. Turning to face her family, she gripped the folds of her dress in her sweaty hands.
“Hello,” she said. “My name’s Azalea.”
Immediately, she heard snickering from her brother and sister. Azalea’s heart sank. Her mother and father turned to face them, both scowling.
“And what is so funny?” her mother demanded.
In a small voice, Indigo answered, “She named herself after her favorite flower.”
Azalea relaxed and her knees gave out. She sat down next to her plate and waited for her heart to settle down. They were accepting her. Despite all her fears, they were okay with her being a girl, after all.
“No wonder she kept asking to play with my dolls,” Poppy said.
Everyone chuckled as Azalea’s ears started to burn.
“Now, now,” Mrs. Archer said, “boys can play with dolls if they want. They can even have long hair and wear dresses, too.”
Poppy blinked in surprise and dropped her little fork, as if the idea had never occurred to her.
Dinner was a much more relaxed affair after that. Azalea’s family was finished well before the Archers were done eating. Most of the meal was spent relaying the story of Azalea’s journey with the dress and experimenting with her gender to the rest of her family. When the meal was done, Azalea’s family gathered in the front room to leave. Azalea was still wearing the dress and shoes, simply carrying her boy clothes in her arms.
“Thank you,” Azalea’s mother told Mrs. Archer, “all of you, for helping my daughter find herself.”
Jeremy nodded solemnly and assured her, “Azalea is our friend.”
“Well,” Azalea’s father added, “we’re glad that she has such good friends to lean on.”
Azalea was beaming. She was so lucky to have such a good family and good friends by her side. Truth be told, Azalea wasn’t sure what she was going to do next, what kind of magic they’d need to give her the body she really wanted. But with her loved ones by her side, it was going to be quite a journey.
This is so wholesome omg I want someone to make an illustrated kids book version of this ❤️
Oh, wow, that would be the dream!
So sweet!
Awwwww.
What a cutie :3
I heaved a huge sigh of relief when Azalea's dad hugged her. I was so, so worried he wouldn't be supportive.
Ahhhh I'm so happy she can be herself and I hope she can get some good magic to help her on the physical side of things!
Omg this is so cute aaaa