Sandy was gobsmacked by what J.J. had said. Here, all of this time, she had thought that only her family and Janet Bell knew about her secret, now she had to wonder who all knew. Would she and her family have to leave Grottoes, now? Would there be attempts on her life by those who hated the transgendered? Worst of all, was her family in danger? Al of these thoughts ran through her mind, causing an overload that sent her into a faint.

"WHAT!?" she asked as she fainted.

"SHIT!" J.J. cursed as he caught her and gently laid her on the floor.

He began to openly cry over his True Love, not knowing how to handle the situation. All that he knew was that he loved her with all of his Heart. To him, Sandy was a girl, the fact that she had been born a boy did not matter to him. All that he saw was a beautiful woman that he wanted to marry. He and his dad had found out from Jessica Bell when Sandy applied for work. To his dad, Sandy was a girl, not a boy, at all. And to J.J., she was a very sweet girl.

They had spent time going over any literature concerning girls like Sandy and about Mermaids, a charity that supported girls like her. When they heard about the difficult times that were in store for Sandy, they adopted her as their daughter and sister, and worked with the local charities that were like Mermaids. Any special girl, boy, or their family could have a free meal, once a week, and on holidays, too, when opened. But on those holidays that the diner was closed, they could get that free meal the day after.

His mother, Joan was a hermaphrodite, Joan and Jack had grown up together, as the best of friends. Joan grew up as a girl ad was a cheerleader, dancer, majorette in school while Jack went into playing sports. Joan went into the Girl Scouts and learned her domestic skills which she taught to Jack, while he taught her what he learned in the Boy Scouts. By graduation, they were the most well rounded students and she was chosen as valedictorian, while Jack was the salutatorian.

They had a very happy marriage, and when J.J. was born, they both felt blessed. But unfortunately, complications set up after his birth that would cause much heartache and grief. Joan's womb had been herniated by his birth, and when she conceived again, the hernia ruptured, causing Joan to bleed to death before she could receive medical attention. Jack was busy in the diner, and J.J. was in school when her hernia ruptured. She was three months pregnant.

Their loss marked both men with grief, and a need to help young ladies in need. When Jack opened up his diner, he hired only waitresses who had a need. Some were unwed mothers who were able to go back to school, find a better job, or marry a nice man. But all of them were adopted by Frank as his nieces, only Sandy's plight truly broke his heart. When she moved into Grottoes with her family, she was a shy, withdrawn child that got the attention of J.J.

He saw a a very pretty girl who needed a friend, being new to the school. So, he introduced himself to her, and she declined, at first, but in time, she accepted his friendship. As she relaxed around him and his friends, she showed her wit and humor, as well as a shyness brought on my her dad. It was only when she qualified for the Work-Scholarship Program, that he learned why she was so shy.

The Work-Scholarship Program was open for any for students to earn money for college and earn credit too. Instead of taking Gym, Band, Cheerleading, or Home Economics. the student went to their job, learning on-the-job skills that were transferable to college credit with universities participating in the program. For those that did not, the student received a stipend from the Program to help pay for schooling.

Because of Sandy's unique needs, she needed away to skip P.E., and even though she wanted to be in the band, her goal of becoming a proper woman overrode that desire. Her dad refused to fund her surgery, although she did get to live alone in the garage apartment, rent free. So, she opted to apply for the Program, and found that Jack's Diner was in the Program.

Jack accepted her application because he sensed the true reason for her wanting to work. His sharp eye caught the tiny signs of her breast forms and her boy's hips that told him what she really was. But because of his support of Mermaids, he accepted her, knowing that Jessica Bell would give him a copy of Sandy's records for his books. Supporting Mermaids gave him a tax credit that would make employing Sandy, another tax credit.

But Jack made such a good living off of the diner, that his tax breaks would have soon disqualified him, so, he opened up a savings account for each waitress on the program, and

deposited the tax break in their accounts, but Sandy's got more since she also got the tax credit for his supporting Mermaids. So far, there was enough in her account to cover her surgery and college, if she were frugal with her combined funds.

Sandy had proven to be quite a natural as a waitress, she was able to keep track of her customer's order, and mingle, making her popular with everybody. But when hes school friends found out about her job, it became a game to see if they could stick her with the bill. When they did, she simply called their parents if they did not pay up, when she confronted them at school, often getting them grounded, and earning demerits in their school records.

This action earned her the respect of the alumni, faculty, and students, alike, even those who tried to stiff her. She became very popular, but her popularity soon waned when she couldn't date, and spent most of her free time working at the diner. She did not date because she feared that she would be outed if a date found her secret. She wore a gaffe, and breast forms, but either could be discovered by prying eyes.

It wasn't until her body started going through a girl's puberty that Sandy began to relax, but even then, she was careful about how she acted. As the daughter of the school's counselor, she was expected to be held to a higher standard than other students. What very few understood was that she had no inclination to do anything to earn any demerits, she just wasn't the type to cause trouble.

She was raised to respect her elders, and to was active in the church, and the scouts until she told her family that she was a girl in a boy's body. When the family moved, Sandy Lynn Jones simply changed her gender in her records. Thanks to her mother's contacts in County Records, Sandy's Birth Certificate and Social Security Records now listed her as female, rather than as male. Only those back in West Dale Middle School and in her Great Uncle, Fred Sevrin's church knew different.

But that was why she and her family had left. Great Uncle, Fred Sevrin was filthy rich from coal mines. He was a former seminary student that quit when his families estate proved to be on top of a rich vein of coal, and oil.. He dropped out of school to become the C.E.O. of SevrinCorp. Then, he set up a private school where only W.hite A.nglo S.axon P.eople were allowed, where racial purity was taught, and the T.G. were hunted down.

Mary Jones was to become a counselor at the school, but when Sandy made her announcement, Mary sought and found employment at Augusta High School, where Sandy would enter as a freshman. Her father John Jones had accepted a lucrative offer at another branch of the company that he worked for-to protect his child, he had seen his cousin Maxie destroyed by the venomous hatred of the church and wanted to spare Sandy that same fate.

But his fear caused him to treat her as a second class citizen until Em came for a visit from England. She was able to use her beauty, charm and wit to break through John's shell of fear, and set him free to finally see, and accept Sandy as his daughter. They had had a wonderful night of family togetherness where the old hurts were healed, and Sandy was able to become John's Princess, as she had been hoping for all this time.

Now, after she had reconciled with her father, she has another reason to fear, J.J. knows her secret, and she is afraid that he will out her to the school, causing grief and heartache for her family that moving to Grottoes was to have ben the remedy. But now, her most secret fear was being realized in her mind, seeing only turmoil, instead of J.J.'s love.

Jack came in and saw Sandy passed out, with his son cradling her head in his lap, "What happened, Son?"

"I told Sandy that I love her, and knew her secret, Dad."

Jack smiled, "Looks as if you take after me when it comes to women," he chuckled.

"Say what?"

"I had the same effect on your mother when I proposed to her the first time," he smiled.

"Oh? How many times did you propose, Dad?"

"Twice! I had take her to the Emergency Room after that."

Then, Sandy awoke, saw Jack, and fainted again, saying, "OH NO! NOT YOU, TOO!"

Jack got some smelling salts from the nearby sink cabinet and held them under her nose until she began ti cough, "Get that shit away from me!"

Jack laughed as he did as she ordered, "Welcome back, Sandy. Are you ready to work, now?" he smirked.

She bolted up, accidentally flashing her panty at him, "What?"

"You heard me, Kiddo."

Sandy relaxed, "Whenever you call me that, I know that everything is alright."

"Good. I don't want to lose my son's favorite employee," he laughed.

"Come on Dad! You know that I love her," he admonished Jack.

"OK, Now. When did you two discover my secret?"

"Come, sit at the table, and we will tell you, you'll be surprised.

[][][]

Jack had outfitted the lounge with furniture purchased from the Grottoes Thrift Store. The outer wall had floor-to-ceiling book cases filled with a collection of books, video tapes, and an entertainment center. The rear wall had a partition for changing clothes, and a collection of lockers with a doorway to a men's and a ladies restroom, complete with showers. The hallway wall had Jack's office desk and spare chairs for when he interviewed an employee next to the lockers while the lounge kitchenette occupied the wail next to the public restrooms.

[][][]

She sat at the old mahogany table in a matching chair, "Jack, just what all do you know about me, and when did you learn it?"

J.J. smiled at her, "We knew when you applied."

"How?"

"Daddy saw your breastforms, and could see through your disguise."

"But, I thought that they were flawless!" she exclaimed.

"Sandy, to MOST people, they are. But, I know what to look for in girls like you."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"My wife Joan was a hermaphrodite. Do you know what a hermaphrodite is?"

"Yes, we studied them in Health, they are people born with both male and female sex organs."

"Basically, correct, a hermaphrodite can be born with a complete set of both, or with a part of both. There are many variations of what can technically be called the third gender."

"OK, but how does her being a hermaphrodite make it so that you saw through my disguise?"

"Joan died from complications from carrying J.J."

"Sandy, Mom died while she was carrying another baby."

She hugged them both and wept for them, "Do you know if it was a boy, or a girl?"

"If Joan had of made it with our second child, you would be seeing a teenage Joan Marie, named after her mother."

"OK, but THAT still doesn't explain how you were able to see through my disguise. Why aare you telling me about Joan?"

Jack passed over a photo of him, a baby J.J. and a beautiful woman, "Take a look, and you will see," he wept.

Studying the photo, she glanced from Jack, to J.J., then back to the photo, then she looked up, totally gobsmacked, 'Joan and I are twins," she said softly as he went silent, the overload sending her into a momentary shock.

J.J. shook her, "J.J. to Sandy, are you in there?"

"Just like Joan, SHE would fade out, too."

Sandy shook her head, as if to reconnect with reality, "WHOA! NO WONDER YOU ACCEPTED ME! YOU WERE HIRING JOAN!"

"More than that, Sandy."

"Oh? Tell me."

"After she died, I joined Mermaids, a charity that helps children with transgender issues and their families."

"Now I know why certain customers get a free meal during the holidays. It's you way to help them."

"Yes, and getting to know Mermaids clients, I learned how to ferret out the kids, and adults that might need their help."

"Oh, so THAT is how you saw me for who I am."

J.J. smiled, "Yes, Sandy. We would NEVER turn away a girl like you. Are you still scared?"

She smiled, "No, not anymore. But I am worried J.J."

"What about?"

"Why you want to date me."

"Sandy, I LOVE you! Why shouldn't we date?"

"Because I look like your mother."

"You do, NOW! but when you asked for a job, you didn't."

"I did, J.J. And you know it!"

"OK, THAT is true, but I did not see it until recently. And I just now saw it when you mentioned it."

"What about you, Jack?"

"When I first saw you, you reminded me of Joan. And when I saw that you were like her, I knew that I had to help you," he sighed.

"OK, But I am not so sure right now, I want to be able to work and earn my paycheck on my own merit, NOT because of my looks, Jack."

"Sandy, I have no complaints from the customers about you, at all! and you make more in tips than anybody here. What does that say to ou?"

"That I am a hard worker who is liked by her customers. But Jack, did you hire Joan or me?"

He sighed, "Truth to tell, BOTH!"

"Oh?"

"Yes, you vixen," he chuckled.

"Vixen," she giggled.

"Yes, vixen, Sandy. I hired you because you looked like Joan, and I saw you for who you were, but now, I am honored that YOU are here, NOT Joan. Does that answer your question?"

She hugged Sack, "Yes, you see ME now, when at first, you saw Joan. But when did you start seeing me?"

"Almost immediately. You may LOOK like Joan, but you don't act like her," he smirked.

"Oh? How am I different?"

"You are shy most of the time when not here. Joan was a go-getter."

"But, Sandy. You are no longer that shy, quiet, wallflower that you were. You've blossomed into a strong, sure young lady."

She hugged J.J. "Thanks, J.J. You're right about me. At first, I was scared that I would be outed. But I relaxed when I was accepted as a girl. And when Dianna Biggs told me that she was glad to see me open up, I knew that I was on the right track."

"Why is that?"

Well, considering what she went through, she could have withdrawn. But after mourning her Daddy's death, she got Bigg's Foundations going again."

"OK, why was her endorsement so meaningful?"

"I was looking up to her as a role model. Funny thing, she was looking at me as a role model, too," she sighed.

J.J. smirked, "And she knows nothing about your secret, right?"

"Correct! Well, if she does, she has yet to tell me."

Jack hugged her, "Don't you see?"

"See what?"

"BOTH of you have overcome, much. She saw in you, your strength to transition, and you saw in her the strength to overcome adversity."

"Sandy, Dad is right! You two are Sisters of Adversity."

"OK, You two! I get the message. Shall we clean up our mess and go out and tend to the customers?"

Jack laughed, "Daisy Mae will be ready about now. The rush is on, by now."

Daisy Mae's voice came over the intercom, "Hey, guys! We got customers!"

Jack flipped the intercom toggle, "OK, Daisy Mae, we're coming out."

Hey, Jack! Your rhyming is back!" she giggled as she got up off of the sofa.

"Yeah, Sandy! Dad's a poet, and didn't know it," J.J. smirked as he cleared off the table, and put the dirty crocks in the sink.

"Go on, get out of here, you two rascals! I've got some cooking to do," he chuckled.

"Dad, let me wash up in here, then I'll come out and help you with the orders."

"No, son. YOU go and cook. I'll do the dishes. Besides, I also need to go over the ledger and make sure that the books balance."

"OK, Dad. It'll be fun to be out there, mingling again."

{}{}{}

As they left, Jack began to ponder the event that had taken place as he cleaned the dirty crocks in the sink. Jack began to ponder upon his life as he washed the dishes.

There is no dishwasher, I see no need since all that there was to wash was the crockery for the staff. Besides, I prefer to soak the pots and pans in sinks to loosen any stuck on food before the dishwasher got them, even out in the diner. I must admit that I'm a man set in my ways on how to run the diner. I learned from the best, my former boss about running a diner.

Oh, I've had the chance to sell out to Grottoe's Family Restaurant, but their ideas of how to run a family restaurant was way too stuffy for me. Like Pops, I believe that a family restaurant was meant to cater to FAMILIES, not to PROFIT. I might not make as much profit as other diners, I am having fun doing it my way, which more than makes up for any loss. I got started back when Mike,'Pop's' Royer was running the diner.

I'd just graduated from Augusta Junior College with a degree in Business/Restaurant Management to go with all of my extensive cooking skills learned from Granny Elaine Garrett, the Home Economics teacher. And Gramps was Everett Garrett, the Mechanical Arts teacher. From them, I learned everything that I'll ever need, from domestic skills, all the way to house maintenance skills, including auto repair. They'd adopted me when my parents had left me with them when I was an infant, so I never knew my parents as I grew up.

I had been a Boy Scout, and had obtained the rank of Eagle Scout, easily winning over my fellow scouts with my ability to turn their combined supplies into good home cooking over a grill, or even a fire pit, depending upon the occasion. But I had to quit when my grandparents died in a car wreck, forcing me to find employment in order to pay for their burial. Their insurance policy had been cashed in to pay for their mounting medical bills.

When they were diagnosed with lung cancer from using tobacco, their insurance barely covered their expenses, leaving them to pay for utilities and groceries. Even though they were able to eat breakfast and lunch for free at school, that still left the weekends, and dinner, as well as my meals whenever I was home. But due to frugal spending, I was able to make sure that I could feed us using bulk items, and going to the Farmer's Market for produce, and local farmers for our meat.

Luckily, the house was paid for years ago. I have been tempted many times to get a loan, using it has collateral, but I never did. The attorneys that were trying to get me to were working for a developer who wanted my home so that he could tear it down and put up condos. When I refused to budge, he tried to threaten me, but my friend Jessica Bell and her family stopped them, thanks to her cousin, Detective Angharad Bell.

That lady grew up having to help raise her younger siblings while their parents worked at the local factories. She soon learned her craft having to figure out which one of her brothers or sisters were guilty when something happened. She was seldom wrong, and when she was, it was because of missing evidence. And when she DID find out the truth, the guilty party was punished by her AND the parents.

Luckily for her, she was able to pass on her leadership role to her younger siblings, allowing her to join the Marines so that she could be a better police officer. The Grottoes Police Department accepted her application because Police Chief Shamus O'Hara believed in hiring veterans, no matter their gender. Angharad proved to be tougher than most of the instructors, leading to her placement as an instructor until she had trained other instructors up to her level.

****

When I applied for work with Pops Royer, Pops saw in me a young and eager man who had the potential to take over when he retired. Pops had never married after returning home from the war. He had never found a girl friend, and running the diner had made him a bad choice for several young ladies. They wanted to marry into wealth, NOT be burdened with having to clean a house. The post war attitude was that they deserved better than they had.

Under Pops guidance, I became an expert at cooking several orders at the same time, and interacting with the customers, giving me my own ideas on how to run a business. When Pops had found that his parents were living in another city, he was reunited with them. They had left him with Pops only living grandparents because they were both out of work, and wanted him to be raised with a loving family.

His dad, Gerald Garrett had found work as a truck driver, an his mom, Lily Garrett rode with him to replace him behind the wheel when he was tired. In time, they'd been able to purchase their own tractor-trailer, and a small home in Raleigh North Carolina. But they had both developed lung and heart cancer from smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco gave them oral cancer and mouth ulcers.

The cancer did not manifest until after their retirement when they'd finally decided to reunite with their son. They were afraid that Pops would hate them, even though according to his grandparents, he wondered who his parents were. He knew that he was adopted when he called his grandparents Granny, and Gramps instead of Mom and Dad. He knew it because he'd seen pictures of a very young couple with his grandparents, and his Birth Certificate listed Gerald Garrett as his father, Lily Garrett as his mother instead of Paul Morrison and Amy Morrison, respectively.

When Pops had asked his grandparents about it, they told him about his parents, their daughter, and their agreement to raise him as their own until they were ready to become parents ,and that has truck drivers, they were unable to care for him. But seeing as how he anted to get to know them, his grandparents made arrangements for having them stay at the house whenever they were nearby.

In doing that, Pops and his estranged parents were able to learn about each other while maintaining the facade of them being family friends in order to avoid any hurt feelings. As family friends, they often treat their son to gifts that they could get as trucker, and take him to games and concerts when they could, silently thankful that their son was such a splendid young man.

But as Pops grew older, his resemblance to his father caused them to stop their visits until he went to college, earning his degree in Business/Restaurant Management so that he could open up a diner where his 'parents' could eat at. He found a small, abandoned diner near the interstate with ample parking for trucks. He bought the diner and had it renovated into a modern diner. The former Grottoe's Diner had closed when it's former owner-operator, Frank Hall had died, leaving no relatives to take over, and the bank foreclosed on the property when his attorney Jim Folsom declared bankruptcy, and took the estate's wealth with him to the Bahamas.

Pops had made a very good living as a cook, manager, but his kind heart, and generous nature had him donating the majority of his profits to charities, and lost causes. Even though he knew how to operate a business, his record keeping skills left much to be desired. His accountant, Barney Garrett had been siphoning funds for years into a swiss bank account that upon the death of Pops, drained the business accounts, letting him escape to Mexico.

Luckily for me, they had family in the States, so I had their identities sent to Immigration so that the U.S. Marshall's and F.B.I. could apprehend them when they returned to the States. It took a few years, years during which I married Joan and lost her to death. The timely return of BOTH men who'd betrayed Pops returned. It turns out that retiring Police Chief, Anthony DiMaggio was a cousin to Abel Delgado, the local Mafia Don.

Abel had watched The Godfather movies, and decided to go legit, giving up his money laundering and drug trafficking for gambling //bingo halls, security/protection and eliminating any youth gangs unwilling to give up criminal activities and rumbling. The reformed gangs acted as a Neighborhood Watch, and worked with local churches, community centers to provide much needed help to the families by providing help with yard work, and babysitting. Their only gang type activity was in sports competition.

The gangs would meet at some local parking lot or field and engage in impromptu games of all sorts or form teams in the community center or a local church. These gangs had over time, become linked to at least one local church, helping the area churches to become more effective community leaders as the gangs eventually dissolved as the members grew up and

left the gang. The gangs were still active in the community, but now as business people and members of fraternities, sororities, and lodges.

My son, J.J. had been an athlete in school, playing basketball, football, soccer, softball, and volleyball. But for all of his athletic prowess, it was his academic records that won him his scholarships. He maintained a 4.0 average throughout his schooling, and his summer internship during his highschool years earned him his scholarships. I was justifiably proud of him, yet reluctant to see him leave.

We had lost Joan while he was growing up, forcing me to be a surrogate mother to him. We grew very close, J.J. often copying my attitudes, likes, and dislikes. I tried to admonish him about becoming my clone, but he simply added Joan's skills to his, making him a well rounded boy. From Joan he learned sewing, crocheting, knitting, and herbal medicine, from me he learned cooking, car maintenance, and home repair as well as my Boy Scout skills.

When he went away to college, I hated to see him go, but I knew that he needed to discover who he was. I was afraid that living so far away would change him, but he stayed the same all during his schooling, which surprised me. What I didn't know until recently was that he'd fallen in love with Sandy, and stayed true to her, even though he had many chances to sow his wild oats, and lose his virginity.

No, J.J. is like me in that regard, I lost my virginity on my wedding night, just as Joan did to me that night. We learned a lot about each other that night that could only be learned by trial and error. Oh,we had our disagreements about things, but we worked out everyrhing, and like most disagreements, they were simply us wanting things done our way. To settle the disagreement, we would try it both ways, then see which one was best.

One Time, we differed on a recipe for eggnog. we both made our batches, and actually found them to both excellent, but her's was best for J.J. as her's was non-alcholic. Until then, I was ready to give him mine, not thinking about the rum in mine, nor what it could do to a child. Me, I had been raised drinking it during the Yuletide holidays. I only drank a glass of it, then I had punch, or soda according to family tradition.

It wasn't until I remembered that my parents had given me bum-free eggnog, which was basically Joan's when I looked up the recipe. THEN we couldn't decide which was better, her eggnog, or my rum-free version. At times, we simply decided not to decide which we did in this case. But for all of our disagreements, we agreed on one thing, J.J. was our pride and joy.

****

Jack finally finished cleaning up the Employee's Lounge and headed up front to watch his son as he tok over the cooking for the night.