(Bloom, Libra, and I are reading queer books together.)
Bloom (High School Me): I wish this had been written in my day! I wonder if it would have helped.
Libra (College Me): Yeah, same. Oh hey, maybe we could have a long, heartfelt discussion about what would have cracked our egg earlier.
Mom (Present Me): Another time, I think. We seem pretty comfortable together though… I think it might be time.
Libra: Time for what?
Mom: Time for me to introduce a new family member.
Bloom (excited): Another sister!?
Mom (smiling): Another sister.
Bloom (ecstatic): YAAAAAY!
Libra: I won’t be the oldest anymore, huh?
Mom: Does that bother you?
Libra: No, this was bound to happen eventually. I’m decades younger than you, after all.
Mom: Ooof, don’t remind me.
Bloom: When is she getting here?
Mom: Soon, but remember, she doesn’t know. Let’s try to ease her into it, okay?
Libra: I don’t know, is Bloom even capable of subtlety?
Bloom: You’re excited too, dork! We’ll try our hardest, Mom!
Mom: That’s all I ask. Okay then…
???: Uh, where am I?
Mom: Welcome home.
???: This doesn’t look like home.
Mom: Well, you haven’t been around in a while. You’re me after I graduated college and went out into the world — Me in my 20s, basically.
Bloom: I don’t go to grad school?
20s Me: What’s the point of a graduate degree in computer science?
Libra: Yeah, I came to that conclusion when she was my age.
20s Me: Who are you calling “she”?
Mom: About that… Remember the “adult” dreams you have some nights? The secret ones you don’t talk about?
20s Me: The furry dreams? Sure, I’m a furry. Just because I don’t advertise it doesn’t make it a huge secret.
Mom: No, not those. They become less frequent anyways, don’t they? Instead you often find yourself dreaming of women.
20s Me: Yeah, because I like women.
Mom: Except you’re also a woman in those dreams.
20s Me: Because lesbians are hot! That doesn’t make me a woman!
Bloom: Well…
Libra: …it kind of does.
20s Me (angry): What the hell! No it doesn’t! The women are receiving pleasure; that’s the sexy part!
Libra: It is, and that could be us! We named ourselves Daphne, remember?
20s Me: I named some video game characters Daphne! It’s not my name.
Bloom: But what if you could be a girl for real? Wouldn’t you want to be?
20s Me (combative): And have to fight uphill for my career? No thank you; leave that to the women. I’m not half as strong as they are — as they have to be.
Mom: Look, I get that this is hard to accept. It took a while to figure ourselves out, but we do figure ourselves out. Trust me when I say you’re a woman.
20s Me (distraught): No. I refuse. I’m going to be a successful family man. I don’t need — whatever this is!
(20s me storms off.)
Bloom (distraught): What went wrong?
Libra (worried): Is she going to be okay?
Mom (patient): I think she’ll come around. She was the most “bought in” to the world as it’s sold to all of us. She has some things to work through before she can accept this.
Libra: So what do we do?
Mom: For now we give her space. I’ll talk to her when she’s ready.