When They See Us (Book 1.0)

Chapter One

Adelaide

"Addy, wake up." I hear my little sister whispers in my ear. She climbs into my bed and under my covers, cuddling into me. The five-year-old's finger pokes my cheek and I smile at her silliness. Pulling her closer to me, I lift the blanket over us like a fort and hug her tight.

"Good morning Ray. How'd you sleep?"

"Good, I slept with Mommy and Daddy." I laugh at her intrusion on my parents. She's a lot like me when I was younger, except her articulation is a lot better than mine was.

Rayden was born unique, similar to our father. Our parents spent a load of money testing each of their kids to see if our chromosome patterns, gonads, and genitals had all fit in the standard male and female category. While Camden and I's results fell within the range that society deems normal, Rayden's did not.

The world has been taught that genitals should dictate an individual's gender. However, in the Reed family, we are taught that it is far more complicated than that. Intersex people, like my father and Rayden, simply do not fit into either male or female categories. Dad told us that sometimes, it isn't even evident until the child goes through puberty, like with her, and their body starts to change.

Typically, an ultrasound is used to determine the baby's sex, but these can be inaccurate, especially if the baby is intersex. That's why my parents refused to determine the sex of their babies through ultrasounds. They decided they would learn the sex once the baby was born, but dad always seemed to know before anyways.

Regardless of our assigned sex or what any of the tests said, we were always free to choose our pronouns and be whoever we wanted to be. In Ray's case, my parents basically only used the tests to determine whether or not she'd have health problems as a result of being intersex. Our parents' love for us will always remain unaltered. Since I'm the oldest, I will always protect my siblings and have their backs, regardless of who they choose to be.

Mom walks into my room and tries to get under the covers with us. Since my bed is big enough for the three of us, we decided to let her into our fort. "Good morning Sweet Pea," she whispers and leans over Rayden to kiss my forehead.

"Good morning Mommy. Did Ray wiggle herself into your bed last night?"

She laughs and nods. "Of course she did. She's your twin and can never sleep alone."

"Hey, I've been sleeping on my own for 12 years now," I rebut.

She rolls her eyes. "Addy... you, Cam, and Ray all weaseled yourselves into our bed last weekend and tried to use family movie night as an excuse. Your poor Dad had to move herself to the couch because you guys took up the whole bed." People sometimes get confused by us calling my father dad, especially since her pronouns are she/her. Everyone has their normal... this just happens to be ours.

I laugh at her accuracy. We all still love to sleep with them. "True" I shrug my shoulders.

"What's with the fort?" She asks, tickling my sister's side as she rolls over in laughter.

"I don't know. Rayden came in to wake me up, but I wasn't ready to leave my warm bed yet," I respond, snuggling closer to them. Mom knows how inseparable Ray, Cam, and I are, so she doesn't question our foolishness much.

She laughs. "Okay, time to get up. It's your first day as a senior. Daddy is making breakfast." She gets up and grabs her youngest child to leave. I finally decided to get up and go into my bathroom to get ready.

When I turned 11 and had my first period, Mom and Dad thought it would be best for me and Camden not to share a room anymore, so they finally moved into an actual house instead of our old condo. Besides, after Rayden was born, having three kids sharing one room would've been chaotic.