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"Tyra, come in the kitchen." I heard my father holler. Yeah, my birth name is Tyra. No matter how many times I told my father I was a boy, named Tyler, he couldn't accept it. Reluctantly, I peeled myself from my bed and hurried downstairs.

"Yes?" I asked shyly. I was what you would call nervous around my father.

"We're going to your aunt's dinner party at 1 o'clock. You will wear a dress, do your makeup, whatever the hell normal girls do. Your name is Tyra and you will introduce yourself as so. If I hear any of your 'trans' bullshit, I don't wanna see you in my house until you're out of this stupid phase. That's it. Go get ready now, we're leaving in one hour."

I sighed, and started my way back to my room. I peeked in the living room to check on my mother, seeing her and my siblings all cuddled up and watching a movie. Where did I go wrong? Why couldn't I be like them, cuddled up and happy?

Since my father told me to do girly things, that meant I'd have to suffer in dysphoria. I was lucky enough that I didn't mind wearing feminine clothes, but being forced to do so makes me uncomfortable, like as if you're a rock and have to convince everyone you're a flower.

The hardest thing would be wearing a dress that was somewhat exposing. I only owned one dress, that being one that my mother bought for my birthday last year. It was pretty low cut on the chest, meaning I would have to take off my binder to wear it. Regardless, I slipped into the loose dress, holding back my tears as best I could.

Next was my makeup. I hadn't done makeup for nearly two years, but I've always been good at it. My friends in school would beg me to do their makeup for prom, some tried paying but I couldn't accept it. I decided on a nude style for my outfit because I didn't want to attract too much attention.

I had cut my hair on my own a couple months ago, so that was one less thing I had to worry about. I sighed deeply, gathered my phone and keys, and made my way to the living room. I felt eyes on me as I entered the main hall, and caught my family staring at me. I gave my mother a look of confusion, to which she hurried over to me and hugged me.

"You're such a pretty girl, why would you want to become a boy?" She whispered in my ear, her soft tears dampening my shoulder.

"It's not about the looks Mom. I'll explain one day, when Dad's not here." I responded, just quiet enough for her to hear. I promised myself I was strong enough for this, so when I felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes, I puffed and pulled away from her. I smiled at my younger siblings, they were too young to understand what was happening so I had to give them some sort of comfort. My father nodded in approval, and we all got ready to leave.

"Can I drive in my car behind you guys? I haven't had breakfast yet and I'm kinda hungry." I asked, to which my mother motioned to my dad to answer.

"Whatever, just don't be late." He shrugged.

"Tyty, can I got?" My younger sister begged, and I looked to my father for permission. He nodded, and me and my sister loaded my car. We drove to a coffee shop, and I ordered a coffee, and my sister got a donut. I lied about being hungry, but I wasn't sure I could stand the tension of both my parents and siblings all in one car.

Once we finished, I hurried to the address my mother wrote me. We made it with about ten minutes to spare, so I offered to help in the kitchen.

"Tyra! How have you been, sweetheart?" My aunt greeted me, her hands busy at mixing dough of some sort.

"I've been okay, what about you? Hows the kids?"

"Oh, I've been good. Jenna and Andrew have kept me busy." She laughed. The only thing I looked forward to coming to family gatherings was to see my cousin Jenna. She seemed to be the only person other than my mother who accepted me. Unlike others, she educated herself on trans people before developing an opinion.

"Jenna's in her room if you'd like to go see her. You know where her room is." My aunt smiled.

I knocked at Jenna's door, to which she hollered a "come in!" Jenna seemed beyond excited that I was here.

"So, Tyler, what's with the girly stuff?" She questioned, knowing that I preferred not having anything to do with femininity other than occasional skirts.

"You know how my father is." I sighed and she nodded.

"Oh! I got you something." She pulled a box from on top of her dresser and handed it to me. I gently unwrapped the gift, revealing a box of cologne, a new binder, and a box of briefs.

"I know it might be a kind of odd gift but I figured you could use em." I pulled her into a hug, and felt happiness bubble in my chest.

"Thank you so much Jenna, I love you so much."

We joined the rest of the family and I was glad to admit that the party wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.