Out to all my family, friends *except* nine-year-old sister. Help?

Hey guys,

I'm 19. I've been out to my family for almost two years now, and had told my friends long before that. I moved out of home for college last September, but came home every couple of weeks. I've been home quite a bit this summer, so I've actually got quite close to my nine-year-old sister, who's really great.

The thing is, I think I'm not out to her. Or at least I have never explicitly talked to her about it. I remember there was a point where my parents were just coming to terms with it or whatever, and they didn't really want me bringing it up with her because they'd then maybe have to deal with questions or insinuations from my sister's friends' parents, or whatever. I don't know what the exact reasons were, and although I was annoyed, I didn't really want to push it because I knew it was hard for them too – coming to terms with it all.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure she'd have absolutely no problem with it. I mean we often discuss LGBT-related stuff and things. I know a while back that she had asked my mother or said something that made it sound like she perhaps suspected I was going out with a friend of mine. (Although he was gay too, we actually weren't going out.) This was when she was younger though – like three or four years ago, maybe more. My mother brought it up after I came out to her.

Being home over the summer, I mentioned it to my mother again, and I told her that she shouldn't put off the discussion with my sister or whatever. She said that she wasn't and that she didn't think there was any issue, and that maybe it would make more sense for me to say it to her.

And I think she's right! But given I'm quite close to my sister, I don't want her to think she was excluded from knowing when my other sister and my parents have known for a while, and I don't want to make it weird or anything like that. Like I think it may make sense to her – for instance, we talk about who our favourite One Direction members are and stuff, but I don't think it has explicitly occurred to her. It might have, I don't know, but I would be inclined to think not.

Does anyone have any experience as how to handle this in the most painless way possible? I don't want to make a big deal out of it at all, but I don't want to shock her by bringing it up in a too-lighthearted way and it coming out of the blue, either.

She's a bright enough/intelligent nine-year-old of average maturity, if that makes any difference

Thanks guys!