Grandma's Little Girl
In order of appearance: Scott Anderson; Helen Anderson, Scott's mother;
Rose Carlson, Scott's grandmother; Carol Marks, Scott's aunt; Debbie and
Sandy Marks, Scott's cousins.
Synopsis: Scott's back home with his mother for the Summer after
spending most of the school year with his father. Scott returned with an
attitude and his mother is beside herself on what to do about it.
Fortunately Scott's grandmother knows exactly what Scott needs and most
of it is in the attic.
He's becoming his father!" Helen said in frustration as she watched her
son walk off fuming. He'd been surly since he arrived, and nasty more a
few times. That boy at the mall hadn't really done anything except bump
into him accidentally.
That remark of Helen's wasn't spiteful, just sad and unfortunately
becoming true to those who knew Helen and Scott. Everyone knew why as
well. Scott had spent his entire school year with his father.
It had been a chance for his father's sake and Scott's. Helen had
reservations but she had agreed. Helen regretted her decision almost
instantly the day Scott came home. Scott's father was a male chauvinist
pig, bigot and macho to the extreme and Scott in just a few short months
was becoming a mirror image of that man.
"I'm at a loss on what to do about it!" Helen said as she turned away
from the window to look at her mom.
"Feminize him!" Scott's grandmother said without a moment's hesitation.
She said it so quickly she caught everyone off guard.
"What?" Helen answered not sure she'd just heard what she'd heard. Her
mother, as sharp as she still was, often didn't have a clue on some
things. Like most her age, she was stuck, at times, too far back in the
past. This was one of those times. It was her brother she was referring
to. When her brother started acting too macho around the girls, he wore
a dress.
Those short sessions in dresses had an amazing impact on Helen's brother
as Helen remembered back to those times. John would go very quiet,
pensive, withdrawn and spend most of the time in his girl clothes
sitting quietly on the porch. It was almost as if he liked it, but
wouldn't admit it. Wasn't until years later that her brother did admit
that he'd liked it. Only that was then.
"Different times mother! You could do that sort of thing back then and
get away with it. Try that now and they'd put you in jail for child
abuse," Helen said but added, "As much as I like the idea of it, and it
did wonders for John as I remembered, it's just not practical anymore."
"Bunk! Trouble with people today is they try and outsmart themselves!
All this psychological mumbo jumbo has got you hoodwinked. Honey, boys
today are no different than they were back then and the same sorts of
things that worked then, work now. What's wrong with getting back to the
basics?" Helen's mother asked.
"Mom, you're not listening to me! If I forced my son to dress as a girl
I'd be tossed in jail or worse, he'd be placed in a foster home or
something. It's just not something people do now," Helen said sadly. It
would be something to consider, considering how drastically it had often
changed her brother.
"Honey it wouldn't be abuse if he volunteered!" Helen's mother noted.
Even Helen's sister Carol stopped ignoring the conversation and was
suddenly looking at her mother. Helen looked at her sister who looked
back with a shrug. Their mother was smiling.
"So, what are you saying? I just ask him to be a girl for awhile? Tell
him that it will calm him down or what... Soften him a bit?" Helen said
sarcastically.
"Nope! I do!" Rose said. "Won't work if you're the one doing it. It's
got to be me. He'll do it for me."
"Mom? Your grandson is not going to run off and wear a dress even if you
asked," Helen noted. Although Helen was almost sure that he might given
how he felt about his grandmother. Scott adored her and almost always
did what she said. On this though it still wouldn't be enough, not
nearly enough. Not now, not ever.
"I'm guessing he would! Just depends on how he's asked! Might even risk
putting a little money down on a bet! Didn't spend all of these years
growing old without picking up a little smarts along the way," Rose
noted with that smile Helen had come to know. It was a devious kind of
smile, devilish even and, growing up, you only hoped you were not on the
receiving end of whatever was behind that smile when it came.
"And how would you do that?" Helen asked knowing there was already the
workings of a plan behind that grin. She never bet when her mother
suggested betting. Helen's mother leaned in closer and began to speak in
a lowered voice.
Scott, still outside mopping, heard the laughter from the kitchen as he
sat on the swing he'd known since he was little. His grandfather had
built it to last two life times. Scott had no idea why the women were
laughing and at the moment he could care less. His father, Scott
decided, was right about women.
Scott spent yesterday angry and woke just as angry and was still a bit
surly. He had wanted to spend Summer with his father only his mother had
said no. Summer would have meant more pizza dinners, even a little taste
of beer. Scott liked the idea of taking a shower whenever it suited him
and sitting around in his underwear. A truly masculine environment and
now it was gone.
Instead, he was smack dab in the middle of women again. Daily baths,
clean fingernails, ears and clean, clean, clean! The SISSY SCENE was
what his father had called Scott's life with his mother, grandmother,
aunt and cousins. All females and his father had teased him some over
living in a house full of doilies and frills.
Scott wasn't going to give in on this. His mother could keep him here,
but he didn't have to like it he'd decided. Only something was wrong
when Scott came in from the back yard. It was his mother's face that
made his heart jump when he shuffled into the kitchen on his way to his
room.
Something was wrong with his grandmother his mother said before he could
ask. They were taking her to the doctors. Scott had to stay with Sandy
and Debbie only because the old Chevy truck wouldn't hold more than
three people.
His mother's car had a flat with no spare of all things. As it happens
though the tire was fine but would need air again. His aunt's car wasn't
running either at the moment. Needed a battery his aunt said and that
too was a fib. Scott didn't have any choice but to stay back.
His grandmother had fainted his mother noted, or seem to and both women
went into a panic as they tried convincing their mother to go with them
to the hospital. She resisted their attempts but she also looked so
frail to Scott. Scott was the one that talked her into going with them
as he helped her into the old truck. Scott had stood by the sidewalk, on
the verge of tears, as they drove off.
Scott was worried sick the whole time they were gone. He dreaded what
they might find when the truck pulled back home again. His heart was in
his throat when his aunt and mom eased grandmother out of the truck. The
women were on either side of her as they walked up the driveway
supporting his grandmother. She looked so old, so frail, nearly white
and didn't seem to recognize him when he rushed up to help.
"What is it? What happened?" Scott asked wishing with all of his might
that it was nothing. A bad meal or something simple. Something she would
recover from and by tomorrow she would be her old lovable self again.
"What in heavens name are you doing in pants young lady and my stars!
Who cut your hair?" Scott's grandmother yelled as he neared. Scott
stopped dead in his tracks. Young lady? Pants? Hair? What was she
talking about? Scott looked at his mother in a confused, questioning
way.
"Honey, let us get her settled and I'll explain then. Just go wait in
the kitchen so she doesn't get any more agitated," Helen said to her son
with a knowing sort of nod. Obviously his mother knew what was going on.
Scott did as he was told.
Scott peeked around the kitchen waiting for his mother to appear after
they'd taken his grandmother to her room. Scott was almost on the verge
of tears again worried that his grandmother might be truly sick, or
worse. His grandmother and he were close. Very close.
The two girls, Scott's cousins followed the women into the bedroom
leaving Scott alone and waiting in that agony of unknown. It was fifteen
minutes before his mother came into the kitchen. It was her face that
made Scott want to cry and beg for his grandmother to please get better.
"What?" Scott asked with a great sense of dread.
"Dementia honey! Senile dementia most likely or that's what the doctor
suspects. That's a kind of mental deterioration. Sometimes typical of
people her age. Although the doctor thinks it's slight though, and he's
not sure permanent. He thinks she might have even had a very minor
stroke. They can't tell because it was so slight but she may be confused
and disoriented for a while. She refused to stay overnight so the doctor
is going to stop by and check on her.
That outburst, about you, wasn't about you sweetheart! Her frustration
in the driveway and again in the living room was because she thought you
were me believe it or not. Me back when I was a little girl I would
sometimes sneak into my brother's jeans to meet and play with the other
girls. We liked playing on the sawdust mound out behind the old mill.
Mom never allowed me or my sister to wear pants back then. And I'd cut
my own hair once. Bad idea," Scott's mother said.
"Is she going to be OK?" Scott asked in desperation and gave little
thought to that last part. Scott already knew he was the spitting image
of his mother. One picture in particular when she was ten with her hair
pulled back left little doubt of that most said, even Scott.
Scott's friends joked over that picture a couple of times because it
looked like him wearing a dress. Only the old Hudson sedan aged the
picture - thankfully. Scott could almost understand his grandmother
thinking that, but he wanted her well and could care less about anything
else.
"Honey, she's going to be fine. A stroke sounds bad and can be, but the
doctor thinks it's just one or two very tiny vessels in her short term
memory area. She may lose some recent memories but no functions and she
may not even know she's lost what she's lost. Anyway, she's resting.
When she wakes up you can see her OK?" Helen said.
Scott nodded. It wasn't OK. He couldn't stand the thought of his
grandmother growing old or that she might get worse and he broke down
then. Scott adored her and the thought of life without her was too much
to consider. Helen consoled him and immediately started regretting what
she was doing. Although she held onto that thought in silence. What was
going to happen needed to happen and, in spite of how she felt about it,
she was sure it would be good for him.
Three hours later...
"Hi grandma!" Scott said cautiously walking into her room so very
carefully. Scott walked as if his footfalls would make her condition
worse. He was hopeful, desperate to see her smile and say hi and insist
on him giving her a good strong hug. She didn't look strong enough for
that hug Scott noticed.
"Helen honey! What are you doing in pants, and your hair... Oh Helen,
your lovely long hair, it's all gone! Who did this to you? Was it John?
Was it your brother? If it was your brother he's going to rue the day!"
Rose said thrashing about as if trying to climb out of bed. A blanket
had caught on her foot and that added to her anger as she kicked at it.
Her breathing got worse and she coughed, fell back clutching her chest
and gasped in a desperate attempt to get air.
Scott was in a panic again and instantly backed towards the door. His
mother, behind him at first, now passed him quickly into the room to
move towards her mother as she said, "Mom please, the doctor said you've
got to rest!"
"Look what that boy did to my little darling! She looks like a damn
ragamuffin... She looks like a boy for heavens sake," Rose screamed as
she began to thrash about again. Scott's mother motioned with her head
and eyes for Scott to leave just as Scott's aunt walked in and past
Scott to assist. Scott wiped at a tear that worked its way down onto his
cheek.
"Grandma..," Scott said to no one in particular as he headed for the
back yard.
Scott's cousins were in the back with their dolls playing in the cute
playhouse. It too was built long ago and meant to last. Scott himself
once thought of it as his fort. It had been built when his mother and
aunt were little girls. It looked like the gingerbread house in a fairy
tale book and was meant to since that had been the original design. It
was built as solid as the house his grandfather had also built.
Scott had stopped playing in that playhouse when one of his friends, who
had come out back with Scott, called it a sissy fort. Up until that day
Scott had never thought of the pastels and feminine design of that play
house as being sissy. After that he didn't go near it. He missed those
days terribly.
Scott's mother came out fifteen minutes later. The slam of the wooden
screen door with its strong spring brought him aware of his mother on
the porch. Scott jumped up then and moved immediately to her side as he
asked, "How is she?"
"She's sleeping again. Honey, I know this is going to be hard, but for
the time being let's not let her see you. It's just too hard on her. As
funny as it seems, she really thinks she's seeing me and it's about when
I was eight or ten?"
"Like in that picture of you?" Scott noted.
"Exactly!" Scott's mom said.
Scott nodded. He'd more or less guessed that and it did seem funny in
spite of what he was feeling over his grandmother's condition. Not
seeing her, not holding her hand or giving her a hug would be hard but
Scott understood.
He walked into the house with his mother. Scott was beside himself as a
car door slammed. The car had pulled down the long driveway almost
silently as Scott sat at the kitchen table. He didn't know the large
aging man coming up the steps and across the porch. Scott did recognize
the satchel the man carried as he reached the screen.
"Hello? Anybody home?" the man said on the other side of the screen
door.
"Doctor Blair?" Helen said happily coming into the kitchen as she added,
"Come in, come in. Mom's sleeping."
"Thank you! How's she doing?" the man said as Helen opened the screen
door.
"Not very well I'm afraid. She's pulling memories of me back when I was
a little girl?" Helen said.
"Where is she?" the man asked as he stepped in. Carol came from the
hallway motioning in silence at the man to join her. Scott's mother
followed both into his grandmother's room. Scott again had to wait in
that agony over the unknown.
Twenty minutes later Helen was fixing coffee for the doctor who she
introduced to Scott as Carol leaned against the kitchen door. Scott's
aunt Carol looked like she wanted to cry. They all looked sad,
withdrawn, preoccupied as they sat there. It made Scott feel worse.
"So is this our young man then?" the man asked and added, "Scott? Scott
right?"
"Yes, this is Scott!" Helen said.
"How are you young man!" the doctor said after his mother introduced
him. He extended his hand for Scott's. Scott gave him a cordial hand
shake, said fine and went silent again fearing the worse.
"Well, it is too bad he's not a girl. No offense son, just saying is
all! Would make this a whole lot easier!" the doctor said as he gulped
his coffee down. "Anyway, got to run. I've got another patient a few
miles from here. You've got my number. I don't sleep much anymore
myself, so don't hesitate to call if she gets any worse. Those pills
should keep her down and quiet for a few hours more. Yep, as bad as it
might be, if he was a girl it would make this a whole lot easier. Hate
medicating her like that," the doctor said as he stood.
Carol nodded as did Helen but no one looked at Scott. Carol nodded and
moved to the door to walk the doctor to his car. She also mentioned,
almost too quiet for Scott to hear that it would better if she wasn't
there so he and his mother could talk. Scott had no idea what that meant
and thought the worse as his mother hugged herself before saying,
"Honey, this is going to be a little difficult!"
Scott sat upright but felt the dread fill him as he did so. Something
was wrong and his mother wanted to tell him alone and was having
difficulty. It meant the worse and Scott fought back the tears welling
up again.
"Is she going to be OK?" Scott asked not waiting for his mother to find
a way to explain whatever it was she was struggling with. Scott wanted
to know that worse part first.
"Honey... That's just it! We think she can be? All right that is! The
doctor believes she could be just fine. He's pretty sure now it was a
very minor stroke but the kind most people can easily recover from. The
thing is, at least until that part of her brain heals itself, she's
going to be about like she is.
"Trouble is she's sort of locked into the past right now. The really odd
part is it's all about you! As far as you are concerned she really
thinks you're me. Don't ask me why but she does. Trouble with that is
it's got her angry because she thinks you are suddenly a Tom Boy. I mean
you as me that is," Scott's mother said with a shrug.
Scott felt the relief wash over him that it wasn't life threatening.
Although he was still thinking about what that doctor had said and that
left him curious as he asked: "So what did that doctor mean when he said
it was too bad I wasn't a girl? Why would that make things a whole lot
easier?"
"Doctor Blair thinks mom's memory loss isn't really a loss. It's not so
much a loss of brain function, but more like an electrical misfire of
sorts. Some of her is in today's time and some of her is back when I was
a girl. Like I said, that's why she keeps thinking you are me.
"Anyway, Doctor Blair thinks she's only lost a few connections between
those times and now. Doctor Blair also believes that if she wasn't so
agitated she might make those connections again. Trouble is, when she
sees you as you and not me but thinking it's me, her blood pressure goes
up and that's causing this to get worse.
"Doctor Blair thinks that if you were me, a pretend me obviously, she'd
calm down a lot and function almost normally. He called it a kind of
psycho drama association therapy. Not really sure what that means, but
they use it a lot for dementia and stroke patients. If a person in your
grandmother's condition can have a spark of reality during these
fantasies they seem to recover faster and almost completely," his mother
said.
Scott had listened intently. At first he was hoping he could help, then
began to realize he might even be the key to his grandmother getting
better. Although in thinking those thoughts it suddenly struck him on
what the doctor had really said. Then it struck him on what his mother
had just added. There was no way... And yet...
"You mean that grandmother would get better if I pretended... You know,
to be a girl?" Scott asked feeling his throat tighten. His voice had
climbed almost an octave.
"Yes and obviously no! Honey, relax. That was only the doctor talking. A
suggestion at best. A silly suggestion if you want my opinion. Look,
your grandmother thinks you are me, but that doesn't mean you'd have to
be. Trust me, I've already said no to that. Your grandmother will just
have to get past this on her own. Sweetie, do you seriously think I'd
ask you to dress up as a girl?" Helen said looking surprised, then hurt.
Scott passed his aunt coming into the house after seeing the doctor off.
She'd gone directly into his grandmother's room as Scott sat on the
porch once again. He was relieved that his mother hadn't taken that girl
thing any further than she had. He was also beside himself as he
considered it.
"She's crying for you again!" Carol said as she came into the kitchen.
That statement from Carol and it's urgency didn't give Scott a chance to
think much on it as he began to worry again over his grandmother. Scott
felt another slight bit of relief over what his mother had said about
being against such a notion and yet he felt guilty as well now.
"I'll be right there!" Helen said.
"No, not you Helen. Not the adult Helen. She wants her little girl
Helen! She keeps insisting on seeing you as a little girl again. Wants
to know why she can't see you," Carol said holding her hand up to stop
Helen from moving past the kitchen. Carol wiped her eyes with a used
Kleenex she had in her hand.
"I thought those pills were going to help her relax?" Helen asked of her
sister.
"I thought so to. Suppose to, but I think she's just too agitated. She
can't understand why she can't see her daughter. I'm going to give her
another pill, although I'm worried about her blood pressure! Did you
explain to Scott what the doctor said," Carol asked.
"Yes. Out of the question obviously, but yes, I did," Helen said sitting
back down in frustration.
"Didn't think he'd do it?" Carol said in frustration while looking at
Scott. It wasn't an angry look but more of a 'why not, that's your
grandmother in there' kind of look. Scott caught the gist of that look
immediately. Obviously his aunt didn't share his mother's views on such
things.
Scott felt very guilty suddenly, but very shook up besides. The thought
of him pretending he was his mother when she was eight or nine really
was out of the question, but obviously deep down his mother, like his
aunt and that doctor, thought otherwise. Scott was silent and feeling
terribly guilty.
Impossible, Scott thought to himself.
Scott's mother patted his arm and got up to walk off with her sister
towards his grandmother's room. Scott sat in silence a second before his
mother's voice, off in a distance said: "Mom! Mom, it's me! Mom please
try and relax. Helen is not a little girl anymore! Helen is all grown up
now! Mom, look at me, I'm Helen!"
Scott didn't want to hear his mother, as he headed for the porch. He was
sitting on the porch steps when his mother returned. "Hey sport you OK?"
she asked.
"No! Yes! I don't know!" Scott said. He'd been thinking. He'd been
agonizing over what he was thinking. He'd been watching his two cousin's
playing in and around the play house in their dresses with their dolls
as he mulled over what his mother had said. He just couldn't do such a
thing as he caught sight of the girl's slips occasionally
Scott was trying to imagine him like the two girls and he simply
couldn't imagine it. Actually he could but he ignored the image of him
dressed like that. He cursed his looks and that he favored his mother.
He cursed again his thoughts. He was wishing he wasn't thinking what he
was thinking.
He didn't dare think what he was thinking.
"Mom, say I did this... I mean I'm just saying... how long would it be
before she realized I wasn't you anymore?" Scott asked carefully. The
question was one of time for Scott. He was really asking how long he'd
have to pretend to be a girl.
"Did what?" Helen asked with a confused look on her face.
"If I was you, you know, a pretend you, how long would it before I
didn't have to be you any longer?" Scott asked in frustration. He didn't
want to have this conversation.
There was a pause, a long pause making Scott look up at his mother to
see if she'd gotten his question. He shrugged a little at his mother's
surprise look. More shock than anything else. Scott smiled lamely at his
mother's surprise.
"If you are thinking of doing what I'm thinking you're thinking, I'm not
sure honey. Doctor says it's up to mother's brain. Are you, in fact,
thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking?" Scott's mother asked.
Scott almost smiled at that. A twisted sort of grin in spite of the
circumstances that changed into a grimace soon after. Sounded like a
kind of joke like "who's on first" with "who" being a name as his mother
said it. It wasn't a joke of course because he was actually thinking of
what she was thinking.
"No! Yes! Maybe! Mom, I don't know! Mom this is really nuts!" Scott said
looking down at a row of marching ants moving along the concrete edge of
the sidewalk.
"Honey, I told you, you don't have to do it! It is silly! We can just
weather this storm if necessary," Helen said with her fingers crossed
behind her.
"But then I don't get to see her and she ends up taking that stuff the
doctor gave her and staying in bed. She might even get worse and then it
would be my fault! If I did this then at least she's up and about and
there is a chance right?" Scott said and added, "And I'd get to at least
see her without making her sick, right?"
"That's what the doctor believes," Helen said.
The phone rang then and Carol's voice rang out as she picked up the
phone, "I've got it."
"Hi Carol! It's me! Did it work?" Doctor Blair asked. He'd been a doctor
for almost forty years before he retired. Now he played cards with Rose
at the community center. He'd laughed himself almost wet when Rose asked
him for his help. He had to search for his old black medical bag he'd
said, but yes, he'd help.
"Oh hi Doctor Blair. No, she's sleeping but I had to give her the second
pill! I know, but it's all we've got right now! Thank you, I will,"
Carol said loud enough for Scott to hear then lowered her voice to a
whisper as she cupped the phone....
"As far as this working? I think so! My sister's talking with Scott on
the porch right now. Great job Stan. Oh, and mom says thanks. She also
says that she's going to beat the pants off you next time you guys play
cards," Carol said laughing before hanging up the phone.
A moment later Carol was at the screen door as she said, "That was
Doctor Blair, he's phoned in mom's new prescription. Says those pills
will be a little stronger."
"Thanks Carol," Scott's mom called back. Helen looked back at her son.
"What if it doesn't work?" Scott asked.
"Then it doesn't work honey, but like I said you don't have to do this.
I know what we are asking of you, and I know it's impossible," Helen
said bending to tussle Scott's hair.
Scott sat silent for a time as he and his mother watched the girls
playing. She was afraid to hope and gave a little sigh.
Scott gave a sigh as well as he said, "OK, I'll do it!"
"You'll do it?" Helen said but making it sound more of a question than a
statement. She actually was surprised. Almost in shock! It had worked.
Her mother... Her mother was amazing.
"I want her to get better!" Scott said.
"You'll do it!" Helen asked making sure she'd heard correctly and giving
Scott a chance to say no.
"Yes!" Scott said.
"OK! Wow! Gosh? Well, I'm not sure what to say. Frankly honey I didn't
expect you to even consider it so give me a moment to catch my breath
and figure out what to do next. Tell you what, let me go talk with my
sister. I've got to figure out a few things," Helen said. Scott didn't
respond but sighed when the screen door closed behind him.
"Get everything ready? Can you believe it? He's going to do it!" Helen
said coming into her mother's room and closing the door. They kept their
voices down to almost a whisper. Rose smiled with that I-told-you-so
smile she often got. Rose sat up in bed and gave both her daughters a
high five.
"Helen, most of your stuff in is a dozen boxes to the right of the
dormer! Carol's stuff is on the left. Gosh, it's been years. May be
reversed with your stuff on the left side, and Carol's stuff is on the
right? Can't remember?" Rose noted after a moment trying to remember
where she'd stored Helen's things.
Rose had kept all of the kid's fancier clothes for no other reason than
the memories. She'd also separated them after packing them carefully
away. Last time she'd been in those boxes was four years ago when she
did a serous cleaning rather than just the regular Spring dusting. It
was even better using those clothes in a way because most everything was
for special occasions.
Helen nodded, turned and was starting to walk out, but her mother
whispered, "The box with Carol's diapers and plastic pants are at the
far end of Carol's boxes near that vent pipe by the East wall. I marked
that one special I think!"
"Diapers and plastic pants?" Helen asked. She remembered those days as
well. She frowned then and said, "Mom, I thought we were just going to
deflate his ego just a bit?"
Rose nodded and said, "I know. The thing is I think it might be best if
we let all the air out while we've got the chance. Those things will do
that! We can add back more air to inflate that ego of his later. Oh, and
that reminds me, don't forget to put air in your tire. Not good for the
tire to be sitting on the rim like that."
Helen's concerned left her as she nodded, smiled and then suddenly
snickered. Carol already was laughing but her hand across her mouth kept
most of it silent. Rose just smiled. Her mind was as sharp as it ever
was and her grandson was about to find out just how sharp.
"What's that for?" Scott asked of his mother after he'd lowered himself
into the bubbles of his first bubble bath. His mother had given him a
razor for his legs and he'd already known what it was when he asked. He
had baby fine hair but it was still more than she'd had as a girl she
said and her mother always insisted her girls shave their legs. Of
course back then it was the old blue blades.
Scott was still furious over what he was doing, but it was more over his
volunteering than anything else. He had almost said no a half dozen
times when his mother started unpacking the boxes in his room. Oddly
enough it had been his mother's room when she was a girl.
The stuff in the boxes had been his mother's stuff as a girl. Trouble
was most of what he was looking at wasn't your day to day kind of stuff.
Most of it was fancy dresses. Even his cousins didn't wear stuff like
that.
His mother had explained that her mother only kept the good stuff for
obvious reasons. That alone would be even better she said. Better
because most of it had special memories attached to them. Stronger
memories! Better connections she'd said with hope in her voice.
There was that and then those plastic pants. Scott had actually backed
up a couple of feet when he'd seen them. He knew they were plastic pants
because they'd sounded and looked like plastic pants and they were pink.
His mother hadn't said anything about those or the diaper that went
under them until he saw them.
She'd smiled sheepishly then. She looked nervous, regretful and suddenly
sad again. Although, all she'd done at first, when they came out of the
box, was snap her fingers and say, "Good heavens, I'd forgotten about
these."
"Forgot about what?" Scott has asked fearing what his mother might say.
"Wore these back then!" Scott's mother said before going silent.
Scott was scared of those things and had to know what the connection
was. He was sorry he'd asked. Turns out his mother was incontinent as a
girl. Not long but there it was when he'd asked. Scott never knew that.
Something about her bladder when she giggled. Laughter made her wet
herself. She wore those, she said, until she was nearly eleven.
She had to wear them then and she worried now if Scott didn't. Trouble
was, Scott's mom noted, her mother was sure to check to see if she, or
rather he, was wearing them. Helen had hated wearing those diapers and
plastic pants back then, but she'd had to wear them.
That checking, by her mother, Helen said, had been a habit in those days
because Helen would try and get away without wearing them. Checking was
almost a routine back then. Her mother would reach up under Helen's
dress from behind and pat her to see if she was wearing them.
It would be too risky for Scott not to wear those. On the bright side,
Scott's mother noted, with what she hoped might help, was that he'd
still be wearing cotton next to his skin and not nylon as in panties.
She wore her panties like the other girls did but she wore a bigger size
over her baby pants. Scott wanted to run and hide when his mother
explained that part of this.
A cotton diaper wasn't anywhere close to cotton underwear Scott noted.
The thought of what he was doing was bad enough, and it got suddenly
worse when Scott realized his mother was suggesting he actually wear
them. Unfortunately, and as it happens, when she did mention those
panties, she was holding up a very pink and very lacy pair of fancy
pants.
Plastic with panties covering them and ruffles across the bottom. Rhumba
panties she called them. It made Scott shudder a little. Panties, Scott
mused. He felt odd over the thought of panties and even more odd over
considering diapers under them but nodded at his mother logic.
Not wearing panties was sort of a good thing she'd offered again. Sort
of, Scott had thought, since those damn baby pants had lace all over
them. At least the diapers had been made so that they didn't need diaper
pins. He was wishing he hadn't volunteered to do this as his mother
started the bath and then added those bubble bath beads.
"How's he doing?" Scott's grandmother asked of her daughter while Scott
was in the tub.
"He's in pretty bad shape. He's shaving his legs and under arms in his
bubble bath. I think the diapers and plastic pants almost flipped him
out, although he's going to be wearing them. I told him you sometimes
reached under the dress from behind to check and make sure I was wearing
them," Helen said laughing.
"Then I'll make sure and do that!" Rose said and added with a laugh,
"Actually, by the time I'm better he might not want to be a boy
anymore!"
"Mother!" Helen said in shock.
"Just kidding. A few weeks tops. Just long enough for him to get an
appreciation for his feminine side and get him back on track," Rose said
as she slipped her robe on. Meanwhile Carol was in the girl's room
talking with both of them.
That talk with the girls took a bit to get them to stop giggling and she
wasn't sure they wouldn't later, but they promised not to laugh... or at
least try not to. Carol doubted that they'd keep that promise, but it
was the best she could hope for since she was going to have as much
trouble as they would. She'd remembered her brother sitting at her table
having tea with her, Helen and their dolls. She'd laughed then as well.
Scott was angry but not nearly as angry as he had been. The mixture of
his hot bubble bath and the task of laying there up to his chin in the
feminine water shaving his legs took some of his anger away. He ran his
hand down the one he just finished amazed over the feel of it. It felt
like silk and in that bubble bath he smelled very much like a girl. It
was intoxicating.
A short time later Scott's arms were as silky as his legs. He shaved his
chest then as well although his mother hadn't said anything about that
or his arms. Shaving his chest wasn't something his mother had asked of
him, but he was glad he'd decided to after he'd done it. It felt as
silky as his arms and legs did. Scott finished his bath with a quick
shower to wash off any remaining hair.
"Which dress you putting him into?" Carol asked coming into the room
with the slip she'd just finished ironing. It was a pretty slip and
Carol had worn it a few times even though it hadn't fit her then. It was
the rustle of the taffeta that she'd liked as a little girl. Like a
fantasy gown back then with all of its petticoats, lace hems and
gathered ruffles.
"I'm thinking on the pastel yellow first. Those pinks and lavenders may
be a bit much for him right now. Too feminine!" Helen said as she tugged
the dress from the oak chest.
"And that's not?" Carol smiled looking at the feminine ruffles and
ribbons on the yellow dress as it opened like a flower.
"Not as bad as the rest," Helen said.
Carol shrugged. She was looking at a memory. Carol hadn't started
playing the piano until Helen had done her first recital. That dress was
one of the reasons Carol wanted to take piano as well. It was so pretty
and flared so wonderfully when Helen sat on the bench. Helen was the
envy of all of the girls back then.
"Taffeta, organza and chiffon. He's going to faint dead away with these
things on," Carol said hanging the slip on the closet door.
"I know one thing for sure!" Helen said before pausing.
"What?" Carol asked when Helen didn't finish.
"He's going be in serious touch with his feminine side a few minutes
from now!" Helen said with a light snort that matched her sisters a
second later.
"Oh, what about his shoes?" Carol asked.
"I've got tissue. Thank heavens you had father's feet!" Helen said of
her sister's shoe size.
"Don't remind me!" Carol said. She'd been awkward because of her large
feet although it was a blessing now as much as back then because it was
her shoes her brother often wore with Helen's dresses.
"Hey, are you ready?" Helen asked of Scott from the other side of the
door of the bathroom.
"Almost!" Scott said jumping a little. He was at the counter adding the
powder his mother had said to use. The light flowery smell had been...
was so soothing... Soothing and he couldn't get past how silky smooth
his legs felt when he brought them together.
"Well, come on and I'll help you dress!" Scott's mother said with her
voice tapering off but then rose again as she added, "You're going to
try and see if mom buys this whole thing before dinner."
Dressed? Scott mused. He'd seen some of those dresses. He'd seen the
slip his aunt said she would iron. He'd also been promised that the
girls would not laugh. They'd been told what was happening. He hoped
they wouldn't, but knew they might.
He stopped thinking of that when the towel went around him. It felt odd
on the back of his legs. It didn't snag as it might have and he smiled.
His legs were silky smooth and he smelled like some of the girls at
school. A pleasant smell to be around, but odd since it was around him.
"Here, put those on and I'll turn around," His mother said pointing to
the thick white diaper and pair of white plastic panties first. Scott
almost said no right then and there, but he saw the dress on the closet
door and the slip now draped carefully over the chair after his mother
put it there without the hanger.
A "no" now would end it and he wasn't sure he wanted to end it suddenly.
"Did you wear these all of the time?" Scott said of the pull-on diaper
more to make himself relax by talking than to have that question
answered.
"I'm afraid so honey," his mother said with her back to him. She fought
the smile that kept coming back. Scott didn't know she could see him in
the mirror.
"Better than the panties I guess!" Scott said for the sake of his ego.
Although he wasn't sure these were better as he tugged the diaper up to
his waist. He stepped into the buttery soft baby pants then.
Actually the baby pants were white but the nylon panties were in a
pastel yellow with white lace across the back and that tiny feminine
little bow. Inside the baby pants was a tag that read: Gerber. He had
those in place before he said, "OK, ready I guess."
"Oh my stars!" his mother said after she turned around to look.
"What?" Scott asked not sure if it was what he was wearing or that he
was wearing them wrong.
"It's just that I haven't seen you in diapers and plastic pants for a
long time now. Flashbacks I guess!" his mother said.
"Man, I hope I was never in baby pants like these?" Scott said as his
mother handed him the ruffled panties.
"Of course not!" Helen said. He didn't have to know about those times.
He was far too little back then to care.
"And if you say another word about them, it's the last time!" Scott said
but with a half grin on his face. His mother snickered, then he
snickered more, and a second later they were laughing and hugging. "I'm
crazy for doing this!" he added.
"You are wonderful for doing this!" his mother said affectionately. She
was sure then that she was doing the right thing. Scott's attitude was
already changing. She was sure because she was positive her son was not
nearly as put off as she'd imagine, as she said, "Come on and let's
start with the slip."
Scott fought the gasp with some measure of success as the slip fell down
his smooth chest to slide easily along his legs. His mother kept silent
over the fact he'd shaven his chest but was glad he'd thought to do it.
She made a point of moving the slip about more than necessary so he got
the full measure and effect and hopefully a girlish treatment from it.
The bodice was nylon trimmed in a delicate lace across the edges with a
tiny pink bow set at the middle of his chest. Skirts started a couple of
inches above his own waist and flared outward in an exaggerated way. It
was so pretty and so noisy.
Scott tried counting those skirts and decided he was wearing at least
three maybe four. Four and it was just the slip so far. There was a
tulle layer in the center of taffeta against the legs, maybe two layers
and another layer of taffeta on top. He'd seen this sort of slip in the
old Wards catalog his grandmother had in the attic.
Scott felt wobbly as the nylon top slipped to and fro, and when he
wasn't thinking of the top, and that dainty pink bow, he was considering
that layer of taffeta moving around his legs. Pure joy from that
material against smooth legs. He fought to not look as happy as he was
beginning to feel.
"Fits wonderfully," his mother said fluffing the skirts of his
petticoats. His petticoats he mused over that thought. His slip, his
dress, he also thought as his mother turned for the closet door and that
dress. It was something right out of the fifties that little yellow
dress. So little girlish he mused.
A full skirt with puffy sleeves and a sash hanging almost to the floor
that his mother gathered before taking the dress from the hanger. She
was maneuvering it with a hand under the skirts and he saw the other
slips that were already part of the dress. "If that dress already has a
slip how come I've got to wear this one?" Scott asked but only because
he thought he should, and not because he didn't want to.
"It was the style back then. Lots of petticoats in those days. Made a
girl feel more girlish. Oh, I shouldn't have said that should I?" his
mother noted after saying it.
"Oh!" Scott said pretending to ignore what his mother had said as she
gathered the dress and lifted it for his head.
It fell over him after he slipped his arms into the puffy sleeves and
his mother fused with those before moving to the skirts. The dress was
very full before and extremely full now and Scott wondered how girls did
anything with so much on. He wondered how girls concentrated on anything
with those things on as the dress pressed the slips against his legs.
Scott's mother moved to the back and began buttoning the dress and with
each button causing it to move. The sash turned out to be the best
feeling and he wasn't sure why since he wasn't supposed to like these
things.
In tying the sash his mother made the dress move sideways and then it
grew snug against him and that nylon top of the slip. The dress while
moving right and left swished delightfully. This slip swished and the
dress swished and he realized where the word "swish" might have come
from.
"Here, I'm going to show you something so watch for a second. When you
sit put both hands in back at the small of your back, at the waist,
lightly, so they touch the back of your dress. Then with your hands flat
and in a single movement go down the dress and slightly out and bring
your hands to the side as you sit. The key is to keep the back of your
dress smooth as you sit so it doesn't get wrinkled," Helen noted by
showing Scott as she said it.
Scott did that almost exactly as his mother instructed. It was nearly
perfect as Scott sat on the beds edge. The opportunity to run his hands
along his dress and slips left him almost gasping for breath. It got
better when the only place he could put his hands, after sitting, was in
the folds of his lap.
Then came his socks. His lace socks with a pastel yellow edging went on
both feet, and his mother was nearly shaking by the time she took up his
white Mary Jane shoe. Helen removed the tissue from the toes after she
decided they almost fit him perfectly.
Scott was thinking of those steps a girl takes when sitting and began
wishing he'd been able to do it a few more times. His hands had slid
down the dress but those slips had also moved around the back of his
legs. He would never be able to ignore such things again he decided.
Scott was in some kind of magical place sitting with the slips under him
and skirt over the other feminine layers now on top of his legs and
under his hands. He felt the soft padding of his diaper and the
slipperiness of his ruffled panties over the plastic baby pants moving
ever so slightly under the layer of nylon against the smooth side of his
slip. He almost laughed over thinking everything as his, and in a way
they were now.
Scott had lifted his foot for the Mary Jane shoe his mother held open
and fought desperately not to look as exited as he felt. His second shoe
went on in the same way and again he felt the slip slide over his knee.
Each movement, however slight, was making him almost giddy. Giddy and
definitely wishing boys wore things like this, at least once in a while
he thought. Another thought that made him happy since he realized, in
those same seconds, that he actually was.
It was done when his mother buckled the last shoe. Done with the
exception of a little makeup and his nails. Helen had decided to paint
his nails after he was dressed in spite of the risk of doing so. She
feared too much "girl" stuff and he'd bolt out of this too afraid.
Although she was sure now that she could have put him into the pink
dress without too much effort. He was, she noted, getting into this
fairly easy and Helen decided she would dress him in the prettiest of
her things for tomorrow.
"Here, you try it!" his mother said handing him the nail polish and
small brush. She'd done the hand he was holding the brush with. She'd
put the towel over his dress and waited till he'd done his right hand.
It wasn't bad for his first time. His makeup followed. Light makeup
since he already looked feminine enough. Just a touch of blush and a
light coat of lipstick before she brushed his damp hair flat.
His hair, often combed off to the side, made suitable bangs and with a
little bit of a curl by the ears he actually looked almost pixie. He
definitely looked as pretty as she had at that age. With longer hair
he'd be as female looking as any girl.
She thought of a wig and would consider that. A wig would allow him out
and about and going out dressed as he was would take it another step.
She thought of that step as well. She thought of her husband and his
face if he could see his son now. Would serve him right except she
wouldn't want to do that to her son.
She fought over saying what she wanted to say. At least at first but
deciding to say it anyway: "You look very pretty... Very adorable!"
Scott blushed crimson because he felt adorable, and in the mirror he was
still having trouble believing it was him. "Think grandma will believe
this?" Scott asked not sure what to do with the complement.
"Absolutely," his mother said stepping back when Scott had stood for the
sash. She'd made the bow huge at the back and his short skirt and slip
showed just enough leg to make him very little girlish looking. All he
needed was a pair of white gloves and purse and she'd have loved to take
him out. She fought that thought again. Helen, at the last minute gabbed
the Alice band that matched the dress.
"Almost forgot your ribbons," Helen said slipping the band with its
ribbons on it over Scott's head.
Scott nodded but remained quiet as she fixed the hair band in place. A
large flat yellow bow on top of lace now sat on top of his head.
"Ready?" Helen asked picking at the left puffy sleeve. It was mostly
just the opportunity to touch her new daughter one last time.
"I guess!" Scott said feeling his heart begin to race.
"Then let's go see if this is going to work," Helen said as she took
hold of his hand.
The girls had been warned again and both were sitting on the couch when
Scott appeared. Neither laughed nor snickered. In fact, both sat quietly
for a time. Both simply looked at each other and then back at Scott with
an amazed look they now shared with him. Scott smiled sheepishly in
spite of trying not to.
"You look pretty!" Debbie said almost with a sigh. Sandy nodded at her
sister's comments just as their mother Carol walked in.
"Good heavens, I can't believe it!" Carol said stopping dead in her
tracks. "Honestly, I've got goose bumps. You're the exact image of your
mother as a little girl!" Carol said bringing her hands to her mouth.
"He looks pretty doesn't he mother!" Debbie said again.
"He looks like a girl mother. Are you a girl now?" Sandy asked. She'd
decided that was a good thing. Having another girl to play with was
always a good thing as far as Sandy was concerned.
"He's a pretend girl," Debbie said knowingly.
"Like when we are ballerinas or when I'm a princess? Sandy asked.
"Yes!" Debbie said. Sandy nodded then. That seemed to satisfy Sandy
completely.
"Want to play dolls with me?" Sandy asked taking the final leap. Her
cousin Scott was now a girl and Sandy liked that a lot.
"No!" Scott said slightly annoyed. He was getting flush with the girl's
conversation. He wasn't a damn girl at all. He was just pretending for
his grandmother's sake was what he wanted to say. Although coming down
the steps when his slips were bouncing on his knees front and back he
was sure he at least knew some of what a girl knew. It had to be
impossible for a girl to ignore these things.
It was unbelievable the feelings he was having and that even included
the soft mound of the diaper between his legs. That diaper had pressed
the baby pants and those panties against his thighs as he walked. It was
pressing there still and felt as sensuous as panties might. That bit of
lace on the baby pants tickled the sensitive part at the back of his
legs slightly.
"Ready?" Helen asked.
"It can't help but work!" Carol said happily.
Scott nodded. His mouth was dry.
"Mom, you awake?" Helen asked as she pushed Rose's door open after a
single knock.
"Who's that?" Rose said sounding groggy.
"It's Helen, your daughter! I've put her into a dress again. She wants
to see you and apologize for wearing pants!" Helen said tugging on
Scott's hand to urge him into the room.
"Well now, look at you! Now that's better! Much better. You gave me such
a turn! I should tan your fanny running around looking like a damn boy!
And look at your hair! It's going to take weeks to grow out. How come
that dress isn't as fluffy as it should be? When was the last time I
starched your petticoats?" Rose asked.
Scott shrugged over the question. "I'm sorry for wearing pants and
cutting my hair mom!" Scott said after his mother suggested it. His
mother and aunt had remained by the door leaving him almost alone with
his grandmother. He felt very self conscious but it looked like she was
buying the whole thing and that was a good thing.
He felt the hand then. That hand had eased up on him from the side
hidden by his slips and skirt. It brushed against his leg just before it
rested on his baby pants. His mother had been right about her possibly
doing that Scott thought. Scott flushed crimson as she patted the
panties and plastic pants over the diaper before bringing her hand out
again.
"Good girl. You're still dry! Don't forget to go potty if you feel the
urge," his grandmother said. His mother and aunt almost lost it then
which almost made Rose almost loose it. Rose coughed to cover the near
burst of laughter and added, "Come on, let's go make some tea and sit on
the porch. I feel like a damn invalid laying here for no good reason."
His grandmother sat up, then stood and slipped her robe on before taking
Scott's hand. She led him past the two women who remained back covering
their mouths to stifle the snickers that came out when Scott was gone.
Scott was just getting into a white crisp pinafore that now hung in the
pantry, all of a sudden, when the women were ready to return. Their mom
was putting water in the tea pot as she said to Scott, "Get the tea bags
honey!"
Scott fetched the tea bags then put lemon cookies on a small platter and
set up six cups on the large silver tray. The girls were delighted over
the thought of tea and moved about excitedly before the pot whistled.
"Take the tray Helen!" Rose said to her nephew.
The front porch was classic in design but had been screened in some
years before. The slight breeze from the North was always cooler than
from the South but pleasant. The girls sat after the large whicker
chairs were circled around the matching table that Scott sat the tray
on. He had his back to the girls and hoped they didn't see his ruffled
panties.
It wasn't that they had seen them because they already knew what Scott
would be wearing. Although Sandy at every opportunity was bending down
to actually see if he was wearing a baby's diaper and she did smile
then.
"Go ahead and serve sweetheart!" his grandmother said picking up napkins
that she handed to the girls and women. Scott wanted to sit, but that
wasn't going to happen as he handed a cup and saucer to everyone before
pouring hot water over their tea bags. The two girls already had cookies
on their saucers.
"I'll fix yours Helen!" his mother said as she nodded for Scott to sit.
Scott moved to his chair and started to sit before remembering what he'd
done up stairs. It was nearly a perfect maneuver again as Scott brought
his dress and slips against his legs before lowering himself onto the
wicker chair.
His skirts and slips filled the chair fully as he forced his knees
together. That pushed on his diaper and baby pants making him want to
groan a little at what it was doing to him. His mother handed him his
cup and saucer then poured hot water over his tea bag while his
grandmother added a napkin.
"There now!" his grandmother said with a great deal of satisfaction as
she lifted her tea. She looked at her real daughter Helen with a wry
sort of smile. That smile that said, "I told you so!"
Scott missed it thankfully as he sipped at his own cup. The Sun was
setting and the corn across the road took on a surrealistic appearance
in color. Scott smiled when he brought the napkin up to dab his mouth.
None of the women missed how delicate he dabbed at those lips or how
sweet he looked sipping tea with his pinky out.
Scott felt giddy and guilty over his thoughts. He hoped this would help
his grandmother, but also hoped it wasn't going to be any time too soon.
He'd counted eleven dresses with the one he was wearing which was the
most simple if you could call it that. He was hoping to wear them all
before this ended.
He needn't have worried if he'd been able to read his grandmother's
thoughts. By tomorrow and a call to Ann, her neighbor, she'd have plenty
of things for Scott to wear. Ann had six girls three of which were grown
and gone now. Considering that Rose's condition was going to last for
the better part of Summer Scott would need a few things to play in.
That was tomorrow and there was still today as Rose announced that she
was hungry. Rose wanted to fix dinner and she wanted Scott, as her
Helen, to help. The girls had talked their mom into letting them dress
as pretty as Scott was. The girls went off with the women as Scott and
his grandmother headed for the kitchen
Rose retied Scott's pinafore once more before he began peeling potatoes
as he grandmother breaded the chicken. The potatoes were boiling and the
chicken was nearly done when the girls returned. There was fresh corn in
a pot and one of grandmother's pies in the oven. Scott had kneaded the
dough and poured in the cherries himself before adding the strips of
dough for the top.
Scott and the girls sat the table as the women finished getting dinner
ready. Rose had gone in to get her self "presentable" she said. Everyone
looked as if they were sitting down to a Sunday dinner by the time it
was ready. Scott didn't give a thought to how he sat now but his mother,
aunt and grandmother did. He was the picture of a perfect little lady as
he ate.
They had pie and ice cream and cleaned the kitchen in no time with
everyone helping. Scott smiled through most of it. He couldn't help
himself after a time. He had kept one hand in his lap while eating with
the other. That hand in his lap a delight through most of dinner.
Some of his pleasure came when he'd gone potty, discovering that
sitting, while necessary, was also nice in petticoats. He wasn't going
to use that diaper if he didn't have to but it felt nice going back on
again. He fused with his diaper, plastic pants, slips and dress for some
time before coming out of the bathroom.
His grandmother was showing the girls how to hold knitting needles and
she handed Scott a set with a ball of pink soft yarn. Before this Scott
ignored his grandmother's knitting. Rose showed Scott and the girls a
basic loop and how to purl and all three began their first row. A short
time later Scott had been shown how to end that row and start another.
There were a dozen rows when bedtime came. Scott had blushed over making
a blanket for a doll which was what his grandmother was showing him.
Later when it was done she said, she'd show him how to attach the satin
backing for the blanket. An old large baby doll was now sitting at
Scott's feet. It had been his mothers back then and she fetched it for
the blankets size.
"Here honey!" Scott's mother said coming into his room with a long
cotton nightgown that had also been her's. She chose the cotton
believing it would give him a rest from fabrics only girls wore. She
draped a pink robe over the foot of his bed and laid the pink slippers
at the side. They were for morning and breakfast. Scott kept the diaper
and plastic pants on as he slipped the nightgown over his head. Scott's
mother had suggested that as well just in case her mother came in to
tuck "her daughter" in.
His mother thanked him again, kissed his forehead and walked out
shutting the light as she did so. She looked at the pink dress at the
closet's edge and smiled. She had so loved that dress and wondered if
Scott would feel the same over it. She was sure, now that the day ended
and what she witnessed, that he would.
"It's been amazing!" Scott's mother said sipping her coffee on the
porch. Her sister nodded at that and Rose smiled.
"What?" Helen asked.
"Not really so amazing! Honestly, giving a boy a chance to touch that
feminine side should be part of our culture. It should not have to be
such a harsh process and definitely not abuse or punishment," Rose said
and added, "In my day, my brothers all wore dresses."
"And you end up with a world full of sissies!" Helen said suddenly
taking the other side of the argument.
"Not really, given that most boys wore dresses for a time, but if you
did... Anyway, your point is?" Rose said laughing as she added, "Might
of made this world a little less harsh at times."
"I don't know. I wonder, if it's so wonderful I mean, why it's not done
more?" Helen noted.
"How do you know it's not?" Rose answered.
"Because so many speak against it!" Helen answered.
"How does that saying go? Can't remember it exactly but its goes like:
"Me thinks you protest too loudly?"
"So you think it does go on and people are simply denying it?" Helen
asked.
"Who knows, but let's ignore that for the time being and ask the
question another way: "Do you think Scott's day was horrifying or
pleasant? Do you think he was harmed or helped? Was there a change in
him and if so was it positive or negative?" Rose asked.
"In my opinion, as far as his day went? Pleasant. No question about
that," Carol spoke up.
"I'll have to agree with Carol. It was clearly pleasant. More so once he
started getting comfortable with what he was wearing. Was he helped? I'm
not sure yet, but he wasn't as angry and he really liked the idea of
helping you. So I'd also say that it was a positive experience," Helen
noted.
"Then what we did was a good thing. What we continue doing will be a
good thing but only up to a point?" Rose said.
"How so?" Helen asked now suddenly concerned.
"Teaching him to be more like a girl is one thing. Teaching him to be a
girl quite another!" Rose said and added, "We're teaching him to get in
touch with his feminine side. I don't want my grandson growing up a
girl."
"But what if he ends up wanting to cross dress because of this?" Helen
asked.
"Then I would be the first to fashion his clothes and help him do so,"
Rose said.
"But isn't that teaching him to be a girl?" Helen asked.
"Nope! It's teaching him to be more feminine once in a while," Rose
said.
"Mom, you've lost me?" Helen said.
"OK, take your brother! How many times did he end up in dresses?" Rose
asked.
"Lots!" Helen said to Carol's nod.
"Yet he's raising two healthy boys, works hard, goes to church, good
husband... All in all a well rounded man even if I do say so myself,"
Rose said.
"Who likes wearing women's clothes even to this day," Helen noted
sarcastically.
"Who loves wearing women's clothes even to this day. Almost as much,
he's told me, as he did growing up," Rose noted.
"What? You knew he liked it?" Helen asked in surprise.
"Of course! Good heavens why is it that people think that their parents
are dumber than they are?" Rose said laughing.
"So if he liked it how come you made it punishment? Doesn't that sort of
defeat the purpose of doing it?" Carol asked before Helen could.
"Because it was the only way to get him into those things without
risking damaging his ego! If he had to wear them because of something he
did then it wasn't his fault so there wasn't any guilt on his part,"
Rose added.
"So when did you discover that moment when he liked it?" Helen asked.
"Very first time! It was his eyes when he ran his hands down his dress,"
Rose said and added, "It's like your grandmother once said.... Worse
thing they ever did was take dresses off boys."
"What?" Helen asked.
"Dresses. Like I said, most boys wore dresses in her day. Wasn't an
accident that women kept their sons in skirts. Gave the boys a chance to
round themselves out before they became men. Got to hang around the girl
folk a bit longer before running off with the men folk. Made sure they
had a little bit of that feminine before they had to be so damn macho,"
Rose noted with a chuckle.
"What about dad?" Helen asked and added, "He never was in dresses!"
"Sweetheart, those pictures you thought were a cousin... Those ones that
your father said were of Alice? Well, guess who Alice really was?" Rose
said snorting into her coffee before sipping. She sipped as Helen stood
there wondering what to do with the information before Rose suddenly
slapped her leg and said, "Well, it's time to go kiss my little
sweetheart good-night."
Scott meanwhile had slipped out of bed to switch nightgowns for the old
style baby doll folded nearly on a chair. His mother had decided on the
cotton but Scott had decided on the two layers of nylon and those
bloomer style panties to wear over his diaper and baby pants. He had
just made it back into bed when his grandmother knocked once as the door
knob turned.
"Hello precious!" Rose said coming into the room. Scott drew the covers
up slightly hoping the puffy sleeves of his nightgown didn't show but
knew they did.
"Hi mom," Scott said feeling odd calling his grandmother mom again.
"And how was your day? Gave you quite a start with my addled brain
didn't I?" Rose said.
"Yes ma'am," Scott said.
"Well, I'm much better and thank you for wearing such a pretty dress for
me!" Rose said.
"You're welcome," Scott noted.
"Sometimes it can be very hard being a girl can't it?" Rose noted.
"Yes ma'am!" Scott said almost laughing. His grandmother had no idea
just how hard it could be.
"Although when we wear such pretty things it does make a difference
doesn't it?" Rose noted as she sat on the beds edge.
"It does!" Scott said answ