Toddler Time
Players: Kevin Marks, as Martin and Mary Beth, the transsexual toddler;
Ms. Abby Clifton, teacher, Beginning Theater; Mark Swanson as Brad, the
straight toddler; Chuck Turner as Carl, the gay toddler;
Madden Madison as Terry, the female to male transsexual toddler. Susan
Baker as Barbie, the gay female toddler; Carol Beckett as Christina,
the straight feminist toddler girl.
Pat and Debbie Carlson, Kevin Mark's aunt and cousin. Rose Clifton,
Abby's mother; Terry Clifton (AKA Tina), Abby's transgendered brother;
Tracy Evans, MTF transsexual student and friend of Debbie.
Mrs. Carol Brighten, Owner of Brighten Enterprises and the Little Miss
Priss Dress line; Ms. Robin Hopkins, Head Dress Designer for Little
Miss Priss;
Synopses: Kevin Marks, playing the toddler transsexual Martin, also
known as Mary, walks in stage right. Carol, playing the straight
feminist toddler Christina, also enters stage right, and a few steps
behind Kevin. Carol, in a nearly identical dress as Martin's catches up
to him as both reach center stage.
Carol, on reaching Martin says, "I see your mother is in that 'I wish
I'd had a girl phase again'?" Kevin, as Martin, but dressed as Mary
Beth, looks down at his frilly pink toddler's dress, too short to
completely hide his ruffled panties and diaper, smiles sheepishly,
shrugs then happily nods yes.
"Hey, he's back! So how did it go," Aunt Pat asked as she pinched down
a strip of raw dough across the top of a freshly made apple pie.
Kevin's aunt loved baking and her pies were to die for. Kevin smiled
over the spicy smells and the thought of that pie sitting on a cooling
rack for desert. It was the first time Kevin had a reason to smile that
day.
"How did it go? Lousy!" Kevin said to his aunt's question.
"Lousy? How so?" Aunt Pat asked allowing a touch of concern to enter
her voice.
"By the time I got up to the registration table they had one class left
and one spot open in that class. One! No choices at all," Kevin said
dropping his back pack on a kitchen chair as he slumped onto another.
Kevin watched his aunt's face. Her concern changed slightly to anger.
"But you got a class right?" Kevin's aunt asked with a touch of warning
in her voice.
"If you want to call it that," Kevin said in frustration. He had caught
the changes in his aunt's voice and knew why.
Summer school! It was painful on so many levels, Kevin thought,
remembering that long slow line in front of him this morning. Kevin did
not want to go to Summer school, but he had not gotten all of the
classes needed for his Freshman year and he would be short three
credits without that Summer elective. He needed those credits.
Summer school was from June 20 to August 20 and that was his first bit
of pain. Two months of school! An entire Summer of school, then right
back to school in the Fall. 'Hardly any Summer at all,' Kevin mused
sadly as he slowly stepped up to that table's edge.
Registration was in the school's gymnasium and only a few hours ago but
it felt like forever. Although, Kevin also mused, it could have been
worse given the circumstances.
In a way, Kevin had been lucky. He knew that as he pondered the
morning. It could have been a lot worse not getting that class. Kevin
was lucky because there was only one elective still open, and one spot
left in that elective when he reached that table.
It was Kevin's last hope for a Summer class! Although later, if he had
to point to the beginning of his Summer from Hell, it would be right
then and there. Right there at that table, in the middle of that
gymnasium.
And that woman! That woman had only made it worse, that woman he had
faced sitting behind that table. She seemed to know he had no choice.
That woman was one of those, take it or leave it, fussbudget kind of
bureaucrats, with a name tag reading Ms. Crawford.
Crawford. Nasty name for a nasty women. A bureaucrat who had seemed
delighted that Kevin had no desire whatsoever to spend his summer
perhaps quoting Shakespeare. Shakespeare while wrapped in a stupid bed
sheet.
"So you at least got a class?" Aunt Pat asked cautiously. There was a
renewed hint of a warning in her voice. Kevin knew that tone.
"Yes, I got a class," Kevin said in deeper frustration, understanding
clearly his aunt's tone. She was not going to be sympathetic at all, he
decided, which meant he was stuck.
"So what class did you get?" Aunt Pat asked as she finished covering
the apple pie with those strips of dough. She was now facing him for
his answer as she began sprinkling sugar over the raw strips.
"Theater 101," Kevin answered as he got up and opened the refrigerator
for the milk. Under a glass dome was the last of his aunt's cookies
baked two days ago.
"Theater? How wonderful," Aunt Pat said sounding relieved as she added,
"that really was one of my favorites as an elective."
"Great," Kevin said with much less enthusiasm than his aunt as he
added, "so where is Debbie?"
"She's at a friends house for the weekend," Kevin's aunt said as she
slipped the finished pie into the pre-heated oven before adding, "so,
come on, give, tell me about this class?"
"Nothing much to say yet. I mean I don't know much about it. Just that
it's Theater for beginners," Kevin said with another touch of
frustration in his voice. It was theater and he was stuck.
Chapter 2
Theater 101... This was going to be about as bad as it could get, Kevin
had decided as he looked at the dwindling list of classes on the board
that still had openings. None of the better shop classes were open.
Even the waiting list for those was bigger than the classes would even
carry, so his entire Summer would be taken up by Shakespeare. And that
damn woman at the table, Kevin mused angrily again.
Kevin had waited for that woman, that damn bureaucrat and she made him
wait. She even seemed mad to even acknowledge him standing there for
what seemed like forever. She finally did, but only after some very
long minutes playing with the papers in front of her. Obviously a power
trip, Kevin thought as he went over their conversation.
"Have you finished filling out your form?" Ms. Crawford had finally
asked. She was clearly not happy being there and that made them at
least even on that score, because neither was Kevin.
"What?" Kevin had asked back, focusing back to the gym and this woman.
He had drifted off, spending his thoughts on what else he could be
doing at that moment. Kevin had smiled over that part remember how
snippy she'd gotten when he had ignored her.
"Young man, please try and focus. I said, have you are finished filling
out your form?" Ms. Crawford asked in a kind of 'are you really a
college student' voice.
"Yes," Kevin had answered looking at her as if for the first time with
his paper work still at his side. It had been kind of nice scoring at
least a small victory in that brief, but minor, power struggle between
them.
It didn't matter that Kevin had never acted before, or that he had no
desire to act. All that mattered to that woman was his paper work. His
paper work, and if Kevin was going to take the class or leave it. She
was holding her hand out and again Kevin waited well past being polite.
That woman's world would not change in the slightest regardless of what
he did, and her attitude, that smugness was there start to finish. It
was that smugness some people get when they have power, little as it
might be.
It was having that power over someone else that made them happy, or
perhaps they have something you desperately needed. That woman had that
power and she also had that class Kevin needed. Kevin didn't want that
class, but he desperately needed it, and that woman somehow knew that.
"Young man, as much as I'd love to sit here the entire day watching you
day dream, I really can't. Now then, are you, or are you not, going to
be taking this class?" Ms. Crawford asked holding her hand out
impatiently for Kevin's form.
"Yes," Kevin said focusing once again. Another minor victory, Kevin
mused, in those few seconds he took irritating her. It was always the
small victories one savored. 'Score one for the little guy,' he
thought.
Yes or No? Take it or leave it? That is all that mattered to this
woman. It was take that spot or blow off the only chance Kevin would
have for the credits necessary to become a freshman and move on.
There really was no other choice as Kevin handed the woman his form.
She thumbed through it quickly, initialed it, added his name to a
roster four pages in, then removed the pink part of the form Kevin had
filled in. It was done.
"Give that to your teacher at the beginning of class!" Ms. Crawford had
said handing Kevin his class admittance slip back before she stood. It
was over. That, Ms. Crawford mused, was that. Her day, thankfully, had
just ended.
Kevin had felt guilty suddenly. With that pink slip in his hand, he now
held the last slice of bread in a room full of starving people. Behind
him, he realized, were dozens of students as hungry for a class as he
was.
With no more spots left for Summer school classes Ms. Crawford's day
was done and those other students were now out of luck. Kevin realized
then just how lucky he really was.
Ms. Crawford, Kevin also realized, now had the sad duty of telling the
rest of those kids, the ones still standing in line behind Kevin, that
enrollment for this years Summer classes just ended.
If there was a positive in any of this, it was that he just got the
last seat, in the last class, on the last day of registration for
Summer School.
Kevin didn't look at the other students on his way out that morning. Of
course, if Kevin had known what was ahead of him, he may very well have
passed on that one last chance.
Kevin didn't know what waited for him at the time, nor had he seen Ms.
Crawford face, watching him leave the gym. Kevin might have wondered
over that smile but thankfully he hadn't seen it.
Ms. Crawford rarely smiled. She did so this time looking at the slip
and the name she held as she made a mental note to jot down a comment
and leave it in Abby Clifton's in-box. There are good days and bad
days, Ms. Crawford mused. Ms. Crawford's day had suddenly turned into a
good day.
Ms. Crawford also decided to get tickets for this Summer's Play when it
opened. She knew Abby and what Abby planned for her next play, and with
any luck that young man would be Abby's newest little girl.
Chapter 3
Beginning Theater was the class, and Kevin's Summer was now filled. His
instructor, according to the registration form, was a woman named Ms.
Abby Clifton. He'd satisfied his aunt's concerns and went to bed, the
night before school, and at least happy about that. Kevin woke early
cussing even that part since he should be spending his Summer sleeping
in late.
Kevin met Ms. Abby Clifton like the rest of the class that morning of
the first day. Ms. Clifton greeted Kevin, as she did everyone, warmly,
happily, and with a great deal of enthusiasm as they filed in. Too
happy given the hour. They were meeting on the stage of the school's
theater.
"Welcome. Welcome everyone," Ms. Abby Clifton said.
She smiled at each of them, but it was Kevin that fostered the widest
part of her smile. Kevin, Abby mused, would definitely be cast as her
Transsexual baby girl. Ms. Crawford, as always, had been right about
the cute little Freshmen named Kevin when she'd left Abby that note.
Ms. Abby Clifton seemed very excited that Kevin and the rest were even
there. Of course she had a right to be happy this Summer. This Summer
she was doing her own play, and given the play she was developing she
smiled again. Abby was sure it would be one of her best. Now all she
had to do was convince these students standing before her of that.
Of course convincing them to play their parts wasn't going to be as
difficult as it sometimes was. She knew all of those students either
wanted to be there or had to be. In either case they had little choice
and if she planned this carefully, by the time they discovered what
roles they'd have it would be too late to change classes or back out of
it.
Kevin, meanwhile, like the rest, smiled back at his new teacher, only
Kevin did so without sharing the warmth of Ms. Clifton's smile or the
other students. Kevin, also like the rest of his fellow students,
didn't know that Abby was about to trample on a good portion of their
pride, a great deal of their ego, and every bit of their dignity.
Trample much of it right into the ground and all the while that smile.
"Hi, I'm Madden... Madden Madison. Isn't this about as exciting as it
gets," the girl standing next to Kevin asked as she extended her hand.
Kevin, drifting off again realized that the girl standing next to him
had said something.
"What?" Kevin asked, but adding quickly, "Sorry, I was somewhere else
just then."
"I'd said hi, and that I am Madden Madison," Madden said keeping her
hand out.
Kevin, not wishing to blow his first impression with this cute girl,
who clearly seemed as enthusiastic as the teacher, smiled, extended his
hand and said, "Hi. Kevin. Kevin Marks and yes, this should really be
fun."
"OK class, settle down," Ms. Clifton said, but smiling, as she moved to
the center of the theater's stage as she added, "lots to cover."
The class, along with Kevin and Madden went quiet and faced the teacher
once again.
"First the schedule..." Ms. Clifton said looking at her binder. She
flipped a page, paused and nodded to herself.
Ms. Clifton began by explaining the schedule: Class would run from June
20 to August 20. Nine weeks at three days per week. Those days:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays would be split into two halves.
Classes would begin from 9:00 o'clock in the morning to 11:30 mid
morning for the first half. The second half would start up at 1:00
o'clock and run to 3:30 in the afternoon. They would have a hour and a
half for lunch.
Kevin calculated the weeks, days and time in his head as he stood there
listening. Nine weeks of five hour days for three days a week. That was
fifteen hours of class per week. Hours and hours of agony not counting
homework. Homework, Kevin mused, trying to decide what sort of homework
there was in theater 101.
"Any questions so far?" Ms. Clifton asked, pausing till it was clear
that no one was going to say anything, as she added, "very well then,
lets move on to what we will be doing this Summer:"
Ms. Clifton had let that schedule part sink in, then went on to explain
what she expected regarding attendance and grading. Ms. Clifton also
promised that by the end of this class everyone would have a working
knowledge of what it takes to actually put on a real live stage play.
Ms. Clifton did so with a warning that within this schedule, as tight
as it was, there was very little time to waste. She went on to explain
that they would build the sets first, have costumes designed and made
and then, together, work on the play's dialog.
Kevin wondered if anyone else caught the order of things they would be
doing. Ms. Clifton had said they'd build the set first, costumes next,
and then work on the play itself. It appeared to Kevin that the order
of activities was reversed.
Chapter 4
"This is so exciting," Madden said in a whisper after leaning closer to
Kevin.
"It really is," Kevin said. He lied and to himself added, 'NOT!'
It sounded tiresome, boring and exacting, Kevin decided, as he stood
there looking over his fellow students. Kevin had the notion he was the
only one not excited to be there. Kevin had no desire to know what it
took to create and put on a stage play and even less desire to act in
one.
Kevin and his fellow students, Ms. Clifton said happily, would stage a
play from start to finish and do just about all of it with the
exception of actually building the theater or bolting down the chairs.
That last was suppose to be a joke Ms. Clifton noted. Ms. Clifton
didn't seem to notice, nor care, that no one laughed.
It was odd right from the start, Kevin mused. Odd, because their first
assignment was to actually build the sets first. Building sets without
knowing anything of the play itself seemed kind of weird. Ms. Clifton
would not say anything about the play other than it first needed a set.
They needed a set and props, or properties. Those props followed the
set design and construction and then the costumes, Ms. Clifton noted.
Odd again, Kevin mused.
Very odd, Kevin mused again as he tried understanding how you can build
a set without first knowing what to build.
Meanwhile, Ms. Clifton noted, and while they were working on the set,
she was also going to get their individual measurements for their
costumes. All of the students would be costumed, Ms. Clifton noted.
"Ms. Clifton," Kevin asked holding his hand up.
"Yes, what is your question.... Kevin? It is Kevin isn't it," Ms.
Clifton asked.
"Yes ma'am," Kevin said and added, "What sort of costumes will we be
wearing?"
"Well Kevin, right now, I'm still working with the designer on that
and, to be honest, I'd rather not say till we have settled in on the
actual designs first," Ms. Clifton said smiling as she added, "was
there anyone else that had a question?"
No one said a word and Kevin realized no one but he seemed to care.
Moreover, Ms. Clifton hadn't given him so much as a hint on what their
costumes might look like. How can you design a costume without a notion
on what the play was about?
"OK then," Ms. Clifton noted when no one responded as she added, "then
let's start with our set since that is going to take us through the
next three days."
With that said, each of the students were given green shop smocks
before Ms. Clifton also showed everyone where the paint and materials
were. On a table, behind them, were drawings and pictures that Ms.
Clifton pointed out would be guidelines or suggestions on designing the
set as they moved first to the supply room.
Chapter 5
Ms. Clifton was everywhere helping everyone with the task she had
assigned to each. Kevin and those same two boys Kevin started with,
began making a simple one by two inch framing for the muslin they would
be painting. The frame was a standard construction, according to Ms.
Clifton, to take and hold the painted cloth the other students were
working on.
There was going to be three separate backdrops as walls, with one
designed with a window. There would be two wings built, one for either
side of the stage with the one on the right having a door. Several
students began painting the muslin with a base white color before the
design was to begin.
Ms. Clifton, as everyone began working, began to explain about the
'what' they were working on and 'why'.
"OK everyone, you are actually working on the setting of a theater
performance. The setting, beginning with these backdrops, provides an
immediate atmosphere for the actors to bring their story to life," Ms.
Clifton said as the students hammered and painted.
"What do you mean by atmosphere," a girl named Susan asked.
"Atmosphere is actually that setting... Quite literally it 'sets' the
tone of the play. Illusion is in the vision so our attention to detail
is important, but that setting is first. First because you've got to
set the illusion for the audience, then set the scene," Ms. Clifton
said.
"Scenes," that same girl asked.
"Scenes! You've got to establish what scenes are needed for your
production. You want to create scenes that have the best possible
effect on the audience. The scene gives your audience a glimpse of the
world that you as the characters will inhabit," Ms. Clifton said and
added, "in this case we are designing a pre-school."
Chapter 6
"A pre-school," Terry, another student, repeated.
"A pre-school. On the design table... the one I've set up, are interior
images of various pre-schools and day care centers to give us an idea
of what an audience is going to expect to see," Ms. Clifton said moving
the students to the images she had sitting on a table.
Everyone moved to that table and those images as Ms. Clifton added,
"Remember, the background is the largest part of the set and you
generally want it painted to create the illusion of rooms or open
spaces. In this case we want the audience to get the impression of
standing against an opposite wall just inside of that pre-school."
Abby noted by way of pointing to some examples of walls as she began
handing out the images she was referring to.
Another boy pushed a paint cart out with brushes in a can.
Abby moved to the paint, lifted a one gallon can and said, "the most
widely used paint for scenery is casein, a water-based paint that can
be cleaned up with soap and water. As you begin to paint the backdrops,
I want you to consider what a pre-school might look like, then design
it and paint it, so consider both your base colors and trims."
Kevin took hold of a work table, along with Chuck and two other boys,
then everyone, under the direction of Abby, began working. Ms. Clifton
insisted everyone call her Abby, who pointed out what materials were
needed and the names of the items they were to use. It wasn't nearly as
boring as Kevin had imagined as he begin cutting the soft one by two
inch pine for the first frames to become walls.
An hour went by, two and the first brake came then. Kevin and the
others had fashioned the three frames for the background, and a few
more had started painting the muslin. The muslin, now a base white,
would be attached by staples to the frame. They were like giant
canvases.
The details would be painted on after the base dried. Over that white
they were taught how to simulate wood for a door with the walls now in
primary colors. Everyone had questions about what the play was about
still, but Abby clearly wasn't saying.
Kevin thought it odd again and he was sure everyone else did as well.
Abby did add that those measurements, the ones for their costumes,
would be taken by a seamstress. They were working within the second
part of the class when that seamstress, Rose, arrived.
The woman, Rose, arrived and within half an hour had taken all of the
measurements. She did this individually and behind a partition but even
clothed it was still unnerving. No one bothered to ask about the
costumes since it was clear Abby wasn't going to share her reasons just
yet.
In no time, Abby noted reassuringly, everyone would have an idea of
what those costumes would look like. Again Abby was vague about those
particulars saying only that their costumes would come soon enough.
Abby, also promised, and this came with a smile, that no one would be
required to get naked. Another joke, Abby noted laughing, but that
actually was a relief shared by everyone there, although again no one
laughed.
Everyone did laugh when it came time to decorate the back wall
beginning with each student doing a finger painting of their own to
decorate the walls with. Free standing shelves on rollers were brought
in and toys, as basic props, were added.
The two wings would be finished tomorrow, Abby said, and by the end of
that class the stage would be more or less set. With the back wall done
after adding alphabet letters and numbers, they had a pretty good
imitation of a pre-school or day care center.
Everyone left with a growing feeling of camaraderie after working
almost the full five hours on the sets. That following day everyone was
at least nodding to each other warmly when class started and it started
with some additional props. Cute props one of the girls noted although
that wasn't shared by the boys.
Most of the additional props consisted of a couple of low tables and
some short chairs already in the property room. Those matched in color
with storage bins holding toys.
Toddler toys, as well as a couple of mock up toddler toys they made out
of foam board. Adult size toddler toys like a Tiny Tikes car and wagon
they had to fashion with only one side, the side facing the audience,
finished.
The boys pretty much ignored the dolls and stuffed animals that came
out towards the end of the day. They ignored them until Abby handed
Kevin a large Patti Play Pal doll to dress. Most of the dolls were the
large, life size, or toddler size, dolls at nearly three feet tall and
all of the stuffed animals were just as big.
When Kevin protested, a little, over dressing a doll, Abby only smiled
and said, "there are no gender barriers in her class!"
With Kevin's protest put aside, but still with a bit of a grumbling on
his part, he put his doll Patti in panties, a slip and pink dress from
a box of little girl clothes. Another guy, that guy named Chuck, was
given the task of tying ribbons into bows. Bows Chuck discovered that
went around the necks of several large teddy bears.
By the end of class on Wednesday they had a decent looking set filled
with props, toys, dolls and teddy bears that added the detail Abby was
looking for. They all stood off the stage looking at a very cute
version of a toddler's place. It really was a fairly convincing image
of a day care center but now in an adult's size.
With the third class day nearly over and most of the set done everyone
worked on lighting and what Abby called their marks. Their marks or
locations was tape on the floor marking positions of the actors for the
audiences sake. She showed them where center stage was. Stage right,
left and back were also marked.
No matter what the questions though, there was still no real
discussions or answers from Abby on the play itself. Other students,
besides Kevin were growing almost as concerned.
Chapter 7
Abby's agenda that first day of the second week, she noted right at the
start of class, was to gather a background for the play itself. The
background information, she noted, would give them each a sense of what
Abby was hoping to achieve.
It was an easy day, Abby noted, and set aside mostly to watch two
videos. One movie before lunch, another after. It was going to be
necessary background, Abby noted, and relative to how her play would be
crafted.
It was Tuesday and the whole day was set aside for those two videos.
They would then spend an entire day on Wednesday discussing them. For
the most part Kevin's panic was lessoned by the relative ease of not
doing anything but watching movies.
Abby also wanted, as part of their homework, to review other plays.
Plays she'd formed into a synopsis for each as handouts. Plays that
focused on two very different but very strong concepts emphasizing what
she called a singular setting.
That singular setting she noted would be like the one she planned.
Kevin took his handout as did the others noting he was looking at an
overview of Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie. Both plays,
Abby again noted, was going to form the basis of her own. Her play, she
emphasized, would be strong on characters, linear and have a clear
beginning and end.
Meanwhile there were the two movies to watch. Everyone found a chair
and sat waiting for the first movie as Abby pushed the video tape into
the player below the large TV.
"OK, this first movie is called the Breakfast Club and was released in
1985. It was directed by John Huges. The Breakfast Club, if you have
never seen the movie, is about five uniquely different students forced
to spend a full Saturday together, under detention, within the confines
of their school's library," Abby noted as the tape started.
Kevin wasn't sure when or if he'd seen the movie but Madden remembered
it as they shifted comfortably into their chairs.
As the movie began with the sound down Abby noted, "the entire script
is written with the dialog and interactions, as the focus. All of it
between five students: Allison is played by Ally Sheedy, who is a
weirdo; Brian played by Anthony Michael Hall is a nerd; John, played by
Judd Nelson, is a criminal; Claire is played by Molly Ringwald, who is
a prom queen type; and Andy, the last boy, is played by Emilio Estevez,
a jock."
Abby emphasized the actors as the opening title began still without
sound. She paused a moment before adding, "At first, as the play
unfolds, they are quiet, withdrawn and slightly antagonistic or
indifferent towards each other. However, as the day progresses, they
start talking and learn that behind their stereotypical exteriors, they
are all pretty much the same. What is so remarkable about this movie is
that the entire time is spent within that library - that singular
setting."
The movie took them to their first break. It wasn't a bad movie Kevin
thought as he stood to stretch. He went off by himself for lunch
spending the rest of his time under a large elm near the theater. He
merged with the rest of the class a few minutes after lunch ended.
"Now for the second movie," Abby said changing tapes after everyone
returned from lunch and was seated.
Abby slipped the tape in but didn't hit the play button as she said,
"this second video is Look Who's Talking and was released in 1988. It
was Directed by Amy Heckerling. Look Who's Talking is a comedy staring
a baby named Micky. A baby boy, but with Bruce Willit's adult voice."
"Remember that," Abby noted smiling. Abby paused a moment then added,
"Baby Micky's mother Mollie is played by Krstie Alley. The third person
and another significant actor is a cab driver named James Ubriacco,
played by John Travolta. James, who the baby hopes and who ultimately
becomes his father, is really the focus. The movie is done in a
somewhat witty, cute and predictable way but the concept itself makes
it very unique."
Again everyone sat quietly as the movie began. Both movies brought them
to the end of that day. What had everyone actually talking, at the end
of that second movie, wasn't so much the movies themselves, but why
those two movies? They were very different genres. One was a drama, and
the other a comedy, and neither seemed to have anything in common with
the other.
Abby would not give an inch on any of their questions, nor hint at what
she planned, but she did promise that by tomorrows class they would
know. Meanwhile, Abby noted, they were more than welcome and even
encouraged to speculate.
Chapter 8
They did speculate among themselves and that began right after
Tuesday's class. There were hints beginning with the backdrops and
props. Good hints given that it was designed for toddlers and that fit
the context of a baby in Look Who's Talking. When they began to fold in
the context of The Breakfast Club format it was kind of easy to begin
seeing what the play might or could be like.
Obviously it was about toddlers. Toddlers in a day care center and most
likely, since there was no prop or background changes, it would always
be 'in' the day care center.
Speculation on every one's part obviously, but it seemed to fit in an
odd sort of way. Abby, it was decided, was going to have toddlers
spending their day learning about each other in much the same way as
those teens did in the movie The Breakfast Club.
Since it was toddler's, played by adults, then it was most likely going
to be something similar to that baby Micky with Bruce Willit's voice.
No one was really sure of the details or how that would work in their
play, but it was clear they had a handle on at least a concept.
Abby asked about their speculations and ideas after they settled in for
class that Wednesday morning. She was smiling as those speculations
were voiced. She also said that they were pretty much right, making
those that were convinced on what it would be, before then, smile.
Abby also promised an overview before everyone would get into our
costumes which, Abby noted, were now ready and scheduled to arrive that
very day. Offering an overview seemed odd only because they thought
they now had a handle on the play. Although it was kind of exciting in
some ways watching this come together and being part of it, Kevin
thought.
As boring as it had first appeared, putting a play together, from the
ground up, was definitely challenging and interesting in some ways.
Unfortunately Kevin's excitement, along with everyone else, would end
very abruptly when the costumes arrived. They had a hint of what they
would be wearing not too long after Abby began to outline the play and
their parts in it.
Again, they had been mostly right about what they thought the play
would be. They would indeed be playing their individual parts as
toddlers, and it would indeed be focused mostly on dialogs. Dialogs and
those interactions between those toddlers, played by adults, and very
much like it was in The Breakfast Club.
What Abby added to her confirmation was a short profile of those
toddlers themselves, but not before noting that the play would be very
allegorical. The toddlers she noted, but didn't say flatly, would be
representative of our society at large. Each toddler was, in fact,
going to represent a very well defined segment of that society.
Abby wanted the audience to smile first, perhaps laugh a little but,
most important of all, take a message home with them when the play
ended. Abby also wanted their very best from them, she said. Abby
mentioned that last part, she said, because she wanted everyone to take
seriously their roles, as odd as they might seem at first.
The fact that Kevin had never acted before was what prompted his
question and concern over what Abby expected as his very best, since
giving his very best seemed impossible. Abby assured Kevin, as she did
with all of them, that they were going to start learning that part next
and would know it when the time came.
Kevin sat there as quietly as everyone else did while Abby talked, but
it was clear now or at least becoming clear what their individual roles
would be, or might be. Kevin also realized they would be dressing as
toddlers trying to imagine what toddlers wore. Kevin was not thrilled
over the prospects of some of those images as he sat there.
Chapter 9
Then it struck him...
It struck him full in the face as he looked to see if anyone else might
be getting it. It was so obvious suddenly and that scared Kevin even
more. Abby had delayed this whole part of the process on purpose. She
had held back on what their roles would be so there was no backing out.
They had been had, Kevin realized, given the amount of time that had
passed. Abby was pretty cleaver in that regard, Kevin noted. Kevin, as
he sat there thinking on it, was sure of it.
Enough time, in building the sets and props and watching those movies,
had passed that if anyone, including Kevin, dropped out now it would
count as an incomplete and not a withdrawal. Not exactly an "F" for
fail, but almost as bad. The fact that she needed this small bit of an
edge, or insurance, as it were, suddenly made Kevin wonder some and
then worry more.
Kevin worried and wondered even more when Abby began announcing the
breakout of the players. Of the sixteen students in class, Abby had
picked six for the principle or lead roles. Two others, both female,
would play their roles as the day care center guardians. The rest of
the students, girls, would be cast as background toddlers and mothers
or fathers of toddlers coming and going.
Kevin's heart skipped a beat when Abby announced who those six were.
For those key roles there was Kevin, Mark, Chuck, Madden, Susan and
Carol. Kevin, along with the other five, would be those principle
toddlers. The particular roles for each hadn't yet been fully
dialogued, Abby noted, but soon would be, she promised.
Kevin grew more worried as Abby noted that he and the other five she
identified needed to remain while the rest were excused for the
remainder of their class day. Abby noted that they, those six
remaining, would be costumed first with the rest costumed by the end of
next class.
That is when they met Ms. Rose Baker, the seamstress, once again. They
met her as Abby welcomed her along with a girl named Tina. Tina, much
younger than Rose, was introduced as Ms. Rose's assistant.
"This is making me nervous," Kevin said.
"Me too a little," Madden noted but slightly more happy over the
mystery.
Kevin, at least, had every right to be nervous as that seamstress, Ms.
Rose Baker, began bringing in the outfits. They were on hangers. Kevin
did smile suddenly. The costumes were on a rack and you simply had to
smile. Kevin clearly was not nearly as nervous as he imagined the girls
must be given the dresses hanging on the portable wheeled rack Rose
pushed in.
Behind Rose, pushing a cart, was that girl Tina and then Kevin's heart
froze. Between the rack and that cart it was obvious this was not going
to be cool at all. It wasn't just dresses on the racks that bothered
him because those were not towels on that cart.
Kevin wasn't the only one caught by surprise over what was on that
cart, because they all heard the word diapers whispered in surprise by
someone off to Kevin's left. On the rack were those toddler clothes. On
the cart clearly the baby side of those clothes. There were overalls
and what looked to be shortalls as well as those cute little dresses.
Toddler clothing, Kevin mused, but in adult sizes and that was obvious
given those were 'their' costumes. Kevin didn't think anyone had
thought about what a toddler might wear including what went under those
outfits. Watching Rose and her assistant Tina setting up partitions and
unpacking made it all too clear what toddlers wore and it was becoming
more agonizing as they did so.
Abby now had everyone's undivided attention and nearly all of them,
including Kevin, were in a full panic. Those few minutes it took
watching the stuff those two women laid out fostered a shocked silence
and in that silence Abby began to talk about the characters.
Chapter 10
"Your individual roles are going to be based on, for one thing, gender.
Gender types or, more accurately, stereotypes. Stereotypes, gender
definitions and, of course, gender orientation. Each toddler, in this
case each of you, will be representing those extreme, often
misunderstood, stereotypes found within society and, most often,
outside the norms of society," Abby said before pausing.
No one spoke.
"So, based on that concept, there is going to be a straight male
toddler. A straight male toddler, who is macho and homophobic to a
fault. Beside him, but opposite, will also be a straight female toddler
and a feminist to the extreme. In addition to those two there is going
to be a gay male and gay female toddler," Abby said pausing for those
to sink in.
She allowed a few minutes to pass.
"Next, and last but not least, will be our two Transisional toddlers.
Transisional as in Transsexuals. One of those toddlers is what we call
a MTF or male to female transsexual toddler, and playing counter to
her, a FTM or female to male transsexual toddler," Abby said happily.
"You mean him," Kevin noted for no other reason than it sounded odd.
"Did you have a question," Abby asked.
"You called that male to female her. Isn't he still a he," Kevin asked.
"Good question Kevin. The answer is yes and no. Physically the male to
female transsexual is still the same gender, male, but as a transsexual
they identify with the opposite sex so, in the male to female
transsexual he actually believes he's a she and therefore prefers being
called a she," Abby said and added, "as does the female to male who
prefers being called a he."
Kevin looked at Madden and she him. He tried to imagine Madden gay or
butch if she was that FTM and couldn't. Madden, of course was looking
at Kevin and wondering that very same thing as well.
'He'd make a cute little girl,' Madden decided.
Two straight toddlers, two gay toddlers and two transsexual toddlers.
Six toddlers all together, Abby noted, which of course, required three
males and three females, which, coincidentally, mapped into their group
perfectly. Everyone began to take glances at each other. Everyone was
wondering which character would be which person.
"Say, I just thought of something," Madden said.
"What," Kevin asked.
"One of those dresses is for a boy," Madden said in a kind of half
whisper to Kevin.
"What," Kevin asked in a slight panic as he went over Abby's list in
his mind.
"Kevin, if I am hearing Abby correctly, one of those dresses could very
well be for the boy playing that male to female toddler. Which also
means that the girl playing the female to male will be the one wearing
pants," Madden said.
"No way," Kevin said.
"It makes more sense," Madden said.
"Not really... OK, look, there are three girls and three dresses,"
Kevin said feeling his mouth drying. Kevin began to realize, in that
instant Abby told them what the individual roles would be, that one of
them, one of the boys, would be playing a girl.
It was only wishful thinking on his part that he was wrong. One of the
boys would be playing a straight, another a gay with one of them
playing that transsexual male to female toddler.
"OK," Madden said deciding not to push it.
Kevin would know soon enough as would the boy Abby picked to play that
part. Madden smiled casually as she decided that Kevin really would
make the cutest girl of those three boys.
Kevin kept his eyes glued on Abby. None of the other boys, like Chuck,
made eye contact with any of the other boys. It was clear they were
thinking about which of them would end up being that transsexual and,
if one of those dresses was his, which dress would it be.
As Abby was giving them that overview, she was clearly setting them up
for their assignments or those roles. Rose, meanwhile, with her
assistant Tina, were setting up curtains. Those curtains draped from a
portable set of racks which was obviously there for them to get into
their costumes.
Kevin counted, in desperation again, the outfits on that rack and he
did that a number of times. No matter how many times he did so there
were still three dresses. What made Kevin suddenly feel better was that
there were only three dresses and only three girls. The dresses had to
be for the girls he decided.
Being a transsexual didn't necessarily mean a dress, Kevin mused, and
that thought helped. For slightly longer than an instant he was
relieved over those numbers of dresses matching the number of girls.
If one of them, one of the boys, was going to be wearing a dress there
would be four dresses. Four dresses would for sure suggest that he or
one of the other guys would be wearing a dress, but there was only
three dresses.
'Please, please, please make that so,' Kevin mused.
Madden was clearly wrong, Kevin also mused, and with some amount of
relief. Relief short lived though because, Chuck, the guy sitting on
the other side of Kevin, also mentioned the not so obvious.
"One of those dresses has got to be for one of us guys," Chuck
whispered in a panic.
Chapter 11
"Damn," Chuck said.
"What," Kevin asked, since Chuck had clearly meant it for Kevin to
hear.
"Don't you get it? One of the girls is going to be playing a female to
male transsexual - a boy," Chuck noted but now more to himself than to
Kevin.
"What are you saying," Kevin asked.
"Look, there are three girls in our group," Chuck said and added, "and
one of those girls is a female to male transsexual. One of these girls
is going to be playing the part of a boy! Boys, even pretend boys,
don't wear dresses."
"Damn," Chuck said again under his breath.
"Damn is right," Kevin said. Obviously Chuck was right. If that girl,
whoever played that girl, was going to be a FTM then she was a girl
dressing as a boy. That particular girl wouldn't be needing one of
those dresses. That left one spare dress.
Kevin's heart sank as he reworked that bit of logic out. Not only were
they going to be wearing diapers, and by the looks of those they were
very thick, but baby pants besides. Baby pants of all things. Only that
was the least of it because in one guy's case, one of them, there was
going to be in a dress as well.
Diapers, baby pants and a dress? Kevin was sure he wasn't the only one
thinking hard about taking that "incomplete" they would get if we
dropped out. Mark, the boy on the other side of Chuck, clearly wanted
to get up and walk right then and there and even whispered it.
To hell with this class, Kevin mused, but in another thought, there was
his aunt. Kevin had already been overruled about Summer school anyway.
He'd been overruled because he was going to be short those units going
into his Freshman year without it. They had already had that argument
soon after it became clear Kevin would be missing a class beginning as
a Freshman.
Kevin's aunt had also made it clear, very clear, but in the kindest
sort of way, that if he walked away from this class, any class for that
matter, or dropped out of Summer School, Kevin was going to be pretty
much on his own as far she was concerned. She saw no reason to support
him, she'd said, if he wasn't willing to at least do his part and keep
up with school.
"Damn," Kevin whispered loud enough for Madden to hear.
"What," Madden said.
"One of those guys is going to have to wear a dress," Kevin said.
"You mean one of you guys," Madden said.
"OK, so one of us guys is going to have to wear a dress," Kevin said
gritting his teeth.
"Told you so," Madden said.
"OK, so you're right. It's still a one in three chance it's not me,"
Kevin said.
"Hope it's you," Madden said.
"WHAT," Kevin said loud enough to get attention from a couple of the
students. He went silent and those looking turned back watching the
seamstress as Kevin asked, "why would you say that?"
"That's easy, you'll make a cuter girl than those other two," Madden
said in a whisper and smiling.
"My ego thanks you very much," Kevin said.
"It's true, like it or not, and if I was casting the part, you'd get
it," Madden said smiling, but slightly mischievously or so it seemed.
"Great," Kevin said and added, "and do me a favor... keep your opinion
to yourself."
Madden smiled and nodded an understanding yes.
Chapter 12
Kevin was also thinking about his aunt. He was trying to figure out a
reason for dropping this class. Dropping it in a way that wouldn't drop
her support. Kevin desperately needed that support with his mom out of
the picture.
Kevin really had no choice but to sit there and agonize over his fate.
He felt very trapped in those minutes and only hoped, as he sat there,
that he wasn't the guy in any of those dresses. He calculated that
again and again and he still had a one in three chance.
Abby left them to speculate who was who for a bit as they watched the
privacy panels going up. That assistant, Tina left once more, and
returned this time carrying a large plastic storage tub. The tub went
behind the neck high curtain that the seamstress Rose was fixing in
place.
It was then, as that woman Rose finished, that Abby asked them to go
up, one by one, after she called their names, to get into their
assigned costumes.
Kevin could feel his heart pounding in his chest and could have sworn
that Chuck's and Mark's were pounding just as loud. All of them were
going to be babies, but one of them was going to be a girl baby...
Ms. Clifton made it sound so casual when she said it. Costumes, that
word, it sounded so innocent and simple, but they knew otherwise or at
least Kevin did.
It wasn't so simple stepping into a diaper and baby pants to wear in
front of a couple of hundred people. Kevin's only hope was that he
would be the straight toddler or at least the gay, because he suspected
both would be wearing pants of some sort.
It didn't take long to discover Kevin wasn't going to play at least one
of the guys. As it happens Mark was the first, and Mark would be
playing Brad. Brad, Ms. Clifton said, was the straight toddler.
When Mark got up for his costume he was smiling smugly. Kevin enviously
watched Mark walk towards the area to change. Kevin still had a 50/50
chance for pants.
Chuck and Kevin tried acting casual as they both watched Mark go behind
the panel. They were all curious on how Mark would look which, of
course, was how everyone else would look. Since Mark was the first he
would more or less break the ice, and Kevin was also glad of that, at
least.
It took about ten minutes and a hint of their own costumes came when
Mark walked out from behind that curtain. No one dared laugh. While
Mark was changing they could only see the top of his head. When Mark
stepped out someone snickered and another gasped.
Mark wore a dark blue pair of bib overalls with Bob The Builder on the
front over a white tee-shirt. It was clearly a very juvenile outfit but
that wasn't all, nor the reason for that snicker.
It was a cute look, Kevin thought if he ignored his part in this. Cute
with the obvious snap buttons on the inside of Mark's legs but, Kevin
was sure, no one would admit that. Although that wasn't exactly true
because the girls, giving their smiles of approval, must have thought
otherwise.
Of course what they noticed first, was the most obvious, but Kevin
avoided thinking about it as Mark walked to his chair. It was his puffy
bottom and that bottom way too puffy even for a girl on the chubby
side.
That puffy back side of Mark's, moving back and forth in an exaggerated
kind of way, was very obvious as he walked. It left no doubt over what
he was wearing as that bubble of roundness started just below and went
all around his waist.
Chapter 13
Kevin wasn't sure how big those diapers were, but clearly they had to
be huge to make Mark's pants puff out like that. It left absolutely no
doubt to what Mark was wearing.
Kevin wondered as well why Mark would have to wear plastic baby pants,
if he was, since he was in coveralls. Kevin, more for his sake than
Mark's, decided he wasn't wearing those baby pants. Didn't need them.
As for the rest of it, it was fairly detailed as a costume right down
to the shoes. Mark was wearing a pair of pure white high top baby shoes
and to Kevin's amazement little bells had been added to the laces of
Mark's shoes.
Each step Mark took there was a jingle. A lot of jingles walking over
before he sat. Their attention was only fleeting and split between the
teacher and Mark. Someone else was now next.
Chuck was called up next and in that moment, in that instant, as Chuck
stood, Kevin crossed his fingers. Kevin's turn would be next since it
was obvious Abby was calling the boys up first.
If that was true and if Chuck wasn't the transsexual baby Kevin would
be the first one in a dress. Kevin kept wishing, in the privacy of his
thoughts, that it would be Chuck in that first dress.
'Please, please, please,' Kevin repeated silently as Chuck stood. All
of Kevin's fingers were crossed.
It was unnerving, maddening, like watching a pageant where they start
with the third place winner leaving the last two to speculate in agony
over which of them would be the winner, or in this case, the loser.
Like a pageant you wouldn't know until the second place winner was
announced before knowing who has won. Kevin watched Ms. Clifton as
intensely as he would watch a jury foreman that was about to pronounce
his guilt or innocence.
"Chuck, you will be playing Carl, the gay toddler!" Ms. Clifton said.
Chuck took a fleeting, but smug glance at Kevin before his walk towards
the panel. His frown changed instantly into a smile and the remaining
girls and Mark just as quickly looked at Kevin. Kevin was going to be
that want-to-be girl.
With Chuck the one to wear the second set of pants, Kevin was the
obvious pageant winner, or in this case, the loser! That was it! That
was the last pair of pants for the boys and that meant Kevin would be
the male to female transsexual.
Kevin tried not looking back at those girls who took those seconds to
watch him before turning back towards where Chuck was going to be
changed. Madden, just before turning to Kevin, took one last look at
those adorable little dresses.
Madden touched Kevin's hand lightly with a reassuring pat as she
whispered, "smart teacher."
Kevin didn't respond.
Chuck went happily behind the partitions and began to change. Now it
was just a matter of time for Kevin. Now all that was left was in
knowing which of those dresses was his. He didn't look at the dresses
any more.
Madden, as did all of the girls, looked. They were just as interested.
Chuck's outfit, after that short time it took to get into it, was a
pair of short pants. Very short pants strapped with suspenders but with
a bib, sort of like Mark's overalls, but with short legs and in a dark
purple. There was that familiar rainbow that gays have adopted as their
symbol on the pocket of his bib and under it he wore a pink tee-shirt.
Chuck didn't seem too hung up on it as he came over to the group and
sat again. Of course why would Chuck be hung-up on his outfit, Kevin
mused, considering those dresses still hung on the rack and he was now
in pants.
Kevin got a nod of sympathy from Chuck as he walked back waddling as
much as Mark had before sitting. The girls were smiling affectionately.
Chuck's bottom seemed even larger than Mark's, Kevin noticed, but he
thought it was because of the short pants. Chuck too wore pure white
high top baby shoes and those little bells on each. Kevin then saw a
hint of his baby pants as Chuck bent slightly to sit making his shorts
draw taught.
Baby pants! It was agonizing seeing those. A clear edge of his baby
pants now showed where it attached around the elastic of his legs. The
girls were obviously delighted over the look because Chuck got a lot of
their attention when he came out from behind that partition. Kevin
wanted to run and hide somewhere.
Chapter 14
Kevin's heart was in his throat when Ms. Clifton nodded at him,
shrugged a little, sympathetically, but then smiled as she said,
"Kevin, as you might have guessed by now, you will be playing Martin
who is also going to be known as Mary. Mary Beth and our male to female
transsexual."
"Great," Kevin said allowing his shoulders to slump a little.
"It's going to be one of our most difficult roles," Ms. Clifton noted.
"No kidding," Kevin said allowing Ms. Clifton's confidence to flow over
him.
Great! That was it. With Mark and Chuck now dressed there were no more
choices left. No other boys left. No options and no escape. Kevin was
going to be the one wearing the dress. Which dress wasn't clear to him,
but that didn't matter much. A dress, like a rose, is a dress.
Ms. Clifton was so calm! Like a judge pronouncing guilty and then
giving Kevin the death penalty! The death penalty in this case the
demise of his ego, his pride, his very masculinity. All of it now
doomed and all Kevin got from Ms. Clifton was a little sympathy, that
bit of confidence and now that stupid smile.
There was no more emotion in Ms. Clifton's voice than had been for the
other two guys, but then again she wouldn't be the one dressing as a
toddler girl. Nothing in what she said gave any more weight to what he
would be wearing and he knew in an instant which dress it was going to
be.
A boy that wanted to be a girl, Kevin mused, would want to be girlish.
A boy that wanted to be a girlish girl would not want to leave any
doubt he wanted to be a girl. Girlish, sissy...
Prissy. Prissy as in Pretty In Pink.
Damn, Kevin mused silently. He knew exactly which dress as he stood,
and then for sure as he saw Rose take up that not so little, little
pink dress hanging on the rack. Had to be the pink one Kevin sighed
given his luck so far. He also saw Rose's assistant Tina, standing next
to her, lift what he assumed, with a little more grief, was the slip.
Kevin felt doomed to a fate worse than death as he made his way to that
partition. A dress and under it a slip and under that a diaper cover
and, no doubt, his very own diaper.
At least Chuck and Mark's diapers and those plastic panties, while
somewhat obvious, would still be hidden. Kevin's, he knew, wouldn't be.
Kevin moved reluctantly, slowly, a death march! He was doomed to make
that the long slow walk towards the execution of what little of his ego
remained.
He was going to be a damn girl want-to-be! A sissy, fairy, pantywaist,
a pansy. Little miss priss and a dozen other words that came to mind in
those few feet. He'd heard those words boys used for 'those' other
boys.
It was a play Kevin said to himself. It was just a costume, Kevin added
in silence. It was a play and those things nothing more than a costume
he kept repeating to himself with each step.
A play and a costume, Kevin said over and over again as he walked
towards that divider, towards that smile on Rose's face. Why did they
smile?
What was it about a guy wearing a dress that made women so happy? Did
they see him as a convert? Was he, by wearing a dress, now one of them?
Hell no, Kevin mused. And were it not for his aunt, he'd of simply
walked out of that place without looking back. Only he couldn't and he
couldn't allow those watching to see him upset.
It was a costume, nothing more. To show any emotion, negative emotion
most of all, would give it too much emphasis. Kevin didn't smile but
he'd lost his frown at least.
Kevin stepped back behind the curtain and Rose, as perky as Ms.
Clifton, said 'hi'. Her assistant simply nodded, but she too was
smiling. Why did she have to smile like that, Kevin pondered.
"You can take your things off behind that next partition," Rose said
nodding towards a four foot wide panel nearly five feet high that they
had erected behind the one he walked behind.
Kevin nodded forcing himself to be as casual as he could be given the
circumstances. As bad as it was Kevin didn't want the guys at least to
see him suffer. He would be brave, he mused.
"How ironic, Kevin mused. He would be brave so they wouldn't think he
was a sissy and he was about to dress as a sissy. "Shoot me now," Kevin
whispered.
Kevin went behind that other partition holding his shoulders straight
and keeping his face neutral. The other two boy's things were on
hangers set on a small rack and below that was a plastic box for their
shoes and socks.
There was a folding chair. Kevin swallowed and began to undress -
slowly. Unfortunately, you can only take so long taking off your
clothes.
"This first!" Rose said happily handing over one of those exaggerated
diapers. That diaper was huge! Like a puffy ball of soft cotton with
holes in it. A huge puffy ball of cotton.
A massive thing as it came around the partition towards Kevin's hand.
They didn't actually pin on, Kevin noticed, but there were diaper pins
attached on either side to make it appear that they did.
They were large diaper pins twice normal size, and those on that
diaper, his diaper, were in pink. Even if that diaper pulled on it
hardly made much difference given how thick it was and it was very
thick.
Not nearly as heavy as he imagined it might be given that thickness.
Kevin was guessing it wasn't a real diaper but it looked real enough
and that part mattered most. So too those pink teddy bears designed
onto the head of those girlish diaper pins.
Kevin was trying other tricks to make myself feel better as he began
the task of stepping into and lifting that diaper to his waist. He was
going to be an actor. This was a costume and nothing more. This was all
make believe, Hollywood... this was the theater.
This was not real and had nothing whatsoever to do with him in real
life, Kevin mused. He was an actor he said, more to myself again, as
the diaper came up.
Thinking that, thinking of this as an actor might, made it seem more
like a costume, but regardless of what he was thinking, it was
definitely more like a diaper than underpants. Problem was he wasn't an
actor.
It was also pink and why a diaper had to be pink was something else he
considered as he drew the fluffy, almost too puffy, softness of it up
along my legs. It had to be at least two inches thick at the front, at
least that at the back. Foamy, soft, almost like stepping into a large
puffy cushion or throw pillow.
Although, as Kevin did so, he at least did like the idea of them as
pants. At least you didn't get pinned into it, but that too didn't
matter all of a sudden, because when they were set in place it was like
wearing a very large very puffy soft cotton bubble.
And it looked like a baby's diaper although he couldn't see all of it
with it on. Not the back either now that he had it on, but it was
adding at least two inches to his butt and his hands confirmed that.
Two inches on his butt and that much again circled him to the front and
that he was looking at. He wasn't sure how much was between my legs but
by the feel of it way more than he cared for and there was no way he
was going to bend to look or try and touch any of it.
"And these next! The ruffles go towards the back," Rose said when it
was obvious he had the diaper on. She said that handing over a very
little girlish, but not so little, pair of panties that were designed
to look like those fancy rhumba panties you sometimes see on baby
girls.
"Kill me now," Kevin whispered to himself
Large panties. Panties, Kevin noted, and in a shimmering pink nylon
with a set of three white lace rows that went across the back and a not
so tiny pink satin bow set at the middle of the top row.
Little girl panties for a little girl want-to-be Kevin mused in agony.
He wasn't sure if he moaned or not as he reached for them. Ruffles in
back, Rose's voice came to him again... ruffles in back.
Kevin took hold of the satiny baby pants that swished lightly as they
moved, and he noticed almost immediately that they were lined in a
pinkish plastic. That plastic lining clearly made them baby's pants.
Baby girl baby panties, he mused, in a kind of personal agony as he
stepped into them.
Kevin didn't spend as much time on getting into those as he had the
diaper. They fit over the diaper almost perfectly and the puff of the
diaper gave the panties a puffy look as he set them in place.
Unfortunately adding those ruffled panties added another inch or two at
the back because of the ruffled lace that now stuck out a little more.
His only hope was that the slip and dress covered them.
"Slip," Rose said handing him the white little girl's slip Tina handed
her. It too was satiny and it too was swishy. Loud swishy, Kevin
noticed. Way too loud he thought as he took up the slip like it was
radioactive.
"It's taffeta," Rose said proudly.
Chapter 15
"What?" Kevin asked giving her his attention as he gathered the slip.
"The material! It's called taffeta! If you're wondering over the sound,
that is? The material is why it's so noisy," Rose said and again she
said it with a touch of pride.
"Oh," Kevin said wondering why she thought he needed to know that. Had
to be the look on his face he guessed. He could care less what it was
made of. It was a damn slip and that's all that mattered.
It was a perfectly formed slip designed after what a little girl would
wear, or as near as Kevin could see, and worse, the damn thing fit him
perfectly when it came over his head.
There was an edging of lace around the arms and opening for his head
with another of those cute little bows, smaller than the one on his
bottom setting in the middle of the slips front. Sissy, sissy, sissy,
he mused.
There was also a label that he thought odd given these were hand made.
Kevin remembered seeing one on the diaper and those baby pants as well.
Kevin had taken a second to read it after gathering the panties up to
put on. "Toddler Treasures By Rose" it had read in a sewn in pink
script on white satin.
Kevin wondered if that label meant she made toddler clothes for real
toddlers. The slip, he noticed, had very little chest ending only a
few inches below his arm pits before falling to it's full bellowing
length. It was two layers at the waist going down with the petticoat or
petticoats since there were two flaring outward.
Kevin tugged it down or tried to. The hem of it he could touch with his
fingers which meant it didn't go past them. What that also meant, since
his fingers were against t