This is a continuation of a story found in Bedtime Story and continued in A Bedtime Story - Part 2. Each part is intended to be able to stand alone, though reading them in sequence may make things easier. I hope you are able to enjoy this continuation of the adventures of this family.

What came before:
Lisa caught her little brother dressing in mommy's slip and some high heels. She convinced him to put them back and then agreed with him that they would have some special time together while mom and dad were out. This happened regularly over the next year or so. She explained this to her sibling. Details can be found in parts 1 and 2, but beyond what's described above it isn't critical to this story..

And, now the story continues...

"It was really like that, Lisa? Oh, how I wish I remembered." Anne continued the conversation.

"Yes, and over the next few years, you played with Sally a lot, when mom and dad were away, and I was alone with you. You were also very careful to not get into mom's stuff again."

Lisa had a thoughtful expression on her face. "That all makes sense, and I wish I'd thought to talk to you about it before." She sighed. "Not remembering my childhood did cause issues for me."

Anne nodded, only now realizing how much the lost time had affected her sister. "I'm sorry I can't tell you what happened after I left for college. When I came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, you were the same sweet kid. But, something happened after that. When I came home after my first year ended, in May, you were all fired up to play outside and acted as if you'd forgotten our games.

"Wait, now that we're talking about it, I think mom did call me about it, that first year, and I told her we'd played house a few times. You seemed to be a happy kid when I got home. At the time, I recalled thinking it was a good thing you'd grown out of the playing. I had no idea."

Anne laughed. "I'm not sure I remember all that, but I do remember playing ball. I to wonder what happened."

*********

A few weeks before Lisa was to come home from college for spring break, her roommate invited her to join her at her house. As a result, she'd not be able to come home until May.

Little Danny, now a third grader, was saddened that his adored big sister wasn't coming home. She'd been good, and not gotten into Lisa's stuff without her around, but having waited almost two months already, waiting until May was just too much.

It started with her sneaking into Lisa's room to play with Sally. Danny was always very careful to put Sally back where Lisa kept her. One night, Danny fell asleep on Lisa's bed, hugging Sally.

Danny's mommy finally found him there, thinking her son was just missing his big sister; she got her husband to carry him back to his bed.

Later, in the living room, "I wonder how long he's been going in there?" Danny's father began.

"Probably only since he found out she'd not be home for her break. You're away a lot, so you may not have seen how much he's been looking forward to her coming home." She paused; It's been hard on him with his sister off at school. "Perhaps we shouldn't have let her go to her roommate's for break."

He shook his head. "No, she needs her own time. Danny has to start growing up sooner or later. We should keep our eye on him, and stop his playing with his sister's things. He should know better."

"I'm sure it was just his missing her. He got her doll out, because he identified it with her." After all, she used to read to him at bedtime." His mommy thought a minute. "I wonder if I should offer to read?"

"No, dear. The way he's taken to reading this year, I doubt he'd be willing to wait for it."

She nodded. "I've been so proud of him." Then, changing the subject, "You're on the early flight again, tomorrow, aren't you?"

He sighed. "Yes. I know this is hard on you two, but the money's really good. At least this project's only another month; then I'm likely to be local for a while."

"Do you think I should try to go back to work?"

"No, dear. We talked about it last year, when Lisa picked the private university. We knew this would be a stretch this year, but with the bonus for the remote project, we're okay this year. When I bring it in ahead of schedule, I should get the promotion and then we're good. At least as long as I'm traveling, our little boy needs him mommy."

The next morning when mommy woke Danny up, he was startled, at first.

"Have you been missing your sister?"

"Yes, mommy."

"Is that why you were in her room last night?"

Danny had a guilty look on his face, but, since she didn't want to lie, replied, "Sorta."

Mommy sighed. "I miss her, too. She was so much help around the house."

"I can help, mommy." Danny jumped at the chance.

"Silly, it's okay. I just miss her, and with daddy gone, him too." Getting up from the side of his bed. "Best get ready for school, young man."

The next few days went well. Danny tried to help his mom clean up, but she always shooed him off. Then, one day, as she was carrying the laundry down the hall, she heard talking from Lisa's room.

"Now, you're being a good girl, Sally. I want you to help mommy clean Lisa's room."

Looking in, she saw Danny, going around, with a dust cloth in his hand, and he was carefully dusting things around his sister's room, all the while, keeping up a stream of chatter with the doll.

What's with him calling himself mommy? He's being so careful of Lisa's things. What am I saying? My son shouldn't be playing mommy. Not wanting to cause a scene then, Danny's mom, continued on to the laundry room, and started a load while thinking about what she'd just seen and heard. Eventually she decided she should give Lisa a call, to see if she knew anything.

That evening, after Danny was asleep, in his bed, she called Lisa.

"Hi, mom. What's up?"

"I just thought I'd surprise you with a call."

"Mom. Come on, what's up. YOU never make long distance calls for the fun of it."

"Know your old mom, do you?"

"I should hope so, you taught me to think. So, what's up?"

"It's about Danny."

"He's okay? I can come home..."

"No, no. Nothing like that. I was just wondering if you ever played house with him?"

"Ummm. Yes. Why?"

"I found him in your room, cleaning and pretending he was the mommy while your doll was sitting there watching."

"Maybe he misses me, but, it's okay by me, he's always been very careful with my stuff."

"He was today. I was just wondering where he learned that. I guess he was just pretending to be you because he missed you. We found him asleep on your bed the other night, too. So, that probably explains it."

The chat then turned toward how term was going for Lisa, and at the end of the call, the mom said, "Study hard, and have fun, dear."

"Mom. How do I do that?"

Later, thinking things over a bit, Danny's mom decided to talk to his pediatrician, to see if there was something she could do about his missing his sister, or if it were only a phase.

The next day, she managed to get to the pediatrician. His reaction was that it probably was just that Danny missed his sister, but that if she were really concerned about this, he could recommend a colleague that made a specialty of helping children work through problems.

The mom's first reaction at that was that of shock. Her son wasn't crazy. Why should he need a shrink? The pediatrician explained that people that weren't crazy used them, too. He also explained that the colleague could also make sure it wasn't some other issue that none of them expected.

She took, the specialists information, and decided to talk to her husband that night. When they talked he expressed concern about what his son was doing, and agreed that they wanted to be careful, and take care of things if it was more than just missing his sister.

It took a while to get an appointment, and she went the first time alone, to discuss what she'd observed and her concerns.

"Odds are that your pediatrician is correct. It's certainly not unheard of for a much younger sibling to idolize his or her older sister or brother, and pretend they're still around when they go off to college. Almost all grow out of that early kind of infatuation and mimicking in a year or so. What you've described sounds a little different though. It's still likely just a phase, but if you want to be sure, I would be glad to evaluate him."

The doctor then went on to explain that if all it was was the normal missing of his older sister, he could probably tell in a single session. If it were more complex, it might well take several before he could get to the root of things. Danny's mom said she'd take his information back and discuss it with her husband, but they were both concerned so would probably be making an appointment.

Their discussion that it was best to be safe, so the next morning, she called and made an appointment to see the specialist again. She explained to Danny that the doctor wanted to talk to him about life and that he should answer any questions he had, and not to worry about things. They spent about an hour talking, and then he was let read while the doctor and his mother talked.

"As I said last time, if it was just missing his sister, I'd be able to determine that fairly quickly. It's something more than that. What, I'm not at all sure about, but it will take several more sessions to find out. He DOES miss his sister, but that's not enough to cause him to do the things you described — at least not more than once or twice."

"Is it serious?"

"I doubt it, but that's why he's here, to make sure."

"How will you figure out what it is?"

"We'll talk some more. I'll give him some ‘tests' — basically they are banks of questions that research has shown to sometimes give some indication as to what is going on. We may also want to do some blood work — depending on the direction the next session takes us to make sure it's not some simple chemical problem that's manifesting in what we see. I doubt that will be necessary at this point, and if it is, I will let you know. What I do want to assure you is that he IS a very happy child, and he loves all three of you very much and wants to please you all."

His mom was glad to hear he was a happy boy, and not surprised at the rest. He generally seemed very happy. She set up a series of appointments to bring Danny back.

That evening, she told her husband what she'd heard. He was concerned that something might be wrong with Danny, and thought they were doing the right thing.

After a few weeks, the doctor and Danny's mom had a discussion.

"I'm afraid that your little boy has become fixated on the idea that he's a girl. He does know the difference, I assure you. However, he has the idea firmly in his head."

"What does this mean doctor?"

"At his age, it just means he's more interested in things like playing house and make-believe, which is common to both boys and girls. However, as he gets older, it is very likely that this obsession will begin to impinge on his social interactions with his classmates. As much as I don't like to see it, I expect that he'll become the brunt of any bully in the school. Children who are different do face this."

Danny's mom swallows her fear, "How can we help him?"

"Before deciding that, this is one of those times I mentioned that we should do some blood work. It's very unlikely that a mistake was made, he does have a penis after all. But we should check to make sure he's not one of those very rare individuals who are part male and part female or even wholly female despite appearances. "

"How is that possible?"

"There have been a few cases documented, and I assure you it's very unlikely but I think it best to make sure before making a decision on what's best for the child."

Ultimately Danny's mom did agree to the tests. She and the doctor then had Danny come in, and explained that they needed to do an experiment with some of Danny's blood. He was worried that it would hurt, but the doctor said it wouldn't hurt as much as some of the shots his other doctor had given him, and that his mother would be there to hold his hand and he should be a brave boy. Danny smiled and said he would.

Danny was a good boy — he flinched when the needle was poked in, but became fascinated as the blood trickled into the tube.

"Is that all of my blood?"

"It's yours, yes. But nowhere near all of it. You probably have as much as ten milk cartons worth of blood running around inside you."

Danny's eyes got really big at this. "Wow, I was worried you were taking it all."

The doctor laughed. "No. I'm not a vampire. We just need to check some things in your blood to make sure you're as healthy as you look."

Danny and his mom went home, and things returned to normal.

About two weeks later, his mom got a call from the Doctor.

"I just got the lab report on Danny's blood, and wanted to give you a quick call to let you know that they show him to be a completely normal boy of his age... Perhaps healthier than many."

"That's a relief. What now?"

"Now we should have a discussion on how to move forward. Give my office a call, and set up an appointment for you or both you and your husband if he's available to discuss what to do. And, be assured there are several things. Remember, Danny is both healthy AND happy."

She checked with her husband, and then made an appointment they could both make.

"I'm afraid that your little boy has become fixated on the idea that he's a girl. He does know the difference, I assure you. However, he has the idea firmly in his head."

"What does this mean doctor?"

"At his age, it just means he's more interested in things like playing house and make-believe, which is common to both boys and girls. However, as he gets older, it is very likely that this obsession will begin to impinge on his social interactions with his classmates. As much as I don't like to see it, I expect that he'll become the brunt of any bully in the school. Children who are different do face this."

Danny's mom swallows her fear, "How can we help him?"

"We have three basic choices. We can watch things, and hope the obsession eases with time. And, it might. This would be simplest. But, I can't tell you it will work. We can try basic therapy where we talk though things and try to get him to the point where he no longer obsesses over this idea and resumes a more normal development. There's no idea how long this would take either. And, the third choice is much more aggressive. A new therapy has recently been shown to be successful for dealing with children and even young adults with obsessions. I've had some success following the therapy with some other children with more serious issues so I have every reason to believe it would work with Danny as well. In addition, we should see results in months rather than years."

"Honey, I think we need to go with the sure thing. Danny's not hurting now, but he's right that guys will bully him if he seems different as he gets older. I saw it in my school days."

"Doctor, are you sure it's safe and won't hurt him?"

"I wouldn't recommend this, if I thought there was any significant danger to Danny. As it is, I think he'll be a much happier boy in the long run if we follow this kind of plan.".

Ultimately, Danny's parents agreed that while he wasn't hurting now, they should be proactive to avoid problems later.

*************

The girls continued to speculate over what might have happened to "Danny". Lisa was able to tell Anne what she was asked to do when she came home from school.

About 2,500 words