Sara and I had been talking to ours mothers about where Becka had come from. And, her mother had asked her to tell the story . . .

Sara started with, “Even before Peter and I were born, you two had been friends. From the time we were babies, you took turns watching us when the other one had things to do. And, since we were only a few weeks apart, when we were old enough you let us play together. Besides there aren’t any other kids in the neighborhood our age. We tried to play games that where neither a boy’s game or a girls. And, we did pretty well. When we were old enough we also rode bikes together. Went to the park. You guys were always taking us places, swimming, the zoo, and stuff like that. We had fun together.

“I’ve always felt very close to Peter. Like there was something special between us. Like, when I was nine and grandpa Richards died. He was there for me, and I’ve been there for him. It’s like we sense things about each other. He knew something was wrong even before I told him that we were going to Germany for a year.

“I think it was when we were eleven. It was really raining, he was over at our house, and we couldn’t go outside and play. You were working on something, and didn’t want us interrupting you. So, you had us to go play in the basement rec room. I got to thinking of the stuff we had stored in the storeroom in the basement. Then I got the idea to play dress up. And, we did.

“Peter and I went digging through boxes in the storeroom. And, we found some of dad’s stuff, some of your stuff, and some of Linda’s and my stuff. Right off we knew dad’s stuff would be way too big on him. And, we figured that maybe we couldn’t play dress up. But, then I said how about dressing you like a girl. At first Peter said no way. But, after a little while, and a little begging, he said he’d try it.

“We went digging. And, found panties, a girl’s T-shirt, a nice skirt and top, and a pair of Linda’s shoes that we though might fit him. He went into the downstairs bathroom, undressed, and put on the panties and T-shirt. When he came back out, he commented on how nice and soft everything felt.

“We put the skirt and top on him, and then the shoes. I looked at him, and the clothes looked cute on him. So, we kind of played at girl’s things for a while, and we had fun. He got into it and seemed comfortable with it. And, I just started calling him Rebecca or Becka for short.

“He didn’t look much like a girl. And, I decided that it was his short hair. We did it off and on over the next few months whenever we were stuck in the house. Then one time we were digging through the boxes, and along with a cute shorts outfit and running shoes, and we found a blond wig. It was a shag cut, and I think it was from one of Linda’s Halloween costumes. I talked him into trying it on, and it made a real difference. With his bright blue eyes, the wig helped him look like a girl.

“Then whenever we were stuck in the house, and could, we’d dress Peter up and play as two girls. Then sometime later, maybe only a few months before we went to Germany, I had him try a bra with some light padding and some makeup. And, with the wig, there was a cute girl.

“That’s about where it ended because we went to Germany.”

“That time I caught you.”, Sara’s mother said, “Must have been one of the first times you did this. He was dressed in a skirt and blouse. No wig. I figured that you were just having fun, and when I told Peter’s mother about it, she agreed with me.

“I knew that you did it some more, but figured it was harmless play. But, I kept Peter’s mother in the loop.

“Then, just before we were leaving for Germany I happened to see you again. And, when I first saw Peter, I thought he was a girl. You didn’t see me, so I watched for a while. And, it was like two girls learning to use makeup. I told Peter’s mother about this and she told me what his aunt had told her. And, I understood.”

“Mother.”, Sara said, “You shouldn’t have been spying on us.”

“And, you, young lady, shouldn’t have been doing things behind my back!”

“Sorry.”

“At least you know that we know. And, how we feel about it.”

My mother, as she got up from the table, said to Sara’s mother, “Mary. I hear there’s an Eagle’s nest by the little pond. Let’s leave these two alone for a little while, and see if we can find it?”

As Sara’s mother got up, she said, “Sounds good, Jean. I need to walk.” Then she looked at us, smiled, and said, “We’ll be back in a little bit.”

As they walked away, I said to Sara, “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Me either.”, Sara replied.

“I was kind of expecting the birds and bees talk,”

“I got that while I was in Germany.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Remember. My family is really a strict Catholic family. No birth control and stuff like that.”

“Oh.”

Then we sat there in silence for a while, until Sara asked me, “Why do I like you when you’re dressed like a girl and like to help you do it?”

“I don’t really know.”, I replied, “Do you like me when I’m not?”

She looked at me, smiled, and in her cute, shy way said, “Yes. Very much.”

“In the same way>”

“Yes. It’s because you are the same person dressing in a different way. A way that makes them happy. And, because I like the person, it makes me happy too.”

“And, you like to help?”

“Yeah. That’s actually a lot of fun. Helping you learn things. Like my mother said, when we were playing with makeup, it was like two girls learning to use makeup. I wish we could have continued.”

“You can still teach me.”

“You want me to?”

“Sure. It would be fun.”

“You going to talk to your aunt?”

“I think.”

“Would you mind it we did it together?”

“No. It might help both of us. And, you feel something special between us. Maybe like a brother and sister thing?”

“No. I can’t explain it. Maybe your aunt can.”

“You know. I’ve felt like there was something between us too.”

She looked at me, smiled, and said, “I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t know how. I just do.”

The week following the party was still crazy. We drove Richard to West Point. This place is impressive, but not for me. The following week Sara and I did some things together. We went to a movie, went bowling, and spent time swimming at a local lake. Neither of us could drive yet, you have to be sixteen years and three months old to get a Virginia driver’s license, so we had to rely on our mothers to take us places. Or, we rode our bikes. I had my learners permit, but could only drive when there was adult with me.

On Thursday, we were at the lake, soaking up some sun, and Sara asked, “When do you want me to teach you how to do makeup?”

“Any time.”

“You tell me.”

“Okay. How about tomorrow. It’s supposed to rain.”

She smiled, “I like rainy days. It’ll be good to see Becka again.”

“You really miss her?”

“Yeah. Do you?”

“Yeah. I wanted to dress, and it was hard not doing it.”

“You should have just done it.”

“No. Like I told our moms, it’s no fun without you.”

“You’re sweet.”

I got my cell phone, called my mother, then after the ususal hellos, I said, “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Do you think Sara could come over?”

“Sure honey.”, my mother said.

“She wants to teach Becka how to use makeup.”

“Oh . . . Ah . . . Becka . . . Yeah. . . . Sure. That should be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes honey. I’m sorry. It just surprised me a little.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I did tell you that you could.”

After I hung up, I chuckled a bit, and told Sara what my mother had said. Sara then asked, “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Sure.”, I replied, “I think it just surprised her a little. And, my dad left today for some kind of retreat and won’t be back until late Sunday. So, it’s just mom and me.”

The weatherman was right. It was raining when I got up Friday morning. Later my mother said that she had called Sara’s mother and invited her and Sara for lunch. And, when they arrived, Sara had me help her bring some bags in from the car.

During lunch, I said, “Mom. This sounds so weird. But, were can Sara and I do . . . well . . . “

My mother and Sara’s mother were grinning. Then my mother said. “Honey. Don’t be nervous. Mrs. Monroe and I know what you want to do. Where would you like to do it?”

I looked at Sara, and she said, “Some place with a mirror would be nice, so he could watch.”

“Well when Peter’s father and I got our new bedroom set, we moved our old set to the spare bedroom. And, there’s a vanity. So, I guess you can use that.”

“Thanks Mrs. Carter.”

“Just leave the door open.”

“Leave the door open?”, I asked.

“Go on. And, just behave yourselves.”

“Mother!”

Sara grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward where we’d left the bags. We grabbed the bags and headed to the spare room, which was at the far end of the house. It was basically a duplicate of my mom and dad’s room. And even had an attached bathroom. We did leave the door open.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a boy, a teenaged boy, and I like girls. But, I also have a lot of respect for Sara. Would I like to do things with her? Yes. And, that may happen at some point. But, not until we’re both ready. But, controlling the urge can be a problem.

Sara dumped the contents of the bags on the bed, and I said, “That’s a bunch of stuff.”

“Sure.”, she replied, “The biggest problem is, you’ve grown over the past year. And, I’m not sure what’s going to fit you.”

She started sorting through things. A small pile of panties. A couple of bras. Three or four pairs shorts. A few tops. Some short socks. Two pairs of girls’ running shoes. The wig. And, a box that she set on the vanity.

“This would have been easier at your house?”, I said.

“Maybe. But, this will still be fun.”, she said with a cute smile.

Then, she did something that she hadn’t done since my brother’s party. She kissed me. Not a long kiss, but a nice one. Then, after we’d broken the kiss, she said, “I was right.”

“Right about what?”, I asked.

“That I needed to do that more.”

“Now.”, she continued, “I figured we’d keep the clothes simple, and spend the time on the makeup. Take the panties, go in the bathroom, strip, and see if you can find a pair that fits.”

Doing as I was told, I picked up the panties, and headed to the bathroom. I stripped, and looked at the panties. I finally picked up a pink pair that had some stretch to them. Slipped them up my legs, and they were too small. Next I tried a pair of pale green ones. Not much stretch, but they fit. I’d almost forgotten how nice panties felt. But, I had a minor problem. I had started to get an erection.

Being a geek, and after the talk in the park, I’d done some net surfing and found a lot of information on cross-dressing. Some of it was gross, but some was informative. I had learned what tucking was, and I had tried it with my tighty whities, and it had worked. So, I tried it with the panties, and it worked better than it had with my tighty whities.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Sara asked, “Have you found one that fits?”

“Yeah.”, I replied.

I walked back into the bedroom. Sara looked at me, and said, “That took long enough.”

“Sorry. But, I had to take care of something.”

She studied my face for a minute, and ended up frowning a little. So, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Your eyebrows.”, she replied.

“What’s wrong with my eyebrows?”

“They’re a mess.”

“A mess?”

“Yes. If we’re going to do your makeup, we need to work on them.”

“Work on them how. How?”

“Just clean them up.”

“No. Boys don’t do that. And, what will people think.”

“Peter. No one will notice.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How much cleaning?”

“Just neaten them, and remove some of the stray hairs.”

“Okay. I guess. Just don’t go overboard.”

She had me sit at the vanity, and she went to work. It hurt, and I started getting worried that she was doing too much. Just as I was going to tell her to stop, she stopped, and said, “There. That’s better. Take a look.”

I looked in the mirror, and really couldn’t see any difference. Sara asked, “See anything different?”

“No. Not really.”, I said.

“All I did was remove some hairs from the bottom, so that they were even. Pulled some of the longer ones. And, removed some between your eyebrows. Besides, you’re a blond, and your eyebrows are very light.”

We spent rainy days with her teaching me makeup, then one day I asked her how she’d learned makeup so well. She grinned, and said, “Spend a year at an all girl’s school, and it’s one of the things that you did to pass the time when you weren’t in class. The nuns didn’t like it, but we did it anyway.”

Over the following weeks Sara taught me the finer points of makeup. How to use an eyebrow pencil. How to measure where my eyebrow should start and end, and where the arch should be. How to use eye shadow. How to use a lip liner and lipstick. Of course every day we did this I was Becka. Now don’t get me wrong. This wasn’t an everyday thing. It was a rainy day thing. There were days that Sara did things with her girlfriends. And, there were days that we did other things together. Riding our bikes to the park, swimming, and stuff like that. Makeup lessons usually happened on rainy days.

And, with her teaching, I actually got good at doing it. One day my mother happened to see us, and she was surprised how I looked. She said, “Peter. You look wonderful. Sara really does a good job with your makeup.”

“Mom.”, I said, “It’s Becka. And, I did my own make up with her only making suggestions.”

“Well. Becka. You did a lovely job on your makeup.”

On one of those rainy days, Sara asked me to come over to her house. When I got there, she told me, “Mom and I were talking about you, really Becka, and I told her that you’d gotten good at doing your own makeup. Then she asked me if I though you would mind if she saw the finished product. And, I told her that I’d ask. So, I’m asking?”

I told her, “No problem.”

She smiled, then said, “I also may have found one of Linda’s old formals that might fit you. So, do you want to go for the whole formal look?”

I didn’t have to answer. My smile told her my answer. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up to her room. She had everything laid out on her bed. Panty, bra, panty hose, the dress, a pretty black formal, and something I’d never seen before. I picked the item, and asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s a waist cincher.”, Sara replied.

“What’s it for?”

“So, the dress will fit better.”

“But, I’m skinny.”

“But, you don’t have a waist. The dress is form fitting. And, this will give you a waist.”

I went into the bathroom, and changed into the panties. Since I knew how to tuck, every time I was Becka I had a smooth front. Then I found out what a waist cincher is. Sara had me step into it, and pull it up to my waist. There were laces at the back of it that she tightened. And, I felt my insides being squeezed. Finally she tied the laces, and said, “There. Now you’ve got a waist.”

“Yeah. But, I can’t breath.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

I just frowned at her.

I put on a bra, and added little padding. Walked over to her vanity, sat, and did my makeup, and put on the wig. Sara was smiling, and said, “I just love watching you do that. You’ve really learned.”

“I had a good teacher.”, I said.

Then Sara helped me into the dress, and as she zipped it up, it was still a little tight. But, she got the zipper up. She stood back, and said, “You look good it that dress.”

I looked in the mirror, and she was right. There was a girl standing there.

Then Sara asked, “Can I have mom take a look?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Sara ran out of the room, and was back in a few minutes with her mom. Her mom saw me, and said, “Peter! You do look good in that dress.”

“Really?”, I asked.

“Yes you really do. I’m amazed. Could I take a couple pictures?”

“I guess. But, why?”

“I just want to be able to look at them.”

“Will anyone else see them?”

“Not unless you tell me they can. Like maybe your mother.”

“My mom would be fine.”

“You know. A pair of heels with that dress, might look really good.

“Sara. Look in Linda’s closet, and see if you can find something that might go good with the dress. And, I’ll be right back.”

Both Sara and her mom left me. Sara was back first with a pair of black heels, she set them on the floor, and held my hand as I tried to put my foot into them. They were tight, but I finally got them on. I felt really unstable, like I was going to fall, and wouldn’t let go of Sara.

Mrs. Monroe was back fairly quickly, and took a number of pictures. She even posed me in various ways. But, I was always near something to hold on to.

When she was done, I couldn’t get the heels off fast enough. They were really hurting my feet. Sara said, “What’s the matter. Don’t like the heels?”

“I liked the heels, but they were too tight. And, were hurting my feet.”

One morning at breakfast, after my dad had left, my mother asked, “Your Aunt Dorothy is coming over on Saturday. Do you still want to talk to her?”

“Sure.”, I said, “The more I know about me. The better.”

“Do you think Sara still wants to talk to her?”

“I don’t know. But, I’ll ask.”

That Saturday, my dad was at one of his weekend retreats, and my Aunt Dorothy was at our house around ten in the morning. She and I sat on the patio and just talked for about two hours. I won’t go into details, because I can’t remember most of the questions she asked. But, we talked about a lot of things, from my liking to dress like a girl, to the relationship that Sara and I have, to school, to my plans for the future, and so on.

Then she asked me to call Sara to come over. I did as she asked. And, she and Sara talked for a good hour. Then, she talked to both Sara and me together for another hour. And, when we were done, she asked Sara to have her mother come over and join us, and for me to ask my mother to also join us.

While we were waiting for Sara’s mother, Sara and I talked about what my Aunt Dorothy had talked to us about, but nothing made much sense to us.

When everyone was together. We moved into the den. Aunt Dorothy first told us that after our short talk and not doing in-depth testing, that as she had expected I was transgendered. And, in my case I was a cross-dresser. I wasn’t interested in being a woman, only looking like one. And, I was interested in doing it properly and well. That I was heterosexual, and was not at all interested in boys sexually.

Then she said that the relationship between Sara and I was very unusual for non-twins. She had seen it between twins, but never between children from two different couples. That it was like we could see into each other's minds and know what each other was feeling. She was going to do more research on it, and talk to experts on the subject. Of which there aren’t many.

We did hear back from Aunt Dorothy a few weeks later. She told us that she’d researched the interaction that Sara and I have, and there was nothing in the literature. And, that the colleagues that she talked to about us had never heard of it either, but would really like to study us. Both Sara and I didn’t want to be research subjects. But, we’d be happy to talk to her some more.