(Author's Note: Somebody said they didn't know the time frame of this story. I hope this chapter answers that.)

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Mom woke me up at eight o'clock the next morning, so I could get ready to go and register for school. I am going in the seventh grade at Audubon Middle School. Mother made sure she got my transcript from Forest Home Elementary School so there would be no problems. I got up and decided on my baby powder pink dress, my pink Mary Jane's with the one inch heel. I got out my powder pink lingerie, and my nylons. I went in the bathroom and ran my bath water. I brushed my hair a little and brushed my teeth. So okay I am going girly today. And why not? I feel so pretty all dressed up.

After I had soaked and washed, I put my robe back on and went to get dressed. I started with my lingerie and made sure my stockings were firm but not tight. I stepped in to my dress, and then put my shoes on. I was brushing my hair, when mother came in and took the brush and continued brushing my hair.

"There, you look fabulous." She gave me a hug, and said we should be going.

We got to the school about nine thirty, and we waited what seemed forever for the administrator for my part of the alphabet to come and talk to us.

"Good morning, my name is Mr. Erdheim, I am the seventh grade administrator for your," he looked at the transcript again, "son. Is he here?"

"Mr. Erdheim, this is my son, and because of certain allergies to cotton and wool, he has to dress like a girl because they are the only clothes that he can wear."

"I see. Well, the school board is very adamant in the dress code. Boys will dress like boys, and girls can wear whatever as long as it is decent."

"So what are you saying? That my son has to wear boy clothes to school, even though he is allergic to them?"

"Yes, basically that is what I am saying. We will keep his registration, but he must be dressed like a boy on the first day of school."

"And what if he can't wear boy clothes? Then what?"

"Then he can't attend school here. He has to abide by the dress code."

"We will see."

"I'm sorry Mrs. James, but my hands are tied. I have to enforce the school board regulations."

"What I don't understand is, if he is wearing clothes, why does he have to adhere to an outdated and obsolete dress code?"

"Because that is the way it is. If he wants to attend school here, he has to adhere to the dress code. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. You can take it up with the school board if you wish, but they will tell you the same thing."

"I will do exactly that. If I don't get anywhere with the school board, I will find a lawyer and take this matter to court."

"Well, you can do whatever you want, but the court will be behind us."

"Is that so? We will see. Come along Billie, we're not getting anywhere like this."

We left Mr. Erdheim's office and the school and headed to the school board offices. When we walked in the office that said student services, the lady asked us if we had an appointment. Mother said no, but then explained what the problem was. The lady said just a moment, and shortly we were directed into an office of the superintendent.

"I thought we had to talk to student services."

"Yes, ordinarily that would be the procedure. But when you explained the problem, only I have the authority to over ride what the school said. I'm Dan Wendt the superintendent of schools. And what is your name, young lady?"

"Wilhelmina, sir, but everybody just calls me Billie."

"I see by your school records that your birth name is William. Until this is changed by a court of law, we have to address you by your legal name."

"Sir, all my teachers at Forest Home called me Billie. Do you think they can do that at Audubon? That way there won't be any snickering or talking behind my back."

"Well, first of all, let's get to why you are dressed in girls clothes."

"He has a bad allergy to cotton and wool. It makes him break out in red blothches all over his body. Since girl clothes are the only clothes that come in synthetic fabrics for everyday wear, he has to wear girl clothes. We even looked at the possibility of him wearing jeans, but denim is a cotton material. So, I am sorry to say that even though his father's genes made him on of the boys, mother nature made him one of the girls. It looks as though my son was fated to be my daughter for whatever reason."

"I see, and you have a doctor's statement to that effect, I presume."

"Yes sir, as well as an excuse from our doctor excusing Billie from taking gym class." Mom handed Mr. Wendt the papers and he looked them over.

"Okay, I will be right back." He left carrying the papers mom had given him, and he came back about five minutes later. "I copied these, and I will put them in your file. Now as for your dilemma young lady, not only can I sympathize and empathize, but I can also tell you that according to the first amendment the United States constitution, you have the rigt to tell everybody who you are. Let me ask you this. Is this who you are and want or need to be?"

"Well sir, if mother nature won't let me be a guy, what other choice do I have? I told mother that if this is what I am supposed to be, then I will be the best girl I know how. As for is this something I want or need, I would say if there was another way I would rather be a guy, but as you can see I am developing a figure, and my voice hasn't even started to change yet."

"Well, I will tell you what. There are U.S. Supreme Court decisions that says even a young person has a right to communicate their need to be something or someone other than what they appear to be. So if this is who you have to be, and there is no getting around it, then you have the right to dress the way you see fit. Who did you talk to at Audubon?"

"A Mr. Erdheim."

"Oh yes. We received quite a few complaints from parents about him. I wonder, would you wait in the outer office for a few moments, please. I want to call Mr. Erdheim and find out why he said you couldn't attend school the way you are dressed." We waited for about twenty minutes, and then he called us back in his office. Just as we sat down, Mr. Erdheim came in.

"Marian and Billie James, this is Steve Erdheim the seventh grade administrator at Audubon Middle School. He has told me that he said you couldn't attend school dressed the way you are for security reasons. I explained to him that if this went to court, we would lose because school dress codes have been challenged all across the country. He said he wasn't aware of that. So here is what will happen.

"You will attend Audubon Middle School as a girl, since that is the only way you can dress, and you will be excused from taking physical education. The name on your school records will be Billie with an ie. Good luck young lady, and I would suggest looking into changing your name, then there will be no legal confusion."

"Thank you, Mr. Wendt."

We left the school board offices and went back home. By the time we got home it was lunch time, and mom asked me if I wanted tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I said yes, and got out the milk.

"So what do you think? Do you think there might be a problem with Mr. Erdheim?"

"I hope not. I mean, I'm not looking for any trouble with anybody."

"Well, we will see. If he so much as gives you a nasty look, you tell me. I will deal with Mr. Erdheim. I also want to know if you have any problems with the students. Like do they call you nasty names, do they threaten you, do they just beat you up. I want to know about these things."

"Yes mom, I understand."

"Remember anything out of the ordinary I want to know about. Now let's clean up and see what we can do next. Oh yes! We need to go back to the attorney so I can read those papers and sign them. We decided to have a little something until we had to be there. We got to the lawyer's office at three forty-five, and we were shown right in.

"Mrs. James, these are the papers I drew up last night. I want you to read them, and then I have to ask you if you understand them. Billie, we don't usually do this, but you are well informed for your age. Would like to read these papers also?"

"Yes, thank you, sir."

"Yes, Mr. Brown, I think these will do."

"Do you understand everything there?"

"Yes, I do."

"Here Billie. I want you to read this through and if there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask me."

I read through the papers, and at the top it said in the matter of, then my name, a minor child. Okay, I understood that part. But as I read further it said that the minor needed to have her first name changed from Wiliam to Whilhelmina because of the allergies and reasons that are listed below. It said infra which means the same, or so he told me. Then it said that because of these allergies the said minor needed to have her gender changed to female, because the allergies which have no known cure at present, are permanent, and the child is in need of corrective surgical procedures so that her body becomes and moves like a female.

I looked at him and asked if that was necessary.

"Billie, you may or may not have to spend the rest of your life dressed and acting like a girl. But from what your doctor tells me, there is no known cure. That's not to say there won't be say next year or even further in the future. But by then, you will already have the mentality of a girl, and you will be doing girl things automatically. So, instead of waiting to see if there is a cure for your allergies, the best thing is to take care of it now, and have the court okay you to have the surgeries. This way you can grow up to be a girl, and there won't be any legal repercussions later on as you get older. This way too we can stop male puberty in its tracks, and have you grow as a girl with a girl's puberty. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes, sir, I guess. If I have to then I guess I have to. Like mother said, my father's genes made me one of the guys, but mother nature made me one of the girls. So, yes, it does make sense."

"Good. I will put this through as an emergency situation, and I am sure that we can get a hearing in twenty four to forty eight hours. Children's court judges don't like to prolong these things. Thank you both for coming in. Have a good day."

"Well the rest is easy I guess. We just have to shop for your school clothes a little more, and see if you can pull off the first day of school without anything going wrong. So, I say we make the most of the free time we have left and go shopping."

We went to one of the outer suburbs where Southridge mall was, and we decided that we would shop til we dropped. Mom said that was a little girl humor. We started in the first shop, and we saw some very sexy clothing that all the teen girls were wearing, but mom said no, so it was on to the next store.

"Mom, I don't want to be dressed where I stand out either. I mean the clothes I have now are okay, but I need something that says teen girl."

"Honey, you are not a teenager yet, and I want my little girl for as long as I can have her. Let me tell you a little story."

Mom went on about how when she was a little girl there were people being shot in the street for their coats and their shoes. Some were even found naked. She said she didn't want that for me, because she would just sit and fade away if anything like that happened to me. So she wanted me to be "safe" and not have anything that was name brand, at least not for now.

So I settled in for a day's worth of shopping for everyday wear, but cut to a tweeny style. I got four dresses that were very pretty and came to just above my knees. If I wore anything knee length I would probably be laughed out of school. Most of what I had seen the girls at school wear, were mid calf to just slightly above knee length. So anyway, here I was an everyday kind of guy, or so I had thought, getting everday kind of girl clothes. What was it mom had said? Oh yes! Mother nature sure has a malicious streak in her. Well anyway, by the time it was dinner time, we headed to the food court, and got a couple of salads for us and a couple of sodas. When we had finished, we heard the mall intercom telling us the mall would be closing in one hour.

"Come on, Billie, we still have an hour."

Another of mom's favorite sayings is, waste not want not, and we were off to yet another store. This time it was to get me earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and even and ankle chain so many of the girls were wearing. Mother may be old fashioned but she knew the latest fashions and what a young girl needs to look pretty. After we got an assortment of jewelry for me, we made one more stop. To get my ears pierced. We left the mall with a few minutes to spare and I had my birthstone for my first pair of studs, sitting snuggly on both ear lobes. I guess that is one of a girl's right of passage showing that you are a girl. I haven't seen any girls my age that hadn't had their ears pierced. Tomorrow is Friday, and then Monday is school. I'm going to get mom to do another girls night in before school starts.

Part VI - A mother/daughter weekend.

I woke up the next morning listening to mom on the phone. When she hung up, she came in my room, and sat on the bed.

"Honey, that was Mr. Brown. We have a children's court hearing Monday at four thirty. At least you won't miss the first day of school. Now remember, I want to know if any of those boys that teased you last semester are doing it again. Now young lady, what do we do this weekend?"

"How about another girls night in except make it all weekend?"

"Now that is an idea. You know though, a girls night in doesn't mean we have to be cooped inside all weekend. We can go shopping, we can take in a movie, we can actually make it a mother/daughter weekend instead. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like a lot of fun."

"You know Billie, you have shown me that there is very little I need to teach you, but you have to learn makeup, because even girls your age are wearing at least mascara and lip gloss. But we can go a little further, if you wish, with dual foundation powder for your face. Even though most young girls your age don't use face powders, it is done. Now we know that you look like you are sixteen when you are made up, and dressed nicely. We need to play that down a little, and maybe just use the lip gloss. Want to try it and see how you look?"

"Alright."

"Good. Now, let's get you a nice bubble bath, and then some pretty clothes."

I swung my legs out from under my covers and over the side of the bed. Don't ask me how I knew how to do that, but it just came naturally. Of course, it wasn't missed by mom, who told me that is how a proper young lady gets out bed. She took me in the bathroom, and showed me several bubble baths that she had. There was an apple scented one, and I chose that. She poured some in the cap, and poured it under the running water. Almost immediately the suds were foaming into a mountain. She told me to sit down in the tub easy like, and keep my hair from getting wet. Then she showed me how to sponge the water over me like a waterfall.

"You wash up nice, and I will go and get you an outfit."

As she left, I just let the suds cover my whole body, and I was feeling very feminine because the suds were actually taking all the stress of the past week out of my body. It was like the suds were drawing the stress and pain right out of me and throwing into the air with the popping bubbles. I washed up, and just as I finished patting myself as mother had shown me, she came in with my outfit for the day. Or at least for this morning, anyway.

"Here you go sweetie. Now that is not the way a girl or a woman wraps a towel around her. Here, let me show you." She took the towel and put it around my body just under my underarms. Then she wrapped it around my body, and tucked it in to itself. "That is how a girl or a woman wraps a towel around her. Now, get dressed, and let me see what we can do to make you look twelve, and not sixteen. I will explain about that later."

I got dressed. First I put on my white, lace panties, then my white tights that had diamond shapes all around them. Then I put on my bra, which I had a little trouble with at first, but I cheated and looked behind me in the mirror, and noticed the ends, and clasped it easy enough. Then my white full slip, that had lace across my breasts. Then I stepped in to the powder blue dress, and zipped it up. I stepped back in to my slippers, and went to my bedroom to get my shoes. I got out the light blue sandals mom had bought me, and made sure the strap was around my ankle but not tight. Then I went downstairs to breakfast.

"You look very darling today, sweetie." Mom was smiling that mother smile you get when you did something right. "I made waffles and pork sausages this morning. There are two waffles for you, and two sausage links. The same for me. Now I want to talk to you about looking your age. If you look older, there will be high school boys who will want to go steady with you, and for right now that is not a good idea. Here, let me see how you look with just the lip gloss." She put the lip gloss on me, and had me look at myself in the living room mirror. What I saw was, me looking like twelve years old, only as a girl. "Now you look more like your age, and that is what we want for right now, at least. Okay, so now what do we do after breakfast?"

"We could do more shopping. I mean, I do have a wonderful wardrobe, but I need more if I am going to be a girl. Especially shoes mom. I hear the girls at school complain because they don't have the right shoes for this outfit or that one, and they would just die if they had to wear the same old clogs all the time."

"You know sweetie, you are so right. As girls, we can never have too many clothes, shoes, coats, purses, jewelry. We are girls and we need to look pretty all the time, even if it is just for ourselves. So okay, the cleanup is done, so let's go shopping. The first stop, Shoes-A-Plenty. They have shoes for every age, every style, and every fabric. You can't wear trainers dear, because they could come in contact with your skin. So are we ready, then?"

We got in the car and headed toward the suburbs again. All the best stores it seemed were in the suburbs. When we got to Shoes-A-Plenty, a young woman, younger than mom, came and asked us if she could help us.

"We need to get a few pairs of shoes for my daughter. She needs school shoes, shoes for parties, and every day shoes, but has an allergy to certain fabrics that trainers are made from, so trainers are out."

"Alright then, just sit right here and we will measure her feet." She had me put my feet on this thing, then she closed the side and the top. "Wow! Honey you are dainty, aren't you. Do you know that your shoe size is a size five? I wear a seven myself. Okay, just sit right here, and I will be right back." She was gone for only a few minutes, but when she came back, she had a cart full of shoe boxes. "Okay, let's try these on, then. What is your name, dear?"

"Wilhelmina, but mom and everybody just calls me Billie with an ie," I said as I tried on the first pink pair of strappy sandals. The strap on this pair went to my mid calf. Mom and I liked them, so they went in the buy pile.

"My name is Lisa. How old are you Billie, with an ie?"

"I'm twelve."

"Well, you certainly do look your age. Some girls your age that come in here, try to look older than they are. That is a shame though, because a girl should grow into her natural beauty, not make it come too early."

"Mom put some mascara and lipstick covered with lip gloss on me, and I looked like I was sixteen."

"And see, that is four years too old for you right now. You should enjoy these next four years, because by the time you are sixteen, you will be a very pretty girl. Grow into your beauty naturally, and please don't make yourself older than you are." By this time I had tried on four pairs of shoes. One pair that stood out had silver and white straps across the foot, and the ankle strap too. It was going to be one of my party shoes. "So, what grade are you going to be in, Billie?"

"I will be in seventh grade on Monday."

"Then you enjoy the friendships you will make starting with the seventh grade. I still keep in touch with a lot of my girlfriends I met while I was in school, and even through college. So, just be yourself, and don't be in a hurry to grow up, because that will come sooner than you think. Since it is just us girls in here now, I want to ask you if you had your first period yet?"

"No, not yet." I wonder what she would say if I told her I was a boy?

"Well, don't be in a hurry for that either, because it isn't far off. Then you will know what uncomfortable really means. And that is putting it mildly." Mom stifled a giggle, and I was ready to burst too.

So with the female anatomy lesson out of the way, we finished trying on the rest of the shoes. When we were through, I had eight more pairs of dress shoes for winter, a couple pairs of party shoes, everyday shoes, and just a few pair of penny loafers. Mom paid for the shoes, and we left the store. After we got them in the trunk, and got in the car, neither one of us could stop from giggling so much our tummies hurt.

"Honey," mom said, still giggling. "That was priceless, and you did it all with a straight face too. So precious."

"I was wondering what she would have said if I had told her I was actually a boy? Do girls and women really talk about those things when we are together?"

"Yes honey, more so than most men would think. But it was so precious. See, isn't a mother/daughter outing fun?"

"Yes, and funny too." We both giggled again.

We took my shoes home, and put them away. Mom said to have a system so that I could find what I needed in a hurry if I had to.

"How many times must I be in a hurry to look for shoes?"

"Honey, you never know. There may be a boy down the road that wants to take you out, so you have to get ready like a fireperson going to a fire. Those many instances aren't all that rare. You must be prepared to get ready in a flash. Honey, it is like Lisa said at the store. Don't be in a hurry to grow up, you are only a little girl once, and you should make the most of it. When the time for going out with boys comes around, you should be, oh say, twenth one. I'm just kidding. Girls usually start going out with boys around fourteen, but that is way too early for even me. I would say sixteen is the best age to start going steady. When that time comes honey, we will talk more about how to be safe when you are with a boy. So, we have your shoes put away, now what should we do. You get to pick, this is actually your weekend to have fun."

"Well the new Harry Potter movie is out, and I would like to see it."

"Well let's see where it is playing." We looked through the movie section of the newspaper and saw that it was at the iPic-Bayshore in the Bayshore Mall. That was all the way across town from where we were. So we got ready and went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I like Hermione because she doesn't take anything from the boys. My kind of girl. When we got onto the freeway, there was a line of traffic around downtown, but we soon got through it. We arrived at Bayshore Mall, and there was a long line waiting to get in. I guess I'm not the only Harry Potter fan. It took us almost an hour to get in, and the only seats left were way in the back. We went in and sat in the last two seats available. There were still a lot behind us too. I hope they got tickets for tomorrow.

We bought a box of jujubes and two small sodas. We sat there and watched the movie. This is the first movie mom has gone to since daddy passed away. So she needed this as much as me. But like I said though, I like Hermione Granger because she is forthright in everything she does and she always has something planned, even on the spur of the moment. My kind of girl. Anyway, mom sat really watching this movie, and we hardly talked at all. That was good because I had never seen this movie. Okay, so this is the first it has been out, but still, I wanted to see it.

Mom had never seen a Harry Potter movie, but when we got back to the car she told me this was the best weekend she has had in a long time.

"Thank you, honey," she said, giving me a big hug.

"Thank you for what, mom?"

"You just made me realize I have been cooped up in that house and my beauty salon way too long. I really have had fun this last week with you having to be my daughter. Hoepfully we can make that permanent because of your allergies. This is not something I really want, you want either. But Mr. Brown does have a point. If you have to live as a girl, might as well be as a physical girl instead of a physical boy wearing girls clothes. I mean, sweetie, I know you would rather be a boy, but I am at my wits end here with how to handle this. I tried so hard to have fun this week and worry about you too, but you showed me how to have fun, and that is what I am thanking you for. Besides as a physical girl, you won't have nay problems with using the girls lavatory in school. Just in case some girl make lift your dress up to see if you are a girl. If they see a vagina, then they don't ask furhter. It is really in both of our interests dear, if you were physically female. But we can wait until we get to court on Monday. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm again, so what say we go to the lake and have a picnic?"

"That sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Yes, a picnic with just us will be a lot of fun."

"Then that is what we will do. We need to find you a swim suit though, one with a skirt bottom. Now we don't need to worry too much there because most ladies swimwear is made from synthetic materials. Just that the inside of the bra cups may be cotton or wool, but mostly that is covered by rayon or some other synthetic material like nylon. But because you are still physically male, we need something like one with a skirt bottom. Well, we will take care of that tomorrow. Let's go home and make pizza."

On the ride home we talked about how I should handle myself with boys. Even boys who I don't want asking me out or anything like that.

"Billie, one thing a girl never does, is sit with her legs wide open like a guy does. We keep our knees together and our backs straight. Yes, it will take a little more practice, but you have done very well this last week. Never let a boy coax you into letting him see you naked. Boys are uncanny like that sometimes. And for you right now, that isn't even an option. Never let a boy put his hand under your skirt or dress, and never let a boy play with your breasts, even while you are fully dressed. Never let a boy kiss you on the lips, unless you are sure that you are "in love" as we say, with him. Never let a boy in your bedroom, or go in his. And if you two are ever on a date, watch him closely, because boys have been to slip a drug, we call the date rape drug, in your drink. If you must take your eyes off of him, even for a moment, hold your drink in your hand in front of you. Of course the only clubs you will be able to go to, when you're sixteen and older, but under twenty one, are teen clubs that serve no alcohol. But that doesn't mean your date doesn't have the date rape drug with him. The most common is rohypnol, and you can't see it, smell it, or even taste it.

"You won't know anything is wrong, until after you wake up and find you have had sex. This is important Billie, because even though you can't get pregnant, rape is still a crime, even if you know the person who raped you. So, we will have to see how everything goes in court on Monday. Don't look for a quick solution, because the judge may have other plans. We will see. But you remember what I told you. Boys can be very dangerous and uncanny to get you to go to bed with them and have sex. All they want is to get their needs taken care and don't care anything about yours. Yes, Billie, even though you cannot get pregnant, you can still have orgasms, if what I read on your computer is right. Boys will have sex with you, and after they ejaculate, or cum as the saying goes. I'm really fond of that word, but anyway, they will leave you wanting for more. You are my precious baby, whether daughter or son, and I am telling you this now, so that when I repeat it from time to time, it will sink in.

"I will also give you the talk every mother has with her daughter too, so you know what girls go through during their periods, and how they get pregnant. This is very important for you to know, because when you are with a bunch of other girls, this is a lot of what they talk about. So I want you to be knowledgeable about everything a girl does or has to go through because of mother nature. See dear, even mother nature isn't fair to us either. Alright we're home, and it is still early. Let's make pizza."

We put away our purses, and went in the kitchen. Mom got out the flour, and I got the milk, eggs, and cooking oil. You have to put a little of that in the dough. Mom also got out her big round mixing bowl. She put the right amount of flour in, added the milk, eggs, and just to be different, a little natural vanilla. If you have never had vanilla pizza crust, mmmm mmmm good. She mixed the dough by hand, and her hands were always gooey from doing that, but she said it was the best way to get everything mixed well. After the dough was mix, mom plopped it onto her cutting board, and cut the dough in half. She put each half in a separate bowl, and covered the bowls with damp dish towels. She said this made the dough rise better. I should say that mom told me she used to make pizza with my grandma Belden, (mom's maiden name), and that she never saw any need to change how she learned. After that, mom told me to come in the front room, because she wanted to give me the mother/daughter talk. I thought about that for a moment and relaized that this is something I do need to know, or somebody might get suspicious. About what I haven't a clue, but they just might. You never know. So we went in the living room, and I prepared myself for another lesson in anatomy.

"I will tell you what we can do. Instead of me giving you the talk, we can go to your computer and I can show you what we go through. Now a cycle, or period, is usually 28 days. We count that from the first day our bodies release the blood and tissue from the uterus through the vagina. So let's go to your computer and I can show you better than describe it." We went to my bedroom, and I turned on my computer. "Okay now bring up menstruation." I typed the word in the upper search box, and a whole list of sites came down. "Now let me see here, which one would be better. I see, bring up the wikipedia one. that should give you enough information." The site came up, and mom almost fell backwards. "Oh my, this even has diagrams and charts as well as pictures. This will be very useful to you. Okay honey, please read the whole thing, and if you have any questions, just ask me." Mom sat next to me in my other chair, and I read. Now I am a very fast reader with a high comprehension level, or so I was told after my last test in the sixth grade. Some of the words I needed mom's help with, but I got through it okay.

(Author's note: I will not go into detail here, but if you want to know what periods really are and how long a woman has to get pregnant after her bleeding stops, here is the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cycle .)

"So, what does it mean, when it says the egg only lives for 24 hours or less, after bleeding stops?"

"That is the life of the egg, dear. Actually, the ovary releases the egg, and if it is not... how can I say this, so you can understand it? If the egg is not seeded, you know like a farmer plants seeds in the ground to grow things, then the egg dies, and is washed out of the system. After our bleeding stops, we can take up to two weeks, maybe three, depending on the woman, to get pregnant so we can have little angels like you."

"Oh."

I read further and looked at all the graphs and diagrams as well as the pictures. They are very revealing, and only a troglodite wouldn't be able to understand this. So this is what natural girls and women go through. Now I know, I mean, I have never even thought about sex, but it says here that the menarche can start as early as eight years to sixteen years old, depending on many things. This was so interesting I got absorbed into the reading, when mom had to shake me to get my attention.

"Honey, you have been at this almost an hour now, and it is time to get ready for bed. This will still be here tomorrow if you want to read the rest of it."

"Okay mom, I will just bookmark the page, that way I can read the rest tomorrow."

"Okay sweetie, you get a good night's rest, because tomorrow, we get you a nice girl's swim suit. Nite sweetie," she gave me a hug and kiss on the forehead, and I got ready for bed. I wore my shorty pajamas with the baby doll top. I looked at my reflection in my mirror, and yes, there she was, ready for bed.

I got in bed, and almost as quickly as I closed my eyes, the sun was coming in my window. I got up and went to take my bath. A nice rose scent bubble bath today. I got out my clothes for today. It was still warm for September second, but it was shorts weather, and I had a set of rayon/spandex. The spandex was in the tummy seciton, not that I needed it, but it helps give me a little more of a figure. The top had a cute saying across the breasts that read I'm ready if you are and it also had a hand painting of somebody playing golf. It is so cute, and it is light pink.

I went in and ran my water and put a capful of rose scent bubble bath under the running water. I love watching the suds just foam right up. I got out of my night clothes, and sat down in the tub while was filling up. The running water and bubbles was something I had never felt before, but it relaxed me. After sitting for a while, I washed myself and then got out and patted myself dry. I wrapped the towel around like mom had shown me, and went to get dressed.

I got out my white lace panties that had a lace waistband, my white culotte, my white lace bra, with the lace across the breasts, and then I got out a pair of footie socks, because the temperature was supposed to almost eighty degress (Farenheit for those outside the US.) After getting dressed, I put on a pair of black, low heeled clogs, and went downstairs.

"Good morning, sweetie. You look relaxed, and I love that scent. Roses always were my favorite. I thought I would give you a treat today. Let's have breakfast out. How does Denny's sound?"

"Really? Cool. Denny's yes."

"Well I'm so sorry I had to bend your arm," we both giggled.

We got in the car, and mom made sure I was buckled in. She backed the car out of the garage, and we headed for Denny's. Denny's is open twenty-four, seven, so it didn't matter when we got there. But this is Sunday morning, and there are a lot of people going to church, going here or there, and they stop at Denny's to eat. This Denny's was just one of those. We had to wait for the hostess to seat us, and when we had our booth, mom ordered for both of us again.

We talked while we ate a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausage links, and I had milk and juice while mom just had coffee.

"Honey, I want you to know that whatever that judge says tomorrow we are going to do. But today we are going to have fun, and I will pick you up from school so we can have something light before going to the children's court. Maybe a drive through or something."

"I only hope I don't have those troglodites from last semester. They were terrible, and never picked on anyone their own size either."

"Honey, a lot of boys and men are like that for whatever reason. But mostly it gives them a sense of control for all the wrong reasons. If they had to pick on someone their own size they might not win the fight. So, when they pick on others smaller than they are, they feel like big he men. But mostly dear, they are cowards. Any boy or man that has to pick on someone smaller than they are too, are very insecure about whatever. So, if you see any of those boys, don't look at them, or if they try anything with you, you report it and tell them to call me. I will handle that if it comes up. Now what say we go and get you a nice swim suit. You only be able to wear it a few times before it gets cold out. But we will get you a new one next summer."

We left Denny's for J.C. Penny. They had a lot of very nice swim suits at half off just to get rid of them. But today the store seemed empty, but it was early yet. A sales lady we hadn't seen before came over and asked us if we needed any help. Mom told her what we were looking for, and she looked very surprised we would want a suit for today. But it was getting warm out already, it was supposed to be eighty. So, whether or not I wanted a girl's swim suit, I would welcome one today.

The lady was older than mom, with greying hair but still some brown left. She wore a paisley dress that came down to her mid calf, and what we all call clunker shoes. That had this low wide heel. When we got to the swim suits, mom started looking at one rack, while I looked at another. She whispered to me find one with a skirt bottom.

I pulled one off of the rack, and held it up to me, and asked mom if this one was okay. She said it was, and it was only ten dollars. It is black and pink with alternating squares, and the skirt part is black on one side and pink on the other. Mother said this is exactly what we were looking for. It was feminine and a little sexy without being flashy. That is what she wanted for me.

We went to the register to pay for the suit, and found out that there was a free pair of sunglasses that came with the deal. I had my choice of white with pink lenses, or pink with dark lenses, or black with green lenses. I took the white pair. Mom paid for the suit, and we went back to the car.

"Honey, we need to stop at the supermarket and get whatever we are having for our picnic. I know a nice place down by the beach, where we can have our lunch and swim too. I hope the place isn't taken by the time we get there."

So, we went from our tiny mall where J.C. Penny is located and went over to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. All we needed was something for the picnic, and then we would go home and make whatever, and go to the beach, well, lakefront anyway. Our lakefront on Lake Huron is beautiful, and we have swim areas all over and nice parks too. There are some areas that say swim at your own risk, and that means there is no lifeguard on duty. When we got home after buying low fat, low sodium, low cholesterol, and low carbohydrates, and got some baked potato chips, and a two litre of ornage soda, we headed home.

When we got home, mom told me to go to my room, and try my swim suit on. I went up to my room, and got undressed, except for my panties. I put on the suit and it was bare in the back all the way to my waist. But as I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw nothing but a young girl looking at her reflection. I had a pair of flippy flops in my closet and they were actually pink, and that is why I never wore them outside. But now I guess that I can. I went downstairs and showed mom my suit and how it looked on me.

"Does this look alright, mom?"

"OMG! Sweetie you are the image of an angel. You look so pretty in that suit. Honey, I thought of something while you were putting on your suit. How about we stop and get a disposable camera and take pictures while we are at the beach?"

"That sounds like fun. Okay so how do I do this then? Do I change at the beachhouse or what?"

"No honey, you leave your suit on, and get your pink wrap around skirt from your closet. You don't need anything to cover your top, but you will need something around your bottom. That is so no one looking at the car can see under your suit skirt. So, I have everything ready for our picnic, and if we are ready after you get your skirt, we can go."

I went upstairs and got my pink wrap around skirt, and went back down tomeet mom in the car. The picnic basket we had was an old flower basket that we covered with a tablecloth. After we were buckled in, mom headed toward the beach. When we got there we were surprised by all the people that were. But mom's favorite place, off to the side of the beach, but where the lifeguard could see us, was empty. We headed over there and set up our lunch.

Just about then, this beach ball came by my foot. A boy about my age, came to pick it up, and mom was right, he tried looking under my skirt.

"You have your ball, young man, I suggest you go back over there by your friends."

"Hi, hi, my name, my name is Dennis. Would you, uhm like to play beach ball with us?"

"I'm sorry, but maybe after we have had our lunch. You are invited if you want to stay." What was I doing? Mom said I shouldn't be interested in boys until at lest fourteen, but it would be better if I liked a boy at sixteen. I looked at mom and she just smiled at me. Did she know this could happen? I will talk to her later about this. So here I was, inviting a boy I didn't know to have lunch with us. What is that sparkle in his eyes, they look like stars, and so blue too.

"What, what is, is your name?"

"Well my name is Whilhelmina, but everybody just calls me Billie.

"How old, old, are, uhm you?"

"I'm twelve, I will be thirteen next summer."

"My birhtday is in the summer too."

He looked like he was getting redder from embarrassment. I better bring him down. Let see if I know how.

"Dennis, you don't need to be afraid or embarrassed. I know your friends put you up to this, so what I am going to say, don't let on that I said anything, because they are watching. Tell you what, have a piece of chicken, it is fresh from Walmart's deli. Now, what I was going to say is, I don't bite, and I don't have vampire fangs. You don't need to stutter when you talk to me." I gave him a reassuring smile.

"O okay, it's just, just that I, I have, have never..."

"Dennis, say it fast and you will see that is comes out a lot better.

"Okay, what I wanted to say was, there is a dance this Friday at the VFW post in Hillman, for twelve to fourteen year olds, and I wanted to know if you would go with me."

"Is that all? Yes Dennis, I would love to go with you to a dance." Here I go again. Is there some magic in these clothes that makes me autmatically know how to be a girl? Maybe mom is right. Maybe I should have the surgeries. "Here is my address and phone number. Are your parents here?"

"Yes." He looked from the direction he came, and waved for them to come over.

"Hi," he said with sun brilliant smile. "I'm Dan Miller, Dennis' father, and this is my wife Madge."

"Hi I'm Marian James and this is my daughter Whilhelmina, but I just call her Billie."

"Those other boys over there are Dennis' brothers and one of them is a cousin. His sisters are at a sleepover this weekend. We were just about to come over and find out what was taking him so long in coming back with the ball."

"Well, your son Dennis asked my daughter to the dance this Friday at the VFW post in Hillman on Friday. He was the perfect gentleman too. He was a little embarrassed, but Billie broke that down."

"Do you remember what I told your responsibilities were when you are with a young lady?"

"Yes, dad."

"Good. Yes the dance starts at six p.m., and it goes until ten. There will be refreshments, loud, horrific music by a live band, and of course young gyrating bodies all over the floor."

Mom, I, and Dennis' mom just giggled. He mentioned something under his breath about women, and we giggled again. Mom had Dennis' mother take a picture of us eating, and then one of just Dennis and me. Then I went over and played with the beach ball with the boys, until time had gotten away from us. The lifeguard was talking through his megaphone thing that the beach was now closing. It was now eight thirty, and I had school tomorrow. Mom had shot all twenty four pictures from the disposable camera we picked up at Walmart, and I now had a boyfriend.

We packed everything away and put it back in the trunk. Dennis and I hugged, promising to call each other. Then mother and I left for home. When we got home, we took everything in the kitchen, and put it away. Now it was time for my bath before bed, and then bed, and sleep, yes, nice inviting sleep.