The Adoption Of

  Little Orphan

  Danny

By K.T. Leone

(Little Katie)

It has been quite some time (almost 2 years) since I posted a story. This
story was written about 4 or 5 years ago and I just got around to typing it on the
computer. It is a fun little story and I do some exploring with certain things.
I do hope everyone likes it, but please post and validate my existence.

Part 1: Humble Beginnings

“Good Morning Mrs. Adams,” Mr. Pritchard, the head of Father Henry O'Neil's orphanage, said as the well to do widow stood at the front door. “I'm so glad you could make it on this fine day.” The lanky balding man was by all means ready to make a sales pitch to get some money for the much needed repairs on the old building and began to butter up the prospected philanthropist.

“I do appreciate your social graces Mr. Pritchard,” the large, middle aged woman, with her well permed curly brown hair said cordially. “But I am a very busy woman with a very full schedule and rarely do I have time for such pleasantries. “

“Certainly Mrs. Adams. If you would follow me.” Mr. Pritchard was sure to keep his friendly demeanor as he led the woman through the bottom floor offices and to his office. Certainly if a woman of Mrs. Adams inheritance was interested in one of his boys, as he liked to refer to the orphans, then certainly she would have a gracious heart and perhaps make a hefty donation to meet some of the orphanages needs.

“Very quaint building,” Mrs. Adams said as she made her way into the office. The office, as she expected, was as drab the other parts of the building she'd seen already. A plain wooden desk, certainly of questionable quality, filled most of the room and though some people might call it cozy, Mrs. Adams would call it cramped. None the less, she took a seat in a chair she found uncomfortably restraining. Despite all she felt lacking, Mrs. Adams managed a meager smile.

A tall blond secretary entered the room and stood in the corner to remain unnoticed until she was needed. A hefty folder filled with papers were tucked tightly under her arm.

“We were quite surprised about hearing that you were interested in adopting a child. It can be quite a rewarding experience,” Mr. Pritchard started his pitch.

“As you said, I'm already interested in adopting,” Mrs. Adams cut him off. “Please save the sales pitch for someone whose conviction on the mater is wavering. Remember, I'm a very busy woman.”

“Oh yes, I remember,” Mr. Pritchard said apologetically. “I suppose the only question would be which child you will be taking home with you.” Unlike most people who came looking for a child, Mrs. Adams extensive wealth and standing in the community made her immune to the red tape and delays.

“I would like a girl, but one who is not too young. Past the potty training phase, please,” Mrs. Adams insisted.

Mr. Pritchard tried his best not to seem disappointed, but failed. “This is a boys orphanage, Mrs. Adams. But boys have their redeeming qualities as well,” he said with a glimmer of hope.

“And then there is always Danny,” the secretary interjected with a smirk.

“Ms. Lewis, please,” Mr. Pritchard said sternly.

“A behavioral problem, I suppose,” Mrs. Adams said with a raised eyebrow.

“Not at all.” The secretary either didn't notice her bosses reprimand or simply didn't care. “He's not like any boy I've ever seen before.”

“In a way, that sounds promising,” Mrs. Adams said before Mr. Pritchard could get a word in. “Please tell me more about this Danny,” she said in a motherly sort of way.

“Danny doesn't quite fit in with this rough and tumble crowd.” Mr. Pritchard decided to take back control of the conversation. “He's not aggressive at all, in fact he's downright gentile. For an eight year old, he's extremely polite and soft spoken. Fancies himself to be quite the artist. I suppose you could call him almost perfect.”

“Almost?” Mrs. Adams leaned in, wondering what the catch was.

“For a boy, he's quite fragile, bruises very easily and doesn't quite look eight. I'm sure he has some condition, but our budget to test for such abnormalities is quite limited.” Mr. Pritchard hoped his reply wouldn't chase off the woman and also offered the perfect segue into addressing the financial needs of the institution.

“He sounds absolutely Charming.” Mrs. Adams smiled easily.

“Would you care to meet him,” Mr. Pritchard pressed the issue even further.

“My, of course I would.” The delight was evident in Mrs. Adams' words.

“Ms. Lewis, would you mind finding Danny for us?” Mr. Pritchard gave his secretary an appreciative wink.

Danny, as was his custom was sitting on a bench, watching the much larger boys play a spirited game of rough-tackle football. He knew he wouldn't be picked to play, but his desire to do such was even less then his desire to be pummeled. He simply enjoyed looking in on the game now and then as he let his thoughts wonder aimlessly. An errant pass found itself at Danny's feet.

Danny stood up and placed the large, oblong leather ball in his throwing hand and, with all his might, he heaved the ball at the group of boys. The ball, for all his efforts, traveled end over and end, only making it half the required distance.”

“Good job, Danielle,” the boy teased. “That's why you're the designated cheerleader.”

Danny glared at the boy but knew that as far as sports went, he would spend his life as a spectator. The prospect suited him just fine. Danny sat back down and tugged at the collar of his uncomfortable dress shirt. The pressed, gray slacks were no better as they continually itched.

“Danny! Danny!” Ms. Lewis called as she came to his bench.

“Yes, ma'am,” the child answered while looking down at the grass, or his worn leather dress shoes, no one was ever sure what he always stared at.

“There's a lady who wants to meet you, I think she might even take you home,” Ms. Lewis said excitedly.

“Yes, ma'am,” Danny said flatly as he stood up and followed the slim, blond haired secretary into the building. Danny had been through this drill before; a family wanted a son, and each time he simply didn't measure up. The men wanted someone macho and the women wanted to please their men. Danny walked down the hall as his eyes kept a steady gaze on the old gray tiled fool and his mind concentrated on the methodical clicking of Ms. Lewis' high heal shoes instead of getting his hopes set on actually finding a home where he belonged.

Mrs. Adams saw the child and was taken aback. Danny didn't look any older than four or six, even though she was assured he was eight. His long brown hair rested on his shoulders as it framed the delicate features of his face. But what caught Mrs. Adams the most was his eyes. Those deep blue eyes that seemed to long for love but lost hope in ever finding it. It was in that instant that she knew she had found the child she was looking for, the fact that he wasn't a girl didn't really seem to matter that much.

“So you must be Danny,” Mrs. Adams started casually.

“Yes, Ma'am,” Danny answered as he looked at his untied, scuffed shoe.

The slightly high pitched voice that had a hint of unrehearsed sweetness delighted Mrs. Adams. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, Ma'am,” Danny answered as he momentarily looked up at the smiling woman.

“I'm the lady who is going to take you home,” Mrs. Adams said evenly, but with a hint of excitement behind each word. “That is if you and Mr. Pritchard don't mind.”

Danny's head snapped up and he looked at Mr. Pritchard for an answer.

“You'll get no objections from me,” the man behind the desk said.

“It looks like it is all up to you Danny. Would you like to come home?” Mrs. Adams smiled invitingly at the small child.

“Yes Ma'am, I would.” Danny's small voice rang with uncertainty as if he questioned if this was too good to be true.

“Mr. Pritchard, you have my lawyer's number, if you would have him complete the paperwork it would be much appreciated,” Ms. Adams said as she rose.

“That won't be a problem, how about Danny's things,” he asked, happy that at least one boy would get to see how life outside of the orphanage was.

“I suppose I can wait until Danny gets his things all ready to go.”

“I'm already ready,” Danny said impulsively, afraid that if he gave the lady extra time to think about her decision it would only turn out poorly for him in the end. “I mean, I have all I need, Ma'am.” Danny restated in a more composed manner. The fact was, he spoke the truth. Other than a change of clothes, that were as bad as the ones he had on, and a few completed drawing, Danny didn't have any possessions that he didn't own communally with all the other boys.

“Sounds good to me,” Mrs. Adams said with a smile. She held out her hand and Danny took it. “We'll be in touch,” she said from the doorway before leaving.

“I hope with only good news,” Mr. Pritchard said to his secretary.

Danny sat in the front seat of the Mercedes Benz with a lady he barely knew sitting behind the wheel. Though he had no clue as to who the lady was, the promise of a bigger and better life was far too great to ignore. Being oblivious to material possessions, he didn't know how grand a scale that new life would be.

“So Danny.” Mrs. Adams turned her head towards him momentarily. “What do you like to do?”

“I like to draw sometimes, and sometimes I just think,” Danny said softly as he looked out the windows and watched as trees whizzed by.

“Thinking is good,” Mrs. Adams joked.” So is drawing. Do you have any music that you like?”

“The boys at Father Henry's only listen to rap, but I don't really like it. They don't ever change the station and if I ever tried I'd get it for sure,” Danny confessed while looking at the power window button on the passenger side door.

“How terrible,” Mrs. Adams said sympathetically. “How about you listen to this.” She leaned forward and hit the play button on the car's CD player. The sound of light piano and rain from the strings of violins came from six speakers.

Danny closed his eyes as he listened to the melody. In his mind, he could picture the action of the music. A lone leaf caught in the wind, red and yellow, turning, floating, gliding on waves of air. A small smile came to his face as he leaned back in the leather seat.

Mrs. Adams pulled into her driveway and parked the car near the walk. She let the music play until the selection was over. “What do you think?”

“It's very pretty, Ma'am,” Danny said as he looked on the lady's face squarely for the first time. It was a friendly, warm face.

“Very pretty indeed,” Mrs. Adams answered as she stared at the soft, delicate features of her passenger. The small button nose and the full, pinkish-red lips that went with those blue eyes that spoke of a person trying to find their place in the world where they were loved and truly accepted for what they were.

“The song's over, Ma'am,” Danny interrupted the silence. “Is this your home?”

“No Danny.” Mrs. Adams pushed the hair from Danny's cheek. “This is our home.”

“It's so big, it's like a castle.” Danny looked up at the second floor balcony.

“When my George, Mr. Adams, was alive, he would say it was comfortably middle class. Are you ready to go in and start on a whole new life.

“Yes Ma'am I would,” Danny said with conviction.

The long walk up the brick path was made slowly as Danny looked at the towering pillars that bracketed the front door. Though he was moving methodically slower than usual, he was moving much quicker than he actually wanted.

“Take your time sweetie, there's no need to rush,” Mrs. Adams said kindly as she sensed the child was rushing himself when there wasn't a need for it.

Danny looked up at the large woman and faintly smiled. It wasn't much the permission to take his time that caused such a response, but the pleasant nickname. At the orphanage, the staff didn't have time for such niceties and the nicknames the other boys came with bordered on ruthless. “Thank you, Ma'am,” his small, high pitched voice said in a soft tone. He took a step off to the side where a pink rose bush was in full bloom. Though he thought the saying was always meant as merely poetic, he stopped and smelled the roses.

“You're welcome sweetie.” Mrs. Adams watched the child savor the sweet smell of her prized roses. “If you wish, you may call me Aunt Carol.”

“I like that, Ma'am. I mean, Aunt Carol,” Danny said as he looked back. A split second later, his nose was full into a rose. He closed his eyes as he took one last whiff and savored all of the new warm feelings he felt rising in his stomach. For the first time since he could remember, Danny felt perfectly at ease with another person. Perhaps, this could work out, he thought wistfully.

“I believe I like that too.” Carol Adams was delighted when Danny walked by her side, reached up, and put his hand in hers.

The inside of the house was as large and as grand as the outside. Danny was wide-eyed in astonishment as such an open space being indoors. He was lead up a large marble staircase and turned left down a hall.

“This will be your room, sweetie,” Carol said with slight hesitation. “I hope it's okay for now.” She opened the door and led the boy inside.

Danny walked into the room that was even larger than the one at the orphanage that he shared with six other boys. The first thing he noticed was the large, four-post bed that occupied the center of the room. The fine white-laced canopy gave the area a regal look. The bed was made with a shiny pink bedspread and a mixture of large white and pink throw pillows. A white dresser with a mirror almost as big as Danny sat on the opposite wall. On top was a silver comb and brush set and a small jewelry box. Danny walked over to the dresser, and lifted the lid of the box; a small ballerina sprang up and twirled as soft music played along. An assortment of earrings and heart shaped pendants were kept in the box as well, along with charms of teddy bears, hearts, and teardrop shaped gems. Danny closed the lid and looked further around the room. Dolls and teddy bears lined many shelves and a few sat by the window. Immediately Danny knew what kind of child this room was initially designed for and it was definitely not designed with a boy in mind.

“What do you think,” Carol said tentatively as she watched the boy's eyes shift back and forth.

“It's pink,” Danny said almost whimsically.

“I know.” Carol let out a soft chuckle. “I hope you can bear with it for a little while. To be perfectly honest, I was expecting to bring home a little girl today,” she freely admitted.

“Sorry,” Danny said downcast as his eyes immediately focused on the plush pink carpet.

“Don't be sorry, sweetie.” Carol softly lifted the boy's chin so he was forced to look at her. “Who I found instead is by far a much better deal. Don't you think?”

Danny smile returned as his cheeks turned rosy as he blushed.

“I know this is a new place and there's a lot for you to explore so you most likely don't need an adult in your way as you get yourself acquainted with your surroundings. Now, I have a meeting until six that I simply must attend. Can I trust you to be on your own and take care of yourself.”

“Yes, Ma'am. I mean, yes Aunt Carol,” Danny said as he touched the soft comforter on the bed.

“Very good. When you get hungry there's a sandwich in the refrigerator and some juice boxes. I'm counting on you not to use the stove or the phone or to go out front, we wouldn't want you getting hurt or loss. Other than that, this is now your house too, Danny.”

Danny smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered as he watched the large woman leave.

He, Danny, waited by the window and when 'Aunt Carol' looked up, he gave a small but friendly wave good bye. She waved backed and smiled genuinely before sitting in the large luxury car and driving off.

As was his way, which was very unboylike, Danny decided to explore the house. Instead of running about and acting crazy, he strolled through the large house, making sure to stop at every framed painting and potted plant just because it was there. Eventually he found his way to the living room. There was, as he expected, a very large television set and a lot of video equipment for playing DVDs, laser discs, and video cassettes. He slid his finger at the base of the TV, but it didn't really excite him. Of all the boys at the orphanage, he was the least interested in watching the contraption. Of course most of what the boys watched was sports and he found those extremely boring.

After further searching of the large entertainment center, he finally found the CD player. Pressing play brought a whole unit to life and the sounds of a single violin soon filled the room with both joy and sorrow.

Danny smiled. He liked this music and as other instruments joined in, he explored the room further. On one wall was a large glass case filled with delicate looking figurines of ballerinas. Danny looked at each one individually; it was quite the extensive collection. On the side of the display case was a poster of a ballerina, quite young, perhaps even Danny's age. He stared at the picture, imagining that the girl in the poster probably liked the music he was listening to now. He closed his eyes, and, although he thought it was extremely silly, imagined it was he who was the ballerina in the poster. Though he never saw a ballet in his life, he moved gracefully to the music. He stepped lightly on his tip-toes in time with the music, twirling when the mood seemed to serve its purpose. When the music stopped, he struck the pose the ballerina did in the poster, which was a curtsy. As he opened his eyes, he half expected to receive applause, thankfully there was none.

As the next selection played, Danny made his way to the kitchen. The large room with mostly stainless steel appliances looked big enough to feed an army of a million men. The refrigerator was stock full and instead of finding the one sandwich he expected, Danny found dozens. The bologna and cheese was snatched away and placed on a napkin. He ate at the kitchen table while enjoying the sounds of the music coming from not too far away.

At the song finished, Danny found himself swinging his feet lazily under the tall chair. Even though the music was noise, the house was so peaceful that Danny didn't think about it. All he could think about was the irritating material of his pants and how luck he was that someone took him home.

After wiping up the crumbs and throwing the napkin in the garbage can, Danny decided to check out his new room. Though the house was huge, Danny knew the exact way, more or less, and after accidentally walking into a linen closet, he found his bedroom one door away.

He opened the dresser drawers. The bottom two were empty and he had almost given up hope. After pulling a step stool in front of the large dresser he opened the very top drawer. On his left was a neatly folded row of underwear on his right he found balled up socks, and in between a row of undershirts. Suddenly he realized once again how uncomfortable his clothing, 'from the state,' the other orphans would often say, made him feel.

“I have until six,” he said to his reflection. “No reason to be itchy and icky and I can change before anyone can know. And who cares that they're girls clothes, there's nothing else to change into and there's only girl things to play with,” Danny argued to his reflection which gave him a highly questioning look. “Besides, I'm the ballerina in the poster until Aunt Carol comes back and there's no harm in a ballerina wearing this stuff.” A smile came over his face and his reflections. As long as he pretended he was the ballerina, he reasoned, then he wasn't doing anything wrong, he was only being silly.

Not being too picky, he took the very first pair of underwear, the very first undershirt and the most accessible pair of socks and placed them on his bed. Before getting started with dressing the part, as he called it, he closed the drawer and returned the step stool to its proper place.

Standing in front of the bed, he slowly unbuttoned the dingy stiff white dress shirt with the blue monogrammed FHO atop the breast pocket denoting his place in the world.

“Good riddance,” Danny said as he carefully folded the shirt and placed it in an empty dresser drawer. He looked at the clock, he knew he only had four and a half hours to be out of the garment.

The brass buckle of the warn belt was unfastened and after Danny kicked off his black dress shoes, he unbuttoned the pants and also placed them in the drawer neatly. The underwear briefs that Danny wore were so old they were gray. Without a hint of embarrassment he pulled them off as fell.

“Surplus unders, who needs them,” Danny said as the neatly folded underwear found themselves also in the drawer.

Danny looked down at his feet. His big toes stuck out of the holes in his socks. He slid his feet out of them and rolled the black cotton socks into a ball. In a new house, in a new room, he was now like a newborn. He walked over to the mirror on the dresser. After climbing on a chair and then on top of the furniture, he could see his nude body fully reflected in the mirror.

“You know, you don't look right,” he said as he stared at his face.

“I know. I look like a little kid,” he answered for the reflection.

He looked at his whole body, everything looked as if it belonged to a different person. Everything looked so soft and gentle, he knew why the bigger boys teased him. He looked at his middle. He remembered the night when all the boys compared their size, all the boys except him. He knew he would only be ridiculed even further. Though he was eight and his body looked like it was that of a four year old, the thing that he viewed now looked like it hadn't bothered to grow since he was an infant. “Forget about it,” he said in a huff and then looked back at his face.

“Can the ballerina come out and play,” he asked the mirror.

“Yes she can,” Danny answered affirmatively for the reflection in a slightly sweeter voice.

“Good! Only she can have fun in here now,” he said in the same voice.

Danny climbed down from the dresser and took slow, even steps towards the bed. First he unrolled the undies. The soft pink material felt cool in his hand and as he unrolled them, he could see that they had white ruffles on the back side. Slowly and deliberately, he placed both his feet through the required holes and lifted the garment to his waist. Though they felt cool to the touch, the panties provided a sense of warmth that Danny found pleasing. More importantly, they fit amazingly perfect, whether to his dismay or to his delight, even Danny couldn't decide which. The garment hid any trace that he was actually a boy.

“I don't know why the older boys make fun of girl's undies,” Danny said aloud as he looked at his backside covered with ruffles. “They look kind of cute and they feel nice.”

Next he tried on the soft pink t-shirt. The cut was different from anything he ever wore before. “Don't want any nasty boys seeing my ta-tas,” he said with a giggle as the shirt was lowered over his chest but left his stomach bare. The pink elastic band held the shirt to his rubs as his small abdominal muscles were clearly visible. The small cloth rose on the upper-front center added a nice touch. Though he was barely dressed, the same sense of warmth now filled his whole body.

Danny sat on the bed and put on the pair of matching ankle high socks that had a white ruffle around the top. “A matching set,” he said to his delight and now he was as completely dressed as he planned and could comfortably leave the safety of his new bedroom.

Danny stood by the entrance of the dining room with his head hidden behind the door. “Now for your viewing pleasure, the ballerina Danielle,” he called out loudly into the room. He imagined hearing applause as he stepped out into the room that in his mind was transformed into a large stage with an even larger audience viewing. He hit the 'next' button on the CD player and waited for the next selection to play.

As the piano played alone, so did Danny dance for himself, as well as for the millions of imaginary fans who filled his mind. No boys were around to make fun of him and he felt as free and as graceful as the moves he made. He didn't simply pretend to be the ballerina, he was the ballerina and he suddenly realized that. For a second the realization frightened him, but he didn't stop the dance. The second passed as he accepted the new feeling and in a wave that crashed down upon him, a sense of peace filled his body as he knew exactly what she was. His gracefulness intensified as he twirled and leaped to the music.

“Thank you,” he curtsied and blew the audience a kiss. He hit the power button on the CD player, turning it off, and retreated upstairs.

The room was still filled with toys, girl's toys, but still things to play with. Danny walked by each doll, carefully examining them to see how they were similar and how they were different. His hand carefully felt the doll's dresses, each one had a different texture, but they all had one thing in common, they were amazingly soft. Which doll would a ballerina like,” Danny asked out loud.

He looked around the room at all the dolls he had just surveyed. “This one,” he said in extreme delight as he unknowingly skipped towards the window. A life sized baby doll sat in the window dressed in a pink onsie and the diaper underneath was clearly evident. The total realism was what made the doll stand out and as Danny cradled the toy in his arm, imagining it was the real thing didn't seem like such a stretch.

Though he knew he was being silly, and if the boys from the orphanage ever found out he'd be pummeled into oblivion, a strange sense of peace and comfort overcame Danny's being once again. “You're the ballerina's baby now,” he announced to the doll. He rocked the doll and cooed at it, forgetting completely every lesson the guys from the orphanage taught him on what was right and acceptable behavior for a boy. He also didn't care, they weren't around and this was the most fun he could ever remember having.

“Let's see if there's more stuff for baby in the closet,” Danny said in a hushed, sing-song voice to the doll.

He walked over to the sliding closet door and pushed it to the side. The closet was almost as big as the room but remarkably empty. All that hung in there were four fancy dresses. Danny took a moment to look at each of them and then backed out of the closet. “Nothing for baby,” he said with the sound of disappointment clearly in his voice.

Danny walked to the bed and placed the doll in the center. “What's that?” He looked at the doll. “You want mommy to dress pretty for you.” Danny looked at the closet and could almost hear one of the dresses calling for him. “We still have over three hours before Aunt Carol gets back so I guess it's okay,” he turned to the doll. “Be a good baby, mommy won't be long.”

Once again, Danny unwittingly skipped to the closet until he found himself in front of the rack of dresses. They all looked equally promising. He had his choice between white, pink, yellow, and pale blur. For the simple reason that he was already in pink, he chose the dress to match.

The silky material felt cool in his hand as he carefully took the dress of the hanger. Not knowing how to properly put on a dress, Danny slid it over his head as if it were a shirt and worked his arms and head through the appropriate openings. As soon as the dress fell into place, a shudder ripped through Danny's body, never had he imagined that a piece of clothing could feel so wonderful.

Curiosity being a strong motivator, Danny climbed on top of the dresser so he could see how he looked. With him not wanting to ruin the dress in any way, getting on top of the furniture was slow going and the anticipation was about suffocating, but Eventually he found himself in front of a reflection he almost didn't recognize.

“Wow!” Danny said as he touched the mirror to make sure it was real. He looked at the reflection of the girl looking at him. Her long brown hair caressing the shoulder of the fancy pink dress. The short poofy sleeves looked as if they came from a fairy tale. The top part of the dress looked as if a hundred hearts were woven together all the way down to the skirt that started at Danny's bellybutton. The skirt didn't come down quite far enough to cover the bottom ruffles of the panties. He smiled at the cuteness of it all. The reflection smiled back.

“That's a pretty girl in there,” he said to his reflection.

“Well, duh,” he answered for the reflection. “How else is a mommy suppose to look. Now go take care of your baby and play before it's too late and you have to change back.”

Danny heeded his own words and climbed down off the dresser. Even walking provided a pleasant sensation as he made his way to the doll. “Is mommy pretty enough for you baby?” he softly asked the doll.

“I knew you'd say that,” he said after a beat. “And you're very pretty too.”

He rocked the doll as he sat on the bench by the window and sang to it a soft lullaby while feeling very content and pleased with himself.

“Good baby,” Danny whispered as he placed the doll back on the bed. “Sleep while mommy explores a little bit.” He tiptoed out of the room after kissing the doll as if the thing was read and could actually wake up screaming and crying at any second.

We walked down the hall with no real direction in mind, but was pleasantly surprised when he found himself in the master bathroom. An assortment of glass bottles that sat atop the counter caught his eyes immediately. He picked up one of the bottles that was shaped like a crystal swan with a bulb coming out of the side. Danny made it swim on waves of air as he looked at the pale yellow liquid inside. He held the bottle in front of his face and out of curiosity squeezed the rubber bulb.

Danny coughed as the mist of the perfume enveloped his face. He was glad he closed his eyes a split second before or he might have gone blind. It didn't take long for the mist to settle and he was able to take a deep whiff of the air.

“Mmm,” he said with a smile. “Smells like a garden, kind of.”

Danny opened the drawer just to see what he could find. He found a sea of makeup and wondered what the big deal was about it.”

“Why you girls go though all this fuss I'll never know,” Danny said to his reflection as he held a tube of red lipstick in his hand.”

“Ms. Lewis wears this all the time and I bet you want to try it too?”

Danny made his reflection shake its head yes.

“Okay, we still have lots of time before Aunt Carol gets home, so we can take it all off and not get in trouble,” Danny said as he twisted the cap and raised the lipstick out of the holder.

Danny had seen Ms. Lewis apply her lipstick a million times and drawing on those memories, he applied the dark red makeup, making sure he smacked his lips the same way he had watched his unknowing mentor do it before.

“Don't you look pretty,” Danny said to the reflection.

“Thank you,” he had the reflection answer and then giggled up a storm.

He found the matching color nail polish tucked neatly among dozen of other similar bottles. He lowered the soft cushioned seat of the commode and placed his ruffled bottom on top. Danny unscrewed the top of the bottle and carefully pulled the brush out. Using small, even strokes, he painted each nail as if it were its own work of fine art. He got all ten done in a glossy, dark red and was pleased that his lips were now color coordinated with his fingernails.

Danny held his fingers apart as he placed the bottle back in the drawer. He looked in the mirror and smiled. He stared at his reflection intently. The boys at the orphanage always teased him that he looked like a little girl, he never before knew how accurate they actually were.

“Come on Cinderella, let's go play before the clock strikes midnight.”

Danny blew himself a kiss and then left the bathroom.

Danny skipped off back to his bedroom, this time conscious of his actions but reveling in his play. The doll that he was playing with earlier was still lying on the bed. “There's my baby girl,” he said happily as he scooped the doll in his hand. “Let's dance baby girl.”

Danny held the doll tenderly, letting its head rest on his shoulder. Slowly he rocked from side to side, taking a tentative step to the left and then going into a slow twirl. Every nerve on his leg seemed be alive every time he took a step and felt the silky skirt brush against his thighs. At the end of the dance he curtsy just like the ballerina in the poster.

Danny climbed on the bed and sat against the pillows. The doll still cradled in his arms. The bed was so soft, much different than the thin mattress on metal frame from the orphanage.

“Hush little baby, don't say a word,” Danny started to sing in a hushed voice.

A minute passed and he was still singing, albeit softer than before. Though his lullaby was designed to put his 'baby' to sleep, it was doing its magic on him. Not only was the bed comfortable, but Danny had never before been as comfortable with himself. Sure, he was just pretending, but everything felt so right. It was as if it were all a dream.

Danny took a deep sigh and his eyes could remain open no longer. He still had two hours before Aunt Carol came home and his naps only lasted half as long. Comfortably and with an extreme sense of peace, Danny slept.

TO BE CONTINUED