Rachel begins to bloom...

Chapter Three

Retail Therapy

After Rachel lost what seemed to her like a gallon of blood. Gina had a plan for the rest of the day in Austin. The Barton Creek Mall was close to the Doctor’s office, and had all the stores they would need, and they were in Austin, after all.

“Ok honey, I think we need to get this going in an orderly fashion. Let’s stop at the California Pizza Kitchen and talk about a plan.”

“Sounds, yummy, Mom!”

“After ordering a ham and pineapple pizza, Mother and Daughter sat down at their table to plan their afternoon.

“What kind of clothes do you want to get, Rachel?”

“Well I guess a lot of different types, skirts, dresses, jeans, all kinds of tops.”

“Skirts? Dresses?”

“You don’t think I should wear skirts or dresses?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just I didn’t think you would be ready for those just yet”

“Oh, I see” smiled Rachel. “Mom, I want to go all the way. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m a boy trying to look like a girl, I want to look a feminine as I can. Is that wrong?”

“Not at all, sweetie” laughed Gina. “This is going to be fun!”

Their pizza came and Gina was amazed to look at Rachel. The girl that till this morning was technically her son had all the mannerisms of a girl her age. She took little bites, sat properly, and chatted away like this was the most normal thing in the world. Her face, Gina noticed, for the first time, looked beautiful, totally girl. Gina wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. Rachel’s hair was a mess. It had been 4 months since it had been cut, and it would take a hairstyling genius to make it look like anything remotely attractive. But that still couldn’t take away from her natural beauty. She looked exactly like Grandmother Reyes, Gina’s maternal grandmother, who immigrated from Mexico on the 1950’s. Gina couldn’t help wondering why she hadn’t noticed before.

They finished their meal and started their assault on the shops. They hit the anchor stores, found some cute things at JC Penney’s and Nordstroms. Gina bought Rachel some basic lingerie and a couple of padded training bras to give her a little shape on top.

Rachel was so excited to try on the new clothes that she was almost out of control, but Gina let her explore her inner girl. Inside the changing room, Rachel put on her first pair of panties, and the training bra. It felt so much better on her newly developing chest. Rachel picked out a pink baby tee, a pair of jeans and a new pair of pink trainers to wear out of the first store. The old boy clothes made it to the trash.

Gina insisted Rachel get a hat to cover her unruly mop until they could fix it. They hit store after store, building a wardrobe that any teen girl would have been proud of.

“Rachel, I am just amazed at how well you fill out those jeans.”

“Thanks, mom. I didn’t know I could. Does my rear end look fat in them?”

Gina burst out laughing.

“What, Mom?”

“You are such a girl!”

By the time they finished shopping, they had spent over fifteen hundred dollars on the new wardrobe. Rachel had enough skirts for every day of the week and then some, enough jeans for two weeks, tops and blouses, shoes, both casual and dressy and enough underwear to make three girls happy. There was one more thing to do.

“Well, Rachel, It’s time for the time honored tradition among girls who are getting out for the first time”

“What’s that, Mom?

“Makeover!”

The happy screech could be heard halfway to Dallas.

Gina had made a call to a salon she knew from her days as a student at the University of Texas. She explained that she had a fashion emergency and needed an appointment ASAP. The owner was able to get them in by 5:00 that afternoon as a favor to Gina. They would be staying over, but the prospect of turning a caterpillar into a butterfly was too much to resist.

Gina and Rachel made it to the salon at 4:30, and due to a cancellation were able to get started early.

“Hi, Jackie” said Gina.

“Gina! You look wonderful! And pregnant again, I see. Where’s Randy?”

“Oh, I guess you didn’t hear. He was killed in Iraq a few months ago”

Jackie gasped. “Oh you poor dear. I didn’t know. I am so sorry” Jackie reached to give Gina a hug. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, we’re getting by. It’s hard sometimes, but my family makes it bearable.”

The two women exchanged pleasantries for the next few minutes.

“So, you are Rachel?”

“Yes, ma’am” came the quiet reply.

“Please! Call me Jackie! Everyone does, honey.”

“Ok, Jackie” said Rachel with a shy smile.

“Oh, you are a pretty one!” exclaimed Jackie “Is she your niece, Gina?”

“No, she’s my daughter.”

“Your daughter? I thought you had two sons?”

“I did” came the reply.

“I don’t get it” said Jackie.

“Long story. I’ll tell you while you take care of her.”

Jackie listened in awe to Rachel’s story while she worked her magic on Rachel’s hair. the best she could do was a cute shaggy bob. Jackie then started putting makeup on Rachel’s face, instructing her on what she was doing the whole time. When Jackie was finished, she had Rachel look in the mirror. What Rachel saw shocked her. A light application of foundation, some eyeliner and pink lip gloss was all it took.

“That’s me?” She touched the mirror. “I’m pretty” she whispered.

“You’re more than that, girl. You are a knockout!” announced Jackie. “You were totally wasted as a boy!”

Gina and Rachel laughed. “I can’t believe it, Jackie” cried Gina. “she looks amazing!”

“Yes she does. And the best part about it, is it’s easy to do. I’ll get you the makeup I used and she’ll be doing it herself in no time.”

Jackie took care of getting the right makeup and put it in a bag for Rachel.

“Gina, Thank you for bringing her to me for her first cut and makeup. I’ll remember this forever”

“You’re welcome Jackie. I don’t get into town nearly often enough. I had forgotten how good you are. What do I owe you?”

“Not one dime, missy. This one is on me. Consider it my birthday present to Rachel!”

“Oh, thank you Jackie!” said an excited Rachel. “You’ve made me so pretty!”

“You are welcome, Rachel. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”

After the requisite hugs, Gina and Rachel started back to Martinsburg. Rachel was asleep five minutes after they started.
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By the time they got back home, it was almost 10:00 PM . Gina woke Rachel up and asked her if she wanted to show her brother the new look. A drowsy Rachel suddenly perked up and said an enthusiastic “Yes!”.

Gina went in first, and announced “The arrival of the new princess of the realm, Rachel!”

Rachel walked in, and Garrett was caught doing his impression of a goldfish.

“Ta Daaaa!” shouted Rachel

“No freakin’ way!” said a stunned Garrett.

“Language, young man!” corrected his mother.

“Sorry.....uhhhh......wow. You look great!”

“Just great, big brother?”

“I’m going to need a shotgun to keep the little boys away from you” he grinned “Unbelievable, Rachel!”

Rachel knew she would always remember Friday, September 19th, 2008. It was her new birthday.

“All right kids, your mom is beat and I know Rachel is tired, so lets get to bed and we can talk about all these changes tomorrow. Garrett, you need to be in the loop on all of this”

Rachel agreed. “I am tired mom. I need to get cleaned up for bed.”

“Ok, sweetie, Get your makeup cleaned off with this makeup remover and make sure it’s all off before you get into bed. I don’t want to have to clean the image of your face off of the pillow case.”

Rachel giggled. “All right, Mom” and she ran up to her room to get ready for bed.

She cleaned her face and got her new pajamas unpacked. They were a cute short and top set in a light shade of blue. She put them on and in five minutes she was asleep.

On Saturday mornings, Gina let her children sleep in. Before, Randall, now Rachel wouldn’t get out of bed until at least ten, and Garrett wouldn’t be up before eleven. Today, however, would be different. At seven thirty, Rachel came skipping down the stairs and came into the kitchen where her mom was having her morning cup of coffee.

“Good morning, mother!” Rachel chirped.

“My goodness, child, what has gotten into you this morning! You are never up at this hour. Who are you and what have you done with my child!”

“Oh, Mom. I just feel like I have a reason to get up this morning. To start my new life!”

Gina laughed “I had a feeling that you would be down early. You were quite excited last night and I wanted to let you stay up a little later, but after all we did in Austin yesterday, I knew you were as tired as I was. Can I get you some orange juice?”

“No thanks, Mom, I can get it. Would you like anything else?”

“No, thank you, dear. But thank you for offering. Do you want me to fix you something for breakfast?”

“Actually, Mom, I was wondering if you could start teaching me how to cook. Maybe some scrambled eggs and toast?”

Gina put her hands to her chest in a mock heart attack and gasped “Now I know you aren’t my child!”

“Ohhhhh, mother. Stop being so silly. Don’t you think I should learn sometime?”

“Oh, Rachel, you’re right. I just wish some of these new breakthroughs could be my idea every once in awhile! And yes, you should learn, as should your lazy brother. Lets get started, ok”

“Cool!” exclaimed Rachel.

Rachel and her mother had quite a time, laughing and preparing the eggs and toast. Gina hadn’t had so much fun in years getting a meal ready. Rachel absorbed everything her mother taught her as if everything depended on this meal being right. Her mother realized what mothers who don’t have little girls are missing. She had someone to share things with now.

After the meal was prepared and eaten, Rachel went upstairs to get ready for the day. She showered and washed her hair. When she was done, she picked out a pair of white medium length shorts and a purple scoop-necked tee. Then Rachel realized she needed some help.

“Motherrrrrr! I need some help!”

“Coming, dear.”

Gina ran up the stairs to Rachel’s bathroom. “What’s up, honey?”

“Can you show me how to do my hair and makeup?”
“”Sure! Do you want me to do it?” Gina asked.

“No, I need to learn how. Can you teach me?”

“Why, I’d be glad to!”

Gina showed Rachel the fine art of a blow dryer and a brush, and after three rewets Rachel had her hair looking like it had when she left the parlor Friday. Another forty five minutes later, and Rachel had done her makeup to nearly like it had looked the night before. Rachel was proving to be a quick study.

Gina asked “Rachel, can I do something for you?”

“What’s that, Mom?”

“Can I do your nails?”

“Do I need to?”

“No, but your nails would look really cute in this light shade of pink I bought yesterday. would you mind? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, Mom, I would really like that, and you can show me how to take care of them too.”

Gina started giving Rachel a manicure, trimming her finger and toe nails and filing and painting them, the two of them talking like long-lost girlfriends. When she was done, Rachel was looking at her fingers and toes, amazed at how such a light color really set off her hands and feet.

“Oh, Mom, they are so pretty! Thank you!”

“It was my pleasure, sweetheart. I had forgotten how fun that could be. You can do mine sometime.”

“I’d like that, Mom.”

Gina switched to a more serious tone. “You know, this has been fun, but the real stress of your change is going to begin soon, and we need to talk about it before anyone else comes in, including your brother.”

“What do you mean, Mom?”

“Well no one really knows about your change right now. We’ve been keeping that quiet until you made your decision. You are going to have to go out into the world sooner or later, you know. That means telling people about your change.”

Rachel seemed to deflate a little. “I forgot about that” she said softly.

“We aren’t going to stop going to church, are we?”

“No”

“Then we need to tell our friends there. I think it would be a good idea to call the Pastor over and tell him what has been going on before we just show up.”

“He won’t call me names, will he?”

“Not if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t.” Gina laughed. “Seriously, honey, I have prepared him for what he is going to see. I think you’ll be surprised at his reaction. Pastor Adams is a very good man. In fact, he and his wife are coming over this afternoon.”

“Oh, gosh! Do I look ok? I don’t want to give the wrong impression!”

“You look just fine, dear. There is also Becca and Angela..”

“I forgot about them! I’ve been so busy with everything I didn’t think to tell them!”

“Don’t worry about that either. I told them that you had been very busy with some things, and you had a surprise for them. I’ll let you spring the big news.”

“I hope they are ok with everything. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Becca as a friend. Angela is great too, but she’s Garrett’s age.”

“We’ll just have to pray they will be open minded, but I think everything will be fine.” Gina then added, “Now comes the hard part.”

“What’s that?”

“Telling your grandparents”

“Oh, crap”

“RACHEL!”