Linda came in and recognized the rollers from her cabinet. They looked expertly applied. When she raised an eyebrow Kirk said “I don’t know, Aunt Linda, I had a dream about my hair and here I am.” He saw the blue nightie. It lay on the dresser where Marlene had tossed it.

TWINS by Marie, Part 10 - A New Girl, Almost
by Marie C.

Two days after their visit to the mall Marlene made another nighttime visit. “Yesssss, I like it.” She looked Kirk up and down and made him turn from side to side. I like the slippers and nightie. And mom cut your hair like mine - and got your ears pierced? Yikes!” She moved into Kirk.

“Oooh, I like the nighties. They’re so feely. You do, too, I can tell. And the high heeled slippers!” She was looking at a couple of half open boxes on the dresser and then made a face. “Mom never bought me anything like this. Well, you’re going to pay the price for trying to upstage me. No rest for you, cutie!” She made a smoochy face and put one finger on her cousin’s lips. “And cutie! Don’t think I missed what that man said (giggle).”

It turned out that besides buying the cotton shifts Linda, on a mischievous whim, bought two fancy nylon see-through baby doll nighties with sheer matching jackets and panties - and marabou mid-heel slippers. Something out of a 1950s men’s wet dream.

I was just as surprised and miffed when Marlene brought them out and held them up to her in front of the mirror. What’s happening? is a question which he thought never seems to get a proper answer.

“Let’s try the pink one.” She was full of pep as she chattered away making Kirk slip off the cotton one and slide into the smooth fabric of the baby doll.

At the vanity Marlene practiced their makeup starting very slowly and patiently as though by moving his hands slowly he would catch on more quickly. “You have to learn this, Darlene” as she worked on their eyebrows and lips. “Watch and feel how I do it. You’ll get it.” she encouraged. “My friends have been showing me.”

Stepping into the pink mules she walked him to the bathroom where she took down a box of hair rollers and began instructing Kirk how to put up his hair, rolling each section on the top, sides and back one by one.

“See how oval your face is when your hair is up. Check your eyebrows for stray hairs and keep them curved. Pluck the extra hairs at your hairline to keep the oval. Now a little lipstick and mascara. You feel better already, don’t you?” Before he could answer she went on.

“Leave the rollers in and take them out tomorrow. In the morning brush your curls lightly and always be pretty,” she softly admonished him as though she was noticing his girlishness for the first time. “Now you say it and look in the mirror while you do it.”

Kirk struggled and finally said “Always be pretty.” He stared intently into the mirror at the delicately made up girl. A funny warm feeling started in his stomach and spread through his body.

Marlene went on. “You aren’t pushy like I am so you’re going to be a soft girl. Make sure you please people like Emma did. Guys always like that kind of girl.” Something inside Kirk tried to object but nothing came of it.

In the morning Kirk woke up with makeup on his face and his hair still in rollers. To his surprise he was wearing the pink baby doll. “Always be pretty,” he repeated, then realized things were different. Neither the curlers nor makeup had gone away. And the weakness hadn’t returned.

Linda came in and recognized the rollers from her cabinet. They looked expertly applied. When she raised an eyebrow Kirk said “I don’t know, Aunt Linda, I had a dream about my hair and here I am.” He saw the blue nightie. It lay on the dresser where Marlene had tossed it.

Linda continued to dress him like a doll pleased now that he was doing his own hair. While she was curious about how he knew she wasn’t about to question him for fear her questions might discourage him. She varied his costumes every day. Some days it was a little girl pink or white party dress with ribbons and ruffles. Other times she pulled out Halloween costumes like Bo Peep or hat check girl miniskirts. He came to like the attention and was smacked on the butt only twice more after he stubbornly refused to get dressed for trips to the supermarket. After each spanking he always curtsied and said “I’m sorry, Aunt Linda, I’ll be a good girl.”

During one of those supermarket visits the young man from the mall saw Kirk and Linda again drive off from the roadside market. Keeping his distance he followed them as far as their driveway and then kept going past the house through the square. “I didn’t know she had a sister,” he muttered to himself. He felt a brief moment of panic then leaned back and swigged from the beer can between his legs. Nothing was going to happen, he was sure of that. But he would ask around anyhow.

Marlene returned nightly over the following weeks each time prodding him with “You have to be as girlie as you can for mom so we’re going to practice every night,” and on and on they went without let up. Kirk’s weak protests gradually abated and he began to pay serious attention to the sessions on hair and skin care - with Marlene as his personal overseer.

“Shave your legs, too. You shouldn’t have hair anywhere except on your head. There’s some fuzz,” she said gleefully pointing a spot on the back side of his right leg. She lifted the offending appendage and showed him how to use Linda’s electric razor until his legs were clean and shiny all over. The next day the word ‘soft’ seemed to echo around the house as he stretched his now smoothed legs and rubbed on skin lotion. He woke up every day now with his hair in curlers and face creamed.

Under the combined pressure of Marlene’s nighttime visits and Linda dressing him as a doll Kirk increasingly fell back on Miss Carradine’s training and began to take up life as he and Emma had learned together, or as close as he could get to it nearly a century later. He seemed to have no choice, and, well it wasn’t all that bad.

One day after breakfast Linda asked Kirk to try again in the sewing room, and not without considerable misgivings. She remembered the time her iron hit the floor, so gave him simple items like pillow cases and towels to start with.

Kirk suddenly became Emma again working on linen from the McDougal household. Once he understood the contemporary steam iron mechanism he finished everything in minutes.

Linda looked up from her sewing counter now and then watching her nephew and not quite believing what she saw. Kirk lifted item after item checking for imperfections. Every movement was measured and precise. He stood rigidly erect every inch a self-confident, serious young girl. It was almost like he was somebody completely different, she thought. When she returned from putting away the items he had done she found a pile of finished intimate wear that he had taken from one of her shipments and folded properly. Momentarily he looked up at her startled like maybe Abby should have been there, not Linda.

The next day he volunteered to model the dresses she was working on - without bidding - although in fact the order to do so had come down from Marlene the night before. Linda first put him in a long yellow flower girl dress with his hair up with matching blossoms attached. Each move he made displayed the frock from different points of view that helped Linda decide how well the job was going. She was amazed. Hardly more than a week ago he had been indifferent to the sewing room work and prone to sabotage the tasks she gave him. Today he was dependable and arrestingly girlish.

After lunch they sat out in back and Kirk relaxed, legs tucked under in a winsome pose. Linda listened to his strange dream about Emma. The story of being trained by Miss Carradine and Madame La Farge was incredible. Event after event was described in a soft and puzzled voice, although he purposely left out Marlene’s visits sensing that Linda might get upset. “It all happened in this house.”

Linda hadn’t the foggiest idea what to make of it.

“We had to wear those horrible corsets all the time,” he chattered on. “They were awfully uncomfortable, but after a while Abby and I thought they were great for our figures.” He looked up at Linda smiling. “Do you have a corset? I’d like to try one again and see how it works.”

Linda admitted that she didn’t. Feeling annoyed and puzzled she realized it all made sense if one set store to what he said. But how could she even think something like that? It bordered on the occult about which she had always been profoundly dubious. Warily she led Kirk to a pile of catalogs where they found several listed. “I’ll order one next week so you can try it out.” She fully intended to forget about it wanting to see first where this new Kirk was going.

Over a month’s time Kirk, no Darlene, evolved into the perfect assistant, attentive and indispensable in preparing dresses, blouses and skirts being readied for Linda’s customers. His speech was quiet and his words were accompanied by a winsome smile. He happily performed any chore, even the unpleasant ones and never complained. He had long since given up working outside the building and bustled around doing housework with more energy than Linda’s. He found and corrected the occasional sewing error, learned to anticipate what Linda needed for her jobs and had work materials out on the table before she started each day.

His manner of dress became conservative but distinctly feminine as Linda eased up on his choices. He insisted on white blouses and knee length straight or pleated skirts, and cotton dresses for warm days. For cooler days he added a colorful cardigan sweater or twinset. Every stitch had to be crisp and fresh. If any part of his costume became soiled he changed the whole outfit. For general use he put on knee socks and Mary Janes or ballet flats. He was annoyed by the lack of corsets, petticoats and long skirts because he believed they were more dignified. Shirts and trousers no longer entered his mind as possibilities for daily wear.

His permed hair was now shoulder length. He continued to set it at night with or without Marlene and employed barrettes, bobby pins, hair wraps and scarves to best advantage during the day. Daytime makeup was light and discrete when he wore any at all. He used cotton gloves during work hours and his hands turned soft and slender like Emma’s. His oval nails were lacquered in soft pastels.

Other than the fact he was a young boy who seemed to prefer girl’s clothes Linda could not have wished for a better daughter. He was cheerful, affectionate and undemanding in personal relationships, much more so than her missing offspring. His easy going sarcasm had turned into into a concern for others that Linda had not seen in either Marlene or boy Kirk.

He assumed the care of Linda’s personal wardrobe including intimate wear. More often than not the two dressed and undressed together in the same room as mother and daughter.

His one impudence was bringing dinners to Bill in little girl outfits. Tonight was dinner tray night and Kirk felt mischievous like he wanted to be Marlene this time. He changed into the cherry red dress that he wore to the mall way back when. White knee socks and shiny Mary Janes finished the ensemble. He combed out his bangs, parted Marlene’s curls into angel wings and tied the sections with red ribbons. He made sure his panties were bright pink and fluffy.

Geezer Bill was three sheets to the wind when Kirk pushed through. “You’ve been fooling me. You’re really Marlene.” he croaked, winking at Kirk with a bloodshot, rheumy eye.

Kirk couldn’t resist a mischievous grin. “Yes, I’m really Marlene and I’ve been fooling you all along. But it didn’t work, did it? Now eat your dinner - and I wore my dress! Where’s my five dollars?”

“You won’t get a penny until you sit on my lap.” Bill was practically drooling.

So Kirk slid up on Bill’s knee and let old the old fart put his arm around his waist. He leaned his head against Bill’s shoulder like girls do and his underpants flashed bright pink when he slipped away. Six dollars richer.

The following week Linda brought out a yellow dress like the one she bought for Kirk. She was finally taking him to her monthly fashion show in the city. She insisted on dressing him in padded bra and girdle and he stood there without complaint eying himself critically in the mirror as he added pantyhose and sensible heels. He held his hands over his head while Linda dropped the yellow creation over his head. Gloves, purse and hat were de rigeur this time.

Hearing that he was going to the city he frowned briefly, concerned about being seen in such a public place. This was a big step, bigger than going to the mall. Linda picked up on his facial grimace. “They’re expecting us both, so I want my girl to look her very best. Besides we’re going to be twins!” As they stood there together he noticed for the first time how much he resembled his aunt. He wondered if he would grow up to look like her and it made him feel funny, but not at all bad.

At the show women oohed and aahed over Kirk’s little outfit. One of them asked if Darlene would consider being a model for them sometime. There was a chronic shortage of girls who had even some of the poise Kirk was displaying. That was a surprise and Linda asked if he would consider doing it for her the next time they came over.

Back home Linda produced a surprise, the corset he asked for had come in while they were away. Kirk located a tight fitting camisole in Marlene’s drawers and Linda wrapped the new garment around his middle. It hurt but he insisted on getting fully dressed with the device wrapped around his middle.

From then on Linda had to lace him every day until he could manage on his own. He continued his daily chores dressed that way every day, much as he and Emma had a century before. In two weeks the corset had given him more of a curved waist and becoming posture. Looking at his physical changes he seriously wondered if he wanted to be a girl. He knew he had to be one for Aunt Linda - and besides it was now fun wearing nice things - though they weren’t as nice as the ones he and Emma used to wear.

The following month Linda invited Melanie and Judy to the fashion show. The girls had told their mothers all about Kirk and Linda called to chat with the women. So when Linda honked out front the girls were able to get away without any problem. It turned out the mothers were all professional women in law and medicine, had read or heard about transgender children and were almost as curious as the girls.

The girls marveled at Kirk’s new posture secretly engendered by the corset. Judy squealed “You even shaved your legs!” pointing to Kirk’s rather expensive shiny sheer hose. Melanie remembered back when he looked so dumb in that little girl’s dress and shook her head. Later Kirk couldn’t help telling them about his new corset and took them into the ladies room to show it off. Neither girl had ever seen one.

They had hardly taken their seats when the fashion manager came over to Linda asking if Kirk could model today. One of her junior models had taken ill at the last moment. “There’s nothing complicated about it and no one expects the children to perform like adults.”

His dress was like Linda’s daydream, a brightly floral calf length summer frock with a wide skirt, low neck and flutter cap sleeves. Kirk had worn his padded bra and tan hose which made him look much more grown up than he felt. The woman pinned on a broad brimmed cartwheel summer hat decorated with with a floral scarf to match the dress. Elbow length white gloves and white high heeled sandals completed the costume. The girls thought he was stunning and were green-eyed at his having the chance to model when he wasn’t even a girl! though they weren’t gong to say anything except maybe to their moms and Grace - and maybe everybody else at school. When he went backstage with Linda and his friends he found to his consternation that he would be paired with a handsome lad in a light summer suit.

“Aunt Linda I can’t go out there with a boy,” he whispered. The girls thought the boy was cute, but looked kind of stuck up. “Just be cool,” they advised. Linda replied only with a stern look so Kirk sighed and stood there nervously next to the boy until they were called. Without thinking he reached for the boy’s arm when he heard the name “Darlene” called.

“What’s your name?” the boy whispered into Kirk’s ear somewhat too intimately just before they stepped out on the runway.

“Darlene.” Kirk looked away eyelashes fluttering. Why did I do that he thought.

“Mine’s Eric and I think you’re hot.” The boy moved even closer and Kirk’s tummy churned.

Melanie and Judy looked at each other, their hands covering big grins. Kirk was definitely not acting like a boy. Maybe Grace was right.

Kirk received a bouquet to carry as the couple began two turns along the runway. Eric bowed and Kirk curtsied with a sunny smile. There was general applause and Kirk realized that he liked modeling, but being paired with Eric nagged him. As they walked off stage he naively let Eric lead him behind the curtains. Once there Eric pinned Kirk’s hands behind his back and pushed him against the wall.

“You smell so nice,” Eric said smoothly standing very close. Linda had dabbed on some of her perfume. “Have you ever kissed a boy?” Kirk dumbly shook his head. “Well, I’m going to be your first. This’ll make you into real girl.” Eric took Kirk’s chin with one hand and planted a solid two-lipped kiss on his lips. “You’re great,” he whispered and proceeded to nibble Kirk’s neck and earlobes pressing him harder against the wall. Not knowing what to do Kirk stood there flustered and trying to pull away his hands while Eric did his thing.

Melanie and Judy were on their way backstage to gush over Kirk’s performance and stopped short, eyes and mouths wide open, when they saw Kirk in his clinch with Eric. Kirk finally twisted away totally confused and ran for the protection of his friends. When they got back to their seats the girls were giggling and Kirk was flushed. Linda said Kirk looked beautiful - and wasn’t the boy handsome? With a knowing smile she said “Here honey, let me fix your lipstick.”

At home the girls called their chum, Grace, and described every tiny detail. Grace in her annoying way pontificated, “See I said she was a girl!” But Melanie and Judy weren’t totally convinced having taken Linda and Kirk at their word.

That night Marlene returned and made Kirk tell her every tiny thing that happened with Eric with Kirk sobbing as he talked. Marlene commiserated saying “I know how you feel. Bert used to kiss me in back of the school, pushing me against the wall. He was rough like Eric, but I liked it. And I think you liked Eric’s kiss.” She smiled evilly. “You have to do it again.”

The junior fashion section held two more weekly sessions before it ended for the summer. Linda and Kirk returned both times without Melanie and Judy. The second time Kirk was paired with a boy named Edgar who kept complaining that boys should be able to wear nice clothes like girls. He pursed his lips saying his mother wouldn’t let him wear her high heels even at home. Sometimes when he was alone he sneaked into his sister’s closet when she was away. He didn’t try to kiss Kirk though Kirk thought he wanted to.

The third time Kirk was stuck with Eric again and like before was dragged behind the curtains. This time it was like Marlene was there. Kirk found himself willingly putting his arms around Eric’s neck while Eric pushed him against the wall and this time put his hand under Kirk’s skirt and felt around. The kiss went on and on and Kirk started to squirm while Eric’s hand eventually found its way inside his pantyhose top. When the manager came back to see what was happening a frightened Kirk was manhandled back to Linda. The manager happened to be Eric’s mother.

“I found your girl behind the curtains with my Eric. When I confronted them he told me she lured him there on purpose. We can’t have girls working here with low morals.” She walked away in a huff leaving Kirk in tears attempting to explain things to Linda.

A few weeks later Linda was contacted by her attorney. He had finally reviewed the will made by Kirk ’s family. A clause stipulated that if she legally adopted Kirk his parents’ pensions and trusts would become immediately accessible. In short order Linda became Kirk’s adoptive mother.