Part 41

Previously...

    Chrissy was sat in the living room on the Saturday night relaxing and watching some TV when the landline started ringing, as Chrissy was the closest to where the handset was on its holder, she picked it up.

     “Hello, Chrissy speaking.” She said into the phone.

     “What sort of sick weirdoes are you people? Putting stupid ideas in young children’s minds.” An angry woman’s voice spat down the phone at her.

     “I beg your pardon, and who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that.” Chrissy snapped back as she sat up ready for a battle with whoever it was on the other end of the line.

     “This is Charlie’s aunt, and I’ve just found out what you’ve been forcing him to do, and I’m warning you to keep away from him, or I’ll call the police and have you all reported for the perverts you are!” Charlie’s aunt screamed down the phone just before she hung up.

And now the story continues...

    Chrissy had wanted to go over and give Charlie’s aunt a piece of her mind in person, but Becky had managed to make Chrissy sit back down and take some deep breaths.

     “Going over there and shouting it out with her isn’t going to help anyone baby.” Becky said as she hugged a sobbing Chrissy in her arms.

     “But she said such nasty things to me on the phone.” Chrissy snuffled. “She called us all a bunch of perverts for forcing Charlie to dress as a girl.” Chrissy added.

     “I’m not sure what we can do until we can have a word with Charlie, and find out just what happened to set his aunt off like that.” Becky said with a sigh.

     “What if she does call the police on us?” Chrissy asked looking panicked now.

     “None of us did anything wrong Chrissy.” Carl said looking as calm as he always did in a crisis. “The police would have to interview Charlie to find out just what we were supposed to have done, and he’d tell them how he felt, and his aunt wouldn’t have a case to begin with.” Carl explained.

     “It sounds like fear talking to me, where Charlie’s aunt’s concerned.” Mandy added. “She felt scared and just lashed out at the first target she could find, which was us for letting Charlie become Clare this past week.” Mandy added with a sigh.

     “We can’t just sit here while god knows what is happening to Charlie back at that house.” Chrissy whined as she felt the need to go and protect him from the evil aunt.

     “That is all we can do for the time being Chrissy.” Carl said with a sigh. “I’m sure that Charlie will contact us or one of the children soon, and then we can work out a plan to deal with it.” Carl added.

*****

    Carl gathered all the children together and filled them in on what they knew about Charlie and the fact his aunt had found out about him dressing as Clare this past week, and that they were to go to him or one of the others the minute they heard from him.

*****

    They never heard anything from Charlie on the Saturday night, and the police never knocked on the door, so they were hoping that something good might come from the silence, but that wasn’t to be the case when there was a frantic banging on the front door on the Sunday morning.

    Brad answered the door and found a woman stood there looking a little worse for wear, like she’d been up all night and had no sleep.

     “Is he here?” The woman asked in a panic.

    Brad was just about to ask who she was, and what she was going on about when Chrissy stepped into view and saw it was Charlie’s Aunt, Carol.

     “You’ve got some nerve showing up here after what you said to me on the phone last night.” Chrissy growled as she went for the woman and Brad had to pull Chrissy back into the house.

     “Is Charlie here? Please let me speak to him and tell him I’m sorry.” Carol said as she broke down in tears and had to lean on the door frame to stop herself from falling over.

    Chrissy suddenly stopped fighting when she saw that this woman didn’t have the same fight in her as the one she spoke to on the phone.

     “What do you mean?” Chrissy asked. “We haven’t seen Charlie since we dropped him off at home on Friday night.” Chrissy said in a much softer tone as she fought her way out of Brad’s grip and helped Carol into the house and down the hallway to the dining room where she sat her down at the table, all anger gone from her now.

     “I’ll go and make her a strong cup of coffee.” Brad said as he followed them down to the dining room and kept going towards the kitchen.

     “What happened Carol?” Chrissy asked.

     “He ran away last night after we argued.” Carol sobbed. “He heard what I said to you on the phone, and we had a blazing row and he just turned and ran out the room and the next thing I know the front door slammed shut. I’ve been out all night looking for him, but I can’t find him anywhere, and I hoped he might have made his way here.” Carol said with a pleading in her voice.

     “We’ve not seen or heard from him all weekend.” Chrissy said sadly, wishing she had some good news to tell her. “May I ask how you found out about Clare?” Chrissy asked, hoping it wouldn’t make Carol angry to here that name.

     “Clare? Is that what he calls himself when he’s dressed?” Carol asked. “I never found out her name. I just got home from the warehouse earlier than I said I would, and I found him dressed as a school girl dancing around while he cleaned the house.” Carol explained. “I was tired and when he explained what had happened, I saw red and called you, then he said he was going to become a girl whether I let him or not, and then he was gone.” Carol finished in sobs of tears.

    Carl and Mandy had entered the room while Carol told Chrissy her story, and Becky, Amy and Amber were also now sat at the table.

     “We’ll help you find him Carol.” Carl said. “Amy, Amber, can you gather all the children up and see if any of them have heard from Charlie and might think they're doing him a favour by not telling us.” Carl asked.

     “He never took his phone or any money with him when he left the house.” Carol sobbed. “He was still wearing the school uniform as well.” She added as a fresh wave of tears flowed from her eyes and she let Chrissy console her. “All we had was each other, and I forced him to run away when he needed me the most.”

     “We’ll find him, and then we can all sit and talk about Charlie and Clare.” Chrissy said in a soothing tone as she hugged Carol in her arms.

     “I’m so sorry for what I said to you on the phone last night. I just feel like my whole life is falling apart, and seeing Charlie dressed like a girl was just too much for me to deal with on top of everything else that went wrong yesterday.” Carol said as she sat up and wiped her eyes.

     “Please don’t worry about any of that now, let’s just focus on finding Charlie and making sure he’s okay.” Chrissy smiled.

    Brad came back out the kitchen with a mug of Coffee for Carol and he placed it on the table in front of her. She picked it up in shaky hands and took a sip from it.

     “Thank you.” Carol said in a whisper as she looked around the table at all the new faces that had joined them since she was first sat down by Chrissy.

    Everyone turned to look at the entrance to the dining room when they saw Amy running back in with Danielle at her side, both of them looking out of breath from the long run from where ever Danielle had been.

     “Is everything alright Danielle?” Carl asked looking worried as he watched his daughter trying to get her breath back.

     “I can help you find Clare.” Danielle panted out as she tried to get her breath back.

     “We all know you want to help princess, but we can’t have you all wandering around London getting lost yourselves.” Carl said as he stepped over and wrapped his arms around Danielle to thank her for the offer.

     “We don’t have to wander anywhere, you can find her the same way you found me that time.” Danielle explained as she looked up at a puzzled looking Carl.

     “We were only able to find you so fast because of the necklace we gave you sweetie.” Carl said with a sad look.

     “I know, but you said you put the same tracking device in the wrist watch you gave me, and I gave it to Clare just in case something like this happened.” Danielle said in a pleading tone for her father to get whatever it was that helped them to find her the night she ran away, so they could go and find Clare now.

    Brad was already running from the room to get the tracking device to see if Danielle’s wrist watch was giving off a signal before Carl could tell him to.

     “Whatever made you do something like that sweetie?” Mandy asked with pride in her voice for what her daughter had done.

     “I remembered how I felt that time I ran away, and I thought if Clare had trouble with her aunt or anyone else, she might run away, and I knew daddy would be able to find her if she had my watch, and it was the only thing that Charlie could wear to help remind him of being Clare, so I know he’d never take it off either.” Danielle explained as she was pulled up onto Mandy’s knee where she got a big hug for being so smart.

     “He’s close by, just up the road heading away from here.” Brad said as he ran back into the dining room with a black box the size of a cell phone. “I wonder if he saw his aunt’s car and decided against coming to the door.” Brad added as he turned and started running towards the front door to go catch up with him. By the time Brad got to his truck, he found Jennifer getting in the passenger seat next to him.

     “I want Clare to see a friendly face when you find her.” Jennifer said to her father.

    Brad just nodded and started the truck and wheel spun out the drive and up the road with Jennifer keeping an eye on the red dot on the small screen she had in her hand.

    It looks like she’s heading towards the park.” Jennifer called out to her father.

     “I’ll drop you off here, and then drive around to the other side and cut her off.” Brad said as he hit the brakes and then waited for Jennifer to jump out before he took off for the other end of the park.

    Jennifer ran into the park and looked around for any sign of Clare, and she could just make out a girl at the other end of the path. “Clare! Clare! Wait!” Jennifer shouted as she started running towards the girl.

     “Jen!” Clare screamed as she started running towards Jennifer as she started sobbing. “Please help me; I can’t live with her anymore if she won’t let me be Clare.” She sobbed as she fell into Jennifer’s arms worn out and unable to stand anymore after walking all the way from her aunt’s home to where the other’s lived.

     “You’re safe now Clare, let’s get you back to the house.” Jennifer said as she knelt on the ground with Clare still sobbing in her arms as she sat on the damp path.

     “Can I just rest for a couple of minutes please? I’m just so tired.” Clare mumbled as she started to fall asleep. “I don’t think I could walk another...” Was all she got out before she was asleep.

    Jennifer smiled when she saw her father running over to her from the other side of the park.

     “Is she alright?” Brad asked looking worried when he saw Jennifer sat on the ground with Clare in her arms not moving.

     “Yes, she’s fine, just really tired.” Jennifer whispered as she looked at Clare sleeping with her head resting on her chest.

    Brad bent down and picked Clare up, and she never even stirred from her sleep as Brad carried her back to his truck and then waited for Jennifer to jump in the back so he could then place Clare on the back seat with her head resting on Jennifer’s knee. Brad could see that the school uniform was the same as the one Jennifer and the other girls whore for school, but Clare’s looked dirty and ripped, and Brad was worried something bad might have happened to her while making her way across the city, but none of them would know that until Clare woke up and told them what happened.

    Carl and Callum ran out of the house when they saw Brad’s truck pull up outside the house, and they both looked relieved to see Brad open the back door and saw Clare’s head resting on Jennifer’s knee.

     “Is she alright?” Carl asked looking worried.

     “I think so, she’s just worn out I think.” Brad said as he lifted Clare out the truck and carried her into the house and then up to Jennifer’s bedroom.

     “You follow your father and keep an eye on Clare while she gets some sleep, I’ll go and let her aunt know she’s been found safe and sound.” Carl said as he let Jennifer run to catch up with Brad.

    Chrissy had managed to get Carol to move into the living room where she was now sat on a sofa with her head still resting on Chrissy’s shoulder.

     “We’ve found her, and she’s being taken up to Jen’s room as we speak.” Carl said as he entered the room.

     “Can I go and see her?” Carol asked, not realising that she’d just referred to her nephew as a girl.

     “She’s worn out and is fast asleep, so I think it would be best to let her rest for a bit, and then we can all sit down and talk this over later.” Carl said. “I think you could do with some sleep as well.” Carl added as he saw how much trouble Carol was having keeping her eyes open.

     “I’m too tired to drive all the way home.” Carol mumbled.

     “We can find a bed for you to sleep in here Carol.” Carl said as he looked at Chrissy and then Amy.

    With Amy one side helping, and Chrissy the other, they managed to get Carol up to one of the guest bedrooms, but only after she looked in Jennifer’s room and saw that Charlie was safe and just sleeping. They helped Carol to get undressed and into a night gown before helping her into bed. It looked like Carol was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

*****

    Jennifer put down the magazine she’d been looking at when she saw Clare start to move. She looked over from where she was sat at the side of her own bed just in time to see Clare’s eyes flutter open as she looked around the room trying to work out where she was.

     “Jen? Where am I?” Clare asked in a croaky voice as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and saw she was wearing the same pink pyjama set she’d worn for the sleep over, but she didn’t have any breast forms attached this time, not that it stopped the pyjamas feeling really nice.

     “Hey Clare bear.” Jennifer smiled as she sat on the bed and pulled her into a hug. “You had us all so worried, and your aunt was out all night looking for you.” Jennifer informed her.

     “She just wants to stop me becoming Clare; I’m never going back there.” Clare said with a pout as she crossed her arms trying to look determined on the subject.

     “I think you need to sit and have a talk with your aunt and give her a chance to explain how she feels before you start saying things like that Clare.” Jennifer said sounding a little sterner with her tone.

     “How did you know where to find me?” Clare asked when she remembered Jennifer calling her in the park like she knew where she’d be.

     “The watch that Danielle gave you had a tracking device in it. She was worried you might do something silly like running away if things got bad.” Jennifer grinned.

     “I came here to see you, but when I saw my aunt’s car in the driveway, I left again. I knew she’d come to take me back and stop me becoming Clare.” She started to sob again. “I heard what she said on the phone about me never being able to come here and see any of you again.”

     “She was just scared and worried about you, so she acted badly for the right reason Clare.” Jennifer tried to explain. “I guess parents get from the time we’re born to the time we leave home to learn how to look after us, but your aunt was thrown in at the deep end with you, and to come home and find her nephew dressed as a school girl, well that’s enough to freak most people out.” Jennifer added with a giggle.

    Jennifer was just about to ask what Clare was doing dressed as a school girl at home, but a knock at the door just before Lianna, Lauren, Danielle, Nicole and Jessica entered the room stopped her asking.

    Clare was soon smiling as the bed filling up with bodies as the others all sat around the edge to find out how their friend was doing.

     “We can’t trust you on your own for a single day without you getting in trouble.” Lianna said with a roll of her eyes just before she started grinning as she gave Clare a hug. “I’m glad to see you safe Clare.” Lianna added with a sigh.

     “I thought you were spending the weekend with your aunt, so what were you doing getting caught wearing that school uniform?” Lauren asked with a little anger in her voice.

     “That was the plan, but she had some trouble at work and had to go in to sort it out. She said she’d be there all day, but then I came down to get a drink and found her stood in the hallway looking at me dressed in my school girl uniform.” Clare started to explain. “She seemed pretty calm to start with, so we sat down and I told her everything that happened from me coming to the party and being found in Lianna’s room to me spending time as Clare this past week. That was when she got angry and made the call to Chrissy saying that I wouldn’t be allowed to come over anymore, and she was going to call the police and have you all arrested.” Clare was sobbing again by the time she finished explaining.

     “Was that when you ran away from home?” Jessica asked.

     “Yes, and I started to make my way here, but it was a scary trip at night, and I had to keep hiding from people, so it took me a really long time.” Clare explained.

     “Why didn’t you call one of us and ask for help?” Lianna asked.

     “I didn’t have my phone with me, and I can’t remember any of your numbers off the top of my head.” Clare frowned.

     “I’m just glad to see you safe.” Jennifer said with a smile as she threw her arms around Clare again and hugged her.

    Clare was soon giggling as the others all wanted a hug at the same time, and they all ended up in one big pile lying on the bed giggling.

     “I think someone must be well rested then now.” Chrissy said as she entered the room and giggled when she saw Clare buried under a pile of children. “I need you to come with me down stairs so we can get all this mess sorted out.” Chrissy added as she started removing children so she could help Clare get out of bed.

    Chrissy helped Clare to put on a dressing gown before taking her by the hand and leading her out the bedroom and down the stairs.

     “What’s going to happen to me now?” Clare asked nervously as she looked up at Chrissy as they made their way to the living room.

     “You’re going to sit and talk things out with your aunt.” Chrissy said as she led Clare into the living room and Clare saw her aunt sat on one of the sofas in the room. Carol was also wearing a dressing gown and looked like she’d not been awake very long as she sat hugging a mug of something hot.

    Clare reacted on instinct and backed away from her aunt as she tried to leave the room, but Chrissy was ready for this and kept a tighter grip on the child as she forced her to keep walking forward and then Chrissy made Clare take a seat on the sofa facing Carol.

    Clare and Carol just sat looking at each other not saying anything until they both looked over to the living room door when they saw Carl and Mandy enter the room.

     “Have we made any progress yet?” Carl asked as he helped Mandy take a seat before he sat down next to her.

     “They haven’t spoken to each other yet.” Chrissy pointed out.

     “I’m sorry for upsetting you Clare, and for making you run away.” Carol started. “I was just shocked to see you dressed like you were, but I was really mad with myself for other things that didn’t have anything to do with you, well not in a direct way that is.” Carol said as she started to sob again.

     “I’m sorry I upset you Aunty, but you can’t blame Chrissy and the others for how I feel. I’ve felt like something was wrong for a long time before I ever spoke to Lianna or any of the others.” Clare said as she looked down at her pink silk covered legs. “I know you never wanted to get stuck with me as well, and this must be the final straw for you to have to deal with.” Clare added with a sigh.

     “I love having you around Cha... I mean Clare, and if this is what you want to be, then we’ll deal with it.” Carol said with a pleading in her voice. “I’m just not sure where that will be after next week.” Carol added as she broke down and placed her head in her hands and sobbed her heart out even more.

     “What do you mean Aunty?” Clare asked looking confused.

     “The reason for me working such long hours these past couple of months was due to me having trouble with another company stealing all my customers, and now I’ve had a company cancel their order after I got the order printed up for them. I’ve got to tell the staff they are all being laid off on Monday, and I’ll lose the house as well.” Carol explained just how bad things are for the two of them.

    Clare jumped up and ran over to her aunt and sat down next to her as Clare tried to console her sobbing aunt. “I’m sorry to hear that Aunty, but we’ll cope somehow, we still have each other.” Clare said trying to think positive.

     “It also means that I can’t afford to keep you in Belmont private school though, and I can’t let you go back to your old school if you want to be a girl.” Carol explained all the problems they were now facing, and why she’d reacted like she did the night before.

     “I’m sorry to disturb this heart to heart, but may I ask what it is you do as a business Carol?” Carl asked.

     “I run my own small printing company, but I’ve been trying to do battle with a larger company that turns out cheaper printing, but it’s not as good as what I produce, but most companies don’t seem to care, and I’ve just sunk the last of my capital into this last printing job, and the customer cancelled it at the last minute, so I’m about to lose everything.

     “Do you have any samples of your work that I can look at?” Carl asked as he started to form a plan to help Carol keep her business afloat.

     “I have some samples in the trunk of my car, but I just said I’ll be out of business soon, so I can’t see the point of showing you anything now.” Carol said with a puzzled look. “Even if I took this other company to court, and forced them to pay me what they owe, I’d lose the house and the business before then.” Carol added.

     “What if I said I might be interested in helping you out and also offering you the job of printing up all the literature for my companies from now on?” Carl smiled. “I’m not sure if you’ve ever thought about taking on a partner or not?” Carl asked.

     “Who’d be mad enough to invest in my business now?” Carol asked with a sarcastic sounding laugh.

     “I believe this mad man just did.” Chrissy pointed out as she pointed a finger in Carl’s direction.

     “What companies do you own Carl?” Carol asked.

     “I own the Wayne towers hotel for starts, and a large number of other companies, so as you can gather, it will be a full time job overseeing the printing of all the literature, and you will also need to farm some of it out to other companies.” Carl explained it all like Carol had already said yes to his offer. “With me as a partner, you also gain the help of my legal team, so they will chase all the bad debt you have outstanding.” Carl added with a grin.

     “I’d be mad not to take you up on your offer Mr Wayne.” Carol said still in shock over it all.

     “Please keep calling me Carl.” He smiled. “We will meet up tomorrow and get the paperwork drawn up, but right now we need to talk about Clare and her future with you.” Carl added as he looked at Clare who had sat quietly next to her aunt while Carl spoke to Carol.

     “I’ll do whatever is best for her; she can even dress as a clown and learn to juggle kittens if that’s what makes her happy.” Carol said with a grin as she threw her arms around Clare and hugged her.

     “I don’t want to do any of that aunty.” Clare giggled. “I just want to be a girl.” Clare said in a pleading tone.

     “I guess we better look into it then and see what we need to do.” Carol said with a smile.

     “We can help you with all that as well.” Chrissy said looking a little sheepish. “There is a reason we found out about Clare before you did Carol.” Chrissy started to explain. “Lianna was like Charlie until we found out that she was really a girl trapped in the wrong body, so we’re now helping her to become the girl she always felt she was. It was Lianna turning up in school that helped Charlie to open up to her and the rest of the family about how she felt.” Chrissy added.

     “Lianna is really a boy?” Carol asked looking shocked.

     “She was born with male parts, but inside she’s a girl, just like we think Charlie is really a girl called Clare.” Chrissy tried to explain.

     “So it’s not just about the clothes then?” Carol asked as she looked at Clare this time for an answer.

     “I do like the clothes, but it’s more the fact I feel like me when I’m Clare, and I’m pretty, not wimpy and nerdish like I am as Charlie.” Clare said with a pout which made Carol smile. “I fit in better when I dress as a girl, and Jennifer is my best friend.”

     “You remind me of your mother when you do that.” Carol said with a giggle. Referring to the pout Clare had just shown her “I would like to see what you look like when you’re all dressed up as this Clare.” Carol added with a sigh.

     “I can take her up and help her get changed, if you don’t mind me doing it that is?” Chrissy asked Carol.

     “You do seem to have touched a part of Charlie I could never reach, and I’m not too proud to admit when I need help.” Carol said with another sigh. “Please can you help me Chrissy, help me to help my nephew become my niece?” Carol asked.

     “Shall we go and find Clare for your aunt then Charlie?” Chrissy asked with a smile as she got to her feet and held out a hand for Charlie to take. “We’ll leave you to talk about this new partnership.” Chrissy said just before she led Charlie from the room.

     “Do you really think my aunt will still like me when she sees me all dressed up as Clare?”

     “I know she will Charlie. I could see the worry in her eyes when she came to our door earlier looking for you.” Chrissy said as they made their way up the stairs to the guest room where they had placed all of the clothes they bought on Wednesday. “I think you were just an easy target for her anger about other things when she saw you dressed in that uniform, it sounds like she’d been having a pretty rough time of it herself.” Chrissy added with some sadness for all the things Carol had been dealing with on her own.

     “I never thought of my aunty being all alone like I was for all that time.” Charlie said in a thoughtful tone. “Do you really think that Carl will be able to help her sort out her business so she doesn’t lose the house, and I end up leaving Belmont?”

     “I can say with my hand on my heart that your Aunt’s company is safe from going under, and I have a feeling you’ll be getting to see much more of your aunt as well.” Chrissy said with a grin.

     “I hope she wants to do things with me as Clare. That would be so cool getting to hang out with her just as two girls.” Charlie giggled excitedly.

    Chrissy and Charlie found all the other kids sat at the top of the stairs with Amy and Amber when they got to the top.

     “What’s going to happen mummy?” Lianna asked. “Will we be able to keep seeing Clare?” She asked for the group.

     “I’m taking Charlie to the guest room to help Clare come out to meet her aunt, so what do you think?” Chrissy asked with a grin.

    Charlie was soon in the centre of a group hug as all the others jumped up and started cheering. Chrissy followed the group down to the bedroom where Clare’s things were with Amy and Amber at her side smiling.

     “Nice to see you still have that magic touch with people sis.” Amy giggled as she gave Chrissy a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

     “Carol was just swamped down with work and feeing alone, but Carl is talking to her about a partnership, and she seems open minded about helping Charlie become Clare full time.” Chrissy told the two of them as they walked down to the bedroom where they found the others already helping Charlie get changed.

     “What breast forms will you be using mummy?” Lauren asked when Chrissy entered the room.

     “I think we’ll be using the good ones, as I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of Charlie for a while.” Chrissy said as she started sorting out the glue for the high quality breast forms, and the makeup to hide the edges once they were attached.

    Charlie found himself being pampered by the others and Chrissy working on the breast forms, Jennifer was painting the nails on one hand, while Jessica did the other. Lianna and Lauren were busy sorting out underwear and a dress, while Amy looked for a pair of shoes to match the dress Lianna and Lauren had picked out. Amber was brushing out the wig to place on Clare’s head once the others had finished.

    Charlie found himself looking in the mirror and seeing Clare in record time with all of them helping out, and Clare found herself smiling at the girl in the mirror.

     “Welcome back girlfriend.” Jennifer said as she gave Clare a hug.

     “Thank you for helping me, and for being worried about me.” Clare said as she hugged Jennifer back. “I better go and see if my aunt can still love me like this.” Clare added with a nervous sigh after breaking the hug with Jennifer and looking up at Chrissy who was now stood at her side.

     “Who couldn’t love someone as cute as you?” Chrissy asked with a grin as she held out her hand for Clare to hold while they made their way back down to the living room.

     “You love everyone Chrissy.” Clare giggled as she took hold of Chrissy’s hand.

     “True, but I know already that your aunt will fall in love with you the minute she sees you.” Chrissy said with a grin.

*****

    Carl had just finished taking down some notes and details of things Carol was having trouble with when there was a knock at the living room door and they saw Chrissy enter the room with Clare following just behind.

     “Oh My God! Clare?” Carol asked as she got up and walked over to where Clare was stood looking really nervous about meeting her aunt for the first time while being all made up with the breast forms and the wig.

     “Hello Aunty.” Clare said in her girlie sounding voice. “Do you think you can live with me looking like this?”

     “Yes sweetie, yes I can.” Carol said as she pulled Clare into a hug. “You’re the spitting image of your mother at your age.” Carol added with tears in her eyes.

     “I love you Aunty Carol.” Clare said as she started crying happy tears.

     “I love you too Clare.” Carol replied as she too was crying now. “Do you know that your mother always wished you’d been born a girl, so she could buy you pretty dresses and do all the mother daughter stuff we use to do with your Gran.” Carol added as she led Clare back to the sofa where she sat down and pulled Clare in close so the two of them could cuddle up together.

    The touching moment was broken when Clare’s belly made a groaning sound that let everyone know she was hungry.

     “I think we better see about feeding you young lady.” Chrissy smiled. “And I bet you’ve not eaten much either?” Chrissy asked as she looked at Carol.

     “I had a sandwich yesterday lunchtime at work.” Carol said looking a little sheepish.

     “That was nearly twenty four hours ago!” Chrissy snapped as she rose to her feet and then helped Clare and Carol up before she made them follow her into the kitchen where Holly was working on things for dinner that evening.

     “Hello dear.” Holly said with a smile. “Did you get everything sorted out?” Holly asked.

     “Just about mother, but I’ve just found out that someone hasn’t been taking proper care of themselves.” Chrissy said as she pointed at the kitchen table for Clare and Carol to sit down, while Chrissy set to work making them both a sandwich.

     “We don’t want to be any more trouble than we already have Chrissy. We could grab something to eat on the way home.” Carol tried to say as she watched Chrissy moving around the kitchen like a miniature whirlwind.

     “If you don’t want to be any more trouble, then I suggest you eat the sandwich, and then go and relax until dinner is ready, which the two of you will be stopping for.” Chrissy ordered.

    Carol went to argue with Chrissy, but she was cut off by Chrissy raising her hand and carrying on.

     “I’ll take your agreeing to stop for dinner as an apology for the mouth full of abuse you spat at me down the phone last night.” Chrissy added with a grin.

     “I said I was sorry for that.” Carol whined. “You have no idea how much I wish I could take that back.” Carol added in a pleading tone.

     “I’m just teasing you Carol.” Chrissy giggled as she placed the plate with the sandwiches on in front of her and Clare. “The thought came from the right place, and as you can see, Clare wasn’t forced to do anything.” Chrissy added with a grin as she looked over at Clare munching on a sandwich.

     “Thank you for the sandwich, and for everything else.” Carol said. “I feel like I can take a breath now all the despair has gone.” Carol added with a smile as she looked at a happy child sat next to her. “I’ve never seen you looking so happy before.” Carol giggled as she moved some of Clare’s hair away from her eyes.

     “Carl’s the one to thank for the business side of things, I just do people problems.” Chrissy grinned as she took a seat at the table to keep the two of them company while they ate.

     “Clare running away last night made me realise that none of that other stuff really mattered to me, but finding Clare and making sure she was alright, that was the thing that mattered.” Carol said with a happy sigh.

     “Do you realise that you’ve taken to calling her Clare right away, and referring to her as a girl?” Chrissy asked with a smirk.

     “How can I think of her as anything else when she looks so beautiful.” Carol said as she waved a hand towards Clare. “I won’t lie to you and say I’m not scared for her, and what it will take to make this work, but I’ll do all I can to make her dream come true.” Carol added.

     “Just remember you’re not alone in any of this. You have a whole family behind you, and Clare can come and talk to me or Lianna about anything that might be troubling her.” Chrissy added.

     “I believe you will Chrissy, but there are going to be times when not even you are going to understand just how Clare is feeling, I doubt anyone but Lianna and someone that’s been through the same thing could.” Carol said with a heavy sigh.

     “Very true, and that is why I said she can come and talk to me about it.” Chrissy smirked when she saw the puzzled look on Carol’s face turn to one of shock as the penny dropped and she realised what Chrissy was saying.

    Clare was choking on the bite of her sandwich that had just gone down the wrong hole as she realised what Chrissy was saying as well.

     “You were.... No you can’t be...” Carol said looking shocked at the news. “You just look so... So...”

     “I hope you’re thinking of a word like beautiful, or something else just as flattering.” Chrissy giggled.

     “I was.” Carol nodded. “You look amazing.”

     “And so will Clare, if not even better because she will be starting at a much younger age.” Chrissy grinned.

     “I’d love to find out more about you at some point” Carol said sounding fascinated.

     “I hope we have plenty of time to learn more about each other, and I hope that this all means you won’t be stopping Clare from coming over to the house?” Chrissy asked as she winked at Clare who was still sat looking at Chrissy with her mouth open in shock.

     “Clare has a lot to learn about being a girl, and I can’t think of anyone better than you and your family to help teach her.” Carol smiled as she looked at Clare who was now grinning at her.

     “Thank you Aunty Carol.” Clare said as she leaned in to get a hug.

    They both finished eating their sandwiches and then Chrissy sent Clare to play with the others while she took Carol back to the living room to sit and explain some of the things Clare would have to go through.

    Carl helped to put Carol’s mind at ease over the business side of things and told her to focus her worries on making sure Clare was happy and having as much fun as possible.

     “What about school? Do you think they’ll let Clare keep going there?” Carol asked at one point.

     “Lianna goes there, and I’ll sort everything with the headmaster for you.” Carl said in a matter of fact way.

     “You’re doing so much to help me and Clare out, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you enough.” Carol said with tears in her eyes.

    Carl had found out that Carol and her sister, Charlie’s mother was a partner in their printing company, but it was her sister that handled all the customers and accounts. Carol just managed the printing and design side of things. Carl was going to inject some capital and then put people in place to handle the accounts for her. Ann had already offered to go with Carl the next day to make a start.

    Carol had fetched some samples out the trunk of her car for Carl to look at, and he was very impressed with the print quality, and what Carol knew about the different forms of printing. He could see why she was good at her job, but knew very little about the other side which very often caused businesses to fail.

     “Suzie was the one with the head for business, while I always had my head up in the clouds designing something pretty.” Carole giggled at one point as she referred to her sister being the brains. “That’s where Clare get’s all her smarts from.” Carol added.

     “You should sit and talk to Amber, one of Jessica’s parents, she’s a fashion designer.” Chrissy pointed out. “I think the two of you would get on great together.” Chrissy added with a giggle when she realised that Carol did remind her of Amber in the way she talked about things.

    Chrissy was right and Amber and Carol started talking over dinner and then carried on well into the evening until it was time for Carol and Clare to leave.

    Chrissy and Becky had got Lianna and the others to pack up some of the clothes they had bought for Clare, so she could take them home and have some things to change into at home.

     “I hope you don’t mind, but we bought Clare some things on Wednesday, so she already has a good start on a new wardrobe.” Chrissy said when she saw Carol looking at the two large bags of clothes sat in the hallway.

     “I guess we’ll have to plan a couple of shopping trips now, so we can get you all kitted out.” Carol said as she looked down at a grinning Clare.

     “That sounds like fun.” Clare giggled.

     “Sounds expensive to me.” Carol frowned, but she was soon grinning. “But yes you’re right; it will be fun as well.”

    Carol was going to be dropping Clare off at the house the next morning, and then she would be going with Carl to the bank, so they could sort out the financial side of things before they went to the warehouse where all the printing was done to have a word with the work force and then get the people to work that would help sort out the business side of things while Carol focused on the printing and design.

     “We’ll get the rest of Clare’s new clothes packed up later, so she can take them home with her tomorrow.” Chrissy explained. “Brad has said he’ll bring it all over in his truck when he drives Clare home tomorrow evening.” Chrissy added as she gave Carol a hug.

     “You must let me pay you back for all these clothes you bought her.” Carol said.

     “Don’t be silly; just call it a welcome to womanhood gift from us all.” Chrissy grinned as she looked down at Clare.

     “Thank you so much for doing all this.” Carol said as she hugged Chrissy and the others again.

     “Becky’s going to take you to see another sister of ours tomorrow Clare and she’s going to see what she can do with your own hair to make it look cute so you can stop wearing this wig.” Chrissy explained. “But you will have to remove it tonight before you go to bed, but the breast forms are waterproof, just like the makeup that I used on them, so you can bathe normally.”

     “Thanks Chrissy. Thanks for everything.” Clare said as she threw her arms around Chrissy and hugged her.

    They all waved to Clare and Carol as they drove away in her car, and then they went back inside to relax and enjoy what was left of the day.

 

To Be Continued Next friday  

 

Story by SaraUK

 

Edited and Posted by SamanthaK

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Child and Parent guide:

Parents	Children
Chrissy & Becky	Andrew/Lianna, Lauren (Twins)
Amy & Amber	Jessica
Ann & brad	Jennifer
Sara & Cathy	Peter
Mandy & Carl/Carla	Craig, Danielle (Adopted)
Jayden & Callum	Richard, Nicola (Twins)
Dan & Faith	Penny, Christopher

    EDITORS NOTE: Please Comment and/or leave Kudos and let Sara know you like her work please, Any comments on spelling, grammar or the layout of the story please PM me “Samanthak” not Sara. Thank you