Steve is a precocious ten-year-old, usually given to doing just what Steve wants to. He lives with his mother and 12 year old sister, Martha. Martha is quite opinionated. She has stated flat out, on more than one occasion, that she would rather have a sister than a brother.

In fact, she always treated him like he was a sister from the time she first started playing with him. Steve seemed to remember there was a time when they would play house. Martha would play dress up with their mother’s clothes and would pull his tee shirt off and put one of her dresses on him. She would be the mother and he would be the daughter. It also seemed to him, that Mom made quite a fuss over her “new little girl.” When Martha was 10, she was allowed to have her own finger nail polish. She would put some on and invite Steve to join her. They often played together, since Steve didn’t have anyone else to play with. Knowing about nothing else, he played with dolls; that is until one day, when he started the second grade, he told one of his school friends about it and they made fun of him. All of this, Steve could remember only dimly.

Martha was in charge when the two of them got home from school. The rule was that they went into the house as soon as they came home and stayed there until Mom got home. They weren’t to go outside the hedge or have friends in. Mom liked the house because of the big hedge that kept the yard private. Only the gate in the front allowed anyone to even look in and in the back yard there was only a portion open to the neighboring yard. An old man lived there and kept to himself.

Martha always called Mom at work to report in. If Steve were late coming home Mom would know. Martha was not happy to have to watch after Steve. On rainy days he made her life miserable. He would run back and forth play noisily with an imaginary friend while she preferred to play quietly with dolls or some quite game. He wouldn’t do that since the teasing he had taken in the second grade. She usually encouraged him to play outside, if the weather would permit it. Mom didn’t like that too much. He tended to get his clothes dirty. He liked to build forts in the hedge and crawl under the porch. There he pretended to explore a cave or some such thing.

That caused a struggle to keep him in clean clothes for school. With only five pairs of jeans to his name, he had to wear each pair for two days each week. There was no chance of washing to make them stretch. They didn’t have their own washing machine so Mom took the wash to the Laundromat on Saturday.

Spring break came and Friday, Steve did his usual stunt after school. Knowing that tomorrow was wash day, he threw caution to the wind and played under the hedge. This, even though it had rained earlier that day. That meant all but one pair of his pants was dirty.

Saturday Mom had no more than left for the Laundromat when Steve had gone out to the hedge again. Mom came home just before noon and made soup and sandwiches for lunch.

“Steve!” Mom called out the back door. “Lunch is ready. Come in and wash up.”

Steve came in as he was told and went straight to the bathroom. As he was lathering his hands his mother appeared in the doorway.

“Steve. You are a mess. What have you been doing?

“I was playing in my fort under the hedge.”

“Well those clothes are too dirty to wear to the table. You had better change, before you eat.”

After lunch Steve went out to play. His mother called after him. “Try not to get so dirty this afternoon. Your clothes have to last for a week, you know.”

The admonition fell on deaf ears. Steve was already planning his defense from the Indians as they attacked his fort.

Later that day, he came in for dinner and Mom lit into him as soon as he hit the back door. “Steven James Murdock! Just look at yourself. You’re mud from head to toe. You get right to your room and change. They’ll be no more playing outside for you today, young man.”

As Steve headed out the door to play after breakfast his mother caught him by the arm. “Today, you’ll not play under the hedge. Do you hear me?”

Steve hung his head. “Yes ma’am,” he replied.

Not being allowed to play under the hedge, he went straight to the porch. He lay down and slid under and began digging out between the house and the edge of the porch. He wished he had a proper shovel. He only had a coffee can. He scooped up the dirt and threw it under the steps. He hoped to make an area deep enough to stand up in. When he heard Mom calling him into lunch, he left of his task and crawled out.

“Steve, I thought I told you not to play under the hedge.”

“I wasn’t under the hedge.”

“How did you get so dirty then?”

“I was digging under the porch.”

“Do I have to watch you every minute? I washed just yesterday, and already you’re down to only two pair of pants for the whole week. You had better do better than that or you’ll be naked before Wednesday. Go change your clothes and wash up for lunch.”

Before he got up from the table his mother admonished him. “No digging under the porch. OK? You’ve got to make your clothes last.”

Steve nodded and headed out the back door. Under the porch he heeded his mother’s words and didn’t dig. What he did do, was rearrange the loose dirt so that it packed under the steps more tightly and gave him more room to dig out.

As he went in to wash up for dinner, he noticed that his pants were dirty. So he slipped into his room and put on another clean pair of jeans so that Mom wouldn’t be mad at him. It began to rain during dinner so Steve stayed inside and watched T. V.

The sun was out in the morning so Steve started out to play. Mom caught him just before the door. “Don’t play in your fort today and don’t go under the porch. You don’t have enough clothes to keep up that kind of playing. Steve sat in the back porch wondering what else he could do out here. His eyes caught the maple tree that grew against the hedge. He thought he might be able to see the whole neighborhood from the top of the tree. He hurried up the slight incline to the base of the tree. Using the hedge to help him reach the bottom branch, he began to climb up the trunk.

Sure enough, he could see all the way to the fire station from up here. If he looked the other way he could see the signal light where the Safety Patrol made everyone wait, coming this way, from school crossing.

“Steven!” Mom called. “You get down from that tree this instant. I don’t want to worry about you falling, and getting hurt while I’m at work.”

Steve hurried down. Mom was in no mood to bargain with. Reaching the bottom branch Steve chose to jump rather than climb down the hedge. He landed well, flexing his knees but as he straightened up his footing gave way on the rain soaked grass and he slipped on his rump and slid down the incline. As he slid, he rolled over and even ended up with mud on his face.

“Oh Steve. Go jump in the tub. You’re too dirty to just wash up.” Inside she called to Martha. “Go in your brother’s room and bring a change of clothes to the bathroom for him.”

In the bathroom Mom drew a bath while Steve stripped off his shirt and shoes. She even put bubble bath in it. “Finish taking off your clothes and soak in here a while. You have ground in dirt from the last three days. I want to see you sparkling clean, before I leave for work,” she told him.

In the hall she called to Martha. “Where are Steve’s clean clothes?” Martha appeared at Steve’s door.

“He doesn’t have any clean clothes. Everything is in the dirty clothes.”

Mom just looked at the floor. “Well, you’ve plenty of clean clothes. You’ll just have to lend him some of yours.”

“Mom if I lend him my pants, he’ll just go out and muddy up the knees. You know that his jeans never come really clean in the knees. I don’t want my pants to end up like that.”

“Well,” she said, loud enough for Steve to hear. “Then give him a dress to wear. That will keep him inside.”

“What about underwear? You know he doesn’t wear any.”

“You have plenty of panties. Let him wear some of them.”

“What shall I give him to wear?”

“They’re your clothes. You decide.”

Martha picked out a yellow dress she had gotten two years ago for Easter. It was really too small on her. She could get into it but she really didn’t have enough room to move in it. If he ruined it she wouldn’t feel too badly. Then with a smirk she got out a pair of pink panties with lace down one side. As she held up the dress she remembered it needed a slip. Going to her closet, she surveyed her selection. There were four to choose from one was very plain. The second was her newest. She didn’t want to lend that to him. The third had lace around the hem and on the top. The last had a two-inch ruffle around the hem and lace all around the top and embroidered flowers at the bust. If Steve was going to wear girls’ clothes, he ought to really go all out. She took the clothes to the bathroom and opened the door. Reaching around the door without really coming in, she hung them on the hook on the inside of the door.

About an hour later Mom called to him from the living room. “Steve you can get out now. I think you’ve had enough time to soak clean by now.”

“Mom,” Steve called back. “Do I have to wear this stuff? It’s the most girlie stuff she’s got.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” she called back. “You have to borrow Martha’s clothes, so you’ll just have to take whatever she’s willing to lend you. Put everything on and don’t forget the underwear.”

Begrudgingly, Steve put on the panties. He was surprised by how they felt. Not usually wearing underwear, he didn’t have any idea what to expect. If boy’s underwear felt like this, he wished he had worn it all along. But they were all lacy and frilly and PINK! The slip! He was tempted to leave it off. It was altogether too girlish. But Mom had said, “Put everything on…” He put the slip on and then the dress. The silly thing buttoned up the back. Who, but a yucky girl, would want to wear anything that was so hard to get into? He struggled a while and was totally frustrated when Martha knocked at the door.

“Mom wants to know what’s taking so long in there.”

“I can’t get this stupid dress buttoned.”

Martha opened the door. “Here, let me do it,” she offered. He turned and she buttoned the back and tied the belt in a bow behind his waist. “Your hair is really wet,” she said, reaching for a towel. “Don’t you dry your hair when you get out of the bath?”

“I dried it a little bit. I usually just comb it and let it dry naturally.”

“That would explain why your hair usually looks like straw. If you’re going to wear my clothes, you should look good in them. Let me do something with your hair.” She reached under the counter and got out Mom’s blow dryer and began drying his hair, brushing it as she did. His hair came nearly to his collar and was very full.

About fifteen minutes later he trudged to the living room and threw himself down on the couch. His arms were folded across his chest. Indignation was very apparent on his face. Martha had squirted him with perfume. She often did that when he invaded her space while she was in the bathroom. But this time he had been there first and she really got him. He was almost choking from the blast. He thought she was still messing with his hair when she reached to the counter and picked up the spray bottle and squirted his neck on the right side. He spun around and she got the left side. Both of them were good hits.

Mom came in from the kitchen. She studied him a while. “Stand up and turn around,” she said, finally. He did. “You look good in that dress. Almost as good as Martha. Why the sour face?” she continued with a slight smirk on her face.

“She squirted me with perfume. Not just a little, but a lot,” he protested. “It’s bad enough she has me looking like a girl. Now I even smell like a girl.”

Mom got serious. “You look nice and smell nice. Maybe, by the time you get your own clothes back, you’ll appreciate the feeling and not get so dirty all the time.”

“When can I have my own clothes back,” he challenged.

“Not until Saturday, at least, I won’t be able to get to the Laundromat before then.”

“I’ve got to dress like this all week?”

“Yes. You’ll just have to learn that you have a finite amount of clothes and that it’s your responsibility to make them stretch until wash day. I’ve told you before that you needed to keep clean better. Maybe a week in dresses will convince you that your pants have to last from washday to washday.”

Steve sat down in a huff again. Mom picked up the remote for the TV and tossed it to him. “You might as well get used to watching television. I doubt you’ll be going outside anytime soon. Mind you do what your sister says while I’m gone.” With that, she walked to the door and put on her coat. “Martha. You pick out something for him to wear tomorrow and see it gets in his room before he goes to bed.”

“OK. But I get to choose what it is, right?”

“That’s right. They’re your clothes you choose what you’ll let him wear. Bye, I’m off to work.”

Martha smiled. There’s mischief in her head. She went straight to her room and began picking out clothes. She would need five pairs of panties and five dresses. He could tradeoff between the slip he had on and the one with the lace top and bottom. Picking through her underwear drawer, she chose five pairs, all in pastel colors and with lace or embroidery work on them. She laid them on her bed and went to her closet.

There she carefully searched through the dresses. She ignored the pants, blouses and skirts. Although, if it was for a longer time, she might have considered a skirt or two. Each time she decided on a dress she would take it out of place and hang it on the left. She took the spare slip and hung it with the dresses on the left. She took a pair of panties, the slip and one dress and put them into Steve’s room. It was a short, blue, cotton dress that would strike him just above the knees. It had an empire waist line and a full “A-line” skirt. Puffy cap sleeves and a boat neckline topped it off.

When she came back to the living room Steve complained. “My feet are cold and all my socks are dirty too.”

“Wait here,” Martha told him and went to her room again. Shoes and socks! She had forgotten all about them. He would need them to complete the outfit. She picked out a pair of yellow socks with lace cuffs and a pair of yellow patent leather flats to match the dress he had on. She also picked out a pair of white knee socks and black patent leather flats for tomorrow. She stopped by his room and dropped off the shoes and socks for tomorrow.

Coming into the living room, she knelt down and pulled the socks on for him and slipped the flats on him. “Oh man,” he complained. “Yellow shoes and lacy socks. Couldn’t I wear your old tennis shoes or something?”

“You heard Mom. You have to wear what I tell you. They’re my clothes. If I have to share them with you, I get to pick out what you wear.”

“It’s going to be a long week,” Steve moaned. He moped around the rest of the evening and went to bed early without being told.

Martha came by his room before he went to sleep. “Steve,” she called through the door. “Are you in bed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hang up that dress?”

“No.”

She opened the door and flipped on the light. Her dress had been tossed across the bed with the slip. She noticed that the panties weren’t in evidence and assumed that he still had them on. She opened his closet and hung up the dress and slip. “There is another dress and slip in here for you tomorrow and there are clean panties and socks in your top drawer. The shoes for tomorrow’s dress are under your bed. See you in the morning.” She marched out and turned off the light.

In the morning, Steve didn’t get dressed, but came to breakfast in his pajamas. Mom had fixed pancakes and eggs. He was still sulky and got careless. He managed to spill his plate on his lap. Both tops and bottoms of his pajamas were soaked with syrup.

“You already got milk on your other pair Sunday. I guess Martha will have to loan you something to sleep in now.”

Martha grinned and went to her bedroom immediately. There she picked out a knee length nightgown with two layers of nylon tricot and another of chiffon and lace. She took it in and put it under his pillow. Steve came in just as she was leaving. His pajamas were soaked where Mom had mopped the worst of the syrup out.

He closed his door and took off the pajamas. The panties were wet too. Good thing Martha had brought him some fresh ones. He took them off and opened the drawer. The new ones were powder blue with a rose on a patch of lace. Well, at least they weren’t PINK. He opened the closet and took out the other dress. It had the other slip hanging on the hanger with it. He put on the slip and pulled the dress over his head. At least this one didn’t need to be buttoned up the back. He was still hungry and most of his breakfast had been salvaged. He remembered that his feet had been cold in the kitchen. He also pulled on the knee socks and fished out the shoes Martha told him to wear.

In the hall, he got a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror. He looked ridiculous. Except his hair not being fixed right, he looked just like a girl. He was sure that Martha was enjoying making him look like a girl. It was no secret she would rather he had been her sister. Last night he had noticed that his hair was all puffed out to look like a girl. He stomped in to the kitchen. “Mom. Look what she has me wearing. I look just like a girl,” he complained.

Mom looked at him. “I think you look fine. That is except for your hair. Martha, after breakfast, take him into the bathroom and to do something with his hair. You had it looking so nice yesterday.”

“Tell her not to spray me with perfume today,” Steve said sitting down to his breakfast.

Mom looked at him and grinned. “Perfume goes with the territory. If you’re going dress like a girl what difference does it make if you smell like a girl.”

Steve rolled his eyes. They were both enjoying this. Sure enough, after breakfast Martha had him in the bathroom brushing his hair. He was beginning to regret letting his hair grow so long. It was too easy for her to make it look like a girl’s. This time she got out one of her barrettes with a real ribbon bow on it. It went on the left side.

“Are you through now?”

“Almost,” she said picking up the perfume.

“Oh no,” he protested backing away. He’d have run but she had carefully put herself between him and the door.

“You know what Mom said, ‘Look like a girl, smell like a girl’”

He put his arms down. She came and sprayed once behind each ear. Pulling out the neckline of his dress she put a little on his chest. Lifting each arm she sprayed the inside of each elbow and dowsed him heavily on the left wrist. “Rub your wrists together.” She ordered. He obeyed. She turned him around and sprayed the back of each knee.

Steve was mortified. He walked sullenly back to the living room. Mom was reading the paper and looked up. She smiled at him. “That’s better. I like your hair, like that,” she said. “You’ll have to have Martha fix it like that every day.”

“Great,” Steve said plopping on the couch.

“You smell nice too,” Mom observed.

After a long silence Steve took advantage of Martha not being in the room. “Mom,” he began. “I’m really sorry I got all my clothes dirty and I know that I have to wear Martha’s clothes, but really, she has plain panties. She has me wearing the pink and blue ones with lace and flowers. And I know she has a plain slip instead of this.” He pulled up the hem of his dress to show the lace. “The one I had to wear yesterday was worse,” he continued. “For that matter, why do I have to wear a slip at all? Or… I could wear pants or shorts. If she’d just loan me some pants, I have tee shirts I could wear.”

“Look. She doesn’t trust you to wear her pants. I can’t say I blame her. She’s right. You consistently get your knees dirty. All your pants are permanently stained at the knee. This is supposed to be a punishment. The more you dislike it, the more it will be effective.”

“Well what about the hair and the perfume? Isn’t that going a little too far? She’s trying her best to make me a girl.”

“She’s doing a good job too. You look very nice. If you were a girl, you couldn’t look better.”

“You mean you don’t care that she’s doing her best to make me like a girl? Next thing you know she’ll want to put fingernail polish on me.”

“You used to like that. You even asked why you couldn’t have your own bottle like she did. Remember?”

Steve’s face reddened. It was true there was a time he wanted to wear fingernail polish.

“That’s a good idea Steve. I think I’ll do that,” Martha said from the hall. She came in carrying her polish. Steve shot a look a Mom. He got no sympathy. “Let me have your hand,” she said sitting on the arm of the couch.

“Mom, do I have to?”

“You’re wearing her clothes. I’d say she has the right to say how you look in them.”

Steve held out his hand and looked at Mom. “You both are enjoying me looking like a girl. You’d rather have a daughter instead of me, wouldn’t you?”

“There have been times of late. I have wished you had been a girl. It looks like I’ll have my wish for a week at least.”

“You’re putting me at her mercy. I have to dress in whatever she says, wear my hair however she says and let her do whatever girlie thing she wants to me.”

“That’s about it,” Mom replied with a smirk.

Martha painted his fingernails, first one hand and then the other. He had to sit still for over half an hour while his nails dried. “Don’t mess them up or I’ll just have to do them over,” she had warned him.

“Steve, you should really keep your legs together when you’re wearing a dress. Especially when it’s as short as that one,” Mom commented when she came in from the kitchen.

Steve looked down. His legs were spread wide. He put them together and his mother pulled the dress down a little. “You should also smooth your dress when you sit down so it will cover as much of your legs as possible. I know Martha has you wearing pretty panties but you really don’t want to show them off. It’s enough that you know they’re pretty.”

She left for work, leaving him at Martha’s mercy. He was sure she didn’t have any. She fixed him lunch and he had to help her with the dishes. “Here Stephanie,” She told him, “let me put this apron on you.” It was Mom’s most feminine one. It was really more ornamental than functional.

After lunch she talked him into playing jacks. She called him “Stephanie” all afternoon. He didn’t even object. He knew it wouldn’t do any good. He also played with her dolls. He’d have thought at 12, she’d be just about through with dolls. But she seemed to have a real attachment to Barbie and Ken. She had all the accessories. She even had the dollhouse, the sports car and motor home. She had him on the floor all afternoon playing with them. He had to admit that when he put them in the sports car and pushed them along the floor it wasn’t a lot different from playing with his cars. He even found himself having a good time and entering into the spirit of the playtime.

Mom called from work to remind Martha that it was time to start dinner. Mom had precooked everything really. Martha just had to re-heat it in the oven and dish it up. They watched television after dinner until bedtime. Martha had sent him in with the admonition to hang up the dress and slip. He opened the closet and took off the dress. Monday’s dress was gone and another hung in its’ place. It was lavender with a wide yoke collar, trimmed in lace and buttoned up the back. He would have to have help again. The more feminine slip hung with it. He stripped down to his panties and went to the bed. He always kept his pajamas under his pillow. He found the nightgown. He shook his head and put it on. Just then he heard Mom’s voice. She had come home early. The power had gone off at the store so they just locked up and went home. Stephanie went to the living room.

“Mom look at the nightgown she got me. I know she has pajamas. Couldn’t I wear the pajamas to bed?”

Mom was hanging up her coat. She turned to look at him. “I think you look cute in that nightie,” she told. “Besides, remember, it’s her clothes. She gets to decide what she will loan you. Now give me a kiss and get to bed.”

In the morning, he decided to dress before coming to breakfast. He just couldn’t bring himself to wear the nightgown around the house. It was just too frilly. Although he did kind of like the way it felt on him. He couldn’t explain it but there was definitely something pleasurable about the feel of it. He took it off and folded and put it under his pillow. He went to the dresser and opened the drawer. His fresh panties were yellow and had lace along the leg bands in front. The socks were white with lace cuffs, he put them on. Also the fancy slip and the lavender dress. He buttoned the top button and stepped out into the hall. The bathroom door was open and the light was on. He walked to it. Mom was brushing her hair.

“I can’t do up the buttons myself,” he told her, turning around.

Mom obliged and buttoned the dress, tying the belt in a bow. Then she began brushing out his hair. She opened a drawer and found a barrette with a matching ribbon on it. It not only had a bow but the tails of the ribbon were long and dangling and the bow itself was set in a bit of lace. Mom ratted his bangs, sprayed them with her hair spray. They stayed all puffed up. She gathered the sides and the top of his hair and put in barrette so that the ribbon hung down in back.

“Perfume today?” she asked picking up the bottle.

He surged his shoulders. She sprayed him behind each ear and on the wrist and he rubbed them together.

“You look really nice today. That dress becomes you. It’s a good color for you,” she told him. “I’ll have breakfast ready in a minute,” she continued walking into the hall. Steve stepped out into the hall and looked at himself in the full-length mirror. His mother made him look even more like a girl then Martha had. He had to admit he was a good-looking girl.

Martha was in the kitchen when Mom got there. “Steve really looks good this morning,” Mom told her.

“He looks so good I call him Stephanie,” Martha commented. Then almost off hand, “It’s shame we don’t have some pictures of him as Stephanie.” After breakfast Martha and Stephanie were sitting on the floor playing jacks. All of a sudden, there was a flash. Stephanie looked up. Mom had just taken a picture.

“You two looked so cute sitting there. I just couldn’t resist taking your picture. I want to remember this. Stephanie, come out on the back porch. I want to get a picture of you, in the daylight.”

He got up. Mom was off the deep end. He hoped the film would never be developed like last year’s vacation trip to the beach. Out on the porch, she had him pose on the top step. First just standing there; then down a step turned a little with his foot up on the next step and his hand on the rail. Next she had him sit on the steps about halfway down. Reminding him to keep his knees together she snapped the last picture in the roll. They went back inside.

Mom took the film out of the camera and dropped it into her purse. “There’s a place near the store that gives same day service. I’ll just drop it by there, and pick it up on my way home,” she explained and got ready for work.

That day it was more Barbie and Ken. That evening Martha had an embroidery project she had been working on and got Stephanie to help her with it. At bedtime Stephanie was amazed. Sometime though the day, Martha had exchanged yesterday’s dress with yet another one. This one was yellow chiffon. There was a note pinned to it. “Wear the same slip you had on with the lavender dress,” it said.

In the morning he could smell the eggs and bacon when he got up. He decided to go ahead and eat breakfast before dressing. With today’s dress what was the difference. He went to the bathroom first and brushed his hair. He didn’t try to make it look good or anything. He just brushed it straight and went to the table. After breakfast he got dressed and Martha met him in the hall. She herded him into the bathroom where she fixed his hair and anointed him with perfume. On the way out of the bathroom, he turned to look at himself in the full-length mirror. With that dress, he might as well have gone around in the slip. It showed right through.

When he came into the living room, Mom called him to the couch. “Look at these pictures,” she said holding them out. There they were. Stephanie and Martha playing jacks on the floor, Stephanie posing on the back porch. He was amazed just how much he looked like a girl. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have sworn it was two girls in the pictures.

“I got some more film. They turned out so good I want to get some more today. That dress never looked so good on you, Martha. I think it becomes Stephanie. Martha, why don’t you put on one of your new dresses and I’ll get some pictures of you both.” Martha headed for her bedroom. “Meet us on the back porch. I want to get a couple of Stephanie, alone,” Mom called after her and started for the back door.

Stephanie followed her out. These pictures will be his ruin. Somehow, someone, who shouldn’t, will see them.

“Mom, do we have to have pictures? I mean, you have those from yesterday. Isn’t that enough?”

“Oh come on Stephanie, you’re only here for a short week. It’s just that you make such a good-looking girl. I only want some pictures to remember this by.”

“I’m afraid that someone will see them. In one dress only, I could claim that it was for Halloween or something. If you have pictures of me in more than one dress, that’ll blow that excuse. Whoever sees them will want to know, what I’m doing wearing dresses.”

“Look I’m going to take pictures. I’d like them to be nice. Be a good girl and pose nice. Remember to smile.” She started taking pictures again.

There was no use protesting. Mom was over the edge. She had it in her head that she just had to have pictures. They were pretty much the same as yesterday, until Martha came out. She had on a yellow dress and white tights and matching yellow shoes. She had taken time to fix her hair and had on a yellow bandeau in her hair. Mom had them pose together. She must have taken ten pictures in all. Then she had Martha take two pictures of Stephanie and Mom. That was the end of the roll.

Inside, Mom dropped the film in her purse again. She kissed them each good-bye and left for work. Stephanie was sullen all morning. Finally after lunch, she relented and began to enter into the playtime with Martha. By the time they had dinner, Stephanie was really getting into Ken & Barbie. So much so that when Martha sat down to watch television, “she” played with them alone.

In the morning, there was a pink dress in the closet. It had big puffy cap sleeves with bows set in them and white trim lace sticking out from under the hem line with a matching bow two inches above. In his drawer, more pink panties. These had lavender roses on each side of the front panel. Instead of socks, there a pair of white tights like the ones Martha wore yesterday. Try as he would, he just can’t seem to get them on. He thought that they would just pull on like socks or pants. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get them passed his knees. Finally, he gave up. Donning his slip, he went in search of help. The bathroom door was closed. He could hear someone in the kitchen. Swinging the tights from his right hand as he walked, he went straight in there.

“How am I supposed to get these on?” he asked pointedly.

“Here, I’ll show you,” Mom said pulling out a kitchen chair and turning it to sit in front of her. She indicated that Steve should sit in it. He did. Mom took the tights and leaned over the back of the chair so that she was holding them in front of Steve. “You gather the leg like this. All the way down to the toe,” she demonstrated. “Now bring up your leg and point your toe.” Steve complied and she pulled one leg up to his knee and let go. “You do the other side.” He gathered up the other side just as he had seen her do. Then he put his heel on the edge of the chair and slipped his toe into that leg and let the fabric slip through his fingers like she had done. When he had it at his knee she said. “Now stand up and pull each leg up a little at a time.” Steve complied. He was amazed. One little trick and it was simple. He finished pulling them up to his waist and went back to put on his dress.

This dress buttoned up the back again, but Steve was determined to figure out how to do the buttons himself. Martha did it somehow. If she could do it, he could too. With some concentration he buttoned up the back as far as he could reach and then went into the bathroom. It was deserted now. He turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder as he tried to reach the not yet fastened buttons. He realized that he was only one button short of being able to reach them all. Pulling the dress up a little, he buttoned the one he couldn’t otherwise reach. After that, it was a snap. He tied the belt behind his back, watching in the mirror. Then he brushed his hair, back combing the bangs the way Martha had done. When he was finished, he opened the drawer the barrettes were in and picked out one. They were a little clumsy to operate but he managed and started for the kitchen. Almost unwillingly, his eye caught the perfume bottle. He looked at it for a long time. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and sprayed some behind each ear and on his wrist and rubbed his other wrist on it.

They had breakfast and then Mom showed him pictures from yesterday. It was amazing. He and Martha looked like sisters. “I’m going to treasure these pictures for a long time,” Mom said. “For a week, I have two daughters.”

Then she got out the camera and they started another photo session. There was the usual posing outside. Stephanie alone first, then Stephanie and Martha. That was followed by Mom and Stephanie. Then inside, Mom got Stephanie and Martha playing with Ken and Barbie. That completed another roll. It went into her purse and she left for work.

Martha got out her sewing and started to work on that while Stephanie continued to play with Ken and Barbie. He had them dressed for tennis, then to go horseback riding. After that they were at a fancy dance and Barbie wore her best gown. All the while, Martha watched with satisfaction. She was pleased that she had a sister, even if it was only for a little while.

Finally, Saturday rolled around. Steve had begun to wonder if it was ever going to get there. He knew he would have to wear a dress at least for the morning, but it wouldn’t be long now until he could wear pants again. That made this morning special. He bounded out of bed, with a light heart. He opened the drawer to get his underwear out. Martha had made some kind of mistake. There were two pairs of panties. One was blue with white lace and the other was blue with flowers. He grabbed the ones with the lace and discovered they also had ruffles of lace across the seat. No matter. He couldn’t be daunted today. Today is the day he can wear pants.

In the closet were a sheer white blouse and a red jumper that zipped up the back. The slip designated for today was the fancy one. He put them on and pulled on the white knee socks. After fixing his hair and putting on perfume, he almost skipped on the way to breakfast.

Mom got out the camera after breakfast and there was another photo session. After dozen or so pictures she went to the Laundromat. Stephanie occupied himself with Ken and Barbie while he waited. About two hours later, Mom came in dragging her laundry cart with her.

She began the ritual of laundry sorting. Each of the “girls” was given a stack of clothes to take to their rooms. When Stephanie came back to get the second stack, Mom had news for him.

“Sweet heart, I’m sorry. But it seems I spent so much money on film and developing, I didn’t have enough to wash all of your jeans. Here are three pairs. If you wear a dress again tomorrow, and are careful through the week, that should last you until next Saturday.”

He would have to wear a dress again tomorrow… Oh well. He could survive another day. It had been five already. One more wouldn’t hurt. He took his jeans back into his bedroom and began to put his clothes away. He dumped all the socks into his drawer at once. As they went in, he saw that they landed right on that extra pair of panties. Oh well, it didn’t matter.

The day went by without incident. He played jacks with Martha for a while. Then, after lunch, they got out Ken and Barbie again. When they got bored with that, they got out some games and played them on the kitchen table.

After dinner Mom asked Stephanie to help with the dishes. They talked while they worked.

When they were through, Mom looked at him with a serious face. “I’m really sorry you have to wear a dress again tomorrow. I just didn’t realize how much I was spending on film and developing until I began counting my money at the Laundromat this morning.”

“It’s OK Mom. I’m used to it now. One more day, won’t kill me.”

“You’re such a good sport. You’ve indulged me my little fantasy and let me take pictures of you. I know. I’ll bake a cake this evening and tomorrow we’ll have a going away party for Stephanie. Would you like that?”

“I always like to eat cake,” Steve said.

She gave him a big hug. “That’s my girl,” she said. In the living room, she said to Martha, “Why don’t you lend Stephanie that dress you wore to Cousin Sue’s wedding tomorrow. We’ll have a going away party, for Stephanie.”

“OK, that will be fun,” Martha agreed.

When Steve got ready for bed, he hung up his dress as usual and put on his nightgown. Then he thought, “Oh yeah, I have pajamas I can wear.” He hesitated and decided to go ahead and leave the nightgown another night. He was going to be wearing a dress tomorrow anyway.

In the morning, he went to breakfast before getting dressed. Mom gave him a big hug and kissed him on the forehead.

“Well today’s the last day we get to have Stephanie with us. It’s going to be a special day. After breakfast, why don’t you take a bubble bath before you get dressed?”

So it was, he did just that. Mom came into the bathroom and filled the tub for him. She put in some of her special bubble bath for him. It smelled really good. Almost like perfume.

“When you’re done put on your slip and call me. I’ll fix your hair. I want it to look really nice today,” she told him as she closed the door. There were his clean panties and slip on the hook behind the door. He soaked in the tub for a while and then washed his hair. He got out and dried himself, pulled on the panties and slip.

“Mom,” he called out the door. “I’m ready.”

She came in all smiles. She gave him another big hug. Out came the hair drier and she began blow drying his hair. She ratted it all over and sprayed it with hair spray. It was all puffy and really made him look like a girl. Then she sprayed perfume on him. “Come on,” she told him. “Martha has your dress lying on your bed.” He remembered that dress. It was really fancy. It had cap sleeves with long extensions that were sheer and had a little slit at the wrist that had to be buttoned together to make it fit tight. The top of the dress was satin and was cut in a yoke neckline that was pointed down ever so slightly in the middle. The skirt was very full, with built in petticoats. It came down to the mid-calf. There were matching tights. Mom handed him the tights.

“Do you remember how to put these on?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He sat on the bed and gathered up the left leg, pointed his toe and slipped it in up to the knee. He did the same with the right leg and standing he pulled them up. They were nearly sheer.

“You managed that as if you had been doing it all your life,” Mom beamed. She helped him on with the dress, taking care not to mess up his hair. There were different shoes then he had worn before. These had little straps at the heel. The heel was narrow and raised about an inch. Not quite high heels, but not flats either. He put them on. His ankles wanted to wobble a little when he walked, but he could manage well enough.

“Let’s see how you look,” Mom said, stepping back. “Turn around for me.” Stephanie turned around slowly. “You know when Martha wore that to Cousin Sue’s wedding she had on lipstick and mascara. Come to the bathroom with me.” Back in the bathroom Mom got out her make-up and applied the lipstick and mascara for him.

“Come look at yourself in the mirror,” she said leading him out into the hall. Stephanie faced the full-length mirror with Mom standing behind. “Have you ever seen a better looking girl? Stephanie, you’re beautiful. Let’s get some pictures.” She led the way out to the back porch.

She took pictures in all kinds of poses. Sometimes on the stairs, sometimes in the yard, there were even some at the maple tree. Martha had on a really nice dress too. She got into some pictures. Of course, Mom got into some as well.

By the time they got through taking pictures, it was lunch time. Martha and Stephanie occupied their time playing games at the table, while Mom fixed lunch. In the middle of the afternoon, Mom got out the cake she had baked the night before and took some more pictures. First of just Stephanie and then of Stephanie and Martha around the cake before she cut it. They all had cake and ice cream and fruit punch. Then Mom gave Stephanie a present. It was a gold locket. Inside the locket were two of the pictures of Stephanie. Just the face cut down to fit into the locket.

“I thought maybe you might like something to remember your week as a girl,” Mom said. Her eyes were shining as if she might cry. Stephanie looked at the locket. It was beautiful. He almost had tears in his eyes. He never expected anything. “Here let me put it on for you,” Mom said taking the locket. She walked behind him and put the locket over his head and fastened the catch behind his neck. Next she took some more pictures. That finished the roll. They all sat at the table and played games until dinner time.

After dinner, the atmosphere calmed down and they watched television. Finally it was bedtime. Mom helped him take of the mascara. In the bedroom, he took off the dress and hung it carefully. Then he stripped to his panties and put on the nightgown. He made a trip to the bathroom. On the way back, he remembered. He was going to wear his pajamas to bed tonight. By the time he got there he had decided to just go ahead and sleep in the nightgown.

In the morning, Mom came and woke Steve for school. He got up slowly. He had gotten used to sleeping in and had a hard time waking up this early. He took off his nightgown, folded it and put it under his pillow. He went to the dresser and opened the top drawer. He was still a little foggy in his thinking. He dug out the clean panties that were there and changed into them. Then he went to his closet. There was no dress. Not even the one he wore yesterday. There was no slip. He stood looking in there for a moment. “Oh!” he thought. “School today. I need jeans.” He dressed for school, leaving the panties on.

He felt very sneaky at school. He hadn’t planned to wear the panties, but in his muddled thinking, he left them on. It was rather neat, when he thought of it. No one knew he had just spent a week as a girl and now he was still wearing panties, as if he were a girl dressed in boys’ clothes. Sometimes girls did that.

When he came home from school he didn’t go outside to play. Instead he sat on the couch for a while, watching Martha play with Ken and Barbie. After a bit, he played with her. After all, it had been fun last week. He didn’t have to tell anyone he did it.

That night, when he got ready for bed, he remembered his pajamas. He was amazed how coarse the flannel felt after spending a week in nylon tricot. When he got in bed he found the nightgown still under his pillow. He didn’t want to take time to give it back tonight, so he put it into his drawer next to his other pair of pajamas.

In the morning, he deposited the panties in his dirty clothes. There were none in his drawer. It seemed funny, not to be wearing any underwear. All day at school, he was conscious of that fact. By afternoon, he wished he had some on. He never noticed it before, but the inside of his jeans was rough. It didn’t feel particularly good rubbing in that private area. On the way home, he felt strange. He actually wanted to wear panties.

That started him thinking about last week. He had liked the lavender dress. Mom was right; it was a good color for him. What’s more, he looked good in it. He didn’t have anything that color. He’d have to wear a dress, to wear that color again. Of course he had looked best on Sunday when he wore that special dress. But then, Mom had done some special thing with his hair and the make-up didn’t hurt either. Those sheer tights really felt good on his legs. It had been kind of exciting while they were out back taking pictures. The wind blowing around the corner of the house had caused his dress to sway. He could feel the wind creep up under the skirt and blow around his thighs. “Oh hold on here!” he thought. “This kind of thinking is crazy.” He actually missed wearing dresses and yesterday, he had played with dolls and rationalized it away. Was he turning into a girl?

At home he went out and played under the hedge in his fort. That thoroughly trashed that pair of jeans. That was all right though. He had gotten two days out of them. When he got up in the morning, he didn’t relish the thought of going another day without panties under his jeans. Yet he had done it all the time before. He wasn’t going to ask for panties. He’d just tough it out. When he came home that night, Martha invited him to play with Ken and Barbie.

“No,” he said even though he wanted to. That was girl thing. He dressed as a girl last week, so he acted like a girl. This week he was all boy. “I’m going outside.” Outside he crawled under the porch and began digging with his coffee can. He was like a man possessed. He dug with a fury. When he got hungry, he came out. He had spent almost two hours lost in the digging. His jeans were shot. After dinner, he put on his pajamas. He noticed that he was tender where the crotch of his pants rubbed.

In the morning, he went to the bathroom as soon as he got up. When he came out, Martha went right in behind him. He could hear Mom in the kitchen and Martha’s door was open. He slipped in and snatched a pair of panties. He quickly went to his room and put them on. He finished dressing in a hurry, lest anyone catch him in the panties. It was a pleasing sort of thing, wearing panties with no one knowing; his private secret. A joke on everyone and no one knew. The next day, he didn’t have an opportunity snatch another pair, so he wore the panties a second day.

When he came to breakfast, Mom admonished him about trashing another pair of pants.

“That’s your last pair of clean pants young man. You’ll have to make them last until Saturday morning,” she told him sternly. “You don’t have any extra pairs this week.”

It was raining when he came home, so he was confined to the house. He sullenly sat and watched television, steadfastly refusing to join in Martha’s play. He might be wearing panties, but he was a boy. That evening, he watched for an opening to snatch a clean pair of panties for the next day. He waited until Martha went to the bathroom. Girls always take a long time in there. He sneaked passed the bathroom and quietly slipped into her room and accomplished the task without her noticing.

Friday after school, the weather had cleared. He decided to go outside. As he went through the kitchen, he noticed that Mom had left the pictures from last week out on the kitchen counter. She must have been looking at them before she went to work. Steve studied them. He had made a good looking girl. He looked at the one of him playing with Martha. In spite of himself, he had had fun dressed as a girl. Next he spotted the picture of him with the locket. He turned and went to his room. He got out the locket. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. What good was it to have this locket, if he could never wear it? He put it on and slipped it under his tee shirt.

Out on the porch, he took out the locket and opened it. There was Stephanie looking back at him. With a rage, he snapped the locket closed and put it under his shirt. He went directly to the front porch and crawled under it. There, he sat on the edge of his hole. Tears dripped from his cheeks. He leaned back and got a couple of dirt clods and began rubbing them into his jeans. He continued until his jeans were absolutely brown. Then he went back inside and sat on the couch.

“Mom will have a cow when she sees your jeans,” Martha told him.

“I don’t care,” he said sullenly.

Mom called at dinner time. Martha answered and the first thing she did was rat on Steve.

“Mom said, I’m supposed to get you into a dress, even before we eat. You have to wear girl’s clothes again, all weekend,” she told him marching off to her room. Returning she look at him with a smirk on her face. “Your dress, your slip, and… your panties are in your room along with your tights and shoes,” she told him in a snotty tone. Steve went to his room. The dress was lying on his bed along with a slip. It was the blue one he had worn last week He put the panties in his drawer. He noticed that two other pairs and two pairs of lace cuffed socks were already there. That meant there was a dress in the closet. He looked to check. The lavender dress and the yellow one from last week were there along with the other slip.

Smiling, he changed into his sisters’ clothes. After which, he went to the bathroom and brushed out his hair and put in the barrette. Anointing himself with perfume he went out in the hall and checked his appearance. He turned a little each way. Stephanie was back! Smiling a self-satisfied smile, he went to dinner. After dinner, he happily joined into Martha’s play time.

That night when he went to bed, he put his pajamas back in the drawer and slept in the nightgown again. In the morning, he awoke to the smell of bacon & eggs. Mom had a way of gently coaxing him out of bed on the weekends. He had to go to the bathroom. While in there, he brushed his hair, putting in a barrette and doused himself with perfume. Mom gave him a funny look when he sat down at the table.

“I see you decided to sleep in the nightgown last night.”

“Martha said I had to wear girl’s clothes all weekend. Didn’t that mean at night too?”

“Well, I did say I was going to make you wear girl’s clothes all weekend. I’m glad you are resigned to it. But what’s with the hair and the perfume?”

“Well, I thought you would make Martha do it to me, so I thought I might as well do it to myself. I feel better about it when I do it myself.”

“That makes sense. You’re right. I most likely would have had Martha do that to you.”

After breakfast he went and put on the yellow dress. He would save the lavender dress for Sunday. It was his favorite. Mom saw him coming out of his room and motioned him into the bathroom. There she touched up his hair. She gave him a hug and kissed him on the forehead.

“You be a good girl today. OK?” she told him. He looked at her and nodded. He noticed her eyes were watery. It was as though she was about to cry, but she was smiling.

Mom left to do the wash and Stephanie played with Ken and Barbie while Martha did her embroidery. That’s how she found them when she came back. Steve noticed when she gave him his clean clothes that all five pairs of jeans were clean.

After dinner, Mom had Stephanie help with the dishes. She put that apron on him. The one that was more ornamental than not. It made him feel like a girl … however that felt. Mom thanked him and gave him a big hug when they were through. It seemed to him that she didn’t want to let go. She never hugged him like that when he wasn’t wearing a dress. Oh, not that she never hugged him, it was just that the hugs she gave him when he was dressed like this were … different. Like they were more important to her. Or … he was more important as a she?

On Sunday, he put on the lavender dress. He added his locket. How often would he get a chance to wear it openly? When Mom noticed, she gave him another one of those hugs. She smiled at him afterward. She acted like she wanted to say something, but didn’t. She just took a Kleenex and wiped her eyes. He and Martha played together all day. After dinner, they were all in the living room. Martha was sewing and Stephanie was playing with Ken and Barbie. Steve looked up and noticed Mom looking at him.

“You know, I think I should have you wear a dress more often. You and your sister haven’t had a cross word all weekend. Come to think of it, you got along beautifully all through spring break.”

Steve looked down and could feel the color rising in his face. He quickly busied himself with setting up the doll house.

On Monday, he put on his extra pair of panties before he dressed. Then that evening he looked for his chance to get a clean pair of panties. It didn’t come until bedtime. He grabbed a handful of her plain ones. She had so many, he was sure that she wouldn’t notice three or four missing. It wasn’t like she kept them neatly in her drawer or anything. They were all jumbled on one side and the colored ones on the other. After this evening, it was a sure thing he couldn’t count on a regular opportunity to get fresh panties.

All that week he wore his sister’s panties. It rained most of the week, so he played inside. He only used only three pairs of jeans. He expected some comment from Mom. He thought sure she would compliment him on his keeping his clothes so clean all week. She said nothing. It was like it didn’t matter. She did give him a hug on Saturday, but it wasn’t like the hugs she gave Stephanie. Not once did she look at him with tears in her eyes, acting like she was so happy she couldn’t stand it. He needed to be rewarded, so he slept in the nightgown that night. On Sunday, he just made sure to get dressed before breakfast.

That night at bedtime, he got a chance and snatched another handful of panties. This time, he got six. He hoped that wasn’t too many. Too bad if it was. He couldn’t risk another trip into Martha’s room to put them back. He didn’t put them in his sock drawer. He hid them under his tee shirts in the second drawer.

On Monday, Martha wore the blue dress he had worn. That set him to thinking about his week as a girl. He remembered fondly how he had looked in the mirror. He remembered Martha teaching him to do embroidery. He couldn’t remember her ever taking time to teach him anything before. And Mom. She had treated him like a princess. She made a fuss over him, hugged him all the time kissed him on the forehead. She had complimented him on how good he looked almost every day. Steve liked the attention. Twice more that week, he slept in the nightgown.

He thought. “It would only take one pair of pants a day to make Mom punish him by putting him in dresses for the weekend again.” That day, after school, Steve purposely ran across the wet lawn in front of the school. It was so wet it splashed mud clear up to his crotch. When he got home he looked at his jeans in the mirror. “One down, four to go,” he thought.

The next day at lunch Steve found a spot that was still damp on the play ground and ran across it. He intentionally slipped and got big grass stain on the rump. Wednesday, he managed to spill chocolate milk on his lap and didn’t bother to try to sponge it out. Instead, he spent the rest of lunch recess in the bathroom leaning against the heater to dry it in. Thursday, by a lucky accident, he caught his pants on a screw in the school bus while they were on a field trip. By Friday, he was running out of ideas for “accidental” happenings. It wasn’t until an hour before school was out that it came to him. He stuck his finger in his nose and found a tender spot with his finger nail. It wasn’t bleeding much, but he leaned just far enough forwards to let it drip on his pants. Every time it stopped he worried it just a little more. About five minutes before school was out the blood flow became stronger and the teacher noticed it on his lip. She sent him to the school nurse. She packed his nose and sent him home. Mom knew he had ruined at least three pairs of jeans. When Martha called her, true to her nature, she reported that Steve had a bloody nose and that it was all over his jeans.

“Steve,” she said, while Mom was still on the phone. “Mom said to get some clean pants on and put those in the bath tub in cold water.”

“I don’t have any more clean pants. They’re all dirty. Really dirty.”

“He says they all dirty.” She paused. “OK. I sure will.” She hung up the phone. “Well congratulations. You’ve done it again. You’ve won another weekend as a girl.” She was beaming. She was gone about five minutes. “Your wardrobe in your closet and your dresser. You have four dresses to choose from and three pairs of shoes. I couldn’t make up my mind so you can choose which of them to wear when. Besides, I want to see how well you can coordinate your outfits. Mom said and I quote ‘Get him out of those jeans. He’ll have to wear dresses this weekend. He’ll just have to learn to take better care of his clothes.’ Welcome back Stephanie. Mom wants those jeans soaking right away so don’t drag your feet changing.”

Steve marched straight to his room and surveyed his choices. There was the yellow dress from girl week Monday, the green from Sunday, the yellow chiffon from Thursday and the pink and white from Friday. Both slips hung from the hook on the back of his closet door. He chose the green one backed up with a pair of white lace cuff socks and the black flats. When he got the socks he noticed that there were five pairs of panties. All of them the fancy ones with the lace and flowers sewn on them. There were also four pairs of socks and two pairs of tights, white and yellow. He figured to wear the Yellow chiffon tomorrow and the pink and white on Sunday. In the bathroom he fixed his hair and sprayed on perfume.

The nightgown seemed to have a permanent home in his top drawer. He exchanged it for his pajamas under the pillow and wore it to bed that night.

When he came in to breakfast on Saturday he hadn’t bothered to dress. Mom was just dishing up his eggs.

“Well,” she said, “you’ve done it again. I hope you enjoy wearing your sister’s clothes. I’m glad you didn’t manage to ruin more than one pair a day or I would have had to send you to school in a dress.” She didn’t comment on the nightgown. She seemed to accept it as inevitable when he was doing a girl weekend. She probably thought it was Martha’s idea.

After breakfast Steve changed his panties. He didn’t use one of the fancy one but got one of the two plain ones he had left over from the previous week. He decided on the yellow tights to go with the chiffon dress. Underneath, he wore the fancy slip and toped off the outfit with the yellow flats.

He played jacks with Martha that morning while Mom did the wash. In the afternoon, they played with Ken and Barbie. In the evening, Martha got out her embroidery. Stephanie was so engrossed with what she was doing that Martha got out the next piece she intended to do and had “her” work on it.

On Sunday they saw Stephanie in “her” nightgown at breakfast again. Before coming to breakfast “her” hair was brushed with a barrette in it and all the right places had perfume on them. When Steve finally got dressed, it was in the pink dress with the white tights and black flats. It almost seemed natural to go to his closet and put on a dress. It wasn’t so much like a punishment when he just picked a dress to wear. Instead of being told “this is what you are allowed to wear.”

When Martha was in the bath tub, Steve went to her room and borrowed a fresh supply of panties for next week. He was pretty confident. He actually counted out five. He peeked out into the hall to be sure Mom wasn’t in a position to see him and then walked quickly to his room. Once there, he hid the supply in his tee shirt drawer.

He was able to get by the weekend in pants. He thought he was never going to wear a dress again. He’d just sleep in the nightgown a few times a week. Surely, that would take care of the urges he had developed toward that. All was well and good, that is, until Monday after school. He was teasing one of his friends, who started chasing him. He ran across that muddy front lawn. Later, he looked down at himself and saw the mud splattered all over his pants. “One down and four to go,” he thought. Then he caught himself. He had started this week with only four pairs of clean jeans. “Two down and three to go,” he corrected himself. That made him smile. It would be easier if he wanted to do it this week. He had four days to go and only three pairs of pants. He only needed to short circuit two more pairs to be without pants by Saturday.

When he got dressed in the morning he remembered that he only had three pair pants. If he didn’t want to wear a dress this weekend, he would have to take care. That morning, Martha spilled her cereal. It was just dumb luck the milk missed her all together and ran off in his lap. She had thoroughly soaked his jeans.

“Well you had better change out of those pants. Between the milk and the sugar in it they will be worthless,” Mom told him. He went to change. His panties were soaked to so he changed them as well. As he put them in the laundry basket, he thought. “Three down and two to go.” It was a dumb thought. After all, he wasn’t trying to trash his pants. Why was he keeping score?

“Are you going to have enough jeans to last through? You already dirtied an extra pair this week.”

“Yeah, I think so. I have one more pair. If I wear these today and tomorrow, I can wear the other one Thursday and Friday. I can wear that one Saturday morning until you get back with the laundry.”

“Well, I guess that will work. But don’t forget. You have to get the maximum use out of each pair.

Tuesday it rained. But the sun was out Wednesday afternoon. After school, he played under the hedge. That pair of jeans fell to a similar fate as those from Sunday. The hedge always left jeans only fit for the washing machine. At breakfast Thursday, Mom cautioned him. “Remember that pair of pants has to last through Saturday morning. You haven’t left another pair in even usable condition this week.”

Friday after school it was raining. He was running to make it to the safety patrol crossing before the light changed. There was a gooey mud puddle at the corner. In an instant, it occurred to him that he was wearing his last pair of pants. If they got dirty he would have to wear a dress tomorrow, probably even for the whole weekend. He could easily jump over the puddle if he space his steps right. His right foot landed in the near edge and his left foot landed in the far edge.

Martha was faithful in every respect to her own nature. She made her nightly report to Mom. “Steve got his pants muddy on the way home. I saw him do it.” She paused. “I’m sure he knows. He is just sitting at the kitchen table.” Another pause. “I’ll do it just like last time. I’ll see you when you get home.” Martha was smirking when she looked at Steve. “I’ll have your wardrobe in your room in a few minutes. Then you can change,” she told him as she headed up the hall. Steve followed her turning into the bathroom. He washed his hands and face. Then he brushed his hair and put a barrette in it. Satisfied that it looked all right, he sprayed a little perfume behind each ear and on his wrists. “Your dresses await you.” Martha called from the hall. In his room, Steve found a similar assortment as last time. He chose the green dress. It was a pinstripe plaid with lace sown across the chest.

In the living room he sat down and played with Ken and Barbie. He dressed Barbie in a ballet dress and pretended she was the star in a big production. He had missed this. After dinner, Martha joined him. When it was time for bed, he traded his pajamas for the nightgown.

Mom gave him a disapproving eye at breakfast. “You know, every time you do this, it costs me extra at the Laundromat,” she told him. “Most of the time it’s not a big deal, but it’s just after the first of the month and everything is due. I just don’t have enough to wash everything you own. I’ll just have enough to wash three pairs of your jeans. Last time I did that you trashed the last pair Friday. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was on purpose.” Steve was a little concerned. He had done that on purpose before, but he hadn’t done it on purpose this time. It was just bad luck Martha was as much to blame as he was. He wouldn’t have been tempted if she hadn’t spilled her cereal on his fresh pair of pants Tuesday. Even if he had splashed that gooey puddle, he would still have had another pair of jeans to wear.

“You better get dressed now. You’ve been wearing that nightgown for a while now. At least off and on. Put it in the laundry before I go,” she told him.

Today, he wore a red dress with a built in white, transparent apron, knee socks and the black flats. Mom softened after she came back from doing the laundry. She had Stephanie help her with the dishes after lunch.

“Thanks for all the help, sweetheart,” she told him and gave him one of those hugs. “In spite of the extra cost, I like a visit from Stephanie.”

This confused Steve a little. He was being punished, yet his mother was happy with him. He decided not to think about it.

That evening he sewed on the project with Martha. They watched television together. Mom surprised them with some ice cream just before bedtime.

Sunday morning, Steve put on the yellow dress and white tights. He kind of liked wearing tights. These didn’t feel quite a good as the sheer ones, the ones he had worn with the dress from Cousin Sue’s wedding. Still, they were neat. That day, Stephanie was in full bloom. She invited Martha to play jacks in the morning. She offered to help wash lunch dishes. In the afternoon, she played alone with Ken and Barbie. Most importantly, she slipped into Martha’s bed room and picked up a fresh supply of panties for the following week.

Steve was determined to go a while without wearing a dress. He was very careful the first week and made each pair of jeans last two days. Twice he slept in the nightgown through the week and all three nights of the weekend. In the second week, he managed to use only four pairs between Sunday, and Saturday. Monday was Memorial Day. There was no school. Holidays always made him restless. He had to go outside to play, to spite the rain the night before. He had worn a fresh pair of jeans that morning. They weren’t so fresh by lunch.

He had four pairs left on Tuesday. He wasn’t really thinking about how long his jeans had to last. That is until lunch. He chose to play touch football with bigger kids. The ground was a little damp and he ended up with a grass stain on another pair with only one day on them.

In the morning he had to face Mom. “Well, Steve,” she said, when he came to breakfast. “It looks like you’re on a roll again. Keep up this average, and you’ll be wearing dresses again this weekend.”

Steve kept quiet and sat down to breakfast. Martha finished up before him and went to the bathroom. Mom was busy getting tonight’s dinner started. As Steve was putting his dishes in the sink, she asked him a favor.

“Steve, I want to make a stew for dinner tomorrow. To do that, I’ll have to start it tonight when I get home from work. Would you be a dear, and get my stew pot out from the cupbored in the corner. It’s all the way in the back on the bottom shelf.”

Steve got down on his hands and knees. He had to slither around and contort himself half inside the cupbored to reach it. He sat it on the counter when he stood up, pulled up his pants. Mom was sitting next to the table. “Thank you sweetie,” she said, holding her arms out. Steve went over and she gave him a hug. She had ulterior motives.

When she hugged him, her left arm slid up, lifting his shirt a little and her right hand found the waist band of his pants. The right thumb and forefinger caught the elastic of his panties. She relaxed her grip and looked him in the eye. “Steve, are you wearing underwear?” she asked giving the elastic a little tug. Steve’s eyes got big. He swallowed hard and slowly shook his head yes. “I saw them while you were getting into the cupbored. What happened? You found out during spring break, that you liked wearing Martha’s panties, didn’t you?” Steve looked down and shook his head again. “I thought there were a lot of her panties in the wash this last month… Is that why you’ve been trashing your jeans every other week? You like wearing dresses.” Steve just stood looking down. After a time, Mom put her finger under his chin and lifted his face. Looking in his eyes, she continued. “It’s OK. You won’t get in trouble if you tell me the truth. Am I right? Do you like wearing dresses?” Steve’s lips quivered as he shook his head yes one more time. She gave him another hug. A big one. She didn’t let go for a long time. Before she did, she gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “Well do Mommy a favor. Don’t get your jeans dirty today. There’ll be a surprise for you when you get home from school.

Steve did as his mother said. His jeans were almost as clean when he came home as they were when he put them on that morning. He didn’t find a surprise. He thought maybe she forgot, or didn’t have time. Well, it didn’t matter. Now that she had guessed what he was doing, he wouldn’t get away with it again. She would find some other way to punish him.

When Steve sat down to breakfast in the morning, Mom was all smiles. She looked at him expectantly for the longest time. When Steve finished eating, she couldn’t stand it any more. “Did you like your surprise?” she asked.

“I didn’t find a surprise,” Steve said, wide eyed.

“It’s in your room. Let’s go look.” She took him by the hand and walked briskly to his room. Once there, she opened his closet. Steve had worn the same clothes as yesterday. He hadn’t needed to get into the closet. It was full of dresses, skirts and blouses. Not just four or five. There must be a dozen outfits in all. There were three slips hanging on the hook behind the door. Steve looked, his mouth hanging open in surprise. “And here,” Mom said opening the third drawer of his dresser. He had kept mismatched socks in there. They were gone. Instead there were a dozen or so pairs of panties on one side and several pairs of girls’ socks and tights on the other. “Look under your bed,” Mom beamed. Steve found four pairs of girls’ shoes. “You don’t have to trash your pants to wear dresses anymore. Just put on whatever you like whenever you want to. Only don’t go outside unless I ask you to. I think everything should fit. These were all Martha’s last year. They were supposed to go to Goodwill last September, but, somehow we missed the pickup day. Her current clothes are just a little big on you, so these should be OK. If something is too tight, just let me know; I’ll see if I can let it out a little.”

Mom gave him another big hug and kissed his head again. She went back to the kitchen. Steve looked around and couldn’t believe what had happened. Mom had figured out why he had trashed his jeans so regular. Instead of being mad, she gave him his own girl’s clothes to wear.

He was in a daze all day at school. He could hardly concentrate. Every time he would relax his thinking, he would get a picture of all those girl’s clothes in his closet. “Just put on what ever you like whenever you want to,” she had said. Could she really mean that? If not, why, then, would she have put all those girl’s clothes in his room?

When he went to bed that night, his pajamas weren’t under his pillow. Instead, there was a nightgown. Not the one he had worn before. This one was shorter. It had thin shoulder straps that were almost all ruffles. The ruffle continued all the way around the neck line. The hem had matching ruffles and would hit him somewhere in the upper thigh. The sides had slits up each seem all the way to the waist line and there were matching panties. The panties had matching ruffles across the seat. He looked in his dresser, where he kept his pajamas. There were three other nightgowns, besides the original. He put on his new nightie and slipped out into the hall for a quick look at himself in the mirror. He could get used to sleeping like this. Even if he didn’t wear dresses every day.

“Up and at ‘em Steve. It’s time to get up. I’ve got breakfast ready,” Mom said from the doorway.

Steve rolled over and squinted. “OK, I’ll be right there. He waved his arm at her. He had had the strangest dream. He dreamt that Mom had figured out about his ruining his pants and put all kinds of dresses in his closet and all kinds of other girl’s clothes in his dresser. It’d be really cool if she did. He sat up and looked down … he just stared and his lap. This nightgown, the one he had on, it was in his dream. He bolted to the closet. It wasn’t a dream. It was for real.

“Come and get your breakfast before your eggs get cold Steve,” Mom called from the kitchen.

Steve hesitated. He almost went in the nightgown, but changed his mind. Quickly, he opened his third drawer and grabbed a pair of panties and put them on. He pulled on yesterday’s jeans and grabbed a shirt. He buttoned it on the way to the kitchen. Martha was already eating. Steve sat down and started on his plate of scrambled eggs. When Martha went to the bathroom to finish getting ready for school. Mom brought a cup of coffee to the table and sat across from Steve. He looked up. She was smiling like she knew a secret or something. “Is Stephanie going to visit this weekend?” she asked. Steve just shrugged his shoulders. “Well, you know, she’s always welcome,” Mom said heading for the living room.

School was a blur. Steve couldn’t concentrate on anything. Mom had invited him to wear a dress. Somehow he hadn’t quite settled in his mind what happened. A month ago, he had never even considered wearing girl’s clothes. Now without even making any kind of decision about it. He had a closet full of dresses and free license to wear them. It all seemed so foreign, yet so inviting. What had become of him? Was he … Yes! He was. He was looking forward to wearing a dress. He really wanted to wear a dress! He had never really admitted that to himself. Steve glanced at the clock. It was past three o’clock. School would be out soon. He could go home and put on a dress. He began to tremble ever so slightly. He realized that he had been staring off into space and mumbling. He began watching the students for signs they had noticed him. He had thought so hard about it he was almost sure that somebody surely had guessed his thoughts. Or … he was really afraid that he had mumbled something loud enough for someone to hear.

The bell rang and startled Steve. He was shaking with excitement. He virtually ran all the way home. Martha always beat him home by a wide margin. Her classroom was on the other side of the school. She had better than a block head start on him. Plus, he usually stopped to look at a bug or watch a bird fly or almost any other distraction that could occur on the way home.

Today, she was just opening the door when he ran up on the porch. He was actually in the house ahead of her. He went straight to his room. He opened his closet and began for the first time to really inventory the clothes.

There were seven dresses, six skirts and eight blouses. He hadn’t noticed before, but there were three sweaters. The dresses ranged from pretty, but plain to fancy party dresses. The skirts were mostly school clothes that Martha had worn and the blouses were like the dresses. All things considered, he could wear some different combination for a month without repeating.

He chose a blue dress with white trim and laid it on the bed. He surveyed the slips he picked out one with a lot of lace. He wasn’t sure why, but the lace just appealed to him. There were all kinds of socks to choose from. He picked a pair of knee socks. Stripping out of his shirt and jeans, he put on the slip and dress. He pulled on the knee socks and turned down a little cuff just above his calf muscle. The shoes he chose were a pair of “Mary Jane’s” Martha had hardly worn. They looked brand new.

He went to the bathroom and brushed out his hair. He put in a barrette and doused himself with perfume. Checking out his appearance in the hall, he smiled, turned on his heel and walked triumphantly to the living room. He was watching television when Martha came in from the kitchen.

“Why are you wearing that dress and where did you get it?” she demanded.

“’Cause I want to and out of my closet.”

“That’s my dress, or at least it used to be. I gave it to Goodwill last year. Did you steal it out of the bag?”

“No, I got it out of my closet.”

“How did it get in there, if you didn’t put it there?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Mom?”

“I will, in the morning. I’ve already called her and I can’t call again unless it’s an emergency.”

In the morning, Steve woke to the smell of frying bacon. He got up and stretched. He looked down at his short nightie and smiled. If Martha had trouble with his dress last night, this should really freak her out.

He went to the bathroom and brushed his hair out. As he turned at the end of the hall, he heard Martha’s door open. “Wait until she gets to the kitchen,” he thought.

“Hi, sweetie. That nightie looks good on you. Do you like it?”

“Un-huh.”

“I just put your eggs on the table. They should still be warm.”

He sat down and started eating. Martha came in and did a double take. She slowly sat down, keeping her eyes fixed on Steve.

“Mom,” she started, with a strange tone in her voice, “where did Steve get that nightie? I know I put it in the Goodwill bag last year. He was wearing one of my old dresses last night too. It should have been in the bag as well.”

“Oh, don’t you remember? We missed the pickup day.”

“Yes, but didn’t you call and see about them getting it another time?”

“They told me to contact the Boy Scouts. The Scouts never returned my call, so I stored the bag in the basement. I just forgot about them until Tuesday this week.”

“Why does Steve have them?”

“Well I decided to put them in his closet. It was getting to be a strain on your wardrobe to have him wear your things every other week.”

“OK… But why is he wearing them now?”

“We made a deal. So long as he doesn’t trash too many of his jeans, he can wear them as often as he likes.”

Martha studied Steve while she ate her eggs. She didn’t say anything more. Steve finished and put his plate in the sink. He went to his room and put a clean pair of panties and the lacy slip. He got out a skirt and blouse. He had seen Martha wear that combination last year. The blouse had a lacy collar and full bloused sleeves. The skirt fit close to the hips and was pleated all the way around below that. He put on the blouse and then the skirt. Belatedly, he decided to wear a pair of tights. Hiking up the skirt and slip, he pulled them on. He quickly figured out, it would have been a lot easier if he had put them on before the skirt. He put on his shoes and went to the bathroom and put in a barrette with a long flowing ribbon. Anointing himself with perfume, he went to the living room and started playing with Ken and Barbie.

Mom left to do the wash and Martha sat down to play with Steve. After a while, she looked up at him and smiled. Steve wondered what that was all about. She reached over and gave him a big hug.

“Stephanie,” she began, “I really like having you as a little sister.” Martha had never hugged him before. Neither had she shown any sign of approval at all. Steve looked at her and blinked. “I can’t wait until summer starts. Then you can be my sister every day, all day.” She smiled as she put a different dress on Barbie.
Steve thought, “Her sister every day, all day? Could happen.” After all, Mom liked him a lot more dressed this way. Martha seemed to like it. He never got into trouble for getting his clothes dirty, when he was wearing a dress. And the locket. He had forgotten about the locket. He could wear the locket anytime he was dressed like this.

On Sunday, he wore another blouse and a jumper. Martha had liked jumpers. Steve could see why. They were so easy to get into. Just pull them over your head. In the evening Martha brought Steve some more blouses and skirts. “Here,” she said. “I meant to put these in the Goodwill too. I just forgot. I was going to wait for next year, but you might as well have them now.

All next week, when Steve got home, Martha had a dress laid out for him to wear. She always prompted him to change as soon as he came in. On Saturday mornings, he would put the girl’s clothes he had worn in the laundry. Mom never complained about the extra wash. On the weekends, he would sometimes catch Mom looking at him with a wistful smile. Two or three times each weekend, she would give him one of those special hugs. He never received this kind of attention when he was wearing pants.

When school was out that year, Steve came home and put on a dress. The dress buttoned up the back. As he was buttoning it, he remembered how he and complained about buttons in the back. “Who but a yucky girl would want to wear something so hard to get into,” he had thought. Indeed. Girls weren’t so yucky after all. Martha got her wish. He was her sister all day every day.

That summer, Steve became bored with sitting around the house and ventured out in the backyard. On one such occasion, he was surprised by the voice of young girl. It turned out to be the new neighbor. The old man had moved out and she and her mother moved in a month before. She was very friendly and jumped right off the porch. He couldn’t get away from her. Her name was Darlene.

At first, Steve was scared. But she made him relax by treating him like a girl. Steve told her that he wasn’t allowed out too much because he had asthma. After he went inside, he found it was exciting to be around another girl. The next time he was alone, he went out in hopes she would show up and she did. The fourth time he arranged to be out to meet her she told him that she went to his school and knew who he was. She was in the grade behind him. She assured him that she wouldn’t tell anyone he wasn’t really a girl. She also promised not to tell anyone at school that he dressed in girls clothes. They became good friends. Her mother liked him (her).

Stephanie was soon a regular at her house. All summer long he was in and out of there on a daily basis. Mom was upset when she found out about the girl next door. It happened as a surprise. He had told Darlene that his mother knew he wore dresses. He had bragged that she gave him a whole wardrobe. One Sunday afternoon, Darlene knocked on the door. Mom answered.

“Hi, I’m Darlene. I live next door. Can Stephanie come out and play?”

Mom was shaken. Then she collected herself and said. “Hi Darlene. Why don’t you come in a minute? I’ll see if Stephanie wants to play outside.” She went to the kitchen where Stephanie and Martha were playing Sorry. “Stephanie, your little friend from next door is here. She wants to know if you’d like to come out and play.” Then in a lower voice. “How does she know you?”

Stephanie hung his head. “I was outside and she saw me. I didn’t know that the old man next door had moved. He was never outside. I didn’t think anyone would see me. But Darlene just jumped off her porch and came right over. I couldn’t help but let her talk to me. I told her my name was Stephanie.”

“I’m going to want to talk to you about this later. You’d better have her play in here with you. I don’t want her mother seeing you.” Stephanie didn’t tell that Darlene’s mother had already seen him.

He went to greet Darlene. “Hi Darlene, my sister and I are playing Sorry. Why don’t you come and join us. We just started another game. If you take two turns in a row, you can catch up with us.”

“OK.”

Darlene spent the afternoon and even stayed for dinner.

“Well Stephanie,” Mom said with a stern look on her face. “So you went outside, after told you not to? Why on earth did you do that?”

“I was bored in the house. I just went out and sat on the steps. We did that a lot during spring break. That’s where you took all the pictures. I thought no one would see me.”

“Well, now you see why I told you to stay inside. Now what can we do? Next year, at school, she’s liable to recognize you and tell everyone about you. Oh God. I’m sorry I ever gave in to the temptation to have another daughter.”

“Don’t worry mom. She already told me that she recognized me and promised not to let anyone know about that.”

“How did she recognize you?”

“She’s a grade behind me in school. She used to live just two blocks the other side of school. The old man who lived next door was her grandfather. He went to live in a nursing home and gave the house to her mom and her.”

“Well, that’s fine for her, if we can trust her. What about her mother? She may recognize you.”

“She thinks I’m a girl. She said it was nice that Darlene had a girl to play with here. There were only boys in her old neighborhood.”

“Her mother has seen you?”

“Yes. She came out to see who Darlene was talking to. She likes me. She even invited me in to have some iced tea.”

“And you went?”

“I didn’t see what else I could do. I had to keep her thinking I was a girl.”

“And she didn’t suspect anything?”

“No. She said I was a very well behaved young lady and that she would be glad to have me come over and play with Darlene anytime.”

“Anytime? Have you gone back again?” Stephanie hung his head and shook it yes. “Well, I guess it’s gone from you can wear girls clothes anytime you’re at home, to you have to wear them. I hope you really like them.”

So, with that, Darlene and Stephanie became thick as thieves. Their relationship grew and Darlene’s mother took Stephanie to the movies. After that, mom even reciprocated. Soon Stephanie was seen all over town. She was even taken down town and tried on dresses.

When school started, it was back to the old routine. Steve at school and Stephanie at home. And so it went. Days became months and months became years.

During high school they dated. By then Stephanie was quite comfortable out amongst people. Darlene’s mother thought Darlene didn’t have a boyfriend. When she finally discovered the truth in Stephanie’s junior year, she was taken aback. She forbade Darlene from seeing her again. Then relented. She remembered what an honest person she was and how he had steadfastly refused to spend the night. She finally became convinced that Steve was all right and Darlene was allowed to go out with him again.

After high school graduation, Stephanie enrolled in community college. Steve used his initials on the college enrollment card and attended class in a dress. Darlene applied for admission in the state college the next year. The year after, Stephanie transferred. Both girls pledged a sorority and were accepted. Darlene was instrumental in keeping Stephanie’s secret.

On graduation, Steve and Darlene became engaged. They were engaged for two years while Stephanie studied for his masters. They were married one month after he landed a job in a computer firm. Since he could telecommute to work, he worked as Stephanie.

Oh. By the way, Stephanie made beautiful bride.