I nervously stand in the very bright and very clean tattoo and piercing parlor. It is so clean that it almost resembles a doctor’s office or a clinic. It had only taken us about ten minutes to get here from the mall and I had sat in total silence, scared out of my wits to meet Vicki’s father—although I am intrigued by the thought, too. Ever since I had seen Dan’s Dad’s tattoo, I have wanted to meet him. His work is so detailed…so realistic…so cool! I am not sure what is making me more nervous, meeting Bill Langdon, or meeting Vicki’s Dad…

A door opens and a tattooed guy comes out. He is not overly tattooed, but he has several visible ones—nothing like a biker would have or anything. No skulls or such. Vicki goes over and gives him a hug and says, “Hi Daddy! I would like you to meet my new friend, Gerri. We have just decided to give serious dating a try.” She grins and I blush as he gives me a serious look over.

I go over and shake his hand. I say, “It is an honor to meet you, sir.”

He gives me a funny look. I say, “I have actually wanted to meet you for some time. You did a tattoo on my best friend’s Dad, Kevin Vogel. I have always thought that tattoo was awesome. I had no idea that Vicki was your daughter when I met her…”

Vicki giggles at me and her Dad says, “Well, you can call me Bill, Gerry. So, how did you two hook up? I have not heard anything about you… Have you been going out long?”

Vicki tells him the story of our chance encounter and he laughs. He gives me another ‘look’, then says, “Son, I know how you felt. I was the same way with Vicki’s mother. Anyway, what brings you two here? I am sure it was not just to meet me. Do you want a tattoo?”

I blush and say, “I would love a tattoo from you, sir, but I don’t think I could afford it…”

Vicki breaks in and says, “Actually, Gerri is exploring his softer side and that is one of the things that drew me to him. Like I said, yesterday was his eighteenth birthday and in celebration of both of those events, I bought these diamond studs for him. Would you put them in for him, Daddy? After that, I am sure we can figure out something about a tattoo, if you really want one, Gerri.”

I look at her, stunned. I think, ”She wants me to get my ears pierced? Oh, shit! What do I do? What will Mom think? It could be cool, I guess…especially with a cool tattoo… But…”

Bill speaks up and says, “Sure. I can put them in…and I would be happy to give you a tatt. I will give you the friends and family discount…and then waive that as a birthday present for my daughter’s boyfriend—as long as we are not talking about major work.”

Vicki goes over and whispers in his ear, so that I can’t hear. He nods and asks, “Are you ready? The piercing won’t hurt. The tatt…well, I can give you a glass of wine beforehand. I am closed now, anyway, so no one will know…”

I nod, still stunned at getting my ears pierced. I have not completely processed the tattoo piece, yet.

He has me sit in a chair at the back of the sterile-looking area after he locks the door and turns off the open sign. Before I know it, my ears are pierced and the diamond studs are placed in the holes. I look at them in the mirror and see them sparkle and shine in my ears. They feel sort of heavy and are placed towards the front of my lobe and close to the edge.

Vicki says, “Oh, Gerri! They look wonderful! And with them placed like that, you can get more piercings later, like mine—and wear smaller hoops.” She hands me a glass of red wine and I can guess what kind it is. As I take a rather large sip, she asks, “So…are you going to let me pick out your design and where to put it?”

I take another large sip of wine for courage and already feel its effects. I just nod, what else am I going to do? Vicki goes over to her Dad and confers with him for some time. They have a fairly animated, albeit whispered, discussion. Finally, Bill shrugs and comes over to me. He asks, “Are you sure you want this? It is permanent; you know that, right? And you are sure you want Vicki to have complete control over what and where?”

I take another ‘sip’ of wine and nod. I say, “Yes, I trust that Vicki will pick out something in good taste. I am sure you won’t let her put anything erotic or inappropriate on me.”

Bill shrugs and says, “OK, then. Sign this consent form and follow me.” I sign the form that I understand the risks of getting a tattoo and follow him to a table in another room. I look at the equipment and the bottles of ink and take another nervous sip of wine. Bill says, “Take off your pants and pull down your undies; then lay down on your stomach.”

I do as he says, wondering what Vicki has chosen—and why I have to basically get naked down below...

He feels the upper part of my right butt cheek and then cleans it off with a cold liquid—probably alcohol, or something. He says, “Well, you don’t have any hair there to speak of. That is good. Now, just relax while I sketch it out…”

I feel him drawing on my butt, right at the nexus of my waist and butt. It doesn’t feel big… I take the last sip of wine and feel pleasantly calm…but, I do wonder why there…and what…?

I have just about nodded off from the wine when I hear a buzzing and Bill say, “OK, Gerri… Here we go…”

And then the pain begins…

After what seems like HOURS of buzz…wipe; buzz…wipe; buzz…wipe…, the pain and the buzzing stop; in reality only after about an hour. Bill says, “Ok, Gerri. Just a bit more and you are done. How are you doing?”

I just grunt and Vicki steps up into my line of sight. She giggles and says, “It looks awesome! I told you my tatts were not for a first date. Since this is our second, I will show you one.” She drops her skirt down below her butt and I see a beautifully detailed blue butterfly on her left butt—right at the border of her waist and butt. The butterfly is about three inches big and its wing would be peeking out just above her skirt’s waistband. It is beautiful, and dainty, and very feminine-looking.

She smiles and says, “We match now. Only yours is the mirror-image on your right butt!”

I feel faint as Bill holds up a mirror for me to see the exact mirror-image duplicate of the dainty blue butterfly indelibly inked into my skin…

I gingerly sit in the car as Vicki drives me home. My mind is awash in turmoil, ”What am I going to do now? What is Mom going to think? What do I think? A butterfly? I know that Vicki meant well and is all excited… But, a butterfly?”

I had, of course, profusely thanked Bill for the tattoo and the piercings. It was not his fault that I am conflicted about this. I am also really not mad at Vicki—I am sure this falls in line with how she interpreted me ‘experimenting with my feminine side’. I was just not expecting anything quite so quick…or permanent. At least the tattoo is small and will not be visible under normal circumstances.

Vicki is chatting away about how great she thinks the earrings look and that I should let my hair grow out. I smile and nod, not really giving her my full attention. At least my wine-induced brain fog has lifted. I definitely don’t want Mom knowing about that…

She pulls into the driveway and gives me a deep kiss. For the moment, all other thoughts are driven from my head. All I can think about is her tongue wiping out my mouth. Dizzy from the kiss, I get out and stumble up the walk to the front door. I enter and see Mom sitting on the couch. She smiles and looks up, then gets a funny look on her face.

She gets up and comes over to me and says, “Gerry, is there something you want to tell me? I see you got your ears pierced?”

I blush and say, “It was not my idea, Mom, but I obviously let it happen. Vicki knew right away that I was in one of your suits. She is a fashion design major… It turns out that she is, in her words, a bisexual that comes down on the lesbian side of things. She has had some bad experiences with ‘men’,” I make air quotes, “but thought I was nice last night and wanted to give it a shot. When she saw me in your suit, she thought I was intentionally showing off my ‘feminine side’,” again air quotes, “and she was really excited. She wants me to expand on that… I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want to blow it—it seemed like a small price. I figured it wouldn’t amount to much…”

Mom giggles and asks, “So? The earrings are an extension of that?”

I blush and say, “Uh huh… And there is…more…” I drop my pants and show her the tattoo.

She gasps and says, “Oh MY! Well, that is certainly a beautiful tattoo…and there is no doubt that it is very feminine…” She shakes her head and asks, “How did you let that happen? I mean you could take out the earrings, but…”

I sigh and say, “I told you her dad is Bill Langdon and he did Dan’s Dad’s tattoo. She took me to his shop to get my ears pierced and we got talking about that tattoo and he offered to do one on me for free… Vicki wanted to pick it out, so, of course, I let her pick out the design…and location… She wanted it to be a surprise; she has a matching one. She thought it was cute and some sort of sign we are together. Originally, she wanted to get us friendship rings—I guess I would have been better off with those… I…I…I don’t know what to do, Mom!”

Mom tells me go change out of the suit and hang it up in my closet, then come back down to talk. After I put on some sweat pants and a comfortable shirt, I come down and gingerly sit on the couch.

Mom says, “Well, Gerry. I can’t do anything about the tattoo. There are ways to remove them, but they are expensive…and you are going to have to let it heal first, anyway. Are you saying that is what you want? To remove it?”

I shake my head and say, “No, I got myself into this one and will figure out about that later…depending on how things work out between Vicki and me. She was being sweet and sentimental, right? Some sort of girly bonding thing? What I meant was… I really like Vicki…and I still can’t believe she likes me. And I really want it to work out between us. But…this ‘feminine side’ thing… I think I opened Pandora’s Box. What do I do, Mom?”

She gets up and goes to the kitchen, motioning for me to follow her. She puts on some water to make some tea and then sits down and asks, “Well, how do you feel about your feminine side? Are you afraid to explore it? Against exploring it? It seems you have three choices: Tell Vicki the truth and see what happens; tell her you don’t want to explore that side and see what happens; or you go along with it. Would that be so bad? Whatever you decide, it has to be sincere. I will not let you lead her on. It is clear she is being sincere with you.”

She gets up to make the tea and brings the pot and two cups back to the table. I sit quietly, thinking, while it steeps. Finally, as she pours the tea, I say, “No, I don’t guess it would be a bad thing to experience some of the other side; I just don’t know anything about it…”

Mom actually laughs and says, “Well, isn’t that what exploring is all about? If you are serious about doing this, Honey, I am happy to help. Like I said, though, you have to be serious—at least long enough to give it a fair shot. So, why don’t you have Vicki come over tomorrow for dinner. It won’t be a fancy deal, but it will give you a chance to sort things out.”

I shrug, take a sip of the hot tea, and send Vicki a text. After I hit send, I can’t help but wonder what I am getting myself into. I wonder that all night long…

I am getting ready to go into the bathroom to get ready for class the next morning when Mom stops me and hands me a pair of white women’s panties. I give her a curious look.

She smiles and says, “Well, you said you want to explore… This is a good way to start, don’t you think? Don’t worry, they are new…never worn.” She giggles at my face.

I stutter, “B…b…but… REALLY?”

She laughs and says, “It is up to you, Hon. But, I think it is a good faith start—or have you decided to not do it? Vicki is going to be expecting much more, I think, judging by that butterfly on your butt! And remember, I will not condone you leading her on! Oh, and don’t forget to use the disinfectant on your ears and to rotate your studs. You don’t want an infection!”

I sigh and say, “No, I didn’t sleep all night, really—but, I will give this a shot. This just is…a surprise, I guess… I didn’t expect YOU to get into to it, too.” I sigh at her giggle and go into the bathroom. I wash my face and clean my ears using the antiseptic that Bill had supplied me with; I rotate the studs and can’t help but stare at myself in the mirror. The studs somehow look much bigger today. Vicki had said they are one carat, each… I try and picture how I would look if I did let my hair grow out as Vicki had suggested and just can’t see it.

Currently, my hair is longer than I normally keep it, since I am a couple of weeks late getting it cut. But, it is by no means ‘long’. I have never really had it long. It is a dull strawberry blonde and I have always thought it was sort of boring. I am not sure what it would look like if I let it grow.

I pull my mind out of its reverie and look at the panties Mom had handed me. They are white and silky. They have some lace on them, around the waistband and the leg openings. I pull off my sleep pants and can’t believe that I am actually even considering this.

I step into the panties and pull them up. I notice a couple of things. First, like I said, they are silky and feel really soft as they slide up my legs. Second, once they are fully up, I notice that they hug me much tighter than my normal briefs. The legs are cut higher and the waistline is lower on my hips. Third, the lace tickles my legs a little. Lastly, my ‘little Gerry’, small as he is, is barely contained because of the panties’ cut.

I try and figure out what to do about ‘little Gerry’ to keep him from ‘hanging out’. I experiment a minute by pulling the panties down and tucking my little guy back between my legs. I pull the panties back up and they look better, although there are still some obvious ‘bumps’. Not really thinking, I massage the front, sort of mesmerized by the look. All of a sudden, the ‘bumps’ disappear as I feel my testicles pop up inside me!

I panic, worried that I have done something bad. I pull the panties back down and everything falls back into place. I sigh a big breath of relief. Then…put it all back—just to see…

I am standing there, looking at the weird flatness in the mirror, ready to let things back out where they belong and put on some normal undies in spite of my promise to give it a shot, when Mom knocks on the door and just comes in. She says, “I hope you are decent, but I need…”

She is suddenly quiet when she sees me and then smiles. She says, “Well, those look very nice on you. I see you have figured out a way to wear them appropriately. Nice! You are going to keep them on and just like that, right? Remember—no leading on…”

I freeze in panic. I had not intended on either, but now I don’t know what to do. Vicki is coming over tonight and Mom is right…there is no telling what she has in mind for me to try out. I rationalize that no one will know what I am wearing under my pants—any more than they will see the butterfly on my butt. Now, if I could only hide the diamonds in my ears as easily!

I sigh and say, “OK. Sure, I guess. If you think it is necessary, it is really uncomfortable…”

Mom smiles and says, “Good! I will pick you up enough new panties to last you a couple of weeks on my way home tonight. I have put a garbage bag in your room. Just put your old ones in it for the charity clothes drive this month… And, by the way, what is a little discomfort for a hot girl like Vicki, right?”

She grins and winks, then turns and leaves before I can say anything. I shake my head and wonder what I have gotten myself into. Even Mom seems to be getting into this, now—and maybe enjoying it a bit too much…