Dana’s Story, Part 5

Why Is Kathy Working?

“That’s a valid question Kathy. I thought you worked because you like what you do. You always seem to be able to leave the office behind when you come home. If we could, Emily and I would love to have you at home with us all the time.”

“I do love working Dana, but for what you are paying these three, maybe I should shift to full-time homemaker.” Kathy made about the same amount as I paid each one of the three researchers.

“Nothing would please us more.” But also think about what you would be giving up. Maybe there is a way to cut back your hours or do your administrative work at home one day a week.” Even though what I said was true, there was a little part of me that didn’t want to give up the wife’s coffee club get-togethers and exercising with our little girls.

Hiring Cori, Laura, and Kim enabled me to keep up with my growing client demands. I was also able to further adjust my schedule to accommodate Emily’s growing needs. These three also became my very good friends and we frequent planned play dates, getting both our daughters and families together. I was excited to expand my support network to help my employees as we were frequently baby-sitting for each other.

Emily was now growing out of her ‘baby things into toddler. We started to change our play time to art class. We started out with Paper Mache flowers. It was very interesting to see how Emily reacted to colors and shapes. The colors would fascinate her for hours on end. She tired of the shapes quickly. I found it pretty amazing that colors could keep our little girl so fascinated. I thought if she liked colors, I would get her more colors! I found a lot of eye shadow pallets at our local dollar store. Emily and I had so much fun putting on eye shadows. Kathy would just laugh when she came home when we were knee deep in make-up.

Laura and I started to get together almost every day to take ‘Butterfly Consulting’ into overdrive. Kathy was very supportive and usually sat with Laura and I when she could. Kathy had insights into women’s styles and behaviors she learned from her corporate marketing people. Kathy thought if we could present a strong united woman’s front, then it was well past the time for women to take a seat at the table.

I was thrilled to be able to work with Laura to give women opportunities to enter positions that previously not been accessible to them.

More Good News

Kathy and I found out that we were expecting again, but there was a twist. There were two little girls living inside Kathy’s womb. Twins. For some reason, I was fascinated with having twins and couldn’t wait. Kathy got a bit moody after the initial morning sickness passed. I was concerned for her, but she didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t know if it was work or the pregnancy or me or what? I asked one my neighbors, Beth to see if she could talk to Kathy.

I guess I wasn’t as perceptive as I thought. Kathy told Beth she was afraid of reoccurring issues with her pregnancy, especially the thought of having to breastfeed again. I was very proud of the way she wanted to keep pressing forward, but I knew we had a problem we had to solve together.

Kathy’s OBGYN, Dr. Cynthia Morris advised us at one our earliest pre-natal visits that she was recommending that this to be our last pregnancy. She was worried about Kathy’s mental and physical well-being and so was I. Having three kids, a spouse and a loving family was what we signed up for and I wanted to make sure Kathy was there to enjoy it too. However, now that our family was established and we weren’t going to have any more babies, it opened up a new door and opportunity for me. Not concerned about my sperm count anymore, I started taking Kathy’s birth control pills immediately, twice a day. Then I ordered a new six-month supply. Better to be safe than sorry, my parents always told me.

I was not looking forward to reliving Kathy’s breastfeeding nightmare either, so we needed to come up with a solution in the next 7 months. If it were up to me, I would give anything to be able to breastfeed our twins. There are obviously many, many alternatives to breastfeeding, and while a man breastfeeding wasn’t science fiction, it was damn close to it. If I really wanted to breastfeed, I needed a plan. I found one on the internet (it must be true if you read it on the internet) and now had hope! The next step for me was to enlist the help of my neighborhood wives club. I let it slip on several occasions that I would be more than happy to breastfeed, “if only that was possible.” Sigh.

Next up for the neighborhood wives club: water aerobics with the babies! We had now established a bit of a routine. Mondays we got together for coffee at 9, then craft time with the girls. It was really more a slumber party with the girls happy to play together. Tuesdays and Thursdays were mom and tot’s yoga. Now we were adding water aerobics Wednesday and Friday. But that’s what neighbors do. We all had built in pools and hot tubs. I think it’s called “keeping up with the Jones”.

Pools in the upper Midwest are a blessing and a curse. They are so fun in the summer to just jump in and cool off. But the pool season is very short, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Just three short months of frolicking, but a load of work. It was a labor of love as the neighborhood men took advantage of the nice pre-Memorial Day weather to open up the pools. There were tarps to take off and hose down, debris to clean out and then we tried to navigate the chemicals.

I was finishing up checking our water condition on Sunday, relaxing with Kathy and Emily when Kathy noticed my breasts were bigger than normal. “Dana, what’s going on with your chest, err breasts?” Well, there was only one plausible explanation. “It must be from wearing the bras and camisoles all the time. I just love the way they feel, but they must be reshaping my body somehow?” I said this using the best poker face I could conjure up. “Wow, that must be it! But you can’t do water-aerobics with the other moms and tots like that. Your new breasts would be too confusing for everyone. Let me see what I can find at work tomorrow for you.” Oh really? A new bathing suit for Dana? Will Kathy find a me a one piece or bikinis to wear? I felt like a kid on Christmas eve, waiting for Kathy to come home and “surprise me.”

Kathy didn’t disappoint and I was now the proud owner of several new one-piece women’s bathing suits that were built for competitive swimmers and fit like a glove. She also thought it was cute for me to try a bikini as well, so she got me two. She also bought matching bathing suits for Emily and a few for herself, too. I tried my best to show my best pouty face. “What do you think the other ladies will say, Kathy? Should I call and warn them about my bathing suit for aerobics tomorrow?” Kathy took the proverbial bull by the horns: “if they don’t like it, they don’t need to come!” Well said, my protector. I will dutifully wear my new women’s bathing suits proudly.

The coffee club ladies didn’t miss a beat when we all took off our cover-ups and got our little girls into their cute suits and pool diapers. I felt like a porn star in my skin-tight suit with my nipples looking like high beam headlights on full display. “Is that a new suit Dana? It looks terrific on you!” Beth was practically gushing. “Kathy picked it up for me at Lord and Taylor yesterday. It’s so comfortable and she was able to get a matching suit for Emily.” I held up Emily next to me and we both gave her our best smiles. “We need to up our game girls, Beth exclaimed to Paula and Gabrielle.” Every time Kathy brings clothes home from work, Dana ends up looking like a Supermodel!” I loved these coffee club girls. The other wives always made me feel right at home and Emily had some wonderful playmates.

My new bathing suit was wonderful, but now that I had budding breasts, my nipples were on full display. As we finished the water aerobics and were getting dried off, my friends noticed my nipples were on high alert. As I was blushing, an idea popped into my head. I invited everyone in for some healthy snacks and drinks. We gave the girls juice boxes and toasty oats. The ladies all had coffee. As everyone settled in, in front of the other girls, I asked Beth if she would give me her opinion of something I found on the internet. Of course, all three wanted to see. We picked up our babies, who were getting a bit fussy and hungry. The perfect setting for… “Beth, look at this site. They are showing men breastfeeding their babies! How can that be possible? Do you think it’s some kind of hoax?” I had baited the hook, and now I was waiting for a bite… Patiently… Then finally!

“OMG Dana! Do you know what this could mean? You may have just solved Kathy’s deepest, darkest concern about this pregnancy. Would you really do that? We all have breastfed our babies but didn’t have the problems that Kathy experienced. You would be the best husband ever, although you are pretty high on the list right now.” The other women looked at me, then at the website, then at my boobs, then back to the site, then my hair and nails, then back to the site, then at my earrings, then back at the site. The looks of understanding and grins of excitement quickly spread on their faces.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Gabrielle chimed in. “All I see is one of our favorite coffee moms about to make the most unbelievable sacrifice any man could for his wife!” Paula chimed in, “we are going to have to do some serious shopping ladies if we are going to have our little Dana properly outfitted.”

“Thanks for the support ladies, but there is one big hurdle here, actually two or three. First of all, “Is this even possible or just a hoax? Second, who is going to tell Kathy that her husband is going to nurse her twins? This need to be her idea. I’m totally on board but she needs to behind it 100%. And lastly, I really don’t have the boobs to feed twins, but I’ll do whatever is needed.” This indeed was a tricky one. I was at best an A cup, but I would need “full power” to satisfy two hungry babies at once. The ladies wanted to see my breasts, so I thought, heck, why not? They were oohing and aahing and all of them were very touchy with me until they were fully satisfied that I had indeed budded and was on my way. Next stop, C-cups or bust! (pun intended)

“Don’t you worry that little pretty head of yours Dana. We have the situation well in hand.” We headed out to VS and I experienced the next best day ever. Elena, our ‘Angel’ was delighted to help me get my pregnancy wardrobe started. I didn’t know there was ‘pregnancy’ everything. I now had panties, bras, nursing bras, belly belts, camisoles and a few naughty stockings thrown in for good measure.

I know what you’re thinking, that’s one step over the line, sweet Jesus. But I was in crossdressing heaven and my wife was my escort. Kathy was the expert in charge of my wardrobe, and there wasn’t a lot a space devoted to men’s clothing in my closet. She demanded I wear top of the line suits and accessories. St. John was my favorite. Although I think it makes me look older, with my clientele, looking older than my mid-20’s was a definite plus. When Kathy had perfected my look, I was comfortable in the board room or having power-lunches with my network of powerful women. Now that Samantha and Kathy had firmly declared “No more pantsuits” I was in pencil skirts and mid to high heels most days and loving it.

It’s a cliché for cross dressers, but my shoe collection was getting out of control. I even bought a pair of ballet boots that Kathy thought was just crazy. I actually worked myself up to be able to adequately walk around in them. The coffee club girls thought I was insane to even attempt walking in the boots, but I challenged them to give it a try. We had dinner with our families after that while wearing our ballet boots. I thought the husbands and Kathy were funny trying to goad us into a dance line with our ballet boots on. They were extremely sexy and the ‘girls’ filled me in on all their sexual exploits that night. That was another night I’ll never forget. When Beth and Kathy got together, there was some sort of sexual download that took place. When everyone had gone home and we put Emily to bed, I felt I was being ‘stalked’. Kathy was on horny overload for some reason, but I wasn’t complaining. We both gave each other a nipple workout and her vajayjay got a good oral workout from me as well.

Kathy and I worked out frequently, and lately she had been coming home with pretty packages for me and Emily. As Emily and I had fun tearing off the wrapping, I was secretly thrilled to see an all-in-one girdle! Kathy said they had some new designer suits coming in soon and wanted to make sure I would fit! My heart thought back to my younger years and my mom’s girdle. Had I come fully round the circle of life? A girdle for me? What am I, fat? Oh, I am getting the vapors, I will live in my new girdles.

I will admit that I couldn’t wait to try the girdle on with one of my outfits, but I thanked Kathy profusely and told her it would come in handy in my upcoming Friday meeting with another potential client. At this time, one of the researchers, Laura Hill, was inquiring whether she could take on more responsibilities. I was thrilled at her assertiveness and we proceeded to tag-team on several client visits as two professional women meeting dynamic female corporate execs. I asked Laura about this change for her, and how I could help? She said her time at home was freed up and she wanted to graduate from research to consultant. I was overjoyed. I had been searching for a partner that would enable me to again review and re-focus our business plan.

We talked a while about my appearance. “Laura, Kathy has me in women’s clothing every single day and I wonder how you view that?” Laura was like my best sister. “I think Dana looks much more professional in skirts than in those 80’s pantsuits! Woohoo, no more pantsuits is my mantra. Laura had a very compatible thought process to mine. We weren’t judgmental.

Laura was like a sponge and we spent a lot of time together working side by side so that she could learn what I did, too. We were able to add another researcher and Laura and I worked together on a lot of interesting projects. I don’t know if Kathy felt jealous, but she never mentioned anything to me. I had no romantic interest in Laura at all. I saw her like a sister and our little girls loved playing together too. I just got some funny vibes from Kathy that I could tell she was worried about me.

But boobs, big boobs? There is no going back from breastfeeding twins for 9 months to a year. In addition to requiring more volume (bigger boobs), I needed to get a grasp on feeding schedules, pumping, nipple care (Kathy’s nipples got cracked and infected and I was not going to repeat that craziness.) But I was getting mighty close to exactly what I had in mind. 24/7 dressing with both my wife and friends full support. And I get my own boobs!!!

End of Part 5