For Daniel, his twelfth birthday was starting out like every other one. Here was home, with his two sisters and his parents, and a lame cake and no friends. Instead, he had to spend the day faking happiness for his family.

Daniel remembered his birthdays when he was younger, and they were so different. But then, only his sisters knew about the special birthdays, or so he thought. The earliest birthday he recalled was when he was six. His parents were out of town on a cruise — it seemed like they went away every year on his birthday — and he was alone with two older girls. Yuck!

But his sisters had other plans. They wanted Daniel to play “dress up” with them.

“Hey Dan,” sister Maria yelled. “Come into my room and let’s play a game,”

“Why?” he replied. “I just want to go outside and play baseball.”

“No way Dan,” yelled his other sister Dora, “we have such a great day planned, like nothing you’ve ever done.”

“OK,” he muttered, and walked up the stairs into their room. There was something about their room, something that he always liked. Perhaps it was the light pink paint, or the frilly drapes, or the shapely handles on the dressers, he never knew. But the room felt comfy.

So inside he went. There they were, his two older sisters — smiling. What the heck was going on? Daniel wondered.

“OK, let’s play a game,” said Dora. “It’s called dress up. If you do what we say, we’ll let you go outside and play baseball. If you don’t, we’ll make you stay inside and won’t let you watch TV or do anything fun.” Daniel thought about the offer and realized that his sisters were older and bigger, and they could easily prevent the scrawny little boy from doing anything they didn’t like. So he said, “Sure.”

“Good,” said Dora. All we want to do is see how you look with some nicer clothes on. All you ever wear are those dungarees and t-shirts. You’re so sweet looking, so we thought you’d like to see how nice you can look. OK?”

“Sure.”

“Good, so take off all of your clothes."

Daniel looked at them. “Why?”

“Look kiddo, it’s not like we haven’t seen your boy thing before and besides, it’s not very big, because you’re not very big,” said Dora.

“No.”

“Then I guess you’ll be bored,” Maria said.

Daniel looked around, noticed Dora locking the door and realized he was stuck. “OK.”

“Good, so try on this top first,” Dora said. Daniel looked at the pink shirt and put it on. The silky feel felt good, but it buttoned so funny, like they were backwards. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Dora, “it’s a special style.” Daniel figured it out and finished. But he couldn’t understand why the shirt had a tie at the waist. “Oh well, at least I can play baseball soon,” he thought.

“Good, now try on these pants." They were black, so Daniel agreed.

“But they don’t have a zipper,” Daniel complained.

“Oh don’t worry,” said Dora, “they’re trendy too.”

Dora shook her head. “No, it doesn’t work, but I know why.” She thought for a second and said, “Daniel, you need a special top underneath, different underpants and a different outfit.”

“Why? You promised I could play baseball.”

“Yes, but only after we finished,” Dora noted. "So put these on."

Daniel realized it was a bra and panties, and said, “That’s a bra.”

“OK, so it is, but if you don’t put it on, you’ll be inside all day. It’s only 10 o’clock, you little runt, so you can spend the next 10 hours inside or do what I say. And you even have a choice — we bought two of them just for you.” Dora showed him his choices.

Daniel started to cry. “No, please no.”

“OK, then go to your room and stay there all day all alone. You won’t be playing baseball that’s for sure, and you won’t have a good birthday either.”

He stood there frozen. What to do. So he tried on the flowery bra. It fit him perfectly.

“Now here are the underpants.”

“Good, now I think you need a different outfit. Try this.”

Daniel froze. “NO!”

“OK, enjoy your room.”

“And I’ll tell Mommy you broke her good vase,” Dora replied.

“But I didn’t, it’s in the hallway fine.”

“Not if I break it and tell her you did it. She’ll believe me because you’re always throwing things in the house, and she told you to stop.”

Daniel realized she had him in a corner. “OK, but then once we’re done I can play baseball?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“OK.”

He put on the dress and it felt so nice. And Daniel actually thought it looked nice too. “OK, we’re done, right?” he asked.

“Oh no,” said Dora. “No sibling of mine will wear that dress with getting hair done and putting on nice shoes. So put these on.”

Daniel saw her take out the shoes and, realizing that he had lost this war, put them on.

“And now your hair, let’s fix it up. It’s nice and long and needs to be combed and made prettier. OK?”

All he could think about was baseball, so Daniel agreed. Thirty minutes later he really wondered what he agreed to.

“See,” Dora said, “your hair looks so much better, don’t you think so Maria?”

“Yes,” she answered and gave Daniel a hug. "You’re so pretty, you look so sweet, and can I call you Dana?”

“No,” said Daniel. “I’m Daniel.”

“Look at you,” said Maria. “In that dress and with that pretty hair, you like my little sister. And you look happy. You’re smiling.”

“No,” Daniel said.

“Look Dana,” said Maria, “don’t you remember when you were real little and we used to play dress up, and you loved it. You used to laugh and smile. We’re doing it now because you seemed sad and had no one to play with. We just want you to be happy, and you look so pretty.”

Daniel realized she was right. He was happy. He had the attention his sisters, and they were being so nice to him. “Yes,” he sighed.

“Good,” said Maria, “but keep this our little secret, OK?”

“Yes,” said Daniel.

“Now can I go out and play?” he asked.

“Oh yes, go right ahead,” said Dora. She took his hand and began walking him to the front door.

“Not like this!” he screamed.

“Oh Dana, you forgot, I said you could go out and play if we played dress up, but I never said you could change your clothes, did I?”

Daniel thought for a moment and realized she was right. She tricked him.

“It’s OK,” she said, “instead we can play some more dress up today, and we’ll keep doing this. You look so happy and we know you like it.”

Daniel agreed. And they played all day. He played jacks, and they played with dolls and his sisters showered him with love and the day passed so quickly that by the time it was bedtime, he had forgotten what he was wearing.

“Dana, it’s bedtime, and we have a surprise for you, another outfit just for bed."

”Why?” he asked.

“Well,” Dora said, “it’s much more comfy than the rough boy stuff you usually wear, and it’s prettier. And you can keep on your undies if you like.”

Daniel thought about and said, “OK.”

Maria went back to her dresser and pulled out the surprise. Daniel looked at it, loved it and smiled. “Thank you sis, you’re the best.”

The next day they played some more, and Daniel grew to love his sisters more than he ever imagined. And they treated him like the little sister they always wanted. As Dana grew they continued to play dress up, and added some additional fun and things to the mix. To Dana it was wonderful.

TO BE CONTINUED (WITH LOTS OF TWISTS)