It Was His Mistake…
So Why Am I Dressed Like This?

by: Patricia Marie Allen

Based on “One Small Mistake,” by Rachel Ann Cooper,
a story posted on Fictionmania

You may have read about my friend Cory’s mistake the got him a closet full of girls clothes, but if not, I’ll bring you up to speed.

It happened at the beginning of summer our eighth grade year. We were older kids now and had more freedom as to where we could go and the things we could do. Simply put, we needed more money to do what guys our age do, so we each hit up our parents for a larger allowance. It was as if they had discussed it and made a joint decision. When Cory told me what his parents said, “It’s time you learned the value of a dollar. Go find a job,” it sounded like an echo. Well, I got lucky and scored a job at the Ice Cream Parlor. It was only four days a week and after taxes and that I took home over $ 30 a week. Then there was the side benefit of all the Ice Cream I could eat. I soon learned that when it was available all the time, it lost its luster.

While I was lucky, Cory was not. I guess that there was only job in town for under developed eighth grade boys and I got it. After a couple of weeks of my having money and him not, Cory was desperate. I just didn’t realize how desperate. Cory’s neighbor, Frankie, that is Francine, a girl our age and a good friend of ours too, suggested that Cory take her overflow baby-sitting. Not something guys usually do, but it would have been alright. Except…

Well, the only way to put this is that there are some parents who have the notion that only girls should baby-sit their kids. That was the case with the first job that Cory got. But Frankie conned Cory into getting around that problem by passing himself off as a girl. Which wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t as if either of us were he-men or for that matter, both our voices were still in the higher range. I found out about it the day after, shortly after his mother did. I’d have never believed it except that Frankie’s mother had been there and took pictures. Corrine, as they called the feminized Cory, was a babe. All I could say was, “Wow.”

When I complimented Cory I got a little carried away and Frankie accused me of being jealous. Looking back, I … I’d rather not go there just now. Any way, it turned out that Cory’s Mom decided that if he wanted to make money as a baby-sitter, and he had started out making his customer think he was a girl, he’d have to continue the masquerade. She took him shopping to buy girl’s clothes. Frankie and I were invited to go along.

I couldn’t believe how much Cory bought and some of the things. I think his mother got a little carried away. She not only bought dresses skirts and blouses, she included a nightgown, like it made a difference what he slept in. Of course she bought him shoes, but really… high heels? Was he going to wear heels to baby-sit in? But I digress.

Shoes: this is where it gets sticky. All evening, Mrs. Ford - Cory’s Mom, kept referring to us as “you girls.” When I pointed out her mistake, she informed me that my participation and input on what Cory - or should I say Corrine, by now, he was wearing a dress and hose - should buy or try on sure made it seem like I was a girl. Like and idiot, I fell into the spirit of the evening and said I’d be one of the girls while we shopped. I thought I meant in spirit, but I think Mrs. Ford took me literally. I say that because when we were in the self-service shoe store, she got some peds, you know, those little footie nylons that only just cover your foot, so that Frankie could try on shoes. Well, she got me some too and started calling me Cali.

Some how, things got really blurred and I found myself trying on shoes… girl’s shoes. What’s more, I bought two pair, some tan stacked-heeled loafers and a pair of white flats. Worse then that, when Mrs. Ford suggested that I wear them home, I did. … I wore them home; I put on knee-high nylons and wore the loafers home. Yeah, I know, loafers. Couldn’t they kind of pass for boy’s shoes? Not tan, not with stacked heels, and not with knee-high’s. I don’t know what I was thinking. In truth, I probably wasn’t thinking, I was just getting off on wearing girl’s shoes. I was going to change back to my sneakers on the way home, but I let them talk me into leaving the loafers on.

Now, here’s what Cory/Corrine couldn’t write.

I got out of the car and walked up on the porch. I was having second thoughts. I was wearing girl’s shoes and carrying a sack with another pair, even more feminine then the one’s I had on and I was about to go into my house where I’d almost surely run into my Mom and Dad. I hesitated turning to look over my shoulder to watch Corrine drive off. I thought for a moment, just how lucky he was. He not only had on girl’s shoes, he was wearing girl’s clothes from the skin out and his mother knew. An odd thought. Up until last Sunday I had never given any real thought about any boy, let alone Cory, or even me wearing girls clothes. But everything had changed. My best friend was going around dressed like a girl and I was jealous. I gathered up my courage and opened the door. I hoped that I could just cruise right in and down the hall to my bedroom without attracting any attention. No such luck. My Mom came out of the family room as I walked in.

“Oh, Calvin.” She always calls me Calvin, never Cal, like my friends. “I heard you come up on the porch and when you didn’t come in, I thought it may be visitor. Did you have fun shopping?” she asked looking at the sack, which advertised it was from a shoe store. “Buy some shoes?” she smiled looking down. Oh God. “I see you did.” She stepped back to get a better view. At first I thought she would just think they were boys shoes even if they were tan. I mean, I didn’t really think that she knew what current teen fashions were. Then she moved her head forward and cocked it sideways just a little. Then she smiled a quirky little smile. She glanced at my sack and then looked up. “I see you bought more then one pair. Let’s see what else you bought.” I knew I was going to be sick. There was no way out. I opened the sack and took out the box containing the flats. Mom silently took the box and opened it, maintaining the odd grin. “Nice,” she said and took them out she put them on the floor. “Slip them on I want to see how they look.” I closed my eyes and heeled my way out of the loafers. I had to open them to get my feet in the flats. I could feel the tears coming up in my eyes. I was in deep do-do and it was going to hit the fan any second. “I like them. They’re really nice. They make your feet look thinner. Would you like to explain just how you came to buy them?”

I told her the story I just told you. Only the “Reader’s Digest” version. She just stood looking at me with a Mona Lisa smile. I don’t think she believed the whole story. I’m sure that she thought that it was something that Cory and I cooked up, or maybe I lost a bet or something.

“Well, that’s an interesting story. Come with me.” She turned on her heel and went into the family room. I obediently followed. I froze in the doorway. Dad was watching television. I was sure that he hadn’t overheard our conversation, but how long would it be before he noticed my shoes. These white flats wouldn’t pass for boy’s shoes for an eye blink. Mom picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hi, sorry to call you so late, but Calvin just came in with a very interesting story about just how he came to buy the shoes he has on.” She paused a bit. “Uh-huh…” pause… “Really?” Pause… “I see…” pause… “Cali? I like it.” … “Well, thank you. I’m sure we will be talking about this some more.” … “You have a good evening too, bye.” She turned to me, by now, we had Dad’s attention. “You didn’t tell me you had a new name to go with your shoes… Cali.”

That last really got Dad’s attention. He looked at me, down at my shoes then at Mom and back at me. His face said it all. He was horrified. His mouth moved, but no words came out.

“I guess that you were just jealous of Corrine. She was buying all those pretty things and you weren’t. Was that it?”

“Well, not really. Well… maybe a little. I mean Cory looks so good as Corrine. But it’s not like I want to…” I couldn’t finish. I didn’t know what came next. I didn’t know if it’s really possible to lie to myself, but I suspected it was, because I was doing it. If I just didn’t say what I really felt, then it wasn’t true.

“Well, if you’re a good girl, maybe you’ll get some pretty clothes to go with your new shoes,” Mom chuckled.

Dad found his voice. “Really. I don’t think that’s called for. The boy just got caught up in the moment. I’m sure that he can take the shoes back for a refund.” I felt myself begin to panic. I don’t know where I thought I’d wear them, but I didn’t want to return them.

“Don’t be stupid. He’s worn them. They won’t take them back with scuffed soles. Well Cali, don’t you work early shift tomorrow?” I nodded. “Well then, you’d better get to bed.”

That made me feel better, but Mom knew I had only worn the flats from the entry to the family room. It was carpet all the way. The soles couldn’t have gotten scuffed. It was early, but I wanted to clear the area before there was any more talk of returning my shoes.

Since it was early, I didn’t go to sleep right away. A couple of times, I was sure that I could hear Mom’s voice speaking forcefully.

I was scheduled to work the next two days. Wednesday it was the early shift, 9:00 to 4:00 and Thursday it was noon to closing, so I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to hang out with Cory, … or Corrine, whatever. I thought sure that I’d see him and/or Frankie on Friday, but…

About 2 on Thursday, Frankie and Corrine came in for ice cream. “Hi guys, what brings you here?” God, Corrine looked hot. Even knowing that it was really Cory, my best friend, a boy, under that I still had to work at not drooling all over the place. He had on a spaghetti strapped sundress, white sheer tights and white flats. He even carried a matching purse. His hair had highlights in it. I’m sure the dress wasn’t one he had bought on our shopping trip.

“Well, we came looking for you,” Frankie told me.

“We won’t have much time this week, Frankie and I both have baby-sitting jobs tonight and tomorrow night, and I have a job Friday, 11 till 3.”

God, at $ 5.00 an hour, plus tip. He was going to make more in two days then I would all week before taxes. I took my break and sat with them at a sidewalk table while they ate their ice cream.

“What a bummer. I was looking forward to hanging out with you at least Friday afternoon.”

“Well, maybe you could invite Cal to hang out while you baby-sit, Corrine.”

“I don’t think so, I’m sitting for the Gordon’s and you know how they feel about boys.”

“Well, that didn’t stop you from becoming their baby-sitter, did it? I’m sure we could do the same thing for Cal.”

Corrine grinned at me. “She’s right you know.”

“Ah, … right? About what?” I didn’t want to think about what I knew they were taking about.

“About being able to take care of the problem of your being a boy, silly,” Frankie said leaning close, so no one else could hear.

“Problem?” Who’d have ever thought being a boy would be a problem? “Ah, you mean… I could dress… ah, wear… ah, you know like… like…?” I motioned toward Corrine.

“Un-huh,” Frankie grinned.

“I don’t know…” I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, that the idea was attractive.

“You should try it Cal. It’s not a bad as you might think,” Corrine offered. The problem was that I wasn’t thinking it might be bad. “As a matter of fact, I like it. I’ll probably keep doing it sometimes after the summer is over. I might even do some baby-sitting through the school year,” she continued.

“Well, I’m still not sure, I mean, what would I wear?”

“You’ve already got the shoes,” Frankie reminded me, “and I’ll help you the way I did Corrine.”

“Well, maybe, I’ll try it, but if I don’t look as good a Corrine, then I’m taking it all off and you guys have to promise to never tell anyone. Anyone at all.”

“Deal! You guys can come over to my house for breakfast tomorrow and you can try it there. My Mom will be out, so you won’t even have to worry about her seeing you. I had to deal with Mrs. Grant the first time I dressed like a girl.”

When I got home that night, I was really nervous. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I’m going over to put on girl’s clothes and maybe go along to a baby-sitting job dressed like that. I silently walked down the hall toward my room. As I passed by the den, I looked in. Mom was at her computer and there was Corrine’s picture on the screen. It wasn’t one of the ones I looked at. I must have gasped out loud, because Mom turned towards me.

“Hello Calvin, you didn’t tell me there were pictures of your friend. He really does make a cute girl. Have you seen them?”

“Not that one,” I stammered.

“Come look at them, Mrs. Ford emailed them to me.”

She paged through a couple a dozen or so. I had only seen 7 of them. A lot of them were taken outside at a park. A couple were candid shots showing Corrine in a group. I recognized some girls from our class. There were some guys from our class in the background as well. Corrine was smiling, apparently in conversation with the girls. It looked like she didn’t have a care in the world, oblivious to the fact that the guys were checking him out. I was riveted to the computer, but Mom was watching me. I was hoping that she didn’t notice my physical reaction. When she got through the last of them, she smiled at me. “Good looking girl isn’t she?”

“Oh yeah, Mom, she’s a stone fox.”

“I can’t say that I’m surprised at how good she looks. Neither Cory nor you exactly present any competition for Brad Pitt. I’ve got dinner in the oven, why don’t you help me put it on the table. You must be hungry, or did you pig out on ice cream all day?”

“No Mom, I didn’t. I got tired of all the ice cream I could eat the first week.”

“Good, then come along. I can use a hand. Your father is worthless around the house.” We left the room, leaving a picture of Corrine smiling out from the computer screen.

In the kitchen, Mom handed me an apron. “Here,” she said, “you’re used to wearing an apron at work. You can wear one here as well. It was a pastel yellow, bib apron with diaphanous white flouncing around it. The skirt was knee length and full. It would nearly wrap all the way around me. I almost complained, but then something inside of me wanted to wear that feminine thing.

I put the place settings on the table, while Mom got the roast out and carved it. The veggies came out of the microwave as Mom whipped the potatoes. It was up to me to get them to the table. Mom was just putting the potatoes on the table and I was rinsing some of the preparation dishes in the sink when Dad came in. He stopped, looked at me with a jaundiced eye. Mom looked at him sternly. He glanced at her, shook his head and sat at the table. I started to take my apron off, but Mom stopped me.

“You might as well leave it on dear, you can help me with the clean up afterward.”

Dad looked at her then quickly averted his gaze. It wasn’t uncommon for Dad to bow to Mom’s wishes, but I wasn’t sure just what was going on. There were obviously some sort of under currents here I couldn’t fathom.

I got up early the next morning and, taking my white flats, headed over for breakfast. Frankie was there when I got there. Mrs. Ford greeted me as I let myself in the kitchen door as usual.

“Hi Cali,” she said winking at me, “you’re here early, but not as early as Frankie.” Oh my God, does she know?

“Ah, … Cali?”

“Well, I thought with Frankie over and Corrine having you two for breakfast, it might just be a girl thing,” she teased.

“Oh, yeah, a girl thing,” I laughed nervously.

“Frankie and Corrine are in her room I think Corrine is still dressing. Go on back.”

I knocked on Cory’s door and heard, “Come on in.”

I cautiously opened the door and found Corrine in her lingerie doing make-up at a mirror propped up on his computer table. Frankie was going through the dresses in his closet.

“Hi Cali,” Frankie smiled. “I’m just scoping out some things you may want to try on.”

The picture was surreal. There was a boy, in girl’s underwear, putting on make up and there was a girl looking for a dress for another boy to wear. What’s more, the first boy’s mother knew what he was doing and I was the second boy! Worse then that, I was turned on by the sight of my best friend in girl’s underwear. My mind reeled at the thought.

Corrine stopped, surveyed his handy work and nodded slightly. “What do you think, Frankie?” he asked, “I think I got it pretty good this time.”

“It’s great. I told you that you’d learn to do it quickly.”

“Come on girls, the pancakes are ready,” Mrs. Ford called from the kitchen.

Corrine stood and dropped a short casual dress over her head and led the way. We all sat at the table. I noticed that Corrine kind of floated into the chair, using one hand to insure that her dress ended up under him and not bunched up behind. Cory would have just plopped, like I did.

“Can I trust you girls to clean up? I have an appointment to get my hair done and I want to run a few errands first.”

“Sure, Mom. You know I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks Corrine. Enjoy your breakfast girls. Bye, Frankie, Cali. Have fun.” With that, she was gone.

Frankie and Corrine talked while we ate. I spent my time wondering what she meant by “have fun.” When we were through, we both helped Corrine rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher.

In Cory’s room, things got serious. I was given a pair of panties and a girdle and told to go into the bathroom and put them on. As I struggled into the girdle I wondered what those clip things inside the legs were for. My face was burning when I came back into Corrine’s room. The panties were great, but I’m not sure about the girdle. Things were definitely tight down there. Which was good too, because if it wasn’t I’d have been even more to be embarrassed about. After spraying my hair with some feminine smelling stuff, Frankie began rolling up my hair on her hot rollers. I hadn’t noticed them before. Corrine sprayed some foam on my legs.

“What’s that for?” I asked in amazement.

“That’s depilatory. It’ll take the hair off your legs,” she answered.

“I don’t really have any hair on my legs.”

“For a girl, peach fuzz counts,” Frankie informed me. “Now hold still so I can get the rollers straight.”

After a few minutes my legs began to tingle, then itch. When it reached the burning stage I had to say something. “My legs are starting to burn.”

“Almost done here,” Frankie said. “There. You can go into the shower and rinse your legs, just stick your legs inside the shower and don’t get your girdle wet.”

I followed instructions. Corrine followed me to see it did it right. “Here,” she said when I was finished, “rub this into your legs it will make them feel real soft.” I took the cream and applied it liberally. It did feel good. Back in Corrine’s room, Frankie wrapped a bra around me and fooled with my chest until the padding underneath made little bumps up top that looked like girls boobs starting to grow.

She then started on my face. First, she attacked my eyebrows. I winced each time a hair came out, but now I knew why Corrine’s eyebrows didn’t look anything like Cory’s. The way she went at it, I was surprised, when all was said and done that I had any left. Next, she put on some mascara, some blush and some lipstick. The rollers were undone and Frankie began bushing and combing. Finally, she took a scalp out of a sack.

“This is that fall that Corrine was wearing in those pictures. That’s why her hair looks so long.”

“What about now?” I asked Corrine, “Your hair looks just as long.”

“Mom lent me hers, until my hair grows out.”

I then had to learn how to put on nylons. That answered the question of what those things inside the legs of the girdle were for. The nylons felt great on my smooth legs. I stood and slipped into my white flats. When I lifted my arms as commanded I was rewarded with a slip being dropped over my body. It took my breath away. Next was knee length dress with a very full skirt in a powder blue.

“You look great, Cali. Come on you need to see yourself in a full-length mirror.”

I was led to the bathroom where we closed the door so to reveal the mirror on the back of it. I was in shock. I looked as good a Corrine, maybe better. Frankie was beaming. She was proud of her ability to make boys look like girls.

“Now I know why you look at me the way you do,” Corrine grinned, “It’s kind of spooky looking at a boy that looks that good, isn’t it?”

“You know it,” I agreed.

“Well, you’ve got just about an hour to get used to wearing that stuff and make it to the job,” Frankie pointed out.

Oh yeah, the object of all this is to be able to go with Corrine to her job. Now I was scared. That meant I’d have go outside dressed like this.

“It’s about a fifteen minute walk there, what do you say Cali? Are you up for it?” Frankie asked.

I had to smile and laugh to myself. I was up for it all right, only with the girdle, you couldn’t tell. I looked in the mirror again and decided that if Corrine could do it, so could I. “Yeah, I’m up for it.” I smiled at the pun.

Corrine called Mrs. Gordon and cleared it for me to come along. While he was doing that, Frankie pulled out her Mom’s digital camera and started snapping pictures. At first I was upset, but then got into it and began posing. I even went out to the back yard for some outside shots. Corrine and I posed together. We had just enough time to upload them to Cory’s computer and look at them all before it was time to leave.

I couldn’t believe just how easy it was to baby-sit. Really, we did nothing except hang around. Well, we did fix lunch and washed the dishes, but Cory and I have done that thousands of times, just hanging out at his house. The big surprise came when the Gordon’s came back. Mrs. Gordon noticed that the dishes were done and the tip went up to ten dollars. Four hours work at five bucks and hour and ten bucks because we took ten minutes to wash and dry four plates and glasses! That was my weekly take home.

Corrine gave me five bucks. “Here,” she said, “You helped with the dishes.”

How cool!

We walked home, taking our time. I kept saying how easy baby-sitting was. At the ice cream shop, if I wasn’t waiting on a customer, I was supposed to be wiping something or mopping somewhere or restocking from the walk-in in the back. But baby-sitting we just sat. I guess that’s why they call it baby-“sitting.”

We were giggling and laughing as we walked into the Ford’s house. I nearly ran into Corrine as she stopped short. Coming out of the kitchen was Mrs. Ford.

“How it go, Corrine… Oh, hi Cali. My don’t you look nice. Isn’t that one of your dresses Corrine?” Corrine nodded. “It really looks nice on you Cali. I think it’s your color. Did you go with Corrine to her job?” It was my turn to nod. “Well, come on into the family room and tell me all about it.”

We followed her into the family room. Corrine started into the explanation. “Ah Mom, we were all so busy that Cal and I didn’t have any time together, and well, I wanted him to come along, only I was sitting for the Gordon’s and well, that’s how this all started you know.”

“Come girls, sit down, take a load off.” We sat, she smiled. “Cali, I can’t say I’m surprised at how good you look. You and Cory were always like two peas in a pod. Corrine is pretty, and you are equally gorgeous.”

“You’re home early.”

“Oh, yeah, my errands took a little longer than I thought, so I called the salon to see if I could make it later in the day. I’ll be their last customer at 6:00.

“So, how’d it go?”

“Really great, Mom. The kids were good. We fed them lunch, washed the dishes and watched a lot of television. Nothing to it.”

“What did you do, Cali?”

I felt like I was being given the third degree. “Nothing much. I helped fix lunch and do the dishes. Aside from that, I just sat around and talked with Corrine. She gave me part of her tip because I helped wash dishes.”

“So what do you think of baby-sitting?”

“It sure beats scooping ice cream. It’s really easy.”

“What are your plans for the rest of the day? Are you going to go with Corrine to sit at the Zink’s?”

“Well, I don’t think so. I kind of thought I’d change clothes and then go home.”

“Corrine, couldn’t Cali go along with you at the Zink’s?”

“Probably, I could call and find out.”

“Won’t we be late coming home?”

“Oh don’t worry about that, I’m sure that your mother would let you spend the night if you asked. I’ll feed you dinner. We’re having Lasagna. I know how you like my Lasagna.”

“Say yes Cali, it’ll be fun.”

“Well, OK, if everyone says yes.”

Corrine checked and it was OK for me to come with. I was too nervous to even talk to my mother while I was wearing a dress. I ask Mrs. Ford to call.

She dialed. “Hi, it’s Carolyn Ford. … Fine, thank you. You know, what with Corrine baby-sitting so much and Cali working at the ice cream shop, they haven’t had much time together.”

I wish she wouldn’t call me Cali to my mother.

“It’s OK for Corrine to bring a friend when she sits, I was wondering if you’d mind if Cali went along this evening. Oh, well Cali’s right here… yes, they were together at the Gordon’s this afternoon… Well, it will be late, I’m afraid, but I thought that Cali could spend the night… Oh, no trouble at all. The girls will have a great time… OK, I’m sure we’ll talk later.

“All set. She said it was their bridge night anyway, they’ll be out late themselves.”

So, I had Lasagna for dinner and spent the evening at the Zink’s helping Corrine baby-sit. Mr. Zink picked us up and gave us a ride home. I had to get to and from the ice cream parlor on my own. What a deal. That night I spent the night in a nightie. What a dreamy night.

In the morning, Frankie came over while we were still in our nightclothes. I thought she’d have something snide to say about me sleeping in a nightgown, but she was cool with it and never even mentioned it. I went home about 10:00 in the morning.

Mom was waiting for me when I came in. “Good morning Cali,” she smiled. Oh great, now Mom is calling me Cali. Whatever happened to ‘Calvin?’ All those references to Cali on the phone last night must have given her ideas. “Did you have fun last night with Corrine?”

“Yeah, it was good to just hang out.”

“So, what did you think of baby-sitting?”

Déjá  vu! What? Is there a stock set of questions? Didn’t I answer that one for Mrs. Ford yesterday?

“OK.” I hope this doesn’t turn into another third degree.

“I had an interesting talk with one of our bridge club members.” That was odd. She never discussed anything that happened at her bridge club.

“Oh?”

“Yes, the Zink’s were telling me about their new baby-sitter, Corrine Ford. It seems that last night she brought a friend. A sweet girl named ‘Cali’.” My heart stopped. “I’d say that’s and astounding coincidence. What do you suppose the odds are of there being two Corrine Fords with a friend name Cali in a town our size? … Whatever the odds, I’d say it was even higher that both Corrine Ford’s would be referred by a Francine Grant. That’s Frankie’s given name isn’t? … Cali?”

I fell into a chair. I was toast. The only piece of evidence she didn’t have were the pictures on Cory’s computer.

“Well Cali? Anything to say for yourself?”

“No, you seem to know everything already.” I couldn’t believe how that sounded. I was almost defiant. Cory’s Mom is cool with him dressing up and he was doing it all the time. I’ve only done it once.

“Where did you get the dress you were wearing last night?”

“I borrowed it from Corrine.”

“Seems to me that you neglected to tell me about some of your plans yesterday. If I’d known what you had in mind, I’d have made arrangements for you. Next time, you’ll have your own.”

That stopped everything. Next time? My own?

“My own? You mean…”

“Yes dear, I’m taking you shopping.”

Just then, Dad stepped into the room. “I’m against this. I still say we should forbid him to see this ‘Corrine’ again. And that Frankie as well.”

Mother looked at him with a cold stare. “Cali, you’ll find some pantyhose on your bed and a bra that should fit. Put them on along with your tennis shorts and your white turtleneck. I couldn’t find your white flats. I assume that’s what’s in the sack. Go along now, your father and I have to talk,” she told me with out loosing eye contact with Dad. I started down the hall. As I reached my room, I heard Mom. “Come with me.” A few moments later, a door slammed.

As promised, on my bed were the items mentioned. The thing she forgot to mention were the panties. They looked soft and silky, but they were made with Lycra, according to the label. When I put them on, they held things pretty well. Nearly as well as the girdle had yesterday.

As I changed, I could hear Mom’s voice interspersed occasionally by Dad’s. Mom’s voice was definitely the dominant one. As I came out of my room, I could make out what Mom was saying. It was still slightly muffled by their bedroom door. “There, now that’s done. I’m going go get Cali.” Their door burst open. “Oh there you are dear. Here, let’s go into the bathroom and I’ll fix you up.” Once in there, she had me wait while she went through the connecting door to the master bath. She got some things out of the cupboards. Pausing to look into their bedroom, she said, “That looks good. Now go wait in the family room for us.”

She came back into the family bath. She sprayed my hair and started at it with a curling iron. In about fifteen minutes, she had finished my hair and done some make-up and even polished my nails. While we were waiting for my nails to dry, Mom went to her room and made a phone call.

“Let’s collect your father and go ‘shop till we drop,’” she smiled.

I followed her down the hall. As we got to the kitchen she called out. “We’re ready, come on. I want to get some shopping done before lunchtime.”

Dad stepped into the doorway from the family room. I had to bite my tongue. He was wearing a pair of Mom’s black Capri pants, a white blouse, under which was obviously one of Mom’s C-cup bras, fully stuffed. His feet were covered in tan hose and stuffed into a pair of open toed, low-heeled sling backs, which showed his painted toenails. His usual sandy hair was replaced by an ash blonde shoulder length mane. Needless to say his face lost all the angles that said man and was softened by subtle make-up so it fairly screamed “woman.” To be honest, if I’d had any reason to think that someone else was in the house, I’d never have guessed it was Dad.

“Really, is this necessary?” his voice quivered. “Can’t I just stay home?”

“No! You could have, but now you need to experience this first hand. Come on now,” she said opening the garage door, “let’s go. I’ll drive.”

Dad’s heels weren’t high, but he still tottered just a little. From the look, I think they were a size too small. Mom drove directly to the mall. Of course I bounded out ready to catch up with Corrine. Dad on the other hand was not happy at all. Mom took pity on him and our first stop was the self-service shoe store, where Mom bought Dad a pair of shoes in the correct size. That improved his disposition a great deal. We also bought me two more pair of shoes and Mom wasn’t satisfied with Dad only having one pair, so she picked out a total of four pair for him. She even found two pair she liked.

Next we stopped by a specialty lingerie store. Inside, Mom carefully picked out panties for me and matching slips. Dad had the look of rabbit as he followed us around. We moved toward the women’s section. Here, Dad’s hands were filled with more of the same. Mom took me in the fitting room and tried several bras on me and settled on a couple of styles. We ended up selecting four. When we came out of the fitting room Mom smiled at Dad. You could see him shrink back. She took him by the hand and led him to the counter where an older lady was refolding stock.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“I’m Mrs. Jensen, I called earlier.”

“Oh yes, we have what you’re looking for right here.” She reached under the counter and took out several boxes. She opened them and took out breasts. I swear to God the boxes had women’s breasts in them. They all had varying skin tones. Some had big dark nipples and some had hardly anything for nipples. Dad’s eyes got big, but not any bigger then mine I guess.

Mom surveyed them. “These are nice. They look about right.”

“Let’s check the skin tone,” the lady said, holding one up to Mom’s arm.

“Oh, it’s not for me. It’s for my sister,” she said, indicating Dad. I saw Dad shutter. Mom drew him up to the counter and held out his arm. The lady smiled and held it up to his arm.

“I’d say it was a perfect match. Wouldn’t you?” she smiled at Dad.

“I’d say so,” Mom said.

“Will you be needing a right or left?” the lady asked.

“Both,” Mom informed her.

“Oh,” she said. She placed the others back in their boxes and under the counter. She took out a second box. “This way.” Mom followed her, towing Dad.

I giggled. Mom was buying boobs for Dad. The three of them were in the booth for a few minutes when I heard the lady say, “Now don’t be embarrassed, a good 30% of our business is with customers just like you.”

30% of their customers are men dressed as women and brought in by their wives?

“That’s a good fit. Shall we use the adhesive?” the lady asked.

“Oh yes definitely,” Mom replied.

“Let me put this make up over the edges and then you can a few buttons undone,” the lady informed Dad.

Dad came out of the booth with several buttons undone showing some really convincing cleavage. Mom added five bras to Dad’s pile and paid the bill. It came to hundreds.

We stopped by the food court and had lunch. I thought Dad would be sick, sitting there with a hundred or more people around. I could tell he was worried that some one would see him as a man in women’s clothes. I don’t know what he was uptight about I was the one wearing boy’s shorts and shirt with girls shoes and stockings. At least he had that cleavage to convince people of his femininity.

We went from there to Dillard’s. Mom has expensive taste. Somebody made a big commission that day, a couple of somebody’s. Dad got five dresses, six blouses and seven skirts. I got eight skirts, nine blouses and four dresses. We cleaned up in the jewelry department too. Dad got his ears pierced. Whispering, Dad tried to talk her out of it but Mom wouldn’t have any of it. She promised me that if we could figure out how to do it so nobody at the ice cream shop would notice or care, I could get my ears pierced too.

About three, we called it a day. We probably would have shopped more, but we had reached trunk capacity. By the end of the day, Dad seemed to have calmed down and finally got into the shopping thing. He ended up in a teal print dress with a scoop neckline that really showed off his assets. Toward the end, I noticed him standing by a rack of dresses and holding a couple out for closer examination. He even took one to a mirror and held it up to himself. This was when Mom was in the fitting room trying on a few things for herself.

When we got home we all made room in our closets for our new clothes. As soon as I was through, I called Corrine.

“Hi, it’s Cali. You won’t believe it. I just got back from the store. No, Dillard’s. Yeah. I’ve got dresses.”

Dad was still in his closet making room for his things, but Mom walked out.

“Who are you talking to dear?” she asked.

“Corrine, Mom.”

“Why don’t you have her over to see your new things.”

“OK. Hey Corrine, Mom said you could come over and see my new clothes. You want to?”

“Frankie’s here, can she come to?” Corrine asked.

“I’m sure it’ll be OK.”

“Let me ask my Mom.”

“OK,” I told him.

“Hey Cali, Mom wants to see you too. Can she come too.”

“I’d better ask Mom. Hey Mom, is it OK if Corrine brings Frankie and Mrs. Ford?”

“Sure, dear. The more the merrier.”

“Sure Corrine, bring them both.”

“We’ll be right there.”

“Bye.”

A few minutes later, Dad walked into the room. “I don’t know why you got me all those clothes. It’s not like I’m going make a habit of wearing this kind of thing.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. You may just wear them more than you think,” Mom informed him. “Why don’t you put on a pot of tea for us and toast up some English muffins.”

Dad muttered to himself and went to the kitchen. I could hear him banging around in there. Dad wasn’t used to fixing things for himself. I heard a car pull up outside. Mom heard it too. She stood up, walked over to the kitchen, peaked in the door, then continued to the front door. I followed her. She opened the door without giving them a chance to ring the bell. She held her finger to her lips in the typical “sh” symbol. She spoke softly. “I want to surprise my husband. He doesn’t know you’re coming over to see Cali.” Mrs. Grant was with them. We all tiptoed our way into the family room. Mom stopped by the kitchen. “Dear, I’ve changed my mind. No muffins. Put that package of Macaroons in a bowl and bring them instead.”

In the family room, I sat on the couch between Corrine and Frankie. I looked at her mom and then her questioningly. She leaned over to me and whispered. “I stopped at home to borrow Mom’s camera. When she heard why I wanted it, she invited herself along. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind, but I’m not sure about Dad,” I whispered back.

Mom came in and looked at Corrine. “I can’t get over how good you look. You know you should have done this years ago. You’re a natural.” Then she put her fingers to her lips again.

Corrine smiled and mouthed, “Thank you.”

Just then Dad came in with a bowl of cookies. He froze and gasped audibly.

“Come on in dear,” Mom smiled. “We’ll need seven cups for the tea. We have company.”

Dad was visibly shaken as he put the cookies on the table. I thought he was going to burst into tears any moment.

“Dear where are your manors? Say hello to our guests.”

“He… hello Carolyn, Janice, Frankie, ah, Cor… Corrine.”

“Well, don’t just stand there, serve the tea.”

“Yes dear.”

Dad went back to the kitchen. We all giggled. Dad was back shortly with a tray full of cups, a teapot and sugar and creamer. With Mom prompting he served us all tea and finally sat in his easy chair.

“Well, I see Cali isn’t the only new female in your family Betty.”

Mom smiled, “I thought since I got so much opposition to allowing Cali to experience her feminine side that he needed to find out for himself what it was all about. Personally, I like it.”

I took Corrine and Frankie to my room and showed them my new clothes. Mom and Dad took Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Grant into their room and Dad showed off his clothes. When we were all back in the family room, Dad was talking with them. He was very animated and joining right in. Always before, Dad would hardly speak in mixed company and would secretly complain to me about how he couldn’t get a word in edgewise when a bunch of women were talking. But I guess that day he was just one of the girls. So was I; it was great.

Corrine and Frankie left about five because they had to get to their jobs. Their moms stayed for dinner. We broiled up some steaks and nuked some baked potatoes. It was the first time I’ve ever enjoyed having adults over for dinner. The women made a point of including me in the conversation. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought I had dropped into an alternate universe where there was no difference between men and women. We all cleaned up the kitchen. Relaxing in the family room it was a lot more relaxed then usual.

Our company went home around 10 and we all got into our nighties. How cool, our whole family in nighties. I was in bed by 11. I had to get up to go potty around midnight. All that tea wanted out. Sitting on commode I could hear noises coming from Mom and Dad’s bedroom. At first I thought something was wrong.

All of a sudden it was quite. Then I heard Mom say, “That was good. I think I’m going to keep you in nighties all the time.”

Dad returned, “If it’ll be like that every time, you won’t be able to get me out of them.”

Oh great! Just what every fourteen-year-old wants to hear. His parents having sex. I didn’t flush because I didn’t want them to know I was there. I had honestly thought they had gotten over that kind of thing.

Sunday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast around 10 AM. I thought I’d puke looking at Mom and Dad. They were like a couple of kids with their first crush. They held hands across the table. At every little excuse they kissed each other.

They were relaxing with their coffee when all of a sudden, Dad sat up.

Looking at his breasts, he said, “Ah, these things are glued on my chest, aren’t they?”

“Of course dear. You were there when it happened.”

“How do they come off?”

“Well, the adhesive will break down after a few weeks. If you want them off before then, I think you need a solvent.”

“We got some solvent didn’t we.”

“No,” Mom said with a stoic look.

“Tomorrow’s a workday. I can’t go to work with these things hanging off my chest.”

“You’ll just have to go to the mall and buy some solvent,” Mom told him.

“Can’t you go and get me some?”

“I’m not the one who wants them off your chest,” Mom smiled wickedly.

“For God’s sake, I’m serious. I need to get these off my chest.” Dad was near panic.

“Look,” Mom said standing, “get dressed and go buy the solvent. Come on, I’ll help you.”

I went to my room and put on one of my dresses and tried to bush out my hair. “Mom,” I said knocking on their door.

“Come in dear.”

Dad was sitting at mom’s vanity in a slip and hose putting on make up. “Sweetheart, not so much. Less is more,” Mom chided him. He wiped with a make-up sponge. Mom gave him the powder and a huge fluffy brush he clumsily blotted the powder onto his face. Then with another brush he brushed it all off. I didn’t think that made much sense, but the stuff on his face looked invisible now. I watched in fascination as he applied blush, then shadow. Followed by mascara and lipstick. Mom advised him along the way, but he did everything himself. When he was done, he seemed to have a real sense of pride when he was finished.

Mom turned to me and asked, “What is you need dear?”

“Ah, I wanted help with my hair.”

“Sure, sweetie.”

In the bathroom, Mom worked me over with the curling iron again. A little lip-gloss and I was beautiful. My hair was still shorter then I wanted, but it would grow.

“Does this dress look OK?” Dad asked from the doorway.

“It looks as good as it did when you bought it,” smiled Mom.

“Are you sure that you won’t go get the solvent?”

“If it were up to me, you’d go to work dressed just like that.”

“Oh God no.” Dad was ashen.

“Oh, go get your precious solvent.”

“I’ll go with you Dad,” I smiled.

The two of us got into the car and headed for the Mall. Dad looked nervous, but determined. He glanced at me.

“How can you be so calm about going around dressed like a girl?” he asked.

“Well, having Corrine to lead the way makes it easier for me. I mean, everything I’ve done, Corrine did before me. It’s kind of like I sent her out to find out what’s safe to do.”

“I wish I knew someone who’s done all this before me. I might not be so nervous.”

“You’re doing fine Dad and you look great. Your natural looking bust line is really convincing.”

“I know. I get turned on looking at my own breasts. Is that sick or what?”

Dad and I never talked like this before. “Well… can I tell you something, just between us guys in dresses?”

Dad laughed. “Sure, if we can’t talk to each other about this, who can we talk to?”

“I get turned on just putting on the clothes.”

“You too? I wonder if all guys get turned on putting on women’s clothes.”

“What really gets me, is even though I know it’s Cory under all the clothes and make-up I still think Corrine is a fox and would love to date her. It’s spooky.”

“Don’t worry about it. I think your intellect can counter her animal magnetism. It’s only natural to see something like that and forget everything except how it looks.”

We pulled into the lot and parked. This time, Dad didn’t hesitate. He was out of the car and striding confidently into the mall. To my surprise he didn’t stop at the lingerie shop. He beat a path directly to Dillard’s. He went right to the rack where I had noticed him looking at dresses yesterday. He picked out three and looked up at me, noticing my surprised look.

“If you mother wants to see me in dresses, I might just as well wear some that I like.”

With that, he marched straight to fitting rooms. He came out and let me see how it looked. He ended up buying all three. Then we stopped by the lingerie department and Dad picked up a couple more nightgowns.

“Would you like some more nighties while we’re here?”

“Sure, why not.”

We paid up and headed for the lingerie shop. He marched right in and up to the counter.

“Hi, I was in yesterday and bought some breast forms,” he said.

“Oh yes,” the lady said, “I remember.”

“Well, we seem to have forgotten to pick up the solvent to remove them.”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure you’d want to, but we have it right here,” she said taking a bottle from the rack behind her. “The instructions are right on the label. Will you be needing adhesive as well?”

“Ah, … I think so. And some of that make-up as well.”

On the way home I had to ask, “Dad, are you planning on dressing up on a regular basis? I mean, do you like this.”

“I didn’t think I would, but after last night, I think I’m going to like it a lot.”

“Ah, yeah, I was in the bathroom last night.”

“You were?”

“Un-huh. I thought something was wrong for a minute.”

Dad chuckled. “What can I say. It was like it was the first time all over again.”

“I wouldn’t know about that, I’m still waiting.”

“That’s good,” Dad smiled.

I know that things will be different around our house from now on. Dad was obviously getting into this feminine thing. Mom likes it for both Dad and me. It’s going to be a journey. I’m not sure where it’ll end up, but I’m going to enjoy the ride.