Then You Wear It - 4

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Then You Wear It: 4

by Clara
Copyright©2020,2021,2024 Clara Schumann

 

Against his better judgement, a man gives his wife a very feminine piece
of lingerie for their anniversary. She does not appreciate the gesture and makes
an offer that he takes her up on.


 
Author's Note: Thank you all for showing the support and immersion into such stories from such a humble authoress. I am pleased that my stories are entertaining you. I am hoping to possibly get back to writing here again sometime soon. I have to look out for my wife still for the next week or so along with my daily jobs. ~Clara.
 
This version of Then You Wear It: 4 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.


 
 
Chapter 4
 
 

 

We caught up with everyone in the third bedroom. They were all impressed with the house and were making suggestions about use of space and paint colors, etc. The funny thing, though, was that the sisters were making sisterly suggestions about drapes and fabrics and things like that to me - not Opie.

Stranger, still. I liked it that way. I liked being included.

As we headed out of that room, Josie held me back and whispered, "Umm, Kimmy, I wasn't eavesdropping or anything, I was just coming to see if everything was alright with you two, but I heard you tell Opie that you hadn't made up your mind about being a woman."

I nodded.

"But... didn't you tell me that when you looked at yourself in the mirror now you saw the real you?"

I sighed. "I did, Josie, and I do, but it's all very confusing."

"Yeah, but, honey, if THIS Kim is THE REAL Kim... end of story, right?"

"Josie, it's becoming a whole new person."

"So? We become whole new people all the time, don't we? I mean, you're one person at home and another at work. You're one with one group of friends and another person with another group. When you were a kid, you were one person in school and another person after school. This is no different."

"It's entirely different, Josie," I said, shocked. "I'd be changing sex."

"No you wouldn't. You'd still be a guy. Just a guy who's living as a girl."

"So a girl to everyone except me."

"So what?"

"So what!? How can all three of you be this casual about this kind of thing? Your mom certainly isn't like this. Are you just expectantly tolerant of alternative lifestyles?"

Josie shrugged. "Probably not. Until today, I would have guessed that Opie was pretty conservative about gender roles and when I told Emma I was was going to hold you back to talk to you, she told me to shut up and mind my own business, so... like I said... probably not. It doesn't matter, though, Kim. I'm only talking about you. I'm looking at you and I see how happy and how pretty you look this way and I see how happy you look when you look this way. And I see how happy you look when you're with Opie looking the way she does as PJ - Well, HE does as PJ, I guess. Kim... this IS the real you. You said so yourself. I'll say this one more time and then I'll shut up forever. Please. Don't forsake the real you to protect some fragile sense of male pride. Embrace THIS Kim. THIS is the REAL Kim and you know it."

She kissed my cheek and hugged me and we went to join the others, leaving me there to ponder what she'd said for a moment before I followed. I looked at the room before I shut off the light and thought about the suggestions that the girls had made to make it prettier. It looked as if the previous resident had been a young man and the girls had suggested that some color on the walls, some ruffles on the windows, some flowers here and there and just a little 'dressing up' would make it so much nicer. 'Kind of like me,' I thought, and I shut off the light.

Before we left the new house, Emma went to her car and returned with a large, peach colored head band with a big, floppy bow on it, explaining that, since the next day was an important day, I should wear the headband to bed so that I did as little to my hair damage as possible. "For God's sake, don't put it in a ponytail!" She chided as she headed to the door.

She stopped, though and turned to Opie, looking unusually serious. "Listen, Opie... be sure to talk to mom, ok. I really don't care if she's a bitch to me and Josie. We're used to it, but..." she looked at me, then back at Opie. "... Kimmy's working really hard to make tomorrow night special for you. Don't let mom ruin that for her. Ok?"

"Ok." Opie responded, but she seemed more irritated by the reminder than touched by the sensitivity of her sister.

Emma just shook her head at Opie, blew me a kiss and left.

The fact that she'd used a feminine pronoun to describe me had not escaped me, but the kindness that she was showing me, had not escaped me, either, and that was what I focused on.

As I was about to leave, I took one last look around the grand house, shook my head and sighed. "You are just beautiful," I muttered. "Just beautiful."

"You seem more excited, now," Opie smiled as we drove home.

"I guess it seems more real, now," I smiled back. "Just showing them around did that, I think."

She leaned over and kissed me. "I'm glad. I bought for you, Kim. It's your house."

"It's OUR house, Opie... but thank you."

We were nearly home when I asked, "Ope... No matter what, I can still call you 'Opie,' right? I mean, this 'PJ' name is your guy name, I know, but since 'Opie' was a boys name on TV, I can still call you that, right?"

"Sure, honey. I mean, that's what my sisters have always called me, too, so there's no way I'm ever going to get away from that name completely. If it ever comes up, I'll just treat it like I did last night and say that it's a family nickname, but I prefer 'PJ.'"

"And I assume you don't tell them that 'PJ' stand for Penelope Jane when they ask."

She chuckled. "You know, it's funny how seldom it comes up, but when it does, I say it stands for Paul James."

I nodded. "What do your payroll and HR records list your name as?"

Another chuckle. "PJ. It was easy to change. Just a one page form and Penelope Jane was gone from the record."

"And your License?"

"A little more paperwork, but it says PJ as well. It's been a pretty easy thing to do."

"So, exactly how long have I been married to PJ Reed?"

Opie sighed. "We're not going to end the day with a fight, are we?"

"I just want to know."

She took a moment. "I guess you've always been married to PJ. I've been PJ for..." she sighed again... "almost three years."

"Three years," I mumbled. "Three years. That's a lot to take in, Opie."

"I know, Kim. I'm sorry. I didn't intend to become this whole different person. I just thought that the name 'Penelope' was holding me back. When your name is Penelope, people don't view you as a viable candidate for a management position. They view you as a damsel in distress. Then, when they saw me, they certainly didn't think that my name and my general persona went together, nether did I, to be honest. Frankly, I always hated my name and 'Opie' was no better in a business setting, either. I worked with lots people, both men and women, who used their initials, so I gave that a shot and it worked almost immediately. Then, when I was mistaken for a guy and I didn't correct the managing director... well, things just took on momentum from there. Then one thing just lead to another and... here we are. I'm sorry. I never set out to become a man at work, I just sort of did and now... there's just no going back. And living one way at work and one way at home is just too difficult. I'm PJ full time, now, Kim. I'm sorry."

I nodded. "I get it. I'm not mad. I just need to get my head around it." I thought for a moment. "Is that the reason you didn't take my name when we got married?"

"No," Opie glanced at me. "I was very honest about that, Kim. I am very proud of my achievements at work. I just wanted to keep my last name."

I nodded, again. "And yet, when the realtor called me 'Mrs Reed' last night, you never corrected her."

"Ok, honey, that's true and I have no defense for that. I'm sorry. Look, babe, if you stay like this, I promise I'll never do that again. Really. I'm sorry. You'll be my wife, Ms Kimberly Bristol. Alright?"

"Alright. We'll discuss that when - and if - we reach that bridge."

We pulled into the driveway and then into the garage. Opie stopped the car and opened her door, but noticed that I wasn't getting out of the car. "Are you coming?" She asked.

"I was just thinking. Look, Opie, you know I love you and I am kind of fascinated with all of this girly stuff, but... do you ever intend to do anything to your genitals?"

"You mean do I want to become fully male? Have a penis? Actually have sex reassignment surgery? That's what your asking, right? Well... no. I have considered having breast reduction surgery - well that's a bit of a misnomer, I guess. I have considered having my breasts removed, but I'm not ready for that yet. Not by a long shot and I'd never do that with talking to you about it. But as for my sex organs - no. I never want to change that part of me, Kim, because that would interfere with my relationship with you. Ok?"

I nodded. "Ok. Thanks for being honest, Opie."

"What about you, though?" She asked.

I let out a nervous laugh. "Ope... I'm so scared of making any decision at all right now that something as radical as cutting off my penis isn't even in my consciousness."

She nodded. "Ok. I'm sorry. I know I've put a lot of pressure on you. I came to all of this gradually over a couple of years and I dropped it all onto you in a few days. I'm not being fair. Let's go to bed. We both have a long day before we go to Mohegan Sun tomorrow night. You have a day of primping and pampering and I have to go show my mother what her ugly daughter looks like these days."

"Oh, my God!" I said, as she slid out of the car. I got out as quickly as I could and caught up with her as she unlocked the door that led to the house. "Opie, how could you say something like that?"

She didn't even smile like she'd been joking. "Come on, Kim. You know my mother. She never pulled any punches. She may not have said it, but she made it very clear how she ranked her daughters. Emma was the good looking, organized, professional one, Penelope was the ugly, smart, serious one, and Josephine was the beautiful, cheerful one with the winning personality."

We were walking through the kitchen when I said, "Opie, your mother absolutely NEVER called you ugly."

She stopped and turned to face me. "Ok, I'll give you that, Kim. My mother never used the word 'ugly' to my face, but I cannot tell you how many times she did use the word 'plain' to my face. I think I was eleven the first time I was writing a report and I used a thesaurus to find a synonym for 'ugly.' You know what word I found? 'Plain.' Right there on the page of our Roget's Thesaurus. The word my mother used a million times to describe me and I suddenly realized it meant that she was calling me ugly."

I thought I was going to cry. I put my arms around her and hugged her. "I have never thought that, Opie. I always thought you were attractive. To me, you have always been everything I have ever wanted."

"I know that, Kim," she said as she hugged me back, "but you were always the only one. It's not easy to be ugly in a world that values beauty. To walk down a street and hear people snickering at you. To see your beautiful sisters and know that you'll look foolish if you even try to emulate their beauty. Being Penelope for thirty years was a daily grind for me, Kim. Being PJ has been a relief. Maybe I'm not movie star handsome, but at least I'm finally average looking. People may not be checking me out, but at least they're not gawking at me because I'm ugly."

She took my hand and looked down into my eyes with more sadness than I'd ever seen in her. "Kim... Finding you is the only good thing that ever happen to me until I became PJ and I love you more than I could ever express. I never should have lied to you. I never should have done things behind your back. I never should have lived a double life and I have no right to ask you to do what I'm asking you to do right now, but... I am. Please. Please just try to see how this all happened and get through tomorrow as my female counterpart and see if you can live that way. Then... whatever happens... we'll still be together. Ok?"

I nestled my forehead into her neck and shoulder. "Opie, you can do whatever you need to do, but you are never going to be without me. I promise you that."

It was an odd night. You'd have thought that after we'd had such a soul baring conversation, we might have just fallen asleep, but when Opie saw me in my nightgown with that headband with the floppy bow, she kind of went crazy with desire. We were like rabbits for an hour or more until I didn't have any more to give. I fell dead asleep in her arms where I remained until she shook me awake a little before seven the next morning.

"Hey, sleepy head," she whispered, her tie already tied around her neck. "You should get up. The girls will be here soon. I need to get going early so that I can take a long lunch and go see my mother."

"Ok," I muttered, as I pulled back the covers.

"By the way," she whispered and laughed a bit, "you should probably shower, too. We both kind of wreaked after last night's escapades. Now, I don't know an awful lot about these girly things that you're doing today, but my guess is that if you were supposed to wash your hair, Emma would have given you specific instructions to do so. So, maybe clip your hair up before you get in so that it doesn't get wet."

That bolted be upright. I'd seen Emma lay into Opie and I didn't want to start the day with her laying into me. "A hair clip? Where am I going to get a hair clip? I certainly don't have any and I've never seen you use one."

"Oh." Opie thought for a moment, then stood and had me stand in front of her with my back to her. Then, with surprising dexterity, she twisted my hair into a bunch and gathered it on top of my head, securing it with the headband. "There you go."

I glance at myself in the mirror on my bureau. "I didn't know you could do that!" I said, surprised.

"I may not have ever had any interest in girly hair, but I had two very girly sisters," she smiled. Then she kissed my cheek and grabbed her suit coat. "Gotta run, babe. Love you."

"Love you, too. Good luck with your mom!"

She glanced back from the doorway and rolled her eyes, then disappeared.

She was right about needing a shower. I hadn't really noticed it until I took off the nightgown, but then... whew! Besides, the shower was very reviving. While we had been out yesterday, the girls had insisted that I purchase several body creams and powders and a great deal of conversation had been spent on when to apply which and in what order, etc. So, after patting myself dry, I applied a rose scented cream to all of my body, from the neck down, then a similarly scented powder to the same area. Both were very soothing and the scent was absolutely lovely. I kind of loved the idea of smelling that way all day. Then I used a small amount of a face cream that I was told I should use about a half an hour before applying makeup. I didn't know when the girls were coming, but I figured they wouldn't be there for at least another hour.

So, imagine my surprise when I walked out of the master bath, naked as the day I was born, to find both of my sisters-in-law sitting my now made bed waiting for me. My first impulse was to cover myself, but since they'd both seen me naked the previous day, what was the point.

"We changed the sheets and put the soiled ones in the hamper," Emma said, matter of factly.

"Seemed like you had a good night," Josie smiled.

"We did," I admitted. "Thank you for changing the sheets. Umm... so... should I put on my new, black underwear now, or later." You know, when you're the only naked person in a room, it's always going to be awkward, but when you're the only naked guy in the room and you've been spending the last couple of days trying to learn how to be a woman and you're standing there in front of the two women, who happen to be your mentors, and your thing is just hanging limply out in front of you, well, it's a pretty awkward way to start your day.

"No, that's not until you dress for tonight. You'll put on your regular bra and panties this morning," Emma instructed, "but first, come lay on the bed."

Both of them got up and petted the bed.

A little concerned, I did as I was told. "What's this all about?"

"We want to put on your breasts," Emma explained.

She and Josie read the directions that came with the artificial appendages. Took measurements, made marks on my chest and applied some very cold adhesive to my chest before carefully applying the fake breast.

"Wow. They look so real," Josie said, poking them.

"You can keep them on for up two to weeks," Emma told me, "or remove them with the solvent whenever you want." She held up the bottle and then placed it on my bureau.

"Can I see them?" I asked, staring to rise.

"Not yet." Emma grabbed a bag from a local pharmacy.

"Why?"

"Last night, we watched some YouTube videos about how guys tape themselves." Emma explained.

"Tape themselves?" I was confused. "Like videotape?"

"No, silly," Josie laughed. "They tape their junk so their panties are nice and smooth."

"But they look fine when I tuck myself back, don't they?"

"The panties that Opie bought you look fine, yes," Emma explained, a bit miffed that I was questioning her, "but the panties you're wearing tonight have much less material."

"They're a thong," Josie said with way too much enthusiasm. "You're going to love them!"

"A thong! I didn't realize that when we picked them out."

"Don't worry," Emma smiled. "Josie's right. You will love them. Now, spread your legs and let me do this. Apparently, your testes will pop right back up into their cavities without much bother if we line them up correctly..." she began feeling around down there.

"My testes? Emma I think you may be taking things a little too... Ow!" Ok, it didn't really hurt that much. I think I shouted more out of surprise than pain.

"There's one."

"Emma, come on. Ow!"

"And there's the other. Wow, that was easy." She said, more to Josie than to me.

"Next time, let me try," Josie said.

"Ok," Emma agreed, as she opened a packet of medical gauze.

"Next time!?" I asked, shocked.

Josie just smiled and shrugged.

Emma handed Josie a roll of medical tape. "Here. Cut some strips about this long." She began to wrap the gauze around what had been until recently my most private of places and then decided that she couldn't see well enough. So she took a pillow and had me raise my butt up so she could put the pillow under my lower back. So, now, still naked, butt in the air, sisters-in-law looking at my penis, and butt, I presented a pretty picture. Classy, right? I had never thought we were this close, but I guess I was wrong!

Anyway, with my butt raised, the blood rushing to my head, my embarrassment level peaking at a thousand percent, I could not really hear everything that was being discussed down in my nether region, but the gist of it was that the tape needed to hold me in place, but be comfortable and not touch my legs because that would cause pulling when my legs moved. There also seemed to be a bit of secondary conversation that it might be nice if I were able to urinate as well, but that didn't seem to be the primary focus of the project.

"Alright. I think we're done," Emma said. "Stand up and let's take a look."

I stood and the girls both stared at my groin. They glanced at each other, then each had a small smile and then those smiles grew very, very wide.

"What?" I asked.

"Is it comfortable?" Emma asked.

I moved a bit. "Yeah. It feels fine, I guess. Why?"

Josie began to laugh. "Well, I don't think that Opie is going to sneak you off to the living room for a quick blowjob tonight."

The two exploded in laughter.

"Oh, my God, you saw!"

"Of course we saw it," Emma was close to hysterics. "You guys were gone for ten minutes. We thought something was wrong. We walked in there and Opie was gobbling you up like Thanksgiving dinner."

That sent Josie over the edge with laugher.

"Don't be embarrassed, Kimmy," Emma said, red faced with laughter. "We couldn't believe that Opie was being that passionate. Obviously, Opie loves you, that much is clear. Hell, it's your house. We didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," I muttered as I held my face with both my hands. "Did Sam see, too?"

"No," Josie was catching her breath. "You don't seriously think we'd let any guy, even my husband, see our sister getting oral sex from her husband, do you?"

"Oh" I breathed. "Thank you." Then it hit me. "Did you just call ME your sister."

Josie took the headband out and let my hair fall, then guided me to the full length mirror. Just before we reached it she said, "Close your eyes."

I did and I felt her position me and wait.

"Kim... Emma and I talked for a long time last night. We love Opie and we are very blest to have Opie in our lives, but we realized that we need to stop calling Opie our sister. She is our brother."

Then I heard Emma on the other side of me say, "We love him and we will always love him, but he is our brother and when we thought about it, we realized that he kind of always has been our brother. We just never realized it."

"What we also didn't realize," Josie spoke again, "was that a long time ago, our brother had brought another sister into our family and we had foolishly squandered a lot of time we could have spent with her."

Emma said, "Luckily, this week we discovered that she was right there, living with Opie, waiting to be our sister. If she's willing to, we'd love for her to be our sister from now on."

"Open your eyes, Kim," Josie said.

I did and there she was. That woman who'd been evolving all week was right there in the mirror between Emma and Josie and now she was fully developed. Her hair was was not well brushed, but it was layered and nicely colored. She wasn't wearing makeup, but the way her face was framed, her Asian features were highlighted. Her breasts matched her skin tone perfectly and sat perkily on her chest. Her hips may have been been just a bit narrow, but between those, below her belly button, where her legs joined her torso, where her smooth, slightly pale yellow, hairless skin curved under, hung...

...nothing.

She was not a man pretending to be a woman. She was a woman.

"What do you think?" Emma asked.

"I don't know what to think," I said, truthfully. "I don't even know who that is."

"That's Kim," Josie said. "Our sister."

It was at that point that I realized that my eyes were watering, so I sniffed back my emotions and smiled.

"Ok, come on," Emma said. "We have to run out to The Brookfields before we go to the salon. Josie, get her some undies."

"Wait, why are we going to The Brookfields?" I asked, as Josie handed me a pair of lacy panties.

"Emma's looking at a house near yours," Josie said, holding a bra for me.

"It's near both of your houses," Emma said.

"It's almost a mile from our house," Josie said. "It's next to your new house."

"Seriously!? That's awesome! Opie will be thrilled!" I said, excited.

"We'll see," she winked. "Let's take a look at it first. I want to be near you and Josie. Opie, too, I guess, but I'm not entirely sure how thrilled that will make Opie - but that's Opie's problem." She smiled wickedly as if upsetting Opie might make it even better.

When we left the house, I was once again wearing a dress provided by Emma. It was a dark red dress with lots of little bright flowers scattered all over it that pulled on over my head with no zippers or buttons. It bloused loosely about me, but it had this wide, smocked, elastic section just below the bust that gave the dress shape. The lining was the softest material I'd ever felt, of course my hairless body was very sensitive, too, and the chiffon material that formed the dress' top was also elegantly soft and wonderful. The neckline was a V neck, modest, but wide on the shoulder and the sleeves were short and as loose as the bodice and the skirt, which ended at my knees. Emma said that she'd picked the dress as a statement that I was an important woman and that the event I was attending required the salon's full attention. She also pointed out that I'd be able to lower the dress and step out of it after my hair and makeup was done, rather than pull it over my head.

So, out the door we went, and back to The Brookfields. Now, I had only been to Josie's once and it was dark, so I wasn't sure where it was. I was surprised to see that it was very close to our new house. I mean, it was nearly a mile from it, but closer than I would have ever guessed. I don't think that Opie realized how close it was, either.

So, our house was very close to the corner of another street. When we turned that corner, the property that Emma wanted to see was just there, one house down. It actually abutted our property. It was a really pretty bungalow from the nineteen twenties with a second structure, a rather small in-law house, nearer the front of the property. It was a pretty big property, actually, especially considering the size of the home she was living in, which was a little, two bed room place on a postage stamp sized lot.

"Oh, it's pretty," Josie gushed.

"It is," I said.

"I like it, too," Emma, said. "And if it I like the inside, it passes inspection and they accept my offer, I'll move my office into that inlaw house out front. That'll be nice."

Long story short, she loved the house and made arrangements to have the property inspected later that morning. She also made us swear not to tell Opie until everything was solidified.

From there, we were off to the salon.

Now, the previous day, I had been the subject of a lot of discussions, so I kind of expected to just sit down and have things go smoothly.

No.

Emma showed my stylist pictures of my dress and discussed different hair ideas. She felt that my hair should be in an up-do, while Josie felt it should be down. The stylist asked me for some input and I sat there like a lump and shrugged. "Whatever you think is best," was my reply, which probably didn't help sell the look of confidence that Emma hoped to instill by dressing me the way she had.

Eventually, about an hour later, the back of my hair was woven into a rather loose bun with a sparkling silver rope woven through it to coordinate with the silver sparkles of my dress. I thought it was very pretty, but I was told by the girls to just wait until I saw the final product with the dress and makeup.

Before makeup, we had a quick lunch at a bistro near the salon. It was nice. Not crowded. A light salad and a cup of soup with a lot of conversation about how Opie might be getting along with their mother. We'd almost finished when, as if on cue, Emma's phone rang and she sighed.

"It's mom."

"Ohh, put it on speaker," Josie giggled, but Emma glanced my way and shook her head.

She pressed the 'accept' button. "Hi, mom.

Yes, I knew Opie was going to see you today.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, I know.

Yes, I have seen him.

Mom, Opie is living as a man. The proper pronoun is 'he.'

Well, what you think and what is appropriate are not the same thing in this situation.

Well, did he explain how this all came about through work?

So, you understand that he would never have had the opportunity to have this amazing position if they thought that he was a woman named Penelope, right?

Mom, it's a hell of an opportunity and one that Opie has worked hard for. We owe it to him to support him.

Well, I disagree and if you are going to take that attitude, maybe you should stay home tonight. This is Opie's night and it's Opie's treat. If you're going to take his money and ruin the evening for everyone else, then just stay home. Ok?

No, I'm not being flippant, mom, I'm asking you to do the right thing.

Yes I have, and she looks great.

That's not fair, mom. You haven't even seen her.

She hasn't made that decision, yet.

Yes, she will and I assure you that you will not be able to tell the difference between Kim and any other female there. She looks absolutely beautiful.

Well, it's a new world, mom. You're going to have to get used to it.

Ok, but you have to promise to behave yourself.

No insults to anyone? No rude remarks? No double entendres? You just show up and pretend that you're a kind and supportive mom, right?

Alright, then. I think the plan is that Josie and I are going to drive over to Opie's because we're not on the way to the highway. Then we'll pick you up on the way.

Ok.

Love you, too.

Bye bye."

'Well?" Josie asked. "Do you think she'll behave?"

Emma snickered. "Has she ever? I think she'll keep her judgmental comments to a minimum, though." Then she looked at me. "You know mom, Kimmy. She doesn't have a lot of filters. Hopefully Opie prepped her well."

Just then, Emma's phone rang again. "Ohh, it's the house inspector." She answered it. Spoke and listened just a bit before checking the time and doing a quick calculation. "That sounds great. No. We can be there in fifteen minutes. Thanks, Max."

She disconnected the call. Stood and told us to hurry and follow. "Come on. I need to go buy that house before someone else does."

"But we need to get our makeup done," Josie whined.

"I'll call the salon from the car and tell them we'll be a little late. We've already put at least two thousand dollars on Kimmy's card in the last two days. I'm sure they'll be accommodating."

"Wait... what?" I asked as we hurried out the door. "How much have we spent?"

"Opie said to get 'the works,'" Emma said, climbing into the driver's seat. "It's costly."

I climbed into the backseat thinking that I should have used one of the cards I share with Opie, then.

Emma got to The Brookfields in record time, all the while coordinating things on the phone. Our makeup appointments were delayed and when we arrive at the house, the inspector and the realtor were waiting. Emma, of course dealt with home purchases every day, so things went very smoothly. She wrote the inspector, Max, a check and then surprised me by giving him a peck in the cheek and saying, "Be at my place at five, ok?"

I glanced at Josie, who smiled and raised her eyebrows. Max was a very handsome man - tall, broad shouldered, close cropped, chestnut brown hair and a bushy beard - but not at all the kind of guy I would have thought Emma would have been attracted to. If I'd have had to pick a guy for Emma, I would have picked someone... neater... better groomed. A professional man with a career instead of a tradesman. Someone like Sam or Opie. Max might be great, but I just found him surprising.

Wait... did I just compare Opie to another man? I did, didn't I?

"Ok, we're all set," Emma smiled. "We're all officially neighbors!"

"That's awesome!" Josie shouted and hugged her, pulling me into the embrace as well.

"Before, we go, come outside for a minute," Emma said, excitedly.

We walked out the door and into the backyard, then to the back fence, a low, picket affair that faced the property that Opie had just purchased for us.

"Now, I was just thinking, and I know this is a little presumptuous, but maybe, if Opie doesn't get mad about it, we could take out a section of this fence and we could get a landscaping company to build a path of some kind between my house and yours. Then, when Josie and I are working here, we could walk through the yards to visit without walking on the streets. What do you think?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" I nearly cheered. I'd actually been a bit concerned about being lonely in that big house without a job. "We could have lunches in the solarium, or in the screen house on nice days. Oh, this is a great idea! Opie will love it!"

Josie laughed. "I can't wait to see Opie's face when you tell him you bought this house."

Emma laughed. "Let's not say anything tonight. We'll tell him over the weekend, but let me spring it on him. It'll be fun."

So, from there, it was back to the salon for makeup. Josie and Emma went first because Emma wanted to oversee the work being done on me, which I thought was kind of funny, but I should have expected as much. When the cosmologist had finished with Emma's makeup, Emma examined it in the mirror and was very critical, not in a mean way, mind you, and had the woman make changes to meet her demanding standards.

Then she turned her attention to Josie's face, while Josie sat and accepted any and all of Emma's suggestions without comment. The woman working on Josie complied with all of Emma's demands and in the end, each of her suggestions lead to a minor improvement and Josie, already a beautiful woman, was radiant.

Then it was my turn in 'the chair.' The woman worked hard and she discussed everything with Emma. Each pallet choice, each highlighted area, nuisance was debated for at least a solid minute before anything was applied to my face.

My eyes were of particular concern to all involved. Now, being of Japanese and British decent, I was used to having my almond shaped eyes mentioned and I also was used to having them called 'pretty' or 'delicate' or any other number of odd adjectives, but to me, they were just my eyes. Not as round as my dad's and not as oval as I remember my mom's. Just my eyes.

God, you'd have thought that they were a work of art, now. Their shape, the size of my eye lids, the length of my eye lashes, the way that the line of my eyelid met my cheek and forehead... everything was discussed, debated and touched and prodded and colored and wiped and re-colored and wiped and re-wiped a dozen times before Emma was happy.

I guess the makeup artist had done a good job, though, because Josie and a couple of the other ladies at the salon all looked at me and either nodded or shook their heads in approval. I even heard a few whispered 'wows' but I couldn't see what they were seeing, so I just assumed that I would like what I saw when they were done.

It took a long time, though. I'm not even sure how long I sat there. I do know that my face was brushed with pretty much every brush the salon owned, my lips were treated with something that was meant to plump them up and make them look thicker, my eyelashes were curled with a frightening device that looked like a medieval torture device, and my lips were even sprayed with a sealant of some sort so that my lipstick wouldn't come off when eating or drinking - or kissing or anything else I might choose to do, Josie teased.

Finally, I was able to see myself in a mirror and I was shocked. Yeah, I know I've said that before, but I was. With the makeup I wore yesterday I looked a bit more Asian than I did without and with my new layered hair cut, my face seemed to look a bit more Japanese than English, but with Emma's insistence that my best facial feature was my eyes, my father's heritage seemed to have vanished. What stared back at me from that mirror was a perfectly gorgeous Asian beauty. Pale, flawless skin, plump, bright red lips, huge, almond shaped eyes decorated with just the right amount of color, perfectly curled eyelashes and eyebrows that had been sculpted further than I'd expected and now made my face look softer and more feminine than anyone else in the entire salon - and there were a lot of girls and women in that salon!

"What do you think?" Emma asked.

"I'm speechless," I gasped.

"You look amazing," Josie said, patting my back. "Wait till you see yourself in your dress."

"Better yet," Emma chortled, "wait until Opie sees her in that dress. He's going to flip."

Judging by Opie's unrestrained randiness of the previous few nights, I was pretty sure she was right.

We made one last stop before heading home and that was to get me a very small clutch-purse to carry my license and a few other items with me that evening. Then there was a bit of awkwardness about how I was to be dressed and presented to Opie for the evening. First off, I needed to be helped into my underwear, shoes and dress. Then I needed to be monitored, because I was so inexperienced in the ways of wearing something as beautiful as the dress that had been chosen for me, I might do something stupid and wrinkle it. When I pointed out that a few wrinkles were inevitable since we had an hour long ride to Mohegan Sun Casino ahead of us, my remark was greeted with sad faces and shaking heads.

Finally there was the issue that both Josie and Emma wanted to be present when Opie saw me all decked out for my first big night out as a woman.

The solution for all of these matters was simple - We went to our house, got the dress, shoes and undies, then I was whisked away to Emma's place where she would oversee my preparations and babysit me until her date, Max, picked us up and took us to meet Opie back at our place.

"Sam and I will meet you here and follow you to Opie's," Josie said, as she prepared to leave. She looked at me and smiled, then hugged me and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "You look beautiful, Kim. Opie's going to be amazed when he sees you. Enjoy your first night of glamour." Then she winked at me. "I think it's the first of many, many more."

So, Emma handed me a couple of remotes and I sat on her couch and watched one of my favorite old sitcoms on Netflix while she went to get ready. I expected that she'd only be a few minutes. After all, her hair and makeup were already done, so all she needed to do was put on her new clothes and she'd be ready to go, right?

Apparently not.

I was partway through the third episode and it was already past four thirty when Emma came back down the stairs looking absolutely amazing in the dark ruby red cocktail dress and matching heels she'd bought - well, picked out, Opie had actually bought - yesterday. She carried a matching clutch, a small, paper cup and thin gold chain with a tiny black decoration hung from her finger.

She put down her clutch and the cup and motioned for me to come to her. "It took me a minute to find this necklace, but it'll match your dress beautifully. Turn around." She unlatched the chain and gently brought it around my neck, reattaching it behind my neck. "It's a black pearl. Not real expensive, but very pretty, or at least I've always liked it. When you're a single girl and you buy your own jewelry, you buy on a budget. There. That's nice." She said as she looked at the little pearl sitting just below the spot where my neck met my chest.

"Now, we really shouldn't do this, but I have the matching earrings for that necklace. They're soaking in alcohol in that cup. Let me grab a paper towel. I'm going to take out the studs they put in yesterday, give your ears a quick wipe down with the alcohol and put the pearl earrings in for tonight. I'll leave one of the little diamond studs in each ear, too, though. When we come home, or tomorrow if we're too tired tonight, we'll repeat the process and and put the studs back in."

About five minutes later, I had two black pearl pendants hanging from my ears, creating all new sensations. Then I was stripped naked and sent to the lavatory for one last pee before getting dressed.

The thong was definitely a whole new experience. Being a small guy, I received my share of wedgies in the middle school gym locker room, so the sensation of having a piece of material lodged into that particular part of my body was not completely unknown to me, but having my sisterin -law telling me how nice it made my butt look and emphasizing that with a swift, pretty hard slap, was indeed new. Also, the tiny patch of black lace where a woman's triangle of pubic hair should be, sitting prettily and seductively on my lower abdomen gave me a bit of head rush, too.

Then the very beautifully elaborate, lace covered bra was placed over my new breasts and I already felt sexier than I'd ever felt in my life.

I stepped into my magical, sparkly, black dress and shivered as Emma zipped it up and, with the breasts now being attached, rather than just sitting in my bra cups, it fit even more beautifully than before. The thing was, though, as I explained, the skirt bloused out away from my body. That combined with the thong left me feeling... naked... and very, very, very sexy.

The sparkly black, heeled sandals completed my look and when I saw myself in the mirror, the first thought that went through my head was, 'If I saw myself in a bar, I'd think - that girl is way too hot for me.'

"Oh, my God, oh, my God!" Josie squealed as she and Sam came through the door. "You are fucking gorgeous!"

"LANGUAGE, JOSIE!" Emma screamed, as appalled as the mother of a fouled mouthed twelve year old.

Josie grimaced at me. "You are though. Doesn't she look great, Sam?" She called louder to her husband.

"You look amazing, Kim," he smiled, seemingly unfazed by the strange happenings within his wife's family.

"Knock, knock," a big man said as he entered the open door. "Is it ok to come in?"

"Oh, hi, Max," Emma smiled.

He looked really handsome in his suit, but when we saw Emma in her dress, her let out an involuntary, "Geez! You look great! Am I underdressed?"

She smiled even more broadly and kissed his cheek, then made the introductions.

We were about to leave when my phone rang in my clutch. It was Opie. "Hi," I answered.

"Hi," he answered. "I assume you are with Emma and Josie since your dress is gone, but no one let me in on the plan. The limo limo is here."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, Damnit, I forgot to text him." Emma said when she heard me. "Give me the phone."

When she was on she said, "Ope, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot to text. Yeah, I have Kim. She's all set. We were just about to leave. We'll be there in ten minutes. Oh... ok. If that's ok. Ok. Ope. I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is mess up your big night. We just got all wrapped up in getting Kim ready. Ok. See you in ten."

She handed me my phone back.

"I forget to tell Opie that I'd kidnapped Kimmy to get her ready for her first big night out," she announced to everyone else. "He's going to meet us here instead of us going there. He'll be right over."

Everyone nodded, but Max looked confused. He looked at Sam and asked, "I don't understand. Is this that girl Kim's first night out? She looks old enough to have been to a casino before."

I heard this and my stomach knotted up, hopping that whatever Sam said, he'd be gentle and cover for me. He glanced at me and winked, then he slapped Max on the shoulder. "There's one thing you'll learn about being involved with the Reed girls, Max... there's never a dull moment. Come on. Show me that Ford 150 I saw you driving into the driveway. I've always wanted to get one of those."

"Sure," Max said, thrilled to show off his late model beast of an American, gas-guzzling truck.

As they passed me, I whispered, "Thank you," to Sam, who squeezed my hand and smiled.

Very soon, the long, stretch, party limousine pulled into the driveway.

"Eww," Emma said, looking out the window. "A bit tacky, isn't it?"

"No, it's awesome!" Josie said, delighted. "Just like the one we had for my bachelorette party, remember?"

"I do," Emma shook her head. "Opie arranged that, too."

I grabbed my purse and headed to the door, but both woman grabbed me and insisted that I wait inside for Opie to come to me.

"You've worked too hard to get ready for him, to just walk out there," Emma said. "Let him come to you."

I watched as he shook hands with Sam and Max and chatted for a moment or two, then came towards the door.

"Get behind us," Emma insisted, and she and Josie quickly formed a wall in front of me.

"Hey," Opie smiled as she entered the living room. "All set and ready to go? Where's Kim?"

"She's right here," Emma said and then she and Josie stepped aside, revealing me in my new finery.

I think that Opie wanted to say something right away, but nothing came out. She just gapped at me in astonishment.

"Well, say something," Josie said, pushing on Opie's upper arm.

That seemed to wake her up a bit and she blinked, then smiled. "Geez, Kim... I mean... holy cow. You just look..." she held her arms wide. "Can I just hug you?"

I loved that, so I leapt into her arms and snuggled into her flattened chest. "You look so handsome," I said.

"I don't look nearly as good as you do, Kim. You look so beautiful."

"Doesn't she?" Emma smiled. "I think you both have found your best looks."

Josie produced her phone. "Come on, you two. Let me get a quick picture. You both look so good."

In a few minutes, the photo was taken and we were out the door and headed to pick up Mother Reed who's house on the way to the highway. The stretch limo could easily seat twelve, so the six of us were very comfortable and when Mother Reed showed up, it wouldn't be any more crowded, really.

When we were approaching her house, Emma looked at Opie and said, "So, everything is going to be ok, then?"

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, "I mean, you know mom..."

"Oh, for crying out loud, Opie, yes or no. Is she going to behave herself?"

I could tell that Max was confused, but I was just worried.

"Yes, Em. Yes, she will behave herself. She may take some coaching, but she will behave herself."

Emma shook her head.

Max looked at Sam. "Who are we talking about?"

"Their mom," he smirked.

"Oh," Max nodded. "What... heavy drinker? Big gambler? Something like that?"

Same laughed. "No. Big mouth."

That earned him slap on the arm from his wife. "Knock it off. We can say that. Not you."

"Can I ask one more question?" Max asked.

"Sure," Sam laughed, rubbing his upper arm.

"Who's Opie?"

"PJ is Opie," he said, matter of factly. "His sisters have always called him Opie. It's from an old TV show, or something."

"Ok," Max nodded, satisfied.

Emma took charge, as usual. "Alright, when we get there, Opie, you go get mom. Josie, you and I will take Kim around the side of the house. Opie, when mom comes down, bring her around the corner and let her see Kim."

"She's going to pee herself," Josie clapped her hands.

As the car turned up the driveway, Max looked at Sam once more. "PJ and Kim have been together a while, right?"

"Since they were kids." Sam smiled at the new guy's expression.

"I'm so confused."

"Don't sweat it, Max," Sam laughed. "There is alcohol in our near future."

We got out, leaving Max and Sam in the limo. I followed Emma and Josie around the side of the house - not really hidden, just out of the immediate sightline of someone coming out of the house - and Opie went to the front door.

I could hear the conversation as they descended the stairs.

"Well, at least you dress better as a man than you ever did as a woman," Opie's mother said.

"Alright, mom. Remember, you promised to behave. I chose to celebrate my success with my family, so try to get into the spirit of things, ok?'

"And I suppose that poor Kimberly is dressed up like some sort of drunkard on Halloween in an ill fitting dress and a stuffed bra, the poor thing. I bet you're putting that poor boy through hell with this game you're playing."

'Well, I may be putting him through hell," Opie chuckled, "but he's being a good sport about it - at least for the time being. Look to your left, mom."

She glanced in our direction and smiled. "Oh? Who's that with... OH, MY GOD!? THAT'S NOT REALLY KIMBERLY, IS IT!?" She shouted it loud enough for people to hear it a mile away, so I'm sure that Max heard it in the limo. How Sam explained that, I have no idea.

"Yes, it's me, Mrs. Reed," I said. "You look lovely. That is a beautiful dress." It was, too. It was definitely designed for a more mature woman. A modest collar and nice, long sleeves that ended in pretty bell shapes. It had a pale purple color at the top that gradually got darker as it got lower on the dress, almost as if the color had run when it was wet. It was a lovely effect and one that I most like would not have noticed a week ago.

"MY DRESS!?" She continued to shout. "MY GOD, KIMBERLY, WHAT IN GOOD GOD'S NAME ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? JUST LOOK AT YOU! LOOK AT YOUR DRESS! IT'S GORGEOUS! YOU'RE GORGEOUS!"

Then she actually hugged me. She hadn't hugged me the day my mother died. She hadn't hugged me the day my father died. She hadn't hugged me the day I married her daughter. She had never once hugged me. She had never so much as shaken my hand. I can't think of three times she actually smiled at me. I glanced at Josie and Emma and even they had their mouths hanging wide in shock.

Finally, she stopped hugging me and held me at arms length and spoke at a normal volume. "Well, I don't know quite how this was achieved, but I'm going to assume that Emma and Josephine had something to do with it, didn't they?"

"They did," I answered with a nod and a smile.

She shook her head and looked me over from head to toe. "Good lord, they certainly tried to do this to Penelope many times over the years, but it never worked. It certainly worked on you, though." She heaved a huge sigh. "This is amazing, Kimberly. Truly amazing. Congratulations, you make a better woman than your wife makes a man, if that's possible. Good heavens, I can't believe that sentence just came out of my mouth."

"Alright, mom," Opie said, a bit fed up with her sniping compliments. "I need you to remember that one of our guests doesn't know about any of this, and no one at the casino needs to hear any remarks about me or Kim, ok?"

She waved a dismissive hand at Opie. "Oh, I've completely forgotten about you. I'm captivated my this one. Come along, Kimberly. You too, Josephine and Emma. I am looking forward to an evening with my daughters."

I smiled at Opie as her mother linked her arm through mine. She rolled her eyes and called back, "Well, enjoy the ride, but I'm dancing with MY WIFE at some point tonight!"

It was actually a pretty fun ride to Mohegan Sun. I'd never seen Mother Reed so playful. She told stories about the girls growing up, never bringing up Opie's real name or true sex. Each story was embarrassing for one daughter or another and we all laughed all the way to the casino. It was a huge departure from her usual grumpy demeanor. We were all very happily surprised.

Dinner was AMAZING. I'm sure it cost more money than Opie should have been spending, but she wanted to share her promotion with all of us, so I wasn't going to step on her enthusiasm.

After dinner, we had a choice - a few hours of gambling or some dancing with the swing band playing in the lounge, down by the roulette tables. Mother Reed took two hundred dollars from Opie and made a beeline for the slot machines. The rest of us made our way to the lounge to dance to this classic swing-band that played music from the 1930s and 40s, and played it really well, too.

Now, Opie and I were not big dancer. We didn't go to clubs a lot, but when we did, we always enjoyed a few slow dances. The problem was, of course, our proximate sizes. My head reached Opie's shoulder, so it was always awkward for me to lead and, because she was the female and I was the male, it was always awkward for her to lead as well. So, mostly we just kind of hung on to each other and swayed.

Well, things were different that night. Opie was the man and I was the woman and things worked out just fine. She led and I followed and we danced quite a bit.

Honestly, I never truly understood the appeal of dancing before, but that night... feeling Opie's hands holding me through the soft material of that wonderful dress, feeling that skirt sway as she guided me across the dance floor, feeling her hands wander low on my back - and even lower than that - it was sensuous and intimate and amazing. I loved every second of it. She kissed my lips, my forehead, my neck, my shoulder... it was almost like having sex in public. I was sure that I was flushed with passion when we returned to our table after dancing to 'Moonlight Serenade.'

It was past midnight and we were all feeling a bit tired, as Emma went in search of Mother Reed. Opie called the Limo driver and let him know we'd be headed out in ten minutes.

Emma returned with Mother Reed, who had hit a Jackpot for a whopping six hundred dollars, and we were nearly to the door when some called out, "Reed!? PJ Reed! What are you doing here?"

Opie stopped and turned. "Hey, Brad!" She smiled, her voice sounding more businesslike than it had all evening. "We're just out celebrating. Oh, this is my mother, my sister, Emma and her friend, Max, my sister, Josie and her husband, Sam, and this is..."

"Don't tell me," the older man interrupted, "this is Kim, right?"

"Yes, I am," I said, very surprised.

"Well, let me tell you, my dear," he gushed as he shook my hand, "this guy talks about you all the time. 'Kim said this' and 'Kim did that.' I tell you, he's nuts about you." He smiled at me and released my hand.

"Brad is the CFO of Caduceus Health Care," Opie said to all of us, by way of introduction.

"Yes, and this is my wife, Jean," he said, stepping aside to introduce a very good looking woman of similar age to him.

"So nice to meet you all," the woman said with a sincere smile. "Kim, you must join me and some of the other wives for our monthly gettogethers. We go to a show, or a museum... something like that. It's fun."

'Oh, I'd love that," I said, in as friendly a voice as possible. "Oh, and you must come to our house warming when we get settled into our new place!"

"Yes, we will. That would be lovely. Thank you!" She smiled.

"Well, our car is here," Opie smiled. "Jean, it was lovely to meet you. Brad, see you Monday."

We all said our goodbyes and headed out the door. When we were out of earshot, Opie asked, "I'm sorry about that. I had no idea that I'd meet anyone from work here."

"That's ok," I assured him. "It's the kind of a place where you run into people. That's all."

"And does that little exchange mean that you've made up your mind and have decided to be my wife?"she asked.

"Not at all," I replied, flatly.

"Well, now that the CFO of my corporation has met my wife, it might be a bit odd if my husband shows up at a wives' get together or at our house warming, don't you think?"

I smiled at her. "Well, that's not really MY problem, now is it, 'PJ'? So you'd better be careful, MISTER PAUL JAMES REED, or you may find yourself in quite the pickle, now mightn't you?"

It took a moment for her to realize that I was teasing her. Her eyes narrowed, she pursed her lips and she gave my butt a playful slap through my wide skirt, but the truth is, it kind of stung on my bare cheek. "Knock it off, you tease. You wouldn't really do that to me, would you?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, Opie, I'm still making up my mind but... this dress is pretty awesome, don't you think? I never looked this good before and I kind of like it."

Opie stopped me and hugged me. "I kind of like it too, Kim. I kind of like it, a lot."

The ride home was quieter than the ride down. Mother Reed was very tired and only joked a little. We listened to music and we sang along a bit. All of us perked up a bit when John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' played. It is funny how that song seems to inspire everyone to sing. Even my mother-in-law knew every word.

When we reached Mother Reed's, Opie got out of the car to walk her to the house, but as she made to climb out of the limousine, she took my hand and said, "Walk me to the house, Kimberly, please."

"Of course," I replied and followed her.

Nothing was said, but she held my hand the whole way up the stairs. Opie had opened the door by the time we got there and Mother Reed invited us to step inside for 'just a moment' because she had something she needed to say.

Once in the foyer of her little house, she turned to us and said, "Look, kids, I cannot begin to understand what you two are playing at..."

"Mom, we're not 'playing at' anything...'" Opie tried to interrupt, snapping at her a bit rudely considering how hard she'd tried to be nice all evening, but she held up her hand and continued.

"... but... however this... role reversal thing came about... it seems to be the right thing for you two. Penelope..."

"Mom!" Opie again snapped at her.

"I'm sorry... PJ... you seem so... confident and... I don't know... happy, I guess, this way. Honestly, I'm very happy for you. Truly, I am. I just wanted you to know that."

Opie smiled at her, surprised that she was showing support of any kind. "Well... thank you, mom."

"And you, Kimberly..." she sighed, turning her attention to me. "... my goodness. When I saw you earlier, I thought 'Well, he looks good, but surely he'll give himself away with his mannerisms as the evening goes on,' but... Kimberly, you are meant to be a woman. Oh, I know, I know, PJ told me that you haven't made up your mind, but I watched you tonight. I even saw you two dancing a few times when you thought I was playing the slots. I saw how you moved. I saw how you surrendered to your husband's lead when you danced or hugged or kissed. I always thought you two made an odd couple. Now, I think you make a perfect couple." She petted my cheek, then kissed it. "Be a woman, Kimberly. You were meant to be a woman. I wish you could have experienced being a girl, but... be a woman. My girls will help you be the best woman you can be, I'm sure." Then she touched one of her hands to each of our faces and smiled at us - a very unusual thing to have happen. "That's all I wanted to say."

"Ok," Opie shrugged, not seeming to grasp the kindness she was extending in that moment. "Either one of the girls or I will come by tomorrow, mom, and we'll show you our new house." He kissed her cheek. "Love you. 'Night."

I took the uncomfortable step forward and kissed her cheek, too. "Goodnight, Mrs Reed. See you tomorrow."

As we walked to the limo, Opie muttered, "What the hell was that? I think aliens abducted my mother." Then she chuckled in a very dismissive manner. "That woman has gone crazy."

I stopped, grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. I was more than a bit ticked off. You know, I've known plenty of guys who were self centered jerks when it came to other people's feelings and I kind of got the feeling that Opie thought that that was how a man should act. Well I never acted that way, my father never acted that way and, frankly.... I wasn't going to live with someone who acted that way. I spoke tersely, but quietly so no one else would hear.

"Listen to me, MISTER Reed. Everything weird that's going on right now - you with a flat chest and wearing an Armani suit - me in a dress - your sisters hauling their brother-in-law around to beauty parlors and lingerie stores - all those things? That's all YOUR doing. You understand that, right?"

Opie just blinked at me, shocked that I was on the attack. I was angry, though. She had shown this kind of lack of empathy several times in the last few days - since I'd given her the nightgown, actually, and I was fed up. I couldn't have stopped my attack if I'd want to, anyway.

"Now, YOUR mother, the woman, who you told me JUST YESTERDAY, always called you ugly, the woman you expected to ruin this evening by making remarks all night long, just told you how handsome you looked and that she is happy for you because you looked like you'd found happiness and so had I. She just came as close to telling you that she loves you as she is capable and all you can do is make light of that? Who are you? You don't look like the woman I married and you don't act the woman I married, and I might be able to live with that but... Goddamnit, if you're going to become a man you'd better become a good man, Penelope, and not some asshole who is dismissive of the feelings of everyone else. Especially everyone who loves you, because I can't live with someone like that - man or woman - I cannot live with someone like that."

I began to storm off towards the limo, but Opie grabbed my hand. I turned and looked at her and I'm sure that the rage I felt was apparent on my face.

She stared at me for a good long moment, before nodding and whispering, "Wow... Kim... I'm sorry..." she breathed for a few moments, then said. "Can you... can you wait here a second?"

She turned and jogged back up onto the porch then stood there for a moment before knocking on the door.

Just before her fist made contact with the wooden door, Emma's voice came from behind my left shoulder. "Is everything ok?"

"I don't know," I answered, honestly. "I'm not sure what she's doing."

Opie knocked and a moment later the door opened. Emma and I watched from the walkway as Opie sputtered for a moment or two before finally saying, "Look... mom... ummm... I just wanted to say... well... thanks for what you just said to me... and to Kim and... well... I want you to know that... I love you, too."

I took a second - almost like it does at the end of the cartoon version of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas,' but Mother Reed's lips curled into a very, very broad smile and she nearly leapt forward to hug her daughter/son. "I love you, too," she said, with a catch in her throat. When she stepped back, she sniffled a bit and I could tell that she was determined to not show any more emotion than she'd already shown. "Now... you go ahead home and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow... well... later today, I guess." She nodded, several times as she stepped back and slowly closed the door. "Bye bye, now."

"That was a good thing to do," I said as Opie got back to us, actually looking a bit shell-shocked. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I guess I do."

With that, Emma punched her in the arm, really, really hard.

"Ouch!" Opie let out. "What was that for?"

"You jerk!" Emma said, playfully angry. "Now, we're all going to have to tell her we love her. Pretty soon there'll be no living with her." Then she smiled and laughed as we headed back to the limo.
 
 
To Be Continued...

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Gender roles

Emma Anne Tate's picture

When Josie said, “Until today, I would have guessed that Opie was pretty conservative about gender roles,” I immediately copied the text for comment, because it was already abundantly clear that Opie is very conservative that way. She thinks girls have to be one way, and boys another. She doesn’t question the binary; she just thinks she got assigned the wrong role. As the ending of the chapter makes very clear, though, she seriously needs to reconsider at least some of her “conservative” attitudes, or she will join the numerous ranks of divorced senior executives.

Emma