Quarantine: 6 - Risky Behavior

 

Jordie meets Judge Lang's daughter. We know he's smitten with her, but will she reciprocate?

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Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews and comments. Please continue to post both pro and con remarks. I really, really learn from your comments! ~Clara.
 
This version of Quarantine: 6 - Risky Behavior 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.

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Chapter 6
 
 

 

Mary looked at Jordan who stood staring at the approaching judge and her daughter and all she could do was shake her head in wonder. Of all the times... she turned to Frances. "See if you and Robbie can do something about him. I'll say hi to the judge."

Frances laughed. "Ok."

"Hi," Mary smiled through her mask and waved as she approached the guests. "I hope you didn't have a hard time finding us."

The judge shook her head. "Not at all. The GPS on my phone brought us straight to you. What a beautiful house! And what a beautiful town! It's like we jumped back in time to the mid-nineteenth century. Every house around you is huge and white, just like yours."

Mary laughed. People frequently got confused in Hardwick center for that very reason. One enormous white farmhouse after another. "This is the historic center of town with the old Congregational Church, the general store, the library, etcetera. The modern town center is about two miles south of here on the main road. That's where there's a hardware store, a Cumberland Farms convenience store and gas station. The historic commission works hard to keep this area like this. We love it this way."

"These houses must each be worth millions," the judge's daughter mused, looking around.

That made Mary laugh. "Oh, no, no. Not even close. Maybe if they were closer to Boston or even the Mass Pike, but we're not close to anything out here. I doubt that I could get three hundred thousand dollars if I sold this place."

"Really!?" The daughter was shocked. "Heck, I'm moving here."

Meanwhile, Robbie and Frances were trying to get Jordan to move forward.

"Come on, Jordie," Frances prodded. "They came all this way for you."

"I know, but..." Jordan's brain was working so fast that he couldn't process everything. "... maybe I should change. If she sees me like this... she'll never... she won't think I'm a guy... she's so beautiful."

As serious as Frances was trying to be, Robbie was so bemused by Jordan's besotted trance that she kept giggling as she spoke. "What would you change into, Jordie? Another dress? I'm sure that her mother told her about you and that she'll be cool with everything. Come on." She slipped her arm through his. Frances did the same and, eventually, he moved forward with them.

"Oh, God, I wish I was handsome. I bet she likes her boyfriends to be tall and handsome," Jordan muttered.

"Come on, Jordie." Even Frances giggled a bit - it was just too cute not to. "She's not looking for a date, she's here to be measured for a dress. Just be yourself and make friends with her. Don't get in your head and start projecting a whole love affair onto a simple meeting, ok? Maybe you and she can be friends, but don't try for more than that. Just relax."

He nodded. "Yeah. What was he thinking? She'd never date him, anyway. A weird little freak like him... but... she was just so pretty!"

"Ah, here they are, now," Mary said, relieved that the girls had gotten Jordan to move forward, but still concerned by his distant expression. "Judge Lang, these are my daughters, Robbie and Franny, and of course, you are well acquainted with Jordie. Everyone, this is Judge Lang's daughter, Melissa."

Unable to shake hands due to health concerns, they all gave small waves of acknowledgement to each other. Then, the judge said, "Please. Just call me Amanda."

"Ok," Mary agreed. She waited for Jordan to take the lead, but when he didn't, Mary clapped her hands and said, "Well, ok, then, who would you like to measure first, Jordie? Amanda or Melissa?"

When Jordan remained in a trance, Mary asked, "Jordan?"

"Huh?" He shook his head. "What?"

"Who would you like to measure first?"

"Oh... I... um..."

Seeing him struggle, but not quite understanding why, the judge said, "Melissa, you go first. While they do that, Mary, would you mind showing me around your property and telling me a little of the history of the house and the area?"

"That's a very good idea," Mary agreed. "Girls, help your cousin, please."

"So..." Melissa asked, "... how do we do this?"

Franny nudged Jordan. "Jordie. Melissa is waiting."

"Oh," Jordan nodded. Maybe, if he could get focused on the job at hand, he could get through this. "Sorry... um... I need my tape measure and note pad. I think I left them on the kitchen table. I'll be right back."

He turned to go, but Robbie stopped him, afraid he'd chicken out and hide in the house. "I'll get them, Jordie. You stay right here."

"So," Frances felt a need to fill the awkward silence that Jordan's infatuation was creating, "are you in school, Melissa?"

"I was," the tall girl replied, happy to converse, "until the quarantine. I just finished my senior year at Brown University down in Providence. My virtual graduation is next week. I know that's close, but I'm hoping that I might be able to have you guys make me a dress in time. I'd like to wear something special."

Frances laughed. "Oh, it's not 'you guys.' It's Jordie. He does it all himself. Robbie and I are useless in the sewing room. Honest to God, though, if you needed a dress tomorrow, Jordie could get it done for you."

"Wonderful," the girl chirped, but a haze of confusion crossed her brow. Did she just call that younger girl 'he?'

For his part, Jordan just stared at Melissa. He'd been short his whole life and was used to having to look up to see faces, but this girl was as tall as any man he'd ever met. Slender but curvy build, long, golden blonde hair in a playful ponytail, a pink tank top that displayed breasts that were moderately sized on her frame, but larger than his cousins' in real life, short, tight, dark blue running shorts that displayed a tight, firm buttocks, incredible, long legs and comparably delicate feet in white sandals. She was a goddess.

"Here you go," Robbie said, returning with the measuring tape, a pad of paper and a pencil.

"Let's get started, then, Jordie." Again, Frances nudged him.

"Oh, yeah, get started," he sputtered as he took the tape and unfurled it. Concentrate, Jordan. Just get through this. "Um... how tall are you?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could.

"I'm six feet and a half inch. I know, that's pretty tall for a girl, but, what can you do? I am as God made me." Melissa giggled with a touch self consciousness, as Robbie wrote her height down. "I usually wear a size ten tall. I know that sounds wicked fat, but when you're this tall, all the numbers go up in proportion."

Jordan drew the tape around Melissa's hips. "Hips thirty nine and a half," he dictated to Robbie. His hands shook as he raised the tape to the girl's natural waist. "Waist twenty eight."

Robbie gave a small head shake as she wrote that down. This girl has curves!

Jordan started to move the tape higher, but stopped. Instead, he pulled the tape from around her and measured Melissa's shoulders. Then her upper arms and then the length of her arms. Finally he stepped back and looked at Frances, who used her eyes to indicate that Jordan had yet to measure Melissa's bust.

Jordan shook his head 'no', but Frances repeated her gesture.

"That's everything but her bust size," Robbie said, oblivious to the situation unfolding behind Melissa.

Jordan swallowed hard. "Umm... raise your arms, halfway, please."

"Oh," Melissa said. "Ok."

With shaking hands, Jordan ran the tape around the girl's breasts, rejoining the tape in the back. "Lower them, please." Even his voice was shaky, now.

He cleared his throat and said to Robbie, "Thirty-seven inches," he said, sweet beading up on his forehead. He released the tension on the tape, let it go slack and pulled it free.

"Is that everything?" Melissa asked.

Robbie and Frances both looked at Jordan, who nodded.

"That's it." Robbie smiled. "Come on over to the picnic table and I'll show you pictures of the dresses that Jordie has already made. You can tell him what styles you like and then he'll work with you to figure out what you really want."

"Great." Melissa turned and smiled through her mask at Jordan, taking in everything she could without being too obvious. Pretty hair, big eyes, flawless skin, makeup.. she must have just heard wrong. This was definitely a girl.

Jordan did his best to smile back, but it came across like an awkward nod.

"Already for me?" the judge called as she and Mary made their way back to Jordan.

"Yes," Frances called back. Then she looked at Robbie and said, "I'll start showing Melissa the photos. You take notes for Jordie."

Once Frances had taken Melissa aside and before the judge and Mary reached them, Robbie leaned down and whispered to Jordan, "Take a breath, Jordie. She's very pretty, but she lives an hour and a half away, she's already graduated, so who knows where she'll go for a job and, let's face it, with this pandemic, it's just not a good time to fall in love."

Jordan took a deep breath and shrugged. "I'll try."

"Do your worst, Miss Alden," the judge said with a chuckle as she arrived.

At the picnic table, Frances handed Melissa an iPad with a picture of herself wearing a dress that Jordan had made her. "Here. Just scroll through these pictures and see what you like. These are just ideas, though. Jordie can make you anything you'd like."

"These are gorgeous," Melissa gushed. "Every dress is prettier than the one before it."

Frances nodded. "I know. He's something, isn't he?"

Melissa stopped and thought for a moment. She definitely heard her say 'she' this time.

"Is something wrong?" Frances asked.

"Well... it's probably none of my business, but... is Jordan really a man?"

Franny looked at Jordan and back. "Umm... yeah. I thought you knew."

"No." Melissa shook her head. "My mom always calls Jordan 'she,' but you keep saying 'he.' I'm just curious.".

"Yes. He's a boy. Is that a problem?"

"No, no," Melissa laughed. "Of course, not. It's just... well, I felt her shaking when she took my measurements. What's her deal? Sexually I mean? Is she into guys? Girls?"

This made Frances giggle a little. "Well, that is the big question, isn't it? See, even though Jordie's our cousin, we've really only gotten to know him well in the last couple of months or so. Robbie and I were... speculating... about his sexuality and, at first, we assumed he was gay, but... he says 'no.' Regardless, though... he's pretty smitten with you."

"Really?" Melissa was genuinely surprised. She glanced at the feminine little boy in the pretty dress and thought about him for a moment. "How old is he?"

"Twenty-one."

"No kidding." She was shocked. "Twenty-one..."

"Are you involved with anyone?"

Melissa chuckled at that. "Not now, no. I was seeing a guy, but... let's just say that I wasn't the pretty little thing he was looking for. The son of a bitch broke up with me on Valentine's Day. He took me to a restaurant where he thought I wouldn't make a scene and told me he'd been seeing this other girl, Betsy Van Doren, since Christmas. Can you believe that? Not just on Valentine's Day, but he made it clear that the six foot tall daughter of a judge was only a pretty good candidate to be his wife, but the product of an inbred, old New York monied family was not only better connected, but at five foot five, she made him look better in photos."

"He actually said that!?" Frances gaped in awe.

"He did and almost exactly like that. Men can be such assholes."

Frances laughed. "They can... but not Jordie. I've never met someone like Jordie. It's not like he's a girl... I mean he looks like a girl, sure, but... he's still a guy and he's still interested in girls and all, but he's just so... special, I guess. He's sweet and he wants to make everyone happy... he's like a little gem of a guy."

"Huh," Melissa uttered unconsciously. Her interest was definitely piqued, but... "Ooo." She suddenly saw a dress that she liked. "I love this one that you're wearing in this picture. Do you think he could do something like this for me? Maybe in a brighter fabric?"

"Oh, I love that dress!" Frances gushed. She looked up and saw everyone else, having finished the measurements, headed in their direction. "I'll run in and grab it so you can see it in real life. Be right back."
 

 

"I can't believe how quiet it is here," the judge said, looking around Mary's yard. The measurements had been taken and the styles had been chosen. Now, the five women and Jordan sat in a wide circle of Adirondack chairs, each at least ten feet away from the next, in Mary's yard sipping lemonade and iced tea. The judge took a deep breath. "And the air smells so clean and fresh. I never knew that places like this existed in Massachusetts - outside of the Berkshires, of course."

This side of Mary's yard overlooked the beautiful, historic center of Hardwick. Large, white houses, green fields and tress as far as they could see.

"How did you ever find this spot, Mary?" Melissa asked, also amazed at the view and peaceful atmosphere.

Mary laughed. "You'd have to thank my grandfather for that. We are the third and fourth generations of our family to live here. Growing up, my sister and a lot of my friends couldn't wait to get out of here, but I can't imagine living anywhere else, though."

"I certainly can understand that." Melissa smiled. "It's like a whole different world from where we live. I mean, mom's house is beautiful, but even with the doors and windows closed, there's always traffic noise and things like that."

"Well, you're welcome to come and visit any time you'd like." Mary smiled.

"I'd like to do more than that!" Melissa smiled back. "I'm thinking I should look for a job out in this area. I could get very used to living around here."

"Good luck with that," Judge Amanda chuckled. "I bet most of the people around her have a pretty long commute."

"Depends," Frances offered. "Ware is actually a pretty big town. A lot of people work there. It's about an hour to Springfield or Worcester. That's not too bad."

"Well, it's not exactly around the corner." Amanda laughed.

"Yeah, but we live twelve miles from your courthouse office and it can take you well over an hour for you to get there most days." Melissa pointed out. "Look around, mom. This is worth a long drive to work."

The judge shrugged. It was a good point.

"You should see Hardwick at Christmas," Robbie pointed out. "It's like a Currier and Ives painting."

Melissa looked at her mother. "See!? Worth the ride."

The conversation turned to chit chat about the weather and the pandemic, until Melissa stood and stretched.

"Ready to head home?" the judge asked.

"Actually," Melissa twisted her body a bit, "I thought I'd take a little walk around the property before we head home, if that's ok."

"Sure." Mary smiled.

"Would you like some company?" Robbie asked.

"Actually," she smiled as she lifted her mask to put it back on, "I was hoping that Jordie would walk with me for a few minutes."

Jordan had been pretty quiet, nervous about saying anything to Melissa. "Me?"

"Yeah. Come on."

Both Robbie and Frances had huge grins on their faces as Jordan gave a very nervous, "Ok," and stood.

As the very tall girl and very small boy walked away, Mary looked at Amanda and said, "I'm afraid that my nephew has a bit of a crush on your daughter."

The judge leaned forward. "Ok, I need some clarification. Maybe I'm just not 'woke' enough, but... here's a boy who presents as a girl, designs and sews dresses, is absolutely as adorable as a button and he's still a straight guy who wants breasts and has no interest in becoming a girl. Do I have that straight?"

"That's about right." Frances laughed.

The judge shook her head and held up her hands. "How!? I mean... in what world is it possible for some one like Jordan to actually exist?"

"In Jordie's world." Robbie smiled. "Wouldn't it be nice if the whole world was like Jordie's world? I think we'd all be happier."

Amanda looked away, at her daughter and Jordan walking down the hill. "Was he always like this?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Mary chuckled and shook her head. "This is all recent." She gave the judge a brief biography of the boy and ended with, "We wanted to get him to open up and relax while he was here. Maybe we hoped that he'd 'find himself,' as they say. I think he did."
 

 

"So, you're not going back to school?" Amanda was surprised by Jordan's revelation.

"No."

"Why not!?" It seemed inconceivable to her that any one, especially someone who who claimed to be a very good student, would chose not to go to college.

Jordan considered the question for a moment. In the very short time that she'd known the pretty little boy, Amanda realized that he needed to think through things in his own way before answering, so she just walked along and waited.

Finally, Jordan spoke. "Well... I'm not like other guys." That seemed like a very obvious statement to Amanda. "My mom and dad were over achievers. Always pushing themselves to be better doctors - and they were great doctors - but... they kind of gave up on me when I wasn't getting any taller or wasn't good at sports or couldn't really function well in social situations. So, I was always alone. I didn't have any friends in high school and when I went to college, I didn't make any friends there, either. Until I came here, I didn't realize that I was unhappy. Aunt Mary, Franny and Robbie, they're happy. Not like 'happy at a party' happy, but honest and truly happy and now that I know what being happy is, I'm not giving it up."

"Wow," Amanda muttered at such a profound answer. "And presenting as a girl? Was that your aunt's idea?"

He shook his head. "It took me a long time to figure out who I am and..." he just indicated the soft, loose fitting dress he was wearing. "This is me."

Amanda smiled.

"Can I tell you something?" Jordan said, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

"Please," Amanda encouraged.

"I think..." he stuttered as he worked up his courage. "I think you're beautiful."

Amanda smiled. "Well, thank you, Jordie. I think you're beautiful, too."

"Oh?" that threw him a bit. "Anyway... umm... I know that you probably think I'm a weirdo and all, but... do you think that, maybe, after all of this is over, that, maybe..." he was breathing heavily, now, and his mask was beginning to impede his breathing.

"Slow down," Amanda surprised him by touching his arm. "Look, Jordie, I've been in my mother's house for eight weeks at this point. I haven't been anywhere but here, today, in all that time. How about you?"

Confused by the change of topic and frustrated that he hadn't gotten to his point, Jordan shook his head and considered the question. "Me? I haven't been anywhere but here since I got here. Just a few walks. Why?"

Amanda looked up the hill to be sure that they were out of the sight of the others. "I think we're safe to take off our masks for a few minutes. I'd like to get a good look at your face."

She removed her mask and, after a moment of thought, Jordan did the same. They gazed at each other for a good long moment until Melissa smiled, first. "You are beautiful, Jordie. I think I can honestly say that you are the most beautiful boy I ever met."

That caused Jordan to smile broadly, blush and turned away. "I'm not as beautiful as you. Not by a long shot."

Melissa chuckled at that. "I don't always feel beautiful, you know, Jordie. I'm a lot taller and even broader than a lot of girls. A lot of people look at me like I'm weird because of that. Like I'm...."

"A freak," Jordan interrupted.

"... a freak," Melissa finished her thought and smiled a bit more sadly.

"Me too," Jordan nodded. "Everyone, my parents, my teachers, my classmates... they all think I'm a freak. Everyone except Aunt Mary, Franny and Robbie."

"I don't think you're a freak, Jordie. I think... I think I really like you. Like... really... like you."

For the first time, Jordan looked her in the eye. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I like you, too. When I first saw you get out of the car, I felt like... like... like..." he was too wound up to find his words.

Melissa smiled again his boyish clumsiness and decided to help. Knowing how wrong it was in this time of world wide illness, she took his chin in her hand, bent down and kissed his lips. It was a soft, long kiss and it tasted of two kinds of lipstick. Jordan yielded to her and she pulled him a bit closer, while Jordan's arms remained loose at his side.

It lasted about fifteen seconds, then, Mellisa pulled back and the kiss ended. She was nearly as stunned as Jordan. He'd never been kissed like that, before and he was having a hard time processing all the aspects of what he'd just experienced. His brow furrowed, but his eyes never left Melissa's. He was tingling.

As for Melissa, she'd had three serious relationships in her life and in each, she'd been the less dominant partner. She'd never kissed a boy that tasted like Jordie. That felt as soft as Jordie. That smelled like Jordie. That yielded like Jordie. She was tingling, too.

"I guess..."

Melissa had started to speak, but without warning, Jordan suddenly threw his arms around her neck and lurched forward, stopping just shy of kissing her. Melissa smiled, then leaned forward, closing the distance Jordan had left between them. She folded her arms more tightly around him and squeezed as she kissed him with more passion and strength than before.

This time it lasted and lasted and lasted.

When, at last, Melissa released Jordan, his knees were so weak that he could barely stand and his breathing was shallow and spent.

Melissa patted his hair and cheeks. "Oh, Jordie. You are a beautiful, beautiful boy, but... boy oh boy, do we have lousy timing."
 

 

"She kissed you!?" Robbie nearly shrieked as she an Frances were brought up to date on Jordan's walk with Melissa.

"Shh!" Frances insisted. "Mom will have a fit if she hears that!"

"It's ok," Jordan explained. "She said that yesterday was the first time she'd even been out of the house since March. So, we've both been isolated."

Robbie was ecstatic about this new gossip, but Frances was concerned. "How do you expect to have a relationship with this girl?" she whispered, concern evident in her voice. "She lives in Brookline and you live here! That's more than an hour away. You don't have a license, she can't just run out here anytime the spirit moves her. You said she'd been in her house since March. I imagine that means her mother isn't going to want her suddenly running out here all the time. What are you thinking?"

"I don't know!" Jordan said, happy, but also concerned. "I just know that I really like her and she likes me and I can't believe that someone that beautiful likes me."

Frances shook her head. "Mom's going to blow a gasket over this, I just know she is."

Jordan blinked as he tried to figure all of this out. A girl liked him! She really, really liked him. She'd kissed him. Twice! He still couldn't believe it. But how should he proceed? He had to tell Aunt Mary, but Frances might be right. After all if the precautions she'd taken to keep them all safe, she might get really mad about this.

"Well, I don't care." Robbie smiled and put an arm around her cousin. "I think it's all incredibly romantic. One character, small and beautiful, falls in love at first sight with another character who's tall and handsome... then the world conspires to keep them apart... Ahh... it's like a fairy tale and Jordie's the princess."

"Oh, please." Frances shook her head. Then she returned her gaze to Jordan. "When is she coming back?"

"Thursday. They're both coming back for their dresses, but she wants me to talk to Auntie Mary before then and she'll talk to the judge. If everything works out, she wants to take me for a ride on Saturday."

"A ride where?"

Jordan shrugged. "She said for a take out meal or ice cream or something like that."

"Ooh!" Robbie bubbled up, "that brewery at that farm up in Barre makes great ice cream. That's a nice ride. Maybe you could go there!"

"Would you please just knock it off!" Frances hissed. "Look, Jordie..." she took a breath. "Melissa seems great and I am really happy that you guys fell for each other, but... we need to present this to mom in the right way or else she's just going to shut it down on you."

Jordan nodded and looked at the floor. "Yeah. I guess I was pretty stupid to think it might work out."

Robbie looked at Frances, her eyes wide open and her chin taunt. He look scared and sad and it broke her heart. She looked at her sister and demanded, 'Don't just sit there! Say something!'

Frances shook her head and stood. "Alright... no point in putting this off. Tell you what, let's all get ready for bed, then we'll go down stairs and talk to mom. Maybe if we all plead your case, it'll be easier."

"Ok." Jordan stood, his head still hanging low.

Robbie stood, too. She touched Jordan's arm. When he looked at her, she hugged him and kissed his forehead. "Hey," she whispered, encouragingly, "don't worry. If we stick together, she'll have to say 'yes.' Ok?"

He nodded. "Thanks," and he walked to his room.

"What's your plan?" Robbie asked Frances.

The older sister shrugged. "Tell her, let her yell and say 'no' tonight and, hopefully, by Thursday, she'll calm down and say 'yes.'"

"Not a great plan."

"If you have a better one, I'm open to ideas."

Robbie just shook her head.
 

 

"Yes." Mary was speaking to someone on the phone. She sounded more formal than she would if she'd been talking to a friend, so they all assumed she was engaged with a client. "I do think that's a good idea, but I wonder if we might have to take a few extra precautions under the circumstances."

"Come on." Frances guided them into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Mary's favorite wine from the small rack.

"Oh, great plan," Robbie said. "Get her drunk and record her saying 'yes,' then she'll have to let him go out with her."

"Shut up," Frances said, beginning to get very nervous about this situation. "I just want her to relax. Jordie's going to need all the help he can get."

"Alright," Mary's voice came from the next room as Frances poured the wind into a glass, "we'll see you then. Bye, bye."

"Let's go," Frances said and led them into the living room carrying a glass of the vino for her stepmother.

"Well, well, well." Mary smiled. "Don't you all look adorable in your pretty nighties!"

They were all wearing the faux-silk nighties that Mary had bought for them. Frances had suggested that they all wear them as a means of softening up Mary and maybe appear to be a team.

"Mom," Frances cleared her throat and handed her the wine glass, "I think we need to talk."

"Oh?" Mary tapped the sofa cushion. "This sounds serious. Why don't you all sit down." She sniffed the glass and tasted the wine. "Mmm."

Once they were seated, Frances gave her stepmother a thumbnail version of the Melissa and Jordan situation, finishing with, "And she really seems to like him, mom. She asked him out for some takeout and ice cream on Saturday."

There was silence for a moment, then Mary said, "And you kissed this girl, Jordie? With everything we have all tried to do to keep each other safe, you kissed her?" Her voice was steady, but stern.

"Yes, auntie," he whispered, contrition is his tone.

Mary shook her head and thought for a few moments more. She sipped the wine and let the silence in the room speak to her disappointment.

"Well," Robbie said, "I don't know about anyone else, but I think the whole thing is just adorable. Our little princess is swept off her feet by another princess. It's everything you'd want in a trashy romance novel. Love at first sight, a forbidden kiss..."

"A worldwide plague..." Mary interjected. Then she looked at Jordan. "That was very impulsive, Jordie."

He stared at the floor. "I know. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself."

Mary shook her head some more as she tried to navigate the situation. She used the wine as a prop while she thought. She watched it as she swirled it in the glass.

"Don't be mad at him, mom," Frances pled Jordan's case. "Don't you remember what it was like to be young and in love."

Mary chuckled at that. "I remember what it was like to be young and I remember what it was like to be in love, but, sadly, for me, those two things did not coincide. Sure, I dated when I was young, but I was never really in love until I met your father. I was thirty one when we met, but... I do remember how it felt. The way that I needed to touch his hand, be hugged close to his chest, and feel his kiss. I do remember that." She sighed. "I'm not quite sure how we should handle this." She was honest. She wanted everyone to remain safe and healthy, but Jordan had found someone who cared for him, cared a lot, apparently, and she didn't want to mess that up for him. He deserved love as much as, or maybe even a little more than, anyone else.

"Jordie, come here."She patted the cushion beside her. Frances shifted to the side of the couch to make room as Jodie sat, legs folded under his bottom, and Mary put her arm around him, pulling his head to rest on her shoulder. "Listen, Jordie... we have to stay vigilant through this wave of illness, ok?"

He nodded.

"Now," I've spoken to Judge Lang, and we're in agreement..."

"Wait!" Frances interrupted. "You've already spoken to the judge? You knew about this before I told you?"

Mary nodded. "Yes."

"Then..." Frances was stunned. "... why did you make me tell you the whole story? Why didn't you just stop me and tell me you knew?"

"Because," Mary's voice was a bit maternally-superior, "I wanted to hear it from Jordie's point of view, but I guess he got used to using a lawyer at his hearing because he certainly hired an impressive mouthpiece for today's proceedings." She smiled at Frances.

"Regardless, though," Mary continued, "I was a little shocked when the judge called and told me about everything. They're not even home, by the way. Melissa told her mother about everything that happened as soon as they got into the car. She didn't get her cousins to team up against her mother and show up in their cute, marching nighties to keep her from getting mad. I do appreciate the windmill though."

"I'm sorry," Jordan muttered. "I was afraid you'd get mad."

The girls apologized as well.

"No harm done, I guess," Mary rubbed Jordan's bare arm. "So, here's what's going to happen. Amanda and I are going to chat tomorrow evening and we will come up with some guidelines that both you and Melissa will need to follow if you are to date. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'm." Jordan nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's just put it all aside for tonight, then." She kissed the boy's head. "Never be afraid, baby. You can tell me anything."

"Yes, ma'm," he repeated.

"Come on, Jordie," Robbie stood and extended a hand to her cousin. "Let's go upstairs and we can do each other's hair for bed time."

Once those two had left, Frances turned to her stepmother and said, "He seems to really like her, but it all seemed to happen really quick, don't you think?"

"What? Jordan and Melissa? I suppose so, but you saw Jordan when he first laid eyes on her. He was definitely smitten. No doubt about it. Maybe love at first sight is a real thing. Who knows."

"So..." Frances made sure that Jordan was not lingering near by before saying, "... you don't think that she's interested in Jordie's money, do you."

Mary took her hand in hers. "I don't think so. According to what I've heard about the judge's family, Jordan's money would hardly be a drop in the bucket to them. But... I guess this is going to be something that Jordie will have to think about from now on. Do people like him because he's a sweet, little guy, or are they just trying to take advantage of him. As for Melissa, though, I think she's a bit taken with Jordie. It might just be the novelty of a little, feminine partner who also happens to be a guy, or it might be the real thing. I guess we'll find out."

"It had better be the real thing," Frances said with a shake her head, "because if she hurts him, I don't care how tall she is, I will kick her butt."
 

 

By noon on Tuesday, the judge's dress was done. It was a beautiful, dusty blue, with a sleeveless, fitted top, modest neckline that buttoned down the front and a very professional looking, narrow skirt. Jordan was a bit concerned about the skirt because he wanted it to compliment the judge's shape without being too confining. The short slit in the back of the skirt should help with that, but the dress dummy didn't offer him a way to create a model of the judge's derrière, so he might have to do some alterations on the fly when she showed up on Thursday.

From Tuesday afternoon on, Jordan was sewing stitches and pulling stitches and staring at fabrics and making dozens of notes as he tried to create the perfect dress for Melissa to wear for her virtual graduation. He'd gotten a beautiful bolt of material with a blue and white, geometric pattern, but he eventually put it aside and started all over again. This time, it was a silky, rayon fabric that featured a white background with a pattern or green stems going every-which-way, with small red blossoms on the vines and larger blossoms of varying shade of pink. He spent a half an hour pinning the pattern to the material and was just starting to chalk out the outlines when he decided that the design would not compliment Melissa's curvy stature appropriately. So, he pulled each of the pins out of the fabric, folded the pattern up and re-filed it, then he sat and began sketching.

He had the pad with him at dinner until a Mary insisted that he focus on his food. He had it in front of the TV while they watched their evening shows and he was still working his pencil across the pages of the notebook when he finally let the pad fall on his chest when he fell asleep sometime after midnight.

At two forty-five Wednesday morning, Frances rose to use the lavatory and noticed Jordan's light was on. When she reached his room, she found him sprawled, spread eagle on the bed, his white cotton nightie riding up to nearly his panties. She spoke his name a couple of times, but all she got in return were soft, little breaths. Frances took the sketch book from his side and pulled a sheet over him, kissing his cheek before reaching for the light switch. At the last second, though, she stopped and stared at the page that Jordie had left open. The drawing was very different than the drawings of original designs that Jordan had made before. This was no mechanical drawing. This looked like a real fashion design. The dress was breathtakingly beautiful and hung from the shapely form he'd created on the page. The form looked remarkably like the girl who'd come to measured just a couple of days ago. The shape and the face, everything looked like Melissa.

"Holy cow," Frances whispered. She looked at her cousin in awe, then back at the sketch. "Holy cow."
 

 

"Jordie, this is just perfect," Judge Amanda Lang looked at herself from every possible angle in the salon mirrors.

"Sit down and stand back up again," Jordan suggested. "Make sure that the skirt isn't too tight or too loose."

The judge did as he suggested. "It feels perfect to me," she confirmed as she checked herself out again.

Jordan smiled. So far so good. The first dress had been approved.

"I'm going to go out and show Melissa. She's going to love this." She hustled out the door. Mary and Jordan followed.

"Mom, that is gorgeous!" Melissa raved. "You look amazing in that!"

"I told you," Mary said with her arm around her nephew. "Jordan is brilliant."

"Can I try on mine, now?" Melissa asked.

"Come on in." Mary turned and reentered the salon, Jordan still under her arm. She leaned down and whispered to him, "Just relax. Fit Melissa the same way you fit everyone else, ok?"

"Ok," he confirmed, but Mary could feel him quivering under her touch. He was both anxious and a little scared about being able to touch Melissa again and Mary wanted him to stay cool.

Melissa entered behind them. "I've been so excited all week!"

"I really hope you like it," Jordan said.

"Of course, I'll like it!" Melissa said with excitement. "I love the one you made for mom."

"But your's is very different," Jordan said as he retrieved the dress from the closet.

"Jordie designed it himself," Mary said, hoping to put Melissa in a supportive frame of mind. In fact, she'd only caught a glimpse of the dress and wasn't overly impressive at first glance.

"Wow! Now I am excited!" But Melissa's smile turned to a curious scowl as she saw the dress on the hanger. It wasn't at all like the dress she'd chosen on the iPad. It just seemed... run of the mill. A white, shirt dress with long, white sleeves that puffed just slightly. The front of the dress had larger then normal, though not too big, gold buttons running from the neck to the hem of the skirt and, also hanging from the hanger was a wide, black belt with a large, gold buckle.

"It's very soft and kind of sheer," Jordan explained. "You may want to wear a camisole under it, but you should keep it plain and subtle. Lace will show through. For panties, I'd recommend a plain, white thong or plain white tap pants. Briefs will probably show." Finally, he added, "and its meant to show off your figure, so heels are required. Four inch, five inch, whatever you feel comfortable in."

Mary covered her mouth to hide her amused smile. Imagine what it must be like to be given this kind of advice by a boy that you were about to date. The thing that tempered her amusement though was the fact that Melissa still did not look impressed.

"Try it on," Mary encouraged. "Let's see how it looks."

Melissa raised and lowered her eyebrows in a display of resigned hopelessness. "Ok."

She steeped into the deserted office and removed her sundress, then looked at the dress. A plain, white shirt dress? All this commotion over how talented he is and he designs her a plain, white shirt dress. Awesome. She still thought he was cute as hell, but... a white shirt dress?

On the hanger, the dress only had the five central buttons fastened, so and she unbuttoned those and pulled the dress up her arms and onto her shoulders as if it were a shirt. Wow. It was incredibly soft. Maybe there was more to this than she'd noticed at first glance. She proceeded to button all of the twenty buttons on the dress. It fitted her hard to fit body extremely well. Ok, points for tailoring, too, but it was still just a shirt dress. A nice shirt dress, sure, but not nice enough to wear to something special, even if that event was a virtual event.

The last button was right at her neck, so she opted not to button that one. She swayed and both felt and watched how the skirt moved. Ok, more points for making a beautiful, soft, full skirt that would flow beautifully, but - a shirt dress.

She opened the door and stepped into the salon. Mary was immediately more impressed with the dress than she had been. It hung beautifully on Melissa's curvy frame.

"Wait!" Jordan looked almost pained. "Why did you button all the buttons!?"

"I thought I should." Melissa looked at the dress. "How should I wear it?"

Jordan shook his head, obviously shocked that the rest of the world did not share his vision of how this dress should be worn.

Melissa started to unbutton the dress, but Jordan shook his head and took over the process. He looked at Mary and said, "There's a black belt in there. Could you get it?"

"Ok," Mary nodded, a bit concerned that Jordan's hands were unbuttoning buttons that were resting on Melissa's breasts.

When the first four buttons below Melissa's neck were unbuttoned, Jordan knelt in front of her and began unbuttoning from the bottom up.

As Mary reentered the salon, she saw her nephew on his knees, opening the front of Melissa's dress. "Jordan!" she nearly shouted. "What are you doing."

"Making the dress right." He shrugged, oblivious to Mary's concern. His attention was laser focused on the dress.

He had nearly unbuttoned the skirt to the point of immodesty when he finally stood and shook his head to clear his auburn hair from his vision. "Belt?" He said, holding out his hand without looking at Mary, still focusing on the dress. Mary handed it to him and he leaned in close, wrapping the belt around Melissa's slender waist, displaying the somewhat unusual, vertical buckle.

Suddenly, the dress didn't look like a simple white shirt dress anymore. It was an amazing designed that transformed Melissa from a pretty, tall woman into a sexy goddess.

"Wow!" Mary grunted, impressed beyond words.

"Stand on your tip goes like you're wearing heels," Jordan nearly ordered. Melissa complied and in doing so, exposed much more leg than before. "See," Jordan explained, "when you walk, the skirt will open and swing around you, exposing your beautiful legs."

"My beautiful legs?" Melissa muttered, surprised by such a candid remark from the quiet, little boy.

"Yes," he continued, "and you should keep as much cleavage visible as your comfortable showing. The buttons will hold it closed just fine, but it'll look nicer this way." He folded the collar outward, just a bit.

"Oh... ok..." Melissa said, looking in the mirrors, absolutely shocked by Jordan's lack of concern when touching her and also by what she saw.

"What size shoe do you wear?" Jordan suddenly asked.

"Shoes? Umm, seven," she replied.

Jordan opened a door and yelled out. "Franny! Can Melissa borrow a pair of your heels? Black, preferably, and a good high heel would be best."

Frances was shocked by the request. "Ok," she replied and ran towards the house.

Melissa was focused on the mirror when Jordan suddenly grabbed the back of the dress' skirt and gave it a shake to make it pull some of loose of the belt amp do make it lay nicer. The sudden breeze up her skirt surprised Melissa and she let out a surprised, "Ohh!"

Moments later, Frances appeared with a pair of black, three inch heeled pumps with an open toe and red soles. "These are the tallest I have," she said, then, noticing how Melissa looked, she said, "Oh, wow! Jordie! She looks just like the sketch you made of the dress. It's beautiful!"

"Thanks," Jordan smiled, then knelt again, took Melissa's right foot in his hands and guided it into the shoe. Then he did the same with her left foot. "They should be a higher heel to accentuate your legs, but these will do for now. Now, walk around the salon and watch how the skirt moves."

She did and the results were amazing. Without having her hair or makeup done, Melissa was, unquestionably, a goddess.

"Jordie," she uttered, "I... I just can't... I can't find the right words. It's just amazing. I love it! Thank you!" She hugged him tightly, his head only breast high due to the added height from the pumps.

Mary was about to raise her voice because they were not social distancing, but then she realized that Jordan had earned this hug and that they'd already kissed just a couple of days ago, anyway. Besides, they'd both been in seclusion for months. She would ignore it for now and hope for the best.

"I've got to show my mother!" Melissa bubbled and headed for the door.

Mary grabbed Jordan's arm as he made to follow her. "Jordie... that dress... you've completely outdone yourself. I never expected you to be able to... I'm just so amazed!" She smiled, then hugged him and kissed his cheek. "You are unbelievable!"

"Thanks, auntie." He smiled that cute, little girl's smile of his.

"Oh, my God!" They heard Amanda shriek from the side yard. "Melissa! I can't believe it! That's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen and it fits you perfectly!"

Mary smiled at the excited sound of the woman's reaction. "Go on, baby. Go take a bow."
 

 

"So," Amanda explained in her 'judge' tone, "both Mary and I agree that we can't just forbid you from seeing each other, but you have to agree to staying safe while you're together. You will continue to remain as isolated as possible when your apart and when you're together you will avoid large crowds. Masks are on at take-out counters. If the people behind the counter aren't wearing masks, you leave and go somewhere else. You use hand sanitizer after you touch money or you touch surfaces that others may have touched and, I'm sure it goes without saying, no unprotected sex."

"Mom!" Melissa shrieked. "It's a first date! What kind of a slut do you think I am?"

Amanda shook her head and looked at Mary with a 'can you believe this' look.

"What you're mother means is, extra caution is important right now. That extends to intimacy." Mary explained calmly. "You do understand why she's bringing it up, right?"

Melissa let out a nervous laugh and smiled at Jordan. "Don't worry, Jordie. I find you adorable, but I think I can resist having full blown intercourse with you on our first date."

Surprised by her brazenness, Jordan just blushed in reply.

"So, are we all on the same page?" Judge Amanda asked.

"Yes," Jordan nodded.

"Yes, your honor," Melissa chuckled. She looked at Mary and Jordan and smiled. "When mom says things like 'on the same page,' or 'all our ducks in a row,' that's her 'judge voice.' It's best to just humor her when she's like that or else she'll just start pontificating. She spends a lot of time in courtrooms where her opinion can't be challenged. It plays with her brain."

Mary chuckled at that, but Amanda let out an exasperated sigh. It was clear that this was an on going issue between mother and daughter.

"Ok, I'll admit," Amanda laughed at herself, "that I do have the propensity to 'speak from on high,' as my daughter likes to put it, but all that aside, are you girls on board with these rules?"

"Yes," Jordan said, eager to clear any obstructions to being with Melissa.

"Your honor, I will agree to the terms." Melissa took on a very officious tone, "however, I would like the court records to indicate that we are agreeing only because we want you both to feel
comfortable. We are both adults and we are well within our rights to make our own decisions. Does the court acknowledge these
stipulations?"

Again, Amanda sighed. "The court does acknowledge the stipulation, but further stipulates that both Mary and I are within our rights to invoke the ancient 'when you live in my house, you'll follow my rules' law."

"Agreed." Melissa grinned as she stood and shook her mother's hand. She offered Mary a fist bump, which Mary responded to, very awkwardly.

"Oh," Melissa said in a sad breath, "I guess I should get out of my beautiful new dress and get back into my regular clothes." She smiled at Jordan. "I suppose this is too fancy to wear when we just go for a ride and some take out, huh?"

Jordan smiled. "Would you like something new for Saturday? I started a different dress before I designed this one. I can finish it for you."

"Really!?" Melissa was thrilled at the idea of another dress that fit as well as this one did.

"Melissa," the judge said under her breath, "don't take advantage of her."

"Oh, she's not," Jordan assured her. "I was going to finish it anyway, besides, I have to make my own dress for Saturday. It's no big deal."

Judge Amanda stared at him. "Two dresses in a day or a day and a half? Is that even possible?"

"Don't challenge him," Mary said with comic concern. "He'll make twelve if you want him to."
 

 

That evening, Frances was brushing out Jordan's hair as he sat on the ottoman in front of her in the upstairs TV room. Robbie was there, too, painting her nails.

"Are you excited about Saturday?" Frances asked.

"Yeah," Jordan admitted.

"Excited or horny?" Robbie joked.

As Jordan blushed, Frances chided her sister. "Knock it off, Robbie. Jordie's not like that."

"Oh, yeah? Did you see how Melissa looked in that dress? I almost had an erection when I saw her."

"Stop it," Frances tried to be the mature one, but Robbie's remark did make her giggle a bit.

As Frances continued to brush Jordan's auburn hair, Jordan felt the need to say, "I do get them, you know. Erections, I mean. Just because I can't father a child doesn't mean that I don't get... excited... by beautiful women."

"We know, Jordie," Frances said, afraid that they'd upset him.

"I think that we all realized that when we saw Melissa in that dress." Robbie giggled.

"Ok, really!" Frances tried again to be mature.

"Oh, come on," Robbie persisted, "you saw her, didn't you! He made her look like that, Franny. Jordie, you spent an entire day sketching out that dress and another day sewing it. You knew how she'd look in it. You must have had a hard on the whole time, right!?"

Frances was completely speechless at that remark.

The room was silence for a moment, until Jordan final mumbled, "I guess I kinda did."

For a second, the silence remained, but then the sisters broke into huge belly laughs of joy and shock.

Robbie hopped off her chair and sat on the floor in front of the ottoman. Still smiling and very excited, she spoke quietly so that, should her stepmother appear, their conversation would remain confidential.

"So," she bubbled, "you know what gets you going, but what do you know about making a girl happy?"

"Well," Jordan considered this, "she seemed to really like the dress I made her."

"No," Frances said, just as guiltily, "Robbie means, making her happy... sexually."

"Oh," Jordan felt a wave of heat pass over him at just the merest thought of Melissa and the word 'sexually' being in the same conversation. "I don't know. I mean... I know about kissing and intercourse..."

"Woah, woah! Hold up, there, cowboy!" Robbie laughed. "There's a lot of space between kissing and intercourse!"

"Yeah, there are entire continents between those two things!" Frances agreed. "Look, Jordie..." She steeled herself to have a conversation with someone that she never expected would need this kind of information. "Maybe it's time that we have a serious talk."

"A talk?" Jordan asked curious.

"THE talk!" Robbie corrected.
 
 
To Be Continued...