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: 5 Final 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 5
At Emma's I waited in the car while she ran in and got my stud earrings, concerned that I might have some problems sleeping in the black pearl-drop earrings I'd worn that evening. Opie took the pendent I'd worn off and I returned it to my sister-in-law as well.
When we got home, Opie was very frisky as we walked towards the front door. Her hand was exploring the rear hem of my skirt and just as we reached our front stoop, she realized that my butt cheek was exposed beneath the skirt.
"No underwear?" She asked, or rather accused, as she unlocked the door.
"It's a thong," I admitted.
Her eyes opened wide. "Oh!" She chucked. "Wait till I get you upstairs."
"You'll have to wait," I said, "because, besides all the makeup I have to deal with, I'm taped."
"Taped? What do you mean 'taped?'"
"I mean I'm taped. Like, my...thing," I know it's stupid, but I just felt so much like a woman that saying 'my penis' just felt... gross, "is taped up underneath me."
We stepped inside and I noticed that Opie had the most wolfish smile I'd ever seen in my life and suddenly I felt either like a sheep or Little Red Ridding Hood, but, at any rate, I knew I was about to be devoured. That may explain the scream that I let out when I was suddenly scooped up by my rather macho looking wife and whisked up the stairs and unceremoniously dropped onto my bed.
"Wait!" I shouted. "You are not going to ruin this dress! I LOVE this dress!"
"More than you love me?" She asked teasing.
"It's probably a toss-up," I said. "Unzip me."
When Opie saw me in the sexy bra and panties, with my prosthetic breasts and my flat-fronted, lace covered, thong, she kind of lost it. The next hour or more was an erotic blur of touching and kissing and licking, but my exogenous zones remained imprisoned in gauze and tape. It didn't matter, though. I may not have orgasmed, but I was one hundred percent satiated, and so was Opie.
I was awakened the next morning by a nibble on my right butt cheek. I turned and saw Opie smiling up at me, already dressed in jeans and a Boston Red Sox tee shirt. "Morning," she grinned.
"What time is it?" I asked, groggy.
"After eleven," she answered as she rubbed my bottom. My panties were still on and so was my bra. I realized that my makeup was, too. I couldn't imagine what a mess I must have been, but I didn't care. "I hate to wake you, honey, but we need to get to the other house by one. I have to meet the garage door guy and the landscape guy. I figured you'd want to shower."
I stared to get up, but stopped. "Ope - I don't have anything to wear."
She chuckled. "Just like a woman."
"No, Opie, I'm serious. I don't own a dress of my own, except the one I wore last night."
She shrugged. "You could go naked."
"See, this is that smart ass side of PJ that I don't like. I'll call call Emma and see if she'll loan me something. You might have to go get it though."
I grabbed my phone and pushed Emma's contact number. It rang several times before a voice responded. The surprising thing was that it wasn't Emma's voice. It was a man's voice. "Hello. Emma's phone."
I had to think for a second before I spoke. "Oh... umm... is this Max?"
"Oh, yeah, it is. Hi, Kim. I didn't know if it was you or another Kim. Emma's in the shower. Want her to call you back?"
"Max?" Opie asked. "Max spent the night?" He seemed shocked. Certainly having a man stay over was not typical behavior 'serious big sister' Emma.
I nodded.
"Yeah, that would be... well, you know what, Max, I'm just going to go ahead and send Opie over there. Just tell Em that Opie is on the way and that I need to borrow a dress, ok. Something casual. Nothing fancy. Alright."
"Oh," he said, a bit uncertain. "Alright. You want to borrow a casual dress."
"Yes."
"You don't own any casual dressed of your own?"
Yikes! He had me there, didn't he? "Oh... umm, see, we're in the process of moving and everything I have is packed away. Can you ask her that for me?"
"Yeah, ok, sure," he answered, seemingly satisfied.
"Great. Thanks. Bye." I disconnected the call.
"Everything ok?" Opie asked.
"I guess," I shrugged. "Go get me a dress, and make it a simple dress, ok. Nothing fancy. And... whatever else we do, I need to pick up at least a couple of things today, or tonight, alright. Emma can't keep lending me clothes. Guys aren't supposed to borrow their sister-law's dresses. It's weird."
"Guys aren't supposed to look that good in a thong, either, but there you go," she teased.
"Yeah, well wait till I tell you how your sisters pushed my testicles back up into my abdomen and taped my junk away for me yesterday," I said, as I closed the door to the bathroom behind me.
The last thing I heard was Opie shouting, "What!?" from the bed as I started the water in the shower.
I was doing my best with a curling iron and a blow dryer when Opie returned with a really pretty, but casual dress - mostly red roses with green leaves and stems. A modest V-neck, pretty and loose short sleeves, a high waist and a loose skirt that sat about four inches above my knees. She also sent a pair of plain white sneakers and a pair of low cut sport socks that wouldn't show above the sneakers.
"She said you'd have a lot of running around to do today and you'd need them. Why you'd have a lot of running around to do, I'm not sure."
I smiled, knowing I'd be running between our new place and Emma's but also knowing that Opie didn't know that.
We stopped and got me a breakfast wrap and a tea at a local bakery and headed to the house in The Brookfields, arriving just ahead of the garage door man. The existing doors were pretty old and Opie wanted something really sharp looking and an updated opening system.
While she talked to the garage door man, I told her that, since it had been twilight when we'd been on the go the house before, I was going to explore the yard. She kissed my cheek and off I went - directly to the back of Emma's new yard, where Max was busy cutting an opening in the fence with a reciprocating saw. I have to tell you, I was practically giddy with excitement at the prospect of telling Opie about Emma buying this house.
It's weird, I'd known Emma most of my life and I'd known Josie since she was still in diapers, but they were always just Opie's sisters. Even when Opie and I moved in together and they became ubiquitous features in our house, I just said 'hi' and went about my day. Opie and I got married and they went from being 'my girlfriend's sisters' to being 'my sisters-in-law,' but nothing really changed. I was shocked when they showed up and offered to help me pick out something for Opie for our anniversary, and even more surprised when they showed up to apologized when things went wrong. But when Emma agreed to help me make a point with Opie by helping me look good in that nightgown and then everything went sideways - everything changed. In the last few days, they had become the closest friends I'd ever had. Closer than friends. Well, they had said it, and I guess it was true - sisters. I loved them like sisters and I was thrilled to have them so close by at the new house.
"Alright, now," Max said, sounding very serious, "if PJ is upset about this opening, then someone else did the work. NOT ME! Ok? He's not that big, but he looks pretty fit. I don't want to get into a fight with him."
Emma and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Ok, tough guy," she guffawed. "We'll take the fall for you."
I headed back to my house, admiring the beautiful grounds of my new home as I walked, and Emma and Sam retreated to Emma's new bungalow.
"Kim!" Opie smiled as I arrived back at the garage. "Look at these doors," she showed me pictures in a brochure. "They look like barn doors. They'll fit the aesthetic of the house a lot better than a regular garage door. Don't you think?"
The picture was very attractive, I guess. "Sure." I smiled at her enthusiasm.
She nodded and turned back to the garage door contractor. "Yeah. We'll go with these. All four doors. For the openers, we'll get the ones that use the small remotes as well as the phones apps and the key pads on the outside of the house."
"Sounds good, Mr Reed," the man said as he made notes.
I spoke quietly Opie. "Do we need all of that? It seems expensive."
"Don't worry. We could afford this before the new job, Kim. Now, it's definitely no problem."
The garage door guy held a clipboard with a contract on it for Opie to sign and he gave me a look of condensation that made me want to punch him in the nose. So, before Opie could take the clipboard, I grabbed it and looked at the figures. I looked it over and shook my head.
"Four doors, six panels each with each panel costing eighty-seven dollars, is that correct?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah."
"That's twenty four panels times eighty-seven dollars, that should total two thousand, eighty eight dollars. You have the total as three thousand sixty five dollars. Also, you listed the cost of the automatic opener system as twenty six hundred dollars, so four of those would total ten thousand four hundred dollars, but you have the total ten thousand nine hundred and sixty dollars."
The man made a face that indicated that my math was obviously flawed. "I added in labor costs, Mrs Reed."
I held up the invoice and showed Opie that there was a line with 'labor' listed.
Opie took the clipboard from me and handed it back to the man. "Tell you what. If you would like my business, I will give you one more chance to write up a more legitimate invoice. Get that back to me later today and, if my wife approves of it, perhaps we'll do business."
"May I see that invoice one more time?" I asked.
The man sighed as he handed it back to me. I took out my phone and took a picture of it so that I would have it as a reference, then handed it back and smiled at him. "Thank you."
The man turned away from me and shook hands with Opie. "Mr Reed. I'll be in touch later today." He nodded at me and walked away.
"Good catch," Opie smiled at me.
"Good catch?" I was irked. "Opie, that guy is a slime ball. Now, I know that sometimes we have to do business with slime balls, but you were about to just sign that contract without even glancing at it. You are running a multi-trillion dollar health network. Is that how you do your job?"
"No, of course not."
"No, of course, not. Your were excited about the doors and it was only a little money, so you just wanted to get it done. But, Opie, it's not just a little money. It's hundreds, no it's thousands of dollars. Just a few years ago, that was the difference between us being able to pay the mortgage or not."
"Ok, Kim, I'm sorry. Why are you so revved up about this?"
"Look, Opie... I'm going to tell you the truth. This role reversal stuff... I think I'm going to do it..."
"Honey, that's great..."
"...but I am not interested in being some little housewife, or your pretty little accessory, ok? Opie, you and I have always been partners. When we got together, I was making a little more money than you. We were both working forty hours a week and it just sort of worked out that you ended up taking care of the household accounts. Well, lately, you've been working fifty hours a week, or more, plus the gym, and I suspect that, with this new job, you may be working a little more than that. Right?"
"Maybe? I don't know."
"Well, look, you're talking about bringing a service in to take care of the landscaping, another to plow the driveway in the winter, another for this, another for that, all of this is going to add up and I'm a little nervous about what it's all going to cost so... if it's all the same to you... since I'm at home and I'm pretty damned good with numbers... I'd like to take over the household accounts."
"Really? Because that would really be a huge help." Opie smiled, seemingly relieved by my offer.
I was actually surprised by her response. I thought that she was being a little, I don't know, secretive, about our finances for the last few years. "Yeah, I'd like to do it, Ope. I want to continue to be in a partnership with you. I mean, I really love that you bought me this house, but... let me be your partner, not your pet. Ok?"
She wrapped her arms around me and nodded. "Ok, Kim. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. That was never my intention. Honey, I've thought a lot about what you said last night about other people's feelings and you're right - I have been a pretty blind to other people's feelings lately. I promise I'll do better. Ok?"
"Thank you, Opie," I smiled and hugged her tighter.
She kissed me, but she had to stop because the man from the landscape company pulled into the driveway just then. The man driving was probably in his fifties but had the bounce of a man in his twenties. He bounded across the driveway with a big smile and a hand extended. "Good morning! Mr and Mrs Reed, I assume? I'm Jim"
"Hi, Jim," Opie smiled. "I'm PJ Reed. This is my wife, Kim Bristol."
"Mr Reed, Ms Bristol," he grinned.
"Kim is fine," I assured him, "as is Mrs Reed. No need to worry about remembering too many names."
Opie looked at me, confused. It was the first time she'd remembered to use my real last name and I'd undercut her. I just shrugged and smiled. I wasn't even sure why I'd done it, but it made me smile.
Opie explained to Jim that he'd like to have his company take over the lawn maintenance as make a few improvements to the existing landscaping. Jim was eager to please, stating that he'd always wanted to do some work on this property. He pointed out a few issues he'd noticed and offered suggestions for improving the yard.
"Well, it looks like about five acres," Jim nodded. "We can certainly handle it for you. Anything else you'd like?"
"Actually, I'd like some flower beds over in that area," I said, pointing towards the area outside of the solarium. Something that I could mange myself and learn as I go."
Opie looked at me, askance. "You've never expressed an interest in gardening before."
"I've never had the opportunity to do anything but plant marigolds in pots in the spring and then replace them with mums in the fall. Now, I'd like to learn."
Opie smiled. "Ok. Whatever you can help her with, then, Jim, would be great."
Jim smiled. "Sure, Kim. I'll draw up a few ideas and bring them by Monday. Anything else?"
"I think that's it," Opie said.
"Well, there is one more thing," I grinned. "I know it might be a little bit of an expense, but I'd love a nice walkway from our kitchen door," I pointed to the door, then pointed to Emma's new bungalow, "to the opening in that fence, over there."
"What?" Opie asked, shocked. "Why? And since when has there been an opening in that fence? I'm sure that wasn't there the last time I was here."
If Opie was confused, Jim was completely flummoxed. "Umm... is this something you want then?"
"Yes." I confirmed.
"No," Opie insisted. "Why do we need a walkway to a strangers house?"
"A stranger is just a friend you've never met," I said with the sweetest smile I could muster.
"Do you want to discuss this and get back to me?" Jim asked.
"What's going on here, Kim? I know you. You're playing some kind of game, aren't you?" Opie squinted at me.
She sounded just irritated enough for Jim to ask, "Hey... should I come back another time? You too seem to have some things to discuss."
Opie looked at me, then at the house and shook her head. Then she looked at Jim. "I think it might be worth our while to take a walk over there, Jim. Then we'll know if we need to build that path or not."
Jim nodded. "Pardon me for saying so, Mr Reed, but I'm pretty sure that we all know that we're building that path."
I slipped my arm through Opie's and began to lead her toward's Emma's place. "See, honey. Jim understands how to keep everyone happy at home."
We strolled through our yard and headed to the gap in the fence.
"That's a new cut," Jim said. "Someone just opened this up, today."
"Curiouser and curiouser," Opie said, smirking at me.
When we reached the back of the bungalow, there was a low, pretty deck that led to the back door. We stopped at the stairs. "Well," I said to Opie, "go knock."
"Why don't you?" She asked.
"You're the man," I teased.
She snorted at me, then walked up the stairs, across the deck and knocked. From inside, we heard, "Yes?"
Opie glanced back at me, "Umm, hi. I'm your new neighbor out back and I noticed that you cut a section of, what I believe is, my fence out this morning and I'd like to talk to you about it if I could."
"Oh, that? Yes, I did do that," the voice admitted.
Opie glanced back at me and held her hands up in confusion. "May I ask why?"
"So I could have lunch with my sister-in-law."
With that, Opie's shoulders dropped and she looked up at the sky. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" She turned and looked at me. "One of them bought the house next door?"
"One of 'who' bought the house next door?" Jim asked.
"My sisters," Opie shook her head. "It's Emma, right?"
Suddenly, the back door opened wide and Emma stepped out. "Surprise!"
For a moment, I thought that Opie was actually angry, but then she hugged her sister and turned to face us. "Jim, this is my big sister, Emma, who can't seem to go a day without butting into my life." That earned her an elbow in the ribs. "So, I guess we'll be needing that walkway to go from these stairs to our back door and, also, why don't you add this yard to our contract." She looked at Emma. "You are nearly as big a pain in the ass as Kim is, do you know that?"
"Who do think has been tutoring Kim?" Emma smirked.
"And I suppose Josie is buying a place abutting this place, too?" Opie asked.
"Josie's house is only about a half mile away," I pointed out.
"Seriously?" Opie asked. She'd only been there the one time I'd been there, too, and going via the back roads, it didn't seem like it was anywhere near our new house.
"Seriously," Emma smiled. "You know how we were always dropping by before? Expect the same and maybe a bit more."
Opie smiled and gave her a hug.
Max appeared from the doorway. "Hey, PJ. Sorry about all this. I hope you're ok with it."
"Yeah," Opie nodded. "It's great."
Max and Emma walked back to the house with us. Jim left just as Josie and Sam pulled in with Mother Reed. We gave her a tour of the house and then walked over to Emma's again to show her the bungalow. She seemed genuinely happy for her two eldest daughters.
It turned out there was a very nice sandwich shop just a couple of blocks away. So we walked there and had a light lunch, after which we split into groups. Sam, Max and Opie went shopping for appliances - well - televisions. Mother Reed, Josie, Emma and I went dress shopping, primarily for me, but we managed to find plenty of dresses for the others, as well.
"Oh, this has been such a lovely day," Mother Reed said as we headed back to our house. "Your houses are so lovely, as is yours, Josephine, and going shopping like this with my three girls... it's like a dream come true for me."
"I'm glad you're happy, mom," Josie said. She was sitting in the back seat with me. "It's kind of fun to shop for Kim, isn't it? I mean, she's a full grown woman, but she doesn't have anything so we get to try all kinds of styles on her."
Mother Reed turned as far as she could and looked at me. "You make a very beautiful woman, Kimberly. This has been a very nice day. Thank you for inviting me."
"Anytime, Mrs Reed," I smiled.
"Mom," Emma said, "isn't it about time that we did away with the 'Mrs Reed' stuff? You've known Kimmy almost as long as you've known Josie. Can't we come up with something a little less formal than 'Mrs Reed?'"
Feeling a bit caught in the middle of this conversation, I said, "Mrs Reed is fine."
"No, they're right," she said. "I'd be very happy if you'd call me 'mom,' Kimberly."
I was a bit shocked. "Oh, well... thank you, Mrs... mom." Honestly, it didn't feel very comfortable that first time, but I got used to it pretty quickly.
On Sunday, we packed up our clothes and moved. Opie had arranged for a very efficient moving company to come to the house mid-week and take care of everything. They would pack everything up, load it and take it to the new house. All I had to do was figure out where I wanted everything to go when it got there.
On the way to The Brookfields, that Sunday afternoon, we dropped off all of my men's clothing at a charity bin. I guess I'd made my decision at that point, but I refused to confirm anything until at least Monday night. I don't know why. I guess I just wanted to stick to my guns until I was ready.
That first night in the new house was very romantic. We didn't have any plates or silverware, so we had to get take out and ate out of the boxes with plasticware while watching an old Disney movie on a ludicrously big TV that Opie had bought while on her outing with the boys - I never should have allowed her to pick out a TV unsupervised.
When we got to bed, though, the new space inspired us to be more intimate, to take things slower and explore each other even more. It was blissful, and when I snuggled into Opie in my silk and lace nightgown, I realized that, come tomorrow, it had only been a week since our anniversary and the day she had dared me to wear this glorious gown for the first time. Wow, my world had certainly change a lot in that week.
On Monday morning, I was up early to make Opie breakfast, but there were no groceries, nor pots nor pans, so she gave me a kiss goodbye and headed out to work. She had left a file crate with the household bills and tax records, etc. in it so I could start sorting through those. Jim, the landscape guy, was coming at eleven, so Emma and Josie were coming a little earlier than that to join in those discussions. Also, both our old house and Emma's were going on the market today through Emma's agency, so Emma was getting all of that started before coming to the farm house.
'The farm house?' That seemed cumbersome. It definitely was 'A' farmhouse. It certainly HAD been a farm, but wasn't now. I'd figure out what to call it at some point.
Anyway, I took the file-crate to a small office area off of the kitchen. I think that when the farm had been a working enterprise, this may have been where the lady of the house actually did run the household and tally the daily expenses. I thought it was a nice place for me to do the same, and it had a lovely view of my side yard, looking towards Emma's place.
There was an old roll-top desk in that space that needed a little tidying up. So, I grabbed some cleaning products I'd bought while I'd been out with the girls, pulled on some yellow, Playtex rubber gloves and gave it a scrubbing as well as treating it with some lemon oil. It looked brand new when I was done. I gave it a little time to dry while I dug out my MacBook, my iPad and my Bose surround sound speaker and brought them to the office.
I'd noticed some pretty pictures of flowers, nothing 'high art' mind you, just some nicely framed pictures of flowers and herbs, stored in one of the garages, so I went out there and grabbed the prettiest of them and brought them in. Opie had picked up a few items in order to mount her titanic television, so there were some picture hooks, a tape measure and a hammer available. I hung the pictures and realized that not only had I created a lovely, feminine office, but that the lemon oil on my desk had dried and I could get to work.
I created a spreadsheet and listed all the expected expenses with spots for bi-weekly deposits from Opie's job and then pulled out the most recent bank statement, which, of course, did not include the rather large bonus she'd received for accepting her new job.
Did you ever have one of those moments when every molecule in your body seems to explode and leave you for a moment, then slam back into you with nearly the same force as the explosion? No? Well I have. It happened when I looked at that bank statement. Now, I want to be very clear. Opie had never lied to me about our finances. She told me we were doing fine and I never asked beyond that. We had a nice house and we weren't really travelers or anything like that, so our expenses were pretty run of the mill. Our bills were always paid, the lights were on and the heat was always working. I didn't question it. I expected that when I looked at the bank statements, I would find that we had a nice nest egg.
We didn't.
We had a freaking dinosaur egg. I couldn't believe that, not only did we have that much money, but that we were letting it sit in a savings account and not doing anything with it! I began making notes about how we should be handling at least some of this money and setting reminders to find financial advisors who could help me manage this small fortune I was now in charge of.
I went back into the records and looked at when this influx of money had begun and found that about three years earlier, Opie started making a bit more than I did. Then, over the next few months, it appears that she got several promotions in quick succession and her pay rose accordingly. This must have been the same point that she had begun taking on a male persona at work. From there, her pay seems to have increased in leaps and bounds while our living expenses remained unchanged. The result - we have been accumulating wealth at a ludicrous rate for the past few years.
At that moment, I had just discovered my new career. Dealing with Opie's income.
By the time Josie and Emma arrived with tea and a croissants for all of us, I was famished. We went out into the solarium and enjoyed our first of many mornings in this space. Just some relaxation and sisterly talk.
It was decided that after Jim met with us, we'd take a ride back to my old hose and I would pack up my pots and pans, silverware and plates and a few small things and bring them back to the farmhouse. We'd also stop at The Mill so I could pick up a few things there, too.
You're probably wondering why I didn't drive myself anywhere, right?
Well, because I didn't have a car.
Well, I HAD a car. A nice car. A Saab, in fact, that I had spent months researching and shopping for before purchasing. Then, one night during quarantine, while it was parked safely in my driveway, some drunk jerk lost control of her fourteen year old minivan and totaled my beautiful Saab. I wanted to replace it, but with all of the shipping and supply issues, a new one hadn't arrived and since I was working from home, it didn't really matter much. Emma and Josie were in and out of my house all the time and were happy to either give me a ride to the store or pick things up for me and Opie's Lexus was around in the evenings, as a rule. So, being without a car was not as crippling for me as it might have been for someone else.
Back to the story - Jim had drawn up beautiful plans for both our yard and Emma's.
"Oh, now I want to live down here," Josie pouted. "I feel so left out of the club."
"You're five minutes away," Emma tsk-ed.
"Yeah, but my yard is all pine tree needles. I wonder if Sam would consider moving down here."
Emma shook her head. "You know that selling a house in the first five years is the worst possible..."
"Oh, shut up," Josie said in her best spoilt little sister voice. "If something connected to Opie and Kim's property comes on the market, tell me immediately."
Jim looked up. "Who's Opie?"
"PJ," we all said in unison.
"Long story," Emma smiled. "Family nickname."
"Oh," he said, then moved on. "So, do you ladies like everything on the plans?"
"I certainly love what you've drawn up for my yard," Emma said. "I liked what was there, but this is so much better."
"It's great, Jim," I said. "When can you start?"
He handed me a contract and said, "Well, why don't you talk it over with PJ and let me know if you're both happy with everything..."
I took the contract and stood. "Let me take this to my office, Jim." I smiled. "Give me a moment to read it over and scan it. I handle the household accounts, not PJ."
"Well, then we can start on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm assuming that the walkway is your priority, so I'll start there."
"Oooooo" both Emma and Josie said, feigning being impressed. "SHE handles the household accounts, now."
"Damned right," I smiled. "Hey, you haven't seen my office! Come on back. You, too, Jim."
They all loved the way the little office looked. Josie complimented me on the pretty pictures of flowers and herbs.
I read through the contract and all the numbers added up. So, I signed it and took out the check book and wrote a check for the amount of the deposit. Then took out my iPad and opened a scanner app.
"Oh, I'll give you a hard copy," Jim said.
"I know," I said, "but you'll give me a pink copy and the white copy scans better. I like everything to be available in a virtual file. Usually, I'd do this with my printer, but it's not here, yet."
I scanned the contract and the check and handed them to Jim, then shook his hand. "Thank you, Jim."
"My pleasure, Kim," he smiled as he handed me a hard copy of the contract. "See you later in the week."
We drove back to my place. Emma and Josie had to do some realtor business, so I found a box and packed up what I needed. Mostly, it was just cooking accoutrements and place settings, but I also ran up to my bureau and grabbed a couple of things that my mother had left me. Things I hadn't really thought much about since she'd passed away when I was very young.
I had everything waiting on the front stoop when the girls returned. So, we put them in the trunk of the car and headed back to The Brookfields.
We did stop on the way to pick up the ingredients for Opie's favorite dinner - spaghetti and meatballs. For someone with no Italian heritage, I actually made a pretty good red sauce and I'd grabbed a few jars of previously made sauce from our freezer at the old house. I got some good ground beef and ground pork for the meatballs and some spaghetti.
Then we hit The Mill for visit to the lingerie shop that had started it all. To say that the proprietress was shocked with how I now presented myself would have been a gross understatement. She just kept staring at me while she got the items I requested.
We also stopped at a jewelry store to pickup a couple of things I needed and have them deal with a. Issue I was having.
As we headed out, I did stop at a kitchen specialty shop to get a good colander, something I'd never had before. While we were there, Emma and Josie insisted that I also purchase two very frilly bib aprons - and it was actually a good thing that I did, because one of them did end up in the laundry that evening with splatters of red-sauce all over it. It never bothered me when I got a little splatter on a tee shirt, but I would really have felt terrible to have gotten anything on one of my new dresses. I don't even know why I felt that way. I knew how to do laundry.
We made one more stop at a shop in the village just a few blocks down the hill from our new homes. It was a bicycle shop. The man who ran the shop was very happy to sell us three very pretty, and somewhat expensive, classic looking, women's bicycles with classic baskets on the front. We each got our own pastel color. Josie's was pink, of course, Emma's was lilac and mine was sort of sea-foam-green. The bikes would need to be assembled, of course, so I paid for them and he agreed to drop them off at my house the next afternoon.
I was home just in time to get my meatballs into the oven. While they baked, I set the dining room table and put out the candles I'd bought at The Mill. I'd spent a stupid amount of money on the candle holders, but I didn't have time to go shopping and I wanted to have a romantic diner ready when Opie got home.
Soon, the water was boiling and my sauce was warming. The meatballs were cooked and I put them into the sauce for the last few minutes.
I used a soup tureen that Opie and I had bought at an estate sale years ago to put the pasta and meatballs and sauce in. Then placed it on the dining room table.
I had made some garlic bread, so I sliced that and put it into a nice Nantucket basket that I lined with a new, very pretty, tea towel.
The meal was carb heavy, I know, but it was a special night and that was her favorite meal.
Finally, I opened a bottle of red wine and let it breathe.
Before Opie arrived, I checked my hair and makeup, did a little damage control, then, as I heard Opie pull into the driveway, I lit the candles and dimmed the lights about halfway and waited.
When she came in the front door she called, "Honey, I'm home!" In a vain attempt to be funny.
"I'm in the dinning room," I called back.
"The dinning room?" She asked. "What's the occasion? Whoa..." she saw the table all set up and stopped in her tracks. "It's not our anniversary or either of our birthdays... I know I'm not pregnant, and unless there's something you're not telling me, I don't think you are, so... I give up. What's the occasion?"
"Just come in and eat," I smiled.
"Ok," she shrugged, pulling off her suit coat. "By the way, you look beautiful."
That felt nice. "Thank you, Opie. Give me your plate."
She loved the dinner and told me all about acclimating to her new job. She seemed to really like the new challenges.
"That was delicious, honey," she said as she mopped up the last of her sauce with a bit of garlic bread. "That's my favorite meal."
"I know." I got up and grabbed a few presents I had set aside before she got home. "Here. I got you a few presents today. Open up the biggest one first."
She looked confused. "Presents? Why?"
"Just open them."
When she tore the paper off of the box and saw the name of the lingerie store she stopped and looked at me. "I don't understand."
"We had a deal. If I wore the night gown for a week, you'd get something silky and sexy to wear, too."
She sighed. "Kim... I thought we'd gotten past this..."
"Did I live up to my end of the deal?" I asked.
"Well, yes, but..."
"Open the box, Opie."
She shook her head and I'm sure she was preparing for a big fight, but she let out a sigh of relief when she found a very handsome pair of men's silk pajamas and a matching robe. "Thank you, Kimmy. They're really nice."
"I'm glad you like them," I grinned, knowing I'd made her sweat a little.
She opened up the smaller box and looked up at me, a little confused. "I don't get it? What are these?"
"They're wedding rings, obviously. I noticed that you stopped wearing yours. I assume it's because it's rather slender and feminine. Now, you'll have a big, manly wedding band like all the other boys. Here. Let me put yours on you." I took the larger of the two rings and held it above the ring finger of her left hand. "Paul James Reed, with this ring I take you as my wedded husband." I slid the ring onto her finger.
She looked at the ring on her finger and smiled. Then she looked at the smaller ring. She took that in her hand and then looked at me. "Does this mean that you're going to be my wife?"
I nodded. "But there are some conditions. No more lies. No more secrets. No more acting like an asshole and above all, you never, ever, ever act like you're the 'head of the household.' I never did that when I was the man and I won't stand for it as the woman. We are partners in this marriage, Penelope Jane. If you agree to my terms, I will never use that name again."
She smiled. "Of course I agree to that, honey. Give me your hand." She took my left hand and held the smaller ring above my third finger. Kimberley Bristol...
"No, no, no..." I interrupted her. "I think I'd rather be Kimberly Reed."
Opie smiled and I think her eyes watered up a little bit. "Thank you, Kimmy. Kimberly Reed... with this ring I take you as my wedded wife."
She started to put the ring on my finger and stopped. "What's that?"
I looked at my finger. "That's my mother's engagement ring. I got it out of my bureau today. I've been thinking a lot about her lately."
Opie nodded. "I can get you a nicer engagement ring, though, honey. This one is very small..."
"I know, Ope, but... I want this one. My dad never had much money and he was always very proud of having bought this for my mom. It was a little loose on my finger, but the jeweler was able to do something right there at the shop that tightened it up for me. I know it's a really small diamond, but... it's my mom and dad, you know? It's kind of like... I'm starting a new life... one that I'll never be able to share with them... and I don't want to leave them behind."
She nodded and kissed the tip of my finger, then ran the ring down to meet the engagement ring.
So, all of that was... what... a few months ago. What have I been doing with my time since then? Well, lots of painting! We've painted almost all of the rooms in our house and all of the rooms in Emma's too. We've also redecorated her little in-law building, which is now a beautiful office where she and Josie work everyday.
I work in my gardens and I love every second of that. Jim has taught me a lot and I watch shows and YouTube videos that teach me how to do all kinds of things. Next year, I'm planting a vegetable garden, too. I'm planning on rhubarb, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, string beans... things like that
I keep an immaculate house, and I know that sounds housewife-ish, but I always did keep the house nice and neat, before. I just never got credit for it.
Most mornings, unless they have an early showing, Emma and Josie come over to the house for a light breakfast. Frequently, we will ride our bikes down into the village for lunch. We've gotten to know almost all of the shop owners, now. They call us 'The Reed Girls,' a label I love more than I can say.
I have not referred to Opie as 'she' since the night of our 'second wedding' when we put on our new rings. He is my husband and I love him dearly. He also works very hard to be considerate of the feelings of others and I think that has made him a better man.
I have not worn a pair of pants since the day that I first wore Emma's green tee shirt dress - except for my yoga pants which I wear for the classes I take with Emma and Josie on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I'm getting pretty limber and I think it's actually helping me back here in my butt a bit.
Look, I'm not going to lie to you. This is not the life I expected, but it is a wonderful, charmed life that is filled with more joy and love than I ever expected I would ever or could ever find.
Opie and I used to live in a grey little world. Happy enough, but we didn't know what 'joy' was, really.
Now?
Now, we live more fully - and it's not the money. Sure that makes our life easier, but it's more than that. It's because we found ourselves and that helped us find each other and that helped us to explore the depths of our love in ways we never expected.
So, I know that your question was just a simple one - 'What brings you here, today? - My answer has been pretty long and meandering, but I think it's important that you understand that I'm not here on a whim. I'm here because I am serious about doing whatever I need to do to get breast implants and they tell me that it all starts with this psychological evaluation.
So... what else can I tell you?
THE END
Author's Addendum: It was a different way for me to write a piece. I really do hope you enjoyed this. Please let me know either way. ~Clara.
