Spit and Image: 6

 

The big day has arrived and Paul prepares to recreate the fifty five year old
picture of his grandmother. First some breakfast with mom, then a visit to the
salon before the photographer arrives..

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Author's Note: Yes, I see that comments have dried up completely for this story and Positively Glowing. I did something wrong. For that, I apologize. ~Clara.
 
This version of Spit and Image: 6 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
 

It was barely past 6:30am on that Saturday morning and Lilly was already showered and dressed. She'd pulled her ivory, jacketed-sheath dress from the closet, hung it on the back of the door and pulled out her shoes and jewelry, preparing for the big day. The entire time, she'd been as quiet as she could so as not to wake her son. It was going to be a long, tiring day for him. He might as well sleep as long as he could.

She crept past his door and headed down the stairs to make some breakfast for them both. When she stepped from the hallway into the dinning room she stopped to look at the bridesmaids dresses that had begun this whole adventure and she shook her head at the realization that she'd neglected these dresses for an entire week now and, if in fact Keith and Abby were going to go through with their wedding, she needed to spend a lot of time in this room over the next couple of weeks to catch up.

As she was admiring the gowns on the garment rack, she was shocked to hear hushed voices in the kitchen. She moved quietly until she could hear who was speaking.

"I am excited, sure, but I wonder what she'll think of it when she sees it, you know?" It was Paul's voice.

"From what you've told me, I would think that she'll love it," It was hard to tell who it was. It wasn't Lori, that was for sure. It didn't sound like Beth either. The voice continued, "but, Paulie, this has to be your choice and your choice alone. From what you've told me, you've been very public in your female persona over the last few days, but it can be very difficult to come out like this to your entire family and your school."

"I'm not 'coming out,' Joyce. I'm not sure what I'm going to do after today, but..."

Joyce? Who was Joyce?

"...but what, Paulie?"

He laughed. "I don't know. Honestly, I'm more excited to do this than I have ever been about anything, but, and again, if I am being honest, I'm kind of scared of where I'm headed. What should I do?"

"You should do what's right for you, Paulie, and only you can decide what that is."

"Geez, you sound just like a Beth."

"You mention Beth a lot. I think I need to meet this girl."

Lilly needed to know what was going on, so she walked into the kitchen, pretending to be shocked to find Paul awake and with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you were up, Paulie," she fibbed.

"Morning, mommy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Paul was wearing a simple, white, polo-style top with very, very short sleeves and an undersized pocket halfway up his left breast. The material stretched tightly to accentuate his new figure. Below that was a cute pair of peach track shorts. "Mommy, this is Joyce Kim and she's..."

"Hi, Mrs Rooney. Actually, I'm DOCTOR Joyce Kim." The athletic looking, Asian woman rose and shook Lilly's hand. "I'm a therapist. I specialize in gender identity issues. Paul came to see me yesterday, and..."

"Paul came...? Paulie!? You went to see a therapist without discussing it with me!?" Lilly's face was filled with shock and concern.

"Mommy, I needed..."

Lilly had not heard him. She was looking at the clock on the microwave oven. "And exactly what kind of therapist makes house calls at 6:42 on a Saturday morning!?"

"Please," the Asian woman smiled and indicated another seat at the kitchen table, "Mrs Rooney. Have a seat and let me explain. I assure you that I am here to open up a conversation between Paul and your family. Not to hide anything from you."

Lilly sat, confused and a little hurt that a stranger was in her kitchen talking to Paul about these things. Why hadn't he just spoken to her? If there was something to be said, he could say it to her. He didn't need a mediator.

"I suppose I should start by explaining my appearance and why I'm here at this time of day. You see, Paul came to see me, yesterday, after school. Normally, it would have taken weeks to have fit him into my schedule and I typically don't go into the office on Fridays, but Paul's chorus teacher, Nana Mwangi, is my my brother-in-law and he asked me to make an exception. So, yesterday, Paul and I spent a very productive hour and a half together. And, I must say, Mrs Rooney, you have raised a very remarkable young person."

Lilly glanced at Paul, still trying to get a handle on what was happening, then returned her confused gaze to Dr Kim. "So, you're Mr Mwangi's sister-in-law?"

"Yes, I am. I'm married to his sister. I know that it can be confusing with my wife and I being lesbians, and the fact that her family is Kenyan and mine is Korean, but we are related, yes."

"How did Mr Mwangi get involved in any of this?"

Paul said, "It's a long story, mommy, but he offered his help if I need it, so I asked him to call Dr Joyce for me."

She nodded at that, then returned her gaze to Joyce.

"To explain why I'm here this morning - typically, a person discovering their gender confusions approach their milestones of realizations slowly, but Paul's situation did force things for him a bit due to today's deadline. So, after our discussion, yesterday, I mentioned that I jog down your street everyday between 5:30 and 5:45 and, if he needed to talk more, he could catch me as I jogged past."

"So, I did," Paul concluded.

"Paulie," Lilly felt the guilt that she'd felt earlier in the week creeping in on her, again, "if you had doubts about doing this, I wish that'd you'd told me about it..."

"Oh, mommy, no, no, no. I have no doubts about today. I really want to do this and do it right. My doubts are about what I'm going to do later. After the photographer leaves and grandma's dress is back in storage - then what? Do I give up being a boy or do I give up being a girl? I love being both, but I don't know what to do. That's why I went to see Dr Joyce. Of course, I want to know what you think, but she's helped lots of people through these kinds of things, right?"

"I have, Mrs. Rooney," the doctor smiled as she reached across the table to take Lilly's hand in hers, "and I have to tell you, Paul is one of the most well adjusted people I have ever met and his questions and concerns show a remarkable grasp of his needs and society's reactions to what he's doing today. I am confident that, with your support, the support of his friends and your other son, and just a little professional help to offer guidance, he will discover his correct path."

Lilly nodded, but turned to Paul and said, "Paulie, I don't understand why you couldn't just talk to me about all of this. I know that we had some problems earlier in the week, but..."

"Mrs Rooney," Joyce interrupted, gently, "please don't view this as a break in trust. Paul told me about what happened earlier in the week and he just came to me to work some things out. That is a much better decision than bottling up his feelings or lashing out at others or, worst of all, inflicting pain or worse on himself. Honestly, he did the right thing and you should be very proud of him for that."

Lilly looked at Paul, his pretty little outfit, his cute hairdo, his delicate eyebrows, his breasts, the pendant - how could her heart not melt. She rubbed his cheek and smiled, "How could I not be proud of you, honey? I wish that you'd told me that you had gone to see Dr Kim before I found her in the kitchen this early in the morning. Maybe then I would have been better prepared."

"Sorry, mommy, but I just don't know how to say everything that I'm thinking. Dr Joyce has a way of asking the right questions. I hope that you're ok with that and that this won't upset you - today of all days."

She kissed his sweet face. "Not at all, honey. Thank you."

Dr Kim rose and extended her hand to Lilly. "Well, I need to finish my run. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Rooney. Paul, you have cell number. Call or text if you need me."

They watched as she jogged down the driveway and turned onto the street.

"Are you ready for your big day?" Lilly asked. Now that he was standing and Lilly could get a better look at the whole outfit, Paul looked even cuter.

"Almost. I need to shower and have some breakfast."

"Tell you what. Go shower, put on something comfortable that doesn't pull over your head and lets go to the diner and have a nice, Saturday morning breakfast before we go to Alison's."

That did sound very good, so Paul hurried up and got ready.

Louie's Diner was just an old train-car style diner on the edge of downtown. The food was good and the atmosphere was noisy and joyous. Paul and Lilly went there two or three times a year - usually on vacation days when there were lots of errands to be done. Saturdays were particularly busy days, so they knew they'd have to wait in line to be seated, but that was fine, it was early, yet.

As soon as they got in line on the long ramp that ran up the front of the train-car, Lilly was approached by another businesswoman who was a couple places further forward in the line.

"Lilly!" The woman waved. "You're out and about early, today. Are you running an open house?"

Lilly smiled, "No, no." She indicated Paul, who looked cute as a button in a casual, yellow-flowered sun dress and flip-flops, light makeup and his hair brushed out, but still slightly wavy due to yesterday's chignon, "we have a busy day. We're starting at the salon at 9:30."

The woman smiled at Paul and introduced herself as Esther Foster. "And your name is?"

"Paulie," he shook her hand and smiled.

"Lovely to meet you, Polly," she looked from him to his mother. "You certainly are your mother's daughter, Polly. My goodness, you two must have been made in the same mold."

"You really think so?" Lilly asked, flattered and surprised.

"Oh, Lilly, come on. Your eyes and chin and, good heavens those smiles... two peas in a pod."

Of course, Lilly couldn't resist showing Esther the photo on her phone of her own mother and pointing out the resemblances between her and Paul.

"Oh, heavens, Polly, your grandmother must show you off as her doppelgänger all the time! It's like you're twins born decades apart. Look you even have the same bangs."

Lilly went on to tell the story of the dress and the photo recreation scheduled for that day. "That's why we're headed to the salon so early."

"Oh, my goodness," Esther held a hand to her breasts and looked as if she was about to cry. "I have never heard of anything this sweet, before! Polly, your grandmother is going to be on cloud-nine when she sees that picture. What a wonderful things for a girl to do! You are an angel!"

She hugged Paul tightly and kissed his cheek. Then made a huge show of wiping the residual lipstick from his pale, smooth cheek. She was taller than Paul by an inch or so, but her heels made her slightly taller, still, and she was higher up the ramp than Paul, so he was only shoulder height to her. Her fussing with him to remove the lipstick made him feel very small and younger. It was kind of nice.

"Such a lovely, little thing," she beamed at him. Then she shocked him with, "I have a son just about your age and he's as handsome as you are gorgeous." She turned to Lilly, "We should get these two together, Lilly. Imagine how beautiful their children would be!"

Esther didn't notice that Paul turned pale, but Lilly did and she threw her arm around his shoulders. "That would be lovely, Esther, but I'm afraid that Paulie is very much taken and they've been dating for months."

Esther's head tilted to the side as she sighed "Oh, poo. Well, if that ever changes, Lilly, you send Polly here over to meet my Roland. They'd be perfect together."

'Oh, my God,' Paul thought. 'Roland Foster! She's trying to set me up with Roland Foster!" Roland was a freshman in his chorus class. Actually, when he thought about it, Roland was a very handsome boy - always well dressed and well groomed and he was usually very polite to everyone, but Paul had always kind of considered him to be somewhat spoiled because of the obvious amount of money that was spent on his nice clothes and nice grooming. It was like Roland was a bit of sissy, not gay, necessarily, but a bit effeminate. That seemed pretty funny now that Paul considered how much money and time he'd spent on his own appearance in the last ten days, and the fact that he was wearing a pretty, breezy sundress that was playing teasingly about his smooth legs. Suddenly, Roland was like a hairy, he-man compared to Paul.

Wow! He'd never really thought about his transition in comparison to other people's search for their own daily presentation, before. He guessed everyone was searching to one degree or another.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on the window above his head. He looked up to see the smiling faces of Lori and Beth who had surprised looks on their face as they indicated that they had room at their table and that Lilly and Paul should come through the line to join them.

"Oh, look at that, Paulie! Your friends are inviting us to join them. Esther, would you like to join us? I'm sure that we could make room for all of us." Lilly was nearly as relieved as Paul to end the current conversation, although she did find Esther's praise of Paul's beauty and his resemblance to his mother wonderfully flattering.

Esther smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, but I'm meeting Joan Albright. You know Joan? She's in accounting at my company?"

Lilly acknowledged that she knew Joan and they said their goodbyes as they worked their way up the ramp and through the crowds to join the table where Lori and Beth had already had a coffee waiting for Lilly and a tea waiting for Paul.

Paul slid in next to Lori and Lilly next to Beth.

"We didn't expect to see you girls here," Lilly said as she settled her pocketbook in the space between her and Beth.

"We were surprised to see you, too," Lori kissed Paul's cheek.

"Was that Erick Foster's mother you were talking to out there?" Beth asked.

"I imagine so," Lilly said. "That's Esther Foster. She works for a finance company. I've known her for years - just as a colleague. She mentioned her son, but his name wasn't Erick. Paulie, what was the name Esther mentioned."

"Roland. Do you guys know Roland Foster? He's in my chorus class. He's a freshman."

Lori didn't, but Beth said, "I know who he is. He looks just like a younger version of Erick. You know Erick, Lori. He's in your AP Physics class. Really good looking... always dresses nice."

"Oh, sure."

"Well, Lori," Lilly teased, "you'd better keep your eye on this one," she waved a finger at Paul, "because Esther just tried to hook Paulie up with her son, Roland."

"Wow!" Lori said loud and playfully, "You're such a little tease!!!" She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

He smiled, but Beth saw a little concern in his eyes. "Were you ok with that, Rooney?" she asked.

He shrugged and smirked, "It was ok, I guess..."

"What's the matter, honey," Lilly asked, "did that bother you?"

He shrugged. "A little... I guess."

"Why, baby?" Lori's lack of insight made Beth sigh.

"Lori, he's a straight guy. Of course it was a little weird that someone wanted to hook him up with her son."

"Well, yeah... but, Paulie, you look like a girl, right? And a really hot girl... so, of course..."

"I know, but..." Paul thought through his words before speaking, "...I just want to look nice and be with you guys, you know? I guess that it never really occurred to me that boys - or boys' mothers - especially mothers of fourteen year boys - would find me attractive. It's a little hard for me to think about."

Lori hugged him a little tighter. "I'm sorry, baby. It's not that big a deal, though..."

He shrugged again. "It kinda is... I'll figure it out though. It was just something new, you know."

Beth smiled and said, "If it helps, Rooney, it's the same way for a girl the first time it happens, too. You know, it's like, one day you're a little girl, almost just like a little boy except for the clothes. Then, out of the blue, you start gaining weight in funny places, your period starts, you get pimples and greasy hair and you feel so ugly that you can't even look at yourself in the mirror. Then, one day, you wake up and you feel pretty, so you dress up a little and go out and, without any warning, a boy - or a boy's mother - suddenly starts looking at you differently. Like you're breading stock or something. I can remember the first time it happened to me, too. It really shakes you up."

Paul nodded and laughed a little. "She said we'd have beautiful babies. Can you imagine that? It made me feel really weird."

"She was just being a mom, honey." Lilly smiled. "I've thought the same thing about you and Lori a million times. It's just hardwired into moms to think that way."

"Oh, we're going to have REALLY beautiful babies, Mrs Rooney! Aren't we Paulie?" Lori was beaming.

"See, that doesn't make me feel weird," Paul said, "because I know that between you and me we have the right equipment to make that happen."

"But not too soon, you two!" Lilly teased.

"I don't know, maybe I just read too much into it," Paul said, "but she just made me feel funny."

Suddenly, he sat up straighter, "But enough about that. I feel like having a waffle for breakfast. Let's see if we can get a waitress over here so we can eat."

They all agreed, but Lilly teased, "Now, don't go stuffing yourself this morning, Paulie. I don't want to have to let out the seams on grandma's dress."

Everyone laughed as the waitress arrived to take their orders. When she'd left with their menus, Paul looked at the women and asked, "Do I really look like I'm fourteen?"

They all laughed, again. "I think it's the bangs, Paulie," Lilly said. "They're kind of old fashioned, so they make you look a little younger than a more modern cut would."

"Just wait till your done at Auntie Alison's, today, baby," Lori gave his shoulders a playful jostle. "You'll look all grownup and beautiful.

"Just like your grandma, Rooney." Beth smiled. "Just like you wanted, right?"

Paul smiled and nodded. He'd enjoy every moment today, then make the real decisions tomorrow.

They arrive at Alison's salon at 9:27 for their appointments. Lori and Beth were just getting a quick touch up for their hair and makeup and Lilly was getting her hair "done" for real. Paul, of course, was getting 'the works.'

Paul knew that his mother was getting hers done - she frequently had a salon appointment on Saturday mornings. "Why are you guys getting your makeup done?" he asked Lori and Beth.

"We just wanted to spend a day at the salon with you, baby," Lori smiled.

"It may be our only chance, right Rooney?" Beth added.

Paul accepted their stories and he went to Alison's chair to begin his day.

"Hop up into the chair, young lady," Alison patted the seat and smiled. "Let's get you ready for your big day."

Until now, Paul had been rational and focused on just doing this for his grandmother and he knew that it pleased Lori and his mother, but now - he had actual butterflies in his stomach. He was very excited and not just because of the picture, but because he wanted this. He wanted to be beautiful. He wanted to put on that dress and look gorgeous. He wanted to be the beautiful young woman that his grandmother had been - for real.

The chair was swung around and as the back dropped, placing Paul's head in sink, he thought about where he was. He was in a place that was reserved for women. Women who wanted, just like he did, to be beautiful. It was where he was meant to be, but it was also exciting because it was, in a way, forbidden.

The warm water felt wonderful and the feeling of Alison's beautifully manicured fingers scratching into his scalp felt glorious. Then she squeezed the excess water from his hair, wrapped it in a turban, sat him back up, then set to work.

She brushed his hair and pulled over a cart of rollers. "Your hair is holding the body-perm nicely, Paulie, but I'm going to just curl the back a little more for today. It'll make the chignon even fuller and I'm going to put a few small curlers in your bangs so that they curl correctly. I could do that with a curling iron, but since I'm going to put you under the dryer, anyway, we might as well kill two birds with one stone, ok?"

"Sure," Paul smiled. "Whatever you need to do is fine with me. I'm all yours."

"Oh, honey," Alison giggled as she started rolling the first curler into place, "that is a dangerous thing for a boy to say around here!"

The three pink curlers she put into Paul's bangs were fairly small in size, as Alison had stated, but she put a variety of different sizes into the hair in back of his head. "It creates a kind of 'structured-messy' effect," she explained. "You'll love it, I promise."

Once the curlers were in, Alison put a hair net over his head and placed him under a dryer beside an older woman. Within minutes, there was a twenty-something woman sitting on a rolling stool in front of him. She had a rolling cart as well. She said something, but Paul could not hear her, but she reached down and lifted his left foot so that it sat on the front of her stool and she grabbed a cotton ball, soaked it in nail polish remover and began removing the polish from his toes, replacing it with the same, deep, brilliant red color. When his toes were done she went to work on his finger nails, leaving the French manicured nails glistening with a new, clear coat of lacquer. She communicated with Paul via smiles and hand gestures throughout her chore, which lasted as long as Paul was cooking under the dryer.

When Paul's dryer hood was lifted, the older woman next to him lifted hers and said, "You're getting the whole nine yards today, sweetheart, aren't you?"

Paul smiled and nodded.

"Are you in a wedding? I know that prom is a few weeks off, still."

He smiled again and gave a quick explanation of recreating the picture of his grandmother.

"Oh, my dear, what a wonderfully thoughtful thing to do." She waved her hands near her eyes. "Oh, look at me... you've got me all teary eyed. Come here, dear."

Paul came forward and the woman took both of his hands in hers and she smiled up at him. "You are a very special young lady. Don't let the world jade you, honey. Stay exactly the way you are, today, do you hear me?"

"Ok. ma'am. I promise. I won't change."

"I hope not. Young women are so bright eyed and so full of love." She kissed both of his hands. "Next time I see you here, I would love to see the picture."

He smiled broadly. "I'll make sure you see it, ma'am. I promise."

"What's you're name, honey?"

"Paulie."

"Well, Polly, you have a wonderful day."

"You, too, ma'am. Bye bye."

"Come on, Paulie," Alison called. "We're falling behind!"

Paul wiggled his fingers as a wave to his new friend as he hurried to Alison's chair. When the curlers were out, she ran a brush through his hair until his hair was full and lustrous. "Did you like the chignon, Paulie?"

He did.

"So, for today, I'm going to do the same thing, only fancier. The chignon will be made up of waves and curls that will have the baby's breath woven into it. How does that sound?"

He shrugged. "Wonderful, I guess? I don't really know much about this, but I love everything you've done up to this point."

"Do you?" Alison continued her work as she spoke. "I've been thinking a lot about you, you know?"

"Really? Why?"

"I've been wondering what it must be like for a boy - a young man, really - to suddenly be so deeply involved in all this." She spoke in a normal volume, but with so much activity going on in the salon, no one seemed to notice what was being said. "It must be pretty strange for you."

Another shrug from Paul. "I don't know... It all moved pretty slowly at first, I guess. Then, it took on a life of its own. I was helping my mom with a big sewing project, and then she saw how much I looked like my grandma. Now, I'm here."

Alison smiled at the innocent response. She knew that there had to be something just a bit kinky in all of this. She knew her niece well enough to know that she was getting pretty hot-and-bothered by her girly-boyfriend.

She decided to push the point a bit. "And after the photographer leaves today? Is that it? Then you go right back to being a boy?"

There was a pause before Paul answered. "I... I don't really know. Mom's sewing project isn't done yet, so there's that and... well, I just don't know..."

Alison smiled as she looked at the picture of Paul's grandmother and began sculpting his hair on top of his head.. "You like it, don't you? All the pampering, the hair, the makeup... it's not easy to give all of that up once you've tried it. I know that I couldn't."

Paul watched her work in the mirror and thought about what she'd said for several moments before he said, "And would that be so bad? I mean, if I stayed looking this way. Would that be a bad thing?"

He felt the gentle stab of a bobby-pin being pressed into his scalp to hold an elegantly puffed pile of hair on top of his head and he heard Alison say, "That's not for me to say, Paulie, but I will tell you that I have girls your age in here every single day and I bet that ninety percent of them would kill to be as cute as you are. You've got the hair, the eyes, the face, the smile - you've got it all going on as a girl. Do you like feeling pretty?"

Paul smiled. "I really do. It makes me feel very special."

"And did you like dressing up and looking handsome as a boy?"

That was a good question. In fact, he never really did like dressing up and wearing a tie. His suit coat was heavy and binding and the shoes were all clumsy and uncomfortable. "Not really, no. Besides, I don't think that I look very handsome in a suit. I just kind of feel - out of place."

"And in a dress?"

"Well, honestly, I haven't really gone out that much in a dress. I mean, I went to the country club on Tuesday, but that didn't work out so well - Not because of the dress. I really liked the dress and how I looked in it. It was something else, but..."

"Did you go out last night?"

"Yes, but just to the Greek place down the street. Nothing fancy. And we had breakfast at Louie's Diner this morning."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did you get compliments?"

"Yeah, sure. I got lots of compliments. My big brother even said I looked like a princess last night."

"In that pink dress? Trust me, sweet-pea, you definitely would have made Cinderella look like the house-maid that she really was if you'd gone to the ball in that! You looked absolutely adorable."

"Really?" Paul had the same smile that Alison had seen a million times before on adolescent girls when they realized how beautiful they had become. He was definitely smitten.

"Really, Paulie. How Do you like your hair?"

He'd been lost in the conversation until now. Starting with his cute, wispy, curled bangs, his hair rose to a puffy, perfect ball on top of his head, then pulled behind his head, where it was sculpted into another, oblong puff of a chignon, but it was full and curly and delicate. The very center of the chignon was a rose sculpted of his very own hair! It was inconceivable to Paul that anyone had the skill to do such things with hair! He'd never seen anyone with hair this beautiful outside of a bridal magazine.

"Alison..."

"What? You don't like it?"

"Like it? It's amazing! I LOVE IT!" His skin actually flushed from excitement. In the gusset of his panties, Paul could feel himself stiffening dangerously, but he didn't want that right now. He just wanted to look at his hair. His beautiful, amazing hair!

"Now, watch this." Paul closed his eyes Alison sprayed some spray into his hair. When he opened them, though, he was shocked to see that there was a sparse layer of glitter in this hair. He glittered! He actually glittered!!! "You like?"

"Oh, my God! I didn't think it could look better than it did..."

"Oh, I'm not done, honey." She pulled out several sprigs of greenery with little, white flowers with tiny yellow centers. "Now, I'm going to weave these into your hair. A little baby's breath for your grandmother's new, baby girl."

He could not wait to see what everything would look like. As she started weaving the stems into his hair, he became fidgety, trying to see each bud in the mirror, all the while praying not to have an orgasm right here in this sanctum-sanctorum of femininity.

"Oh, my heavens, Paulie, look at you!" It was Lilly's voice as she stood behind him and looked at his hair from every angle. "I swear, you're even more beautiful than my mother was." He really was at least as beautiful as the girl in the picture.

"And we haven't done his makeup, yet," Alison pointed out, "but we're going to move to a makeup station for that."

She pulled his cape off and helped him stand, noticing that his eyes were riveted to the mirror. She exchanged a knowing smile with Lilly. They'd both had this same experience as girls. That first time that you're really done up for an event! You could never forget that feeling of being truly beautiful and Paul would be feeling that all day today. What a wonderful thing to share with your daughter and an even more wonderful thing to share with your son.

Alison gave Lilly another smile and a raise of her eyebrows before speaking to Paul, "Do you need a bathroom break before we start your makeup, sweetheart?"

Paul thought for a moment before saying, "I probably should."

"Ok. It's just back there. We'll meet you at my makeup station when you're all done."

He smiled. "Thank you," and he hustled off.

"He'll be a few minutes, I'm sure," Alison grinned at Lilly.

"Oh?" Lilly was oblivious for a moment before she realized Alison's implication. "Oh! You don't think that he's going to....? He wouldn't do that here, though!"

Alison laughed as she led Lilly across the salon. "I'm shocked that he hasn't just cum in his panties at this point. He's a boy, Lilly. Boys can't help it. Just let him deal with it. He'll be fine."

Paul closed the door to the lavatory behind him. It was not tiny, but not spacious, either. Big enough for the toilet and a fairly large vanity as well as a little room in case a woman needed to change her clothes. There was a large mirror over the vanity and full length mirror on the door behind him so he could look in the vanity mirror and see both the front of his hair and the back simultaneously. He was enraptured by it all. His hair and his dress. His smooth face. He was shaking. At a time like this, the last thing he wanted was to think about his boyish genitals, but he knew that he'd be in trouble if he didn't deal with a growing problem very soon.

He took a moment to remove his the lovely dress and hang it on a hook on the wall.

Oh, Lord, if anything was ever worth the effort, this was it. The realistic breasts in the soft, lacy bra and the silky panties that matched perfectly, but as beautiful as his panties were, they had to go and go quickly! He stepped out of them and hung them as well. Now, when he looked in the mirror, he saw a beautiful girl with a sizable, rigid penis where she should be smooth. Her penis was smooth and hairless, like a little boy's, but it was definitively functioning in a manly manner. He shivered just a little as he realized that even his most manly attribute looked as if it belonged to a junior high schooler. For some reason, even that excited him.

He raised the toilet seat and sat with his legs spread, allowing him to be able to aim himself down into the bowl when the time came.

He'd avoided touching himself all week. He didn't want to ruin his soft female garments with ugly male behavior, or stain them with... well, no need to think about that.

When the shiny fingernails touched him, they felt alien - not like they were attached to his hands, but like they were someone else's - Lori's, maybe, but feminine, regardless. They tickled him as they gently toyed with him. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the feeling of the fingers, as he slipped their softness around himself.

As his excitement built, his mind played tricks on him, and suddenly it was the penis that felt alien. The amount of hand and face cream he'd used over then past few weeks had soften his hand - which, of course, was very familiar with his penis - but he hadn't realized that the body washes had softened the skin on his boyhood so much. That, combined with the lack of pubic hair, made everything feel different.

It wasn't his hand - it was a woman's hand - yet, somehow he was that woman.

It wasn't his penis - it was another man's penis - yet, somehow, he was touching that other man's penis.

He could smell the fresh hairspray in his hair and taste the pink lipstick he'd reapplied after breakfast and the breasts on his chest and the bra securing them and hugging him so softly, securely and lovingly and he could feel the other man's penis stiffen and twitch as his pace increased and his breathing became ragged.

The soft "Ahh!!!" of a woman resounded in the room as the man's twitching became spasms and it exhausted itself in the soft, controlling, female hand that Paul was manipulating, but Paul continued to caress it to make sure that he milked every creamy drop from the man.

Finally, he shivered and shook as he felt something shake his entire body through and through. It was an icy feeling that shot from the area of his fingers and groin and then shot through him, leaving behind a warmth that overwhelmed him to his core. His eyes shot open as he sputtered to inhale until it passed and when it did, it left him feeling spent, yet fulfilled in a way that he'd never felt before.

"Oh, my God, Oh, my God, Oh, my God..." he muttered quietly as the shaking stopped and his breathing returned to normal. He closed and opened his eyes several time as he slowed his breathing and regained control of himself. What had happened? Whatever it was, it had never happened before and he sure as heck wanted it to happen again - but not now. Now, he had to clean up and get back to being the virginal vision in the picture. He looked at himself and his surroundings. He was a little sweaty, not too bad, he could clean himself and wash his face, but he'd completely forgotten to adjust his aim before his climax. This would take a few minutes to clean up.

Paul glanced at the clock as he reentered the salon. He had no concept of how long he'd been in there. It could have been three minutes and it could have been three hours. He was both relieved and embarrassed to see that it had been thirteen minutes. No one takes that much time in the lavatory unless they're suffering from a stomach bug or...

He spotted Alison at her makeup station, but his mother seemed to have left the salon.

Alison smiled as he sat down. "Feel better, sweetie?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Things like this can get very exciting, can't they?"

'Oh, my God!' Paul thought, "She knows what I just did."

Alison felt him tense up, so she let him off the hook. "Probably gave you an upset stomach, huh?

He relaxed. "I guess...Yeah."

She brushed on a base coat of makeup to smooth out his skin tone, then worked his cheeks a little.

"Your grandmother had a very wholesome look for back then. Most girls of that era overdid it with lots of blue on their eyelids. Lucky for you, your grandmother was subtle. You have those light blue eyes, so I'm going to use a brown eyeliner instead of black. It will keep everything looking more natural for you."

She leaned down as she worked on his face, standing to judge her work on occasion and showing smiles or scowls depending on how she evaluated the makeup job.

After a good long time in the chair, Lori popped her head into his sight line. "Baby, Beth and I have to go. We'll see you at the house in a little while. Your mom is back, now, so, you should be all set. Ok?" She kissed his cheek and whispered, "Oh, baby, you look so pretty!"

He smiled. "I love you."

She stood back up. "I love you too, baby. Oh, my God, this is SO EXCITING!!!"

Alison went back to work and pretty soon, Paul saw his mother smiling down at him. "Paulie, Paulie, Paulie..." she said quietly, "you are not going to believe how beautiful you are."

Finally, Alison proclaimed him ready. He stood and looked in the mirror, then looked again to be sure that it was, in fact, his reflection. The girl who looked back at him was truly beautiful. Her face was plump, soft and white, with huge, soft blue eyes that were lidded with long, dark lashes and the classic, deep, velvety, red lips were bigger, plumper and more inviting than anything he could have imagined.

The thing that was most shocking, though, was that, despite the modern, flowered, yellow sundress, the girl in the mirror WAS the girl in the picture. He had actually become that girl. He had actually become his grandmother.

He tingled with excitement and the anticipation of completing the look with that beautiful dress.

"So," Alison explained to both of them, but mostly to Lilly, "Everything he's wearing is waterproof and long lasting. I'm sending Home a tube of the lipstick with you, just in case, but he should be fine, even if he eats or drinks before the picture. Now, before you go, I want you to promise me that I will get a copy of the picture, ok?"

Lilly air-kissed Alison's cheek, promised to bring a picture as soon as possible and told Paul to thank Alison so that they could get going.

"Alison..." he started, "l don't even know what to say. I can't believe that you made me look like... well, like THIS! Thank you, so much."

"Oh, you are so welcome, little girl. Now, you go home and look pretty for everyone."

He smiled broadly and with an unselfconsciously feminine nod of his head, he took his mother's hand and allowed himself to be led to the door.

It was too early for Paul to get completely dressed, but, because he was so excited, when they returned home, he wanted to start getting ready, so his apparel for the late morning was comprised of the silk and lace matching bra and panty set that Lilly had bought specifically for this event, the waist nipper, the open toed, cream colored pumps and the new, knee length petticoat that was covered in layers and layers of soft, bouncy, lacy material.

At 12:30, an hour before the photographer was to arrive, Beth and Lori both showed up, dressed beautifully - Lori in a short, gold, formal dress that she'd worn to a wedding last summer and Beth in a very pretty, sleeveless, white top and the pleated skirt she'd bought the day before.

"Hello, hello!" Lori called as they entered, finding Paul hurrying to grab a shirt. "Relax, baby," Lori told him, "we've seen you in much less."

Beth assessed her friend in his finery and said, "Hocky smokes, Rooney! You're making me feel underdressed and you haven't even finished getting ready, yet!"

Paul smiled, but pulled on the checked blouse with the darts in it that he'd worn back when his mother started all of this.

"I thought that I heard you two come in." Lilly entered looking beautiful in a sparkling, champagne colored, cocktail dress. "And you both look absolutely beautiful."

"So," Paul sat, smoothing his petticoats daintily beneath him, then crossing his legs at the knees, "is anyone going to tell me why everyone is so dressed up?"

"No big surprise, honey," Lilly smiled. "Since I'm paying for a photographer, I thought that it would be nice to get pictures of the whole family. I've even invited Keith to get dressed up and join us. You don't mind, do you?"

He smiled. "Why would I mind? I'm getting pictures with everyone I love! I'm thrilled!"

"Would you like us to help him get dressed, Mrs Rooney?" Lori asked.

"Oh, no, no, no. Not yet. I'd like to wait until the photographer is all set and ready to go before Paulie is dressed. That way he can't get wrinkled, but while we are waiting, Lori, come on in the dinning room. I'd like you to take a look at something I'd like to add to your prom dress."

Beth sat with Paul while the other women left. "How're you holding up, Rooney. You've already had a big day, huh?"

"I'm great, Beth. Thank you for asking. I'm really excited. I mean, after everything we've done this week, I can't wait to actually do this."

She reached over and held his hand. "And after this?"

He shrugged. "I'm still not sure, but I have boobs till tomorrow night, so I'm a girl till then, anyway."

"Boobs, or not, Rooney, you're about a kagillion times more girly than I am right now, and I have a vagina."

"You're not jealous are you?" Paul asked as he batted his eyelashes at her.

"Kinda, actually!" She joked. "Seriously, though? You don't have any idea what you're going to do?"

"Beth - look at me. I've never felt more beautiful or special or important as I do right now. No one every looked twice at me before. Now..."

"So... you're going girly?"

"Like I said, I still haven't decided. As special as I feel right now, this would definitely be a lot more work than going back to being a boy. And I don't mean the beauty parlor and all. I mean explaining who I am and what I am all the time. So, I still just don't know."

At that moment, a minivan pulled up in the driveway.

"That's the photographer!" Lilly shouted as she hurried through the kitchen to exit onto the back porch, waving and calling all the way.

Paul and the girls giggled at her enthusiasm as they watched the somewhat flustered man being led around to the back yard by Lilly, who spoke nonstop and with broad hand gestures.

"Did she sleep at all last night?" Beth asked.

"I think so. Why?" Paul looked out the window to see if any assistance was needed out back.

"Because she's more excited than a kid on Christmas."

"It's nice to see old people excited, though," Lori said.

"You want to see the flip side of my mom's 'happy and excited coin?' Let her hear you calling her 'old!'" Paul laughed. "Years from now, I'll be looking at pictures of me and Beth and mom and Keith and feeling sad because mom threw my girlfriend out of the house that day."

Lori laughed. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. I know when to keep my mouth shut."

A short while later, the photographer and Lilly came into the kitchen. Lilly was still talking nonstop.

"...Keith just text me that he was on his way, so we can get Paulie dressed and we'll be ready when he gets here, ok? Oh, and this is Paulie."

Paul stood and offered the man his hand.

The photographer took it and shook it gently. "Hi, Polly. I guess you're my victim today, huh?"

Paul smiled. "I am. This is Lori and this is Beth. They're victims, too."

The photographer smiled. He liked this girl. She was quick. "Hi, girls. Just call me Rick."

"Hi, Rick," they said in unison.

"Oh, here's Keith, now," Lilly said, taking Paul by the shoulders and leading him into the dinning room. "Lori, I'll need your help and Beth, would you be a dear and grab my camera?" She nodded at Beth and kind of directed her eyes towards the back door in a manner indicating that Beth needed to do something.

Paul was immediately suspicious that something was going on, but Lilly guided him into the other room too quickly for him to ask any questions.

Lilly took the dress off the hanger and turned to Paul, who was removing his blouse. She looked at her son - her petite, beautiful son with his perky breasts, his stunning red lips, his silky skin and equally silky, lace adorned lingerie - and she couldn't help it. Her emotions took over and tears of joy flowed from her eyes as she hugged her mother's empty dress to her own bosom.

Paul smiled as he approached his mother and hugged her and the dress. "Are you ok, mommy?"

"I'm just... so happy, Paulie. You're so beautiful and you've done so much and been through so much to get ready for today... I know it's silly to cry, but, honestly, sweetheart, I just can't help myself."

He hugged her more tightly before releasing her and smiling at her, his own eyes glistening with tears of joy. "You'd better stop, mommy, or I'm going to start crying, too."

He turned to face Lori only to find her wiping tears from her eyes, too. "Oh, you two... look what you've done to me, now." She giggled at her own emotionalism.

Out in the kitchen Paul heard Keith say, "Hi, Beth. Where's the lady of honor?"

"In the dining room getting into the dress," Beth responded.

Then the voices became hushed. There were women's voices as well. 'Keith must have brought Abby,' Paul thought. That was fine. He thought that they'd reached an agreement at the restaurant last night when he'd felt more confident in her presence than he'd ever felt before. Besides, even if she was only feigning her contrition, she'd behave herself with all of these people around.

"Turn and face towards mommy, baby," Lilly said softly.

He did.

"Are you ready?"

He nodded.

"Lori, I think we need Beth's help, too."

Lori went to the door, said hello to Keith and called Beth in to help.

Finally, with the three women creating a triangle around him, the dress was lifted carefully over his head, then lowered down onto his hairless arms, past his gorgeous hair, until it rested on his tiny, feminine shoulders. Then they continued to guide it past his breasts and hips to settle over the petticoats.

All four of them shivered at the beauty of the frock. It was, truly, every girl's fantasy to wear something this painstakingly rendered. Something that glittered and shone in the midday light of the dining room.

Even Beth wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Rooney..." she was at a loss for words. That never happened. "Paulie..." She hugged him and kissed his cheek and whispered, "I love you."

Paul whispered back, "I love you too, Beth. You're the best friend I've ever had."

Beth shook her head. "You're not my friend, Paulie. You're my little sister - or my little brother - or whatever, but we're family, now."

"Oh!" Paul squealed quietly, his eyes melting towards tears.

"No," Beth scolded, her eyes doing the same, "no more tears. Just be beautiful."

"Do you have my camera, Beth?" Lilly asked.

Beth nodded and grabbed the camera from the table and handed it to Lilly.

"Lori," Lilly continued to direct the scene, "ask the photographer and Keith to come in."

When they'd both come in, Lilly said, "Ok, now, Keith, I want you to button up the dress and we'll take pictures."

Keith came up behind Paul, put both hands his shoulders, leaned over and kissed his cheek then said quietly, "Wow, princess, you look amazing."

"Thank you," Paul smiled as he leaned his head back into his brother's chest.

"Ok," Lilly took over, again, let's get started. "Abby," she called over Keith's shoulder, "Come on in and see this, too."

Abby took her place next to Beth. She looked happy, if a bit sheepish.

"Ok, Keith," Lilly continued, "just pose like you're fastening the buttons."

"Like this," the big man asked as he pretended to work the buttons.

"Yes, just like that." Cameras clicked and everyone smiled.

Paul giggled at the silliness of the situation.

"Alright," Lilly proclaimed, "now, button Paulie up for real, but do it SLOWLY so you don't pull the material. It's very delicate."

"Ok," Keith laughed.

It took a moment, but the buttons started to close around Paul's waist, slowly and carefully.

"Just keep looking toward me, Polly," Rick, the photographer said as the camera clicked and clicked.

After a minute or so, the dress had been buttoned about half way up, but pictures were still being taken. "This all seems a bit excessive," Paul laughed.

"It sure does," Keith agreed as he stepped in front of Paul and moved beside Abby. He smiled at his younger brother.

It took a moment for Paul to realize that the dress was still closing around him, yet Keith was not the person closing it. He started to turn to see who was fastening the buttons, but a voice scolded, "Now, don't squirm or I'll never get this buttoned up."

He looked forward again at the six smiling faces of the people who were all taking picture after picture after picture.

"Who...?" he mouthed, as the buttons were attached all the way to the top of the dress.

Small, cool fingers caressed his bare shoulders. "There. You're all set, now."

Paul turned slowly to see a woman in her seventies, but looked as if she was in her fifties, her beautifully coiffed hair was nearly identical in color to Paul's.

"Grandma!" Paul whispered.

"Paulie," she smiled as she stroked his hair. "You look beautiful, pumpkin. Why, I don't think I ever looked half as pretty in that dress as you do." She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.

Paul was in an emotional overload. He'd been a bit trepidatious about how his grandmother would react to the picture. He hadn't ever considered her actually being here and seeing him in HER dress! Now, here she was and she seemed absolutely at ease with the fact that her grandson had gone to very great lengths to look just like she had at his age.

"Grandma..." He sputtered, "... are you, you know, ok with this? How did you even found out?"

Keith chimed in, "That's kind of my fault, Paulie. Sorry. I stopped by grandma's to talk about the wedding and everything, and I just assumed that she knew about the dress and the picture. Anyway, since the cat was out of the bag already, I invited her to come for the pictures. I hope that you're ok with that, Paulie."

"Paulie, sweetheart," his grandmother caressed his cheek again, "I'm your grandmother and I love you and I truly love that you and your mother would go to all this trouble for me."

They smiled at each other, then Paul hugged her and nestled his head into her neck. "I love you, too, grandma."

"Do you realize," she reminisced, "that I met your grandfather fifty five years ago tonight while I was wearing that dress? It was one of the most wonderful nights of my life. I really didn't want to get all dressed up to be paraded around like I was in some kind of an auction, but I did it for my daddy - and thanks heavens I did..."

She pulled Paul to arms length so she could take him in. "...because everything good that happened in my life happened because of that night. I was with your grandpa for nearly fifty of marriage and he gave me your auntie and your mommy and they gave me your cousins and Keith and, of course, you, Paulie - my sweet, pretty, baby."

Paul smiled and blushed. "We all love you, too, grandma. And so did grandpa. I remember how you two always held hands and kissed no matter where you were. You were the only two grownups I knew who did that."

His grandmother ran her hands down his arms and she flounced his skirts and watched them settle. "I remember how your grandfather looked at me the night I wore this dress. I knew right then and there that he was the man I would marry - and I did - and he looked at me that same way every single day until the day he died."

She looked at Lori. "What do you think of Paulie looking like this?"

"I think he's the most beautiful, exciting thing I've ever seen."

"Good." She nodded and smiled. "That's a good answer." She kissed his cheek, again. "You truly are a beautiful girl, Paulie. Now, I think we should go outside and take some pictures."

"An excellent idea!" Rick clapped his hands. "Ladies," then to Keith, "and sir, let's head out to the backyard and get this started. Mrs Rooney has a long list of portraits she wants taken. So, the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done."

Paul grabbed the tiny, lace covered, white gloves that completed his ensemble and they all filed out the sliding door in the living-room, across the deck, down the patio-stone-walkway to the flowering bush that made up the focal point of the beautiful back yard. The Bush was in full bloom with huge pink, blue and white balls of color exploding from each blossom. It made a perfect backdrop, just as it had fifty-plus years ago when his grandmother wore this same dress.

"We'll start with the recreation of the original picture," Rick announced. "Polly, I need you to stand here and look towards that corner of the house..." he went on directing Paul.

Paul's grandmother stood back a few feet to watch all of the excitement. Her daughter and her grandsons and the women who were important to them, all together in the yard in which she'd grown up. It was a wonderful moment and she just wanted to take it all in.

As she sighed with contentment, the one young woman that she didn't know approached her and extended her hand.

"Hi," the pretty young woman said, "I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Beth. I'm Paulie's friend."

The older woman smiled. "From what I understand, Beth, you're much more than Paulie's friend. You were Paulie's savior this week. I'm Rose, Paulie's grandmother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs...?"

"Call me grandma, please. I can see how much you mean to Paulie." She kissed Beth's cheek. "Thank you for being the sister he needs."

'Wow!' Beth thought while thinking back to the conversation she'd had with Paul less than a half an hour ago. 'I like this lady!'

"I think we're ready," Rick announced as he adjusted his lighting just a little.

He took several pictures and each time his shutter opened, the resulting image popped up on his laptop where he could compare it to the original picture. At first, he adjusted Paul's stance or raised or lowered the camera on its tripod, but it just wasn't coming out as perfectly as he wanted. Something wasn't quite right.

"I'm going to see what they're doing," Beth told Rose, who accompanied her to look at the computer screen.

There was a lot of discussion going on as they reviewed the shots. Everyone had an opinion, but they just couldn't put their finger on what was amiss.

Rose knew, though.

While the others conversed, rose went and whispered to her beautiful grandchild.

"Paulie, in my day, women weren't like Lori and Beth. We weren't independent like they are, now. That came later. We were demure. I didn't WANT to be a debutante. I was TOLD that I had to be one and I did as my father told me. The saving grace of preparing for the ball was this dress, Paulie. It made me feel so grown up and womanly; just like you feel, right now, but, Paulie, we weren't allowed to show as much joy as you're showing. Think about what it was like to know that, even if you met the man of your dreams, that he would always be your superior. Thank God, your grandfather was different, but that's what we girls had to look forward to, back then. You need to bow your head, just a little, baby, then, look back up at the camera and when you smile, just let me see your front teeth - not the huge smile you're showing now. Do you understand, sweetness?"

Suddenly, Paul felt a little sad for his grandmother, but then he thought about how much he depended on Lori to be strong for him, to take care of him. How strong she was when he needed her to be.

He thought about Beth, too. His rock when he was falling apart.

And he understood. Completely. Totally. He understood what his grandmother was telling him. He was more like her than he had ever thought.

"Thank you, grandma." He kissed her cool, smooth cheek. "I think I know what to do."

"Let's try it again," Rose called as she moved behind the others.

"Ok," Rick looked through his lenses again and refocused on Paul.

'Click' went the camera and they all looked to the laptop to see the result.

It was perfect. His eyes were just slightly lidded, his smile was sincere, but more maidenly, more feminine. All the changes were small and subtle, but they were what was needed. The photo was identical to the original. It was impossible to tell if the virginal, fertile image of blossoming womanhood was Rose or Paul.

They all sighed in relief. They'd done it. Lilly and Rose had their picture! Now, they could move on to the simpler chore of photographing all of them in large and small groups.

Rick had packed up his gear and was backing out of the driveway, as Keith, who had carried most of the gear from the backyard, reentered the house, his tie loosened, three shirt buttons unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up. "Well, mom, I'd say that you've had a very successful day. What do you think?"

Lilly kissed her oldest son's cheek. "I think it has been a wonderful day, so far, but I don't think it's over yet, though." She turned to the rest of the crowded kitchen, "listen, we're all dressed up, let's all go out to dinner. My treat."

"Oh, that would be lovely," Rose clapped her hands, "but it's Saturday evening. Where could we go with seven people and expect to get in? I don't want to stand and wait for an hour or more."

Lilly smiled, slyly, "I took the initiative and I made a reservation for seven people at "The Cupola" for 6:15 this evening. What do you say, everyone?"

"Am I going out in this?" Paul asked.

"No, honey," Lilly smiled at him. "You'll need to change into something else, but it should be something nice."

Paul's heart sunk just a bit at the prospect of taking off this amazing dress, but he'd still be dressed up, so that would be good. "What should I wear?"

"Well, with that hair and makeup, it should be something very nice. What do you have?"

"Everything I have is either casual or kind of everyday. The only 'very nice' dresses that fit me are the bridesmaids dresses and this one."

"Oh!" Lori offered, "I have just the dress for you, Paulie! I wore it for my confirmation. We saved it for Meredith, but it's a little small for her. I'm sure it'll fit you. I'll run home and grab it. I'll be back in twenty minutes!"

"Ok," Paul laughed at her enthusiasm and she ran out the door.

"I guess that takes care of that, then," Lilly laughed, then looked at her mother who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Lori has been in heaven since Paulie started wearing dresses to get ready for this."

"Come here, Paulie, sweetness," Rose called.

When Paul reached her, she took his hands in hers and spread his arms wide. With her seated, her head was just about bosom high to him and afforded her an unimpeded view of the dress on his petite form. "I can't believe that this dress looks this good after being in storage for so long. Or that you could look so beautiful in it, Paulie."

"Thank you, grandma."

She smiled at him, then asked, "So, now what, Paulie?"

"What do you mean, grandma?"

"I mean what now? Are you going to be my grandson or my granddaughter?"

"I'm not really sure, yet, grandma. I've decided that I need to make a decision before I go to bed tomorrow so that I know what I'm going tell people at school."

Rose nodded and considered how difficult this could be for Paul. She smiled at him and said, "You are a wonderful grandchild, Paulie." She kissed both his hands and held them to her chest. "Whatever you decide, I know that you always will be my precious child, but, just so that you know, I have always imagined that you would look exactly like this if you'd been born a girl. Every time I looked at you, I saw myself as girl and now I see myself as a young woman. You are my special grandbaby, Paulie, no mater what."

"Thank you, grandma," the tears welled in his eyes. "You're my special grandmother, too."

She let go of his hands and laughed. "I'd be flattered if I weren't your only grandmother. Now, go get changed. Beth and Abby, would you please help him? I need to talk to Lilly and Keith for a few minutes."

Abby balked a bit at this, both because she felt that she was being dismissed so that 'the adults could talk,' and because she knew that both Beth and Paul were frosty towards her because of her, admittedly, horrid behavior of a few days ago, but, rather than ask to stay, she went, some what sulkily, with the teenagers.

There was a cool silence in the dining room for a few minutes until, finally, Beth said, "Abby, if you could start with his buttons, I'll run up and get his robe."

When Beth had headed up the stairs, Abby asked, "Is that ok, Paulie?"

Paul looked a bit confused. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry, I can't really reach much of anything in this. I'm kind of trapped until you get me out."

Abby smiled, then began to unbutton him, taking great care with each button. The last thing she needed right now was to damage the dress in some way and have Keith's family get mad at her, again.

"Abby," Paul asked, careful of his words, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I suppose."

"Do you love my brother?"

"Of course, I love him Paul. I'm going to marry him."

"I know you're going to marry him, but do you truly love him. You know - like 'you'd die if you had to live without him' kind of love? Do you truly LOVE him?"

Abby stood taller, having finished unfastening the buttons, and she thought about the question. "Paul... Paulie... To be honest, if I had to, I could probably live without Keith, but I truly do not want to. I really, really love him."

Paul nodded and shrugged the dress from his shoulders and undid the waist nipper. "Could you loosen my petticoat for me, please."

She did. "What about you, Paulie?"

"You mean, do I love Lori? Yeah. I'm completely in love with Lori."

"No." Abby lowered the dress and petticoats to the floor so he could step out of them. "I mean... do you love Keith enough to ever forgive me?"

Paul, in his pumps, panties and bra, turned to Abby and looked her in the eyes. She was at least four inches taller than him, but she looked small and frail, waiting for his answer. He wanted to be strong and cruel and leave her hanging for an answer, but it just wasn't in him - not any more. Instead, he hugged her, without saying a word.

It took Abby a moment or two to bring her arms up and hug him in return, but when she did, she started crying. The tears were tears of regret and of relief - and, most importantly they were sincere. It felt as if Paul had given her a ladder to climb out of the hole that she'd dug. She was grateful, relieved and happy.

"I'm sorry, Paulie. I'm really, really sorry. I was such a rotten bitch to you and, I'm just so, so sorry."

Paul released her and looked her in the eyes again. His smile grew, slightly, then he pulled his lips tight to keep from tearing up, himself. He nodded and sniffled before saying, "I'll never forget how you hurt me, Abby, but Keith certainly loves you, so I will, too."

"Thank you, Paulie." She picked up the dress and hung it and the petticoats from hangers. Then she turned to look at Paul. He seemed so... un-boy-like... in his lingerie, full breasts and smooth fronted panties. He also seemed completely unabashed about being not just in his underwear, but his women's underwear in front of her.

"Here you go, Rooney," Beth entered with a mid-thigh, light blue wrap in her hands. She held it so that Paul could slide into it.

"Thanks, Beth." He tied the belt.

When they rejoined Keith and the two older women in the kitchen, Paul just caught the end of something that Keith was saying, "...Abby and I really want to help out any way we can."

"Here are the girls, now," Rose said.

"Lori should be here in a moment," Beth said. "She sent me a text about five minutes ago saying she was on her way back with the dress. Rooney, she says that you should keep your white pumps on."

Paul shook his foot at Beth to show that he was in compliance. "Yes, ma'am."

"Here she is, now," Lilly pointed towards the window.

Lori burst through the door, breathless and carrying a dry cleaner's bag with a lavender dress within. "Sorry! I hope I didn't hold everyone up. It took a minute to find it in Meredith's closet. Come on, Paulie. I'll get you dressed."

"No need to rush," Lilly stood and straightened her dress. "As long as we're underway in the next ten minutes or so, we'll be fine."

Paul followed Lori into the dining room, started removing his robe, but someone from behind him helped him take it off. He turned to see his grandmother laying the robe on the back of a chair. "Heavens, your mother has turned my mother's beautiful dinning room into a garment district warehouse!" She smiled at her own joke as she looked at her grandson in his lingerie.

Paul returned her smile, then became just a bit self conscious as her eyes scanned him critically.

"Everything looks so real, Paulie. Those breasts are impressive, but your rump and hips, honey... they look like a girl's too. Not a woman's, yet, but you definitely have a head start."

He looked at his midsection and inspected himself. "Really?"

"Wouldn't you say so, Lori?" Rose asked his girlfriend.

Lori had pulled the dress free of the bag and pulled down the back zipper. "I certainly would," she smiled, too. "Arms up, baby, so I can get this on you. Grandma Rose, can you help with his hair?"

Lori stood in front and Rose in the back and they lowered the dress carefully onto Paul. Then, for the second time that day, Rose closed the back of a dress for her grandson. This time it was a delicate zipper that slide slowly up his spine.

When it was secured, she, again, patted his shoulders. "And your shoulders, sweetheart... they're small and feminine, too. I think you're making the right decision, sweetheart. You may be a boy, but you're built just like a beautiful girl."

The bodice was a stretchy mesh of flowers and leaves that formed a sheer tank-top of the dress, exposing the skin beneath, and leaving his shoulders bare to the world. At the cups of his bra, the dress material became denser to provide modesty, then it flared into several layers of very light material that formed a very flouncy skirt that ended midthigh, again giving him a youthful appearance, although, with the makeup he was wearing, he did look more like a sixteen or seventeen year old than he had at the restaurant last night.

As Lori flounced and straightened her boyfriend's dress, Paul said, "Grandma, I really haven't made any decision, yet. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do."

Rose watched as Lori fawned all over Paul, preening him to make him presentable and she watched how Paul submitted to the preening in a way that no boy ever would. She could see it in his eyes - he adored this treatment. "You'll make the right decision, Paulie. I'm sure you will."

Dinner was fairly uneventful. Paul's grandmother went to great lengths to let all of the wait staff know that he'd done something very special for her that day, although she didn't go into what it was, and that caused the wait staff to pay extra attention to him, which was nice. They brought him a special dessert; a huge ice cream sundae which he shared with everyone, prompting the waitress to point out to both Lori and Beth that they had a very special little sister, to which Keith called out, "We sure do! A toast to our little sister!" That had made them all smile as they raised their glasses, water glasses for the teens and wine for the older people.

At one point during the meal, Lori mentioned to Rose that Lilly was making Lori's prom dress, to which Rose said, "Oh, how marvelous, Lori! And, of course, Paulie, you'll be wearing my dress, right?"

Paul nearly spit out his gnocchi soup at that. "Grandma, I don't really know how I'll be dressing for prom, but your dress is way too valuable to ever wear out."

"I don't know, Rooney," Beth said, "if you actually decided to go that route, then you'd definitely stand out in that dress - especially if you wore the lace gloves and all."

Paul smiled at that. He knew that she was being as supportive as possible, and teasing just a bit, but, as usual, there was an undercurrent of truth to everything that Beth said.

"Oh, I miss the extra touches like the little lace gloves we used to wear," Rose lamented. "We'd go to church all dressed in beautiful dresses with lace gloves and matching lace veils... it was so beautiful. Of course, I know that you girls have it much better than when I was young and you don't have time for those kinds of frills, but I still miss them. I'm just an old fashioned girl, I guess, just like Paulie."

"Just what I'm looking for," Lori smiled and kissed his cheek. "Some one to take care of me."

Other than that, though most of the night had been just a dinner with the family.

As they left the restaurant, they all agreed to meet at Lilly's house tomorrow at 6:00 for dinner, following which, Paul would let everyone know how he was going to be presenting himself from then on. It was Paul's decision to make his announcement in this manner, but immediately after stating a time and place for his announcement, he felt a huge amount of pressure to make the correct decision.

Paul kissed his mother, grandmother, brother and his brother's fiancé before climbing into the VW with Lori and Beth. They dropped Beth off before they drove to the river for some much needed 'alone' time.

They spread a blanket on the bank and sat looking at the moon and the stars and breathing in the fresh night air.

That evening, their playfulness merely extended to playing with each other's breasts. Lori enjoyed the erotic novelty and fantasy of playing with Paul's new bosom, and Paul never tired of worshipping Lori's breasts.

"So, baby," Lori asked as Paul dry nursed, "What are you thinking? BoyPaulie or girl-Paulie?"

He shrugged as he continued. "I really don't know. I'll figure it all out tonight and tomorrow, though. Which Paulie do you want?"

She wanted so badly to say, 'Stay girly, please!!,' but she could hear Beth's voice in her head telling her that she couldn't put that kind of pressure on him. So, instead, she said, "You know I love you, baby, and I'll love you whatever you decide."

"Thanks. That's no help at all."

When he got home, it broke his heart to have to brush out his hair and remove his makeup. He'd looked so amazing all day that he'd just wanted it to go one forever. After he cleansed and washed his face several times, he noticed that his lips still held some tint and looked more plump than usual. He guessed that this was due to the high quality, long lasting color that Alison had used. He kind of liked it.

This night, he wore an emerald green, silky nightie to bed. It hung loosely and comfortably from his shoulders and felt luscious against his smooth, moisturized skin.

He climbed into bed, stared at the ceiling and cried. What should he do? Did he want to give up being a boy? Some parts, yes, he'd give up willingly, but he didn't want to give up women - Lori, to be specific - and he couldn't imagine not having a penis. He'd LOVE to have real breasts of his own, but was it possible to have those AND a working penis? He didn't know. And would he still look like a girl in a few years, or would he look like a foolish drag queen. Again, he didn't know.

He stared through the tears and hoped that he'd cry himself to sleep, but, instead, it turned into a long, long, long night.
 
 
To Be Continued...