If You're Not Paying It...: 4 Final

 

Once an attentive husband, Andrew has changed. Now, he's a moody, controlling jerk. Headed
for a divorce, his wife resorts to a radical solution. This is not the sweet/sentimental
kind of story I usually write. Nothing violent, or anything, but it is not like Disney
Princess or Dusty Rose.

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Author's Note: Please leave me a review? ~Clara.
 
This version of If You're Not Paying It...: 4 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.

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Chapter 10
 
 
Wednesday
 

"Why are we stopping here?" Andrew called from the back seat, playing nervously with his two perfect braids that started neatly on each side of his head and went straight down the back of each side of his head, as Karen pulled the minivan into a parking space in the garage below the office building where both Andrew and Maureen worked. He and Sadie were going to be Karen's guests at a boys basketball game at the high school. Brian had been burning up the court lately, and Karen liked to cheer him along. Brian was doing the same for Karen. Last week, he had sat with Sadie and Andrew and watched one of Karen's games. It was a lot of fun and Andrew had been looking forward to this. Karen and Sadie had picked both him up from the school and he was in his school uniform, excited to share time with the 'big kids' at the high school.

"We'll just be a minute. Mom needs me to drop off a gift for a baby shower tonight. She forgot to take it this morning."

The car slipped into park and Sadie and Karen both got out of the front seat. Andrew stayed put.

Karen opened the door and said, "Come on. We have to go upstairs to mom's office."

"I'll wait here," Andrew said as he folded his arms and looked like an obstinate twelve year old girl.

Karen sighed. "I can't leave you here, daddy," she whispered. "You're not a big guy anymore. You're a very pretty girl. I can't leave you alone in a parking garage. Anything could happen to you." She took his hand and smiled sweetly at him. "Come on. It will be quick."

Now it was Andrew's turn to sigh. He undid his seat belt and climbed out of the car, shaking his hand as he did. "Please, just to mom's office and right back out, ok?"

"Absolutely," Karen reassured him.

Sadie took his hand and they headed for the elevator.

"Karen!" Carolyn hollered as she tiptoed around her desk on her ridiculously high heels to give Karen a hug. "Oh, it's been ages since I've seen you and you've gotten so lovely. And this beautiful woman can't possibly be little Sadie who I met at Christmas! Why, this is a grown woman!"

"Oh, Carolyn, you're always so nice!" Karen beamed as did Sadie, while Andrew did his best to scoot behind anyone to avoid making eye contact with Carolyn.

"Don't tell me that there's another beautiful girl in your family, is there!?"

Karen had planned to just make a bee-line for her mom's office, but Carolyn had stopped them. Now, she hoped just to make a quick introduction and then get her dad out of sight, but Sadie, not realizing she would embarrass her uncle jumped in, "Yes, there is and she's the prettiest of all. This is our cousin, Andrea."

"Well, how do you do, Andrea?" Carolyn said in an unintentionally condescending tone, as she stood as tall as possible and extended a hand to Andrew.

He had gotten used to everyone else's size in proportion to his new height, but seeing Carolyn was different. She dressed in an office-sexy way that always excited Andrew and, now that she was so much bigger than him, he was feeling things stirring in his panties that should never be happening in panties.

He stared at the proffered hand for a moment before Sadie said, "Don't be rude. Shake the lady's hand, Andie."

"Andie!?!? Oh, how sweet! Just like your uncle! And, now that I look at you, you look just like a little, girly version of him." Carolyn continued as she shook his tiny hand in her much larger one.

"Doesn't she, though!?" came an excited voice from behind. Andrew knew the voice. It belonged to the last person he wanted to see here. A person he'd avoided being close to since he'd gotten smaller. A person who seemed to find his current predicament to be far too amusing. It was Hillary's voice.

Andrew had not turned around when he heard Karen say, "Hi, mom. Hi, Auntie Hilly."

Thank goodness. Maureen was with her. She wouldn't let Hillary humiliate him.

"Hi, baby," Maureen said to her daughter as she kissed her forehead. A kiss on Sadie's forehead followed and then a soft kiss on the crown of Andrew's head.

"Give auntie a hug and kiss," Hillary embraced Karen with her typical theatricality , as she gave her a noisy air-kiss on her cheek.

"And you, too, Sadie!" And the process was repeated.

"And you too, Princess Andie!" Andrew's heart sank as she grabbed him and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek. "Oops, I got a little lipstick on you, precious." She smiled as she rubbed the lingering lipstick from his face.

Then, she pulled him close and spun him to face Carolyn, while she hugged him tightly, pushing the back of his head into her bosom.

"Isn't she just the prettiest thing, Carolyn?" Hillary prodded.

"She sure is, m'am, but look at her cousins and aunts. Every girl in the Green family is gorgeous." Carolyn was being both diplomatic and sincere.

"Did you hear that Andie? Miss Carolyn said that you're a beautiful young lady. What do you say?" Hillary was enjoying herself, too much.

"Thank you, Miss Carolyn," Andrew said. "You're very kind."

"Alright then," Maureen tried to end Andrew's misery, "I guess you girls need to get to the game, right?"

But Hillary persisted. "I love your uniform, Andie. The little, plaid skirt, starched shirt, knee socks, Mary-Janes... it's like you stepped out of a catalog. And those lovely braids! Did your older cousin Sadie do that for you? My goodness, you're so cute, I just want to show you off."

There was a bit of an awkward silence, then Hillary continued, "Did you tell Miss Carolyn about your boyfriend or your big date this Saturday?"

Carolyn clapped her hands and smiled, the asked, conspiratorially - and, again, unintentionally condescendingly - "Do you have a boyfriend already, Andie? My, what a big girl you are, already!"

"He's not her 'boyfriend,'" Maureen intervened to curb the teasing. "He's just a nice boy who needed a date for a banquet. Andie is doing him a favor."

"Oh," Carolyn placed her cool palm on Andrew's cheek, again eliciting some very unfeminine feelings in Andrew's panties, "you're such a sweet girl. I'm sure he'll fall for you. I bet that you'll have a boyfriend after this banquet."

"Not for a few years, yet," Maureen chided. "Well, girls, you should probably get going, don't you think?"

"Oh, not yet!" Hillary continued to tease. "Couldn't we take little Andie upstairs to meet the partners? I know that their meeting must be ending right about now and I am sure that Bill Cunningham would just love to meet her. He has a son just about the same age as Andie and I know that he'd love for them to meet - especially now that she's dating boys!"

Andrew could feel the heat of fear and panic growing inside of him. He wanted to lash out, but that wouldn't do any good at all. He'd just get punished in front of everyone in the office - in front of Carolyn! He looked to Maureen, who's smile was more businesslike than amused. He caught her eye and she saw his predicament. She winked at him, indicating that Hillary was just having some fun at his expense. It only quelled his fear a little. What if she followed through and brought him upstairs. He'd be mortified.

"Another time, maybe," Maureen laughed. "Girls, pull your cousin away from her Auntie Hilly and go to your game."

The girls laughed. They knew Hillary and knew that this was just one of her games. They didn't see how difficult this all was for Andrew.

"Come on, Andie, let's go," Karen said with a smile as she took his hand and they started towards the door.

"Oh," Hillary said in mock disappointment, "you guys are no fun at all. You can go, but only if you promise to bring her back another time so that she can meet everyone. AND I MEAN EVERYONE!" She hollered the last part loud enough to get attention of everyone on that floor.

"We promise!" Sadie called back as they turned the corner and headed to the elevator banks.

"See, daddy," Karen whispered, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Andrew caught sight of himself in the mirrored walls of the elevator car. He saw what he looked like. The classically feminine shoes, the knee socks, the tiny, plaid uniform skirt, the perfectly pressed, white shirt that covered his well developed breasts, the thin white sweater that hung, unbuttoned, from his shoulders, the soft, pale skin, pretty eyes and lips and the sweetly braided hair that began at his hairline and went perfectly down both sides of the back of his head. There was no denying it. What he saw was a very beautiful little girl entering womanhood and it made him want to weep.

"I guess it could have been much worse," he sighed.

"Oh, cheer up. I know what will make you happy," Karen smiled at him. Just that alone seemed to raise his spirits. "I'll turn on the classic rock station on the way to the game. You'll like that, won't you?"

Actually, that did help.
 
Chapter 11
 
 
Saturday - The Big Date
 

The acrylic, French-style nails had been attached and polished and filed as had his toenails. His eye brows were plucked and makeup applied. His hair was nicely curled and a little professional brushing and spraying had made him as cute as a button.

The ride home from the beauty parlor was almost as exhausting as the visit had been. At the salon, there were many people talking at once and asking Maureen or Jenny questions about his look, as if his opinion about how he'd look was of no interest to them. This was business for grown ups, not cute, little girls.

Then, in the minivan , the amount of anticipation about the date had been wiping him out.

Everyone, Jenny, Maureen, Hillary, Karen and Sadie, had come along for a day of pampering and sprucing up. They were all excited about Andrew's big date. He had mixed feelings. He'd had a great time with Patrick a week ago and the pretty, blue dress they'd bought from Miss Granby was really nice to wear, but it was a date, a real date, with a boy. That was scary.

It was 5:00. Forty-five minutes till his date was set to arrive. They sat around the kitchen table at Andrew's house and the talk kept coming back to the same topic: First Dates. Each had a fond, romantic memory of their first real date. Their first dressed up date. Their first crush. Their first kiss.

Andrew was scared. No one really expected him to do anything romantic with Patrick, did they? Patrick was a good kid and all, but... come on!

"I think the moment has come!" Maureen announced, as she stood and placed her tea cup in the sink.

"We'll take care of her, won't we, Sadie!?" Karen took Andrew by the hand led him towards the stairs.

"Are you kidding!? I can't wait to get her dressed!"

In the bedroom that he shared with his wife, Andrew's daughter and niece helped him strip to his bra and panties. Karen opened a pink bag and took out a new, baby blue silk, bra and panty set. It was covered in flowery lace and the bra had plenty of shape to it, even before it conformed to his shapely torso.

"Let me help you with this," Sadie said as she undid the clasp in the back of Andrew's bra. Before he had a moment to even consider stopping her, Sadie had slid the bra completely off of her little uncle. Andrew covered his breasts with his right forearm, but Karen pushed it aside and slid the new, blue one on.

"No need to be bashful, daddy. We all have breasts."

She and Sadie giggled, while Sadie picked up the matching panties and caressed the material. "These are very pretty, Andie."

As she rubbed the fabric, she considered something. While Karen adjusted the straps, a question formed in Sadie's mind and, finally, she had to ask, "Uncle Andy, do your... you know... you're boy bits still work?"

Andrew looked a little shocked before saying, "Yes, Sadie. I still have my boy... man parts and they still work."

"Of course she does, Sadie," said Karen as she knelt next to her father and pulled down his panties, exposing his genitals for her cousin to see. "They just look like a little boy's bits, now."

"Karen!" He yelled as he covered his crotch.

"Oh, don't be silly, daddy. We have both been babysitters and seen little boys naked. Here, let me get these panties on you."

He stepped into the panties and Karen drew them up his legs, pausing to tuck his secret safely in.

"I think that it's cute, Andie, don't worry," Sadie said. "Besides, Pat's a good boy. Your secret will be safe tonight. Mom says that you'll be able to start your rehab to return to your old-self this week, so this may be our last girl-cousin-time together with just the three of us. I'm going to miss it."

"I know," Karen said as she took the dress off of the hanger to get it ready for Andrew. "I'm going to miss our time together, too. Sadie and I see each other almost every day, but it's been really fun having you as our little cousin, daddy." As she lowered the dress over his head, fussed with the skirt and drew the zipper up his slender, little back, she added, "I wish everything could stay like this."

"How are we doing up there!?" came a shout from the foot of the stairs.

"Almost ready, Auntie Hilly!" Sadie yelled back.

"Well, hurry up. Your mom wants a couple of pictures before that little princess's handsome prince shows up to carry her off and makes her his bride!"

Andrew groaned and the girls giggled. "Oh, she's just teasing you, daddy."

"We'll be down in two minutes!" Sadie called down.

"You look great, daddy. Come take a look."'Karen led him to the sliding, mirrored door on the walk-in closet. "See. As pretty as a picture. I know that you feel funny about this, but you are going to make Patrick a very happy boy, tonight. Just looking this pretty and sitting with him at the table... he's going to feel so proud just to be with you."

"It's true, Uncle Andy. You really are a cutie and Patrick is going to melt when he sees you," Sadie said as she fluffed his hair, just a little.

"Do me a favor, daddy. Just try to enjoy being a girl, tonight. Be yourself, but enjoy how your dress feels. Enjoy how people look at you. When you dance, enjoy his hands on your back. Just, for tonight, don't fight it. Just enjoy it. Ok?" She let him stare at his reflection while she hugged his shoulder into her side.

"She's right, Uncle Andy," Sadie kissed the back of his head. "I know that this isn't exactly how you'd like to spend the night, but being a girl can be great and being a pretty girl can be awesome. Just have fun."

"Alright, up there!!!" Hillary called up the stairs, again! "Prince Charming is due at any minute, so get your pretty little fannies down here RIGHT NOW!"

Andrew hugged each of the girls and headed down the stairs.

"Oh, good Lord!" Jenny giggled as she wiped a tear from her eyes. "You are just a picture, Andie. Oh, my God, if mom and dad could see you, now." She fanned her face, trying to staunch the tears, but she was in mom-mode and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Oh, honey," Maureen smiled, "you are just precious."

"Ok," Hillary took Andrew by the shoulder and guided him to the fireplace, "enough gushing. Let's get some pictures of this dress and this princess, so that we can all put a photo on our desks."

Everyone laughed, but Andrew had a feeling that he'd be seeing a photo of himself in this dress on Hillary's dress for years to come.

They took pictures of him facing forward, to each side, the back of the dress, with flashes, without flashes...

They took pictures with him and Karen, him an Sadie, him with Jenny, him with Maureen, him with Maureen, Jenny, Sadie and Karen and, finally, him with Hillary.

"Hello! Anybody home?" Mrs McCarthy called from the door. "I have a prince and a carriage for a Miss Andrea!"

Sadie skipped to the door and invited them in. "Oh, Pat, you look so handsome!" The others heard from the living-room.

Karen pushed Andrew behind Maureen as Hillary and Jenny moved in close to Maureen's right and left, completely blocking Andrew from the view of the McCarthys as they entered.

"Hi, Patrick," Andrew heard Karen from behind his wife, but he could only see the backs of the three women from this spot. "You look great. Are you ready to meet your date for the evening?" Andrew heard no response. He knew that Patrick was a shy boy and he was probably feeling very uncomfortable with this attention. He must have nodded, because Karen continued, "Here she is, your date for the banquet, the beautiful, the intelligent, the adorable, Andrea Green!"

With that, the woman in front of him stepped to the side and Andrew was pushed forward, presented, as if a gift, to Patrick, who smiled as he looked at the beautiful young woman in front of him. "Wow," he whispered.

Andrew couldn't help it. He smiled at the handsome boy and blushed at the reaction his look had received.

"Oh, Miss Andrea," Mrs McCarthy gushed, "you are gorgeous! So pretty. So grown up. Patrick, you are a very lucky boy."

Patrick smiled and stepped towards Andrew, presenting him with a pretty, little, wrist corsage.

"You don't just hand it to her, Pat," his mother giggled, "you have to put it on her and we need to take pictures while you do it. Come on, kids, stand here by the fireplace and let's get some nice shots."

The "Children" did as they were told. They had to freeze several times as Patrick, nervously, worked the corsage comprised of two, light blue roses, that matched Andrew's dress beautifully, and some baby's breath past Andrew's daintily sculpted and painted fingernails, over his soft hand so it adorned his delicate wrist.

The gentleness displayed by the shy boy and the warmth of his touch gave Andrew a tiny shiver. This was a strange and new and strangely pleasant feeling. He smiled and blushed again.

"How about a nice, courtly, kiss on the back of her hand to wrap up the pictures," Hillary suggested.

Everyone agreed that they should do this. Andrew, caught up in the moment, smiled at Patrick and held his hand out to him in the traditional manner of a lady in a royal court and Patrick took it and smiled back. He bent down, slowly, and placed a soft, warm kiss on his hand.

""Now, hold that while we get our shots!" Hillary directed the scene.

As the kiss continued, Andrew's smile grew, partially due to the silliness of the situation and partially due to the shivers that were tickling his spine. It was odd. He felt small and vulnerable and silly and pretty and safe and precious, all at the same time. He felt... like a pretty girl.

"We should go," Mrs McCarthy announced. "It'll take a little time to get to the hall and they have a professional photographer there for the kids, too."

Andrew and Patrick looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Ok," Maureen said, "you kids have fun!" She gave her beautiful, little husband a hug.

Jenny gave him a big hug. "Have a wonderful time, Andie. Enjoy yourself."

Sadie gave him a hug, too, and whispered, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," which made Andrew giggle.

Hillary grinned and waved to him as Karen bent to kiss his cheek and whispered softly, "Just be a girl, daddy. You'll have fun."

Patrick helped Andie climb into the back seat of the Lexus SUV, closed the door for her and ran around to the other side to climb in. As the vehicle pulled away from the curb, he surreptitiously moved his hand across the seat and gave Andrew's hand a gentle squeeze. Andrew looked up to check the rear view mirror to be sure that Mrs McCarthy wasn't looking, then he turned to Patrick and smiled as Patrick mouthed the words, "Thank you. You look amazing!" to him.

Andrew bounced, just a little, in his seat and mouthed, "So do you," back to him.

"It's awfully quiet back there!" Mrs McCarthy teased. "There's nothin inappropriate going on, is there?"

Patrick sighed, "Mom!" making Andrew giggle even more.

Getting into the banquet was a journey in itself. Waiting in line for the photos, Patrick introduced Andrew to many people. Andrew had always been good at remembering names, but there was something a bit overwhelming now. The kids were all so excited and nervous. It was infectious. He felt unbalanced and confused by all the sensations.

As they entered the hall, which was done up as fancy as any prom night, a pretty girl in a bright yellow dress called out, "Hey, Pat! You're sitting over here, with us!"

As Patrick guided Andrew to the table, he said, "That's Judy. You'll like her. She has a genius IQ and is the captain of our Robotics Team. She's really nice, too."

When they reached the table, Patrick introduced his date to the table, "Everyone, this is my friend, Andie. Andie, this is Carlos, Brenda, Will, Elsa, Tim, Dorothy, Paul and Judy."

Andrew nodded and gave a small wave to everyone.

Patrick pulled out the chair next Carlos and offered it to Andrew, but Judy interrupted, "No, no. Let your friend sit next to me. I'd like to get to know her."

"Ok," Patrick shrugged with a smile. He had a great admiration for both Andie and Judy. He was sure that they'd hit it off. He pulled out the chair next to Judy. Andrew maneuvered in front of it and sat, smoothing his skirts under him as he was taught.

"Pat," called Tim from the other side of the table, "have you gotten past level forty-two of that game yet? I can't get past that stupid orc that's guarding the entrance to the portal."

As Patrick joined into a conversation with Tim and the other boys, Andrew turned and looked at Judy, who, he realized, had been looking at him closely. Up until this moment, Andrew had been the prettiest girl in every picture, but Judy was a step above. She was definitely a senior and there was nothing girlish about her. She was tall and lean, but still had curves and they were all perfect. As he compared himself to her, he felt a bit inadequate and he fidgeted just a little under her gaze. He was a cutie. She was a goddess.

"Andie, huh?"

Andrew was startled, "Huh?"

"Your name. Pat said your name is Andie."

"Oh, yeah. That's my name."

"And what's that short for?"

"Andrea."

"Oh, very cute. Kind of a little dichotomy between the tomboy name and the girly-girl appearance. I like it. It works."

Andrew was trying to decide what the appropriate response to that would be when she derailed his train of thought with, "And how are you related to Karen Green?"

Andrew was flummoxed. How did this come up?

Judy saw the confusion on his face and chuckled. "I've seen you with her at a couple of basketball games. We play on the same team."

"Oh, I see. Umm, Karen is my dau... my cousin. I've been staying with her for a few weeks. I didn't know that you were friends."

"We're friendly, I would say. We go to the same school and see each other everyday, but we don't hangout or anything. She's nice, though. I like her and I definitely noticed that she had a new little friend with her for the past few weeks. You're very cute, you know. Pat's a very lucky boy! How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve!? And you already look like that!? I hope that your father owns a shotgun because he's going to fighting boys off of you in a year or two."

The dance music began. It was very noisy to Andrew who listened to very little current music. It became harder to chat, but Patrick was still involved in a discourse about the video-game problem. All of the girls at the table suddenly rose at once. Before he knew what was happening, Judy grabbed his hand and dragged him along with the rest of the girls to the dance floor, where they immediately started dancing to the low end thumping coming from the DJ's speakers.

He had always been a pretty good club-dancer, but these girls danced with such abandon! They swirled and leaped and waved their arms. They twirled their skirts and fluffed their hair. It was contagious and Andrew got into it more and more as the music continued.

Soon, dinner was served and Andrew, Judy and the rest returned to the table, all a bit flushed from the activity. The boys were all gathered on one side, still discussing video games.

Dinner was delicious, Patrick was very chatty and attentive throughout the entire meal. The cake and ice cream dessert really hit the spot in a way that Andrew had not expected it would.

Then there was a motivational speaker who spoke about how the world of tomorrow depended on the people here tonight, etc.

As soon as he was done, the DJ kicked up the volume and the dance music began, again. The girls leapt up and each grabbed their date's hand, pulling and encouraging, "Come on and dance, it'll be fun."

As it turned out, Patrick danced pretty well. Four upbeat songs in a row and he was keeping up with all the girls, including Andrew, who was losing himself in the noise and fun.

When the fifth song started, it was an older, slow song. Many of the boys turned to head for their seats, but Patrick shrugged and held his arms wide allowing Andrew to decide whether or not to slow dance. He looked around and saw that any girl who's date had stayed on the dance floor was moving in close to slow dance. How could he not? So, he put his arms around Patrick's neck and Patrick wrapped his arms around Andrew and they started to sway in time to the music.

It was nice. The music was beautiful. The dress he wore swayed gently around his legs above his knees and made him feel vulnerable. Patrick's hands held him softly and both of them smelled nice.

"Thanks for coming with me, Andie," Patrick whispered. "I wish you weren't leaving so soon. I really like you."

Andrew felt a twinge of sadness. He had his own life to get back to and his own plans would not wait, but he felt bad for Patrick, too. In all honesty, the last few weeks had been kind of nice. He'd spent a lot of time with his wife, sister, daughter and niece and it was nice. That was all going to end and end abruptly in about a week and a half.

"I like you, too, Pat. I wish we had more time, too, but, your know how it is."

"Yeah," Pat sighed. "I know, but there's something I need to say before you go away."

"What's that."

"I think I love you. And not like a friend. I think I really love you."

"Oh, Pat..." Andrew was about to let him down easy, but he was interrupted when Patrick planted a gentle kiss on his lips and held it there. At first, it was shocking to Andrew, but it was warm and soft and innocent. He let it continue and even joined in the kiss. With all the overwhelming sensations bombarding him this evening, what was one more. It would make a nice boy feel good.

The kiss lasted longer than he expected and he let it linger. It felt nice.

When the kiss ended, he smiled up at Patrick who hugged him more closely as the song continued.

Andrew thought about what it all meant. It was a nice kiss and he'd enjoyed it - a lot. Had this experience brought out gay tendencies that he'd never suspected? No. It had to be the amount of female hormones that had been coursing through him for the last few weeks. They were playing games with his brain. He'd just go with the flow tonight and he'd be fine in a few days.

But, for tonight, he'd just follow his daughter's instruction and just be a girl.

It was not the only kiss, that night.

It was 11:43 when Mrs McCarthy pulled into the driveway at Andrew's house. The lights were all still on and he could see Maureen, Jenny, Karen and Sadie in the living room watching Saturday Night Live. There was no sign of Hillary's car, so he assumed she'd gone home. Thank goodness.

It had cooled off a bit, so Andrew had Patrick's jacket draped over his shoulders as they headed to the door. Before he could touch the knob, Sadie pulled he door wide, revealing both she and Karen waiting to pounce on the young couple.

"Did you have fun? Did you dance? Was the hall nice? Was the DJ good?" The 'kids' were bombarded with questions by the two cousins.

Very few questions were answered as Mrs McCarthy entered and hugged Jenny and Maureen. "Well, I'd say that, judging by the grins on these two when I pulled up at the hall, this evening was a smashing success!"

"Oh, isn't that wonderful!" Jenny clapped her hands.

Maureen gave Andrew a hug and asked quietly, "Did you have a good time?"

Andrew nodded and said, "It was a very nice evening. I had fun." That brought a big grin from Patrick.

"Now," Mrs McCarthy continued, "I understand that Tuesday will be Miss Andrea's last day with us, won't it?"

"That's right," said Jenny, "and we are REALLY going to miss this little girl. I wish we could keep her for ever!"

"Well, I was thinking," Mrs McCarthy continued, "that it might be nice to get these to kids together one more time before she leaves. Now, I expect that you'll be doing something special for dinner, but I was thinking that I could set up a nice lunch for them at Al's Burger Barn on Tuesday. It's right near Pat's school, so I could sign him out and Miss Andrea and I could pick him up. I could give them a half-hour for lunch, then pick them up again and get them back to their schools. What do you say?"

"Sounds great!" Patrick said.

"What do you think, baby?" Jenny asked Andrew. What could he say? If he said no, then Pat would be crushed. Besides, he really liked Pat. It would be fun.

"Sounds great!" He replied with a big smile.

Maureen watched her husband agree enthusiastically to another date with this handsome boy and she wondered if she'd gone to far with all of this. He seemed a bit smitten with Patrick. Maybe he was just being nice, but Andrew had never been this nice before.

"It's a date, then!" Mrs McCarthy said. "We'll let you all get to bed and I'll see you, Jenny and pretty Miss Andrea, on Monday at school. 'Night all!"

Patrick took his coat and followed his mother out the door, wanting desperately to give Andrea one last kiss.

The cousins started their bombardment of questions, again, but before he could answer many, Maureen announced that Andrew had to get ready for bed. It had been a very long day for such a young lady and she needed to take off her makeup and brush out her hair before going to bed. Besides, she had a few questions of her own.

Andrew was wearing his banana-yellow, lace nightie and sitting at Maureen's vanity while she spread cold cream across his cheeks to remove the makeup. Jenny and Sadie were staying over due to the late hour and they could hear Sadie and Karen playing music in Karen's room.

"You looked absolutely beautiful tonight, Andie."

He smiled, "Thank you."

"And you had a good time with Patrick?" She began brushing the hairspray from his hair.

He loved this feeling. Since he'd had the reaction, his hair had been brushed and fussed over more than ever in his entire life.

"He was very nice to me."

Maureen smiled as she continued to stroke his hair with the brush, "Did you dance?"

"Yes."

"With Patrick"

"With the other girls at first, then with Pat."

'The other girls?' thought Maureen. 'Well, there's a new twist.'

"Fast dances?"

"Mostly fast, but a few slow ones, too."

Maureen glanced to the door to the hall and she saw Jenny standing in the door, listening and smiling.

"You slow danced with Patrick?"she continued stroking his hair.

"Yes."

"And did he held you when you danced?"

"Yes."

Maureen's eyebrows shot up as she looked to her sister-in-law who returned the look.

"Did it feel nice to be held like that?"

"It did. It was very different than when we dance. You, know what I mean? When we dance, I'm bigger than you, so I'm holding you. This time, I was being held. It felt different."

"Nice, different?"

"I guess. Yes, it was nice."

"Did he hug you?"

"Yes," he was a little embarrassed, but he had been following Karen's instructions and just being a girl.

Maureen and Jenny exchanged looks, again.

She stroked his hair a few more times. He closed his eyes, very relaxed.

"Did he kiss you?"

Andrew hesitated. Maureen and Jenny exchanged looks once again and each mouthed, "Oh, my God!" at the other.

"Baby," she cooed as the bush relaxed him even more, "did Patrick kiss you?" Something about this whole event had Maureen very aroused. The idea that her husband had such girly feelings that he allowed a cute boy to kiss him was sending her over the edge. "Did he?"

"Yes," he whispered.

Jenny sat on the bed and fanned herself. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"Well, that's ok, baby. You've been a very pretty girl for nearly a month, now. It was bound to happen at some point. And you liked it, right?"

He smiled, but said nothing.

"Aww, it was nice, admit it."

He smiled more broadly. Maureen kissed his forehead. "That's ok. I know it was nice. He's very cute. You are a lucky girl. Now, jump into bed and I'll get undressed and join you."

He opened his eyes and stood up. When he turned, he saw his younger sister sitting on the bed with a huge grin on her face.

"Come here and hug your Auntie Jenny, you little hussy,"

Andrew went to his sister and received a huge hug. "Ahh," she sighed, "sometimes it's nice to be a girl, isn't it?"

Andrew shrugged and smiled.

Jenny smiled and hugged him again. "Good night, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Auntie Jenny," Andrew said as he kissed his younger sister on the cheek.

Jenny gave him one more, big hug, as she lifted him off of the floor and dropped him on his back onto the bed, just as Maureen came out of the master bath.
 
Chapter 12
 
 
Tuesday
 

There were two little girls sitting on Andrews lap as he read a Dr Seuss book to the kindergarten class.

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful, one hundred percent." He was reading with a different voice for each character. The children were enthralled. They'd become very attached to this pretty 'big girl' who had been visiting nearly everyday for the last few weeks.

"Good morning, Mrs McCarthy," Cora, the teacher said, loud enough to get the attention of the children. "Say good morning to Mrs McCarthy, children."

"Good morning, Mrs McCarthy!" the children sang the greeting in a well rehearsed unison.

"Good morning, children," the principal said as she came do the edge of the reading-circle. "I am so happy to see you all, today. Are you enjoying hearing Miss Andrea reading about Horton?"

"Yes, Mrs McCarthy," they sang, again.

"Well, that's just wonderful, but I'm afraid that I need to borrow Miss Andrea for a little while. Is that ok?"

"Aww," the girls sighed with disappointment.

"Oh, now, girls, we've had Miss Andrea in our room for over an hour, this morning," the teacher prodded. "Let's all say thank you to Miss Andrea as she leaves."

"Thank you, Miss Andrea," the children sang again.

As Andrew stood and said his goodbyes to the children, the teacher and Mrs McCarthy crossed to the door. When Andrew joined them, the teacher used a hushed voice to say, "Thank you, so much, Andrea. Please, come back, anytime."

Andrew thanked her and accompanied Mrs McCarthy to her SUV.

Maureen and Hillary were returning from a meeting at the courthouse and stopped at a sandwich shop to grab a couple of salads for lunch. As they sat in a booth to enjoy the short break they had in their busy work day, Hillary pressed for details about Andrew's big date.

"That dress was just the most precious thing. He looked so cute in it. I hope that you're going to get some prints to keep around the house. It will be a good reminder for him after he's back to being himself. I have to admit, I'm going to miss seeing him in pretty little dresses."

Maureen laughed, "To tell you the truth, so am I. I mean, I REALLY miss having a man around for certain things, but it has been so much fun having another little girl around the house for the last few weeks. And, you're right, he is as cute as a button. Karen and Sadie are really going to miss having their little cousin around, too. Oh, did I show you the formal picture that was taken at the banquet?"

"No! Oh, please, let me see!"

Maureen giggled as she reached into her briefcase to pull out a folder that protected the photo. When she did, several other items fell onto the table as well. She held the photo so that Hillary could see it. In the photo, Patrick stood, in profile, with his arms around Andrew, who had his back toward Patrick. It was a classic, prom-style photo. Both of them were beaming with excitement.

"Oh, how adorable," Hillary laughed. "I have to have one of these for my desk! If Andrew ever gets too full of himself, again, I'll just turn it around and show him. That'll shut him up."

Maureen put the photo back into her briefcase and gathered up the other items as well. The last thing on the table was a set of small keys with round, red, plastic heads on them. "Huh," Maureen said, "I found these in Andy's desk on that first day I took over his office. I still don't know what they're for."

Hillary looked Morse closely, "Those are safe-deposit-box keys. The redhead is from the Municipal Bank across the street."

"I didn't know that Andy had a safety deposit box," Maureen's voice was shaking a bit. She knew he kept secrets, but here was proof.

"Well, you've got power of attorney, right?" Hillary said with a distinct sense of irritation in her voice. "After lunch, let's go see what he's hiding."

There was a moment of doubt before Maureen responded, "I think that would be a very good idea."

Patrick ran out of his school wearing a huge grin. Within two minutes, they were dropped off at their restaurant.

"Get whatever you'd like, kids," Mrs McCarthy instructed as they got out of the SUV. "I left them my credit card number and they'll let me know what it cost. I'll be back at 12:30 to pick you up."

"Thank you, Mrs McCarthy!"

"Thanks, mom!"

Patrick held the door for him as Andrew entered the restaurant where a charming, twenty-something woman greeted them. "Hello, Mr McCarthy and Miss Green! So glad to have you both join us for lunch, today. Your table is ready. Please follow me."

They followed her to a lovely table near a window with a view of a pond with ducks and geese swimming around the surface.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Andrew started their conversation.

"Very. I like watching the birds. They're built so perfectly for flight. I read a lot about aerodynamics and stuff like that."

"Wow," Andrew was, again, genuinely impressed. "You're going to be an amazing engineer when you're older!"

Patrick laughed. "Maybe. I don't know what I want to do, yet."

They talked about possible futures. Andrew made up new dreams, figuring that being a lawyer was just too uninteresting to a twelve year old boy.

They ate their burgers and the clock suddenly said that it was 12:30: time to go. Patrick pulled out Andrew's chair for him and they headed to the door. They thanked the hostess and stepped into the vestibule. Before going through the exterior door, Patrick stopped Andrew and looked at him as sincerely as he could.

"Andie... I'm... I'm... I'm just really sad to see you go. It's been great knowing you and I feel awful that I'm never going to see you again. It's just not fair."

Andrew felt horrible. Patrick was definitely a bright spot in this whole horrible situation. He didn't want to hurt him.

"Pat... I don't know what to say. I'm sorry."

Patrick shrugged. There was nothing he could do to make things right, so that was that.

"Can I kiss you one more time, Andie?"

Andrew smiled. "Sure."

It was a small, chaste kiss. Not passionate like on Saturday night. It was just a nice kiss. They both smiled and went outside where Mrs McCarthy was waiting for them.

"Right this way, Mrs Green," the bank teller led Maureen and Hillary from the safe-deposit boxes in the safe, to a small viewing room where the boxes could be opened in private. She closed the door as she left and told them to call if they needed anything.

The boxes were medium sized, but fairly heavy; obviously, they were full of something.

Maureen took a deep breath and prepared for what she was about to discover. "Here goes nothing!"

She raised the long cover on the oblong box, obscuring Hillary's view. "Holy shit!"

"What?" Hilary moved to see what was in the box. There was cash. Lots and lots of cash and all of it was $100 bills.

"Holy shit!" Hillary echoed Maureen's words. "Where do you think he got it!"

"I don't know, but that cheap son of a bitch told me that we were broke and then I find this!?"

Maureen let the cover fall open. She was seething with anger. "He let his wife an daughter go without new clothes, he let his daughter miss out on a senior class trip, he refused to repair my car for weeks, all because we were broke. SON OF A BITCH!" She slammed her hand down on the table and looked at the other box.

She looked at Hillary. "You don't suppose there's more in there, do you?"

Hillary shrugged, genuinely shocked by what she was looking at.

Maureen took a cleansing breath and swung that box open, too. Sure enough - more cash. Probably more than they'd found in the first box.

"I don't believe this! I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS!" She shouted.

Hillary shushed her and said, "There has to be an explanation. I mean, I'm no fan of Andrew's but there has to be an explanation. Look and see if there's anything other than cash in that box."

Maureen rummaged through the second box while Hillary searched the first. After a moment, Hillary announced, "I found an envelope."

"Let me see it," Maureen snatched it from her friend angrily. The situation was more than she could stand.

She opened the envelope and took out several pages with legalese printed all over it. She flipped to the first page and started reading as a tear ran down her face. As she read, her body sagged and she leaned back against the wall.

"What is it?" Hillary asked.

Maureen's face devolved into sadness as she held the papers out for Hillary to read.

As Hillary read, she just kept chanting, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God."
 
Chapter 13
 
 
Friday
 

Carolyn parked her Toyota in Maureen's driveway and grabbed the files that she'd been requested to bring to the house. Andrew had been out of work for a month, now, and Mrs Green had not come in since Tuesday morning. She hoped that everyone was ok. In particular, she hoped that Andrew would be back to the office by Monday, or else their schedule would have to be altered drastically.

She straightened her pencil skirt and white, silk blouse, then rang the bell. Maureen opened the door exhibiting a big, friendly smile. She was wearing a white, silk blouse, also, but hers was of a much higher quality than Carolyn's and the royal blue, full skirt that dropped to mid thigh was stunning. It was full and caught the line beautifully.

"Carolyn! How nice. Come right in. You look as beautiful as always."

The remark took Carolyn aback for a moment. Mrs Green was always cordial, but rarely offered a compliment like that.

"Th... Thank you, Mrs Green. You look amazing. I was afraid that you were ill." Carolyn was appraising Maureen's look. She actually did look fantastic. She looked straighter, taller and more self confident than ever.

"Ill? Oh, no. I'm just fine thank you. I just needed a few days to get things in order here at home, what with Mr Green leaving and Karen has all of these college decisions to make..."

"Mr Green is gone?" Carolyn didn't mean to sound as shocked as she did. How could he be gone!?

"Yes, dear. Mr Green is gone. You won't be hearing from him, anymore."

Carolyn's mouth hung open in shock.

"But I would like you to meet the newest member of our family."

Maureen moved to the foot of the stairs and called up. "Annie. Annie, come on down, there's someone here that I'd like you to say hello to."

As Carolyn gathered her thoughts, a beautiful child, maybe four or five years old, came down the stairs. She had golden hair and wore a little, yellow sundress with large red flowers all over it. The child's shoulders were exposed and the hair, which fell nearly to her waist, was curled and fluffed perfectly. The child looked as if she had come out of a painting of a perfect little girl.

"Come here, Annie." Maureen took her by the hand and led her into the living room. "You know, Carolyn. Say hi, Annie."

Although Carolyn was reasonably sure that she had never met this child, she realized that she needed to engage. She bent her knees, which were held tight in the pencil skirt, just a bit, put her hands on her thighs, leaned towards the child and spoke in a sing-song voice. "Well, hello, Annie. Aren't you just beautiful!? It's very nice to see you, today."

The child looked petrified and tried to run from the room, but Maureen pulled her back saying, "Now, now, young lady, you behave yourself or you'll find yourself back in diapers before you know it. Now, I said, say hello to Carolyn. Now, do as you are told."

Carolyn was still trying to process the strangeness of Mrs Green's threat as the child settled down, looked at the floor in front of Carolyn's feet and mumbled, "Hello, Carolyn."

"Hello, Annie. It's very nice to meet you."

"Oh, Carolyn," Maureen laughed, "you've met little Annie many times before. As a matter of fact, she visited with you at the office just a few days ago. Remember? She was with Karen and Sadie."

Carolyn remembered the visit, but... "No, Mrs Green. That was your niece, Andrea. Not Annie."

"Oh, I see your confusion, Carolyn. This is the same child. We're just calling her Annie, now."

"Mrs Green," Carolyn tried to correct her, "Andrea is at least twelve of thirteen years old. Annie is much younger..."

"Yes, she is and Andrea was younger than she was when you knew her before that. Annie, tell the nice lady how old you are."

The child was quiet for a few moments, then mumbled, "Forty-one."

Carolyn was still confused.

"Tell the nice lady your old name, Annie. Before your name was Andrea, what was your name."

The child looked up and made eye contact with Carolyn. "Andrew Green."

Carolyn stood straight and looked at Maureen as confusion played across her face.

"That's right, Carolyn," Maureen grinned, "this is my husband, Andrew. The man you were sleeping with. The man who planned to run away with you on Monday, leaving his wife and daughter with nothing but debt. He's also the man that planned to send you, me and Hillary to jail for his crimes. Interestingly, when you met Andrea, she still had a penis. Sadly, we had to do something about that. Little Annie here is all girl. Aren't you, sweetheart?"

The child nodded and returned her gaze to the ground.

Carolyn didn't know which statement to react to first. Finally, she formed a sentence, "Is this some kind of weird joke?"

"No, Carolyn, this is no joke. This is Andrew and Andrew is now Annie. I found out that Andrew was going to destroy me and everyone one that I cared about, so, I took his adulthood and his manhood. He is now Annie and he will have to grow up again, but this time, there will be no more thinking with his penis because, well, you get it, right?"

"Mrs Green, Andrew and I didn't...." Carolyn began to defend herself.

"Oh, nonsense. Of course you did. I know you did and I have seen security footage from the Ambassador Hotel that proves that you did. I'm not angry, dear, but, please, have some dignity and don't insult us both by lying."

"I'm sorry, Mrs Green, I truly am, and I didn't mean to hurt anyone. It just... sort of... happened."

"Well, be that as it may, I have some papers I'd like you to look at. I'm sure that you can understand the language. I think you'll find them quite enlightening."

Carolyn took the papers, which were scans of the papers that Andrew had left in his safe deposit box, and read. As she reached the bottom of the first page, she collapsed into a chair and wiped a tear from her eye. She continued on through all six pages, then looked up, defeated.

"He was going to dump me in the American Virgin Islands and he named me as his partner? Are these real?" Carolyn's gaze wandered between Maureen and the child as she spoke.

"The nice lady asked you a question, Annie. You answer when a grown-up asks you a question," Maureen prodded the child.

"Carolyn..."

"No, no, no.... You don't address adults by their first names anymore, Annie. Remember, you're a child."

The child nodded. "Miss Foster, I am very sorry. I got greedy, I guess. I took so much more than I could ever cover before the audit in four months. I had to make a clean break. I'm sorry."

"Tell her how much you took, Annie."

The child looked at Maureen for a moment, then back to Carolyn. "I took three hundred and thirty six million dollars, Miss Foster."

"Oh, my God! I'm going to jail for sure! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

"Calm down, Carolyn. No one is going to jail. The money has all been returned." Maureen smoothed her elegant, blue skirt under her as she sat on the arm of the chair in which the distraught secretary shook with fear. "As a matter of fact, the clients from whom little Miss Annie stole, were so grateful that our "internal audit" caught the embezzlement before Andrew could abscond with it, that they gave us a substantial reward. A reward that I am prepared to share with you - under certain conditions."

"Conditions?" Was there actually a light at the end of this tunnel she'd entered a few minutes ago? "What conditions?"

"Condition #1: You stick to our story that Andrew Green fled the country to avoid prosecution. The firm will work very hard to keep that out of the papers, but, internally, this will be our story. You must never contradict that story. Understood!"

Carolyn nodded.

"Condition #2: You take the money we give you and you leave the area, forever. I have a friend at a law firm in San Diego who is looking for a bright, young secretary. I bragged about you to him and, if you want it, the job is yours. I hear that it is beautiful year round there. It sounds like a great place to make a new start."

"San Diego?" Carolyn sighed and laughed just a little. "That sounds wonderful!"

Maureen handed Carolyn an envelope. Carolyn opened in and gasped, "Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!?!?"

Maureen nodded. "That should set you up well. Maybe even help you go to law school if that interests you. But there is one final condition."

Carolyn waited.

"You've seen what I was able to do to Andrew. Well, if you violate any of these conditions, then you will forfeit a lot more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Condition #3: If you violate condition #1 or 2, you will suffer the same fate as Andrew Green. Are we understood?"

The frightened woman glanced at the child, who's head was hung in shame. When she looked back at Mrs Green, she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Mrs Green. I understand and I agree to your terms."

"Excellent! Then, I believe we are done, here. If you don't mind seeing yourself out, I'd appreciate it. My little lady and I have a girls day planned. We're headed to the Ambassador Hotel for tea with a whole lot of other mommies and little girls. I'm hoping that we may run into some of Andrew's
friends while we we are there and little Annie will have the chance to say hello. Won't that be nice, angel?"

"Yes, mommy," the child replied, half heartedly.

"Oh, and be sure to clean out your desk this afternoon, Carolyn. I, truly, never want to see you or hear from you ever again. Goodbye, Carolyn."

"Goodbye, Mrs Green. And, thank you."
 
Chapter 14
 
 
One Month Later
 

"Sorry that we're late!" Maureen said as she and Jenny joined Hillary at the same table at the same restaurant where this whole adventure began two months earlier. "The girls took Annie dress shopping for the holiday, so we dropped them at Neiman's. The traffic from there to here was horrendous. Must be because of the Fourth of July weekend events down the street. They're going on all weekend, I guess."

"No problem," Hillary kissed both women's cheeks. "I just got here myself. You two look radiant. Ten days in the islands seems to have agreed with you!"

"Oh, it was wonderful!" Jenny gushed. "Of course, Sadie and I could never have afforded a trip like this, but it was so nice of Mo to invite us along."

"You deserve it!" Maureen replied. "It's been a rough couple of years and besides, Sadie and Karen are like sisters. How could Karen celebrate her high school graduation without both of her sisters there with her?"

"I want to see pictures!" Hillary laughed as both women dug out their phones.

There were pictures of "the girls" in their bathing suits playing in the crystal, blue water and on the white sand. Little Annie's little one-piece displaying a flat, slightly pudgy, childish body.

There were pictures of "the girls" dressed nicely for dinner. Little Annie in an overly frilly dress with her elegant 'cousins.'

There were pictures of "the girls" playing miniature golf with little Annie choking way up on the tiniest golf club.

All of the pictures included Annie in one fancy outfit, or swim suit or another.

"There's no denying that she's adorable," Hillary smiled, "but aren't you spoiling her? I mean, this is supposed to teacher her to be a better adult when she grows up."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Jenny laughed. "Wait till she starts school next month in that same kindergarten where she used to be the big-girl-reader. Things will change, then, I'm sure."

"Besides, I wanted him to see what he COULD have had if he'd only been a decent man. By the way," Maureen leaned in to Hillary so other tables would not hear, "thank you, so much, for taking care of all of the identification and adoption papers. That's not really my speciality."

Hillary smiled and put her hand on Maureen's. "No problem, Momo. What are friends for?"

"May I take your orders, ladies," the server approached and asked the friends.

Dinner was wonderful. The wine was warm and relaxing. It had been a lovely "girls-night" for the three of them. Maureen looked at her phone and said, "The girls are on their way up. Karen says that they found some cute things for Annie."

Just then, they heard several people produce an "aww" sound near the entrance to the restaurant. They looked up to see Karen and Sadie entering with big smiles on their faces. As they got closer, they could discern the crown of a child's head and then, finally, they saw what was making every woman in the establishment melt - it was Annie. Her hair braided into one long plait going straight down her back and cheeks rosy with youth.

What was causing the 'awws' though was her dress. Karen and Sadie had decked her out in what was, essentially, and American flag that had been sewed into a dress. The straps had stars running their length, but the actual blue field of stars was situated over her, little, flat, right breast and the stripes proceeded from beside and beneath it to wrap around her little body.

"Oh, my goodness!" Jenny squealed. "Isn't that the most adorable thing!?"

"Girls," Maureen smiled, "you've outdone yourselves!"

Hillary stood and clapped and sang, "There she is, Miss America... Come over here, little girl, and give your Auntie Hilly a hug!"

Karen and Sadie released the child and guided her towards Hillary, who picked her up off the floor, made a flatulent noise by placing her lips on the child's exposed shoulder and blowing air out, then sat down with the child still in her arms, planting her firmly in Hillary's lap, where she hugged and fussed over her, until situating her in her lap at a ninety degree angle to herself.

"How's my very favorite little girl in the whole, wide world?" She hugged and kissed her some more.

"Answer your auntie, Annie," Karen instructed.

"I'm good, auntie, thank you," Annie said. To an outsider, the child looked distracted, but, in fact, she was trying to free herself without causing a ruckus.

Hillary brought her lips close to the child's ear and whispered, "Is Andrew still in there?"

Annie nodded.

"Good. And does big, tough, horny Andrew miss his little wiener?"

Annie nodded again.

"Good. Let's keep it that way. You look very pretty in your patriotic dress, you know. You must love being a pretty, little girl, don't you? Never mind. I know that you do. Now, I want you to say 'thank you' to your big sister, Karen for buying you such a pretty dress and tell her that you love it. Ok? And be sure to use those words. Go ahead."

Annie looked across the table where Karen stood beside her mother's chair. "Karen! Thank you, very much for buying me this pretty dress. I love it!"

"Ohhh, you're welcome, sweetie," Karen replied. Then, more quietly, "See, mom. I don't think there's any more of daddy in her. I think she's just a wonderful little girl, now."

Maureen looked Annie right in the eyes and replied, "He'll always be there, honey. Don't let him fool you. He fooled me once. Never again, though."

"Mom," Sadie jumped into the conversation, "Is it ok for Karen and me to take Annie to the end of the the street? Pat and Brian are meeting us for ice cream if you say it's ok."

"Fine with me if it's ok with your aunt."

"Fine with me!" Maureen smiled

"Come on, sweetie," Sadie called to Annie. "Let's go see Uncle Pat and Uncle Brian!"

"Uncle Pat!?" Hillary asked. "Is this the same Pat?"

"It is," Karen laughed. "We ran into Pat and his mom on the island and my pretty little cousin, Sadie, helped him to mend his broken heart. I think that they are both smitten at this point."

"Don't tease your cousin," Maureen joked as she gave her daughter a gentle slap on the rump. "Be nice and keep an eye on your little sister."

As the girls headed towards the door, Hillary asked, "How did Annie react to her cousin stealing her boyfriend?"

"Oh, I don't think she minds," Jenny smiled. "She gets to sit on his lap. He's very sweet with her. To tell you the truth, my big brother was a failure as a man, but he seems to be a perfect little girl. I think he actually likes it."

"It doesn't matter if he likes it or not," Maureen threw in. "I pay the bills, now, and, as my husband used to say, 'If you're not paying it, you've got no say in it.' "
 
THE END