Synopsis: It's been a year since the end of TWINS, and Kari and Kathy have settled into suburban domestic bliss, where the most exciting thing is a trip to the mall. Come follow the heroines of TWINS on a typical girl's day out, the ending is going to be anything but boring.

This is the first part of the sequel to TWINS, which you need to have read to understand this.

Story:

Part One

I turned from side to side, admiring myself in the full-length mirror.

~~ Pretty damn good, if I do say so myself! ~~

It had taken almost a year of hard work, but a year and a half after my surgery I was now in top physical condition. At five feet, seven inches, I was down to 120 pounds, with a twenty-one inch waist and thirty-inch hips. Slim, but all the right curves in all the right places.

I knew I looked good, I’d seen it in other’s eyes. Walking through the mall, I noticed that women with their boyfriends or husbands tended to cling tighter when they were approaching me; and their looks were not friendly.

I wondered what they’d do if they knew I found them more attractive than their men. But I was a one woman-woman, and happily attached.

Six months after my surgery I’d gotten tired of sitting around. After Dr. Hanson finally pronounced me healed, physically and mentally, I wanted to be able to pursue my goal of getting back into broadcast journalism. But it didn’t take me long to discover I was seriously out of shape. Carrying around my Betacam for any length of time was nearly impossible, even on my shoulder.

So I went to the Medical Center and talked to Jill, who was my physical therapist after surgery. She was thrilled that I was planning on getting (and staying) in shape, and happy to recommend a fitness center and instructor for me.

Then I met with Heather, my new fitness advisor, and together we laid out a plan, which I started the following week. The first month was hell! My muscles complained constantly, and my aches had little aches all their own. Heather took entirely too much pleasure in my agony; she’d have made a fine medieval torturer.

The second month, things started to jell. I walked every day, and I was soon up to five miles. Accompanying this was a slight weight loss, as my muscles solidified. Kathy and I noticed that we were no longer quite the same size, as I improved our clothing started looking loose on me.

Kathy wasn’t happy about that, and she started working out with me several days a week. In a couple of months, she was back within a few pounds of me, and only a half-inch larger in the waist. Of course, that meant we had to go shopping!

Compared to my old life, all this was a complete change. Elliot had never worried about his appearance, exercise consisted of what he jokingly referred to as the “12 ounce curl”, and dressing meant finding a clean pair of Levis. I have to admit, life as Kari is certainly more fun.

We arranged a Saturday afternoon with Laurie. After all, she was in the mall almost every day and knew where all the good stuff was hidden. I knew that Kelli, at the very least, would be along for the fun, possibly Nova, too.

I wasn’t real sure about Nova; both Kathy and I had gotten hints that she might be bi and interested in some extracurricular fun with either or both of us. However, Kathy and I had an exclusive thing going. We’d gotten married when I was still Elliot; and we took our vows seriously. Nova hasn’t made things uncomfortable for us; although I suspect she has her doubts about Kathy and I being sisters. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we have to.

Kathy, as usual, was up before me; I could hear her moving around in the bathroom. As I stretched, Kathy walked back into the bedroom. “Come on, lazy, get your butt out of bed. I want to go out for breakfast.” Instead of replying, I stretched my arms over my head, hands together and smiled at her, a pose I knew drove her crazy.

“Arrgh! Stop that! We haven’t got time,” Kathy said.

I relented, lowered my arms, and swung my legs out of bed. Kathy sat down next to me and started stroking my legs; something she knew drove ME crazy!

“OK! I surrender!” I told her.

“You can surrender later.” The way she said it suggested surrendering would be fun. “It’s after ten; I want to do some things before we meet Laurie. I pulled out some things to wear, take your pick.”

After I finished in the bathroom, I found Kathy still seated at the vanity, so I checked out the clothes she’d picked. In the pile was a lovely pale pink crop top with a v-neck and cap sleeves. I figured Kathy was planning on wearing that herself; but I was in a pink mood, so I snagged it. I paired it with a tiered denim skirt that was inches shorter than I’d have dared six months ago.

Hmmm, wear a bra or not? I was proud of my breasts; they’d grown so nicely. The fancy implants that I was part of a clinical trial for had been reduced to their smallest possible size in order to keep Kathy and I in the same size bra.

At the last exam I’d had, Dr. Miller mentioned the possibility of removing them and replacing them with smaller ones to allow for further growth on my part. I didn’t want to start the coming summer with my chest bandaged and sore, maybe in the fall.

I decided to wear a bra, no telling what we’d be trying on, so I dug out a demi bra, and matching panties, grabbed some hose and started dressing.

“Hey, I was going to wear that!”

“Sorry hon, she who hesitates . . .” I gave her a kiss to console her.

“You little tart! Think you can buy me off with a kiss!” Kathy pouted.

“How about two?” and I kissed her again.

“Make it three, and I’ll think about it.”

I gave her a third one; I have plenty, after all!

Kathy pulled a similar top in blue out of the pile. “We’re going to confuse Laurie; you always wear the blue,” she said.

“Good!” I snickered, “Keep her on her toes!”

“Here, I’ve got something to go with that,” Kathy said and she pulled a couple of faux jewels out of a small bag. “These glue in the navel, guaranteed not to come loose except with the adhesive remover. I think the sapphire for me and the pale pink diamond for you.” She applied a little adhesive to the back of mine and pressed it into my navel, holding it in place for a minute. “Sexy!” she said. “Now you do mine,” so I repeated her actions.

“Now sit down and do your makeup while I fix your hair.” Kathy said.

I noticed she’d used a pale pink fading into a hint of pale blue on her eyes, so I duplicated that look. A pale pink lip-gloss and a light swipe of blush was all the rest I needed, a side effect of all the exercise and healthy eating was our now flawless complexions.

In the meantime Kathy had pulled my hair back and gathered it into a ponytail at the crown, then used a curling iron to give it some shape and bounce. Even pulled up high, it still hung past my shoulders. Kathy’s hair matched mine, I noticed, so I could tell we were going to play model for each other. It made shopping for clothes a lot easier when we could actually see how they looked from any side.

Kathy found a similar denim skirt and we finished getting dressed. The skirts hung a little lower on our hips than they were supposed to, due to our exercising, showing a serious amount of belly. It had taken me awhile to get used to this look, but now I liked it. Guess I am a little tart, sorta. I loved showing off my body, something else Elliot would never have considered doing. Slipping on low-heeled sandals, we grabbed our purses and headed out the door.

Brittany and her mom were out in their yard, Brittany spotted me and yelled, “Hi Karielle!” and waved vigorously. Kathy came out behind me and Brittany yelled, “Hi!” to her also.

I don’t know how she does it, when we dress alike most people can’t tell us apart at a three foot distance, Brittany could spot me from a hundred feet.

Before I even asked her, Kathy pulled over to the curb in front of Suzanne’s house. I rolled down my window as Brittany ran up.

“We still gonna plant flowers tomorrow?” she asked breathlessly.

“Sure thing, honey,” I told her. “You and your mom come down when you’re ready. What time do you think?” I asked her mom.

“Oh, probably about two, if I can restrain her that long,” Suzanne laughed.

“Alright, see you then.”

“Where ya going?” Brittany asked.

“We’re going shopping.”

“Can I go with you? Can I go, Mom?”

“Not this time, Brit. Wendy and her mom are coming over, remember?”

“Oh yeah. I’ll go with you next time,” she told me, as if she was declining an invitation.

I reached out and ruffled her hair, “Okay, Brittany, we’ll go shopping someday.”

Brittany gave me a big smile, and I smiled back, but gave her mom a wink.

“Step back, Brittany, Kari and Kathy need to get going,” and they moved away from the car.

“Bye Karielle, Bye Kathy.”

“Bye sweetheart!” I called out as Kathy waved.

We stopped for breakfast at a place called The Egg, as the name suggests they do pretty much everything that can be done with an egg. My ham and cheese omelet almost insults their abilities. Kathy’s Rancheros Omelet with Tabasco Sauce had me forecasting heartburn before the day was over, but she just laughed at me.

Kathy is a little more adventurous than me, but then she can afford to be, her stomach is intact. While I’m doing better these days, I’ll never be able to forget that mine is a patchwork quilt after the accident and various repairs.

After several other stops we arrived at the mall, Laurie and Kelli were waiting just inside the entrance for us.

“Where ya been?” Kelli demanded, her hands on her hips.

“Kari had to visit with her fan club on the way over before we stopped to eat,” Kathy said laughing.

“How is the wunderkind these days?” Laurie asked.

“As bright and bouncy as ever,” I told her. “She wanted to come shopping with us.”

“I don’t think she’s up to the power shopping we do,” Kelli laughed.

“I don’t think her mother is either,” Kathy laughed. “When Brittany discovers designer label clothing, she’s going to break her parent’s bank account.”

“Oh, I like the belly button jewels!” Laurie exclaimed. “Where’d you get them?”

“Something that came into the shop the other day,” Kathy told her. “We have all different colors; I thought it would be a fun look to try.”

“So, what are we looking for today?” Kelli asked.

“Pants, skirts, jeans, that sort of thing, we’ve gotten so skinny none of our stuff fits right in the waist,” I said. “Look at the way these skirts fit.”

“I am,” Laurie said. “You two are the reason the riot started.”

Kathy and I both laughed. “Yeah, maybe,” I said, “But we still need some stuff that fits a little better.”

“I know just where to go,” Laurie said. “The Gap is having a sale, and Old Navy is price-matching!”

“Let’s go then!” Kathy said.

We blew through both stores, trying on just about everything in sight. In addition to the more fun stuff, I grabbed several pairs of khaki slacks in a conservative cut.

“What are those for?” Kelli asked me.

“Work clothes,” I told her. “I’m going to see about getting back on at Ch. 7, and I want to look right. The news director is a stuffy guy, named Bill. Very conservative, the kind of guy that thinks Reagan was too liberal.”

“Eeh, yuck!” Laurie said. “I could get you on at the store.”

“Did I mention the pay?” I asked; I quoted her the pay for an experienced photog in a Top 30 market.

“Gotta admit, that beats dealing with stinky feet eight hours a day!” she said.

We carted several sacks to the car, and returned to do some more serious shopping. Laurie and Kelli might not have planned on buying anything, but that didn’t stop them from trying on as many outfits as we did. Kathy and I worked together, trying on items and modeling them for each other. Several times we swapped outfits so we could each see how they looked. When at last we were through, we’d swapped tops so I was wearing the blue and Kathy the pink.

When we emerged, Laurie grabbed Kathy’s arm. “Kari, I don’t care how much of a tomboy you are, you’ve got to get some serious heels to go with that last skirt,” she said. “I’ve got just the thing at the store. Don’t you agree,” she said turning to me.

“Oh, yes,” I intoned solemnly. “She needs to loosen up and be more of a girl.”

Kathy was struggling to keep from laughing, and Kelli noticed. She took another look at Kathy, then turned and looked at me. She started giggling, and Laurie looked at her.

“What’s got into you?” Laurie asked.

“Oh, girl, you’ve been punked!” she laughed.

“What?”

Kelli laughed even harder, “Look at their navels,” and now all three of us were laughing.

Laurie looked at our belly button jewels; I was still wearing the pink jewel and Kathy the blue.

“Alright you two, very funny! One of these days . . .” she scowled and shook her fist at us then joined in the laughter.

By late afternoon, we’d scored some serious clothes, including the heels Laurie wanted me to buy.

“What now?” Laurie asked.

“No plans,” Kathy said.

“Lets go out then!” Laurie said. “Dinner and hit the clubs!”

“Where we eating?” I asked.

“Steak and Ale, or Friday’s,” Kelli suggested.

It was decided that we’d meet at TGI Friday’s at 7:30, and Kathy called in a reservation.

Kathy and I went home to dump our purchases and clean up for the evening. I decided to wear the skirt Laurie liked. It was a white linen skirt; the bottom hem was zigzagged instead of straight and had several overlapping layers. The hem hung around my knees but was loose enough to float and show off my legs. I paired it with a black tube top over which I wore a long-sleeved linen shirt, white with black pinstripes, unbuttoned but tied at the waist.

The black strappy shoes with four-inch heels looked great with it; as usual Laurie knew her shoes. I dug out a black choker with a silver heart hanging from the front that Kathy had given me and fastened it around my neck. A half dozen thin silver bracelets and a pair of dangling silver earrings completed the look. I was touching up my makeup when Kathy came out of the bathroom.

“You got any burlap sacks in the garage I could wear?” Kathy asked. “There’s no point in my dressing up, nobody’s going to even notice me with you along.”

“I’ll notice, so get with it!” I told her.

As I walked into the living room the phone started ringing, I glanced at the Caller ID and saw it was Suzanne, so I picked it up.

“Hi, Suzanne, what’s up?” I asked.

On the other end I heard Brittany scream “KARI!” and then it sounded like the phone was dropped.

I dropped the receiver and yelled for Kathy, then grabbed my purse and ran out the door, digging out Suzanne’s key as I ran.

Notes: