All You Need Is Love
by Barbara Lynn Terry

Stacie was in his room, studying for the exam he had in English class tomorrow. His mother and father were downstairs, and his sister Aileen was in her room talking to her friends on twitter. Stacie was fourteen years old, with long, past the shoulder, blonde hair, an oval face, eyeleashes to die for, and a thin frame of a body, if you go by guy standards. Aileen just turned twelve, and she was almost as tall as Stacie. Her chestnut hair was to her mid back, and she always teased Stacie that he was too pretty to be a boy. Stacie had had enough of the teasing though. He figured if she wants to tease him, he will make sure her teasings backfire, this time.

As Stacie was studying, he was wearing a cream colored dress, with a scoop neckline, a back zipper and the dress came to mid thigh. The lingerie was the same color as the dress, but the panties had lots of lace around the waist and the leg openings. The slip had lace across the top and the hem, and the bra was very lacy and the cups were satin lined. He had on tan nylon, stay up stockings, and cream pumps with two inch heels.

He was waiting for the call to come down for dinner. He didn't have long to wait. His mother called the children down, and as Aileen passed his door, she teased him again.

"Come on, sis, dinner's ready."

He got up, made sure his dress was smooth and there were no runs in his stockings. He went down the stairs and in to the dining room.

"What the sam hell!" His father yelled.

"Honey, why are you wearing a dress?"

"I told you he was too pretty to be a boy."

"Aileen, it is not nice to tease your brother."

"My brother! He looks like my sister."

"Young man," his father said sternly, "you go upstairs this instant and put on some decent clothes."

"I'm sorry father, if this dress embarrasses you, but from now on, Aileen and the boys will not be teasing me. They want to call me a girl, then I will dress like the girl they call me. You see, father, I have given this a lot of thought. If my twelve year old sister can see how pretty I am without a dress, think how much prettier I am with a dress. No, father, the teasing has gotten so bad both from Aileen here at home and from all the boys at school. I will make you a deal, father, I can either be your oldest daughter, or I can just go by myself and do whatever I think is proper to put a stop to the pain I feel everyday when these boys and Aileen tease me."

"Honey," his mother looked worried. "You aren't thinking about taking your own life, are you?"

"I don't know, mother, but it would be preferable to the pain I feel every day."

"Honey, we are a family, and there is nothing we can't work out. I know your father isn't going to say yes about this. But is this what you really want?"

"Mother, Aileen is twelve years old, and she is almost as tall as me. I am fourteen, five foot three, and if I grow any more, maybe I will be another inch or two. But I will never bulk out like the boys at school, and I can never hope to be a big he man hit with the girls like dad was when you were dating him. Mother, I have to make a stand."

"Doris, are you going to take the boy's side? This is perversion, and I will not have it in my house."

"Well, Robert, Stacie does look pretty, and I have to agree. He has to make a stand at some time in his life, and why not now. Now is as good a time as any, for him to make his stand. To be who he wants to be, and he has the right to live the life he wants to live also. While this may be your house Robert, this is not a communist regime, a fascist regime, or a dictatorship."

"I guess I lost my appetite. I'll get something at O'Henry's."

O'Henry's Pub was just in the next block. Dad went there on occasion to laugh and joke with his friends. But tonight, mom had warning bells going off in her head. As soon as dad was out of the house, mom took us upstairs, and packed our suitcases. She packed two for her, and made sure that we took our computers. We got down to the garage and put everything in the trunk and back seat. There was a little room left for one of us, and Aileen took that. After we were belted in, mom drove us to our aunt Neecie's. Aunt Neecie's real first name was Necedah, but she only used that on official looking papers. Aunt Neecie lived three counties away from where we were. Since the car was in mom's name, she had a right to take it. Dad wasn't allowed to drive legally because his license was revoked. He was going to hit the roof when finds us gone. As mom drove along, she talked to me.

"Honey, is this what you really want? I mean, do you think you would like living as a girl full time?"

"It is better than being teased that I am a girl. If I dressed and acted like a girl, then they couldn't call me a girl, because that is what I would be. I mean, I know I don't the insides that "normal" girls have, but I can still be a girl. Can't I?"

"Of course you can, dear. You can be anyone, any sex, any profession that you want to be."

"Mom, may I say something?"

"Yes, Aileen, you may."

"Stacie, I'm sorry for all of the teasings. I was just having some fun, I didn't know that I was hurting you. If you're going to be my sister, is it alright if I call you sis?"

"Yes, sis, you may call me sis. Forever."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear."

"Alright girls, since our dinner was interrupted by your rude father, I say we stop and get something to eat. What does everyone want?"

"IHOP," Aileen shouted.

"IHOP," I said, agreeing with Aileen.

"Then IHOP it is. Do you kids have your phones out?"

"Yes, mother," Aileen said, in mock indignation.

"Aileen, look up IHOP on the net and see where the closest one is to us. I say we are just about to Beaver Dam."

"Mom, it says there is one in Oshkosh at 1400 Koeller street."

"Right, let's go then."

She drove us to the IHOP in Oshkosh, and we all just ate from the one salad. The waitress let us have three small bowls so we could dish ours up without double dipping in the big bowl. After a nice dinner of a grilled chicken salad, we sat there talking about our options.

"Listen kids, your father showed me a side of him I have never seen before. What would you say if tomorrow I see a lawyer about divorcing your father?"

"Mom, if he gets angry at seeing me dressed like this, then what else does he get angry at? What does he tell his friends about us at O'Henry's? I for one think it would be a good idea if he wasn't anywhere near us."

"I have to agree, sis. When he yelled at you, he scared me. It was a good thing I didn't have a fork in my mouth at the time, because I jumped."

"Well then, tomorrow I will see a lawyer. I can call in to my secretary and tell her what has happened. I will also ask the lawyer to file for a restraining order against him. If he comes near us he can be put in jail for contempt of court for violating that order. So, are we done?"

"I'm not only full, I'm stuffed."

"Me too, sis."

Mom got the rest to go, and we got back in the car. We were heading towards aunt Neecie's in the country just between Oshkosh and Neenah, in Outagamie county.. Aunt Neecie had a nice house. A two story frame house with five bedrooms, surrounded by a beautiful garden. In the summer when we went there, Aileen and I would help her with the weeding, the sprinkling, and the plant food. Oh yes, aunt Neecie made sure that her pride and joy flowers and plants were fed. It was only another fifteen minutes for us to get to aunt Neecie's. She came out of the house, when she saw us drive up.

"Hey sis, you know it isn't quite summer yet."

"I know, Neecie, but we had a little trouble with Robert this evening."

"Well, let's get your things in the house. Where's Stacie, and who is this pretty young girl?"

"Neecie, meet your niece Stacie Ann."

"Oh my gosh! This is Stacie! Oh my gosh, child, you are very pretty. All that beauty is wasted on a boy, you know. Anyway, let's get you all settled, and then we can sit down to some milk and cookies and talk about it."

We got everything from the car, and aunt Neecie took us to our rooms. She asked Aileen and I if we wanted separate rooms, or was it alright if we shared a room. She said there was nice room at the top of the stairs, that was just right for two young girls like us.

We looked at each other, and Aileen got a very evil, mischievious smile on her face. "Well, what do you think, sis? Share, or no share."

"Well, what does everybody else think? I'm still a boy under these clothes."

"Yes, dear, but you are also my oldest daughter. Aileen is going to need someone to talk to when she is feeling the need, and I can't think of anyone better than her older sister."

"If I say share, sis, promise you won't play any of your famous tricks on me."

With one hand behind her back and fingers crossed, she said, "no tricks, sis."

"You can uncross your fingers, sis. I know you." She giggled before she gave me a big sisterly hug.

"Sis, please share a room with me. We can actually talk real girl talk now, too."

"Oh, alright, I guess. Besides sisters have to stick together."

"Alright, girls, get your things put away, then come downstairs and aunt Neecie will have the milk and cookies ready."

"Yes, mother," we both said together.

The room aunt Neecie let us use, actually had two closets in it. The room was pretty. It has lavender walls, with lavender curtains on the windows, and there were two twin beds. We put our clothes away, and then we put the boxes with our computers by our beds. We went downstairs.

As we sat in the living room, aunt Neecie looked a little worried. "Now tell me sis, what was the trouble you had with Robert?"

"Well, it was right around dinner time, and I called the girls down to dinner. Stacie came down wearing what you see her in now. Robert hit the roof, and yelled at Stacie to go right back to her room and put on some decent clothes. When I defended Stacie that she had a right to wear what she wanted and be who she wanted to be, he called her a pervert, and stormed off to O'Henry's. I'm afraid that it is over, Neecie. He not only scared me, he scared the girls too. I have never seen him like that."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with what Stacie is wearing. We are going to have to transfer Stacie and Aileen to school here, but Neenah is just as bad as Robert is. I will tell you what I will do. There are a few private girls schools around, and maybe we can get the girls in to one of them. That would mean, ladies, that you would have to wear a school uniform."

"As long as daddy can't come near us, I don't care if they go naked at that school." We all giggled at Aileen's indignant statement.

"Well, I will see what we can do. I will call the cable company tomorrow also, and get the girls computers online. So Stacie, tell me. What made you dress like this to begin with?"

"It was all the teasing from Aileen, who apologized, and from the boys at school. All this teasing started to hurt and made me feel sad. Then about two months ago, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. I looked at my hair, my body, my face, and even my voice for fourteen is still high. There is not one minute hint of my voice getting any lower. The boys at school are way taller than me. I'm a whole five foot, three inches tall. I started saving my allowance money, and was buying skirts, slips, training bras, I actually had a sales lady fit me for one. I bought panties, stockings, dresses, blouses and other tops. When I had a complete outfit, I stayed in my room, and made sure I took a nice bubble bath. Mom and Aileen probably thought one or the other was in there.

"After I was clean, I wrapped a nice terry cloth towel around me, starting just above the breast line, and went to my room. I made sure nobody was in the hallway. When I got to my room, I got dressed in my first outfit, and then looked at myself in the mirror from all angles. I smiled, I frowned, I pouted, but no matter what face expression I made, I still looked like a girl. So, I figured, alright, I will wait for my chance. Then tonight, I took that chance and went down to dinner in this outift."

"Oh, you poor child. Well, there will be no teasing here. You are a girl for all intents and purposes in this house, and I for one will love having two nieces here. Stacie did you know that when your mother named you, she had already written the name of her child down on a piece of paper? When the nurse asked what your name was going to be, and your mother said Stacie Ann O'Connell, the nurse didn't even bat an eyelash. By the way, I have seen your birth certificate, and your mother never had it corrected. What is says is that you were born alive on the fourteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and ninety six. The sex on your birth certificate says female. We were able to get you out of gym class because your mother said that you had a bad back, and my doctor even confirmed that. So you have a medical report that says because of your bad back, gym class is to be avoided, or the child could end up paralyzed. We did that, so that there wouldn't be any reason for them to question what was on your birth certificate. Do you understand that we did that for your own good?"

"Yes, aunt Neecie. Did father know about what it said on my birth certificate?"

"Oh my gosh, no! If he did, Stacie, he would have really hit the roof, and made me have it corrected. I guess the reason I named you what I did, and didn't argue about the sex was because I always wanted a daughter. But when Aileen was born, I had forgotten all about your birth certificate, and you were just Stacie. No, your father certainly has not known about that, all these years."

"Stacie Ann O'Connell. It has a nice ring to it."

"That's my girl, but you haven't had one of my prized cookies, young lady," aunt Neecie said, looking at me with narrowing eyes. I giggled.

After we had a cookie and a glass of milk, we all sat around talking about girl things. I was now one of the girls, and that is alright by me, because I never will be a real he man. If I am a girl, I won't have to worry about being rejected for dates by any of girls, and my feelings won't be hurt.

I went over by mom, who said I was a girl even when I was born. "Mom, I love you," and I gave her a hug.

"I love you too, dear. All you need is love."