The First Queen in the Village 22

 

 

---

 
Andy stood at the top of the stairs facing down towards the hallway where Christine stood with Kirsty. Christine broke the silence as Astrid took her first step down the stairs…. “Come and say goodbye, Astrid. You should meet Kirsty. She has run a good party for us and is leaving now ,,,,,,,”

“Don’t let her leave…. For a minute.”, he said in Astrid’s most girly voice, meaning to let Kirsty into a secret about how to treat customers…. Especially those in whose house you are working….

In that second, the thoughts of all of those in view were very different. Nobody said a word but their neurones were firing in very different ways.

Christine thought “My God, he looks better than ever! Those girls have done a great job…..”

Kirsty thought, “Who’s this woman and why hasn’t she been in the party?…. She’s quite a stunner…”

Heidi thought, “Wow! I’m so really pleased she asked me to help, I mean, he asked me to help…. I, er….well, she, looks like the best head I’ve ever dressed…”

Lottie thought, “At last, I’m getting to do more than take out rollers from the hair of old ladies in the salon! I did like the make-up I did on his eyes… In fact, I really quite fancy this guy…!!!!…..”

Astrid stepped down the last step into the hall. But now Andy spoke. “… we did meet an hour ago, but maybe Kirsty doesn’t remember…! It was no pleasure to meet you then, dear, but perhaps you can remember me this way and we can be friends… To do that, you must remember what you said to me and to my wife when we were alone before the party.”

Christ! Kirsty thought. It’s him! The guy who’s married to Christine. Just look at him, er, her, now! She began to stutter. “Errr.. I …er… don’t know what to say….”

“Well, you should admit that there are times to keep your big lipsticky mouth shut and find out who you’re talking to before you open it again………, darling!” Astrid walked past Kirsty without a further word. She headed for the kitchen with a wink to Christine that indicated “we need to talk”. “Get rid of her, now!” she said with a tone that told Christine that Astrid meant what she said. “We don’t need her”.

Talk, they did need. Andy was still in Christine’s hands for the introduction even though he was confident what he should be saying after being introduced.

Andy, on entering the kitchen, took a deep breath. He had dealt with his agenda with Kirsty, but that was secondary. He had to compose Astrid’s “self” for the experience to come — to meeting maybe a dozen women. Already dressed as Astrid, Andy was ready but ‘coming out’ as his new existence… as someone they would come to recognize if he, as he felt sure he would now, started living life as a woman for most of the time. Living a life in beautiful underwear, sexy shoes, a selection of feminine outerwear and devoted to looking good with cosmetics and hair designs that no man would ever be seen dead wearing! He caught sight of himself in the mirror which he and Christine used to check their make-up on their “days in, at home”.

More importantly, he thought of those days making love with his beloved Christine as the woman she wanted him to be! He could hardly wait for the party to be over… The others entered the room after Kirsty had been shown the door.

He would be telling these ladies who had come to the party how his dressing had begun. How much he and Christine are in love, and how much a part of their existence Astrid in now.

Kirsty was soon gone. Heidi and Lottie had rejoined the party. Christine followed Astrid into the kitchen. There wasn’t much time to talk. Andy began “Now, you will set it all up, won’t you? I mean, tell them how we began? And how much it was your idea really… which it was, wasn’t it? I mean, I know you thought I was… well, deep down…… wanting…..”

“Honey, honey!” Christine began, seeking to calm Astrid’s obvious sudden nerves. “You are looking wonderful… A million dollars! I wish I had asked Heidi and Lottie to help me get prepared myself. Just take it easy for a while. Let me tell you what’s happened. It’s all gone just according to plan — and even more people turned up after you went upstairs. For a start, Bev arrived which added some fun to the proceedings. She’s clearly a favourite in the village and I guess, if she’s on board, our idea will fly! Know what I mean?!”

Astrid was beginning to compose herself. Andy knew that he had to get into role in a few moments or risk the whole evening turning ‘pear-shaped’. “Ok, Ok, I’m with you. I understand. That’s all good. What did Bev say?” Christine smiled and thought…. Bev was unusually quiet, for at least a minute and a half. “She took stock of the audience and launched into the joys she had personally experienced with some of the merchandise that Kirsty had to offer. She could’ve been Kirsty’s paid assistant, the way she endorsed the creams and lubricants on offer…. And the underwear. But she saved her coup for the, er, accessories… the toys….. She described many as “ok for starters” but went on to be the first to place an order for a beautiful double-ended dildo which she said would be “great for nights in with a favourite girlfriend”. Yes, she had girlfriends!”.

Christine had the reactions of the rest of the party group in her mind when Bev had said what she said. “Imagine that. Nobody could ignore that. Needless to say, I don’t think Kirsty has sold as many double-headers in a single evening, ever before! And before you ask, yes, I’ve bought one and, yes, it’s huge!!”

“And who else arrived after I’d left?” Andy chipped in. “Well , there were three other women that you hadn’t seen. One mother and daughter pairing — remember, the one at University — her and her Mum. They live at number 5, opposite. The daughter’s name is Jessica and the mother is Andrea. They seemed remarkably liberal in their interests! The daughter said that she would be very popular when it got to be known she had taken one of these back to Uni! Her mother then said they had better have two, because she wanted one at home!”

“And all of this before they hear what we have in mind for double dildos!” Astrid said, coyly, fluttering her heavily-mascara-ed eyelashes.

“You wait…. I have my thoughts about Andrea and the likelihood that she’ll be first to join our experiment! Her husband is called Todd and he’s a very well-travelled guy, she told us. Has seen all corners of the world, and experienced all sorts of pleasures, no doubt!”

Christine thought about the lounge room where their guests had been seated. “….. So, that’s Bev and those two…….Then there was one, no two others….. so, four you had missed. The other two were Emma and Sally, Emma’s from the new house at number 7 and Sally’s the second wife from number 12. Sally made it clear, Norman is her second husband and she’s his second wife. Too much information from her, but they’re very busy in the sack most nights! Very hetero, I should say about her but you never know…. Emma’s the younger one, you know the younger couple with the flash cars. Her husband is Justin, all very flash and full of himself. Maybe a “Justine” in the making, I would hope. She seems a very quietly determined woman and if she were to go along with our ideas, he’d struggle but she’d get him in line.”

Astrid was struggling to get her head around all this information. “I’ll never remember them all…. So I’m not going to try. It hardly matters, does it? They’re either going to be up for some gender-bending, or they’re not!”

Christine tried to move on…… “You really don’t have to worry when you talk to them, honey. Looking as good as you do, and revealing that you’re male, there’s going to be tremendous interest in the ideas we have. I can just see it now. The next time we get the party going, there will be some active participants among this lot.”

Christine stood back and admired Astrid. “Just look at you. If a hard-nosed bitch like Kirsty can’t suss you, nobody can.. so you’ll be in control as soon as I’ve introduced you as my wife….”

“But… but… Look at me… I’m in a cold sweat….. I’m getting really scared……..”

“Of what?! Of being recognized as the pretty woman that you really are? Of being known from now as my wife, all the time you’re in the village? Or of going out of the village as a male? Perhaps that’s it?”

“All of those things…… I don’t know that I’m ready…..” Andy’s real panic began to subside. Christine soothed Astrid’s cheek and just teased her hair to divert Andy’s attention. “Easy, easy, darling. It will be wonderful and you haven’t got any need to worry…. Let’s just tell them our story and let them see how good it could be to follow us….. ok? The time for the break is ending and they’re going to be ready for us in a few moments. Just take a few breaths….. and then let’s go in. Hold my hand…..”

Astrid was conscious that her palm was in a very unladylike sweat… “Wait… let me use a wet wipe ….” She carefully swabbed her palms and used another tissue on her neck…… Nerves are such a strange phenomenon….., she thought. She took a deep breath. This wasn’t like going into a store and buying women’s clothes, undetected. This was revelation!

Christine opened the door and the loud conversation was soon quelled to a murmur, the partygoers saw not one, but two women standing in the doorway. The pair entered among them. “Now, girls, before the break, think back to when I told you there was someone I wanted you to meet…. And here she is. Please welcome Astrid……. “ Christine paused for a moment and a few words of welcome came.

“Hiya!” “Hello Astrid.” “Come on in!” “Where ya’been?!” Astrid just smiled. This welcome was warm enough indeed.

“Hello, everyone!” she responded, looking about the room and doing her best to suppress a blush.

“There’s more to this lady than meets the eye…… Astrid is my wife…..” Christine went on… “which may surprise some of you….. But it’s true. We’ve been married for 15 years and we’re a very happy couple as I’m sure you’ll get to know……..”

There was now an almost stunned silence as the party took in the enormity of Christine’s revelation.

“Well, congratulations!...”said Pammie, who was the first to speak.

“Thank you, Pammie, I think it is. You’re very kind. Let me explain a little and why you’re all invited to be here to meet Astrid. Firstly, we wanted to meet those of you to whom we’re comparative strangers. Second, we want to share a little secret with you. A secret that we hope you’ll enjoy knowing.” The silence in the room deepened. All eyes were on Astrid…. And didn’t she know it!

“Astrid and I are, in fact, man and wife…. It may seem unusual but I want you to find out just how usual our marriage can be…. And this evening to get you thinking about how much fun can be had the way we are.”

There were many knowing looks and mostly supportive smiles on the faces of the partygoers, but nobody said more than Pammie’s words. So, Christine went on, Man and wife??? You could almost feel the stunned disbelief that this woman was the Andy they had met an hour and a half earlier. Man and wife??!

“I think it’s fair to say that, when we met, I was already very happy knowing that I was ‘Bi’ and had many girl and boyfriends. I’m very much of the view that “it’s possible to be moved as much by a girl as a boy” to quote my ultimate Diva, Dusty..
Astrid and I met at a social evening when he was Andy. He still is Andy, by the way, under all that beauty, there’s a lovely, lovely guy hiding away….”

Astrid blushed and smiled as sweetly as Andy could.

“Please do stop me if you have questions along the way, but our goal tonight is to
Lead you to think about joining us in a little social experiment….. but more of that later…..

“But, I don’t understand how……” Pammie began, sitting in the front row, right up close under where Astrid was standing. Pammie had a close-up view of this carefully created female form before her. “How can you look so good?!” Her eyes locked into Astrid’s as if searching for a hidden truth. No answer was needed.

“Oh, come on girl! ……Imagination!! …..Use your imagination!” retorted Bev from the sidelines.

Christine felt bound to set the scene for Andy’s contribution. “You don’t understand ….. ok….honey. What precisely?..... How a social gathering where two complete strangers met, years ago, led to what you see? A couple like us, in love with eachother? I’m not really surprised… and it didn’t happen over night, did it, Astrid my love? Why don’t you tell our friends how this came about…. And how much you love the way you are.”

Andy’s turn had come. Astrid had to tell her story. Astrid’s voice could slip into Andy’s at any time — it might reinforce that there was a guy under this femmy exterior…. Astrid’s cheeks were pink, and not from an excess of blusher. She hid a certain embarrassment with a huge, lipstick-laden smile.

“I fell in love….” she began. “…it was as simple as that. I met this fabulous girl who I soon began to adore. We didn’t click at first, if you know what I mean. Well, she was the popular one — all the guys wanted to get inside her pants, me included. My experiences with girls was limited, even though I had been at Uni for two of my course’s three years. Yes, a virgin at age 21, how rare is that?! Fumblings, failed datings, generally accompanied by a loss or lack of confidence. I was never sure that, when my moment came, that I could get it up and keep it up. And of course, that meant I was less than likely to when the time came……”

Andy began to relax, and Astrid took over. Her voice softened and the nervousness faded away. “But Christine was different and she didn’t seem to mind my uncertainty. I think she thought of me as something of a challenge……..” Andy’s heart-pouring was in full flood by now. Christine could tell, but so long as he kept a grip on the emotions, she let him continue. She smiled at the “challenge” reference.

“Maybe she thought I was gay, maybe not…. You probably did, didn’t you honey?” Andy asked, not expecting an answer as he looked at Christine. She did, however, feel the need to reply. “No, my love, I never suspected that you were attracted to guys…. And you’re not, to this day, are you?”

“Not at all…. In fact, perhaps I should say so now…. What you’re going to hear has nothing to do with being gay. Everyone in this room probably knows someone who enjoys, or would enjoy, dressing in their partner’s clothes. But very few would admit to that….. I don’t think I ever imagined….” Andy felt his story was going off at a tangent slightly. Time to re-focus….

“So what’s the story with the double-dildos then?” asked Sally, the second wife whose reputation in the bedroom was established.

“Personal preference…” was all Christine said, smiling and indicating to Andy to move on. Astrid cleared her throat with a delicate little girly cough.

“There was a time when she must have nearly given up on the idea of being seduced — at least being seduced by me, that is! But one thing led to another and one night we found ourselves happily pissed on somebody else’s booze and in a bed together. Not unexpectedly, there were difficulties because I knew I was rushing myself trying to get ready to ‘please’ her…. And she must’ve realized this, so she took control and slowed me down and tried to make me relax. Which I did…..” Astrid paused.

Andy’s memories were vivid. “….Which I did much better when she slowly stroked my skin through the silk of her nightdress. I can remember that even now. I loved the fell of the silk on my body. It was hugely arousing and we did, as the saying goes… we did ‘score’ that night. I was in heaven…. All the more so because of the luxurious feeling of the nightdress.”

“So, there began my love of girls’ clothes…. I’d love to say I dressed from my days as a young teen, for example, but nothing is further from the truth. So many wasted years! I always loved girls. Fancied them. I had always paid girlfriends an unhealthy degree of attention, complimenting them on their clothes, their ‘looks’ and their hair. I enjoyed their company. I enjoyed talking with them, listening to them …. I had been credited with being “one of the girls” many times, but only in the sense of sharing their mindset.”

Astrid paused, looking over at Christine to see if she had said too much, too little or…. Christine took up the story with ease at that point.

“I found myself in love with this shy guy. I wanted to be fucked, by anyone, it has to be said, but at that time, I wanted to be fucked by him. The kind of intimacy we established that night offered the prospect of a regular fuck with a man I could fancy. It would go well with sex with the girls who I shared a bed with. That was different. That was “us girls together”…. Or, looking back, I know now that it wasn’t quite as different as I thought. Now I know Astrid better, and since I married the man who became her, we have enjoyed much more than most marriages offer.”

A question interrupted Christine in mid-flow “Forgive me….What do you mean? How come…..? What is missing between that part of the story you’ve told — one night — and getting married and him, er, her, sitting her among us. I mean, there’s years in between….. The questioner was Pammie, once more opening the discussion that Christine had hoped someone would. Pammie, the stern looking jet black haired one-time Goth in her teen years. Clearly someone who would be highly charged when sexually active. Pammie wanted much more of the “whole story” of Christine and Andy, and Christine and Astrid.

Andy looked directly into Pammie’s blue mascara-ed eyes. He looked at her dark ensemble of clothes that projected the image she wanted. She had a controlling instinct, that much was clear. The story had to be told in more detail.

“Good question…” said Astrid. “It starts with confidence in eachother, and getting to know eachother’s likes and dislikes. My wife soon found things I liked to experience in bed. It wasn’t long before the enjoyment of the silken nighties led her to simply suggest that I might try one on. One day, or one evening. “Why not?” she asked when I said I couldn’t possibly…… And that time, I laughed the idea off, but it stayed in my mind. Christine may have been hurt that I didn’t immediately welcome the idea… truth was, I was embarrassed at just how much the idea appealed to me…. It wasn’t long, though, before she suggested the idea again and, well, you could almost say the rest of the story is history, but I’ll tell you more….”

Pammie’s smile broadened. “That’s more like it.” she said.

“Christine’s liking of both men and women was a great starting point. She told me that if I loved sexy silky things to wear, she would absolutely love it. She said her girlfriends were all girly enough to enjoy being girls. She didn’t want man-substitutes, because she had ME! It took, when I knew about her preferences, it took all the pressure away from me because I knew that she would get her different kind of love and different kind of satisfaction. Elsewhere, with women I knew and enjoyed being with. It meant, when we were together we could say “que sera, sera!” and what happened,……. happened.”

Pammie, proving to be very perceptive, then asked Astrid “How long was it before you thought of yourself as a woman when you were making love with her?”

“About a year, I think, maybe less. It wasn’t like that immediately. But it is now…. I can make love with Christine thinking of myself equally as a man one time and as a woman another.”

“You lucky man….” mused Pammie, very quietly.

“I’m the lucky one,,,,,” whispered Christine.

“So, there’s still a lot untold…” began Emma. “I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if my hubby wouldn’t like to play games that way, but there’s miles between putting on a nightie and even playing ‘two-girls-in-a-bed’ and sitting here as you are, a convincing female, married to another woman. How did things move on?” Emma seemed genuinely interested. Christine smelled “Justine” as a convert in the making.

“You’ll be able to find a thousand stories of husbands like me living the way I do — you just don’t know we’re here…..” Andy was stopped mid-sentence.

“No, no, you don’t get my point….. When did you try other clothes? When did Christine see you dressed fully as a woman? When did you choose a girly name? When did you dress outside the bedroom? When did you try make-up for the first time? When did you try a different hairstyle? How did you handle the contrast between being a man at work and a girl at home?” Emma had dozens of questions. She wanted to know how long Andy’s transformation and Astrid’s emergence took.

“Whoah!...” said Andy, “Too many questions…… But let me try to answer… Christine soon suggested that panties would suit me well. Which I loved. She even bought me some for myself. The logical next step — which she had in mind anyhow but only confessed to me later — was the buying of a bra and suspenders. She just took me out shopping one Saturday in Oxford and, without warning, I found myself in the lingerie section of M&S, surrounded with lovely underwear. I thought that Christine was stocking up for herself but, NO!, she quietly assessed which bras, panties and suspenders I was drawn to — for her, in my mind, I have to say — and then she said “I think you’d be a 38B and a size 16 in most things — let’s buy….!”

Christine nodded in agreement — that was the way it was and, for sure, it had been her intention. She had known that there were enough signs in her husband to tell her that he would love to cross dress for the rest of his life.

There were other questions from Emma that would answer a lot of people’s unspoken ones…. Astrid went on, “When did Christine see me dressed fully as a woman? Answer: when she close the time…. Probably the following summer. We had been “behind closed doors” and in the bedroom until then. And, besides,… “ said Astrid, “…I didn’t have any outer clothes and we’re slightly different in size, the pair of us, and Christine didn’t want me stretching her pretty things…….”

Andrea raised her hand and asked another question, not entirely unrelated…. “Please tell us when you did go out to buy clothes just for you, with you fully aware of what you were going to do. Tell us how it felt — all the anticipation, and how it was.”

Astrid replied “May I say that in a moment, when I’ve helped Emma see inside these events….? When did I choose a girly name? Answer: when Christine chose one… she said there were times that “Andy” didn’t suit me anymore, so I had to have a femmy name. Astrid was her choice. Next you asked what , I’ve forgotten….?” Emma replied immediately, “When did you dress outside the bedroom?”

Astrid thought for a moment and then began, “On the day we went shopping… for me…… I went out without make-up or anything, and just in a pair of Christine’s slacks. Cut-offs, blue, navy blue, they were, so a little girly. And I wore one of her loose blouses, a light blue colour with flower pattern. It proved to be slightly see-through so I was slightly embarrassed to find the bra I was wearing quite easily on view in the mirror in the store. The shoes were the toughest choice, so I wore a pair of Christine’s sling-backs, for which she prepared me with my very first ever nail polish!!! I’ll never forget…..”

“So, what did you buy when you got to the store?” Andrea’s voice posed the question most of the party were keen to have answered. Andy began with an admission: “Some really girly and different pieces — things that Christine would accept were my choice not hers….. Some of which I would live to regret, but she let me make my mistakes….!! If you know what I mean!”

Andrea carried on… “Don’t tell me….. the low neckline?! The bright flash coloured blouse with flimsy sleeves? The short skirt with the arse-hugging pinch that made you walk in a tottering way?! The black stockings? Don’t tell me! Not fishnets? Oh no! and the stiletto-heeled shoes, all black and strappy? Oh, no! please! No!?”

Christine laughed…. Andrea? Isn’t it? You’re dead right! Justine, tell your Mum, she’s very perceptive! How many children made mistakes like this? I just had to let him do it……. I decided that it was a learning experience for Andy and that’s why I suggested…. No, I insisted, that he wore the clothes home from the store!”

“Well done, my girl,” said Andrea. “I bet she was horny when you got her home though?” “Too right!” was Christine’s reply.

Though it wasn’t her question originally, Cathy now chipped in with another of Emma’s questions….. “Emma asked, When did you try make-up for the first time? I’d love to know that, because that’s quite a step in a different direction, isn’t it? I mean, make-up is all about creating the illusion on beauty….. And maybe attracting men’s attention…??” Cathy was delving into the gay question again……

“I know where you’re heading, Cathy, isn’t it? And I can’t say exactly when…. I know I hadn’t worn make-up before that fateful shopping trip…. And, as it happens, there’s a tail-piece to that story….. Christine said I was dressed like a tart, through my own choice, that day, so she would do my make-up and hair like a tart — for just one time in my life…. She’s not keen on tarts, so it was a way to warn me off I guess.. So this wasn’t me “wearing make-up” in the sense that I now do, most days of my life, this was her teaching me how NOT to wear make-up. Hell, did she do a good job. You have rarely seen eyes so big, and lashes so flappy! You can never have seen a mouth so pumped up with a slash of crimson lipstick…. All covered in lipgloss which I have never worn again! The foundation was caked-on and the blusher so dramatic. If I had hung about on a street corner, I’d have scored ten times in a night, but not in ways I’d ever want to do…… I have NEVER dressed that way again. I just keep the clothes in case of a Drag Ball if one ever comes this way!”

Bev than asked, quietly for her for once…. “And how did the tart’s hair look?” Bev asked, knowing that Andy had a special “thing” about hair” and she was tempting him to divulge this to everyone.

“Christine did me proud……” Andy’s voice returned, “…She found a half-head wig of her own that she hadn’t used for years. It was real hair and a light auburn colour. She fashioned it on my crown, up high, here…” Andy indicated the back of his head where the party saw Astrid’s now beautifully-coiffed style (thanks to Heidi) “…and she did that after plastering my own hair flat to my scalp. The half-wig then formed a lovely beehive with soft curls arranged around it. Beautifully, but aggressively, saying “come here and fuck me!”……. which was what a tart would be saying, but the last thing I wanted to project!!! Oh, how she taught me a lesson!”

Astrid’s story went on…

“Before long, we were home and she was insisting that I try on these — to me —beautiful, feminine things. You can imagine…. I nearly died… first from embarrassment from having been in the store, buying… and second, from elation at the beauty of the garments I found fitted me perfectly! From that moment on, you could say I was a confirmed cross-dresser. Never mind that I started as a tart!”

“And was that when you became sexually active as a different self?” asked Cathy who had been quiet until this point. “Yes, I want to know about that side of where this leads…..” chipped in Jenny, the amateur dramatically practised woman from number 3 next door to Christine and Andy. “Now, you’re talking….” Came the comment from Bev, “….. I had hoped we’d get on to the interesting part sooner or later…..” She tossed her blonde hair and took a long slug from the drink in her hand, “Is there any more of this delicious drink!?” she asked.

Andy went on with Astrid’s story. “It so happened that, after months of having very gentle sex, Christine grew in her confidence about what I would ‘go along with’ in bed. She found a few things that interested her which her girlfriends maybe didn’t want to go for. So, she suggested them to me… or rather, she got on with them and waited for me to say “thanks but no thanks”. One of those things was a little light bondage which you’ve been talking about earlier tonight….. Well, I didn’t mind …” Astrid meant what she said. In fact, she enjoyed every minute — of being restrained …. Gently.

Christine had enjoyed the same treatment and had persuaded Andy to indulge her occasionally…..”That opened the door to some dressing-up games which, not surprisingly, increased Andy’s excitement and general strength of his libido.”

“A little bit of leather goes a long way, if you can imagine what I mean…” Christine was keen to explain how the evolution of their love-making was very gradual. “There was no master plan… no grand intention…… We just went from one evening to the next, exploring what eachother thought, exploring what each had heard about, thought about doing……… We soon found that both of us were ‘up for’ most things that we heard other people enjoy……”

Christine was genuinely proud of the way their sex life had evolved and grown She thought that there would be some in the partygoer group who would see it “her way”, just as Andy had, … and Astrid now did. She was suddenly conscious, again, that there was silence in the room. There was avid attention being paid to her story. That, in itself was a good sign.

“It wasn’t until we married that dressing came into our lives and, to tell the truth, I can’t explain why it took so long….”

“So, how long did it take you to fuck her as a woman, then?” came an interruption from someone who was clearly getting impatient with the speed of the story’s delivery. It was Jenny, the drama queen.

Clearly, Jenny had enjoyed the hospitality a little too much and wasn’t ashamed to launch into her view of the proceedings. Christine wasn’t in the least offended and dealt quite swiftly with the apparent set-back to her plan. “My best friend has a good phrase when confronted with such a direct question. She answers it — which I shall — and then says “perhaps you’ll feel better when you’ve had a lie down” So, to you, my answer is “less than a year after we were married and I’ll tell you how it came about……”

The offender, was so taken aback that she was seen to sit in stunned silence while Christine did, indeed tell the story that she and Andy had rehearsed about her original discovery of Astrid and the seduction that took place soon after.

“Astrid knew that I had girlfriends from time to time, and she was cool with that. We never explored the idea of three of us getting together,…… well, not at that time anyway,….. so it wasn’t a surprise that she might get a little bit jealous. Three people in this marriage is a phrase that became suddenly commonplace that year. Remember? Diana? Well, I don’t know if she was jealous but Astrid did say, one time, that she was seeing me attracted to more and more glamorous women and she said that she was feeling a little bit left in the shade…..” Christine smiled as she recalled Andy being happy to be female but then wanting to be more and more like the women she herself was falling in love with.

Christine felt it was her place to push towards the conclusion they had envisaged for the evening.

“Astrid had been a bit of a “plain Jane”, contented to dress in a girly way, contented to be one of a pair of us when we chose to be girls for a night. That began to change.
She began to take an interest in fashion and beauty magazines. She began to ask me about her appearance and how it might be enhanced. She said she wanted to get a pair of silicone tits to make her bra feel more fully and naturally filled. It wasn’t long before she went into London to buy a pair from a specialist TV store. She was getting horny as a result — I could tell. She began to flirt with me more than before. She wanted compliments about her looks and soon enough, she started wearing more obvious make-up. For myself, I was pleased with that — I always found myself — still do — attracted to what people call “lipstick lesbians”. I’ve never been one for the dykey-type…. Can say that openly here as none of you are anything but girly. Please don’t be offended if you’re attracted to more manly women though… I don’t mean to offend….”

Astrid interrupted her lover…. “Honey, I think I should add….”

Before she could get going, another interruption happened. Sally, the neighbour from number 12 by the pub, came up with a very important question — one which needed dealing with as soon as it arose… She directed her question to Christine, not to Astrid.

“I’m getting lost now — you’re female and like females, he’s male and likes females but wants to be female, why didn’t he just get on with becoming female?”

Christine responded in a flash, saying “You’re forgetting one important thing — and this is crucial - I don’t just like females, I love males as well and he is my male…. My one and only male. I have female friends, and I love every one of them, but he’s the only one that’s male! And what’s male about him, I want to keep being male.”

Astrid took up the theme, as if to reinforce the way their marriage works. “I reached the stage of wanting to be Christine’s girlfriend on a regular basis. I was working, as a man, in my regular job Monday to Friday, so I suggested that maybe I could be Astrid on Sundays…. Day of rest and all that…… if you know what I mean. I asked if she would accept me that way and she was delighted to go along with the idea…. So that’s how we went on. It was Christine who then saw the possibilities for herself. To swap identities on those Sundays. So, while I began spending whole days as my new self, Christine found herself a role as Christopher, my boyfriend. And this is how some of you have met him around the village.”

“So what’s this got to do with us, here this evening? I mean, we’ve all enjoyed finding a few new things to play with and it’s being great fun having a get-together, just us girls from the village. But where are we going from here?” ……. The same questioner pressed home her point. Sally was still, to a certain extent, lost and wanting direction.

Astrid knew this point would arrive sooner or later and it was her place, being the one voluntarily crossing gender lines, to explain.

She began, “You’re right to wonder. Christine and I have been talking for some time, wondering if there were others in the village who might like to make the lifestyle choices we have made and maybe to join us. Join us as we are — woman and man, instead of man and woman — not permanently — well, not unless you ever decided to go in that direction, but that’s not for us and not in our minds. We just love the way we have found new expressions of the way we love eachother and we can strongly recommend that others should try……. Just experiment a little. If you like the sound of the ideas we’re trying to explain, we’ll tell you more. There’s lots on the emotional side to cover. The physical side too, we can recommend. As a man, I love being loved as a woman. As a man, I love loving a woman. I get the best of both worlds. Christine does too. From it being her idea that I should become more feminine, she’s now got the chance to be more masculine, just occasionally”.

Sally, who Christine and Andy had heard was resolutely heterosexual, was immediately accepting of the whole idea that had been laid out before the group. “You know, there’s more sense in what you’ve said than almost anything I’ve had said to me about sex toys and things…… Now, where do we go from here. I mean, Christine and er, Astrid, are asking us all a question…… Do we want to hear more and, maybe meet again…….?”

Christine thanked Sally, of all the unexpected sources, for the conclusion and said,
“sally’s right… we can go on all night but I think you have the gist of our ideas. What Astrid and I would like to do is give you something to go home with, to accompany whatever you have each bought earlier in the evening… We wish you lots of fun with those toys and things and hope to hear you’d like to come back, let’s say in a couple of weeks’ time. In the meantime, here’s a gift for each of you…… or more importantly, for your partners….. It’s a beautiful, delicate, girly, feminine, nightgown. We would love you to re-enact our own experience. It will work for some of you, maybe not for others, but do persevere. The first reactions you get may well hide a deeply-held longing that you can release……. “

Astrid smiled and thought of bedtime and the love-making that would surely follow for himself and Christine………

Chapter 23 will be the last (Please forgive the time taken to reach release of this, (penultimate) part of the story.