The last week before the final exams was wonderful for Lexi and me. The only hard part was going different ways. She was going back to Hastings, Nebraska and I lived at the east edge of Iowa near Dubuque.
We planned a party the day after my last final exam, but each person packed up exhausted as soon as they could. Kayla moved into a 4-plex that four of us would share come the new school year. I helped Kayla with the move and left some of my things there as well.
My Dad had come to help me move things home. He was wanting to meet Nicole, so he and my Mom drove two vehicles. They were there at 9:30 in the morning and we were to move the bed and dresser to Kayla’s new apartment. Dad was not only impressed with me as Nicole. He said, “We’re not moving a makeshift bed of two-by-fours for a young woman. You’ve grown up on a dairy farm, but that’s no reason to reflect it in your new apartment.”
We took the dress of drawers with other things to the new apartment. Mom and Kayla met as old friends and Dad was quickly awestruck that I had such a good friend. Kayla assured him that our whole group was quite normal.
Dad commented, “You call my son, quite normal?”
Kayla commented, “It takes time to realize it, but she/he is quite normal.”
We went online a bought a full-size bed to be delivered Saturday to Kayla’s apartment and to be set up. We treated Kayla to lunch and then headed home.
It was back to a world where Nick was from, but not Nicole.
My father, Melvin, and oldest brother Lewis run our dairy farm. Both my Dad and brother do custom farming for others. Lewis and Haley live on the homestead and have a one-year-old daughter Macey. Our new was built the summer before my sophomore year of high school and the home is three miles east of our old home on Highway 3, closer to Dubuque.
Rachel will be a senior at the University of Northern Iowa majoring in education and hoping to be certified in history and sociology. I think her classroom experience will happen this fall. She should have found out where she would be teaching but as yet had not told me.
My brother Ken lives with two friends and works for DNR, the Department of Natural Resources. He works mainly in Dubuque County but is also part of a larger district in northeast Iowa. I’m told, he finally has a girlfriend, who he takes more seriously.
Susanne (Strayer) and Marcus Williams, my older sister and brother-in-law live west of Chicago in Cortland, Ill. Marcus is a bio-chemist for DeKaalb Genetics. They already have two children Kaylene, 3, and Aaron, 1. Susanne and Rachel already know and accept me as Nicole.
I had planned to change back to Nick once I got home. I knew Rachel had already been home two days and would be there. But I was caught by surprise to see Ken’s pickup truck and Lewis’ extended cab. Haley was even out on the porch with their daughter Macey and our dog Scout.
I wanted to see everyone, but I planned to do it first as Nick and show them pictures of me as Nicole. Haley and I met each other at Dubuque Homestead High School. She was a year ahead of me in school and just over a year younger than Lewis and Rachel.
She did this thing of walking up to me, taking my hands, and stepping back, “My girl, you make a pretty one of us. But then again you looked more like Rachel than Ken or Lewis.” She puts Macey in my arms and comments, “Even Macey takes to you more as a girl.”
I am muttering that I had wanted to change and present myself as Nick. Ken who was the biggest of us siblings, “Don’t bother, just be glad that you are presentable. I can’t believe that my brother went back to college in January and here it is May and I have another sister.” He paused, “So if you had to bet on it, which of you is going to stay in the long run?”
Lewis and Rachel are the last two coming out of the house. One’s saying, “It better be Nick!” And Rachel’s saying, “Nicole, she already has an apartment with her girlfriends.”
We’ve made it to the porch, but we’re still outside when another car drives into the property. I have three close friends Carl, Mike, and Stephanie, Who it is likely to be? I don’t recognize the car. I’m praying it is someone else that I don’t know.
The person who pops out of the Camaro is Stephanie, and she has her phone positioned like a camera. “Cynthia wants me to take a picture and send it to her. She said you two have not bumped into each other on campus.” Cyndi as I know her was accepted to ISU as an engineering major. She wants to be a metallurgist, though I don’t quite know what that is. We graduated together but weren’t close.
Steph ran up to me and hugged me, “I’m the one who should be in the skirt, but you’re welcome to it. You do look nice.”
Rachel and Haley inform everyone there is a meal of hamburgers, brats, and more in the house. My brothers, Dad, Mom, and I bring my things into the house. Everyone helps themselves and instead of eating around the dining table, we eat informally around the living room and dining area.
Steph informs me that Carl and Mike will be around in the morning, hoping they’ll see Nick before they meet Nicole. She said, “There are enough pictures shared via phones, tablets, and social media, no one should be seeing you for the first time.”
Dad, Lewis, and Ken for some reason went to the dairy farm at Lewis’.
Mom, Haley, Rachel, Steph, and I stayed and little Macey was with us. Somehow it was different from my girlfriends on campus. Here we had a history, and as Nicole, I was kind of the new one to the group yet they knew me. We talked as women of other girls and guys like them. Steph asked about a friend and classmate, Randy. She said, “Did you know him as a big jerk, who thought he was god’s gift to women?”
I knew him as a quiet guy who was kind of a loner. Seemingly, he had gone to a junior college over sixty miles away and passed himself off as a lady’s man. But got himself in trouble when he couldn’t accept rejection. I guess it was passed over as a one-time problem until it happened again. His trial will come up next month.
Mom mentioned it and Steph and Haley were both in agreement; that neither I, Nick, or Nicole, should be going to many places where I could be caught alone. I became angry and my voice broke, “That has nothing to do with me or people who are different. He’s a heterosexual for crying out loud. Why don’t we use a broad brush and paint the problem with them?”
An evening would regularly end there for Nick, but Steph and Rachel came to my room to help me unpack and to see my clothes. Haley would have stayed, except Macey was already past bedtime. That Haley was comfortable nursing Macey in my presence was a little different.
When Steph was ready to leave, we took some time alone to visit. She said, “I suspect you are already aware that your speech is changing and you’re more like another girlfriend?”
It felt strange hearing it from Steph, but it was already something I had heard from Lexis, Kayla, and other friends.
Come morning I was up early for a good homecooked breakfast. I had showered last night and again this morning trying to change over to being Nick. I wore an old pair of jeans, an undershirt, and a short-sleeved work shirt. Nick was very visible, but my skin complexion and hair looked too good for the average guy, especially a guy on a farm.
Monday, I was scheduled to meet with Mr. Dobbs, regarding my summer job and determine how I would present myself. We had previously determined I was to meet him as Nick. I was to show him some pictures of me as Nicole.
Mom and I were talking about my going back to work there and how I might consider going about things. The general consensus of the family was I might do better in being Nick and if needed take the weekends to be Nicole if I felt the need. “Your father seeing you yesterday; was not so sure this morning if that would work. He wants you to know if need be you could pass by the job and work here on the farm.”
“I think you should meet with Mr. Dobbs, and try to get some experience in your major. If it doesn’t work out, well and good.”
Sure enough, ten o’clock came and Carl and Mike drove up into the property. We quickly met and hugged. Carl was the first to notice, “You’re getting soft, tell us it’s not true?” I took them with me into the machine shed as I wanted to see the used Ford Focus my folks had gotten for me to use.
We went riding around in the car, and Mike was teasing me by flipping my hair. “This is a little long for you isn’t it?” I tried slapping his hand away.
“It’s pretty common at college; you two have been going to college, you know that.”
“Yeah, but it’s not so well taken care of,” Carl said. “You haven’t gone to a salon as Nicole have you?”
I told them the story of the friends I made and getting recruited for the fashion show. They laughed. I had already messaged about it, but telling them in person got them laughing. We went to Eagle Point Park overlooking the Mississippi River. Finally, I gave in and showed them pictures of me as Nicole.
Mike said, “Hey dude, I’d take you out on a date if I wasn’t afraid of being typed cast.”
Carl was the first to suggest, “What if the four of us went out, Steph and you as girls and Mike and I?”
Carl had messaged Steph, she and a friend Jess were on their way to see us in the park. We all met and visited. It was arranged we meet for tacos at Steph’s and go out together for the evening. There was a dance spot on the west side of the city. Steph insisted I wear the skater dress she helped me unpack the day before.
Jenn and her friend Lace were at Steph’s as well. Tavian was invited by Mike and Carl. Most of us wouldn’t be drinking but both Lace and Tavian were of age to order drinks if desired. Rachel and two of her friends decided to go to the same place. I’m sure that was out of concern for me.
The teasing I got at Steph’s would prepare me to go out. Luckily Mrs. Reid, Steph’s Mom, was accepting and during our supper, she called the teasing to an end. It was my blueprint skater dress that I was wearing when we went out, it came just to the top of my knees. After the teasing stopped, legit compliments about my appearance and legs were given.
I drove my car to the Reid’s and rode with Steph, Jenn, and Lace. The Dance Palace had an old disco dance floor that had been refurbished. It was cute during the night that a few of Bee Gee’s songs, along with Donna Summers and The Love Unlimited Dance Orchestra, were mixed in with current danceable music. Steph was the first to dance with me. On our second dance, two guys broke in and we each ended up dancing with one of them.
The evening set into a pattern of dancing, singing, and visiting. The three girls were interested in going shopping with me even if it was only window shopping. Steph was more emphatic that I needed a makeover and to find my colors.
Rachel, her friends Silva and Christina did visit. Rachel insisted on me meeting Chris her last name of Dobbs was not mentioned. Later Cyndi Carpenter also met us. Cyndi was the other ISU student from my high school class that I knew at ISU. Cyndi and I both swore we had seen the other but couldn’t remember when or where.
It was Saturday noon that I got a message from Mr. Dobbs, He was pretty certain he’d now wanted to see me in person as Nicole if I was open to it. He had since sent me a cryptic message: ‘My daughter Christina knows your sister Rachel and you at a distance. She said all you Strayers were responsible and well-mannered. She thought you could make a presentable young woman.’ “Come first as Nicole, and I’ll seek to have an open mind. My daughter has been after me to grow a bit. Presently, you are down as Nicolaus, but that would be an easy change if we so agreed.”
I had thought about it for a couple of hours, before replying that I was open to doing that.
Steph as she and Jenn agreed picked me up and we met Jenn at the mall. Sephora had a worker who made the time to fuss over me. She suggested one makeup I had on was not the best color for me. I thought it had worked well, but once Casey got my makeup off. Once she applied another it was easy to see the difference being made. “A white tint is okay for work, especially if you don’t want people making a fuss over you. If you’re out to be seen or to enjoy a night out I’d suggest these colors go well with your complexion and skin tone.”
Steph was the one to speak up, “She’s to go to her grandmother’s tonight and it will be the first time she sees her as Nicole. What would you suggest?”
Casey took a second look at me, “I was wondering, but as we went on… Well, you make a good-looking woman. Are you worried about influencing your grandmother’s acceptance of you?”
I said, “She’s good; it is more that I want to present myself well. We are close, and I want her comfortable with this side of me.”
Casey said, “I’d suggest you buy these and these, and I will give quite a few samples for you to come back if they please you.” She did make up my face for the evening.
I wasn’t planning on buying anything but JC Penney’s was having a good sale. Jenn was the first to suggest they would be good for every day at work or back on campus. When I suggested moving more to slacks or jeans; Jenn was the one who said skirts helped sell my female image.
I ended up buying a blue floral print jacket dress with getting 50% off a peach dress. Similarly, they talked me into getting a yellow skirt and a green skirt the second at 50% off. I got three tops that I was assured were bargains.
Rachel and I went to visit Grandmother Strayer for supper that night. She had moved into her parents’ place after her grandfather Ken died of cancer. The house had been rented for years, but Dad and his side family got it back to looking like Grandma remembered but updated for use today.
Grandma’s first expression had me wondering what she first thought of me. “You make an attractive young woman, but I’m not quick to let go of Nicolaus… You’ve been the baby of the family and I’m not wanting to lose you.”
Grandma had made lasagna, saying “I don’t like making this for one, but hopefully there will be enough left that I can have it again in two days.” She had made her own bread on a baking stone. She had not lost her touch with cooking and was happy we enjoyed it…
To be continued…
