"Chantilly Lace had a pretty face and a ponytail hangin' down..." -- J.P. Richardson

...I sat quietly and awaited the answers to my multiple fired questions...

My mother was the first to start talking. Grace smiled and went back to looking at the photo album and Harriet moved over next to Grace and started describing the pictures. I really could not pay attention with them whispering over the pictures. I asked them to move into the living room if they just had to talk to each other. Grace decided to close the album. Harriet for once kept quiet.

My mother began again, "First thing is, no you will not change out of anything. Instead, you will be transformed into the young lady we all know exists within you. Ricky, you don't even think about being anything different. You just are what you are. Dressed as a boy and left in charge of things what do you do? You always do what is best for the other person. You never think of yourself first! The only times I have heard you mention yourself with a problem has always been about the lack of time you have, not your clothes or money.

"Not even your lack of male friends. You told me many times that when you did get with a few of the guys they have always turned into idiots! They wanted to do stupid and hurtful things. You used to tell me you could never be yourself, because everything they did as a group turned into a proving ground or a contest. You had better things to do with the little free time you had. So what did you decide to do Ricky?"

Aunt Harriet always paying attention for a chance to add her two cents worth jumped in here. She said, "You decided to earn some money on your own."

She turned to Grace and continued, "Mr. Nelson had given Ricky an old lawnmower when Fred (Mr. Nelson) bought a new one for himself. Ricky went to the library and got books on lawn mower repair and restoration. He took apart his lawn mower completely and rebuilt it making it like new and even better than it was before."

She laughed and my mother jumped in then. (They both do this all the time you see. Harriet and my mom are always jumping in and out of each-others conversations! It drives me crazy sometimes, LIKE NOW!) My mom continued the story, "Fred actually offered to buy it back from Ricky! He offered him $100.00 dollars for it! I bet he only paid $50.00 for the mower brand new. Well, Ricky refused to sell it telling Fred that he needed it to make some extra money. Fred being persistent told Ricky $100.00 was a hell of a lot of extra money."

She looked like she was going to laugh then but choked it back. (I think she thought Harriet would steal the rest of the story from her if she did laugh.) "Ricky told Fred that he would make a lot more than a hundred dollars mowing lawns in the neighborhood. That is exactly what Ricky did. He went door to door pushing that mower everywhere he went. That is what he did with his free time. Ricky was nine years old!"

Grace asked me, "Ricky, you were only nine and you had already decided hanging out with the boys was a waste of your time?"

I answered, "Well, yes. I did do some things with them, like fixing their broken bicycles and stuff, but mostly I went on my own and made some money doing lawns and yard work. I got to meet lots of nice people and that is when I really got to make friends with the girls. You see while I was mowing the lawns and doing yard work, all the boys were out playing somewhere. The girls were at each other's houses playing together. I mean they played with each other not against one another! The games they played and the things they did were to have fun and enjoy each other's company. The boys did just the opposite! Whenever boys get together, there are winners and losers. Somebody always goes home feeling bad or hurt. To me that is not fun at all."

Grace asked me another question. "Okay, Ricky, but how did you actually meet and make friends with the girls?"

I told her, "I would meet the parents first of course. You know, asking them if they needed someone to mow their lawn, or do some yard work. The people that mostly hired me were the mothers or older people who couldn't do it themselves. They would always ask me in or bring me something to eat and drink. Well, some of the time they sent their daughters or a girl related to them somehow. Sometimes a group of girls would be playing and they would all come over together. That's how I first got to really meet and talk to them. It was great! I learned a lot from them. The best part was I could just be me, no contests to prove myself the best, no fighting another boy just to show off."

I continued, "I also got some other jobs as well. They called it a lady's helper. All I had to do is what I already did at my house. Once a few of the ladies found out I knew how to do household tasks correctly, like laundry, vacuuming, mopping, and waxing. The word got around really quickly!" (I laughed thinking back on how quick the word did get around.) "Within one day I was getting calls! It was hard work, but fun too! I got to be good friends with a lot of ladies. Some of them didn't have any daughters or their child was like Jerry. I made lots of money!"

Grace laughed. "I bet you did!"

Harriet jumped in and added, "It wasn't all fun. I remember him coming home complaining about a few things. Like when he had to wear aprons. Or when he got really dirty doing something for them and they made him bathe as they washed and dried his clothes."

She laughed and my mom jumped in telling Grace, "You should ask him about the Bridal Shower he was hired to help with!"

I really hollered, "MOTHER!!!"

But, it was too late now. Grace looked at me with her eyebrows raised and that funny smile she has. You know the look! With out saying a word and by the facial expressions alone they are telling you to spill it! So, I sighed and I do mean one of those deep long-winded type sigh's of defeat.

"Okay" I said. "First thing though is that I didn’t know it was going to be a Bridal Shower! I was only told I was going to help set up and serve at a party. I wouldn't have taken the job if I had known it was an all female thing! Let me set this up right so I don't have to go over anything after ok?"

Grace said, "Okay."

I continued. "This took place one day before my birthday. It was August 30th and a very hot day. It was already like eighty degrees early in the morning. The other thing I should mention is, as you know I hate to cut my hair. So, this is at the end of summer and my hair was over my collar. I usually wore a headband to keep it out of my eyes as I did on this particular morning. I wore my dressy pair of shorts and a nice button down shirt thinking this would be okay to wear while I was serving the guests.

"I arrived at Mrs. Benning's house at seven-thirty in the morning as she asked me to. She had told me to go to the back door and just come in and I did. She was there sitting at her kitchen table drinking orange juice. I was surprised because she had on a light nightgown and panties that you could see right through! She gave me a glass of O.J. and had me sit while she read from a list going over what needed to be done before the party. There was a lot to do!

"She told me I looked really cute in my outfit and asked if that is what I was going to wear to serve in. I said yes and she said I would have to be real careful not to get it dirty.

"She got up and went to her pantry and came back with the widest and frilliest apron I ever saw! You would not believe it if you saw it! It was yellow with little pink flowers printed all over it. There was yellow and pink lace sewn in rows from the waist down to the bottom hem! It had puffy sleeves that had elastic to hold the ends against your arms. I always thought aprons hung around your neck and had a bib-like front, not this one! This one had a stretchy shirt pull over top and it was only from the waist you wrapped around and tied!

"She laid this over a chair and we went over everything once more. She told me that we would have a little time to clean up and get ready before I had to start serving. She took me around her house and showed me were to set up different decorations. The decorations were in boxes and bags ready to be put up. Then she told me what bathrooms to show the guests to if they asked me."

I paused to drink some of my coffee and then continued. "I was about to start setting up the decorations when Mrs. Benning told me to wait a minute. She went into the kitchen and came back with that apron! She asked me if I wanted to wear it to keep from getting my clothes dirty and I told her no! I said I would be real careful and not to worry. She looked at me and in a warning tone added, 'Ricky, you had better be real careful because you won't have time to go home and change.'

"I said I would and began setting up. She went up stairs to change and then to do what ever she was going to be doing. It took me about an hour or two to complete setting up the decorations and that is when I knew I was in some kind of trouble."

Grace interrupted, "What kind of trouble?"

I told her, "The decorations were for a Bridal Shower! Mrs. Benning came down the stairs dressed in work clothes and asked me if I knew how to wrap gifts. I did and told her my mother had taught me how to wrap the fancy and easy ways. She looked over the decorations I had put up and told me I had done a great job.

"She had me come up stairs with her into a small bedroom. It was her daughter's room. There were about twenty or so paper bags from different stores on the floor. She told me to sit on the bed and wait a minute. She left and came back with two big boxes of wrapping supplies. She told me she was a horrible wrapper and was very glad I knew how to do it nicely. She told me she would pick the items I was to wrap and I should pick out the right sized box and do the rest. This turned out to be very embarrassing for me."

Grace gave me that look which asked why. I told her, "You know what kind or gifts they give to girls at Bridal Showers?"

Grace chuckled and nodded so I continued. "Mrs. Benning would pick out something and every time she would ask me what I thought, GEEZE! I was in a very difficult situation. I had to be nice and compliment her on her choices of gifts! What else could I do, hurt her feelings? I had to tell her that they were pretty and all that every time, from panties and bras, to nightgowns and slips! She had bought her daughter very sexy things a Garter belt, stockings, and a white corset too!

"A few times she would ask me if ‘I’ liked them! I told her yes and they were very pretty. What else could I say? I had to refold everything to get them to fit well in the boxes. That wasn't easy when Mrs. Benning would unfold each item to show me! That is what took me so long wrapping everything."

I took another small break to get another cup of coffee. My mom and Harriet told me to hurry up and get to the good parts of the story. I answered, "GEEZE!"

I continued, "Mrs. Benning asked me to help her in the kitchen saying, 'Ricky, I need your help with making the punch and setting it on the serving table okay?' I said okay and we went into the kitchen. She told me to get the punch bowl and put it on the counter and I did. She handed me a can opener and told me to open the juice cans and I did that. She went and got some Vodka and a few other bottles. She told me which cans to pour in and she added a little of this booze and a little of that booze to it as I poured the different flavored juices in the bowl. It got pretty full before she stopped adding stuff. She handed me a big spoon and told me to stir and I did. She then had me slice up lemons, limes, and oranges and she added them. Then she had me carry it back in and put it on the serving table. That is when disaster struck me."

Grace smiled already knowing what was going to happen.

"I tried my best not to spill any but the bowl was just too heavy and full. It spilled on my shirt and by the time I got it from the kitchen to the living room, my shorts as well as my shirt were stained and sticky with the punch! Not that much, but enough to ruin my clothes if I didn't rinse them out right away!

"Mrs. Benning acted surprised that I had spilled some of the punch and told me to come with her right away. She took me up to her bathroom and told me, 'Ricky, we have to wash them out right away or they will be ruined. Hurry up and take them off while I go and get you something to put on.'

"I did and saw it had gotten through to my underpants as well. I kept them on anyway and covered myself with a towel. Mrs. Benning came back in with that damn apron and had me stand in the tub. She pulled the towel away noticed my stained underpants and told me to take them off and I reluctantly did. She told me she had to clean the sticky stuff off me. I told her I could do it and she chuckled. She handed me some soap shaped like a flower and it smelled like one to! She handed me a washcloth and told me to shower quickly and left.

"I washed myself real well and as fast as I could. When I was done, I turned off the shower and stepped out of the tub. Mrs. Benning was right there holding a towel! All of my clothes were gone. I was real embarrassed as she dried me everywhere! She wasn't done either, because she pulled out this puffy thing and patted me all over with it including between my legs and bottom! It was powder and it smelled like the soap!

"She told me to raise-up my arms as she was holding that damn apron! I didn't raise my arms though and told her I didn't want to be bare under the apron because you could see through it. I did not want to be naked anyway, but especially when she could see right through the apron! She told me she could fix the problem and nobody would be able to see through the apron when she was done. She left telling me to stay right there. Like I would be going anywhere naked!

"When she came back in she said she had found a few things that would solve the problem. She had a few of her daughter's things when 'she was my age.’ She had a white undershirt with no sleeves and a flower sewn on the neckline. She put that on me. Then she had a pair or white panties with pink and blue flowers printed on them! She put these on me! Then to my utter horror, she had a crinoline just like my little sister likes to wear! She put this on me as well.

"She smiled real big like she was very happy and told me to raise my arms up. She put that damn apron on me, wrapped the ties around me twice, and tied them into a big bow in the back! There was a mirror on the back of the bathroom door. One of those long ones and what I saw made we want to hide!

"Mrs. Benning told me that she had to wash my socks and sneakers as well, because they had gotten punch on them. I just looked at her like okay, so what now? She had me go with her into her room and sit on the bed. I did and she hollered at me to stand back up!

"I stood up real fast and she showed me how I was supposed to sweep both my hands over my bottom holding 'MY DRESS and PETTICOAT' so it wouldn't get wrinkled when I sat down! She then went to her closet and came back with a pair of yellow knee socks with pink flowers embroidered on them! Just like the apron and the same shade of yellow!

"I smelled a rat then! She had a pair of white shiny Mary Jane shoes as well. I wasn't surprised they fit me either! I knew I had been set up! This wasn't an apron at all! It was a stupid party dress and those other things weren't her daughter's! They were brand new and for me! She wasn't done yet either!

"She brushed my hair and tied it into a ponytail high up on my head. She had me stand up and turn around in front of her. I WAS MAD! I WAS REAL MAD! She took me by the hand and led me to a full-length mirror in her closet; she had a big walk-in closet. She asked me, 'Ricky, what do you see in the mirror?'

"I said I saw 'me dressed as a little girl in a party dress!' She said, 'I see a very mad little girl all dressed for a party.'"

I looked at Grace and said, "Can you just picture what I looked like? I was red faced with a very mad expression. Everything else looked like a little girl! Mrs. Benning told me I really didn't have any choice in the matter. I could be a pretty little girl or a very mad little boy dressed like a little girl. It was my choice, which I would be.

"She also said, 'Ricky, I planned this as you know. I have always liked you and so has my daughter. We know you are earning money for your family and I promise if you do this, we will give you a $2.00 bonus, that's $60.00 for a few hours work. You are very gentle and really too cute to be a boy. When I first met you, as well as Margie (her daughter), we both thought you to be a girl dressed as a boy. We still think of you this way.'

"She chuckled and added, 'All of the ladies you do work for think this as well. I promise you nobody is going to laugh at you or make fun of you. We all wanted to see you dressed as a little girl your age. We were all in on this and we would dearly love you to do this for us. Think of it as your present to Margie. She is really looking forward to seeing you and you would be making us all very happy.' She had a look of pleading on her face as she waited for my response.

"I asked her, 'Are there going to be any kids my age at the party?' She said no children would be coming to the party. I told her, 'If any of the kids found out I will be beaten up at school and made fun of for the rest of my life! I would never be able to show myself again.'

"She then said, ‘Oh Ricky, don't worry about that. We are the ones asking you to do this for us! We all love you too much to put you at risk. I promise you that no one will say anything to put you in any danger or to ruin your reputation ok?'

"I answered, 'Ok, but I am real embarrassed and nervous about this.'

"Mrs. Benning said, 'Just a little more attention to detail and we will be done okay?'

"I just looked at her and nodded. She had me sit at her vanity and she did something to my eyelashes and added some pink lipstick. She stepped away motioning to my reflection in the mirror and said, 'I now present Rachel, the Spring Hill Women's Club's new daughter!' I looked at my reflection and could not believe what I was seeing! I really did look just like a nine year-old girl ready for a party!"

I looked at my mother, Harriet and Grace and said, "I blocked out that memory because it was just too much for me to believe. It's funny, but I really had forgotten all about that day! Not one of the ladies or even Margie had ever mentioned it again after that day and evening. I guess I just didn't want to ever remember it. It was just too embarrassing and overwhelming for me to ever want to remember."

My Aunt Harriet looked at me and gave me a loving smile saying, "They kept their word to you 'RACHEL.' They never mentioned it to me and I know if Julia knew she would have told me."

My mom said, "They never mentioned it to me, Rachel, not once did I ever here anything about it."

I looked at them and said, "I guess my name is Rachel, then?" They all laughed and agreed it fit and was a good name for me to use.

Grace wanted to know more about how the party went and especially how everybody there treated me. My memories of that day and evening came flooding back after years of being suppressed deep in the back of my mind. I struggled for a time trying to remember what happened after Mrs. Benning had dressed me all up and did my eyes and lips. I took this time to get up and make another pot of coffee for all of us. WE were really going to need it! I asked them to give me the time it took for the coffee to be ready and they agreed. They all looked at the photo album until I, and the coffee were ready.

I brought the pot back to the table and refilled all the cups then put the pot back on the heating element of the coffee maker and returned sitting at the table. I looked at each of them and started making my memories into words once again.

"Mrs. Benning read my expression and picked me up in her arms, hugged me close and kissed me. She put me down and asked me if I would mind going downstairs while she took her shower and got dressed. She told me I should do this just in case someone showed up early and I could answer the door. I told her I would be very nervous to do that if she wasn't there with me so she let me stay in her room and wait. What I did not expect was for her to undress in front of me!

"I tried to keep looking away, but I was drawn by something to watch how she did what she was doing. She didn't get embarrassed or at least I did not notice her trying to hide or turn red. She just undressed as if it was something she did everyday. Undressing in front of a little boy dressed as a little girl that is.

"I remember asking myself how she was able to bend her arms back like that when she unhooked her bra from behind her back. What I remember the most was her breasts. The way they fell free as she removed her bra, and the way she put her hands under them and rubbed a little. I noticed that whenever she moved, they moved as well jiggling and bouncing depending on her movements. She took out a matching set of bra and panties from a drawer and walked into the bathroom.

"While she was starting the shower she asked me to go to the living room and bring her back a glass of the punch. I said ok and headed downstairs to do just that. I was at the bottom stair when I heard a knock on the door. I was scared! I went to the door and I heard another knock, harder and more insistent than the last one.

"I opened the door and a lady I never met before was standing there with a present in her hand. She gave me a nice smile and walked past me into the house. I closed the door and turned to her. She asked me were she could put the present and I told her I would do that for her. She handed me the present and asked me my name. I told her I was Rachel and she introduced herself.

"I can't remember her name. Well, anyway, I put her present in the right location and returned and asked her to sit and if she would like a glass of punch. I told her I was getting one for Mrs. Benning when she knocked. She asked me where Mrs. Benning was and I told her she was finishing getting ready for the party. The lady (I wish I could remember her name!) looked at me funny for a second and then just smiled and told me she did not want any punch just yet.

"I got a glass of punch for Mrs. Benning and went back upstairs. I remembered to bring a coaster because the furniture was all so nice. Mrs. Benning was just turning off the shower as I returned so I told her that so and so had arrived. She smiled taking the glass from me. She pointed to a spot on her vanity for me to put the coaster. I did and she asked me to dry her back!

"I started to do just that and she told me to pat it dry and not rub. So, I did it that way. I stopped when I was done with her back and she told me to keep going so I did. She finished sipping the punch, emptying the glass as I finished drying the backs of her legs and she thanked me. She put the glass on the coaster turning to me, and asked if I would mind going back down and keeping the lady company.

"I said I would and left her drying herself. I remember thinking about her having a lot of hair in between her legs in front. That is all I could see was hair. I wondered what was underneath. I knew there had to be something that made her a woman and not a man, but I just didn't know what." (I chuckled at the memory and the others did as well.)

"I went back downstairs and there was another lady there. This one I knew as Mrs. Larrabe and she got all excited seeing me! She ran over and gave me a big hug and a kiss as she was telling me I was so pretty and adorable; she just kept gushing over me like that and made me turn around in a circle for her.

"She called me by name! She said, 'Oh Rachel, you are even more pretty than we ever imagined you!'

"The other lady looked at me and slowly smiled and asked Mrs. Larrabe 'This is her?' That was the way it went, each time another lady came. I was treated just like any little girl would be I guess. Not really knowing how a little girl is treated at an all Lady event like this.

"We all had fun chatting and I was busy getting punch and arranging the presents so they looked neat and pretty for the guest of honor to see. Then she arrived! That was when it got a little more embarrassing for me.

"Margie came in with a couple of her girlfriends and was very surprised when she came into the house and saw everyone. When she saw me, she just froze. I started to get really afraid. I remember I was getting ready to run upstairs and hide when Mrs. Benning came up behind me and introduced me to Margie saying, 'Rachel decided to surprise you, Honey.'

"Margie ran up to me and lifted me right up in the air and hugged and kissed me a bunch of times. She told me I was the best present of all and I was everything she thought I would be. I whispered in Margie's ear that her girlfriends knew who I was and would tell on me and that I was afraid. She put me down, told me to hold on a second and motioned for her girlfriends to go upstairs with her. She told all the guests she would be right down.

"I was really afraid they would tell on me! Mrs. Benning went upstairs as well and I went back to serving punch and putting presents up. They all came down stairs then and the two girlfriends came up to me, lifted me up, and gave me a hug. When I was in their arms close to their faces, they whispered to me that they would never tell anyone and that I was real special to be doing this for Margie. I felt a lot better then."

I paused again to drink some coffee and then continued. "It was now time for Margie to open her presents. I was elected by unanimous decision to be the presenter and had to go get a present one by one when asked by Margie. Well, Margie decided to have a little fun with everybody including me! I brought over a present and first handed the card attached to Margie and she read it.

"Some had comments inside that were funny and others I did not understand. Whenever Margie started to giggle at one, it seemed everybody was looking at me for my reaction. Sometimes this made them laugh even more! She would open the present and take it out. They were mostly panties and bras, nightgowns and stockings. There were garter belts and some clothes.

"She even got a fake penis! A little card was attached which said, 'FOR WHEN YOU ARE HOME ALONE' everybody laughed real loud then and even Margie turned red! Everybody seemed to be looking at me again, and I turned red as a beet, they laughed even harder then.

"After all the presents were opened and everybody had said what they were going to say. Plus, the punch bowl was almost empty! It was time for her cake. I didn't see it before, but her girlfriends brought it out from the pantry where it was hidden.

"It was a big cake and it had a penis in the middle sticking straight up and the tip was lit! It was a candle! Everybody was hooting and hollering repeating over and over for Margie to 'BLOW IT, BLOW IT, BLOW IT!' Margie turned red again and blew out the candle.

"They were cutting the cake and passing it out when Mrs. Larrabe, slightly tipsy I think came from behind me and held a garter belt around my waist! She said, 'I bet you just can't wait to get old enough to wear stockings and a garter belt!' She added, 'I hope I am with you when you get your first bra!'

"I was surprised and didn't know what to do or say when Margie got up and hugged me. She gave Mrs. Larrabe a withering look and Margie brought me to her chair when she sat down she lifted me on her lap. I stayed with her like that until Mrs. Larrabe came over and apologized to me and to Margie. Everything was okay again.

"That was a signal for people to start leaving I guess and Mrs. Larrabe was the first one to leave. One by one everybody left leaving Margie and her two girlfriends, Mrs. Benning and me. Mrs. Benning asked me to go with her for a minute and took me into her bedroom.

"She took out one of the presents I had wrapped and I remembered it was a very pretty gold bracelet that was inscribed on the underside with; 'Margie, so you always remember this day R.' and Mrs. Benning said she got that for me to give to Margie. I thanked her and gave her a hug and a kiss and she told me to give it to Margie.

"I went back downstairs and Margie saw me with the present and smiled at me. I gave it to her and she opened it. She read the inscription and started to cry! I wrapped my arms around her and told her I was sorry. She hugged me and told me not to be sorry, she was crying because I had made her so happy. They were happy tears! I was happy again!

"Mrs. Benning came down the stairs and went down into the basement. After the hugs and tears had stopped, she was back holding my boy clothes all clean and dry! It was time for me to return to being me again. Ricky.

"I went with Mrs. Benning back to her bedroom and she helped me take off the dress, petticoat, and then the makeup. She took off the undershirt and panties, socks and shoes. She then helped me dress in my boy clothes. She even tied my sneakers for me. I was Ricky again!

"She thanked me over and over kissing and hugging me. She held my hand and we went down stairs so I could say goodbye to Margie. When Margie saw me, she came over, kissed me a hundred times, and hugged me a lot. Her two girlfriends were just shaking their heads. Margie reached up and took out my ponytail. WOW! Mrs. Benning and I forgot about that! (Or did she?)"

Note: A continuing story series of teasing scenes, part reminiscence, part fantasy.