After the steam from their kiss dissipated, Abigail cleared her throat and said, “Would you like to continue, Adam? I mean, we can wait, you know.”

Toni and Adam looked at each other and started laughing. It was the kind of laughter that released all of the pent-up frustrations, hurts, fears, and anger. And it brought tears to both of their eyes. “Yes, Abigail, I’d like to continue,” he said, after their laughter finally ended. Dorothy had to wipe her eyes.

“Okay, then,” Abigail said, “Because we are introducing you to women’s clothing, I want to show you the next layer of garments a woman has the choice of wearing.” She lays out a camisole, a half slip, and a full slip, all the same color as the panties and bra he’s wearing. Holding up the camisole, she says, “This is a camisole, the top portion of this,” and she lays down the camisole and picks up the half slip. “They aren’t as restrictive as a full slip,” she placed the half slip back on the table and picked up the full slip. “But the purpose of both is the same: to help a dress or skirt hang properly, provide a layer that hides your undergarments if the dress or skirt material is thin, especially if the sun is behind you when you’re outside, to keep rough material away from your skin, and they also provide a layer of warmth when it’s cold. To make it easier for you, we’ll stick to the full slip; you can explore the half slip and camisole on your own if you want.” Abigail gathers it up to the head opening, places it over Adam’s head, pulls it down, then, after letting it slide down his body, has him put each arm under the straps and pull them up onto his shoulders. She then explains how the cups of the slip should align with his bra cups by adjusting the slip straps. “Go have a look in the mirror,” she tells him, pointing to the mirror.

Adam slowly walks back to the mirror, noticing the feeling of the slip on his body as he walks. He stops in front of the mirror and turns his head to look at his profile. “Wow, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.” As he watches his reflection, he runs his hands over his breasts and down to his stomach. Turning to face the mirror, he repeats his comment and runs his hands over his slip-clad body, again.

Dorothy sees the expression on her son’s, um, daughter’s, face. Stepping up behind him, um, her, she asks, “What is it, sweetheart?

“Look at me, Mom. The more I put on, the more it becomes clear I was never a boy.

He turns to face Toni and Abigail and asks, “Do you two see a boy standing before you? Be honest.”

Abigail shakes her head as she tells him, “No, dear. I see a beautiful young lady standing before me.”

Toni walks up to Adam, takes his hands, and looking into his eyes says, “No, sprout, I don’t see a boy. I see a really cute girl standing in front of me.” Then, with a sly smile on her face, she adds, “A really cute girl with a mop on her head.” Unexpectedly, Adams jerks his hands out of her grip and quickly grabs the two spots on her waist that he knows are very sensitive. Toni instantly starts squealing with laughter. She tries to wriggle out of his grasp, but he hangs on, and she eventually ends up on the floor laughing. Still laughing and out of breath, she hollers, “Uncle, I give up, you don’t have a mop on your head.” When he stopped tickling her, and she got her breath, she looks up into his eyes and tells him, “But we do need to do something with your hair. It needs a style that suits you.”

Adam gave her a reluctant look before reaching down and helping her off the floor. He looked over at his Mom, who was now standing by Abigail, and saw that they both had their hands over their mouths. “I guess you agree with Toni, Mom? About my hair?”

Dorothy walks over to her son, or her daughter, puts her arms around his shoulders, and after running the fingers of her left hand through his hair, says, “Every girl wants her hair to look perfect, and a style that not only looks good on her but one she likes. Yes, we’ll have to get you to the salon after we make another important stop.” Adam gives her a questioning look, but she takes an invisible key and locks her lips.

“So, which dress do you like?” Toni asked, getting his attention. Adam turned around and saw Toni holding up two dresses, and Abigail holding up the third one.

Giving Toni a Galic shrug and an exasperated look, he tells her, “I don’t know. What am I supposed to know about dresses? What would all of you suggest?

The dresses Toni was holding up were an everyday, light blue dress and a light green. Both had self-belts, three-quarter sleeves, and a scoop necklines that didn’t scoop far enough down to show any cleavage. Abigail held up an identical dress in white. Toni walks over to Adam, holds the dresses up to him, then asks, “What do you think, Abigal? Dorothy?” Dorothy walks over and stands by Abigail, looking at the dresses Toni is holding in front of Adam.

“I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve seen the other one,” Dorothy says, and watches as Toni walks over to Abigail, taking the white dress from her and giving her the other two.

“Opinions?” Toni asks, after walking back to Adam and holding up the white dress in front of him, and asking him, “Which one do you like?”

Adam takes the dress and walks to the mirror, holding it up in front of himself. “Let me have the other two,” he says as he walks over to Abigail and takes the two dresses from her. He walks back to the mirror, holding up first the light blue dress, then the light green dress. He switches them several times, turns to the three women, and says, “I think the blue one looks best on me. What do you three think?”

Dorothy is wiping her eyes. Toni is acting like she has something in her eyes. And Abigail is beaming. “Sweetheart,” Dorothy says, her voice heavy with emotion, “I think the light blue dress suits you well. Let’s put it on you to see how it fits. And to let you practice zipping and unzipping the back zipper.” Dorothy walks over and takes the light green dress from Adam, handing it to Abigail. She then unzips the zipper and tells Adam how to step into the dress, put his arms into the sleeves, before pulling it up to his chest. She then zips up the back zipper and moves him to the mirror, and watches as he looks at himself wearing the light blue dress. She discovers something in her eyes again.

Turning to face Toni and Abigail, he asks, “How do I look? Does it fit right?”

All Toni says is, “Wow!”

Abigail walks over to him and tugs the dress here and there before stepping back and telling him, “You look beautiful in that dress. Now, I’m going to unzip the zipper, and I want you to zip it back up.” She tells him how to reach with his arms, and after the third attempt, Adam successfully zips up the zipper. “Well done, dear, and with practice it does become easier. Now, let’s get your feet into a pair of shoes.

Without being told, Adam walks over to the bench and sits down. “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.” Toni yells. When Toni yelled, Adam shot up off the bench, not knowing why she was yelling. “You do NOT just sit down while wearing a dress or a skirt. You sweep the back of the dress or skirt forward as you sit. Try sitting again.” Dorothy and Abigail both had a hand over their mouths, pushing their lips hard against their teeth to stifle the laughs that were threatening to erupt. It didn’t help that Toni was now standing in front of Adam, hands on her hips, and making him stand and sit several times as he swept the back of the dress forward each time he sat. “Better,” she tells him, “and don’t you ever forget it.” It was all too much, and Abigail and Dorothy started laughing.

Dabbing tears out of her eyes with a tissue, as Abigail walks over to Adam, carrying three shoe boxes, she tells Toni, “Well done, dress mistress.” Toni couldn’t help herself and starts laughing. Abigail sets the boxes on the floor to Adam’s left before getting a small stool and putting it in front of Adam. Taking two of the shoe boxes off the third one, she sets them on the floor and takes the lid off all three boxes. As Adam examines the contents of each box, he sees a black, white, and very pale blue shoe with a low heel. Abigail takes one of the black shoes out of the box and starts explaining what she’s holding. After telling him it’s a closed-toe kitten heel shoe and why it’s a better choice for him right now, and about the ankle strap and why it’s on the shoe, she places it on his left foot. After buckling the ankle strap, she asks if it’s too tight. After Adam shakes his head, Abigail takes the other shoe out of the box and puts it on his right foot, repeating the process of buckling the ankle strap. Abigail crosses her mental fingers, while Dorothy and Toni cross their fingers behind their backs. “Okay, Adam, stand up carefully.” Abigail stood up and moved the stool out of the way as they all watched as Adam carefully stood. “How do they feel?” she asks, as Adam doesn’t seem to have any trouble standing.

Adam wiggles his feet around for a few moments before he says, “They feel good. I have room at my toes, and they don’t feel loose on my feet.”

Abigail bends down and pushes her thumb on the toe of each shoe, making sure there is room for his toes. “Now, walking in these shoes will be different than in your normal shoes, so you need to take shorter steps. It’s almost like placing your foot on the ground instead of slamming the heel of the shoe into the ground. Give me your left hand so I can help you balance as you take a few steps. Then, when I think you can solo, I’ll turn you loose to walk the room end to end.” Taking his left hand, Abigail walks beside Adam as he starts taking tentative steps in his new shoes. After the fourth step, Abigail lets go of his hand and steps back to the wall with Toni and Dorothy as Adam slowly walks the length of the room.”

“Oh, my, gawd,” Toni exclaims, as they watch Adam walk away from them as he walks toward each end of the room.

As Dorothy and Abigail look at Toni, Dorothy asks, “What is it, Toni?”

Both women have to lean toward Toni as she whispers, “Watch his hips as he walks toward the ends of the room.”

Both women were silent as they watched Adam as he walked toward each end of the room. Dorothy broke the silence when she whispered, “Oh, my word.”

“Whoa!” Abigail exclaimed, causing Toni and Dorothy to look at Abigail, who didn’t seem like a person who’d ever say, ‘Whoa.’ She looked at Toni and Dorothy, gave them a sheepish smile, then said in a whisper, “No boy walks like he’s walking.”

They watch as Adam stops in front of the mirror, looking down at the black kitten heels he was wearing. He turns so he can see the right shoe, then turns to see the left shoe, shakes his head, then goes back to the bench and sits down; he didn’t forget to sweep the back of his dress forward as he sat. Toni caused the two women to chuckle as she whispered, “YES,” as she swept the back of the dress forward as he sat. All three are now watching as he takes the white pair of shoes out of the box, looks at it, holds it next to his dress, shakes his head, puts the shoe back in its box, then takes out one of the pale blue shoes, holding it next to his dress. He does the pouting face as he nods his head and says one word, “Yep.” Setting it on the floor, he puts his right foot into the shoe, bends over, and buckles the ankle strap before taking the other one out of its box, sets it on the floor, and steps into it with his left foot. After buckling the ankle strap, he stands and walks to the mirror, gazing at his total reflection before nodding, turning, and resumes walking the room from end to end.

Dorothy slowly shakes her head in surprise, before she thinks aloud, “Tell me I just didn’t witness a girl deciding which shoes look best with the dress she’s wearing?”

“Um… yes, you did, Mrs. Thomas,” Toni tells her. “We all did.”

The longer Adam walks the room, the more fluid his movements become. If someone came into the room now, all they would see is four women and one walking back and forth in the room. “Abigail,” Dorothy begins, “We’ll take five more pairs of all of the panties you brought with you.”

Ever the imp, Toni jumps in with, “Even the butt floss ones?”

Dorothy covers her face with her left hand, slowly shakes her head in exasperation, then says, “Yes, ever the butt floss ones, Toni.” Addressing Abigail again, she continues, “In different colors, if you have them. And for now, we’ll stay with the style of bra Adam is wearing, in matching colors, if you have those, too. And, um, a white full slip, a camisole, and a half slip. Both in white. We’ll also take those other two dresses; I’m positive we’ll be back for more.” She then turns her attention to Adam by saying, “Sweetheart, you look really comfortable walking in those shoes, but I think we should move on to our next destination. I told Abigail we’ll take everything she and Toni brought into the room, plus several additional items you’ll need.”

As Adam walks over to the three ladies, Abigail tells Dorothy that she’ll have everything she wants rung up and bagged by the time they’re ready to go. And that they can pay on their way out. When Adam reaches the three women, Abigail turns and puts her arm around his shoulder, turning him toward the door, and continues with, “And now, young lady, it’s time to watch Ruth add to that beauty you inherited.”

“Adds to the beauty I inherited?” Adam repeats.

Toni, ever eager to help, chimes in with, “That girl has been cloistered far too long. She’s talking about makeup, sprout. Face paint, dazzle dust, knock ‘em dead face covering. Oy, where have you been all of your life?”

Adam turns his head to look at Toni, sticks his tongue out at her before saying, “Pretending to be the boy everyone thought I was, brat.”

Dorothy is slowly shaking her head as they walk, saying mostly to herself, “Why am I being punished with the likes of these two?”

Toni puts an arm around Dorothy’s waist and says, “But you love us just the same, right?”

Putting an arm around Toni, Dorothy replies, “Some days I wonder, brat.”

The laughter from all four women echoes throughout the room as they walk out the door.

As Dorothy and Toni follow Abigail, they both notice they are walking through the junior section of dresses, skirts, and blouses. Conspiratorily, Abigail leans into Adam, and loud enough so Dorothy and Toni can hear, she tells the girl, “Look at everything you can choose from,” as she waves her with her free arm toward the dresses, skirts, and blouses.

Dorothy sighs, then says, “Abigail, please don’t encourage her. The brat is going to be doing that anyhow.”

Toni was a little slow on the uptake, but she finally realizes what Dorothy said and almost shouts, “HEY, I resemble that.”

With voices that almost sound as one, the three reply, “We know.”

They finally reach the cosmetic department and stop in front of a woman standing behind one of the counters. “Ruth, I have a very special young lady for you today. But I will let her tell you her story.” Then, turning to face Dorothy, she tells her, “Dorothy, I’ll have everything ready when you three are ready to leave.” Then, turning to face Adam, she says, “Child, it has been a very enjoyable experience helping you today,” and leans in and kisses Adam on the cheek.

Adam places a hand on the spot where Abigail kissed him, as he watches her walk off. Toni suddenly clears her throat, causing Adam to turn and look at her. She gives him a head nod toward Ruth, and he responds with, “Brat,” and turns too quickly to watch as Toni sticks her tongue out at him.

Ruth tries to swallow a chuckle, but it arrives as she asks, “How can I help you ladies, today?”

“Hi, Ruth.” Pointing to Dorothy, then Toni, Adam tells her, “This is my Mom, Dorothy, my girlfriend, Toni, and I’m Adam.” Seeing Ruth’s raised eyebrow, he continues with, “I guess I’d better explain how this all started.” For the next several minutes, Adam tells about the $10,000 cancer donation for each boy who attends Maze High School dressed as a girl. He tells of Toni wanting him to participate, and when they came to James’, the discovery that he wasn’t the boy they called him at birth. And that he knows nothing about makeup.

Ruth looks skeptically at Adam for a few moments before she sees Dorothy and Toni nodding their heads. “It’s all true, Ruth,” Dorothy says. “She has an appointment with my gynecologist tomorrow morning. She’s experienced a couple of things that can only be attributed to a girl.”

Ruth puts her elbows on the counter and her head in her hands. “If I hadn’t known Abigail as long as I have, I’d think y’all were fun’n me. Because I don’t see no boy standing in front of me. I see nothing but a real purtty young lady standing there. So, you’re a makeup baby, huh? Good. Then I don’t have to unlearn you something someone taught you wrong.” Walking from behind the counter, she pats the seat of the highchair and tells Adam, “Park your caboose right here, and we’ll get started making you more purtier.”

After Adam sat down, making sure to sweep the back of his dress forward as he sat, much to Toni’s delight, Ruth turned the seat so Adam couldn’t see himself in the mirror behind the counter. She briefly explained why makeup is used, when it’s used, and the different reasons it might be applied lightly or heavily. But for everyday wear, it should be used sparingly. It wouldn’t be the last time all three hear her say, “Less is more.”

She stood in front of Adam and gently took his chin in her right hand. She turned his head left, then right, before walking behind the counter and began taking several items out of the display case and placing them on the counter. Walking back around the counter until she stood in front of Adam again, she laced her fingers together, turned her palms to face Adam, cracked her knuckles, and then, in a haunting voice, said, “Now I get to play,” and laughed like a mad scientist would before he was about to experiment on someone.

Adam rolled his eyes. Dorothy covered her face with her hand while she slowly shook her head, and Toni put her hand over her mouth to try to stop the laugh sitting at the back of her throat. It didn’t do any good, as they all broke out in laughter. When the three were able to see straight again, they saw Ruth standing there with a big smile on her face. “Hey. If I can’t have a little fun at my job, it would get sooo boooring.”

Then she went to work in earnest. She started with a moisturizer, and with the explanations and applications, she was done in forty-five minutes. She had Adam turn his head to the left, then to the right, before she stepped back and told him, “Hon, it won’t take you this long to apply your makeup, but I wanted to make sure you understood what I was doing and why.”

She laughed when she turned to ask Dorothy and Toni what they thought. Both were wide-eyed, but she could see tears making their way down Dorothy’s cheeks. Both had a hand over their mouths, a sure sign they were thrilled with the outcome. “So I take it you two like what you see?” She said with a smile.

They were too shocked by the results to say anything, so they just nodded their heads. “Excuse me,” Adam said. “But is there any chance I can see what I look like now?”

Ruth was standing by Dorothy when Adam asked his question. “I don’t know. What’d ya think, Dorothy? Should we let him see herself now or let her wait?”

Toni piped up with, “I say let ‘em wait. Torture ‘em a little longer.”

“You two are terrible,” Dorothy said. “But I’m thirsty, let’s get something to drink first.” Dorothy couldn’t help herself and played along with the two.

“MOOOM,” Adam said louder than he intended, an exasperated look on his face.

The laughter from the three was almost loud enough to be heard throughout the store. “Ruth,” Dorothy began, “Let’s stop torturing her, let her see the fine work you’ve done.”

With a fake pout on her face, Ruth said, “Spoil sport,” before walking over to Adam, and slowly turning the seat until he was facing the mirror behind the counter. She leaned down next to Adam’s right ear and softly said, “Well, sweetheart, what’d ya think? You’re looking at the same young lady who sat down in my chair, only with enhancements.”

It seemed like the store was holding its breath as Adam looked at himself in the mirror. He turned his head left, then right, trying to see his profiles. Then, looking at himself straight on exclaimed, “That’s really me? I can’t believe that’s really me.”

Ruth put her act away and told him, “Yes, sugar, that’s really you. That gorgeous young lady staring back at you is really you.” She then kissed her lightly on her right cheek.

Adam reached up with her right hand and pulled Ruth’s head next to her cheek, and in a throaty whisper said, “Thank you, Ruth. Thank you very much.”

Ruth found it hard to speak for a few moments before she put her arms around Adam from behind and answered, “You’re very welcome, sweetheart. Now, to complete the process of your transformation, why don’t you go see what the salon can do to give you a hairstyle that not only fits you but that you like? How about it? Will you go?”

Adam let go of Ruth’s head, nodded his head, and told her, “I’d like that, Ruth. I’d really like that.” After saying that, he carefully got out of the chair.

“Good, girl,” Ruth said, as she straightened, then turned the seat around so Adam was able to get off the chair. Facing Dorothy, she told her, “Dorothy, I’ll have everything bagged and totaled so you can pay me on your way out. I’m going to put a few things in the bag that won’t cost you anything.” Stepping up to Adam, she took her hands and said, “Sweetheart, I sure hope you and your mom can get all of this crazy situation straightened out. After today, no one in their right mind will ever see you as a boy.” She squeezed Adam’s hands lightly and received a squeeze back. They let go of each other’s hands, and Ruth stood there watching as the three started walking toward the salon. Then, when they were out of earshot, she quietly said, “If she’s a boy, then I’m a great white shark.” She shook her head, chuckled to herself, and went behind the counter to put items away and wipe down the counter. “He’s a boy, my foot.”