The Package
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

The problem was that my whole family knew Bobby really well, which made it hard to introduce Bobbi to them. They all knew that Bobby was a joker and the life and soul of every party, and true to form, that is where the idea came from. All I had to do was to play along and take the photos.

I have to say that Bobbi looked great on the day of the barbeque lunch hosted by my family. The floral sundress and pearls were perfect, and her hair looked great with the extensions invisible even with her hair up in an elegant style. The truth was that she has been growing her hair and her breasts for months before this occasion, all that I had said that was that Bobby was coming “dressed up” and my mother clearly understood that some formality was required by also wearing something nice.

The thing is that it was not Bobby but Bobbi who arrived with me, beaming from ear to ear, as she so often did. My family looked a little puzzled at first and then my brother called out – “It’s Bobby, dressed as a girl!” and everybody burst out laughing. Bobbi laughed too, and as she walked up to my mother, she had a white box in her hands, tied with white ribbon.

“Oh Bobby, you look fantastic as a woman,” Mom said, her eyes filled with laughter. “And a gift? For me?”

“It even looks like a real cleavage,” my brother spluttered, looking down the top of Bobbi’s dress. They were certainly developing nicely with the hormone patches.

“It’s something for you to share with all your friends. Please open it,” said Bobbi, in that wonderful feminine voice that she had developed, now executed with perfection. I could see that my mother had noticed that this was new … everything was new and different.

“I don’t understand,” she said, the smile dropping from her face. She opened the box and looked at the open cards stacked inside – the wedding invitations that we had designed and had printed.

I had taken a series of photos to record our special day, but now came the time for me to speak.

“She does look fantastic, doesn’t she Mom?” I said. “Now you can all see what I came to see. Bobbi is a woman. She always has been, but now she has had the surgery to confirm it. We have been friends for a long time as you and Dad know, but lately we have become lovers, and now we are engaged. I have arranged the wedding. I want the whole family to spend our wedding day with us. Bobbi loves you dearly and wants that too.”

“Can I call you Mom? Please tell me that I can,” said Bobbi, trying to coax back a smile from my shocked mother and my entire family.

The End
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The image is called “A Gift For My Mother-in-law” by VeronikaBacker on Deviant Art, and the whole family is clearly in fits of laughter … which left me wondering what is really going on here.

© Maryanne Peters 2025