“Oh, well, tell me when you’re done. I’m going to go get some coffee.”
“Sure,” she said, and I ran downstairs.
“Hey Mom,” I said, when she came in a few minutes later, “I’m getting the coffee on.”
“Thank you dear,” she said, with nary a comment on my dress code. “How are you doing this morning?”
“Extremely tired,” I said, “my girlfriends kept me up all night chatting about Caleb.”
“Really? I didn’t hear the phone ring… oh, I supposed you used your cell phone.”
“My poor mother,” I said, coming over and kissing her, “you are so behind the times. We ‘chatted’… meaning we talked over the computer. It was a good thing for me, anyway… much less stressful than in person. Speaking of which, I have very bad news.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“I have two roomates.”
“Of course. Tess and Riverwalk. They are very nice girls… altho Riverwalk is very modern. She choose that name herself, you know. I think she told me she was christened ‘Ruth’.”
I laughed, “Yes, she seemed quite ‘modern’ on the chat. She was most put out that I wasn’t sleeping with Caleb already.”
“In my day…” Mother started, and then, “Jenny?!”
“Hi, Mom,” Jenny said, “I enjoy the new rule.”
“I didn’t realize that it was a rule for you too!” Mom said, and I turned to look at Jenny, parading proudly around in nothing but some purple panties.
“Well, Dad always said that he was opposed to allowing any of his girls to do things the others weren’t allowed to,” Jenny said, walking around very self-consciously and looking for something to do.
“Well, as you wish dear,” Mother said, “Caleb asked me last night if he could come over for breakfast.”
Jenny turned beet red and vanished back up the stairs, and Mother and I laughed. “I can put something on if it is really going to bother you, Mom,” I said.
“Don’t be silly, dear. He is your fiance now and, as your freind points out, most girls would have slept with their boyfriends long before they got engaged. Besides which, you know your fathers rule, as long as Caleb…”
“As long as I what?” Caleb said, coming up behind me and hugging me.
“As long as you are happy with her dress code, that is your business now,” Mother finished.
“Well, I am,” he said, turning me around and kissing me. I thrilled to the feel and the taste and, when he released me, I noticed that he was in nothing but boxers. It was not our first kiss but definitely our first kiss when I was dressed like this. “What can I do to help with breakfast?” He asked. “I want to take my lovely bride shopping as soon as we can get there.”
“Well, the shops don’t even open till nine, dear,” Mother said, “but I know that Morgan would like it if you made your waffles. You make them so much better than I do. Are you going to call him ‘Morgan’ now?” She asked.
“I woudn’t dream of it, Mother,” he said, coming and kissing her and causing her to blush, “and you know that. I will have a hard enough time adjusting from ‘Mr. Smith’ which I have been using my whole life. So, waffles…” he said, and began bustling about, never too busy to look at me.
It was several minutes later when a still-blushing Jenny came downstairs, in my school shirt, and stopped at the edge of the stairs where Caleb couldn’t see her. I went over to her, “You OK?”
“I couldn’t decide what to do. I was so embarassed at the thought of what I was wearing, but I really wanted to. So I decided to try this. Is it OK?”
“Sure,” I said, “you are his sister now. You can wear whatever you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Caleb,” I called, “come here a second will you.”
“What’s up?” He said, coming over and seeing a blushing Jenny.
“Jenny wanted to try my dress code, but then she heard you were coming. I told her that she could wear whatever she wanted, no?”
“Sure,” he said, leering at me, “ you think I am going to notice anyone else when Bobbi is around?”
“Is breakfast ready?” Father said, from the top of the stairs.
“Almost Mr… Dad,” Caleb said, and went back to the kitchen.
“Get some OJ on, will you please Jenny,” I said, and went back myself.
The twins loved Caleb’s waffles, and dug in with a will. After a while, though, I noticed Ben was pausing in his eating and staring at me. Staring at my chest, in fact.
“Ben?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, “Why do you keep looking at me?” I was sure he couldn’t be freaked out by my dress code. The two of them only put clothes on when we forced them.
“Your booby,” he said, and everyone stared at him. “You have waffle on your booby.”
I blushed, and hurriedly grabbed my napkin. I never had had this problem as a boy, and had a hard time looking up afterwards. But then I heard Jenny giggling, and glared at her, and the whole table burst into laughter.
We were sitting quietly a few minutes later , and I had almost stopped blushing, when Dad rustled his paper and said, “Well, you were right Caleb. Look at this,” and passed the paper to Caleb, who was sitting next to him.
“The paper is ticked!” Caleb said, “listen:”
In an unconstitutional move, the federal government yesterday entered our premises and took one of our reporters, and are not only holding him without charge but in an unknown location where our lawyers cannot even speak to him.
In light of the fact that the government refuses to tell us why they have taken him, our guess is that it is because of a recent article he wrote on some college students and a transformation they claim had taken place. The government also seized the reporters computer and made copies of all of our information from our computer….
He finished reading the article, and we all looked at each other. “Do you think we should still go shopping?” Caleb asked Father.
“Yes,” Father said, “not only would it look very odd if you didn’t, we can’t completely shut down our lives. Go and have a good time. I have to get to work.”
“And I need to shower,” I said.
“Can I come watch?” Caleb asked.
“Sure, if you want,” I said, and he blushed.
“I…. I was kidding,” he said.
“I wasn’t,” I said, and dashed upstairs.
“Ooooh, Bobbi, you should have seen it,” Jenny said, coming into my room a half an hour later as I was buttoning up my blouse. She was wearing a nice white skirt with a dark blue blouse. I had had to put on the denim skirt again, but had found a white blouse… under which I had put one of the hated white bras, but at least a plain one. “He was bright, bright red. And he got red again every time mother and I looked at him.”
“Well, good for him. Are you about ready?”
“Sure. I just have to get my purse. Do you have yours?”
“No purse for me,” I said, and grabbed a backpack.
“Still?” She asked, “Even after…”
“After what?”
“I dunno, I just figured that with you getting married and all…”
“Nope. I guess if he really wants me to I will learn to wear one, but he hasn’t said anything yet.”
“OK.”
“What first?” Caleb asked, as we pulled up to the mall, “the ring or clothes?” He had gone home and gotten dressed while Jenny and I were dressing, and was wearing his slacks and shirt from last night.
“Clothes,” I said, “I want to anticipate the ring, and I don’t care so much about the clothes.”
“OK. First day engaged, and you want to torture me,” he said, grinning.
And it must have been torture too. First of all, no one seemed to carry what I was willing to wear. Blouses would have been easy enough, but we had to find some skirts first. Jenny asked me, “Are you sure you don’t want to wear dresses,” ten timse before, finally, in one small store, we found a rack of skirts that seemed long enough.
“Which ones do you like?” I asked Caleb.
“Whatever you like,” he answerd. I grabbed him by the hand. “No. I like this rack. I am willing to wear it. So now it is your turn. I want you to pick something out, and I will try it on, and you will tell me if you like me in it. And then we will buy it. Got it?”
“Yes,Mmother,” he said. “How about this?”
“OK, I said, ”but give me several, so I don’t have to keep coming back.“
He finally got five skirts picked out, and we went back to the changing area. It had a bench right outside the doors, and Caleb sat there while Jenny came in with me.
“Do you like them?” She whispered.
“Yeah, they’re fine.”
“But…”
“But what?” I said, “Do you think this fits?”
“No, she said, ”it is a bit too big.“
“Well, could you go get the next size down,” I said, dropping that one and picking up another.
“Sure,” she said, slipping out.
This one seemed to fit, and I came out, “What do you think?”
“Great,” he said and “It looks fine,” Jenny said, coming up.
“Well, good,” I said, “there’s one, anyway.”
Five minutes later I had five skirts in five basic colors, and Caleb was out a good bit of money. “Blouses then,” I said, “and bras.”
The blouses were no trouble, and the bras were fun.
“Come here,” I said, “and help me pick out some bras.”
He ‘came’ very reluctantly, and only because I pulled him. I knew what that must feel like, I had always abandoned my mother and sister when they went shopping for underwear, and been embarassed whenever they came near when I was picking mine out.
“Well, OK,” He said, and started looking at one rack.
“No,” I said, I don’t like that kind. Over here.“
“These are… oh, I see,” he said, “you like this kind better?”
’Yes. I won’t wear the other kind, so don’t even ask.“
“All right,” he said, “I can’t say I liked them either. What size are you?”
I blushed, realizing I didn’t know. Luckily Jenny did, and he soon had me several picked out.
“OK,” I said, “come watch me try them on.”
“But, I can’t,” he pleaded.
“Sure you can,” I said, “I’ve seen husbands to it all the time.”
Ten minutes later we had the bras, and it had been extremely fun to watch him. Jenny had come in too, and the two of us giggled the whole time. And I had kept one of them on, abandoning the hated regular kind to the bag. The clerk was a little surprised but handled it well, checking us out with merely the tag, which I had wripped off.
“OK, now the ring,” I said, and my heart skipped a few beats. I took his hand while Jenny carried the bags, and we went looking for a jewlers.
“Well, let me guess,” the salesman said, looking at the tableau, and my hand, “an engagement ring?”
I could only nod, and Caleb was silent, so it was left, ironically, to Jenny to say, “Yes, he proposed last night. What do you have?”
They were all wonderful. I just stared at them.
“Bobbi?” Caleb said, but I just clutched him tighter, so he asked to see one. “Do you like it?”
I nodded.
“Is it your favorite?”
It was the one he had picked out, of course it was my favorite! I nodded again.
“Well, that was easy,” he said, “How much is it?”
The clerk told him, and had my finger measured, and took the ring to the back. I could hardly breathe, waiting.
“Are you sure you like it, Bobbi?” He asked, “If you prefer another…”
“No, no, I love it!” I said, clutching him tighter, and crying. “I love it, I love you.”
But, I realized, I might lose this love, I might lose this ring. In fact, I had an obligation to try. I had enjoyed being a boy, but it seemed like a dream to me now, and I wanted to stay here, stay with Caleb, to stay with this family. But I couldn’t. Every minute I was here some girl, somewhere, was missing her family, her family that I was stealing. Wake up, Bobbi, this is too good to be true!