I want to thank all the people that have helped me edit and critique this story. They are Angel O'Hare, Stacy Miller, Karen Page, Robi, Paula Dillon and especially Maddy Bell for allowing me to join her universe and giving me permission to write in it.
Based on the story Gaby, Book # 4 - Once Upon A Time In America By Maddy Bell
All Characters portrayed in the story are copywrited to Maddy Bell for her Gaby series found at Maddybell.com
Scene 21
Saturday:
“Um … well I guess I'm a little jealous. My mom never took me out shopping just for the fun of shopping. We only went shopping for necessary items and then only for essentials. When it came to any feminine clothes I always ended up paying for it myself, except for some mundane lingerie that was always cotton and not the most feminine looking. Then it was done grudgingly. Here you go out and she buys you everything. I haven't even seen what it is you got, but I guess it will be fabulous, I'm sure.”
I was starting to really feel bad now. “I'm sorry Sandy, I didn't have a clue she treated you that way. That's horrible. So are you really upset with me then?”
“Um … I know; it is not you. No I'm not. I'm sorry Em; I guess I'm just upset you get treated better than me when my mom is around. I just feel like I'm a non-entity. I know it is getting better but heck I feel I gain and then I lose all at the same time. Em, I wish my mom would treat me like she is treating you. It is just so infuriating.”
“I guess I sort of understand, I never had those problems.”
“I guess that is why I'm jealous, I wish I didn't have those problems either.”
“Sandy, I'm sure they will get better soon, your mom will come around.”
“Well it isn't just my mom, it's my dad also.”
“Well, that I can't promise, but I'll try to work on him too. Maybe we can get him turned around.”
“It would be nice. I'm sorry Em, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I guess it all just got away from me.”
I hugged Sandy, for she looked like she sure could use one. She started to cry.
“Sandy, are you going to be ok?”
She nodded her head, and squeezed me tight. She backed up and wiped her eyes, “What must you think of me?”
I smiled weekly at her then said, “Well you better go clean up, your makeup streaked.”
“Em, I'm supposed to be helping you, not the other way around.”
“Well, let's just say we're here to help each other.”
“Thank you.”
Sandy went to her bedroom while I went to mine and looked through today's purchases. Mrs. J had already hung up the dress. I saw the nighty I got for Sandy, this should cheer her up. I took it over to her room and saw she was sitting in front of her vanity redoing her makeup.
“Sandy, I got something for you today. Your mom thought it was a bit risqué, but I wanted to get it for you. She told me not to give it to you until after the sleepover, but I want you to wear it tonight.”
“What is it?”
“Well open it.”
She opened the bag and she let out a very feminine squeal.
“Oh Em, this is beautiful, I love it. I bet my mom had something to say about this.”
“Well … um … yes she did. She kept wanting me to get you a neck high and long nightgown. After I told her this is what I wanted to give you she almost had a fit, but couldn't say anything. I know she wanted to. It is really nice, when they think I don't know about you, but in another way, I wish I could talk openly with her. I know I can get her to see that you're truly a girl, if she could only see what I see, she wouldn't be doing what she's doing to you. As for the shopping trip with her, be patient, I think I've shamed her into it. I'm sure she'll ask you soon to go with her. I guess she is starting to realize what it is she's missing with you.”
“Oh Em, you're the best. Do you know that?” She gave me a hug. “I love your gift to me and I can't wait to put it on.”
“You'll look great in it. I've one similar, so we'll look like sisters.”
“I really do love you sis.”
“We better hurry up, or we'll be late for dinner.”
“Right, let me get back and get my makeup fixed.”
I left and got ready myself. We went over to the main house and as soon as we entered the kitchen I heard the familiar running from little feet. I heard the kitchen door open and I saw Kevin tentatively take a look into the kitchen, as soon as he saw it was us, he screamed Em and Sandy are here, and came charging towards us and I opened my arms to catch him.
“Oof, how is my favorite game player?”
He hugged me very tightly, almost choking me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, as I gave him one.
“Great, Auntie Em. Will you play a game with me? You promised yesterday.”
“Yes, I promised. I'll play a game with you after dinner, ok? I can't play long, because we have to get ready for guests tonight, ok?”
“Ok Em.” I put him down and he ran to Sandy and hugged his sister hard also. “How are you Sandy?”
“Not bad Kevin, did you have a good day?”
“Oh yes Sandy, I was over at Josh's house and we had a great time.”
“Well that's good to hear.”
Mrs. J came walking into the kitchen and said, “Good, you're here, could you both set the table please? Everything is almost done.”
“How many places should we set Mary?”
“Well for the moment it's just the four of us. Why don't you set a fifth place just incase my husband shows up. I wonder where he is, he hasn't called or left a message.”
“You think he's ok? Is this something normal?” I asked.
“Well, not really, he usually lets me know what he's doing and if he's going to be late. I've no idea what he's up to.”
Looking at the clock I noticed it was five thirty. We wouldn't really have a lot of time to get ready for the party. I hope we'll have everything that we'll need. We set out five place settings and just as we were ready to sit down to eat; we heard a car drive up to the car park. I saw Mary getting up quickly and running to the kitchen window, we followed to see who it is. I could tell she was anxious about her husband.
“Yes, thank the Lord, that's John car. Good he should be in shortly. Just in time for dinner.”
The kitchen door opened and Mr. J walked in. He took off his coat and hung it up. He was a bit subdued.
Mary said, “Hi honey, how're you?” looking at him kind of apprehensively.
He just grunted a “Hi.” and walked right past his wife, without saying anything further.
I could tell Mrs. J was not too happy about this. She looked at us and just let out a sigh.
We all walked back into the dining room and we didn't see Mr. J there. Mary looked kind of puzzled, and walked towards the living room to see if he was there. Nope, he wasn't there either. She then walked to her bedroom and found he was there looking into his closet and noticed all his clothes were gone.
“What did you do with my clothes?”
“They're in the spare guest bedroom's closet.”
“Oh.”
He just turned around walked right past Mrs. J and into the guest bedroom and got a change of clothes without saying a word. No yelling or shouting. I guess this kind of unnerved Mrs. J.
“Is everything ok?” she asked of him.
He ignored her completely. He just went into the bathroom to wash and change.
“Did you have anything to eat?”
He still ignored her.
“Well, if you want something to eat, it's on the table. I'm sure you know were that is!”
Still nothing from him.
“Come on girls lets eat. John is in one of his little boy, pouty, stubborn streaks. If he wants something to eat he can join us.”
We all sat down, and Mrs. J said a little prayer of thanks, and added the following, “Please see that John will find peace, enlightenment and solace with what he has been asked to do. Let him find the love and tolerance I know he could have. Please let him come to his senses and join us quietly for dinner. Amen.”
I could tell the tension, yet again, is thick in the house when Mr. J is home for dinner. I know Sandy was a little ticked off at her mom, for what she did this afternoon for me and I was sure she was going to tell her about it. Now I think Sandy realizes things are a bit stressed and decided not to say anything, at least for tonight. We ate our meal in relative silence. The food was delicious, but everything being so tense it was hard to tell you what we had to eat. Everyone's mood was dampened. I could tell Mary was really worried something had gone wrong today and Mr. J didn't want to talk about it. We heard him go into the living room, grab the evening paper, turn on the TV to some evening news channel and settled down for a long evening.
Mary was looking at us like she didn't know what to do. She looked lost. I knew we couldn't talk about what we had planned for the evening, for if Mr. J heard it, I'm sure he would have gone off like a firecracker and gotten angry at all of us.
We finished eating and we were taking the dishes into the kitchen when Mary said, “Em, I know you don't have a lot of time, why don't you take Kevin to his room and play a game with him. He has been waiting patiently for you to do this, and I know you promised him last night you would. Sandy and I can clean up.”
“Are you sure Mary?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Kevin you want to go to your room to play a game for a bit? I can't stay long but at least we can play one or two games, ok?”
“Ok, Auntie Em.”
So we trudged off to his bedroom. As I closed the door, I could hear Mrs. J confront Mr. J, the door closed to Kevin's room and I couldn't hear more then some muffled sounds of what was going on. I'm amazed the walls are so sound proof in this old house.
Kevin and I played about three games when Sandy came to the room and said, “You ready to go Em? We need to get back so we can get ready.”
“Ok Sandy. You going to be ok Kevin?”
“Do you really have to go?”
“I'm afraid so sweetheart, come here and I'll give you a hug.”
Kevin walked over to me and gave me a big hug. “You think we can play some more tomorrow, Auntie Em?”
“We'll see Kevin, I'm not sure what all has been planned. Let's play that by ear, ok? I'll try to make some time for you.”
“Yeepee!!!” Kevin shouted.
I smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You be good for your mum tonight, ok? I think she is going to need you to be extra nice.”
“I will, Em.” I hugged him tight and let him go.
“Ok Sandy, I'm ready.”
“Come here squirt, and give me a goodnight hug.” Sandy said to Kevin.
Kevin ran over to Sandy and gave her a big hug and kiss. “Goodnight sis. See you in the morning.”
We went back to our flat. “So what happened after I went into Kevin's room, I couldn't hear a thing.”
Sandy chuckled, “The reason you couldn't hear a thing, I told you that my previous relatives, that owned the house, were government dignitaries. They had all the rooms sound proofed so you had security. I think that is why my mom wanted you to go to Kevin's room. She knew you wouldn't hear what was being said. My mom is very shrewd.”
“So what did she have to say to your dad?”
“She got kind of pissed at him. First for not calling ahead and telling her when he would be home, and second, that he was acting like a total jerk in front of not only us, but you too. He didn't say much and just looked at her kind of stupidly. I saw my mom wanted to hit him but held back. She started to cry at this point and she wanted to know what was going on with him. He finally put the paper down, and said he didn't want to talk about it. He was humiliated today, and he just wants to get himself back together. He told her he wanted to be left alone for a while. My mom was all put out and said, “Fine, you want to be left alone then you shall be left alone!”
She went to the bedroom and closed herself in. I walked past her door, putting my ear on it and I could hear her crying. I went back out to the living room and glared at my dad, and he took one look at me, turned red, then picked up his paper and buried his face into it.”
“Wow, I do think this is bad. Have your parents ever done this before?”
“Not that I can remember. It may have, when I transitioned, but I was already living here about that time. I feel my dad didn't want me in the house, when he found out about everything that was going on with me. So if there was a major blow-up, I wouldn't hear it.” Sandy looked like she was about ready to cry again.
“Hey, it is not your fault, ok? Don't punish yourself. I'm sure they'll get through this. After all, it really was his own fault, if you recall, for doing what he did to that person at that company. It has nothing to do with you.”
“I would love to believe that Em, but I am a realist. If it weren't for me, he probably never would have been bothered about people like me. For it didn't directly affect him. Now he takes it personally.”
“Hey Sandy, come over, it is NOT YOUR FAULT! Don't even think like that. Your dad is a bigot and has an un-rational fear of people like us. A homophobe someone called it. Please don't take it personal. He did it all by himself, and you know that.”
“Well it still hurts, Em.” as her tears started to pour out of her eyes. I went over and hugged her.
“Come on Sandy, we need to get ready for the gang, they'll be here anytime now. We haven't even begun to get ready.”
“You're right as usual. Let's get a move on. You get the veggies ready and I'll get the chips and dip, and clean the fruit and stick that in a bowl.” She got a napkin and wiped her eyes clean of tears.
I looked at her and started to chuckle.
“What's so funny?”
“Go take a look in the mirror Hun.”
I watched her go into the living room and looked in an ornate mirror hanging on the wall.
“Oh wow, I look like a raccoon, only worse.” She started to giggle.
“Why don't you go freshen up, while I finish up here?”
“Ok, will do.” She went to her bedroom while I made sure the pop was easily accessible in the refrigerator.
I was cleaning up the rest of the dishes and putting them away when I heard a car pull into the car park area. I looked out the window and saw it was Darla and Ally. Darla was pulling a large bag out of the boot of the car, as well as some sleeping bags and pillows. She handed the sleeping bags and pillows to Ally. I saw Ally was looking around in awe at the house out front and at our flat. Darla pointed to the stairs in the garage that led up to our flat and saw Ally head that way, with Darla in pursuit.
I shouted to Sandy, “Hey, Darla and Ally are here!”
“Be right out.”
I opened the door for them and Ally saw me and squealed, “Em, this is simply fabulous.”
“Hi Ally, Darla. Do you need any help Darla?”
“No, I'll be fine, I brought a few things over for tonight.”
“I'll say, look at that bag, it looks like you packed for a week.”
She giggled. “Just wait and see.”
“Ok. You can put it in the living room.” as I pointed the way.
Ally threw the sleeping bags and pillows into a corner then took off her coat while she looked around and said, “Wow Em this is simply fab. Only you and Sandy live here?”
As I took her coat I said, “Yes, just me and Sandy, isn't it grand?”
“I'll say.” Darla took off her coat and handed it to me also.
“Let me hang up your coats and I'll show you two around.”
“Hi Darla, hi Ally how are you two this evening?”
“Great Sandy. And you?” they both said in unison.
“Oh, not doing to bad, I guess.”
“You have a fab flat Sandy.” Ally intoned.
“Yes, I like it. It has its advantages.” Sandy was smiling broadly.
“You want me to show them around Sandy? Or do you want to do it?”
“I guess I'll let you do it Em. You girls want anything to drink? I'll get it ready while you take the tour.”
“You wouldn't have any hot chocolate, would you? I need something to warm me up, it is so cold out there, and the roads are covered with snow.” Ally mentioned.
“I can do that. How about you Darla? The same?”
“That sounds great Sandy.”
“Ok two hot chocolates coming up.” Sandy put a large kettle of water on the stove to boil.
“I hope you put a lot of water on? I'm sure the other girls will want some too.”
“Good point. If we run low on the hot chocolate mix, I can go to my parents house to get some more.”
“What, that house out front is your parent's house?” Ally questioned.
“Yep, this was the carriage house for the cook, maid and butler back when my relatives owned the house.”
“Wow, this place is a mansion.” Ally stated.
“Hardly.” Sandy said.
“Well it is, by our standards.” Ally again said.
I showed Darla and Ally around, when I heard Sandy say, “Maddy and Sabrina are here. Oh, Amy and Bernie just arrived also.”
“Great!” I yelled back. “The gang is here. I wonder if Gaby, Jules, Brit and Deb are going to show? The last I heard they couldn't give me an answer?”
“Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.” Sandy said as she opened the door for the new visitors.
Everyone squealed when they all saw each other. It was pandemonium there for a while. Both Sandy and I where smiling broadly. This was just the thing we needed for tonight. Something to take our minds off what had just happened a bit ago. I could tell Sandy was happy and delighted to have real company for a change. Our flat was big, but with so many girls here, it didn't look that big after all. We had the others throw their things into the bedrooms for the time being. Both Sabrina and Amy brought some more stuff with them. I hadn't a clue what was all going on, but it did look like they all were packed to stay the week. Everyone was talking at once to what seemed like everyone. We passed out the hot chocolate to everyone so we sat and just chatted for a while.
The phone rang and Sandy answered it. We all quieted down so Sandy could hear.
“Hello? … Oh, hi Miss Bell, how are you? … That's great to hear. … Well we're having a sleepover; the gang from England is here with their hosts. The only people not here are Gaby, Jules Britney and Debbie. … No we're not sure if they are going to make it. Em never got confirmation they would be here. ... Uh huh. … Uh huh … Ok that sounds great, I'll let everyone here know. … Yes, that does help doesn't it? I'll make sure they call home to make sure their parents know also. … Great, I'll let them know that, I'm sure it will be great fun. … Ok Miss Bell you too. … Goodnight.” She hung up the phone.
“What did Miss Bell want?” I said as Sandy was smiling.
“We all are invited to a cross country skiing picnic tomorrow, starting at eleven in the morning. We're all supposed to meet at Jack's Diner's parking lot. We'll then cross country ski into the woods, to a clearing, were there will be a picnic lunch already set up for us and people will be bringing something for us to eat. After we're done eating, we'll ski back to the diner. If people don't have ski's they'll be provided by some of the people. Dress warmly; I'm sure it will be cold tomorrow. Em, I've a snowsuit you can borrow and a set of cross-country skis, so you'll be all set. I'm supposed to tell the rest of you to call your respective homes to let them know what's going on so that there are no surprises. Who wants to call first?”
Maddy didn't need to call; Miss Bell was the one that told all of us. So Ally and Darla called first; than Sabrina called home; then Amy and Bernie. Seems like everything was set for tomorrow.
“Did Miss Bell explain why we were doing this tomorrow, Sandy?” I said.
“Oh it's something the community does when we have snow on the ground. We don't often get this much snow, so it is a rarity, and when we do, we try to make it a festive occasion.”
“Oh, cool!” we all said.
“I've never skied before, so this will be fun.” I said.
“Me neither.” both Ally and Bernie stated together.
“Well what shall we do now?” I asked.
“I brought some magazines for makeup and hairstyles.” Darla stated.
“I brought some games we could play.” Sabrina stated.
“I brought some movies if anyone is interested. Also some teen magazines and stuff.” Amy said.
“Wow, you girls are organized.” Sandy said. “We got all the veggies, fruit chips, salsa and dip. We also have soda's in the fridge and anything else your heart desires, just help yourself.”
“Great Sandy, what should we do first?” Amy asked.
“Why don't we do hair and makeup?” Bernie said.
“Ok, I'll get my bag of stuff. Amy you want to get your magazines?” Darla stated.
Before Sandy and I knew it, the girls were passing out magazines and we were reading up on all kinds of things about makeup and hairstyles. Maddy saw one style of hair and makeup and she said, “This would look good on Em. You think we can do this on her?”
We all looked at what she pointed out. Before I knew it I was getting my face cleaned and makeup put on.
Maddy was doing the makeup, while Ally and Bernie were doing my hair.
Sandy was watching in fascination. When it was all over I looked great. One of the girls said, “To bad we don't have some cute dresses to try on, to see how she looks in them.”
“What do you mean if we could try them on? I'm sure we have enough of a selection in Em's closet where I have some of my too small dresses and other clothes.” Sandy stated.
The girls squealed again and ran to my room to look in the closet. They found my new dress, and they ooohed and awed at it, they were really impressed.
Ally looked at it and said, “When did you get this dress? I'm jealous, even I don't have a dress this good looking.”
“Well Mrs. Jones and I went to the mall in Waynesboro and went shopping this afternoon, after ballet practice.”
“And you didn't invite us?”
The girls looked at me like they were upset.
“Um … look girls it wasn't my idea, ok? I wasn't the person who came up with the suggestion. It was Mrs. J who wanted to take me out.”
All of a sudden the girls burst out laughing.
“Don't worry Em, we're only teasing you. But don't let it happen again. If you're going to go shopping you let us know, and we'll all go with you.” All the girls started laughing again, except Sandy.
I noticed some resentment from Sandy when she saw the dress. I know I didn't show it to her earlier, but I knew she was upset with her mom for buying it for me.
I could see she was concentrating on the dress, but she wasn't focused on it. She was deep in thought. I guess I know what she's thinking.
The girls grabbed my shoes and they asked, “Did you get any new lingerie to go with that dress?”
“Yes we did.”
“Well chop, chop girl lets get them and get you all dressed up!” Ally squealed.
Before I knew it, I was told to undress in front of them and put the new lingerie on. I felt a little self-conscious, but all the girls said, “You undressed in the locker room and showered with us, so how is this any different?” I guess they had a point there.
After putting it on, then putting on the dress and heels, they took pictures of me. I must admit I looked gorgeous. The girls were over the moon about it. Even Sandy was. I also knew Sandy was a bit jealous of it, knowing the circumstances of how I came to get this dress. But her spirit wasn't damped.
“Sandy's next.” Bernie yelled.
Sandy, God bless her, was in heaven. The girls wanted me to do the makeover for Sandy, they knew I knew what to do and they wanted to watch. After all, the daughter of a cosmetologist better know what to do or she would be disinherited. Mom taught me well over the last three years. Amy and Sabrina did her hair. The other girls went and looked in her closet and got the most elegant dress she had, and told Sandy to get the lingerie that was suppose to go with the dress they selected. Sandy got the lingerie and the girls told her to put it on.
Sandy was a little apprehensive at first and she looked at me, and I nodded and winked. She put on a smile and said “Ok, you girls ready?”
Not waiting for an answer, she too stripped in front of all the girls, took off her knickers and bra and put on the chosen lingerie for the dress. No one twigged, they all took her for a genetic girl everyone thought she was and I could see the relief on Sandy's face when she was all done. It was like Sandy performed some sort of ‘Trial by Fire' ritual, and I could just see her confidence shoot through the roof. She relaxed and played along. I could tell Sandy was having a ball. She looked great after they finished up with her. They took pictures of her also.
Sandy ended up putting makeup on Amy; Maddy did Sabrina, Ally did Darla, and I did Maddy, while Darla did Ally when they were finished.
We're all pretty much the same size in clothes, so the other girls raided our closets for the dresses and shoes that were left in there. When we were all dressed and finished, we all looked like the elegant rich going off to a ball.
We took a group shot of all of us.
We decided we were hungry and Sandy said she bought some pizzas for us to eat and we put the pizzas in the oven. I got out the Vegetarian Pizza from the night before and heated it for me. We had a great time.
We all put on our nighties and took off our makeup and brushed out our hair. Sandy and I were the most risqué by comparison, since our outfits were semi transparent. But we all were a bit revealing. Nobody minded it. Sandy turned on the fireplace and it warmed us all, the girls simply loved it.
The rest of the evening we did games galore. Pictionary was a hoot, Charades, we were all rolling on the floor laughing with that. We did many more.
Then later we settle down to watch Princess Diary Two, a chick flick. Normally I really didn't care for this, I would have preferred to watch an action flick. This time though, I really enjoyed it. I found myself laughing and crying, as everyone else. In the end, I found myself crying when the two lovebirds finally admitted they loved each other. I hope they come out with a Princess Diary Three. I want to see them get married.
The girls wanted to watch another movie, but with the day I had, I was quickly starting to fade. Ally shook me awake and told me to get ready for bed and get some blankets and stuff. I looked around the room and everyone was unrolling their sleeping bags and laying them on the floor next to each other. I went into the bedroom and got some blankets and pillows to lie on the couch. Ally helped me gather them. I went into the bathroom to take my pills and brush my teeth. When I came out Ally said she would sleep with me and I smiled at her. The two of us got the couch and it was a bit cramped but we snuggled up to each other. Sandy decided to sleep in her own room. The rest of the gang slept everywhere on the floor in sleeping bags.
Ally turned to me and whispered to me, “I love you, Em.” and gave me a kiss full on the lips and held it for a long time.
I smiled at her and whispered back, “I love you too, Ally.” Returning the kiss.
With the fire going in the background this was a very romantic setting. I will remember this for a very long time. I had the biggest smile on my face. This was one of those lifetime memories, I just know it.
We both hugged each other and snuggled under the blankets with our arms draped over each other smiling and I saw Ally fall asleep.
She said she loved me, I wonder in what way? As a sister, or something more? Will we survive as a couple? A couple of what though, boy/girl, or girl/girl, or something other, whatever that will be? I really like Ally, but I'm not sure in what way myself, yet? Will she stick with me if I go all the way? Will she still be my friend? I love being a girl. Would she love being with me when I'm all girl? My head started to spin out of control. I started to get drowsy and before I knew it, I too nodded off into the land of nod.
To be continued:
Joni W 29.03.06 © 2006
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