Daughter In Curls

Ever since graduation from high school, my dream of the good life has seemed to be a lesson in futility. First there was my Mom’s accident, her injuries didn’t take her life, but maybe that would have been better. I loved my Mom but couldn’t stand to be around watching her in a wheelchair, knowing that most likely she would be confined to one for the rest of her life. The idiot driver walked away from the crash, apparently drunk, never admitting fault for the trouble and grief he caused.

Mom had two sisters, Daisy and Nora. They both came to help, then after discussing what had happened and the information from the doctor’s they started taking action. Both were here for weeks, leaving their families so that their sister could be taken care of. After a couple of weeks, we were all in the living room one night when they let Mom and I know their decision.

Mom would go stay with Daisy, she had a huge house all one level, perfect for someone confined to a wheelchair. The clinic where Mom was to be taken to that she could regain some of her mobility was only a few minutes away, another plus. Since Daisy had taken one year of nursing, before she met her husband, she knew the basics for patient care, all of this making her home a logical choice.

Then Nora addressed me. “Ned you will come to live with me, with Daisy’s family and now you’re Mom, adding you to the mix will likely be too much to handle. We are close enough to visit often, but since you graduated you need to see if you can find some type of employment, that is if you don’t want to pursue some type of college.”

“I live in the suburbs, so there should be lots of opportunities available for you. I have enough room and my two daughters will love to have the company. They are totally boy crazy, so being a boy they will be all over you. We will rent out the house until we determine if you can someday move back in, the additional income will help handle a lot of the medical expenses.”

“Jimmy, my husband, has spoken to several of his attorney friends, and they have talked to your Mom’s insurance company about the accident. As of tomorrow morning they will file a lawsuit against the drunk driver and his insurance asking for one million dollars in damages. Unfortunately these lawsuits take years to settle, so something for later but nothing for the short term.”

“We have waited to the last minute to make sure something different doesn’t surface, so as of tomorrow morning we will head back to our homes. I hope this solution is alright with both of you, we can’t think of any other logical way to handle this.”

I hugged Mom and then turned to hug Nora, they didn’t have to do all of this, but it was appreciated. Mom and Daisy were sobbing away, and I quickly joined them. I had been worried about Mom, knowing that I was ill prepared to take care of her. I would have done it, but feared that my care of her would be far less than she deserved.

I packed my things that night, they had already packed the necessities for Mom, earlier. It was decided to come back in two weeks’ time to get the house ready to be rented, allowing time to make sure this arrangement worked out first. The next morning there was quite a few tears shared as we parted for a while. Mom and I holding the embrace for an eternity, at least, it seemed so.

The trip to Nora’s home was spent pretty much in silence, I was lost in my thoughts and Nora respected me enough to allow me to have some time to decompress some. When we arrived two teenage girls came bouncing out of the house, then around to my side of the car, opening the door and dragging me out. I was going to grab my suitcase, but the girls had other things in mind.

Nora was giggling away, apparently she had mentioned to the girls my loneliness and wishing to be left alone, the girls decided that was not to be. First I got a quickie tour of the house, bottom floor, then the basement and then upstairs to our rooms. I tried several times to withdraw, to just settle somewhere to be alone and think, that was not to happen, not with these two involved.

Nora and her husband’s bedroom was downstairs, a gorgeous room facing an enclosed patio, filled with tropical plants and orchids. The bath that was attached was humongous, with a spa like tub all finished in stainless steel. The steel was polished to an extreme, the reflection of light off any of the fixtures in the bathroom was quite amazing. They had a gorgeous kitchen, all of the modern necessities with a huge refrigerator and freezer right next to each other. Then an island with a stove top embedded and two ovens on the wall behind. In lieu of a dining room they had chosen to enlarge the kitchen to handle a larger table with a hutch on the wall for dishes and silverware.

A huge living room occupied the rest of downstairs, several sofa groupings scattered around the room for quiet conversations. To make the groupings a little more private, pots of tropical plants surrounded each grouping. The basement was more a recreation room, a huge TV occupied one wall, next to it was a sound system with speakers positioned all around the room, so while watching TV or just listening to some music you felt like you were right in the middle of the orchestra. A couple of sofas and lots of bean bag chairs were scattered around for places to sit and relax.

Upstairs I was taken to Suzy’s bedroom first, a feminine room to say the least. Canopy bed, white and gold Provincial furniture and thousands of stuffed animals, at least it seemed so. I was introduced to a lot of them by name, made to hold them and tell them how much I enjoyed meeting them. Silly but nice to feel like I belonged somehow. I actually talked to the animals as if they could understand what I was saying, but in this case maybe too weird for a male.

She had a desk/vanity covered in nail polishes, and some of the things for a manicure. Her Mother limited her use of makeup, so she over did it on nail polishes. We sat on the edge of her bed, the curtains from the canopy top draping right next to us. She told me a little about herself, that she was fourteen going on seventeen, loved everything girly, and wanted to be a wife and mother when she grew up. All during our talk I was touched often, to empathize a point or to just make me feel included.

An hour later we moved to Jennifer’s bedroom. Done almost the same way, but more pastel colors and the canopy bed not so girly. Pictures of boy bands adorned the walls, mixed with some art work. An easel was over in the corner so I presumed the artwork was Jennifer’s. The art was mostly landscapes, so realistic it seemed that you were actually looking out of a window at the real thing. She obviously has a lot of talent.

Jennifer’s vanity had an attached mirror, but the vanity top was loaded with makeup and hair accessories, a set of hot curlers and several brushes on a separate side table. She had stuffed animals too, maybe not as many as Suzy, but these were quite large, one in particular just about as big as Jennifer. Incidentally her name was Hortense, a teddy bear dressed in a gingham dress, a very lovable teddy bear that knows how to cuddle.

Jennifer was seventeen, happy to be that age and not wanting to grow up any faster. She wanted to follow in her Mom’s footsteps and be an executive in business. She was in her first year of junior college, so far straight A’s and involved in student government among other things. During the time in her room, Princess their cat came waltzing in, smelled everything and then to my surprise jumped up on my lap. I reached down to pet it, the purring started immediately and seemed to get louder as the minutes passed by.

While I was occupied with the cat, Jennifer grabbed one of her brushes and started brushing my hair. She released my rubber band holding it in a low ponytail, brushing my hair vigorously the full length of it. It was down to my shoulder blades, my one concession for my teenage rebellion phase. It felt oh so good, each brush stroke giving me oodles of goose pimples.

In school, I was considered a rebel, fighting the principal and teachers in not getting my hair cut as they wished. I was considered a distraction, my appearance upsetting classes. Yeah sure. For the full four years I was in and out of the principals office about anything and everything. I held to my guns, refusing to cut my hair, but maintained a 4.0 grade average and otherwise stayed out of trouble. I am sure when I graduated the principal was extremely happy to see me go.

Since the cat was still on my lap, she worked on my hair for quite some time, then ended up braiding it, working in some ribbons as she did so. Suzy was thrilled, bouncing up and down on the bed, getting more ribbons so Jennifer could weave them into the braid, giggling all the time.

At that time their father came into the room, telling me that he had placed my suitcase in my room. I extended my hand to shake his hand, but instead he hugged me from the side holding it for quite some time. I am sure he noticed my braided hair with ribbons, but just smiled and did not bring up the subject/

He reminded the girls to help me unpack, then left to go back downstairs telling us lunch would be in an hour. I actually closed my eyes when he hugged me, it felt so good, an experience I had not experienced in years. I don’t remember much about my Dad, knew that he was in the service, and usually only saw him once or twice a year. I do remember his hugs, tender and heart felt.

As their Dad left, the girls and I walked to my room, the last on the tour, Of course, I was carrying the cat, since she refused to be put down, a new friend with a lap so comfy and soft, someone to hold on to at all costs.

As they opened the door to my room I almost dropped the cat. Where the other rooms would be considered girly, this room put them all to shame. Of course a canopy bed, seems to be a standard in this house. The furniture though was something else. A lacquered pink finish, with decals on all the drawers and on the frame of the mirrors attached to the matching dressers.

The decals were all of Victorian females in their huge dresses and hair piled on top of their head. A huge vanity, with a lighted mirror, and a cute frilly stool to sit on to use it. Two huge walk in closets loaded with clothes were on one wall, the other wall all in mirrors, making the room look larger and deeper than it was. Did I mention that all the clothes were female in assorted sizes, I presume the clothes that the girls had out grown were stored here.

With mouth wide open I turned to look at the girls, hoping that this was a joke. Nope pure delight on the girl’s faces, this is apparently my room, why this room was chosen to be mine was immaterial, it was now my room, all pink and girly. Jennifer set my mind at ease a little telling me that Mom will change the décor if I can’t live with the room. Meanwhile Suzy was pulling out a dress from the closet and smiling as she eyed me up.

“Well we won’t know if you can’t live with the room until you experience it firsthand. So let’s get you out of those clothes and into something more comfortable.”

I took a couple of steps backward, not wanting to find out if her selections were more comfortable. Suzy reached for my belt buckle as Jennifer pulled my t-shirt over my head. Having the cat hanging on not wanting his new found soft spot to vanish was a further hindrance. My hands caught in the t-shirt for a moment, the needed time for my pants to disappear along with my shoes.

Before I could gather some of my clothes back up to redress another item of apparel settled over me, I was so embarrassed to be partially naked in front of the girls I smoothed it down around me, with the hem settling above my knees. I realized too late it was a dress, as Jennifer and Suzy proceeded to drag me to lunch downstairs. No time to protest, a feeble attempt to stop at the door was way layed as Suzy put the cat back in my hands.

I was presented to Nora, my more than red face, burning up in embarrassment locked onto an image on the floor. She was giggling as she raised my chin so that I had to look at her face. “Well dear, Ned doesn’t sound right now for a name, how about Nellie. You certainly look like a Nellie, a very cute girl.”

My eyes went wide, and my mouth dropped open. “Yes, that is the name your Mother had picked out if you had been a girl. Somehow I now think that might be appropriate. Let’s eat and then you and I need to take a little time and have a chat.”

I suddenly loss my appetite, thinking the worse of events so far and what that may mean for me. Just got here and now to be thrown out on the street a real concern. The girls were being questioned, although I was so wrapped up in my own problems I was not really listening. Her husband listened but other than shaking his head more than a few times said nothing. I did eat more than expected, the salad I was served was so good, the slightly sweet dressing to die for. My other soon to be favorite was the stir fried vegetables. Carrots, potatoes, broccoli, bell peppers, onions and green beans made up the combination, with her choice of spices they were yummy, Suzy’s one word description of the dish so apt.

Everybody got up taking their dishes to the sink, Jennifer handed me a sponge and I was told to wash. Jennifer would dry as Suzy put the dishes away. Nora and her husband put the leftovers away and cleaned the kitchen counters. Fifteen minutes later the kitchen was clean and I was being led off by Nora. I was soon leaking tears, I could see disaster everywhere I turned. By the time we got to her bedroom I was a sobbing mess.

I was sat down on the edge of her bed as she took my face in her hands and made me look at her. “Stop the crying right now, or I will give you something to cry about.” The look on her face was serious, scary serious, my tears seeming to dry up instantly. She took a towel and wiped my face, then sat right down next to me.

I have a bunch of questions that I need answered truthfully. You and the girls are not in trouble, but I need to know whose idea this was. Start at the beginning and tell me everything that happened since we got home. After a bout of silence I reiterated what had happened since I got here, in all of its detail. I said I am sorry at least a hundred times, realizing a lot of what happened would not have if I had put a stop to it.

After I winded down she left, telling me to not move an inch till she got back. I twisted and turned, fearing that the girls would get in trouble and then they would abandon me. It seemed forever when Nora returned, the girls right behind her. I was mobbed by the three of them, my mouth open in surprise and my brain now totally confused.

The three of them had talked it over and decided that I was to be a girl now, until and if I protested the decision. My male clothes had been thrown out, and a selection of the clothes in my room laid out for me to try on, picking the ones I liked the most to wear the rest of the day. Jennifer and Suzy grabbed a hand and squeezed, then led me away to my future. No chance for a rebuttal or any say in the matter.

According to Suzy, from the moment they had first seen me I acted and behaved just like a real female would. From the talking to her stuffed animals as if they were real to my first glance at my new room. Everything screamed girl, so they treated me that way. The more they did so, the stronger my reaction. When Jennifer had first done my braid, they was no hostility at it being done, just some minutes of me staring at the mirror, taking in every detail of its look, just like a real female would do. I was told that I turned this way and that way trying to see how it looked and even ran my hands over the newly created braid to make sure it was real, not imaginary.

The next hour was spent trying on the clothes, giggling and outright laughter escaping from the room. The laughter was from me trying on several of Jennifer’s grade school dresses, she was obviously large for her age, and with me a shrimp at my age of eighteen, they fit me pretty well.

There was many a picture taken to share with the ones not present, much to my chagrin. So I just accepted the humiliation, I looked cute in the dresses, and I had missed that part of my life, so I deserved a little time in those dresses. With that decision in mind I was led to dinner in one of the frilliest ones, my head held high, although my cheeks were more than a little red. Must be the blush that turned them red, the natural kind, not makeup. I was tenderly hugged by Nora, after she oohed and awed over my look. The hugs so awesome here.

Another normal meal, nothing unusual a husband and wife with their three daughters in attendance. I got to wipe the dishes this time, as Suzy had to wash them. Then the three of us hurried to Jennifer’s room, my hairstyle needed changing according to the two of them, then dressed in our nighties we returned to my room to sprawl on the bed and talk of things female. Nora came to see that we got into bed, a tender kiss on my forehead made me realize how lucky I was. A major change in my life was accomplished today, but without out all of the hoopla normally accompanying such a change. I acted like a girl therefor I am apparently a girl, the matter now settled.

I laid in bed for a while going over all the things that happened today smiling some and a few tears coming at the appropriate time, happy tears not sad tears. I kind of drifted off, waking to the sound of my door being shut. Right next to me was Hortense snuggled up close to me on one side and Jangles on the other facing me with a huge smile on her face. Jangles was Suzy’s favorite so I sighed, a bit of love shared by them in my first night alone. Going to the bathroom was now a major undertaking getting past my two bed mates more than a simple task. I giggled all the way, thinking of how much I was loved and cared for.

On the return trip I walked up to my bed not seeing any room for me, it was full of all things female, till a hand grabbed mine and pulled me giggling right into the midst of things. We laughed, twisted, turned this way and that before I found myself in between the two girls with their fuzzy friends tucked in tightly and secure next to us.

I fell asleep like that, Mom coming to get us up the next morning, Nora was like a Mom to me, a loving and caring Mom. She was giggling at the sight as she retreated to the kitchen, she was sure now. Yes, she has three daughters now.

There was never a return to anything male for me, each day a new dress or blouse and skirt. Pants of any kind were denied me, although I was secretly happy about that decision. It was two weeks later when I ventured forth in one of my new dresses that had been bought just yesterday.

The girls had perfected my look, nails always neatly polished and makeup tastefully done so that I appeared as a young female. My voice was encouraged to a new level, slightly higher and more breathy. Being around the girls all the time I quickly copied their word usage, now sounding as feminine as they do. My eyebrows had been shaped for me, now a look in the mirror only showing a female image.

Of course, I needed a feminine hair style to complete the look. A trip to a salon, then after a haircut and a permanent Nellie was now a total female in looks, The hair style had curly bangs, and was layered the soft curls framing my face and spreading out on my shoulders. For the first few days the girls were upset with me, since I looked prettier than they did. By the end of the week they got the salon treatment too, now all three of us are identical looking sisters. Problem solved.

My time with the girls had been educational as well, every time I did something that hinted at my masculine upbringing I was told about it and made to practice how a female would do the same task. At first they were constantly on me about my behavior, but a few weeks later I was acting all girl. Mom watched my transformation day by day, smiling often and encouraging me when I needed it. I say Mom, since Nora was turning out to be my mother in this household. Often pictures were taken to send to my real Mom showing the emergence of her new daughter.

The first time she actually got to see her daughter in the flesh was an emotional time, the hugging and crying going on for quite a while. We were both sobbing, Mom for having a new daughter that was so pretty and me for being accepted as one so easily. Nora had suggested waterproof mascara for that reunion, a truly wise choice.

Mom was doing well, her therapy coming along nicely, much better that any of her doctors expected. They doubted she could escape from the wheelchair completely, but other than that she would recover completely. For obvious reasons we stayed with the present living accommodations, life easier for Mom near her doctors and chances for employment for me much better if I stayed at Nora's home.

I had a list of stores that had advertised for sales help, anxious to see if one of them might allow me to work for them. Nora had fine tuned the list, adding a few ones that she thought might be more receptive to my desire to work for them. I made the rounds, filling out their employment applications and answering questions about me.

Nora and I had decided to be truthful with them, disclosing that I was actually a male underneath the clothing. In most cases it was not even commented on. Three stores seemed interested in me, calling me back for another interview the next day. Of those three, the last one offered me a job. It was as a salesperson trainee, where I would spend a few weeks learning about their products and how they wanted their clientele taken care of. They sold beauty supplies, both wholesale and to the general public.

I loved the job and was out on the sales floor quicker than they expected. I adored selling the makeup, using every chance I got to practice with a new product or color. Maybe because I felt so right dressed this way, I looked forward to every day, something that happened less when I was portraying a male.

That is what it seemed like, I was only portraying a male, my soul obviously female from birth. Oh I did get a silly stuffed animal for my own, and named it Happy. That eventually required a larger bed for my room, three females and their stuffed animals made my old bed strain under the load. Now I am a daughter in curls and loving every minute of it.

© 2016 thru 2024 by Francesca