Into the Land of the Pinks: Chapter 2

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Into the Land of the Pinks: Chapter 2
Samantha Jenkins

Confessions

I rolled over the next morning, still thinking about the way that Zoe looked in the mirror. I wondered how it would feel to be free enough to let the world meet Zoe, and also to wear a skirt all day long. I didn't shave the peach fuzz that grew on my legs, not that any one would notice it if i were in a skirt, it was all blonde like the hair on my head and so fine that you barley felt it as you ran your hand down my legs. I slipped on a clean pair of jeans and a tee shirt and went down toward the kitchen. As I expected, mom was there, and Heather was no where to be found, so I presumed that it was just me and mom at home.

"Morning sweetie. You want some oatmeal?" Mom asked. I just nodded, which caused mom to look at me. I hadn't slept well the night before, and apparently it showed. "You ok; you look like you didn't sleep well last night." I looked at mom and thought before I answered.

"No." I said softly. "I haven't been ok for a while." This caused mom to stop bustling around getting the oatmeal ready and just stop and examine me. Little did I know, Mom had dressed me in dresses when I was a baby to help facilitate diaper changes

"What's wrong?" She sat her coffee cup on the counter and devoted her attention to me.

"This." I replied running my hands up and down my body, as if to indicate that it was the whole body that was screwed up. "Last night when I said I would have been bored to tears going dress shopping with you, that's not quite the truth. I would have loved to gone with you guys and maybe even tried on a dress or two. Last night I tried on that black top and black and pink plaid skirt that Heather wore the other day because they were in the hamper. No one would know right? I don't have to tell you that part; but when I looked into the mirror, I saw Zoe looking back. She looked happy, I haven't looked happy for a while. I haven't been able to get the picture of her blue eyes sparkling out of my head since then..." Mom just blinked, and let me finish talking.

"Who's Zoe?" Mom asked. I blinked, not expecting that question, but rather expecting to be told to get out of the house...

"Me." I said quietly. "I am Zoe"

#

Mom had taken my hand and led me toward the living room which would be more comfortable to sit in than the kitchen. After she had led me to the couch, she sat on the love seat.

"So Zoe seemed happier than Allen's been in a while?" Mom asked.

"Yes. I can't explain it. Putting on Heather's skirt and top just felt right. For once the outside matched the inside." I responded. "It made me happy to have them both match." Mom watched as I folded my legs up on the couch, very much like Mom and Heather would do when they were reading a book. Mom smiled.

"You do act like your sister some times." Mom said, with a smile. "What do you think we should do about this?"

"I don't know. I think that talking to someone may be a good first step. I just don't know who to talk to."

"I don't know who to talk to either, and as this is Saturday, I think that talking to someone today may be kind of hard, so why don't you go get a shower, and since your sister is staying the night at Carly's, and your dad won't be home from Denver until at least Wednesday, I'm going to go find you something to wear and we can discuss this further, Ok?"

"I took a shower last night before you and Heather got home."

"I know. I want you to go take another one, use some of your sister's scented body wash this time, ok?" I nodded and went off to do as mom suggested.

#

I walked back into my bedroom after taking a shower and using the body wash. I currently smelled of lavender and, to be honest, I liked the smell. Laying on the bed was an ankle length denim skirt, pink sweater, and a matching pink polkadot bra and panty set. I looked around the room and then heard my mom on the other side of the door.

"Put everything on. I think your sister's shoes will fit you, I have a pair out here for you to put on after you get dressed." I shrugged, the panties were pretty self explanatory, the bra, however was not. I struggled with it for a few minutes, before finally getting it on correctly. I slipped the skirt on and then pulled the sweater over my head. I brushed my hair out and taking a deep breath, and then I opened the door to reveal mom standing there. She looked me up and down, and he waited for her to start laughing.

"My God, Zoe, you are beautiful." Mom said. I smiled and blushed at the same time.

"Thank you." I said in a voice that was softer than my normal voice. I watched as my mother's eyes widened in shock.

"Lets see if Heather's shoes fit you. I think that they will." She sat a pair of black mary jane wedges on the floor next to her new daughter's feet. I slipped the shoes on and were surprised to find that they fit. I crouched down and buckled the thin straps. Katherine smiled at her new daughter again. "Zoe, are you sure that you've never worn anything of your sisters before?"

"Yes. This is the first time other than the skirt and shirt from last night. It's something that I've dreamt about though..."

"Zoe, would you like to go out to breakfast? We can go across town so that we are unlikely to run into anyone that would know you."

"I think that I would like that. I am a bit nervous though."

"You'll be fine. Let me go grab you a purse. In the closet down stairs there is a grey peacoat, you can wear that. I'll be right back." Mom disappeared into Heather's room and came back with a small black purse. I went down and found the coat in the closet and slipped my arms in and buttoned the row of buttons on the coat. A few seconds later, mom appeared behind me with the purse. "Here you go, Zoe." I took the purse and opened the door to the garage.

#

I relaxed as mom drove through the city to the other side where the odds of someone knowing them were very slim.

"Mom, Why are you ok with this?"

"Why am I ok with you being happy and being you?" She chuckled. "Are you kidding me? I just want you to be happy and healthy."

"Well, At least I'm not dopey." I said, trying to make a joke. I smiled and mom chuckled some more.

"I think that you make a better happy than a dopey... Mom said. "I haven't seen you this giddy since I don't know when." Mom pulled the car into a parking spot. I looked around and took a deep breath, before opening the door and getting out of the car. I walked next to mom as we walked into a restaurant.

"Just the two of you, Ma'am?" The hostess asked. She stood about five foot one, and wore a white button down shirt and black slacks that didn't do much to flatter her, even though the shirt fit her form.

"Yes, just the two of us today." Mom replied as the hostess picked up two menus and then smiled at us.

"If you ladies would follow me please." We followed the hostess to the table and sat across from each other. She sat our menus down and then went back to the podium.

#

Mom and I had finished eating our breakfast and were sitting there talking when her cell phone rang. Mom looked at me and smiled.

"Hey Tom." Mom said. I presumed that dad was on the other end of the phone call. "Nope, no one is at home. Allen and I are out eating breakfast and Heather is over at Carly's..." Mom's statement caused an older couple that was sitting next to us to do a double take. I smiled at them, they shook their heads and mumbled something about 'kids these days...' "I know. You and I need to sit down and have a talk about Allen. No, nothings wrong, but Allen told me something about himself today that I think took an awful lot of courage to tell someone." Mom paused and looked at me. "I'm not going to get into it while I'm at a restaurant, Allen and I will call you later using the computer so we can at least talk face to face." Mom reached out and covered my right hand with her left and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I don't know how it will affect Heather, but I predict that she won't have a problem with it." Mom listened for a few minutes and then said. "Ok. I'll call your cell when we get home, I think that this is important enough that Allen would have preferred to tell both of us at once." I nodded. "Ok. I love you and I'll pass your message on to the kids." Mom dropped her phone back in her purse, and then looked at the older couple that had resumed staring at us.

"I take it he tried to call the house and no one was there?" I asked.

"Yep." Mom said, still looking at the older couple that was still staring. "I'm having breakfast with my daughter, is there something I can help you with?" Mom asked the gentleman rather pointedly. He and his wife turned a beet red and then went back to eating their prunes.

"How do you think he will take it?" I asked. Mom looked at me.

"Sweetie, your father is the head of diversity for Gillenfelter Systems... I don' think he will have a problem with it. He may know of resources that you and I don't." Mom said before finishing the last of her coffee. Mom handed me the check, thirty dollars and the car keys. "Go pay the bill and I'm going to run to the bathroom. Wait for me in the car."

"Ok." I said standing, slipping on the coat that I had worn in. I grabbed my purse and headed for where the cashier was. Almost before I got out of ear shot of the couple that was sitting across from us, I heard the woman remark to her husband: "There is no way that was a boy..." I think there may have been more, but I couldn't hear what she said.

#

Mom pulled the car into the garage and shut off the engine. We got out of the car and went into the house. I hung the coat back up in the closet and went and sat in the den. This was where we had the iMac set up so that we could talk to dad when he was away on business. Mom came in and sat next to me. She patted my leg through the skirt.

"Are you ready to introduce Zoe to your dad? Also, I watched you pay for breakfast and then walk out to the car. If I didn't know any better, I would have taken you for a girl." Mom said.

"I heard that woman that was sitting across from us say that I wasn't a boy as I went to pay for the food this morning. It made me feel good. As far as I can tell, I'm ready to introduce Zoe to dad. I kinda worry about his reaction though."

"I think he will mistake you for Heather at first. I can see the height difference, he can't do that over the video chat." Mom picked up the trackpad and keyboard and sat them in her lap. "Ready?" she asked, moving the pointer to the application that allowed us to video chat.

"As I'll ever be. I'd prefer to do this face to face, but this is the next best thing. I just hope your right about him." I responded.

"You just relax and be your self, Your father will be easy, it's Heather I'm worried about." I glanced at mom. For me it was the other way around. I was more worried about dad. "Mom double clicked on the application, and then double clicked on dad's name, connecting the two computers together over the internet so that we could have a face to face. The connection seemed like it took an eternity, when in reality it only took a few seconds.

"Katherine," Dad said, looking at the monitor on his laptop. I could see the reflection of his monitor in his glasses. "I thought you said that you were with Allen and that Heather wasn't home."

"That's right." Mom said. I could hear a smile in her voice.

"But Heather is sitting next to you." It took everything in me not to chuckle.

"No, Zoe is sitting next to me." Dad's face changed to a look of 'what-in-the-world-are-you-talking-about'. Mom had stumped dad, which was usually hard to do. "Look closely at her eyes." Mom said. Dad leaned toward his monitor.

"That's Allen!" Dad exclaimed. "So it's Zoe, huh?"

"Yes, Daddy. This morning I told mom that something's not been right with me for a while. I've felt like I should be a girl for quite some time. Last night before I got in the shower, I tried on a skirt and shirt of Heathers that was in the hamper. I saw Zoe staring back out of the mirror at me, and that image has been in my mind ever since. I'm happy right now, and I haven't been happy in a while." Dad sat back and looked at the monitor.

"What are your thoughts, Katherine?"

"I think that talking to someone that is trained in gender issues would be a good first step. Also, we are going to need to figure out how to tell Heather that she actually has a sister rather than a brother, but for right now, I think we can keep this between the three of us." Mom said. "Tom, Zoe and I went to breakfast this morning and she didn't raise a single eyebrow, except for this older couple that gave us a funny look when I told you that I was out with Allen..."

"I would have loved to have seen their faces. I bet it was priceless."

"It was." I said. "The woman even said that there was no way I was a boy... That made me feel really good."

"Ok. I'll go through the stuff I have about therapists and send you a few that are good and specialize in gender issues, Katherine make the calls Monday, and let me know about appointments. Add them to the calendar as well so they sync across everything. Zoe, welcome to the family. For right now you are going to have to go to school as Allen, but lets see what happens." I nodded. "I will probably be home Tuesday, These diversity seminars I've been running will be done Monday. I'll probably leave about 10AM, we have to make quick stop in Dallas to set someone straight, and then back home to Columbus. The Dallas stop may end up being an overnight depending on what happens. I'll let you guys know. I'm glad we charter jets for these kinds of trips, I would hate to try to do this via commercial airlines..."

"Ok. I will let you know Monday what I find out. Any objections to getting Zoe some things of her own?"

"None at all. It would be a lot easier than trying to explain why all of Heather's clothes are dirty..." Dad's cell phone rang, and he picked it up and looked at it. "It's Fred. I'll talk to you guys later. Love you both, and send my love to Heather."

"Love you Daddy." I said,

"Love you, Tom." Mom said the screen reverted back to the desktop after dad disconnected. Mom turned to me. "So, you want to go shopping?"

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Comments

Nice beginning.

/

A Nice ride around Manchester to finish off the Sparkle weekend.

Well, you've laid out a good foundation formulea, describing the principal characters and expressing Zoe's feeling just as many, many of us have experienced in early life.
It's good that her parents are supportive for that i think is every young transgendered person's dream.
I'm looking forward to the next chapters.
Happy writing.

Bev
XZXX.

bev_1.jpg

Could you please stop posing beside transit vans?

WebDeb's picture

Every time I walk down the street yet another transit van rubs salt into my wounds.

Not the van per say but the logo.

Damn Ford manufacturers and the white van man.

Arghhh..

Ah!

/

A Nice ride around Manchester to finish off the Sparkle weekend.

Chapters one and two seemed to get fractured and mixed at some stage but I've got the whole story now.

Zoe's a lucky girl. Mum and dad being supportive and mum even taking her shopping. Lucky, lucky girl.

I've found that in most instances, straight girls are pretty ok with Tee-girls. (Although my older sisters were very much the exception,)

I'm pretty sure that Heather will come to terms with the changes, especially when she discovers she's got a like soul to go shopping with even if she is a couple of years younger.
Tee-girls are often more intensive and more enthusiatic shoppers than R-Gee's (Real girls.) Just wait until Zoe really gets into the swing of things. She won't be able to get off the horse!

I find at my age (65) that shopping is more fun than s-x.

Brilliant story; full of happiness and that's a good thing to have for an early morning read.

Enjoying the story.
Chapter 3 soon please.

Bev.

XZXX

bev_1.jpg

Enjoying This...

Clever, putting Dad in the business, so to speak. Since Zoe undoubtedly knows what he does, I'm a little surprised she was expecting the worst. (Then again, I'm quite aware that things are different when they get personal.)

It'll be interesting to see who's right about Heather's reaction. I suppose it could depend on how possessive Heather is as the only daughter in the family, or how she feels about mentoring her new sister. (I'd add jealousy over Zoe undoubtedly getting more attention than Heather for at least the short-term future, but that's something of a two-edged sword, since teenagers prize their independence.)

Looking forward to more.

Eric

supportive family

was a welcome surprise. so far I really like this.
I have one question though, are Zoe's eyes blue or grey like her sisters? you have put it both ways. in ch 1 when she looked in the mirror they were grey like her sisters, the in chapter 2 it says sparkling blue eyes.
looking forward to chapter 3, thanks

Eye colors...

Hmm... I will have to look into this, as I'm pretty sure from this point forward they are blue...

Thanks for the heads up though.

Samantha

Eye colors

erin's picture

My eyes do that trick. They are actually gray with hazel flecks but at times they look blue or even green. When I was young, they were blue.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Eye color

As I give everyone in my stories either blue or grey eyes depending, I think I really like these two eye colors. I don't think I've given anyone the semi dark brown of my own eyes.

Also, I did say that she had grey eyes in the first chapter, I've replaced those grey eyeballs with the ones that she sports for the rest of the book... :)

Samantha

I forgot to comment on the story.

WebDeb's picture

As much as I liked the first chapter I am feeling a bit disorientated with this second chapter.

Where did it begin and why is the story being so convoluted and mixed in the second chapter?

To follow the thread the reader has to go back to the beginning.

Sorry but I do not have enough patience to do that.

If it is a mistake on the authors part then I would advise revise and edit.

Wow!

Talk about events moving fast - revealing Zoe on wakeup, appearing as her within an hour, going out as her fairly soon afterwards, and even revealing herself to dad over a video connection. You can't get much better acceptance than that! Of course, dad being employed as a diversity officer no doubt helps :)

-oOo-

Having just read both chapters back to back, they appear to flow logically and in sequence - so unless they've been edited since the initial post, I'm puzzled by those who were puzzled by the sequencing of events...

 

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