---

 
 
Nikki Meets the Kendalls - Part 1
 
Nicky's favourite place in the world was Bandit Island, a small islet in the furthest part of the lake. Bandit Island didn't take its name from any criminal or robber, but from the name of some captain, Jack Bandit, that long ago had decided to set his home there. No one lived there anymore, but the mansion and the other buildings, including a small unused chapel, were still there, in perfect state. The island had a small quay, big enough to dock a couple of small ships, and had enough trees and vegetation so that no one could really see from the shore of the lake that anyone would be there.

The island was private property, Nicky knew it, everyone knew it. That's why no one was ever there, and that was the reason that Nicky found it so attractive. Sometime, a few times a year, someone came to take care of the facilities, cleaned up the place a bit, and eventually made some reparations, and were gone again. As long as no one knew he was there, the island was all his.

Nicky had left his bike hidden near some of the banks of the lake that were further away from both the town and the road, had taken a small boat that he kept there, half concealed, and had paddled towards the island. It was already early afternoon, but he used to do that often, and he was quite confident that he wouldn't be found.

After concealing the boat again, enough that it wouldn't be seen from the shore, he went quietly into the tiny island, towards the small shed in which he kept his things.

Nicky was 15, almost 16, and he was usually left alone by his parents. The area was usually calm and troubleless, he knew it by heart, he was carrying his mobile phone and his parents trusted him, even when they didn't have a clue where he went, when he was out. They considered that, being outside, was one of the healthiest things for a growing boy.

Nicky took out one of the travel bags he kept hidden there, opened it and took out of it a colourful sundress, a cami and some panties, along with a couple of lovely sandals, took his own clothes of and stared dressing up. The first times he had dressed up in the island he had been so scared that had entered the small shed to do so. No one was ever around, no one could see him from anywhere, and he had learnt to love to dress up right there, in the open.

He was so happy to be able to be himself again. He smiled. The day was warm and bright, and he was free to be a girl. He went towards the playground, in the garden, sat on one of the swings and started pushing herself happily.

~o~

He heard some noise from the lake, but he dismissed it quickly. There were often noises coming from the lake, and it was certainly expected that people might want to get to the lake on such a lovely saturday afternoon. You could often see boats around when it was that good, but no one ever came to the island. In days like this, Nicky usually got to the island early, while people were eating and no one would be riding across the lake on a boat.

It was too late when he discovered his mistake. A young girl, maybe about 13 years old, came running from the path that lead to the quay, and suddenly stopped surprised when she noticed him.

"Alice, how many times I told you not to run!", shouted some lady from afar.

Nicky stood still as the young girl came towards him. Another even younger girl came from the path, followed by a young woman pushing a baby stroller, and a teenage boy. A woman and an older man came appeared too.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?", asked the first girl.

Nicky wasn't even able to articulate a single word.

"It's okay, don't be scared. My name is Alice. Who are you?"

"I'm... Nicky..."

"Glad to meet you, Nikki", said Alice, offering her hand.

The meeting was suddenly interrupted by the woman coming towards them, followed by the youngest girl, while the other kids stayed aside, watching curious. You could clearly see the resemblance between them. They seemed to be all close family, probably siblings, their mother, and maybe the grandfather.

"What are you doing here, young lady? Who are you?", asked the woman, "What's your name?"

"Nicky, Ma'am"

"Nikki? Short for Nicole?", she added in a stern tone, Nicky just nodded. "Nicole what?"

"Faulkner, Ma'am", he added, staring at the floor.

"Mom, leave her alone!", interrupted Alice, "She wasn't breaking anything or doing anything wrong! You're going to make her cry!"

"Faulkner? Nicole Faulkner? Are you Jane and Mike's daughter?"

"Mom!"

Nicky nodded again, almost in the verge of tears.

"This is private property, you know? This house is ours"

Nicky bit her lip and nodded.

"I know. I shouldn't be here. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything bad. I'll go home now, I didn't mean..."

The woman's face softened. "Sorry, Nicole, I didn't mean to scare you. We just weren't expecting anyone here, you know? You can stay here for a while with us if you want. You can help us bring things from the boat if you want, and I'll invite you to some lemonade later, how does that sound?"

"I'd like that, Ma'am"

"I'm Amy Kendall. You can call me Ms. Kendall, if you want. You already met Alice, didn't you?". She nodded again.

"This young lady here is Emily", she introduced the younger girl, who should be about 7 or 8 years old, "that is my daughter Elizabeth with baby Kevin, that handsome young man is Thomas, and this is my father, William"

"Nice to meet you", offered his hand the older man.

~o~

After helping them to bring many boxes from the boat and put them inside the house, Amy made some lemonade for all of them, as promised. Nicky was starting to feel more comfortable among them, but was still afraid and didn't talk much. Alice seemed to be taken by her, and little Emily was also around them most of the time.

Amy was already taking care of the baby, while their grandfather had gone into the house to open the window covers, open the water and essentially making the house inhabitable.

~o~

"You're not really a girl, are you?", asked the older sister, who seemed to be in her early twenties.

"Beth!", exclaimed Alice annoyed, "Don't be rude!"

"Well, it's obvious that he isn't. What's your story, young man? Why are you wearing a girl's dress?"

She stared at him tenderly but firmly. Nicky was unable to even open her mouth. He couldn't handle it anymore and started to cry softly.

"Oh, I didn't mean to make you cry, sweetie", said Beth, hugging him. "It's gonna be okay, don't worry. There, there."

Beth dried his tears while Alice and little Emily observed them.

"Do you want to be a girl, honey?", asked the older girl softly, in an encoraging tone. He just nodded.

"It's okay, love. You can be as much a girl as you want to be while with us. Friends?"

Nicky nodded silently.

~o~

"Nicole, will you want to have dinner with us?", asked Ms. Kendall. "How did you manage to get to the island, by the way?"

"Well, I kind of, have a boat, but I hid it a bit. I didn't want people to know I was here. I know it's your home and stuff, I just didn't think anyone lived here and..."

Ms. Kendall put a finger over his lips. "It's okay, dear, I know. You can come whenever you want, now that we know each other, I've already seen that you have made friends with the girls. If you want, I can call your mom and tell her that you'll be having dinner with us."

"That's okay, Ms. Kendall. I can text her."

Amy shook her head, smiling. "That should be okay".

~o~

The day was slowly coming to an end, and Nicky had to eventually get back home. He certainly couldn't get back into his boys clothes, not with the Kendalls around. Fortunately all his clothes were carefully hidden, so they wouldn't find them. He would have to eventually come for them. His most immediate problem would be to get back home in his cute dress, without either his parents nor his siblings find out.

Nicky had a brother and a sister, James and Samantha, but he didn't have a deep relation with them. Not that they treated him badly or anything like that, but he usually kept to himself and didn't usually interact too much with them most of the time.

It had been different when he was a little kid, he used to play a lot with his sister, who was slightly younger than him, and were both spoiled to the bone by their older brother.

Fortunately, Nicky entered their house through the back entry and changed into male clothes without anyone noticing.

~o~

Nicky wasn't really looking forward to Sunday morning. He would have to go to Church with his family, and it could happen that he might meet the Kendalls there. The previous day seemed almost like a dream, they had been so nice to him. He certainly didn't want them to see him wearing male clothes.

He managed to get just in time, and escaped quickly just after the service was over. His family was already used to his behaviour, so they just let him go. They would have to be around for a while, though, as his parents and his siblings liked to meet their friends and get up to date with them. He didn't like that.

He sat on one of the benches that were covered from the view by some trees. He had seen Amy Kendall talking with his mother, and didn't expect anything good coming from that. He would cross that bridge when he came to it, he didn't have to be suffering watching them.

He was surprised by Alice, who appeared suddenly from nowhere.

"Hi Nikki! I was wondering where you were!". She hugged him.

He blushed. There he was, unmistakebly dressed up as a boy in his Sunday best, and she didn't even make a comment.

"Will you come to visit us later? Mom thought you might want to."

"Maybe", he answered. "I'd like to go. I'd have to change, though", he added, signaling at his clothes.

"Yeah, true!", laughed Alice. "I was wondering why you were wearing those male clothes. I thought you were going to come in a dress, like the rest of us."

"I wish! I can't. My parents don't know about me. Please, don't tell them anything about yesterday!"

"I think it might be too late for that, girlfriend. They were talking about that with my mom before I went to search for you."

End of Part 1