I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and the light from the window. It was Tuesday morning, and I knew that at 10:30 I had an appointment to see someone that mom knew from when she was in school. I rolled out of the bed and headed for the shower. By the time that I had gotten out of the shower mom had laid two outfits on my bed. One side contained a pair of khaki slacks, a maroon polo. Laying next to the polo and slacks was a sleeveless white dress with brown butterflies embroidered into the fabric. Mom’s voice startled me.

“I want you to pick what you wear today, Emma. If you want to wear the dress, I’m going to need to help you because it buttons up the back.”

“I want to wear the dress.” I said softly. My fingers were feeling the tulle at the hem of the dress. “I don’t think that pants will feel right after the amount of time I’ve spent in a dress.”

“Ok. Get dressed, and when you need help buttoning the dress, give me a shout. Put your white sandals on, the ones with the cork bottoms.” I watched as she shut the door. I dropped my towel in the hamper and opened my top dresser drawer reaching in blindly, I removed a pair of pale pink panties; I slid them on and reached back in for the next garment I needed. I pulled out a short white slip and dropped it over my head. The slip stopped at mid thigh, which was fine as the dress looked like it would go to my knees. I looked in the mirror and smiled. I heard the front door slam and knew that Rachel was on her way to Lizzy’s and that now left Mom and I in the house. I picked the dress up and slipped it over my head, gently pulling it down so that the bodice was hanging correctly. The bodice was snug, and felt nice against the slip. I twirled in front of the mirror, causing the skirt to rise and show the pink panties. They only slightly contrasted with the white dress and slip. Mom came up and knocked on my door. “How ya doing in there, Emma?”

“I just need to put my sandals on and button the back of dress.” I sat on the edge of my bed and slipped the sandals on my feet. I fumbled with the buckles on the sandals and finally got them buckled. “Come in.” Mom opened the door and came in. I stood, and turned so that Mom could button the back of the dress. I felt the bodice gently squeeze me, almost like I was being hugged. I really liked the feeling of snugness of the dress and couldn’t comprehend why Rachel didn’t like them. They were cooler than shorts, and were much prettier. Mom smiled at me in the mirror as she finished buttoning me up.

“Can we do pigtails today?” Mom smiled behind me in the mirror.

“I was already thinking that, Emma.” Mom replied, holding up two spools of ribbon. One was brown and the other was white. Both would go with the dress. I looked at mom, my grey eyes sparkling.

“Which one do you think, Mom?” I asked. She held both spools of ribbon next to my head.

“The brown ribbon.” She said, pulling a length off the spool and cutting it with a pair of scissors. She then did the same thing again, so that she had two ribbons. It took her no time at all to put her daughter’s hair in high pigtails that sat above her ears, held in place by an elastic band, and a brown ribbon. “Lets go down and get something to eat for breakfast before we head to see Dr. Anderson. I don’t know how long we will be there.”

“Ok.” I said, turning on my heel and walking down stairs. I had never worn any kind of a heel and the one and a half inch heel on these sandals caused me to go slower than I normally would have. This caused mom to chuckle.

“A bit slow in the shoes, huh?” she asked between chuckles.

“Yes. Not used to the heels…” Mom chuckled again.

“Those aren’t anything. I have a pair that are four inches. I highly doubt you could walk in those.”

“I think I would fall flat on my face.” My feet hit the hardwood floor in the foyer and I made my way into the kitchen with more confidence than I had traversed the steps. I opened the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk. Turning around I grabbed the box of frosted flakes out of the pantry and shut the door and saw mom watching me. She smiled and I went back to getting my breakfast. After making my bowl of cereal, I put the milk away and carefully carried the bowl to the table and sat down, smoothing my dress under me. Mom looked like she was taking notes in her head the entire time. I ate as mom drank a cup of coffee that was still sitting on the counter when we had come into the kitchen. She must have made it before she had come upstairs to help me get dressed. I finished my cereal and put my bowl in the dishwasher.

“Emma, we need to go. I told Jill that we would be there by ten so that she could talk to me before she saw you. She wants my observations on what’s going on.”

“Ok.” I opened the door to the garage and walked out, feeling the cool air against my bare legs. I got in the back of mom’s Honda and buckled my seatbelt. Mom got in and started the engine after opening the garage door. She backed out of the garage and we were on our way to the doctors office.