Stephan(ie)

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At the time I was born there was this fad going around for new mothers. Basically it was all about 'natural childbirth'. Hence I was born at home to my mother, without drugs she never lets me forget, by a midwife. My little sister Suzie was born years later with lots of drugs.

To my parents I was pronounced a healthy baby boy. Indeed my little penis looked healthy along with the rest of me. There was no reason for me to be double checked by the doctor, who did show up late due to a snowstorm. Still I was taken to the hospital much later for a check by a nurse. Same as any other baby I suppose.

My Parents are Gerald and Geraldine, you have no idea how embarrassing that is for a kid, Shumack. They met while they served an intern/apprenticeship at the nearby 'historic' Fort Mc... Oh gods you think I would remember the name of that place!

Anyways the place is a 17th century era historic reenactment museum. I know long name. In simple terms they wear period clothing, work in period style tools and methods, with period style materials if possible. The blacksmith shop is one exception as wrought iron is hard to come by so he uses steel which is a cheat.

A more known type of place would be Colonial Williamsburg in the states. Dad is a master carpenter or joiner going by their terms. Mom is a leatherworker. They met, had lots of picnic dinners, had some fooling around and got married. Yeah I know they had sex before I was born. It's gross but hey, their parents.

I was born to mom and was named Stephan Will Shumack. From the time I could actually walk I was brought to where they worked. Of course the first time I was there, hanging on to mommy for dear life or so I'm told, I was mistaken for a girl. I got dressed up in the period style for a little girl with the cap over the head all in lace. When mom noticed, it was her first day back so she was distracted, I forgive her, I was already all dressed up and the shop where we got changed was locked up. The locking was to prevent the new hires from changing after awhile. Kinda a standard practice thing.

I was being called Steffie by mom, a nickname, so I guess the woman thought I was Stephanie or something. I was two! Like I cared or knew any different. Dad, when he found out by the simple expedient of me running to 'papa' when I was escorted around with the other girls, was fairly cool about it. He acted like I was his princess even though he was upset that his little guy was mistaken for a girl. There was words later. I stress it was the mistake he was upset about not the fact I was actually dressed as a girl.

Of course many of the tourists loved my little 'papa' squeal. I could barely speak at the time. Worse there was a cameraman there who took our picture. Which of course prompted more tourists to come see lil Stephanie, yuck, being cute for her 'papa'. I was little and really didn't care. I could watch daddy work while sitting with a doll, period correct of course, or mommy before my many naps.

I responded just as well to Stephanie as Stephan by the time I was in preschool. Of course there was some girls there as well who befriended and played girl games with Stephanie. I didn't think anything of it at all. As far as I was concerned boy and girl were just names with no meaning. At least till Kindergarden.

I was in the afternoon class with kids I hadn't ever met before. The girls from the fort were in the morning class. Half day classes, sigh now why can't we have those as we get older? I had my afternoon nap and played with the boys. In my neighboorhood, which strangely enough had lots of people who worked at the fort, the three girls Liz, Trish, and Julie, would occasionally come over to play with me and always asked why I dressed as a boy.

A few times they got me dressed at their places in a dress and pig tails. I don't remember the reason or why I went along with it truthfully. I just know I did. Probably the only reason I had panties and a dress at my house. Mom and dad just went along with it. When I came home as a girl they called me Stephanie. Stephanie a lady does not slouch. Princess your panties are showing. Stuff like that. My hair was kept in a shoulder length style that was either boy or girl depending on how you looked at it. Mom loved to brush my hair. Dad sported a ponytail so he couldn't complain.

Every year till I was six I was Stephanie at the fort. Everyone was always so complimentary towards me. When I was six I put my foot down and was dressed as a boy at the fort. Strangely enough most people still called me Stephanie. I helped my dad as a junior apprentice. Basically I swept up the tons of shavings and saw dust or straightened nails on a little metal plate.

At home dad had the entire collection of The Woodwright's Shop on dvd. Roy Underhill is the host of the Woodwright's shop. He stresses working with handtools for woodworking. Many of them all period pieces from the 1600-1900's. Some of his projects are really neat. Dad loves to watch it, so as his 'lil guy' I did too. Roy also visits different places too. Blacksmith shops, other places of historic nature. Such as the cool steam powered sawmill. I know he has come to the fort once, dad made a big deal out of it at supper that night after school, but I haven't seen him do an episode on the fort yet. Who knows maybe in the future.

You would think that we would have a shop at home but we don't. All of dad's beloved tools are at the fort. This doesn't mean we don't have nice wooden furnature at home though. Gods the house is packed with the stuff, along with the outside of the house.

I think I was like ... oh wait I should tell you about grade one first.

I only found this out after but before I started grade one a transgendered student was going to attend our school. The teachers and staff all had this big meeting about it. They were not told specifically who it was only there there was going to be one and to just treat them by the gender they prefer to show and the name they use.

Not a big deal for most kids. However for me it had an impact. The first day of grade one I was sitting in class when the girls from the fort came in and squealed at seeing me. Of course it was Stephanie they squealed. The teacher assumed I was the transgendered student and just marked it down on their sheet. For all of grade one I was called Stephanie and treated as a girl. I got ridiculed on picture day for not wearing a dress or a nice blouse. Girls!

About halfway through grade one my parents found out about Stephanie at a parent teachers meeting. They told me about the transgender student, along with an explanation about what that meant. Turns out the real transgender student had elected to go to another school instead. Go figure. Grade two and three I was Stephan at school and at the fort. The girls still called me Stephanie though and made sure I didn't interact with the boys too much.

Like I was saying I was about nine when I got my first real project to do at the fort. I made my own shaving horse, or bodger. I spilt the log with an axe, that took me three days. Actually the proper term is I hewed it. Thats where you use an axe on a log to chop little sections out to get it from round to somewhat flat sides. An adult probably would have just split it but I was to little yet. The axe had been made, with me assisting the blacksmith on that damn pump, just for me. Once I got the log hewed into a roughed out plank about four or so inches thick I got to plane it. That was exhausting. I slept really well that entire week.

Getting the rest of it done took me the better part of two weeks or so. All from seasoned logs. I even had to make my own dowels for it. No nails for me! The girls all wondered why I was doing that. They even made me put my shirt back on when I took it off. Stupid girls. Still it was my first project and I was proud of it. So was dad come to think of it. I made lots of mistakes and it didn't work quite that good. I had to move my block of wood to adjust the plank for different thicknesses of wood since my angle on the lever part was off. It also only really grabbed on the one side. Still for all of it's many faults I did okay. Dad varished it and has it proudly displayed in his workshop hanging from the ceiling.

Mom had made me these leather leg guards at the time to protect my legs from the axes. The blacksmith uses them on his arms, or rather his apprentices do. Now that's not to say I didn't help mom at all either. Many a time I spent an evening with her cutting leather with knives. Of course I did most of this when I was younger dressed as Stephanie. Oh yes from a young age I had a healthy respect for sharp objects and could use them quite well. Most of my experience cuts only happened once.

Time marched along, Suzie came along and mom was tickled pink. Suzie is undoubtedly a girlie girl. She loves dresses. So much so I'm not sure she has pants. Her room, like mine, was originally white. The coral rose color was her choosing. Suzie was born when I was six so she is like four now. At the ages of ten most girls have already started to develop, not all, but most. Most of the girls in my class have started to wear training bras. But that isn't what I mean by develop. It's the other things. Hips, butt, skin and muscle tone. Girls are soft while boys tend to start to bulk up, not a lot but it's there if you notice.

This is also the time where our voices change. The girls get more musical and go up and down in the range of speech while boys tend to get deeper voices that stay mostly monotone. It is the start of 'puberty'. A occurrence, much like the rest of the boys in class, I waited for. I was hoping to finally put an end to Stephanie once and for all.

It's not like I hated being Stephanie exactly. I just didn't like the confusion of it all. So when my voice started to crack I was happy. The girls giggled at me. Some of them had started to believe I really was Stephan, a boy. Liz, Julie, and Trist not so much.

It was the middle of class where I was picked to answer a question by the teacher on multiplication when my voice did that cough and settle thing. Unfortunately it didn't deepen at all. It was like one minute I could almost pass as a boy and then poof, it's gone. My voice settled into a really embarrassing sexy soprano girl's voice. I tried hard right away to talk deeper but it just came out more like a wanton girl's voice. It just wouldn't go down.

I panicked and ran from the classroom to the nearest washroom stall and locked myself in bawling my eyes out. My mom was called in. Which was a lucky draw since she was home with Suzie at the time. The work at the fort is pretty much year round. No phones there except for cell phones set with period correct sounds for ringtones. My mom's is the sound of leather shifting while dads is the snap of wood.

So there I was bawling my eyes out in this stall sounding for all the world like a girl crying, which I couldn't stop doing, which only made it worse. The guidance counselor was trying to get me out of the stall when mom showed up.

Now my mom is interesting. She is uhm forceful. All these years of working with leather have given her really strong arms. Really she is in great shape. Come to think of it so is my dad. So here she comes and slams her palm against the stall door and it pops open. I think she shocked the counselor actually. As soon as I saw who it was I ran into her arms. I was really hoping mom had a fix for me. Like her method for cuts and scrapes. She covers it with liquid latex that dries and you leave it on till it falls off. No scars, nothing. Works good.

She hugged me close as I bawled and bawled. Not moving just brushing my hair till I finished bawling and fell asleep safe in her arms. When I woke up I was home. How I got there I can only guess. That evening was kinda weird. It started off with the girls coming over to see how I was doing. Of course they called me Stephanie, they always did no matter how hard I tried to correct them.

"Stef I really don't see why your so upset. I think your voice is wonderful myself." Liz started.

"But I'm a ..."

"Oh Please! Stephanie Wilma.." don't ask I never figured out where she came up with that,"Shumack you are a girl! Get it through that thick head of yours! You have always been a girl. You will always be a girl. Everyone knows this is just a tom boy phase of yours!"

"But..." I tried again.

"Stephanie even my Aunt who never met you before seeing you helping your dad at the fort says your a girl without question." Trish said to me. That was exactly how she said it. Yeah english is not her favorite subject, come to think of it, it's not mine either.

"Steffie your our best girlfriend. We get the whole don't want to be a girl thing. Really. I mean look at me do you really think I like these things?" Julie was lifting her already developing breasts. She was the biggest girl in class in breasts. She had complained about them before. She hates sleeping on her side as she sleeps on her stomach. Which pinches her breasts something fierce.

Liz has some development in breasts, not much really they look like triangles under her top. Trish I think stuffs her training bra as they don't move like Liz and Julie's do.

As for me yeah my pants have gotten a little tight on the hips in the last month or so but that's about it.

"Yeah Steffie like your starting to develop and your ma should really get you your own bra's as your starting to poke out.

That took me by surprise. When I looked down I could clearly see my nipples showing through my t shirt. I had never really noticed before. Immediately I ran to the kitchen, where mom was busy trying to feed Suzie her dinner. Suzie is a fussy eater. Mom says she'll grow out of it soon enough. I ran to mom, crying once again and showed her my standing nipples. Mom's eyes got big and she felt around my nipples with her fingers through my shirt.

When she squeezed a little on the right hand side it sorta hurt. The left didn't just the right side. She had me watch Suzie while she went to the office, it's really a spare room but we call it the office, and made some calls. Liz and the gang came to help me with a giggling little girl who only cared about coloring some more of her princess book as soon as we let her down from her chair. Fifteen minutes later mom came out to find her curled on the floor snoring away. I and my girlfriends were doing the homework we had gotten, they brought over mine of course.

The next day dad brought me in to the hospital to get checked by our doctor. He had me repeat some phrases, I'll never be a singer, and took a bunch of blood and skin samples for testing. The skin sample is mostly a big piece of tape that he rips off. Takes a layer of skin. Not too much but enough you notice. Thank god for freezing.

I wanted to stay home from school but my parents said no. It was tough for me to go back to school with my girlie voice. I was so sure that everyone would tease the hell out of me. Strangely it didn't happen. All they did was call me Stephanie and the boys just didn't want to play with me anymore. They were nice about it but " Sorry Stephanie but you should really play with the girls." was what I was told.

First one week went by then the next. Each day my breasts grew a bit more. By the end of the second week when we went to the doctor again for the results mom had already gotten me a training bra to wear to stop me from poking out so much.

It was a bit of a shock to hear that I was really a girl. I mean I had been treated like one often enough but to find out I really was one was something else. According to the doctor what I really had was an extended clitoris and a blocked vaginal opening. When I was made to strip the doctor pointed out how my penis was actually really really small for a boy my age and that underneath were a boy's scrotum would be I had the outline of two small bumps. This was apparently my vagina opening.

He explained that this was something that would have been checked for and corrected when I was born, or at the very least made aware of to my parents. However since I was born by midwife and the doctor arrived late it was overlooked. Nurses are not usually authorized to sample babies for genetic testing so it also hadn't been done.

Most of that went over my head of course. All I knew was that I would be getting a surgery to open up the vagina as I was too young for cosmetic surgery to fix the rest right now. For the rest I had checked out as a healthy young woman just starting puberty. We asked about other options but were informed it was best to let things happen naturally unless I really and truly felt I was a boy. I said no not really.

I though about that and nothing but that for the next two days at home. Was I really a boy or a girl? I mean I knew now that internally I was a girl but was I really that much of one. I know what my girlfriends say but like really?

Of course I was given a therapist to help me and all that. Suzie being so small just shrugged and called me the same name as before Steffie. In a way it makes me wonder if a child that small can really see things we don't?

So anyways that's pretty much my story of my life so far. Today I'm wearing one of my new dresses, along with girl underwear, lingerie if you go by what mom says. I have my ear's pierced, also new, and I have tried makeup. So far the only thing I'm okay with is lip gloss. Those wands scare me.

Yes I'm not going to school today, just not that brave to be that much of a girl at school, though the more I think about it I really don't think anyone would be surprised.

No today is the day that Lil Stephanie, who is not so little anymore, returns to the fort as a young woman.

I'm so not looking forward to the bustier.

Stephanie (nee Stephan) Shumack.

P.S. I still don't know where Wilma came from and have been arguing with mom over just that. She thinks it's a cute idea.

P.S.S. By the way. Daddy says that to him it doesn't matter. I'm still his little princess and he will still let me do woodwork. I enjoy working with him. No I'm not a daddy's girl... or at least I don't think so? How would I know anyway?

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Comments

giggles. good one, Tels!

Hmmm... do I detect some similarities between Stephanie and a girl named Jaci ?

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Nice Tels!

I guess the girls were right after all, of coarse Stephanie's a "Girl"! "Posh" the thought that she was a boy! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Daddy's girl/helper! Munch munch slurrp! Ahh! just picked up some fresh "Kettle" popcorn, want some Jaci? Giggles Popcorn Lady!

nice one

sometimes friends know stuff.
good job, thanks

Nice

Alternative background and set up!
Hugs
Grover

Nice story

If it were continued the tale of woodworker Stephanie would be quite interesting...

But as a standalone it was good too.
Thanks

Xx
Amy

maybe

But it would be a seperate story.

Out of the box.

Women are moving into newer territories originally the balleywick of men. In Seattle we have several women blacksmiths and glass blowers. I like the fact you broke the super fem story line.

Huggles

Michele

With those with open eyes the world reads like a book

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