A Family Reunion                           by: Janet Stickney                 JanetLynn17@Hotmail.com

 

Five years is a long time, unless you are doing what you want. From the time I was a child I had held my secret close, afraid of what people would say, but when I began to get older and the need became more pressing, I began to take chances, and I was caught several times. My mom, like my dad didn't understand, but at least she tried. Twice when I was in high school she helped me, once when I had gathered up the nerve to go to the show. I went, nobody recognized me, and I had a wonderful time experiencing what it was like to actually be out in public dressed as a girl. The second time came when a friend of mine wanted to pull a prank, and I let him, "talk me into it". I went to the dance as his date, with my hair done, nails polished, and wearing a nice party dress. After he saw me, he must have figured that I looked to good for the prank, because he never pulled it off, and I went undetected and simply enjoyed myself.

I was 17 when I graduated from high school, and looked forward to being away from home and able to dress more often, but it never happened. Mom found out she had cancer when she was 39, and died a few months after that. To soothe his broken heart, dad took a promotion, which sent him, and my sister, to another state, and he let me stay in our house. I was lucky in birth I guess, I'm only 5'7" tall, just right when I wanted to dress up. I had been watching my weight for a long time now, and weighed in at a hot 135, I have dark brown hair, blue eyes, and minimal body hair. After dad and Megan moved I was left to live alone. Dad had not yet thrown out any of mom's things, but Megan had taken what she wanted out of her jewelry box, which left me with a lot of clothes I could use, and I spent the next week trying on, and saving, whatever fit me. The rest went to a local charity.

I moved into the master bedroom, it was larger and had the vanity, bigger closet space and a bath attached. During the past year I had been downloading things like stories, and transformation items from the Internet and had found several good ideas, some I could do without spending a lot of money. I knew what I needed, went to the drugstore and the mall, bought everything, and went home. Since I did not have a job yet, I gave myself three days to create a female out of my male body, and then look for a job...as Janet.

All my life people have called me J.L., and all of my identification had J.L. on it. It would be easy to go from James Lee to Janet Lynn, or at least I hoped so. The cream hair remover was both better and worse than in the stories, it smelled worse, made my skin red, and it itched, but it also took off every bit of hair below my eyebrows and I did not have to touch up with a razor. I used the skin lotion I had bought to replace the lost oils in my skin and waited almost an hour before I started to get dressed. All I had was myself to make sure I looked okay, not the best person, since I was never sure that I was objective enough, but I did my best. I knew that I could be passable because I had done it before, except that this time it was going to be for a longer period of time. Naked, I made up my gaff using the flesh colored medical tape, and spent almost an hour getting it right. When I was done all traces of my manhood were gone and I now had a smooth groin with no bulge. My breastforms, birdseed and nylon, sat on the dresser as I used the same tape to pull my chest muscles up and together, creating a modest, but real, cleavage. After that came the panties, and I sat at the vanity to do my makeup. I used the foundation I had bought, followed by the powder, and then did my eyes using just eyeliner and eye pencil. The bra was a new one, 36A in size, which fit me perfectly, and using the birdseed breastforms under my own skin, I had full, rounded, breasts. The padded pantybrief gave me hips, the waist nipper trimmed my waist to 24 inches, and the pantyhose made my legs look shapely. I slipped on a skirt and blouse and then my lipstick. The best I could do was a ponytail, and once I had that in place I looked at myself in the mirror. "Not bad" I thought, not ravaging, but not bad.

I had my wallet and purse all ready, and stepped into the low heels and without another thought walked out of the house and drove to the local salon. If I was going to work and live as a woman, then I had to have my hair shaped and styled, maybe even a perm, for me to pull it off. I had never been inside of a salon before, but I was compelled, and walked right in and told them my name. I had to wait for twenty minutes before I was shown to the chair. Jeri, the woman doing my hair asked me what I wanted, but I had no idea other than 'feminine', so she took the time to show me some styles, and suggested one for me. She asked me if I wanted the color changed, and I did, but not blond, auburn. I was in her chair for almost three hours, and as we talked, she figured out that I was a male, but all she said was for me to let her do my hair, and I agreed. Under the dryer, I had my nails made a bit longer and painted a soft red, filed in a nice oval shape. When I left the salon I was $60 poorer, but I now had auburn hair that had been soft permed so that it would fall into place with little or no work.

As I walked back to the car I decided to look in a small dress shop in the same plaza, and went in. As I looked around the shop I watched as the woman put a help wanted sign in the window, and on a lark I asked about the job. It paid almost $8 an hour plus commissions! I filled out an application, using the name Janet Lynn, and she hired me on the spot! She asked me to start the next day, and I did, wearing the same skirt and a different blouse. On Friday I got the scare of my life when Betty, the owner called me into her small office. "I put in your Social Security number and it came back a James Lee! Are you a male?" Like a butterfly on the wall, I was stuck, and had no choice but to nod my head yes. "Well, we'll keep that between us then!" She never mentioned it again, and as the week went by, I began to get a lot more comfortable dressing as a woman. By the end of the second week it was a habit, and by the third it was second nature. With dad sending me money to run the house, and making almost $350 a week after taxes, I now had the money to start seeing someone to remove my beard. It was expensive, hurt, and would take at least six months, but I paid the money, going twice a week after work.

Betty put me on the medical plan after two months, just about the time I was going to enroll in the local college. I had planned on a Liberal Arts degree, which means I wasn't sure yet, but Betty suggested that I take business courses instead. She also suggested that I legally change my name. I had a checking account in the name of J.L. Grant, but had called the bank and had them put Janet L. on the checks instead. I now had two credit cards, a checking account, and a job, all in the name of Janet, and she thought it was time I made it legal. I picked a lawyer out of the phone book, and he had my name changed within three days. Betty sold breastforms in her shop, good ones, but I stayed with my tape and birdseed, not wanting to spend several hundred dollars. I wanted the real thing, and just before I started college, I saw a doctor about it.

Since the college was local, I was able to live at home, and work at the same time. About Christmas time I had blossomed out to a full A cup on my own, my body was hairless and I now had swelling, well rounded hips. The hormone shots worked fast on me, something even the doctor commented on, and also told me that he expected me to have a full B cup by spring. A week before Christmas dad called and said he wasn't coming home. Megan had several things going on at her new school and did not want to leave. I was sad because I wanted to see them again, no matter what happened because of the way I was living. I spent Christmas day with Betty and her family, and enjoyed every minute of it.

By the time March rolled around I no longer had a beard, I had a full B cup and had a 37-23-37 figure. I also had my first date, my first kiss, and my first attraction to a man. I was on a cloud, and all Betty did was laugh at me! But she had become like a second mother to me now, and I relied on her for advice about a lot of things, men only one of them. I talked to dad and Megan at least once a week, just to touch base. I was unsure what they would say the next time they heard me. My doctor had banded my vocal chords, giving a nicely feminine pitch to my voice. In every way but one I was now a woman now, and I was just turning 19. My hair had been styled by Jeri quite often, in a variety of styles, but I always came back to the simple, curly pageboy she started me with. It looked the best on me, was the easiest to manage, and I could do it over in a number of ways.

At the start of my third year in college Betty had a heart attack and I ended up running the store for a while, which cramped my time, but she had been my friend and mentor and I would never let her down, especially when she needed me the most. As that Christmas drew closer, I took a call from dad. He and Megan would be home for Christmas.

Two days before they were to arrive, I had my hair and nails done, bought a new dress with shoes to match, and the best lingerie we had in the store. That morning I took a bubblebath, and got ready for my debut. First, the red satin, French cut panties, then the red and white corselet that made my waist a trim 22 inches and hiked up my boobs. Nude hose, and the dress, which was red satin, low cut with a soft red lace sheer covering, a flaring skirt that was well above my knees, and red and white shoes. Red and white earrings, my watch, and a bracelet. My makeup was subdued yet striking, my auburn hair done in a French twist with a white pearl comb to hold it in place. The bright red lipstick, then perfume. I was ready, and went in the kitchen to make coffee while I waited for them to get there. The doorbell rang, I opened the door, and saw Megan standing there. She checked the house number, looked at me, ready to say something when I asked her to come in. Dad walked in a moment later. His eyes looked at me as he stayed silent. "Hello dad, Megan, I'm Janet, your daughter and sister." "Holy shit!" "I agree Megan!" I motioned them to the familyroom, and served coffee, in the good china of course. "I've changed since you've been gone." Then I told them about my job, changing my name, and my college. As for the rest, it was more than obvious that I now had the body of a female. I was a female. "You look a lot like your mother Janet, and it looks like you have done well for yourself."

Our reunion was stilted at first, but as Megan and dad watched me, they knew that what I had told them was true, and within a few hours had accepted me for what I was, a daughter, and sister. Megan had a lot of questions, which she asked me and I answered the best I could. Dad only asked if I had someone, and I told him yes, because I did. Someone I had met at college.

As they left, dad told me that he hoped that Megan would do as well as I had, and kissed me on the cheek when he left. Our reunion was something I feared, yet knew I needed. It went well because I said who I was, and they trusted me enough to support me. That's when I knew I should have done this long long ago.

 

 

© 1999
The above work is copyrighted material. Anyone wishing to copy, archive, or re-post this story must contact the author for permission.

At the request of the author, this story is presented in 12 point Times New Roman.