Role Reversal Chapter 1 - 5 (Patreon)

Prologue

"As you were saying?" Dr. Zaaijer asked Joanne.

Joanne had forgotten what she was about to say.  She hesitated.  Joanne Rios was in Dr. Zaaijer's office with her mother and her very serious boyfriend.  They had come to  Dr. Zaaijer a month ago because her mother and her boyfriend couldn't stand each other.   Joanne loved them both and she didn't want to lose contact with either of them.  She wanted Steven Carmer to marry her someday But if Steven and Joanne's mother, Adelaide couldn't get along that would be a problem.  The problem was too tame a word but she didn't know what word to use.  Joanne and Adelaide had been very, very close.  She loved her and she trusted her, but Joanne knew that Steven was her soulmate.  She didn't want to choose between the two of them.  So she arranged for the three of them to come to  Dr. Zaaijer's office and try and work it out.

Adelaide had had it very tough.  First, there was the divorce from Joanne's dad, but that was three years ago.  When Adelaide had met and fallen in love with Jeremy (Joanne's dad) she knew that he was always late and very impulsive.  The two conditions fed off each other.  Adelaide harped upon these at the beginning of their marriage but she accepted it as the way he was eventually.  It got progressively worse but Adelaide didn't complain.  When she found out he was having an affair, Adelaide felt like a fool.

Adelaide was just getting over that (and the fact that she had just turned forty) when she got the diagnosis.  She had ovarian cancer.  That lead to the hysterectomy.  But since breast cancer ran through her family she also had a mastectomy too.  Joanne never understood why her mother chose not to had breast reconstructive surgery, but instead, she wore a breast prosthesis inside her mastectomy bra.

Joanne was there for her mother all the way.  The illness also kept her mother from her.  She had to spend lots of time in the hospital.  During this time, Joanne met Steven.  Steven was a year older than Joanne, he was twenty.  Steven was there for Joanne when her mother couldn't be.  She loved his androgenic good looks.  His hair was 'long' but not too long. His features were refined, but still very handsome and he had the same blue eyes as her mother had.  It was the eyes that drew her to him at first.  She didn't have time to think about boys at the time, but this boy could both remind Joanne of her mother and make her forget her at the same time.

When Adelaide and Steven finally met they hated each other instantly.  There was something about Steven that she just didn't like and Steven feeling the negative energy reciprocated.

"Now that it's been a few weeks, 'How did it go?" Dr. Zaaijer encouraged.

"It worked out great."

"I know that.  You said that before, but I need specifics."

"Dr. Zaaijer you are a miracle worker," Adelaide broke in.  Everyone turned toward her.  Adelaide was sitting to the left of her daughter.  Her legs were crossed at the knees in a naturally feminine fashion with her hands draped over one of her knees.  She had light makeup on her face, pale pink lipstick, matching blush and contrasting eye shadows, and a pretty smile.  The makeup was designed to highlight her deep blue eyes.  What she thought was her best facial feature.  She knew her legs were her best feature overall.  She had long blonde wavy hair that rested just below her shoulders.  She wore a blue mock neck tunic with three-quarter length bell sleeves that descended to just below her elbow.  She wore Capri-length black knit pants with a pleated front and a button and zipper in back with a somewhat loose fit.  She didn't wear any socks or hosiery and on her feet, she wore three strapped open-toe pumps with a thin three-inch heel and a self-tie at the ankle.

Continuing Adelaide enthused, "I thought it was a waste of time to come here.  But I was totally wrong.  I was totally wrong about a great many things."  Then she stood up and sauntered a couple of steps past her daughter to Steven.  Speaking directly to Steven, "I want to apologize for everything.  It was my fault.  It was all my fault.  I treated you so terribly.  But after all, you were willing to do I see you differently now."

"Thank you, Mrs. Rios."

"Mrs. Rios??? Call me MOM!!!"  Then Adelaide opened her arms in a way that could only mean that she wanted a hug.  Steven got up and fell into Adelaide's arms.  The two embraced in a loving hug.  Both were now smiling from ear to ear.

"A-hem," Dr. Zaaijer said after a few moments.  "Let me finish my questions first."

"Excuse me," Adelaide said with an embarrassed smile then returned to her seat.  Steven sat back down too.

"I know how both Adelaide and Joanne feel, what about you Steven?"

Steven was sitting with his legs spread slightly apart feeling totally relaxed. He was wearing a bluish-green short-sleeved polo shirt with the Ralph Lauren logo on the upper left chest.  Two of its three buttons were fastened.  Under that, he wore black dress pants with black socks and loafers.  Despite his somewhat formal dress, he wore a baseball cap that contained his long blonde hair.  Actually, there was a hairnet that kept his hair from being seen under the cap.

"I have to agree," Steven told his audience of three.  "I have learned a lot about this family and about myself.  Who would have thought that acting like a woman for a month would change me from a boy to a grown man?  I have always loved Joanne, but now I truly know what love is.  I am going to become the best man I can be for her.  I learned a lot just by reading Mrs...I mean Mom's romance novels."

"I see," Dr. Zaaijer said.

"You can have the ones I have already read.  Actually, you can have them all, I'm done with reading them now."

"No that is OK.  It was good to see how women think, but they are all the same.

"I know and I love my trashy novels.  That was one of the things I missed when I was pretending to be you," Adelaide couldn't resist saying.

"Didn't you like the new Wonder Woman Movie?  You got to see it.  I didn't," Steven asked her.

"It was OK, but I prefer movies that mean something.  That has real relationships between the characters."

"Like The Duchess Deal?" was one of the novels that Steven read during the exchange.

"I know it's silly, but I just love them.  I can't help it."

Steven sighed at Adelaide's reply.  "Real men weren't like that.  I'm going to make myself strong for Joanne.  Not just strong physically, but strong psychologically and mentally.  The guys in those books are ridiculous.  I'm was going to be a man, not a caricature of a man."

After a moment Adelaide continued,  "He is right.  But I still love those books.  You be any type of man you want and I'll be a 'Lady'.  It's funny, having to act like a man for so long has reminded me that I am a real 'Lady'.  I thought I would never miss having to put on makeup.  But now I love it."

"You can have it," Steven called out.

"Putting on makeup isn't a chore it's a privilege.  I never realized before how much just wearing makeup made me feel good.  Not just that, but everything.  From now on, I am going to look my best at all times.  Not because I'm vain, but just because it makes me feel so good.  Just adding a little beauty to this world by dressing up is the least I can do.  This will probably be the last pair of pants I'll wear for a long while.  You wouldn't know it, but I think my legs are my best feature, I shouldn't hide them with pants.  Now that I think of it, I should start wearing more tops without sleeves or at least very short ones,"  Adelaide continued.

"Mom," Joanne complained.  "I don't think that Dr. Zaaijer needs to know all your fashion choices.  That isn't why we're here."  Joanne was actually enjoying that her mom and her boyfriend were actually talking to each other.  That they weren't yelling, but really talking to each other.  They had shared experiences that had made them close.  "Mom is right," Joanne thought," Dr. Zaaijer is a miracle worker."

Chapter one

"Where have you been?" Adelaide demanded of her daughter.

"I was with Steven.  You knew that," Joanne replied exasperatedly.

"Yeah, I guess I did.  I wish you wouldn't see him anymore."

"I don't know why you say that.  I love him."

"You don't really know him."

"I do know him.  I wish you could know him as I know him."

"If I knew him as you knew him, I would be pregnant by now," Adelaide thought lewdly.  But she said, "I don't trust that boy.  There is something about him I just don't like."

"You never gave him a chance."

"I did.  Didn't we all go out together?"

"We went out, but you didn't give him a chance.  You were all over him," Joanne reiterated.  "Criticizing everything about him."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did.  You never gave him an even chance.  He is a wonderful person.  When you were spending so much time in the hos...away.  He was the only person I could talk to.  He was there for me."

"That's what he wanted you to think.  It was all an act!"

"No, it wasn't!!! You weren't there.  He was kind and sweet."

Adelaide knew that Joanne was a virgin before meeting Steve, now she was not.  Adelaide thought that if she hadn't been so sick, she could have prevented it.  But she had cancer and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital.  For this reason, she didn't trust (or even like) Steven at all.  She thought that he took advantage of Joanne when Joanne was most vulnerable.  Adelaide would never like Steven no matter how Joanne felt about him.

But Joanne did love Steven with all her heart.  He was there for her when Joanne had to be there for her sick mother. Steven would listen to everything that Joanne had to say.  She could call him at any time of the night and he would be there.  It wasn't Steven who initiated intimacy, it was Joanne.  That is how she saw it anyway.

Joanne was thinking ahead.  She wanted to marry Steven.  She was nineteen now and had just graduated high school.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to go to college, but she was sure she wanted to be Mrs. Steven Carmer.  She had to convince her mother that Steven was a good man.  Things couldn't go on like this forever.  Soon if something wasn't done, Joanne would have to make a choice between Steven and her mother.  She loved them both and didn't want to give up either.

Adelaide had been (and maybe still was) Joanne's best friend.  They had been very close.  But since discovering that she had had ovarian cancer, Adelaide had gone from a cool mom to an old lady seemingly overnight.  She didn't dress the same.  She was in some ways embarrassed of her body.  She didn't wear 'low cut' tops anymore.  Her tops were never too revealing, she was forty, but now all she wore were high neck tops with sleeves that extended at least to the elbow.  No more cami-tops or anything that showed the top of her chest.

She had her mastectomy at the same time as her hysterectomy.   She did it because breast cancer ran in the family and she wanted to be safe.  But instead of having reconstructive surgery after, she chose to wear a prosthesis.  To keep the prosthesis hidden she started wearing tops with higher and higher necklines.  It didn't help that she was also going through surgically induced menopause.  The doctors tried to combat her 'mood change' as it was called with hormone replacement therapy.  But it didn't help.  A psychiatrist was also suggested, but Adelaide just wouldn't go.  She said she had seen enough doctors already.

Joanne was at her wit's end.  She didn't know what to do.  She loved them both.  But this couldn't go on forever.  She knew that if it came right down to it, she would have to choose Steven over her mom.  But she didn't want to give up on her mom who she had been through so much without a fight.  She had in some respects already lost her dad.

After the divorce, Joanne regularly met with her dad, Jeremy through court-ordered visitation.  But when she turned eighteen and child-support stopped so did her dad's visits.  He had found a new girlfriend who was closer to Joanne's age than his own.  His visitation slowed to a crawl and then stopped.

Joanne had lost touch with Jeremy for quite a while when out of the blue he called her.  He said he was sorry that they had lost touch and that he wanted to see her.  They planned to meet at a restaurant.

When Joanne saw him, she was understandably suspicious of him.  He had cut off all contact and now he wanted to see her.

"I'm glad you came," Jeremy said.

"Well, I was curious."

"I know, I know.  I have been acting like a child lately.  Not just a child but like a toddler.  It was all ME! ME! ME!  What I wanted, what I had to have."

"Uh-huh."

"I guess I was looking for my youth.  I was having a mid-life crisis."

"I guess, but why are you telling me this.  And why now?"

"I have been seeing this therapist, Dr. Zaaijer and after some therapy, he suggested I should reconnect with everyone I had lost in my life."

"So you are back to being an adult?"

"I don't know about that.  But in order to heal, he said I should bring those with who I was closest to one of my therapy sessions.  We can discuss...well I don't know if discuss is the right word...what happened and go on from there.  I want you back in my life and this is the only way."

"Will Brie be there?"  Brie was Jeremy's girlfriend.  Joanne didn't know whether he had met Brie before or after Jeremy's divorce.  Joanne liked to think of the best about her father though and didn't dwell on the fact.

"Yes, she'll be there  She has to be, this affects all of us.  But I assure you the doctor is a professional and he will take charge of the situation.  There won't be any histrionics."

"Well then, I'm not sure if I can go."

"Please Honey.  We have to get everything out into the open.  If you don't like it you can leave at any time and don't have to go again."

Joanne did want a relationship with her father.  Also if Brie was going to marry him, then Joanne should have a relationship with her too.  It might be best to meet under the auspicious of a doctor.  "OK, I'll go," she said finally.

"Great," Jeremy said and then he told her where the doctor was located and when to be there.  The rest of the meal passed pleasantly.  Neither bringing out anything that would be difficult to face.  There would be time for that at the doctor's office.

Joanne got up to leave when lunch was over.  She had made plans to keep the meeting short and so she left quite abruptly.  Jeremy lingered behind to pay the check.  Before leaving the restaurant, Joanne took a last glance at her father who was standing for the first time since she had arrived.  She could only see his backside and something didn't look right?  She only saw it for an instant before he turned, but was her dad wearing a diaper?  Joanne had heard that men his age sometimes had a prostate problem that could cause 'incontinence' but she thought the adult diapers would be a lot thinner and harder to see.  It wasn't her business anyway.  She hurried out the door.

The day for the appointment arrived and Joanne made it to the office right on time.  When she got there, she was surprised that her father wasn't in the waiting room already.  The receptionist, Janice was sitting at a desk.  Joanne knew the woman's name since it was clearly imprinted upon a plaque that laid on her desk.

"May I help you," Janice inquired.

"Yes, I am supposed to be here with my Dad.  He has an appointment and I was supposed to sit in."

"Oh, you are Jeremy's daughter?"

"Yes, my name is Joanne."

"We've been expecting you.  Your father is already in with the doctor.  But I'll let them know you are here."

"Thank you."

A moment later Janice said.  "The doctor will be out to see you in ten minutes.  He wants to meet with your privately before taking you to see your dad.  He wants to get to know you and get a sense from your perspective of your family dynamic before getting you all together."

"Fine."

"It'll take a few minutes do you want something to drink?

Joanne was nervous about the whole thing.  She didn't even tell her mom about this visit.  All combined (including the very dry conditions inside the office) make Joanne very thirsty.  She took Janice up on her offer.  "Yes, thank you?"

"Do you want coffee, tea or hot chocolate?  We have a machine that makes it fresh."  A moment last she continued, "or do you just want some water?

"A hot chocolate would be very nice."

Janice prepared the hot chocolate and gave the cup to Joanne.  Joanne had no way of knowing that the drink contained a hypnotic that would make her very susceptible to Dr. Zaaijer's suggestions.

Once the drug had taken effect, Janice escorted Joanne to Dr. Zaaijer's office.  The doctor was waiting for her.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Zaaijer," he said reassuringly.

"Hi, I'm Joanne."

"Are you nervous?"

"Yes, a little bit."

"Don't be nervous.  There is nothing to worry about here.  I'm a nice person, you can trust me when I tell you that."  Joanne visibly relaxed. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes...": then she thought again, why was she here?  Was she here to help her father?  Was she here to fix the relationship between herself and her father?  "I'm here to sort of support my dad."

"Yes, I suppose that is very true.  But before that, I need to know something about you.  Tell me about yourself."

"Well let's see my name is Joanne.  I am nineteen years old.  My mom and dad have been divorced for three years.  I graduated high school last year."

"Are you going to college?"

"Not at the moment."  Joanne couldn't help herself but answer all of Dr. Zaaijer's questions.  She didn't see a reason not to, she trusted him. "Do you have a job?"

"No."

"Then what do you do all day?"

"I don't know, I help my mom when she needs me I suppose."

"Is that all?"

"Well you know the usual stuff."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but don't get me going about that."

"You're having a problem with him?" Dr. Zaaijer probed.

"Well not exactly with him.  My mother doesn't like him so they don't get along."  Dr. Zaaijer had brought Joanne here to 'help' with her father, but he was getting other ideas now that he was talking to her.

"They don't get along?"

Joanne told Dr. Zaaijer about her mother's problems and how they are, in her opinion, affecting her.  She also told him about Steven and her feelings about both of them.  This was very interesting to Dr. Zaaijer but it was time to get on with the reason why Joanne was here.

"OK, I think I have had enough background, now it's time to see your father.  When you see him, you'll see that he has made great progress and you'll be very proud of him."  This was a very odd thing for Dr. Zaaijer to say Joanne thought for an instant, but she knew that what he said was true.

Dr. Zaaijer led Joanne to his inner office.  In the middle of the room, Jeremy was sitting on the floor.  He was wearing a baby's onesie which clearly showed the thick diaper underneath.  In front of him was a bunch of wooden blocks painted in pastel colors.  Each block had several different letters of the alphabet inscribed in the block.  Her dad had just finished knocking down a small tower that he had just built with the blocks when Joanne entered the room.

Jeremy upon seeing Joanne quickly got to his feet and ran towards her.  It wasn't like a man greeting his daughter, but it was more like a toddler upon seeing his older sister after a long absence.  Jeremy wrapped his hands around Joanne and hugged her tightly.  Joanne whose arms were trapped under Jeremy's embrace patted his backside.  She could feel his diaper clearly.  None of this (as Dr. Zaaijer had suggested) seemed wrong in any way.  "There's my big little boy," Joanne said with a big reassuring smile.

After a moment, Jeremy asked, "Do you want to see me build a tall building?"

"Why sure!!!  I'd love to see that," Joanne's voice instinctively rose an octave.  She talked to him like she would talk to a small child.

Jeremy led Joanne back to his blocks and started to stack them up.  Joanne watched intently.  She would encourage Jeremy as the stack grew higher and higher.

"Break it up you two." Dr. Zaaijer said good naturedly.  "I have to talk to Joanne for a few minutes.  She'll look at your tower when it's done." Dr. Zaaijer led Joanne a few steps away.  Joanne finally noticed Brie who was also in the room.  Brie was sitting in a chair, knitting what looked like a sweater, but not enough of it was done for Joanne to be sure.  Brie didn't look like the twenty-nine-year-old woman that Joanne had met.  Her hair was gray and thinning.  She wore clothing that was designed for a woman who was of advanced years.  Whereas Jeremy acted like a person 50 years younger than he truly was, Brie looked like a woman 45 or 50 years older than she should have been.

"Joanne, the reason I asked you here wasn't for Jeremy.  Well not directly.  Ever since I have been seeing Jeremy, Brie has been watching him non-stop 24/7.  She loves him dearly, as you well know. (Joanne didn't know that for sure until Dr. Zaaijer just told her.)  But everyone needs a break now and again.  Sometimes to stop being with only toddlers and to be with adults her own age.  So I want you to consider if you could watch him for her."

"Watch him???"

"Yes be his babysitter.  Since you don't have a job you have the time, and she can pay you.  It's a win/win."

"That sounds OK, but when?"

"We've discussed it and come up with every other weekend and one night during the week."  This was the exact schedule that Jeremy had for visitation with his daughter after the divorce."

"Well he is such a sweetie...yeah I'll do it!"  Then calling out to Jeremy, "How would you like me to be your babysitter?"

"I would love that!!!" Jeremy called back.

Brie went over the childcare that Joanne should know.  Brie made sure that Joanne didn't have any problems with changing his diapers.  Joanne said she didn't have any experience with that before.  She was an only child.  Brie discovered that Jeremy was wet and wanted to change him to demonstrate for Joanne, but Jeremy wouldn't let her until he finished his building.  The three watched Jeremy finish his building while discussing his other needs, like his bedtimes, bath-time, feedings, and other necessities.

When it was time to leave, Dr. Zaaijer took Joanne aside again.  "Joanne, I think I can help you with your problem with your mother and boyfriend. When you can arrange for everyone to be here, I think you should make an appointment with my receptionist.  Joanne was desperate.  Even if Dr. Zaaijer wasn't using his influence she might have thought that a little family therapy could help.  She knew things couldn't go on the way they had been.

Chapter 2

Joanne had already broached the subject with Steven.  Steven didn't think he had anything to lose by going along with Joanne and said 'Yes' immediately.  But now was the time to ask her mother.  She didn't know if asking her mother would be harder or easier than asking her boyfriend but Joanne had to do something.  If she didn't, eventually she would have to choose between the two of them and that was a decision that she just didn't want to make.

"Mom," Joanne started tentatively, "I have to ask you something."

"Yes, dear." Joanne could always talk to her mom.  But before Joanne could ask what she wanted to all sorts of troubling things went through Adelaide's head.  She was worried that Joanne had decided to marry Steven and they were engaged.  Then she worried that it was worse than that, Joanne might be pregnant.  The fear started to show on Adelaide's face.  Joanne wasn't looking directly at her so she didn't see it.

"Mom," she repeated, "I want you to come to family therapy with me and Steven.  I want us to be a family...or if not a family I want to see if you can get over this hate you have for him."

Adelaide was relieved that it wasn't as serious as she thought, but family therapy wasn't anything she had ever thought about.  "Family therapy?"

"Yes, lots of people go to a therapist when they are having trouble.  I think we should too."

"What gave you this idea?"

"Ummm someone I know's dad was going to one.  So it sort of came up."  Joanne didn't want to bring her dad into the discussion.  Joanne wasn't sure if mom hated dad more than Steven.  But it was close.  There was no reason to sour mom's opinion by bringing up dad.

"Who?"

"I don't want to say."

"Was it Steven's dad?"

"No, it wasn't!" Joanne said indignantly.

"I don't know."

Just come and if you don't like it you can leave at any time."

After a little more persuasion, Adelaide gave into her daughter's request.  Dr. Zaaijer had a good reputation in the community.  He even took the insurance that Adelaide had and would wave all co-payments and deductibles.  The appointment was made for next Thursday.

The three arrived at the doctor's office together.  Adelaide and Steven didn't say a word to each other the entire trip.

"Hello," Joanne said to Dr. Zaaijer's receptionist, "we are here for the 10:30 appointment.

"Great, Dr. Zaaijer has been expecting you.  He wants to see you one at a time at first.  The doctor wants to hear each of you without any influence from the others.  Joanne, you can go in now.  When Joanne turned to see Steven and her mom before entering the office she saw that each had taken a seat as far away from each other as possible.  Neither was saying anything, but she could still feel the tension in the room.

"How is it going?" Dr. Zaaijer asked once Joanne was situated in his outer office.

"It's not going well.  They hate each other.  In the car ride over here, they didn't say two words to each other.  But even with the lack of any conversation, I could tell they would be at each other's throats if they could.  I don't know how you are going to help me.  But I have confidence in you."

"I have been thinking about your problem since we last spoke.  I think I have come up with a solution.  They hate each other because they don't know each other.  If they could see how the other one thinks and feels then they would gain understanding.  First comes understanding."

"That's all well and good, but how will you do that."

"I'll suggest that they swap roles for a month or so.  Then they will learn about each other.  It'll start with understanding, next there will be acceptance, soon they will learn to respect each other and finally, they will become like close family.  Well, that is my hope."

"I don't think they will go for it."

"They are stubborn people.  I'll appeal to that.  I'll tell them if they love you they will try.  If they can't do it, then the other is the 'better' person.  They will do their best just to prove the other one wrong."

"When you say role reversal what does that mean?  Steven will start cleaning the house and mom will go to Steven's job at Walmart?"

"No much more than that.  Steven will become Adelaide Rios in every respect and your mom will become Steven Carmer.  They will not only do what each other does but also wear each other's clothes and socialize with each other's friends.  I'll propose that for the first week, they spend that time together learning about one another.  Then for the next month, they will be each other full time IN EVERY WAY." Dr. Zaaijer emphasized those last three words.

"And you think they will just do it?"

"Oh, they will do it.  I'll appeal to their egos.  Neither will be able to back down.  In the end, Steven will know more about your mom than you ever did and vice versa."

"OK, you're the doctor.  You must know best."

"You can wait in the waiting room, send in your mother."

Joanne left the doctor's office.  She saw her mom and Steven still sitting on opposite ends of the room trying to ignore one another.  Adelaide was reading one of her 'trashy romance novels' between sips of coffee.  Steven likewise was reading.  But he was reading one of the Sports Illustrated while drinking a soda.

"Mom the doctor wants to see you now," Joanne called out to her.  Adelaide uncrossed her legs, got up, then walked to the office door.  She quickly went in and closed the door behind her.

"What did the doctor say?" Steven inquired.


"Not too much, he just asked me about myself and why we are here."  Joanne didn't want either Steven or her mother to know that she had ever seen the doctor before this appointment.

"Oh.  That sounds OK, I suppose."

"Steven, I just want you to do one thing when you are in there?"

"What's that?"

"I want you to keep an open mind."

"So he told you something?"

"No, I just know how you can be when it comes to mother.  I want this to work out."

"I'll do anything for you.  You know that."

Under her breath, Joanne said, "I hope that is true."

A short while later, Adelaide returned to the waiting room and Steven went in to see the doctor.

"Well, what did you think?" Joanne asked anxiously.

"It wasn't as bad as I had thought.  The doctor asked me a few simple questions.  We talked a little about my life and other things.  You are right, Dr. Zaaijer seems to know what he is doing."  Her mom's comment relieved Joanne's stress dramatically, but she still didn't know how her mom (or Steven) would react when the doctor told them of his plans.

A short time later, the trio was sitting together in Dr. Zaaijer's office.  Joanne was sitting between her mother on the left and Steven on the right.  Everyone in the room while suspicious of each other completely trusted the doctor.

"Adelaide tell Steven how you feel about him," the doctor told her.

"I told you in the private session.  He knows how I feel."

"Tell him anyway."

"OK, Steven I don't like you.  I don't trust you.  I think you aren't good for my daughter."  Adelaide told  Steven, she tried to hold back the venomous tone from her voice for the doctor and Joanne's sake.  But she shouldn't have bothered.  Joanne knew that Adelaide didn't just not like Steven, she hated him.  She loathed him.  She despised him.

"Good, now Steven you tell Adelaide how you feel about her."

"I think you are controlling and manipulative.  You want to control Joanne in every way you can.  You don't think that any boy is good enough for her.  You want Joanne all to yourself.  You never want her to LEAVE YOU!"

"That isn't true."

"Yes, it is."

"Excuse me!" Dr. Zaaijer shouted to regain control.  "Adelaide, Steven didn't say anything when you were talking about him.  You must give him the same respect.  Continue Steven."

"I think that is about it," Steven said.

"Fine, I have been thinking about this and I think I have a solution for you, but you all have to take it seriously."  Dr. Zaaijer waited a moment for the trio to assent.  When they didn't say anything he continued, "do I have all of your assurances that you will do what I ask?"

"We don't know what it is," Adelaide said.  What if I don't like it?"

"I assure you what I will propose is a common technique.  It is perfectly safe, but you have to commit to it or it won't work."

"OK, I'll do as you ask," Adelaide stated.  Joanne and Steven voiced their agreement too.

"Now once this is started you have to see it through.  It'll take a lot of commitment from Adelaide and Steven, but some from you too Joanne.  If you do what I suggest in the end you will all be happier people and you will either get along or if you can't follow through, it'll prove that the other person is more committed and is right.  The one who can't follow through to the end will just have to admit defeat and do what the other person says."

"You mean if Steven doesn't do as you suggest I can tell him to leave Joanne forever and he'll have to do it?" Adelaide inquired.

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"And if she doesn't, then I can make her leave me and Joanne alone?" Steven countered.

"Yes."

"What if we both go to the end and nothing has changed," Adelaide inquired again.

"I'm telling you, by the end, everything will have changed.  Just believe me.  I have been doing this for a long time," Dr. Zaaijer reassured.  Everyone trusted Dr. Zaaijer so they let him dictate his plan.

"What I propose is for Adelaide and Steven to perform a role reversal."

"What?"

"Role reversals are a real psychological technique.  Not like how you see it portrayed on sitcoms.  For the next month or so, Adelaide will act like Steven and Steven will act like Adelaide.

"You mean for the next month I'll do nothing but read romance novels, watch soaps, and boss around Joanne?" Steven said sarcastically.

"Well, you are partially right.  You will be doing all the things that Adelaide likes.  But you will also have all of her responsibilities too."  Adelaide smiled at this.  "You will be doing all the house cleaning,  buying the groceries, cooking the meals.  What you call bossing Joanne around is actually parenting.  You won't boss around Joanne you will parent her.  When you are with Joanne, you will act with her like her mother, not her boyfriend."

"Awww," Steven said again still sarcastically.

"But that isn't just it, you have to do not only all she does, but you also have to do it the way she does it.  That means you will also be wearing her clothes and her..."

Steven cut in, "You mean I'll we wearing dresses and skirts all the time?"

"Adelaide isn't wearing a dress nor a skirt now.  You don't have to limit yourself to skirts and dresses, but you do have to wear only her clothes;  and her makeup too.  Not only that you will have to walk like her and talk like her and socialize like her.  You will be spending time with her friends, not yours."  Adelaide was smiling throughout Dr. Zaaijer's explanation.  "But that doesn't mean you will be getting off easy either,  Adelaide.  You will be doing what Steven does.  You will wear his clothes, work at his job, hang out with his friends, go on a date with Joanne."

"A date with Joanne?"

"Yes, you know take her out to dinner and a movie, that sort of stuff." Adelaide and Steven were stunned into silence.  "Also," Dr. Zaaijer continued, "Steven you are going to have to move into Adelaide's home.  If you are going to make the beds you should sleep in them too."

"What about me?  Will I have to move in with Steven's parents?" Adelaide inquired.

"No, we will make one exception, you can move into the guestroom of your house, but you will be Steven, a guest, while you are there.  It won't be your house it'll be 'Adelaide's'.  Besides, for the first week, you two will be spending a lot of time together.  You have to teach each other how to be yourself.  Adelaide, you will teach Steven how to do the housework, what to wear, who your friends are, how to walk and sit properly everything about yourself.  And Steven you will have to teach Adelaide everything about yourself too.  You will have to teach her how to do your job, the rules of baseball, who your friends are, how to not move like a 'queer'.  In a week, Steven you will be Adelaide, and Adelaide you will be Steven.  Not that you both won't be continuing to learn more and more about each other.  In the end, you will know each other so well you won't be able to not like each other."

"I don't know if I can do it."

"You promised.  If you give up now you lose.  You know what you said."

"OK, I'll do it!" Adelaide stated.  Steven said the same.

"Let's start with this, Adelaide give Steven your purse and Steven give Adelaide your wallet."  They did as requested.  "Now Steven, there's a romance novel in there.  I expect you to have completed it and a dozen more by this time next month.  Adelaide you can borrow my Sports Illustrated from the waiting room."  Then at if he had just remembered,  Dr. Zaaijer told Steven and Adelaide, "Remember, you can't have any secrets from each other.  How can either of you act like the other would if you don't know everything you need to know."

It was decided that Steven would get hair extensions and color his hair to match Adelaide's.  (Hair care was part of Adelaide's routine.)  Adelaide didn't have to cut her hair, but she had to tie it up in a hair net and always have it under a baseball cap so it wouldn't show.  Adelaide also didn't have to be intimate with Joanne on her dates, but other than that she had to be Steven.

The trio left the doctor's office looking pretty much the same as they had when they entered.  The only difference was that Steven was carrying Adelaide's purse.  They went to the car and Steven headed for the driver's seat.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to drive, it's my car."

Adelaide wanted to argue, but she decided not to.  This wouldn't last too long.  Steven wouldn't want to be her for real for any length of time.  So she ate her pride and went into the back seat where Steven had been sitting when they arrived.

They drove away.  Steven was planning on driving them to Adelaide's house.

"Where are you going?" Adelaide asked.

"Home?"

"To whose home?"

"Your home."

"Which is that?"

"You know where Joanne lives."

"This is all so confusing, let's start to get this straight.  First, we should start with our names.  Since you are carrying the purse, and are driving the car then from now on you are Adelaide and I am Steven.  We should all start using those names." Adelaide said.

"That makes sense," Steven agreed.

"And you, Adelaide lives at," and she gave her address to Steven.

"Right."

"Now that we got that straight, where are we going?"

"I'm going to my home."

"I think you should drive to my home first.  We have to pack a bag so I can live with you."

"That's a good idea.  We'll go there now."

"But you should go in and explain everything to, your...I mean my parents.  Joanne and I will wait in the car."

"Fine, I'll get everything you need, and then I'll be right out."

"Don't forget to explain what is happening."

"You should tell them.  Well, I think we should tell the people we know.  I mean you telling my friends that you are me won't go well."  Steven opened the car door and was about to get out.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Adelaide asked.

"No, I don't think so."

Adelaide picked up her, now Steven's purse. "Take this, you never go anywhere without it."

Steven took the purse.  He then carried it loosely in his hand.  Adelaide was about to call out that he should sling it over his shoulder, but decided she could tell him when he got back.

While Steven was out getting his things and talking to his parents, Joanne and Adelaide waited in the car and had a conversation of their own.

"Mom, are you really going to follow through with this role reversal thing?" Joanne asked.

"Of course I am Honey.  Besides, it won't last too long.  I know Steven, he won't be able to keep his agreement very long.  He might not even last the day."

"I think you are underestimating him.  He can be very persistent when he puts his mind to it."  (Adelaide thought for a moment, I know that is how he got your virginity.)  Continuing Joanne said, "and he really loves me.  He'll do anything to keep me."

"So you say, but I don't think so."  With little more to say, the two fell silent.  Adelaide wanted to read her book, but it was in her (well Steven's, well Adelaide's...this was getting confusing she thought) purse.

Sitting next to her was the Sports Illustrated she had gotten from the doctor's office.  She didn't want to read that so she took the time to think.  Then an idea came to her.  "Joanne give me your phone," she demanded.  Adelaide's phone was in her purse and Steven still carried his phone in his back pocket.

Joanne handed Adelaide the phone.  Adelaide knew the phone number by heart and called it.

"Hello, I want to make an appointment can you fit me in today?

What do I want to be done???  I need my hair to be colored and extensions put in my hair.

Yes, it should be 'Baby Blonde' and the extensions to take my hair down to about three inches past my shoulders.

As for the style, I want it to be a mid-length style as I said three inches below the shoulders.  It must have soft ends and long face-framing layers.   Then add a few random soft layers through the crown to add movement and texture.  Make sure there is a lot of fullness to the style.

I can be there at that time, make the appointment for Adelaide Rios.

No. Thank you!" she said and then hung up the phone.

"There that'll do it," Adelaide said to herself as much as to Joanne.  "When his hair gets colored and extensions are about to be put in, it'll all become real to him.  Then he'll quit for sure!"

Joanne thought maybe her mother was right, but she didn't know how powerful Dr. Zaaijer's control was on the family.

Sometime later, Steven returned from his house.  He was carrying a large suitcase and a backpack.

"How did it go?"

"Well, mom and dad didn't understand it.  But I am over eighteen and was moving out.  There was nothing they could do about it.  Maybe they didn't believe me when I told them.  Anyhow, I am all set."

"Good," Adelaide said with a huge smile. "I made an appointment for you at the beauty salon.  It's time to get you some pretty hair."

"Um, I thought that could wait until later.  Besides I have to unpack."

"Nonsense.  They could fit you in today, but we have to hurry.  Plus it's not you who has to unpack, I am the one.  While you are in the stylist chair, Joanne and I will be setting up the guestroom for me.  We'll pick you up when you are done."

"But I don't want to..."

"Are you giving up so soon?"

"NO!!!"

"Then it's all set.  The appointment is for Adelaide Rios and I already told them what you need to do.  All you have to do is just sit there and they'll do the rest, I was very specific.  When we pick you up you will have hair just like mine."

"Whatever."

"Oh, it'll take a lot of time to do it.  I usually spend the time reading a good book and I know you have a great one in your purse.  It is so engrossing that time should fly and in no time it'll be done."

Adelaide gave directions to the salon and Steven got out.  She reminded him to take his purse again.  "And don't forget you sling it over your shoulders when you carry it.  Don't want a purse thief to get it."  Steven would need it this time he had to pay for the services.  Once Steven had entered the salon and Adelaide and Joanne could see him talking to the stylist, Adelaide got out of the car, she was in the back seat. She tried to get into the driver's seat, but Joanne was already in front of the wheel.

"Hey, I'm driving," Adelaide demanded.

"This is mom's car and I don't think she would want you to drive it STEVEN."

"But..."

"No buts, are you giving up so soon?" Joanne mocked her mother's statement to Steven from a few minutes ago.  Defeated, Adelaide got into the passenger seat.

"Home?"

"No, I want to make a quick stop first."

"To Carolyn's house."  Carolyn Andrews was Adelaide's best friend.

"Why there?"

"The doctor said we should tell all our friends about what is happening.  Carolyn is my best friend.  I have to tell her.  I was supposed to go shopping with her tomorrow.  She'll be shopping with Steven instead."

Carolyn was on the way to their house anyway.  Joanne parked the car in Carolyn's driveway as she had seen her mom do many times before.  Joanne hopped out and Joanne who didn't want to wait in the car followed right behind.

Adelaide rang the doorbell and in no time Carolyn let the pair in.

"Addie, well how did it go?" Carolyn asked.

"It wasn't as bad as I had feared.  The doctor was professional and very nice.  This will work out better than I had hoped."

Everyone found a comfortable place on the chairs and couch in the living room and then Carolyn inquired "Tell me everything that happened."

"Well, he talked to all of us separately.  He asked me a bunch of questions and I told him everything that I had thought.  I didn't hold back a bit.  Why should I?"

"I can imagine what you told him," Carolyn said.  Joanne rolled her eyes at what her mother must have told the doctor.  She had heard it all before.

"Anyway, when it was all done, the doctor said that the problem was that me and Steven didn't understand each other."

"Uh-huh"

"Like I don't understand a BOY like Steven.  But then he told us what to do and this is so perfect."

"What did he say?"

"He said that me and Steven should swap places for a month.  I'll be Steven and he'll be me.  And here is the kicker, if either of us can't follow through then that proves the other one was right and he'll have to...how did he put it???  I don't remember exactly, but if Steven can't be me for a month, then I can tell him to leave and never come back."

"Really?"

"Yes, there is no way he'll be able to do all the house cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, and all the things I do.  Not to mention he'll have to do it like I would wearing my clothes and acting like a grown woman."

"He's going to have to spend a month in drag???  I don't believe it."

"Believe it.  Right now he's at my stylist getting extensions put in his hair and coloring it my shade of blonde.  He must be going nuts.  The whole thing might be over today."

"Hey don't forget you have to act as he does for the month too," Joanne interjected.

"I can put up with acting like a little boy for a month.  I only hope that what he cooks doesn't kill us.  I guess I can eat out although I suppose I'll have to be eating a lot of fast food to be like Steven.  I'll have to go on a diet when this is all over."

"I can't wait to see it," Carolyn said excitedly.

"Well, you won't have to wait too long.  Tomorrow we are supposed to go shopping.  Well, it won't be me who shows up at your door, it'll be him."

"No kidding?"

Nope, and I want you to treat him exactly like you would me.  Call him Addie like you do me.  If you see me on the street and want to talk to me,  call me Steven.  Well, there isn't a reason for you to talk to me until this is done.  I suppose if you phone the house and I answer, call me Steven then.

Do everything you do with me with him and vice versa.  If he isn't acting like me then tell him.  If he doesn't shape up then tell me.  I want to be fair.  It'll be his first day, but if he isn't willing to do it right then I need to know.

"Sounds like fun.  Where should we shop?"

"Well, I have been thinking.  He should be able to get into my clothes, well some of them, they are stretchy and I probably need to lose a few pounds, but he can't fit into my shoes.  So take him shoe shopping.  Don't let him just buy the first pair he sees.  Make a day of it.  Make sure he tries on scores of pairs.  He mustn't just try the shoes on, he should walk a few steps in each to see how they feel.  You know like I would. He should own at least a dozen shoes by the time he gets back, and no sneakers at all."

"I can do that," Carolyn said with a smile.

"One other thing, make sure he has his ears pierced.  I wear earrings all the time, he should too."

"OK, I know where to go."

"Well if Steven hasn't quit by tomorrow then he'll be here.  If not you and I will celebrate instead."

"Until tomorrow then."

"But I have to go.  I have to unpack Steven's stuff at my house.  Steven will be staying with us until this is done."

"I thought you said he would be wearing your clothes.  He will, Steven's stuff is for me.  Steven will be in my bedroom and I'll be sleeping in the guest bedroom."

"Sounds like you have a plan."

"Boy do I."

"Well bye, for now, Add...I mean Steven."

"Bye Mrs. Andrews."

Joanne didn't know if her mom was right.  Could her boyfriend stand being treated and acting like a woman for an entire month?  Joanne trusted Dr. Zaaijer so she was sure it would all work out for the best.  The goal was not for mom or Steven to win against each other, but for them to learn to respect and live with each other.

Chapter 3

When they got home, Adelaide took Steven's suitcase to the guestroom.  Joanne who was carrying the backpack followed behind.

"Well, mom for the next month this will be your room."

"I know, but don't call me 'mom', from now on call me what you call Steven."

"OK, SWEETIE this is your room now.  Better?"

"I suppose."

Adelaide unzipped the suitcase and looked inside.  She found Steven's clothes.  He didn't fold the clothes neatly into the suitcase, instead, it seems that he took the folded clothes (folded by his mother no doubt) and dumped them into the case.  There wasn't much variety, jeans, t-shirts, briefs, and socks mostly.  There were two blue polo shirts with a Walmart applique on the front.  There was also a Walmart name tag that said "Steven Carmer" on top and "Stocker" underneath.  Adelaide assumed her job title was "Stocker" now.  She sighed at the prospect of spending all day putting junk on the shelves.  She preferred shopping to stocking.  There were also two pairs of black pants.  She picked up a shirt and slacks and asked, "My work clothes, I presume."

"Yeap, you have a job."  Adelaide had been receiving alimony from Jeremy since the divorce.  This practice didn't stop just because Jeremy was now in diapers.  Dr. Zaaijer made sure of that.

Adelaide opened one of the drawers.  It was empty since this was the guest bedroom.  "Should I fold the clothes or just dump them willy nilly?"

"Well, maybe I should fold them for you.  I think that would be what would happen."

"Knock yourself out."

While Joanne was putting Steven's clothes away, Adelaide opened the backpack.  She found a pair of black shoes, two pairs of sneakers, Steven's Sony PlayStation, several video games, a baseball mitt and a couple of baseballs, a football, and several sports magazines.

Adelaide took the PlayStation out of the bag.  Should I connect this to the TV?"

"DUH, Steven.  What else should you do with it?

"I suppose I'll have to play with it too."

"You should play with it as often as mom reads her trashy books."

Looking at the games, "Look at the titles of these games, Fallout, Killzone, Saint's Row, Mafia II.  All of these games are about killing, does he...I mean I have a nice family-friendly game?"

"I guess not, but I will expect you to play them.  If you don't I'll tell mom and then you will lose.  I'm not going to make this easy on you.  You will have to act like Steven just as much as he acts like you."

"Well, I suppose playing games will be better than vacuuming and doing the laundry"  Adelaide complained about the housework, but she actually liked it.  It made her feel good to make her house nice and tidy.  She took pride in it.  But it was 'hard' work.  Not as physically hard as stocking the shelves would be, but hard enough.

Adelaide hung her work shirt and pants in the closet and then dropped the rest of the backpack in there too.  After Joanne help set up the PlayStation, Adelaide said.  "I'm going to watch some TV."

"Don't you think you should get dressed first?"

"I am dressed...oh you mean?"

"Yes."

Picking out clothes was pretty simple for Adelaide.  "Look at all this stuff, it's just jeans and t-shirts."  She grabbed a pair of jeans, there wasn't much else.  Then she looked over the shirts they all looked pretty much the same.  They were all t-shirts with different logos on them.  She picked one at random.  Then she found a pair of briefs and some white socks.

Adelaide stripped off all her clothes and put on what she found.  The underwear fit fine she supposed.  It wasn't much different than her plain white panties.  Maybe a bit thicker material but close enough.  The jeans were loose, but she found a belt and the t-shirt was a t-shirt.  Who cared if it was a size too big.  The only problem was the sneakers they were way too big for her feet.  The only thing she could do until she got a new pair was to wear extra socks.

"How do I look?" Adelaide asked.

"Well, you are missing a couple of things?"

Adelaide looked down at herself, she saw the jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, all looked fine.  "What?"

"Well, what about your hair?"

Adelaide had forgotten all about that.  It was still as long and feminine as ever.  "OK, let me see."  She found a hair net and it took some doing but she got it all wrapped up and then with a baseball cap pulled over, it was hidden from sight."

"OK, is that all?"

"Well, what about your jewelry and makeup?"

Her makeup she had also forgotten about, but she removed her necklace and bracelet already.  "I took off my jewelry."

"What about your rings and your earrings."

She had totally forgotten about them too.  She always wore earrings she just didn't even think about of it.  She should have since she mentioned to Carolyn to make sure Steven got his ears pierced.  The rings had been on her fingers for years.  She wasn't sure if she could get them off.  She went to the bathroom and washed every trace of makeup off her face.  The rings took some doing.  She had to soap up her fingers to get them off but she finally did."

While still looking into the mirror, Adelaide asked, "How about now?"

"I guess you look OK."  Joanne had to admit that since her mom didn't have any curves on top and the curves below were hidden by the 'large' t-shirt that maybe she did look a bit boyish.

Satisfied Adelaide left the bathroom to watch TV in the living room.

"What are you watching?"

"Judge Judy."

"Steven would never watch that.  Let's see."  Joanne put on the MTV channel.  Playing was 'Catfish: The TV Show.'  "Here you love this."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do.  Now watch it.  I'll snuggle up and watch it with you."  They were only watching it for about twenty minutes when the phone rang.  It was Steven he needed to be picked up from the salon.  Joanne would have driven alone to get him, but Adelaide insisted.  She wanted to see Steven with his new hairdo.

Adelaide and Joanne drove to pick him up.  Joanne drove since it was 'her mother's car'.  Adelaide sat in the passenger seat.  When they got there,  Steven was waiting inside the salon looking through the window for their car.  He quickly left the salon and dashed for the car.  Steven's hair bounced with every stride to take.  Steven got into the rear seat.  He would have preferred the front seat, but he wasn't going to make an issue of it as Adelaide would have.  He just wanted to get off the street as quickly as possible.

Joanne drove off.  She took quick glances at Steven's hair through the rearview mirror.  Adelaide turned her head to face him directly. Steven's hair looked very much as hers had.  The color was very close and the style was a dead ringer for her own.  His hair was now long and framed his face.  It did make him look a little like a girl at first glance.  The style was definitely feminine and it did hide part of his face.  But without makeup and in the clothes he was wearing, there was little doubt that he was indeed a boy.  "That's a very pretty cut, Mrs. Rios," Adelaide said somewhat sarcastically.

"Why thank you, Steven," he said just as he assumed that Adelaide would have.

"I was thinking since it's getting late and we have a lot to do, Mrs. Rios," Adelaide commented.  "That we should pick up a pizza for dinner so you won't have to fix dinner.

Steven and Joanne knew that meant that that was Adelaide's way of telling them there would be pizza for dinner.  Both suspected that Adelaide would force Steven to cook eventually.  They hoped that she would teach him how to cook and not just hand him a cookbook and hope he figures it out.

At the dinner table, Steven and Adelaide could take a good look at each other.  (And Joanne could look at Steven for the first time.)  Wearing Steven's clothes and hiding her hair under a baseball cap, Adelaide could be mistaken for a boy if you squinted your eyes a little bit.  You might at least have to take a double-take to make sure.

Steven on the other hand still looked like a man.  Wearing his old clothes he looked like a boy with a faggy haircut.  But his face was still smooth, such that he could skip a day or two without shaving.  Adelaide could imagine that with a little makeup and woman's clothes that he might be able to pass more for a woman than she could pass for a boy.  Although, she realized that it would take some work, to turn him into looking like a woman and not a girl.  That could wait.

"After dinner," Adelaide told Steven, "I'll show you around my, I mean your room."

"I've seen the room before, I'm sure I can figure it out by myself."

"Well, my room is an expression of who I am.  I want you to see it the way I do."

"OK"

"Can I come too?" Joanne asked.

"I don't see why not."

Soon dinner was over and Steven prepared to see the master bedroom.  "Mrs. Rios, aren't you forgetting something?"

"No what?"

"The table.  The table must be cleaned once dinner is over."

"Oh OK, Steven"  Steven started to clear off the dishes and bring them to the kitchen.  He didn't want to clean them, but everyone was watching.

"Mrs. Rios you should ask Joanne and me to help....like YOU always do."

Steven dutifully demanded, "Joanne and Steven don't just sit there, help clean the table."  Steven had heard Adelaide say such a thing many times before.

"Next time you have to remember to do this.  Remember you have to do everything as I would.  I hate a messy house.  If you let the place become a mess, then that means you lose."

Steven thought that maybe Adelaide got the easier part of this.  He hadn't considered keeping the house clean all the time.  He thought she sat home all day and just watched TV or read her damned romance novels.

After the table was cleared, the dishes washed, the pizza box put in the paper recycling bin, Steven and Adelaide went to the master bedroom with Joanne trailing right behind them.  When they entered the room they saw it was a creamy white room with pink high-lights.  The bed dominated the room.  It was a queens sized bed neatly made.  On top was a pink floral comforter.  At the top of the bed by the white headboard under the comforter were three pillows.  The walls were painted a creamy white and on either side of the bed were two white end tables with a hint of pink. There was a lamp on each end table.  It too was a white lamp with a pink lamp shade.  When turned on the room had a faint pink glow to it.  On the far wall was a big window, it had white horizontal blinds that were framed with a pink curtain.  By the wall opposite the bed was a long chest of drawers also in the same white with the pink high light pattern as the end tables.  There were nine drawers in the chest in a three by three pattern.  On top of the chest were framed pictures of Joanne, Adelaide, and other family photos.  To the right of the drawers was the TV.  On the wall closest to the door was another chest of drawers and a large closet.  The closet had two long pink doors which were closed.  The drawers were taller but not longer than the drawers on the other side of the room,  It had only one column of five drawers.  Everything was neatly placed.  There wasn't any clothes on the floor as was normal for Steven's room.  There were paintings, hangable plates, and other items on the walls.  The room screamed that it belonged to a woman.

"This is my room now for the next month," Steven thought.

Adelaide led the group to the far chest of drawers.  She said, "Well you know these pictures," (indicating ones with Adelaide and Joanne.) Pointing to another picture, "This was taken at thanksgiving.  Here are I (I mean you) and Joanne.  Sitting next to you is your sister and her husband.  That is your uncle, your mom, and your dad.  Those two are family friends and my, I mean your cousins and their families."  Adelaide gave the name of each family member.

"OK."

"This slow globe you bought on your trip to Cape Cod and this teddy bear was given to you by Joanne when you were in the hospital."  Adelaide went on to described all the knickknacks that were on both chests of drawers.  Steven kept silent taking in all she was telling him.

Adelaide then opened the top drawer of the tall chest.  Inside here is where you keep all your jewelry.  There was a jewelry box and several other plastic containers that actually contained the jewelry.  Opening the jewelry box, Steven was surprised to find that there wasn't any jewelry in it.  It contained mostly documents and spare sets of keys.  Picking up some papers, "This a copy of the car insurance and the title to the car.  We keep it here so we know where it is when we need it.  Then there is a copy of the car key, so Joanne can use my car when she needs to.  There are two copies of all the house keys.  That is the key to our storage facility.  Those are spare keys to the neighbors in case they get locked out...."

"Mom, should you tell him all these things?" Joanne whispered to Adelaide.

"There is going to be no secrets from him.  If he is going to be Adelaide then he has to know everything Adelaide knows."

After the top drawer, they moved down to the succeeding drawers.  Inside were clothes.  In the next two drawers there seemed to be a hundred different tops.  Steven didn't know why she needed so many.  He might have owned twenty shirts in total and Adelaide had at least two full drawers of tops and that didn't count what she also has in her closets or other drawers.

The second to the bottom drawer was her lingerie drawer.  It was full of panties and bras.  They were in every color of the rainbow, Steven thought.  Most were in a bikini design, but there were a small number of full-cut briefs (although Steven simply thought of them as granny panties.)  For every pantie, there was a matching bra.  The matched sets were usually kept together.

Under the lingerie drawer was another lingerie drawer.  This next drawer contained more 'panties' and 'bras'.  "This is your shapewear drawer."

"My shapewear?"

"Yes, It contains your girdles and stuff like that.  You wear shapewear every day, it keeps you all how should I say it.  It'll keep you all nice and smooth and help give you a nice shape.  You are too old to not go out without one anymore.  You aren't A TWENTY YEAR OLD  anymore."

"Do I have to wear one?"

"You did today, you did yesterday, you did last week, last month, last year, you will tomorrow, the next day!"

Steven sighed.

"Here let me show you," Adelaide continued to proverbially turn the knife.  She picked up an item.  "This is a seamlessly shaped boyshorts.  You have the same thing in three colors, black, white, and nude.  You wear it over your panties under your pants or skirt.  The color of the outer clothes determines which color of this you wear.  See how the top is thicker than the lower part?  It'll make your waist thinner and it also provides smoothing all over since it is seamless.  A woman your age doesn't want any unsightly bulges does she?"

"Oh my god," Steven said under his breath.

Picking up something else, "This is a hidden curves high waist thong.  You pull this one up to just under your breasts.  The other 'pantie' is used underpants or skirts, but this works better if you wear a dress.  There is also what we call an all-in-one which is very tight and goes from your breasts to the middle of your thighs for one smooth line."

"OK, I got it, I got it."

"But there is so much more.  That last one had a thong back so you won't
have pantie lines."

Then Steven saw it.  "What are those?"

"Those are your prosthesis.  You put them in your bra to give you the illusion of breasts."

"You mean falsies?"

"No, these are medical prostheses.  When you had your mastectomy you had to wear them or you would be completely flat-chested."

"You had a mastectomy?  I thought you had a hysterectomy."

"You had both.  You had ovarian cancer, but your family has a history of breast cancer so you had both done at the same time.  That is another reason you wear shapewear, to keep you all held in."

"OK, what is next then?"

Adelaide next showed Steven what was in her closets.  Steven expected lots of dresses.  There weren't that many dresses at all.  There were a few, not only that, but there were a few pairs of dress pants, skirts, her nightgowns, and robes.  But what took up most of the space of the closet were shoes.  There were two shoe shelves.  Each shoe shelf could hold fifty pairs of shoes and these shelves were almost full.  Steven wondered if she had more pairs of shoes than pairs of panties.  He didn't know.  Steven looked for a pair of sneakers from the collection to wear.  He found one pair, but then realized they were too small for him.

"I see what you are thinking.  You are right, we will find you some clothes for you to wear, but you won't be able to fit into my, I mean your shoes.  That is why tomorrow you will go shoe shopping with my friend Carolyn.  She is all ready for you."

"You mean tomorrow I have to go out and buy a woman's shoes?"

"Yeap, but don't worry I have some shoes with no back that you will be able to walk in for a short time."

"Why can't I go with you and not your friend?"

"I have to work at Walmart tomorrow, I don't have the time."

"Well at least she'll be spending eight hours putting crap onto shelves," Steven thought.  "I hope they give her the heavy crap tomorrow."  But Steven said instead, "Have a good day at work."

After the closet, Adelaide moves to the second chest of drawers.  There were three more drawers of tops, there was a drawer full of hosiery, three drawers that contained pants and skirts, a draw which contained vital papers, like bills, the deed to the house, the lease to the storage locker, bankbooks, and other financial records.  Adelaide went over each document with as much detail as she went over her panties and what was in the other drawers.  The final drawer contained miscellaneous clothing items, like gloves, scarves, and handkerchiefs.

She explained what was hanging on the walls and what they meant to her after finishing with the drawers.  Finally, she showed Steven the bed.  "If you aren't sleeping in it, this bed is to be made at all times.  You wake up in the morning, you make the bed before your brush your teeth.  That is the way you have always done it, you won't stop now."

Steven hadn't made a bed in his life.  At least he didn't remember the last time if he did make one.  But he was going to make this bed every day.

Joanne had watched the entire incident.  She didn't know what to think, her mom had certainly been very detailed.  Mom told him stuff that even, she did not know.  Joanne didn't know that her mom had rented a storage unit.  She wondered what she kept in there.  But it was getting late and it seemed that mom was going to show Steven every little thing in her bedroom.  Joanne had tired of this and decided to go to her room.

Later, Joanne heard shooting sounds coming from the guestroom which was next to her room.  She had heard them before they were the electronic effects of the Killzone video game.  She went to the room to see what was going on.  She didn't expect what she saw.  Her mother was laying on her stomach right in front of the TV with a game controller in her hands.  The TV was playing the aforementioned game.  But what shocked Joanne most was that her mother was completely naked except for a pair of men's briefs and her hairnet.  By the bed on the floor was the pile of clothes she had been wearing.  Joanne had never seen her mother just throw her stuff on the floor.  She had told her a thousand times, put your things away or put them in the hamper.  Plus her mother would never walk around 'naked'.  Well, she certainly wouldn't if they had a guest around.

"Mom! What are you doing!?!"

"I'm not your mother and I'm playing Killzone.  What of it?"

Why are you naked?"

"I'm not naked.  This is how I go to bed.  I haven't worn pajamas (as Steven had told her) since I was twelve years old."

After the initial shock, Joanne realized that mom was just 'acting like Steven'.  That is what she was supposed to do.  "OK, my mistake, but can you lower that a bit I want to sleep."

"Fine honey."  Joanne walked out of the room.  She knew that tomorrow would be some kind of strange day.

Chapter 4

The next day, Joanne woke up and headed towards the kitchen.  She could smell coffee but the guestroom door was closed.  When she got there she saw Steven, he was wearing one of mom's robes that extended down to his knees.  It was a few inches higher on him since he was taller than she was.

"Hi sweetheart, can I fix you a hot breakfast?" he asked.

"No, Ummm mom, I'll just have some cold cereal."

"Suit yourself."

Joanne could see Steven's bare feet and she noticed that he was wearing nail polish on his toes.  This brought more attention to his legs and she noticed that they were shaven.  "What happened?" she asked in complete surprise.

"Well, I'll tell you.  After you left, your mom, I mean Steven, I mean...I don't know what I mean, anyway, she said she was going to show me what she did before bed.  She said she takes a shower."

"Yeah, she does that at night."

"Fine, so she has me pick out the clothes I am wearing and we go to the bathroom.  She reminded me that as long as there is a guest in the house I should always wear a robe over my nightie.  We go to the bathroom and she tells me 'to strip out of my clothes.'

And I said 'Right in front of you?'

She said 'We have no secrets from each other.  Besides you don't have anything I haven't seen before.'

So I take off all my clothes I get into the shower I turn on the water and she shows me what products she uses.  She told me, that I shouldn't wash my hair every night and had me put on a shower cap.  I started to shower myself off and she shows me how to use a loofah with liquid soap.  Anyway I clean myself and then when I get out, she tells me to spray my body with Nair.  She said that she would never go around covered in all that hair.  I had no choice so I did it."

"My god!"

"Yeah, but that wasn't the worst of it."

"It wasn't?"

"No, after I'm all hairless, she said now it's time to 'trim the bush'.

I said what?

She said she would never go around with her bush all scraggly like that.  I should neatly trim it with scissors.

No one will see I said but that didn't matter to her.  So I said she should show me what it looks like and then she dropped her pants and showed me her neatly trimmed bush.  After I recovered, I did as she said.  I tell you I have never cut down there ever before.

After that, I  just did whatever she told me.  I put on a face mask and then she had me trim and polish my nails.  She showed me how to do one and then she had me do the rest."

"I see you did a good job."

"Like my fingernails?"

"Did she ask you to do those too?"

"No, she said just the toenails.  She said I was going shoe shopping and so my feet have to look 'pretty.'  But I did my fingernails too.

In the middle of doing the toenails I told her, hey, 'I have been spending all this time learning how to be you.  When will you be like me?'

"Like what?  She said.  Then I told her to take her own shower.  To just clean herself with soap, no creams, no oils, no loofahs.  Then I had her shave her face.  I shave every day even though I probably could miss a few days.  After that, I sent her to the guestroom to play my video games all night long.  I know how she despises them.  She left the room after that."

"I saw her playing.  She was on the floor in front of the PlayStation.  I guess she listened to you.  She must have been playing all night.  She isn't up yet."

"You know what.  Let's get a jump on her.  She was going to help me pick out clothes for today.  Let's you and I find something to wear and put it on by the time she gets down here."

"That's a great idea."

Joanne and Steven went back to the master bedroom.  "Steven," she whined.

"What is it?  ...and call me mom."

"You forgot to make the bed.  Mom would never leave her room without making her bed."

"She reminded me, but I forgot.  I was so proud that I got up early, I remembered to put on the robe and make a pot of coffee."

"Well I suppose it's OK, but don't let her find you with an unmade bed again."

Joanne showed Steven how to make it.  It had to be done right.  "OK, now let's get you dressed.  What do you want to wear?"

"How about just pants and a shirt."

"OK, but it has to be 'nice'.  It can't be just something thrown on."

"I'll get a pair of panties and a bra."

"Didn't you hear mom last night, the panties and bra have to be decided after you know what you are going to wear over them?"

"OK,  jeans and let's find a shirt."

"Mom always wears a longer shirt.  She tries to hide her body after the surgeries.  That'll work for you too.  Let's pick something...Here is a nice one, it's a milky color with a high boat neck and three-quarter sleeves, but more importantly it narrows at the waist than then puffs out under.  The blouse also had shoulder pads sewn in which deflected from the fact that Steven's shoulders were broader than a woman's should be.  That'll be good for you since it'll give you the illusion of a feminine shape."

While Joanne was explaining, Steven was trying to be very neat.  He took off the clothes he was wearing and hung the robe and the nightshirt where he had gotten them the night before.  When Joanne turned around to show him, Steven was only dressed in a pair of purple high-cut lady's briefs.  His penis was clearly visible under his panties.  Joanne knew she would have to make that less noticeable if Steven was going to go outside today.

Steven didn't know what a boat neck was, but it seemed OK.  "I guess that means I should wear a white bra and panties?"

"It sure does, you are learning fast."

Steven picked a relatively plain bikini pantie and the matching bra that was next to it.  Putting on the pantie was of course easy, but Joanne helped him fasten the bra.   Next, they had to put the prosthesis inside the bra cups.  The blouse was put on next to it.  Then they had to find a pair of jeans.  The problem was that no matter which they chose, Mom's jeans didn't fit Steven.  He could pull them up over his hips, but no matter how they tried they couldn't fasten the button.

"This isn't going to work.  I might have to try a dress instead."

"I have an idea?" Joanne said brightly and then she reached into the shapewear draw.  "Here try this.  It'll tighten you up on top.  Joanne handed Steven a body-shaping pantie.  It was actually prettier than the pantie that Steven had selected.  It had a  firm control front and top and a sheer mesh on the sides.  Steven pulled it up his legs, it was very tight but it did make it to the top.  It also flattened his penis and shaped his derriere with a rear center seam giving him a feminine shape.  "There that is much better."

But try as they might, they couldn't get the jeans to fit.  Looking around they found several pairs of very stretchy knit trousers.  The trousers hadn't any buttons or zippers.  They hugged every curve of Steven's lower half.  With the combination of very tight shapewear, the low hanging blouse, and the obviously womanly knit trousers he sort of looked like a woman.  The kicker was they were Capri length (a length Adelaide always liked) it showed off the bottom of Steven's shaved legs and his pretty newly painted toenails.

They heard Adelaide stirring and decided to see her reaction to what he
was wearing.

Adelaide had just entered the kitchen.  She was wearing a pair of jeans and nothing else.  When they arrived she was reaching for a cup of coffee.

"What are you doing Steven?" Steven asked.

"I was just getting a cup of coff...."

"Steven doesn't like coffee.  Have a soda or juice instead."

Adelaide turned around and saw Steven.  "You look very nice today, Mrs. Rios."

"Thank you."

"But you still need a little makeup."

"I know, I was planning on getting to that after breakfast."

"I'll help you."

During breakfast, Steven filled Adelaide in on his job.  Who is their bosses were and their friends at Walmart?  When was a break, what he did during break, and everything like that?  During this explanation, the doorbell rang.  Joanne went to answer the bell.  It was a courier from Dr. Zaaijer's office with a package.  Curious Joanne opened the package.  She found inside two 'medicine' bottles.  The first one said "Adelaide Rios' on it.  It indicated it contained her hormone pills.  The second was for Steven Carmer and it contained vitamins.  There was a note explaining that each bottle contained the other's medication.  Steven should take what appears to be Adelaide's hormones every day just as she had and Adelaide should take Steven's vitamins.  This made perfect sense.  Adelaide had to complete her medication no matter who she was pretending to be.

After breakfast, Joanne went back to her room to get prepared for the day.  She unlike her mother liked taking her shower in the morning.  When she saw Steven and her mother again, the two were completely dressed.  Mom was wearing Steven's work 'uniform.'  Steven was still wearing what he had put on before, but now wore makeup too.  The makeup was designed to give him a more mature look.  With the makeup properly applied, Steven could pass for a woman now.  He was also wearing mom's crucifix necklace that she always wore and several rings and her lady's watch.

But their posture and stride ruined the illusion or so Joanne thought.  So for the next hour, or so until everyone had to leave, Adelaide and Steven learned to walk, stand, and in general act like the opposite sex.  They hadn't perfected it, but they were on their way.

Joanne didn't know who to go with, Mom or Steven.  She decided not to go with either.  She was sure they would tell her about their days when they returned home.  While Joanne busied herself with her own concerns the phone rang.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi, Joanne, this is Brie.  I'm just calling to remind you that you are supposed to come over to the house tonight and stay the weekend taking care of Jeremy."

"Oh my god, I almost forgot.  Things have been crazy here."

"But you are coming right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there.  I really want to establish a new relationship with my dad.  What time should I be there?"

"Come a little after five.  I'll have everything ready for you then."

"I'll be there."

"OK, see ya soon," Brie said and then hung up the phone.

Joanne thought that both mom and Steven should be home by then.  She'll catch up on the details and then head off to dads.

Joanne waited as long as she could.  Quite frankly she expected either Steven or mom to call her first, but they didn't so Joanne called Steven.

"Mom," Joanne said when Steven answered mom's phone.

"Oh hello there sweetheart."

"I just called to see how it's going."

"It's going well, but I am very busy.  Carolyn said I have to try on at least 75 pairs or maybe a hundred today and buy five pairs of shoes.  It isn't easy to find shoes in my size eleven."

"A hundred pairs?"

"Yes, but I don't mind.  I just love trying on shoes."  Steven said although Joanne could hear the forced enthusiasm in his voice.  Carolyn must be watching him, Joanne thought.  "So far I have bought one pair of shoes.  I had to have something to walk in, but I can't buy the other four until I have finished trying on them all.  Carolyn says if I just have to have a pair, I could buy it immediately, but then I still have to buy four more before going home.  These shoes are very expensive, my credit card bill for next month will be very high."

"Sounds like you are busy.  How many pairs have you tried on already?"

"At least thirty.  I guess I'm about half done.  I have lost count, but Carolyn is keeping track of that.  Along with which pairs are 'my favorites'.  The salesgirl is coming back with some more shoes.  The shoes in my size are always in the back.  I have to go now and try them on.  If I don't I'll never get home.  You know it isn't just a quick try them on, take them off.  That would take no time.  But I have to walk around in them for a few seconds.  I have to look like I can walk right in them."  Joanne was reading through the lines.  She guesses that meant that Steven had to look like a woman.  Joanne knew Carolyn, she was probably correcting Steven's posture and his stride.  Carolyn wanted Steven to quit, but it seems that Steven was toughing it out.

"Well OK, then have fun and I'll see you soon."

"Oh, I am having a ball.  Love you." Joanne assumed that Carolyn must be watching Steven like a hawk.  Steven couldn't say anything out of line.

"I love you mom," and then they both hung up the phone.

"Wow he had to wear at least a hundred pairs," Joanne thought.  "If it took three minutes per pair, that is six hours alone."  Joanne hoped that Steven would be home before Joanne had to leave for her dad's.

After calling Steven, Joanne phoned mom.

"Hiya baby," she said to her mom just like she would when calling Steven.

"Honey, I just can't talk, "Adelaide said quickly, "two employees didn't show up and I am just swamped.  They have me running all over the store.

"They didn't have any problem with you showing up inst...I mean as you?"

"They didn't care.  They needed the help so much.  I'm not even sure if I can leave on time.  They said there might be some mandatory overtime tonight."

"Overtime???"

"Yes, hey my supervisor is staring at me.  I got to go."

"Well, you be careful, don't pull a muscle or anything."

"I won't."

"Love ya baby."

"Me too," and then she hung up.

Joanne didn't know if either would be back by the time she had to leave.  As it turned out neither was.  Joanne left a note saying where she was and that she would be back Sunday sometime.

Chapter 5

Joanne arrived at the home of her father and Brie at 5:30.   Brie answered the door and let her in.  "I'm glad you could come," Brie said obviously
delighted.

"No problem.  I missed my dad even more than I imagined.  It will be nice to get back in touch with him."

"He's in the nursery.  Come with me."

When Joanne saw her dad he wasn't advanced as he had been in Dr. Zaaijer's office.  He was wearing a two-piece Sesame Street short set.  The short-sleeve shirt was in light and darker blue stripes with a red collar.  It had the googly eyes and mouth of the cookie monster in front.  It came with a red matching shorts with a small picture of a cookie on one of the legs and the words 'nom nom' written underneath.

Jeremy was playing with even more juvenile toys than he was before and he couldn't speak words.  He was still in a babbling stage.  Maybe he could say a word or two, but even simple sentences were seemingly beyond his abilities.  At the doctor's office, Joanne could estimate his mental age at about two and a half years old, now he was closer to half that at fifteen months.  Regardless he looked happy as a clam playing with his soft toys, several of which entered his mouth at various times.

"Here's my big boy," Brie said in a sing-song voice when they entered the room.

Jeremy brightened when he saw Brie and Joanne enter.  It was clear he was eager to see them.

Joanne greeted Jeremy with, "Hello Daddy,  Hello Daddy," in the same sing-song voice used with little children.

Jeremy babbled even more excitedly.

"Look whose come to stay with you?  Say 'hi' to Joanne," Brie encouraged.

Jeremy kept babbling but didn't say 'hi.'

"Come on you can do it, say hi," Brie said.  Then to Joanne, "I know he can do it, he's just being a bit shy."

"That's OK."  Jeremy got out of the playpen and Joanne engaged him in simple play.

"Look, I am getting ready to go out.  You play with him for a while.  At 6:00 is his dinner time, I'll show you what to do then and we'll go over the rest of his schedule," Brie informed her.

At six Brie was ready.  Jeremy was taken down to eat.  "OK, now, Jeremy has din-din at 6:00.  Jeremy always has the same dinner.  It's Gerber's Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Dinner.  Never anything else.  He can have as much as he likes, he is a big boy, but nothing else.  He likes the repetition.  I don't think he would eat anything else for dinner.  He also has it with a bottle of formula.  He can eat it himself if you like, but if he does, he'll make a big mess, it might be best if you just feed it to him."

"OK, if you think that is best."

"I do.  Dr. Zaaijer and I have gotten Jeremy on a routine and now that he has adapted to it, there is no reason to change.  Especially now that I won't be here.  If you keep to his routine, then everything will be fine."

"Will do."

"Now you are staying all weekend.  That is great.  I can finally get some rest."  Brie explained as Joanne was feeding her dad.  Jeremy wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on around him.  He was lost in his own world but would open his mouth for the next spoonful when he was ready.  Continuing Brie said, "Dinner time should take to around 6:30 after that he has free play until 7:00.  You can play with him or let him play alone.  At 7:00, every other day.  Jeremy takes a bath.  All of his toys are around the tub.  Use the toys to distract him as you wash him up.  If you don't he might start splashing and then you'll both get wet.

Today is bath day, but tomorrow just use the time for more extended play.  Then it's time for his bedtime routine.  Start with changing his diaper (if it wasn't a bath night.)  Then play a game of patty-cake.  After that tuck him into bed and read him the bedtime story.  There is only one and he loves hearing it.  That might put him to sleep before your done, but if not then say 'night-night turn off the light but leave the nightlight one.  It's the blue-canary in the outlet by the light switch and close the door.  He should get to sleep right after that.  There is a baby monitor so you will know if there is a problem.

Tomorrow, you have to wake him up at 7:30.  I personally will be sleeping in for the first time since we saw Dr. Zaaijer.  Change his diaper regardless of whether it is wet or not.  But be warned if it isn't wet he might squirt so watch out or you might get wet again.  He can play a little bit until it's time for breakfast.  Breakfast is at 8:30, this time make Lil' Bits Cereal Oatmeal Banana Strawberry.  That is all he'll eat.  Give him another bottle, but this time fill it with milk, not formula.

After breakfast gets him dressed for the day and then play with him.  I always play with him until lunchtime.  From 9:00 to 11:00 is our special time when we play together.  Lunchtime is 11:00, he always has the Gerber's mixed carrots, corn & butternut squash meal for lunch.  After lunch, he'll nap until 3:00.  Make sure he doesn't sleep past three.  Then you can go for a walk to the park or play outside with him.  Back home at 5:00 for free play and then you start the whole thing again with dinner at 6:30.  Do frequent diaper checks, he doesn't tell you when he is wet.  Sometimes he doesn't say when he is messy.  Do you have all that?"

"Maybe I should write it down."

"You should.  This is the schedule that we came up with.  It has been working perfectly.  The only problem with it is that I don't have time to spend with adults alone.  That is where you come in.

"I got it."

"Good, now I'm going to play BINGO with the ladies, and then after we'll stop off at a diner for a little cake and coffee.  Then I'll be home after.  I'll talk to you then to see how it went.  But remember tomorrow morning let me sleep in, you have to be ready to wake him up at 7:30.  No later than that."

"Don't worry, it'll be a piece of cake."

"Thanks for doing this.  I can't tell you how much I need a break and I just can't leave him with anyone."

"No thank you, I've wanted to spend time with my dad for quite a while.  I thought I didn't but now that I see him, I really do miss him."

Brie waved bye-bye to Jeremy and then blew him a kiss as she left.  Joanne was in the middle of giving her dad a bath.  Jeremy was having so much fun that he didn't even notice that Brie had left.  After the bath, Jeremy would be so caught up in the bedtime ritual that he'd be asleep without ever noticing that Brie was gone.  Such was the genius of having a schedule.

After Jeremy had gone to bed, Joanne was watching some TV.  She was concerned about how Steven and Adelaide were doing, but she assumed that it would work out.  She was amazed at how well the schedule thing worked. Her dad was never reliable.  He was always late when it was time to pick Joanne up for their visitations.  Sometimes he would forget altogether.  But now with a schedule, her dad would never be late again.

Dr. Zaaijer certainly knew what he was doing.  If her dad had seen the doctor three years ago, her parents would still be together.  With a schedule like this, there certainly would never be time for him to find another woman and cheat on her mother.  Her dad just needed someone to be in charge of him.  Joanne crept into his room to see how her dad was doing.  He was sleeping like an angel with his finger firmly planted in his mouth and his favorite plushy in his other arm.  "He looks so darling," Joanne thought.  Joanne hoped that Dr. Zaaijer would be as successful with Steven and mom as he had been with dad and Brie.

When Joanne returned to the house it was dinner time on Sunday.  She hadn't seen Steven or her mom for two and a half days.  Mom and Steven were cooking dinner, spaghetti, and meat sauce.  Joanne knew that it wasn't that hard to prepare.  Spaghetti you just have to boil and the meat sauce wasn't too hard either.  Mom was wearing Steven's clothes.  She seems to have bought (probably from her job at Walmart) a pair of jeans and sneakers that fit.  The t-shirt she was wearing looked like one of Steven's old ones though.

Steven was wearing another pair of mom's knit pants.  This time it was in black.  The top that Steven was wearing was tight on his frame allowing the outline of his bra to be clearly visible to anyone who cared to look. On his feet, he was wearing red ballet flats that were decorated with a bow ornament detail.

Steven turned when he heard Joanne enter the room.  "Hi sweetheart," he said.  His voice was higher than it usually was.  He was trying to talk like mom.  Joanne didn't expect Steven to talk in a pseudo-falsetto.  Maybe she should have.  But the voice seemed to be something he was working on.  It did sound higher than his normal voice, but it didn't sound cartoonish.  His face was made up in a subtly different style than it had when she had last seen it.  He was looking more like an adult woman now, especially since his mannerisms had also changed.

An instant later, Adelaide turned to face Joanne too.  Without makeup and all her hair hidden under a cap, she did have a boyish quality.  Just like Steven, Adelaide had shifted her stature to a more masculine pose.

Steven was the first to approach Joanne, he wrapped his hands around her and gave her a platonic but loving peck on the cheek.  "How did it go?" he asked.

"It went fine.  I spent the entire weekend with dad.  Brie wasn't there hardly at all.  We had a great time."

"I'm glad.  You know how I feel about him, but he is your dad so I'm happy
for you."

Adelaide who was waiting patiently then asked, "Don't I get a kiss too?"

"Sure baby."

Adelaide moved in to kiss Joanne full on the mouth, but at the last moment, Joanne turned her face, and Adelaide ended up also kissing her on the cheek.  Seemingly dejected, she said, "Oh I get it, not while mom is here."

Joanne took a look back as she left the kitchen, Mom and Steven seemed to be getting along.  Joanne had never seen her mom and Steven alone in the same room together without staring daggers at each other.  "Oh yeah,"  Steven said, "Joanne sweetheart, can you set the table while we finish up."

"Sure thing mom."

When the food was ready, Joanne and Adelaide sat across from each other, leaving the head of the table for Steven.  Steven served the food, which included spaghetti, meat sauce, and garlic bread.  He also placed grated cheese and a bottle of soda for anyone who wanted some.  Steven chose diet for himself.  Steven had gotten quite proficient at the work and posture of a woman.  It seems that trying on all those shoes and walking around in them was good practice on how to move like a woman.

Maybe it was easier to learn new things than to learn to forget old things.  Adelaide wasn't as good at moving like a guy as Steven was moving like a lady.  Adelaide would slip up from time to time, but Steven had it drummed into him over and over.

"So what have you been up to since I've been gone?" Joanne asked.

"Well, we had been spending a lot of time together.  Teaching each other all we know."  Adelaide said.  Steven's mouth was starting to be covered in sauce.  Adelaide notices and gave him a look.  Steven immediately wiped his face with a napkin and then started to take smaller bites.  A moment later Steven gave Adelaide a similar scowl and she started to tape bigger servings of food in each bite inevitably some of the sauce also ended up on Adelaide's face.

This type of thing happened several times.  Either Steven or Adelaide would do something that wasn't proper for their gender and the other would correct them with either a look (as if they had discussed this before) or something more direct.  This would lead to a backlash in which the other would have to do it the opposite way.  In the end, both were over compensating for their mannerisms.

After dinner, Adelaide went to 'her' room to play some video games.  She didn't even ask if she could help.  No one expected her to.  If she had Steven would have chastised her.  This gave Joanne and Steven a chance to talk.

"Well Steven, how did it really go?"

"Don't call me Steven...Call me mom from now on.   Let's go to my room for a little privacy."  Joanne followed Steven to the master bedroom.  As she had left it before the room was immaculate, not a thing was out of place.  The bed was made, all the drawers were closed, nothing was on the floor.  Steven's real room never looked like this.  Of course, that room wasn't pink either.

"Firstly, your mother is CRAZY!!!" Steven almost shouted.

"I know but what did she do this time?" Joanne said trying to keep everyone calm.

"So after you and your mother left I went into the guest bedroom and she left the bed unmade for me.  I knew it was a test so I made her bed.  It looked pretty good.  But when she came back she tore right into me.  What the fuck are hospital corners anyway?  This isn't a damn hospital or hotel.  I swear there are more steps to making a bed than to making spaghetti sauce.  Then she had me go to all the rooms and remake all the beds including yours.

What kept going through my mind was 'If you make a bed and no one enters your room to see it, did you really make your bed?'  You know like if a tree falls in the forest."

"Hmmm, I never thought of that.  But mom always enters my room when I'm out.

"Well at my house, we just put the pillows under the comforter so there is no need for a top sheet.  Let alone folding it over."

"Steven was complaining more about the damn bed than wearing women's clothing." Joanne thought.    "What about your day shopping?" Joanne said trying to change the subject to something more pleasant or at least something that didn't involve mom directly.

"When you called me," Steven began, "I was in the middle of what seemed like putting on a thousand shoes.  I was told it was only 84 but it was a lot.  I guess 84 is a lot.  I was already wearing shoes with an inch and a half heel by them.  I was allowed to buy at the first store we went to.  I looked kind of ridiculous with my big feet stuffed into a small shoe.  You know it hanging over the end.  I mean as compared with everything else."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad, the heel wasn't too high."

"Walking in heels wasn't the real problem, it was the constant criticisms from Carolyn.  While I was sitting she would constantly say 'sit with your knees together'.  I finally got that right after a while.  Then she said, 'OK, now cross your legs.'  But when I was trying on the shoes, she would say, 'take smaller steps', 'put one foot almost in front of the other', 'bend your arms at the elbow', 'let your wrist hang loosely', 'smile more', 'freshen your lipstick'.  It went on and on.  After a while I didn't care anymore and I suppose I was walking like a 'Lady.'

"Really?  That sounds horrible.  But it seemed to help.  You seem to move like a woman now."

"Thanks, I only hope I can forget all this stuff when I go back to being a man."

"I'm sure you will."

"Walking all day in heels was actually worse than when we had my ears pierced."

"You had your ears pierced?"  Joanne didn't notice the earring due to Steven's now long hair.

"Yeap, see???"  Steven pulled his hair back from his ears.  Joanne could plainly see the dangling gold earrings he now wore behind his hair.

"Well, they are pretty."

"Aw thanks," Steven said sarcastically.

"I thought I would get a break at lunch but it was the same thing.  'Sit with your legs crossed, take smaller bites, watch your lipstick, and a bunch of other things.

After lunch, I was the most scared.  We went to the lady's room.  I told Carolyn I didn't have to go.  She said ladies always go together.  Both of us together like two women walked to the powder room, as she called it.  My heart was beating as we entered.  Once inside I ducked into a stall and waited.  Then I came out and she made me fix my makeup again.  I just kept my mouth shut.  No one said anything so I guess I passed."

"When did you learn to talk like you do?"

"Oh yesterday, Adelaide and I recorded ourselves.  We saw the way we walked and talked and learn to do it the other way.  It was actually funny watching your mom learn how to walk like a man.  She still has problems and slips up from time to time.  If I see her I TELL her."

"All day?"

"No we did other things too.  We went over putting on makeup and stuff like that.  I spent the rest of the day doing housework.  At least I could do them in flats...or bare feet if I wanted."

"What did mom...I mean Steven do while you were doing the housework?"

"She went down to the gym.  I have her doing strength training.  She needs it too.  The stuff I have to carry around at work can be very heavy."

"She's been to the gym before.  She might have done some aerobics or something instead."

"I am determined to do everything she does, and that she does everything I do.   I made sure everything was spotless before she came home. I'm going to do everything to make sure I win this thing.  Even if it kills me.  I now look for things to pick up.  Actually, if her room is too clean, I tell her.  It must be worse for her to be purposefully messy than for me to clean it up.  But I want her to be exactly as I was.

I called my friend at the gym.  He kept an eye on her.  She didn't dare not do it right.  She doesn't know how many people I know at that gym.  Speaking of which, sneak down to the guest room and make sure that Steven is playing video games.  Make sure there is some sort of mess too."

"OK."

"One other thing before you go.  Stay with her.  I told my friend Mike to call. He'll invite her to a baseball game tomorrow.  I'm sure she'll try and get out of it.  Don't let her."

"MOM YOU ARE DEVIOUS."

"She'll probably have more fun at the ballgame than I did shoe shopping.  Besides we are supposed to spend time with each other's friends.  I spend the entire day with Carolyn, she can hang out with Mike and the guys."

Joanne couldn't believe that it was Steven that kept the house so clean. He was so macho that he wouldn't allow himself to have it any other way. It was strange she thought, but it was his masculinity that was making him act so femininely.

Then Joanne thought she was being too cruel.  That this wasn't an ego thing.  Maybe the reason he was being so 'feminine' was that he was doing it for her.  He was doing it to prove that he would do anything for her.  Whatever the truth was, Joanne knew that Steven was determined to win.

Joanne took off her shoes so she could creep slowly down the hall.  She could hear the game playing from outside the door but that didn't mean anything.  Joanne quickly opened the door and entered the room.  Adelaide was indeed playing one of the video games.

Joanne decided to flirt with her mother a bit.  "Hey baby, miss me?"

"Like every second, hon," Adelaide said in a deep voice.

"I hear you are working out.  You are going to make yourself all big and sexy for me?"

"You got it.  But not only for you.  If I don't do something my arms will fall off at work."

"Yes, I like my men big and strong."

"Then come over here."

This was getting too real for Joanne so she said, "Wait babe my mom is around.  We had better cool it."

This is what Steven would do so she did ease up.  But Adelaide didn't trust Joanne.  She was her daughter and she loved her, but she didn't think when it comes to this that Joanne would take her side in a fight so Adelaide tried to act like the horny boyfriend as often as possible.  She assumed that Joanne would break it off before things got too weird.

"I have an idea, let's watch some TV.  We can snuggle on the bed.  Mom won't mind if we leave the door open."

"That's a great idea."

"What do you want to watch?"

"You know you pick the show."  Joanne put on something she liked.  Adelaide liked it too, at least she liked it better than whatever Steven would have watched.  Joanne snuggled into Adelaide's arms and they planned on watching TV quietly for the rest of the evening.

Steven's phone rang during Joanne and Adelaide's alone time.

"Hey Steve, it's Mike."

"Wat's up, Mike."

"Well, I have tickets tomorrow's game.  We are all going, can you come?"

"I don't know, I'll have to ask my old Lady."  Then to Joanne, "Mike has
tickets for tomorrow.  Do we have any plans?"

"No, I don't mind.  You have a good time."

"Looks like we are on."

"Great dude.  It should be a great game."

"Later."

"Bye."

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