Becoming Young Ladies, continued

[As promised, a continuation of this classic story. If Deirdre Rosamond O'Connor ever sees this, I hope she'll be happy with it. This is just the first part of the next chapter as I see it. There will be much more to come.]

IV: Pearl

The next morning, about ten o'clock, after her first session with Debbie and Jan for the day, Susan went downstairs. She reveled in the feel of her pink dress clinging tightly to her bosom, to the sensation of the five layers of petticoats rustling against her nylon-clad thighs, to the slight shakiness of her ankles in her three-inch pink heels. The hobbles on her legs again kept her from taking anything other than lady-like steps and she felt a frisson of excitement at the feeling of entrapment they gave her.

She stopped as she entered the central hallway and saw a woman she didn't recognize. The other woman was tall, emphasized by her four-inch white patent leather heels. She wore a floral shirtwaist dress, with a bouffant skirt bouncing over acres of petticoats, the hem falling to just below her knees. At the sound of Susan's footsteps, she turned.

"Dad?" Susan exclaimed, as she recognized the face. Her father, despite his feminine attire, was still wearing his hair in a masculine pony-tail, and his face was unadorned with makeup.

"Joe? I mean, Susan..." her father began. "My god...you look gorgeous! Your hair, it's perfectly lovely," he continued, gazing at Susan's now-white blonde hair, still piled high in the tight beehive Jan had put it in the day before.

"Dad...Mom said you dressed in women's clothes sometimes, but this is fantastic! You look like June Cleaver!" Susan laughed.

"Well, except for the hair and the face, I guess," her father said, joining in the laugh. "But I gather Jan and Debbie are going to take care of that for me, today!"

At that moment, Emma and Rhoda entered. "Susan--I see you've met Pearl!" Rhoda said.

"Pearl?" Susan asked. "Oh, you mean Dad...is that going to be your name, now? What should I call you? Dad doesn't make much sense if you're going to be as girlish as the rest of us."

"Hmmm...good question. How about you call me Momma Pearl? And your mother can stay just 'Mom', as always."

"An excellent solution," Emma said, clapping her hands. "Now, Pearl, Jan and Debbie are waiting upstairs in the salon for you. Jan, especially, is eager to get to work on you. And Susan, Marie is waiting for you on the terrace."

Susan tried a curtsy (a bit clumsily, perhaps) and said, "Thank you, Aunt Emma," and hurried off.

"Well, I guess I'd better get moving, too," Pearl said. "Thank you both for giving this to Susan...and to me, too, I guess." She tripped her way upstairs.

Emma and Rhoda looked at each other and smiled.

At the top of the stairs, Pearl was met by Jan and Debbie, the two maids, dressed in their salon uniforms, their hair in curlers covered with pink hairnets. "Hi, sweetie," Jan greeted her. "Come on into the salon."

Pearl was amazed to find this full-service salon installed in the home next door to her own. "Susan and Nora told me about this, but I didn't quite believe them. This is where you made Joe over into Susan?"

"Yes, it is," Jan replied, guiding her to the chair at the shampoo sink. "And we'll start with you just as we did with her, with a nice relaxing wash and massage." She positioned Pearl's neck in the notch of the sink, turned on the warm water and began her work. As she worked the water and shampoo into Pearl's hair, she talked quietly and endlessly, a pleasing drone....

"It's so relaxing to have this done, isn't it, dear? It feels so good to have your hair washed, your scalp massaged...Just lay back and enjoy..."

Pearl soon found herself drifting, her world contracting to just the salon and Jan, and then just to Jan's voice...

"Just drift and listen as I talk...drift and listen...answer me if you want....How long have you been dressing in female clothes?"

"Ooooh...since I was a boy about Susan's age..." Pearl murmured. "But never a lot...just once in a while..."

"Are you doing it more now?"

"Yeeesss," Pearl answered, dreamily. "Ever since I found out Nora thought it was fun...."

"Want to do it all the time?"

"Geeee, I dunnnooo...."

"Oh, sure you do...it's so sweet and sexy to be a girl, isn't it?

"Yeess, sweet...and sexy...." Pearl droned.

"Yes, you can be Pearl all the time...sweet, sexy Pearl...pretty Pearl, sissy Pearl. Pearl can wear dresses and petticoats...Pearl can wear panties and nylons...Pearl can wear high heels and necklaces and bracelets...Pearl can have her hair curled and permed and colored...what color should Pearl's hair be? Blonde like Susan's?"

"Nooooo," Pearl answered. "Not blonde...red...."

"Okay, red it is....Pearl is a sweet carrot-topped sissy...a pretty housewife for Nora...you want to be Nora's wife, don't you?"

"Yess, love Nora...want to be Nora's wife...."

The shampoo done, Jan gently shook Pearl's shoulder. "Wake up, sweetie!"

"Oh, I fell asleep. Gee, that was relaxing, just like you said, Jan," Pearl said, yawning.

"Well, come on over here to the styling chair and we'll get you really pretty," Jan said, guiding her to the next station. "After all, Nora's husband has to look his best, right?"

"Husband? Jan, you know I'm not Nora's husband, I'm her wife...her pretty sissy housewife, just as I've always been!" Pearl protested.

"Well, then, what shall we do to make you a pretty wifey?"

Pearl gazed at her damp hair in the mirror. "This color is awfully dull...can we change it? I know--red! Make me a redhead!" She continued to state at herself. "And I'm not wearing any makeup! I look hideous!"

"You won't when Debbie and I are done, dear!" Jan exclaimed. "I'll get started on your hair and Debbie will do your face when I've finished!"