22-ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID

wore no make up or anything.

Once the party got going, Baily played the perfect host...or hostess. Since he knew where everything was, he scurried around and got some guys to set up a few tables while he set them.

"Don't ruin your dress!" I heard his mother say. Baily slipped his white pinafore apron over the dress and served soft drinks and cake.

When the party was over I saw him kiss all the girls goodbye. He didn't shake hands with the boys and he blushed fiercely as they said goodbye. Being surrounded by the lingerie in the store, the guys were muttering about what Baily was wearing under his dress.

Two things bothered me about the evening. One was his mother saying "your dress" and two, how he completely seemed to forget about being in a dress. Like it was the normal thing for him to wear.

On the way home, I said to my sister Emily, "Wasn't that terrible to humiliate Baily by making him wear a dress at his own Birthday party?"

"He's been wearing girl's clothes for months. It's a dress...what's the big deal," Emily replied. "I think he looked darling and what an adorable dress. I'm jealous!"

"But he was acting just like one of you girls. Did you see how he ordered some of the guys to set up tables?"

She admitted, "It is odd but I think he's adorable."

The next week school began again. The weather was getting cooler and Baily appeared in his usual overall outfits. A surprising number of girls were in the same overalls.

At the store, he still wore his white jump suit and if doing anything dirty, he wore the white pinafore apron.

Since the summers were so booked for weddings,

SANDY THOMAS PUBLICATIONS -23

the overflow made Fall busy on weekends. I dug into my school work and helping my family. Baily had little time for play.

Baily's mother was becoming an even stronger force in our little town. There was even talk of her running for mayor but she declined saying that she was too busy. And she was. . .a wedding almost every weekend.

I began to stop at the shop less often. Almost every time I did, Baily was being fitted in a dress. At first he ran for it, then eventually he realized that I wasn't going to laugh.

Seeing him in lingerie and a dress had become a non-event. Even the kids at school never mentioned how he dressed anymore.

Then it happened. It was a very big wedding. Almost everyone in the town had something to do with it. A ten thousand dollar wedding gown, six bridesmaids and six men, an orchestra, fine champagne, flowers. . .in all, a hundred grand event.

The planning had taken months. The mother of the bride was a real witch. She'd roll up to the shop in her big, black Mercedes and start ordering Baily and his mother around.

Baily had no part in the wedding but usually took care of the gowns (and probably had been fitted in every one). Sometimes, he and his mother would attend the rehearsals to make sure there was no problem and inform the bride how to handle these sometimes very elaborate dresses.

It is amazing how much work goes into a wedding. Sometimes when there were big weddings, I helped my parents in the flower shop making the decor, bouquets and corsages.

Baily was busy fitting the dresses. One evening I found him helping with the sewing and he seemed