8 -TV FICTION CLASSICS

"Separate beds?"

"Nooo," I stammered, bowing my head. "You're sleeping with Bob?"

BORN TO BE

A DAUGHTER

"We share a bed...we don't SLEEP together," I corrected. "Tonight is the first time. I'm sleeping there because you are getting this bedroom."

Ted mumbled something under his breath, then walked to the bed and tried it out for firmness. "Is Bob serious about us referring to each other as mother and daughter?" he asked, looking my way.

"He is very serious. We must refer to each other in the feminine gender, even when we're alone to reduce the risk of making a mistake in public," I explained.

Bob entered the room and deposited Ted's new clothes on the bed, saying Ted was responsible for putting them away. "Karen, you need to take Barbie shopping for additional clothes. I only bought the bare essentials while she was living at the Lamb house. She needs a complete wardrobe appropriate to her age," Bob said, taking my hand.

Addressing Ted, Bob said, "We'll let you settle in, pumpkin. Your mother should have dinner ready shortly."

"Okay...uh...Daddy," Ted smiled tentatively. Why was he so passive around Bob?

I dreaded going to bed that night, delaying the inevitable as long as possible. Ted went to bed early, saying he was exhausted. I didn't doubt him, I was exhausted myself. The difference was, he could go to his own bed in his own room, I had to share a bed with Bob...with my HUSBAND!

Bob went to bed around ten, but I waited another half hour before finally succumbing to exhaustion. Slipping into the master bathroom, I removed my clothes and makeup, pinned my hair on top my head, and slipped a long nylon gown over my body.

The bedroom was dark as I slipped out of the bathroom and quietly tiptoed to bed. I could make out Bob's outline on the other side, and resolved to the fact that this was my bed until he 'killed me off when our little charade was over.

Thankfully, it was a large bed with plenty of room for two people. I slipped under the covers and stayed as far as possible on my side of the bed. Soon, I heard Bob's gentle snoring, and I calmed down. Maybe, just maybe, his intentions were pure since this was the only bed we would sleep in for the foreseeable future. I was playing his wife...people would be coming over.

I woke the next morning when Bob got up. Squinting

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my eyes, I saw him make his way to the bathroom. Thankfully, the night had passed uneventfully. In spite of my worst fears, I had slept very well.

Ted was the last to get up. He came downstairs wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans, a white blouse, and girl's sneakers. His outfit was casually feminine, but Bob would never allow me to wear such clothing. I know, because when I broached the subject, he said, "Barbie is a fifteen year old girl, and she shouldn't dress differently than other girls her age."

We spent the next few days getting use to the new order. A few days passed before Ted would speak to me on a regular basis. He was disappointed to find his dad so changed, so feminine. After a couple days though, his demeanor changed when he realized he couldn't put on airs while dressed as prissy as I.

Like Bob ordered, we always referred to each other in the feminine gender until it became natural. Soon, he was 'Barbie' and I was 'Mom', or 'Mother'.

My nerves rankled the first time I heard him call Bob, 'daddy'. That was my title, damn it! But no longer. Bob was now 'her' Daddy, and I was 'her' Mother or Mom.

"Barbie, let's go shopping?" I suggested one day. "Why?" Ted responded, while watching MTV. "You need clothes," I noted.

"I have all the clothes I need. I'm only doing this for a couple of weeks, you know," he snarled without taking his eyes off the television.

"No, I don't know!" I objected. "And, don't use that tone with me, Barbie! Now let's see what you have in your closet!"

Ted reluctantly followed me to his room. Bob had the room painted a soft pink and installed pink carpet. Frilly white curtains with tiny pink flowers adorned the windows, the bedspread was white with the same girlish pink flowers. The bed frame was white metal with lavender flower trim. There was a white dresser, a pink vanity, and a full length tri mirror. A small collection of cosmetics covered the table top, and several stuffed animals lay atop the bed. The room was girlish in every respect.

"See! I don't need anything!" Ted stated as I rummaged through his scant collection of lingerie and clothes.

"I think you had better get ready," I suggested to my son who was wearing blue jeans and a loose knit top tented by his padded bra.