28-MY SON, THE BRIDESMAID

Robin hesitated...what should he say? He shouldn't like them... he should be insulted, but he wasn't, he adored them! He was afraid to touch them.

Both his mother and sister were looking at him in silent anticipation... there was no teasing here . . . they had hopeful looks in their eyes. He couldn't lie.

"They are absolutely beautiful-I love them," he finally confessed holding up a pair of black lace panties. Then he asked softly, "Are these for me to wear?"

"Of course, silly, anytime you want!" Mrs. Wilkes exclaimed as she tearfully hugged her femininely dressed and curlered boy-child.

"I'm glad you like them, Robin," added his now smiling sister. "Here, open this present from me." She added as she handed him another gaily wrapped package. This box was quite large and heavier than the first. He quickly unwrapped the paper and opened it. Once again, there was the tissue paper confirming Robin's guess that the present was some form of clothing. His guess was correct. Soon he was holding up a jacket. There was however, something about it that confused him. It was a feminine-cut suit jacket. He looked back into the box and found a matching, slim, knee-length skirt. Both were in a cream-colored wool fabric. Neatly folded with the woman's suit was an antique lace, silk blouse with full sleeves, a lacy stand-up collar, and pearly buttons down the back. A couple of pairs of very sheer pantihose completed the contents.

"This is lovely, Trish!" Robin now exclaimed, unabashedly showing his glee at receiving such presents presents which could only be expected by a girl. "But?!"

Trish interrupted and relieved the pressure he was feeling. "Mom and I decided that you definitely needed to know more about the clothes we sell and should have some clothes appropriate for working in the store. You'd scare away customers if you served them in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt!"

"I could never wear these at work-someone might see me!" the confused Robin replied.

"Why not," his sister argued. "Didn't you see how realistic you looked yesterday when Stacy was over. With the proper dress, lingerie and your hair done, there is no

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way someone would dream that you are not a girl --unless you make an obvious attempt to prove it to them."

"But why a dress? I could just wear a suit and tie or something."

"It's more appropriate to have a girl selling dresses," Trish said. "We'll help you get ready for next week when we open for the pre-New Year's rush. It will take all three of us to handle the customer traffic. Last year we had to hire Joanie for those few days. She doesn't have a fraction of the stores stock knowledge that you do. Trust me, your nervousness will be short-lived... anyway, think of what a help you could be to mother from now on," Trish concluded.

The thought of dressing in these clothes and meeting customers was still not easy for Robin to accept. Since there were a couple of days before the shop re-opened again he had time to decide.

"Well...we'll see,", was Robin's final reply. However, as far as his mother and sister were concerned, it was a done deal. He was about to learn that they had another scheme in the wings as well.

Trish next opened her present from Robin. When she held the dress up against her body she was thrilled.

"You designed this yourself?! It's fantastic... I can't believe this is your first design effort... you've got some talent!" his sister raved. There was much hugging and kissing and Trish ran over to a mirror in her bedroom to see how the dress would look.

It turned out that there were other presents for Robin under the tree. He estimated that 3 out of every 4 packages were labelled to him. He wondered where they had been hidden since they weren't there yesterday.

It didn't seem to bother his mother and sister as they seemed to be as excited as if the presents were all for them. To his embarrassment, the other packages all contained feminine items. How could they have assumed he would go along with such an outlandish idea?

There were a couple of pairs of shoes. One pair were cream-colored pumps with 2" heels. These were explained to him as matching his new suit. The other pair were black patent leather dress slippers with 4" heels and delicate