RELUCTANT PRESS

to have seen the motion. With Cindy so willing to teach Shelley how to be a proper young miss and Shelley so eager to do as well as possible to end the ordeal, the two would get along better than they ever had done before. She smiled as she watched Cindy sit in a chair and explain the proper lay out of a table setting.

By the time the duo finished, supper was ready. "Shelley, please go out to the barn and tell your father and brother that supper is ready," Helen instructed the subdued sissy.

Sheldon swallowed hard as nodded his understanding of the order. As he reached behind himself to untie the apron, Helen cleared her throat in the manner of a mother who catches her child doing something she shouldn't. Sheldon instantly stopped what he was doing and gazed at his stepmother. Helen merely raised her eyebrows, tilted her head to one side, and smiled at his becoming outfit. Sheldon understood. He was not to remove the sissy apron.

With a sigh he brought his hands around to his front and headed for the door. What would his father and stepbrother say when they saw him so girlishly-attired since they had not yet seen him dressed as a girl?

Fearing they would laugh and tease him unmercifully, which he knew HE would do if their situations were reversed, he headed out to the barn with slow, short, precise steps; he didn't realize the gait made him look absolutely feminine.

Fred and Barry were in the shop working up a job bid when the door to the shop opened. Both instinctually stopped what they were doing and looked up. What they saw was a very pretty, obviously nervous and shy girl wearing an old-fashioned pinafore. At first, they wondered who she was, thinking perhaps she was the darling daughter of one of their clients who had stopped by. But no one was behind her, and they hadn't heard a car enter the driveway. Simultaneously they realized the pretty girl had to be Shelley!

Both men stood dumfounded, staring at the cute girl with open-mouthed and wide-eyed amazement.

Page 24

TWO LITTLE GIRLS

By JENNIFER SUE

Sheldon felt his insides quiver as he noted the confusion upon their faces when he entered the shop. Their faces registered their stunned disbelieving recognition; he wanted to turn and run. However, he knew he had to tell them supper was ready or he'd be in BIG trouble. Grasping the hem of his skirt, he dropped a perfect curtsy before the startled men.

"Mother sent me to tell you supper is ready," he stated in a soft, dainty voice. Meekly, he stood with his hands folded demurely behind his back, awaiting their response.

Barry was the first to recover his voice.

"Well, I must say that you make a very pretty girl, Shelley. I think you'll do just fine as my flower girl!"

"Y...yes," stuttered Fred as he recovered his senses. Shelley was absolutely gorgeous! Never had he dreamed that his son could appear so soft and girlish.

Any fears the two harbored about being embarrassed by Sheldon taking over as the flower girl vanished. The dainty curtsy had impressed both men with its gracefulness and beauty. Barry reached out a hand to the blushing faux-girl. Sheldon knew what was expected. Lowering his head a bit due to the humiliation he felt at being exposed as a passable girl, he placed his soft-fleshed delicate hand in the hard callused hand of his step-brother. Hand in hand, the duo led the way to the house.

As Fred followed the pair, he marveled at the contrast between his strong, manly step-son and his obviously sissy son. For the first time, Fred realized how much he'd come to depend upon Barry and to think of him as his real son. At the same time, he guiltily realized that part of Sheldon's rebelliousness was due to the amount of time and praise he'd heaped upon Barry at the expense of his real son. Being a pragmatic man not prone to philosophical pondering, he promptly decided there was nothing to be done about what had happened. If Sheldon was to become a strong man, he'd have to do it on his own just like he and Barry had done. They had earned their manhood by hard and honest work.

Sheldon wanted only to play. Well, now he could play... as a girl! After all, he HAD intentionally hurt Cindy.

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