Chapter 48. Surprise, Surprise.
He made a quick rush forward. “Got you!” His arms closed around what felt like Autumn’s body. There was a high-pitched scream, followed by hysterical giggling and squirming as she tried to escape. In fact, there was a chorus of screams! What the… He let his captive go, and tore off his blindfold. He stood there, blinking in the bright sunshine, not understanding. He was in the midst of a pack of little girls, jumping and squealing with excitement, but keeping their distance from him as if he were some sort of wild animal. He looked around. To his right, over against the fence, stood Penelope, Autumn, and Rosie, in a row, convulsed with laughter. Penelope pulled herself together.
“I’m sorry, Nathan. Don’t be angry. We played a little prank on you, that’s all. The party’s today!”
Then she was off again.
“You…what? Today?”
He felt a sudden surge of disappointment. Unconsciously, he had been looking forward to impressing all Penelope’s friends with his blue babywear, and being the centre of attention. Well, he was the centre of attention all right! But for all the wrong reasons. He stood there, frowning and blushing, not knowing what to do.
As the guests perceived his embarrassment and confusion, their nervousness changed to boldness, their hysteria to ridicule. The girl he had grabbed approached him again.
“Hello, Baby Natalie. Did we surprise you? We’ve been looking forward to seeing you since we arrived. Love your pretty panties!”
Autumn piped up from the sidelines. “Yes, I’m afraid we told them to call you Baby Natalie. I mean, you couldn’t be Nathan, dressed like that, could you?” And she dissolved in giggles once again.
The pack were now closing in on the main attraction, and soon Nathan was being pushed and shoved and pinched. He looked around for a way of escape, but there was none. One girl pulled at his floral bloomers to see what was underneath.
“Look! He’s wearing pink plastic baby pants!”
“Let us see!” cried several voices.
Nathan decided on a dash for the kitchen door, where Mrs Lissington was standing smiling at the melée. But as he went to force his way through the throng, someone tripped him and he stumbled and fell. In a moment they were on him. Two climbed astride his back, and others held his wrists and pinned down his legs. He was well and truly captured. He felt inquisitive fingers tugging at the leg of his pants.
“You’re right, Sasha! These are just like my baby sister wears! And look, a pink pull-up! Maybe he really is a girl!”
“Shall we look and see?” An eager voice came from one on the girls sitting on his back.
“Now, now, girls.” Catherine thought it time to intervene. “I think we ought to let Nathan – I mean Natalie – get up, don’t you?” (Disappointed cries of “Ooh?”} “Yes. Come on. You’ll have all day to play with him. Why don’t we go and get some lunch. There’s lots of food. And ice-cream with sprinkles and chocolate sauce.”
The distraction took immediate effect. The guests relinquished their captive and made a beeline for the conservatory, where there was a long table laid out with goodies. Nathan was left lying on the ground, getting his breath back. Penelope came over and knelt down beside him.
“Sorry, Nathan. We couldn’t resist playing a little trick on you. You’re not angry, are you?”
He looked up at her. Her long blonde hair was hanging down like a curtain over her face, the sunlight flickering through it as it waved gently in the breeze. He stared back up at her.
“N-no, of course not.”
“Let’s go and get something to eat before my friends scoff the lot.”
Back in the conservatory, the chattering had died down, replaced by noises of eating. When Nathan and the girls came in, hardly anyone even bothered to look at him. They took a paper plate each, and helped themselves. Catherine and Cynthia were busying themselves refilling the dishes, or bringing in more sandwiches. Catherine addressed Nathan and Rosie.
“Your mums said to say they were sorry, but they both have to work today. In any case, we’ve already got a houseful, haven’t we?”
I’m not sorry, thought Nathan. It’s bad enough as it is.
He and his friends sat to one side, eating and observing the guests. Penelope’s friends were mainly about her age, though there was one younger girl, perhaps seven or eight, dressed in a pink tutu..
“That’s Arabella,” said Penelope, “Angie’s sister. Angie’s the one with the black hair, in a yellow dress. She wanted to come so desperately, we couldn’t disappoint her.”
She must have seen them looking at her, because suddenly she left the others and came running over. She went straight up to Nathan, and with a shy smile, whispered in his ear, “I think you’re cute!” And then, with an embarrassed giggle, went running back and hid behind her sister.
“What did she say,” asked Penelope, curious.
“Nothing in particular.”
“I heard,” said Rosie, who had been sitting next to Nathan, “she said she thinks he’s cute!”
“Ooh,” smirked Penelope, “you have a little admirer, Nathan. If you’re lucky you might be able to steal a kiss later on!” And they all fell about laughing.
“Shut up,” said Nathan, not amused.
“You know,” said Autumn, “I think he does like her! Well, I suppose she seems quite grown-up to a little baby.” More hilarity.
“Look,” said Nathan, really annoyed now, “I don’t want to be a baby girl all day!”
“Oh, stop having a tantrum, silly,” replied Penelope, shortly. “Look, it’s time for some photos. I know you like showing off for the camera. Let’s go.”
Indeed, Cynthia had got out her camera, and was ushering the girls into the garden for a communal photo session. They were running wild after their injection of food and sugar, but eventually, with Catherine’s help, she managed to calm them down and arrange them in a group. Being the tallest, Nathan thought he should be at the back, but little Arabella grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let it go, so he ended up with her right in the middle in the front!
“Okay, everyone, ready? Nathan, smile please. Come on, this is a party, not a funeral! Is that the best you can do?”
Arabella tugged at his hand. “Nathan. Please smile. Look at me.”
He looked down at her. Her face was radiant with happiness. How could he possibly disappoint her? So he smiled, and smiled some more, and in the end the photos went off very well.
The children played in the garden for the first half of the afternoon. Several forays were made into the jungle, resulting in torn dresses, scratched legs, and tears. But everyone had a good time. Everyone, including Nathan, who forgot completely he was Baby Natalie and ran around screaming with the rest. But at some time after two, he took Penelope aside.
“Pen. Please can I change into my boy stuff? That was always the plan, you know, if you hadn’t tricked me.”
“You really want to? You think you’re going to fit in better wearing a teddy T-shirt and bright blue plastic pants? These girls are mostly too young to understand baby fashion. They’ll just start on you all over again.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do. So go put it on if you want to. But I’ll give you an alternative. If you prefer, you can wear my pink dress.”
“What? The one you showed me the other day?”
“Yes.”
He thought for a while. He looked at her. Maybe she had a point.
“Okay…” he said slowly, “I’ll give it a try.”
“Good. Come on. You can change in my room. I’ll grab your shoes.”
Penelope’s bedroom was nice. Pale greens and mauves. Very peaceful and uncluttered. And it smelt of her. She went to the wardrobe and laid the dress out on the bed.
“I rescued it from the stable and hung it up, so it’s not creased on anything. Here, you can have a pair of my panties. They should fit. And here’s some white socks. And you’ll have to wear your blue shoes, but they shouldn’t clash too much. I’ll be outside when you’re done.”
He was trembling slightly as he pulled on the panties. The satiny dress felt cold and slippery as he pulled it over his head. It fitted him perfectly. Then the socks, and the shoes. He looked at himself in the mirror. The satin shimmered and changed colour, from dark pink almost to mauve, and back again, as he moved. It came down to his knees. It was such a lovely simple outfit after all those nappies and pants. It felt so…so natural. He left the ribbons on his limbs and in his hair. They seemed to go with the dress quite nicely.
He presented himself to Penelope. She stared at him, slightly startled.
“Wow. You look good in that…” She turned him round, then back again. To his slight surprise, she put her arms round him and gave him a hug, resting her head momentarily on his shoulder. Then she took him by the hand and led him back to the party.
He was apprehensive about what sort of reception he’d get. But he needn’t have worried. He quickly became the centre of attention again, but this time for all the right reasons.
“That’s a beautiful dress! You look so good in it, Nathan!”
“Is it yours? Penelope’s? Pen, you should let him keep this. He looks great!”
“Nathan? It’s my party in two weeks. Would you come? It would be so great if you could…”
And little Arabella liked it best of all.
“Nathan, you look so pretty. Will you be my friend? And come to all my parties? Angie, I want Nathan to come to our house and play…”
In short, Nathan found himself accepted without reservation into the society of Penelope’s friends. He no longer excited ridicule. He was just one of them, and they chatted and laughed with him as if he were just another girl. Penelope watched him, not without a pang – maybe of jealousy, maybe of regret. But when the party was over, and the guests had all departed, and Arabella had got her goodbye kiss, she sat him on the sofa and cuddled up to him and looked into his eyes.
“Do you like me, Nathan?”
“Yes…yes..." A long pause "I…love you, Pen.”
“I love you, too. But sometimes…will you still be my baby, sometimes?”
“Course. As long as you’ll be my mummy!”
Topic: The Innocent (Read 39475 times)
