PART 23
Josh made his bed like his mother wanted. (For the last 24 hours, he had been making his bed in more ways than one!) As he gazed around the girly room, it dawned on him that this was one of the few times he had been alone since this whole ordeal started aside from sleeping. He looked at the gauzy canopy bed and the little pink ribbons dancing down. Shifting his gaze to the dolls, he realized that’s almost what he felt like… a pretty and fragile doll. He examined the dolls more closely. There were three of them, and he saw small engraved nameplates on the bench. He hadn’t noticed those before. Their names were Penelope, Maddie, and Eliza. Penelope was wearing a pink gingham dress resembling the one he wore yesterday. She had blonde pigtails tied in pretty pink bows and wore pink patent Mary Jane shoes. His closet door was still ajar, and he saw his own gingham dress hanging there sweetly. Without really thinking, he picked up the doll and walked to the closet. Holding Penelope, he lightly brushed the lacy petticoat of his hanging dress and compared the dresses. Remembering he was supposed to go wait in the sitting room, he closed the closet door. Absentmindedly, he propped Penelope up on the bed instead of putting her back on her bench. He’d move her back later.
Sighing, he returned to the full-length mirror. The bashful little girl looking back was a picture of sugar and spice. Fifteen? He knew he looked ten or eleven at the very most. His thoughts drifted back to his dream. His little man perked up just remembering it. The way the tights felt constantly reminded him of being suc-ked down into the big pink cushion. His bedroom door was open, but he was all alone in the room. He took a deep breath and smelled his floral scent. Whatever this was, he knew down deep, was better than Sterncourt.
On a whim, he grabbed his skirt and playfully swished it around while he watched himself in the mirror. His breath got a little quicker. He started to feel the familiar taboo mixture of arousal and shame that had been teasing him throughout this entire process. He knew he should stop, but nonetheless he kept swishing his skirt back and forth. Swish, swish swish. It fascinated him to watch the chiffon dress dance and rustle over his tights. HIS chiffon dress and HIS ruffled tights. He paused for a moment as if in thought, and then he slowly lifted his skirt just enough in back to run his fingers across his ruffled bottom. It all felt strange and forbidden. Chiding himself silently, he pulled his hand back abruptly and let his skirt waft back down. His little man was fully awake now—but buried deep under his floral panties, ruffled tights and chiffon dress. Josh touched the front of his skirt to adjust himself through all the layers of girlishness, and it felt electric. He had to stop.
Yanking his hand back again, he shook his head sharply and stepped off the plush rug onto the hardwood. His polka dot sandals made a soft clacking noise on the polished wooden floor. Despite himself, he turned again to the mirror. The way Kathy had styled his hair with the pretty pink hairband really made him look younger. He touched the hairband and the fabric covering was surprisingly soft to the touch. He stopped to listen intently. He could hear the faint noises of his mother and Kathy getting ready elsewhere in the house, but they weren’t nearby. He wasn’t sure exactly why he did what he did next. Studying his reflection closely, he curtsied as gracefully as he could.
Spying the swivel stool, he listened carefully again. Still no one nearby. He pulled the stool out where he could see it in the mirror and then sat down. He tried to sit demurely and keep his legs together. “Knees, Joshua, Knees!” he reprimanded himself. He watched himself in the mirror as he folded his hands various ways. Sitting like this, his hands were folded on top of his chiffon skirt right above his little man. He squeezed his legs together tighter and shuddered slightly. It felt very nice, but he was wary of making another “little squirtie” right now. He was playing with fire.
He pushed off with his feet to spin around on the stool and straightened out his legs as he twirled. The white tights were such a contrast with his colorful skirt and shoes. He stopped spinning and breathed deeply. Surrendering hesitantly to temptation, he pulled his skirt up again with one hand. With the other, he tickled the front of his tights and closed his eyes. His pulse accelerated. In his mind’s eye, he was tumbling through the air again high above the satiny pink cushion. He hooked his thumb in the top of his tights and slowly began to pull them dow—
“Josh! where are you, honey? We’re ready to go!” he heard his mother call abruptly. Snapped rudely from his trance, his face grew hot. He heard her footsteps in the hallway now. “Josh, I don’t want to be late!” she called again.
Josh smoothed his skirt frantically. His frustrated little man was practically screaming at him. “I’m coming Mommy, I’m coming!” he squeaked nervously. He could tell she was near the open door.
A second later, Gwendolyn appeared in the doorway. She saw that the canopy bed had been neatly made as she asked… but why was there a doll on the bed? Josh was blushing furiously. And why was the vanity stool in the middle of the room?
Gwendolyn turned a probing gaze on her son. Josh was crimson. She didn’t know precisely what was going on here, but her intuition was whispering to her, and she had suspicions. Whatever Josh had been up to, however, she sensed that it was not necessarily disrupting her plans right now. She felt sure she would ferret it out in time.
Her gaze lingered a bit longer on her fidgeting sissified son. Then, with a sly grin, she delivered another little nudge. “Oh I see you’ve been playing with the pretty dolls. How sweet! But, come along, honey. It’s time for brunch! You can have more time with your dollies later.”
Humiliated even more, Josh silently chastised himself for leaving the doll on the bed. Still, he was eager to escape this moment and quickly blurted out using his best sing-song voice, “Yes Mommy of course! I can’t wait for our lovely brunch!” His little man was still angry, but it was starting to calm down. Now his mother thought he was playing with dolls—which was basically true—but at least she didn’t know the rest.
Topic: New Arrangements for Josh (Read 119115 times)
