Part IV: The Next Morning
The morning brought with it new excitement as Jimmy’s bag was still nowhere to be found, and with it, every scrap of his boy clothes.
"Look, did you hide your brother's clothes? Be honest." Jimmy stood there accusingly, which made for quite the scene since he wore nothing but frilly panties and a pink camisole.
"No!" She protested. "Not even I'm that mean!" Jimmy was not so sure and, thankfully, his mom shared his doubt.
“Sarah Elizabeth, did you hide your brother’s clothes?”
“Mom! No!”
“You can either come clean now or it’ll be a month of being grounded when I find them.”
“Mom! I swear, I did not take Jimmy’s clothes!” Jimmy was impressed by her performance, but still gasped as his mom nodded.
"I believe you." She said.
"What are we going to do?" Jimmy asked.
"Well" His mom stretched the single syllable out. "There's one option, but I don't think you'll like it."
Jimmy sat glowering in the hotel lobby, arms crossed, the flower girl dress poofing out all around him. He had begged and pleaded for his mom to just go buy him clothes at the nearest department store, but she had remained firm, arguing that they had spent enough money on the hotel room. The least she could have done was allow him the wig, but it had been packed up already and checkout was coming too soon for them to put it back on. So here he sat, mortified with his short hair and ridiculous dress. He pouted, glad at least that Sarah was in charge of getting their things in the car, a job that ordinarily fell to him. He winced as he heard his mom talking to the hotel clerk.
“Oh, we had a little trouble finding his clothes this morning and had to make do.” The moment that his mom had finished checking out, he shuffled out to the car, petticoats rustling and Mary Janes still making that infernal click-clack.
"You'll have to sit up front with me, Sarah. Your brother's dress will probably take up most of the backseat." Jimmy could not believe it. His mom and Sarah sat up front in their jeans and t-shirts while he, the only boy, sat in the back, his voluminous skirt indeed taking up enough room that he could only sit in the middle of the car's backseat. Where had his clothes gone? Once they got him dressed, they had torn the hotel room apart practically in their search for his clothes, but they had vanished into thin air.
He looked out the window as they pulled into the driveway. He did not see anyone he knew out in the evening air, but he did not want to take any chances. The second that his mom turned the car off, he leaped out of the car and dashed for the door, Mary Janes clicking with every step. He could not wait another second to get inside and out of this dress!
“Sure would’ve been funny if he forgot the code for the front door.” His mom whispered to Sarah, who smiled as her brother disappeared inside.
It felt so strange to him to be standing in the middle of his bedroom, the room that he knew in the most intimate fashion of any room in the house, the room that reflected his personality, in the over-the-top flower girl dress. He knew that he could quickly fix that though. Reaching behind him, he fingered the zipper, but he found it impossible to get enough of a grip on it to pull it down. He grunted as he tried again and again. No luck. He sighed and shuffled out of the room and back downstairs to ask his mom for help.
“Alright, come here.” His mom said, smiling at the sweet image of her son still trapped in his dress. “I’ll take this off on one condition.” At the end of his rope, Jimmy sighed wearily.
“Ok, what is it?”
“You hang this dress up in your closet. Nicely. Your aunt Lisa bought this specifically for you, after all.”
“No way.”
“Then you’ll stay in that dress until you agree. I’m not unzipping you until you do and you can bet Sarah won’t help you.” He groaned melodramatically, but she remained firm. “Those are my terms, mister. You know very well that Sarah’s terms won’t be nearly as generous.” He sighed just as melodramatically.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“I’ll hang it in my closet.”
“Nicely.” She said. He nodded glumly. Taking him gently by the shoulders, she turned his back to her and unzipped him. Almost the instant that it was unzipped, he had dashed away, dress rustling as he bounded up the stairs. “Wait just a second.” Jimmy froze on the stairs and turned back to his mom, who looked up at him. “On second thought, I think it’d be better if I hung it up. Come here.” He descended the stairs, glad the dress was about to come off. “Arms.” He raised his arms and his mom pulled the dress off of him, leaving the boy standing there at the foot of the stairs in just frilly pink panties and a matching camisole.
“Now can I go change?” He asked as his mom eyed his underthings.
“Just a sec.” She said. “I want you to put these in your hamper, do you understand?”
“Why?”
“They’ll need to be washed before you wear them again.” She said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Wear them again?” He asked, aghast.
“I’m just teasing. With how much your sister teases you, you’d think you’d be used to it.” Jimmy sighed. “In the hamper, mister.” His mom called as he headed back upstairs. She had to be teasing, right?
The End
And with that, Jimmy's adventure comes to an end. What did you think? Will Noah ever find out what happened to his princess?