Chrissie and Allison

Sunday dawned bright and early. I yawned, stretched and put my feet into my bunny slippers. I put on my robe and went to do my daily ritual. I ran the bath water and put in a little lavender bubble bath. I soaked in it until I turned into a prune. Giggle. Chrissie was coming over today and we were going to do things as sisters. I think she was feeling a little left out because of the attention I was showing Mark. Yes, I would be ten years old in a few months, but Mark was such a dream.

After I rinsed off and wrapping a nice, soft terry towel around me, I went back to my room to get dressed. I took out my yellow slip and panty set, my canary ankle socks and my sun-yellow sun dress. For today I would wear my white Mary Jane's, I decided. After getting dressed, I brushed my hair really good and called for my mom to help me set it.

My hair had really grown since I started being Allison. It was just past my shoulders and too long to set into a perm, but my mother worked her magic. She styled it with the sides coming around to the back, clipping it with a large yellow barrette. I was now ready to meet Chrissie. She was my sister and I was hers. The only problem with that was, we didn't live in the same house.

After I had made sure everything was in order, I dabbed a little blush on, not too much though, and went down to breakfast. To my surprise, Chrissie was already there.

"Chrissie!" I shrieked. "I'm so glad you came over for breakfast!" I was so excited that Chrissie had come over early. We had been friends for nearly three years and without her, my life would have been empty. I mean, mom was alright to talk to, but when it comes to hanging around or going shopping or just talking modern girl talk, she was squaresville. Not that mom wasn't my best friend, but Chrissie was my sister, and sisters need to do things together.

"Well," Chrissie started, "isn't that what sisters do? Have breakfast and then go do things together?"

"For sure, Chrissie."

We had pancakes and sausage links with wheat toast, milk and orange juice. We ate and talked about what we were going to do that day.

"Allison, I was thinking that maybe we should just stay in town today and do things around here. Maybe later we can go to the Grand and see 'The Road To Morocco.' I hear it's very funny."

"Okay. That sounds nice. I think Bob Hope is in that one. I've never seen it, but it sounds nice."

"That's what we'll do then. We can always go into the city, but we never seem to do anything around here anymore."

"Okay, Chrissie, and you're right, we never seem to do anything in town anymore."

After breakfast, I washed the dishes while Chrissie dried and mom put away. The kitchen was sparkling and we went into the front room, got our purses and went to church. Chrissie and her mom came with us. And, what's to be said about church anyway? The preacher preaches. We listen, then we pray and sing and then the preacher says 'Thank you all for coming, God bless you.' and we leave. Every Sunday. Giggle.

When we got back home, I went upstairs to put my purse away and came right back down. I hugged and kissed mom, then we went over to Crissie's house and greeted her mom.

"Hi, Mrs. Jaeger," I said with a cheery smile.

"Hi, Allison."

"Mom? We're going up to my room and play for a while."

"All right, dear. I'll let you know when lunch is ready."

We went up to Chrissie's room and we decided we would play the same game that we played the night my mom saw me in Chrissie's outfit for the first time. This time, we played until lunch was called and we went downstairs. As we were going into the kitchen I saw my mother and Dr. St. Clair there. I ran over to my mom and gave her a big hug and then I gave Dr. St. Clair a very big hug.

"Mom? Dr. St. Clair? What are you doing here?"

"Well, young lady," Dr. St. Clair began, "you have an appointment this coming Friday to do that procedure I talked to you about. We were going to do this for your birthday, but I checked the hospital schedule and we can't get you in until either now or in October. So? What would you like to do?"

"Well, I would rather have it done now. So, I guess we'll make it Friday then."

"Good. But Friday is when you will be checked into the hospital. Saturday is when the procedure will be done and you should be back home on the following Friday, if there is no infection. How does that sound to you, Allison?"

"Sounds cool, Dr. St. Clair."

"Good girl. Now! We are all going out to lunch to celebrate. My treat."

I never understood why Dr. St. Clair took a more than casual interest in my case; she never said and I never asked. But I thought the time had come. This was the third time she had taken me out to eat since I'd met her and now she was including Chrissie and her mom. What was going on here?

On the drive to the restaurant, I looked at Dr. St. Clair and I then very carefully asked her.

"Uhm, Doctor? I have known you now for almost three years. You take a very unusual interest in me and my wanting to be a girl. Can I ask you why that is?"

The good doctor looked straight ahead after I asked that question, as if in deep thought. As we pulled into the restaurant parking lot, she answered my question before we got out of the car.

"Allison, when your mother called that first time, it wasn't by accident. Your mother had called the psychiatric helpline and told them she was looking for a psychiatrist to evaluate her son who wanted more than ever to be a female. They gave your mom my number. When she called me I told her to bring you in as soon as possible so that I could see you and talk with you. The reason I did that is because my son..." she then began to trail off, but after a few moments to compose herself, she continued, "My son is also transgendered and has been in transition for the past four years. I now consider her to be my daughter and her name is Kelly. Would you like to meet her, Allison? Chrissie?
Mrs. Jaeger? Mom?"

We all nodded yes. We left the restaurant and headed toward the country. We then turned off the highway at the next intersection, drove for about fifteen minutes and pulled up outside a nice two-story, red brick home. There were flowers around the front of the house and the hedges were trimmed very nice. As Dr. St. Clair stopped the car, a young girl of maybe thirteen or fourteen came out of the house and down the steps toward the car. She had long golden blonde hair, a nice pink halter-top, white shorts, and two-inch high sandals, no socks. She was beautiful. This was Kelly and, who knew, maybe another addition to the Girl Squad. Giggle. Kelly got into the car and Dr. St. Clair introduced all of us to her.

"Kelly. This is the girl I told you about. This is Allison Kingston and her mom. This is Chrissie Jaeger and her mom. Chrissie is a natural female and Allison's sister."

"Cool. Nice to meet you all. Allison, mom has told me so much about you. I want to talk to you when we go eat because I want you to tell me how it's been for you being a girl. All right?"

"Sure. That would be cool. But Chrissie has to be a part of the discussion too. I mean, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be like this. I'm glad she showed me the real me instead of me just putting on a show."

"That's cool, Allison. It seems mom can't talk about you without mentioning Chrissie. It's like I know you both already." We all giggled.

We then drove back to the restaurant and the car was crowded, but the three adults sat in the front while Crissie, Kelly and I sat in the back. We just talked among ourselves about this or that and were saving the get to know you talk for the restaurant.

During lunch Kelly, Chrissie and I talked while the adults sat at a different table. Kelly was the first to break the silence.

"Allison? How do you like being a girl? I mean, is there sometimes that you think you shouldn't have done this?"

"OMG yes! I like being a girl, Kelly, I really do. And no, I don't ever think I shouldn't have done this. Chrissie showed me the real me and I am glad she did or I know I would have been miserable later on. I just know it."

"Kelly? The reason I had Allison try on one of my outfits that first time was because I saw in Allison the girl that she really is. I know I did it because I was selfish and wanted a sister I could do things with, but if Allsion hadn't agreed to do this I don't know what I would have done. I was thinking about hurting myself, maybe even killing myself if I couldn't have a sister to do things with. I was very lonely and Allison is so sweet and caring; that is why I knew she would like what I had in mind. After about a little over a year and Allison's mother saw her in one of my outfits, she did a lot of things to make Allison the girl she should have been when she was born. Now we are sisters and oh my gosh, we do a lot of things together. Uhm, Kelly? Do you want to be our older sister?"

"Yes. Kelly, how about being our older sister?"

"All right, Allison, Chrissie, I would love to be your older sister. I could show you a lot of things that you don't know yet. And we could go shopping and maybe the park and to movies. I do have a boyfriend who knows I am in transition right now and he thinks that is cool."

"That is so cool, Kelly. What's his name?"

"Well, Allison, his name is Ryan and he is 15."

"That is sooooo cool, Kelly." I said.

"Yeah, Kelly. It is soooo cool that you have a boyfriend. Can we meet him sometime?"

"Oh yes, Chrissie. You and Allison will meet him, not this coming weekend because of your procedure, Allison, but the next weekend. We'll go to a movie and he will come with us."

"How did you know about my procedure, Kelly?"

"Oh, Allison, mom talks about everything concerning you with me. I hope that is all right with you, isn't it?"

"Sure, Allison. I'm sure that your mother/daughter talks are just like I have with my mom."

"Thank you, Allison. Mom doesn't mean any harm by it. I'm the only one she talks to about you besides other doctors and your mom."

"It's okay, Kelly. I don't mind. Everyone knows about me anyway and that is a good thing. I have so much love from everyone because of this, I consider the whole town my family."

Just then Dr. St. Clair and our moms came over to our table. "Are you ready to go, girls?" She asked.

Kelly answered for all of us. "Yes mom, we're ready. We had a nice talk."

"That's good, dear. I'm glad that you all got along."

"Mom? Allison and Chrissie asked me to be their older sister. I said okay. That's all right, isn't it?"

"Why, of course, it's all right. That's what I had in mind when I asked them if they wanted to meet you. You are only a few years older than both of them, and it would do them some good to have an older sister, as they are an only child in their respective families."

"Thanks, mom," Kelly returned.

We all went out to the parking lot and got in the car. Again, we sat in the back while the adults sat in the front. We drove to my house so Chrissie and I could continue to play with each other and Kelly was allowed to come over to Chrissie's with us. The adults stayed at my house having coffee and tea and talking, about us, I imagine. Giggle. As we went up to Chrissie's room, Kelly said something that surprised both Chrissie and me.

"Uhm, Allison? Chrissie? I have something to tell you that you don't know. Mom is sending me to camp with you both this summer."

"OMG!" I shrieked. "We are going to have so much fun at camp I can hardly wait." I gave Kelly a big hug.

"Kelly," Chrissie said. "I think that three sisters at camp is going to be just soooo cool. And, as Allison said, we are going to have sooooo much fun together." Chrissie then gave Kelly a big hug too.

"Thanks, sis, for making our day a bright one," Chrissie said to Kelly.

"All I know is this, girls. I have a boyfriend and I can teach you things that your moms have only touched on. We will be talking more about boys as time goes on. But now, let's get back to what we were doing. You girls are still probably playing with dolls yet, and at your age there is nothing wrong with that. But do you girls know how to play Monopoly?"

"Oh yeah, that's my favorite," I said. "I get the car." We all giggled.

Chrissie got out the Monopoly game and we set it up on the floor. Then we sat down Indian style and began to play. I rolled the dice first and then Chrissie and then Kelly, who got the highest roll and the first move. I won't go into the details of the game because I think we talked more than played. I don't even think we got half way around the board before Kelly started.

"I think I'm kinda bored with this game. Let's go downtown and see what's going on. I mean we could go and try on some nice outfits."

"Kelly, that's a very nice idea. To be honest, I'm bored too," I said back. Chrissie echoed what I said and we went downstairs to tell our mothers what we wanted to do.

"I think that is very nice, girls. You all go and have a good time," Dr. St. Clair said. Usually when SHE says it is a good idea, it means she wants to talk to my mother about me. But that's okay, she usually tells me what she said anyway.

"Okay, Mom," Kelly said. Chrissie and I said the same thing and then we all gave our mothers hugs and kisses and went downtown.

This wasn't like going into the city. The small town I grew up in had a combination hardware, food and clothing store. All-In-1, it was called. There was a supermarket on the outskirts of town, but people only went there when they did their bulk shopping. But for things like bread and milk everyone went to the All-In-1. So, we went downtown and went into the store. The clothing department reminded me of Marchand's; everything was there and in the latest styles, too. The only problem was, the prices were just a little higher than at Marchand's. We spent two hours just trying on different outfits, giggling and laughing. Then we went out to see what was going on at the local drugstore. The local drugstore was the teen hangout. That was why the gang and I never went in unless I had to get some aspirin or something and then we would leave right away.

So, we went into the drugstore and sat at the counter. Kelly bought us all a coke and an order of french fries. We sat there and talked some more. Kelly was a very nice person. We all got along. She was kinda old for the Girl Squad, but not too old to be our older sister. After we had talked some more and finished our cokes and fries, we left to go home. We didn't talk about anything important, just girl talk about everything. Giggle.

"I am so looking forward to being at camp this year with both of you," Kelly said after we had finished and started walking home. "I mean, I never had sisters before, not even a brother. This is going to be so cool."

"Kelly, I am looking forward to being at camp with you and Chrissie. But I don't know if you will be in our cabin because they go by age." I said, concerned that we would be split up.

"Allison, look, my mother will take care of it. So don't worry. I'll bet she'll get me in as a counselor or something or maybe a counselor's aide, if they have such a thing. But you know my mom. Just leave it to her."

"All right, Kelly. Hey! We're home," I said and we all giggled. Girls do that, you know. Giggle.