Chapter Six: Lessons

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By the time Angelo made it to the kitchen for dinner, he had decided against wearing the skirt Mary Elizabeth had suggested. Instead, he had slipped on a pair of mid-thigh length denim shorts, topped off with a fitted, black tee shirt containing the words "Girls Rule", in hot pink glitter. On his feet were pink Keds and no socks.

As Angelo entered the kitchen, Mary Elizabeth saw the shirt he was wearing and smiled. She knew that particular shirt hadn't been bought for Julia. She had actually purchased this one two days ago, specifically for Angelo, and she was thrilled that he had chosen it.

"My, aren't you just the cutie," Mary Elizabeth proclaimed with a wink.

"Would you rather I had worn the skirt?" Angelo inquired.

"No, honey. You look fine. Just the spitting image of a young teenage girl. And it's a nice choice you made for yourself. You have a good eye."

Looking Angelo over, Mary Elizabeth knew he truly was femininely cute with his short stature and slender legs and arms, so smooth and pretty.

She did, however, notice that his hair could use some work and it wouldn't hurt for his nails to have a little color applied to them. She also decided that he would appear even more feminine if each of his earlobes contained a dainty little sparkling stud.

Angelo began to explain to Mary Elizabeth, his reasoning for the outfit change, "I chose this one over something more dressy because I wanted to help you prepare dinner, mommy."

"Aww, honey. That's so sweet and thoughtful of you. Thank you . . . For now, put this apron on and you can set the table, and then I'll show you how to slice the mushrooms for me."

Mary Elizabeth was impressed with how gracefully and daintily Angelo moved about the kitchen. He also showed a true artistic bent in setting up the table and using the fresh flower bouquet from the living room as a centerpiece.

For their first supper, Mary Elizabeth had bought a non-alcoholic champagne to share and told Angelo where the wine goblets were.

"You really seem to know what you're doing in the kitchen, Angela," Mary Elizabeth commented, testing the waters with a new name, a girl name.

"Yes ma'am, I kinda do. When my birth mom was alive, I did most of the cooking and cleaning, all the laundry, and I had to clean the house. She was always too sick to do it herself."

"Well, you were certainly a good son. I'm so sorry about your mom."

Angelo wanted to cry. He did miss his mom something terrible, but she had been dead for over a year and a half now. She had been a very talented, lovely person, but suffered terribly from mental illness. It had been Angelo who after the age of eight had maintained the household.

"But, you're my mommy now," Angelo said. "I hope you'll like me, too."

"Oh darling, I do. More than anything else, I do."

After supper was done and the two had shared the chore of cleaning up and loading the dishwasher, Mary Elizabeth sent Angelo into the living room with two chairs from the kitchen table while she went to the bedroom and changed into a conservative, knee-length skirt. It was time to begin training Angelo in the subtleties involved in presenting naturally as a girl.

Mary Elizabeth returned to the living room and positioned one chair facing the other. She then had Angelo sit in one of the chairs. Once he was seated she proceeded to sit in the other, making sure to smooth the back of her skirt as she did.

"First of all, from now on, you're my foster daughter. I will refer to you only as my daughter, and will only use 'her' and 'she' when talking to other people. Also, I will only address you as Angela, if this is okay with you. Is this what you desire?"

Angelo smiled a wide toothy smile. "Yes, mommy, yes. More than anything."

Mary Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, looking at Angelo. She half closed one eye and squeezed her lips together, expressing a quizzical look. A slight, "Hmm" escaped her lips as she continued to study the child.

"Angela. Take a look at how you're sitting. You'll notice it's just like a crude, sloppy, unmannered boy. Is that who you are?"

"No, no mommy. I'm a girl."

"Yes, and you're a pretty, sweet, and mannered girl. Don't forget that!"

She told the boy to look at her and how she was sitting with her knees together, her back straight and her hands folded neatly on her lap. She had him compare this to how he was kicked back in his chair with his legs spread apart in a slouched position.

He quickly brought his knees together and adjusted to assume her position.

"Do I look okay like this? Am I doing it right now, mommy?"

"Yes, honey. Much more ladylike."

Angelo grinned.

"Second, when at a table eating, don't put your elbows on the table; keep your hand in your lap when you're not using a knife, fork or spoon." She smiled and continued. "At dinner tonight, honey, you were eating like a crude and mannerless boy. You were taking big bites and wolfing everything down without much chewing."

"I'm sorry, mommy. I'll do better next time. You'll see."

"I hope so. We have to get rid of all those nasty boy habits of yours if you want to be my sweet, feminine daughter, right?"

"Yes, I do, cause I want to be your sweet princess and I don't want anyone to ever think I'm anything but a girl."

Mary Elizabeth was overcome with joy and excitement, sitting there in front of this lovely child. "You are my princess, honey. But we need to refine just a few things. When you eat, take smaller portions on your fork or spoon. Then, chew your food, with your mouth closed, quietly and slower. Mealtime isn't a race, for a young lady."

Angelo nodded and smiled back a sweet smile that Mary Elizabeth couldn't resist. She leaned forward and took the boy's hands in hers. Squeezing them she pulled him towards her and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. She noticed that he smelled so clean and fresh, just like the lavender and chamomile body wash she had left in his shower.

Angelo's own heart jumped as she placed the peck on his cheek, and he felt he wanted to be in her arms, hugged and caressed. He wanted so badly to please his new mother, to be her true girl child.

"Now, when it comes to getting up and down from a chair," Mary Elizabeth began. "Did you notice how I did it before? Here, let me show you." She demonstrated slowly, rising from the chair with her legs still together and then sat back down, smoothing her skirt from behind as she sat. "You must always smooth the skirt . . . or dress," she said. "Otherwise, it will bunch up in back and get wrinkled. Then you'll look sloppy and you don't want that."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Always sit with your legs together, even if you move them to one side or the other. You have on shorts now, but you won't always. A lady doesn't want to be exposing her undies to everyone when she sits. Like just now, you crossed your legs and flashed me in the process. Now you've slouched down and are sitting like a sloppy boy again. Here, let me show you how women do it."

At this point Mary Elizabeth crossed her left leg over her right, keeping the tail of her skirt pulled straight as she did. "This is one way, and here's another." She continued as she uncrossed her legs, and while keeping her knees together she crossed her legs at her ankles. "Now you try."

Angelo demonstrated to her what he had just learned about crossing his legs. As soon as he crossed his legs at the knees, Mary Elizabeth commented, "Almost honey." She reached across and pointed out how he hadn't brought his knee far enough over his other leg. "See. You look like a boy again," she told him.

Angelo attempted to assume the prescribed position as Mary Elizabeth pushed on his knee, but it didn't feel natural to him. He told her this and she responded: "That's okay, practice it, and you'll soon be doing it like a girl without thinking . . . One thing you may have to do that I never thought of before, well here, stand up," she instructed.

She then leaned forward, reaching between his legs, "You are going to have to make sure your boy parts are pushed as far back towards your bum as possible, so they are out of the way."

"Aiiiiiiiiii," he yelled uncomfortably, taken by surprise as Mary Elizabeth placed her cold fingers on his manhood and pushed it, a little too roughly, back between his legs.

"Did I hurt you. I'm sorry."

"No ma'am, it's just that your cold fingers took me by surprise."

"in sorry, sweetheart. Now, have a seat and try to cross your legs correctly," She suggested.

Angelo shifted his bum in his seat trying to get comfortable with his manhood in its new position. He then crossed his right leg over his left.

"Perfect," Mary Elizabeth exclaimed. "How does that feel?"

"Better?" he responded. It did feel a little better to him and was just like he had pushed it back earlier in the day, but it was still an odd feeling to have his boy parts tucked so far back that it touched his butt crack.

As he sat there and thought about it, he decided that it would just take some getting used. At the same time he also kinda liked how it felt to have his legs crossed with no anatomy in the way. This caused a sensation, a feeling of it no longer being there at all, causing him to smile.

"Good, because it certainly makes you appear more feminine. Now let me see your walk," she commented.

Angelo uncrossed his legs and stood up like he had been taught, then walked across the room and back a couple of times, trying to take smaller steps than he normally did. "How's that, mommy?"

"Not bad, honey. There's a bit of a girl in that walk."

It was true Angelo had been trying to pick up some girlish movements in the last year by observing how the girls around him walked and carried themselves. His cousins often teased him, telling him he walked like a girl. In fact, when he sat on the couch, he usually tucked his feet under his butt.

"But, Angela," she said. "You must learn to walk more upright, no slouching. Keep your back straight and your chest out, place one foot in front of the other, but don't overdo it. That will create a natural sway to your hips."

"Ok, mommy. How's this," he asked, following her instructions.

After watching him walk back and forth across the room several times, Mary Elizabeth responded.

"That's very girlish looking. Good work. You are a fast learner."

Continuing to walk back and forth across the room Angelo explained, "The more I do this, the more natural it feels."

"Good, good. Now, do it again, but this time don't bend your elbows that much and don't swing your arms so dramatically. Let your hands and wrists hang naturally."

He walked back and forth several more times, each time feeling more comfortable with the motions.

"That's it! You've got it. Now, come back over and have a seat."

Angelo walked over and sat down, trying to do it slowly and with grace. "No, Angela. Stop. Stand back up. You didn't smooth your dress."

"But I don't have on a dress, momma."

"Yes I know, but I want you to get in the habit of doing the motion. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Angelo replied before trying again, this time placing his hands behind his bum and sweeping downward as he sat.

At this point, Mary Elizabeth suggested they get some ice cream as a reward for being such a good student.

"You're such a good little girl, and you learn so fast," she said.

"Thank you, mommy. I think I really do like being a girl. This is fun."

While they sat at the kitchen table and ate their ice cream, Angelo realized he had never in his life felt more at peace, more comfortable than he was now, in his new home. He also realized that his quick transformation into girlhood was indeed a trek into his true feminine nature.

He had always been afraid of being a boy, fearful of the need to be aggressive and to talk tough and to be physically strong, ever ready to fight if he had to.

As a boy, he knew he would somehow have to develop a masculinity that just didn't seem to be in his nature. That just never felt comfortable, natural to him. But this did, this truly felt natural and right.

"Now, you'll have to work on your voice and how you speak, just a little," Mary Elizabeth explained when they were finished with the ice cream.

Looking over, she smiled at the child before her, his lips now covered with cream.

"Wipe your mouth off, honey."

Angelo took a paper napkin and swiped it across his mouth.

"No. Not that way. Do it more daintily. Just dab it like this." Mary Elizabeth demonstrated, and the boy copied her perfectly.

"You're such a good girl," she said. "Now, for the toughest part of becoming a girl. Your voice."

"Yes mommy," Angelo replied, trying to soften his voice and placing it in a higher register.

"You already have a gentle, sweet voice, but it's still a bit boy like." Mary Elizabeth suddenly had an idea. "If you were talking to a little baby, how would you do it? Talk like you would to an infant about six months old."

"You mean like this, mommy," he said, raising his voice to a higher level, adding a few "Coo, coos."

Mary Elizabeth answered, "That's better, yes. Notice how your voice pitches up at the end? That's what we are looking for, it's called uptalk. Now try again."

"How do you mean, mommy, like this," he asked, finding his voice wavering a bit, and not being constant.

"Yes. Practice that," she said. "Don't force your voice. Feminine voices have more pitch variations in them than masculine voices, just don't overdo the pitch-raising: a squeaky, falsetto voice sounds fake. Also try to maintain a softness, too."

Angelo began talking, trying out his new voice, still not satisfied with it. Mary Elizabeth grew frustrated, as it still didn't sound like a convincingly girlish voice. "Not yet, honey. You'll need more practice. We also need to work on appropriate feminine content. Men and women tend to talk about the same things in different ways; what you say contains gender cues, just as much as how you say it. Women tend to concentrate more on thoughts and feelings, while men concentrate on objects and actions. Men generally use more 'shortcuts', colloquialisms and bad language, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if a man wants to ask his friend to join him for dinner after work, he might say something like 'Coming to the diner?' It's rather abrupt, using the minimum of words and concentrating on the desired action in a rather impersonal way. A woman might say 'Do you feel like joining me for a bite to eat tonight?' This concentrates on her friend's feelings and desires. It's personal, and not abbreviated with poor grammar."

"I feel like I'm beginning to understand, mother. What do you think?"

You're off to a good start, but there's even more to it that we haven't even touched on yet."

"Now, Angela, honey," Mary Elizabeth continued. "Here's another hint. Listen closely to how women and girls talk. Listen to how we accentuate certain words. Once you master 'girl-talk' you'll be able to even talk in a lower, almost male voice, because the way you handle the words will mark you as a girl, okay?"

"Oh okay, mommy," he said, mimicking how she said okay.

"Darling, you're getting it. You're beginning to understand the concept . . . I think."

Angelo's smile grew. He continued to talk and walk and act as girly as he could. Finally, Mary Elizabeth stood up and announced, "Sweetheart, continue practicing. I've got to go up and take care of a little work so let's stop here for now. I'm afraid tomorrow at the mall, you'll just have to talk as little as possible. Just act shy."

Angelo smiled. He had no trouble acting shy. It was in his nature.

On her way upstairs Mary Elizabeth asked Angelo if he felt like watching a movie later. She had already looked up several on Netflix that were aimed at teenage girls and that she felt would be great for pointing out girly mannerisms, clothing tips, speech patterns and more.

"Oh, mommy. I love that idea. What kind of movie sounds good to you?"

"We'll see when I come back down."

Later that night, after Angelo had dressed in a light blue nightie, they sat on the couch. Angelo tucked his legs up under him and nestling next to Mary Elizabeth.

The movie they began to watch was one set in high school with a storyline that targeted twelve to eighteen-year-old girls. Angelo had never seen it and quickly began identifying with the beautiful heroine, wishing he could go to school as a girl.

About half an hour into the movie Mary Elizabeth had Angelo sit on the floor in front of her and she began to put his hair up in curlers. "We'll have to let this grow longer to really do anything with it, honey, but this'll work for now," She told him when she was done.

Continuing to watch the movie, Mary Elizabeth occasionally made comment about outfits the female characters had on. She asked Angelo his opinion on the different styles, how he liked or didn't like the various shoes, what he thought about the girls wearing hose versus bare legs and had him rate the various girl's hairstyles. She also pointed out feminine mannerisms, and how the girls did simple everyday things in slightly different ways from boys, ways that showed a distinct feminism.

For Angelo, this night was the beginning of a new life, a life closer to what he desired; that of a girl. For Mary Elizabeth, this night was the sweetest, warmest night since the death of her husband many years earlier. She now had the daughter she has always wanted.

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