Chapter 1
Allow me to introduce myself — my name is William, I’m thirty-five, and I’m the father of a wonderful fourteen-year-old girl named Sheila. But alas, life is not always fair, and for the past six years I have been raising her on my own.
Yet this autumn something would happen to us — something that would change our quiet, familiar life for good. If you’re curious, sit down and listen to my story.
It was almost the middle of October. That evening, my daughter was sitting in the living room with her friend, Kristin, and they were watching a movie together.
I heard a knock on the door and went to check who it could be.
Kristin’s father, Arthur, stood on the threshold, smiling, and held out his hand to greet me. I invited him in, mentioning that the girls were watching TV, and asked if he’d like something to drink. He chose a beer.
We went into the kitchen and started chatting about everyday nonsense. To tell the truth, we weren’t exactly friends — it’s just hard not to stay on good terms when you live across the street and your daughters are inseparable. And there was one more thing that connected us: we were both single fathers, each for his own reason.
Half an hour later, the girls ran into the kitchen. Kristin immediately flung her arms around her father, while Sheila came up to me.
“Dad...” My daughter put her hands behind her back and looked at me, making eyes. She usually does this when she wants to ask for something. “You know, Halloween is in two weeks!”
“Let me guess. You’ve thought up what outfit you want to wear this year?” I asked, completely not expecting a trick.
“We would like to match our clothes this year!” Kristin said, and then she and Sheila exchanged suspicious glances. “But that’s not all...”
“Kris, do you really think it’s worth trying to ask for this?” My daughter glanced at her friend, then looked back at me with guilt written all over her face.
“If we don’t try, we won’t find out!” Kristin was a much livelier girl, and therefore crazy ideas were more often her initiative.
“Girls!” I looked at them sternly.
Sheila ran into the living room and returned a minute later with a tablet in her hands.
“We want to dress up like this!” My daughter showed me a picture of a family in retro clothes. “And we want you two to dress up with us!”
Arthur and I looked at each other in astonishment. Considering how embarrassed our daughters were, it was not hard to guess what they wanted — but it seemed impossible; we’re both men!
I opened my mouth to say that it wouldn’t work, but Sheila spoke first.
“We understand that what we are asking for is too much, but for at least one day, we would like to pretend to be a complete family.” My daughter hung her head sadly and seemed ready to cry. “And it wouldn’t even matter if it looked bad.”
I turned to Arthur for reassurance, but he merely shrugged. “In fact, it might even be funny, but I definitely won’t be able to dress like this beautiful lady!”
In his forties, Arthur looks quite impressive — broad shoulders, an athletic build, and over 180 centimeters tall. I, on the other hand, am only 165, and quite thin at that. In a masquerade like this, the role of the woman would without a doubt fall to me.
I turned my gaze back to the girls, who were looking at me with hope. I squatted down in front of Sheila. This girl, growing up without a mother’s affection, was asking for such a small thing. How could I refuse her? What kind of father would I be if I didn’t fulfill her wish?
“All right, all right. Have it your way! This Halloween, we are going to dress up as a family. But I want to warn you right now that you will regret your decision when our neighbors laugh at us!”
The girls jumped up and hugged me joyfully. “Thank you, Mr. Summers!” whispered Kristin. “You are the best dad in the world! Or should I say mom?” Sheila said with a sly smile, as if she had known from the beginning that everything would turn out this way.
I watched them celebrate for a moment, then quietly slipped out of the hug.
Two weeks. That’s all I had — and if I didn’t want to disappoint Sheila or make a complete fool of myself, there was a lot of work ahead.
Well, it was too late to take my words back anyway. And honestly — what more could a father ask for than a smile like that on his daughter’s face?
My daughter has music lessons today, so she would be home quite late. After coming home from work, I had a quick snack and immediately went to take a shower. After lathering my body, I picked up the razor. I didn’t really want to do this, but it seemed to me that a smooth body was one of the most important details in my transformation.
Of course, my hair would grow back, so there was no real reason to do it right now. But I also knew that doing everything perfectly the first time wouldn’t work — I needed practice.
After a while, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. It was unusual to see myself like that. There was not a single hair on my body — or rather, almost none. I still did not dare to shave in that place, but now that my skin was smooth and clean, the remaining hair in that area looked ridiculous. Sighing, I picked up the razor again and went back to the shower to take care of what was left.
After wrapping myself in a towel, I went to my bedroom.
Finding the perfect outfit for Sheila would not be a difficult task — this weekend, we would go shopping together. However, choosing my own outfit would be more complicated. I couldn’t simply walk into a women’s clothing store and pick out a dress for myself.
Of course, I could order online, but a woman’s dress without a fitting would never look right on me. So there was only one way out.
Holding my breath, I walked over to the storage room that had served as my wife’s closet.
I hadn’t opened this room since Olivia passed away. All this time I couldn’t bring myself to throw away her things — couldn’t even bring myself to touch them. She was the only person in the world with whom I had ever felt truly myself. And now, for the sake of our daughter — the best thing the two of us had ever created together — I was going to wear what once belonged to her.
I opened the door, expecting everything to be covered in dust. But surprisingly, it wasn’t so bad inside. I stepped in and slid open the mirrored door. Dozens of dresses hung neatly on hangers before my eyes. Olivia was a fashion lover, and a large closet filled with clothes had always been her dream.
I took out a random sundress and held it up to my face, hoping to catch her scent. But alas, too much time had passed.
For several minutes I stood rooted to the spot, unable to do what I had come here for. Then, taking a deep breath, I held the sundress against my body. In fact, Olivia and I had surprisingly similar figures and heights. Not that I have round hips, a narrow waist, or a bust — after all, I am a man.
The silk fabric clung to my body pleasantly, and I finally decided to try the dress on. It was no surprise that I looked wrong in the end. With some irritation, I hung the sundress back up and left the closet.
It took me another hour to work up the courage to return.
This time, I opened the shelf where the underwear was stored. The variety made my head spin. Hesitantly, I took the simplest bra and a pair of tights with elastic bands.
After a couple of minutes, I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. It was still ridiculous. I tried to adjust the bra, but due to the empty space between the cups and my chest, it didn’t fit properly. And my boxer briefs now looked completely out of place.
I stuffed some socks into the bra cups and took the matching panties from the same lingerie set. Then I looked at myself again and thought it had become slightly better.
After posing in front of the mirror for a while, I suddenly noticed that I had become aroused, and it was starting to show through the fabric. “What on earth?” I was surprised at my own reaction. “That won’t do!” If something like this happened in public, I’d be branded a pervert.
My first instinct was to tear everything off and abandon the whole idea. But I couldn’t do that.
Slapping myself on the cheeks, I opened another wardrobe, took out a simple blouse and a long skirt, and put them on. “I need to get used to these clothes...” I was about to head downstairs, but then I caught sight of the shoes. “I’ll probably have to learn how to walk in heels too.” I tried on a pair of classic pumps and, again, was amazed — they fit as if they had been made for me.
When I went downstairs, I glanced at the wall clock. There were still two hours until Sheila would be home, so I decided it was time to make dinner. I went into the kitchen, put on an apron, and started doing what I usually do. Surprisingly, something as ordinary as cooking felt completely different in women’s clothing — as if I were playing someone else’s part.
When I came to my senses, I realized there were at most fifteen minutes left before Sheila would be home. Like a madman, I rushed upstairs, tore everything off, and threw on my usual clothes. There was simply no way I could let her see me like that.
Dinner was quiet and warm, the way it usually is when it’s just the two of us. Sheila was bubbling with excitement — she told me about the new melody she’d been learning at her lesson today, humming bits of it between bites and tapping the rhythm on the edge of the table. I smiled and listened, and for a little while I forgot entirely about the closet upstairs.
After she went to bed, I sat down at my laptop and started searching for ways to look more feminine. I found a store that offered anonymous delivery and ordered some silicone bra inserts and a pair of corsets. At some point I thought about buying a wig, but then decided I would get it together with my daughter that weekend.
