His stepfather had expected Tommy to be someone he could raise to be just like himself; a boy who was tough and played sports, the kind of child that most boys are expected to be. Tommy, however was meek and shy and when his stepdad tried to take him out for sports, he hated it. When Tommy failed to meet those standards his stepdad got angry. Whenever Tommy's Mary and Alice were out of the house his stepfather would beat him, yell at him and call him names. All because his stepson couldn't be what he wanted him to be.
One day, Mary came home early from work and caught her husband in the middle of one of these beatings. She filed for divorce the next day. She was granted her ex-husbands full estate and full custody of both of the children. Mary and Alice lived happily from that point onward but Tommy would never be the same.
For the next year or so after the divorce, Tommy had lost control of his bladder, due to the mental trauma he had suffered, and had to be kept in nappies. This only added to the shame that his abusive stepdad had made him feel and since then, Tommy did everything he could to be what his stepdad wanted him to be. He stayed away from girls, including his sister, and tried out for all kinds of sports at school, even though it was clear to his mother that he was miserable.
Then one day, after her big brother ignored one of her requests to play with her, Alice came up to her Mother and asked her "Why won't Tommy play with me?" Mary took a moment to decide how best to answer her daughter. Finally she sighed, kneeled in front of her and said "Well honey, when you were really little, your Daddy wanted your Brother to be just like him and when he found out Tommy didn't wanted to do the same things Daddy wanted to do... well he didn't like that. He thought your brother was too girly and he started to be really mean to him. And now Tommy is so afraid of being "girly" that he makes himself do things he hates."
It took Alice a little while to process everything she had just heard. "He shouldn't have to do something he doesn't want to" she told her mother. Mary looked down at the floor and shook her head. "No sweetie he shouldn't. But he does them anyway". Knowing this made Alice very sad. She wanted to help her brother and have fun with him. A few days later, she got an idea.
About a week before her 8th birthday Alice's mother approached her and asked her wanted she'd like for her present this year. "I'd like Tommy to play with me" she said immediately. Mary's face fell upon hearing her daughter say that. "Oh honey, I'm sure he'd love to play with you but he just doesn't think he can." "Pleeeeeeeeease?" her daughter begged her "Just a couple of weeks? I want us to have fun. I want him to know it's okay to be girly". That last sentence made Mary raise her eyebrow a little. "What do you mean?" she asked. Alice blushed a little. "I... kinda want him to wear a dress."
Mary thought about stopping her right there but decided to hear her out. "Only when we're playing together. I just thought, if he likes it, he might not be afraid to be girly anymore." Her mother knelt there for a full minute, thinking it over. "Alright," she sighed "I'll think about it."
Mary went to her friend Michelle the next day to talk the idea over with her. Michelle was a psychologist so Mary figured she would be the best authority on this sort of thing. "Well I suppose it might work," she said "As long as you make sure you have his permission of course. And start off small," she added "Boyish coloured dress, not too frilly. However..." Michelle's expression darkened. "If it gets too much for the boy and he decides he wants to stop, you must let him. I don't think I need to tell you how much irreparable damage he could suffer if you don't."
The sun was just beginning to set when Mary's car pulled into the drive way of her home. As she entered the house she quickly said hello to her daughter and made straight for Tommy's bedroom. She wanted to make sure she discussed his sisters plans with him as soon as possible.
She opened the door to the kind of room that one would expect from a normal 11 year old boy. The walls were covered in football posters and his desk was dotted with various action figures from different toy lines. Tommy sat in the dark at his computer, surfing the internet (he had no homework as he was on his summer holidays). "Tommy?" his mother said, breaking the silence. Tommy simply answered "Yeah?" without looking away from the monitor. "I need to ask you a favour," she told her son, who just nodded in response "Your sisters birthday is next week and she wants you to spend time with her." That was what made Tom turn away from his computer. He sat there for a moment as if he had to make a genuinely hard decision before he told her "Okay." He expected that to be the end of it but his mother wasn't done yet.
"There's more son, your sister wants you to spend time with her..." She inhaled for a moment; this part was going to be difficult. "Alice would like you to spend time with you dressed as a girl." Tommy's eyes widened when he heard that last word. "She want's me to dress like a girl?!" he asked incredulously. "Yes dear. Don't worry she only wants you to dress up for two weeks and we won't dress you in anything too girly. That is unless you want to." Tommy stammered for a moment, not sure what to say. "But mom I don't want to wear dresses. I don't like stuff like that I like sports and- and boy things and... and." Seeing her son was starting to panic a little, Mary knelt down to her sons eye level and rested her hand on top of his head. "There there, don't get in a stress dear. Your sister only wants you to be happy." That calmed Tommy down a little but he still wasn't convinced. "But I am happy." he said "I'm happy just the way I am, just the way he..." Tommy just couldn't bring himself to mention his stepfather. "Are you sure your happy this way Tommy?" his Mother asked him sincerely. Tommy just stayed silent, staring at the floor. "He's not here anymore" Mary reminded her son. "You're free to be whatever you want to be. I'll still love you."
They sat there on his bedroom floor as time seemed to come to a halt. "I- I don't know" Tommy finally said. His Mother just nodded her head knowingly. "It's alright sweetie, I'll let you think about it." she told him reassuringly "But if you do want to go ahead with this I'll need you to tell me by tomorrow night."
Tommy barely slept that night. His mind was full of conflicting thoughts. Thoughts of his Mother and Sister, of his Stepfather, of what he wanted, what was expected of him, being happy and being what society thought he should be, of desire and of fear. He thought about it non-stop until it became to tiring and he fell asleep.
He thought all of this over again at the breakfast table the next morning. He sat there silently, contemplating his options and the situation he was in. He looked at his family. His Sister looked anxious and expecting but his Mother just went about her business the same way she normally would. She was letting him make his own choice. When he thought about it he hadn't made his own choices in a long time, he just did what his stepfather wanted him to do.
Finishing his breakfast, he decided he wanted to start making choices for himself again. "Alright I'll do it." He said. Alice was ecstatic. In fact she hugged him so hard he almost fell out of his chair. "Oh big brother I love you! I love you I loveyouIloveyouIloveyouIlove-"
Authors notes: Sorry it took me so long just to finish the first chapter but I'd been busy at work and I wasn't sure how to go about writing down the rest of the chapter. That is to say I had an idea of how the story was going to go but I wasn't sure how best to write it (I don't have a lot of self esteem when it comes to writing stories). On top of that the second half of the chapter was accidentally omitted when I first posted it. In retrospect though I'm kind of glad it was because the original second half that I'd wrote was a little too short and hastily written.
Thank you to my fellow sissys who've read and, from what I've seen enjoyed the story so far. Despite some misgivings I'd like to say I feel fairly satisfied with how the first chapter turned out. That last line from Alice was kind of cheesy I'll admit but it sounded cute in my head and I felt the story could use a little humour to lighten the mood.
Just too avoid potential confusion, when I said that Tommy's bedroom was covered in football posters I meant European/Soccer Football (the story takes place in England) I mention that because I have a hard time picturing an 11 year old boy being a big fan of American Football. Maybe that's just me.
Wow I've yammered on for a lot haven't I? Well I hope you enjoyed Chapter one of The Birthday Wish and if I can keep this pace up I'll be back in under 5 years with Chapter 2: Happy Birthday!
