Developed from "The Dream" by Prudence Walker. For Shelly, Maggie, Anne, Robin and everyone else who's touched my life.

  

Another Daughter for Shelly

by Saintly

  

Tired and lonely.

That's how young Bobby has felt ever sense he moved into his new apartment with 4 friends. He's felt like that for a long time, but leaving the comfort of his family home and moving over 200 miles away doubly impacted his misery.

Bobby had been attending college in the small upstate New York town for 4 years, living in dorms. As his final semester approached, it seemed to be only a short hop to his degree. But it wasn't so easy. Paperwork stumbles happened at first. When the work went over his head, and the burdens to hard, Bobby curled up into his own little fantasy world. In that world, he wasn't born male. He didn't complete his final semester.

Bobby has had a difficult relationship with women from very early days. A never an attractive physically person, he had to overcome that with a massive personality to match his large girth. This turned off many people, and began to isolate the young Bobby. By college, Bobby had a cadre of friends that he often helped, but he kept a far emotional distance. This was how he was with his roommates. It was during this time of emotional distance where he found and developed his feelings of being born wrong, and met other people via the computer who felt similarly. He role-played often, usually in the guise of a female character. Usually, people were surprised to find the young woman (who was usually very plain) was a male.

It was during this dark time, after not completing his final semester of school, that young Bobby, merely 22, found an odd room. It was devoted to TG Fiction, which he was naturally fond of. Entering the room, however, he found it was anything but a mere discussion chat.

The characters were vivid and lively. Some were young girls. Some were older. Some mothers had adopted the young girls as daughters. They formed tight knit families, full of aunts and cousins. Some people were male, of varying age.

Bobby, using the handle "saintly" was introduced to some of the channel's more bright inhabitants. The kindly mother of a large family, Shelly, and her sister Jenna were a few of the first. But the one to make the biggest impact was Shelly's energetic daughter, Maggie.

"Hi saintlys!", she spoke to him in a little girl's lisp, "youth been really nice here." By this time, Saintly had been visiting for about a week, interacting with grace and tact, but not feeling entirely comfortable. He felt like something else was going on. Something bigger then just a chat room.

He thanked the adorable youngster. He knew it was better not to ask about the outside world. He entered the chat room and presented himself as male. Usually TG role-play rooms had you some how shift into character, usually using one of those bad plot devices that TG stories often rely on. Saintly did ask about that a few days later, but was rebuffed with firm reply from Cathleen, Jenna's young daughter.

"We don't do that. We're real here. Just be what you want to be."

This set Bobby's mind reeling. Ever sense talking with young Maggie and watching the young girls at play, he had seen something he wanted and lacked.

"All right", he said, his fingers trembling as the words flowed. "What if I wanted to be little?" At this point, Shelly and Saintly had a discussion. Saintly saw the fun play, the light heart, and it made him smile. He wanted to be like her daughter, he said.

What happened next was strange. Bobby felt very overcome by sleep. After giving his parting greeting to the channel, and Shelly, he laid down on the bed.

His sleep was odd. Cloudy and restless. All the bad things in his life, rejection, failure and hurt were going by, in reverse. He was falling backwards into his life, until the age of 5. When the falling seemed too fast, saintly had woken up with a start.

The room was every dark... he was taking deep breathes. That's when he first noticed that he felt fabric on his shoulders, despite having gone to bed without a shirt.

"Wha..." then his voice. He covered his mouth. But it was odd - high and off.

The door swung open. The light from it was very bright. Saintly had covered up his eyes. At the door was the figure of a woman, whom saintly couldn't make out.

"Who's there??" The odd voice that now belonged to Saintly squeaked out.

"It's okay... it's okay sweetie." The voice cooed softly.

"Yas, it's all alwight." another voice chimed in. The lisp was familiar.

"Maggie? Shelly?" They flipped on a light. Saintly had his eyes fixed on them. He was scared, naturally. "What's going on?"

"It's okay saintly. Look." Shelly said, in her soft, motherly voice.

Slowly Saintly's eyes adjusted. That's when the shock settled in. In his face was a short red hair. His hair was brown. Looking down, he was in a yellow nightgown. A small one. He looked down. His fingers were stubby and soft. He put it all together.

He's a girl. A 5-year-old girl.

And with that realization came the scream of all screams.

"Saintly, calm down..." Shelly chided softly.

"I'm a little girl, how... where am I???" saintly blurted out while beginning to sob.

She wrapped the new little girl in a warm hug.

"Saintly, Saintly... it's okay sweet heart. Your okay... yeah.... calm down... I have all your answers." Her new hazel eyes glared up. "You said you wanted to be 5 and a girl. You see, not long ago, young Maggie (who gave an enthusiastic wave) found a magic coin. At the time, she was a traffic officer, a transsexual, and extremely unhappy. She wished that Jenna and I were given magic powers. In that, we created this packet of reality. It's our home. We invited you in."

"Momma, cans I tells Saintly about the next parts???" little Maggie had chimed in.

"Of course little one."

"Wells you see Momma use-ed her magicals and nows your widdle and yous are here wif us and Is can't wait cus your not just widdle but yous my twin!"

Saintly raised an eyebrow. "Twin?" She didn't look much like the girl.

"Fraternal twin." Shelly noted. She nodded. "And in that, you have sisters, brothers, aunties, cousins..." her voice curdled up for just a few moments. "And a mother."

"M... mother?" The tears that had stopped as they explained flowed again.

"Yes sweet darling." Saintly wrapped her tiny arms around her.

"Saintlys...." Maggie sputtered out. Saintly finally threw off the covers and saw her new size, not even 3 foot tall. She turned and slid off the bed into a pair of slippers, like he always had. The room was a pretty place, outfitted for girls, with two little vanities, two dressers and a big closet, as well as a big double bed. He walked to her new sister. They were exactly the same height and had very similar shapes, despite different eye and hair color. Saintly wrapped her arms around her. Slowly her mind filled with all kinds of thoughts - knowledge her mother had given her on her new life.

"We'll have all kinds of fun, won't we Maggie?"

"Das right toddler twin!" She giggled. Maggie had a special love for making alliteration and toddler twin was going to be her new favorite.

"It's morning, Saintly." Shelly beamed down to the two little girls. "Get changed into some clean clothes and come down for breakfast. Then we'll talk some." Saintly nodded affirmative, and gave a bright "Yes momma."

Ten minutes later, saintly scampered down the stairs of the lovely house with her sister. Wearing a pretty tan skirt, white leggings and a blouse, she looked like she was ready to go to school.

"Momma!" Saintly was carrying a stuffed animal, one that resembled a Welsh corgi dog. "Ein came wif me!" Ein was a character on one of Bobby's favorite TV shows and the plushie was a special gift from a friend.

"I guess it means a lot. So now he's your own little friend. Maggie has several of them too. Maybe after we settle in, we might be able to go shopping, and get you some new clothes and maybe a doll too."

"Yeah!" Maggie joined them a few moments later and they sat down to a breakfast.

Through the day, many people came and went. Apparently, when some people in the chat room joined, they actually were coming to the house magically. Jenna, Cathleen, Maggie and Shelly lived in the house, where they were forever in a constant path of greeting people.

With a very heavy heart, Bobby decided he couldn't live in the house all the time yet. The real world, as cold as it was, was real to him and he felt as he needed it. So, with her power, Shelly made it so when she logged onto the chat, he would be transported to the room. She also made it so any real life intrusion would only see Bobby chatting.

At first, saintly had a hard time. Her mind was not a little girl's, rather a role-player's. She had trouble adjusting. Her family was gentle with her, and as time went, she felt more connected to her new existence. She stopped role-playing, and began being. And that's when the fun began. Once she threw off shackles of acting and simply was, little saintly became like what she wanted: a little girl.

One night, while cleaning up from a family meal, little saintly tugged on her momma's leg.

"Momma?" she asked with her gentle, little tone.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Momma, I don'ts have a name. Maggie is Maggie, but I'm some name the boy me figured out."

"Well, I guess we never really gave you a name of your own, have we?" the happy mother noted, putting some plates away, and picking her little daughter up.

"Let's go sit down and have our after-dinner cocoa and discuss this little problem, okay?"

"Yeah!"

So the family gathered around a their big pink couch. Lots of names were discussed. Some were Hebrew, because Shelly was Jewish. Some were American. Some were French, because little saintly was originally from Quebec.

"Momma, I likes Maggie's name." little saintly said eventually.

"Well, I can't call you both Maggie."

"No, Momma, her other name, Baruchah." It was a pet name that Maggie was given. It means "Blessed" in Hebrew, and it became Maggie's middle name.

"Maggie, would you share the name with your sister?" She asked knowingly.

Maggie smiled brightly. "Oh yea momma, I wants my toddler twin to be happy and she can uses the name too!"

"That's very nice of you, Maggie," Shelly beamed with pride for her little girls, "Then it's settled. I have an idea for a middle name too. From now on, you can be Baruchah Miriam Johnson when you're with your family. Is that okay?"

"Baruchah Miriam Johnson is the prettiest name in the world! I loves it momma yes it's great!"

The family embraced warmly, and for the first time, little Baruchah felt part of something better and bigger.

Unfortunately, away from the little fold in reality, life didn't get much better. A group of friends betrayed him. Bills piled up. Bobby felt like people were mean. More and more, the simple joys of being a little girl seemed nicer.

A month or so after the first time she entered the pretty house with her sister, and about two weeks after receiving her new name, Maggie and Baruchah were being tucked in and read to. Maggie had all ready drifted into sleepy land. Just before they got their good night kiss, Baru worked up the courage to ask.

"Mommy... coulds I live here wif yous?"

"You don't want to move back and forth any more, sweet heart?"

"Nopes... I wuvs my toddler twin sister and yous... can I please?"

"Of course sweetie." She leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sleep tight."

Baruchah slipped into comfortable sleep. During the night, magic worked as it had so many times before for the beautiful Momma witch Shelly.

Baruchah woke up in the morning. Birds were chirping outside her window. She was in her bed. Her little sister was still sleeping next to her. She smiled, and went to her momma's room. Momma was still asleep, but she tugged on her arm gently.

"Momma... Mommy... wakes up."

"Good morning Baruchah sweetie." She sat up in her bed and picked the little girl up, sitting her on her blanket-covered lap.

"Mommy... I lives here now..."

"Yes."

Baruchah smiled quietly, and wrapped her arms around the back of her neck, in a warm embrace of the woman who took her in and made dreams come true.

"Go get changed. The three of us, and maybe Auntie Jenna are going to go shopping."

"Cans I get a dress?"

"Of course. You need something nice." After tightening her hug for just a moment, Little Baru walked back. She put Ein, who was sleeping with them, into his shelf and started to get changed.

Maggie woke up while Baruchah was brushing her hair...

"Sis... yous awake real early!"

"Nope sis... you slept in."

They hugged each other, as their Momma walked in. They both greeted her good morning."

"Maggie, your sister isn't going to go away any more." Maggie looked up to her.

"Momma, I got-a an all-da-time sister now??"

"Yes sweetheart. Your sister is going to live with us from now on." Seeing this, Maggie looked at her sister, half her hair tied into one pig tail, her other left hanging. She began to cry and ran over to cuddle with her new, real sister.

"Oh I loves you Baruchah... I am solo happy I..." Before she could stutter too much more, Shelly scooped them both up into her arms and sat with them on the girl's bed.

"Now, to celebrate, we're going to go to the big mall a few towns over. Auntie Jenna and Cathleen are very excited to come too. So you both need to change and dress up. Help each other. I'm going to go make our breakfast, and then we're off.

The family had a quick embrace before the little ones got back to dressing. Maggie got into her favorite yellow dress, while Baru wore a blue skirt, top and white leggings. They helped each other with their hair, Maggie putting her soft hair into a high ponytail, while Baru into the unfinished pigtail, with a soft blue ribbon to match her dress.

Coming down, Momma had a pancake breakfast. Both of the girls ate a tiny breakfast as Shelly sipped coffee and waited for Jenna and Cathleen. When they came in, and the girls explained to Cathleen the new situation. A half hour of cartoons, and two cups of coffee later, they all went outside. The girls were strapped into seats, and they drove off as the girl's favorite Sponge Bob DVD was playing in the Entertainment system. The girls didn't notice the shift when the mini-van they were diving, pulling out of the Garage, and placing them on the street, headed over to the big mall.

Arriving there, finding parking and going inside, Little Baru was shocked at how big the place is. Bobby was not much of a shopper, and kept his shopping in small stores. Seeing such a giant place was overwhelming, reminding of her of her new size. She held on tight to Momma's hand as they walked around.

The group of eager shoppers skipped the department stores, instead focusing on the shops. The first was a small dress shop. The Window had a mom and two daughters with matching dresses on, and the three of them could do little else but go in and look. They all walked out with a new dress, as did Jenna and Cathleen. They were all similar, Maggie and Baru getting matching dresses in a dark blue.

Next, they went into a children's shoe store, where Baru was introduced to the joys of shopping for shoes. She only had one pair of black sneakers, so they bought her several pairs - a dressy clog buckle shoes, a pair of pink slip-ons, and a new pair of white sneakers with laces.

"Momma I don'ts know how to tie... wait I do... don't I?"

Shelly patted the side of her daughter's head, and spoke softly, "Maybe not. You may notice that there are a few things you don't remember. It's a way so you can experience the joys of growing up again. And don't worry. Momma will be happy to tie them for my babies until they are ready and able to learn."

Little Baru nodded, and they made their purchase, as well as few different kinds of socks and a pair of Strawberry Shortcake sneakers for Maggie.

As they walked past centre court, Baru stopped to see something brilliant. A giant train, dark green with gold letters saying the company (Baru couldn't figure out what it said) right there, in the middle of the mall! The ride went around the food court while parents took photos and laughed at their children's glee.

"Momma! Momma please cans me and Baru go on the trainy ride!?" Maggie begged. She gave each girl a dollar and said to stay together. Cathleen joined them a minute later. Holding hands, they got in line and handed the "conductor" their three whole dollars. Getting on the dark green train, they waved to their mommies. Baru sat between her sister and cousin, and they drove past the stores and waved. Shelly took out her little digital Camera and snapped photos.

After the ride, the families went to a department store after seeing that kid's clothing was 30% percent discounted. They got some character shirts, pants and skirts for the girls, as well as other essentials.

Baru, developed a little liking for playing with her (currently short) hair, wanted to get some new hair toys. While Jenna watched Maggie, Shelly ducked in with her to get some special toys- scrunches, ties and a bow, so she could play. The clerk noted little Baru was an extremely cute little thing, and added a package of ties the same exact color of her new dress she bought.

While walking, Baru had many thoughts. Some were simply passing. At one point, she wondered where all the money was coming from. But she made a conscious choice to say that's not her concern, that it was for mommy to know, and her job to be happy.

Walking down the other end of the mall, they found the most wondrous store. It's called The Bear Store and it was amazing. You go to choose a plushie from a lot of styles, have it stuffed, and choose clothes and accessories. Cathleen begged, and the lot of them went in. Baru got a classic bear, with a pink dress.

"It's like builderating your own friend!" Baru said, smoothing out the dress on her new friend as Maggie was playing with her plushie unicorn.

"Yeps, and you buildeded a really cute new friend! What's her name?"

"She's gonna be called... Becky. Becky Bear, like I'm Baruchah, she's Becky."

"Well Hello Becky" Maggie dropped a shot curtsy to the little bear. Baru mimed the bear doing it back.

"Ein and Becky are gonna get a long soooo nice!"

By this time, they've been walking for hours, and the two moms were looking to rest. They all went to an Italian restaurant - the girls had pizza, the moms had sandwiches. All three of the little ones were perfect ladies as they giggled and eat. The girls chatted about their new things. A little after the meal, Baru tugged on her Momma's sleeve.

"Momma, I needs to use da Bafroom."

"Of course sweetie."

Jenna watched the other two girls, while Shelly and Baru disappeared into the Woman's bathroom. Shelly helped Baru with her clothes and after they were done and washed up, Shelly took a moment to fix her makeup.

"Baby, you know Momma can sometimes hear what you feel, right?"

"Yes Momma."

"I heard you earlier... when you were thinking about money." Baru got slightly worried.

"I'm sorry Momma... I'm try'n but..."

"No sweetheart," Shelly calmed her little daughter as she kneeled down to her level, "No it's okay... it's good. You don't need to worry and you knew that. Your mind might sometimes worry; your mind is going to reflect your old life no matter what. I am not going to remove the memories of your old life. But you trust your momma and family, and that means a lot." Mother and Daughter embraced in a warm hug. Shelly took a moment to futz with Baru's ribbon that was loose. "My Baruchah is so adorable. The vision of the cute little girl."

"Maaammaa...." she whined gently in mock embarrassment. Shelly tickled her sides gently into another soft hug.

Walking back, the families paid their bill, and went back on the hunt. While walking, Shelly saw a nice sweater. Jenna purchased a nice print skirt.

"Okay girls... it's fun time..." Shelly said with a hint of excitement.

"What's that momma?" Maggie said.

"Why, it's toy time!" With that, Shelly pointed toward a big toy store. The girls gave a short cheer and the families went in, and the girls looked around. Maggie and Cathleen were looking at a Karaoke toy. Baruchah went right for the dolls.

Baru had been waiting for this since she first became Baruchah. She looked up and down the isle-ways, looking for the doll. Some here too hard. Some were too floppy. Some weren't what she wanted. Some were big electronic talking dolls - she didn't want that. She looked up the isle, and down the other. She even looked at some other plushies, though she didn't want to intrude on Ein and Becky's space. Then, as she almost decided to hold off buying, she saw a doll. It was a soft plastic face, with a small denim jumper dress. Its hair was a pretty red, like Baruchah's. Picking her up, she looked at the tag, with the name "Amanda" on it. The young girl hugged the doll softly.

"Oh, so you like Amanda." A voice came from behind. She turned around. It was a gentle looking man, who slightly resembled Baruchah when she was Bobby. He had a potbelly, a big beard and a gentle smile toward the young girl.

"Yes Mister... she's so nice..."

"Well go bring it to your mommy." He patted her head. Baruchah ran over to Shelly.

"Momma momma looks at her!"

"Aww sweetheart she's adorable! Does she have a Name?"

"Amanda."

"Oh that's far too cute. Let's go bring it over to the man." They went over to the counter, where Maggie and Cathleen had each chosen a toy too. The nice gentleman who talked to Baru before was the cashier. Along with the doll, he gave Baruchah a little certificate certifying that she had "adopted" Amanda today.

By this point, everyone was tired, and laden with packages. They decided today's shopping was all done. They bucked the girls in. Baru was buckled in with Becky and Amanda, and she held her little adoption card. She couldn't really read very well, but she tried her hardest.

"On Weds-er-day Janairy Seven, Bah-roo-cah-ahh Mirim Johnson has adoperated Amanda, to be hers Mommy from now ons."

She snuggled in with her new friends, and drifted into a calm soft sleep.

When she woke up, she was on her bed, with a blanket covering her up, her new friends and Ein too together. She woke up, and was playing with them when there was a knock. It was Maggie.

"Heya toddler twin. It's supper times."

Hurrying down stairs (after excusing herself from her play session) she sat down at the table, where a big pasta dinner was ready. It was a little later then usual, but it was okay. The meal was delicious. After a little family time, Baruchah asked if she could to go bed. Maggie agreed, the little girls tired even after naps. After changing into their nightgowns and curling up in bed they were both tucked in (with all their dolls). Little Maggie and Baruchah were asleep before their story was over.

The morning came slowly. The light was soft coming in the window. Curled up, the barely awake little girl snuggled with her friends, her sister and her friends. She knew there was a full day of play ahead. So she curled up, and got a little more sleep.

  

  

  

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