Prologue

"As you were saying?" Dr. Zaaijer asked Joanne.

Joanne had forgotten what she was about to say. She hesitated. Joanne Rios was in Dr. Zaaijer's office with her mother and her very serious boyfriend. They had come to Dr. Zaaijer a month ago because her mother and her boyfriend couldn't stand each other. Joanne loved them both and she didn't want to lose contact with either of them. She wanted Steven Carmer to marry her someday But if Steven and Joanne's mother, Adelaide couldn't get along that would be a problem. The problem was too tame a word but she didn't know what word to use. Joanne and Adelaide had been very, very close. She loved her and she trusted her, but Joanne knew that Steven was her soulmate. She didn't want to choose between the two of them. So she arranged for the three of them to come to Dr. Zaaijer's office and try and work it out.

Adelaide had had it very tough. First, there was the divorce from Joanne's dad, but that was three years ago. When Adelaide had met and fallen in love with Jeremy (Joanne's dad) she knew that he was always late and very impulsive. The two conditions fed off each other. Adelaide harped upon these at the beginning of their marriage but she accepted it as the way he was eventually. It got progressively worse but Adelaide didn't complain. When she found out he was having an affair, Adelaide felt like a fool.

Adelaide was just getting over that (and the fact that she had just turned forty) when she got the diagnosis. She had ovarian cancer. That lead to the hysterectomy. But since breast cancer ran through her family she also had a mastectomy too. Joanne never understood why her mother chose not to had breast reconstructive surgery, but instead, she wore a breast prosthesis inside her mastectomy bra.

Joanne was there for her mother all the way. The illness also kept her mother from her. She had to spend lots of time in the hospital. During this time, Joanne met Steven. Steven was a year older than Joanne, he was twenty. Steven was there for Joanne when her mother couldn't be. She loved his androgenic good looks. His hair was 'long' but not too long. His features were refined, but still very handsome and he had the same blue eyes as her mother had. It was the eyes that drew her to him at first. She didn't have time to think about boys at the time, but this boy could both remind Joanne of her mother and make her forget her at the same time.

When Adelaide and Steven finally met they hated each other instantly. There was something about Steven that she just didn't like and Steven feeling the negative energy reciprocated.

"Now that it's been a few weeks, 'How did it go?" Dr. Zaaijer encouraged.

"It worked out great."

"I know that. You said that before, but I need specifics."

"Dr. Zaaijer you are a miracle worker," Adelaide broke in. Everyone turned toward her. Adelaide was sitting to the left of her daughter. Her legs were crossed at the knees in a naturally feminine fashion with her hands draped over one of her knees. She had light makeup on her face, pale pink lipstick, matching blush and contrasting eye shadows, and a pretty smile. The makeup was designed to highlight her deep blue eyes. What she thought was her best facial feature. She knew her legs were her best feature overall. She had long blonde wavy hair that rested just below her shoulders. She wore a blue mock neck tunic with three-quarter length bell sleeves that descended to just below her elbow. She wore Capri-length black knit pants with a pleated front and a button and zipper in back with a somewhat loose fit. She didn't wear any socks or hosiery and on her feet, she wore three strapped open-toe pumps with a thin three-inch heel and a self-tie at the ankle.

Continuing Adelaide enthused, "I thought it was a waste of time to come here. But I was totally wrong. I was totally wrong about a great many things." Then she stood up and sauntered a couple of steps past her daughter to Steven. Speaking directly to Steven, "I want to apologize for everything. It was my fault. It was all my fault. I treated you so terribly. But after all, you were willing to do I see you differently now."

"Thank you, Mrs. Rios."

"Mrs. Rios??? Call me MOM!!!" Then Adelaide opened her arms in a way that could only mean that she wanted a hug. Steven got up and fell into Adelaide's arms. The two embraced in a loving hug. Both were now smiling from ear to ear.

"A-hem," Dr. Zaaijer said after a few moments. "Let me finish my questions first."

"Excuse me," Adelaide said with an embarrassed smile then returned to her seat. Steven sat back down too.

"I know how both Adelaide and Joanne feel, what about you Steven?"

Steven was sitting with his legs spread slightly apart feeling totally relaxed. He was wearing a bluish-green short-sleeved polo shirt with the Ralph Lauren logo on the upper left chest. Two of its three buttons were fastened. Under that, he wore black dress pants with black socks and loafers. Despite his somewhat formal dress, he wore a baseball cap that contained his long blonde hair. Actually, there was a hairnet that kept his hair from being seen under the cap.

"I have to agree," Steven told his audience of three. "I have learned a lot about this family and about myself. Who would have thought that acting like a woman for a month would change me from a boy to a grown man? I have always loved Joanne, but now I truly know what love is. I am going to become the best man I can be for her. I learned a lot just by reading Mrs...I mean Mom's romance novels."

"I see," Dr. Zaaijer said.

"You can have the ones I have already read. Actually, you can have them all, I'm done with reading them now."

"No that is OK. It was good to see how women think, but they are all the same.

"I know and I love my trashy novels. That was one of the things I missed when I was pretending to be you," Adelaide couldn't resist saying.

"Didn't you like the new Wonder Woman Movie? You got to see it. I didn't," Steven asked her.

"It was OK, but I prefer movies that mean something. That has real relationships between the characters."

"Like The Duchess Deal?" was one of the novels that Steven read during the exchange.

"I know it's silly, but I just love them. I can't help it."

Steven sighed at Adelaide's reply. "Real men weren't like that. I'm going to make myself strong for Joanne. Not just strong physically, but strong psychologically and mentally. The guys in those books are ridiculous. I'm was going to be a man, not a caricature of a man."

After a moment Adelaide continued, "He is right. But I still love those books. You be any type of man you want and I'll be a 'Lady'. It's funny, having to act like a man for so long has reminded me that I am a real 'Lady'. I thought I would never miss having to put on makeup. But now I love it."

"You can have it," Steven called out.

"Putting on makeup isn't a chore it's a privilege. I never realized before how much just wearing makeup made me feel good. Not just that, but everything. From now on, I am going to look my best at all times. Not because I'm vain, but just because it makes me feel so good. Just adding a little beauty to this world by dressing up is the least I can do. This will probably be the last pair of pants I'll wear for a long while. You wouldn't know it, but I think my legs are my best feature, I shouldn't hide them with pants. Now that I think of it, I should start wearing more tops without sleeves or at least very short ones," Adelaide continued.

"Mom," Joanne complained. "I don't think that Dr. Zaaijer needs to know all your fashion choices. That isn't why we're here." Joanne was actually enjoying that her mom and her boyfriend were actually talking to each other. That they weren't yelling, but really talking to each other. They had shared experiences that had made them close. "Mom is right," Joanne thought," Dr. Zaaijer is a miracle worker."

Chapter one

"Where have you been?" Adelaide demanded of her daughter.

"I was with Steven. You knew that," Joanne replied exasperatedly.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I wish you wouldn't see him anymore."

"I don't know why you say that. I love him."

"You don't really know him."

"I do know him. I wish you could know him as I know him."

"If I knew him as you knew him, I would be pregnant by now," Adelaide thought lewdly. But she said, "I don't trust that boy. There is something about him I just don't like."

"You never gave him a chance."

"I did. Didn't we all go out together?"

"We went out, but you didn't give him a chance. You were all over him," Joanne reiterated. "Criticizing everything about him."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did. You never gave him an even chance. He is a wonderful person. When you were spending so much time in the hos...away. He was the only person I could talk to. He was there for me."

"That's what he wanted you to think. It was all an act!"

"No, it wasn't!!! You weren't there. He was kind and sweet."

Adelaide knew that Joanne was a virgin before meeting Steve, now she was not. Adelaide thought that if she hadn't been so sick, she could have prevented it. But she had cancer and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital. For this reason, she didn't trust (or even like) Steven at all. She thought that he took advantage of Joanne when Joanne was most vulnerable. Adelaide would never like Steven no matter how Joanne felt about him.