He commits

The next day, two hours before the Zoom meeting.

Henry came out of the bathroom, his beard shaved off completely.

“I look so different. I know my beard grows fast so it won’t be for long, but it still feels wrong.”

“I agree, Dad, it’s weird.”

“It will take some getting used to, but I think you also look handsome without the beard. Maybe you should try leaving it for a bit like this?” suggested Laura.

“Nope, I’ll let it grow back immediately. You can be glad I did this at all,” Henry snapped back immediately.

His current mood was not that great, which Anne told Laura discreetly.

“Mom, better be quiet and thankful for a bit. Don’t you notice how embarrassed he must feel? I mean, Dad is getting disguised as a woman and even I didn’t tease him once. You must have noticed that. And he is doing it solely for you.”

“You are right, Anne, not the time to suggest a new look.”

After their whispered conversation ended, Laura apologized to Henry.

“Sorry, honey, you know I’m very thankful that you agreed to this. Unfortunately, we need to do the makeup now. Since you should look eighteen, Anne will do it. She is better with the stuff anyways.”

“But first, you’ll have to bleach your eyebrows. I prepped everything so it should be easy.”

“I still don’t understand why that’s necessary. The wig will cover it!”

“Not fully! And we will dye it right back to brown tomorrow, so no one but us will see.”

“I know, I already agreed. Still doesn’t make me happy about it.”

In the bathroom, Anne started with wiping Henry’s eyebrows to remove the oil. Then she applied Vaseline around them to protect his skin. In a small bowl stood the mixture needed for the bleaching. Anne applied it carefully with a Q-tip, brushing it against the grain to coat the roots, then smoothed it back down. Henry started to feel a bit of tingling pretty much immediately. Then it got worse.

“Ouch. Is it supposed to itch this much?” he asked, irritated.

“Unfortunately, yes. You’ll have to endure it for a few minutes, then I will scrape it off.”

After a very annoying wait, Anne scraped off a tiny bit first to check the color, then, once she made sure it was what they wanted, wiped everything off.

“Now rinse your face with water to make sure we got everything.”

After doing what he was told, Henry looked in the mirror.

“Anne, I think something is wrong. This looks a bit too orange.”

“No, Dad, I’m just not finished yet,” she said as she applied an ash toner to then fully achieve the desired color.

“There, now you match me and Mom.”

Henry looked in the mirror again. True enough, apart from some remaining red irritation, his eyebrows were the same color as those of his wife and daughter. It really didn’t fit with his brown hair, but that’s what the wig was for after all.

They then went into Anne’s room to apply the makeup. Laura was already there, because she prepped everything. Anne’s room had the best lighting according to Laura. Henry hadn’t been inside this room often in recent months. Anne herself barely spent time there unless one of her friends was over. Most of her days she was going out somewhere with them, the mall, the cinema, a new cafe, and many other places. Her room looked fairly standard. Most of the furniture was white, with some cute animal-themed decorations placed seemingly at random, though apparently Henry “just doesn’t get the system.” The room was a stark contrast to just a few years ago when you’d be blinded by pink the moment the door opened. The boy band posters on the wall were torn down much more recently, though Anne pretended otherwise. Amidst reminiscing, Henry sat down on a chair and awaited his fate.

“Oh, that’s gonna take some getting used to,” Laura reacted to his new eyebrows.

“Don’t get too used to it, they will be back to normal by tomorrow!”

Ignoring that, Anne began her work: “Alright, Dad. Close your eyes a bit. Even though Mom made it sound like it, I am no expert in making thirty-five-year-old men look even younger than me, let alone female. I’ll focus mostly on your eyes, your skin, and your eyebrows. It’s good you are wearing a mask; that means I can mostly ignore the lower half of your face. I will tell you what I’m doing, but I need you to sit still and follow my directions. Otherwise this will take a lot longer and we don’t have a huge time window, thanks to someone oversleeping,” she said with a look toward her parents.

“Sorry, sweetie, I was ‘thanking’ your father yesterday and we stayed up a bit longer than we should have.”

“I know. I have ears.” Anne shot her mother an angry glance, then turned back to her father.

Anne then got to work.

“I will start with a peach color corrector. You have shaved, but a bit of shadow is visible. And that extends a bit beyond your mask. Without this the foundation might end up looking grey and it will be clear that something’s wrong.”

Anne went on applying the color corrector to his cheeks, sideburns, and temples, even including parts of the face that would be covered by a mask later.

“Is that really necessary under the mask?”

“Unless you have a surefire way to prevent any movement of the mask, yes. And now hold still again, I need to apply the foundation. The one I chose should be somewhat shiny and make your skin look a lot nicer.”

With soft patting of a sponge Anne applied the foundation, clearly practiced.

“Wow, Dad, this looks more promising than I thought. Maybe it’ll actually work!”

Henry just gave her an empty smile. He didn’t have a mirror in front of him, and he didn’t want one. The whole situation was entirely uncomfortable for him. He was not sure if he would prefer for the end result to look good or terrible. But he couldn’t back out now. He gave his word, and he would hate to disappoint Laura.

“Now it’s gonna get more difficult. I’ll work on your brows. That’s a big difference between men and women, and I haven’t yet tried what I’m about to do. Blonde is at least more subtle than your usual brown, and ideally the bangs of the wig will cover them but overreliance would be risky. To achieve a good result I need to brush the hairs upwards with a clear gel. Then I can use a good concealer under the brow arch to clean it up, hide stray hairs. My goal is to highlight the bone and make it so your brows look thinner and higher without needing to remove any hair.”

Anne noticeably slowed down during this part and was completely silent. But after she was done, she looked satisfied.

“Still room for improvement, but I think I did a decent job. With the bangs covering them it should work. Next will be a bit easier again, I’ll apply a bronzer along your hairline and temples to make your face look smaller and hide your bone structure a bit.”

Henry began growing tired of how much was being done. He doubted it would look convincing at all, despite Anne’s confidence. Of course he would never say that. Anne was spending a lot of time and effort on this. The focus had been on him for what he was doing for Laura, but he was sure Anne had plans today as well, yet she didn’t complain once, which was unusual for her.

“Okay, next is the most important part: Your eyes. That’s where everyone will be looking. I will use a white pencil and run it along your waterline, which—”

“What the hell is a waterline supposed to be?”

“A waterline, Dad, is the rim of your lower eyelashes, the part that’s wet. Now if you would let me continue, this should make it appear as if the white of your eyes extends further, thus making your eyes larger, for a doe-eyed look.”

Henry was always sensitive to anything touching in or around his eye, so Anne had to scold him for moving or twitching more than once. But eventually she finished.

“One more thing and I’m finished, so please continue to be patient a little longer, little sister.”

And there she was, Henry thought. Anne didn’t lie when she told Laura she didn’t tease Henry all day. But that fundamentally went against her usual demeanor. Henry noticed how much she held back for his sake, but his behavior during the eye makeup most likely made her, at least temporarily, drop the act. And her comment did hit, even if Henry hid it. Laura on the other hand had to stifle a laugh, which Henry luckily didn’t see.

“Last is mascara. Black might seem too harsh so I went with brown.”

And a little while later, the work was complete.

“Now turn around, honey, I wanna see!” Laura asked impatiently. She sat behind them so she didn’t see most of it.

Dreading the reaction, Henry hesitated a bit. But he was only delaying the inevitable so he turned around.

Silence.

Silence and an open mouth.

“Babe, please say something.” The silence made it worse for Henry. He still hadn’t even seen himself.

“Sorry, it’s just… wow. You look like a different person. At least the upper half of your face. Anne, you really outdid yourself, you can be proud.”

Anne blushed a bit.

“I don’t know about that. But it was fun making Dad look cute,” she chuckled.

Henry groaned. “Cute” wasn’t really a word he wanted to be associated with.

“Oops, sorry, Dad. You know what I mean.”

“It’s fine, I’m just tired. And now I gotta go to your mirror, I can’t keep avoiding my own reflection forever.”

He stood up and walked over to Anne’s closet, which had a built-in mirror. And now he got Laura’s reaction. The makeup really did make a huge difference, much more than he thought. As a test, he pulled out the mask he would wear later and put it on, hiding the only untouched part of his face. This made him look even more different. Sure, he accepted Laura’s proposal, but to be honest, he never fully believed in it. But maybe...

“What do you think, Dad? Did you already fall in love with yourself?”

“Har har. Very funny. But as much as it pains me to admit, and as much as I hate wearing makeup, you did a great job, Anne.”

He really was impressed. Though he really did hate the makeup. Even besides his looks, it felt like he was wearing a mask. Not the medical one, but a weird skin-tight one. And he had this constant chemical smell in his nose. He continuously repeated that it would be gone in a short time, as well as what Laura would later offer as a reward. Even now she was wearing a top with a dangerously low neckline, something he knew she wouldn’t wear outside and only put on to improve his mood, which he appreciated. After all, staring at his wife’s huge boobs was one of his favorite activities, right after actually touching them.

“Still with us, honey?”

It seemed he had spaced out while staring. Though Laura just gave him a playful wink while Anne rolled her eyes.

Laura then opened a closet door and got out the wig.

“Okay, honey, hold still while I put it on.”

Laura carefully put the blonde wig on her husband's head.

“Jesus, Laura, did it have to have such long hair? That’s easily a full meter. I can barely see anything because it keeps getting in my eyes, and if I’m not careful I will sit on the hair.”

“That’s the point, Dad. Mom and I chose this because it will keep you more obscured. And do not sit on it, you might accidentally shift it and reveal your hair. And don’t damage it, this was expensive, especially with the express shipping.”

“Why do you care about the price, sweetie? Need I remind you I paid for it?” interjected Laura.

“I know, but, you know, I thought, maybe, if I’m careful... I could borrow it?”

“And for what reason would you borrow it? It’s already in your hair color.”

“Yes, but think about what I could try with it! All without damaging my own hair!”

“Sorry, but no. We will send it back tomorrow and hope we get the money back.”

“Okay…” Anne said dejectedly.

During all this, Henry was in front of the mirror once more. The bangs really did cover a lot, and the rest of the hair framed his face and hid the edges. He was recognizing himself less and less.

Anne then went to her drawer and got out a small box.

“Based on how you reacted earlier this won’t be fun for you, but I need you to put in the contacts.”

Henry knew this part was coming, and dreaded it the whole day. But he went to the bathroom and put them in. He didn’t want his family to see how much of a fuss he made while doing it.

“That was a weird feeling. I know you said I have to look closer to you two to keep up the disguise, but wouldn’t Hailey be my daughter as well? Wouldn’t hazel eyes work just as well?”

“They probably would, but we have to take the safest option. You will sit next to Anne and me; we both have blonde hair and blue eyes. If you do as well, no one will focus on you.”

“Okay, now I will get the glasses and then we’re finally finished.”

The glasses were downstairs still in the package. They had thicker frames than he would have chosen for himself, but didn’t look half bad.

“Honestly, that’s the only part I can live with. I think the glasses actually suit me. At least looking like this.”

“Now that’s the right outlook, Dad. Now we just need the proper mask. We selected a pink one to suit your style.” She laughed.

“What do you mean? I’m wearing a mask already and it’s perfectly fine. Do you think Sarah is of the opinion that girls can only wear pink masks?”

“Come now, Anne, enough teasing for now. Although we did select a pink one, only because it takes attention away from the rest of your face. And it’s not so bright that it will be distracting. And… Well, the rest doesn’t matter much.” She looked sheepishly to the side. Henry knew that look. She felt guilty.

“C’mon, babe, you know you can’t fool me like this.”

“Haa, fine. I may have made up a bit more about Hailey than what I told you. But not because I wanted to deceive you! I just didn’t think it was relevant.”

“Babe. Tell me.”

“I don’t remember all the specifics, you know how nervous I get when I lie. But I based a lot of what I told her on Anne’s teenage years. You know… pink, girly.”

“Of course you did.”

“But I promise you won’t have to act like that. Remember, Hailey is supposed to be sick. Being quiet and withdrawn won’t be suspicious. It’s just the pink mask, and, if you agree, a pink sweater. It likely won’t be in frame, but should something happen that will sell your disguise better.” Laura seemed nervous, she thought this might have pushed it too far. But she didn’t need to worry.

“Laura, it’s okay, I don’t blame you. I am standing before you in full makeup, a wig and contact lenses, do you really think some pink would scare me now? Besides, I did own a pink shirt in the past. Granted it was a white shirt that changed color in the wash because I was lazy, but I did wear it. Until you threw it out at least.” He laughed.

Laura joined in laughing: “I forgot about that. Of course I threw it out, it wasn’t even a uniform pink, it looked terrible. Everyone could see that it was a laundry mishap.” She was back to being more relaxed now. “Thank you, honey, I know I said it already, but I can’t thank you enough. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“I hate to be the Debbie Downer but it’s really not that long until the meeting now. Dad will have to put on the sweater and Mom and I need to get ready as well.”

With that, Henry went to the bedroom while Laura and Anne got ready in the bathroom.