It's time to do Alex's hair

“So what am I going to do, wear a wig? Or are we going to try to pass this off as a bad haircut?” Alex asked. “Cause I think it’s too short for a girl.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got that covered. Just sit down.” Alex’s mother motioned.

Alex sat down and his mother started to brush his hair. Alex’s hair wasn’t super short, but it was only about chin-length, but Alex’s mother had planned for that. From the shopping bag, she pulled out a set of hair extensions that perfectly matched Alex’s red hair.

After fitting the extensions in, Alex’s mother tugged on them a little bit, before getting to work on styling them.

“Wow…” Alex remarked. “It looks real. Seems pretty expensive for something I’ll only need once.”

“Well, you pay for quality and I’d prefer to be prepared, and besides, we have the same hair color, so I could always use it if I ever get a bad haircut.” Alex’s mother laughed.

Once she finished styling it, Alex looked as convincing as possible from the back. All that was left was to handle his face.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to go overboard.” Alex’s mother said as she started to brush some foundation onto Alex’s face. “I just have to even things out… define your eyes a little bit… and give your lips some color…”

“Okay, I think you’ve gone far enough, Mom.” Alex insisted.

“All right, all right.” Alex’s mother stepped back. “Voila!”

“Woah…” Alex was transfixed by his reflection.

Gone was the boy he’d been a few hours earlier, now, even though he’d seen every step of the transformation, Alex still wasn’t sure that the girl sitting in front of him was really himself. He’d known that his genetics took after his mother more than his father, but he never truly believed it until this moment.

“Convinced now?” Alex’s mother asked.

“Yeah, I’m…”

“Gorgeous? Of course you are, you take after your mother after all.” Alex’s mother giggled.

“We’re just lucky that you keep your nails clean and neat, because I don’t have time to do anything with them. But it shouldn’t be a problem.” Alex’s mother said. “Get your shoes on and load up your purse, since you won’t have pockets. I’ll throw in some makeup, but make sure your keys and phone are in there, just in case.”

“Got it, Mom.” Alex grabbed the shoebox and a purse and walked over to his room, sitting on his bed.

The heels were, true to his mother’s insistence, fairly low, and after a few cursory steps in them, Alex didn’t have any trouble walking. He was getting better at it the more he did it, which is why he spent most of the time after filling the purse by walking across his room, focusing on not tripping, something he hadn’t done since learning to walk as a toddler. As he walked, his mother, now dressed, poked her head into the room and saw Alex, his back to the door, strolling across the room.

“Ready to go?” Alex’s mother asked from the doorway.

Alex jumped, quickly grabbing the purse off his bed.

“Yep!” Alex smiled and quickly exited his bedroom.

Alex’s mother smiled, they might make it through the night unscathed, yet.