Dairy bois

Ezekiel Shaw hopped the fence that kept the cows from wandering off on his friend Eli’s family farm. The two families had been neighbors for five generations now, and as such not only were the boys friends but their parents were friends since childhood as well. So it wasn’t unusual that Zeke, as he preferred to be called, would go to his friend’s house after his chores were done or vice versa. Zeke met Eli behind the barn who was waiting excitedly. “Finally man, I’ve been waiting all day for this.” Eli said as he walked to the front of the barn and inside.

“You didn’t start without me, did you?”

“Nah man.” Eli took a yellow bag of pills off of the shelf while Zeke grabbed the pestle and mortar from the same shelf. Eli’s father was a very intelligent man and liked to experiment with increasing milk production in his cows, he found a combination of hormones and medication that when combined doubled their production and as an added bonus kept the cows docile. Which for him meant less worry about them running away. For the boys however who were utterly bored with their rural lives Eli had discovered that whatever chemical it was that kept a four hundred pound cow docile had a euphoric and psychedelic effect on a hundred and twenty pound human. When he told Zeke of his discovery he was skeptical and asked how he found out, Eli claimed he was just smarter than Zeke but the truth was three months ago he was preparing the feed for the cows and out of curiosity and boredom tried a taste.

The boys had since refined their process and found that the best place to hide the powder was in the bottles of soda Eli's dad kept in the barn in case a thirst hit him. Their parents would think nothing of it seeing the two boys sitting outside drinking soda and the boys found it gave their lips a mild tingling sensation from the mixture of carbonation and the powder. So the boys sat on the front porch, drinking their enhanced sodas and discussing a future in which they’d leave their small hometown behind. And Ammondville, Texas was indeed small, the population was less than a thousand people and the majority of that was farmland that sold to neighboring cities. Zeke considered Eli lucky since he got to actually see one of the neighboring cities before when he had to help his dad with a delivery. “If, like, Eli, if I ever get out of this place I aint ever comin’ back.”

“Just a little longer we’ll be gone man. Once I’m gone….”

“What?”

“What?”

“Fuckin’A man you’re high as fuck.” Zeke laughed loudly. Eli joined in and shoved his friend. “Whoa, do that again.” Eli shoved Zeke and Zeke once again felt a small jolt of pleasure and he broke into another fit of laughter.

“What?”

“This.” Zeke shoved Eli and the sensory effect of having his balance suddenly thrown off caused streaks of light to dance around the already colorful world and the skin on skin contact had sent shivering goosebumps along his arm.

“That’s awesome!” The boy laughed. “I have the best idea!” Eli suddenly gasped.

Later the boys laughed and drank their sodas as Eli drove down what passed for main street in their small town. The faster he drove the more the colors streaked and danced around them. “Faster man!” Spurred on by his friend Eli stomped the pedal to the floor as the truck roared and shifted into high gear. Eli found the largest empty parking lot he could at the local church and jerked the wheel hard left, then right, then left again. The truck bounced and leaned and the boys howled at the new thrill. As the truck was making its fifth lap it suddenly lurched to a halt. Eli hit his head on the steering wheel, while Zeke was thrown into Eli. Zeke picked his head up from his friend’s lap and **** his eyes to focus. “What happened?” He asked.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” they immediately recognized the voice of officer Boyle, “You damn near killed me and yourselves!” The world finally came back into focus for the boys and they realized that the truck had smashed into the front right bumper of Boyle’s police cruiser.

“Oh shit.” Zeke cursed, feeling his stomach suddenly turn and emptied his lunch into the truck’s floorboards.

The next morning the boys woke up in Jail where their parents had left them for the night after hearing what had happened. Standing outside of their jail cell was none other than their fathers. The boys looked nothing like their dads, no matter how much they tried they couldn’t put on the muscle their fathers had naturally from working the farm. They were at best five foot six while Eli’s father was six feet tall and Zeke’s was six foot three. The men had dark chestnut hair while the boys took after their mothers and were naturally scrawny, Eli was a freckle faced scraggly haired redhead with a soft face and Zeke was blonde like his mother and his hair was always knotting up as it kept twisting into its natural curls. “What do you idiots have to say for yourselves?” Zeke’s father Daryl demanded.

“We’re sorry?”

“Not as sorry as you’re gonna be.” Eli’s father, and Zeke’s namesake, Ezekiel warned. “Get your butts in the truck while you can still stand to sit on em.” Boyle opened the cell door and the boys followed their angry fathers out to the truck, collecting what the boys had had on them. The boys counted themselves lucky that the bottles were either emptied or broken in the resulting crash. Not that their small town could test for what they presumed to be an obscure ****. As they rode home their fathers read them the riot act and demanded to know what possessed them to steal Eli’s truck let alone crash the thing.

“We…were just bored.” Zeke admitted.

“God above, you wrecked my truck cause you were bored?! We need that for the farm boy! You know your mom’s car can’t haul anything.”

“I know, dad. It wasn’t on purp-”

“Shut up. What the hell am I gonna do with you?” Eli shrugged and stared out the window, missing the colorful world he had seen just a few hours ago.

Later that night Eli was having breakfast with his mother Sandra in silence. His mother was furious at first but that fury turned to worry when her husband began cursing her baby out and threatening to beat him. Sandra understood spankings had their place but Ezekiel sometimes took it too far and she had to step in to defend Eli. “Where’s dad?” Eli finally asked.

“He’s checking the truck in the barn, hopefully you didn’t wreck it where he can’t fix it and maybe he’ll calm down.”

“Oh…wait, he’s in the barn?” Sandra nodded and Eli shot out of his chair knocking it over in the process.

Just as he slid into the barn he saw the furious face of his father, “What were you doing with this?” He held up the pestle which still held the remnants of the crushed pills.

Meanwhile eight acres away Zeke stepped out of his shower and wrapped the towel around his waist as usual and walked across the hardwood floor to his room. As it was now just him and his dad Zeke felt no need to close his door as he dressed. So he wasn’t too surprised when he turned around after pulling on his boxers to see his father standing in the door. “Zeke we need to…what’s wrong with your chest?”

“Huh?” Zeke looked down and noticed the usual sight he was greeted with every morning. He had started forcing himself to eat more before and after his chores in the hopes his hard work would convert it into muscle. But sadly all it did was make him gain fat. His chest was just the most obvious, his butt had gotten bigger and his hips widened. But everything he read said it would turn into muscle if he just kept eating and working hard. “I’ve gained a bit of weight I guess.” He shrugged with a frown.

“You look like you’ve got...” Daryl wasn’t a very intelligent man but he knew that if a boy gained weight it would be in his stomach first. “Maybe we should take you to a doctor.” Before more could be said their landline rang from the kitchen. Daryl picked it up and was shocked and angered with what he was told. He came storming back in a minute later. “You’ve been doing ****?!”

Zeke froze midway between putting his shirt on, “N-no!”

“Ezekiel, says you and his boy have been using his additive to get high?!”

Zeke frowned, remembering since they went for their joyride and got busted they didn’t get the chance to put the evidence back. “I…maybe.”

“Do you know what that stuff does boy?!”

“It makes cows produce more milk and calmer.”

“There’s all manner of hormones in em!” Daryl growled and lifted Zeke’s shirt, “It’s given you tits!”

The truth he tried to deny for so long finally hit him and he did the only thing he could think to do, scream. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Twenty minutes later Ezekiel and Daryl were once again yelling at their sons in Ezekiel’s living room. “What were you idiots thinking? You dose yourself with cow hormones?! And now you’ve both got breasts!” Zeke covered his chest with his hands. The fact that the first breasts he ever touched were his own made the situation all the more worse. He felt like crying but fought back as much as he could.

“We were bored.” Eli groaned and held his own much smaller breasts.

“Bored?! Again! So you turn yourselves into freaks?!”

“No-”

“What if someone sees the two of you? Our families will be the laughingstock of the town!” Eli mumbled something under his breath, “What did you say? Speak like a man if you still are one!”

“I said,” he stood up angrily, “Who gives a damn about you and your stupid reputation?! Or your fuckin’ truck? Or this fucking bullshit town?!” Zeke stared wide-eyed at his friend while Ezekiel’s eyes blazed with rage. “We have bigger problems than your bullshit.”

“My bull-your problems are-you little sh-” Ezekiel raised his hand to backhand Eli but was stopped by Sandra shoving her husband back. An amazing feat given her size, but she caught him off guard.

“If you hit my boy I’ll whoop your ass til hell won’t have you!” She growled, her face full of fire and fury.

“Did you hear what he-”

“I did and I’ll deal with that, but you need to cool off before you do something you’re gonna regret.” Ezekiel’s face contorted into more rage before finally he swore and walked out onto the porch kicking the screen door open. Sandra breathed a quick sigh of relief, having no idea what she’d do if the much larger man had decided to go through with his anger. “Now, sit down.” She ordered Eli in a way that even Daryl sat down. “I get you’re upset about your…situation.” She said with **** calm as she tucked a strand of red hair out of her face, “But you have to realize what happened today…and with your body is your own doing, yes?”

“Yeah…I mean, yes ma’am.” Eli remembered his manners, too afraid to look his mother in the eye.

“Y-yes ma’am.” Zeke added when he caught sight of her looking at him expectantly.

“Good. Now, I know it’s normal for kids your age to experiment with **** but explain to me why use the feed?”

Eli stared at the floor, too afraid to answer and honestly he couldn’t come up with an answer that just didn’t sound stupid. “It…just made us feel good.”

“That’s all?” Sandra addressed Zeke directly.

“Yeah. Why else would we.”

“Tabling that, are your lives here really so bad you would do something so dangerous?”

Zeke glanced at his dad, he wouldn’t call their lives bad, just not the life he wanted. He just wanted to skip the boring bits of his life so he could move out and live in a big city and experience all the things life had to offer.

“I don’t know.” His standard response when he didn’t want to or know how to answer a question.

“It’s not that they’re bad…necessarily.” Eli finally spoke up. “It’s just, you have to admit, there’s not a whole lot to do here. Yeah there’s the creek and the fishin’ hole but what else is there? Our movie theater is so crappy it’s three years out of date. And that might be all he wants or needs but I don’t want the most exciting thing in my life having been going fifty miles out and dropping off a shipment of milk just to grow old and die and be buried in Grover’s field! There’s just nothing to do here and we hate it!” Eli hadn’t meant to go into a rant but when he opened up it all came pouring out in an angry tirade before he even realized what he said. Eli slowly sat down covering his chest again. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for your feelings. You must have been holding that in for a long time. Zeke,” the stunned Zeke looked anxiously at his father then Sandra, “Is it safe to assume you feel the same way as Eli?”

“A-a little bit…I guess.”

“Well, I think we should all take some time to cool off and discuss a punishment, as well as a solution, tomorrow when emotions are a little more…calm. Unless you have anything to add right now, Daryl?”

Daryl shook his head, Zeke’s mother had felt the same way and told him as much before she left for ‘bigger and better things’ and left him with a six year old Zeke who couldn’t understand mommy wasn’t coming home. “Then why doesn’t Eli take Zeke home and we can all three talk in private before you head home.”

“Yes ma’am.” The boys said and quickly left, avoiding Ezekiel as they did.

The walk to Zeke’s house was quiet and awkward with the noon day sun burning high in the sky and the gravel road crunching beneath their feet. Neither boy wanted to be the first to talk, about Eli’s outburst, or their new growths, the boys had talked about how much they hated their town but never so emotionally as Eli had done. “...your mom is scary dude.” Zeke finally said.

“Yeah, did you see how she got dad to back off?” Eli let out a hollow chuckle. Zeke always thought of Sandra as his mom as well. He had stopped asking his dad when momma was coming home when he turned seven, and finally accepted she wasn’t when he turned ten. But Sandra was always there to give him equal love and compassion. And the occasional cookie. The screen door creaked loudly in the silence. “So what do you think they’re gonna do?”

“My dad’s gonna beat my ass, I know that much.”

“Mine will probably give me more chores and ground me.”

“From what?” Eli scoffed as he grabbed two drinks from the fridge and a bowl of cold mac and cheese to pick at. The boys stood at the small chopping block table, enjoying their drinks.

“I’ll have you know I have a very exciting online life when you’re not around.”

“Looking at porn doesn’t count as a life, dude.” Eli picked up a macaroni noodle with his fingers and ate it.

“I don’t look at porn!” Zeke reached into the bowl.

“You should, it’s awesome.” Eli swatted his hand, “Eh, get your own.”

“It’s in my house and my fridge dude, pretty sure it’s mine.”

“I didn’t see your name on it.” He took another finger full of macaroni and threw it in his mouth like popcorn with a smug smile on his face. Zeke snatched some macaroni for himself and shoved it in his mouth. Eli responded by flicking mac and cheese at Zeke, Zeke responded in kind. Eli shoved the smaller Zeke in his chest and the slender boy felt another weird sensation, not…painful. Much worse than that, he felt…aroused by the act.

“What the fuck, man? Don’t do that.”

“Come on, pussy. I didn’t shove you that hard.”

“No…they’re just sensitive, okay?”

“What your tits?”

“I don’t have tits.”

“Pretty sure you do.”

“Well so do you!” Zeke flicked Eli’s nipple.

“Fuck!” Eli’s knees buckled and he had to hold on to the table to keep himself upright. “What the shit was that?” It wasn’t the first time Zeke flicked his nipple, it was his go to move when they were kids and he wanted to pester Eli. But it never felt so…good.

“I told you dude, they’re sensitive.”

Eli bit his lip, “Jesus christ…do you think it’s permanent?”

“I hope not.” Zeke blushed and the boys went back to silently eating the cold mac and cheese.

By the time the boys finished their uncooked lunch Daryl and Sandra walked into the open door. “Did you heat that up?” Sandra asked, seeing the boys licking cheese residue from their fingers.

“...yes ma’am.” Eli lied.

Sandra shook her head and decided it was too late, “We’ve come up with a solution to the issues you brought up.” The boys braced for the worst, “The good news is we’re sending you to stay with my sister Ruth in Orange County for a year. It’s a big city with a lot of things to do. It’s not right you boys don’t get to experience life.”

“And the punishment?” Zeke asked with a worried look on his face.

“You have to follow Ruth’s rules to the letter. If you don’t, she’ll punish you.”

Eli winced, and reflexively covered his butt. “You can’t mean-”

“I do,” his mom interrupted, “She is a big believer in corporal punishment, you remember her paddle.”

“D-do we have a choice?” Zeke luckily never felt Ruth’s paddle but had heard from Eli how terrible it was and left you unable to sit without pain for a week.

“Of course. You can stay here, and Your fathers will decide on a punishment.”

“Do we get time to think about it?”

“You have until next week. That will give you time to pack, and enroll in school. If you choose my solution.”

“School?!” Eli was shocked, they had never had a formal education, like most kids in town they were homeschooled so they could work the farm.

“Of course, you won’t be just sitting in her apartment, watching television. This isn’t meant to be a vacation. You will need to contribute either by getting an education or getting a job. Or both if Ruth believes it’s needed.”

“Any idea what dad’s punishment would be?”

“I don’t know, but he is furious.”

Daryl finally spoke up, “Apparently you bent a wheel when you hit Boyle’s cruiser.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, expensive and time consuming.”

“Eli, I think it’s time we go home and you boys can decide for yourselves what you want to do.”

“So…,” Zeke started, “if one of us decides to go and the other doesn’t…”

“That’s right, whoever stays still has to abide by Ezekiel’s punishment.” The boys had never spent more than a weekend apart, they were as close as brothers and they couldn’t imagine being gone an entire year from each other.

That night the boys had a fitful sleep, between the stress of the unknown and Ezekiel’s fury fueled punishment neither of them could get comfortable. Their new breasts didn’t help, when they weren’t causing the boys pain they were causing the boys to be aroused as their shirts shifted over their newly sensitive nipples. Zeke tried taking his shirt off but that only made his situation worse. At one point, in frustration, he grabbed his chest hoping to somehow grab ahold of the pain, only it sent a shockwave straight to his penis. Zeke bit his lip and considered his options.

Meanwhile across the way, Eli had opted to sleep in just his boxers and his covers pulled down. He found it helped with the arousal but nothing for the unknown pain. Eli had enough of the pain and decided to find something that might soothe him, he naturally started with his dad’s beer in the fridge. He slammed one down quickly enough and opened a second and grabbed a third, not wanting to take the entire six pack and get in more trouble. He finished the second in his room and felt no better for it. The pain was still ever present. Midway through his third and final beer he decided to go to the bathroom to pee. As he did so his drunken mind took stock of its surroundings. They still had only the one bathroom, Zeke was lucky he didn’t have to share a bathroom with his dad. Or his mom. Eli picked a bra out of the dirty clothes hamper and examined it with great interest. Flushing, Eli took the bra still in his hand and stood in front of the mirror pressing it to his chest. The cups were much bigger than he needed but the material didn’t hurt his sensitive nipples. Looking to make sure the coast was clear Eli put on his mom’s bra. Or he at least tried. Having never put one on let alone take one off he was having great difficulty understanding the mechanics in his drunken stupor. First he slid his arms through the straps and tried to reach behind himself and match the hooks. When he managed to get one hook in it would pop out as he tried to put another in, when he actually got both in neither of them were on the right hooks and resulted in a twisting pain in his back. Growling Eli decided to cheat and took the bra off entirely. This time he started with the hooks in front, once he managed to get both in the appropriate places he spun it around and slid his arms through the straps. Drunkenly, he turned this way and that in the mirror before going to bed and putting his shirt on. Thankfully it didn’t hurt as much, either from the bra or the last beer finally hitting him.

The next couple of days the pain continued for Eli and Zeke, as did the pleasure. Eli decided he could no longer steal his mother’s bras, and the fact they didn’t fit perfectly had started to irritate his chest. Eli dawned a baseball cap and sunglasses and his denim coat. It was no time at all for the four mile bike ride to become not only a grueling **** march against heat exhaustion but his chest kept bouncing if he peddled too fast. It took him nearly an hour before he even got to what passed as the Ammondville mall. There were five stores, one was a grocery store and the other was the feed store. Between those was a clothing store, a bookstore, and bait and tackle supply store. Eli took extra caution to cover his face as he entered the clothing store and quietly slunk to the women’s section of the store. After a few minutes of nervous searching a woman approached Eli. “Can I help you find something, sir?” Eli swallowed hard, he was caught red handed and without an excuse. “Are you looking for a brassiere?”

“I um yeah, for a friend, he-she uh kinda needs one because my m-her mom’s were too big.” Eli was burning up more in the air conditioned store than he was riding his bike in the summer heat.

“Well, how big is your…friend?”

“Uh…this tall?” He held his hand up to indicate height.

“No, yo-her bust.” Eli stared with blank confusion at the woman’s words, “Her cup size, her breasts.” She held her hands to her own ample chest.

“Oh um…” Eli glanced at his chest quickly and held his hands up and out, “T-this big?”

“Then…she may need a B cup. Do you know what band size she needs?”

“N-no?”

The woman was getting annoyed at this point, she didn’t care if the little fruit wanted to dress up in his mommy’s clothes but he could at least know what he wanted before he bothered her. “Would you say you, and your friend, are the same size. Width wise?”

“Um…I think so?”

“If you’d like, I could measure your chest and we can have a pretty good estimate from there.”

“It’s not for me.” He said quickly.

“I know dear, it’s for your friend.” She hid a smirk as she led the nervous sissy into a changing room. Inside she locked the door behind her and took a measuring tape from a small cubby hole. “Alright, now if you’ll remove your shirt and jacket.”

“W-can’t you just measure it with them on?”

“Oh no, sweetie. A bra measuring has to be exact otherwise it’ll pinch and hurt the poor…girl all day long.”

Eli groaned and wished the earth would swallow him up. Instead of that Eli took his jacket and shirt off revealing his girlified chest to the saleswoman. The woman’s eyes widened, this wasn’t the first sissy that had come in to buy clothes. But this was the first one she saw who had actual and natural looking breasts. “Arms up.” She ordered. Eli complied as his entire face turned red. The woman wrapped the cold tape around the top of his chest, made a note of the size, then under his breasts, made a note, and finally wrapped the tape around the center of his chest. When the cold tape made contact with Eli’s sensitive nipples Eli shuddered audibly.

“Oooah…I’m sorry they’re um…yeah.”

“We get that all the time.” ‘from the perverted sissy boys.’ she added mentally. “Okay,” she wrote a final note and studied them for a second, “It looks like you’re-your friend is 32B. Almost a C actually.”

“I-is that big?”

The woman smiled, she knew exactly what these little sissies wanted to hear, “Oh, huge.” Eli on the other hand was horrified to learn his chest was huge. “Come on, put your shirt on sweetie, we’ll get you a couple of bras.” Eli started to protest but was cut off, “For your friend. Of course.”

‘Why couldn’t I have hit a train instead?’

The woman picked three bras, asking which designs and styles he liked each time she picked a pair up. She had to explain to him what was the difference in the three bras she finally brought to the counter. One was a purple strapless bra for whenever “she” wanted to wear something without straps showing, the second was a black pushup bra or what she referred to as “the date bra” which would give “her” the illusion that she had a bigger chest than she really did, the last was what was called a t-shirt bra and was supposedly the most relaxing for everyday use. It had no wires to dig into the chest. Which sounded like something he desperately wanted as all of his mom’s bras had an underwire, but it was by far the girliest of the bunch. It was pink with small white flowers emblazoned on. ‘No one will see it. I won’t even see it.’ He told himself as she bagged up the three items.

“That’ll be sixty-five twenty-three.” Eli reached into his pocket and realized for the first time his wallet was not in his pants. It must’ve been left at home or, worse, lost on the shortcut he took through the woods! Eli bit his lip and snatched the bag before running out of the store. Before the woman could scream after him Eli slammed into a Boyle who had just come out of Stan’s bait and tackle. Eli slammed hard against the pavement and the contents of his bag spilled out.

Sandra picked Eli up an hour later from the police station, “Shoplifting now?”

“I didn’t mean to, I swear. I lost my wallet!”

“So you stole?! You could have called me and I would have brought you some money.” Eli looked out of the passenger side window in shame. He didn’t want anyone to know what he was trying to buy. “Does dad know what happened?”

“Not yet. But he will. Even if I don’t tell him, he and Boyle are fishing buddies. Which is the only reason you’re not still in jail by the way.”

Eli fought back tears as he slammed his head against the window. His dad was going to bury him alive if he stayed. ‘If I stay’ he thought.

It was two days before the deadline they were given and Zeke was still no closer to a decision. He hadn’t been allowed to see or speak to Eli about it at all. His dad said he didn’t want Eli influencing his decisions. As if he just did whatever Eli said! The only bit of freedom he was given this week was being allowed to go to the feed store. He had always understood the importance of their farm and never did anything to put that in jeopardy as much as he wanted to shake the dust of it off his heels.

“Afternoon Mr.Reyes.”

“Hey, Zeke. How’s life on the outside?”

“What?”

“You know, cause you were in jail.”

“You heard about that?!”

“It’s a small town kid, you know how fast word travels here. Gossip and bad news are the only things that travel faster than the speed of light my friend.” Zeke groaned and ran his hands through his shoulder length hair. “Speaking of, did you hear what happened here yesterday?”

“No. What?”

“Some kid tried to steal some bras from Susie’s boutique.”

“What, why?”

“I can’t rightly say, but he ran smack dab into Boyle right outside.”

“Really? Man that guy’s everywhere.”

“I’ll get your order.” Reyes walked into the back room as a small bell over the front door jangled. “I tell you kid, I don’t know what the world’s coming to.”

“Excuse me, miss?” A small voice called behind him, glancing around he saw no woman in the store and thought it odd. “Miss?” The voice tugged on his pant leg.

Turning around, Zeke saw a small four year old boy. “Me?”

The boy nodded quickly, “I can’t find momma.” The boy looked to be on the verge of tears as he choked on his words.

“Uh…where’d you see her last?” Again he nodded and quietly sobbing. “Okay, okay. Don’t cry, we’ll find your mommy.” The boy held out his hand for Zeke to take. “What’s your name?”

“Tommy.”

“Okay, Tommy. Let’s go find your mom.” He **** a smile and took Tommy’s hand.

Walking out of the store holding Tommy’s hand was difficult due to their difference in height and in the end Zeke ended up just carrying him on his hip. “Okay you said you were in the park, right?”

He nodded, “Uh huh.” Zeke carried the little boy around the park and searched for a frantic looking woman looking for her baby.

“Did she say she was going anywhere else today?”

“She said she was going to Erin.”

“Erin? Who’s that?” The boy shrugged. “Okay…Erin…Erin…” While he was scanning the park he found Boyle walking his usual beat. “Oh good, it’s officer Boyle.” He told Tommy as he walked up to the officer.

“Hey kid, are you adopting or just taking him out for a spin?”

“Uh, this is Tommy and he can’t find his mommy. Do you think you can help? She’s supposed to have gone to see someone named Erin?”

“Hmm, weird. But here, why don’t I take him off your hands and we’ll see what we can do.” As Boyle pulled Tommy off of Zeke the boy started crying hysterically. “What happened, you okay?” He checked the boy and found no cuts or bruises. While Boyle was checking the boy Zeke first felt, then saw two dark spots appear on his chest. At first he thought he was bleeding but quickly realized his nipples were leaking! Tommy kept reaching out for Zeke, so Boyle handed him back and he immediately calmed down. “I think he’s taking a shine to you.”

“Lucky me.” Zeke scoffed. “So what do we do?”

“Well, we don’t wanna traumatize the kid any more than he already has been. Why don’t you come to the station with me and we’ll see if anyone’s reported a lost child yet.”

The walk to the police station wasn’t much further from the park in town, but it certainly felt further with a toddler on Zeke’s hip.

When they arrived Boyle opened a drawer in the bottom of his desk and handed a small stuffed animal to Tommy who immediately threw it to the floor. “Hey, you’ll hurt her feelings.” Zeke said gently and picked up the small stuffed pink and purple stegosaurus as he sat in the chair beside the desk. “I’m sorry for my friend,” Zeke said to the stuffed dinosaur. “You two hadn’t been properly introduced yet, have you?” The stegosaurus shook its head. “No we have not.” Zeke said in a goofy feminine voice, then gasped “She speaks!” he said in his normal voice.

“She talks?” Tommy asked.

“Uh huh. Do you want to tell her your name?”

“I-I’m Tommy.” Boyle’s eyes widened with an idea and mouthed to Zeke to get him to give more information.

“Hi, Tommy.” Zeke said in his feminine voice, “I’m Sarah Stegosaur. Do you have a last name?”

“Conley.” he said, picking at his shirt nervously.

Boyle started typing information into the computer, then gestured ‘five’ at Zeke. “What about your mommy? Does she have a name?” Tommy nodded. “Do you know her name?”

“Mommy.” Boyle frowned.

“What about your daddy?”

“Daddy went to heaven.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.” Boyle raised a finger and picked up the phone as Zeke continued in his feminine voice. “I…lost my mommy.”

“Do you miss her like I miss daddy?”

“I do. But you know, I had my friends and family to talk to about it.”

“Mommy doesn’t like talking bout daddy.”

“Do you want to tell Sarah about your daddy?” Tommy nodded and for the next fifteen minutes he told Sarah everything he remembered about his dad and some things he only dreamed he remembered, like the time his dad beat up godzilla with spider-man. Zeke/Sarah listened intently to the little boy’s stories until finally his mother arrived.

“Tommy!” Ms.Conley rushed to her son.

“Mommy!” She picked up her son and hugged him tight.

“I was so worried! Where were you?”

“I was at the park. This nice lady helped me while you met Erin.” Boyle stifled a laugh while Zeke covered up his chest at being referred to as a lady.

“Erin? No, I was running Errands. Inside the bank sweetie.”

“The bank beside the park?” Zeke asked exasperated.

“Yeah. I was making a withdrawal while I let him play.”

Zeke and Boyle shared a look of disbelief. As he stood Zeke handed over Sarah Stegosaur to Tommy. “I’m glad your mommy found you.”

Tommy hugged Zeke’s neck, not wanting to let go. “You must have a gift with kids. He doesn’t usually like anyone else to hold him.”

“Kindred spirits, I guess.” Zeke smiled and pried Tommy loose before leaving.

That night, after another shower and change of clothes, taking extra care with his breasts, he opened his sock drawer and took out a postcard of a faded skyline photo of Orange County. On the back was an address signed and dated by his mother four years ago. He had never replied, nor did he receive any other postcards or letters. He had decided years ago if his mother didn’t want his father she didn’t want him either. But…it was getting harder to remember her face. And maybe she didn’t deserve that but he did.

The morning of the deadline had come and Daryl had made eggs, bacon, and pork chops for breakfast for him and his son. As Zeke walked down the stairs he could see a distinctive and obvious jiggle on his son’s chest. Daryl was no stranger to **** experimentation but the worst he ever got was the munchies and waking up naked in a field. Never had he grown breasts. “Mornin’ boy.” Daryl cleared his throat uncomfortably. He knew it was an accident but he couldn’t help but think back to how sensitive Zeke always was. How he knew some people’s daughters worried less about being clean than he did. Originally he thought he was just masturbating and wasting his damn water but…now he wasn’t sure.

“Mornin’ daddy.”

“What?”

Zeke **** his eyes more awake than they wanted to be, “What what?”

“What did you say?”

“Mornin’?”

“I thought…nevermind. Have you made up your mind about what you’re gonna do?”

Zeke poured himself a glass of orange juice and quickly gulped it down, “Yes sir. I’m gonna go to Orange County.”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

Zeke nodded as he thought about the postcard tucked away in his sock drawer. “I…want to…figure some stuff out. Maybe this’ll help.”

“Well, I ain’t gonna lie, I’m’ll miss you like hell, boy.”

Zeke gave a half hearted smile, “I’ll miss you too dad.” This was the closest the two had ever come to saying they loved the other. And that was already making them uncomfortable. “I’m gonna go pack.” Zeke grabbed a piece of bacon and walked carefully up the stairs so it wouldn’t bounce his breasts like it had when he came down originally.

Later the boys finally met up once again in Eli’s house where Sandra sat the boys together on the couch once again while their fathers stood in the back, Ezekiel still visibly angry after learning his son was caught shoplifting bras of all things. “Did you make your decision, Zeke?”

“Yes ma’am. I’d like to go to Orange County for the year.” Ezekiel shook his head and scoffed, he figured as much. Zeke was always afraid of hard work. The boy was soft and he made Eli soft.

“Good, have you packed?”

“Yes ma’am.” He nodded.

“Then when Ruth gets back from the Barn you two will go to the airport with her.”

“Airport?” Zeke asked excitedly, “We’re gonna go in an airplane?”

“Orange County is over a thousand miles away and you two are pressed for time.”

“What’s Aunt Ruth doing in the barn?”

“She wants to ship a sample of your….experiment to a friend of hers and make sure there won’t be any more adverse effects.”

“You mean she knows about…the swelling?”

“Yes she knows. She needed to know the whole situation in case it became a medical issue.” Eli threw himself back into the couch and covered his chest. ‘Bad enough the whole town probably knows by now, but now Aunt Ruth.

A few minutes later, the sound of a car trunk could be heard slamming and Aunt Ruth arrived with a small bag of powder in tow. “You boys ready?” Aunt Ruth stood five foot eight, making her the same height as her sister but still taller than the boys. She had her strawberry blonde hair pulled into a long braid that settled in the middle of her back. Zeke was surprised, from Eli’s description he expected a woman with a military buzz cut and army boots. But she wore a light flowered dress and black heels, which surprised him even more that she hadn’t lost one out in the field by the barn. She didn’t move like he imagined a stern disciplinarian would. But rather all but glided across the hardwood floor, her hoop earrings swaying with every step.

“As we’ll ever be.” Eli stood picking up his suitcase.

Zeke stood picking up his bag, Sandra gave the boys a small baggie of cookies each before kissing them on the cheek. “Be safe, okay? And good. Be good too, okay?”

“Yes ma’am.” the boys said in unison.

Ezekiel glared at his son, “Good luck.” and sent him on his way.

Daryl stood before Zeke, looking down at his slender son, “Be careful.” He gave a gentle punch to Zeke’s shoulder with the side of his fist.

“Thanks, dad. You too.”

Zeke threw his bag in with Eli’s in the trunk of the cab, next to the familiar yellow bag. He wanted to take the bag and toss it in the well, but he knew Ruth was right, if there were medical issues from those stupid pills they needed to know ahead of time. He slammed the trunk and walked to the back of the cab with Eli “First let me get a look at you two." Ruth stood them side by side, Eli was the same kid she had seen last Christmas. He was skinny with hardly an ounce of muscle on him, fine for a city boy but being on the farm he looked out of place and now with his new assets looked more like a tomboy than he did a boy. Though she had seen a few tomboys in town who could beat him in arm wrestling easily. Some were even taller than him at his full height of five foot five. He was slightly shorter than his friend Zeke who she estimated to be five six or five foot seven if he was lucky. While the taller of the two he was certainly bustier and had absolutely no discernable muscle from what she could see. If she hadn't been told Zeke was a boy she would mistake him for a girl with his slight curve to his hips and chest and the soft delicate features of his face. Even though Eli was the older one by four months the freckles on his face gave him a youthful appearance. She noted that Zeke had the same beautiful emerald eyes of her nephew. "You two sure are cute." She smiled. The boys looked at each other, they didn't want to be cute. They wanted to be tough and rugged like their dads. "Ezekiel? I'm told you prefer Zeke, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good manners. Well Zeke, you may call me Ms Ruth, Ms, Birch, or if you feel like it, Aunt Ruth."

"Yes Ms Birch."

"Well, we best get going." The boys piled in the back of the cab while Ruth sat in the front passenger seat.

After a quick stop at the post office the three were on their way.

Take off was as thrilling as a rollercoaster for the boys even in the small passenger plane that took them to a larger hub airport where they boarded the plane that would take them the rest of the way to John Wayne airport. On the much larger flight the two boys enjoyed themselves and almost forgot they were being punished as they imagined all the cool things they could do while out in a big city. “Dude, we might even go surfing!”

“Do you know how to surf?” Zeke asked.

“Nah, but I bet there’ll be some hunnies willing to teach us.”

“Yes, there’s a great many a sight to see in california. If you’re good you’ll actually get to see them. Your mom told me the issues you two have been having. As well as the hell you’ve been raising.”

“...what are you gonna do to us?”

Ruth thought for a moment, “Nothing. For now. Think of it as a blank slate, a fresh start. I won’t punish you for anything you did before we got on the plane. But from here on you will have to follow my rules or I will punish you.”

“For real?” Eli asked, he couldn’t remember a time his aunt was this cool.

“For real. You forget I grew up there too. I raised my share of hell. Why do you think I was so quick to leave?” Zeke nodded, it wasn’t just his mom who hated it there. But at least Ruth didn’t leave a kid behind. Sensing Zeke’s mood Ruth held his hand, “Fresh start okay? All of that is behind you. Okay?” Zeke nodded.

Due to the nature of time zones their plane landed in California the same hour that they left. The boys peered out the small window excitedly examining the skyline for fun. Their excitement was short lived as they waited for forty-five minutes at the luggage carousel only for their bags to not arrive. “Excuse me,” Ruth asked an attendant eating a sandwich, “We’re missing two bags.”

“Claim stubs.” Ruth handed the tickets over, “Ezekiel Shaw and Elijah Wallace?”

“Yes sir. They’re with me.”

“Where’s your bag?”

“I didn’t need one, I had a same day return.”

“Mmkay. Let me look.” He took another bite of his sandwich as he examined over two dozen unclaimed bags, suitcases, and duffle bags. “Hmm, I don’t see them. Did you change planes?”

“Yes we did.”

“They might be at that terminal then.” He handed over a clipboard with a form attached, “Fill this out, we’ll contact you so you can notify us where to ship it when or if we find them.”

“If?!”

“Eli, shh.” She chastised and turned back to the attendant, “If?”

“We see a few thousand bags a day come through here, chances of finding it are about 50/50.” He lied, the odds were much lower than that but he didn’t want to deal with her anymore.

Ruth sighed and filled the form out quickly. “I guess we have ****.” She stabbed the pen into the form as she finished filling it out.

“Nope.” His mouth was full of food as he tore the top copy from the stack. “This right here is a number you can call to inquire. I’d suggest waiting twenty-four hours before calling to give us time to locate your bags.”

“Thank you.” She spun on her heel and wrapped her arms around the two boys. “Don’t worry boys, I’ll get something for you to wear.”

“Man, my swim trunks were in there. My spendin money. My underwear!”

Zeke wasn’t as upset about his lost clothes as he was the postcard with his mother’s address. He must’ve looked at it half a dozen times since he got it but he couldn’t recall the exact address. He would have to hope they found their bags quickly or he could remember the address on his own.

Once at Aunt Ruth’s the boys unloaded their carry-ons into the spare bedroom currently occupied by two twin beds. “We’re sharing a room?” Eli asked. “I thought you had three bedrooms?”

“I do, but I converted one into a nursery.”

“You have kids?”

“No, but I often babysit for the other tenants in the building. This is the room the bigger kids get to sleep in.” Eli looked around the room at the various dolls and stuffed animals lining the shelves, “How big?”

“Four to ten.” She shrugged.

“Great.” Eli sighed. Zeke just unpacked a smaller bag containing two books he’d been meaning to read and a discman his father had given him a long time ago.

“I guess now’s as good a time as any.” Ruth said, clearing her throat, “If you’ll recall I told you I wouldn’t punish you for the past but you had to follow my rules, correct?”

“Yes ma’am.” They said in unison.

“Good. So let’s go over some ground rules. Rule one, no sassback. I’ll let that comment slide for now, Elijah. I think you know my response to sass.” Eli nodded, sitting on the childish bed.

“Now, I expect you two to respect my home and the fact there will be children here, so no swearing from this point on. No **** will be allowed in this house. I never could stand the smell of pot and anything harder than that will have you over my knee so fast you’ll get whiplash. If you wish to drink I’d prefer you do so here where I know you’re safe. If you do happen to go to a party or somewhere there is **** you will not drive, or get in a car with anyone who has been drinking. You will call me and I will come get you.” The boys looked at one another before Ruth explained, “I will be getting you two cell phones for your stay here when we go and get you two some clothes. I will try to get you something nice with the understanding that if you lose or break it you are paying for the replacement or repairs. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” Eli was rather excited as neither of the boys had a cellphone before, their town was actually so small they didn’t have a cell tower and coverage was so spotty that calling from a landline was simpler.

“Now, school starts next week and we will enroll you Monday, so for now I expect you two to be home by 10pm on school nights, and you will finish all homework before you go to bed. School is at 8am and you’ll need to be up by seven, so plan accordingly. Lastly, you’re not to bring any girls home. I don’t know when I might be asked to babysit and I don’t need the risk of them seeing a girl in the throws of whatever. Beyond that, I feel everything falls under the purview of respect. Respect me, respect my home, respect my guests. Are we clear?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Then put your things away, wash up, and I’ll take you for lunch and to the mall.I’ll let your parents know you got here safely.” Ruth left the boys as they finished the unpacking that took all of five minutes. Most of that was talking about getting to see what a real mall looked like.

After their lunch at a place called ‘Panera Bread’ the trio walked through the mall. The boys gawked at the huge building housing over fifty stores on three stories. In Ammond very few buildings were even two stories tall. “Dude! There’s a surf shop!”

“Dude! There’s a movie theater. INSIDE THE MALL!” Zeke and Eli bounced with excitement, much to their dismay as the pain reminded them of their…growths. When they found a clothing store the boys ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. They had never seen such a wide variety of clothes. Some looked absolutely ridiculous, while some looked incredibly cool. Some they just couldn’t figure out how anyone could wear them. “Let’s not go crazy today, get you something to change into and something to sleep in. We can always come back.” Ruth smiled, their joy and excitement were infectious. While Zeke was busy checking out a clothing rack he became aware of someone standing beside him.

“Hey, is there something I can help you find? Or am I what you’ve been looking for?”

Zeke turned and laughed in the short haired teen’s face, “What even was that?” He continued laughing. The teen’s hair was slicked back with what Zeke had to guess was axle grease. His black leather jacket was too big on him despite the thickness in his arms. His shirt was tight enough against his torso you could see the outline of his abs as he sucked in his stomach and flexed in the hopes of impressing the pretty girl. He stood at six feet in his boots, forcing Zeke to look up at the weird boy trying to flirt.

“Holy shit you’re a tranny!”

“A what?” Zeke stopped laughing, now just genuinely confused.

Before he could reply with another slur Ruth was suddenly on him, she grabbed his arm and pulled, somehow tripping him. “I think you better go home and learn some respect.”

“Hey what the hell?! I’ll sue you lady. That’s ****.” The stranger stood up cautiously.

“Try me. Not the first time.”

“Whatever.” The greaser wannabe hurried out of the store.

When she was sure he was gone Ruth finally relaxed and checked on her charge, “Are you okay?”

Zeke nodded, still very confused, “Wh…what’s a tranny?”

“Just something idiots call nice people.”

“Okay…”

Eli finally appeared out of the changing room, “What do you think!” He struck a muscle man pose in a bright red ed hardy muscle shirt and gym shorts, made all the more ridiculous with his scrawny arms and legs.

“...We’ll discuss the finer points of fashion later, right now we should probably leave quickly.”

Eli happily placed the tags and a few other garments on the counter, deciding to wear his new outfit out. While Zeke had placed a pair of pajama bottoms, a shirt, pants, and board shorts on the counter. “I think you pass very well.” The woman at the register said softly.

“Huh?” Zeke was even more confused now, what did he pass? What did that even mean?

“And I love your hair.” Zeke grabbed his hair and started pulling on it, his hair had been growing unusually fast lately, he meant to cut it before he left but he got distracted.

“Thank you,” Ruth said blankly, “how much do we owe you?”

“Oh, right.” The woman read off the total and Ruth quickly ran her card.

After the clothes store the trio went to pick up cell phones, Zeke seemed to be more or less over his confusion as he saw the amazing new gadgets. The rest of their trip had been more of a tour as Ruth showed them the school they would be attending, it was so large it could fill all of main street. She showed them where to get great food, the gyms she owned if they ever wanted some free training, and finally showed them the beach. By the time they returned to their temporary home it was dark, and the boys were exhausted from jet lag.

“Are you sure? I was going to order pizza.” The boys cheered half heartedly as exhaustion overtook them and they fell asleep resting on each other on the couch. “Guess we’ll have it tomorrow.”

Eli had vague memories of Ruth helping them stand up and getting into bed. Some time before dawn he was awakened by the sound of Zeke swearing from the bathroom. Eli got up and knocked on the bathroom door, “You okay, dude?”

“Go away, Eli.” Zeke groaned in pain.

Eli could tell from his tone he was not in good shape, “Are you sick man? That lunch played havoc with my insides too.” Zeke groaned again. “I think Aunt Ruth has some ex-lax or pepto in the cabinet.”

“It’s not my stomach!”

“Then what?”

A second later the door swung open and Zeke stood before him, his shirt stained with some milky substance that trailed sideways from how he had been sleeping. “It’s my tits, man!” Zeke growled. “They feel like they’re about to explode off my chest, they keep waking me up in my sleep!”

“The pain wakes you up?”

“N-not exactly. Just go away, man.” Zeke tried to slam the door but Eli caught it.

“I think I can help.”

“How?”

“Just…don’t laugh.”

“Look at me, dude.” He gestured to his leaking breasts. “I’m not exactly one to talk.”

“Okay.” Eli slowly gripped the sides of his shirt and lifted it off over his head exposing the small blue bra underneath.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Yeah…”

“Wait, were you the one who robbed Susie’s?”

“No…I forgot my wallet and panicked.”

“And stole bras?”

“My…growths were hurting and…well girls wear them for some reason so I tried one night and it helps some.”

“Still…you stole them?”

“On accident…and no. I got caught, remember? My mom,” Eli coughed, “got me some later.”

“You have more?” Zeke couldn’t believe he was asking his friend for a spare bra.

“No. They were in my bag. I’m gonna have to wash this one every day as it is.”

“Sucks, but doesn’t exactly help me.”

“Well, we can improvise.”

Zeke looked confused for a moment before realization hit, “No way!”

“It’ll help man! At least enough so you can sleep.”

Zeke sighed and sat on the tub, “What do you have in mind then?”

Zeke and Eli crept silently through Ruth’s room and opened her closet door which creaked loudly as it moved. Thankfully Ruth seemed to be a heavy sleeper. Zeke used the flashlight on his phone to look through the small dresser. It took three drawer openings before they found where she kept her bras. “Got one,” he whispered.

“No, that one’s a push up bra.”

“What?”

“Just get another one.” Picking up a second one Eli warned him again, “That’s got a wire, those suck dude.”

“How do you know this?!”

“Just shut up and look for one like mine.”

“Fine, what about this one?”

“It’s perfect.”

“Glad you approve. Now let’s go.”

The two managed to sneak back into their room where Zeke struggled with the rear hooks, “What the hell man?!”

“Here, let me do it.”

“No dude!”

“What the hell man, I'm trying to help you.”

“How do you know so much about this crap anyway?”

Their bedroom door opened and they heard, “You couldn’t even last one day?” Ruth glared angrily.

“It’s not what you think,” Eli started, “His ch-”

“Shut up, Eli!” Zeke burned red hot, he didn’t want Ruth to know that he was leaking.

“I don’t care about your excuses. If you needed something, I made it clear you could come to me. But this? This is just disrespectful!”

“We weren’t trying to, ma’am.” Zeke flushed, “I’m…my growths were hurting, and…I thought this...” he gestured to the bra haphazardly hanging off of his chest. He wasn’t quite able to fill her DD cups just yet.

“You violated my trust, it doesn’t matter what your intentions were, what you did was break rules and disrespect me. So you two will sit down, I don’t want to hear a single peep out of you two and if you move from those spots I will make it so much worse!” Eli immediately sat on the bed.

Zeke stood, frozen in fear and disbelief, “Is she going to spank us?” Eli winced in pain but nodded silently, “She can’t do that, right? We’re eighteen. We’re adults!”

“Not from what I’ve seen.” Ruth returned quicker than Zeke had expected, not knowing she had the paddle easily accessible to her at all times. “Adults don’t violate one another’s trust. Not good ones at least. And definitely not ones I’ll allow in my home.” Ruth examined the frightened boy, the stolen bra still clinging to his chest. “Turn around.” She slipped her hand through a loop she had attached to the paddle years ago. Zeke swallowed hard and took half a step back. “I’m not going to spank you yet, first we need to fix this mess.” She gestured to the bra.

Zeke slowly turned around and felt Ruth’s expert fingers quickly fix the twisted bra hooks. In doing so Zeke felt a sudden comfort, the pain wasn’t entirely gone but at least some of the pain was gone. “I promise if I didn’t need this I wouldn’t have-”

“I know. I’m not mad at you for needing a bra. But you should have asked to borrow one from me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” Ruth sat on the side of the bed, gripping the handle of the paddle, “But you still have to be punished for the stealing, and coming into my room while I was asleep and without permission. And I heard you both swearing.” She held out her hand to Zeke. Zeke’s last spanking was when he was nine years old and he let the cows out because he was playing rodeo. Even though that was only with his hand it was painful enough for him to never make that mistake again. Now Ruth was expecting him to go into something worse, willingly. The paddle looked like a cricket bat with small holes drilled into it until it resembled swiss cheese. “Take any longer and I’ll add another ten for not obeying my rules.” Zeke glanced to his friend Eli for help who looked to be pleading with him not to make things worse. Given little options Zeke took her hand and allowed himself to be pulled over her lap. “Now, I want you to tell me what you did wrong.”

“I…snuck into your room?”

“Mhm.” she confirmed.

“S-stole your bra?”

“Mhm.”

“Swore?”

“And?”

“Um…I didn’t sit down like you told me?”

“That’s right. Since this is only your first offense it will just be five swats for each rule. Next time it will be ten for each. Understood?” Zeke nodded. “Good.” Zeke thought he had braced himself, but nothing he had experienced before had prepared him for the first time the wooden paddle cracked against his bubblebutt. Wave upon wave of pain rippled from the solid mass of the bat and the empty holes. This was exactly why Ruth had drilled holes into the paddle. Each strike with a normal paddle was a dull pain in one spot, but with her ‘electric paddle’ as she called it sent jolts of pain in waves like shotgun bursts. The first five strikes Zeke couldn’t help but yell in pain. The next five he managed to hold back from howling in pain, not wanting to look like a wuss in front of his friend. Five more and it was getting harder to hold anything back. With each crack his resolve faltered. He was just so angry! He was angry his dad kept looking at him like a freak, he was angry he let Eli talk him into trying that stupid powder, he was angry at the stupid airline for losing his luggage, he was angry at Ruth for spanking him, he was angry at himself for stealing like an idiot, he was angry he needed this stupid bra, he was angry he was getting a spanking in front of his friend, he was angry his mom left him and only sent one stupid postcard!

Finally Zeke couldn’t hold back his anger any longer and broke into tears. He hadn’t cried since he was ten and realized his mother would never be coming home. But now he was bent over some woman’s lap, being spanked and sobbing like a child. Each slam of the paddle brought even more tears until he was burning with humiliation.

The spanking was finally over and he felt Ruth pulling him up into a seated position on her lap. “Shh, it’s okay. Let it out. It’s okay to cry, sweetie. Remember you can talk to me about anything. We can just share a good cry if you want.” She whispered soothing words to the sobbing boy as she rubbed his back. Zeke rested his head on Ruth’s large chest. This wasn't the first child she had to punish and then soothe. It was important for her and her charges to know that it was a punishment, not an absence of care or love. As Zeke's tears slowed he felt a small stuffed red panda placed into his hands. Reflexively he held the panda close to his chest and buried his face into its soft fur.

"Alright, Elijah. You know the drill." Eli nodded and stood up allowing Ruth to fill in his spot. Almost as she sat down Eli laid over her lap without needing to be ordered. “Now what did you do wrong?”

“Swore. Snuck in your room. Helped steal your bra.”

“That’s right. You know better, so you’re getting ten each, understood?” Eli nodded woefully.

Zeke flinched when the first fleshy thwack struck Eli’s bare bottom and at every continuous strike that followed, until he was crying in sympathy for his friend. Unlike him however, Eli managed not to cry while being spanked like some unruly toddler.

She repeated the same actions when she finished with Eli as she had with Zeke. Soft soothing words he could not hear as she held him to her chest. Not being able to hear what she said to Eli made him feel better that Eli most likely did not hear what she said to him either. “Now, you two get some sleep. And if you have any more issues knock on my door, if I don’t answer you may come in and wake me but nothing else. Are we understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” Eli answered and Zeke responded in kind weakly.

“Then good night, and try to get some rest.” With that she turned out the light in the room and left the boys on their beds. Eli dropped the stuffed animal he was given and pulled the covers up over himself as he turned to face the wall.

“Eli?” Zeke said after a moment.

“What?”

“I’m sorry I got us in trouble.”

“It’s fine. We’re here cause of me anyway. Now go to bed.”

Zeke nodded in the darkness, still clinging to the panda he wrapped the sheet around him and laid down to sleep. So far his first day in a big city was not going great. He could only hope tomorrow would be better.

The next morning Ruth woke the boys up after eight for breakfast, deciding to let them sleep in after their ordeal last night. While they were eating breakfast Ruth brought up a difficult subject. "So first thing, I need to expand on my rules. I don't know how you were at home but I do expect you boys to help keep the apartment clean. This means cleaning up your room for sure and doing the dishes, taking out the trash, and sweeping the floors. If you'd like we can discuss a chore wheel later on, but today we need to go bra shopping.”

“B-bra shopping?!” Zeke nearly choked on his cereal. “What for?”

“Because your breasts apparently need them.”

Zeke pulled his arms in as he stared at his bowl, “Can’t we just borrow yours?” He hated himself for asking, but going out in public to get his own bra would be terrible.

“I’m afraid you can’t. You may be bigger than Eli-” Eli groaned and dropped his head to the table and prayed for ****, “but you’re not quite big enough to fit into mine.”

Zeke similarly prayed for **** from any diety that would have his soul, “B-but they’re gonna think we’re sissy freaks.”

“What?”

Without raising his head Eli spoke up, “Everyone back home calls me sissy shoplifter.” She had indeed heard about Eli’s shoplifting incident but heard nothing of the cruel name calling.

“That is horrible.” They both nodded. Ruth thought for a moment, “There is a way around it if you’re that worried.” At this Eli picked up his head.

“What?”

“We can go to my gym where we have tons of gym wear in stock and we get you something to wear for the meantime while we shop for more clothes.”

“But they’ll still notice we’re guys.”

Ruth shook her head, “We have gym clothes for girls your age.”

“We’re not-” Zeke started to yell but was cut short by Ruth raising her hand.

“I know you’re not. But you have to understand until this goes away,” she pointed to their chests, “Then you will need bras at the very least. This way no one will harass you while we’re shopping. Okay?”

So the boys once again left with Ruth to her gym. The boys were amazed by what they saw, the gym had two stories worth of exercise equipment, the gym they had back home was a basketball court and a baseball field. “Wow, you work here?!” Eli was the first to ask while Zeke stared at the men lifting massive amounts of free weights in a far corner.

“I own here.” Ruth said rather proudly.

“Wait really?! Mom said you worked at a gym.”

“Did she now?” Ruth rolled her eyes, Sandra always was jealous of her. “Anyway, follow me to my office and I’ll get you set up.” She practically had to drag the boys away. Eli was very obviously ogling the women running on the treadmills.

In the office she held up several shirts until she found the right sizes. “Okay, tops off.”

Zeke blushed as he slowly removed his shirt.

“You don’t have anything less…girly?” Eli asked, staring at the pink shirt as if it were a cobra waiting to strike.

“Not really, but we’re also trying to make people think you two are girls so we can get through this one trip, remember?” Eli groaned and slowly took off his shirt revealing his bra for the first time to his aunt. Though she had suspected given the lack of jiggling from his chest. “Do you already know your size?” Eli’s face burned red with humiliation but still he nodded he did. “Do you?” She asked Zeke who took off his shirt, still wearing the too loose bra he had gotten from Ruth.

“No ma’am.”

“Then we’ll have to get you measurements. It’s important you get the right sizes otherwise it can cause more problems for you than you have now.” Zeke groaned, he didn’t know what she was talking about but it sounded terrible.

Once the boys dawned their pink shirts with the gym logo embellished on their chests she checked another box for pants. Finally finding yoga pants in their sizes she again told the boys to strip. “We can’t just wear these?”

“No girl would be caught dead wearing gym shorts, I’m sorry.”

“But we have a gym shirt?”

“It’s not the same…just trust me okay?” The boys relented again. At least their new pants were black and not something super feminine. “I’ll let you two get dressed.” Ruth said as she walked out of her office and shut the door. The boys were grateful for at least a little bit of privacy as they swapped their shorts for yoga pants. They had great difficulty trying to pull their tight yoga pants on over their bulky boxers. Finally they had enough of the frustration and decided to forgo their boxers, it would not be the first time they’d gone commando. They discovered that while mostly black they did have one long streak running down the sides of both legs, Zeke’s was purple while Eli’s was pink to his horror.

After a few minutes they stepped out of the small office and found Ruth waiting by the front counter talking with a female employee. “A-aunt Ruth, we’re ready to go.” Eli stammered.

“That’s great.” She signed a document quickly on a small tablet before turning to examine the two boys. “...Do you have your phones?”

“Oh. We forgot.” Eli admitted.

“Okay, I’ll go get them. Wait here.” Ruth sighed and hurried off to her office.

“Hey,” the girl at the counter said softly to Zeke, “I love your hair.” Zeke blushed crimson, he hated how long he let his hair get but this was the first time anyone had given him a compliment for it.

“Thank you. I-I like yours too.” The girl had an interesting shade of blue and green in her hair that reminded Zeke of the ocean he had seen once in a movie.

“Thanks, who does your hair?”

“Huh? Um…this is my hair.”

“No way! Shut up!”

“Wha-”

“Tons of people would kill for hair like yours. And I just adore your accent. Where are you from?

“Texas.” Eli spoke up finally, forgetting he was dressed like a gym bunny and tried to turn on the charm with the hot girl in front of him.

“Oh that’s a long way.”

“Yeah, we’re new to town, just got in last night in fact. Sure could use someone showing us the sights.” Zeke watched as his friend tried flirting with the girl and all he could think of was the greaser creep.

“Found them.” Ruth shouted over the clanging of heavy weights hitting racks or the floor. “Ah, Natalie, I see you’re getting acquainted with my nieces?” Both boys burned red hot.

“I certainly am.” Natalie was unphased as they were not the first feminine boys or masculine girls she had seen at Ruth’s rather inclusive gym. “That one there, you better keep an eye on.” She pointed to Eli, “She’s going to break so many hearts if she keeps flirting like that.”

“Will she now?” Ruth smirked as she handed him back his phone. Eli hid as much as he could from his aunt and Natalie’s sight. She thought he was a girl? Just because of his clothes? ‘It’s just one day. It’s just one day.’ he reminded himself.

“Well, we better get going, we’ve still got some shopping to do today.”

“Oh how fun!” Natalie smiled, “Bring me back something cute.”

“Always do.” Ruth laughed as she guided the two out of the gym.

Back in the car Eli sat in the front seat while Zeke sat in the back, both silently staring at their laps or out the window. They had experienced more humiliation in one morning than they had collectively in their entire lives. “Eli.” Ruth finally broke the silence. “Were you actually flirting with Natalie?”

“Maybe?” He shrugged.

“You can tell me, I won’t be mad.”

“....yes.”

“Okay, well I would prefer you not flirt with my employees. But I know how hormones can be.” The car fell back into silence for another moment. “She has a girlfriend by the way. But I do believe she thinks you’re cute.”

Eli turned to his Aunt Ruth very confused, “What does that mean?”

“...she’s a lesian, sweetie. I trust you both know what that means?” Of course they did. They had both seen lesbian porn before but they had never met an actual lesbian before. “Anyway.” Ruth cleared her throat, “We can’t keep calling you Eli and Zeke while we’re in the mall. That’s just likely to bring attention you don’t want or need. So Eli, why don’t we call you Emily for today. It’s what your mom would’ve named you had you been a girl.” Eli groaned, painfully.

“Emily?! Really? Why not just, like, E or something?”

“How many girls do you know named E?”

“Yeah but I-”

“You are for the trip today.”

“Ugh, fine. Whatever.”

“Good enough. Zeke…any ideas?” Zeke shook his head quickly, “Okay…how about Zelda?”

“It’s fine.” Zeke shrugged. ‘Zelda? Like the princess?’

“Okay, so in that spirit, Zelda, Emily…” the boys continued staring out of the window, “Zelda,” she tapped Zeke’s knee without turning around, “Emily,” she poked Eli’s arm.

“What?” Emily asked, annoyed.

“I noticed that you two left your boxers in my office. Does that mean that neither of you are wearing underwear?”

“No, no ma’am. They kept bunching up.” Zelda wondered if they were going fast enough that jumping out of the car would kill him instantly.

“That’s what I was afraid of. So we will also have to get you underwear as well.”

Neither boy thought much about what she could have meant by that as they rode to the mall once again. Even though they were still excited about the sights, the boys were much more subdued than before in an attempt not to draw attention to themselves and partly having their enjoyment muted by their clothes. As they were entering the clothing store a woman in her late thirties yelled a cheery hello to Ruth. “Ruth! Is that really you?!” She smiled as she **** a man along with her.

“Judy! What are the odds of running into you here?” She laughed and any other day this would be a pleasant surprise but already their plan to sneak in and out unnoticed had failed.

“I know, right? It’s been ages!” Six weeks. “So who are these two pretty young ladies? You’re not sitting for them are you? They’re older than your usual fair.” The woman had bright red hair that would match a fire engine, she wore a sport coat over a long dress and short black heels.

“No, these are my nieces. Zelda and Emily.”

“H-hello.” Zelda said in his most feminine voice, hardly looking up at the two strangers. Emily simply waved.

Ruth was surprised at Zelda’s voice, it was nearly a perfect imitation of a girl. “They’re moving in with me for the year and they’re a little shy.” Ruth gently rubbed Emily’s shoulder length hair.

“Are they from your hometown?”

“Yes indeed. Their mom decided they need to get out and experience more of the world, so they’re gonna finish their last year of school with me.”

“What school?” The man beside her finally spoke up.

“Oh this is my husband, Nicholas. I don’t believe you’ve ever met him.”

“I hadn’t had the pleasure, no.” Ruth offered her hand and Nicholas gently shook it.

“A pleasure.” Nicholas was as tall as Ruth in heels at about six foot, he had his short graying black hair neatly cropped and his salt and pepper beard was just as neatly trimmed. The man cut an impressive and intimidating figure to the two feminized boys. He wasn’t muscular like their fathers’ but he was stocky. His neatly pressed dress shirt did nothing to hide the beer gut he had been growing for the last five years.

“As to your question, I had decided to enroll them at Blue River.”

“What a coincidence!” Judy shouted, “That’s where Nicholas works!” She smiled excitedly.

“He does?!” Ruth seemed as thrown by this revelation as the boys.

“Yes, don’t you remember I told you they finally promoted him to principal last year?”

“...I remember you saying he was a principal but not where exactly. Guess that’s on me.” She chuckled softly and looked at the worried faces of her two charges. Judy’s news must have been buried in the back of her mind somewhere when she was searching for a good school for the boys and one that she could afford and was in her district.

“Well, don’t that beat all?” Judy laughed. She had met Ruth in her third year of living in California when she still had a discernible southern accent and vernacular and she loved to tease her about it when the chance arose.

“If you’d like,” Nicholas started, “I could help smooth the paperwork along for their transfers. If you give me the name of their old school I can call them up and get the process started.”

“They were homeschooled I’m afraid. It’s a very small town.”

Nicholas hmmed and thought for a moment, “Well we can do a placement test for them, just to make sure they’re on track with the rest of the students their age.”

“And if they aren’t? They’re supposed to be seniors.”

“Depending on how much they may have fallen behind they may need to drop a grade, but more than likely they will just need a tutor if anything at all. They look like very capable young women.” Zelda and Emily tried to blend into the shadows of the well lit mall.

“Of course…uh if you’ll excuse me we do need to be going. You know teenage girls and shopping.” Ruth laughed self consciously. The couple said their goodbyes and requests and promises of coffee at some future date.

“What are we going to do?!” Emily shouted once the couple were out of earshot of the store.

“We can just stick with being homeschooled, right?”

“I’m afraid not, I own the gym but I still have to be there on weekdays. Some days I have to go to our other locations and that can be an entire day’s journey.”

“How many do you own?!”

“Three.”

“That’s great, but what the hell are we gonna do?”

“Emily! Language!” Emily growled back at his aunt and turned to look at more muscle shirts.

“Okay, so if we go to school we just avoid the principal?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy. Being a transfer we’ll all have to meet with the principal Monday morning for your placement tests.” Ruth sighed, what was originally a minor inconvenience to her day had turned into a huge ordeal. While the two boys glumly looked for clothes Ruth had an idea and walked off to the young ladies section. Bringing back a dress she held it up against Zelda’s back.

“What are you doing?”

“I have an idea.”