Chapter 32

[Erica & Julia] Late February

"Is it OK if I start wearing clothes again?" Erica asked Julia after dinner one night.

"Of course it's all right, Erica. As a matter of professional interest, can you tell me why you don't want to be naked any more?"

"I guess it's because I don't need it any more," Erica answered. "In fact, it's starting to make me feel different from the other kids. No, wait - that's not right. I felt different from everyone from the first. I thought I could never really be one of them because I was so repulsive."

"That was only what your family made you feel. No one else felt that way," Julia reminded her.

"Well, I was physically different from most of the kids, and I know that will always make me, um, noticeable. I guess I needed the naked time to find out that they didn't think I was repulsive."

"So, you now realize that you're not repulsive," Julia probed.

"It's hard to believe after all these years," Erica said. "I mean, here's me, naked, and Chelsea, naked, and she's about half of me, all over. But the kids, they..." She had to pause a while because she choked up. " ... they didn't treat us like we were unusual, or even like we were naked."

"I hope you realize that there might not be any other group of kids that could do that," Julia cautioned. "The troubles all of them have been through have made them more sensitive and caring."

"Oh, I know that. At school, I still get some of the looks. But the people who are important to me don't seem to care what I weigh or what my waist size is."

"Erica, you are making incredible progress on your body. You weigh less, and you are more firm. Don't you want to show off how much sexier you are?" The answer to that question was of tremendous clinical interest to Julia.

"NO!" was Erica's emphatic reply. "When I came here, Missy and Connie teased me about being an exhibitionist. I don't think I am. I don't want to show off my body. Believe it or not, I think I am really modest.

"When I came here, that first night in the pool, do you remember?" Julia nodded that she remembered. She did not want speak for fear of breaking the girl's extremely interesting train of thought.

"Well, I had never, ever shown that much of myself, even at home. And that bit about the suit bottoms! At first, I thought I would die of embarrassment, but no one said a nasty word. No one even looked away in disgust. Julia, it was like I got addicted to the ... the ... I don't know what I mean. They weren't looks, really. They were just..."

"It was just an attitude, Honey. It was an attitude that said 'Erica, you're a person, and you're pretty cool'. Oh, your tummy is showing and it's way too big? So what? You're my new sister and you're still a cool person."

"That's it! That's it! It was like I had to keep showing more and more. I just knew that if I showed enough, the looks and the nasty remarks would come." Erica stopped and thought for a moment, then grinned at Julia.

"Of course, you knew that, didn't you? That's why you told me to be naked at home, isn't it. It was to find out that the looks and the remarks weren't going to come. I would never have believed it just by being told. I had to live it."

"You're getting pretty good at analysis," Julia said with a smile. "You know, that's important for happiness in life, knowing yourself. If you decide that your naked days are over, I have to ask you to observe the normal rule about public nudity. Will that be a problem for you?"

"Huh, uh. I kinda wish there were times when we could maybe skinny dip. It's fun. But that's OK. I understand why you have to have the rule."

"I have to tell you, Erica, that I am going to miss seeing your naked butt and those awesome naked boobs bouncing around the place. You are very much a symbol of what we try to do for people here."

"Well, what you try to do is sure working. I don't feel like the same person that slunk in here just a few months ago. You've sure worked a miracle for me. I probably won't be able to lose a lot more weight. I know I'll never be a Missy or a Chelsea. I think I can get rid of all the loose stuff, though, and turn it into muscle. Who knows? There might be a nice guy out there who'll like a full-sized girl."

Erica stopped talking, but Julia could tell there was something else she wanted to say but just could not get out. "Erica, spit it out, or you won't get to wear clothes for the next year," Julia said with obvious mock sternness.

Erica looked up, startled at first, but quickly blushing when she saw that Julia was pulling her chain. "There's this, uh, friend of Terry and Jed's. He plays guard on the football team. We have a couple of the same classes, and he's been really friendly."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Jason, but they call him Dozer. Trish says that's 'cause he bulldozes all the opponents out of the way."

"Has he asked you out?"

"Julia, I've never been on a date before. We're going with Terry and Trish and Jed and Connie to this new indoor water park."

"So, you're going to let him see you in a swimsuit on the first date, huh?" Julia asked, working very hard to hide her amazement.

"Uh, huh. I'm never going to try to hide anything again. If it's my only date with him, at least I will have had one. If I'm too big for him, I'll find someone else."

"So, you won't get all depressed if he doesn't ask you out again?"

"Oh, probably a little, but Julia, I was REALLY depressed my whole life until I moved here."

"If they get into chicken fights, will you be afraid to jump on his shoulders?"

"If he can't hold me, that's his problem," Erica answered with a giggle.

"Gonna go buy a sexy new bikini?"

"Oh, no. Fantasizing is fun, but I think I'm better off keeping these a little under control." Erica bounced her breasts a little as she said that.

[Connie and Julia] Late February

"Why did you not want to meet at Lindsey's?" Julia asked Connie late Sunday afternoon as Julia was finishing a visit to the Tee.

"It's about Erica."

"Oh? Did something happen with Erica?"

"It sure did!" Connie enthused. "I know you love to hear good news, and it's all good. Lady, you are an absolute genius! That is totally not the same girl that came here that first day."

"This sounds interesting."

"Well, it was more than just the party at the water park yesterday. Some stuff has been going on at school for a while. It's mainly Erica's bitch of a sister, Jenna. Every time she sees Erica hanging around with Terry and Jed, you can almost see the steam coming out of her ears.

"I, uh, guess I'm on the shit list with the 'in' crowd, myself. Jed was supposed to be new meat for the cheerleaders and such, but he somehow got interested in me, first. In their book, that's just wrong, I guess."

"From what I know of Jed, Connie, he has no interest in bimbos, anyway."

"Yeah. Julia, every time I'm with him, I just can't believe it. Anyway, we're talking about Erica. Dozer is an absolute riot. I don't think he can say three straight serious sentences. Well, here's what will blow your mind: Erica keeps right up with him!"

"I'm not that surprised," Julia said. "She has shown quite a humorous streak lately."

"My sides are still sore from laughing at them yesterday, and I think the others are just as bad. It turns out that Jenna was at the water park, too, with several other girls. So, when she sees 'fat sister' with a date and with two other couples, and she sees her having such a blast, she lost it."

"You mean, she actually yelled at Erica, or something?"

"Did she ever! She was almost foaming at the mouth."

"How did Erica handle that?"

"That's what was so unbelievable! Erica turns to Dozer and says right out loud 'Hey, Doze! Think I can still sue the hospital?"

"'Sue them for what?' Dozer asks."

"'For the screw-up in the maternity ward that put me with the wrong family, ' Erica says."

"Dozer does this real thoughtful pose and stares at Jenna. Then, he says 'I see what you mean, Bub.' He started right off calling Erica 'Bubbles'. When she called him 'Doze' once, he started calling her 'Bub'.

"Anyway, after he stared at the sister for a while, he asked 'You think maybe she has that annexia stuff? Or maybe just a tapeworm?' I'm sure he mispronounced 'anorexia' on purpose. He gets really good grades."

"We were all laughing so hard we could hardly breathe. Actually, I guess it was kinda cruel to Jenna."

"Does Dozer know Erica's history?"

"I asked Jed, and he said Dozer asked all kinds of questions before he invited her out," Connie answered.

"Do you think it's just a one-date thing for Erica."

"Nope. He already asked her out for next weekend," Connie answered. "Haven't you seen her? She must be about floating."

"I think I'd better stop over there before I go home."

Julia almost got flattened when Erica saw her and grabbed her in a charging hug. "Julia! Julia! I got another date!"

"Oh? Who is this one with?"

"With Dozer again!" Erica retorted, with that patented expression girls have when answering a silly question.

"Then I can assume you had fun on your very first date."

"The only bad thing was my sister showing up and mouthing off, but Dozer helped me chase her away. He is the nicest, funniest..." Julia was more than happy to let the girl babble for fifteen minutes. Some of the other kids were laughing at Julia's attempts to keep a straight face through it all.

[Phyllis & Julia] Late February

"Phyllis, it looks like you are building a new relationship with Norman. That means you are nearly ready to leave here. There is one major thing that you have to do, though. Do you know what that is?"

"Bradley."

"Yes, your son. You drove him away, too. Do you know what I want you to do about him?"

"I ... I know what other women have had to do. It was pretty awful," Phyllis said.

"But how did they feel about it after they had done it?" Julia asked.

"They felt much closer than they ever thought possible," Phyllis admitted.

"What will be your objective when you meet with Bradley?"

"To apologize."

"And what reason will he have to believe you?"

"Because I will be naked. I won't be able to hide any thing or pretend."

"I see that you understand quite well, Phyllis. How do you feel about being naked for a few hours with the son that you drove away.? He will be clothed, you know?"

"I'm terrified."

"But will you do it? You can just leave here anytime, you know."

"Yes, I'll do it. I understand how important it is for any future relationship with him."

"Before you meet him, I will help you plan out how to spend your time together. We know what has worked best for other women. There is one other thing I want you to do for your meeting with Bradley, Phyllis. I want you to shave your crotch bare."

Phyllis gasped and turned pale. Julia thought she might faint and was afraid she would just leave the Tee. For a long time, she said nothing, in fact, she hardly breathed. Finally, she was just able to squeak out "Why?"

"Phyllis, we've talked about the words that best described your behavior that drove your children away. What were the top words."

Phyllis hung her head and sniffed a little. Without looking up, she whispered "Sanctimonious. Prudish. Rigid."

"How could you convince Bradley that you were not being sanctimonious?"

"By never criticizing. By never seeming to look down on anything about him," Phyllis answered, her voice gaining a little strength.

"That's good. Those are the right things not to do. Are there some things you SHOULD do?"

"Um, compliment him, especially if it's something I used to criticize. Honestly be interested in his life."

"I think you understand. Now, how do you convince him you are no longer prudish?"

Now, Phyllis looked up with a plea on her face. "Julia, I don't know how I will even let him see me naked! Isn't that enough?"

"I've done a little checking," Julia said. "Bradley was extremely upset when he left. I understand that there has been zero communication in the four years since he left. We are not sure we can even get him to come back here. If we can, it will probably be your only chance to restore any kind of a relationship at all. What is the complete opposite of prudish?"

"Well, sexy, I guess."

"Actually, slutty, or promiscuous would go even farther. That would be too extreme to be believable," Julia said. "What we have to do is make you look as sexy and desirable as we possibly can. If he walks in to the sight of your completely exposed sex, will he even be able to remember how prudish you were?

"If he sees you bare, tanned, firm, toned, will he be able to remember you dressed in dowdy, concealing clothes, constantly lecturing him? We hope not. You have to realize, Phyllis, that this is a long shot. Now, can you do it?"

There was another long silence. When Phyllis did talk, she blew Julia away. "Can Cy shave me?"

She had not even complained that other women had not been required to shave. She had freely revealed her fixation on her 'son-in-law'. Well, that was what they had worked toward. Julia hoped that they could redirect that lust. "Phyllis, who should you want to shave your private parts bare?"

"I know. I know. I should only think of my husband. Julia, I honestly don't think he would ever do it for me?"

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Julia countered. "You just have to ask him the right way."

[Erica] Late February

One of the difficult lessons for most residents of Lindsey's was that their parents never really went away. Even bad parents, or maybe especially bad parents, hated to see their offspring just leave home. Sometimes it was the embarrassment, sometimes the ego hit, sometimes the loss of control. Occasionally, there was true guilt and remorse. For whatever reason, the parents seldom just left the residents alone.

Julia had not even left Lindsey's after 'debriefing' Erica about her date when Erica's mother showed up with a very worried look on her face. "Can we talk in your room, Erica?" Mrs. McCann begged.

"No, Mom. Anything you need to say, you can say right here." With just a glance, Erica signaled the other kids present to move away, which they did quickly. Julia hovered on the edge of hearing range.

"Jenna said she saw you with a ... a boy at ... at the water park," Mrs. McCann said haltingly.

"Yeah, Mom. It was what they call a date."

"But I didn't know ... you never ... I mean..." Mona McCann was having no luck trying to verbalize her concerns.

Besides her rapidly emerging humor, Erica suddenly unleashed another unrealized talent - eloquence. Making no attempt to keep her voice down, she unloaded on her mother.

"Are you here because they passed a new law that fat girls can't date? Is that why you're here? Huh? Is it now illegal for fat girls to laugh and have fun? Are we prohibited from having boyfriends?"

"We're just concerned," Mrs. McCann tried to recover. "You're not very experienced, and..."

"Well, when I'm with three of the nicest guys in the whole school, what's to worry about? Afraid I might have sex? Is that it? Hell, Jenna's been doing that since she was fourteen! That didn't bother you, did it?"

"ERICA! Don't say things like that about your sister! That's terrible!"

"Damn right it's terrible. Sex should be for love, not just so you can stay in the in group at school."

"Jenna wouldn't do that! Erica! What's gotten into you?"

"Tell you what, Mom. You go find out the truth about Jenna, then you see if it's worth hassling me about my very first date. Better hurry or you'll have to worry about my second one." With that, Erica turned to walk away.

"Erica! Wait! Please!" Heaving a dramatic sigh, Erica turned back. "Jenna said you made a nasty crack about the hospital giving you to the wrong family."

"Well, how many times has your husband said the same thing," Erica shot back. "And how many times did you just nod your head or say nothing."

"My husband?" Mrs. McCann said with her voice rising. "He's your father!"

"I try not to think about that," Erica spat out. "He's a narcissistic asshole, and Jenna is his clone."

"How can you be so bitter?" her mother pled, now almost crying.

"Because I've had a chance to see what love and respect feel like. It makes me angry to know what I have missed all of those years."

"What you mean? We've always loved you, and..."

"Don't even try, Mom. If you aren't honest enough to acknowledge how bad it was, just stay away from here, OK?"

Mona was at least tenacious. "Who ... who was the boy?"

"Jenna knows who he is. He's on the football team. If he wasn't such a nice guy, I'd say she's probably fucked him."

The woman made a strangled squawk and covered her face with both hands. Her mind was working, though, and she tried still another tack - a plea for sympathy. "Honey, it hurts me that you think you can't live at home."

"Well, maybe it's time you get some help to figure out how screwed up your family is. Maybe you won't drive Trevor away."

"Trevor? What are you talking about. He's ... he's..."

"Yeah, he's beautiful, so there's no reason he shouldn't feel at home, right? Well, here's a flash, Mom. Trevor's got a problem. He's got a little bit of a heart. Jenna did her damndest to stomp it out of him, but she didn't quite make it."

Mona finally had taken one blow too many. She just stood in place, shaking her head from side to side. Perhaps she was expecting Erica to soften and try to comfort her, but it didn't happen. Instead, Erica just stood and watched until her mother turned and walked out.

Julia had overheard enough to know that she needed to talk to Erica. How she approached the girl, though, was important, and she decided on humor. Grabbing one of the ubiquitous towels, she waved it theatrically in front of Erica's face, as if to cool the girl down.

Erica was so tense that for a moment she just gave Julia a blank look. Finally, she started to giggle, and several kids started clapping. It was just the right relief, and Julia was able to lead Erica toward a table and get them each a soft drink.

"I think you got her attention, at last," Julia mused. "Before, I don't think you got through at all. Next time, you should start being gentle. From now on, she will be honestly looking for the truth."

"You really think she'll be back?" Erica asked in amazement. "I thought for sure that would make her go away for good."

"Won't happen, Erica. Your mother is realizing that something is very wrong. She is having some normal motherly longings, too. You need to nurture those motherly feelings and try to help her change."

"Julia, I could never go back to that, so don't even suggest it."

"If you ever should go back, and I'm not saying that you should, it would not be at all the same. You're too different to ever put up with what you did before. Even your father couldn't get to you any more."

"What a waste of a dick," Erica muttered.

"WHAT?!" Julia exclaimed around a laugh. "Where did you ever hear that?"

"A girl at school said it about her ex-boyfriend."

"Well, it is quite an image!" Julia stared for a long moment, then said "You are naturally very expressive, aren't you. It's wonderful to see the real you set free. Think you can invite Dozer here for dinner one night this week?"

That got the conversation back on a much more pleasant subject before Julia finally went home.

[Ben] Late February

It started out just like any other school morning. Ben was enjoying teaching his granddaughter more and more each day. They had gotten to the point where she was showing glee when she grasped a concept or solved a tough problem. It was a sign of the hunger for learning that was all that kept most teachers going.

When she got something right, her smile at him and her dazzling eyes were almost hard to take. He had noticed early on that in those situations, her rather oversized nipples were always distended.

Muriel waited until their morning session was just finished, then called out "Chelsea, Ben, Joyce; we have a couple of visitors today."

Joyce had been clued in, but Ben was totally astonished as two naked women walked up to them. The slimmer, fit-looking woman held out her hand and said "Good morning. I'm Norma Ventri. I'm an employee of Transformations, as are my husband and my son. My job is ... well, I don't know what to call it. I spend a lot of my time naked, helping the residents to get comfortable.

"The reason we're here this morning is that Sophie," Norma motioned toward the other, heavier woman, who shook Ben's nearly limp hand, "has been begging to come over. She feels that she has a lot in common with the kids here and would like to get to know them. She particularly wants to get to talk to Chelsea. Hello, Chelsea, we haven't met, but I've heard a lot about you.

"Mr. Ormond, Ben, the reason I came along this morning is to assure you that Sophie's visit has the approval of Dr. Waxman, the director. As you might imagine, quite a bit of discussion went on before she was allowed to come over. The final decision was that as long as she remains naked, she has free access to visit Lindsey's. Two other women with similar backgrounds were granted the same privilege, but they have not yet decided to visit.

"Chelsea, I think it would be good for you to show Sophie around while your grandfather tries to recover his composure," Norma said. "Then we can all have a workout and a swim before lunch. Isn't that what you usually do?"

Ben was barely able to say anything yet. Nancy and Karin's nude week at their house had indeed gotten him to the point where he could act fairly natural with Chelsea naked. That did not mean that his basic feelings about exposing body parts had been forgotten. The appearance of two additional naked women, both as unconcerned about their exposure as Nancy and Karin were by the end, had set him back.

Ben was a people person, courteous, well-spoken, and curious. He asked "Norma, didn't it bother you that you had to agree to be naked to get your job? Isn't that illegal?"

"Oh, Ben, that's not what happened at all. Why don't I tell you my - our - story over lunch so Chelsea can hear it, too. I see you've already got your workout clothes on. Let's get a head start on those two."

As they walked toward the workout area, Joyce stopped and looked around uncertainly. When Ben got to his first machine, he looked back and saw his wife stripping off her clothes. "Joyce!"

"Oh, Ben, the other women are all naked. Why should I have to be the stick-in-the-mud?" Actually, Joyce had wanted to strip the first Monday with Chelsea. Julia, though, thought there would be more impact if Chelsea was the only naked person. With Norma and Sophie showing up, that bit of pressure was lost.

For the rest of the workout and the swim, Ben was barely able to think about what he was doing. Was his wife implying that now he was the 'stick-in-the-mud'?

Norma left them briefly before they got in the pool, and at lunch they found out why. "Our story started when my husband Paul lost his good job in a merger. That's the tough part of the story. The good part, the Transformations part, started with our son Mark." She went on to recount as much as she reasonably could in the lunch time.

After her story, Norma laid down a set of her 'before' pictures, some of the computer projected 'afters', and current actual pictures. All were nude. "Wait 'til you see mine tomorrow," Sophie said. "Norma still looked good enough to keep a husband. I was a godawful mess!"

That left no doubt in Ben's mind that he would have naked company again.

"I'm a walking reason why you should never, ever touch drugs, Chelsea. They've taken away everything that was important to me. I was a social studies teacher. Drugs cost me my job. I had a husband and two kids. He divorced me and my kids won't talk to me. I don't blame them, either. I was an unbelievable bitch to them.

"Here's my college graduation picture. Can you believe I turned into THAT?" She handed Chelsea her entrance picture to the Tee. "I blame that on drugs, too. I couldn't bother with eating the right food. All I could think about was the next fix."

"What ... what changed you?" Chelsea asked.

"I was sitting in my lonely little apartment, reading my final divorce decree. I had a decent settlement from my ex, but no job. I literally had no one to comfort me. Of course, the first thing I thought of was a fix, but it was like a revelation. It finally hit me that all the fixes did was put me in that miserable situation.

"Right now, I'm on a furlough from my Twelve Step program because they know that no drugs can get in here."

"Wow! I ... I didn't take anything that much," Chelsea claimed.

"Nobody does to start with," Sophie warned her. "Have you talked to Shannon Torvold?" At Chelsea's negative head shake, Sophie said "She's the one who proved the Transformations concept. I'll get her to stop and see you. Drugs almost ruined her life, too."

Chelsea was very sober after hearing Sohpie's story.

"Sophie, the kids will be home from school pretty soon," Chelsea warned the woman.

"That's all right. I have permission to stay. I really want to meet the rest of the kids.

"But ... but my family keeps dropping in, and I've got a lot of family."

"Oh, I guess it wouldn't be good if they saw me naked, would it?"

"I wouldn't want to have to explain it," Chelsea said.

"So, do all of the relatives come to see you as sort of a punishment, you know, humiliation?"

"No, it's not like that. Well, maybe it is a little. But we're a really close family, and Dad said I hurt all of them by what I did. I think they all want me to get over it."

"Do you want to get over it, Honey?" Sophie asked, "or do you just want to get back to your friends and the parties?"

"I'll do anything not to go through this again."

"It doesn't seem to bother you much, being naked," Sophie commented.

"Yeah, but the way it started!" She then told Sophie the whole story.

"Let me make a call," Sophie said when Chelsea finished her tale. When she got back, she said "Muriel is going to make sure I get a warning when any visitors show up. I guess they already do because of you. I'll either go back to your room and stay with you or if it's your visitor, I'll go back." She held up the standard uniform shorts and shirt. "I'll keep these right by me. As a last resort I can put these on quickly."

As it turned out, there were no visitors that night. Sophie's presence made quite an impact. At first, it was her nudity, but as she told her story, many of the kids related to her home life as a girl. She listened to the stories of several of the resident kids before she went back quite late in the evening.

The next evening, Sophie hid in Chelsea's room during a visit by an aunt and their family. After that, she helped a couple of the kids with homework, making a big impression.

The following evening, Sophie was there again, but Julia came in and called a quick residents' meeting. "Is anyone against Sophie visiting?" When no one objected, she asked "Would you object if two other women began visiting?" That also received no objection, and the brief meeting ended.

[Phyllis & Julia] Early March

For a case like Phyllis, it was hard to know when to declare her transformed and release her. One problem was that although Bradley had been persuaded to come back for a visit, he could not get leave for three weeks. There was demand for the space, and Julia decided on a somewhat risky test.

"Phyllis, I'm going to send you home. However, I want you and Norman to continue coming to dinner every night, and I want you to do your normal workouts here with him. When Bradley gets here, I want you to follow through with the visit, shaved and all. Will you commit to doing that?"

Phyllis nodded rather reluctantly, and that concerned Julia. "You know, Phyllis, you have come a long ways. You have a chance to build a much more satisfying marriage, and you now have a talking relationship with Leah. One thing we have not talked about is Leah moving home. That is still a hurdle. If she knows that you backed off on any of the assignments, it might affect her decision."

That was just the right button to push, as Julia could see in Phyllis's eyes. Actually, Julia had decided to back off on the shaving requirement, but Phyllis would not know that until the last minute.

[Ben] Early March

It was a pleasant surprise when Chelsea and Ben finished their morning school session and Julia walked in wearing the Tee uniform. All three of the 'regular' women were already there. "I only have time for a swim with all of you," Julia said. "Can we change the normal schedule?"

Julia stripped along with Joyce while Ben went to get his suit on. To say he was surprised to see her naked when he returned was a huge understatement. As he approached, Julia whispered to Joyce "Stay close to him."