sleep away at Camp Wiŋtke

Chapter 20

Because of how Albert's mom had reacted, his Dad put off actually going through with taking him shopping. He was having a harder time getting through to her than he thought he would.

It was a full four weeks later before Albert and his Dad were in the mall, shopping for a few things Albert could have of his own. They'd had a long conversation the night before and Albert confessed to his Dad about how he had been wanting to get back into his mother's things recently. He swore he hadn't done it yet, but it was getting harder and harder not to.

At the end of Albert's confession that night, his dad relented and told his son it was time, regardless of what his mom thought and that they would go shopping the following day.

John never was comfortable in the female clothes department at any store, and he never went shopping with his wife. Today it was even worse for him as they walked towards the Juniors section of a large department store on one end of the Fashion Towne Mall. What will people think seeing a dad and son picking out garments in the field department.

Albert, on the other hand, was more excited and scared than embarrassed. He was getting to pick out a few things for himself, and he couldn't wait to start trying things on.

Unfortunately, the mall was pretty busy that day and even though it was an hour drive away from his home town, he knew that everyone from his school liked to go there and any one of them, or worse yet, a group of them could come walking by at any moment.

As they uncomfortably looked around, Albert remembered all the sizes of the things he had worn at camp. This proved helpful in getting them to the right area quickly, without having to ask for assistance.

After a couple minutes, Albert started losing himself as he looked at everything he wished he could buy, forgetting about the outside world. That is, until his father, looking around nervously, reminded him that he would like to wrap things up pretty quick.

Finally Albert had selected several dresses, skirts and blouses, six pairs of panties (each pair a different cut), five bra's, and two pair of nylons. His Dad looked at the selection and frowned.

"I said I'd get you a couple things, not a complete new wardrobe. Pick two dresses or skirt and top outfits and put the rest back. You can have the panties, those can be worn under your boy clothes anytime . . . I guess. Now the bra's, just pick one and I wish you wouldn't get the pantyhose at all. Yes, all of this is uncomfortable for me, but I think the hose are a little too far, too sexy, too feminine."

Having to narrow down his selection didn't make Albert happy, but he knew his Dad was already doing more than he really wanted to, so he respectfully honored his Dad's wishes and put back the three dresses, two skirts and four blouses he didn't chose and all the bra's, except one padded one. He hid the two pair of nylons between some of the clothes, hoping that his Dad wouldn't notice.

Albert's Dad turned towards the checkout and Albert quickly spoke,"Um, Dad."

"Yeah, son. Can I um, . . . can I look for just one more thing?"

His dad frowned and stammered a little as he replied, "I, uh, I . . . well, yeah, I  guess. If you'll make it quick."

Albert lead his dad to the shoe department where he chose a pair of cork-wedge heels. Realizing that the store was having a buy one, get one half off sale and that these shoes qualified, he  quickly selected the first pair of sandals he saw in his size. Before his dad could protest Albert quickly informed his dad that the sandals would only be nine dollars with the discount.

Inside, John wanted to say no, insist that one pair was plenty, and he almost did, but in the end, he didn't. Instead, with a sigh, he gave an affirmative nod.

With all his selections in his arms, Albert approached a check-out register with his dad. A smiling, young sales lady with beautiful green eyes, carefully eyed them as they approached.

"Are you shopping for your sister?" the lady asked as she scanned the tags. She was pretty sure she had it figured out, having been watching the two earlier. She just wanted to give Albert an out so he would feel more at ease.

"Um," John nervously hesitated, afraid of how his son might answer this.

"Yes," Albert quickly jumped in. "She's my twin sister, her name is Julie. Our birthday is next week and we are going to surprise her."

"Well, you're a very special brother," she smiled as she finished. "You picked out some very nice things, I hope she likes them."

The girl finished checking them out and Albert picked up the shopping bags. As they headed back to the car, Albert was excited about his purchases and happy that his Dad did never even noticed that he got the nylons.

"Where did you come up with the name Julie?" his father questioned him as he started the car.

"That was my name at camp," Albert answered.

"Oh, you didn't mention that when you told us about camp before."

"Well, you and Mom didn't seem to be enjoying my stories as much as I did, so I started cutting things short."

"I'm sorry."

His Dad seemed to slouch a bit as he answered.

"It's Okay, Dad," Albert replied, trying to sound very happy. "Look what we did! It's better than I could ever have hoped for."