Once they arrived home, Mary Elizabeth announced to Angelo that she had a special treat for him.
"Angelo, I have a something really special for you tonight. This is for one day only, in honor of your successful art school audition today. Come on, follow me."
She took his hand and led him down the hallway into her workroom, which she had converted from Angelo's original bedroom, the one that two weeks ago had been completely furnished in a manner befitting of a teenaged girl.
The frilly bed and dresser were still there, as were the lace chiffon curtains, but Mary Elizabeth had removed the chair and stool. In their place, she had moved in her computer desk, chair, and a small file cabinet, now constituting what existed of her home office.
Her old office, she had converted into a proper bedroom for a boy. Since the agency had insisted she raise Angelo as a boy, she had moved him to that room and forbade him from entering the new office when she was not home, because she knew he'd immediately head for the closet to look for the wonderful female outfits she still stored there.
"Oh mommy, I miss this room so much," he said as they entered his old room.
"I know you do, honey, and I'm sorry I have to keep you out of here but look what I have for you. " She reached in the closet and pulled out an elegant, gold-colored gown and laid it out on the bed.
"Oh, mommy! For me?" Angelo skipped over to the bed and began to pick it up.
"Yes, honey, for you. But like I said, just for tonight, in honor of you passing the audition. I know you worked so hard for it."
"You're the best mom."
"I saw this gown at Fashion Bug, the other day and couldn't resist. I knew I wasn't supposed to let you wear girls clothes anymore, but I just knew you'd look lovely in it and I had to find a reason to let you wear it."
As Mary Elizabeth went to the drawer to get a matching set of panties and bra, she smiled to herself. Angelo was her "daughter," regardless of what child protection services said or the child's own male anatomy.
Angelo stood there holding the gown up against his body, admiring how it sparkled with its faux gold fabric. He studied the thick straps that flowing over the shoulders, leading to padded cups that would enhance the illusion of him having breast.
A similarly colored gold fabric belt tied the dress at the waist, permitting the fabric to spread flowingly out, the dress ending just barely above the knee.
Angelo looked at himself in the mirror, smiling in pleasure. "It's absolutely perfect, Mom. It's me," he said.
"Perfect for my perfect little girl," Mary Elizabeth said, as she looked at the mirror reflection of the two of them.
"Can I wear it now?"
Mary Elizabeth told Angelo that indeed he could, but he needed to get undressed and take a nice bubble bath, first. She handed him the bra and panties to put on after he dried off.
As he took his bath, Mary Elizabeth changed her own clothes, putting on a platinum gown that was an exact match in style for the one she had purchased for Angelo.
She donned sheer, shimmering, silvery colored hose and a sparkling set of 3" heeled slingback sandals, also silver.
"Oh wow! You look scrumptious, Mom," Angelo exclaimed, giggling as he came out of the bathroom and saw that Mary Elizabeth was already dressed.
"Thank you, Angela," she said, using the child's female name for the first time since she had begun her attempt to restore him to boyhood. "And I see you're clean and smell perfumy."
She realized that the slender child, standing before her in only panties and bra with white, sweet flesh exposed, was truly meant to be a girl.
He looked lovely standing daintily before her, his hair flowing loosely around the bottom of his ears. She hugged him tightly, and the boy seemed to surrender himself to her.
"Oh mommy, this feels so good, to be held by you."
"Yes, my dear. It feels good to me, too."
Suddenly, against her leg, Mary Elizabeth realized that a bulge was developing in Angelo's panties. She realized that all of this was exciting the young boy. She had only seen his penis soft and tiny, but now she felt it growing against her leg and that made her very uncomfortable.
"OK, honey," she said, quickly releasing him from the hug.
He stood there in front of her, unaware that she could see a small bulge in his panties.
"Let's get you dressed, darling," she said, averting her eyes as she handed him the dress to put on. "Tonight we're going to have our own special night, Angela. Just you and I, mom and daughter. I want you to enjoy it fully, who knows when or if we'll be able to do it again."
"So what exactly are the plans for tonight? Dresses like this aren't something you'd wear just anywhere."
Mary Elizabeth agreed that it was a special dress. She then explained to Angelo that she had made reservations at a fancy restaurant in New Harvest, Karen's 501 Monroe Grill, where no one would know them and no one they knew would see them.
"New Harvest? That's where we went to that larger mall, right?"
"Indeed it is. Now after dinner, we are going to see a play. It's called, 'Seasons of Symphony'. It's being performed at the local playhouse there."
For the next hour, Mary Elizabeth helped Angelo finish getting ready for their night out. She styled his hair with a curling iron and added a slight amount of makeup to his face. It wasn't enough to really notice but it added a hint of feminine glow.
On the way to New Harvest, Angelo received a phone call from Tanya. They talked for a few minutes before Tanya told him her older sister, Heather, wanted to talk to Mary Elizabeth.
Angelo handed the phone to his mom and sat listening to the one-side of the phone conversation.
His foster mother kept nodding, saying "Yes," and "That's interesting," and "You think we can do something about this?"
When she hung up, she told Angelo, "Heather's been active in an ACLU rights group, Angelo, and she thinks we should challenge the agency on this."
"She's such a smart girl. Does that mean I can stay a girl?"
"Not yet, honey. But she'll look into it and let us know soon."
When they arrived at the restaurant, the waitress and maitre d' each complimented Mary Elizabeth and Angelo on their dresses and how lovely they looked.
"You guys are such a lovely mother and daughter. In such beautiful dresses. Tonight must be a special night." commented the maitre d' while leading them to a table.
It was an observation repeated by their waitress, an older, but carefully coiffured woman, as she took their orders, "OK, ma'am, and what would the beautiful young lady wish to order?"
Having spent the last week trying to live as a boy, Angelo was beside himself with joy, as the waitress complimented him, causing him to feel beautiful and extra feminine.
*****
At the playhouse, Angelo was immediately affected by the play, even though it was first performed more than 50 years earlier and had an old-fashioned feel.
He felt a strong identification with Tom, the young hero of the play, a sensitive college student who finds love with a middle-aged landlady.
Like Angelo, the student was very effeminate, and, Angelo decided that it was more than just a character the actor was playing. Based on the way the actor played the character, Angelo decided that the actor himself most likely may have been gay.
By the time the play was almost over, Angelo found himself crying and was comforted to notice Mary Elizabeth had pulled out a hanky to dry her eyes.
Like most amateur productions, this one had some obvious flaws. The mother actually seemed a bit overacted and some of the transitions were rugged, but overall, Mary Elizabeth noted as they left the theater, it was still a great presentation.
"Oh, I loved it, mommy," Angelo replied in defense. "Especially the boy who played Tom."
"Oh yes, he did that with great sensitivity," she agreed.
"I think that's the kind of part I could play, mommy."
She smiled. "Yes, dear. But you could just as well play the part of one of the college girls in the play too."
"You really think so, Mom?"
"Yes, honey I do, if only Child Protective Services could stay out of our lives."
"Oh mommy, it's okay. We'll figure it out. But don't worry about that, right now. For now, I just want you to know that this was one of the best nights of my life, ever. Thank you for all of it; the dress, the shoes, dinner, the play... everything."
On the drive home, everything was quiet. Neither said anything, both realizing that beginning tomorrow Angelo would have to return to boyhood.
Mary Elizabeth felt tears roll down her face as she thought about it. She knew that Angelo had a great inner strength and would deal with this in his own way. Yet, her thoughts kept reverting to one of the waitresses comments, "You have such a lovely daughter, ma'am."
Replaying that comment in her mind helped her stanch the flow of tears, and bring a smile to her face.
Angelo himself was in his own dream world, seeing himself on a huge stage, taking bows with elegant curtseys for expertly playing a strong female lead, and receiving a dozen roses from the theater usher, who delivered them with a kiss.
For both Mary Elizabeth and her "daughter, Angela," this night and its memories would carry them through some difficult days ahead.