Life Of A Intersexual Boy More Girl - Part 4

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In the weeks that followed, Jenny's confidence as a young girl grew in leaps and bounds. Carol no longer reminded herself that this was her son James. Jenny or her daughter were the words she used for her now. Her modesty level even changed to such a degree that Carol actually noticed it. Carol was equally careful to never say anything that would let her daughter think she was ashamed of her in any way.

The buyers did submit their bid for her fashions, but none of them would go for the use of her models. That was a deal-breaker for all of them. Carol knew full well the ten-year-old girls would be a hard sell, but she wasn't about to budge on that part.

The camera seemed to love Becky and Jenny with equal measure. On the runway dressed as they were, either of them could have passed for girls in their late teens or very early twenties. They were both tall for their age, it played well in their favor. Neither girl had seen some fifty-odd photos Carol had of them, but she had looked at them with pure joy for hours on end.

Williams & Son's had done little more than raise the hemlines on last year’s spring and summer collections. They had a showing in two weeks and if it sold, it went into production in about two months. Carol knew it wasn't wise to try to upstage the trusted designer of the company. Still, her designs were fresh and her girls could sell them by the truckload and she knew it. They weren't cheap and that was what Williams & Son's was known for, fashion on a budget. There was no such thing, Carol told herself, just cheap knock offs.

At this point, she had nothing to lose. She was sure Thomas had stewed on the idea of her going off on her own long enough that he was ready to listen to her for a change. If not, she could take one of the offers that were already on the table, she wouldn't like it, but she could if she had to.

Two of the buyers had offered an across the board buy on her designs, but nothing for the girls at all. The last had offered a percentage contract and would use the girls, but it was not exclusive. Not many designers would walk away for the dollar figures she was looking at. Any of the three would put her and Jenny on easy street for years to come. That was too short term in Carol's eyes. She wanted to know her girl was set for life even if something happened to her.

Monday morning she kissed Jenny and told her not to wait up for her. It could very well be a long day and a pretty girl such as her needed her sleep. In her oversized handbag, she had the photos of her and Becky. In her mind the decision was made to upstage the company's top designer. Williams & Son's could continue to make designer knockoffs at a cheap price or they could brave the waters and make real designer clothes at a premium price. It was akin to swimming with sharks, but with no risk, you reap no reward.

Under her black and gold nearly see-through dress she wore nothing to save her garter belt and stockings. It was her design and the form-fitting material looked much better than the one like it that had been seen at a recent Hollywood red carpet event. Mr. Williams would say she was dressed like a brazen hussy. Yes, he was that old fashioned and even more so narrow-minded.

She waited till they were all assembled in the drafting room. Then she walked in, heads turned and eyes rolled, but she gave no acknowledgment to any of her superiors. She placed her oversized handbag on her chair, then started placing all the photos around the room in a single line along the bottom of the board. The room was so silent she could hear each of them taking one deep breath after another. When she done, she sat down and waited to see who would challenge her first.

“How dare you come to work in such a dress?” Tom's wife blasted her first.

“No guts, no glory,” Carol replied, sitting her down in short order.

Thomas and Marshal, his top designer were walking around the room looking at each photo in great detail. Thomas recognized Jenny right off and her smile along with her great figure sold the designs as much or more than anything. The other girl was new to him, as well, and she was equally as pretty and well-built to boot.

Marshal knew his designs were not near the quality of what he was looking at. These wouldn't be cheap to make, but they wouldn't sell cheap either. He could very well see himself losing his seat at the table to whoever had made these designs.

Thomas saw much of what Marshal did. These were not cheap designs and they would bring a good price on the retail floor as well. They had class and style all of their own and some were sexy to boot. Thomas took his chair at the head of the table and asked the question that was on everybody's mind. He knew the answer or thought he did, he just wanted to see if she had the guts to claim them.

“They are mine,” she spoke plain and clear. “And the models were found by me as well,” she added. She wasn't done and when Thomas started to talk she just kept going.

“Williams & Son's has been in business for more years than I care to count. They had made a profit by playing it safe and actually making other people's designs with a few alterations. Knockoffs, if you don't mind the word. Well, here is a one-time offer to brave the waters of real designer clothes,” I won’t do this ever again, she huffed.

Carol didn't stick around to see if they would take her up on the offer. She stood then, took her purse and as well as the photos and left the room. Damn the lot of them if they wanted to live in the fifties forever, she told herself as she headed out the door to her car. She didn't work for free and she was damn well through making other people's designs. Mrs. Williams had sparked her anger and years of frustration just came out along with it.

After she was gone, Thomas roundly scolded his wife for all to hear.

Thomas told them all that, “Designers don't think in terms of normal conventions. They see what is and then see what could be, that is the very type of thinking this company has lacked for years now. While I can't applaud her delivery, even Marshal will tell you her designs are top-shelf. You won't find any of them in a second-hand store until they are well worn out, trust me.”

Raymond, his son, and CFO of the company was the first to agree with his father. His only concern was the cost to make such lavish designs and the material she chose for them would cut into the bottom line. Save that both he and Carol were right.

Glenda, their head seamstress, was the next one to get in line. She didn't say it out loud and she would have hugged Carol like a teddy bear had she still been there. She figured these guys were so stuck in the past, nothing short of a nuclear bomb blast would get them to change their minds.

Carol was sitting at home consoling herself, as well as her daughter, with a half-gallon of Rocky Road by Ben and Jerry. She lost her temper and that was the wrong thing to do. Still, she had her say, and for that, such as it was, she was proud of herself. Her daughter was her priority now and always would be.

Carol sat on the couch blurry-eyed from the tears she was crying. She clutched Shaun's picture with her and Jenny, just six months old at the time. He never came home after that picture was made, but she remembered him every time she looked at Jenny.

She had his blond hair and emerald green eyes, his cute upturned nose that he so hated, but made him such a beautiful man as well. She had his sense of humor and his will to see whatever she started right to the end, no matter how good, bad, or ugly it was. How could she tell her that mom had just lost her temper and probably her job all at the same time? She couldn't and the tears were turning into a river the longer she sat there with her daughter. There was nothing so precious in her life now and she couldn't break her heart. Not now.

It was late in the day when Thomas thought back on the events of that morning. He knew very little about Carol save that she had a child and that her husband had been killed in the war. He knew she was college-educated and had a degree in designing. He had seen her alone at the cemetery putting flowers on his grave so he knew she missed him. He wondered now that she was a single parent if her act of defiance had really been an act of desperation.

He and Raymond had already run the numbers. Her designs would sell, there was no doubt about that. The question yet to be answered as if they would sell enough to make a profit. He told his son to make up a standard contract, she could use her models and he would cover the cost. Likewise, he would buy her designs outright and split the profit sixty-forty. Himself taking the larger share as he was taking all the risk. This was a far better offer than his son was accustomed to making, but he did as his father asked him to.

Her talent was wasted working in his factory. His offer was such that she could stay at home and raise her child if she wanted. He knew she did most all of the work he had seen at home, there was no reason for her to show up at the factory. Now, he needed to know where she lived and the HR department was taking their sweet time finding her address. Thomas was not a man to wait for much of anything.

Jenny was up and had taken her shower and was fully dressed before her mom even got out of bed. She would not be going to work today and that was really odd as her mom never missed a single day of work since she had started. Something had happened yesterday that put her mom in a tailspin. She didn't know what it was, but she surmised that it must have been really bad if she was missing work. She was getting more concerned with each passing hour as her mom was still in the bedroom.

Mr. Williams knocked on the front door, expecting to find Carol still as bitter and upset as she had been the day before. The young girl that answered the door took him by surprise and he quickly had to adjust.

“Is your mom at home?” He asked.

“She is in the bed sick today. Is there something I can do for you?” She asked politely as she had been taught.

The tall man got down on one knee and reminded her that she had met him at The Top Hat. “Could I come in and talk with you for a few minutes?” He asked.

“I guess so, so long as you're quiet. I don't want to disturb mom while she's sleeping,” she added.

He was six foot, six inches tall, and weighed well over two-hundred pounds, but this girl showed no fear at all. “Are you Carol's daughter?” He asked quietly.

His husky voice carried well into Carol's bedroom and she now stood at the door just to see how this huge man would treat such a small girl. And she knew Jenny lacked nothing in courage.

“I am,” she stated firmly.

Jenny didn't think to offer him a seat knowing how her mom felt about him, she was hoping he wouldn't stay that long.

He realized now that this girl was all of ten and twelve years old at best. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her afraid of him, so he got down on one knee again so they were looking at each other at eye level. He could only imagine what it would be like to have to tell this darling little girl she had lost her job. He knew in his heart had it been him there was no way he could have done it.

“I brought these for your mom,” he stated, as he gave her the big bunch of roses. “Your mom showed me more courage yesterday than some of the men that have been with me for years. I hope you are very proud of her, as I know you are the world to her. Would you also give her these papers to look over? She will understand what it is about,” he paused, seeing a clean and proper house, but not one that said there was any wealth here.

“I would be glad to,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

She turned and used a footstool to get a vase from a high shelf. She put the flowers in first and then ran some water in a vase making sure it was firmly on the table before she let go. She took the papers and placed them with her mom's purse and then asked if there was something more she could do.

There was no anger in this child, no guile at all, she was the most innocent thing he had ever laid his eyes on. He felt nothing from her but genuine love and respect, something he was sure Carol and her husband had taught her. Her smile had melted his heart in a way he had never thought such a young person could. He was the one holding back the tears now and he couldn't stop himself doing what came next.

Jenny saw the man reach inside his jacket and the real size of the man registered on her. His one hand was big enough to make both of hers and some leftover, she told herself. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was worried that he would wake up her mom if he didn't leave soon.

From his wallet, he took two five hundred dollar bills. He gave them to the little girl and then gave her his business card as well.

“I want you to share that with your mom. Maybe you can go to the Top Hat with her again sometime. This is my business card and it has my home phone number on it. If there is anything you need, anytime day or night, you call me. Okay?” He said as he stood to leave.

Carol could hear his voice shaking and she knew Jenny had melted the big man right to his core. She thought she would walk out and let him apologize to her with her daughter present to hear it. She didn't, that would spoil the moment, as she had never seen him be so gentle with anyone.

When he stood again, Jenny realized even more so just how big he was. She walked him to the door and her head was almost as high as his elbow. No wonder her mom was so afraid of him or at least that was the way she talked about him. Jenny promised to have her mom call him and then he was gone.

Carol had just witnessed an event that would have made every Hollywood filmmaker green with envy. Armed with nothing but her love for her mother, a smile, and pure honesty. Her ten-year-old daughter had just reduced a hulk of a man to nothing more than putty in her hands. Had she asked for it he would have signed over his company and not thought a second about it.

Carol slipped out of her room and got a cup of coffee and was sitting at the table when Jenny turned back into the house. Jenny ran as much as she could in her heels to give her mom a hug.

“Tell me you're not sick, tell me it's going to be fine mom, you can't go away like daddy did,” Jenny's voice broke and she was ready to cry.

“No, no, honey, everything is fine and it's only going to get better from now on,” Carol said in a voice that reassured her daughter. “Have another cup of coffee with me,” she said as if it was the most natural thing in the world for a ten-year-old to drink coffee.

As Carol looked over the contracts, the scene she had just witnessed played over again in her mind. Jenny was Shaun made over, he could have any girl he wanted with a blink of his eyes and she had seen her daughter do far worse to a very big man.

There were three checks mixed in with the papers. One for Jenny for ten-thousand dollars and one just like it for Becky. For her part, she got five- hundred thousand dollars for her designs and forty percent of the profits. That had been pretty close to what she had wanted from the other buyers and she signed them with Jenny standing over her shoulder.

It wasn't till Williams & Son's reported that they were going with a new designer this year that the press really caught on. Less than a week later Becky and Jenny were like whales in a pond. Everybody knew them on sight and the girls were loving every minute of it. Of course, that meant the boys were lined up around the block, as well. Jenny had plenty of time to work on figuring out the boys. Her mom was making sure they kept a safe distance.

Dr. Markus had correctly diagnosed Jenny as being inter-sexed. She had parts that were both male and female. It was clear that her body had taken a hard turn to the girl's side of the fence, but her mom wasn't about to force her into anything. When she was ready, she could decide on her own which she would be.

In the meantime, she was adjusting to private school and security guards that watched her like a hawk. She came home every day after school just like she always had only now she was driven by her mom's chauffeur. None of this went to her head like you might think. She was still the very loveable girl she had been from the start. And, no, she and Carol did not become snobs of some sort.

Save what you already know very little changed in their life. Sure they had money, but it didn't define Jenny any more than it did Carol. Carol still worked in her garage and Jenny spent most of her time on the computer or with Becky. Jenny's celebrity status would pass as would Becky's sooner or later. Then things would settle back to their normal pace.

Jenny had no idea about the ongoing request her mom was getting to have her model again. For now, she just told them all no. With her gender in limbo, they would have to lie or at least keep it a secret neither of them wanted the hassles, so for now no modeling.

When the time came, both Jenny and Becky modeled her fall and winter collections. Thomas renewed the contract just the same as it had been and gave Carol the check for her forty percent of the previous collection. That check alone secured their future. There was more to come and Jenny would be a very wealthy girl if she stayed the course she was on right now.

It took another year for the rest of Jenny's and Becky's friends to see them as normal girls again. In that time Jenny, as well as Becky, only matured and became even prettier than they had been. James, well gone by now, but not forgotten by any means.

The next year saw the girls go through leotards and tights as if they were water. They both were hooked on Aerobic exercise and spent every spare minute working out at the gym. Of course, this did nothing more than defining both of the girl's figures. They were never hard to find in the small town they lived in, just look to see where all the boys were hanging out and they were close by.

Just before they turned thirteen, Becky began to have a regular period. Jenny often had the symptoms, but it wasn't as real to her as it was to Becky. Dr. Markus was sure beyond all reason that Jenny was really a girl now. From her body to her smile, to her mannerisms, everything shouted girl here loud and clear. An MRI has done just before her thirteenth birthday was proof positive that she was indeed a girl.

All the parts a normal female would have were there save her unfinished vaginal canal. Some corrective surgery could fix that and that was the offer she made to Jenny.

Even to an untrained eye, Jenny could see what Dr. Markus pointed out on the MRI. She had now been living the life of a female for most of three years. Money wasn't an issue, as far as the surgery was concerned, it was a matter of if her mom would allow her to have it. Carol had not been in the room when Dr. Markus broke the news to Jenny. She wanted Jenny to know the truth first and then make her own decision. To Carol, it was pretty much a done deal.

Becky shared all of Jenny's secrets and she knew, if nothing else in the world was true, Jenny was all girl now. Jenny had told her as much and she loved all the pretty and soft clothes she got to wear. She was as much into makeup as she was the clothes and was always up to date on that as well. Her biggest fear was that her manhood would soon assert itself again and that was the last thing she wanted. More than that was her mom, who had given birth to a son, and now it seemed he was a daughter, he was so afraid he would disappoint his mom.

Jenny had spoken with Dr. Markus in January and now it was early May and school was soon to be out for the spring break. Jenny had kept her thoughts and fears to herself while it seemed that her mom only worried about her more with each passing day. Becky had urged her to just be honest with her mom as she had always been, the worst thing that could happen was for her to say no.

On the last day of school, Jenny walked in the house with wide streaks in her makeup. Carol knew she had been crying and asked her straight up what had caused her to cry.

“We need to talk, Mom,” Jenny stated.

“Yes, we do,” her mom smiled. Then waited to see just what was on her mind.

“I knew you gave birth to James, a son that you were very proud of. I'm not that boy anymore and I am so afraid that if I don't have the operation Dr. Markus told me about, he will come back.”

The tears poured down her cheeks like a waterfall now. Carol could see and well knew the boy was gone. While she wanted to comfort Jenny, as much as any mother would, she had to wait and let her have her say. There was more Jenny wanted to say and Carol sat there silent, holding back her own tears, waiting for Jenny to bear her soul.

“Please, Mom, tell me, love me as Jenny as much as you did James. I want to be Jenny always and I promise I will be the best daughter you could ever want. Please. Tell me I can have the operation,” she stopped again as she was crying too hard to speak.

“Yes, Jenny, you can have the operation any time you want. I love you with all my heart and always will. You will never know how happy I am to have you as my daughter and I promise to be the best mom I can be,” Carol said, as she held her daughter tight to her chest.

They packed that afternoon and by dark were on their way to the hospital. Jenny would have to talk to the staff to shrink before the operation, but it was just a formality. Ms. Winters told Carol, once Jenny was sedated for the operation, she had never spoken to a child such as her that seemed so well adjusted. She figured that Jenny would have no problems adjusting to being a real girl.

Jenny was in the operating room some six hours before the doctors came out and gave her the good word. Jenny needed very little work, as it turned out that most of what she should have had was there. In fact, if she could urinate and walk without any pain, she could take her home the next day.

Jenny was thrilled when the doctor held the mirror so she could see between her legs. What she saw looked as natural to her like any other girl on the planet and she smiled ear to ear. They stayed an extra day as Jenny feared she might pull out some of the stitches walking around.

By the time they were back home, Jenny felt almost back to normal again. Throughout the summer she wore her bikini with pride and without a wrap as she had before. Carol didn't realize the fear of discovery that had plagued her all this time or not until now. Jenny really was the girl she saw in the mirror now and it showed in many ways.

Junior High brought many changes for Jenny, but in ways, she caused as many as she endured. There was no getting the girl to wear pants, no matter how cold the weather got. Carol figured that she had worn pants all she wanted to while she was James, of course, that was just a guess. And so it was that she and Becky became quite the trendsetters.

It wasn't till Christmas that year that her true story somehow got leaked to the press. Carol and Jenny rode out the storm with ease, as the bond they shared would never be broken. All of their friends as far as school went already knew Jenny was once James, so the story died out almost as quickly as it started.

Thomas Williams was a big surprise that year. He gave her a bonus check just weeks before Christmas that was equal to the forty percent that he gave her mom. Added to the other money that her mom had put in the bank in her name, it made Jenny worth just a little over one million dollars in cash.

Thomas didn't ask for the real story behind what he had read in the press, but when he personally delivered the check, Jenny felt he should know the truth. It was one of the most touching sights to see her explain it in her own way that a person of age could ever see. It was Christmas Eve morning when he knocked on the door.

“Mr. Williams, please come in,” Jenny said to the man that still towered over her.

He came in and smiled with his hello to Carol along with his best Christmas wishes for them both. He gave Carol the checks as he always had and then personally thanked Jenny for all her hard work as well.

Even in her tallest heels, she was looking at him somewhere between his stomach and chest so when Jenny started to talk, once again the big man dropped to one knee so as to look at her face to face.

“I know you have read the newspaper so I think it is best that you hear the truth and from me,” she paused.

Thomas looked at Carol as if asking for her permission before he spoke. She nodded her consent and then he turned back to Jenny

“By all means, little lady, you have the floor,” he said in a way that gave her as much respect as he would have given her mom.

“It's true everybody thought I was a boy when I was born. As I grew up it turns out that I was actually a little of both a boy and a girl. The first time you saw me mom had only let me dress as a girl cause I looked so funny as a boy with breasts. Mom and I didn't do anything to make me this way and the doctors said it best to let my body decide which I would be. So this is who I am and I hope the story in the news didn't hurt your business,” Jenny said.

The shock registered on his face like he had been stuck with a cattle prod. Here was a little girl that still sounded all of ten years trying to sum up her life in a paragraph that this full-grown hulk of a man would understand. She used the word breasts as if she fully understood what that really meant and had expressed no doubt that she was a girl through and through. He had to let that moment of shock pass before he was able to speak.

It was such a poignant moment he had to search for the words. “You have done neither me or my business no harm. I am as proud as your mom to have you be a part of it. I truly hope so long as you and your mom are willing you will continue to be a part of my business,” he stated flatly and offered to shake her hand.

She took a single short step forward and gave him a hug. This was the only man that had not teased or hurt her feelings in some way. She knew her mom held no love for him, but to her, he was even bigger than he really was. Carol was shocked, but not nearly so much as the man who felt the arms of this tender young girl around his neck.

Jenny had no idea of the effect she was having on the man. When she turned him loose he stood and again wished them both a Merry Christmas. If ever Carol had known a Scrooge, this man would have gotten her vote. Now she saw the tears welling up in his eyes and realized his sudden urge to leave had a bigger reason. He wasn't the work-hardened old warhorse she had known him to be, not that day and not any day after that.

Twice now Jenny had reduced him to putty. She saw it the first time, but afterward, he seemed to be the same old workhorse he had been. In truth, she felt as if she had never worked for such a heartless man, as that was the way he treated everyone including her.

Jenny in her most innocent way asked her mom to take her shopping. She wanted to buy Mr. Williams a Christmas gift, after all, she bought gifts for everyone else she knew. She so seldom saw Mr. Williams she had all but forgotten about him.

Carol tried to explain to her that he had enough money to buy anything he wanted for Christmas, but she was intent that she would give him something for Christmas. Jenny asked her mom just what he might not spend the money to buy for himself. Well, I know he loves to drink Scotch, so a well-aged bottle of Scotch would be a nice gift.

Jenny really feared that she, as well as her mom, might lose their job despite the fact that she had been open and honest with Mr. Williams. She still for the most part held the same opinion of him and she really thought a Christmas gift from her might ease any anger he had towards them.

The only place open on Christmas eve was the most expensive place in town to buy alcohol. Jenny would not be denied, so Carol took her there and together they picked out a twenty-year-old bottle of Scotch. They paid way too much for it and Jenny sighed as it was more than she had spent on her mom even.

It was nine-thirty that night when I got to Carol's house. My name is David Conner. Shaun was my cousin and best friend till the day he died in the war. I work for a newspaper as a writer and have ever since we were all in college together. I dated Carol before Shaun ever knew about her. Back then the only thing that outshined her beauty was her openly feminist attitude. That was in part the reason she and I stopped dating, as she carried that as if it was a chip on her shoulders.

Shaun was sure it was something she would mature out of, whereas I was sure it would only get worse with age. Thankfully, he was right, although, he didn't live to know it. By now I had already proposed to Carol and while she was more than willing to say yes, there was a caveat.

She had an inter-sexed child that a man about the house might influence in a direction she didn't want to go. Even she was doing all she could not to influence the child in one direction or the other or at least not until the child's body gave some sure sign of the future. Just shortly after we began to see each other on a regular basis breasts appeared on the child and stayed well on into puberty.

I had been wanting to write a book for a while now. The story of Carol and her child's life, after losing Shaun in the war to me, was right up my alley. I could easily see a story that centered around a mother and child who had a really hard life after losing their husband and father in the war. If you have made it this far into the story, you already know that is not how it turned out. At least now you know who narrated most of the story for you and how I knew so much, as Carol poured her heart out to me often.

We sat at the kitchen table as she recounted the day’s events. I had to paint my own image of the big man down on one knee as his heart melted to a thirteen-year-old girl. Carol smiled widely as she told the story to me and the pride she had for her daughter was all too easy to see.

In a moment of reflection, she told me again how she led James to believe his boy's clothes were locked away in his bedroom and then told me the lock was broken and had been from the start. If James had really wanted to continue to dress and act like a boy, his things were available to him had he only checked. I think she told me that more for my benefit than her own. I recalled telling her that it seemed when she did that she was forcing the change on him.

On Christmas, Jenny was up with the sun. Carol knew this would be the case and as if from nowhere, under the tree there were presents for all. Jenny passed out gift after gift for mom, Becky, and Ms. Walker, saving her own for later. She seemed happier this year to be passing out the presents than receiving them. When she got to the bottle of Scotch, she wouldn't have it any other way than for them all to go and deliver it personally.

Jenny remembered well the rose-colored mini dress she had worn the first time she met Mr. Williams. She was taller now and more experienced in high heels, but to the unsuspecting eye this just made her look older and prettier than she already was. Her fuller breasts and rounded hips told anybody with eyes this girl was a heart-breaker.

Becky and Ms. Walker bowed out as they saw this a moment for Jenny to shine, as it were. Carol was unsure, to say the least, that Mr. Williams would accept the gift or see it as being as heartfelt as it really was. Carol knew he would be at the plant and, yes, it ran all three shifts even on Christmas.

James had been there once and Carol hadn't set foot in the place for most of three years now. Carol had wished him a Merry Christmas albeit through gritted teeth and that was as far as she went. What she did know she did for Jenny.

Mr. Williams wasn't in his office when they got there, but Carol was sure where she could find him. She and Jenny walked out on the catwalk that overlooked the cutting room floor and there he was barking away orders at one of his workers as if they had no clue what to do.

The other man just smiled as Carol and Jenny came into full view. Thomas had no clue what had taken the wind from his sails, that a worker would smile while being read the riot act. He turned and there stood Jenny and Carol with Jenny just two feet from him. He knew Jenny had caught him in the act, as it were, and no matter how good he treated her, she and Carol would see it as a put-on or an act.

In a flash, his voice went soft and low and he sent the worker on his way.

“Let's go out to my office,” he said, looking almost scornful at Carol.

It wasn't a long walk and Jenny was shaking as she followed Thomas with her mom behind her. He opened the door to his office and offered them a seat.

“What brings you here on Christmas?” He asked, as he looked at Jenny.

She opened her big handbag and got out the gift-wrapped bottle of Scotch.

“I got this for you, Mr. Williams. Merry Christmas from me and mom,” she spoke with a smile.

You would have thought she had shot him through the heart. His eyes teared up that second and there were no words to come from his mouth as he opened the present as if he himself were a child. He looked over the bottle and checked the year it was made. He calmed himself, then called his line foreman and told him to have the workers finish what they were doing, then assemble them in the shipping and receiving area.

Raymond wasn't in his office and Carol knew this was odd as he had fussed over every penny ever since she had been there. More to the point he acted as if they were broke or damn near it all the time. He pushed everybody as hard or harder than Thomas did.

Finally, as calm and collected as he would get that day, he thanked Jenny for her gift and offered to share some with her and her mom, but there was something she needed to see first.

He stood and pulled out his big fancy desk chair and asked Jenny to sit in it. He rolled her out the door and down to the service elevator that went to the plant's main floor. Carol, Jenny, and Thomas rode down together and the doors opened to the most silent factory Carol had ever heard.

Thomas pushed his own chair that Jenny sat in down the big main hall that separated the cutting rooms from the sewing rooms. Less than ten minutes ago there would have been so much noise you could hardly think, now Carol could hear the sniffles Thomas tried too hard to hide. She was all but sure she and Jenny were about to get the ax in a very public manner.

At the edge of the loading dock, there was a small platform, and Raymond, with some help from Thomas, set Jenny's chair and all on the platform. The workers lined up in rows and Thomas handed Jenny a big stack of envelopes. He started to talk, but the lump in his throat just wouldn't go down and he asked his son to do the honors.

The crowd was getting restless and Raymond motioned for Carol to come up and stand by Jenny. “As many of you may or may not know, my father and I have been the sole owners of Williams & Son's ever since my oldest brother died some years ago. Two years ago we were more broke than most of you think you are. We had mortgaged everything we owned to keep the plant open and to be able to pay our employees. As hard as my father and I pushed you, we pushed ourselves to keep all of you working,” Thomas was openly sobbing by now and it was all Raymond could do to carry on.

“Then almost three years ago now Carol Conners had had enough. She brought her own designs and her daughter to model them along with her best friend, Becky Walker. She put her offer on the table and told us to take it or leave it.” For force, he had to stop talking, as the workers applauded so loud nobody would have heard him.

“Carol wasn't a new employee to us and the show of force so impressed my father that we took her up on the offer. I am happy to report that barring some real tragedy you will all be working for years to come. In fact, we are going to let Carol and Jenny pass out your paychecks and the largest bonuses the company had ever given out. If you will please thank them both as you take your checks and go home, we don't want to see any of you till the Monday after the New Year.” He had gone the last mile and his voice was breaking with tears when he stopped.

Jenny quickly called the first name on the envelope and gave that person a check, while her mom gave out the bonuses. Carol had never seen the faces at the plant smile as they were now. More to the point she had never seen Raymond or Thomas be so open about the affairs of the company. She could only guess that Jenny's confession to Thomas had caused this.

When the last employee was gone, Thomas opened the bottle of Scotch and poured them all a shot each. Of course, he asked Carol before he gave Jenny a glass. Thomas made the toast and it was probably the most honest and profound thing he could have said in Jenny's presents.

“Jenny, I would be a much lesser man and much poorer had you and your mom not come along when you did. Your mom's hard work, along with your beauty and honesty, are the reason many people in this town will have a much better Christmas than they would have. Salute,” he said.

The taste of the Scotch caught Jenny off guard and she made a face that had them all busting a gut laughing for several minutes. Carol stood as proud and tall as Jenny as they left the plant that Christmas day and Jenny still had presents to open when she got home. She had no idea it was the hearts that she opened that Christmas that would forever be thankful.