Bears Know Best

Chapter 17: First Cuts

SATURDAY MORNING, WE all slept in, and Alyssa and I skipped our usual morning ride. I went home about noon and helped Mom out with laundry before spending the rest of the day on the internet. I knew it was making me more nervous, but I couldn't help but spend several hours attempting to research everything they were going to do to me. I finally killed a few more hours that day by practicing some of the new stuff that Mr. Fark had me working on.

I think Mom must have sensed my nerves had gotten the better of me Saturday, because when I got back from the group ride with Alyssa's family, Sunday, she insisted we drive to Erie and get lunch and do some shopping. "We should get you a few bath robes and some nightgowns," she insisted at the Kohl's department store.

I shrugged, "Why?"

"They'll be a whole lot better for the days after surgery, and maybe they'll let you wear your own nightgown instead of a hospital gown," she added.

"That might be better," I replied nervously.

We started off in the juniors and women's intimate section, but all we could find in my size were things that were too sexy or too old woman like. I mentioned that about one of the nightgowns and mom laughed, "Well, I guess let's see what the girls' department has. I think we're just a bit too early for the college dorm wear to be in yet." She mentioned the last part with a regretful tone in her voice.

I soon figured out my mom had serious withdrawals from having missed me being a little girl to dress up in cute things. "I think this'll fit," she said, holding up a Disney Princess nightgown.

I gagged, "Mom, I do want them to treat me my age, not like I'm six..."

She laughed at me.

"Besides, the Rapunzel one looks way cuter," I said with a giggle to the one that was next to it.

"Done!" she said and had it in her hands.

I gasped, "I was kidding!" I practically died from embarrassment.

We eventually found two others, both were Hello Kitty, and I figured they were a little bit more likely to be worn by a teenage girl. Mom found a purple fleece robe for me to add to the pile.

I was more than a little embarrassed as we checked out, and the lady checking us out said, "I miss having a little girl small enough to wear cute nightgowns like these."

Mom smiled and paid, and meanwhile I turned a gazillion shades of red. Receipt in hand, we left to go down to JCPenney's. The two of us shopped until late afternoon, and when all was said and done, Mom and I had bought a total of seven nightgowns and a couple pairs of slippers. We returned home just in time to eat dinner over at Alyssa's house.

Alyssa stayed over at my house that night. When Mom showed us that my bed had a trundle underneath, Alyssa laughed hysterically that I hadn't even noticed! I poked her in retaliation when she insinuated that I was really a blonde!

We had a lot of fun that night, but I was distracted much of the time. I was going in for the first 'minor' surgery on Tuesday, and I was getting really nervous about it. Mom had explained to me over and over again that I wouldn't feel a thing, and other than a small incision or two, there wouldn't be any trace of it for me to see. Alyssa was great though, every time I got quiet, she'd hug me or something, then tickle me or poke me into distraction. Still, Mom's words about the surgery were my last thoughts that night, and the first in the morning.

'Easy for her to say,' I thought to myself over and over again during our morning ride Monday. Alyssa and I rode fifty miles that morning to see how far I could go. As we pulled back up to the driveway, I felt exhausted, but really good that we'd ridden that far.