Spring went by quickly. Miles didn't have very hard classes that semester. On several of his classes, he bummed out on assignments, only to study hard for tests, and get good grades anyway.

Following this school philosophy gave him a lot of free time with his friends.

In the background of things however, Miles changed slightly. He decided that his weird, self determined hairstyle looked bad. So, instead, he'd begun letting his hair grow out, and just combing it to look nice.

Along with that, Miles had liked how Mom had cleaned up his nails. So he'd kept them nicely trimmed, and would discreetly polish them from time to time.

The day after Mom took the rest of Sander's old girl clothes to goodwill, Miles noticed something.

After his little diversion with Mom, he'd tossed the outfit in his closet when he'd gone to bed. She'd hadn't taken it with the other clothes.

He kept telling himself that he should mention it to Mom, but he either kept forgetting to, or Mom was around Dad or Sander.

One day, when he was home alone, he noticed the skirt and shirt again while trying to find a book on the shelf in his closet.

He'd grown his hair out longer. He wondered how he'd look now wearing the skirt.

He put the outfit on again.

When he walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror, a smile crept onto his face. Now, his hair looked more convincing. It hung down to the bottom of his ears. He got out the brush, and made it look more neat.

If he kind of squinted, he actually looked a bit like a girl.

He looked over himself. He started to wonder what he'd look like if he wore earrings, or if he let his fingernails get a bit longer.

And that's what he did. As the school year drew to a close, he grew out his nails until they were reasonable long. When he was alone, he would every so often put on the girly outfit again. 

It was just a fun little diversion to him. Until summer came.

*****

Miles woke up one morning, after they were a few days into summer. The house was kind of quiet. Dad usually had the news on, and Sander would be at the table eating his breakfast.

Not so now. Dad was doing some work for his job that was going to last a few months across the country. At the same time, family in another state had offered Miles and Sander a summer job working on their farm.

Miles had politely declined. But Sander had agreed in earnest. At first, Mom and Dad had been a little unsure of him going. Perhaps it was because they knew why he wanted to go - Mom's sister's family was one place that Sander felt more comfortable. They weren't sure why. They just took his transition better for some reason.

That left Miles and Mom alone.

Miles shambled around the kitchen, feeling groggy. He made himself some toast, and watched something on his phone as he ate.

"Good morning sweetie," Mom said, walking into the room.

"Morning Mom."

He popped the last piece of toast in his mouth.

"Enjoying summer so far?"

"I guess," Miles said. "My friends and I haven't done much since Kent moved away. He kind of was the one that got everyone together, and now we aren't really doing much with him gone."

"I'm sorry sweetie," she said.  

"It's fine," Miles said. "We still play games online and stuff, we just don't do much in person."

Mom sat down at the table with him, glancing at the TV, where she had something on - some sort of cooking show. She turned down the volume till it was quiet.

I paid attention to my video for a bit, until I noticed that Mom was staring in my direction. I paused my video.

"Mom?"

"I couldn't help but notice...," Mom asked, "you're fingernails are getting long."

A chill rain through him. "Oh? I guess I've kinda forgotten to trim them." 

She kept her eyes trained on them. "They look like they've been trimmed though." 

Crap.

Mom gave him a pleasant smile. "It's okay if you like it. I won't stop you."

Miles felt slight relief, but still uneasy.

"Do you want to paint them?"

His eyes met Mom's.

"I... I'm not sure about that," he said.

"Well," Mom said, "it is just the two of us. No one else has to know."

Miles thought it over. "Okay," he said.

They went to her and Dad's room, and then followed a similar routine to their moment several months ago. This time however, Mom applied a sky blue color to his nails.

He splayed out his fingers like a girl would, smiling at them once Mom was done.

"How do you like them?" Mom asked.

"They're pretty," Miles answered.

As he examined his nails, a thought occured to him.

"Just a second Mom, I'll be right back."

He went to his room, and with a smile on his face, put on his personal girl outfit. He then crept out of his room, and entered Mom and Dad's bedroom.

Mom had a stunned smile on her face. Miles's smile deepened.

"When... when I wore it several months ago," Miles explained, sitting down in the vanity's chair, "I realized you'd missed it when you went to goodwill... I... I kind of held onto it."

Mom smiled, and held Miles's hands, which lay in his lap.

"Sweetie," she smiled, "I... I left them behind on purpose."

Miles felt a warm feeling go through him. "You... you know that I've been wearing it."

She rolled her eyes, but not in an annoyed way - in an amused way.

"You think I wouldn't notice it on that hanger, hidden behind your other clothes?"

Miles blushed.

Mom hugged him. "Do you like wearing it?"

He looked into her eyes as she withdrew her arms. He nodded with a neutral look.

"Your secret is safe with me honey," she smiled. Miles felt a little smile come on.

"Miles?"

"Yeah Mom?"

"Do you mind... if I slip out for a moment to get something of my own?"

"Um... okay."

He waited as Mom left the room. While he waited, he studied his reflection in the mirror, and looked down at himself. He did look more girly than the last time he'd worn the outfit. The nail polish added to that impression.

"Here we are," Mom said. She walked into the room, holding something behind her back.

"A cute thing like you," she said, "should have a cute bra."

She revealed a bra she'd been hiding.

"A... a bra?"

"Do you want to try it?"

Miles felt certain inhibitions trying to stop him. But they were alone, and he was curious.

"Yeah," he said, finding his smile returning.

Mom helped him put it on. There was nothing for him to put in it. Then Mom went into the bathroom, and came back with some soft hand towels. She rolled them up, and put them in the bra. Miles slowly pulled down his shirt.

Looking back into the mirror, it made a big difference. It was strange seeing the shape on his chest.

"I... I look like a girl..."

"You look very pretty... Miley..."

His wavering smile became more solid. "Miley," he said softly, testing out how it sounded.

Mom's own smiled widened. "I... I have a proposition for you."

Miles turned around, and Mom offered her his hand.

"Let me show you."