Prince narrates:

Penelope and I dry off after our bath. "Now what are we going to do?" she smiles.

"Well...it's a nice and warm, you could put on a short skirt to show off those sexy legs." I remark. Penelope thinks her legs are too thick. They are thick and muscular, but not as big as she thinks they are. She knows I'm fond of her legs so she does wear miniskirts for me when it's just the two of us.

I throw on my robe.

"Do you know are gorgeous you are?' Penelope asks. "you're everything I could possibly dream of."

"Thank you. I don't want a long engagement myself. We can have the reception at Paisley Park, the wardrobe department can make you a dress if you can't find one you like, so we just have to get our marriage license and book the church. And you know I can get a party set up in a minute."

"Sugar, you want to get married soon, too? I'm so happy!"

"Well, yeah. Heaven knows I waited too long to purpose."

"I don't mind. I'm only 25, so that's okay."

I call the church Penelope, her family and I attend. There's an opening for September 29, 1987! Today is June 1st. We decide to take it. Things will be hectic for a bit but we can do this. At least I own the reception venue. 

Another reason I want to get married soon is so Penelope won't have time to obsess over her weight. She's lost about twenty pounds since we met and kept it off, but if I gave her a year to plan this wedding she might take on a crazy diet, trying to get too thin.

"Put your skirt on and let's go get that marriage license." I insist

Penelope doesn't need to be told twice, but grabs a t shirt with huge photo of her friend Gary as his drag alter ego Virtue. "Honey, this is a big occasion. Please wear something a little less... camp."

"But it distracts from my legs."

"It certainly does."

"And I designed it."

"Why?" I ask.

"The drag troupe wants to sell merchandise and asked me to help." She gets out a notebook and shows me illustrations of merchandise. All well thought out and shows talent. Pisses me off a bit.

"Are they paying you for this?" I demand to know.

"I'm getting a fraction of sales."

"How come you never come to me with ideas?"

"Figured you had it planned out."

"Penny, you can always help me. You're my fiance" I'm trying hard to not feel insulted about her designing for the cross dressers instead of me. Like she said, it's not intended to be personal.

Penelope finishes dressing. Simple top, white denim miniskirt, and a lightweight patterned scarf around her neck. Much better than the "Virtue" shirt.

She is silent during the drive to apply to get a license. An excited silence, as though she doesn't know what to say. In line, she's giddy. The lady helping us with the license teases Penelope, "Are you a good girl on your way to be wed?"

"Oh, I am," she laughs as she looks at me with love in her eyes.

"We're getting married!" Penelope squeals, holding the paperwork in the car.

"Exciting, isn't it?" I smile.

"Marrying someone never felt like an option to me."

"Basically, I had the same feeling."

"Because you were going from woman to another?"

"Yeah. Done with that foolishness. There's something else we've got to do- get you a new sign" I say as we pass Penelope Smith Studios.

"Ummm...Prince...Honey. No." She refuses quietly.

My heart sinks a bit since I thought a Penelope Nelson Studios sign would be great"Are you keeping your name?" I ask.

"Just professionally because I've built a business with that name. Anyway, I think Dad likes seeing the Smith name on a studio. You know how he loves photography."

I smile a bit thinking about Mr. Smith teaching Penelope photography, his favorite hobby. "We'll leave the sign, for your dad."

We pull into the Galpin house driveway and it occurs to me that Penelope and I live the kind of dreams our fathers must have had. Mr. Smith takes beautiful photos, but Penelope is at entirely different level. When the time is right, I'm going to ask her to photograph one of my covers.

Amethyst gets fed and we watch the news. I come up with the perfect thing to take her mind off anything serious "Want to go to the drive-in tonight?" I ask.

Now she's roaring with laughter,"Never have done that with a guy-even in high school!"

"First time for everything."

We head out the door and I make a quick stop at a gas station for some snacks. Penelope gets a Perrier and gives me an icy glare when I reach for a large bag of Doritos. Remembering she can eat too many in one sitting, I get a smaller bag. Her diet is super healthy. She's programmed me to keep almost no junk in the house but I have my secret hiding spots.

The cashier recognizes her. For being my fiance? No. He's seen her at the body builder conventions she attends with her fitness clients. She's become a bit of a draw at the conventions herself because Penelope is just that good at taking pictures of the human form.

Penelope Narrates:

Prince suggests something when we arrive at the drive in: pretending to be college students on date, I'd be the beautiful and smart girl and he'd be the basketball star. I'd never been on a date in my teens so why not pretend? I've never role played either, but I think it'll be fun. 

During the previews we make small talk about about "school" while I try not to giggle. The movie starts and he places his arm around me and smiles. Let's see...what would I do if I was a college freshman on a date with a stud like Prince? I grab hold of him and kiss him with every fiber of my being! No, I don't care that there is nacho cheese Doritos on his breath. Prince's French kissing is on point. Suddenly, he's feeling me up and i'm not going to lie, I'm feeling aroused. Maybe the fact that we're not totally in private has something to do with it. Moaning fills the car. This is fun and I'm enjoying acting like the desirable young girl I wish I had been. 

After the movie we head home, but I won't role play during sex tonight, because I don't know how to make love as someone else. And anyways, why would I want to? Being me is pretty good right now.