It was very interesting to watch Renee during our trip to the restaurant. She had walked very elegantly to the car. Before she got in, she asked me the proper way to enter the passenger's side when wearing a skirt. I briefly explained how a woman gets in and seats herself. I then watched as Renee entered gracefully. During the drive, Renee kept her hands folded in her lap. When she spoke, I noticed a definite softening of her voice. She was working very hard to sound like a teenage girl.

My heart was filled with pride at my beautiful daughter sitting there beside me. I told her that she really did look very pretty and that I was glad to have finally been able to meet Renee after all of this time that she had been hidden from me. Renee actually blushed when I told her that I was enjoying having my new daughter there with me.

At the restaurant, I turned the car over to valet parking as Renee and I exited the car. Again, she was the picture of grace as she stood from a somewhat awkward sitting position. She made sure that her dress was not clinging anywhere as she carefully smoothed her skirt. A few of the young men assisting with the valet parking took more than a casual notice of Renee as we walked into the restaurant. I could see her blush at the admiring glances she was receiving. As we walked, I told her that she should simply enjoy being admired since she was so pretty. This caused Renee to blush even more.

Once inside, I informed the hostess that we had a reservation and gave our name. After checking her list, she smiled at us, picked up menus and led us to a table in the center of the room, exactly as I had asked for. As we were seated, the hostess looked at Renee, wished her a happy birthday and told her how nice she looked this evening. Although she blushed again, she accepted the compliment with style and grace and thanked the hostess for her kind words. As she sat, she carefully smoothed the skirt of her dress under her.

When we ordered our meal, I noticed that Renee ordered a small, sensible meal as a woman or young lady would, instead of a meal with loaded with a lot of fried foods like the typical male teenager enjoys. As I looked on approvingly after she had indicated her choices to the server, Renee smiled at me and said, "Mom, a girl has to always watch her figure even when she eats out on her birthday. Also, I have to keep from eating a lot of greasy foods so that my complexion will stay as nice and fresh as it is." She was truly behaving like the young lady that she wanted to be.

During the meal, we chatted about many things in general. She was watching me eat and trying to mimic my actions. I offered her some pointers on how a woman eats her meal, from the quantity of food at any time on her fork to how to properly hold her dinner napkin on her lap. After the server had cleared away the dinner dishes, we were sitting there discussing the merits of having dessert and coffee or just having coffee. Our server reappeared, carrying a small cake with a lighted candle. Several of the other servers followed her to our table. As she put the cake in front of Renee, the entire group joined in singing Happy Birthday to Renee. I then told her to make a wish and blow out the candle, which she did. All of the serve staff wished Renee a Happy Birthday and to have many more. I am glad none of them asked her how old she was because I think Renee might have told them that it was her first birthday, which, in a sense, it was.

While enjoying the cake, I asked Renee what she had wished for. She looked at me with a shy smile on her face and said that she had wished that this night would never end. She was o enjoying being Renee. I told her that, in some ways, it might not ever end. She looked at me questioningly as I explained my response. I told her that she still had her birthday presents at home to open. When she started to protest, saying that the dinner and the wonderful dress and lingerie were more than enough, I hushed her and told her that she deserved some birthday presents as well. She pressed me to find out what I had for her. I simply said that I wanted Renee to be more than a once-in-a-while visitor in our home. Even though Renee kept asking me, I would not tell her any more about her presents.

After we settled the check, I suggested to Renee that we visit the ladies room before departing for home. She seemed a little reluctant to go into this feminine sanctuary, perhaps fearing discovery, until I reminded her that everyone, without question, had accepted her as Renee. She seemed more comfortable, after that assurance, of relieving herself in the proper room. I also reminded her to be careful of her dress and lingerie as she sat down and to properly wipe herself before repositioning everything.

When she came out of the stall, Renee smiled at me, indicating that everything was all right. After washing and drying our hands, Renee checked her makeup in the mirror. Since she felt that her lipstick needed freshening, she pulled the gold tube from her purse and carefully coated her lips and then blotted them.

As we left the restaurant and waited for the car, Renee was again the subject of many admiring glances from the young men that were around. This time, Renee stood there, smiling at the attention she was receiving. My daughter continued to make me proud.

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