All Grown Up

Foreword: This one is another joint project with a great friend of mine, though this one was primarily their writing with just a bit of my input. Takes place in the same Joxie universe, though as always we’ve written so you can understand and follow even without having read them— though I have included hyperlinks to the specific stories when certain references are made. We hope you enjoy this one!

Rosemary’s life felt like a funhouse mirror—instead of having parents disappointed about having a gay child, her mothers were disappointed she was straight. Of course they never said so, but she could tell based on the strained smiles on their faces whenever she would talk about having crushes on boys as a kid, and especially in their overt politeness when she would bring boyfriends home as she got older. Her moms were never ones to be cautious or overly polite—they were the queens of PDA and always all over each other, except during these visits from their daughter’s boyfriends.

Ro’s upbringing also made her beauty standards opposite from the norm. While most little girls grew up wanting long princess hair, noticing how much her long-haired Mama Roxie adored her short-haired Mom Joanna’s pixie cut, and how thrilled Mama was every time Mom got a haircut, made Ro come to see short hair on women as something to be admired. In the spirit of letting their little girl express herself however she wanted, Jo and Roxie let her get a pixie cut at age seven. It took months of her begging to get her hair cut like Mom’s, and despite keeping her own hair so strictly short it was Jo, worried about how other kids might bully her baby, who voiced the most objections. Jo was teary the whole time as she watched Ro’s gorgeous long red hair get chopped off into an adorable little pixie, but fully supported Ro in her decision to cycle through growing her hair long and cutting it short every few years to donate. Little Ro was always thinking of others, and wanted kids who lost their hair to get to have locks as bountiful as hers.

After that first big haircut at age seven, she’d go for a bob instead of a pixie whenever her hair got long enough to donate. When she met Nate in her 20s, her hair was at its longest, ready to be chopped for a donation. Nate couldn’t keep his eyes off her waist-length red hair during their first date…or the next date…or in bed when he always wove it through his fingers and grabbed it hard to pull her closer to him. The longer they dated, the more reluctant Ro was to chop her hair off again. Yes, it was a nice thing to donate it, and yes, it would grow back thick and glorious like it always did, but she so adored how deeply Nate cherished it. “My mermaid,” he called her as he played with her hair, which made her smile, thinking of how Mom always called Mama a mermaid because of her long red hair. Ro’s was a lighter, more ginger red than her Mama’s deep crimson, but just as special in Nate’s eyes.

“What would you think if I cut my hair?” she asked him one day as she watched him cooking their dinner. “How short?” he asked in a surprised tone, looking up from the stovetop they shared in the apartment they’d moved into together the year before. “Like, shorter than yours,” she explained, and he laughed as she approached him from behind and twisted her fingers into his shoulder-length thick raven locks.“That’s not saying much,” he chuckled. She leaned over his shoulder and popped her chin onto it. “Well, would you feel weird having hair longer than your girlfriend’s?” she asked, dipping a finger into the sauce that he stirred and trying a taste. “Babe, if I cared about that kind of bullshit, I’d have caved into my family asking me to get a proper haircut years ago.” Ro smiled as she kissed his cheek. “And I’m glad you didn’t cave. I love your long hair! I just don’t want to upset you since you love mine, too.”

He turned around so that she faced him and grabbed her, embracing her from around her waist and looking so fetching in his chef’s apron. “Of course I love your hair, my mermaid. But you’re so beautiful that you’d look good with no hair. Not that I want you to go that far, but you get the point.” He planted a kiss on her forehead before he continued. “Where’s this urge coming from, anyway?” “Well, you’ve seen from old photos that I’ve cut it short a bunch of times before to donate it,” Ro narrated, already wistfully running her hand through her luscious red locks, “and I just feel bored of having it long. Just feels like time for something new… I’ve put it off because I didn’t want to fuck anything up with us, though, to be totally honest.”

Nate smiled at her and gave her another forehead kiss. “I can’t imagine a haircut changing anything between us, but if I don’t like it, I’ll just have to get used to it, and it can grow back anyway. You donating it is part of that sweetness that made me fall for you.” She blushed as she held him closer, sinking her cheek into his chest. “You sure?”

He stroked her hair as he shared something that came as quite a surprise to Ro. “The funny thing is, I’ve actually always liked short hair on women. It shows so much confidence, and that’s sexy. I just never told you since I didn’t want to make you think I disliked your long hair!”

Ro stood back. “You mean all this time I kept it long for you, I was just tripping myself out? Every time I’ve gotten the urge to chop it off, I’ve asked my parents what to do to avoid upsetting you and they’ve said any man who didn’t want me to wasn’t worth my time, but I still ignored them!” Nate laughed as he shook his head. “I’ve told you: I think Jo is the ultimate milf, yet you thought I only liked long hair?”

Ro grimaced. “I was too busy trying to push that out of my head to think about it,” she replied, and gave him a playful shove. “Now get back to cooking, I’m hungry!”

Ro felt such a sense of relief the next day knowing that she could cut her hair short again without upsetting Nate. Summer was coming, so it seemed like the perfect time to rid herself of that blanket of hair. And who better to help rid her of it than her Auntie Fran? A close friend of and longtime stylist to Ro’s mothers, Fran had cut Ro’s hair ever since that first pixie, even though she’d never gone that drastically short again. When Ro came to Fran’s shop a few days after talking to Nate, Fran greeted her with a hug and a warm smile. “You doing a donation again? It’s been so much longer than usual since your last cut!” Fran chided her, guiding Ro to a chair and taking a “before” photo. She then snapped a dark violet cape around her neck and pulled those long ginger locks out from under the cape before combing them out. Fran’s own short hair was now streaked with grey, but she still held as much charm as she had when she first opened her shop around the time Ro was born. “Yep,” Ro nodded. “Perfect—this mop has got to go!” Fran chimed in, starting to gather Ro’s hair into four ponytails that ended at her chin to create a bob, like she always did whenever Ro came to her for a big chop.

Ro nervously bit her lip as she decided to say something she’d been considering ever since her talk with Nate. “Can you…make the ponytails higher? I’m thinking I’d actually like to try a pixie cut.” Fran froze and her eyes widened in surprise. “You sure, hun? I thought the boyfriend was an obstacle” she continued, crinkling her nose at the b-word. Fran had met Nate many times and adored him, like everyone who met him did, but loved teasing Ro about turning out straight despite being raised amongst so many lesbians. “Nope, he’s fine with it. Or claims to be. So I figure…might as well put that to the test?” Ro posited with a light shrug, nerves making her chest clench just a tiny bit. “I was looking at a photo from when I had that pixie cut you gave me when I was little, and was thinking…would be fun to see how that’d look as an adult. But…” her throat started drying up— so nervous, yet somehow a little thrilled at saying the next bit, “maybe a little shorter this time? Especially with summer coming up. I loved having it so short that one time as a kid, and it’ll grow back anyway.”

Ro twirled one of the ponytails around her finger, taking in that last bit of security she has with her red tresses as she watched Fran’s surprise only grow larger— but in a very excited way. Fran then gently took hold of the ponytail Ro held, adjusting it so that the hairtie was no longer resting at her chin but securely fastened just centimeters from her scalp. “With how a pixie will elevate those delicate features of yours, you won’t want it to grow back,” Fran teased, before retying the other three ponytails scarily high up. Before Ro could even take a deep breath, she saw the reflection of Fran holding the scissors at the base of the ponytail gathered above her right ear, so painfully close to her scalp. “You ready?” Images of Nate playing with her hair in bed flashed before her eyes, and she swallowed hard. “I’m ready. Cut it off.”

Each snip was startlingly loud as the scissors crunched through thick hair, and Ro pressed her lips together as Fran worked diligently at slicing off the ponytail, her eyes widening as she saw herself in the mirror with one tiny tuft sticking out above her ear and Fran dangling a ginger ponytail over a foot long over Ro’s head. “No going back now!” Fran cheerfully announced, and Ro simply nodded, her lips still pressed as the butterflies in her stomach fluttered. Fran next took her scissors to the ponytail at the back of Ro’s head, dramatically pausing as she opened the shears around it before digging in. “I’m going to have to take a photo of the severed ponytails and send it to Roxie and Jo. No caption, just cryptic.” As Fran laughed, knowing how protective Jo was of her little girl, Ro kept her head still, her heart pounding out of her chest. The scissors rested next on the left side of her head after Fran had severed both ponytails at the back, which now lay on the counter. “Last one!“ Fran teased, shaking the long locks with her hand before her scissors hacked into them, a loud crunching noise separating Ro from the hair that Nate had spent so much attention on.

Seeing herself in the mirror with mere tufts sticking out from her head instead of her flowing locks made Ro terrified that she’d made the wrong choice, which Fran seemed to sense. “It’s going to look completely different soon—let’s comb it out.” As Fran took a comb to Ro’s shorn head, Ro shuddered at how her hair was now short enough that the comb scraped against her scalp. But that shudder wasn’t only fear; it felt comforting, almost like a massage. With the short hair laying down, Fran then combed up a section in the back and attacked it, using her scissors over the comb to shrink the remaining mop-like hair down so it lay flat against her head, but still thick and shiny as ever. Her goosebumps flared up feeling the comb and Fran’s fingers so close to her scalp before every snip— much closer than the previous time she’d gone pixie.

Those snips got louder and louder as Fran finished and her scissor-over-comb action moved over the right side of Ro’s head. Ro instinctively tilted it, and watched in the mirror as her hair was snipped around her right ear, exposing a peek of the tattoo behind it. “This is new!” Fran exclaimed, although she wasn’t startled enough to stop the cutting as she turned her scissors vertically to create a wispy texture. “Not really,” Ro confessed, “I got it a long time ago. My hair has just always covered it.” “Well, I hope your mothers don’t disapprove!” Ro felt herself start to relax, her stomach loosening as she laughed. “Fran, my mothers? Upset over a tattoo? They’re still pressuring me to get more!” Fran smiled as she combed the front of Ro’s remaining hair out in front of her eyes, which blocked Ro’s view of her reflection. “Guess the downside of being the child of two rebels is that you can never shock them,” Fran chuckled, then pointed the scissors vertically so that they faced upwards into the hair, then started snipping away.

As ginger hair fell to the floor, Ro became more able to see herself in the mirror, the chunk of hair in the front turning into wispy, textured bangs that so perfectly framed her face and tickled the top of her forehead. “I wanted to do something soft and girly, but still bold, just like you” Fran explained her vision as she kept working in the bangs, busting out her texturizing shears to make sure they had the perfect feathery look. “That’s perfect,” Ro smiled, excited to see an adult version of the little pixie she used to be staring back at her. The wispy bangs that remained didn’t even come close to touching her eyebrows, merely touching the top of her forehead, and could be pushed totally off her forehead with a quick flick of the fingers, but that ease felt familiar and comforting to her. What a nice break she’d have from constantly having to pull long hair out of the way, and have it so short she didn’t even need to think about or deal with it throughout the day!

Once the bangs were finished to Fran’s satisfaction, she moved to Ro’s left side, starting on that last section that was still longer and heavy. Fran started near the forehead, cutting downwards to follow the rough line of the textured bangs as it ended in a pointed sideburn. Arching the scissors back up, she snipped carefully around the ear like she did the right side, sending little tufts of red trickling past her ear and onto Ro’s caped shoulder. When it was all lined up perfectly, she started combing sections out horizontally, grabbing sections with the forefingers in a diagonal line before munching away at the bulk with the shears.

“Nice to have all that hair off your ears, isn’t it?” Fran asked as she finished up on the left side, leaving it short enough that the textured ends weren’t even touching the top of her ears.

“No kidding,” Ro replied, turning a little from side to side to see her ears poking out so nakedly after so long, with the briefest wisps of hair around it.

“Time to bring out all the fun earrings,” Fran added, mussing about with the rest of the pixie as she made little snips here and there to make sure the textured look was nothing short of perfect.

“Would be fun to wear some of the ones I stole from my moms when I visited them this weekend,” Ro giggled mischievously.

“Now, I’m just about done,” Fran announced, though there was an uncertainty in her voice as she inspected the cut. Her lips twisted, wondering how to top off the best pixie she’s given one of her most beloved customers— then the idea sprang to mind. “It’s just missing one last thing,” Fran continued as she grabbed something from her drawer, “and you’re gonna have to trust me on this one.” Ro nodded, happy to go along with whatever Fran envisioned. The cut was so charming, so gamine, that she knew she was in good hands. As Fran held clippers and flicked them on, Ro noticed there was no guard on them. But before she could panic, she felt them at the very base of her nape, pushing up a few centimeters, almost tickling her neck as tiny red tufts plunked onto her neck. Fran used her comb to flick them to the floor, and kept buzzing the very bottom, creating a taper at the back of the neck before inverting the clippers at the very bottom to create a v-shape on the neckline.

“I know Jo imposed a no-clippers rule when you first got a pixie ages ago, but I’m sure we’re way past that now, aren’t we?” Fran joked as she gently swept away the little clippings left on the neckline with a few fingers, making Ro’s goosebumps flare even more. “I did this type of v-neckline for Jo years ago when she first cut her hair in that super-short crop she’s kept it in since, and you look so much like her that I just couldn’t resist,” Fran explained as she finished tidying the neck and pulled away, then got her neck brush to fully clean it up. “So,” she said, pulling back and crossing her arms as she stood behind Ro, “do you love it or do you love it?”

Fran was thrilled to see her client beaming in the mirror, turning her pretty head side to side to inspect her bold cut, bringing her fingers up from under the cape to gently finger the pointed sideburns Fran had so expertly crafted. “It’s perfect! Fran, you’re the best. If Nate doesn’t like it…” “then fuck him” Fran completed the sentence. Ro’s hand continued inspecting her newly-cropped head of hair—brutally short but still so soft and textured. So little on her head, yet so much to play with. Fran sneakily took a photo of the severed ponytails to send to Ro’s parents as Ro continued to behold how perfectly the haircut complemented her delicate, elfin facial features. “You look positively ethereal,” Fran chimed in, and as she unclipped the cape, ginger hair rained down onto the floor. The new haircut was even more fetching when paired with Ro’s blue jumper—a lethally charming yet sexy combination. Fran turned the chair around before shoving a hand mirror into Ro’s hand, letting her inspect the lightly-tapered back, and she shuddered with pleasure as she rubbed the fuzzy bit right at the bottom. Nate was going to love touching that. And if he didn’t, he wasn’t worth it.

“How about you stand up so I can take an after photo for me to post? After people see this, I’m going to be getting even more soft femme pixie requests, I’m certain,” Fran said, and then got a nervous look as she looked at her phone to take the photo. “It’s Mom, isn’t it?” Ro laughed. “Yep,” Fran told her, then showed her the frantic, all-caps text message

Jo: “DID YOU SCALP MY BABY?”

“Hold on,” Fran laughed, before hitting the FaceTime button. After that familiar ring, Jo and Roxie appeared on the screen, sitting on their couch with glasses of wine, which Jo gripped tightly as she glared at Fran. “Were you not going to tell us?!”

Roxie giggled. “It’s her hair, Jo. Ro is an adult now. Fran, can we see our pretty girl?” Fran handed the phone to Ro, who smiled widely and turned her head from side to side so that her mothers could see her new look. “Oh honey, you look gorgeous! Truly a perfect pixie!” Roxie exclaimed. Jo’s eyes softened as she set down her glass of wine. “Ro,” she sighed, and Roxie giggled again. “You’re just jealous that now you’re not the prettiest short-haired woman in the family now!” With a cackle, Roxie added “And bitter that your hair has more grey than blonde in it these days.”

“No, no,” Jo softly said, as Ro noticed her mom’s eyes start to well up with tears. “It’s just that you’re really a big girl now. So sophisticated and grown-up…” she sniffled “our baby’s such a mature woman with this haircut.”

Roxie embraced Jo, propping her head on Jo’s shoulder. “Well, I’m still your baby…” “Ew!” Ro exclaimed, pushing the phone back into Fran’s hands. She appreciated having parents who were still madly in love, but sometimes they were too much for her. “Good luck with Nate! He’s gonna go wild if he has any sense!” she heard Mama Roxie call out before Fran ended the call. Fran looked at Ro with that same misty look that’d been in Jo’s eyes. “You really are so lovely, Rosemary,” Fran gently said like the proud Auntie she was, raising a hand to fiddle with the new textured bangs she’d created. “I’ll send the ponytails off for donation, and you go out there and strut on home like the rockstar you are, ok sweetie?” Ro felt herself blush, and with her hair totally off her neck, cheeks, and ears, the blush climbed up all those newly-uncovered parts of her body. “Thank you for the haircut, Auntie Fran. Now keep your fingers crossed about the other reactions!” Fran raised crossed fingers to Ro from inside the window as Ro left and started the walk to the train home.

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Ro had been considerate enough to tell Nate that she’d be getting her hair cut that day, but hadn’t shared any other details. “I think I’ll decide when I’m in the chair, see where my mood takes me. So who knows, could be just a trim, could be everything buzzed off,” she’d teased him that morning. And although he’d reassured her that even a buzzcut wouldn’t change his love for her, she couldn’t help but be nervous. Nate was far from conventional, but even the most seemingly-rebellious men often gave into convention when it came to their girlfriends.

She thought he wouldn’t be home yet by the time she arrived back, and had planned to dress up in her sexiest lingerie to greet him when he arrived. But her plan was foiled as she walked up to the building and saw Nate outside, looking frustrated as their obstinate bulldog, Charlie, sat firmly on the street, refusing to budge as he so often did when taken out for a walk. Ro felt a warmth fill her chest as she watched her two favorite boys from afar, Nate with his gorgeous long hair pulled into a bun, crouching down and trying to coax Charlie into moving without any luck. “Hey,” she said as she approached Nate from behind, “you need help getting that dog to move?”

Nate stood up and spun around at the sound of her voice. His jaw visibly dropped when he saw his newly-cropped girlfriend, with his hand dropping the leash as well. Lazy Charlie, of course, stayed put. “Ro…” he said softly, walking up to her as if in a trance. As he came close enough to her to touch, he raised his palm to her cheek and cupped it, raising his other hand to the back of her head and rubbing his fingers up and down the neatly-clipped back, his thumb grazing the prickly part at the base of her neck that Fran had carved with clippers. Oh, it felt amazing, and she closed her eyes and sighed, forgetting for a moment they were in public. His hand shifted to her new bangs, and as he pushed them off her forehead, he pressed his lips to it to give her one of those forehead kisses she so adored.

As he finally realized he should grab the leash just in case Charlie decided to move, he took a step back. “You look…” “hopefully not too much like a boy?” She interjected, biting her lip. He shook his head and came closer to her again, raising his free hand to explore this new head of hair. “It’s perfect,” he said, and she let herself sink into his chest as he continued to stroke her soft red hair. “I don’t know that you’ve ever looked more feminine and charming, really—and that cute little nose,” he said, pulling back and tracing the freckles that ran over them with his thumb, “those adorable ears,”…

Ro started to feel herself get wet, and Nate was pushed against her closely enough for her to feel that he was getting hard. “Charlie isn’t going to move anyway, so let’s go upstairs,” she whispered into his ear, and he nodded, eyes wide in awe of his transformed girlfriend.

They ran up the stairs of the walk-up hand-in hand, and as she turned the key to enter, she gasped, seeing multiple vases of her favorite flowers in the living room. Nate grabbed her from around the waist from behind as Charlie retreated to his favorite corner and peppered the exposed nape of her neck with kisses. “I knew you were nervous about today,” he said into her newly-exposed ear as he leant in, then gave that ear a little bite that made her yelp. “So I wanted you to come home to something nice, something that’d show you how much I love you.”

Ro turned around to look him in the eyes, gently fingering his tied-back hair and untying it so that it fell about his shoulders, then twisted it up in her fingers and giving it a yank. “Well, let’s keep showing one another, mhmm?” Pulling him into the couch as she started to unbuckle his belt, his adoring eyes drank in her new look, and she knew she’d found the one.

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