So...did you get them? Can I see?" Kate's face was as excited and impish as it had been when they were thirteen. Seated on the bed in her sister-in-laws room dressed in her night clothes she might still have passed for a for a school girl had it not been for the slight bulge of her second pregnancy.
Jane hesitated a moment than nodded. She went to the wardrobe and pulled out a box from the upper shelf which she sat on the bed next to Kate. She lifted the lid and pushed aside the tissue paper to reveal what was underneath. Kate stared fascinated as Jane lifted the garment out, dark gray wool, softly pleated in the front with wide straight legs. They opened at the side and fastened with a button on the waistband rather than having a fly in the front like a man's, but they were most definitely trousers.
"Have you tried them on yet?"
"Yes," said Jane. "I had to have them hemmed. I haven't dared to wear them outside the fitting room yet. What do you think?"
"I don't think I could ever do it," said Kate. "It just seems so...I don't know scandalous or something. I can't imagine what Michael would say. Try them on Jane. I want to see what they look like when you're wearing them."
Jane giggled. She slipped off her shoes and pulled the trousers on under her skirt. Then twirled in front of the mirror.
Kate laughed. "Not like that silly. Take the skirt off too."
Jane undid her skirt and tossed it on the bed. She tucked her blouse into the trouser waistband and surveyed her reflection critically in the mirror. "I don't know," she said. "I felt a whole lot braver at the store than I do now."
"I think you look lovely," said Kate, "like a movie star. They're very flattering."
A soft knock interrupted them.
"Kate,"" said Winifred opening the door and looking in, "Annabel says she can't sleep until you come to kiss her goodnight. Oh my!" Winifred stood stock still in the doorway, her mouth a perfect O of surprise as she gazed at her daughter.
She shut the door behind her. "Jane! Where...when?"
"I picked them up this afternoon," said Jane. "What do you think?"
Winifred walked further into the bedroom. Gingerly she extended her hand and touched the waistband. "I don't know." She walked slowly around Jane looking at her from all angles. "I just can't...I mean…well...What will your father think?"
"Father didn't mind when I cut my hair," said Jane.
"No," said Winifred, "but this is different. He had a fit when I wanted to shorten my dresses. I can't imagine what he'd say about trousers."
"Maybe Father Banks won't mind if it's Jane," said Kate mischievously. "A daughter isn't the same as a wife."
"True," said Winifred thoughtfully. "When I told him I looked old and dowdy like Queen Mary, he said Queen Mary and I were the same age and if she wasn't going to change I shouldn't either. But of course he's wrong. I'm five whole years younger than Queen Mary."
"I do like them Jane," she continued a bit wistfully. "I think you look very nice. If I was bit younger I'd try a pair on myself."
"You should," said Kate. "You and Jane are almost the same size. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"What," gasped Winifred. "Oh no I couldn't."
"Why not?" asked Kate. "It's just the three of us."
"Yes," said Jane undoing the waistband and slipping off the trousers. "Come on Mother. It'll be fun."
Laughing and giggling the three women sprang into action. Winifred pulled the trousers on under her long dress as Kate helped her undo the fastenings and lift it over her head.
Jane now wrapped in her robe produced a white blouse from her wardrobe that Winifred buttoned and tucked into the waistband of the trousers. Her long hair had come loose from it's hair pins and was now hanging down over her left shoulder. Laughing, Winifred glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She turned and looked over her shoulder so she could see what she looked like from the back.
"Mother Banks you look wonderful!" exclaimed Kate. She barely recognized the sparkling creature in front of her as her mother-in-law. Even Jane was amazed. For the first time she was seeing Winfred as a person who existed outside the roles of civic leader, mother and grandmother. Someone that if you met her for the first time might be fun and a friend like Kate.
"Winifred are you coming back to the nursery to finish the story? The twins..." George Banks stopped dumbfounded in the doorway.
"George!" Winifred turned to face her husband her eyes shining.
"What are you…"
"Do you like them?" Asked Winifred. She flipped her hair over her shoulder so it hung down her back and turned slowly in front of him. "They're Jane's."
She looked saucily at George a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. Something that seemed like electricity flashed between them and George withdrew from the doorway without a word.
Quickly Winifred bundled up her dress and shoes. "I think I'd better go get out of these," she told her daughter. "I'll bring them back in a bit," she said to the two stunned young women as she exited the room. It was quiet for a moment.
"Oh my..." said Kate in a strangled voice. "Who'd have thought." She exchanged a glance with Jane and they both broke down in helpless giggles.
"I'd better go check on the twins," said Kate wiping her eyes. "Oh dear…"
The twins were restless and weepy in their lonely nursery. Grandma and Grandpa had left without finishing the story. Kate gave Annabel her kiss and picked up the book. Once the twins were settled for the night she headed back to the room she shared with Michael.
"What took so long?" he asked. "I thought Mother and Father were putting the twins down tonight."
"Oh I just stopped in to see Jane," said Kate. "She's bought herself a pair of trousers and I wanted to see what they looked like."
"Good for Jane," said Michael. Then he gave her a worried look. "You're not going to start wearing them are you?"
"What me?" said Kate. "No, never. Besides I couldn't fit into them now if I tried." She rubbed her stomach ruefully. "I'll be lucky to still fit into my robe by Christmas. I hope this one isn't twins."
"Well I think your beautiful no matter what you wear," said Michael wrapping his arms around her. "If you want to wear trousers after this one's born it's fine with me."
"Liar," said Kate affectionately. "You don't want me to and you know it."
"It's just the jokes," said Michael. "You know about who wears the trousers the man or the wife…"
Kate giggled helplessly into his shoulder. Michael looked at her a question in his eyes.
"I don't think anyone's wearing the trousers right now," she gasped.