MY PRETTY FEET

A/N: This takes place just before the events of the episode South Park is Gay. Just as being metro was becoming 'cool'. I thought this would be a fun scene in my head to write; especially since after writing such sad and depressing scenes for almost a year. It's time for a change. Hope you like!

It was a rather nice day in South Park Colorado. The sun was peeking through the clouds for once and there was no trace of snow on the ground to be found. It was the perfect day for Sharon to take her son out for their monthly 'mother-son' day. She was always busy at work and when she was home her kids always seemed to have something to do with friends. Stan especially since he was friendly with anyone he met. So she made sure she was able to do something with her daughter one day of the month away from anyone else as well as her son. It didn't matter what was going on in the world, those days were almost as important as school. Today she had chosen to have a fun day at the mall with Stan and surprisingly, he seemed really excited for the trip.

"It's not because you know we're going to get ice cream later if you behave right?" Sharon raised a brow on the way there.

"No, I just really wanna go," Stan smiled.

Trips to the mall were always interesting. Stan loved going with his friends but if he went with his mom it was embarrassing. There had definitely been temper tantrums in the past if they were out shopping too long. They found a spot in the parking garage and stepped inside. Sharon always parked near the entrance of Macy's; she could easily spend two hours there alone but she willed herself not to do so this time.

"I'm going to go over to the perfume and make-up department, why don't you stick around the boys' section until I'm done okay?" Sharon told Stan when they walked inside.

"Aww, why do I have to go somewhere else? I want to see what they've got too," Stan said.

Sharon raised her brows. "What? Sweetie, you hate the perfume department. You're so sensitive to smell and you might start coughing."

"Please? I just want to look. I'll be fine."

"Yes but why?"

Stan blinked. "I'm interested. On Boy Meets Boy, Quin's sister took him along to the mall and they went shopping for make-up. She was talking about certain products and I wanna know what she was talking about. Did you know they have special lip gloss that sticks on for twelve hours no matter what? That's crazy."

Sharon had to laugh. "Well I don't plan on buying you lip gloss today Stan but if you want to look, go ahead."

And so the two went over to said department, Sharon immediately being cornered by ladies offering their latest sprays and perfumes. She looked over her shoulder to see Stan being sprayed by a bottle of something, a smile on his face. Highly curious she declined one woman's offer to see what he was doing.

"Stanley, what on earth were you just sprayed with?"

"It's the new spray Manly from the official Queer Eye for the Straight Guy line!" Stan held up his wrist for his mom to sniff.

"Oh wow, okay… didn't think you'd be into that. Your father certainly doesn't like being sprayed and smelling nice."

Stan sniffed his wrist. "I like it; it has a hint of vanilla. Can I get it?"

Sharon smiled. "Not for $60. Maybe when you're fourteen and hit puberty."

"Aw-awww!"

And so it went; wherever Sharon wanted to go in Macy's Stan followed, but not because he needed to but because he wanted to. He sat in a chair swinging his legs as Sharon came out of the dressing room each time, giving her his opinion of the latest thing she tried on.

"Get the purple one Mom, your eyes pop more in them," Stan was saying, speaking of two identical shirts, one green, one purple.

Sharon set aside the tops and crossed her arms. "Okay Stan, what are you doing?"

"What?" he looked alarmed.

"You've been uncharacteristically… happy today. Getting sprayed by vanilla scented cologne and now offering tips with clothes."

"It's our special day together, what do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say 'I don't know', 'I don't care', 'this is boring', and my favorite- 'this is so gay I just want to die'."

Stan shrugged. "They had a fashion show on Queer Eye last week, it looked like fun. There's a lot more into clothes than I thought. You need a second opinion on clothes don't you?"

"Not even your sister likes doing this," Sharon emphasized.

Stan could only shrug again. Shaking her head at her odd son, Sharon picked the tops back up.

"So, you say my eyes pop more in the purple…?"

After the woman's department Sharon took Stan over to the boys' section. He always was semi-interested in his clothes. He knew what t-shirts looked cool and which sucked at least. The first thing Sharon noticed however was how different the clothes looked this time around. There was a lot more pink and purple and patterns and animals on clothes than ever before. Stan went straight to a pink t-shirt that held a white tiger.

"Oh my god Mom!" he cried. "I love this shirt! Look- it has a tiger on it! That is so cute."

Definitely not a word Stan ever used when dealing with clothing.

"You really like that?"

"Yes! This shirt is awesome, can I get it? Please?"

Sharon took the shirt from him and held it up to his chest as any mother did to make sure it would fit. She felt confused; it was shaped like a boy's shirt. It looked like it would fit. Yet the design and colors were a little off. But Stan looked so happy about it and he had not gotten anything yet and she already spent $45 on herself. She sighed.

"Okay, you can get it. It's only $12."

"Yes!" he whooped.

It didn't end there. He went crazy over a 6-pair pack of socks, all in bright neon colors. They looked like they would be in the girl's section of clothing yet the package clearly read Boy's Rainbow Pack Ankle Socks. Well he did need new socks… but nothing got Stan more exited so far than a pair of satin pajamas. They were royal blue and held a black dragon outline on the back so they had to be for boys.

"Please Mom? Please? I'll be the first guy in class with satin pajamas! Craig's going to be super jealous."

"But it's satin! You can't tell me with a straight face you want something made of satin. Even I'm not the biggest satin fan," Sharon told him.

"I want it. It's nice and cool and cute."

Again with the cute. It was a good price and so regretfully, Sharon added it to her purchases causing him to do his infamous twirl of excitement. Yet when Stan spotted a lacy v-neck shirt she drew the line.

"We're done clothes shopping for now," she said and led him out of Macy's, hand on his head.

They spent some time in the Yankee Candle Company store before they began to feel famished so went to the food court. There Sharon was grateful to see her son eat through his chili burger as messily as any boy could but he looked embarrassed after letting out a burp from his soda. It was usually during food Stan would open up and talk so Sharon decided to take that window.

"So sweetie, how has school been lately?"

"Okay. We had a pop quiz yesterday. It was so unfair," Stan rolled his eyes and bobbled his head in an… interesting manner.

"Oh?"

"I was so upset. I got my hands dirty playing four-square during recess. Craig laughed at me because of it."

Well Stan never did like dirty hands but he never brought it up in conversation before.

"Stan," Sharon said carefully. "Are you feeling okay?"

He looked up from his burger, confused. "Of course I am. I feel great!"

"You seem so happy for some reason. Are you hiding something from me and using this happy nature to cover it up?"

"No, you're being so silly Mother," Stan beamed and waved his hand.

Sharon pushed aside her own burger and faced him.

"Okay, drop the act Stan. I know you too well to know when you are acting funny. Why are you being so happy and nice?"

Stan cast his eyes down and played with the straw on his soda. "Just thought you'd want to spend the day with me as much as I did with you without it being weird. Sorry Mom."

Sharon sighed and touched his hand. "If you really aren't doing anything weird… then you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm just not used to you acting this way. I like it; I'm just not used to it."

Stan smiled. "So anyway, Cartman got the cutest t-shirt the other day at Express for Men…"

After lunch the two went to a few more shops, the bookstore, artifacts from the world store, and of course Rocky Mountain Sweets. Sharon allowed Stan to pick out one thing, only because she was craving something chocolaty as well, and he was being so well-behaved today. The two walked down the second floor of the mall, eating their sweets.

"Can we stop by the toy store today? Please?" Stan looked up to his mother, eating his giant peanut butter cup.

"Don't worry we will," Sharon promised. She checked her watch. "Oh, my appointment is in ten minutes. We should get to the salon, fast." She was planning on getting a much-needed pedicure today. She felt bad she'd be leaving her son in complete boredom in the waiting lounge as she got herself prettied up. But perhaps he wouldn't complain today, he hadn't complained about anything he usually did today.

Stan's face was blank as they reached Miss Pretie's Salon and Spa. Sharon informed the front desk lady she had arrived before she took up a seat and Stan sat next to her.

"I'm sorry honey, you're going to be bored for the next half hour or so," Sharon sighed.

Stan was tapping his shoes together. He didn't say anything for a minute before it was evident an idea popped in his head and he bit his lip.

"Mom… can I get one too?"

Sharon was taken aback. "One what?"

"…a pedicure?"

Sharon looked at his face; she couldn't help but chuckle. "Sweetie, what has gotten into you today? You don't want a pedicure, that's just silly."

"Why not?"

"Well… to be honest, it's not something boys usually have done."

"Why not?" he asked in that same curious child-like way.

How to break it to him… "Stanley hon, boys just don't care about things like that. Only women get their feet put in tip-top shape because only women care about how their feet look."

Stan frowned. "I care about how my feet look…"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry sweetheart but the answer is no. You won't have any fun, it will be too girly. And what would your friends think if they found out?"

Stan shifted. "I don't think they'd mind to be honest. I know Cartman's been thinking about doing it."

Sharon shook her head; just what was the latest boy trend in elementary school anyway? She was feeling very confused about whatever it was.

"Carson's cousin Maralee came into town a couple weeks ago and she convinced all the guys to get pedicures!" Stan went on. "It was a really good episode too. They really liked it, they talked about how nice it felt and they liked it so much they held a pedicure party at their house where a bunch of other guys came over and had one too! Their feet all looked so nice and everything, I think it would be really cool to do that too!"

Maybe that's what it was- the many metro TV shows that her son had been watching lately. Why did he love them so much? Sharon looked at his face, full of hope and begging. But getting his feet done might be too much, she only did it once with Shelley when she was around Stan's age and she hated every moment of it. Then again her daughter was never the girly-girl type; Stan was the out-going one who was open up to new ideas. And it had always been that way. What if Randy found out? He was already bothered by how sensitive their boy could be, something like this wouldn't go over well. But what would be the worst thing to happen? Stan wouldn't care if his dad hated it, his sister would already make fun but that was a given, and his friends seemed to be okay with the idea too. Really, would something like this really scar him for life? Highly unlikely. Sharon shook her head and decided to answer.

"Well Stanley, if you really honestly want to get one done, I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing to say yes to."

Stan's eyes lit. "Really? I can really get one?"

Sharon got to her feet. "Let's see if they have any specials for kids hmm?" she walked to the front desk again and addressed the lady there. "Excuse me, I know I'm due to have my feet done in a few minutes but I was wondering if you have any special mother/son or kid offers on pedicures."

The blonde woman looked over her desk and down at a boy with a red poof ball hat who wore a smile on his face. She looked up, slightly confused.

"We have a mother/daughter special…"

Sharon bit her lip. "Um, how- how much is that then?"

"Basic pedicure package for mother/daughter day is $45."

Sharon considered if she really wanted to spend an extra $20 for Stan to get his feet done. But she had just gotten paid and this was their special day so it was a time to have a little fun with money. If he hated it at least she knew he'd be back to normal.

"I'll take that one then," Sharon presented the extra $20.

Thankfully there was an extra seat so the added person did not interfere with Sharon's previously set appointment. When they were called in they got to their feet, Sharon looking at Stan.

"Ready for this Stan?"

He nodded. "I'm excited!"

Behind the wall they were led to where a row of eight or so chairs, four of which were occupied. Thankfully the two women who would be working with the Marshes were really nice and didn't seem too weirded out with a boy wanting to get his feet nice and pretty for the day. Stan took a seat next to his mom in one of the big comfy leather chairs which held a foot bath under it. He swiveled in it a bit.

"Excited today Stanley?" asked the lady who would be working on him, Kim.

"Yeah. Um, this isn't going to hurt is it?" Stan had to ask.

Kim and her co-worker Gina laughed.

"No, you have nothing to worry about sweetie. It should feel really relaxing actually."

Before they began Sharon and Stan were offered complementary drinks. Stan happily asked for a can of Sprite and kicked off his shoes and took off his socks (flicking out a couple pieces of lint between his toes), and cracked open the can.

"What we're going to do first is give you a nice foot soak," Kim explained and had Stan dip his feet in the bubbling whirling water below. Oh man that felt good; he let out a content sigh and leaned back.

As the two let their feet soak in the warm water Stan were asked the usual questions pertaining to his age, those of which included the 'how old are you? What grade are you in? What's your favorite subject?' Not to mention what made him want to get a pedicure today in the first place. He told them how they did it on TV and it looked really cool so he decided he'd go for it as well.

Kim smiled as she dried off his feet.

"Oh look, you have such clean and cute little toes already Stan," she noted as she got her tools ready.

Stan groaned. "I hate it; I've had the smallest feet of my friends since preschool."

After the foot soak they removed any excess enamel with cotton balls and special remover before it was time to cut and shape the nails.

He had no idea how much went into getting his toenails looking perfect. They didn't use simple nail clippers, more like clippers that looked like pliers and they filed them with one of those nail files he saw his mom use all the time, as well as trim away what they called 'cuticles' which he didn't like too much.

"Ow, that hurts," he winced as the tool scraped around each toe.

"Doing okay so far sweetie?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah, it's just weird. But I want my toes to look pretty," Stan stated.

The whole pedicure was a rather odd experience but Stan still loved it. The entire time the pretty lady used funky tools on his feet and had them soak between each task, he drank from his Sprite and chatted with them and his mom. It was what the whole day was supposed to be about in the first place. When Kim used a funny brush thing all over his foot he burst into giggles.

"I think we have a ticklish one on our hands today," she said to her co-worker.

"I think he's enjoying it though," Gina said as she was doing the same thing with Sharon's feet.

"You didn't tell me it would tickle," Stan tried to contain his laughter.

Sharon looked over at her son as he was back to having his toes poured on with different creams and whatnot and his nails shaped and dug into with the tools. She had no idea this was a part of today's plans at all, and it was actually really nice so far. She held up her own can of Coke.

"To mother/son day?"

Stan raised his can to her in a 'tap'. "To mother/son day."

It was all so nice and relaxing. The swirling water was like a spa for his feet, the lotions or whatever being used felt nice, and the massaging of his feet was another extra nice touch even though it tickled off and on. The whole cuticle thing was the only drawback but overall, it was wonderful.

"Okay, I think I'm all done here sweetie," Kim said twenty-five minutes later as she patted Stan's feet dry one last time.

"Aww, already?"

"Unless you want me to paint your toenails," Kim looked amused as she raised a brow.

Stan shared a look with Sharon. It was clear she thought that was pushing it.

"Meh, maybe another time. Can I just sit my feet in the tub still while my mom has her toenails painted?"

"Your feet are going to get wrinkled after all that hard work I did for them," Kim pretended to look upset.

Stan felt his now soft feet and wiggled his toes.

"Well you did a really good job. My feet never looked so nice and pretty."

Kim and Gina laughed.

"You have such a darling boy Sharon," Gina spoke.

"Oh I know, he's a natural sweetheart," Sharon smiled.

Stan blushed as any kid would do when being talked to, even in a good way. "Mom…"

He didn't put his shoes on right away. Instead he sat back in the leather chair talking with the ladies as he drank the last of his soda while Sharon had a coat of Blue Ocean nail polish applied to her toenails.

"Wow, that shade looks almost exactly like our eyes," Stan noted.

"I think so. I think it's the perfect choice, I haven't used blue in so long," Sharon smiled.

Soon the pedicure experience came to a close and Stan was forced to put his socks and shoes back on although he said he would be walking around barefoot all day at home when they got there. He shook hands with Kim and Gina (who again said what a pleasure it was to see him today) and Sharon took out a pair of flip flops from her bag to wear the rest of the way, and they walked out the salon.

"Why I must say that was certainly surprisingly fun today," Sharon said.

"I know. My feet look really nice now, although they're covered by a shoe and sock," Stan moved his foot around.

Sharon patted the top of his poof ball hat. "I think we should get our ice cream, have a quick look around the toy store then head back home, what do you think?"

Stan nodded in agreement and together they went for one last treat. That night Stan happily got under his covers (dressed in his new satin pajamas) after his mother tucked them around him. Sharon caressed his face.

"I had a really great time with you today sweetie."

Stan grinned. "I did too."

"What was your favorite part?"

Stan wiggled his toes under his covers. "The pedicure."

"Oh c'mon now," Sharon waved her hand.

"No really, that foot bath was so nice. I didn't like how they like, dug into your toes with those tools but everything else was really nice," Stan yawned.

"I still cannot believe you did what you did today Stanley. Your sister wouldn't even want to. It means a lot at least one of my kids want to join me on girly days out. Even if it's a mother/son day out," Sharon continued.

Stan nodded, eyes tired. Sharon got to her feet.

"Well I'll say good-night then." She kissed his forehead and looked at him one last time before shutting the door.

Stan stretched in his bed as he thought about the day. It had been wonderful and fun and a little surprising. He didn't think they'd have so many great metro sexual things at the mall! And that his mom got him a few of them. Cartman and Kenny would be jealous. He couldn't wait to show them how nice his feet looked after his pedicure either; he knew that was a big thing on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. While it was fun to get into the latest trend today he had to admit he did have a lot of fun with his mom. None of it felt weird or awkward, maybe again because the characters on his TV shows talked about how important it was to let loose and talk, especially to your own family members. He knew there were multiple reasons to get into the gay fad, nobody could say differently. And as he felt himself drift off into dreamland his mind was only on that foot bath and how he couldn't wait to do it again. Maybe with a coat of polish next time.

Not the best ending but I couldn't come up with something else. This was just a cute little thing I wanted to write so I hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think!

Lots of love: Rose, October 22, 2011