Andrew knew that the only razor in the house was his dad’s and it was in his parent’s bathroom in their bedroom. Andrew also knew there was no way he could get to it as if he went down the upstairs hall, especially as heavy as he was now, that he’d make the floor squeak. Dad was just a little bigger than he was now and his dad made the floor squeak very loudly. If dad was home, he’d hear him for sure. There was no getting around it, he’d have to go check to see if dad was home and if he was, try not to be seen.
Andrew went back to his bedroom and threw on the baggiest clothes he could find. There was absolutely nothing he could do about his beard. If his dad saw him from the back, he might be OK, but if he saw him from the front it would be all over. Quietly as he could, Andrew went down the stairs. He heard the TV on in the living room and guessed his dad was watching it. Andrew made it to the foot of the stairs, avoiding the creaky steps. He tip toed to the living room doorway and peeked in. The TV was on, there was a steaming cup of coffee on the coffee table but Butch, his dad, was nowhere.
“Mornin’” he heard his dad’s deep voice say from behind him. Andrew almost jumped out of his skin and turned around, forgetting about his beard.
His dad was completely shocked as was Andrew as his dad looked quite different. His dad was standing there in jeans and no shirt
“What! Who the Hell are…” and then Butch paused and recognized his son. “So, it happened to you too?” Butch said.
Andrew couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Somehow, his dad had grown very muscular and more hairy than usual, but how? He didn’t use the ointment. Andrew still had the jars in his room.
“Something strange has happened to us, Andy… not that I mind really, but still, waking up this morning on the couch looking like I’ve got a pelt and being this beefy is just fuckin’ freaky. I look like Sasquatch or a bear or somethin’” Butch said.
Andrew looked at his father. His beard was as thick as his chin high up on his cheeks. His dad always had hair on his upper cheeks, but not that heavy. His salt and pepper beard seemed longer and bushier too. The hair that grew on his chest fully connected to his beard as his neck was furry. His dad had a lot of salt and pepper body hair on his torso, front and back and his arms had more hair on them then he remembered. His dad still had his slight beer belly, but he was thickly muscled now. His tattooed arms were huge and his chest was barreled out more than before.
“And look at you Andy! Damn! Your beard is as thick as mine was yesterday. Take your sweatshirt off, son.” His dad said.
“Uhh…” Andrew said and his dad said, “Go on, son, I want to see how developed you are.” Andrew reluctantly removed his shirt. Andrew didn’t have hair on his back, like Butch, but his chest and belly were nicely covered in dark fur and his arms were hairier.
Butch was quite surprised at how fully developed his son was.
“I called in sick to work ‘cause I wanted a chance to trim my beard down and get some baggier clothes to hide my sudden development. Looks like I’m gonna be callin’ your school too.” Butch said. “I just can’t figure how this happened. You’re mom is gonna freak, but there’s not much that can be done about it, is there? Well, I’m gonna make a call to your school and tell them you’ll be out for the rest of the week.
Andrew nodded and felt guilty about what had happened. He never meant to change his dad and he had a suspicion as to how it had happened. Andrew remembered the pizza napkins he’d left on the coffee table and realized that his dad had used the used napkins out of sheer laziness.
Andrew sat on the couch as his dad called his school and arranged for his homework to be dropped off. He absently stroked his new beard and enjoyed the feel of it through his fingers. He was really rather happy with his full beard, though he knew he couldn’t keep it. He’d have to shave it off so he could go back to school, but nothing said he couldn’t grow one now. Still, his new bulk and body hair would be hard to explain. He was one month away from the end of his junior year… if there was just some way he could stay out until summer vacation. They might believe a new beard and a bigger body after the summer break.
“Well, it’s all arranged. It’ll buy us some time to figure out how we’re going to deal with this.” Butch said. Then he looked at his son and chuckled. “You look just like I did at your age.”
“You had a beard when you were my age?” Andrew said.
“Yeah, you’ve seen my high school pictures.” Butch said.
“One thing is for sure, son, you’re gonna have to shave that off; now, if you want to grow it after that, then that’s fine by me, but sudden unexplained beards are just not normal. You’re increased muscle is something you might be able to hide with your sweats. Thank God you don’t have a gym class. Now, I’ll make you a deal!” Butch said with a grin.
“What sort of deal?” Andrew asked suspiciously.
“I’ll use the clippers to take off most of your beard and teach you how to shave if you use the clippers to trim my back hair down and clean up the hair on the back of my neck. The rest I can reach myself. After that, we’ve got to go shoppin’ for more clothes, I doubt either of us have much that fits well anymore.” Butch said.
Andrew made a face, thinking about using the clippers on his dad’s back, but agreed. Both of them headed up to the master bathroom in his dad’s bedroom.
Andrew decided it was best to not tell his dad about the ointments and return them to the Chinese guy in that shop.