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PNW diaper lover as well. I'm into cloth and with plastic covers.  Its such a great feeling walking around in the outdoor  in just diapers. Brings back wonderful  memories of family outings at the beach in wearing just diapers.

I started a chat 

I was a bed wetter until at least 12. I come from a big family and there was still diaper changing station in the bedroom I shared with my brother. My mom was old school and made sure there was a vinyl\plastic sheet over the mattress. I wore training pants as well. when i woke up with a wet bed my brother would yell down the hall that I wet the bed again. It was no big deal to wear diaper\training pants with plastic covers. I guess because it was so normal\part of growing up.

Ok, sounds good! My username is just “Tablelegzero” 

Chapter 23 Hazel kept an especially close eye on Lucas over the next couple of days. She tried to soothe on him while not smothering him, which was a difficult tightrope to walk. She tried to protect him whenever she could from Charlotte’s overbearing nature - more easily said than done, as Charlotte took every opportunity she had to brush his hair and get him to say things for her enjoyment.  But aside from that, Lucas talked remarkably little. Hazel tried to make conversation with him, but his entire demeanour had shifted to one of silent defeat. He went through the motions of whatever was thrown at him - wake up, bath, get fed, diaper change, play with toys… repeat.  It weighed on her mind. As she put Lucas to bed after another day of it, she decided she’d have to do something special to lift him from this mental rut. She checked the calendar on her phone - it was just her and Lucas all day. No Charlotte, no Angie. Leo and Juliette would be taking their classes. The perfect opportunity to get away from everything and spend some quality time together. She made the necessary arrangements after ensuring Lucas was fast asleep in his crib.  — Lucas groaned to himself as he squirmed awake in his swaddling. By now, he was on a fairly routine sleep schedule, and often woke up only a few minutes before Hazel entered, which left him with a small window to enjoy the peace and quiet before his day began. This time to relax was somewhat hampered thanks to his hair, now much longer than he was used to, falling across his face. He was unable to move it out of the way thanks to his tight swaddling, despite his efforts.  Eventually, Hazel entered the room, energetic and chipper as she usually was.  “Good morning, Princess!” “Morning.” He replied quietly and flatly. Even two days later, he wasn’t used to the sound of his new voice. She removed him from his swaddling and lifted him from his crib, kissing his forehead gently. After removing his wet nighttime diaper, she carried him to the bathroom and began bathing him.  “So,” she began, massaging the floral-smelling shampoo into his scalp. “I’ve got a little surprise today. I think you’ll like it.” “Hm?” He replied.  “Remember how I brought up the zoo a few weeks back?” He tried to remember that conversation. It must have been early, because it didn’t ring a bell. The days were beginning to blur together a bit.  “Well, we’re going today. Just you and me. Won’t that be fun?” He thought for a moment. “Will there be other people there?” She nodded. “It is open to the public, yes. Technically since you’re royalty we could close off the park for a day… but I figured today would be better since it can just be the two of us. Don’t you think so?” He certainly didn’t enjoy the idea of being out in public again, but she had a point. He didn’t want to spend any more time with Charlotte than he had to. The fact that his Mommy was away on diplomatic business today presented probably the best opportunity to do something away from her overbearing presence.   “I guess.” “Good. We’ll have lots of fun, just you wait.” He nodded glumly. The idea wasn’t doing much to bring him out of his post-procedure blues. He looked down between his legs - his private parts were still there, but they were small. Small enough to be easy to miss entirely at a glance. It served as a constant reminder that his body wasn’t truly his anymore. That part of him now only served the purpose of filling his diapers with pee.  Hazel hummed gently, her voice echoing around the tile and ceramic of the bathroom as she finished bathing him. When she was all done, she returned him to the nursery and set him down on the floor, naked aside from his fresh diaper.  “Tell you what,” she said, “why don’t you help me pick out your outfit for the day?” “Why?” “I figured you might want to.” She opened the sliding closet doors to reveal rows of hanging dresses and other pieces of outfits.  His eyes scanned across. There wasn’t exactly much that caught his eye amidst the ocean of pastel colours and frills. With some help from Hazel to show him the options, though, he settled on something he could accept. He wore a pink t-shirt and a pair of purple denim shortalls overtop. The shortalls featured a large pocket across the front with an image of the Disney Princesses (remarkably similar to those in his home world, though with subtle differences) embroidered across it. Additionally, there was a flap across the backside, which could be unsnapped to allow access to the diaper underneath.  Still feminine and childish, but he was certainly glad to have gotten the option to wear something without a skirt for a rare occasion. A pacifier was clipped to the shortalls and tucked into the pocket, and on his feet he wore short frilled ankle socks with pink Velcro sneakers on top.  “Very practical - love it.” Hazel nodded as she admired the outfit he had assembled. He blushed a little bit. Although he didn’t say it out loud, he was thankful that she gave him the option of something to wear instead of picking it out for him. How far he’d fallen to be grateful for something so basic.  Next, she began to brush his wild and unruly hair, with Lucas yelping in a high pitched squeak each time the brush encountered a stubborn knot. Once it was properly tidied up, she tied his hair into pigtails, which had practically become his signature hairstyle. Whereas before his pigtails were little more than two little tufts of hair tied up on either side, since the procedure his pigtails could now be much longer. The two were securely tied up either side of his head, rising up from his scalp slightly before falling down to meet his shoulders, the ends cascading into slight curls. The pigtails swayed and bounced with each step he took, something that was difficult to ignore.  “Just one last thing…” Hazel produced a pink bucket hat, the shade matching his onesie, and tied it underneath his chin. She smiled as she gave him one last once-over.  “You look ready for the zoo. You feel ready?” Lucas nodded. “Come on, you can do better than that. Are you ready?” “I’m ready, Nana.” “Great!” Her enthusiasm easily eclipsed Lucas’. Just then, his stomach grumbled loudly. “Ah, but first, let’s get that tummy filled, okay?” She picked him up and brought him downstairs, towards the dining room for his breakfast of baby food and breastmilk.  — The two sat in the back of a limousine which was bringing them to the Avalir Central Zoo, the largest such attraction in the entire kingdom. The sun hung bright in the sky, visible even through the tinted windows of the luxury vehicle. Even Hazel, who rarely deviated from her standard maid uniform, changed her attire to match the weather. She wore a knee-length blue skirt which flowed and billowed in the breeze, and a lightweight white button-down blouse. A sun hat completed the look, a look which Lucas thought suited her well despite her obvious bashfulness.  Lucas watched the world drift by outside the window. As they approached the exit on the road, he recognised it as being the same route that took them towards the clinic - indeed, he could see the building itself peeking from behind two other buildings. He immediately grew nervous. His chest tightened, and he began to fidget uncomfortably in his car seat, as much as the straps would allow.  Upon hearing his whine of discomfort, Hazel immediately moved into action. She took his pacifier from his front pocket and gently inserted it into his mouth. She then took his hand in hers, looping her index finger through (as that was all his small hand could hold onto).  “You’re okay, baby. It’s okay. We’re just going to the zoo, it’s just you and Nana.” He looked to her with eyes full of worry, but seeing her warm face and hearing her kind words did start to alleviate his nerves at least a little. “And not forgetting Tiara, of course.” She retrieved the stuffy and placed it into his lap. He gripped onto it with his free hand, enjoying the soft fabric running between his fingers. Though his mind still lingered on the clinic, he was finding it easier to allow it to pass by him, his anxiety shrinking along with the sight of the clinic until it had vanished entirely.  The limo parked just outside the zoo. They arrived at what appeared to be a VIP parking area, separated from the rows upon rows of parked cars adjacent by a large fence. Hazel exited the car with Lucas in her arms. Two men approached them - Lucas recognised them as the same bodyguards that had followed him and Angie into the clinic, though they were now dressed in more unassuming civilian clothing. They had retrieved some items from the trunk of their own vehicle. The first was a bag, slung over one of the bodyguard’s shoulders. The other was wheeled towards Lucas and parked in front of him - unmistakably a stroller. The bag was tucked in to a storage compartment beneath the main seat of the stroller, and Hazel began preparing to put Lucas into it.  “Can’t I walk, Nana?” He groaned.  “It’s a really big zoo, Luci,” she said, sitting him into the stroller and running the belt across his midsection. “We don’t wanna tire you out right away. We’ll switch between walking and stroller throughout the day, how does that sound?” She smiled at him, and he nodded, less than satisfied but not willing to put up much more of a fuss. Hazel moved to the back of the stroller and began pushing him along a path which led to a VIP ticketing gate. Standing by the gate was a young woman with short black hair, who wore a uniform resembling a safari getup. She held a small device with a screen in her hand.  “Hello there!” The young woman smiled as she saw Hazel approaching. “Do you have tickets or a VIP Pass?” “Hello! We have the VIP Pass right here.” Hazel retrieved her phone and held it up for the woman to see. She scanned it with her device and then checked its screen to confirm the details.  “Wonderful! You’ve got full access today.” She knelt down to Lucas’ level, placing her hands on her knees. “You must be the Princess! Are you ready for a fun day?” Lucas nodded silently.  “She’s a little shy,” Hazel explained.  “No worries! My name is Wendy, and I work here at the zoo! We might run into each other later on. I’m just going to put this on you…” she retrieved a rubber wristband from her pocket and delicately slipped it onto Lucas’ wrist. It hung a little loose, but within a moment it retracted to perfectly fit around, not too tight but tight enough to not be removable by him. The wristband was bright blue, and reminded him somewhat of the wristbands from Sophia’s Playhouse.  “This special wristband is called the Lil’ Critters band,” she explained, pointing to the writing across it, which Lucas was able to read somewhat. “It helps all the zookeepers keep an eye on where you are while you’re in the zoo, and make sure you stay nice and safe! And between you and me…” she leaned in to whisper to Lucas. “You can scan it across the park. It can make real fun stuff happen!” She winked at him for emphasis.  Wendy stood and gave Hazel a green wristband, which she began fastening around her own wrist. This one fastened more like a watch, unlike the self-affixing one Lucas wore. “Your guardian wristband.” Wendy said, smiling. “Alrighty, you should be good to go! Have fun, you two!” She waved to Lucas as Hazel pushed his stroller through the gate and into the park.  As they entered, a cacophony of noise immediately filled Lucas’ ears. Before him he saw a sprawling park of attractions and crowds huddled around them in clusters. It was easily the biggest zoo he had ever seen - and not just because it was designed for Amazons. It was really impressive, and boasted the kind of crowds you’d usually see at a theme park to match.  “Woah…” he mused to himself quietly. He scanned around the crowds, and felt nervous at the sight of them. The last time he’d seen so many people was at his public debut party. He began to worry again about being out in public, and how people would react to him. He had begun to really understand that he was essentially a celebrity, and had no desire to be mobbed by Amazon fangirls.  His fears began to alleviate as Hazel pushed him further into the park. People passed by him and paid little attention, if any. It seemed that he and Hazel were just two more faces in the crowd - he wondered if his new hairstyle, combined with the privacy afforded by the partially deployed hood of his stroller, granted him some anonymity. Of course, the bodyguards maintained a constant presence nearby to them, ready to jump in should the need arise.  “Okay,” Hazel leaned down towards Lucas. “Where should we head first? The two nearest areas are Safari Land or Ocean Adventure.” “Umm…” he looked back and forth between the paths that led to both options. The safari area seemed to have the smaller crowds, so that was his preferred choice. He pointed towards it.  “Gotcha. Safari here we come!” Hazel chirped. She maintained her sunny disposition in the hopes that it would eventually rub off on Lucas and improve his mood. She noted that he was still speaking as little as possible - she would have to make a dedicated effort to get him to talk. As unfortunate as it was, his new voice was his new voice. He would have to get comfortable with it, and Hazel was determined to get him there through gentle encouragement.  The pair entered the Safari Land, which was a mostly open-air zone with a couple of small buildings to house smaller animals. They arrived at the first stop. Lucas leaned forward a bit in his stroller to get a better look through the glass barriers that separated the crowd from the enclosure.  Beyond the glass were a couple of zebras. They were standing around, not doing much.  The most interesting thing Lucas could notice about them was that their stripe patterns were a little bit different to zebras he knew in his own world - not a lot, but enough to notice. He wondered how other animals might differ here.  “Do you like the zebras, baby?” Hazel asked. Lucas only shrugged in response. She looked around the nearby enclosures for something a little bit more exciting, and she quickly found one. She walked Lucas over and parked him at a spot where he could get a clear view in.  Inside, a large elephant walked slowly across the field towards a lake. Two smaller elephants followed closely behind it.  “Wow! Look at that, Luci!” Hazel pointed to the elephants. Admittedly, he was impressed by them. Elephants from his world were already huge. Elephants in the Amazon dimension were enormous. Even from this distance, he felt like he was looking at some kind of ancient beast you’d see in a historical museum.  The mama elephant began drinking water through its trunk, and the frolicking elephant calves caught up and began drinking as well. The playful display drew aww’s from the crowd, and Lucas felt himself crack a little smile.  “Don’t you just love their big silly ears?” Hazel looked to Lucas and held her hands either side of her head, mimicking their ears.  “Nana, knock it off…” Lucas’ smile widened and he looked away.  “Or what about their big trunks?” She held her arm and dangled it outward, mimicking a trunk and the noise they made. “Mrrroo!”  As soon as she imitated the noise, the elephant in the enclosure also began to trumpet, as if in response. This managed to finally draw a little giggle from Lucas, and Hazel joined in too. She considered that the first victory of the day. She had a good feeling about this - Littles couldn’t resist a zoo.  They wandered through the various stages of Safari Land, stopping at each attraction and admiring the animals. They saw giraffes, whose tall stature was even more pronounced with Lucas’ small size, and lions, which made Lucas feel a bit nervous even at the safe distance he viewed them from. All of the animals were given lighthearted commentary by Hazel in her attempts to cheer Lucas up, and to middling success.  Eventually, they came to an enclosure that seemed from the outside to be like any other. When Lucas looked inside, though, he was puzzled by what he saw. It appeared to be a large cat, similar to a lioness, but an iridescent sheen to its coat, catching the light and shimmering in various colours of the rainbow. Its fur was much fluffier than a lion’s as well, appearing more similar to a house cat. Lucas had never seen a creature like this before. He looked to the information sign on the animal, but of course he couldn’t read what it said. He decided to ask Hazel, just barely raising his voice enough to get her attention.  “Um, Nana?” “Yes, Luci?” “What is that?” Hazel looked to the animal and smiled. “Oh, that’s a shimmercat! They have special coats that can glow in the dark so they can always find each other.” He looked at her in disbelief for a moment, wondering if she was messing with him. Then he looked back to the creature to confirm that it was indeed real. “Shimmercat…” “You don’t have those in your world?” “I… don’t think so.” “Well, they’re pretty rare here too. Endangered, actually. The Central Zoo does a lot great work to keep animals safe when they can’t protect themselves.” “Are there any others?” “Hm?” “Any other animals they don’t have in my world?” He questioned, his curiosity engaged.  “Well, we’d better go see!” Hazel wheeled him along to one of the indoor exhibit buildings. There, they stopped at a glass window showing an enclosure inhabited by two creatures - a red panda, similar to the kind he could see at home, and alongside it a “blue panda” the same creature but with a bluish-purple shade of fur.  “Woah!” He exclaimed, leaning forward in his stroller as far as he could. Hazel smiled as she heard him make what was probably his most excited sound in days. She knelt down to his level.  “Pretty cute, huh?” “I had no idea the animals would be so… different.” “There’s still a lot we don’t know about the differences between our two worlds. I’m no scientist, so I’ve never quite wrapped my head around it all. But I’m glad you like them!” “…It is pretty cool.” His tone was sheepish as he stared at the animals. Hazel rolled him along to the next exhibit, his eyes fixed on each new animal he came across. Some of them the same as his world, some of them familiar but with differences, and others entirely unique. Hazel read aloud the information signs for each animal Lucas requested, though she seemed to dumb down the wording a bit. Still, he managed to learn quite a bit. They came to an area of Safari Land entirely devoted to apes and monkeys. This section managed to get a few smiles out of Lucas too, as he’d always been fascinated by apes and the way they resembled humans so closely. Of course, the last time he got to go to a zoo was when he was a little kid - an actual one - and so most of his experience with animals of any kind were through memories or videos online.  “Oh my,” Hazel said, watching the monkeys jump around wildly. “They’re certainly silly, aren’t they?” “Mhm.”  “You know… those silly monkeys remind me a bit of a certain someone I know.” She looked to him and smirked. He looked back.  “I’m guessing you mean Juliette.” Hazel laughed. “Maybe. But I think you’d fit right in with them too.” He rolled his eyes. “Me? Seriously?” “You can move fast when you want to. I’ve seen you crawl around your playroom.” “I’m sure.” She poked his side playfully, drawing a giggle from him as he attempted to move her hand away.  “Ooh, look at this, Luci!” Hazel was pointing to a large sign with a screen next to it. The sign was of a large cartoon monkey, holding its hand out and smiling. The monkey wore a wristband which was similar to the one he was wearing, and he was vaguely able to recognise some of the words in a speech bubble next to the monkey as reading “Lil’ Critters”. Hazel wheeled the stroller up to the sign and pointed to it.  “Looks like you’ve gotta high five the monkey.” He looked at her with a scowl. “Seriously?” “The zookeeper did say something fun might happen…” He sighed and looked to the sign. He tapped his hand against the monkey’s, and as he did so his wristband emitted a beeping sound. The image on the screen next to the sign changed from a static image of the zoo’s logo into an animation of dancing monkeys, set to bubbly and energetic music. After a moment, another cartoon figure entered the scene - and the character strangely seemed to resemble Lucas, boasting a similar outfit and the same hairstyle. He squinted his eyes in confusion. Finally, at the end of the animation, some text flashed on screen above the characters - Lucas was only able to make out one word, thanks to misspelling class. The word was his name, “Lucille”.  “How… How’d they do that…?” He asked incredulously.  “Pretty cool, huh? Perks of a VIP pass. And look, it says you earned 15 Critter Points!” She pointed to the words he couldn’t read. “I wonder what we can use them on?” He stared at the now static image of the cartoon version of him amidst the animals. Though it might be a cute little gimmick for kids, something about him being depicted alongside other animals as part of an exhibit, in a zoo where they’re kept in captivity for entertainment and “protection”… it rubbed him the wrong way. Hazel pushed the stroller through the rest of the exhibits, and they saw all kinds of animals, big and small, cute and scary. He did manage to learn quite a bit about animals, especially the ones that were specific to this dimension. He learned about a small variety of monkey that had the ability to mimic small amounts of speech, similar to a parrot, which entertained the guests to no end. He also learned about a koala that grew to be little larger than a hamster.  It continued to surprise him in just how many ways this Amazonian dimension differed from his own. The strange animals, the unfamiliar language script, the advanced technology - all of it served to remind him that he was indeed very, very far from home.  The two left Safari Land and made their way over to Ocean Adventure. Before she stepped inside, Hazel began to unbuckle Lucas from the stroller.  “Why don’t we stretch our legs, huh?” She smiled. She lifted him to his feet and untied his bucket hat and placed it in the stroller’s storage, as most of Ocean Adventure was indoors. She then made a hand gesture into the crowd. One of the bodyguards appeared and nodded to Hazel, taking the stroller from her. She looked down and smiled at Lucas, taking his hand into hers, and matched his pace as they walked into the aquarium.  The bright, warm colours of Safari Land shifted to mood lighting with tints of dark blue and teal. The illuminated fish tanks made the crowds gathering around them into darkened silhouettes, and a soothingly tranquil soundtrack played over the speakers. As Lucas looked around, he noted the number of children present, both Amazonian and Littles. They eagerly ran from one display to the next, their parents keeping a close eye all the while. “Daddy look!” One young Amazonian shouted as she pointed to the glass. “Fishies!” “Don’t tap the glass, Kiran,” her father said, holding a sleeping Little in his arms.  As Lucas and Hazel strolled their way through the crowds, he caught brief whiffs of one or two diapers in need of changing. It was so bizarre to him to see how normal the adoption of Littles was here. He thought about how little-discussed of a topic this was in his home dimension - or maybe he just never paid close attention. He wondered if there was some sort of list of missing people in his world, disappeared and presumed to be swallowed up by a flash of light, never to be heard from again.  Then he thought of who would have even noticed that he was gone - his landlord for sure, as he would bang on the apartment door every week demanding rent. And not forgetting his boss, who worked him like a dog in the convenience store. He did feel a sense of satisfaction that those two wouldn’t be getting any more from him.  His contemplation was broken when Hazel stopped by a pane of glass, inside which a school of colourful fish swam around in wild formations, their scales scintillating in the bright lights of the tank. She allowed Lucas to walk up to the glass, which stretched from floor to ceiling.  He placed his face as close as he could to the glass, watching how it distorted the waters and fish inside, and marvelling at the beautiful display.  “Which one is your favourite?” Hazel asked as she knelt next to him.  “Umm…” he scanned his eyes across the variety of fishes that swam in the tank. He then pointed to one that had bright pink scales interspersing with golden ones that twinkled like glitter. “Probably that one.” She nodded in agreement. “I think that one is my favourite too. There’s something so pretty about watching fishies swim on by…” He looked over at Hazel, and seeing how the lights twinkled in her eyes as she gazed up, he realised that this was as much a trip for her as it was for him. She was trying for him. It was a small gesture, but one that meant something to him.  She took his hand and they continued through the aquarium. As they walked, Lucas noted some of the other attendants staring at him as he passed - he heard their whispers and saw them point, trying to be subtle about it. Others began taking out their phones and snapping pictures sneakily. He blushed heavily and gripped Hazel’s hand tighter. He wanted to be swallowed up by the floor and be unseen. He hated this attention, and wished he could walk up and slap those stupid phones from their hands. Of course, in this world he only reached up to knee height of most Amazons.  Hazel noticed the unwanted attention as well. She lifted Lucas up from the ground and into her arms so she could move through the crowd faster. Thankfully, her quick thinking eventually brought them to a quieter area of the aquarium.  “Sorry honey… this happens sometimes in public. People get starstruck.” “Isn’t there some kind of law against that?” He whined, his new little girl’s voice adding to his petulant tone.  “I wish. But don’t worry, we have special people nearby making sure nobody gets too close.” The idea of being constantly tailed by security didn’t do much to ease his irritation.  “Bunch of big stupid meanies.” Lucas pouted, crossing his arms. That of course wasn’t what he intended to say, but the mental block changed his words before they left his lips.  Hazel held Lucas with one hand at her hip, supporting his weight by his butt as he clung to her. She brought him into a room over which hung a sign depicting a cartoon shark. Inside the room, a large tank was visible with a large amount of nooks and crannies to hide in. Hazel stepped up to it and the two looked around, but were unable to see any fish.  “Hmm, maybe the fishies are all asleep.” She wondered aloud.  As they stared for another moment, a large creature emerged from the terrain - it was a kind of shark, not massive to an Amazon, but certainly large to Lucas. Seeing its beady eyes and sharp teeth caused him to unexpectedly jump in Hazel’s grasp. In his moment of fright, he released a stream of pee into his diaper that lasted a good 2-3 seconds, unable to stop its flow.  Hazel tightened her grip on him to compensate, and then lifted Lucas up from her hip to eye level.  “Oh, it’s okay, sweetie! Mr. Shark can’t hurt you. He’s just swimming around. See?” She touched the glass to show Lucas the lack of danger. He scowled at the condescending lesson, but nodded grumpily.  “You okay?” She added.  “I’m fine.” He replied, too embarrassed to mention he had just wet himself a little. He was growing used to sitting around in a wet diaper for a while before he was changed, too used to it.  The next tank featured a giant octopus, its tentacles slithering about its enclosure.  “Eeew…” Lucas said.  “I know. Yucky, right?” Hazel agreed.  The two wandered out of the room and soon came across another Lil’ Critters sign, this time featuring a fish holding its flipper out.  “Oh, look Luci!” Hazel chimed as she held him close to the sign. “You know what to do!” He sighed and high-fived the fish, which played the familiar chime on his bracelet and activated a new animation on the screen. The screen displayed a number of cartoon fish swimming around, filling the screen before dissipating to reveal another cartoon version that resembled Lucas. This time, he boasted a purple mermaid’s tail and a bright green seashell bra, his two pigtails bouncing up and down as he flicked his tail in a dance-like swim around the water. His cheeks flushed red. It seemed he was going to get a personalised display for each area they went to. The screen then flashed another 15 points earned for Lucille, whatever that would entail.  They prepared to leave the aquarium, another area caught Lucas’ eye. He saw a number of Littles gathered around a row of screens set into the wall at a low level, each of them tapping furiously at the screens. As they drew closer and Lucas got a better look, he could see that on each of the screens was a game - the bubble popping game that he had played on Sophia’s tablet. Immediately, his mind was thrown back to the sounds and colours that the game offered. And he wanted to give it another try.  “Oh! Nana!” He gripped her sleeve and tugged on it. “Can I try that?” Hazel looked to the screens and stared for a moment. “Are you… sure, Luci?” Her voice carried an undertone of mild concern.  Lucas nodded his head, his long pigtails bouncing against his shoulders. Hazel nodded and set him down on the floor, where he instantly toddled off towards one of the free tablets and immediately began playing. Bubble after bubble he popped, each one earning him more points. Words flashed on the screen with each victory, none of which he could read. The timer ran down, and the game ended. He was greeted with the cartoon girl congratulating him in her familiar bubbly voice. This time, however, the cartoon image of himself as a mermaid was smiling next to her. He didn’t mind it so much this time. He started another game.  Two more games passed and Lucas was getting into the zone. He had even wet himself a little bit more during one play session, allowing it to happen so as to not interrupt the game. He didn’t know what it was about this thing, but it was addictive. He figured it must be a similar thing to the way arcades worked in the 80’s. He was sure he could beat the high score with one more try - he couldn’t read the name of whoever held it, but his best guess was something like “Ava”. As soon as he was about to start a new game, he was scooped up by Hazel.  “Alright, time to head out, little mermaid.” She announced she unceremoniously carried him off.  “Nanaaa!” He whined, fidgeting a little in her grasp. “Just one more game!” “Sorry, Luci, but we have a lot more of the park to see. I’m sure there’ll be games elsewhere.” “But I want this one!” He whined again. “Lemme go! Don’t be such a poopyhead!” His lip began to pout, and even he was taken aback by his little outburst. He genuinely wasn’t sure if the mental block was to blame or if those were genuinely the words he chose. Hazel looked at him sternly, and then retrieved his pacifier from his front pocket and stuffed it into his mouth.  “Any more pottymouth like that and Nana will have to spank your little butt, missy. Now, let’s try to enjoy the rest of our trip. Okay?” He felt his mind slowly calming, like a strange haze was lifting, allowing his thoughts to come through clearly. He looked to the ground and spoke lowly, muffled around the rubber teat.  “Sowwy, Nana.” Her stern expression softened a bit.  “Apology accepted, Lucille. Let’s head out.” She lifted him through the exit of the aquarium and he looked back over her shoulder. As the tablets left his sight, he got one last look at the one displaying him as a mermaid, smiling happily on the screen.