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Rivers 

About Alejandro... should Charlie be worried? Sounds like Sally's heart is skipping a beat there!

It was convenient a few minutes ago to relax in the kitchen while I messed my wet morning Vivo diaper covered by "I Can't Believe It's Not Gerber" plastic pants. I nice warm lumpy poopy is getting flattened in my diaper as I sit here sipping hot coffee making me tremble with the cascade of intense psychophysiological sensations of warm potty securely ensconced inside my diaper caressing my perineum. 

Great start ! I can only imagine his mom making him use pampers to the flight saying is more pratical and safe !!!

7. My Patience Over the next few days, I did my best to help Tess feel at home. I had flexible hours at work, and she had quite a long trip home from her school, so I could make sure I was always back within a few minutes of her. Some days I aimed to get home first, making sure that I could clean the house without taking time away from the little one. Other times, I checked on the schedule of the school busses and reached Palmerston a couple of minutes after she disembarked, so I could offer a brief ride to cut the last ten minutes off her daily commute. I didn’t want to seem like I was babying her, not until I knew she was ready for that, but small favours that anyone would do for a friend could only help to build trust. She didn’t ask for a ride to school again. After the first day she set her alarm a little earlier, and was usually dressed before I came down to make breakfast. If she was rushing she would grab a bagel on the way out of the house, and eat it while power-walking to the bus stop. I didn’t particularly like that, thinking that it would be better for her health if she could have a proper breakfast, but I had to admit that it was her choice. I’d promised that I would treat her as an adult for as long as she could act like one, so long as she understood that once her mask slipped, I would be justified in treating her like a baby. So I gave her the freedom, and did my best to make sure breakfast was ready early enough that she wouldn’t need to eat on the go. I still rushed off to Pine Ridge a few times in the mornings, meeting up with Ffrances before she got into work. Sometimes I managed to catch her, sometimes I was a little too late, but that worked fine for me. When it came to the weekend, I still hadn’t asked if she would be staying over. Normally I would have had to employ all my powers of persuasion by that point, but this week I wasn’t quite sure what shape the weekend would be. There was a new person in my house, and I didn’t know if Tess would be expecting to get to know me better when we weren’t both rushed off our feet by work and school. And, I realised quite late in the week, I hadn’t actually mentioned Ffrances to the little one. Would she be upset at having to share my attention, or would she be more irritated that I hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend? Now that I thought about it, I realised it was really something I should have mentioned before inviting her to live here, as they would need to get to know each other as well. But the chaos of preparing for my new little had just pushed all thoughts of introducing them out of my mind. On Thursday, after managing to drag Ffrances away from her work for lunch in a nearby coffee shop, I decided that tonight I would ask Tess how she felt about a third person in the house. I hoped it wouldn’t be a problem; Ffrances might only be there two or three days each week right now, but she was still effectively living with me, and I really wanted everything to go smoothly between them. So I spent most of the afternoon sitting at my desk, imagining ways that conversation could go. It was the only thing on my mind, until I arrived home and my phone started ringing. I pulled it out and the screen said ‘John’. No surname, no notes. A cousin who I’d barely spoken to in ten years, but still the first John in my contact list, and the one who didn’t need any clarification. “Hey, how’s it going?” I answered. “Want to talk to Tess? She’s not back from school yet, but she’ll probably be here before five.” “What time is it there? I already lost track.” I was mildly surprised to hear that it was actually my cousin John‘s voice on the line, rather than his overbearing wife. The new number I had for them was a landline, so there was no way my phone could have distinguished between them. I was quite glad that I didn’t have to speak to her today, after the things she’d said to my parents. “She’ll be back in about half an hour,” I clarified. “It’s weird to think you’re in Europe again. Weirder to think you’ve been in driving distance for more than a year, and nobody thought to tell me. Hope the weather’s been good for you.” “Yeah, I would never have guessed. Anyway, I don’t think we’ll stay on, but she can call us back later if she wants to hear from us. Just wanted to let you guys know we landed okay, Pierson is sorting out all the moving stuff so it’s mostly been settling in. We’ve got the phone working now, and we’re online, so you can call any time. Apparently having a mobile here you have to sign the contract in person, the company couldn’t do it before we arrived. But I’ll give you both our numbers when we’re all sorted. So… how are you two getting on?” “Pretty well. She wants to help with everything. I showed her how to use the washing machine and program the vacuum, but I’m not treating her like a slave or anything. I’m impressed that she’s so willing to do chores.” “Yeah. Our Tess wants to prove how mature she is. Don’t think she’s realised that adults can be lazy too, but that’s probably a good thing. You had some fun? No problems so far?” I paused, wondering if it would be better to let them know about Tess’s little accident. They were her parents, after all, and would want to know that she was healthy. But I figured that after the effort she’d made not to tell me, it must be something that she wanted to keep to herself. Tess hadn’t wet the bed again since that first night, so it would only have happened twice in her first week staying with me. There had been no need for her to do any more laundry. I’d offered to take some clothes for her while I was doing almost a full load the day before, but she’d reassured me that she wanted to get into a regular routine. That was something I could respect, and I really couldn’t betray her trust until it became a regular occurrence. “Yeah. She’s a great kid, we watched some movies and stuff. But maybe she still needs a little adult supervision. We…” I paused again, a long second while I thought about exactly how much I could let them know. I could have been in trouble if Tess told them this before I could. “She said she wanted me to treat her like an adult flatmate, so when I borrowed a DVD from one of my friends at work I asked if she was allowed a glass of wine. Turns out Tess really overestimates her limits, but I don’t think she’ll make that mistake again. She was a little under the weather in the morning.” “Even if she–” John started to answer, a little anger creeping into his voice, and then the voices went quiet. I could just about hear a couple having some debate on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. “I hope you didn’t let her get completely wasted,” it was Trish’s voice that spoke to me thirty seconds later. “We would have said she’s not old enough for alcohol, but then she would have been sulking for a week. She really doesn’t like being told she’s not old enough, and I guess she’ll learn what a hangover is eventually. Better to find out at home with a responsible adult, better than getting drunk with the first friends she meets at college in a few years. Maybe she’ll learn to show restraint before she’s on her own.” “That’s what I figured,” I said. “I can make a lesson of it when she meets Ffrances, anyway. We always open a bottle or two at the weekend, and it would seem petty not to let the kid have any, but I hope we can show her that we’re not insulting her maturity or anything.” “Who’s Francis?” She didn’t quite pronounce it right, but I could tell what she meant. “Work friend?” “Girlfriend. Met in uni, she’s a therapist now. But she’s also pretty short and skinny. She drinks less than me because she’s smaller, because she knows it’ll hit her harder. So if Tess objects to being cut off after a glass or two, we can point out that she’s smaller than Ffrances. Like, the less blood you have in your body, the less a glass of wine gets diluted. So it’s not us picking on her for her age, and if she’s mature enough to try it occasionally, she’d understand that.” “I guess,” Trish still sounded nervous, but more confident than she had been. “It’s weird to think of her as nearly an adult, even when she keeps reminding us. I guess she should learn some responsibility. I’ll trust you to keep an eye on her, okay? If you’re all drinking, I expect you to be sober enough to make sure she’s comfortable.” “Yes, Mum,” I said with a chuckle in case she missed the sarcasm. “Don’t worry, I don’t do anything to excess. And I take childcare very seriously. I’ll suggest that she calls you when…” then I noticed a shadow moving past the blinds on the dining room windows. “Oh, I think she’s back if you want to talk to her.” “She’ll be happier if she gets to take the initiative. You’ve learned that already, right?” I could only nod. “So make sure she knows we’re expecting a call, I’ll leave it to her to decide when. And have a good weekend. We’ll do anything we can to help, okay?” The phone clicked off, just as I heard Tess’s key in the door. Perfect timing, I thought. And probably time for me to start preparing dinner as well. That phone call had been one more milestone on Tess’s introduction to my household, and I was glad that it had gone so well.