Spanking

Pampers announced they were making a size XL with their Ninjamas but that was a couple years ago and I haven't seen an size XL or bigger in Ninjamas.  I haven't tried any of those brands (although I want to) so I can't tell how they fit or compare to XL Goodnites.

“No problem, my little one,” Fred smiled; he realized Kayla was torn between her baby mode and teenager mode, “Love, can you come? Kayla prefers you for the diaper change,” Annie smiled and walked over to Kayla’s room, Fred left, and Annie leaned down to check on Kayla’s diaper, “sweetheart, do you need a clean diapee?”

Hey everyone! I just wanted to put it out there as a reminder that this story is focusing more on Addy’s POV. I love diaper dimension stories, and I feel there’s a lot out there, but I also feel that sometimes I’m reading the same story over and over again. Good and entertaining absolutely, but with this one, I wanted to see the other side of the tracks as it was with a Big and their role in all this. There’s always been a dichotomy between loving Bigs and those that just want to obliviate their Littles into total regression. Yes, it could be a Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll situation, but I feel there are some characters out there that don’t fall into those categories. Addy, despite some of her Big leanings, I feel she is one of those ‘good’ Bigs and deserves to be explored more.   So, as such and slight spoiler here, but I’ve divided this story into three sections to discuss the three stages that Addy needs to go through to evolve in her life. This first one is mainly about her and her position as a nurse with the Littles under her care juxtaposed against her turbulent and traumatic past. As such, there’s going to be more emotions… aka, a slower pace and just more feelings in general. The next two though… will basically fulfill some of the promises of what I’ve been setting up. For example, the Juventas board is still out there and still lying low in the background of everything. As such, for now, just trust that things are going to pick up and get spicier and more… explosive. It will just take time. As far as the future is concerned, I don’t even know if any of you read these things, but I’m considering the next poll to be stories to maybe be set in Fallout… or the Orange Mist setting… or maybe even something back in the more magical or mystical settings. Of course, I have tons of other diaper dimension stories… but I’m not sure if I’m willing to jump into some of my ‘mandatory stories before I leave this platform’ just yet.   Regardless, last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 8: The Gravity of It All The video started to load. Not like the current and sleek designs and buffering capabilities of the modern recorded videos, but something older… more fragile and with a lot more static. Addy marveled at the leaps of technology that their society had made, even hearing rumors about an up-and-coming format that would put you right in the video itself. This video however, seemed to be a combination of some of their own technology from about 20 or 30 years ago… and some from over 100 years ago. “Okay… while the video is buffering,” Dr. Halgen said with heavy words, “let’s go over two things here. First, this isn’t going to show you everything. Not all the footage was sent over to us… just the main stuff that they deemed we would need. Second…” She then reached down and pulled out a solid-looking tablet. “They require you to sign this before you see it…” Addy reached forward and took the tablet before looking at what was written. At first glance, it looked like any other NDA document… sign and she couldn’t reveal publicly about the video… unless to people who had already seen it and signed NDA’s themselves or were in it… like Oliver. But as she scanned it closer, a few sections started to stand out for her. She would of course sign it, but phrases like ‘on penalty of death’ or ‘potentially armed conflict if revealed publicly’ stood out and made her stomach a smidge queasy. “Not very standard, but…” She sighed and signed it, nonetheless. ‘For Oliver…’ Taking the tablet back, Dr. Halgen nodded. “Earth gov stuff, honestly. I’ve seen this a few times by now. You know, they can be so touchy about some things from their past. Frankly, I think they could all do with a nap, but…” She shrugged her shoulders after putting the tablet away. “What are you going to do?” The video then dinged. “Perfect.” Dr. Halgen clicked a few more times on her monitor until a large play button appeared. “Alright… you ready, Addy?” Addy wasn’t sure what she was expecting with a video like this. Whatever it was, at minimum, she knew that it was enough for her to sign a hefty NDA, for Oliver’s file to be heavily redacted now, and for Oliver himself to be having night terrors. She grimaced for a moment but then nodded, knowing she needed to set her own feelings aside and finally know the truth. “I’m ready… let’ do this.” Silently, Dr. Halgen nodded and hit the play button. After a moment, the video began to sync. *              *              * A man appeared in a charcoal gray suit and plain tie. After adjusting his tie once, he smiled yet his face still emitted seriousness about it as well. “Good evening. My name is Agent Hobbs and I’m with the newly revamped Drug Enforcement Agency. As you may or may not know, the DEA has been conducting several raids and undercover operations to eliminate the last of the drug lords held over from Earth’s dark times. With portal technology flowing through now, our government wishes to boost the happiness and well-being of its citizens. One way… was to end the cartel.” The man smiled again and walked to his left before pointing at a map of the United States but divided into several zones not adhering to any state or country borders. “As you can see here, before this operation, the cartel’s empire had expanded into parts of the south and southwestern states. What you are about to see, using one of those imported technologies from the Amazons, has been cobbled together from multiple pieces of footage and then stitched together into one video for your ease.” A small message of ‘Warning!’ then flashed on the screen. “This video takes place right as our undercover agent was captured. As a warning… parts of this become very violent, but we are pleased to report that the mission was ultimately successful, and the agent is still alive.” Agent Hobbs looked more than a little uncomfortable, like he was leaving something out, but his spokesman ability shone through and he pushed ahead. “Before we get started, I have been asked to note for posterity and any potential future viewings that the Cartel was targeted specifically as they were importing illegal drugs from the other dimension to sell on the black market as well as their usual products.” Agent Hobbs paused for a moment. “As you can imagine, this is a potential problem point in the treaty both dimensions signed in when the portals first opened. As such, some leniencies were allowed longer than we would normally like with the safety of the agent in order to obtain a successful outcome…” He nodded once and the video switched again. * Oliver appeared, panicking heavily as he breathed deeply in and out. He sported a rough beard, was skinny, and his skin was sunburnt and dirty in several areas. He looked rough but youthful and healthy still… a man with a stressful life but with still more of it to live. “I don’t know how much time I have. One of my trigger alarms went off that someone’s been digging into my forged background… and I saw the signs this morning. I know they’re coming for me.” Oliver tried to search for something but kept recording his message. “Had to be a rat in the organization that sold me out, but… I’m sending this message out to my handler and any help in the area. They’re coming for me and so to any friendlies, use the tracker embedded in my tooth and…” His door burst open and several men with large gun entered the room and forced him to the ground. Speaking Spanish, they hauled him away unceremoniously… but not before Oliver saw the ‘sent’ message appear on his laptop before it fried itself out completely. The footage switched several times, appearing as little clips interspersed with Oliver, gagging and bound before being thrown into the back of a truck and then hauled away to some abandoned buildings. Once there, it only got worse as he was dragged out and savagely beaten. Oliver seemed used to it… or at least seemed to be able to take a punch or a kick all over his body. He winced but held firm. It was a picture of inner and outer strength… definitely not the same Little he was today. “Who do you work for, filth!” Another solid blow to his face, sending spit and blood splattering across the floor and some on a nearby wall. “Answer me, scum, or I swear this will be your last day alive!” Oliver was in pain, his face showing that much… but he also didn’t break. And so, the beating continued until Oliver’s face and likely ribs were now bleeding and bruised. Unsatisfied with his lack of cooperation, he was then hauled away and smacked around before several tires were stacked around him outside. Though rubber and clearly old and used, they formed a solid ring around his body, fully preventing him from moving more than an inch to the left or right at a time. A tall, bearded man then entered the scene. Unlike the others, he looked cleaner with the edges of his beard ending cleanly and precisely along his cheekbones and jawline. Wielding a large shiny handgun, he waved it around and then pressed it to Oliver’s forehead before dismissively brushing it off. “So… we’ve got a hero here, huh?” the man asked mockingly to his crew, eliciting a chilling chuckle from each of them. “What are you…? FBI? ATF?” The man’s eyes narrowed. “DEA?” Oliver didn’t say anything… didn’t even flinch at the right answer. Instead, he just stood there and either looked away or right at the man when he stood close enough… despite one of Oliver’s eyes now being heavily swollen and nearly shut. With no answer, the man snarled and struck Oliver on the side of his face with his gun, sending more blood flying yet the barrels kept him standing up still. Wiping the blood off his gun dismissively on Oliver’s now stained shirt, the man snapped his fingers abruptly and two of his crew left. Looking back at Oliver, the man’s eyes narrowed sinisterly. “I took you in, cabrón. I made you part of my crew… let you in on our deals… even let you near my sister…” At that, Oliver smiled. “Yeah… thanks for that… wouldn’t have gotten so close to you if you weren’t so stupid…” The crew, nearly buzzing about like little worker bees, froze in horror. It was clear that both the man wasn’t used to being insulted and that if anyone ever did… the consequences would be severe. For Oliver though, it was now evident that he knew the game… he knew his chances to make it out of here alive were slim. So, for a guy like him right then, he was clearly going out on his own terms. The man blinked a few times, his confidence seemingly now shaken. “What did you call me?” “Stupid, Fernando,” Oliver confirmed without hesitation after spitting out a splatter of blood and saliva on the dusty ground. “I called you stupid… or did you not even understand that, you worthless slime?” Fernando’s eyes twitched under the hot sun. His mouth seemed to try and be forming into a sneer… only to fail spectacularly. When his two crew came back out and lugged what looked like a woman out with them though… his haughty grin soon returned. Once the crew had her tied to a nearby post, Fernando strutted over and removed the mask covering her face. “Familiar to you, no?” Oliver’s eyes opened in horror as he saw who the woman was before him… even with one of his eyes threatening to close completely from the swelling. “Carmen!” He turned back to Fernando. “Let her go! She’s your sister Fernando. Please! She didn’t have anything to do with this!” Fernando growled and nearly ran back over to Oliver, pulling out a dirty note from his pocket before opening it. “She has everything to do with this! Look!” Oliver did and as soon as he saw the note that he had given to her to warn his handler about a potential rat and the possibility of him being captured, he knew her fate was sealed. Still, Oliver looked determined to do anything to save her. “I used her, Fernando. It was nothing more,” Oliver lied. His acting skills under pressure were good, but Fernando was too shrewd to fall for it. “I might believe you, pendejo, but…” Fernando raced over to Carmen, unsheathing a large knife from his side and pressing it to her throat. “No, wait!” Oliver’s protective instincts betrayed him and he knew it immediately… especially when Fernando grinned wickedly back at him and lowered his knife from her throat. “That’s what I thought,” he said cooly. “I took you in and made you part of my crew. I even saw you taking a shine to my sister, but I saw you and ignored my gut about you. I thought… no! This man is honorable. He’s smart and capable. He’ll make a good match for my sister, but then… then you had to go and betray me.” His words dripped with venom. “You went and sold my secrets and now… the government is shutting us down across the states! 15 warehouses and safehouse all raided at once!” The part of Oliver not terrified about Carmen or worried about his own life, soared upon hearing that. For months now, he had infiltrated the cartel and had risked life and limb to find out the inner workings. His information had proved vital in small pockets, but two nights ago, he found the key to the whole operation and sent it in. Hearing about their success gave him a warm little successful feeling deep inside his chest. “But you betrayed me! I know it was you… and my sister!” Fernando’s rage seemed to know no bounds. Turning back to his crew, he pointed at two large red jugs off to the side. “¡Hombres! ¡Agarren la gasolina y échensela encima! ¡Que le caiga por todas partes a esta puta!” “No!” Oliver had heard those words and knew what they were doing. Gagged as she was, Oliver could only look at Carmen in horror as the others in the crew began pouring copious amount of gas on her. Looking back at Fernando, Oliver swore revenge. “Stop, Fernando! She’s your sister. Have mercy on her! Please!” Fernando’s eyes twinkled as his men backed up. He then pulled a cigar from his pocket… something cheap and disposable and lit it before inhaling a deep puff and blowing the smoke over Oliver. “This is my mercy…” Without even a scrap of remorse, he threw the lit cigar over at Carmen’s damp feet. In an instant, she was consumed in flames. Her gagged screams echoed off the hills and valleys. “No! No!” Oliver tried to struggle free, but the tires held him fast. “I’ll kill you, Fernando,” he spat at him, his eyes mad with rage. “I swear it! You’ll have your day! You’re a dead man!” Fernando growled and struck Oliver hard, knocking him to the ground, his face unable to turn away from the writhing and then smoking husk of his former informant… his lover. Strutting over, Fernando eyed the remaining gas cannisters. He looked at the charred husk of the body that used to be his sister, gave it a sneer and looked back at his crew. “¡Hombres! ¡Levántenlo y échenle el resto de la gasolina encima!” In a second, Oliver was picked back up. He tried to fight against the others, but the tires wouldn’t budge. Moments later, the crew repeated their practice and began to dump the remaining gas over Oliver. Done, the crew backed away and Fernando lit another cheap cigar. “Shame really,” he said wistfully as he viewed the glowing wrapper of the cigar in his hands. “Cheap but it does the trick out here. Still…” he eyes Oliver with hate in his eyes. “Say hello to my sister in hell…” Just as Fernando reached out with his lit cigar though, the sound of helicopters soon blacked out most of the other noise nearby. Hearing them so close, panic quickly ensued and many of the crew either began running for their guns or pointing up in the sky. “¡Policía! ¡Agentes! ¡Corran! ¡Corran ahora y sálvense o luchen hasta la muerte!” Before Fernando could even react further, the gates of the complex exploded. Gas was launched and several flash-bangs were thrown in as well. They went off, blinding and deafening everyone inside. In less than three minutes, the complex was surrounded and infiltrated completely. Oliver was freed and helped up as Fernando was dragged away… but the undercover agent seemed broken… his revenge already complete and his life saved… but not the woman he had fallen for. Dropping to his knees in complete despair, several other agents could only silently give their condolences. *              *              * The video abruptly ended. “Hey!” Addy shouted, almost getting up from her seat. “Where’s the rest of the footage? What happened after? Did Oliver get his revenge? And what happened to Fernando?” Dr. Halgen sighed. “Yeah… I thought you would ask as such.” She then pulled out Oliver’s unredacted file and leafed through it. “I’ll let you look at this tonight after, but according to this, the video is only a portion of what was showed into evidence afterward. Apparently, Fernando is still trying to appeal the death penalty against him… some rumors are even floating that he’ll be coming over here one day to one of our special programs. Wouldn’t that be a sight?” Addy sat back in her chair with a huff. She stayed silent for a moment, before shaking her head. “Holy smokes, Kelsey… I knew it had to be something bad, but…” “Yes,” Dr. Halgen agreed. “What’s more, according to his file, Oliver then took some forced time off and then stayed with the bureau in various roles for another six years. But…” Dr. Halgen sighed. “During a raid and then rescue operation on one of the few remaining meth dealers in the country, the lab exploded and the building caught fire. Oliver managed to escape with some minor injuries… but his partner wasn’t so lucky.” It was the final tragic piece of the puzzle that Addy had been missing. “So… a previous trauma with fire… his lover engulfed before his eyes… he suppresses those feelings and gets back to work… until his partner then dies by fire again.” Dr. Halgen nodded. “I’m afraid so.” She then returned to his file. “It looks like he underwent therapy and a desk job for a year before being put on early retirement with full disabilities when that didn’t seem to help. Then… retreating inside from the world, his file nearly stopped for two years until he was diagnosed with skin cancer. After over a year of failed treatments, he came to us.” Needless to say, Addy was overwhelmed with all this new information. It all made a sort of terrible sense as to why Oliver was the way he was. In fact, as much as she wanted to help every Little, she was now actually a bit surprised that he had even made it through the initial screening process. After all, they only had three months to get their Littles ready for their prospective Bigs, and these days, they could make a paralyzed person walk in this time… but the mind was the mind. Knowing what she did now, she knew that Oliver was going to need more than three months of counseling to deal with this. Still, she was reminded of two things in all this. First, Juventas and Psyche now seemed to be letting anyone in these days to fill their quotas or achieve some end goal she couldn’t quite see yet. It was hard not to see some problems in the system like Xander and Damien. Second though, and most important, Addy knew both what she was dealing with and had the heart and compassion to see it through. She just didn’t know if she was the best person for the job anymore… Dr. Halgen was a wise woman. Stern and maybe even a little too foreboding sometimes, but she could see and understand people a mile off. So, she saw her nurse and she instinctively knew what she was thinking. “Addy… you can’t take on this responsibility alone. You do that, and yes… you will fail. But you have others here who are more than willing and ready to help you. Let us shoulder what needs to be done with Oliver…” Addy smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot… truly. I just… his treatment is still a failure and he’s not going to be getting better mentally any time soon. There’s bound to be a lot of traumas wound up tight in there… a lot that we don’t even know about yet. I just… we’re three weeks into the first month… first third of his time here. I’m worried about him getting picked by a Big now more than ever. You know he might not make it…” Dr. Halgen sighed. “Maybe… but I want you to do something for me.” Addy nodded without thinking. “Good,” Dr. Halgen said smiling. “I want you to view him differently this time looking ahead now.” She paused for a moment and continued to explain as if to let each of her words seep into Addy’s brain. “You are a good person… a good nurse, Addy… but sometimes, that holds you back when it comes to Littlecare. I’m not saying Penny or any of the others are right around here in their barbaric methods and ideologies… but I think you ignore some of your instincts with your Littles. You block paths that others might see plainly who don’t care if their intentions are good or not… only that they treat their Little like a Little.” “Wait… you’re saying… I’m hurting my Littles because of that?” Addy asked in potential horror of such a notion. Dr. Halgen quickly shook her head. “Definitely not. I just think… well, Oliver’s a special case. We see and know that now. So, he might be the exception to your rules with Littles. You see them as adults who are just shorter and that’s fine… helpful and dignifying even, but… sometimes, they don’t know what they need.” “What they need?” Addy questioned. “You don’t think they know they’re here to help themselves out? I mean, isn’t that why they signed the contract in the first place? This program or die for some of them even?” Dr. Halgen smiled and nodded. “Of course they know that, but I’m talking about the other stuff… the deeper things they don’t talk about. How when they come here, they can let go of their burdens. Even these days, their planet and their lives are still hard. Coming here, we can offer them a rest from all those worries… even if it only is those five years they signed up for.” Addy mulled the notion over. She wasn’t an ignorant fool, and she knew the advancements the humans on Earth had made without them, but she also knew of their struggles… the war and famine and diseases that nearly wiped them out and brought them to the edge only a few decades ago now. Remembering just that, she had to admit to herself that it wasn’t a huge leap to think a Little might need more than just a fix of their cancer or MS or whatever else ailed them when they came here. “So, yes… they know they’re here to be helped,” Dr. Halgen continued, “but they might not know everything they need. They might need a push… someone else to do it for them.” She sighed heavily. “So maybe… just this once, set aside your thoughts of Oliver the adult. Think of him as Oliver the Little in need of your help. Do that… and you might just find a way to help him… maybe for even more than just what you might think…” Addy wanted to press ahead more and even swore to at least try Dr. Halgen’s suggestion, but the time was ticking on, and tomorrow was going to be a long and interesting day between her and Oliver. She wasn’t sure how she would react to him after what she had just learned… but her mind just couldn’t shake what Dr. Halgen had told her to do. ‘If it was Penny or Dr. Tracey or even my own dad at this point, I might think nothing of the suggestion to think of Oliver as a true Little… and not just a general classification of a Little like I’ve been doing, but… Dr. Halgen?’ It was hard to come to terms with, the doctor who had been championing Little’s right for over a decade now from behind the scenes was almost telling her point-blank to regress him. Yet somehow, it not only felt right of her to suggest… it also felt good to hear it. Worried about Oliver having yet another night terror, she entered back into his room for the night. Seeing him asleep like that, it was hard not to see the truth in what Dr. Halgen had told her. Before, he was a scared adult in a large world beyond his measure. Adults got scared and it didn’t make him a Little. But seeing him lying still… asleep and peaceful for once, she saw the vulnerability in him. She saw the tiny cracks beginning to form as he let go of the stresses of his old life. It was a long and hard process… but seeing him as a Little was something that was starting to tickle her brain. Moving a strand of hair out of his face, he stirred briefly and Addy recoiled, careful not to wake him. Sighing, as she settled back into her rocking chair, she felt the guilt of no longer thinking of Oliver as the adult that just needed a vacation from the more mature responsibilities of life. She didn’t like it, but she couldn’t deny a part of herself anymore… one that wanted to do nothing more than to hug him and say that everything was going to be okay for him. She wanted to do that, but as she rocked and felt her eyes closing, she knew he had to come to her first. So, she knew she was going to have to wait… observe him closely but wait for the moment he came to her and finally let his guard down. She would nudge him and see what stuck and what gave… but he would need to make the first move. *              *              * The next few days, true to her word, Addy began to view Oliver in a different light. He was still the adult in a large and dangerous world, so it would only be natural for him to be a little hesitant… but she started to notice tiny things begin to slip in. If she wasn’t looking, she might not have seen them, but they were there. He was meeker, more emotional, and even seemed to start to look at her in times of distress. And as the days moved on, that seemed to be happening more and more now. Addy wanted to break and reveal everything to him she knew about, but she saw the change and kept on only biding her time until he came to her. Until then, she made sure to come to him right after whatever incident happened, talk to him, treat him with respect, but also offer a heavier hand when it came to her tenderness with him. The occasional brush of his hair… taking his hand… calming him down as best she could. Tiny things… but things he never rejected nowadays. The next day, Addy made more plans to check his progress. Despite no night terrors, she vowed to stay in his room tonight. He never fussed or gave her dirty looks anymore… something he always did when she first started staying with him. It was a note she held dearly… but it wasn’t enough. So, when the group decided to go to the park again, Addy went right along with them to observe him more closely. Of course, Katrina and Cara never minded. The two were nearly inseparable whenever they were in the same room together and despite one being diapered and requiring naps, they seemed like the best of friends. Keeping an eye on each other, Addy never had to worry about them. She only wished they were as close with Oliver… Getting to the park, Addy began to notice once more things she had never seen before. Oliver would be all happy and cracking jokes and even skipping on occasion… but then he would stop dead before either the tire swing or the tire obstacle course embedded off to the side of the playground. Now, she knew why he was so distant from playgrounds. Being bound in tires and nearly set on fire right after he watched both his informant and lover be set on fire would probably make anyone wary of them. But the others didn’t know that. When the little shits Xander or Damien saw his hesitation… his unwillingness to literally play ball with them, they smelled blood in the water, and losing their power and independence bit by bit, they tried to reassert wherever and with whomever they could. So, as nearly always happened now, Xander and Damien tagged up and began to pick on Oliver. Addy tried to hold back… or even hope one of the other nurses would intervene… but they were off helping two other Littles, Christy and Lana, after they had accidentally bumped into each other and fallen off some of the playground equipment before crying loudly about their scraped knees and ‘owies.’ Marching over herself, Addy heard the shouts… the insults lobbed between the trio as a crowd formed around them. But then, Xander said something. She couldn’t tell what, but a moment later, Oliver put all his might into a right hook directly into the bully’s jaw. Seconds later, the three were on the ground and hitting each other senselessly. Alone and weak, Oliver didn’t stand a chance. Addy ran as if she was trying to flee a fire. “Stop it! Stop it!” she shouted, ripping the three away from each other as the crowd of Littles that had gathered fled for their lives. “Break it up now!” She pulled Oliver instinctively behind her and gathered him close. Unlike other times this had happened though, he didn’t shy away from her. In fact, he clung tight to her like a shield against a shower of oncoming arrows. “He started it!” Damien charged, wiping some blood off his nose. “Yeah!” Xander agreed, flexing out his arm and cracking his bruised knuckles. “He socked me right in the jaw!” He rubbed right where a large red spot was now forming… likely to soon be a bruise. “Spank him or something, will you?” Addy had never struck a Little before, but between their bullying and total disregard for others, she counted the days until her patience ran out. Today though, she didn’t do any of that and her nurse’s training kicked in. “That is up to me, but I saw you two… you ganged up on him and were throwing some heated words at him first. I don’t know what, but I don’t care. Right now, you two are on thin ice around here. I can’t do anything to you today, but know this… I will be talking to Dr. Halgen tonight. This will be going on your permanent records here. Just hope that is all that happens.” Without a second thought, seeing the previously boastful and even confident Littles turn into quaking forms before her, satisfied, Addy turned to Oliver and took his hand. “Come on, Oliver. Let me take a look at you…” Not wasting a second, she pulled the beaten Little away, trying to stamp down any vengeance she had against the other two. Curiously though, Oliver didn’t pull away in the slightest when she grabbed his hand… not even when she pulled him away. In fact, if anything, she could have sworn he locked his hand even tighter around hers… like he was afraid she would float away if he didn’t. But pulling away from the others and any previously formed crowd dissipating rapidly, Addy finally stopped and sat Oliver down on a bench beside her before looking at him all over. “Oh honey…” She could feel her Big instincts wanting to surge forward. She wanted to dote on him and heal his boo-boos and kiss him and hug him to bits, as if her love for her vulnerable Little was the only medicine he would ever need. ‘If only…’ But Addy was a nurse, and being the prepared kind she was, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a single tube of WoundBond gel and began rubbing it over the most visible areas of damage on her Little. He winced a few times as she applied the blue-colored gel. “Sorry… sorry…” she apologized. “I know it can sting at first but trust me… this stuff goes on quick and heals you on a slow day about twice the speed you normally would. Shouldn’t even see a bruise tomorrow…” “Thank you…” Oliver said weakly, his spirits seeming completely ruined and permanently down, never to rise again. After Addy finished though, he took a second to tenderly touch his face, and after a tiny smile of relief turned to face her. “Addy? Why…?” He turned away, looking shy all of a sudden. “Never mind…” Curious and nearly holding her breath, Addy patted his leg. “It’s okay, remember? No judgment here. If you have a question, just ask it…” Oliver slowly nodded his head. “Yeah… right. Sorry, I keep forgetting. It’s just… I just…” He looked directly back at her now. “Wh… why have you taken such an interest in me lately? Katrina’s your Little too, and… you don’t spend nearly as much time with her that you do with me.” Addy’s breath almost completely left her body. Her recent snooping and protective mother hen-like nature hadn’t gone as unnoticed as she hoped. Only the fact that Oliver hadn’t run off yet kept her grounded. “Oh… right…” Addy thought about lying, keeping her charade up longer, but she knew she had to tell him the truth… at least a little of it. “Well… I take notice of those who need my help most. Katrina… she’s doing great in this program. Almost completely healed now in fact. Plus… she isn’t getting picked on…” Oliver looked away in shame and Addy wondered if she had pushed too far. He stared off into the distance for a little bit but then let out a large breath of air. “I… my feelings have been so crazy lately. It’s like I’m a shaken bottle of champagne and someone’s suddenly popped my cork! I… I…” He shuddered for a moment, almost seeming at war with himself. “Against Damien and Xander… I just couldn’t control myself and I hit them. But when I tried to fight back… I feel I couldn’t beat up a bunny rabbit even if I tried…” “You have cancer, Oliver…” Addy tried to offer up at least as an explanation for one of his worries. “Yeah, but… I was an agent!” he tried to defend. “I had years of training. Even when one time I had gotten shot in the arm and could barely hold anything above my stomach, I fought off three fascist thugs in a bar using nothing but a beer bottle!” Seeing his redacted file last night more in-depth, Addy knew he wasn’t lying… but it still seemed so fantastical… so different to the Little now in front of her. She knew the beard he once sported helped that tough guy image along, but she could still barely believe the undercover DEA agent she had seen and read about now was the same person as the one sitting before her today. “I know it must be frustrating for you, Oliver,” she tried to console him. “It must feel like you’ve lost so much over here. I’m trying to get you better… tougher and stronger and healthier again, but…” She almost hesitated to push further but she also knew she needed to if they were ever able to take the next steps together here. “But that’s not needed here.” Oliver’s brow creased. “What do you mean by that?” “Oliver…” She took a deep breath in. “Here, I’m your nurse… your confidant… your healer… your protector. Whatever you need, I’m there for you. When you can’t do something for whatever reason… I’m there to help you… to guide you… to be there for you.” That sort of notion seemed to weigh heavily on him. His eyes nearly were sunken in and his breathing became quicker. He nearly looked like he was about to puke… at least until he took a decent-sized breath before turning to face Addy directly. “I… you’ve been good to me, Addy. I was an undercover agent and I don’t… learned not to trust easy, but… I’m all alone out here. Not even the other Littles around here seem to understand me… or want to be my friend…” Addy’s heart swelled with anguish at that confession and for a brief moment saw the Little she had been looking for. Even if she wasn’t viewing Oliver in a different light like Dr. Halgen had suggested though, she would still want her Littles to be happy… to be with the others and never feel alone. Sensing her moment had come, she rested her hand gently on his shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. “It’s okay, Oliver. You can trust me…” Oliver looked just about to tell her his secret, but he stopped and gazed back at her intently. “I want to tell you, but… I need you to swear.” He looked around briefly, like he was looking for agents that might be listening in. Seemingly satisfied though, he leaned in and whispered. “Raise your right hand and swear to keep this secret… forever.” Addy knew what Oliver was about to confess and she knew this whole thing was serious… but a little part of her couldn’t help but see the adorability in Oliver right then. Just with how he was doing things, she could almost picture him now in the future swearing her to keep a secret that Federica had just baked fresh-baked cookies with Adventure Sam on the front of them. Still, she made sure to keep a straight face and nodded before raising her right hand as instructed. “I swear to keep your secret… forever.” She took a deep breath and added one last bit her dad always used to end his swears on. “I promise to infinity…” Like some magic key, Oliver, though pensive and looked as if he was about to pass out, seemed relieved. Like a recollection of a horror story, Addy then sat and listened to the entire story that she had just witnessed the other night. Every detail… every cruelty by the cartel… by Fernando… by his crew. It was utterly terrible and there was several moments Oliver had to pause, and Addy was sure to quickly comfort him. Nothing much… but enough to show she was there for him no matter what. “They came in and they saved me,” he continued, his little fists balling at his pants and tears running down his cheeks. “They got me out of the tires and I went to Carmen, but… but… she was gone!” “Oh, honey…” Addy felt she was going to grow a gray hair from the sheer number of things she had suppressed in trying not to force or overcrowd Oliver. Still, he was finally opening to her. It was five minutes in over three weeks… a fraction of the total time, but it was huge for both of them. “I’m so sorry you went through that…” Oliver nodded, his lower lip trembling now. “A… and then my p… partner…” It didn’t seem to be his main trauma, but he couldn’t even say his name. “He went into that meth lab… and n… never came out. After… I just can’t get their faces out of my head… I feel the heat at night in my dreams… I hear Carmen’s muffled screams... I see her pleading eyes… her blackened destroyed body after…” It was the final straw. Oliver broke down and started to cry in heaping sobs. His little body heaved and shuddered under its own weight and his tiny breaths became short and labored. Addy saw it all and she felt she could only pat and rub his back. She was playing some kind of perverse game of chicken with him, but she knew he had to come to her first. It was most important and she stomached it all. “It’s okay, Oliver. You’re okay. You’re alive. You made it here. And it’s all horrible, but it’s okay to be sad. Thank you for trusting me with all that, and it’s okay to cry if that’s what you need, honey…” She noticed she had started to slip more loving nicknames into her speech lately… something Oliver either didn’t notice or no longer cared about. Just as Oliver started making these little raspy cute noises in his deep anguish, Addy knew she needed to confess something to him as well now. “Oliver… I knew about all this before today…” It was a risk, but from what she had heard, she also knew he was still holding back a few things. Plus, she needed to be completely honest with him to gain his trust and push forward together in all this. Oliver, still crying and still heaving in and out, looked up at her with the most pitiful expression ever. “Y… you did? But… but why didn’t you t… tell me?” Addy sighed and took his hands in hers tightly. “I didn’t want to push you. I wanted you to come to me on your own terms. I couldn’t be the one to force you into talking about something like that. I mean, I have been trying to get you to open up to me, but now that you have… I just want to thank you for that. It means a lot to me… more than you know…” After, without any hugs or anything that could even be considered remotely childish or overbearing, Oliver finally started to calm down. Addy’s back rubs were a godsend and his deep cries soon turned into little sobs and hiccups. “A… Addy? What… what do we d… do now?” he took a deep breath, but the exhale was shaky and staggered. “N… now that you know the tr… truth, I… I feel like I’m a lost cause now…” Addy didn’t like anyone saying that. Even if she thought it occasionally, she never wanted to hear it out loud… especially from Oliver himself. Letting out a deep breath, she took his hands and looked deep into his eyes once more. “Now, you listen here… you are a special case, Oliver… not a lost cause, you understand me?” The Little nodded, almost looking fearful but somehow protected and reassured by her force of will at the same time. “Good.” Addy mulled it over and knew that Oliver was already feeling shaky with his various and now experimental treatments. She knew she needed to nail this down and help him… to save his life. “But I will swear right here, right now… as long as you’re willing to stay, I will fight for you… always and no matter what. Okay? I’m not going anywhere.” Oliver sat there and stared back at her. His lower lip trembled and his eyes watered up. It might have just been the subtle hypnosis and low dose drugs finally wearing him down, but he looked like a lost puppy finally coming in after the rain. To Addy, he looked like the type of person who, after years of disappointments and people who had let him down, had finally found someone willing to help him… to get him to grow stronger no matter the circumstances. Still, she expected a slight nod… maybe even a handshake from the guarded Little. Instead, he broke and thrust right into her with the largest hug he could manage. Addy could feel his slight frame pressing against her. His might was poured into this one embrace and needless to say, she was surprised, but once that wore off, she realized the gravity of this one moment. So, embracing the time fully, she wrapped her own large arms around his tiny body and hugged him tight. Closing her eyes, she leaned against him, letting her body heat radiate throughout the two of them. “You’re okay. You’re safe here. I promise… I'm not going anywhere.” Simple words, but Oliver heard them and only hugged her more deeply like he never wanted or even could let go ever again. On that park bench on that cold day, Addy recognized it as a turning point between them. Oliver would need more therapy than she could offer, and she still needed to find a cure for his deadly and slowly progressing cancer, but they were moving in the right direction. She was feeling unburdened by her previous qualms and saw Oliver as a true Little in need of her care. For Oliver, he had finally opened up to her and now seemed to not only rely on her but lean on her for support and guidance as well. As the other nurses finally began to see what was happening as they gathered everyone to head back to the facility once more, Addy couldn’t help but smile in her hug with Oliver. It was a sad but glorious moment and seeing the results of what a little younger treatment could do, she was curious about where this more hands-on and Big-like approach would lead her.  

Day 13, twice  Day 14, twice

Eesh, poor girl! She's in worse shape than anyone realized! I hope she gets the medical attention she needs!  I still think she's actually going to need diapers by the end of all this.